Browse Category: chuckle

The Passport Saga

IMG_9916The last 24 hours have been very stressful here.  It started last night when Jes came home while I was filling out a passport application for KK.  I needed her social security card and all our legal documents so I took it out of the safe and gave Jes his passport for his business trip to London and Grenoble.  I happened to look to see when it expires and it had said April 2014!!!  OH NOOOOO!!!  He leaves on Saturday evening and it was already Thursday night! The trip could not be postponed and it would have been a really embarrassing mess if he had to cancel for this reason.

So, we scrambled for answers on the internet and made some calls but it was not looking good.  The Passport Agency that processes last-minute passports didn’t have an appointment until Monday at 10:00 am!  Jes found a 24-hour service and paid a ridiculous amount of money for it.  The next step was to get his picture taken so we went to Costco.  It was still only 6:30 so we had a chance!  When we arrived, the photo guy said he could take his picture but it wouldn’t be ready until 10 am the next day.  Uh oh…

IMG_9901So I called the nearest CVS to see if they would be able to take and print a passport photo tonight and the guy said, “Yes, we are available.”  Nice.  So we drove down to San Bruno and they had it ready in just minutes.  We even took the opportunity to get KK’s photo taken too.  She stood on a stool and actually looked at the camera.  No smile but I’m perfectly fine with it.

Once we got home, Jes looked up the 24-hour service again and it said that they wouldn’t be able to deliver until Monday morning.  What?!  So, his heart sank and decided to wake up at 5 am to call them.  I think the only person who slept last night was KK.

At 5am, the alarm went off and Jes called.  The guy said they wouldn’t be able to deliver today and said that he would refund his money at 6am.  In the meantime, Jes happened to be on Yelp and read some reviews from people who had gone to the Passport Agency without an appointment.  One of the reviewers said to go early – like 6:45 early!  So at about 5:45 am, I heard Jes take a shower.  I thought, “he must be really stressed out”.  Then he got dressed and left the house!  I texted him from bed “where are you going?”  and he said, “state department”.  I think he meant the Passport Agency.  So there he was at 6-something in the morning all by himself.  He was first in line for about 30 minutes before 3 more people showed up.  Wow, that reviewer wasn’t kidding.

IMG_9908KK and I were up and ready by 8am so we walked down to the office to see how things were going.  By then it was 8:30 and they let Jes in.  He got his paperwork processed and met us at the Specialty’s next door with a receipt that said he could pick up his passport at 3:30.  It was sort of a relief but there was still chance there would be a delay or his application would be rejected.

In addition to dealing with Jes’ passport, we walked down to the Sutter Post Office to process KK’s stuff.  When we arrived the lady asked “do you have an appointment?”  I had called the night before and the automated message said that this location did not require an appointment and didn’t even give me the option.  Luckily, they weren’t very busy and the 9:15 appointment didn’t show.  So, we got everything processed and KK’s passport should arrive in about 2 weeks.  Woot.

IMG_9917Later this afternoon, Jes went back to the Passport Agency and he had his passport in his hot little hands by 3:30 pm and he can go on his trip tomorrow.  Phew.  I hope this never happens to us again.  Luckily mine doesn’t expire until 2021.  Is it possible to set an alarm for something that far out?!  I’ll have to find out.

The End.

 

Joel & Zeynep’s Wedding

IMG_8010On Saturday, we flew down to Southern California for a wedding.  It was going to be an evening of no kids and our first night without the kid since she was born.  After settling down in the Magical House, we drove up to Culver City where we checked in to the Four Points Sheraton.  Everyone had already arrived and we all met them at the hotel bar, which we had asked them to open outside of their regular operating hours.

IMG_8023Joel had warned us they were serving an all-vegan dinner so after a couple drinks, we piled into one car and went to In-N-Out for our pre-wedding meal.

IMG_8022Since there were 6 of us and an SUV, Jes rode in the trunk all the way up to Topanga Canyon.  He said it was actually pretty comfortable back there.  It was just funny having to let him out the back when we pulled up to the valet at the ranch.

IMG_8028The wedding was outdoor in a little ranch but it was pretty warm out there – a balmy 95 degrees I think.

IMG_8032Everything was beautifully decorated with those little personal touches that make their wedding special.

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DSC_5539Joel was dressed in all white and all the boys were in black panchos.  Those poor boys.  DSC_5548

IMG_8041The bride was in a crocheted dress and the whole set-up was very hipster – just like our Joel the Indie Rockstar.

IMG_8044It was an open bar and their specialty drink was a cactus margarita, which matched my top perfectly.

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This wedding was a nice reunion for the Roebling House.  All six boys and “Seven” (me) were all there together for a fun night of laughs and hijinks.DSC_5560

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Joel asked everyone to wear a color since the party was in black and white.  Ryan took it literally and put this outfit together after shopping at Marshall’s.

IMG_8049Here is my plate of vegan lasagna with “faux sausage”, “faux carnitas” made out of jack fruit, and a kale salad that was the best thing on the table.  I should have gotten more salad.

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As the sun went down, the twinkle lights made everything so pretty.DSC_5586IMG_8078

A gathering of the boys also wouldn’t be complete without harrassing Tob and a little bit of wrestling moves.  This is Ryan spinning Tob on his shoulders.  Luckily no one was hurt that night.

IMG_8083After the wedding, we were all starving so we made a stop at Johnnie’s Pastrami for an awesome after-party meal.

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What a fun night!

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carb overload

IMG_2392Since Humphry Slocombe opened in the Ferry Plaza, it was the perfect opportunity for the girls to meet up with me for a Saturday morning food crawl.  IMG_2349Ranee and Stephanie brought their families over from Walnut Creek and we had quite a feast.

IMG_2375It started out with Roli Roti.  You can never go wrong with starting your day with a porchetta sandwich.

IMG_2358Next stop was Blue Bottle for some coffee and a piping-hot waffle straight out of the griddle.

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The best part of the morning was the ice cream.  I love this photo of the two toddlers begging their daddies for ice cream.  Their techniques are very similar and very effective.

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Kumquat also received this cute bunch of tulips from someone promoting a flower service in SF.

What a fun morning.  We did all that eating in about 2 hours before we had to part ways and Kumquat fell asleep for a 2-hour nap. Let’s do this again soon, Ladies!!

Second Dinner

We joke about Kumquat being a hobbit since she’s always begging for some of our dinner after she’s already eaten hers.  Maybe we’re a FAMILY of hobbits considering what we did tonight.  This evening around 8:30, Jia texted to say that her landlord (a crab fisherman) dropped off two live crabs.  She didn’t know what to do with them so she actually drove them up to SF and dropped them off to us.

IMG_0946They came in a cardboard box and looked dead.

IMG_0947Jes put one in the sink and as soon as he turned the water on, it started to move around!  Creeeeepy.

Here’s a video of the poor guy trying to stay alive.

He steamed them while I went out to pick up a bottle of white wine, lemons, and butter.

IMG_0952When I got home, one was cooked and the other was waiting in the sink for his turn.

IMG_0956We ate the smaller crab tonight at 9:30 after we had just finished dinner around 7:30.

IMG_0957This is a true picture of gluttony.  The two of us just sat there quietly cracking, dipping, and eating while the kid slept in her bed.  Freshly steamed live crab really is tasty – especially when it’s free.

IMG_0958I took apart the larger crab and got this much meat out of it.  I think it’s at least 3 cups of crab meat.  We’ll have to figure out what to make for dinner tomorrow.  Crab fried rice?  Crab cakes?  Mmm. Mm.

yummy treat

IMG_0723Look what’s in my neighborhood!  Humphry Slocombe just opened in the Ferry Plaza in place of the my favorite gelato place.  I lost my passionfruit sorbet for a scoop of Secret Breakfast.  Yippee!

IMG_0750I got a scoop today and managed to eat the whole thing without Kumquat noticing.  It was mine…all mine…  🙂

Lunar New Year Super Bowl Weekend

IMG_9527Boy, we had quite a weekend!  It started a little early when Mirian asked if I could come home early on Friday because Karla had a fever.  I managed to get home by noon to relieve her and I had an unexpected half-day to hang out with my little girl.  It was sunny outside so I took her down to the courtyard for some water fun with her tea set.  She LOVED it and I got some free time to pay bills and balance our finances.

IMG_9544That evening, we went to SOMA Streat Food Park for their version of Lunar New Year.  All the food trucks had special dishes for the night, they played Bruce Lee movies on the big screens, Tsing tao was $3 all night, and they had a DJ playing Asian Hip-Hop music.  They also had Chinese acrobats performing at 8pm but we left before that started.

IMG_9552 IMG_9560On Saturday morning, we took a trip to the zoo for a quick 1-hour walk around the Savanna area.  The giraffes and zebras were all so active that morning and Kumquat was so pleased to see her “GG” pals.IMG_9274That same evening, we all gathered at Ryan and Michelle’s house in Orinda to welcome the Year of the Horse.  We celebrate together every year and I was impressed at how civilized our dinner was this year considering we had 5 kids present.

IMG_9280At one point everyone was seated, eating, and enjoying each other’s company.  IMG_9281We’ve come a long way from the year we had Jack, Reese, and Rowan together for the first time.

IMG_9283We had a potluck of “bring something from your homeland” so we pretty much had two dinners: my dish (chicken gravy over rice) first and then Michelle’s kalbi, spicy pork, and chap chae.  For dessert, we had Vyl’s red bean pancakes and pecan pie.  Yum.

IMG_9273The kids received red envelopes and I loved Reese’s expression when she discovered there was actual money inside for her.

IMG_9285Kumquat had a fun time playing with all of Reese and Jack’s toys and at one point Isla joined her.  By the end of the night, she was falling asleep in Bang’s comfy lap.

IMG_9293After we got home and put Kumquat to bed, I mustered some energy to change my clothes and put on some heels(!) for Mai’s Bachelorette Party.  Jes stayed home and I hailed a cab to Asia SF where the party had started since 5.  I didn’t get there until 10 but I got there with enough to celebrate with the girls and get a good laugh.  Amazingly, I was home by midnight.  Thanks for the ride home, R!

IMG_9577On Sunday morning it was raining!  Finally.  We opted to stay in our PJs for as long as we could and it was great.  I spent the morning archiving a bunch of our old bank and health insurance statements while reorganizing our files too.  Victor and Susie were hosting Super Bowl so we joined them in the afternoon for all the tasty food that Susie prepared.

The game was not very exciting but Bruno Mars had a good half-time performance. And of course, the commercials were fun. These were my favorites:

  1. Budweiser puppy/horse spot
  2. Doritos time machine spot
  3. Bud Light up-for-anything spot.

Overall, this was a fun and productive weekend.  Unfortunately, Karla is still sick so I’m going to have to stay home tomorrow.  Yippee!  Er, I meant Aw shucks.  These unexpected long weekends are going to spoil me!!