Lunar New Year
We had a late celebration this year with the usual animals. We met up with the Bangs and Sokol-Juns at Yank Sing on Sunday for some dim sum and catching up. It’s fun seeing all 5 kids interact with each other nowadays. Mei-mei follows KK around. Rowan follows Jack around. Reese plays with everyone.
Jack tried chicken feet for the first time and needed a little practice with separating the meat from the bones.
It was nice to have place where the grown-ups could have a good meal together while the kids had a place to roam and be kids. We were seated out in the atrium where their noises blended in with everything else.
Happy Year of the Ram! Next year, Peanut will be added to this photo.
Ah…another year has passed and I have one more year left in my 30s. Luckily I had a wonderful birthday weekend of celebrations. On Friday evening, Kumquat and I went out for Happy Hour. It’s still so much fun to dine out with her and today was especially fun.
As if 2 hours at HH wasn’t enough, she also made it through a late-night dinner at a fancier-than-usual restaurant. I had a tasty mushroom risotto with fresh uni on top and Ozumo still does their raw fish and scallops well. Jes and I were thoroughly impressed by KK’s ability to keep it together so late and felt so lucky to have been able to enjoy an old dinner spot again.
On Saturday, we went out for brunch at my favorite place in SF – the Ferry Plaza. We also walked around the city for a bit before heading home for naptime.
For dinner, we went to Harris’ for some prime rib and steaks. This picture doesn’t really do it justice but oh well. It was delicious but Lawry’s is still #1 for me. 
Thanks to Jason and Jia for the yummy dinner!!
On Sunday morning (my actual birthday), I had lots of birthday texts, phone calls, and Facebook posts to keep me busy. I also wished my dear brother a Happy Birthday over Facetime.
I also went out for a solo run and finished 3.9 miles in a faster-than-usual time. I guess running with a stroller does help make you a better runner. I felt pretty good and I think I’ve gotten stronger over the past month.
During the day, I took care of my usual Sunday chores and then we went shopping for tonight’s dinner. The girls came over for hot pot and it was a long-overdue and fancier version of McWino. There was no McDonald’s this year but there was still plenty of wine.
I had a really nice birthday weekend and look forward to this coming year. I feel so blessed to have my health, my awesome family, my wonderful friends, and a job that I don’t hate. Cheers!
On 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.
Joel 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.
Since 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.
The wedding was outdoor in a little ranch but it was pretty warm out there – a balmy 95 degrees I think.
Everything was beautifully decorated with those little personal touches that make their wedding special.
Joel was dressed in all white and all the boys were in black panchos. Those poor boys. 
The bride was in a crocheted dress and the whole set-up was very hipster – just like our Joel the Indie Rockstar.
It was an open bar and their specialty drink was a cactus margarita, which matched my top perfectly.
Here 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.
After the wedding, we were all starving so we made a stop at Johnnie’s Pastrami for an awesome after-party meal.
James and Sylvia invited us to join them on their week in their Tahoe timeshare. We stayed with them last year and the condo was the same configuration but we had a much better view this year. We went for a long weekend (August 9-12) and had some good family time outside.
During the drive, it was clear and sunny outsdie. When we arrived, it got increasingly gloomy and as soon as we parked and walked out to the lobby, it started to rain and it was followed by lightning and thunder. What a fun experience! I didn’t realize how much I had missed rain. This drought is getting ridiculous.
At the lobby, we had a couple drinks while we waited for our key to be ready. 
Once we checked in and unpacked, we spent the rest of the evening indoors watching the clouds and rain roll by and cooked dinner. The girls got reacquainted and the grown-ups got to stay up late drinking and playing Sequence.
The next morning, we made breakfast and then we took the girls out to play for a bit.
Then it was time to pack up and head out to the beach.
We went to Camp Richardson where the sand was mixed in with rocks and pine needles but the water was calm and we had a nice BBQ and picnic table for lunch. Can you see our little one siting all by herself in front of the big set of blankets? She was THAT well-behaved at one point in the day.
Kumquat needed a little time to warm-up to the water but by the end of the day she was bold enough to just walk out to the water on her own – NOT cool, kid. That’s when we had to stick to her like glue.
Toward the late afternoon, I noticed a big gray cloud in the distance that was moving toward us as if Eeyore was headed in our direction. The others also noticed so we quickly packed up and headed back to the condo. We made it just in time as the rain came down pouring and everyone was scurrying for shelter.
For dinner, we ordered pizza and once the girls went to bed, we did some more drinking and played some more Sequence. It was the second night in a row that I didn’t go to bed until past 1 am.
On Monday morning, I was packing up to go home when Jes got on a work call and came out saying that he made arrangements so that we could stay another day. Yippee!! Good thing I didn’t give that day back to work.
I’m so glad we stayed because we spent the day at Zephyr Cover (same beach as last year) and it was epic. It was raining off and on that day so the beach was pretty empty.
We also had James’ big canopy set-up and any time it started to pour, we sat under the canopy and enjoyed the sound of the thunder and rain. The sand was really nice and the water was super calm that day.
Kumquat had the time of her life and because we had the beach to ourselves, it was easy to supervise her from farther than an arm’s length away.
We left in such good spirits because there’s something so fun and exciting about being out on the beach in the middle of a thunderstorm one minute and then the sun shining bright the next. 
When the sun came out each time, we could see steam coming up from the sand as it dried. Jes even went out to swim in the water during one of the downpours.
For dinner that evening, Jesse made steaks and we enjoyed one last night of drinking and games.
I have to say that it was a pretty relaxing weekend. Kumquat somehow figured out how to keep herself entertained enough that I actually got some rest and time to myself for bits at a time. It was like my brain got a recharge after a weekend of less incessant “Mama mama mama mamas”. It was fun to see my little girl having so much fun and it was nice to be able to stay up late hanging out with friends for a change. What a fun weekend!
Right after my visit to Ranee’s, I headed down the street to meet up with Steph, Nathan, and Vivian for her 1st birthday portraits. 
This red two-piece was from the Bahamas and has been worn by her older cousins when they were her size and passed down to her.
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