Browse Category: outings

What a treat!

On Saturday night, Jes and I had a “date night”, which somehow felt a little more special than the Tuesday dinners that we used to have.   We went to Atelier Crenn, which is one of those places that I’ve had on my list of restaurants to try.  We’ve been to her first restaurant, Luce, and have had really good experiences there with her tastings.  I also met Chef Crenn at one of the “Plate by Plate” events and she’s a really cool lady.  Our reservation was originally at 10pm but we got a call at 8:30 letting us know that they had an earlier opening so we got there by 9:15.  We chose the 5-course tasting menu (estimated at about 2 hours) instead of the “Grand Tasting” (3.5-4 hours). It was so nice to be able to tell the server that I had no dietary restrictions. Aaah. We also shared a wine pairing so that meant I got my very own half-pour of about 5 different wines. 😉 I was so giddy during the entire meal.  Each dish was so thoughtful and creative and so yummy.  Of course we ended up getting more than 5 courses and we were home by midnight.  Here are a couple of my favorite dishes:

She called this one “walk in the forest” and consisted of 4 different mushrooms and an interesting toasted marshmallow on the side.

I can’t remember what this one was called but doesn’t it look like a huge beet on dirt?  Well, it was actually beet sorbet (orb in the middle) with the “root” made of chocolate over a bed of chocolate, oats, and other tasty stuff.  It sounds (and looks) really weird but it was sooooo delicious and something I’ve never had before. Yum.  And of course, I cleaned the plate.  Heh heh.

Thanks for hanging out with Kumquat, Mommy!

New Kid on the Block

Kumquat turned one month old today and we celebrated with dim sum at Yank Sing.  It was fun to have all the kids together in one place and it was neat to see how much they’ve grown and changed since I last saw them.

Jack is the oldest of the gang and has become quite a goofball.  He’s as wacky as his dad and has the best laugh.  This was the first time he had met Kumquat and it’s neat to see them next to each other.  I still remember when Jack was just as small as her almost 5 years ago.

Next is Reese, who has lots of spunk and knows exactly what she wants and doesn’t want.  Loved the new haircut she got but you wouldn’t be able to tell with all the food in her face and hair.  She also enjoyed flirting with Victor at the table today.

Then there’s Mr. Rowan.  He’s quite a mover and had some new kicks to show off today.  He also got super excited when Vyl pulled out a pack of seaweed paper.  He practically shoved an entire sheet in his mouth.

It’ll be fun when Kumquat is big enough to run around with the rest of the gang.  Until then, she’ll be the serious one in the corner frowning at everyone.

My First Mother’s Day

I had a very special Mother’s Day this year.  It was my first Mother’s Day as a mom and my mom was also around to celebrate with me.  The morning started out with the usual feeding and diaper routine and luckily Kumquat was on her best behavior that morning.  By 9:30, my mom and I were out the door and Jes was on his own for a couple hours.  That morning, I took my mom to Tiptoes for a pedicure and it was pretty busy at the 10:00 hour.

The pedicure was nice and the experience was even better with my trashy celebrity mag and a couple sips of the complimentary mimosa that they gave me.  Aaaah…  We also had enough time afterward to swing by Sports Basement to buy my mom a North Face rain jacket.

After feeding Kumquat again at home, I left the house again and met up with Michelle and Vyl at Bluestem Brasserie for a bite to eat and some girl time.  It was nice to catch up with friends and I was able to stay out for at least 2 hours before Kumquat woke up again.  Nice!

For dinner, Jes and I took my mom to Hillstone (again!) for a yummy steak dinner.  They each had a grilled rib eye and I had prime rib cooked to a tasty Medium Rare.  We also got to order the smoked salmon, which we hadn’t had since before I was pregnant.  We brought Kumquat along to dinner and she slept through the whole meal and didn’t wake until we got home.

I gotta say that I had a wonderful 1st Mother’s Day.

Here are two photos that my dad sent me last week.

September 1975

May 2012

It’s a photo of my mom holding me when I was born and then one of my mom holding Kumquat 36 years later.  Thank goodness my baby is so much cuter than I was as a baby.  Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy.  You’re the best!

 

Go Team Go

This year, our team from the hospital played in the annual wheelchair basketball tournament once again.  It’s our 4th year participating but I didn’t get to play this time around for obvious reasons.  I did, however, stop by to cheer for the team and to see my friends.

It was nice to be out and Kumquat did rather well on her extended outing today.  She slept in the stroller for a bit, got passed around to the girls, and even napped in my infant carrier without a lot of fuss.  She even sat through Bay Bridge traffic on the way home like a trooper.

By the end of the tournament, I heard that our team went to the semi-finals again and one of our guys received the Best Sportsmanship award.  Yay!

Sunshine and Fresh Air

This past week in SF was unusually warm and sunny.  On Friday, my mom and I took a walk with Kumquat in the stroller to Gott’s, which is where we met up with Jes for lunch.  On the walk over and back, I enjoyed just being in the sun without my hoodie on for once.  It almost felt like being in LA again.  We also walked at a pretty brisk pace, which felt pretty good too.  When can I start running again?!

Guilty

It’s been two and a half weeks since we’ve been home from the hospital and I was starting to run out of everyday things: conditioner, saline, vitamins, etc.  We were also low on diapers last night so I decided that I was going to take a trip to Target with my mom and the baby.

For those of you who believe that I should keep the baby at home for at least a month, I’m sorry.  I’m guilty for breaking that rule since last week and went even further by taking her into two more public places today. It was just something I needed to do.  I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time indoors and in my own home since I had the chicken pox as a kid.

First stop was Target.  The car seat fit right into the main compartment of the shopping cart and we kept her covered for most of the shopping trip.  She slept from the moment we put her in the car seat and napped throughout. It was also nice to be there at 10 am on a Wednesday so that the number of grubby preschoolers in the store was kept to a minimum.

She only woke up only briefly as I moved her back into the car and headed to our next stop: 99 Ranch Market.  Ew, right?  Yeah, I get a little grossed out by just their shopping carts but we managed to mount the car seat onto the cart, cover her with a thin blanket, and shop for groceries without having to lay a finger on her.  In fact, I didn’t have to touch her until I got her back into the house and washed my hands first.  Germ exposure minimized!  Yes, she was a bucket baby for 2 hours and I’m sounding like a germaphobe mom in this post but it’s what I’ll have to do for now until she’s gotten at least a couple vaccinations.  I’m all for the 5-second rule when she’s a little older and stronger but we don’t need a sick 2-week-old baby at this point in time.