Mother’s Milk

By the way, I was in such a rush to get out the door, that I forgot my camera. DOH! So you’ll have to excuse the quality of my pictures, as they were all taken on my phone.

It all started at the airport. As often happens when flying into SFO, my flight was delayed. Honestly, I really didn’t mind. It gave me just enough time to enjoy an icy cold Stella. Alone. Ahhhh…

That night, we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant on Burlingame Avenue, followed by a dessert of truffles and cappuccino at another restaurant!

I slept in until 8:30 (8:30!!!!) the next morning. It was amazing. And when I woke up, someone else had made the coffee. And nobody wanted or needed me to make them breakfast. It was like my birthday.

Our first stop in the city was to the Ferry Building so that we could munch our way through the Farmer’s market. And munch we did.

We started with Steamed Dumplings. I had pork and Binky had veggie. They were soft and warm and scrumptious. I could’ve eaten seven, but I need to save room for bigger, pinker pork products.

Is it weird that my mouth WATERED at the thought of “tasty, salted pig parts”? I had such a tough time deciding what to eat, everything on the menu was just too yummy! We finally decided on the Italian Sausage sandwich, as it was on special.

It did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded. And yes, I did do a happy food dance. After all that salty, porky goodness, I needed some sugar! We headed to Miette for the macarons.

The flavors of the macarons are seriously UNBELIVABLE. Chocolate Lavendar, Rose Geranium, Coffee, Hazelnut. Just so flavorful and delicate. It’s like a slice of heaven in your mouth. I was hemming and hawing over the cupcakes because nothing looked too out of the ordinary and fabulous. But then I asked if they had any more of the Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting. And much to my thigh’s dismay, they did.

This cupcake was one of the BEST cupcakes I have had in a really long time. And I eat a lot of cupcakes. The cake was so moist and flavorful. It was a perfect balance of spicy and sweet, not too much of either, with the perfect ginger kick. The frosting actually tasted like cream cheese. I know.

As if I hadn’t eaten enough heavenly deliciousness, we were off to Boulevard for dinner! As I am known to do, I had to start my evening off with a little bubbly.

Whenever Boulevard has scallops on their menu, I have to have them, so that is what we started with! This is the Day Boat Sea Scallops with Golden Cauliflower Puree & Roasted Cauliflower with Garlic Anchovy Crumbs Castelvetrano Olives, Capers, Barberries & Olive Oil.

Last year when Robert took me to Boulevard for my birthday, I had lamb chops that were so perfectly tasty, that I wanted to suck every tiny bit of meat off of the bone! This visit, there were no lamb chops on the menu, but they did have a lamb entrée that was almost as perfect. This is the Grilled & Wood Oven Roasted Lamb Rack Chop & Loin with Artichoke Heart & Aioli, Roasted Early Girl Tomato & Sautéed Spinach Fingerling Potatoes with Chervil-Pesto & Pine Nuts Olive Salad & Roasted Lamb Jus.

For Dessert, I had a Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake that pretty much melted in my mouth!

Paired with a frothy cappuccino, it was a perfect ending to a perfect day of eating. Oh, and some shopping and visiting.

I am going to NYC in a couple of weeks and am already planning out where I need to eat…any suggestions?

Ryder is VERY obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. Or the Carivvean, as he calls it. So obsessed that we usually can’t get out of Disneyland without going on the ride at least twice. So obsessed that he very often spies Jack Sparrow in the grocery store. Or “Baby Jones” in the parking lot. Wha??? Who???

Ryder: “Look Mommy, Baby Jones is over there. He’s going into Trader Joes, too.”

Me: “Wait. Who? Who is in the parking lot?”

Ryder: “Baby Jones. He’s right there.”

Me: “Oh. Um, do you mean DAVEY Jones?”

Ryder: “Yeah, BABY Jones.”

Me: “It’s DAVEY. With a D. Duh-duh-duh.”

Ryder (looking at me with the most condescending, yet sympathetic look): “No Mom, it’s BABY Jones. Ba-ba-ba.”

Okay then. I couldn’t help myself, I just started laughing. If he is so sure that he is going to argue with me about it, then I’ll let him have that one. Plus, I was so proud of the look that he gave me! It takes some people YEARS to perfect that balance of arrogance and condescending sympathy. It was unbelievable.

Later that same day, Robert and Ryder had a similar conversation. And once again, Ryder schooled his dad in all things “Baby” Jones.

What to do with an energetic three-year-old on a gray and rainy day? Cover him in and plastic and send him outside, of course!

After all that cold water, it’s always good to warm up with a hot (but not too hot) shower and a warm dinner. And what to have for dinner? Homemade Chili and Corn Bread, of course!

How do you do a Rainy Day?

I love the rain. I love the smell, the sound, the feel. It’s so great to get out in it, but so great to be cozy inside, too. I only wish it were a leeeetle bit colder. Southern California rain is only kinda fun because it is still fairly warm and I get too hot with my cold weather clothes on.

Rainy days, especially in Autumn, make me want to COOK! Yesterday Ryder and I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I am still looking for the ULTIMATE CCC and I think I may have found it. The only problem is that the dough is supposed to sit in the fridge for 6 hours. 6 HOURS! Try explaining that one to a 3-year-old. SO, I did not let the dough sit, just stuck it right in the oven immediately. And the cookies were G-O-O-D. I put some dough in the fridge, just to see if I could tell the difference. I’ll bake those tonight and let you know.

I also whipped up a little chicken and spinach casserole that I just ate for lunch. Pretty good, but I need to work with the seasoning. Tonight will be homemade chili and corn bread. I’ll be sure to take pictures and post tomorrow. For now, I need to get back to The Incredibles and my cozy little house…trying to convince the hubby that we need the fireplace on, even if all the doors and windows are open!

Ryder is obsessed with pirates. OBSESSED. So, what better way to celebrate his third birthday than with a pirate party! Being so close to Halloween, there were so many fun pirate-related items to buy! But, I did restrain myself from going overboard. Okay, well too far overboard. Kinda.

It all started with the pirate ship bounce house, which I am fairly certain could be seen from the moon. The website called it a “toddler-sized” bounce house and did not recommend it for kids over the age of 8. As the average age of our guests was about 3, I figured we would be okay with something a little smaller. Dude. I can’t even fathom how big the regular-sized pirate ship was, seeing as how the toddler pirate ship took up our ENTIRE FRONT LAWN! It was huge. Plus, it was dropped off at 10 AM and not picked up until after 9 PM. Those kids partied. And this is where I would normally post a picture of the pirate ship, but unfortunately I didn’t get one. I know.

I did get a picture of the super awesome cooler that I found for the kids. It was perfect for all the juice boxes and baby waters that I found. Perhaps it was a little too fun, as after the party I found half-drunk juice pouches all over the backyard and in the house. Oh well! The ship has also done double-duty as a fun toy! Ryder now uses it as the Black Pearl when he is outside pretending to be Jack Sparrow. What a clever scallywag.

As I was browsing through all of the party websites to look for goody bag treats, I started to think about how fun it would be to do something a little different from the traditional treat bag. Instead, I decided to do a Pirate Gear Station. A place where kids could grab a hat, an eye patch, a mask and even a tattoo. I put out “pirate bubbles” because how could I resist? I also made Rice Krispie Treats in the shape of pirate ships and the Jolly Roger and put them in black skull and crossbones bags tied with a nice red ribbon! I figured this would be much more fun than a traditional treat bag, the kids could actually pretend to be pirates during the whole party!

After much debate, I finally decided to make dark chocolate cupcakes with banana cream cheese frosting. It was what Ryder (my little epicurean-in-training) wanted. Once I decided what I wanted to do, further debate ensued as to how to make the frosting. I knew that fresh bananas would ultimately taste the best. However, I also knew that they would probably turn my frosting brown, and that once the cakes were frosted, they would have to be refrigerated, which could dry out the cake! No bueno. I finally decided to sacrifice taste for look and longevity. That’s right. I used banana extract. *sigh* The things we do for the ones we love. In addition, I had purchased a mold to make a candy topper for the cakes, but I didn’t leave myself enough time to get it right, so I ended up just using the picks. Which still looked cute, but just wasn’t what I had planned…oh well.

 And of course, what pirate party is complete without a little debauchery?!?! Nothing like a little pinata whacking to get the kids going! Unfortunately, those poor little guys just could not get that thing cracked! My husband finally had to help them get it open. But when they did, chaos reigned and you’d think that those kids had never seen candy before!

Overall, it was a really great time. All of the kids ran and played until their cheeks were pink and their heads were sweaty. In fact, some of the adults got like that, too! But the most important event of the day, was that my baby boy turned three. How did that happen???

As many of you know, I love me some Autumn (and not just for the sweaters and the boots)!! I love the smells and the flavor and the food, the colors and all the treats! But almost as good as all of that put together? I love Disneyland!

This year I was again invited to attend Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland. I was SUPER excited because I figured that Ryder would be old enough to attend this year! Yay!

Now honestly, Christmas is my FAVORITE time at Disneyland, mostly because the decorations just can’t be beat. However, I have to tell you that Halloween is running a veryclose second. The decorations this year were unbelievable! Plus, they added some “talking scarecrows” that provided many, many minutes of entertainment for my little pirate (although he was wondering where Dorothy and the Wicked Witch were).

Last year the party was at California Adventure and they had several “Trick-or-Treat” stations set up throughout the park. I had anticipated that it would be a similar set-up this year, so I pumped Ryder up to get lots of candy. I was pretty disappointed when we saw the lines for the candy and realized that there were really only about 5 or 6 candy stations throughout the park. Needless to say, we didn’t feel the need to stand in a 30-minute line for a couple of mini candy bars.

The good thing about all those people standing in line for candy? No line for Pirates! Okay, it was fun at first to just walk onto the ride, but after the fifth time (in a row), I was ready for a change. Time for Mommy’s favorite Halloween ride!

Every year the Haunted Mansion is transformed into a living Nightmare Before Christmas. It. Is. Awesome. This year we were provided with Fast Passes to make our way through the line, which was nice since that was probably the longest line we saw. Ryder had been on the ride once before, but I’m not sure if he remembered it. Since he is really into ghosts and Halloween, he really enjoyed it. Not scared at all!

So as awesome as all the decorations and rides and what-not are, my favorite part of last year was the fireworks. I know, how exciting could fireworks be, right. Lemme tell you: PRETTY DARN EXCITING.

Last year you could see the fireworks show every night during the Halloween season, but this year they are only showing it during Mickey’s Halloween Party. And it is totally worth it. The music is incredible, the lights are amazing and the fireworks are unbelievable. I seriously cannot say enough good things about the show. I even sacrificed another round on Pirates to sit by myself (well not entirely by myself, I did have a delicious waffle cone sundae to keep me company) and watch the show. It was one of my favorite parts of the night.

So, if you like Halloween or Disneyland, I can’t recommend this event enough. It is definitely worth the extra money, especially since the lines for the rides aren’t very long, the kids get to dress up and you get to see one of the most fantastic fireworks shows imaginable. Enjoy and have a waffle cone for me!

How did this happen?

How did my tiny little baby turn into such a BIG pre-schooler?

Today was his first day of school and I have to say, I was very proud of myself. I did get a tad emotional. Little bit. Had to keep the Ray Bans on, so I’m sure all the other pre-school moms thought I was unfriendly. I just didn’t want to anyone to see the tears welling up in my eyes. *sniff*

After I got him settled in a play area, I told him that I was gonna leave so that he could play with his friends for a little while.  I wanted him to be a little upset, to ask me to stay a while, anything. Instead, I just got an “Okay Mom!”

Mom??

I am so disgusting. Like, grosser than gross. And the worst part is that I am passing my filthiness on to my poor little innocent boy.

I have left the house two days in a row…without…brushingmyteeth. Or my kid’s teeth. Seriously. WTH??? Who does that? How gross is that? I’ve gone back and brushed them as soon as I realized, but the point is that, eww. 

And it gets worse. Earlier this week I got a whiff of Ryder’s breath. Oh lordy. So I asked Robert if he had been brushing Ryder’s teeth before bed (while I was at work). No. I quickly thought back to the last time I had brushed Ryder’s teeth in the morning. Crap. How is it possible that we still have custody of this kid? In all honesty, I’m surprised the kid still has teeth in his mouth! Poor Baby.

Needless to say, we’re like a Crest commercial up in this house now. Twice a day. No matter what. I only hope that all that brushing will help with Ryder’s breath. Man, its wretched!

I started P90X this morning. I set my alarm for 6:15, untangled myself from the warm bed and husband and stumbled through the dark room to find my work-out clothes. I was going to DO THIS (or Bring It as the DVD tells me).

In all truth, I kinda lucked out on my first day. I am following the Lean Program, so my first day was working the core. A lot of the moves that they do are very similar (or exact) to Pilates or Yoga moves that I have done in the past. So, while not a piece of cake, they weren’t completely unfamiliar and difficult. The pace of the DVD is fast, but something that I am somewhat used to, having done Boot Camp for almost two years. I don’t mean to sound cocky (and I am fairly certain that my tune will change once I get to the tougher DVDs), but my first day really wasn’t that bad! In fact, I feel 5 lbs lighter already. Ha!

So, after my workout I stopped to think for a bit. Truth be told, I surprised myself with the determination that I felt. This is something that I really want to do and really want to finish! I have been feeling really bad about my weight and the condition of my body lately. Granted, most of it is due to The Incident that took place a few months ago (which I cannot get into now, but will at a later date), but I am having a hard time shaking those last 10 lbs. And it is making me crazy. I need to shape up. I need to look cute in my Seven’s again.

So with a positive attitude and a smile on my face, I am going to start this and I am going to finish this. And I am going to look gooooood when it’s all said and done.

…I’m starting P90X tomorrow morning. So, if I never blog again, it’s because P90X killed me. That is all.