The Golden Child

Or is it the Last Emporer? In any case, we balded him. His hair was growing too long for my taste, it was going over his ears so I called him "Hobbit."

A Mommy Lesson

Beware of the phrase, "My stomach feels funny..."

As it will for sure be followed by, "BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHH.... (pause).... BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCH...."

"My stomach doesn't feel funny anymore."

poor man's TiVo

I love my TiVo - life has been so busy lately I haven't had time to sit down and watch my shows... on top of that, I have to compete with the Wiggles and Hannah Montana to watch my shows.

Now I can watch most of my favorite shows online at abc.com, cbs.com, or nbc.com. Heroes, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty (just because it's online too) all from the comfort of my office chair... ER and The Office however, must be watched on the trusty ol' TiVo. Thank goodness the networks caught on because searching for videos on YouTube sucks. You never know what you're going to get.

red to blue

My #1 nightmare is of my teeth falling out. First it starts out with just one tooth wiggly... then it gets really loose and falls out. Next thing you know, all my teeth start wiggling around and falling out. Because of this, I have a fear of cavities and have passed that on to my kids.

Remember those red tablets that stain your teeth to show you where you missed brushing your teeth? I always bought those for my kids, but they aren't always readily available. I always have to go to some mom/pop pharmacy store to get them... now Listerine made a mouthwash called Listerine Agent Cool Blue that does the same thing and you can pick it up at Target. Makes it soooo much easier to make sure the kids brushed their teeth thoroughly.

14 months

Finally! Teeth at 14 months!

baaack

I'm back again - I spent the weekend in Virginia with my family to celebrate my little sister's 18th birthday. My husband couldn't take time off from work so I braved a cross country flight with two of my kids (the baby and my 6 year old daughter). My eldest son stayed behind to keep his father company.

Flying with the two kids wasn't a big deal - they're both well traveled and they were very well behaved. The baby didn't cry once! And no, I didn't Benadryl him (...this time...) Going through security, however, was a huge pain. I had the baby in the stroller and had our carry ons plus the baby's carseat on a cart. I was pushing the stroller and my daughter was pushing the cart - she couldn't see the front of the cart because she's tiny so she kept giving everyone flat tires. Once we got up to security I could tell everyone was avoiding my line like the plague - I had to take EVERYONE'S shoes off.. then their sweaters/jackets, take the baby out of the stroller, fold the stroller while carrying the baby (thank God I have this cool stroller that you can fold with one hand - thanks Joyce!), load the stroller, carseat, shoes, and carry ons through the conveyer belt - then put everything back together once we passed through security. Oh did I mention that they had to inspect all the baby food bottles and I had to dump the water I packed in the bottles (to later mix with formula)? I actually heard this bitch behind me say, "God we got in the wrong line." BITCH. Yes, I like to go around airports with my children and take forever in security just to piss people off on purpose.

Too bad she wasn't on my flight - I would've made the baby cry just to irritate her.

Eh?

I have no idea where I've been. Q's face is how I've been feeling the past 2 months. Family and work have been keeping me busy as you can see...

But I interrupt the lazy blogging break to announce this:

Q turned 1 year old last week and he is still toothless. (And in case you were wondering, he doesn't walk yet either.)

We celebrated Q's birthday at San Jose's Happy Hollow Park and Zoo - great place for kids. The park/zoo itself isn't that big so you feel comfortable letting the kids run around without having to worry about them getting lost. But then again, I wouldn't know because I didn't venture outside our little picnic area. (I stay where the food is at.)

The bigger kids X & A started school a few weeks ago. They attended a private school before and we thought we'd give the lovely California public school system a try. It was a first for both me and the kids since I went to private school when I was little too and it was a huge adjustment. Too much of an adjustment - we ended up putting them back in private school.

I think I'm just not used to how big and open public schools are. First, the little one, A, got lost a few times within the school grounds and cried. She got lost trying to find her class line, trying to find the bathroom, trying to find her classroom after lunch.... Second, after school I was surprised to learn that they just let the kids out. At the private school, I guess I was spoiled in that they don't let the kids leave the school grounds unless they actually see the parents or guardian pick the kids up from the gate (this is all the way to 8th grade too). If the kids aren't picked up, they immediately go to afterschool daycare. I like the fact that I can show up anytime of the day and they will always know exactly where my kids are. Public school... not the same way. I almost cried one day because I couldn't find my kids. The first grade substitute teacher let my 5 year old daughter leave the school grounds - at least she let him leave with her older brother, but I had a hell of a time trying to find them.

On top of all that - they didn't have room for my daughter and they wanted to overload her to another school. I asked if they could move my son to the same school but they didn't have room for him. I refuse to make my daughter adjust to yet another campus - she was already having such a hard time with the one she was already at - plus I didn't want her to be at a school without her big brother.

I'm not knocking the public school system - we're just not ready for it yet. I know that I'll have to put the kids in public school when they get older because I can't afford the $5000 a month for high school tuition, but for now, I'm going to ride the private school train as long as I can.

chicken marsala

Last night I made Giada's Chicken Marsala with Mustard Mascarpone Sauce for dinner and it was mmm mmm good. Did I mention that the recipe can be found in my special autographed cookbook?

So far I have had good results with the recipes from Giada's cookbook. She really has the "Everyday Italian" concept down pat. The recipes are simple and easy - it took me about 35-40 minutes (maybe even less) to make the marsala. Pretty convenient for a weeknight dinner.

goodies from teacake

I am on vacation this week and I ventured out to Emeryville's Bay Street to have lunch with my three kiddies at California Pizza Kitchen after I ran an errand in Berkeley. (Yes, I went out to a restaurant with three kids by myself. No spills or thrown food either.)

While at Bay Street, we stopped by Teacake Bake Shop and I was overwhelmed with all the sweets they had to offer. While their prices might be a little high ($3 for a regular sized cupcake), I think they're worth it. You can tell that they use quality ingredients - because you can taste the vanilla in the cupcakes. My favorite was the vanilla buttermilk "cupcakie" which is a wide flat cupcake. I also got a white chocolate pistachio and pecan praline cookie. All very good. I would post pictures of the cupcakes, but they got annihilated in the box so they aren't very pretty.

h o t

It's hot. Triple degree weather. It usually doesn't get that hot in the bay area either. We tried to take the kids swimming over the weekend but the line to get into the rec center wrapped around the building because the pool was full! Then I had the bright idea of just getting a kiddie pool for the backyard so we ran over to Toys R Us and we weren't the only ones who thought of that because all the pools were sold out. Ditto for Target and Wal-Mart. After that, we went to Lowes to look into buying a portable air conditioner and when we got there, a big sign was posted outside the door: "We are completely sold out of air conditioners and fans." Ditto for Home Depot.

I resorted to taking the kids to the movies just for the a/c. FYI, Monster House is pretty scary for a kids' movie. Not so much funny. I didn't like the animation either - the characters weren't cute, they had skinny bodies and big heads. I wish I watched Cars instead.

But I am definitely looking forward to watching

i'm back part 2

Back from our "mini-vacation" to Southern California. Our friends got married on Saturday then we took the kids to Disneyland / California Adventure on Sunday and Monday.

The wedding was fun - one of the best weddings I've been to. They got married at Bel Air Presbyterian church which was a really nice church, and the reception was at the Skirball Cultural Center. I scarfed down the hor d'ouerves, my favorite was the garlic portobello mushrooms (so good... I'm trying to figure out how to make them!) Oh and two words for you: CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

Disneyland was fun (albeit HOT) - and we got to see Pirates of the Carribean ride. They didn't do anything too drastic to the ride - a couple of things like a fog curtain with the image of one of the ghost pirates and 3 (that I counted) appearances by Johnny Depp. The first 2 appearances looked like him, the third was a little off but that was the one I took a picture of (below) - too much eyeliner me thinks. I also brought my 10 month old son along for the ride - he wasn't the least fazed by that little drop.


I also went to CA Adventure for the first time - I definitely like the Disneyland side better, seems like there's more to do over there. I did however peer pressure my 9 year old son into riding the Maliboomer and Tower of Terror with me. Hopefully he won't give into peer pressure that easily when it comes to other stuff!

Maybe next time I'm in town I'll run into JustJenn during her many trips to Disneyland!

H and G

"... hi and goodbye..." -- Sleepless in Seattle

Now that I'm back, I'm going again. We're packing up the family tomorrow for our road trip to L.A. to attend a wedding. Hmmm... 5 hours in a car with 3 kids, we are planning for 2 stops, but I predict 5.

We're also going to go to Disneyland, we figure we might as well knock that out while we're down there -- pacify the kids for another 2 years.

Happy Thursday! I leave you with this picture... Q is crawling now. :)

i'm baaaaaaaack!

I have no idea where I've been... or what kept me away, but I'm back!

Anyway, some good news inspired me to post. Joyce had a baby girl on Saturday 7/1/2006 - Mommy and Baby Ava are doing great. I haven't seen them yet (thought I'd wait a bit since most of us know how it's like to be barraged with visitors after you have a baby), but pop over her site and send her a note of congrats. I have a feeling she'll be posting on her blog soon...

cookie monster

I love Milano cookies - and love them even more now that they have Amaretto Milanos and Black & White Milanos! I love the taste of almond - Amaretto Sours are my favorite drink... which by the way Joyce - we need to make these for your sugar party!

she's a talker.. she's a talker...

Out of the mouths of babes. Make that, a spunky, impish, sassy, know-it-all 5 year old babe. The conversation on the way home from school is below, and I really wish you guys all knew her because if you did, you would know her tone and it would make this even funnier:

"Oh Mommy, today I moved to the purple table so I can do my work better and won't talk to my friends."

"What? Why? Who moved you? Did you get in trouble for talking again?"

"Noooooooo! Ms. _ _ _ _ moved me. She asked if I wanted to go to the blue table or the purple table and I picked the purple table so I can do my work and I won't talk to my friends."

I see a future career in marketing or sales for her.

never take pictures of a sleeping baby

I was only trying to take a picture of him sleeping with his head on his hands!

(I know that babies should sleep on their backs but now that he can roll over back and forth they say it's ok. Plus, when I flip him on his back, he'll flip back to his stomach again anyway.)

Farmer's Markets

I'm so food oriented - I love everything and anything that has to do with food. Grocery shopping, cooking, eating, dining out, cookbooks, the Wednesday food section in the newspaper... everything. I love going to the Farmer's Market every Saturday - the one they hold near us is pretty small but still a good way to get fresh and ripe fruits and vegetables.

The Pacific Coast Farmer's Market Association has great information on markets in northern California and a handy guide on what is in season now. I have a ton of strawberries that I need to figure out what to do with... I feel strawberry jam in my future.

Plantable Paper

For Mother's Day we all went to Roys for brunch. They always give the mothers a gift at the end of the meal, this year they gave out plantable cards: lavender, chili pepper and forget-me-nots. The paper actually has seeds in it - after soaking the paper in water and planting it, hopefully something will sprout and grow.

Mother's Day & Sisters

My sister sends me flowers every year for Mother's Day. It's funny that she always sends me something every year but I always forget so I never expect them and am always pleasantly surprised when they are delivered.

She knows me so well. She sent me tulips because she knows I don't like the smell of most flowers (roses, tiger lilies, etc.), plus tulips are my favorite flowers.

We lost our mother to cancer almost 22 years ago, so my sister has been somewhat of my mother figure all this time. I should've sent her flowers, but I'm not a big hallmark holiday type of person. By the way, I say "somewhat" because if she were reading this, she would laugh and say, "With your stubborn ass? Yeah right!"

Let's just say that I don't like to be told what to do - which negates the whole mother figure thing. heh.

Strike #2

If you knew my daughter, you would know which of the 3 above options was the cause. Need a hint? She doesn't need ADD medication and she can finish a week's worth of homework in one day if she wanted to... so that leaves... YES... TALKING TOO MUCH!!!

This is Kindergarten we're talking about! My daughter is what most would call "feisty" or "spunky."

I had to laugh at this letter (but not in front of her). Her reason for taking too long on the assignment?

"It was a lot of pages and I wanted to play."

Sigh.

one for the collection

I stood in line for 2 1/2 hours at Sur La Table in Santana Row to have THE Giada De Laurentiis sign my copy of her new cookbook Giada's Family Dinners (I even picked one up for Joyce!) and it was well worth it.

There were a TON of people waiting for her. The line for the book signing wrapped all the way around the building.

She started off with a short Q & A across the way in front of Left Bank and the first question asked happened to be the #1 question Giada claims she is always asked: "How do you stay so slim with all the food you cook and eat?" (Her answer: portion control, exercise and genetics.)

She is very petite, some would even say tiny. She's probably no more than 5'0" and her persona is exactly what you see on TV. Very sweet, very genuine. And yes, she is that pretty! Her husband was even on hand but I didn't snap a picture of him. She also had a film crew there, maybe I'll see my elbow on FoodNetwork soon! (JustJenn, Leslie & Nannette - if you guys are Giada fans, she'll be in your neck of the woods tomorrow 5/3/2006!)

practice what you preach

After I gave my husband a quick 2 minute lecture on bringing his lunch to work to save money, he wandered to the computer and saw the screen below. Oops!

"Oh, I can't buy a $2 burger but you can buy shoes?"

YOU KNOW IT.

baking when bored

I was bored this weekend. I still have to tackle April's Cake which I'll try to get to this weekend.

Soy sauce on your pancakes?

Never put syrup and soy sauce next to each other when you're about to eat pancakes.

mmmm-mushrooms

I love mushrooms.

I sauteed mushrooms and shallots along with my handy garlic paste in some olive oil and just ate it with fettucine and parmesan cheese. Yum!

making pizza

The kids are on spring break this week so to amuse them we had a pizza party. I used Wolfgang Puck's pizza dough recipe because I've always wanted to try making my own pizza dough.

My little sous chef helped knead the dough as you can see:

Here's the dough after kneading, before rising:


Here's the dough after 30 minutes of rising:

Me and the kids like our pizza plain - either cheese or mushrooms, no pepperoni, no meat.


The end result was pretty good - the dough was thick and soft, just the way I like it. I don't like thin or crunchy pizza dough. I saved the extra dough for the next time we are craving pizza because I think we've said goodbye to Round Table for good!

food food food

I went grocery shopping and one of the items I wanted to get was tomato paste in a tube (like the kind Giada De Laurentiis uses). The grocery store didn't have the tomato paste but they did have garlic paste in a tube! I bought it and instantly loved it. I like the taste of garlic but I hate handling it because my fingers will smell like garlic for two days straight. With the paste, I don't have that problem anymore.



I also bought a Limited Edition York Chocolate Truffle Mint Pattie. I'm a sucker for "limited editions" or new products. I just recently discovered the overseas versions of KitKats - banana, green tea, red wine, orange, strawberry, grape, maple syrup, and cherry blossom just to name a few. I wish we had more flavors than our boring American milk chocolate. People even sell them (and buy them) on eBay. I don't know if I trust buying candy from a stranger on the internet though. I haven't tried any of these yet but it's tempting. My husband might not understand if I spent $10.00 on a single candy bar though. (Unless it was that time of the month!)

That JustJenn is sneaky and crafty

I got a gifty box from JustJenn last month for my birthday - it arrived while I was out on business travel so my trusty housemates (aka the husband and kids) opened it and described the goodies to me on the phone. Then they presumably set everything aside for my return home.

When I got home from my business trip, I found a half eaten bag of pistachios (the hubby loved them, as did I) and a box of Mickeyroni and Cheese that I recently served up to the kids... and now, 3 weeks later, I found a customized notepad (that I didn't know about) that my "housemates" tucked away under the piles of junk on my desk.

I LOVE the notepad! Thank you Jenn! All you guys can order your own customized notepad at justjenndesigns.com.

I love Costco!

I love Costco. I love any store where you can buy electronics, office supplies, groceries, clothes, toiletries, toys, etc. all in the same store!

I just about squealed when I saw this Smashbox cosmetics pack selling for $19.99 at Costco. I snatched one up. When I go back, I may snatch up more for my sisters.

What does it come with?
Lipstick
Single Eye Shadow
Eye Shadow Duo
Blush
Lip Pencil
6 mini lipglosses
2 full size lipglosses
Undereye primer
Concealer

On another note, I think the person who invented the plastic case wrap box thing as pictured above should be shot. That wrinkle at the top of the box is from me trying to pry the f'er open. I STILL haven't gotten it open. Waiting for my husband with his big muscles and his power tools to open it.

cookie monster never had these!

I'm not a health food nut but I don't buy a lot of junk food like chips and cookies - (my kids are probably deprived). I don't consciously tell myself, "NO CHIPS!" - it's just something I never think about. Once in awhile I'll splurge and buy a box of cookies, but usually I'll just make cookies or cupcakes. Not only that, my daughter's Kindergarten teacher doesn't allow junk food (sweets) in her class. We were a bit turned off by this approach at first but I don't mind it anymore because it forces us to provide a healthy lunch for our kids.

At a birthday party this weekend, I discovered Barbara's Snackimals. They're sugar free and contain no transfat. Not only that, they TASTE GOOD. We had the oatmeal cookies which are also wheat free - I didn't even know these were "healthy cookies" until I ate the entire bag and read the nutirtion facts on the back.

Joyce, until your sugar binge party, you can pick these up at Whole Foods, maybe Trader Joes. :)

cookie monster never had these!

I'm not a health food nut but I don't buy a lot of junk food like chips and cookies - (my kids are probably deprived). I don't consciously tell myself, "NO CHIPS!" - it's just something I never think about. Once in awhile I'll splurge and buy a box of cookies, but usually I'll just make cookies or cupcakes. Not only that, my daughter's Kindergarten teacher doesn't allow junk food (sweets) in her class. We were a bit turned off by this approach at first but I don't mind it anymore because it forces us to provide a healthy lunch for our kids.

At a birthday party this weekend, I discovered Barbara's Snackimals. They're sugar free and contain no transfat. Not only that, they TASTE GOOD. We had the oatmeal cookies which are also wheat free - I didn't even know these were "healthy cookies" until I ate the entire bag and read the nutirtion facts on the back.

Joyce, until your sugar binge party, you can pick these up at Whole Foods, maybe Trader Joes. :)

5 on the 7th

Sally tagged me for this meme. I have been too busy at work to do anything interesting in my personal life so now I have something to blog about!

1. Five minutes to yourself: how would you spend them, ideally?
I would take a mental break and space out (not think of anything) to clear my head.

2. Five bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it?
Toffee Nut Latte at Starbucks and a Madeleine.

3. Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already? (In other words, cull the junk, mentally at least.)
The huge gi-normous aquarium tank that my husband promised he would clean regularly which I knew he wouldn't because it was too big to handle (I'm waiting for the turtles to die), the junk in the backyard we've been lagging on calling 1-800-Got-Junk to get rid of, all the baby clothes Q outgrew in 6 short months, my husband's collection of video games that he doesn't play with but refuses to toss, and the kitchenette set with mismatched chairs.

4. Five items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
Photos. Everything else is unimportant and replaceable. Well... maybe except my shoes. I'd like to keep my shoes.

5. Five words you love?
Mommy, Hallo! (the first word I hear when my husband walks through the door), Uncommon, Brilliant and Chocolate.

Since it's way past the 5th... I won't officially tag anyone, but you know who you are.

tender moments... sniff sniff...

NOT.

A line has been crossed. I am officially the parent of a troublemaker.

I'd like to point out that in my whole academic career my behavior has NEVER warranted a letter home to my parents. I'd also like to point out that this is KINDERGARTEN we're talking about. If she's acting up in Kindergarten, boy, am I in trouble.

I'm saving this bad boy for her scrapbook.

March's Belated Cake

I finally got around to making the March installment of Martha's Year of Cakes which was a Cardamom Streusel Coffee Cake.

Compared to January's cake, this cake was super easy and quick to make although I was wondering about the streusel. The recipe has you make a TON of streusel. Some of the streusel goes in the middle of the cake, and the rest on top, but the streusel used more flour than the cake itself.

It was ok - my husband is eating it with his coffee as I type this. I'm not a big cardamom fan, and if I were to make this again, I would probably make it with cinnamon instead. And maybe throw some blueberries in there because I like blueberries in my coffee cake.

*Shame on the folks at marthastewart.com -- they misspelled cardamom. I first spelled it "cardamom" which is actually the correct spelling but on the cake page, it's spelled cardomom so they had me second guessing myself. I emailed mstewart@marthastewart.com to notify them of the error because a spelling error on marthastewart.com just doesn't sit well with me.

I wonder if Martha would fire the person who committed such a heinous spellcheck error.

dresses

Here is the bridesmaid dress I had made. The one on the left is mine, the one on the right is the picture I gave to the seamstress. I'm not as skinny as the model I know.

If you're my Flickr friend, you probably already saw the pics from the wedding. I didn't have a good picture of just the dress so like a loser, I put the dress on and took a picture of myself for my blog.


At the wedding I wore an orchid choker custom made by the fabulous Giao at the Walrus and Carpenter.

farmer's market goodies

I love going to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. Today I bought a flat of ripe red strawberries so now I have to figure out what to do with all of them.

One thing I did was make a strawberry and nutella sandwich. I usually like to make it with bananas, but this was even better!

yeehaw! (or heehaw?)

I'm in Houston right now on business until Wednesday then to Memphis the rest of the week. I am a mess right now because I have to spend 5 days away from baby Q (I'll miss the bigger kids and the hubby too...).

I was hoping Brokeback Mountain would be on Pay Per View in my hotel room (it was in Hawaii), but alas, it appears Houston, Texas prefers to keep their cowboys straight around these parts. Go figure.

forever my dinner date

A picture of the handsome guy who has been my dinner date for the past 11 years. We had dinner at Roys last night to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary... and I killed that chocolate souffle.

Happy 10th Anniversary to my hubby (who doesn't read this blog because there is nothing sports or video game related on it)!

hawaii... the details

I'm done complaining. On to the details.

We stayed at the Hale Koa hotel for the first 3 nights but had to check out once my Dad checked out because he was our sponsor (military hotel). I initially booked a room at the Ohana East at $159 for the remainder of our trip but thanks to BetterBidding.com I was able to book the Marriott Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa for $155 a night at Priceline! Can't beat a better hotel for a cheaper price!

My sister stayed at the Kahala Hotel (formerly the Kahala Mandarin Oriental) - this was where the wedding took place. The hotel was nice but the location felt boring. I like to people-watch and walk around to shop. The Kahala is very secluded (yet very nice) and probably a good place for honeymooners who want to get away. They even have their own in house dolphins!

Shopping wise, I picked up a book called Hawaiian Lei in Crochet by Roberta Wong and Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee. (I know you have this Joyce, but I couldn't resist.) I can't wait to get started on a lei - hopefully I'll finish it and it won't sit unfinished next to my cat's disembodied head. I picked up a bunch of shortbread at Honolulu Cookie Company - they have a store inside the Marriott. I'm a Big Island Candies shortbread freak so I was skeptical about yet another Hawaiian shortbread cookie but HCC's cookies are GOOD. My favorite cookies are the fruit ones, especially the pineapple shortbread - you can really taste the pineapple in it. I also picked up coffee (100% Kona of course), the usual chocolate covered mac nuts, Aloha wear for the kids, and a ceramic tile to hang in the house.

Because I really didn't get to enjoy my time in Hawaii (running around for the wedding, the Hilo Hattie children incident, and the stomach flu), I told my husband that we have to go back this summer to make up for it. :)

you hate me. i hate me.

**Long post**

I'm SuperMom. I went to Hawaii with the whole family. That's 1 husband + 3 kids (ages 9, 5 and 6 months). We got on a plane and we rode that plane for 5 hours with nary a whimper. Felt pretty damn good about myself.

Until Monday - aka "Golf Day"

I thought I could handle it, after all, I did it before (albeit in the comfort of my own home.. that thought escaped me at the time). So I dropped off the hubby at Ko'olina and I headed back to our hotel in our rented mini-van. Hilo Hattie was on the way back to Waikiki and since I was sick all day Sunday and could not get to the Aloha Stadium swap meet, I thought I'd suck it up and pay tourist prices for the souvenirs I needed to buy for everyone.

When I lifted child #3 out of the carseat and into the stroller, his pacifier fell to the ground. Since it was dirty, I left it in the van (mistake #1). Then, since I knew I would be quick, I left his diaper bag in the van (mistake #2). I went into Hilo Hattie with all 3 kids in tow and started shopping. Then child #2 needed to use the restroom.

So I take children #2 and #3 into the bathroom while #1 sat and waited on a bench. All was well and I started shopping again. I pass by this old man who had that old man smell and I thought to myself, "Damn, this guy STINKS!" We go to a different corner of the store... "Whew! I can still smell him! ...Wait a minute... sniff sniff.. damn it." #3 decided to drop a bomb in the store and because of mistake #2 I had to run out to the parking lot (with 3 kids in tow) to get the diaper bag.

Repeat the first two sentences of the last paragraph.

#1 and #2 got antsy and started horseplaying. Literally horseplaying. #1 had #2 by the ponytail and was pulling on it saying "Giddyap horsey!" Some old lady (lots of old people tourists in Hawaii) said, "That's not very nice, how would you like it if someone pulled YOUR hair?" That got my attention so I shot a dirty look at her for scolding my son then shot a dirty look at my son because his actions caused some stranger to look at me as if I didn't know how to control my children. Damn that old bitch... I was in the middle of shopping and didn't have time to pay attention to my kids.

To pacify the children I told them, "You guys can pick ONE THING from the store and I'll get it for you." #1 picked some stuffed macadamia nut animal and #2 picked a Hawaiian paper doll book.

Back to shopping. This time in the home accessories (read: BREAKABLE) department. I picked up a ceramic tile to hang up at home that has a pineapple and says "Welcome to our home!" While looking at other tiles I heard, "GASP! Watch out!" (Sound of something falling.) The children (#1 and #2) have managed to make a game of a paper doll book and stuffed macadamia nut fighting Star Wars with each other and they knocked over a vase which luckily (for the kids' butts) didn't break but I had to endure more of the "Look at that mom who can't control her kids" looks from those old people again.

After that I grabbed their arms and headed to the checkout line where #3 decided to cry as loud as a banshee. #3 is a good baby by all accounts and does not cry much, but when he cries, he cries LOUD. I picked him up out of the stroller to soothe him, didn't work. Looked around for the pacifier (see mistake #1). The line was unbelievably long because 2 tour buses pulled up earlier so there was (and I'm not lying) a group of at least 20 young Japanese teens who were all dressed EXACTLY THE SAME (down to the shoes) and had the same exact haircut (shaved but had a couple month's worth of growth so they all had the same length of hair) and they were all in line at exactly the same time. It was "The Perfect Storm."

#3 was screaming his head off and nothing I did was helping. Another old guy let me cut in front of him and told the cashier, "Why don't you take this young lady with the baby first?" I saw sympathy and annoyance in his expression. I hurried as fast as I could but my cashier was sooooooooooooo slooooooooow in bagging my stuff so #3 was still screaming and crying. It's exactly that cry you hear at Target that goes on and on and you stop shopping to look for the stupid ass Mom who isn't doing anything to shut the kid up so you can give her that look. I give that look at those Moms all the time and karma... On Monday, that Mom was me.

New rule: HE WILL NEVER EVER LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THREE KIDS TO PLAY GOLF AGAIN. EVER. EVER EVER.

"...once it hits your lips it's so good!"

I'm back from my (mis)adventures in Hawaii. I say misadventures because... well... maybe I'll post across a span of a few days on my Hawaii trip, otherwise this will turn into a novel.

The main thing I did in Hawaii? EAT LIKE A FREAKING PIG. I was too busy eating to take pictures of all the goodies I gorged on.

Malasadas from Leonards. I got one of each flavor (filled with custard, chocolate, haupia, guava custard, and banana custard) and the rest cinnamon sugar. My favorite was the guava... OMG it was sooooooooooo good. I am drooling just thinking about it. Haupia came in at a close second. After eating 1 (or 2) plain malasadas I felt sick so I just took a bite of each flavor... now I wish I had the whole dozen here with me so I can finish them off.


On the way to Waimea, we stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck for some scampi.


SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD. That is garlic you see all over the plate. I hate touching food with my hands but I had no problem getting down and dirty to peel all those shrimp. I think I reeked of garlic through the next day.


I also got to try the famous Beard Papa's cream puffs which were sold in the Food Pantry right on Kuhio. I got greedy and got 5 plain and 1 green tea. They were good, but maybe I was expecting too much because of all the hype because after I tried them I thought, "Hmmm. This tastes just like a... cream puff."

We also ate at Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crab on Friday night with the family - I had my usual, the poke. I have a March birthday (actually it's today! HPBD2ME!) so they served me up a piece of banana bread pudding with a candle on it.


What else did I eat? Well, at my sister's wedding reception we were all treated to a six course gourmet dinner* at the Kahala Hotel (formerly Kahala Mandarin Oriental hotel.)

Ahi Carpaccio with Walnut Crostini

Sweet Kahuku Corn and Lobster Chowder

Pan Roasted Onaga

Champagne Sorbet

Kiawe Grilled Tenderloin of Beef

Warm Seasonal Berry Tart

Freshly Brewed Kona Coffee

Tropical Tango Wedding Cake - Vanilla Cake with Lilikoi and Mango Filling

*This doesn't include the appetizers either (assorted tropical fruits and cheese and smoked chicken and papaya on crostini).

Yesterday before we headed back to the airport, we had breakfast at Rainbow Drive-In on Kapahulu. Kids had the pancakes and french toast (both VERY good, pancakes were fluffy, hot and fresh), Hubby had the breakfast special (eggs, rice and your choice of meat, which in his case is always hamburger steak with gravy), and I had the fried rice with eggs. After breakfast, I saw that Zippys was right down the street so I ran in and bought Napples of each flavor (chocolate, coconut, apple, blueberry/cream cheese and cherry).

I was afraid to weigh myself when I got home, but I expected the worse (+ 3-5 lbs) and was ok with the +1.5 lbs. I'll work it off now that I'm back!

aloooooooooha!!!

I'm in Hawaii right now! I'll be back tomorrow night with pictures of all the fat laden calories I have been ingesting. (Malasadas, Beard Papa's cream puffs, scampi from the shrimp truck... And that was just today!)

Quick Cake Decorating

I ordered the above pictured cake for my son's baptism from a local bakery. It was a white cake with rum custard filling and whipped cream frosting.

I asked for a plain cake because I didn't want flowers or balloons plus I wasn't too impressed with the cake decorating skills at this bakery.

To make up for the lack of decor, I bought some roses and decorated the cake myself. Roses are edible so I don't think I poisoned anyone. Everyone was put off by the rum custard anyway - it was too strong for some people, but I liked it. Reminded me of eggnog.

Year of Cakes - The Group

I haven't forgotten about my pledge to take on Martha's Year of Cakes. February was a crazy month so February's cake will have to share the spotlight with March's cake. I have a good excuse for slacking... we're leaving for Hawaii next Thursday for my sister's wedding and couple that with helping with the wedding plans, busy days at work, battling the stomach flu, plus two out of three sick kids (who also have the stomach flu)... I haven't had the time. Plus who wants to eat a cake prepared by someone suffering from the stomach flu?

I joined Sweet Little Treat's Year of Cake's group and if any of you out there like to bake and want to participate, everyone is welcome to join. I knew there had to be others out there that wanted to take on Martha's Year of Cakes - now I have fellow cake loving Aussies to bake with! Their cakes turned out really good I might add. I may have to follow Martha's directions and pictures more carefully.

By the way... having two kids sick at the same time... that's going to have to be a separate post. Hell, even a separate blog. In a nutshell, running back and forth cleaning up the bodily fluids that have spewed out of every orifice of two children... NOT FUN. Clorox bleach is my friend this week.

F#$@ fundraising

"Would you like to buy some delicious pizza, pie, cookie dough or cheesecake?"

Fundraising has taken over our freezer and fridge. Look at all the cookie dough, eclairs, pizzas, pies and cheesecakes I have to store in my fridge until I can pass these delectable yet extremely small goodies out to all the suckers, I mean supportive and generous family and friends that bought them. I am never going to participate in this fundraiser again. I had to defrost two whole chickens for dinner just to make room! I'll just have to step up the gift wrap sales instead.

her dress is done!

My daughter's flower girl dress is done. This is the original design I gave to the seamstress to copy:


This is the dress the seamstress made for my daughter (excuse the background mess):


Her dress was made from dupioni silk. My dress is not done yet, I go in for my fitting next week. I know we're kind of pushing it, but she's really fast -- she made both our dresses in two days! My dress is already cut, but because of some weight loss and breastfeeding issues, she wants to make it at the very last minute so we know it fits right. I'm very happy with how my daughter's dress turned out. The flower is removable as is the sash. She made a vertical pocket in the sash for the flower, and the stem of the flower slips right in.

She didn't want to take the dress off after this.

I was bored

So I made these "Utterly Peanut Buttery Bars" from a recipe I found on the back of a box of C & H light brown sugar. They have a peanut butter shortbread type crust, gooey peanut butter middle and crumbled topping (crust). They're good, a bit too sweet for my taste, I would've preferred them saltier. My kids and husband loved them.

Here is the recipe:
Crust:
1/2 cup soft butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
2 eggs
2 tbsp peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1/2 cup sugar
12 cup golden brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375.

Crust: In a medium bowl mix butter, peanut butter, and sugar until well blended. Stir in vanilla. Add flour and mix well (mixture will be crumbly). Reserve about 1 cup of this mixture for top. Firmly press remaining mixture into bottom of lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan.

Filling: Beat eggs, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar together. Spread over unbaked crust. Sprinkle with reserved crust mixture. Bake approximately 20 minutes or until set and top is golden. Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Falling off the wagon

I really don't use boxed cake mixes, but my sister introduced me to Trader Joe's Vanilla Cake Mix... and it's GOOD. If you look up close, you can actually see the black specks of vanilla bean. They also make a Meyer Lemon cake mix which I bought but haven't tried yet, but if you're ever feeling lazy and just want a quick cake fix, this is the perfect cake mix. I used the leftover buttercream from my January Martha cake to frost the cupcakes so I was done with these in a snap.

On another note, I just want to say that I LOVED last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. I think McSteamy is my new McDreamy (I have a weakness for jawline beards / chin curtains). I hated the ending. Meredith and George. YUCK. It's like watching an incestuous relationship unfold. I wanted Meredith to hook up with McSteamy so there would be tension between all four of them. And since I can't get enough, I've also been reading the blogs ABC has for Grey's Anatomy.

desktop

My desktop picture cracks me up. It's as if he is peeking from inside the monitor.

fo' shizzle

I got my gifty loot from Shiz a couple days ago! She sent me Toblerone (which I LOVE), chocolate covered blueberries from Trader Joes, Ferraro Rocher chocolates, Lindt Extra Creamy milk chocolate, and green chenille yarn. It's taking all the energy I can muster to not eat all of the chocolate. I ate half the Lindt bar which was extra creamy. I love milk chocolate but I don't like dark or bittersweet chocolate... I'm not a fan of bittersweet chocolate, it's like eating chocolate covered aspirin.

Depriving yourself of food you love sucks. Diets suck. Imagine if I had to do this because my life and health depended on it. That would suck.

When my sister's wedding is over, I'm going to go on a eating binge.