Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

I don't get any holidays from New Years' through Memorial Day, so when I finally get a day off, it's great!

We had nothing planned so we went to Sports Authority. I had a $25 cash card, so we got a pink camo folding chair and water balloon pump, for free!





Then, we moseyed over to Home Depot and bought the supplies for my craft room! That's right! Ella's party is done, so now on to the next project!


Sunday, May 29, 2011

The party

So the big day was a big success!





She had a special sign directing guests.





Balloons on centerpieces and favors , oh my!



The balloons were the best part!





A special pink lemonade cake and matching cake pops to give away, thanks to Sweet As Sugar.







It was a great party and we went home to open presents. She got a lot of great gifts, such as this splashy table. It was windy and cold, but she had a lot of fun, we finished the day with a BBQ. I made cheese pizza from scratch for the kids, grilled pork chops, teriyaki chicken, and spicy sausage for the adults. Not bad for a last minute dinner for 12 people, eh?

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Happy Birthday Baby!

This little beauty turned ONE today!


Friday, May 27, 2011

Marimekko fabric

Ella got Marimekko fabric for her birthday!



She got enough for mommy and her to get matching dresses. Ooh la la!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Inverse relationships

I never thought I would admit it, but I'm getting older. And I'm not referring to my birthday a few weeks ago. Mental ability seems to have an inverse relationship with time.

On Tuesday, we were walking around the mall. Ryan wanted to get a haircut, so Ella and I went window shopping. After when we were leaving, it was drizzling. I wanted to tell Ella she was getting wet, but instead of saying, "Ells, you're getting rained on!" I said, "Ry-uhh. Rand-BAHAHAH!"

Not only did I attempt to call her by daddy's name, I tried to call her by MY name. Oops!



She's growing too fast, too.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Centerpieces are done!

Yes! I was worried I was running out of time, but they are finally out of the way.

"So soon?", you ask, "Isn't her birthday 4 days away?". Correct, but, I have to work late Friday night, and won't be home until 7-something. And Saturday, we'll be up on the north shore for my dad's 1-year memorial service for most of the day. That just leaves today and tomorrow.

I still need to work on the timeline, program script, and wrapping the giveaways, but that's all minor details. The bulk of everything is done!

I did convince Ryan to let me sew a small project. In one of the goodie bags, I wanted to put an art journal and crayons. The recipient is a 4 year old girl. So I got a marble composition book that is split page for drawing and a story, and a set of crayons. I wanted to decorate it, and saw a tutorial to sew a journal cover.
I made it, but it was too small:


So I re-did it. I simplified it (no scrap fabric strip) and added a grosgrain bookmark:


I love how finishing a project makes me feel so accomplished. Yipee!

I wanted to make 2 more, but if that's too ambitious, I may just use cardstock. We'll see how short I am on time tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Getting there

Hooray! I finished the favors, the card box, and am almost done with the children's goodie bags.

I actually wanted to include a sew special treat (fabric covered journals) in three of the bags, but I know Ryan won't let me. It's too noisy, for one, and two, there are way more things that I should be working on instead of wasting my time sewing. :/

Well, he did mention if I finish everything, maybe he'll make an exception. Maybe.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Oh crepe

I'm not one to blurt out obscenities, and I usually sound goofy doing it. That was my attempt. Anyway, the topic of today's post: crepes are delicious!


Hidden under this mixed green salad is a savory crepe.

A few weeks ago, my college classmate took me to La Crepe Cafe that opened up on Fort Street. I had a Moulin rouge (savory crepe with mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, tomatoes, and turkey) AND a Caramel (sweet crepe with caramel creme sauce). Yes, AND. And, it was delicious! Don't get me wrong, both were very filling. I just have a stomach for meals, and second stomach for sweets. Plus, it's such a far walk, I'm sure I burned off 1.5 calories getting there.

So today, I had to go back to make sure it was as delicious as I remembered it. And it is. Next time I'll try something else wink.

I don't know why my coworkers think I'm an awesome (food) salesperson. I'm not even an expert foodie, nor am I really passionate about food. They say that the way I describe food just makes everything sound so delicious. Maybe it's in pronunciation?

Sunday, May 22, 2011

A week away

Ella will be a year old on Saturday, with her party following the next day.

It'll be a busy weekend, we've got my dad's one year service as well. Thankfully, it's a long weekend!

I'll try to take pictures and update with the final preparations for her party, but no promises. ;)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I'm still here

I guess Judgement Day came and went, but we're still here.

We hung out with Ryan's friends at the beach house for a while, and lazed the afternoon away.



Then we met up with some of my co-workers and friends. We were sitting around chatting when someone mentioned the possibility that it did already happen, and we all were in heaven. He then proceeded to take a sip of his vodka tonic, and replied, "This could be heaven. I'm happy!"

Haha, ok, no offense- although sitting back with a few friends, drinking, and having a good time would be great, I had something else in mind. I'd want to reunite with loved ones that have passed and share a few shots with them. Ohhh to have another beer with my dad again!

Well, I guess we'll see in October if we really did/didn't ascend into heaven. But I do like how ABC Family is showing Jurassic Park. You know, because the rapture's(raptors) gonna get you! Or not.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Interior designing

While at Home Depot (purchasing a "disaster dump pot"(5 gallon bucket) and a ceiling fan for the spare room), I had the bright idea to not only convert the spare room into a craft room, but to transform it to an Inspiration Room!

I wandered into the paint aisle and started browsing color samples. I thought to myself, "What color would I not get sick of?"

Initially, I thought maybe something bright, like a canary yellow. No, too sunny. Maybe a pink? No, too girly. With Ella's room all pinked out, that's too much. Maybe ORANGE! No, I'm sure it would throw off the lighting and hinder my crafting. How about teal?


I was actually looking for something a little more blue, but I think I might need to look in a kids section or the Disney collection for it.

Anyway, in my head, I picture the room with white trim, wood shutter-style blinds, and red closet doors.

Ryan asked me for an example. I told him it's in my head, but he seems to think I saw a picture somewhere. I tried searching, but no luck. He's just going to have to trust me on this one.

He's started by helping me install the fan, check out Mr. Handyman's work:


Isn't he the greatest? Although, I'm not sure about the brown. Is the honey wood color ok? Or should I flip the fan blade to the white. Maybe after the room is painted I can make a better decision. Also, I am going to need to do something about those fan pulls. I think we need to finish the preparations for Ella's Birthday party this weekend anyway, so I may get to take a trip to Ben Franklin. ;)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Red thumb

What's the opposite of having a green thumb? Red thumb?

For Administrative Professionals' Day, the managers in my office gave the assistants and HR people cactus planters.

I know they were meaning well, and figured it would last longer than a fresh-cut bouquet.

For some people, it works:



For me, not so much:



Everyone says it's over-watered, and needs more sunlight. *News Flash* I didn't water it and it's sitting outside the door where it receives about 5 hours of Hawaiian sunshine, daily.

I can't keep a plant alive. Period.

Here's a picture of my Japanese Red Maple / Impatiens / Basil plant:



Good thing I don't make a living doing this.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Bending the rules

Ok, so, from a post a few weeks ago, I am not allowed to begin a new purse/bag/tote sewing project until I finish the Tea Clutch I started two years ago.
I didn't say anything about "paper" purses!


My co-worker was admiring the paper Hermés bag on my desk the other day, and I wanted to make one for her. She likes orange and I happened to have a design she would like.

Cute, huh?



The details with the folds and faux straps add a nice touch.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Crazy and sleep deprived

It's a wonder how I maintain my sanity.

It seems like every week brings on new challenges when you have a kid. Last week Thursday (while blogger was down), Ella had a fever. I posted about it on Friday - she was congested and coughing, and wasn't getting much sleep. Well, over the weekend she developed a strange rash. There were tiny little red dots on her arms and legs, her belly and back, even the soles of her feet had the little speckles. We called the doctor, and he said it was Roseola. One more thing, right?

Anyway, yesterday, Ryan was complaining his hands hurt. He wasn't sure if it was from moving furniture on Sunday or if it was from handling fiberglass at work. Anyway, he had little red spots on his hands and feet that were painful, as if being pricked by needles.

He's going to try to find out today, what's wrong. We didn't think it was contagious, but it looks like he's contracted something. His niece also happens to have Hand Foot and Mouth Disease.

Needless to say, last night and this morning have resulted in very little sleep and I'm EXHAUSTED.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Happy birthday, dad

Dad,

It's almost been a year since you passed, and it still seems like you're still around.

It's hard to believe that one year ago, you spent your birthday priming the house your first grandchild would live in. I wore the "I-P-L-A-Y words with friends" screen tee that you wanted to Yudu for me because we would always challenge. I won once. I think you let me win.

I miss you.

I wish you were here to be with Ella as she grows up. She would have made your day, she makes mine. I'm sure she would have loved learning your stories and tips/tricks. Hee hee!

I love you,

Your daughter



My dad with Ella, May 28, 2010, 2 weeks before his passing.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Tummy full

I apologize, I was so hungry, I didn't take any pictures.

So what did we have? 11 lbs of sliced roast (I can't believe some places give like 5 pieces of paper thin beef), pork stuffed aburaage (thanks to Ryan), won bok, other green stuff, crimini mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, kabocha, green onion.

I'm nice and full! Good night!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Blogger was down

I know I shouldn't procrastinate, but I do. When I was attempting to post last night, there were errors and I wasn't able to connect to Blogger. So I missed yet another day's post.

Oh well, It's Friday! Friday! Friday! Looking forward to the weekend~

Hopefully, Ella is feeling better (in the post intended for last night, I mentioned how Ella is sick). As of this morning, she's still coughing, but her fever is down. It melts my heart when she's sick. She's still energetic and talkative, but then she'll shoot you these really pitiful looks with big sad eyes and rest her head in exhaustion -- then jump up and run around flinging picture frames off shelves and eating things off the ground. This kid, I tell ya. Ryan and I are wrapped.

Up for this weekend:
Shabu Shabu!
I love Hot Pot. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow, but if not, I'll have a detailed report on Sunday of the delicious veggies and meat options!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Party favors

So we've been slacking in the birthday planning department.

The RSVP deadline was last week, so the total plus the 10 late responses, we have a new estimated head count of 75.

Initially, we wanted to make mock Starbucks VIA sleeves to hold packets if Pink Lemonade (her theme), decorated with circle punches and embossed citrus stamp circle punches.

Due to my laziness, we had to think of a new plan, as those sleeves are very time consuming to cut out on my Cricut (thanks, Ryan for making the quick cut SVG anyway) and buying 23 boxes (3 pp * 75 ppl = 225 / 10 in a box) was just not feasible, considering we'd have to probably hit up both Target locations and return after they restock.

So our new favor design:



Those are the 2 oz Ready-to-feed, Similac bottles. We saved them for this purpose from the day we started using them. My aunty suggested we hold on to them (in the fashion of new parents collecting baby food jars to use as favors), and good thing we did!

I've wrapped the bottle with a piece of wrapping paper slightly smaller than 3" x 5". The great part about this, is that it's really quick. Quick to cut the rectangles, quick to apply adhesive, quick to be done!

In each bottle, I will put three butterfly lollipops. Now that I think about it a little more, I'm thinking I may need to dress it up a bit more, so what do you think? An extra layer of cellophane tied at the bottleneck with ribbon?

I'm trying to be more efficient and doing one task at a time, but hopefully it will not be for waste. >>I still need to figure out what to do with the circle punches everyone already helped me stamp/punch!

Veggie tales

Not the cartoon. I'm going to share pictures of my past two days' lunch. I missed yesterday's posting, so I hope to get two up today!

Tuesday:


It may look like a salad on a fruit roll up, but really, it's a garden taco!

The wrap was a leather made from bell pepper and corn, which actually makes for a tasty combination. I wasn't a big fan if the "meat", but the "refried beans", sour kreme, and grape tomato salsa was very satisfying!

Today:


Kung Pao Vegetables had an assortment of zucchini, baby bok choy, red peppers, and mushrooms. The dressing and salty cashews made this so delicious!

Supposedly, you add diced papaya, but yah. That obviously didn't happen, as my father-in-law enjoyed that part. That's ok, I don't like papaya anyway.

Now that I'm being more "healthy" (eating better and exercising to Dance Central), I've notice I can't sleep at night. I better switch to decaf in the mornings!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Dance Central for Kinect

For an early birthday present, Ella and Ryan bought me a Kinect or the Xbox 360. For Mother's Day, they bought me Dance Central.

This game is FUN! It's along the lines of DDR, Guitar Hero, and Karaoke Revolution, as in it requires some actual amount of talent from the player. I'm sure it'd be great fun in a group but I have yet to gain courage to invite an audience. I may need to learn all the dances on The hardest level first, then show off ;)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

A memorable Mother's Day

It's my first Mother's Day! I am a proud mommy to a very independent and curious young mind.

In yesterday's fashion, this post will be short.

While Ryan and I were busy in the kitchen, Ella was busy exploring the tastes and textures if a slug. Don't ask me how she got a slug in the house, but we did find a lot of shimmery slime trails later in the afternoon. But what a scare that was!

Hopefully, tomorrow will be less eventful.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

No elaborate post

We had an accident involving a little finger and an aluminum can :(. No post today.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Happy Birthday to ME!

I don't really have a problem with my age, I'm 28. I don't wish I was younger or older, I'm pretty content with the pace I'm going, as long as I can enjoy growing with me family along the way!



Check out the special delivery that arrived for me at work today! I'm a very lucky wife and mommy to have such a thoughtful husband and daughter :). I love them <3

Thursday, May 5, 2011

The Rapture

Today, I found out that Judgement Day is coming up in 2 weeks: May 21, 2011. End of Days is set for October 21, 2011.

This time I'm pretty convinced it's real. After all, 5/21 falls on a Saturday and 10/21 is a Friday. It's just like the universe to make me work a whole week before deciding it's a good time to end.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

New hangout

Where's Ella?

In her new spot, of course!




She's just the right size to climb into the barstool and I'm pretty sure I've seen a bunch of similar pictures of me at her age climbing into a stool, too. I vaguely remember thinking it was a firetruck and I could climb up the "ladder".

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Another fun day

It's like the Sunday of my Stay-cation. My hours are dwindling.

Ella and I went to pick up grandpa and grandma from the airport. We had lunch at Nordstrom Cafe, and boy am I an oinker!

I had to try a cup of the tomato basil soup, mmmm! It's like a blended version of the Melt dipping soup. I also tried the Chinese Chicken Salad. That was really good, too! I ALSO had the avocado club panini, and finally a slice of caramel apple cheesecake! Not to mention, a taste of the spicy shrimp on angel hair and the creme brûlée.

I want to go back with Ryan, but it's dangerous! The cafeteria style of eating like at Shirokiya, causes us to go overboard (obviously) and we overspend and overeat. But YUMMERS!!! Can't wait. Heh.

We also checked out the new Bath & Body Works store that opened up yesterday. We finally have one. It's funny because my mother-in-law just came from the mainland, where she bought a bunch of the anti-bacterial hand soaps, when one just opened up and the tax is less and she wouldn't have to worry about over-packing her check-in luggage! I can't imagine how crowded the place is going to get during the holidays. Another reason I'm glad we moved out of the condo.

Here's the mischief the little munchkin was getting into today:



At this age, she's supposedly working on her gross motor skills, like "daredevil ATV rear-face riding" skills.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Goodie bags

I spent another day off with Ella, so we went on a search for things to stuff into her birthday goodie bags.

We have a range of age groups to satisfy, so we grabbed a bunch of items:




I need a couple items for 3m - 6m, but I think that's good for now.

So far, we've also got a 9y and 11y, but these play packs are a little too "kiddie" for them, so I thought maybe a craft item may be more their speed:




I saw this kit and thought, "That's cool!" It's so something I would have enjoyed as a party favor (some 20 years ago...oh my, I turn 28 this week). I can separate each into it's own kit.

I may end up having to make these kits for all the "kids", like the 25-30yr old attendees!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Water babies and Chicken and Wild Mushroom Quinoa Risotto

We spent the day at a pool party at Ryan's aunty's house. It wasn't Ella's first time in the water (we have a small 3x3 inflatable pool for her to splash in), but it was her first time in a big pool. She was so excited, as fearless as she was with the goat on Friday, she approached the pool to check it out. Forget lunch, she wanted to jump right in!

We bought her a little goldfish inner tube with a sunshade. She thought that was fun, but wow, when I took her out and she could just kick around, she LOVED it! She was actually sad when we took her out to eat lunch.

And break.

For lunch, we did potluck, and I brought a Chicken and Wild Mushroom Quinoa Risotto. Inspiration here. It was so good and I got so many compliments (most were because it was the first time they've even heard of quinoa), I think I would make it again!

Here's the adapted recipe if you want to try:
3 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken
2 cans chicken stock
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoon Butter
2 Shallots, minced finely
1 garlic clove, minced finely
1 pound fresh wild mushrooms, chopped (I used 6oz eryngii and 10oz portobello)
Salt and pepper
2 cups traditional quinoa, washed, soaked for 10 minutes, and rinsed
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used $8 chardonnay)
1 teaspoon white truffle oil

Season the chicken with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Simmer the chicken stock in a pot. In a separate large skillet, cook the chicken through. Remove from heat and dice/shred. In the same pot, melt the butter in the oil. Saute the shallots for about 7-8 minutes until you can see right through them. Add the garlic, and after a few minutes add salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. The mushrooms should not be fully cooked, but reduced about 1/3 of the way. Add the chicken back to the mixture.
Add the quinoa and toast for a minute.
Use the wine to deglace and stir. Once absorbed, pour the stock 1/2 cup at a time until fully absorbed. The quinoa may be slightly al dente, which is preferable. Cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Fold in the white truffle oil.

Even Ryan complimented me on the dish (he first heard of quinoa yesterday, when we bought it, heh), he had seconds, possibly even thirds!

Back to swimming.

Ella had so much fun, she kept trying to go back to the pool after lunch! This little girl has got her daddy wrapped around her finger because "Mr. I hate the sun and swimming" plopped into the pool to wade around with her.




What a great daddy! I have some other adorable pictures that I'll try to get up.