Birthday 2016 - Southwest Road Trip

We went to White Sands National Monument in July to celebrate my birthday! It is an amazing place. The roadtrip consisted of:

• Scottsdale, AZ 
• Las Cruces, NM 
• Tucson, AZ

 The southwest is really such a beautiful place. There are so many places to discover. Hopefully we get to head back out there. But not in July. Or any month during the summer. It was 99 degrees at 9:00PM in Scottsdale. I like heat but that is a little much for me.

White Sands NM itself did not disappoint. Luca had an incredible time running and jumping on the dunes. The sand itself wasn't hot since it isn't actually sand. It's a gypsum where if you stuck your toes in, it was almost cool! However, he started getting cranky and complained of feeling sick. We thought he was constipated due to potty training stress. But then he was getting kind of listless and his skin was cool instead of hot like I thought it would be in the heat. We became alarmed and left early. I looked up the symptoms and he was likely entering early stages of heat exhaustion which can lead to heat stroke, which is really scary for a little one! So, I'm really glad we left despite spending the least amount of time in the place that was the goal for the entire trip. 

Sergio's birthday celebration

Sergio's birthday was on a weekend this year which made it easier to plan for. I briefly toyed with the idea of going away for one night without the baby but we're just not ready. So, I settled on a date night - enough of a rarefied event in the lives of most new parents and so, quite special enough for a birthday.



My sister and Chi came over to babysit Luca while I took Sergio out for dinner and a movie. This was our third time out without the baby and their first time babysitting on their own. When they arrived, I told them not to worry about a poo diaper because he had already pooed twice. Jenny had previously expressed her worry about having to deal with one. Well then. The first thing you'll learn about spending time with babies is how futile it is to get totally comfortable with a schedule. Because I was wrong. And then Luca topped it off by peeing on Chi while they were changing him. Kind of like a rite of passage for babycare. Teehee! We were a little worried since this all happened before we even got to the restaurant but we didn't receive any more calls after that.

We had sushi and sake, and then took in a movie at the fanciest of movie theaters. This was the same place Sergio took me to when I turned 33 (but it's under a different name now). We watched Gravity and ordered truffle fries and a drink each. It's really the best way to watch a movie.





Reclining seats!





Oh, how was the movie? Stressful. We saw it in 3D which we're glad about. But damn it was stressful. The last movie date night we had was also really stressful (World War Z). Next time, I'm going to choose a romcom.

It was a really lovely evening for both of us. And we only talked about Luca most of the time (as opposed to all of it). Ha.

P.S. SHOUT OUT to Jenny and Chi for babysitting AND taking Sergio out for his birthday a little earlier in the week. The delicious Italian dinner was perfect and that wine! wow. Grazie mille for choosing this occasion to share that special bottle with us.

Happy birthday Sergio!

Can you believe it caro? This time last year we unveiled our little bun in the oven video announcing our pregnancy. How many lifetimes does it seem like we've lived since then? I'm obsessed with our little family and so grateful it's mine. 

Happy birthday love.

Luca meets Nora & Bebi

Luca got to meet his Nonna and Nonno! I think it was a love fest all the way around.



They were in town for just over a week. We went to the Norton Simon Museum and LACMA.




We ate out at Malibu Seafood (where my parents and Chi met up with us), Ray's, Eat.Drink.Americano, Messhall Kitchen, and Din Tai Fung.





We hung out at Cafe de Leche (where we met up with Tracy), Handsome Coffee Roasters (where we met up with Bonnie and the Spinas got to speak Italian with an Italian named Antonio), and Urth Caffe. Bebi helped us figure out how to use the espresso machine we got from Jen and Andrew to make cafe worthy caffe at home.

We invaded Tracy's amazing home in Mount Washington to enjoy wine with the sunset and peruse her beautiful pottery. In return, Nora peered into Tracy's future for her.



We made meals at home and finally enjoyed the backyard. Nora prepared most of the meals but my mom and I collaborated on one big dinner. We even managed to stroll through our local artwalk and partake in Scoops ice cream.

The visit seemed so short! Hopefully we'll be able to join them in New Hampshire next year!

Happy Father's Day!

Witnessing my husband become a father this year has been incredible, and so much fun. I met Sergio in 1999 and was smitten pretty immediately. I love him now more than ever.

Happy first Father's Day my love.

Happy Anniversary Love!

Today is our five year wedding anniversary! Though, we've been together for much longer. Like 14 years - wow. I don't think I realized that until just now. Sure doesn't feel that long.

Love this guy so much.

Photo from Maggie Keegan Gross Photography. Our maternity portrait session was so fun. The photos turned out beautifully. Can't wait to see the album Maggie is designing for us!

Sqirl Cafe

We finally got around to trying Sqirl cafe and we are in loove with the food. I mean, it even made Jonathan Gold's top 10 of 2012! Must be for real, right? Here's his original review.

The seating situation is kind of uncomfortable, especially for this pregnant lady. It's all teeny low wooden side tables so you have to be ok with hunching over the plates/cups/glasses you so carefully tetris-ed together. And the crowd is nice and very, very hip. It's about the food though. Oh the food! So tasty.

I got a sorrel pesto on brown rice with watermelon radish, feta cheese and poached egg. It was the BEST! Sergio's generously portioned prosciutto fennel sandwich was legit too. He had a cappuccino which I tasted and it was perfect smooth. No sweetener needed! I also got a housemade rhubarb pink lemonade that I found just a touch too tart.



We over ordered and ended up taking the famous hazelnut brioche toast home and of course, we ate it without me taking any photos. It was heavenly.

I can't wait to go back - maybe order to go this time.

720 N. Virgil Ave
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 394-6526

Most social weekend ever

Last weekend we behaved like a pregnant couple stocking up on social engagements before baby arrives. Kinda exhausting actually. Am eager to slow it down a bit and feather the nest for our boy. Regardless, we had a lot of fun! I really do love the holiday season.

[All but one of the photos in this post are from my Instagram account. They rolled out profiles not long ago. Check my page out here!]

SATURDAY

Saturday was jam packed. Sergio dragged me out to the Apple store to visit the genius bar, only for us to be turned away because we didn't have an appointment. (My iPhone battery is draining crazy quick.) Then we stopped by Home Depot where we ran into Betsy's parents! It's a location we and they both never visit so it was a real coincidence. As night fell, we commenced our ambitious evening of three parties in three vastly different parts of the city. Yep. We are crazy.



Top two photos are from Work/Shop - How could I resist hanging with all these talented ladies all at once? Plus, any chance I get to grab a hug from Bianca I'll take. That gal gives the best hugs. Plus plus, Summer was coming from SD and well, I just had to meet her. She's kind of the bomb diggity.

Bottom Left is my Ban.do heart clutch from Jen and ginger ale with two cherries please. Every other year my work throws a holiday party for adults. (The other year is a kid centric brunch complete with kiddo height buffet line.) The party was sort of a big debut for my belly. Some work people still didn't know I was pregnant! But there sure was no missing it at the party. Everyone is so nice when you're baking up a baby.

Bottom right is my plate at Alpna and Hitesh's Annual Phoney Christmas dinner. We got there just in time to see everyone at least for a moment. Alpna is a superb cook and really, there is no excuse to miss out on her elaborate multi-course event of homecooked indian food. She even makes her own custom chai spice mix. Delightful.

SUNDAY

Just a tad more mellow than the previous day. We ended up back at the Apple store for our appointment.  Then lunch in with my parents in Chinatown. Then home for chores. I started the "Great Stuff Purge for Baby Stuff of 2012-2013".




Wow. Tired.

Anyway, hope your holidays are going swell!

Boy oh boy!

A tiny story:

The little boy had an idea. He stole a spool of thread from his mother's sewing supplies and raced to the second story window. He tied the end of the thread to a plastic bag, and let it float into the blustery blue sky. He watched with glee as the bag soared and the entire spool unraveled. His makeshift kite flew so high, so far -- all the way to town.

As Sergio was telling me this story, I could see he was reliving the joy of that day. "It was so high!" he kept saying. His voice was so excited, his eyes shone and in a flash I could see him as he must have been in childhood. So curious, so clever, and brimming with big ideas. I laughed and said, "I wish I could have known you at that age. You must've been a fun little boy." (Via some magical time travel solution, of course.) And I thought, it would be so amazing to have a little Sergio of our own someday.

He told me that story months ago.

Yesterday we hosted a small cake-cutting party to reveal the sex of our baby. The big reveal would be made to both our friends & family and ourselves! We asked our ultrasound technician to not reveal the sex to us but seal the results in an envelope, which we then dropped off with the amazingly talented Sara Tso of Matchbox Kitchen who we hired to bake our custom cake. The entirely frosted caked would be either blue or pink on the inside depending on what was in the envelope. Cutting into the cake would reveal the results!



It was an amazing moment. And we couldn't be happier. I can't wait to meet him, our little boy.

P.S. Thank you Sara! The cake was delicious and perfect. I can't wait to order another one of your creations.

Sergio's Birthday - La Jolla

I took Sergio to beautiful La Jolla for his birthday.



Relaxation was the goal and I think we were successful. It helped to stay at the fancy pants Estancia Hotel and Spa. We went on a gorgeous hike down to Black's Beach, had massages and generally just hung out.


Piatti


One of the most lovely hotel grounds I've seen.


Adobe El Restaurante






Hike down to Black's Beach.






Salk Institute




Our room.





Instagram snaps


We won't be doing any major traveling any time soon, but I really want to try squeezing in these little getaways before baby arrives. Luckily California is one amazing state with endless undiscovered places. Half of me wants to avoid the lure of old favorites and the other half wants to slip them on like an old, cozy cardigan. We'll see.

See full photo set by clicking here.