Malibu Betty

Forrest's birthday wine weekend

2012-01-31T05:48:00.000-08:00

Two guys, a designated driver and a lotta glassware = good times. I can't wait for my turn!

Fun family news!!!

2012-01-24T17:17:00.001-08:00

Donut will be joined by "Nacho" in early August :)

The power of green?

2012-01-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, that remains to be seen.
This week I joined the green smoothie train...blending up mixed greens, veggies and fruit in the mornings and drinking it all day. I don't really feel different yet and am afraid all this fiber will make me poop my pants...but...it's worth a try.

What's the worst that could happen? I get some extra vitamins?

As of late, my vegetation intake was paltry and I needed a way to ensure I was eating them as opposed to letting them rot in my fridge. So far so good...no change for the better felt but nothing for the worse either...we'll keep this up for another couple weeks and see where it gets me.

O-M-G

2012-01-13T20:59:00.000-08:00

It's official Chammy is engaged! I almost don't believe it...it's my baby brother...sometimes I still he him as a 5 year old with a bowl cut jumping off the furniture all over the house. And now, he's engaged to be married...holy crap...he's getting old :)

But really, I am esctatic and we all love Chelsea. And already the wedding planning madness has begun. I am trying my best to be helpful without being pushy because it's their day, the beginning of their new chapter together.

Above is the ring...or as I like to call "The Damage" It took me a whole year to convince Sam that rings are not as expensive as he thinks they are...I mean they are not as cheap as a gumball ring...but it's not as though you have to sell a kidney either...but I realize that I've just laid out the largest possible range so um, whatever.

It was really a wonderful thing to get to be a part of the process...of watching Sam grow up, fall in love and come to terms with his adulthood to realize that Yes Chelsea is the partner he wanted and Yes he was ready for the next step. Watching him buy the ring and tell me about how there's no other person he'd rather go through all of life's stuff with but her brought tears to my eyes.

Family is really a blessing...and my brother and I have always been pretty close, and I've always wondered if we'd drift apart as adults because people get married and start having babies and then you just start having less time for things outside your new nuclear family. But I am happy to report that we have instead just folded in all the new family members, friends and all into just a bigger, happier and closer family. This is only the beginning of more beautiful things.

hugs - sis

Dinner @ Keiko

2012-01-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

Mike and Molly made reservations at a new restaurant in Nob Hill back in December called Keiko. The chef used to be at El Paseo in Mill Valley and was well known and this is their new place in the city... Imagine Japanese and French in one plate - I know...makes you wonder...but you should definitely try it.

Like a fool, I did not write down what the courses were...I just ate it.

Family Dinner at The Kitchen

2012-01-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Sacramento with Forrest's family hosting. My mom and brother joined in on the fun as well with everyone staying over at my in law's place - it was quite the full house :) As if the Turkey day feasting wasn't enough, we headed out to The Kitchen on Friday evening. Half show half meal - it was fun to see the chefs cook live in front of you while describing what they are doing.

View Full Album Here

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-29T21:30:00.001-08:00

Keep them coming people...I like how our holiday card wall is shaping up. And keep making those cute babies to fill those holiday cards. What's kinda funny and cute is that both my dentist and our leasing company send cards as well :)

Breakfast date for one...

2011-12-29T21:18:00.001-08:00

Starts with a great bowl of coffee :)
Thank you Rose's Cafe for getting my first day of holiday started off right

It's almost a Seinfeld moment

2011-11-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Made some brownies the other day and when Sam went to serve himself, he shows eats them with a pair of chopsticks...for real? All I could think of was the snickers with a fork and knife a-la-George Costanza.

Reverse Ugly Duckling of the Insect Kingdom

2011-11-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

Donut, Molly, Mike and I were out for a walk the other day and noticed that there were caterpillars EVERYWHERE. We were trying to figure out what was going on for all these moths to be a birthing babies and also trying to figure out what these were. Donut was so engrossed in them saying "Mommy caterpillar!" and wondering if they were hungry a la The Very Hungry Caterpillar book. We also get a lot of caterpillars in our veggie garden...Donut and I pick them out and them move them onto the lawn. Those caterpillars are green so sometimes hard to find amongst the green lettuce leaves.

These little guys in the picture turned out to be Woolly Bear caterpillars.. totally cool looking, all hairy with the orange and black stripes but eventually turn out to be a pedestrian moth. I wonder what rule of the insect kingdom dictates the babies to be colorful and distinctive with the adult form looking rather plain.

So, um, where's the garden?

2011-11-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

Recently I was in New Jersey and its tagline is "The Garden State" so I ask you... where is the garden?

PS - Yes I know I am not supposed to be using my phone while driving

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

The Halloween cuteness ensues. This year I planned our neighborhood's Halloween party and even got into the spirit myself by dressing up in coordinating outfits with Donut. Scrooge (Forrest) did not join us and was a grumpy grump at even the planning phases of the costumes. But at least he helped setup for the party, put up decorations and carried over all the heavy stuff.

We had some friends join us...the Maturos dressed as Sesame Street, the Fontaines with one lobster (Edward) and the Soldos with their little pumpkin (Sophia). I think Donut is finally getting the swing of this Halloween thing and it was really cute to see her trick or treating with her friends. Cannot wait for more kids so we can dress as a team.

European Holiday 2011!

2011-11-21T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hooray for Europe!

Work travel is not so great sometimes as it takes you away from your family and friends for sometimes extended periods of time. And it is not as glamorous as it may seem...most of the time you spend less than 24 hours in a city and every city looks the same because you only see the inside of a hotel and meeting room. But sometimes the opportunity arises to mix work travel and fun travel. I was able to participate again in our European conference as a speaker and this time the whole family went along for the ride. We extended the trip to a full 2 weeks and tacked on 2 additional countries for our perusing.

We started off in Stockholm Sweden and ended up staying in a posh neighborhood and spent a long weekend (~4 days ) walking around town and checking the sights.

Monday morning we hopped on a 6am train to spend the week in Copenhagen Denmark for my work conference. The timing was so that we were there for Tivoli Garden's halloween week! We were also lucky enough to tag along on a reservation to have lunch at Noma (YUM!!!) what is currently billed as the world's best restaurant.

Friday we hopped on an early plan to Berlin and spent the next 5 days trekking around Berlin Germany soaking in the culture, history and food. From currywurst to durum doners to yes even Korean food...we ate our way through the town. And pretzels...LOTS of pretzels...

So much to see and do and lots of time spent with my two favorite people. The full slideshow is below.

My new favorite thing - the Kindle

2011-11-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

I have always loved to read and have a book rotation with Molly but my latest toy is the Amazon Kindle. I got Forrest one for Christmas last year and thought I would never switch...because I love the experience of turning pages in a book (I know...lame and I am a dinosaur) but I finally gave in as we were gearing up for our European vacation. There was no way I was going to lug around a ton of books for the two week trip... AND then I learned you get free international 3G and I was sold. Since the 6 weeks I have had this thing I have read 10 books...craziness. So with that, I bid you happy reading and everyone I know will be getting one of these for their birthday over the next year.

Stupid Computer Virus

2011-11-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

I really should know better... but those worms finally got me. After all these years, over a decade of awesomeness of not getting caught by one of those worms... After all years of laughing at the misfortune of others...

I was stupid enough to click on the attachment in an unknown email.

It wiped out all my apps and some of my local data. I quickly unplugged the backup hard drive once I realized what was happening so it didn't get my most precious data... years of electronic tax returns and 7 years worth of photos. Panicking I tried shutting down my computer and rebooting...no dice...I started sweating at the thought of having to wake up Forrest at 6 in the morning to fix the computer...less dice...desperately I tried to navigate the computer as a series of pop up windows kept appearing in quick succession after another... Until I came upon the "backup utility"

I never thought I'd say this but "Thank You Microsoft Backup Restore Utility for saving my bacon. I restored to sometime a week before and was back online with all my apps and about 90% of my data."

Lesson learned...no more clicking on email attachments (even from the USPS - I know!) and keeping some Windows around just because :)

Susi + Brian Wedding Reception

2011-09-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

And onto the group and couple pics - woo hoo! I wish I got better pics of the location because it was BEAUTIFUL! Overlooking the lake and the food was stellar - when you have foodies like the wedding couple it's a sure bet that the meal will be delicious. And I officially hate taking pictures with both Hollis and Forrest because my head is 3 times the size of theirs...JEEBUS. I need to start standing about 4 feet behind them to get a better size ratio :)

Susi + Brian Wedding

2011-09-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Partypic Pose!

2011-09-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

Us sorority girls know how to pose...it's like we have been doing it for years or something...hahaha. Last weekend was Susi and Brian's wedding in Tahoe and minus the altitude sickness it was a kickass time in a beautiful setting. It's wonderful to look at a picture like the one above and realize that you've known these women for so long. We were all in the same sorority in college so many of us met during our freshman year. Some of the ladies I know better than others and those whom I didn't know very well back then, I've had the joy of getting to know them better in recent years. It's a wonderful thing to form new friendships from such a long lasting group. More fun pics to come to toast the happy couple!

Finally a King for all the Queens

2011-08-20T21:12:00.001-07:00

More roadtrip fun. This was one of TWO Dairy Kings we drove by...

Any flavor as long as it's 3.14

2011-08-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Things you can find on a lonely country road. I know it's just missing the "E" but it made the math nerd in me so excited to see this that I made Forrest turn the car around so I could get a picture - ha!

Just ask for help dude.

2011-08-20T21:06:00.001-07:00

For men, asking for help is like asking for directions...impossible. Instead Forrest would prefer to suffer one of the more hilarious sunburns. Notice the finger marks at the top of the burn - haha.

Midwest thunderstorm

2011-08-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

I've heard of midwest thunderstorms but have never witnessed one before until our recent trip out to Kansas for the family reunion. We flew into Denver and then drove 4 hours to Oberlin Kansas. During that time we saw the most amazing lightening show and even drove through a massive storm...complete black out and raining so hard there was literally no visibility - I've never been so terrified and amazed at the same time!

What would I do?

2011-06-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

Sheryl Sandberg spoke at the Barnard graduation and I know she meant to be inspirational but as a college educated female and also a working mom, I am personally offended by the undertones in her speech.

It is my belief that this style speech is not inspiration but more damaging to a young woman because it's double sided nature. Look I'm not a hippy or bra burner but I take a lot of pride in the woman that I have grown to become. I am college educated (albeit barely), working at a kick ass company trying everyday to do a kick ass job, a happy wife, enthusiastic mother and homemaker. I only wish I had more time in the day to do more of it. I do struggle every day with how to balance work and family. As I advance in my career I am constantly unsettled by the pull away from my family but I love them both...however only one of them cares for me as much as I do them. I don't think it is any failure of women because they are not running the world within 30 years of reaching a majority of college attendees... I think it's simply physics. There simply isn't enough time to be Suzy homemaker 100% and a CEO 100%..something has to give and I think the greatest gift of women's lib is that we have that choice to do whatever we want. So if Sheryl Sandberg wants to be #2 in running the Facebook empire so be it...but if I or anyone I know wants to run their house empire, that's just as important because it's fulfilling WHAT YOU WANT. I don't think she should shame a younger generation of women into trying to fix a failure that never existed. If we want to be moms, CEO's, middle managers or beach bums - that's all ok. That's the beauty of choice and free will. Why do somen who are "socially or economically successful" spend so much time critizing those who do no choose the same path? who cares?

What I find damaging about her comments is that under the guise of inspirational it has an undertone of "if you don't change the world as I have defined it, you have failed too." All these pressures for girls to grow up to be CEOs and Mary Poppins have created a situation for complete disaster. You can't win either way and these external pressures create a sense of constant failure here or there. I can't tell you how many times I broke down because we had to order takeout for dinner instead of cooking it because I had too much work to do.

What's interesting is that for all the centuries that men were the primary workers, they never really got to spend a lot of time with their families because they were busy working. For some reason when women entered the workforce, no one thought about how we might have that same experience. And is climbing the corporate ladder supposed to make you happy...did anyone ever ask men if they were happy for all those centuries having the financial burden placed solely on them? I'm sure many are relieved to share the burden but also feel their role squeezed as women do more and males roles are not socially redefined to be equally broader.

The problem is...when we told girls they could be whatever they wanted to be...we forgot to say they didn''t have to be everything at the same time.

Some comments to specific snippets in her speech.

Women became 50% of the college graduates in this country in 1981, 30 years ago. Thirty years is plenty of time for those graduates to have gotten to the top of their industries, but we are nowhere close to 50% of the jobs at the top.
That's fine but many of those women who are in their 50's now having graduated 30 years ago were typically routed to different areas of study than they were today. Additionally social norms back then were for women to not be the career chasers they are today. I would say that the kids coming out of college today have a completely different idea of what is possible even compared to my generation...although even in my generation I know tons of directors, VPs whatever. Also the only way women can be in those positions is for us to redefine the male role so that it is socially acceptable to be the primary caregiver, nurturer of the family while the woman is out there. It's not physically possible for both people to be chasing at the same time - the time constraints alone would make your existence not a relationship but two single people that happen to share some space and time.

Studies show very clearly that in our country, in the college-educated part of the population, men are more ambitious than women.
Does having a family not count as ambition? Is ambition only measured by the job title you have and the size of your paycheck? My ambitions may not be tied to running the country but that's only because I only have patience for the toddlers I share gene pool with versus all of America which can seem like a bunch of whiney toddlers. And so what if men are more competitive than women...most women think that is stupid anyways.

I hope that you — yes, you — each and every one of you have the ambition to run the world, because this world needs you to run it. Women all around the world are counting on you...So go home tonight and ask yourselves, 'What would I do if I weren’t afraid?' And then go do it."
What if I am changing it one person at a time in my family, is that not good enough? And truthfully when I first came across this question...my answer was. "If I was not afraid, I would leave corporate America and spend more time with my family and not worry so much about money or keeping up. To be free of the external pressures and scrutiny of society" When I was growing up all I wanted was more time with my parents to come to school activities with me. I am proud of my working mother and she didn't graduate from college or run the world - she shaped the paths for myself and my brother and is a huge influence on my daughter and that's more than enough. I don't believe you need to run the world to change it. Change, even in it's smallest form can have huge impact and is often more pure.

My garden is awesome

2011-06-12T20:39:00.000-07:00

A whole huge bowl of golden swiss chard for dinner to accompany some fried chicken thighs - mm mm good and good for you too!

Small planter box with assorted heads of lettuce and arugula (which grows like a weed!) and a variety of herbs to season the good stuff.

The big planter box has so far gone untouched by local varmits = THANK YOU! and I'm not really sure why. The only thing I can think of is that there are maybe more dogs in our neighborhood now so maybe it's too much of a bother for them OR they don't like what I planted...but it's a good thing we like it.

Above from left to right.. Carrots and radishes are the small sprouts. Swiss chard, russian kale and red cabbage...I started some chiogga beets in the front so we'll see if they take. In a separate pot I just put in some green beans so I just can't wait. In another pot I started some radiccio because apparently bitter lettuce type things now sound good to me because my taste buds and I are getting old.

Below: up close and personal with some beautiful russian kale. I've been chopping into slivers, sauteing in olive oil and garlic then mixing into spaghetti lately = DELICIOUS!

Spring 2011's first bounty!

2011-05-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Planted the garden earlier this year....and so far it has been wildlife free so we've been able to actually eat the product. And this first batch of french breakfast radishes were BEAUTIFUL!

Scenes from the road

2011-05-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

Like really? A Microsoft store? And isn't it interesting how it looks EXACTLY like the Apple store but just a little messier... The things you find in the heartland of America. Photo taken at Mall of America.

It is so depressing to me that there is no Dunkin Donuts available in Northern California. So anytime I am in the midwest or anyplace east of that I seek and effectively destroy the inventory at DD via my belly.

sailing....take me away....woh woh woh woh

2011-05-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

For real this was an afternoon in the city down at the Chrissy field beach. I know it looks amazing but it was probably about 65 degrees so totally shorts compatible for us. Still, it was so picturesque with all the sailboats, fluffy clouds, blue sky and sunshine. And it made me realize how awesome the iPhone camera is...

Donut is 2...

2011-05-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Look at how grown up she looks...ugh. I know it's only been 2 years but I can't believe it's been 2 years already all at the same time. She's still a baby in many ways but so grown up compared to the snuggle bug we brought home from the hospital. Everyday I am proud and sad to look at Donut. Proud of her development, milestones and achievements....sad because with everyday that passes, that's just one day further away from us and onto her own life.

It was only once I had Donut that I totally understood the craziness of mothers and their insistence at a certain point in your life for you to marry and have children. While all of us daughters just see that as "pressure" and "lame" as a mother, I now understand what is happening. While feeding Donut for the first time in the hospital, all I could think about was how I couldn't wait for her to experience the same thing one day. How primal and essential that experience is and how it wasn't clear to me until I was there. I think about that a lot as I wonder what kind of person Donut will grow up to be, what her definition of family will be and will we one day be able to bond over a shared experience? Also in our quest to add to our family, I constantly wonder if I'll be blessed to have that moment again.

STOP Hammock Time

2011-05-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

More fun in the sun relaxing on vacation. I cannot believe how much I miss it. Has it really only been 2 weeks since we've come back? It feels like it has already been a lifetime - ugh.

Partytime for Team Sallis

2011-04-26T22:26:00.000-07:00

So "Sallis" is the celebrity name combo that we use for Hollis and Sal. Forrest came up with it and that was just what we used to call them when talking to each other, but now I have taken to just using their combo name generally :) I had the BEST time at their reception! My feet and legs were so sore the following day from all the dancing... Forrest and I hadn't been out that late in YEARS... It was so late even Hollis made a comment about us still being out - heh.

Look at how adorable they are!
Can anyone say expert party pic below?

Fun with flowers...

2011-04-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Shenanigans from our reception table... we were "El Boracho" meaning...well...the drunk and well uh um we were! HA! We were the table of the "older" college crew for Hollis.

Yay Team Sallis!

2011-04-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2011-04-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

I keep wanting to say "Aloha" but we didn't go to Hawaii, we were in Mexico so "Hola Bitches!" Hollis and Sal got married in Puerto Vallarta so we decided to turn a long weekend into our annual warm location family vacation. Using a promo we found on ideeli.com we were able to get a two bedroom suite for the price of a single room...and upon reservation they upgraded us to a three bedroom suite - SCORE! But I was still skeptical until we arrived and saw the beautifulness that was about to be our relaxing relaxing-ness. Chelsea didn't believe me when I said "On vacations, Forrest and I like to do absolutely nothing...literally nothing."

What's a girl to do?

2011-04-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

To work or not to work.... that is the question. Whether it is nobler to earn money or spend time nurturing your family. The ability to dip into both a little bit would be nice, if one could actually do it equally to some extent.

I am finding that the work side is dipping more, cutting into my family / personal time and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I keep thinking I'll feel better if I were financially rewarded for all the additional work, but I'm not exactly sure if that's true. Would more money make up for all the time I feel like I am losing with them? I do find the work very rewarding but there's only so much straw this camel's back can take

A chapter comes to a close

2011-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dad's grave marker came in a month or so ago and my mom sent me a pic to show that it came out really well. It was kind of creepy how they told us about getting my mom's info engraved on there ahead of time to save some $$ and all I could think was "is this really appropriate right now?" But alas, that's what it is. I still haven't been to the site since the burial - it's shame as I work just 5 minutes away but currently my job has been an exercise in how to sequester someone inside the office for months at a time.

Just like the Bluth's

2011-03-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

While in Newport for the bachelorette madness we hit up Balboa Island on Sunday morning. AND I partook in a frozen banana...damn I miss Arrested Development

Hollis' Bachelorette...

2011-03-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

So what the heck is a baby doing there?!? Well adorable little Bixby lives there and well, twenty of us girls crashed at his pad to celebrate his auntie's last few months as a single woman. We all trekked it down to Newport for a weekend out on the town...there was a limo, pole dancing lessons and frozen bananas -- ha! It's crazy to think that when most of us girls met, we were young women away from home for the first time..away at college. Now look at us oldies! hahahaha

I'm Going to Disneyland!

2011-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yup that's Superbowl MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.

New Year's Day

2011-01-30T16:44:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures of the day itself... the dinner table, the mess of korean ladies in the kitchen... and two full tables of family and friends enjoying a new year, food and stories.

Tribute to my father

2011-01-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

My father passed away on New Year's Day...technically the coroner's report says Jan 2 at midnight. The photo above is the last photo we ever took of him...during dinner, our traditional Korean New Year's Day feast to celebrate the new year. It has been a sad and confusing time for our family these past couple of weeks but we will find our way. We have to keep going, get back to living because life keeps going. It's what my father had to do when he buried his parents and what my grandparents did when they buried their parents....the same ritual for generations. It still sucks though and makes me sad.

I haven't really been much for words these days nor have I been very social - I want to go about life a little anonymously for awhile until I'm ready. But I wanted to share the speech I prepared for my father's memorial service to give a little insight into a man you may not have known.

-------

My father was a quiet man. Those of you who have met him know that he is literally a man of few words. Growing up, Sam and I always knew when we were REALLY in trouble if my dad said something because he never said anything. When one doesn't speak often, their words carry more weight.

Quietly he went about his life... taking pictures, playing guitar, watching old western and detective movies, going to work and studying English. There was always a dictionary, notebook and pen at the coffee table. In these notebooks he would write phrases in both English and Korean over and over... It is funny because even though he rarely spoke English especially in public, he knew exactly what people were saying and you could catch him chuckling at jokes that you assumed he wouldn’t understood. It can catch people off guard and it is something Sam and I thought was funny because he knew more than he let on.

He quietly documented our lives in pictures. Meticulously cataloged, organized in albums with original negatives to boot. Yesterday we found the negatives from my 100 day party - labeled of course. We used to roll our eyes and say "Again? Do we have to take more pictures?" as kids often do, but this past week I am glad he did. It has warmed my soul to relive all those years and be able to even share a few laughs with my mom and brother over funny hairstyles we had or what silly thing we were doing at that moment. I am grateful for my dad's painstaking mission to capture every single moment on film, no matter how ordinary - because it was our lives.

There have been times when I wished my dad was more outgoing, more talkative, more whatever. Oftentimes I wished we did things together like other fathers and daughters. I will never know why he was so quiet - because he wouldn't ever tell me :) But as an adult I have grown to respect the quietness. In silence one can find truth and peace...In silence one can find strength and faith.

The past few months have been both challenging and a blessing to our family. Dad's hospitalization had come as a shock but he emerged from the hospital to a brighter outlook and promptly started putting on weight and getting healthier. Since that time he was smiling and laughing more than I could ever remember...he even started hopping on the phone to talk to the baby. I could not believe this was the same stoic person I had grown up with all these years. These series of events had changed something and brought us all a little closer together.
It's hard for me to verbalize what it's like to have my father pass away - It is still an abstract concept to me..Not quite real. He always worked the swing shift so it doesn’t seem strange that he’s not around during the afternoons. I keep thinking he’ll just be there in the morning wondering what all the fuss is about.

When I think about what happened, I am grateful that our family was all together with him for his last night. That we spent the evening with friends sharing a meal and laughing together, dreaming of the possibilities in the New Year. With a happy heart he laid down to sleep for the last time - even in passing he does so quietly.

I am reminded of the classic children’s prayer:
Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

if I die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

I wish for my dad eternal peace.

Happy Holidays!

2011-01-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

Our awesome holiday card for the 2010. Features our Donut as a donut and a group pic at Inspiration point. Last year was lover's lane...what SF landmark will we use next year?

Wall of cards

2011-01-12T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our holiday card volume no longer fits ont our tiny rental apartment fridge... so i started taping them onto a wall in the kitchen. I do like this quite a bit and we realized that we know quite a lot of people with babies.... AND we need to start a half asian baby section :)

Donut high chair is just in front of this wall so she has learned to say Leah, Ethan and Zack..we're working on the others but I don't quite understand all that she is saying yet.

SFDC Holiday Party 2011

2010-12-21T17:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone! Ahhh cold and rainy weather can mean only one thing....holiday party season. And every year we count down the days until the Salesforce company party. Why? Because Benihoff goes BIG and knows how to throw a party. The food, drinks and entertainment are always a hit. This year there were rumors of Katy Perry...which seemed totally crazy. The actual headliner was Cyndi Lauper which was rad because young and old we all know a few a her songs.

Happy Friendversary! Lunch @ The French Laundry

2010-12-17T08:25:00.000-08:00

For years Molly and I have been talking about our Friendversary...and counting all of the many many years we have known each other. Which is amazing since we're in our 20's so we literally met in utero. hahahaha just kidding. Anyhoo - we have been talking about doing something for our friendversary since the 10 year mark and finally this year we actually came through on a celebration albeit 5 years later. Things came up...you know two weddings, a baby, moves and a dog... so for our crystal friendversary we headed up to the French Laundry for a feast during white truffle season. What was particularly awesome is that we first went to the French Laundry many many moons ago and that was our first fine dining experience and I think changed the trajectory of food for the both of us. Bookends for a wonderful food journey and friendship.

And now to the feast - I had to try REALLY REALLY hard to not inhale every single course so that I could savor and lose myself in every food memory

The famous amuse bouche - Salmon Coronets and Guyere gougeres

Nantes Carrot Veloute with medjool dates, marcona almonds and cilantro. Tasted like the earth - not dirt like but like it went from the garden to the blender to my bowl. And THANK YOU to the resident farmer Tucker Taylor for the tour and the awesome produce he is growing on the property.

The legendary Oysters and Pearls... ugh ugh ugh... sabayon, tapioca pearls, and sturgeon caviar. The first time I ate here, they served this in an oyster shell. I did feel like there was more because it was served in the bowl - deliciousness :)

Uni with apple ganite. I was surprised when this showed up because it is not what I would typically think of as something TFL would serve. Very Japanese...minimal ingredients and presentation but delicious goodness all around.

Abalone with bacon, savoy cabbage, ginger and peanuts. Heavenly little slaw type mixture under the most tender piece of abalone I have ever tasted.

Egg Custard with truffles and a potato crisp thing with chive. Freaking delicately amazing.

Salad course... Hawaiian hearts of pam, persimmon, beets, star anise and mache. This was like a little geometric sculpture

HOLY WHITE TRUFFLE SEASON! Behold the box of crown jewels...ahhhhh that is literally thousands of dollars of product in that little box. Each freaking truffle was the size of a softball and look at the healthy portion below on top of my hand cut tagliatelle

Monkfish wrapped in bacon with spaetzle, pickled pearl onions, turnips and mustard.

Scallop with salsify, black truffles and watercress (MORE TRUFFLES!!!)

The entrance of the salt service can signal only one thing... FOIE GRAS! I freaking love all the salt the bring out. Two different kinds of volcanic salt, sea salt, japanese snow salt and jurassic salt..that's right dinosaur salt bitches.

Foie gras terrine with banana, celery, cashew, oxtail and honey banyuls gastrique. I would have never thought to pair bananas with foie because typically I like a little acid to cut through the richness of duck liver. But the banana gave it a totally different flavor profile - richer but not heavy. Not my favorite pairing for foie but totally eye opening to what you could do with foie. Definitely reset my foie limits.

Now we go down home southern with a BBQ rabbit , baked beans, collard greens and corn bread. Super rich in a demi glace sort of way and also completely unexpected!

Beef with potato, mushrooms and bone marrow sauce - WOW lemme get back to that bone marrow sauce - WOW
Rad soft cheese with a little savory pan perdu, poached prunes, hazelnuts and sorrell.

Palate cleanser sorbet...elderflower with oxtails, chamomile and white honey. I always love this little gesture...almost as much as I love when the de-crumb the table.

Also legendary..Coffee and Donuts. No longer on the regular menu and is only served for special occasions or to special guests :) I like to think of us as special guests mainly because we are repeat diners. Donut was fabulous..light and fluffy and totally crisp on the outside. The cappuccino semifreddo is freaking amazing - no questions asked.

Surprise! more truffles! A white truffle float - melted toffee layer on the bottom, some bananas, white truffle ice cream and malt foam.... oy vay

Oops I forgot to tell them about my aversion to chocolate - DOH! But it worked out. I ate both of the ice cream servings and Molly ate both of the chocolate servings. The sign was a nice touch :) To many more friendversarys - YAY!

I had no idea how cool it was

2010-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

That's a picture of Sam with a light ball thing on his head. I think it was in the sensory area or something.

Recently during a rainy weekend, Donut and I met up with some pals at the Exploratorium. This place is AWESOME! It's a huge space with activities that can keep Donut interested until at least her early teens. I was amazed at all the cool stuff there and given Donut's attention span we spent most of the time at a handful of exhibits...one involved her favorite thing, water and the other involved a spinning wheel of fabric that she liked to dart in and out of. I still have about 50% of the place unexplored.

We ended up getting a membership...so now we can go all the time and literally we have gone once a weekend for three weekends now. Hopefully us parents don't get bored of this place because it's 1) super close by and 2) effectively free now with this membership

Hamburg, Germany

2010-11-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Some pics from downtown Hamburg Germany... The latest trip to Europe had me on 6 planes in 5 days and in each city for less than 24 hours = not that awesome but a lot of stamps on the passport

November wrapped up a travel filled year for me...some work and some personal but all equaling into living out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. Typically it can be expected that I will be on the road roughly once a month for my job. However this year it wasn't spread out so nicely, instead I would have batches of trips so I would be gone 3 out of 5 weeks in a row then no travel for 2 months then again another batch of trips. It has provided me some perspective, frequent flier miles and my family a little more stress.

The perspective is that every place is basically the same so now I can not so intrigued by the prospect of visiting foreign places.
FF miles - so close to making platinum status I may just book a round trip to Europe to get those last few miles
Family stress - Donut is particularly clingy to me these days and can't quite stand to have me out of her line of sight

Turkeys, Pelosi and a baby....

2010-11-28T13:38:00.000-08:00

After taking some family pics up at Inspiration Point, we headed over to Julius Kahn park to let Donut run around before heading home for her to nap and for the bird to start cooking in the oven. While at the park we noticed a pretty extensive security detail and were trying to figure out who might be in attendance and it was none other than Nancy Pelosi with her grandchildren at the park. While obviously staring at her....the guys decided to make good use of the playground...

And Donut thought it was hilarious to see her dad and uncle Sam being so silly

Once we got home we got to work on the bird and setting the table...then Donut changed into her European Thanksgiving outfit to out cute everyone at the table.

Happy Friendsgiving

2010-11-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Friendsgiving! I forgot to take pictures of the food but did get some pics of the silly-ness that ensued once dinner was eaten and the kids discovered the glitter on the tables.

Harvest time...

2010-11-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

The garden is really starting to fill in nicely. The salad greens are 100% backyard fresh and we are just starting to get enough beans ripening at the same time to almost make a dinner serving.

Below are some pole green beans and snow peas

Spinach up top and assorted lettuce and arugula down below

Assorted swiss chard and radishes above and snow pea bush vines below...

the monster cherry tomato plant - lot of leaves and lots of fruit...but nothing turning red yet - arg

The more places I go...

2010-11-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

The more I realize that every place is the same...

Now I don't mean that to be insulting, but in effect it is true. Every city in every country has some buildings some houses and people just going to work every day and going home to their families. Doesn't mean that I don't ever want to travel again -- just an observation -- and home is nice place too.

Mile high blogging

2010-11-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

I used to think that I neve wanted the internet to make it into planes...because this was my last place of solace from the connected world. A place to do other things like read or just tune out - but more and more there is wifi on planes and well, I kind of like it. I am using it to catch up on my personal internet time....

Nice Weiners

2010-10-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

So in Copenhagen they had these hot dog stands EVERYWHERE - and as a fan of processed meats (seriously I love hot dogs and sausages...not so much ham - but anywhoos... The standard hotdog came in this bun. not like the traditional bun you see where the bun is split so it folds open in half but it has a freaking hole in it.... A FREAKING HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUN! It was almost too obscene to eat - but we ate them anyways - and they were delicious. If just a little heavy on the dressing.

Dinner @ Herman

2010-10-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

This post is long overdue...but while in Copenhagen, I was able to go to Herman - a FREAKING amazing white tablecloth type of restaurant. Want to post pics now... but will get to describing what these are later.

Godmorgen Kobenhaven

2010-10-22T16:39:00.001-07:00

The first week of October, Forrest and I headed to Copenhagen Denmark...without the baby - AHHHHH! I was headed there anyways for a work conference so we tacked on 5 additional days and headed out for our European vacation. Leaving the house was the hardest to do as Donut seemed to know something was up and was bawling the entire time. But as we checked in later, she missed us but was having a blast with Sam, Molly, Herminia and my mom. The biggest ever thank you goes to Sam and Molly for being fill in parents while we were both gone. The phrase "it takes a village" has never rung more true - and when they have kids, Forrest and I are at the ready to watch their kids so they can get out.

Copenhagen is one a little island called Zealand off the coast of mainland Denmark. It's not a big city, but cute and with lots of culture. My friend's cab driver actually told her "I love living here but I don't know why tourists come here." hahahaha.

We didn't waste a second either! We spent each day with a morning and afternoon outing...walking upwards of 5 miles per day plus a variety of public transit. Here's just a subset of pics - Check out all the pics here

above: Forrest and I at the Viking museum in Roskilde - why does he always look photoshopped into the pictures?

below: Kronborg castle in Helsignor....forever immortalized in Hamlet as Elsinore and now knows as Hamlet's castle. Every summer various productions come through to perform Hamlet.

Holy spire! There is this church in Christianborg that you can walk up to the spire....on the outside! I have never walked so fast up and down stairs in my life...haha

San Jose Half Marathon

2010-10-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

I was all trained up to run it... but the week of the race, I threw out my back while on a business trip to Canada so I had to bail. Thoroughly disappointed since I trained for nothing, I put on a "brave" face to cheer on the rest of the team - hahahahaha.

The Adventures of Donut, Eggplant and the Wooden Car

2010-09-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's nice that she likes vegetables but it's kind of funny at the same time too. Apparently she was too tired to carry around her eggplant anymore so she decided it needed to get a set of wheels...her dad's old car toy from when he was a kid no less.

Dinner at Benu

2010-09-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

To cap off a crazy schedule week of VMworld, I made reservations at Benu for myself, Forrest, Tiffany and Dean. Benu is the real life representation of Corey Lee's dreams. The space is beautiful...stark and modern but not cold and with a unique personality. The food - well shiz - there are not enough words to do it justice. Hailing from French Laundry fame he uses the most refined classical techniques and takes lots of asian flavors (many of which are crazy pungent) and turns it into a subtle and sublime creation leaving us "working" with every bite so that we wouldn't miss out on any of that perfection. I don't know how to describe it except that every last minute detail was considered, details beyond the food...the beverage pairing of course was perfect (go Mike Ireland!) and even down to the flatware and the magnets holding the custom menus on the metal trays... the dishes - don't even get me started on the custom dishes. The mind of madness and greatness are separated by a hair....

buckwheat crackers with nori to kick off the party

thousand year old quail egg, ginger, celery a
paired with Bailly Lapierre reserve Brut, Cremant de bourgogne france

tomato, dasi and summer blossoms. The first two courses came out together and were paired with paired with Bailly Lapierre reserve Brut, Cremant de bourgogne france

Geoduck clam, seaweeds, raspberry-bonito vinegar

Carmelized Anchovy gelee, peanuts, lilly bulbs, chili, basil both dishes were paired with Wittman Scheurebe, Troken, Theinhessen Germany 2004

veal sweetbreads, yuzu, carrots, pickles, mitsuba paired with Horst Sauer, Escherndorfer Lump, Silvaner Troken, Franken, Germany 2006

Eel, Feuile de brick, avocado, creme fraiche paired with BEER! Kiuchi Brewery, Hitachino Nest, White Ale, Ibaraki, Japan

Risotto, sea urchin, corn, lovage, black truffle paired with Paul Pernot, Bourgogne, France 2007

Monkfish liver torchon, turnip, onion, mustartd seed relish, cherry, brioche paired with Prina, Hallgartner Jungfer, Riesling, Spatlese, Rheingau, Germany 2007

Poularde cuit en vessie served in 3 courses - meaning chicken cooked in pig bladder. did NOT taste like pee.

Breast - celery, almonds, black truffle paired with Michaud, Pinot Noir, Chalone, Monterey County, 2005

Leg - mountain yam custard, abalone, snap peas, radish paired with Kiuchi, Gekkakow, Junmai Daiginjo, Ibaraki, Japan 2003

Bouillon - jardiniere summer vegetables paired with Lopez de Heredia, Vina Tondonia, Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2000

Pork Belly, fermented pepper, cucumber, perilla paired with Jean-Michel Gerin, Cote Rotie, Rhone Valley, France 2005

Beef Saucisson, crisy maitake mushrooms, lettuce, scallion, asian pear paired with Prieler Johanneshohe, Blaufrankisch, Burgenland, Austria 2007

Sweet rice sorbet, pine nut puree pine needle infused honey

Strawberries, vanilla soymilk, buckweat sable, green tea. I think this was paired for the entire dessert course but now i'm not sure - eek! Chateau Pierre Bise, Les Rouannieres, Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu Loire France 2007

home grown goodness

2010-08-28T06:31:00.000-07:00

pretty rad to have a salad made entirely of home grown greens

Phun with Phones

2010-08-18T10:57:00.000-07:00

I recently got an iPhone 4 and it has a feature where you can take a photo of yourself without turning the phone around.. kind a goofy but it's for the facetime video phone capability. We were obviously having a lot of fun with it.

It's like I'm in IT or something

2010-08-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

The current scene in my office... Yes those are all my machines.

Off the Grid - Lunch truck renaissance

2010-08-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Friday we headed off to Fort Mason's interior parking lot to check out Off the Grid, a weekly food truck festival of sorts. I friended them on Facebook of all things...and the truck line up changes weekly. I ain't gonna lie - IT WAS PRETTY NEAT! It's nice to see the food revolution taking form in many different ways. The only thing I'd change is in how we brought Donut. I was carrying her in a baby carrier and it made it too hard to eat so next time we are going stroller.

For eats we tried Chairman Bao, Onigilly, Some Empanada place and the bar for a little sangria.

Chairman Bao - MM MMM GOOD! We had both the steamed and baked bun and we chose a pork belly with daikon filling for the baked bun and a confit duck for the steamed bun. Maybe not super duper authentic (but I'm not Chinese so what do I know) but I know I liked it.

Onigilly - it's like a samurai food but basically it was a gigantic sushi roll with brown rice. I liked it but maybe not $3 worth of joy for the small bite.

Empanadas - the mushroom one was my absolute FAVORITE! Donut like it too. I am so glad she is eating regular food now and has real teeth because we can just head to things like this and share our food with her.

Looking forward to the next visit...

I'm Sew so...

2010-08-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been feelin all kinds of home crafty. I got a sewing table for my birthday from Forrest and Donut this year and i just got it all setup over the weekend. The above is a picture of some fabric I bought to make Donut a dress. It's a super fine wale courduroy. The below is some cute retro style fabric I found at the store but didn't buy...may have to go back to get it and make Donut a duvet cover :)

An attempt at urban farming

2010-08-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

I've been gardening a lot lately. I started off small... last year i could barely grow anything and this year I started with a small planter box and after eating 2 weeks of salad picked fresh from the backyard, I have upgraded. Last weekend I built a 2'x6'x1.5' planter box and this weekend I finally got around to planting. It was lots of fun - I went to the lumberyard with my measurements and they cut everything for me. From there I just bought a crapload of dirt, mulch and fertilizer. Seeds and plants to boot.

So far we have the following planting, growing or breaking out of seeds:

Assorted lettuce
Arugula
Carrots
Radishes
Swiss Chard
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Tomato
Green Beans
Watercress
Brussel Sprouts

I am so excited that there is quite a lot of variety of edibles that grow in our SF coastal climate. Basically anything that's usually a "cold weather or winter crop" can be grown here all year round - woot woot!

Let's get our marriage on.

2010-08-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

After the elections last year, I was ashamed that California voted to ban gay marriage. Honestly, what's to prevent two consenting adults from doing whatever it is they please? And beyond that - a loving family is a loving family no matter who that is comprised of. And for all the fundamental Christians out there, I respect your beliefs but they are yours not everyone else's. Separation of church and state is there for a reason. My own opinion is that any union between two entities in the eyes of the law (fed/state/local) is a civil union and is basically a business contract indicating that these "n" number of entities are a full partnership, sole prioprietorship or limited liability corporation. Anything spiritual rituals can be provided by your respective reigious organization - really.

So saying that any consenting adult can do whatever opens the incest and polygamy can of worms. And I guess if they are all adults in the eyes of the law, they so be it. Who am I to judge? Just because they can't get legally married today doesn't mean people aren't all ready living their lives this way.

And if all else fails, think of the fiscal responsibility gay marriage can provide. The wedding industry is already a multi BILLION - that's right billion dollar industry and imagine adding another 25% of the population. We are in a recession and maybe embracing the fiscal joy of letting people celebrate their life choices

Post delay...

2010-08-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

You'd think I didn't have any more opinions given my lack of posting, but I think I am realizing that 3 blogs + facebook is a lot to update. Like you can aggregate content consumption via RSS feeds, I wish there was a way to aggregate content distribution - ha!

Anyhoo - I am still full of opinions, some conformist and some wholly unpopular but I do plan to post them..I will try to get at least one up this week.

MC's Baby Shower

2010-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Baby #2 on the way and it's a boy!

Growing growing growing!

2010-07-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Things are a growing like weeds (or seedlings) at our house these days. We're actually even contemplating switching out the whole thing for a planter box that would run along the entire side of the fence. That would make for a 2' x 16' planter box that we could go hog wild in for veggies and such.

our batch of arugula and radishes are really starting to take over :) i have already thinned out the radishes so they have room to grow. haven't quite done that with the arugula or lettuce yet and the carrots are just starting to creep out of the ground

blueberry bush is the latest addition to the family. It came from Sloat nursery with a lot of young berries already on it and in just a few days I have harvested a handful of tasty berries. What has been the most wonderful thing is hanging out with Donut in the backyard, picking and eating berries together while playing in the sandbox in the sun....ahhhhh

below is a flower from our hen and chicks succulents..it's totally random as it just shoots up from the middle of the plant

um, really?

2010-06-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I leave Forrest and Chester in charge of the baby so I can take a shower and get ready for our trip down to San Jose to celebrate Adam's birthday. Literally I was upstairs for 20 minutes and I come down to this. It looked like dead bodies strewn about the living room floor. And of course Donut is now totally unsupervised and rifling through Chester's bag and chewing on his bicycle lights.

Tri for fun - pleasanton

2010-06-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the whole family got up super duper early and headed over to Pleasanton to cheer on our triathletes. This was the re-match of Michael and Chester... and Linh and Forrest decided to jump on the tri train too.

And we have sprouted!

2010-06-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Thursday) I noticed some green starting to show up in our little planter box. At first I thought we might be molding as it is rather damp in the city all the time but NO - it was sprouts! Our little seedlings have sprouted. In less than a week no less.

No lettuce yet but the argula and radishes have sprouted and I am excited to see how quickly they grow. Hopefully this little experiment goes well and this can be a year round thing for me and Donut to do together. I do really wish for the day we have a 10x10 raised planter bed where we an grow almost all of our veggies together and she can learn where her food comes from.

more sprouts...

If I could have my way I would live off the grid and raise my own livestock too.. I am DYING to have a few chickens. Don't get me wrong, I am not a crunchy granola bear - I just LOVE food and it tastes better when it's super fresh and grown miliseconds away from you...it's true. Once it's been plucked, it only continues to get less tasty as it travels. With regards to how you could possibly profile me...I'm more of a off the grid, "don't tread on me" type - conservative bent, self sufficient and government leave me the F alone....ha

iDouche

2010-06-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

If you blow up this picture and look closely, you will notice that I am driving next to a Ferrari. He has an Apple decal on the side with the numbre 430 in it. Whatever that means... his license plate is also personalized, combing the aforementioned number and iPod. His license plate frame makes sure to mention his Apple employee number.

Uh - we get it dude...loud and clear. You are CLEARLY rich now and are insecure about it and need to show it off.

Re-greening of my thumb...

2010-06-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last year nothing really lived...except for the lemon tree and some indoor herbs (2). I was all ambitious about gardening last summer since I was going to be home on maternity leave but that was all crazy talk. I spent most of my time indoors because well they were re-roofing our complex, then doing other construction stuff and really with a newborn, I wasn't really just hanging out outside. This year I vow to be different! Also, now Donut has outdoor toys she can play with while I futz with the garden...so fingers crossed the tomatoes, lettuce and root veggies all take off!

Everything is in pots because we're not allowed to plan anything directly into the soil here in the Presidio. Being a national park and all they apparently don't want my vegetable garden hanging around in it...

I don't spend THAT much money...

2010-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

nor do I really shop that frequently... in fact I maybe shop once a quarter if I remember...but what I have been doing is buying fewer things overall but buying nicer things so they last longer. Let's be real people, I am no longer a teenager so disposable trendy clothes won't look age appropriate anyways. But really? Nordstroms just sent me another special invite thing to something expensive...really dudes, I am not your target audience.

Katie's baby shower

2010-05-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

This post is super duper late... as the shower was over a month ago, but our friend Katie from college is having a baby. She and Matt are expecting a little baby girl in June - Donut is very excited to have a new playmate!

My latest obsession...

2010-05-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

As a first time mom of a toddler... I no longer wear earrings unless they are bolted to my ear lobes and well, necklaces are a lost cause. And shopping trips are few and far between because even though we live in the city... driving downtown can sometimes seem like a REALLY LONG excursion. Not that I particularly love shopping...but once you've gone through body inflation, deflation and being covered in baby barf and poop...you sometimes want to jazz yourself up a bit.

So when I finally do get to go shopping, I go a little too big. My latest obsession has been designer shoes. I finally got into the designer jeans craze a few years ago after happily wearing the cheapest jeans on the planet for decades... And with my move to Jimmy Choo shoes - I totally understand... my feet have never loved walking around all day in 3 inch heels so much before. It is absolutely amazing how different it is...how much more comfortable they are. My intent (justification) is that I'll buy fewer things but nicer things... (hahahaha - like any excuse really matters) My feet feel way more fabulous than the rest of me does... do stillettos go with plaid shorts and a polo?

Date Night - Iron Man 2

2010-05-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

And this date night was extra special because it was a double date with Sam and Chelsea. Truth be told we are fortunate to have Sam as out babysitter allowing us to go on a weekly date night ever since the baby was born. But given that he is our babysitter, we don't usually get to all go out together.... This week my mom was visiting so wednesday night the four of us met up downtown at the Metreon to watch Iron Man 2 on IMAX.

...and that shiz did NOT dissappoint!
Can I please please say that Robert Downey Jr is literally my favorite actor? He is always so good in every movie he does..but especially good in roles where he plays character's like Tony Stark. Tropic Thunder was amazing too...so funny! Action scenes were good and effects not cheesy. Also strange to see a name of someone you actually know rolling up during the credits...wierd.

Choosing Your Destiny

2010-05-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

I recently learned that many other asian cultures also do this choosing your destiny thing. My officemate's husband's family who are chinese and my manager who is indian also did similar things for babies in their family. I am going to have to remember to call my mom to ask her what I grabbed on my first birthday. Because Donut grabbed the microphone, money and book... leading many to believe that she's going to be the next Oprah...which when you think about it, ain't all THAT bad.

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia that talks about what was traditionally placed out for the dojabi, literally meaning "first birthday grabbing." We bought a kit that contained an inappropriate looking whistle hammer, stethescope, football and microphone in addition to the traditional stuff.

There is an interesting event called Doljabi during this party. The baby is propped up at a table of various foods and an assortment of objects and urged to pick up one of the items. It is believed the item the baby picks up symbolically foretells his or her own future or would influence his or her fate.

On the table are usually money, a large bundle of thread, rice, and a pencil. If the baby picks money, it means he or she is going to be wealthy. Rice means the baby will never have to go hungry throughout life, which was a very important aspect when people often suffered from famines. The baby will live a long life with thread and be a scholar by picking a pencil.
Now some parents put a computer mouse on the table, which means the success in the high-tech field, or a toothbrush, hoping that the baby will be a dentist.

My sweat shop employs white girls

2010-04-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is all due to Morry... when we had our little mandu making party, I joked that my sweat shop employs only white people...because Chelsea and Molly were making the mandus. She said something to the effect of "white bitches work for me" or something - it was super funny but it's been like a month and my mom brain can't freaking remember the exact phrase - doh!

Anyhoos...I hope to employ more white girl sweat shop labor for future cooking adventures

On the road again

2010-04-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

and again and again...
off to Austin today. I wish I was going to be there a smidge longer than I am because I need more than 24 hours so I can procure myself some good and tasty BBQ! Dilemma between having enough time to eat the local tasty bits and being home so I can hang with my family...

St Patty's Dinner @ Irelands

2010-04-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

Of course, where else would a celebration of Irishness be but at the Irelands? HAHAHAHA anywhoos.... I can't get over how bit Jake and Emily are...it makes me feel old. Older than being a mother myself does. I remember Emily when she was a toddler and Molly and I were in college visiting her - goodness

Also can I say again how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they are so close to us? And with Sam and Chelsea on the two streets in between us...it's almost too much for me to bear

Donut's Saving Grace

2010-04-01T20:20:00.000-07:00

Sam staring me down while arriving at church. I know I'm not quite the active church going person, but still felt compelled to get the Donuttle baptised and really a nice time was had by all. We had a rather large round eye contingent with papa, his parents, Molly and Chelsea....I guess Donut is a half round eye herself. You can check out the other blog for the baptism pics...

I love these two pictures...she seems so grown up. Ugh I may cry...my ovaries are tearing up a bit now...sheesh

What...it's March?

2010-03-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Where does the time go? I swear it was January two seconds ago and all i did was blink and now it's magically March. Craziness... what's even more crazy to me is that Donut is going to be 1 soon, VERY soon - ack!

Happy Valentines Day....picnic lunch

2010-02-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

Mommy and daddy play while Donut sleeps away.... We are not traditionally celebraters of valentines day but this year after Donut's swim lesson Forrest had a picnic lunch all setup for us. So we headed out to an overlook area on the western edge of the Presidio (on what turned out to be a super fabulous sunny day) to munch on cheese, crackers, fruit and sip some champagne. Hanging out on a beautiful day with my two favorite people :)

They are turning some parts just above of our picnic area into campgrounds. I think that could turn out to be really fun with Donut. A short 10 minute drive or a little half hour hike to our own local campground for an overnight trip!

SF Botanical Gardens

2010-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

When Molly suggested we go to the SF Botanical Gardens for a lunar new year celebration, I was thinking of the big white building in GG Park...you know the conservatory....but that wasn't it. Yes the gardens are in GG Park, but it's over by 9th and Lincoln...so clear on the other side of the park. AND THIS PLACE IS RAD

That squirrel came all the way up to us and just hung out - I think it might be a little used to people feeding it.

I feel so grown up...

2010-02-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

With all this grown up furniture now. Recently we started to get some new furniture...mainly things that would put other things higher up or behind real doors so the baby couldn't get into it. But going to furniture stores (that are not IKEA) and actually buying things is wierd...I'm not going to lie. So above is our Grove credenza...we just got the cabinet delivered today that goes to the right of it, thus replacing a baker's rack that we've been using for years.

New cameras and such

2010-01-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, Forrest got me a new camera.. it's one of those in between SLR and pocket digitals.. IT IS AMAZING. I had no idea what I was missing out on in terms of color quality and crispness of image - WOW. The reason we got this hybrid is because I didn't want to have a huge ass SLR to lug around all the time but we were thinking we needed something better than the pocket digital cam.... So we ended up with a Panasonic Lumix - it just looks like an SLR only smaller.

so uh you know, you can check out some random scenery shots

Visiting with friends....

2010-01-05T22:11:00.000-08:00

Donut with Owen above... Colin below...
Owen
Caroline and Donut

Riley smiles.. Donut and Riley below at Mitsuwa, formerly Yaohan market. Now if someone can figure out how to get two babies to look at the camera at the same time.
This day of play dates made me want to quit my job... so I can hang out with my baby and meet up with friends for play dates and lunch all the time. Watching the baby is always easier when you have a support group with you.

First Presidio Christmas

2009-12-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

Nothing says Christmas like guys playing video games! We have a tradition in our house where I buy Forrest and video game or two for Christmas and then he sits and plays it non-stop for about a week until he finishes the game... then he doesn't play until the next Christmas... In recent years, my brother has joined the fold and one year stayed for 72 straight hours. This year, we were able to fold Mr. Ireland into the xbox fold.

Ruthberg putting the finishing touches on one of the two christmas tables.. below is Sam chatting it up with Chelsea's parents and my dad. This year we had my parents, Forrest's parents, Chelsea's parents, Chelsea, Sam, Molly, Mike and Geer (one of Sam's friends) over for Christmas dinner... we had lots of fun prepping a prime rib feast for 13 adults and 1 munchkin.
YAY Molly emo and Uncle Mike at our house for Christmas (what I hope is just the beginning of a tradition)!!!

two men...two generations...one 16 pound prime rib. Forrest was getting some tips from big Forrest on prime rib cutting techniques. As man of the house it was his duty to cut the meat, but his dad had some pointers for him with his years of prime rib/turkey/ham carving experience :)

big bottles of vino - courtesy of emo/uncle mike... we went potluck style so each person contributed something to the overall meal.. it was the most perfect christmas meal + company + party ever...and Donut's glow in the dark skeleton pajamas were pretty rad too.

Hiroko's very gay birthday

2009-12-26T19:25:00.000-08:00

And gay in a good way - brunch at Lime in SF can only be described as loud...and brimming with endless glasses of mimosas. It was 3 hours of hootin, hollerin good time. I literally felt like I needed a nap after that morning...and I wasn't even drinking!!! hahaha.

Linh coached me on what to wear because apparently I needed to get something trendy... you know "what the kids are wearing" so as to not stand out like a sore thumb...a sore preppy thumb at Lime. There were many a rounds of mimosas and shots for the birthday girl...leading to a much anticipated spanking of the host - Happy Birthday Hiroko! I'm very very happy to celebrate another fabulous year with you :)

grown up prom

2009-12-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago we went to Forrest's company party at the concourse over by 8th and Brannan...near the furniture and jewelery districts. Hiroko came over to baby (thank you!) and also take advantage of our in home washer and dryer. It was nice to get dressed up and go out with the hubbs and especially stay out late! The place was freaking packed and the featured band was Kool and the Gang which was pretty cool....basically I stuffed myself full of shrimp cocktail and lamb chops while trying diligently to drink more than 2 drinks hahahaha. But of course before we left for the party, Hiroko took a picture of us by the tree...

CIM Marathon...maybe next time

2009-12-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

Donut braving the cold to cheer on Auntie Linh on her mission to complete 26.2 for a second time -go Auntie Linh! Amazingly I was able to run alongside Linh for about 1.5 miles at her 9 min mile pace...needless to say I wanted to puke the rest of the day because I don't run that fast...EVER. I really really wanted to run CIM and even made it up to 13 miles in my training but I started traveling for work (like a lot) and I started to get a really nagging pain in my pelvis...it literally felt like it was breaking. So I quit. And now I have a little set of love handles.
Last weekend we went up to Sacramento to visit the grandparents. Ann, Scott and Lincoln also came up for the weekend. It's wonderful to have cousins nearby so we can visit regularly. Check out some of the pics from Lincoln's site...

Let the holidays commence!

2009-12-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

we made a date to meet up with Molly and Mike down by the YMCA for the annual tree lighting. It was so damned effing cold that I had Donut bundled up in a fleece snow suit..which is new and never worn but barely fit.
What's super awesome about this, is that we were able to go to a random neighborhood holiday event with Mike and Molly. It feels like it has been eons since they've been so close by... Now we get to see them ALL THE TIME! At least once a week and we even run into them randomly in the neighborhood - it is so awesome.

Helping momma with work.

2009-11-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

Some days, I need to get started a lot earlier than when our nanny arrives. This particular morning, Donut decided to help me with my work. It's easier to keep her facing this way because otherwise she tries to type on the keyboard.

On the road...

2009-11-14T12:18:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness our nanny sends me pictures of Donut during the day while I am traveling. Forrest also sends me pics and videos of Donut too. All these things make me feel a little better while on the road.

My jobs within the last 6 years has required some amount of travel. In the past it was for events and tradeshows so it was a lot of traveling. In recent years it was infrequent but about once a quarter I got on a plane for one thing or another. They were always opportunities for me to meet new people, check out new places and eat local fare. Lately though, it's not the party it once was. I don't know if all this climbing the corporate ladder is all it's cracked up to be...hahahaha because at 8pm I am in my hotel room working away for the next day's worth of meetings and tearing up the town. Has motherhood softened me? Nah...it has just made me appreciate sleep all that much more.

I've been on something like 15 planes in the last month and one more business trip to go...New York tonight through Tuesday. After this I should be set for a a few months on the work travel. I miss my family the minute I walk out of the house - ack!

Forrest has been such a champ - single parenting for weeks.. And with the help of my brother, our respective parents and our fabulous nanny, we're able to make this all work. I cannot wait for the holidays = time off!

Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

Molly emo came over one night and we got to carving all those freaking pumpkins. In a recent neighborhood pumpkin patch silent auction, I made the mistake of WAY overbidding and came home with 3 pumpkins. Forrest later explained to me the mechanics and strategy around a silent auction....How the heck am I supposed to know these things?

Anyhoos..the carving was quite a fiasco because I had forgotten how tiring it is to scoop out the pumpkin guts and literally had some lactic acid buildup in my one arm and wasn't sure if I was going to need medical assistance to make it through the night. Beyond that Molly and I were commenting on the sad state of pumpkin carving utensils....and our mini saw tools both broke in the course of our carving party. We had to bring out the regular kitchen knives and then were glad we didn't start carving with adult beverages - trip to the emergency room averted.

All done - don't our pumpkins look thoroughly spooky? OMG - I cannot wait to go Christmas tree shopping!!! Holidays are so much more rad with kids around.

Baby + Me

2009-11-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

Some alone time with Donut before poppa comes home from work. The time between when Herminia leaves until Forrest comes home is a really special time for me....just an hour or so to hang with the baby...start making dinner and hang with the baby. I don't want to be a cornball and say things like "i never knew you could love this much" blah blah blah...but this whole process has been rather amazing.

Meeting Amelie Du Chau

2009-11-01T06:56:00.000-08:00

The title is a mild lie because I actually got to meet Amelie when she was first born at the hospital. A couple of weekends ago, Donut and I stopped by the Du Chau household to visit the little princess who is now an amazing 9 weeks! OMG - how did two months zip by so fast? She is adorable and so petite compared to our little chunk monster. Glad to hear that Laura is recovering well and enjoying motherhood too. Goodness gracious, just a mere handful of years ago we were all still hitting the bar/club scene for nights out on the town and now look at us...our entire conversation is around sleep, boobs and babies - hahahahaha

Donut checking out her new friend. She definitely was fascinated by the baby. I think she's getting old enough to be more aware of her surroundings and of other people.

Happy Choseuk

2009-10-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

Forrest, Donut and I headed down to Peekadoodle to celebrate Choseuk with my newfound korean mama friends. So we never celebrated Choseuk growing up but the SF korean mamas celebrate it - why not?

Choseuk is a celebration of the harvest tied to the autumn equinox. I don't know why we never celebrated this...I have also heard of other people calling it the Korean Thanksgiving...maybe it's because our family is christian?? who knows - all I know is that Donut got to wear her hanbok again and I stuffed my face full of japchae and rice cakes!

Brunch with M+M at Ella's

2009-10-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is how rad it is to have Molly and Mike in the city. We can randomly text each other and then walk over to brunch! AHHHHHHH...it is so exciting I cannot even contain myself. Donut was very super duper excited too.

Congrats to Hollis + Sal!

2009-10-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG!!!
Hollis and Sal are engaged! WOOT WOOT

And in grand 'ol style too.. Way to go Sal for realizing what a treasure that Hollis is and moving forward on sealing the deal. I still cannot believe he carried the ring in the interior running shorts pocket for 26 miles of the Chicago marathon... Even more amazing is after all the hoopla of the proposal, the hugs and kisses...she still managed to somehow qualify for Boston - how fast was she really running?!?!?1

Check it out here