California Moments, part II

Morning sunshine with cousin, Olivia "Baby Leeva".

Cousin Sabrina

I LOVE farmer's markets. And the one we went to in Sunnyvale with Angela (Brian's sister) & Jon did not disappoint. All the samples of delicious produce were fantastic, I don't think I've ever tasted a pomelo until then.

"Hello, my name is Kiasa, and I'm addicted to farmer's markets."

We ate a ton of delicious strawberries.

Honey!

Corn.

Oranges...so juicy.

Angela & a delicious blood orange! Yum!

Strolling with the goods.

California Moments, part I

Visiting the duck pond at one of my favorite childhood parks in Elk Grove.

Isabella LOVED wearing Aunt Alex's shoes. Alex has got style and my little girl knows it!

We ate too much ice cream! This photo is when it all started. During our long and scary night at the hospital I promised my brave little girl that after it was all over she could have some ice cream. When she woke up from the anesthesia in the hospital the first thing she asked for was ice cream. Now when she retells the story she says, "Medicine, doctor, go sleep, wake up, HAVE SOME ICE CREAM!!! Chocolate, really cold."

Celebrating my 28th birthday, again. My nephew, Silas, helps from afar.

Riding ATVs with Aunt Alex.

Getting dirty.

Throwing rocks into Folsom Lake with cousin Gillian.

Isabella getting her hair trimmed for the first time. She didn't like the process, but loved talking about it afterward.

Playing with cousin Emma and Harold, the duck.

Watching cousins Mary & Emma in their Roadshow.

Pulling the tall grass and feeding it to the horses.

Visiting the Sacramento Zoo and seeing the animals up close.
L to R: sister Anika, niece Gillian, Mom, Isabella, and nephew Silas.

Family Photos

We got home late last night and I just finished downloading all 1800+ photos off my camera from the trip. I wish I had time to sit and go through them all, but I'll have to do it in phases. I've become almost teary-eyed going through some already, so many fabulous photos! So, for today, a few of my favorite photos from a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Sunnyvale, CA. Thanks Angelina for playing photographer.

Catch up, Califonia & Cravings

It's midnight here in CA and I'm wide awake. I fell asleep for about an hour while trying to get Isabella to bed and then woke up. I'm still hoping I'll be able to get a few more hours of sleep in before dawn...I seem to suffer from pregnancy insomnia. (NO fun!)

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted and now I don't have hardly any photos to show...because they are still in my camera (all 1200+ that I've taken in CA). A lot has happened.

Back in February we were suppose to move to a new apartment but some weird, crazy things came up with the new place and we were able to get out of the lease the day before we were to move (a lot of our apartment was already packed up). I spent the following two weeks completely cleaning out all the closets, painting some of the rooms, redecorating, etc our old/current apartment. I still need to finish up some of the decor, take photos and post all that we did. Brian's brother, Spencer, worked his magic and the apartment looks fabulous. One evening when Brian came into the apartment he commented how it finally felt like a home, "our home". And I cried!

As soon as the apartment was coming back into order I became swamped with work. And since then I have spent the last three weeks visiting my family while getting a healthy dose of sunshine and spring in northern California.

Isabella and cousin, Gillian, modeling Aunt Alex's fancy shoes.

This trip to California has been one of the craziest. I had planned to relax, work on sewing projects with my mom and drink in the sunshine while Isabella played in the tall grass with cousins. I got to do a bit of that in the beginning. (Thank goodness!)

Preparing for the operating room. The bandage keeps her from playing with the IV.

But this trip also brought some unexpected obstacles: a trip to the emergency room, which included a stressful, all night hospital stay (Isabella aspirated a piece of a cashew) and a death/funeral (my aunt, Nancy, died, at age 62, after battling cancer the last three years). I will so miss Nancy's wit, smile and gentle boldness.

After the services for my Aunt Nancy, Brian said, "I must be getting old because I really enjoyed the funeral." And it's true, the service was so sweet, wonderful, uplifting and brief. Then afterward there was a lunch for everyone (provided by the local Relief Society). We talked and laughed (and laughed and laughed) with family for a few hours. It was great. And I guess that means I'm getting old too. ;)
Now I'm craving rice crispy treats. I've been thinking about them for a week now. Ever since I saw my niece enjoy one at Pluto's in Palo Alto. Crazy!

I think it's time I have a bowl of cold cereal and drift off to sleep.

Redo!

I just realized I never posted these photos from two months ago when we were "redoing" our apartment after our new place fell through. The bedroom is painted a blue/gray, which Brian says matches my eyes.

Cupcake, my love.

Isabella and I have spent many days cooped up inside, packing and avoiding the cold. One evening she found my Martha Stewart Living magazine and began pointing to the cupcakes, asking for some. And then demanding some. We both needed a break and some mommy/daughter time so I consented. I found a recipe that had ingredients we had on hand (not always easy to do with Martha Stewart) and made a quick batch of delicious, very moist chocolate cupcakes. Isabella also requested the pink frosting. These are, by far, THE BEST CUPCAKES I've ever had and they were super easy to make.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
Martha Stewart Living, Feb 2009
Makes 18

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used the ol' milk with lemon juice trick)
3 tablespoons safflower oil (I used canola)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks, and let cool. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days.

Basic Buttercream Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high.) Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

Try Again

We are in hyper-move-mode, going through stuff and purging. I'm selling a bunch of my science stuff on craigslist and Isabella is loving it...cool new toys just sitting out on the table.

It was really fun to watch her problem solve as she tried to stack this set of plastic graduated cylinders; all different sizes, open on one end. She kept saying "fy again" to herself and would then try a different combination.

Bookie

I love, love, love that Isabella is really getting into books. She likes to read books to us too, which is mostly adorable babble with a few key words thrown in.

Happy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated Saturday night at church where the Chinese Branch (the Chinese speaking congregation in the area) put on a amazing dinner and wonderful show!

Isabella enjoyed the dancing lion until he jumped off the stage and made his way down the aisles. Then she freaked out!

Pipilotti Rist at the MOMA

We stopped into the MOMA to warm up and check out the Pipilotti Rist exhibit. The exhibit was fun, huge, surreal and relaxing. We were humming all the way home. It's there until Feb 2, go check it out!

Cold & Hot Chocolate

We spent half of Saturday out in the city, which was bitter cold when the wind blew. After lunch at The Hummus Place (fantastic food at fantastic prices!) on 7th Ave in the West Village we walked by Grom (an overpriced, over-hyped gelateria). Grom had an enticing poster in their window of some really good looking hot chocolate. We stood in the cold way too long debating whether or not we should get some. We have tried many, many delicous cups of hot chocolate and definitely have our favorites, but this stuff was amazing! Three of us (adults) split a small and we were all in chocolate coma heaven.

Cooking up a Storm

Fresh Spinach Pasta

Deep dark Chocolate Cookies
Bon Apetite
My title: Death By Chocolate Cookies...Seriously!

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces), divided
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow creme. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

I feel like my bread is getting better and better each time! So fun, so easy, so tasty!

cold, cold, cold

Our apartment tends to be a little too warm at times, so we know it is super cold outside when we feel cold inside. Last Saturday when the wind chill took the temperatures below 0 degrees we consciously agreed to stay inside. When I was cleaning I noticed a few of the metal window frames frozen on the inside. With a little inspection I realized the windows were never completely shut! No wonder we were feeling so chilled. Problem solved!

We found out last week our new little one is definitely a boy! A strong, healthy, little boy!

The Martha Stewart Show

My friend, Tamara, and I went to a taping of the The Martha Stewart Show this week. It was the first time I had been to a Martha Show and a really long time since I had been to a taping, so it was a fun, winter outing. The theme of the show was the Superbowl and they had three guests: Matt Lauer, Meredith Viera, and Emeril Lagasse. They had the biggest, brightest studio I've been in and the best giveaways.

~Watch for me on January 30th~