Last week was the long-awaited Death Cab for Cutie concert at The Fox! It was a very good show. They’re currently touring with the Magik*Magik Orchestra.
We went with Adan (aka Flan) and my friend Laura. Good times, good times. The opening act, Youth Lagoon, was just ok. A little whine-y – plus, the guy was like 12 and it was weird as opposed to impressive. Ha.
I was happy to note that Ben Gibbard sounds just as good live as he does on the albums, and though a mellow style of music, the show was fun. So happy when they played ‘A Movie Script Ending’, but bummed that ‘Brothers on a Hotel Bed’ didn’t make the set list. Phooey!
In other news, my adorable son is growing up ridiculously fast. Look at this:
Also, I don’t know how I am going to make do without ‘House’. Crying ridiculous amounts the past few episodes. One episode left. One word: Oreos. 
I’m a week behind, but here’s some unbelievably adorable pictures of my boy during our Easter festivities! 
I even got a basket from the Easter bunny – complete with Cadbury Mini Eggs and a Kermit the Frog pez dispenser – thanks Mr Bunny. After our jelly bean appetizers, I made whole-wheat Bunny pancakes for breakfast. Actually, pretty darn good! I’m not generally a pancake person, but the whole-wheat flour created a tasty flavor.
After our breakfast, we watched Sesame Street, read books, and got ready for our day with Tim’s parents and grandparents. My son is hilarious about his clothes: he has to pick his own outfits. He picked out every item, down to his socks. MY KID IS SO FLIPPING STYLISH. Also, he’s a ham – he started posing for the camera! Tim stood behind me and did funny poses that Marco imitated – it was awesome. Next time CrewCuts needs a model, they should call Marco, am I right?
Once we got to Judy and Len’s, Marco hunted for eggs (I didn’t think he’d be into it, but he thought it was the most fun thing ever), and we noshed on good food all day (my kind of day, lol!).
I set myself a goal for the week: to cook dinner every night – not just heating things up, but to actually prepare something each night.
So, how did I do?? Pretty well, I think! (All pictures taken with the iPhone)
SATURDAY
Garbanzo beans, garlic and sundried tomatoes, pureed to create a delicious hummus. served warm with whole wheat pita bread
‘Mexican’ kale chips! Kale that I tossed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of Trader Joe’s taco seasoning mix, then baked. Perfectly crispy yet not too crunchy
SUNDAY
Three tablespoons of Olivier’s Tandoori Curry sauce with firm tofu that I’d seared in olive oil until it turned golden, served over Trader Joe’s Thai Jasmine rice and Trader Joe’s naan – DELICIOUS!
MONDAY
Mini-frittatas! Modified from a recipe in Food & Wine Magazine – instead of baking in the saute pan like the recipe suggested, I put the egg, garlic, and broccoli mixture into a muffin tin and baked them that way. I don’t eat scrambled/fried/boiled eggs (only baked into cakes and cookies, lol), so this was a Timmy specific meal. He REALLY liked these – I thought there’d be enough for his breakfast, but he ate all of them.
Same night: yogurt pops for dessert! low-fat all organic strawberry yogurt, to which i added sliced strawberries, then poured into popsicle molds and stuck in the freezer. It was a good texture, and super tasty! Marco loved it
TUESDAY
Vegetarian enchiladas, ole! Bell peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms inside those tasty tortillas. I made Marco a vegetarian refried bean and cheese burrito – after spreading the beans on the tortilla and adding the cheese, I pan seared it for a minute on each side to hold it together and lightly crisp the outside.
WEDNESDAY
Avocado fries – modified from this recipe, which I found on Pinterest. I used whole wheat flour instead of white, and did not sprinkle with parmesan; I sprinkled the panko’d avocados with sea salt prior to placing in the oven. Served with Trader Joe’s Chickenless Mandarin Orange (just like their mandarin orange chicken, but with soy nuggets) and barley rice.
THURSDAY
grilled cheese with white truffle oil – fontina cheese, arugula, caramelized onions and sourdough brushed with white truffle oil. I figured chips would be good, so I made more kale chips, this time with garlic and sea salt.
For Marco’s palate, I had to make concessions, so he had an aged-cheddar panini sans truffle oil.
What should I make tonight!?
P.S. Just because I HAVE to share this, these are the cupcakes I made last week for a company baby shower/bridal shower luncheon in honor of two of our employees (one having a baby and one getting married, duh). It was a Mexican themed potluck, so these were my contributions:
Margarita and Spicy Chocolate cupcakes!
Dark chocolate cake with cayenne pepper, dark chocolate buttercream, chili pepper and spicy chocolate bar for garnish
Jose Cuervo margarita mix cupcake with lime buttercream and a freshly sliced lime
Splendid in my tummy.
Tim and I had stayed up after we returned from Christmas Eve dinner to finish setting up Marco’s presents. I wanted everything to be perfect for the kiddo to run out and see his gifts!
Christmas morning dawned, and still the Dicksons snored. Marco woke up at 8am, not exactly happy with life. He insisted that Daddy hold him on his chest. The three of us stayed in bed and passed out for an additional 45 minutes. Then, we decided to have breakfast before Marco discovered his treasures.
Marco loves his eggs
Look at his excited face – and his adorable holiday jammies!
After breakfast, we let Marco run out to the living room to discover what was there. He was SO excited to see his tunnel tent!
There was even a special note from Old St Nick
Tim had piled Marco’s gifts into the tent so we could all hang out with Marco in his new digs.
I gave Tim two sets of cuff links (one that is reminiscent of a circuit!), and a cool book by Brian Cox, and the accompanying BluRay documentary. I also gave him a few silly things for his stocking, like binoculars, candies filled with Sambuca, and such.
After a pleasant morning and early afternoon lazing around, we got ready for our Christmas dinner with the Dicksons.
Marco looked so handsome! Vest, tie, slim fit jeans and Converse.
I made my special baked Brie for an appetizer (by special request), and it went fast! I was only able to get a few bites before it disappeared. 
We had a delicious dinner, and I spent a lot of time talking with Dad and Tim about photography.
My body wasn’t thrilled with me that day, and I was losing the battle to stay awake and comfortable., so we left around 9 so I could get home to bed. Overall, a very good and quiet Christmas.
Happy New Year!!
I know I’m kind of behind on the holiday posting! It’s already 2012. Whoops. I felt so disconnected from the holidays this year, because of how much pain I was in, how tired I was, blah blah blah. Anyway, Marco had a wonderful holiday, which is the most important thing! It felt good to be able to bring such smiles to his face.
The Friday before Christmas, my amazing best friend Micaela came up to stay the night and keep me sane. We sipped a little bubbly (delicious Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose – YUM) and discussed life in general, exchanged gifts (I’ve held onto her gift for several months, I was DYING for her to finally open it! I found this beautiful vintage locket in the shape of a book; the cover had a cameo on it. It was part of an estate sale that ended up in a shop near my house; the clerk estimated 1950s). Micaela gave me a beautiful raspberry colored scarf/shawl, and an awesome crafting book full of neat ideas that I feel like I can actually do! It’s like Pinterest, in book form
After the fun present part, Micaela helped me chop pistachios and candy canes so I could make chocolate bark:
Dark chocolate with pure orange oil and pistachios
Milk chocolate with almonds (my grandma’s favorite, I made it especially for her)
Dark chocolate, white chocolate and smashed bits of candy canes (micaela took a meat tenderizer to the super-size candy cane)
I also baked some cookies, molasses and ginger snaps, and dark chocolate and mint cookies:
The next morning, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed coffee and conversation, and Marco engaged Micaela in a few rounds of tag and hide-n-seek.
Tim, Marco and I headed to the Gomers for our usual Christmas Eve lunch (2009 & 2010). Marco was really excited to visit and open his gifts:
Woo hoo! Marco loves racing cars around the house, and this one is his new favorite.
Marco and Belle decided to take their mid-day siestas, so the grown ups lounged around. We exchanged our gifts (I’m excited to start reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami ! Timmy got a Wii golf game – at least he doesn’t have to wear the weird plaid to play lol!), and I tried to feel less tired.
When Marco woke up, we made the trek to San Jose for my family’s dinner at my uncle’s house. It was good to see everyone, and I was happy to see my grandmother in good spirits. She’s been so frail for so long, it was a relief to see her smiling and laughing again. Marco was free with hugs, and my cousin Tony made an appearance (I haven’t seen him in several years). Overall, a good night. We couldn’t stay very late, because we had to drive back up to Napa. The drive home was difficult for me; I couldn’t get comfortable and the Motrin wasn’t doing anything for the pain.Poor Timmy was exhausted too, so we were relieved to finally make it home.
Christmas morning and day to come in the next post!
I have three random things to post. I hope it’s okay?
First is this song that I’ve been listening to quite often the past week:
Gotye feat Kimbra ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’
Agenda item #2
I feel pretty in these pictures, so I wanted to share them with you.
When you need a good photo of yourself for Christmas cards and it’s too windy for the tripod, the only thing to do is set your camera to the correct f-stop, figure out the spot your husband needs to stand in (and the amount of squat to get the right angle), and tell him exactly when to click the shutter and hope that he doesn’t screw up the focus. It works pretty well, as long as your hubby takes direction and won’t mess with the white balance.
Thanks, darling!
And the third item…
I recently purchased this book for Marco:
It’s a counting board book with characters and themes from Romeo & Juliet! LOVE.
And there, folks, is a random post for Thursday.
I love Christmas. But, it has to be said that I can’t get merry until it’s actually the Christmas season…in other words, stop trying to force it down my throat the week PRIOR to Thanksgiving! I was not ready for Jingle Bells yet! Don’t despair that I’ve turned into a Grinch – I LOVE it – I am just not ready for it so early!
Anyway, now that I AM ready for decking my halls with boughs of holly (and glitter), I have to share some photos from our adventures at the Christmas Tree farm! Marco was so excited and happy, and we found a lovely tree. We went to the farm with our neighbors, their daughter, and their new baby son (soo tiny!!), and the Gomers. It was great to share the fun with other families.
He’s such a big boy. Look how tiny he was last year at the farm (click link)
Belle was too busy to take pictures
My hubby
He should be a model.
Our tree!!
it was very windy that afternoon, hence my bad hair.
All gussied up
One of my favorite ornaments
butterflies
wine grapes, of course!
The owl ornament Marco picked out himself
I can’t wait to put presents under the tree! I’ve been plotting my baking and crafts (yep, I think I’m getting a little crafty this year), and have purchased some presents that need to be wrapped. Our cards are ready to be addressed and mailed, and nail polish has been selected for the fun times ahead…
OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Aire
So, I might have bought some most of the OPI nail polishes from the Muppets collection… Tim, Marco and I saw the Muppets movie the day after Thanksgiving, and we LOVED it! We’re huge Muppets fans, and it was so awesome to share it with Marco. He laughed, giggled, and danced in his seat the whole time.
Our tree is decorated, and it is officially the holiday season (and Santa Claus has got a toy for every good girl and good little boy…)
Bring on the peppermint mochas peppermint schnapps.
Hellooo…
Last week I tried to get pictures of each day’s ensemble, and I sort of managed it (except for the last day, where I got pictures of pieces but not the whole outfit – whoops). Either way, here’s the week:
MONDAY
Wool beret: Target, purchased 2009
Sweater: Target (Merona, get it HERE)
Floral skirt: vintage
Boots: Matisse, purchased 2007 (previously worn HERE)
TUESDAY
Sweater: Target (get it HERE) Seriously, I love these Mossimo sweaters; I buy them every year. They are SO soft!
Plaid blouse: Forever21, purchased Spring 2011
Skirt: Banana Republic, purchased 2008
Shoes: Target
Headband: Cost Plus World Market (get it HERE)
WEDNESDAY
Sweater: Target (Merona)
Camisole (not shown): Target (Merona)
Pencil skirt: Forever21, purchased 2009
Boots: Steve Madden, purchased 2007
THURSDAY
Dress: Target (previously worn HERE)
Sweater: Target, purchased 2007
Belt: Kohl’s, purchased 2009
Tights: Target
wedge boots: Payless (find them HERE in black)
Headband: Target
FRIDAY
Striped sweater: Target
Silk tie-belt: Forever21 (part of the blouse seen HERE)
Camisole (not shown): Target
Grey cropped slacks (not shown): GAP
Shoes: Nine West (previously worn HERE)
Glasses: Warby Parker
Necklace: bridesmaid’s gift from Adrienne
Phew…it’s hard work coming up with outfits!
Good morning!
Yup.
And I made it myself – though you’d think with an IT husband he’d be more help…LOL s’okay. I GOT THIS.
M-o-u-s-eeeeee!
It’s Monday. Sigh. Instead of dwelling on the negative, let’s think on happy things! For example: Disneyland! Returning to work last week was tough after such a fun vacation. Marco was tall enough to go on a lot of rides, and his excitement at meeting Winnie the Pooh bear was infectious.
Some highlights of our trip:
I can’t wait to go back because I miss the Churros.
