goodbye mochi

our little friend has to leave us. i tried to hold on as long as possible, but with neither of us working full time, me being alone and all pregnant, having to travel anytime photography opps arise, the bunny has to go back to the adoption center. we love her. i am sad. anyone want a very soft bunny that looks like a panda? it would be $free and include a house, food and toys. she will travel.

awkward family photos

there is actually a blog called awkward family photos. the above photo has the caption: This is for the “cheaper by the dozen” kind of unit that has trouble fitting all the kids in the frame. It’s not only a space-saver, but it’s also packed with continuity, an awkward essential. Feeling really daring?… Throw in a lean.

just browse. you'll find some classics.

baby gym

We have the most talented friend in Indiana who designs and sells beautiful cuttingboards with a large variety of woods, both local and tropical. Alan has become somewhat of an uncle to us - we met him a few years back at an arts & crafts show and became enamored with his work. Since then, we have visited him at his home, met him at other shows, bought boards for ourselves, friends and relatives and I've photographed his work.

I asked him if he would design a baby play gym similar to the cariboo one I'd seen online. He put his own twist to it, making it collapsable since he knows we are short on space. We're getting a black, white & red fabric one from J's sister Holly that will be a great color stimulator (very important), but before I knew that was coming I had asked him to work on this. We can hang any toys we like on it, and pass it on to future generations. This is just a photo from his garage, we can't wait to see it in person and have Mango play with it!

memorial day plans

my brother and sis-in-law are coming into town tonight for the weekend! this is their first trip down here together to visit since we moved here. too bad my other half is in school and can't join in our fun.

on the agenda:
sat:
caroline's grandma ruth's cinnamon rolls
hermosa beach arts & crafts festival
sun:
los angeles national cemetary to honor those who fought for our freedom
more pineapple sorbet
mon:
malibu for some beach time and bbq-ing
bringing a salad

what are you doing for the weekend??

diaper giveaway for mom's

my friend amy at progressive pioneer is having a cloth diaper giveaway on her blog from the maine cloth diaper company. check it out and enter to win! they are super cute with those white adjustable snaps and a lovely shade of green. with budgets cinching, this would be a great help to the wallet.

targa

super rad bike. only made in europe. expensive. maybe i should have hung out more w/the industrial designers at byu. It makes so much sense. No gas. Healthy and efficient. The kids are lower to the ground in case of falling. Compact. The stroller part looks great too, but might be a little more expensive to recreate. Sigh. Someday the US will catch up with some type of affordable option. I love the wood part.

graduation party

sorry for the bad photos of the party, they were taken with my tiny camera. i got off work, ran home and frosted the cupcakes and then people started coming over and the fun took over me taking pictures! it was a really good time. the smartest thing to do for a party is to say yes to everyone that offers to bring something. people brought artichoke spinach dip, a fresh fruit salad, bruchetta, edamame, marinated wings with blue cheese dip and tortilla and mediterranean hummus. my friends are really good cooks.

i had everyone come prepared to teach something they had learned in grades K-college. anything at all. here is what people came up with:

• how to make a bb gun from a mechanical pencil and rubberband
• how to fold paper into a heart for passing notes
• how to make yourself and/or others faint (not fully demonstrated)
• how to text message while still seeming fully intrigued in what the teacher is saying
• how to say i love/want you in 4 different languages
• how to look pregnant if you are a man
• how to throw a gang sign (blood) with your hands
• how to spin a pencil in your hands
• how to tahitian dance (the girls and guys learned separately and then we performed for eachother)

macademia white chocolate cookies

i can't find the source of these - i just pasted them into an email for a recipe. i do remember it got 5 stars though. the key is to pull them out when the edges are golden and the tops are barely golden. if you go another minute, the tops turn all light brown fast and then they seem a little overdone. mine averaged 8-9 min's in the oven.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking soda
10 ounces white chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped into chunks

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, and the baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture,beating until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (Edges are golden brown and center is set.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

bike ride & the getty

j planned some surprises while he was home for us to do together. we've done 2/3 so far and i've loved them all.

wed. am we woke up early and biked a few miles out to playa del rey, an area we haven't checked out yet. we biked along the beach, to the little downtown to Mo's for breakfast. french toast, a california omlette (avocado, yum) and a pineapple peach smoothie. he sure does know how to feed a pregnant woman. that night i made some macademia white chocolate chip cookies for the party tonight. the recipe got really high reviews and although i won't eat nut cookies, he thinks they are amazing. i'll post it if anyone wants it.

yesterday morning we ended up at the getty. i have wanted to go to this for awhile so i was pretty excited. it's free all the time, all you pay is $10 for parking. you take a tram up the mountain to the most beautiful museum i've seen. with meetings to attend for j, we had just enough time to see the photography exhibits and wander the gardens and eat some apple blueberry pie. typically pie at a museum stand is iffy, this was fantastic. you can see the pregnant belly in the shot of me at the fountain. because i've grown so much, i can't really see where i'm walking. on the way to that rock i walked straight into the fountain, thinking it was a dry path. of course there were some elementary school kids to see it and laugh at me. awesome. please come visit me and i'll take you here. you won't regret it. we're going back this summer.

sorbet

last weekend we went to the culver city antique car show on saturday. it was warm out and i stopped into ugo for some of the most amazing pineapple gelato. i don't have a gelato maker but we are going to a friends house for hawaiian food wed. night, so i'm going to try my hand at this recipe for pineapple sorbet. it says to blend it up well but i'm going to leave some chunks in there because that's what i love about ice cream/gelato. i'll let you know how it turns out.

{update: it's fantastic!! so much so that j wants me to open a booth at the farmer's market and sell it. the key is ripe pineapple.}

currently working on

a party for j & our friend marisa - both of whom are graduating soon but not at the same time. instead of 2 parties, i am throwing a joint 'we've almost graduated' party next weekend.

on the list:

• invitations backed by high school science book pages


• the same book to cut strips of interesting graphics out to wrap around water bottles


• appetizers brought by friends


• vanilla cupcakes with passionfruit frosting


• balloons for inside, hung upside down


• balloons for the balcony, filled with helium that we will all let go at the same time as a final hurrah


• color palatte: shades of yellow and orange

photo via

free museum days

just found this and thought i would share w/those of you in the area. i know they have similar things in SF, you should look up the ones by you! with budgets tight for all of us, the more free things we can share with each other the better.

los angeles free museum days

recycling for babies

once j leaves for school again, i'm having a sewing night at my house for us mom's with newborns coming to make some of these. back in san francisco, we would make guy's tshirts smaller to fit us, now we can make them even smaller for our babies! sleepers are expensive but necessary, why not make them stylish - for free? what a great way to upcycle our husbands shirts that they won't let go of, or even some of ours from high school. find the tutorials here, image seen on ohdeedoh.

the secret life of bees

i checked this out from redbox the other night. $1.09 for a night. i read the book twice and wanted to check out the movie,especially because of the cast. it was pretty good. followed the book for the most part minus a few scenes and captured the essence of the time period. i like these movies, but it makes me glad that i was born now, and not when racism was so prevalent. speaking of bee's, check out amy's hive. she'll be harvesting fresh honey in no time. any other good movies out there that i need to know about? rental only, this woman's on a budget.

easter is past, but i'm still posting

{lunch at squat and gobble in the marina}
{dessert browsing at miette}
{challah bread - note: when it says let rise an hour, don't leave for 3 hour church}
{super easy salad, but fancy enough to impress - recipe in the easter post}

{i thought i had a lot of eggs (left), then i saw my sister-in-law julie's basket. she is fast!}

I love easter. We are all in our mid to late 20's, and some (uh hem, Rick) are in their 30's. My parents haven't let up on the egg hunts and we request them every year. They have some usual tricks (plant beds, and inside shoes) but are always looking for new ways to be sneaky. My mom was up at 6am Sunday and set the table and decorated it, and I will never be able to beat that, so I let that go and focused on my bread and salad. This bread recipe makes a LOT. We only ate half of one loaf at dinner. In the future I would only poppyseed one loaf and just plain egg the second for variety. Mom's new surprise this year was a 'spiritual grand prize'. This year, I barely found any eggs, but got the grand prize, and then so did my brother! Luckily, he had already watched his dvd of the prophet for his additional spiritual grand prize, so that went to me. Parents are funny.