Girrrls Trip to Portland

Hello!  It feels like ages since I last posted.  May is flying by so quickly and alas it is almost June!   How is it that Aly and Noah are graduating from Kindergarten in three weeks?  It seems like their school year started not so long ago.  All Mommies are talking about summer camp plans and that very organized ones already booked their kids into a program or two.  Well, I am no way one of those people.  Some things will never change no matter how hard I try!  I will be scrambling to find something last minute, but that is for me to stress over later! 

My good friend Jen and I went on a girls weekend away trip in mid May to Portland.  I was very much looking forward to this trip because both of us are so busy with family, we hardly have much time to chat without being interrupted by our children or schedule.  The last trip we took together was in March last year, so it was long overdue.  We always have tons of kids-free fun, but we learned from the previous trips that we should avoid overeating and go easy on walking (let's say I almost threw up in Jen's car for eating too much and our husbands had to baby us after the trip, since we were too tired from walking all day).  We were skeptical if we could stick by our words, but we were too excited to care.

After checking into the hotel near downtown, we walked over to Washington Ave. where there are rows of foot carts (food vendors on trucks) are located.  I really wanted to try a Guam food cart which was featured on TV, but that one was a bit far from the main part of downtown.  Maybe next time!  There were many vendors to choose from and we walked around to get the sense of what they are.  Jen picked a famous fish and chips shop and I settled on a Greek cuisine.  It was cheap and delicious!  I wonder when Seattle is going to have a centralized food cart spots in downtown.  I started seeing more trucks around town, but nothing like in Portland. 

We walked around town a bit and shopped for clothes for us.  Not for kids but US!  I rarely get in a mood to shop for my own clothes but without being pressed on time and no nagging children around, it was a perfect situation (or a perfect storm).  No sales tax in Oregon helped, too, of course!  It is now certain that 80s fashion came back in trend.  As survivors of 80s fashion, it made us laugh to see balloon pants and Guns and Roses T-shirts at the store.  

We were hoping to go to Pok Pok, a Thai restaurant that won James Beard Award, for dinner but the wait was two hours long.  So, we decided to walk over to the noodle house owned by the same chef a few blocks down the road.  We were glad we did!  The shaved pan fried rice noodles were delicious!  We also had a dish called Dragon's Egg, which is a duck egg yolk buried into ground pork.  It was delicious and I vowed to try making the same thing at home.  I am sure Mike won't mind it.  The best part was finding Salt and Straw, our favorite ice cream shop on the same street as we headed out to the car.  They make the best unique ice creams in the whole Pacific Northwest in my opinion.  I had to stick with my favorite, pear with blue cheese ice cream where as Jen tried dandelion ice cream with ricotta cheese.  Sounds strange?  I beg you to try it!  They are so good, I dream about it. 

We shopped some more the next day at the Premium Outlet mall the next day before heading home.  We did it!!  We didn't overeat or exhaust ourselves!  We did spend a bit on ourselves, but we saved on our food bill, right?  I am looking forward to our next trip next year.  We love our family, but sometimes we need to get away to refresh!  Thanks for the best Mother's Day gift ever, Mike!  (Yes, it was on the Mother's Day weekend!)  Now I am ready to be the sweet Mommy and wife you all want me to be.  Maybe... for a little bit...

Saying Goodbye

The last gift: I made this vase arrangement for Jerry and visited him for the last time.  I never imagined that he would pass away that day.

Jerry left comical notes often.  This one was on his gate.  He had a great sense of humor!

Today (5/8), I lost a very dear friend of mine.  I was honored to be there for him until his last moment.  It was hard seeing him so frail, but we as a human need to be there for each other in difficult times.  Jerry was a kind soul with a witty sense of humor.  I've known him for as long as I've lived in this neighborhood, but we became close a several month ago after his cancer started to take a toll on his body.  I volunteered to walk his dog since he couldn't anymore and we occasionally visited and talked.  He was a quiet man, but he had a depth of the deepest ocean which was a treasured discovery for me.  I felt that we connected very well and understood each other even though we led a very different kind of life. 

Jerry lived alone in his small 1930s cottage two houses down from us with his beloved beagle, Ripley.  He was a very private person and kept to himself most of the time, but gladly visited neighbors when invited.   We invited him for dinner on 4th of July last year and had a good meal together.  He never got married and enjoyed a quiet life with his dog. 

We miss you very much, Jerry.  I am so glad you chose me to be your friend and spend the last moment together.  As I promised you, I will ALWAYS remember you.  I hope you understood me then when I was speaking to you, holding your hand.  You looked very beautiful as if you grew wings and flew away.  I trust that you are with your loved ones in Heaven.  Life is beautiful and precious.  You were a beautiful human being.  Rest in Peace Jerry.   

Amy Baby!

One day I got a text from Amy, our former nanny, that she is expecting a baby in June.  I almost fell off my chair!  My Amy who in my mind is still a college kid (who is a full-time first grade teacher in Seattle) is having a baby!  It made me feel old, more so than on Sean's 8th birthday!  I am so happy for her and her fiancé and cannot wait to meet the cute little baby.  I know one thing that baby is going to have for sure - hip and stylish clothes!  Amy was my fashionista and I always looked forward to seeing what she decided to wear when she walked in.  Saya also enjoyed her shoe collection since Amy was a self-claimed shoeholic and owned many different shoes.  Saya as a baby and toddler was equally fascinated by shoes and tried on every single shoes Amy left by the door.  

They are not going to find out the gender until birth and the whole family and friends are making their own guessing bets on boy or girl.  In my humble and unreliable opinion, her fiancé looks like a father to a little girl however, Amy's vibe is a boy.  So, I am torn and have no clue!  Congratulations Amy star!  You are like a baby sister to me and I am so excited to that you are starting a new journey of Motherhood.   You will be a great Mother - I know for a fact because you took an excellent care of my babies.  You could even handle twins at 23 years-old!   So, go have that baby and enjoy every minute!  You know how quickly babies grow up.

The pictures are from the baby shower at the end of April.  I took the girls with me and we had a very good time, not to mention lots of good food.  The girls thought their candy station was the best thing ever and had lots and lots of candies.  I was so happy to see Chio, Amy's Mom, too.  Amy's family is amazingly kind and I admire them very much.  I hope we can build a warm and caring family like them. 

Happy Birthday, Saya!

 

 

My baby girl turned big five in the last week of April.  The surprise baby is not a baby anymore but she will forever be my baby.  She was so excited to be five and thought being five would mean she is going to be half of a grown-up.  She thought she would earn lots of privileges like eating ice creams whenever she wants to (that is a grown-up privilege, isn't it?) but that is a wishful thinking, Saya! 

We opted to not having a party this year for her since I was too slow to organize one and kind of tired of having kids' parties at home.  Instead, I took the three kids (not Noah) to an overnight stay at an indoor pool resort, Great Wolf Lodge, about an hour and half south of Bellevue.  It was a big surprise for them and kids were stunned like they won a jackpot.  I wish I had captured their reaction on a camera!  I picked up Sean and Aly at school at 11:45 and they had no idea where they were going.  I had already packed their luggage so we went straight to the resort after school.  Saya didn't remember her last visit to the resort since she was only about 2 years old.  The kids loved it of course and I was just plain wiped from being a chaperon to three excited children.  I mean, Sean woke up at 5 am, ready to swim!

The highlight of Saya's birthday must be (I hope) her cake.  I baked a sponge cake with strawberry cream filling.  The decoration was her favorite American cartoon character from Little Pet Shop series.  It took all of Sunday morning, but it was worth it.  I love making cakes for my babies.  Spring is a busy time for baking for me with three kid birthdays.  She received gifts from Mom and Dad, all her siblings, Nana and grandma.  All the gifts were spot on and that made Alyson very jealous.  I think she was crying much of the time while Saya was opening her presents.  She is only a year older after all.  I forget that because Alyson is very very tall. 

I think Saya had an excellent 5th birthday.  She is such an one of a kind type of person and brightens my day everyday.  I love you so much Saya!