Happy Presidents Day!

Yesterday, we got a welcome day off. I know, I know. Everyday is now a day off for me. There are actually a lot of things to do during the day for someone who isn't working. I used to wonder what Edwin would do while he was home during the year of Edwin. I still wake up in the mornings- mostly because I either have to drop Edwin off at the BART or we have construction workers coming in to work on the basement. Here is my typical day. I eat my breakfast- usually cereal like Golden Grahams or toast with peanut butter or jelly. On the weekends, Edwin makes me bacon, eggs, and toast. Then, I'll shower or make some phone calls (not fun phone calls to friends, but companies on the East Coast) or calls to state disability, the OB, some pediatrician, or some childcare facility. I might clean up the house a little, check my email, or do a little prenatal yoga and then I'll start preparing myself some lunch or meet a friend for lunch. I have a few friends who work in Alameda and Matilde is still on her maternity leave, so I might meet up with her. After lunch, I'll typically run errands like buying groceries, going to the post office, returning stuff to stores, or some baby-related thing like go to the OB, send out Thank You notes, or setup something in the baby's room. By the time 5PM rolls around, I'm usually ready for an afternoon nap because it starts to get dark. If I have the energy, I'll make a dinner. If not, I'll take a nap before I pick Edwin up from the BART. We'll have dinner together, watch a little TV, and then go to bed. Time passes by quickly. I always have my To Do list. I keep trying to get things done without straining myself too much, but there's always so much to do. This is me without a baby. What happens when there is a baby and nothing gets done? At least Edwin will be home for the first 6 weeks.

So we had a pretty relaxing Presidents Day weekend. I already told you what we did for Valentines Day. Sunday, we spent most of the day cleaning and doing stuff around the house. On Monday, we hung out with the Schneiders and Banerjees (again!) We'll be seeing the Banerjees again this weekend if the baby hasn't arrived. Edwin is going to help them move to their new house in Orinda (yay!) while I help watch the kids. After that, we're hoping that the baby comes relatively soon. Seriously, the countdown has started! T minus 8 days! I think that I'll be ready then...

Happy Valentines Day!

So we had a pretty low key Valentines Day. We went to a wine bar and to go see a movie in our local theatre. The movie we saw was Taken which was entertaining. We thought that it wouldn't be too busy and showed up too late to get decent seats, so we decided to trade in our tickets for the later show. That's how we ended up at the wine bar next door. I thought it was kind of funny to be 9 months pregnant and in the front window of this wine bar. We have some pictures- don't worry, all I had was some fancy grape juice!

I also thought this video was kind of funny:

Maternity Leave

So I started my maternity leave this week. The week has gone by fast! Unfortunately, I started the week sick. I think I had either food poisoning or some kind of stomach flu. I thought that I would escape this pregnancy without vomitting once, but I was wrong. 3 times. And then when I thought I was finished, diahrrea was next. Given that we are about to have a baby, I guess I better get used to bodily fluids. Needless to say, I spent most of my Monday in bed except to go see my doctor and attend an informational pediatrician session.

Tuesday I got my haircut and had a breastfeeding class. On Wednesday, I went shopping for food and Target and then cooked. It takes a while to prepare food. I'm so used to just getting home from work and heating up food. I forget how long it can take to prep everything. I made steamed fish with ginger and green onions, napa cabbage soup with tofu and wood ear mushrooms, and rice. Actually, I cut and prepped everything and then ran out of energy, so Edwin did the actual cooking when he got home. On Thursday, I cooked some more. I made jook (Chinese porridge) with the leftover rice by adding chicken and century egg. Made phone calls and took a break. Then, I started cooking lunch which was pasta and Prego added with a seafood medley, red pepper, and squash. (I have no idea how Priyanka's hubby Matt does his gourmet dishes. I take short cuts like jarred sauce and pasta from a box and it still takes forever. I am in awe because he makes the sauce and pasta out of fresh ingredients himself.) Maybe one day I'll be that inspired. In the meantime, I'll stick to my shortcuts.

Everyday, I start with my list of To Do's and it doesn't seem like I get to half the things on my list! How would I get this stuff done if I didn't have maternity leave?

Baby Shower

Matilde and Jeannette threw us a baby shower yesterday. We had a great time. There were kids everywhere. The weather was beautiful so we were able to hang out outside on Jon and Jeannette's deck and backyard. There was a monkey theme since we'll be decorating the nursery in green, brown, and white. Guests were asked to design onesies for our little one and we never knew how talented and creative our friends are. Here are some pictures from the event. Thanks guys!

This past week was also my last week at work. They threw me a small baby shower at work as well which was very nice. I still have a few things to wrap up, but for the most part, I am done. People keep asking me what I'm going to do for the next 3 weeks since I'm not due until the 24th. However, I feel like I have a ton to do. My whole Monday is pretty busy. I have a nutritional counseling class that my OB recommended, an OB appointment, 3 pediatrician interviews, and I need to file for my state disability. I'll probably be out of the house from 9-7. Tuesday, I have a haircut appointment and a breastfeeding class. The things that I want to have done first are finding the pediatrician and figuring out what to do about childcare. I'll be setting up appointments on Tuesday for the rest of the week. It was really hard to make time to interview pediatricians and visit childcare providers while I was working since they are available only during business hours.

Here are some more pictures of me at 36 weeks. I keep thinking that if I upload the pictures in the smallest size I can, I won't look so big...you can compare it to what I looked like at 26 weeks in my posting on December 18.

Irritable and Tired

5 weeks to go until baby arrives. 7 more days of working. It's a constant countdown now. We've started attending classes like infant care and childbirth preparation, we're going to see movies in the theatre like Gran Turino, we're researching childcare and pediatricians, and taking hospital tours. You could say that we have ramped up our baby preparation efforts.

It is getting tougher to get around and sleep is sometimes good and sometimes bad. That makes me a little more irritable and tired. I think that it's either to prepare for some future sleepless nights or to get me to start feeling like I would like to have this baby come out. I can see why the home stretch can be agonizing for some pregnant women. I've been pretty lucky. I haven't had bad morning sickness or gestational diabetes, so if this is the worst it gets, it's not too bad. Mostly uncomfortable.

This week was rather historic with the inaugeration of Barack Obama. I've never really been interested in politics. I'm still not that interested, but I did vote for Obama because he seemed different than most politicians and I think he will be an inspirational leader. I have voted in past elections, but this is the first time that I watched the inaugeration. There seems to be excitement and hope with this new president that I have never seen before. I like that he promotes volunteerism and change. I also like that he seems to garner a respect from other countries that we have not had in a long time. Most other presidents I would feel embarassed that we chose them because they seem to perpetuate the stupid American persona. Though Obama flubbed his oath, I think that it is interesting that people seem more forgiving of his blunders. If Bush had flubbed his oath, people would have made fun of him and thought "how typical." For some reason, Obama's temporary memory lapse makes him seem more endearing and human. Even those that did not vote for him have to admit that he does seem eager to make changes, that he is able to motivate people, and inspires hope for country that is in need of it.

After New Year's, there was a shooting at the BART station near our house. The BART police shot a man that was on the floor with his hands behind his back. (He was in some kind of altercation and was trying to calm his friend when he was shot.) I dropped off Edwin at the station the next morning without even knowing about it. We saw TV cameras there, but didn't know why they were there. A few days later, there were riots in Oakland. There were also peaceful protests, but the riots I think are more a result of the economic times and for people who want an excuse to justify violence. With this new leader, I hope that it ends that negativity and helps people to move in a more positive and constructive manner with their restless energy. For too long, I think that the people of this country have been irritable and tired.

Get What You Really Wanted

After Christmas, I saw so many stores advertising this slogan "Get What You Really Wanted." That statement just hit me the wrong way. It implies that you shouldn't be happy with what you have. There are so many people out there that are having financial difficulties or are just depressed over things that are happening in the world. It's such a negative message when people just don't need it. I saw this slogan while I was shopping (I don't remember the store) then I got an email from ebay, and then I think that I saw it on some ad. I'm in advertising and it pisses me off.

I think people have a hard enough time just being satisfied or thankful for the things that they have. As I get closer to becoming a mother, this is something that I hope to teach my children. Believe me, I am not the best example. I know I am always striving for more and better, but I would like to think that I am getting better at being happy with my current situation. It helps that I have a baby on the way and that I am going to stop working in 3 weeks. So what do I really want? Stuff that money can't buy- an easy delivery and a happy, healthy baby.

I am now 33 weeks pregnant. Baby is kicking me everyday (right now!) after I eat and when I am getting ready to sleep. I think that my pregnancy has been pretty easy for me until the last 2 weeks or so. I'm starting to have some really weird aches and pains. For some reason, my right thumb is swollen and sometimes gives me a shooting pain. I have heard of swollen feet, but just my right thumb? No other fingers, just the thumb. Weird. I've also started having more trouble sleeping. Anyone who knows me well is that I am always able to sleep- anywhere, anytime. Since my first trimester, I've been waking up once a night to go to the bathroom. It never really bothered me before and I would just go back to sleep no problem. But in the last few weeks, it's been harder for me to fall back asleep. I don't really know why. Then, on New Year's Eve, I got sick. Not vomitting sick, but we went over to Michelle and Mike's and when we arrived, I just felt sick to my stomach. A few people thought I might be delivering the baby that night, but I didn't think so. I spent most of the night sleeping in their guest bed and I woke up at 11:45PM to ring in the new year. I recovered over the next few days, but I can't explain why I got sick. I would normally blame food, but Edwin ate the same thing I did that day, so I blame it on the pregnancy.

We have started getting ready for the baby. Edwin painted the trim in the baby's room. We removed the bed and cleaned the room. Do we have a crib? Not yet, but we have been researching cribs, pack and plays, and car seats. Of the 3, the only thing I think we have to get soon is a car seat. I'm told that we can't take the baby home from the hospital without one. We have a ton of baby clothes from friends who have had baby boys and from Freeman, Edwin's nephew who is now 6 months old. We have diapers. We're starting to take our baby classes next week. We still have 7 weeks, right?

Babies!

Wow- it's been a while. I feel like it was just Thanksgiving and now it's almost Christmas. Since then, we have put up the Christmas lights, gone to Cincinnati to see my new niece Phoebe, and baked Christmas cookies. Not a lot of time to be able to blog, but wanted to share a few photos. These are of me at 26 weeks. There isn't a lot of photographic proof of my pregnancy, so this is to help document my growth.

We had a good time in Cincinnati with my sister's kids, but I'll write about that another time. Here's a picture of me and Edwin with our new niece Phoebe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Where did the weekend go? I started last week with a cold. It was disappointing because I thought that I had escaped it since it seemed like everyone I knew got sick a few weeks ago. I guess I was just holding out. It sucks having a cold and being pregnant. You're not supposed to sleep on your back when you are pregnant, so what happens when we're congested? You have to keep tossing and turning so that you can breathe. I thought that the cold was going to last only a day or 2, but I haven't been able to shake it.

We had a good Thanksgiving. We cleaned the house which we have needed to do anyway. We had Edwin's mom in town, Jeannette's family and in-laws, Edwin's aunt and cousin, and my Uncle Glenn and his family over for dinner. We had 13 people around the dinner table. We had a 12 pound turkey which I thought might be a little too small, but we managed to have leftovers. Edwin cooked the turkey while I helped with the lemonade, glazed carrots, green bean casserole, and apple pie. Edwin's mom made the stuffing and yams. Jon's parents brought over pureed carrots and broccoli. We also had a leftover dinner with the Banerjees, Schneiders, Jeannette, and Edwin's mom. We used the leftover turkey to make a turkey pot pie like we did last year. Maybe we'll start that as a tradition. It's so easy. I don't know why we don't make it more often.

This is the first time that we started using the basement. We got the Ikea sectional that we wanted off of craigslist for half the price. Here are some pictures of the finished basement. I'll post pictures of the new bathroom a little later.

Edwin's Low-Key Birthday

Last Friday, we hosted a game night for Edwin's coworkers. There was a lot of cooking and cleaning and Show and Derek came by for the games. Show of course won, but that's expected.

Last weekend was also a baby weekend, not for our baby, but to visit other babies. On Saturday, we went to Marin to visit our friend Sully who had a baby girl 3 months ago. We had brunch and she loaned me some of her maternity clothes. I've been very lucky in that I haven't really bought much. I've mostly been borrowing clothes from Jeannette and now Sully. I don't know how they found so many things that are cute. It seems like when I go shopping for maternity clothes, I can't find anything that fits right or is cute. Both Jeannette and Sully's clothes seem to fit and be cute, so I'm happy to just wear theirs for now. That way, I can also return stuff and don't need to store a lot when I'm done with them.

After brunch, we went to visit baby Mena at Matilde and Sujay's. She was tiny at less than 6 pounds. It was fun hanging out with them and we also got to see Janet who was visiting from Hawaii.

On Sunday, we had a casual pizza party at our house for Edwin's birthday which was on Monday with the Banerjees and Schneiders. On Monday, Edwin and I went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday at Cocina Poblano and then for ice cream at our local ice cream shop Tuckers.

Also, did I mention that the basement is done? I'll post pictures later, but we are just happy that construction is officially over. We didn't get everything that we wanted, but it's close enough.

Happy Birthday, Mena!

So Matilde and Sujay welcomed their new little girl yesterday. I am in awe. I still have to hear all the details, but here is what I know. She was in the hospital room at 9AM and delivered at 10AM. All natural and NO DRUGS! What?? Granted, this is her second child, but that has to be one of the easiest births I have ever heard about. All the other stories sound more like, "I was in labor for 50-60 hours and then I had a c-section." I think even with Kokomi, Matilde had only 10-20 hours of labor. Either this woman has a high pain tolerance or she has the best birthing hips in the world. Amazing. I can only hope that my birthing experience will be half as good as hers.


Speaking of birthdays, Edwin's is next Monday. Anyone have any ideas on what I should get him for his birthday? And no, I will not be getting him a surfboard, so don't even suggest it.

Tea Parties and Housewarmings

Last weekend, we also had a tea party for Matilde. She didn't want to have a second baby shower, but we wanted to have a little something for her before the baby came. We very rarely get to have a leisurely afternoon without kids to just sit and converse without distraction. Though it was a rainy day, we didn't really mind. This is probably the most recent pic of me pregnant. Matilde looks barely bigger than me and she's about to deliver any day now.

This weekend, we have 2 housewarming parties to attend- one for an old KSA coworker and the other for our friend Steve. Steve has lived in his place for almost a year now, but has been busy remodeling like us, so I guess he's finally ready for the unveiling.

Basement saga- the saga continues as the basement was supposed to be completed today. What happened? When the contractor went to pick up the shower enclosure, it didn't have all the pieces at Home Depot. Surprised? Not at all. Just par for the course since the last time he went to pick up the shower enclosure, it didn't have all the pieces then either. Normally, we would just try and find another shower enclosure. However, since our ceiling is low, we need a shorter one that is below 72." Most models are 72." Does anyone know where we can buy a shower enclosure for less than $500 besides Home Depot, Home Expo, or Lowes? Most glass places are more expensive and we have also tried OSH, but I feel like there are so few options. We're looking for a corner neo-angle shower enclosure. Holler if you see anything!

Maybe if we're not too tired this weekend, we'll get around to starting to make the baby's room look like a baby's room. People have been very generous with their outgrown diapers and boys' clothes. I don't think we'll need to buy any of that stuff. Baby is doing well. He kicks me pretty much daily and especially after I eat. I'm starting to eat beef again which is nice. I was never really liked beef that much, but since I haven't been able to have it, it's been a little tough. This week, I had vietnamese pho noodles and wonton beef tendon soup noodles. I still don't want to eat a steak, but it looks like a little meat is OK.

Happy Ha-Ween!

Last weekend, we had a great time celebrating Halloween. We don't have any pictures right now, but we went through over 30 lbs. of candy this year. We thought that the prediction of rain might decrease the volume of kids knocking on our door, but it was a nice balmy night and it only drizzled, so the kids still came a knockin.

This year, we dressed up as a white trash couple. I used my pregnant belly as part of my costume. Edwin wore a trucker hat, plaid shirt, and wife beater t-shirt. I think that the cutest part was all the kids giving away candy at the door. Maika was a pro since she gave away candy last year as well. It was Kokomi's first year giving away candy and it was just adorable how she would say, "Happy Ha-Ween!" I'm not sure that she fully grasped what we were doing, but she knew that we were giving away something and that it was fun. Even Kai who can't even talk yet knew that he was supposed to put candy in the bags that kids carried outside the door.

We also cooked and baked quite a bit this year in preparation. We made brownies, rice krispie treats, banana bread, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, chili spaghetti, and pulled pork sandwiches. We have been eating tons of dessert this week.

Did you all vote? I had my absentee ballot and dropped it off at 7:55PM to the polls about 10 minutes before we heard that Obama had won.

Preparations for Things to Come

This past weekend was nice and relaxing. We watched I am Legend on Friday. All of our friends who are parents keep telling us that if we want to watch any movies that we should watch it now.

On Saturday, we spent the day with Jeannette, Freeman, and some of her out-of-town friends. We started by hanging out in Golden Gate Park since it was nice and warm outside. I heard that the weather is supposed to get a lot cooler this week so I guess maybe our Indian Summer is over. We also went to see the Conservatory of Flowers which was nice. They had a cool butterfly exhibit and it was a nice little touristy thing to do that was not too expensive and didn't take very long. Then, we had a "snack" at the Beach Chalet to watch the sunset. Finally, we went to my coworker Kim's birthday party in SF. It was a busy day, but still pretty relaxing.

Today, we spent most of the day cleaning and preparing for next week's Halloween party. We haven't really done much to prepare the nursery yet. It still looks the same and we need to clear out a lot of stuff that just doesn't need to be there. Edwin's mom is coming next weekend as well, so it was just motivation to get started clearing out the unnecessary clutter. Of course we're not done, but it was a start. I also want to get rid of all the boxes in the dining room. I realize that I've probably been saying that for the last 9 months. Well, it starts with one box, right? I got rid of one box.

I wish that I had some remodel news. Nothing has really changed. We're still waiting for the shower enclosure and vanity to come in. Unfortunately, the bathroom will probably not be done for the Halloween party or for Edwin's mom's visit. I never thought when we started this project that we would still not be done 2 months later. I can't wait until it's all over. How many times have I said that?

SNAFU!

So I'll start with the snafu that I am in because of work. I have been working like crazy lately and a majority of my time has been spent on the campaign that Apple is making fun of below. The ad is dead on. I have complained myself about why they don't improve the products to make it easier for us to help them advertise.


To be fair, I guess I need to provide a link to the Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld ads that are part of the campaign that I work on. I won't go into the gory details about why things at work are a snafu since it is pretty boring.

The other snafu has to do with our basement. So we've been having trouble finding a shower enclosure. It still hasn't been resolved, but we're about to give up and just get the basic chrome enclosure with frosted glass. We really wanted the brushed nickel finish with clear glass. Do most people even know the difference? Probably not, but we've been watching too many HGTV shows, so we now care. But the amount of time we have spent looking for something in our price range is outweighing our desire to get exactly what we want. This reminds me of when I was looking for a specific ribbon for the wedding invitations. I spent 3 weeks looking for a ribbon because I didn't want to pay $80 for it. In the end, I ended up buying that expensive ribbon and I'm sure that NO ONE noticed this ribbon except me.

Anyway, back to the basement, the newest issue that came up today is that our contractor said that the vanity we ordered has drawers that will block the plumbing, so we have to re-order the vanity with the drawers on the other side. In the whole scheme of things, this isn't that bad, it's just a hassle because now we had to order another vanity and wait another 3 weeks for it to come in which of course means that the bathroom won't be finished for probably another month. Argh! When will we be done? The toilet is installed, but there's no water in it. (I'm told that it will get turned on tomorrow.) That is just indicative of this remodel. I'll believe it when I see it.

Dinner at Water Bar was really great. I had the oven-roasted dungeness crab while Edwin had the ono. We had the baked oysters which were really tasty and had a sardine appetizer and seafood soup. The dessert was probably the biggest surprise with a pear poached in white wine with a yellow cake, roasted hazelnuts, and maple ice cream. It was a nice way to celebrate our 2 year anniversary.

Baby R Us

This weekend was pretty chill. On Friday, we went out to dinner with the Banerjees for some Vietnamese pho. I was little nervous that I wouldn't be able to eat it because of my meat aversion. I was able to eat most of it luckily.

On Saturday, Edwin went biking and surfing while I went shopping for maternity clothes. I never really considered how I would feel about being pregnant. I always thought that I would just love being a mom. It's not that I don't yet. It's just that I'm not a mom yet. So I'm just kind of shopping for a fatter me in stores where they charge a lot for clothes that are not very cute. I tried looking in Mimi Maternity, but I just couldn't find anything that I really wanted. I then went to Old Navy where I found a few tops, but still just basics. I also tried to look for some "normal" clothes with empire waists so that I could still wear it after pregnancy and look cute at BR and H&M. Unfortunately, I still didn't find anything that I wanted in my price range.

A funny thing happened to me while I was in Old Navy. It was the first time that I bought clothes for our baby boy. Edwin and I have already received a lot of clothes from friends who just had a baby boy or finished some spring cleaning. From what I hear, a lot of people buy clothes for you, so Edwin and I had agreed that we shouldn't buy any. But I just couldn't help myself. They were so cute. They had a surfing theme and most of the shirts were less than $1. How could I resist? When Edwin saw them, neither could he. I spent less than $10.

We also started the baby registry this weekend. It's so overwhelming. The room is already painted green because I thought that we could decorate with yellow and blue if we had a boy and pink and purple if we had a girl. However, we actually ended up with green, white, and brown. We were going to decorate the guest room in green and brown anyway.

Remodel news- the floor got tiled this past weekend, but we still don't have a toilet, sink, or shower installed. Grouting and sealing of the time has to happen before we can install the rest. The bathroom also got painted and the heater got installed. That's great, but I want a working bathroom! As my contractor keeps telling me, "It should just be a few more days!" Can you tell I'm frustrated?

Tomorrow is our 2 year anniversary. Can you believe it? We're going out to dinner to celebrate at Water Bar. I'll let you know how it is.

Tension

This past weekend, my cousin George came up for a visit from LA. We met up with him for a family dinner on Friday with my uncle's family and my cousin Billy and his wife Maggie. Good food at Au's Kitchen in San Bruno. So good that I ate too much. Here's the thing about pregnancy. You think that you can eat all you want, but really you can't. In fact, you have to eat less. Here's why- there is less room in your belly. Your stomach is sharing space with the baby. I've found that if I eat too much, there is no room for expansion. My belly feels like it's so stretched that it will explode. It just gets hard. It's not like belly fat that is soft that you can poke your finger and it sinks it. (Believe me, I know what that feels like!) If you poke your finger, it's like pushing the outside of a balloon. There is tension.

On Saturday, we did a little shopping and then headed out to watch the Blue Angels for Fleet Week. It was a nice day to be outside watching the plane acrobatics. Getting to Chrissy Field was not bad. We parked near my work at Levi's Plaza and then took a cab. After the show, we decided to walk back towards the car and take public transportation. If moving out to Alameda made us forget how bad public transportation can be in SF, Saturday was a reminder. We walked about 15 blocks to the bus stop near Ghiradelli Square. Since we were in the area, we decided to rest and get some ice cream. We lived 4 blocks from there and I think that we only ever went there 4 times when people were visiting from out of town. After we spent $8 on a sundae, we continued on our walk because the traffic was so heavy that no cars were moving and therefore, no buses were coming. We then changed course and took the F street car since it had its own dedicated lane that would take us back to Levi's Plaza. Little did we know that when we boarded the bus that appeared (instead of the street car) that it would hold us hostage. We basically wanted to exit at Pier 23, but when the bus finally got out of traffic, it wasn't letting anyone off until the Ferry Building. When we finally got out, I waited for Edwin at the Hyatt hotel on Market while Edwin had to walk another 10-15 blocks back to the car. It took us almost 3 hours to get back to our car in what should have taken about 30 minutes tops. Tension.

On Sunday, we were going to have a Michelle and Mike come over for dinner. Since we were going to cook anyway, we invited the Banerjees who then invited the Schneiders since they were going to be househunting in the East Bay. It was an impromptu dinner party. I actually like having people over because it forces us to clean the house. The house has been a mess lately because of all the construction in the basement. Did I say that we can't wait until it's done? We had a great time and celebrated Kokomi's 2nd birthday. I was also able to eat beef for the first time in months! Short ribs from Costco- Harris Ranch. Yum.

On the basement, we are so close. This week, the room got carpet. However, the bathroom is still not done. It won't even be worked on until next weekend. We were able to order a shower enclosure so that it doesn't have to be custom, but our contractor waited a full week before ordering and we are told that it wouldn't come in for 14 days. Still, I would just love an extra working toilet. Tiling began last week, however, they are still not done. They have laid most of the floor tile, but they still need to finish and after they finish, they still have to grout. That is 2 days minimum before they can install the toilet. It would be a great anniversary gift. (shhh... don't tell Edwin I said that- I still want a present!) So what's the problem? The problem is that our contractor started some other rush job and says that he won't be able to come to work until Saturday. I've heard of this happening to other people, but this really sucks. I guess it could be worse because I hear some contractors don't even tell you and just don't show up. It's just that we will have to live with the dirt and dust for another week. So this has caused a little bit of tension with our contractor, but what can you do? Guess it will be another 3 days- at least we're not paying anymore.

Food and lots of it

Last weekend, we had a night out with the Banerjees in the East Bay. We went to dinner at a great Italian restaurant called Dopo. Food was very good. My faves were the scallops in a tomato sauce and Matilde's tagliatelle in pheasant ragu. We will have to go back. Then, we went to Fenton's Creamery across the street for some ice cream. Pregnancy does have it's perks.

On Saturday, we went to San Mateo to celebrate Kaori's birthday. Jamie planned a surprise lunch for her and as usual, we spent the rest of the day hanging out. We ended the evening with a Chicago-style hotdog dinner with various hot dog preparations. We of course had the classic hot dog on a bun as well as franks and beans, jambalaya/gumbo, and Asian favorite ramen with sliced hot dog.

On Sunday, we had more good food. We went to Mountain View to my cousin's house for a BBQ. Still can't eat steak, but I had plenty to eat. We were able to sell our blue couch, so now we just need to sell the chaise.

Update on the basement- we have about a week to go. After the they finished smoothing the walls, we discovered that they had sealed our glasses behind the wall. When the framing was put up, we noticed that the contractors had used a few of our drinking glasses and placed on the ledge underneath the framing. We thought that they were using the glasses to test the new pipes for the bathroom. After they sealed the wall, we realized that we hadn't seen those glasses back in the cabinets, so we asked the contractor about it. Apparently, the glasses were left inadvertantly behind the sealed wall. I equate this situation with how a surgeon forgets a scalpel or gauze inside a patient. Luckily, these were just some old glasses that we didn't really care about. Though the contractor offered to open up the wall to retrieve them, we opted to just leave them there. They started tiling the shower and have painted the wall of the family room. We discovered this week that the shower doors that we purchased were too tall for the space, so we thought we might need to purchase custom shower doors. Luckily, we discovered that Jon and Jeannette had used shorter doors and so we're hoping to be able to purchase the same shower enclosure. We cannot wait until this construction is done.

Here are the photos from Tom and Debbie's wedding:

It's a Boy!

We found out yesterday that we will be having a baby boy. We had our second sonogram. Before the technician told us that the baby was a boy, I suspected that he was a boy because I saw a body part that didn't look like an arm or a leg. Edwin suspected a few weeks ago that he was a boy.

I first started noticing something last week with the baby. At first, it felt kind of like a twitch in my abdomen. Now I know that it was the baby kicking. It's definitely more distinct now. He's been very active yesterday and today. Before the sonogram, they tell us to come with a full bladder. During the sonogram, they press on your full bladder to see the baby. I was hoping that I wouldn't have an accident during the exam. I wouldn't be surprised if there have been other women who have.

This past weekend, we had a great time at Tom & Debbie's wedding. I'll post pics later, but the weekend was a blur. We got to catch up with friends from out of town and with friends in town. Edwin was the officiant while I did a reading and sang during the reception with Pete, Nikki, Sanford, and Pete/Tom's cousin.

My Baby Has No Name Yet

We haven't really started to think about names yet because we're waiting until we find out the sex on Monday. (No Dennis, we will not be naming our child Thor and Legolas even if he is a boy. You should save those names for your future son.) However, I really liked this poem.

My Baby Has No Name Yet

by Kim Nam-Jo

My baby has no name yet;
like a new-born chick or puppy,
my baby is not named yet.

What numberless texts I examined
at dawn and night and evening over again!
But not one character did I find
which is as lovely as the child.

Starry field of the sky,
or heap of pearls in the depth.
Where can the name be found, how can I?

My baby has no name yet;
like an unnamed bluebird or white flowers
from the farthest land for the first,
I have no name for this baby of ours.

Traveling Dancer

Saw this video a few weeks ago, but I just love it because it reminds me of all the places that we have been to (and some that we would like to visit in the future!) and wanted to share. It always seems to make me smile.

Changing Lifestyles

Thanks to everyone on the well wishes for the baby. It's funny how it takes a mass email to hear from people again. I think that everyone just gets so busy, but it was like someone openned all the floodgates and we received so many emails from people. Some people we haven't even seen since the wedding. Since we will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary in 2 weeks, that means that we haven't seen some of you in 2 years. How does that happen?

This week was a particularly rough week at work. I'm just glad that it is over and hopefully, that means that I can get back to a more normal schedule.

On Friday, we got to catch up with some friends. It's funny how things change when people start having kids. We used to go out past midnight and now we are usually home by midnight. I guess that when you start having to wake up at the crack of dawn with kids and can't sleep in the next day, you start to question the value of staying up late. I think it gets easier as your friends start having kids as well.

Last night, we went to go see the new DeNiro and Pacino movie "Righteous Kill." Edwin's favorite movie is Heat which also stars these 2, so we were hoping that it would be good. It was entertaining, but definitely not as good as Heat. I also realized that we used to watch movies more often with friends, but lately, it's been the 2 of us if we go to see a movie in a theatre. I guess that's another change that happens when people start having kids. No one wants to pay for a babysitter or paying to see a movie in a theatre when you can watch it at home 3 months later.

Update on the basement- I've been remiss in posting pictures of progress. We are about 2 weeks away from having a new bathroom and family room/guest room. It's actually starting to look like a real room. All the rough plumbing and electrical are done. (For those who don't know contractor speak, that just means that all the stuff behind the walls is done.) They have completed the framing, put in insulation, and put up the drywall. They have started mudding and taping (which just means that they are smoothing out the surface of the walls.) We still don't have the shower, toilet, or sink installed and my guess is that they will start tiling this week. Windows have not been replaced and the stairwell still needs to be covered and painted. However, we have a ceiling and walls.

Trip to LA

These photos were from my trip to LA in August. I didn't have a chance to post them back then, but it was a family-filled weekend for me while Edwin went on his annual surfari in San Onofri.

Belly Bump Watch

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to see a couple of live cover bands. It was fun, but we definitely felt a little old since we were seated for most of it. I can always play the pregnancy card, right? We got to see cover bands for No Doubt, Weezer, and the Smiths. It was pretty loud in the club, so I wonder if the baby was able to hear the music. (I think I remember reading that the baby's ears had formed.) I also remember my mom said that she went to a Bee Gee's concert when she was pregnant with me which is why she is convinced that I like to dance and sing. We'll see.

This week, I guess that I am starting to show. One of my SVP's walked up to me and asked me if I was pregnant. I still haven't gained any weight, but I know that my belly has gotten bigger because none of my pants fit anymore. Last weekend, I was trying to find a dress to wear to a friend's birthday party, and I couldn't zip up any of them. It's a little disheartening, but the reason makes it OK. I do wonder if/when I'll be able to get back into my normal clothes. I definitely have a bigger, rounder stomach.

So if I haven't gained any weight and this is just a redistribution focused on my middle, then where was this weight hiding on my body before the pregnancy? That thought is a bit frightening. I'm not worried about not gaining any weight since the baby is only supposed to weigh about 5 oz right now. Since that's not even a pound, I'm happy that I'm not gaining weight too quickly. Most women are only supposed to gain 25-30 lbs during pregnancy, so I would like to stay on the lower end of that weight gain. I've never been good at going to the gym, so the less that I gain, the less I'll have to lose later, right?

Remembering

So today is the memorial of the September 11 attacks. I remember very clearly that I was getting ready for work as I heard the news. It reminds me that there is more to life than work. Lately, I have been working a lot. It's probably not the best thing for me or the baby, but it's just been really busy and very stressful.

In addition to work, there's also the stress of another remodel. We started finishing the basement right before Labor Day. I thought that the kitchen was stressful, but I feel like this one has been tougher. We had different stressors for the kitchen such as the language barrier since the contractor spoke mostly Chinese. For the basement, things seem to keep expanding in terms of cost, time, and scope. Not things I like to hear. I think that we might have been spoiled with the kitchen remodel because we did finish on-time though we did spend a little more than we had anticipated. We didn't have the typical contractor experience where they were late or found something bad which expanded the scope. So you already know about the water heater. This week, we heard that it was probably going to take them another week to complete the job. I still haven't figured out why. The material costs are definitely going to exceed the estimate, so it's all a bit frustrating. I am so relieved that this will probably be our last remodel project for a while. I can't wait until it will be finished. I don't like bad surprises. Being in strategy and analytics, I like to know about things ahead of time and plan for them. Probably another reason we want to know the sex of the baby when the time comes.

I'm sure that I'll be happy in the end, but it's just nervousness until we get there. I think that when I compare it to the kitchen remodel, I forget about the anxiety we had with that project and just remember the relief when it was complete.

I'm told that pregnant women also are very forgetful. I wonder if that is a factor as well. I feel like my memory lately has been suspect. This week, I forgot my laptop at a restaurant which I have never done before. Last week, I forgot to write an important check. I might have to start relying on Edwin to remember things for me for a while. Scary.

Pregnancy = Uncomfortable

So in case you were wondering why the number of posts have diminished quite a bit this summer, it is because of the pregnancy. I told you about the food aversions, but I haven't talked about the lethargy. For the past 3 months, I have pretty much taken 2 hour naps every Sunday and sometimes during the week. I'm usually OK during the day at work, but once I stop moving and start relaxing, my body says "You're finally slowing down, so you're really going to slow down now." It's kind of like when you are working really hard on a project and you can't afford to be sick, so you power through it and then you go on vacation and you get sick because you finally let your defenses go.

Because I have been sleeping so much and been drained of energy, it's been hard to get stuff done. I'm cleaning less- luckily, Edwin is there to pick up the slack most of the time, but it's hard to motivate if you're the only one cleaning while your spouse is sleeping. For me, that means returning less emails, decreasing blog posts, less phone calls, missing fun events with friends, and a decrease in thoughtful things for others (buying gifts/cards, calling/emailing for a birthday, etc.) This may not seem that significant and I know that people understand why, but it's part of what makes me me. Some of our friends said that they were suspicious of my pregnancy when Edwin appeared at a few events without me saying that "Michelle's not feeling well, so she wasn't able to come."

I'm now at 14 weeks and my pants are starting not to fit. I haven't gained any weight, but I guess that it has just been re-distributed to my middle. I had an OB appointment on Friday and my doctor told me that I definitely was starting to look pregnant. I can't really tell, but both Jeannette and Edwin have started saying that I'm looking bigger. I do feel like I'm in an in-between stage because my normal pants are too tight, but I'm still too small for maternity pants because they feel too loose. I'm also feeling some kind of weird soreness in my left lower back. I'm told that it is my sciatica. I have heard that a lot of women have issues with their hips and backs when pregnant because the hormones are working to "loosen" the joints in preparation for the big day. I guess that's why they say that women with large hips are good child bearing hips. I never thought that my hips were that small. It's usually worst when I wake up or after I have been sitting for a long period of time. I've never had back pain because I'm pretty flexible, so I can't tell if this is because I'm just getting old or if it's pregnancy-related- either way, it's uncomfortable.

So in all the excitement related to the baby, I forgot to mention that we've started remodelling again. This time, we're finishing the basement and the best part- adding a bathroom. We started this past week and unfortunately, we forgot to take the before pictures. So far, they have just started the framing to put up the walls, but we've already had a few mishaps. We're using different contractors this time than we did with the kitchen. We were very happy with the kitchen contractors, but Jon and Jeannette just had this contractor build a similar in-law unit for them, so we thought we would give him a try. On the first day, we met with him and told him that we would be leaving the back door open for him so that we wouldn't need to give him a key. He left to go purchase supplies and was going to return that day to start demolishing the basement. Well, that was the same day that my cousin Esther was leaving our house (she stayed with us this summer while she interned at my company) and she accidentally locked them out. Not a good start.

Then, the contractor was going to move the water heater to make room for the bathroom, but we determined that we weren't going to be able to move it where we wanted to, so now we're going to have a tankless water heater installed. We had been toying with the idea for while, but decided not to because of the cost. As you may recall, we had a slight issue when we first moved in because PG&E came to turn on the hot water and said that there was something wrong with the pilot assembly in the water heater. Though our real estate agent used some plumbers tape and "fixed it" so that we could use the water heater, I never have felt that comfortable with the water heater since. Because of that incident and because of the spatial/aesthetic issues, we decided to go for the tankless water heater. They say that it saves energy and money, so why not?

Our Labor Day weekend has been spent mostly shopping for bathroom materials and cleaning. Next weekend will be the one year anniversary since we first moved in. It's hard to believe that we have been here for a year when we still haven't finished unpacking! Also part of this remodel, we will be adding shelves flanking the fireplace- yay, so we can finally unpack our books. Maybe we'll finish unpacking and put up a picture or 2 within the next year. We also get our new sectional this week. Woo hoo- the joys of home ownership.

We're Having a Baby!

Baby's head is on the right and the spot above is the hand. You can kind of see eyes and a mouth.
3D baby. Looks like a topside view.

It's no longer an April Fools joke. We are expecting. Baby Lager will be joining us in late February. Due date is February 24, 2009. We were waiting until the end of the first trimester to announce, but here's a recap of how the pregnancy has gone so far.

I found out that I was pregant right before I left for NYC in July. I had my yearly exam with the OB/GYN, but was told that they would have to charge me for a pregancy test because insurance does not cover it. What??? That is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. I don't know why I should be surprised that insurance doesn't cover it, insurance in general sucks. The doctor assured me that the pee sticks were just as accurate, so I took it the next day before I left for NYC. I read the instructions on the outside of the box and took the test. It came out positive. Jeannette reassured me that there are no false positives, only false negatives with these tests.

It's so hard for me to keep my own secrets. It's much easier for me to keep other people's secrets. Maybe it was because I wanted to tell people, but I felt like I couldn't because I couldn't even tell Edwin yet because he was in Nicaragua. That's not to say that I didn't tell anyone, but Edwin was not the first to know. Some people think that I should have emailed him and told him to call me. However, that's just not something that we have ever done. When he's on his trips, he doesn't call me. He usually just emails, but this is not something I wanted to email. And yes, we have not yet discovered Skype because we don't really call anyone internationally.

I finally did tell Edwin over the phone when he was back from Nicaragua. I was still in NYC and was going home the next day. I would have liked to have been able to tell him in person, but I just couldn't wait. It's not like he didn't know there was that possibility, but I think it still surprised him. It's like the clock had already started ticking on 9 months and we didn't even know we were starting until 6 weeks into it. I know it's not right, but somehow I always felt like it was 9 months from when you know.

The first real sign that made me think that I was pregnant was that my breasts were sore for several days. (Is that TMI?) I'm about 14 weeks now and I haven't really had morning sickness where I vomitted, so I guess I'm lucky. I have felt queasy and tired, but that's about it. I have always wondered what kind of food cravings I might have. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought pregnancy would make me want to eat more fruits and vegetables. (Edwin is now convinced that this is his baby!) I can't seem to get enough fruit and I don't think I have wanted to eat salads more than now. Edwin is very happy about that, but he's not so happy that it also seems that the baby doesn't seem to want red meat. I look at a big steak and think "oh, that looks good" but then I can't eat it. My stomach starts to say "don't bother." There have been a few times when I started eating something I thought I wanted and then had to stop in the middle because I started feeling queasy. Baby has also made my portion sizes smaller. In my head, I think to myself, I could eat 2 slices of beef pot pie, but then I am barely able to eat one. Edwin has been trying to get me to eat more meat. It's almost a role reversal. Nobody has ever had to tell me to eat more meat in my entire life! One thing that both baby and I like is soup. Love it. Can't get enough of it.

Things have been somewhat surreal. Part of me thinks that we should be doing more to prepare, but then I'm like, what do I need to do? I think at this point, it's just relax. Maybe look into maternity leave stuff. We probably won't decorate the baby's room until we find out the sex. We both want to know. Right now, I don't really feel anything, so I can't tell if it's a boy or girl. I would be happy with both, but I would at least like to have 1 girl out of the 2 children we will probably have.

Catching Up

Last weekend, we went out to the Castro and met up with Pablo, Steve, and Steve. We had dinner at Luna which had a lovely outdoor patio and a totally delicious clam chowder. Unfortunately, I wish that I had remembered to take a lactaid. Note to self, always take a lactaid when eating creamy soups. We ended up having an impromptu sleepover at Jeannette and Jon's so that I could recover from my gastrointestinal difficulties.

On Saturday, we went to San Jose for Joe and Helena's baby shower/BBQ. We also went to Mike and Michelle's for a dumpling making party. Though we missed the dumpling making part, we were there for the eating part and it was more good times with good friends.

Tea Party

On Friday, we went out with some friends to celebrate my birthday. We went to a French restaurant in the Mission called Garcon. The bartender was very good and the food was not bad, but the service was a little less than I would have expected for that caliber of restaurant. We still had a good time and then went to Bi-Rite for some ice cream dessert. I definitely recommend Bi-Rite. It was quite tasty. I had plain chocolate which was good, but there was a balsamic strawberry that was really great.

On Saturday, Michelle and Show and I went to Debbie's bridal shower in Pacifica. It was quite nice. Debbie has 3 sisters who are very domestically gifted. They had lovely tea sandwiches- salmon and egg salad, chicken curry on croissant, turkey pesto and mozzerella, and peanut butter jelly and banana. So yummy. This is in addition to the 2 trifles, the sorbet, and homemade scones. This was a real tea party.

All in all, a pretty good way to celebrate my 33rd birthday.

iPhone Frenzy

Last Friday, we had dinner with Matilde, Kokomi, Jeannette, and Freeman. Jeannette and Freeman stayed to help me bake an apple pie. Freeman slept while Jeannette peeled and sliced the apples while I prepared the mixture. Poor Jeannette didn't get to taste the pie because she had to leave earlier, and I brought the pie to cousin Billy & Maggie's in Mountain View for a BBQ. It was a nice little family gathering since Esther was there along with my uncle and his kids and Billy's parents. It was crazy hot (90+ degrees) and so weird because on Monday it was like 60 degrees in the city.

Sunday was pretty uneventful. Edwin tried to get the new Apple iPhone, but was told at the store that their system was down. It's crazy to me the demand for this phone. I work on the Windows Mobile campaign and I get a free phone through work, but I still think about paying $200 plus a monthly fee for the new iPhone. Is that crazy? I know that a lot of MS employees have iPhones. How good of a product is Windows Mobile if you can't convince your own employees to use it? Part of me wants to tell MS to build a product like the iPhone and then we can help them to advertise it.

DC Days

Yikes! It's been a while since I posted. It's mostly because we went to DC last week to celebrate Mustafa and Ellen's wedding. We were there from Wednesday to Sunday, but the time went by so fast. When we arrived on Wednesday, Mustafa and Ellen picked us up from the airport and we went to dinner. We also got a tour of their new house. We forget that when we leave the Bay Area, the houses all seem SO BIG. They had a beautiful deck with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. I have bathroom envy when I still have to share our only bathroom with Edwin. Here are some photos from our trip:

On Thursday, we helped pick up all the liquor for the wedding. We purchased the recommended amount from the caterer. We should have anticipated that the 60 guests would not be able to consume the vast amounts of liquor that they recommended- especially when we knew about half the guests and most of them don't drink alcohol at all. I think that Sujay did his best to consume as much as possible. He had 4 drinks before dinner and quite a few after. I always thought that "wedding Sujay" was only affected by wine, but now I know that's not the case. More about that later. After we picked up the libations, we went shopping at the Leesburg outlet mall since we were in the vicinity and sales tax was only 5%. I didn't really get much, but Edwin was able to get some great deals. We then met up with Ellen & Mustafa and some of their out of town guests for some pizza and pasta.

Feeling guilty about not indulging in the more cultural aspects of DC, we decided to go to the Smithsonian with the Banerjees on Friday. I forgot how big it was and we were only able to make it to the Natural History museum where we saw the Hope Diamond, a butterfly exhibit, and lots of taxodermied animals. We had wanted to visit the American History museum, but it was closed for renovations. We also wanted to see the Aerospace museum, but we ran out of time. We took a brisk walk to the Capitol Building in the sweltering heat, made a short stop at the Washington Monument, and then went to visit Matilde's old high school. We made it back in time to enjoy a BBQ at Ellen & Mustafa's where we got to meet up with Michelle and Mike, Derek and Show, Bo and John, Jinn, Kristal, Greg, Wilson, and Lok. We haven't seen Wilson in forever so it was nice to catch up with him and his adventures in HK. Old friends = good times.

Saturday was the big day, but we managed to make a quick trip to Dupont Circle with the Banerjees and Jinn. We had a quick lunch at Wisemillers which Greg had recommended to us and realized that we were no longer in college as we were expecting seating with our meal. It was still tasty and so we dined al fresco on one of the Georgetown campus lawns. Unfortunately, we did not get to explore Dupont Circle as much as we would have liked because we needed to get back to get dressed. It was such a cute little area that reminded me of Beacon Street in Boston because of the cute boutiques and collegiate atmosphere.

We had begun to remark that Ellen and Mustafa didn't seem as stressed as most couples are on their wedding day and surmised that it was probably because this was their third wedding. (They were officially married in December with family only and had another celebration in London earlier this year.) They still had a ceremony and it was lovely. Ellen is one of our dearest friends and part of our wedding party. The words that they shared were so heart-felt and genuine that I don't know that there was a dry eye in the group. Even though they have been married in essence for 6 months, it seemed to me that they were just wed. They were also mercifully short in the hot weather. Pictures to be posted later. There was lots of dancing and then it was all over. We got to chauffer Sujay home because he was three sheets to the wind. We had to stop twice to let him expunge his dinner and drinks. All in all, it was a great night of celebration.

Sunday morning took us a little longer to wake up. We spent our last few hours at Ellen and Mustafa's and saying good-bye to friends before we had a long flights home. We had a connection in Phoenix and our layover turned out to be delayed due to some bogus SF weather claims. Luckily, they let us off the plane and we were able to fly standby to Oakland which was more convenient anyway. After so much activity, it was nice to be home.

This week was horrendous. Work has been killing me. I was working until past 1AM on Monday because of a deadline and I have worked after I got home every day this week. This is not normal for me thankfully, but it doesn't make it much easier. Today was the first day I didn't feel exhausted. This weekend cannot come soon enough!

All in a Day's Hard Work

So I hope that everyone had a good time for the 4th of July. We had a great time. We had a BBQ. We thought that there would be 15 people attending, but then we had more than 30 people come. We started the day with the Alameda parade which is one of the longest parades in the country at 3.5 miles long. It was definitely a slice of Americana. Matilde, Kokomi, Sully, Eric, Wendy, Kian, and Teague joined us for the festivities. There were lots of people who came to the parade via bike. We drove, but were able to find parking only 3 blocks away. As a former city dweller, this was pretty incredible to us. We were able to get great views because the parade was so long that even at one of the busiest intersections on the island, we got front row seats. Here are some pictures of the parade.

After we left the parade, we went home to prepare for the BBQ. The day went by so quickly. Many people had more than 1 BBQ, so we ended the festivities around 5PM. This allowed us to go to Greg's BBQ in the evening in Emeryville where we tried to watch the fireworks, but because it was so cloudy, we weren't able to see much.

This weekend has gone by quickly too. We had a dinner in Oakland and then watched an Adam Sandler movie called Click. It was a fun movie. On Saturday, Jamie came over and helped us fix a LOT of little things around the house. Now I wish that I had taken "before" pictures. In one day, they hung the old kitchen cabinets in the garage, repaired the deck and stairs, fixed the gate latch, repaired the back screendoor, hung several window shades, and tore out the old shed acoustic ceiling. I was hoping for just the cabinets to be hung and maybe some deck repair. I never in my wildest dreams thought that they would be able to accomplish so much in one day. As Jamie kept saying, "Well, since we have all the tools out, what else can we do?" Here's a new addition to a good friend definition- helps you do home repair or clean raw sewage. Thanks Jamie!

NYC and Freeman Jah George

Last week just flew by. As you know, I went to NYC for the week. Here was the day-by-day activities:

Tuesday-I arrived to a hot and sweaty NYC via SuperShuttle. Now, I lived in NYC for 2 years. In all that time, I never took SuperShuttle. Why did I start now? I should have just shared a taxi with someone from the airport. I waited 45 minutes just to board the shuttle. Then, I sat for another hour while we dropped off 3 other parties. I could not stand it any longer. I got out and took a taxi the rest of the way. It would have been faster and cheaper to take the subway. Note to self- SuperShuttle in SF good. SuperShuttle in NYC- very, very bad. I arrived at Priyanka and Matt's for a late night dinner. It was nice to catch up with them.

Wednesday- To prepare for Priyanka's birthday dinner, I wen to Union Square Farmer's Market with Matt to pick up some ingredients. It was really big and had a large selection. I really wish that I had known about this when I lived there because I was always frustrated with the lack of fresh foods though I am told that this market just started getting more popular within the last few years. I also got to meet up with my cousin Vivian. She happened to be on her way to Guatamala for a freelance job. We had lunch at Katz's Deli and then shopping in Soho. That night, I went in to Westchester with my cousin Amy to visit my uncle and aunt. We also went to Cosi for dinner. Cosi is a regional chain that is not in CA, but I used to have it for lunch a lot when I lived in NYC so it was another food to check off my list. These were some really good sandwiches.

Thursday- I met up with Amy in Times Square for Sapporo ramen. When I lived in NYC, I used to meet up with Amy for ramen lunch at least once a week. Then, I met up with Ellen for some more shopping. She came up from DC to hang out with me and Jinn since school was out. It was also Priyanka's birthday and her husband Matt cooked up a a gourmet vegetarian dinner. Matt has always been able to make vegetarian food appealing to me. I'm pretty much the biggest carnivore, but Matt makes vegetarian dishes so tasty that it makes me think that he must be sneaking in meat somehow. He did not disappoint. He started with a 3 types of picked beets on endive. I'm not a big beet fan and I normally don't like endive because I find it bitter. Matt has changed my mind. I think that the pickling tamed the bitter flavor. He then made a cilantro soup. I hate cilantro, but I thought that if anyone was going to change my mind about that soap-flavored herb, it would be Matt. I tried it and had more than I thought I would, but alas, even Matt could not change my mind about cilantro. I tried. The main course was the lasagna. Most people buy the sauce and noodles and call it day. Matt made the sauce and the lasagna noodles. Who does that? This is what makes Matt a gourmet. It was SO good. The noodles were thinner than most lasagna noodles and the sauce was so sweet. I loved it and I had 2 pieces. Then, Priyanka's friend Edina made a cake. Who are these people? How do they even have the materials at home to just whip up a cake? I was impressed. My friends will buy me a nice cake, but I can't imagine anyone having the time to bake an entire cake. Maybe Show. These people live in NYC. They have changed my perception of New Yorkers. I need to step up my hostess game. No more Costco parties- who am I kidding? We're having 15 people over Friday for a BBQ. You bet we're going to Costco. Maybe I'll plan for something homemade...

Friday- I started out the day by meeting Ellen in South Street Seaport to pick up Broadway tickets at TKTS. We worked our way up to the West Village for some lunch at Dirty Bird to Go which I thought was good, but expensive. The whole premise is that the chicken in organic and hormone-free. I guess that healthier chickens mean littler chickens because it was probably the smallest thigh I have ever eaten. It was tasty, but I don't know if it's worth triple the cost of Popeye's for half the food. We also went to The Ink Pad to pick up embossing materials for Jinn's birthday gift. It was a cool specialty store with more stamps than I have ever seen, but I'm not sure that it's for everyone. Then, Ellen and I went to Central Park to hang out. Before our Broadway show, we had dinner at Joe's ShangHai Dumplings with Amy and Sandi. This was probably my favorite new find in NYC. These dumplings were so tasty. All the food was very good. We thought that we had over-ordered, but we managed to finish everything. I think that my favorites were the crab and pork soup dumplings and the seafood fried flat noodles. Yum- my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I think that this will warrant a return the next time I'm in NYC. Haven't had dumplings this good in a while. We then went to watch Spring Awakenings, a new musical. I have to admit, I knew nothing about this show, but it has gotten some good reviews. The music was pretty good and the actors were pretty good, but I couldn't get into the storyline. It was supposed to take place in 1890 Germany, but the music was contemporary and I like my musicals to be more happy and cheesy. After the show, we met up with Bo and her boyfriend for some karaoke at Duet which Derek recommended. Show and Derek were supposed to join us, but unfortunately, Show's flight was delayed 1.5 hours. We managed to still have a blast. We were only going to stay an hour, but we ended up singing for 2 hours.

Sat- I started the day with some bagel and lox with Priyanka at a nearby bagel joint. I forgot how good a bagel and lox can taste. Another NYC food check. Jinn drove us out to her NJ summer house in Bradley Beach for a gourmet BBQ. Anyone going to Jinn's parties will never go hungry. She made pulled pork, hamburgers with garlic chunks, marinated chicken thighs, asparagus, portobella mushrooms, and red peppers. She also marinated salmon, but we were just too stuffed to eat cook it. We spent a few hours at the beach where I took a nice nap. I ended up napping 3 times that day. I think that all of the hustle and bustle of NYC caught up to me. It was really nice to be able to relax in NJ at the beach house.

Sun- For my final day, we made a visit to our friends Val and Jason's house in Brooklyn to meet their son Tyler. It was really great to catch up with them and again I was impressed by Jason's culinary skills. He made a steak with risotto while Val made a strawberry shortcake dessert from scratch. Like I said, these New Yorkers have made me realize that I need to make more of a culinary effort. It can be done!

It was a really busy trip, but I was happy that I was able to spend quality time with all of my friends and family. These are the only photos I have from the trip because Edwin took the camera with him to Nicaragua. This is a photo of me with my cousins Amy and Sandi after we gorged at Joe's ShangHai Dumplings.

Best news of all, Jeannette gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday. Here's a photo of uncle Edwin with his new nephew, Freeman.

Scrubya!

One of my childhood friends Kavita is now a small business owner who make politcal soaps. I used to go to her house almost weekly. If I wasn't at Kavita's house, I was at Priyanka's house. We lost touch after college. I'm not exactly sure why. I think part of it was the distance. She was in New England and I was in the Bay Area. She went into politics (volunteering for some presidential hopeful a few years ago) and I really don't know much about politics. I think it's great to see her be successful and still be able to voice her opinions. I haven't tried her soap yet, but I will be ordering some. If you know of any liberals who would get a kick out of soap with a political statement, I recommend it. http://scrubya.com/

What I think is even more remarkable is how I came to know about Kavita's business. My cousin Vivian was her first Canadian customer. Kavita was one of my closest friends in high school and we went to Toronto with Priyanka and Mariko and stayed with Vivian's family when I turned 19. Since Kavita's picture is on the website and she still looks like she did when we were in college, I'm sure that Vivian recognized it was her. It's such a small world.

Edwin left for Nicaragua yesterday on his surf trip/Tom's bachelor party. I am definitely jealous. I am not that jealous of Nicaragua because I have never really wanted to go there. What I am really jealous of is the travel. I want to go on vacation to another country, but I haven't even updated my passport. I get the travel bug every few years and it's definitely hitting me. I thought after Australia, I was done with travel. I remember being glad to be home after being gone for so long. I don't think that I need to go away for a month. I just get guilty about all the money I'm spending and all the food that I am eating. A nice long 10 day or 2 week vacation is what I would want. We were thinking about attending a wedding in Italy this summer. It would have been awesome, but the cost is just too great right now. $1500 per ticket and that's without food or lodging. I'm so glad that we went 5 years ago when the dollar was stronger.

I am also jealous because Edwin is on a trip with his guy friends. I used to travel with my girlfriends on trips. I went to Boston, Philly, Toronto, and Cancun in college with girlfriends. It just doesn't happen very often anymore. I don't know why. Maybe it's because people have kids or because many of us have coupled up and that changes the dynamics of things. We'll go on trips with couples, but not really all guys or all girls. Maybe it's because there's no one left to organize it. Maybe it's because I'm too lazy to do it and I had more time to plan when I was single. For whatever the reason, I don't get to go on trips with my girlfriends much anymore and I miss it. It just reminds me that I need to enjoy the moment because things can change very quickly.

Don't worry. I'm still going on a vacation to NYC. I'm leaving on Tuesday and will be staying there for almost a week which is still somehow not enough time. So much to do and so little time! I'm saying that a lot these days.

Long Time No See

What have we been up to? It has been a while. Well, my cousin Esther is staying with us for a few weeks. She is an intern at my company for the summer. It's been fun having her around. We are definitely cooking a lot more since her arrival. Since she's staying in the guest room, it did force us to clean a little more in the guest room. Will it ever be done? We have gotten inspired because Jon and Jeannette, who just moved into their house 2 weeks ago have completely unpacked and moved in. They even have pictures on the wall! We have been in this house for 9 monthes and we have not hung up one picture yet. Are we too slow? I think that they might be a little more motivated since their baby is due any day now. I was super impressed by how much they were able to do in just 2 weeks.

There's a lot that I would like to do in the house, but I don't feel like we have the time to do everything or have the right furniture yet. I feel like we should take a few days off just to get some of that stuff done around the house. Jon and Jeannette's house was previously owned by a gay man. I think that our next house should be owned by a gay man. It just makes decorating so much easier. We still need to find a rug for the living room. I think that we have found a couch and a chair for the living room, but we still to need make measurements to make sure that it will all fit. One reason I don't feel like we can unpack everything is that we don't have shelves yet- at least not the ones that are permanent. We are thinking of having custom built shelves flanking the fireplace. Many of the houses we looked at had them, but this house did not.

For the past few weekends, we have had a lot of people visiting. So 2 weeks ago, our friend Ashton came for work and so we had dinner with her. (She's the one that used to be in the FBI- crazy since she is like my size!) Anywho, we found out that she no longer works for the FBI, but still works for the government in Department of Transportation and carries a gun. We haven't seen Ashton in about 3 years when she walked Bay to Breakers with me, but it seems just like yesterday. I'll be seeing her again at the end of the week because I am going to Seattle for work on Thursday and Friday.

Tonight, we also had dinner with Santiney. She and Carlos are in town for work. We haven't seen those guys for over year now and it's like time has not passed. You know those friends who you don't talk to everyday, but it feels like you do talk to them everyday every time you see them? It's just always good times and laughter. That's Santiney to me. It's just so comfortable. I feel like I'm still in college when I'm with her. Doing all those goofy things that we used to do together. This girl does not age.

This weekend, Edwin leaves for his trip to Nicaragua. I'm going to a free concert in Golden Gate Park with friends on Sunday, so that should be fun. Then, I'll be going to NYC on Tuesday for my vacation. When we get back, we'll be hosting a BBQ for 4th of July. Should be a hoot. Summer is just flying by!

Birthdays & Weddings

Last weekend was busy. On Saturday, we attended Alfio and Michelle's wedding in Piedmont. The weather was a little cold, but the location was very nice. Here are my pictures:
And here are more pictures from their wedding: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~alfio/pics/2008-05-31/

On Sunday, we celebrated Sujay's 35th birthday by hosting a BBQ in our backyard. Here are more pictures:

It was a good time with good friends. Happy bday, Sujay and happy belated birthday to Matilde.

My cousin Esther will be coming to stay with us this weekend. She's an intern at my company for the summer.