Tag Archives: market

Family, Food, Friends, Fun

Summer So Far…

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Hi Friends!

Summer’s in full-swing and we’re trying to keep busy, stay cool and check those items off our Summer ’14 Bucket List.

Since school got out 3 weeks ago, here’s a little of what we’ve been up to…

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{Updated our chalkboard for Summer}

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{Elliott’s dance recital ~ she performed two numbers this time…hip hop/jazz & lyrical}

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{Daddy was out of town and Holden was at a birthday party, so it was just Gramma and me in the audience cheering for our little dancer}

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{Early morning swim and donuts by the pool}

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{A day at Magic Mountain…Ninja made this mama woozy!!!}

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{My Dad, Popsi, came to visit and the kids HAD to introduce him to MOD Pizza}

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{A visit to the Ronald Reagan Library}

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{Sunday Brunch at Grand Central Market in Downtown LA}

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{Carnitas Burrito from Roast To Go}

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{Bacon, Egg & Cheese [added avo] from Eggslut}

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{Almond Macadamia Iced Latte from G&B Coffee}

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{Cherry Picking at Villa del Sol}

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We thoroughly enjoyed our maiden voyage to GCM. Jay and I couldn’t decide between Mexican food or a breakfast egg sandwich, so we split. Both were incredible! Jay waited in line for about 40 minutes at Eggslut, but it was well worth it.

This was our first time cherry picking, too. We tried to go a couple summers ago, but waited until too late in the season. This orchard is only about 45-60 minutes from us so it made for a nice little afternoon outing. However, it was HOT and we decided to stop at the local Sonic for happy hour since Popsi had never been. We sat in our air conditioned car and sipped on blended root beer floats and cherry & watermelon slushies. I then proceeded to bake a cherry cobbler for dessert that night. Of course I did.

I just returned from 4 days in Chicago and Detroit to celebrate the upcoming wedding of my BIL, Rodney and his fiancé, Anuja. There was a traditional Grashanti {Hindu ceremony} on Friday and a beautiful joint bridal shower {Anuja’s sister is getting married in August!} on Sunday. I’ll write about that tomorrow. The trip was absolutely perfect and made me even MORE excited for their big day which is coming up in a couple short weeks!

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Hope your summer has been happy so far!

XOXO

Family, Fiestas & Fetes, Food

Indecisive Daddy

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I’ve been asking Jay for weeks, “What do you want to do for Father’s Day?”

I guess men and women are different in that guys don’t really care or put a lot of thought into certain things.

So, yesterday morning at 9:00am he was still pondering…

Santa Monica? Beverly Hills?

He settled on The Grove since there are plenty of places to choose from with the Farmer’s Market, The Cheesecake Factory and The Farm.

We strolled around the market checking out all the different options.

Cajun. Kabob. Italian. Mexican. Korean. Chinese. BBQ. Seafood. Breakfast dishes. Sandwiches.

Now, I too, was indecisive!

We shared a sushi roll while we decided on something else.

Jay got beef kabob (which I was glad because he’s been talking about kabob for awhile) with hummus, pita and some middle eastern take on potato salad with mint which was delish.

The kids got pepperoni pizza, of course.

I finally decided that I wanted some spicy Jambalaya from The Gumbo Pot. The line was long…

We also tried the hushpuppies…

…and the beignets for dessert!

Trying to cool theirs off:

Powdered sugar everywhere.

Yum!

We were successful and got out of there without buying anything other than our lunch.

NOT EASY!

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I wanted to fix dinner, of course, but Jay wanted to do Sticky Brown Sugar Glazed Babybacks on the grill. I went to the store and grabbed a slab and a half along with the fixin’s for some Bacon Blue Cheese Potato Salad and Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. I prepared the dry rub (cayenne, salt & pepper) and made the glaze (brown sugar, beer, cider vinegar, red pepper flakes and mustard powder) and he did the grilling. Thanks, babe!

Bacon Blue Cheese Potato Salad:

Sweet, sticky ribs:

This was our first time doing ribs. I was a little nervous, but they turned out fantastic. Next time Jay said he will not have as many coals going so they can cook “lower and slower” so to speak, but they were outstanding.

The tater salad was a new find, too and it was perfect with the ribs.

We made our second batch of ice cream…

Peanut Butter Cup ~ Jay’s fave!

In the end, it doesn’t matter if you’re indecisive or have the perfect plan in your head.

All that matters is that we spent the day together as a family and reminded ourselves what an honor (most days!) it is to be parents to E & H.

From the moment the Clear Blue Easy stick told me Jay was going to be a daddy, I knew he was going to be a wonderful one.

That was almost 6 years ago!

These two HAVE decided that they have the best daddy in the whole wide world!

We love you, Daddy!

XOXO