New York

We were reading a story the other night and the little girl had three choices of places she could live.... When we asked K where she would live she immediately chose NYC. Hmm, wonder why, here are some pictures of K in NYC a couple weeks ago loving life!!! As we left Manhattan we asked her if she liked NYC. She said no, she didn't like NYC SHE LOVED IT!

K loves gymnastics

We finally signed K up for gymnastics. She has been going for a couple of weeks and she really loves it... Check out a couple pics of our super star!

Weekend fun...

On Friday Daddy had a bachelor party so me and K went out for ice cream after dinner and also finally bought a jogging stroller! The new stroller is awesome and was great on Saturday when we ran into town for a test run. We also ended up perusing the festival in town and going over to some of the kiddie rides, sharing a lemonade because it was so hot (consumed more calories than I burned with the lemonade alone). K is going to be a great trainer as the whole time we were running she was telling me to run faster! I have my own little coach! Now that the heat wave is over we are looking forward to lots of runs together.... We also went to our pool and went to a bbq with lots of kids on Saturday night so she had a fun family day.

Sunday T and I took Pmogi to Napa. We had planned to do the trip months ago when she first turned 21, but the weather yesterday made the wait well worth it... It was a tiny bit too hot, but we went to Auberge du Soliel for lunch, The Farm at the Carneros Inn and had awesome wines at Trefethen, Joseph Phelps and a few little wineries that just looked interesting. It was a really relaxing day and a nice way to help her celebrate being 21!

Our walk

K always spends as much time as possible dragging out bedtime with lots of chatter about the day.... Whenever she senses that you might be leaving she immediately asks so how was your day... anything to keep you in her room and her far from sleep.... Last night while we talked about our favorite parts of the day, K mentioned her favorite part of the day was the walk we did after dinner. And I had to post a few of her comments from the walk.

"Daddy, Thank you for making the lentil soup" Just as T goes to respond K continues with "I am so glad it is far away." So maybe she didn't like the homemade soup as much as she suggested especially since after we made her eat the requisite five bites she said she felt like she was going to throw up. Until of course she found out that being sick also meant missing out on a walk and just staying home. Not to worry... I loved the lentil soup, after all I was the one who requested it for dinner...

And when we returned from our walk.... K said "I am not going to put my shoes in the closet, I want to wear these next year." Needless to say the shoes are still sitting near the front door.

Our grandma's are the best!

We have the two best Gmas in the world!!!

Yesterday night Gma C's package arrived with a cute little cow for K to use for her morning milk as she likes to prep her breakfast herself. Heaven. K was thrilled this morning when she was able to use the cow pourer for her milk and watched me clean it very carefully as it is super fragile. So much for the plastic winnie the pooh cup we were using. Gma C makes everything better. K was even more thrilled when it came last night with tons of big bubble wrap for popping.

Gma S has been saving the day around here while T and I have taken turns traveling and been covering K and making dinner for us. Additionally she found these magnetic marbles for K that K is in love with.... When she came over to watch Obama last week during the DNC I think we all spent more time organizing marbles rather than watching, but we are very lucky to have such awesome Gmas.

Pmogi also covered for me while I had my nightly summer school class and T was in Europe and Gma S was away.... Which reminds me... it is official I PASSED CALC! That is right my fantastic tutor has been relieved from his job as calc tutor. You can't even imagine how awesome the last few nights with no math at the end of each night have been, we have actually been able to talk and not about math!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And needless to say we talk about Aunt S, Aunt J and Cat. all the time as we miss them soooo much! The girlie visit earlier in the summer as K in love with all of her family and asking daily when everyone is coming to visit again.

So all in all we are very lucky, we have awesome Gmas, Aunties, Cousins and I have the best husband in the world, who has tutored math to his wife for pretty much our whole marriage. Unfortunately we still have statistics, but I am definitely not taking that this quarter.

The Human Race

I went down to LA this weekend to run in the Human Race. It was really fun. They had 15,000 runners participating and as a result tons of energy. The run part was good and of course could have been better, but I haven't been working out much in the last few weeks due to work and travel.

Just going to pick up the race packets on Rodeo was fun as there were tons of people out, never can complain about walking down Rodeo and they had a great dj there. The run was held on Sunday and started at 8:31pm in downtown LA right near USC. On the night of the run they started out with the list of celebs also running in our location, clips from around the world of other runners who also ran earlier in the day as the run was held all over the world and continued on with a bunch of Olympians who came out with their medals and warm wishes. The opening ended with a celebrity trainer getting everyone stretched out and we were off. The energy rocked!! There were people watching on the streets, kids who wanted our glow sticks and what was even neater music representation from other places that were also hosting the race. So as we ran along we ran into Brazilian, Chinese, South American music being played by various bands. It was really cool... The run ended with yummy little treats from Starbucks and Bear Naked granola. Also as part of the run Kanye West performed (he had also performed in Australia for the human race... thank goodness for time differences and flew back to LA to close out the race here)... Of course great music. The night ended with an incredible firework display (awesome for me as I haven't seen fireworks since before K was born as they are always way past bedtime.)

Not sure how another 10k can compare to such an awesome production. It was great and a great check in for the half marathon also sponsored by Nike in mid October. Better keep running.

The rest of the weekend with A was really nice as we got to see Sex in the City followed by awesome food in old town Pasedena, wandered on Melrose, went to Manhattan Beach, hit Pinkberry and Little Tokyo for sushi and most importantly found our shorts for the run in October! In high school I am sure we never thought we would spend three hours searching for running shorts.

Home

How could I forget our awesome comfy bed..

I am so lucky to have such an awesome family... Meeting K and Daddy at the airport and getting a very warm welcome from MoCa made me feel like one very special mommy last night... even with a 16 hour travel day.... We went to sushi on the way home (bummed to have missed Gma S's meal she cooked for our return) and I immediately felt like a mommy again... trying to convince K to eat, ask for her to keep the door closed as we went to the restroom even though she was done and listening to the daily avoidance of bed. It is nice to be home!

Our last day in Paris was warmer which was great. We went to the Luxemburg Gardens, visited a museum in the gardens and had cafe cremes at one of our favorite cafes which is in the garden, had crepes at St Sulpice and went to our favorite shops... And of course packed... always the least pleasant part of a mogi adventure.... luckily most things made it and K loves loves her presents. She is even wearing her very cute poncho that I thought I was going to have to pay her to wear to school today... Looking super beautiful as always!

Loire Valley

The Loire Valley is really pretty... We have been wine tasting, jam tasting and chocolate tasting. All lovely!!! We have stumbled on fields of sunflowers, seen loads of field mice and even a fox on the way back from dinner one night.

We visited beautiful chateaus at Cheverny, Chambord, Ambrose and Chenonceau. Chenonceau also had wonderful gardens. Lots and lots of hot abd cold pink as K would say. Cold pink is light pink. We spent a considerable amount of time in Bloise, which is a really small town with lots of staircases and little alleys. Although I think Ambrose was our favorite as the food was really good and the town had a very quaint feel to it.

We are heading back for one more blast of Paris before returning home to what we hope is warmer weather. We keep running into cold and rain.

Jean Luc

Thanks to a wonderful man at the Hilton near our flat we have a wonderful week planned. We are leaving for chateaus and wine tasting in the Loire Valley this morning. It is my first time driving in France but what a wonderful road trip ahead.

We learned about some outlets outside of Paris. Needless to stay incredible as we hit our favorite French brands. Agnis B, Chantal Thomass, Compton de Cotoniers.

We also went to Opera Garnier one of the most beautiful buildings in Paris.

We fell in love with Poilane and decided to bring home some of their jams and pastries. Always trying to take on challenging return trips with luggage.

And one of the best things a warm night eating at a brasserie and watching the people go by.

Champagne

Today we went to Reims in the Champagne region... And it was awesome. We caught the morning service at the cathderal which was stunning and had the best pastries and breakfast in all of France. And the best part of the day... A tour of champagne caves at Pommery. Freezing, but very cool... Down 30 meters and surrounded by champagne, very unique contemporary art and did I mention cold cold air. We learned about the champagne making process, very cool. The tour ended with some vintage champagne and two very happu mogis.

paris

Ok, so I have lost count of cafe cremes... All yummy! We have done some amazing things in addition to hitting up some of our favorites such as the creperie in St Sulpice, falafels in the Marais, pastries at Laduree and Berthillon ice cream. The grapes are incredible and so sweet, if only I could get them through customs.

But a few of my favorite moments:

Seeing a beautiful Vivaldi concert in St Chapelle which has stunning stained glass windows. Incredible!

Going to La O'rangie a small Impressionist Museum in the Tuilleries and indadvertently saving the best for last... Two circular rooms with every wall in the room covered by 20+ panels of Monet's Water Lilies... Being able to sit in the middle of the room and feel like you are in the middle of a pond of color.

Shopping... More shopping and of course more shopping.

An outstanding cafe in the Tulleries watching the people go by. The only cafe creme so far that served the requisite chocolate pieces making it the perfect drink.

A picnic on the Seine of cheese from Heidard (which I found in Singapore and loved) and eating stolen bread from our lunch table as every boulangerie closes for the August 15th national holiday and believe me we searched. Apparently they bring in palm trees and a bit of sand for a beach in the middle of Paris so there we sat staring at beautiful palms and the Seine. Interesting.

first cafe creme of 08

After 20 hours in Boston complete with lunch in the North End a few shops on Newburry, loads of meetings and a quick seven hour flight to Paris.... the mogis are here and ready for Paris!!! Just had our first cafe cremes and gearing up for a day of walking, museums and exploration. No shopping due to a national holiday. Not to worry we can power through all our museums in one day leaving endless hours for shopping!!

Not one time but five times

We asked K if she liked or loved NYC. She said she loved NYC and wanted to come back at least five times. We spent the last day or so downtown wandering SoHo, West Village and the Meatpacking. I saw the most beautiful kids clothes at the park in West Village, Wow there are some beautifully dressed kids for the park. K tried her first Magnolia cupcake and T and I had a wonderful anniversary celebration with K in the meatpacking. We picniced in the park, wandered and did loads and loads of walking. It was great. Even our babysitter worked out while we were at the bell ceremony went fantastic. We were scared to death as we had tried it once before a couple years ago and it was horrible. I think a return trip is in order.

not the good bye we hoped for

With meetings running late and a lack of available cabs we had a sprint to our hotel and a crazy ride back to the airport with limited cash resources for the tip and very limited time. Luckily I was able to promise large tips and many rides next month when I am back in New York. battling rush hour was jerky and we all ended up rather sick so there we were K and Mommy cuddling in the backseat laying down while K tells Mommy... It's ok, I will cuddle with you, don't be sad. I know the van is too big, it's not a Lexus. You will be fine, don't worry.

The funniest part of this the comforting is taking place after the pee in the cake takeout box. We bought some great looking cake, which we never ate, so out the cake went so that the container could double as a potty. Of course not an exact science and poor Tom took off his shirt to clean the cab floor. The cabbie said nothing did a million illegal maneuvers and I got to my flight which I was late for with 40 minutes to spare. So the goodbye now that I am in Boston and T and K are on a flight home was a quick kiss and a wave as I flew out the door. I am going to miss my travel buddies!!!

Loving it

We hit up Magnolia Bakery, went to the park in West Village, where I saw more beautiful children's clothes than possible while watching K play at the park, dined and shopped in the Meatpacking District, explored the upper West Side and spent time as a family today... It was awseome. We have a great traveler. Some of the mixed experiences is how some of these trendy restaraunts act like K might eat them.... Today they chargd $20 for her plain pasta, I was livid and chatted with them... their response it is the meatpacking... since it is up and coming not sure why we should pay more than some of the other places which have been much much nicer. Crazy, T and I had a beautiful bottle of Italian wine at the restaraunt.... Very excited about all my purchases and time with the family

The funniest thing is how she is napping on this trip. On the airplane she got a eye mask for the red eye flight... her new way of napping which is in the stroller whenever we travel... is to pop on the eye mask and sleep, when she wakes up we get it back. It is quite a sight and you should see the looks we get. I took pics... Our last day tomorrow...

Wow, what a day

Closing the bell at the NYSE was just awesome... we got a wonderful tour, spent time hanging out in the beautiful board room and hung out on the floor, wandered around to specialist booths and of course got to ring the bell... Words can't describe it, but it was a super special moment and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.

NYC has been great. K is loving the park, the horses, shopping at FAO Schwarz, playing with cousins, window shopping, the long walks, some wonderful dinners, which she has sat through... All of the restaraunts we have been to haven't had kid menus and she has handled it beautifully.... We went to Peasant which we remember fondly from a dinner many years ago where we chatted about kids with S&R. The great thing is we got to take the little one we were dreaming of with us. The restaraunt was less impressed... oh well. I was impressed!

We are thrilled to be a family together again and of course I am loving loving my favorite city...

why does this feel like the gmat

Somehow tonight's final feels like the gmat. Lucky for me we have come up with plans b and c should I not pass:

Plan B: T enrolls in calc next quarter and let's me borrow his answers. We sit next to each other for all exams and tests.

Plan C: T becomes a calc teacher and I enroll in the course and he passes me.

Let's hope plan b and c aren't necesarry and the celebrations begin tonight and continue into NYC tomorrow, Boston later next week with a grand finale of a mogi trip to France at the end of next week.

Closing bell at the NYSE

So we are leaving for NYC on Friday night... which will be awesome.... not only do we see Daddy Pizza again, but we also get a chance to be in one of my favorite cities as a family (one of our best family trips was in Manhattan for about ten days soon after K turned one).... However the ultimate most most awesome awesome thing is we are going out for a work trip.... Outside of a million meetings it is not really a work trip as we get to ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange which is the whole point of being there.

That's right we get to be on the podium while the markets close... I even scored a spot for T!!! Although I technically won't ring the bell I am thrilled to get a chance to be a part of the process. Too bad next year won't be our anniversary as I don't think they are letting us do this for another 10 years... You can imagine the shopping that I wanted to do for this day... definitely thought a new outfit was in order... unfortunately this darn calculus class didn't really allow for shopping... Saturday is a girlie day for me and K in Manhattan so who knows might still get that new awesome outfit!

One of those moments

Tonight K and I went to Il Postale for dinner... and it was a perfect dinner... in fact one of the best dinners I have had lately and I never thought I would be so excited to go to dinner with a three year old... but she was perfect! She loves the restaraunt, loves the Andes mints, the bread with butter and of course their pasta! We had a great dinner, drawing, eating, laughing and chatting... It is so funny to see her sit down and go so Mommy, how was your day?

We had a great weekend despite endless hours of calculus studying.... four days until that final is over... and hopefully with the requisite C.... Forget A's... it is all about a wonderful C ... a passing grade (one that doesn't factor into my GPA... thank goodness... not that I care just need a C!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my fantastic husband who skype tutored me for seven plus hours..... not an easy task especially in a fun new European city! Praying for a C.... And a huge thanks to Gma S who covered so I could do all that horrible studying! It has been fun to have some girly time with K over the last week or so and get into the groove of being two although three is definitely better! Summer break is almost here.

Those little email updates

Those little weekly Nike updates have been coming to remind me how many weeks until the half marathon.... Luckily my partner in crime invited me for a halfway point run... We are now signed up to run in the Human Race on August 31st 2008. The website is calling it the first global 10k with multiple cities and millions of runners... Exciting I think!

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Officially it is our anniversary tomorrow, but since T is in Europe it is already our 8th wedding anniversary!!!!!!!!!!!! Our first one ever apart.... And so a few moments from the last few years together... To my best friend, my workout buddy (ok not so much since K has been here), my adventure traveler (even when you really haven't wanted to), my best friend, teammate and partner for everything. Thank you so much for eight wonderful years. Can't wait for all the adventures we have ahead!)

Horsie love...

Daddy we miss you! Safe travels

I am helping you save money

"I am helping you save money this weekend as you won't be spending money on gas with all the homework" Yes, that is what my summer school teacher said... The same one who when I mentioned that three hours of homework a night after a nightly two hour class is quite a lot with work and a daughter responded your daughter will look up to you. You are setting a good example for her. 8 classes left.

No more dollies at school

We came home with a new contract... no more dollies or toys from home allowed at school as they were creating issues with the kids that did and didn't bring their dollies.

So the other night as we were delaying I mean talking before bedtime K brought up the fact we couldn't bring all our babies to school.. We went in to the standard baby conversation... I want a baby sister, when I was really little I was in your stomach? how did I get there? was I really little?

At some point in the conversation K came up with the solution... I will put my dolly in my tummy. G won't see my dolly because it will be in my tummy.... (You can imagine the laughter.)

Today K asked to bring her dolly stroller to school. Technically it is not her dolly.... unfortunately Mommy said no and we settled on taking our baby of the morning into the car where Mommy would spend the rest of the day with the baby at work. We are often assigned babies to take to the gym, to work, to school... you name it Mommy and Daddy have a dolly with us.

"Mommy, I know how I am a superstar"

K spent part of the weekend with Gma S as T and I had a couple dinners with friends... one in Los Gatos with our friends S&R... and one in the city with our friends C&M. Both dinners were really nice and I had another fantastic meal at Town Hall. Consistently great food. We also went to a little place called Cosmopolitan for drinks... and you guessed it a million cosmos and beer on tap (doesn't get any better for the four of us)... I tried the yummy raspberry one. We also met up with my cousin who was in town from the East Coast and finally returned to the market again. Two weeks back to back after being gone for weeks... Most likely our last visit for a while as Daddy is leaving on Saturday and we are all meeting in NYC in a few weeks.

British Open

This morning T and K went down to watch the open.... Here is what I heard as I tried to get the last few moments of sleep...

T: Come on let's go watch the open
K: Ok
T: Let's go
K: How about we watch Dora instead
T: No way, we are watching the open

As Daddy was leaving he turned off the tv...
K: Why did you turn off the tv?
T I am going to work
K: But I am still watching the Open

Now Mommy is left to watch the Open (very excited)
K: Look there is Sergio
M: I like Sergio
K: Where is Tiger
M: He has an owwie on his knee
K: I do too, look at my owwie (covered with a dora bandaid)
M: Yes, I see
K: yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah, good shot, oh he didn't make it in the hole, but it was a good shot
M: Umm yes
K: he made it in yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
M: We know who your Daddy is...

Just Mommy and Daddy again

After a day in Half Moon Bay, Stanford another day in Burlingame our guests have gone home. K asked this morning if they would ever come back... because when they did she would share her kettle corn with them... So now it is back to the three of us at least for a week or so before Daddy heads off to Europe for work and we get girl time all the time for two weeks! Should be fun. We also couldn't end the weekend without one more dolly so now we are the proud new owners of another Anna from this very cute shop, Baby Couture in Burlingame... I am thinking we can shop for K there everyday, I am not sure our budget allows it... Anyway now we are putting the house back together and just enjoying being three.

Blue baby came home

Blue baby stayed on at the hotel spa in Colorado and apparently decided to extend his stay while the rest of the family went home.... we didn't realize this until we came home and his sister pink baby was looking for him. Luckily the Ritz staff found the baby and helped get him back on an airplane to us... He rang our doorbell on 4th of July morning and we found him in a box in K's wagon.... Here is the reunion... (K decided he spent most of his time away from us eating roasted marshmallows, hiking mountains and going swimming)

4th of July parade

Family pics

Fun

K loved the 4th of July parade this year especially having the little leg power necessary to ride a tricycle all the way through the neighborhood with S... We had a really fun 4th of July dinner with friends and family. Everyone got to try K's pizza which she helped Daddy make... Unfortunately we ended up missing fireworks entirely as we all got caught up chatting away with dessert and yummy wine...

Saturday was a super girly day.... All the girls headed to the outlets, downtown Carmel and our traditional spa day at Pebble Beach. We finished our night with drinks at The Lodge so our guests could soak in the 17 mile drive views before ending the girly day at Passion Fish, in Pacific Grove.

On Sunday we all went over to Santa Cruz for breakfast, some time on the beach, downtown adventuring and a stop in LG for K's favorite water fountains. Amazing that we don't have enough time to do all the things that are here. K is loving having all our guests and will be bummed when it returns to just the mommy and daddy show.

Aunt S and C

Aunt S and C are visiting us from England and so we took them to the city yesterday... after a pool time and mellow house lounging on Saturday. Unfortunately we forgot to look at the paper or calendar before we left and ran into the pride parade.... Madness, but of course an extra bonus to show the visitors... The rest of the day was spent following the two girls with pounds in their wallets around Union Square stopping for very brief snacks and coffees until finally the shops closed and we went to Cafe de la Presse for dinner... (Not to worry I managed to buy a pair of Kate Spade shoes in the process.) K was a champ with the day and we snuck her over to the bookstore, up and down on the elevator at the St Francis...talk about a great kiddie ride and for runs through Union Square throughout the day... She fell asleep to everyone singing her bedtime songs in the car as we left well after 9pm.



On Sat K and I hit up Burlingame where we met K & J for park time, stores and the purhcase of a beautiful new wagon.... We pulled our dollies around until mid afternoon when it became an outdoor wagon so that the rest of our neighborhood friends could enjoy it. K has been loving her friends and playing till 8:30 whenever possible.

Aspen and water fountains, baths, fathers day hikes and our favorite... swings!!!!!!

Trying our first marshmallow