I bought Dan and I tickets to go see Lindsey Stirling at Wolf Trap for Father’s Day. We got to go on a rare dinner date without the girls, and had a fun evening watching one of our favorite violinists!
First dinner date alone in a while!
Delicious samosas… my favorite!
Tandoori chicken from Turmeric
Delicious sampler meal plate from Turmeric
Our lawn seats were pretty far away and we couldn’t see very well at times, but it was still a great concert!
Although our time staying in the East Bay was short, we were glad we could see some of the faces we have so missed since moving away! There were new babies to be held and kissed, delicious restaurants to be visited (both old and new!), and a lot of catching up to do with dear friends.
Lunch in San Leandro with the Kims! Our two girls + their two boys was a crazy mix! It was great seeing them and how much Jinwoo and Sunwoo have grown!
Can’t contain our excitement over Burma Superstar! Mio and I while waiting for our table and for Uncle Ted & Auntie Jackie to meet us
We so missed their samosa salad! Just seeing this photo of it makes me salivate… Garlic noodles and shrimp
After our dinner at Burma Superstar, we drove over to Castro Valley to have some ice cream with Aileen and David!
Mirei behind the wheel at Knudsen’s Creamery in Castro Valley
With Aileen at Knudsen’s Creamery. It was so great seeing her again, and we have to also thank her for bringing us to this delicious ice cream parlor! We finally got to meet Aileen’s boyfriend, David! He’s the first other Yokoyama I’ve met (beyond my own family and relatives). Yokoyamas are all awesome, naturally.
This wasn’t exactly meeting up with a familiar face, but we have definitely missed our favorite taco truck! We had to make a stop in Oakland to get our fix of those amazing al pastor, chicken, and carne asada tacos (plus lengua for Dan).
Revisiting our favorite taco truck! While we were shocked to see how much their prices have gone up in the past two years, the tacos definitely hit the spot!
Up there among our top most-anticipated moments of our visit was seeing a couple of our dearest friends, Tarrin and Jason, and their newborn son Theo! He was only two months old when we got to see him, and I was euphoric holding that teeny baby and sniffing his head. That newborn smell is so intoxicating! (Before you write me off as a complete nutcase, I urge you to try sniffing a newborn head sometime — I’m pretty sure you will agree with me.)
Meeting baby Theo for the first time. Tarrin and Jason make a pretty cute baby! After eating dinner at Mintleaf, they took us to a new (to us, at least) dessert place in Alameda called Cookiebar! Vietnamese coffee ice cream at Cookiebar. Amazing. Mirei was loving the ice cream! Going in for another bite! We miss you guys so much! You can bet I had a hard time letting that baby go… I almost carried him off with me to our car. Selfie with Mirei when she refused to go to bed that night.
On our last day, we spent the evening with Dan’s family after we came back from Fairyland in the afternoon. Mio had fun helping Grandma prepare dinner for everyone!
Mirei at the San Lorenzo house, after we came back from Fairyland on our last full day in NorCal. Mirei thoroughly enjoying her yogurt. Yogurt-mouthed little lady.
Helping Grandma making California rolls for dinner
Mio and Grandma in the kitchen Family dinner on our last night. Dan’s mom prepared quite a feast!
Mio saying goodbye to Grandma. She misses her so much! …as she does Grandpa, too. Mio messing with Mirei. I think she wanted Grandpa all to herself! Saying goodbye to the grandparents Saying goodbye to Uncle Ted the morning we left for Los Angeles. Thank you Ted & Jackie for being such great hosts for us during our stay!
We grabbed an “It’s It” at a rest stop on our drive down. We couldn’t leave Northern California without eating one!
Wednesday, May 20 was the last day of our vacation within a vacation, and we packed up at the beach house in the morning and spent the earlier part of the day at nearby Moss Landing before starting the drive back to the East Bay.
Mirei eating grapes at the beach house while everyone packed and cleaned. Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery at Moss Landing
Pretty cool place!
We had lunch there and the food was pretty good!
Mirei was imitating the sea lions she saw earlier in the morning by barking like them:
Mirei is loving the attention from Ted & Jackie
Getting lifted in the air by Jackie & Ted
One last family photo in front of Phil’s Fish Market on the last day of our getaway!
We’re so glad that we could spend this time with Dan’s side of the family, seeing the beauty of the Monterey Bay and Big Sur and enjoying each other’s company. They will be memories we’ll cherish for years to come!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there, including my own amazing mama! I never fully appreciated all her love, patience, and sacrifice until I became a mother myself. Thankful for our precious daughters who bring me more joy, challenges, and laughter than I ever imagined.
My mom with M&M. They are lucky to have two loving grandmothers in their lives. We’re grateful that they can spend so much time with my mother, and we’re excited to go see Grandma in California soon, too!
Ted & Elisa treated the whole family to a delicious Mother’s Day lunch at Kob Kun in Oakton. Everything was amazing… and the restaurant gave us this complimentary dessert! With my sweet girls! For me, Mirei? 🙂 Lunch was a little hectic with Mirei wreaking havoc, but it was overall a lovely Mother’s Day spent with the fam!
Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Mother’s Day weekend as well!
On Valentine’s Day, a bunch of my high school girlfriends and I drove up to Philadelphia for a day trip to visit our dear friend Debbie! (Dan was a great sport about watching the girls while I got to spend time with my friends, and we had already had our own Valentine’s celebrations in the days prior.) Jen, Mimi, and I headed out in the morning, and got to Philly in time to enjoy soup dumplings for lunch with Debbie! Juli flew in to join us afterwards for post-lunch dessert at Audabon Bakeshop!
Audabon Bakeshop with the ladies
Mimi and I at lunch right before.
Neat signage at Audabon Bakeshop
Delicious macarons from Audabon Bakeshop
Strawberry brick toast at Audabon Bakeshop
It was so amazing that it necessitates posting another angle of it.
Walking to The Barnes Foundation museum as the flurries fell around us.
Lovely Mimi!
Us at the Barnes Foundation
The snow made everything look so romantic!
Cool crystals hanging from the ceiling of the museum.
Juli, Debbie, and Jen at dinner
We enjoyed dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant called Kanella. We didn’t realize that we’d be dining off of their Valentine’s menu, so it ended up being quite a meal!
shepherd’s pie
lamb chops
Lobster from Kanella
Chocolate cake with lavender ice cream. My favorite dessert there!
This was also delicious.
Our day trip to Philly was quite eventful! It was a fun and memorable day, and it was so enjoyable getting to spend Valentine’s Day with these amazing ladies!
We got caught in a bit of a blizzard on the way so it took us a while to get home, but thankfully we made it back in one piece around 2 in the morning. Can’t wait until we are all reunited again!
