We celebrated Dan’s birthday with a quiet dinner at home and birthday cake, as we’d already had our fancypants dinner last weekend. For dinner, I made Dan’s favorite — unagi (eel) donburi — and for dessert, I baked and frosted a German chocolate cake (also his favorite!). It was my first time making the coconut pecan frosting from scratch, but it was surprisingly easy and turned out delicious!
The German chocolate birthday cake I made for Dan!
30! A milestone.
Putting the cake decorating skills I learned this year to use!
Homemade coconut pecan frosting on top and in between the layers.
The handsome hubby turns 30!
Dan was psyched by the Android series 3 collectible dolls I got him for his birthday!
Dan’s favorites from the collection. 30 years old but still a kid at heart! 😉
Happy 30th birthday to my better half! Thank you for being such a wonderful husband to me, and a loving father to Mio. I’ll be joining the thirties club soon enough, in a couple weeks!
I had to share a couple videos Dan took of Mio this past weekend — I can’t help but break out into a big smile every time I watch them! There’s nothing sweeter than watching the pure, unadulterated joy and laughter of a child. These are the moments you live for as a parent… ♥
20 Month Old Mio on the Swing from Misono on Vimeo.
Mio turned 20 months old earlier this month, on December 2. In all the busy hustle and bustle of the holidays, I’m late on writing an update on her growth and development, but I wanted to make sure I documented it before I forget — better late than never, right?
The Rundown at Twenty Months…
Stats: We took you to the pediatrician last month for a very belated pediatrician checkup, and you weighed 25.5 lbs! A little less than we expected, but still a very healthy weight! You are about 32 inches tall now.
Things You’re Doing Now: If there’s one word that people most commonly describe you as when they see you lately, it’s “precocious.” You observe everything (and I mean everything) that we grownups are doing and will pick up on them very quickly. You watch and imitate our every move! I’ve had to wrench away pens and pencils from your hand because I’ve caught you trying to jam them into your eye, in an attempt to draw eyeliner on your eyelids. You often steal one of your grandmother’s curlers to put one in your hair yourself (even though your hair is already naturally curly!). You want to feed yourself most of the time, no matter how much of a mess it makes — thankfully, you’re getting better and better at using the spoon and fork. You especially love sipping soup from soup spoons, carefully bringing them to your lips and letting out a satisfied “ahhh!” after each spoonful. The acuteness of your memory astounds us. You’re already making associations between objects and past situations, and it’s so interesting to see how much you remember from experiences that happened months ago. I pulled out my Kitchenaid stand mixer last week for the first time since we moved out here, and you immediately furrowed your eyebrows and backed away from it in alarm, just like you used to back in California when its loud noise would scare you. You look at a picture of you and your grandparents from when we went to see ducks, and you make quacking noises, even though there are no ducks in the actual photograph. You are starting to get pickier with your foods and are selective with your vegetables, but you’ve also discovered condiments, and will eat almost anything as long as there’s some sort of sauce to dip it in! (Also something you learned from just watching us eat.) You love toasting “cheers” and clinking cups together, and you often try to clink between sips — it gets pretty repetitive, but with you in our lives, every second is worth celebrating! 🙂
Mio met Santa Claus for the first time at Tysons Corner when Grandpa took her. She saw all the kids ahead of her crying when they sat on Santa’s lap, but she was just smiling and chatting away while observing them from my arms. As soon as it was our turn and I plopped her into Santa’s lap, her expression totally changed and she burst into tears!
Clearly she is not a fan of Santa… but who would want to sit in some old male stranger’s lap anyway? I’m with you, Mio!
December marks a milestone for both Dan and I, as we’re both turning 30 later this month! (Dan on December 13, myself on December 25 — we are only a couple weeks apart in age.) The thirties sound a little daunting but mostly exciting — we can’t wait to see where it’ll take us in both our family life and professional careers — our twenties were memorable, but we have a feeling our thirties will be just as, if not more, wonderful. As I wrote before, I’m dedicating my 30th to charity: water and so we have no plans to have any big birthday party for ourselves, but Dan still wanted to take me out to a nice dinner to celebrate what is a big milestone for both of us!
Dates are hard to come by when you’re parents, so we were really grateful that my parents volunteered to watch Mio while we got to get a little dressed up to enjoy the evening as a couple. Based on several friends recommending 2941 Restaurant in Falls Church to us, we decided to go there for our celebratory dinner.
The handsome hubby, who will turn 30 this week!
Loved the decor inside the restaurant!
It’s nice to carry a simple clutch instead of a huge diaper bag for once!
Getting started with some small plates and appetizers.
Spiced duck samosa with honey and harissa
American wagyu steak tartare with parmesan cheese and peanut vinaigrette and crostini.
Crispy pork belly with black garlic aioli and celery-pear salad.
All of the appetizers were delicious. The steak tartare was some of the best I’d ever tasted, the duck samosas had just the right amount of kick to it, but the crispy pork belly was definitely our favorite! It was so rich and flavorful, and practically melted in my mouth!
Dan had venison loin with smoked heirloom potato, Savoy cabbage, and juniper jus.
Ready to eat!
Ever the seafood lover.
And of course, there’s always room for dessert with us! 😉
We shared a chocolate Napoleon with huckleberry compote, Manjari panna cotta, and coffee gelato.
Happy early 30th to us! Here’s to another great decade together.
Koi in the pond outside 2941.
By the koi pond. Part of me wishes we had gone when there was still daylight so we could see the beautiful landscaping around the restaurant, but I guess we’ll just have to go back another time! 😉
It was the perfect romantic evening, and the dining experience at 2941 was both delectable and unforgettable! Thank you to everyone who recommended it to us. 🙂 It was a lovely way to celebrate this special occasion, and we’re feeling great about turning 30 in the coming weeks! 😀
My best friend and I went to see Rachael Yamagata in concert at U Street Music Hall in DC on Sunday. This was my second time seeing her, but she sounds even more amazing live!
While many of her songs express the sadness and defeat of unrequited love and even sometimes anger, she ended the night with a beautiful rendition of Nat King Cole’s “I Wish You Love.” I caught the tail end of it in the video below. 🙂
