I was just reflecting on the amazing baby shower that our West Coast friends threw us exactly a year ago on March 12 of 2011, and I realized that I had never shared the beautiful photographs that our friend Tea of Dreambox Photography took at the shower for our memory books. As usual, her photos are gorgeous and captured the day beautifully! I was floored by how extravagant a shower our friends Megumi & company threw for us, and continue to be moved by it every time I look at these pictures!
Many of our friends have asked where we’ve gotten some of our portrait and newborn photographs taken, saying how much they love the dreamy, ethereal, and slightly vintage look to the pictures. If you’re ever looking to get photographs taken for any occasion, whether it be a wedding, engagement, portraits or family pictures, Dreambox Photography comes with our highest recommendation!
My last day of work was Friday of last week, and Dan and I went on a weekend trip to celebrate! Dan’s parents very graciously offered to watch Mio for the weekend so that we could fully relax and enjoy our getaway, so it was awesome! 🙂 Although we have both been to Carmel and Monterey in the past, we had both never been to Big Sur, and we had talked about going for a while… so we decided this was the weekend to make it happen! We spent most of the first day at Big Sur, and then headed back to Carmel where we spent much of Sunday. Here are some pictures from the first day…
Coastal view along the 17-Mile Drive... gorgeous!
By the Bixby Bridge
A haze above the waters
A natural bridge at the foot of the cliffs
It looked like paradise!
The highlight of Big Sur was definitely the McWay Cove at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park! It has the most stunning views, and I think it’s safe to say that it is the place most people come to see when they go to Big Sur.
Arriving at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
Us admiring the view below.
The McWay Cove was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen… it looks like something from a movie. (Dan and I agreed that it was even more beautiful than anything we saw in Hawaii!) Alas, it was almost like looking at a painting you couldn’t touch, because no one is allowed to go down there. It’s too dangerous, especially with all the rocky cliffs jutting out and strong waves that can pull you out to sea. Dan was itching to jump the rail and climb down to the beach, but I stopped him from breaking the law (and risking orphaning Mio) with my voice of reason. 😉
McWay Cove... It doesn't get much more beautiful than this!
The waterfall running into the sea
Breathtaking shoreline... turquoise waters and sandy beaches.
Afterwards, we continued to drive around the area and stopped at trails here and there to check out more views. Thankfully (for me), the trails were all pretty short and never too rigorous, so a less-than-fit person such as myself could still hike them! 😛
At a rock quarry... this was also a really awesome view, with the waves crashing against the giant rocks.
Enjoying the view and breathing in the sea breeze.
Dan walking through a tunnel. (I took this photo... looks kind of neat, doesn't it?)
The view at the end of the tunnel. Golden hills meat azure waters.
After doing a fair share of hiking, we drove back to Carmel and checked in at the Carmel River Inn. We chose to stay here because they have cute, individual little cottages. I love how cozy and private it is!
Our own private cottage #22
Sitting outside the cottage
The little meadow outside our cottage... it would have been perfect for some picnicking, had we more time!
The inside of the cottage was cute, too!Â
We freshened up at the cottage, and then headed back out to drive over to Monterey, where we had dinner at The Fish Hopper in Cannery Row. (Thank you Katie for the recommendation!) It was pretty busy, but we were able to get seated surprisingly quickly.
The food was impeccable! But instead of describing just how delicious it was, I’ll torture you all with drool-worthy photos of it…
Lobster bisque with creme fraiche... so rich and just amazing. Just what I'd been craving!Â
Stuffed jumbo prawn pasta... the crab stuffing was perfect.
Dan got a seafood platter with half a dungeness crab.
Bib on, ready to dig in.
Two of my favorite foods: seafood and pasta!
After dinner, we spent the rest of the evening walking around Cannery Row and leisurely exploring the stores.
"Candy!!!"
Trying on an Angry Birds hat
We came upon a froyo place called “myo,” which reminded us of our dear Mio My-oh that we had left with Dan’s parents. We were able to rest easy and have a great time because we knew she was in good hands, but she didn’t leave our minds for a moment during the trip!
Don't worry Mio, Mama hasn't forgotten about you!
That concludes Day One of our weekend trip. I’ll post Part Two soon, so stay tuned for more of our adventures! 😀
Dan and I felt like the luckiest couple in the world yesterday, having the pleasure of several of our friends in the Bay Area come together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our baby girl. A huge thank you to Megumi and Sam who hosted and organized such a wonderful West Coast baby shower, along with other friends who helped them decorate, cook, and put together what was one of the most beautiful showers I’ve ever attended. ♥
The theme was cherry blossoms and Classic Pooh!
Guess the Baby's Arrival
Real cherry blossoms decorated the tables - this one featured sugar cookies and espresso brownies!
Megumi's signature sugar cookies! They each had our names iced on them with bears and cherry blossoms.
The hors d'oeuvres were amazing!
Shot glasses of tomato soup, topped with grilled cheese sandwiches
Sam's orzo salad... so good!
Spam musubi... gotta love the stuff!
Tarrin's awesome hot crab dip!
Graig couldn't make it, but he sent his awesome somen salad.
Bruschetta!
Sliders... so cute!
water and strawberry lemonade
Cutely wrapped utensils!
Everything was almost too pretty to eat... but at the same time, I couldn't wait to dig in!
But wait... there's more! Can't forget the dessert table.
Layered gelatin!
Megumi's hummingbird cake... yum!
Matcha cupcakes from Aileen
Melon balls!
Amazing strawberry cupcakes, also made by Aileen!
It was so nice seeing Yumi & Mark, since we hadn't seen them since their wedding in Hawaii!
Thanks for coming, Yumi!
With my boss and some of my coworkers - who also happen to be amazing friends!
Let the baby shower games begin - we started off with guessing the baby's arrival.
Guessing the belly measurements!
Everyone overshot... do I look that big? lol
An entertaining game of drinking from baby bottles.
Ready, set, go!
Sucking down the juice.
Apparently, it's a lot harder than it looks! Kudos to those babies for their suction power.
Comparing how much everyone was able to drink in one minute.
The baby bottle contenders. It was a close race...
...but it was Tea who came out on top as the winner! 🙂
Poor Jason spilled the juice all over himself...
Guessing which candy bars are in the diapers.
Everyone writing down their guesses.
Pin the Baby on the Belly!
Dan blindfolding and spinning Matt.
"Where's the wall?"
Go Sam!
The hubby's turn.
The results!
Good job everyone!
Thank you everyone for the generous, thoughtful gifts!
Megumi HANDMADE this quilt for the baby. We still can't get over how beautiful it is, and the fact that Megumi made it herself amazes me! (It's folded up here, but I'll have to post a photo later of it in its full magnificent glory some other time.) I don't think I've ever received anything that had so much time and effort put into it...
Thanks Aileen & Haruka for coming - we always love seeing you guys!
With our favorite Oaklanders - Brent and Estella!
With lovely Katie!
Jason pretending he's pregnant too.
And finally... thank you ever so much to Megumi and Sam, who really went above and beyond, and worked so hard to put everything together for us. (Megumi planned it all the way from LA!)
Gift basket favors for the guests, containing strawberries and cherry blossom-shaped cookies!
Such beautifully assembled favors!
...complete with lovely tags to remember the event.
We were so humbled and moved by everyone’s thoughtfulness and generosity, and for the time and effort invested by our friends in putting such a lovely baby shower together for us. We’ll remember it for the rest of our lives, and we can’t wait to show these pictures to our daughter in the future, to show her how much she is loved. 🙂
The other weekend, Dan and I spent a Sunday afternoon in Piedmont. It’s a small affluent city surrounded by Oakland and is known for its beautiful architecture and trees. I’d never been to Piedmont before, so we stopped by a park and walked around. There was so much green, I loved it! The area reminds me of my hometown of Vienna, with its lush foliage and manicured lawns. I miss the East Coast….
I love going out to eat and exploring new delicious dishes and then seeing if I can make them myself at home. It’s usually pretty hit or miss — a long time ago, when I was obsessed with P.F. Changs chicken lettuce wraps, I tried to recreate the appetizer at my college apartment and failed miserably — all we could taste were the crunchy water chestnuts. (I’m hoping to redeem myself by trying again someday.)
One of my absolute favorite dishes is linguine frutti di mare, which is essentially mixed seafood pasta. Linguine tossed with “fruits of the ocean” and loose red sauce — just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I have a hobby of trying the seafood pasta every time Dan and I go to a new Italian restaurant for the first time, and going around comparing. So far, some of my personal favorites have been Luciano’s in Oakton, The Cellar in Blacksburg, Buca di Beppo (various locations in California), and The Milanese Caffe in Berkeley. There were many other good ones, but we try to support unique, non-chain restaurants, so we don’t often dine at the likes of places like Olive Garden (although theirs is not bad, either).
