Last Friday, Dan’s team at his company invited Mio and I over to their office for a lunch. Dan had just been told that it was a lunch to treat us in honor of the upcoming arrival — we were surprised to find upon arrival that they had decorated the conference room and prepared many thoughtful and generous gifts for the baby. His fellow team members had planned a beautiful baby shower for us!
Mio was so excited to visit Daddy at work!
They catered a delicious Italian lunch from Merone’s. Mio was of course chowing down!
She also loved helping opening the gifts and cards.
Dan’s team members had even prepared gifts for Mio, including “Big Sister” scrubs she could wear to visit baby in the hospital!
A “Big Sister” book to prepare Mio to be a helpful older sibling.
They also presented us with a diaper/wipe caddy for the car embroidered with our last name, as well as a photo album full of generous gift cards from Target, Babies R Us, Baby Gap, B&H Photo, grocery stores… we were floored!
Mio especially loved this stuffed giraffe. She loved being a part of the celebration!
The baby shower lunch was such a warm and thoughtful gesture from Dan’s team, and we were reminded of how blessed we are to have so much support in both our personal and professional lives. With only a couple weeks to go until the due date, we’re finally feeling ready (or as ready as we’ll ever be) to welcome our much-anticipated addition to our family. (Even Mio has been pointing to herself and saying “Big Eester” — because she can’t quite say “sister” — non-stop, both at home and to her teachers and classmates at preschool. The other day, she came up to my belly and said, “Baby, hurry up!!!” lol.) We can’t wait to meet her!
(Special thanks to Dan’s coworker Melissa for taking these photos and sending them to us!)
Continuing from Day 1 in Los Angeles, we stayed in and relaxed for most of the day on Day 2. March 3 also happened to be Hinamatsuri, or Girls’ Day in Japan, and Megumi went all out to celebrate this special day!
Hinamatsuri cookies made by Megumi!
Beautiful Hinamatsuri gift basket Megumi put together for Mio for Girls’ Day! So sweet and generous of her. â¤
We woke up to an amazing breakfast prepared by Megumi.
Possibly the best breakfast potatoes I have ever had! It was surprisingly light but really satisfying.
Homemade scones… I love Megumi’s baked creations!
Refreshing fruit salad 🙂
My kind of breakfast! With a tiny hand sneaking in to grab a bite…
Megumi also got Mio this sweet toy cookie set from Melissa & Doug! Mio immediately fell in love with it. It goes perfectly with her cupcake set back home!
Estella stopped by to say goodbye!
It was great hanging out with Estella and Brent, even for a short time!
For lunch, Megumi was preparing a Hinamatsuri feast and invited a bunch of her Japanese American girlfriends, as Hinamatsuri is a celebration of girls everywhere! We were all floored by how much food she prepared, all according to the traditional dishes that are served for Hinamatsuri. Of course, she put a few of us to work to help with the food prep. 😉 I love helping Megumi cook/bake — it’s part of the fun, I learn new tips and techniques, and all the effort is rewarded with good eats!
Making ichigo daifuku with Emily and Stephanie. It was a sticky process!
The finished result! Ichigo daifuku – mochi with strawberries and red bean filling on the inside. 🙂
Chirashizushi
Pretty sakuramochi
My favorite type of mochi! Does anyone know if there’s a place you can buy sakuramochi in the DC area?
Matcha (green tea) cupcakes
Hinamatsuri desserts, including hishimochi (diamond-shaped colored rice cakes)
Nigiri, futomaki, and inarizushi
Ushiojiru, which is soup with clams. Clam shells in food are deemed the symbol of a united and peaceful couple, because a pair of clam shells fits perfectly, and no pair but the original pair can do so.
Shots of shirozake
The ladies at Hinamatsuri lunch. What a feast! Mio was napping for most of it, but there was still plenty of food for her when she woke up.
Cutiepies Mio (23 months old) and Hiroki (16 months old).
Mio dressed in her jinbei for Hinamatsuri. Here she is upon discovering a cat (behind her) by Megumi’s apartment.
We had such a wonderful time in LA! Thank you to Megumi and Daniel for being such amazing hosts and making our stay so memorable and fun.
Our time in Southern California was short but so sweet! The LA portion of our trip was over, but we still had lots of fun times ahead of us up in Northern California. Stay tuned!
Mio’s friend Junna turned two on February 9, and we invited over on Saturday to celebrate with her and her parents over lunch. I brought over some handmade mini heart pies for the intimate celebration!
Making heart-shaped mini pies… â¤
Mini heart pies out of the oven! I made about a dozen of them.
Junna-chan showing us that she is two with her fingers. So cute!
Junna’s dad made cream puffs in lieu of a birthday cake.
Blowing out the candles.
Mio and Junna playing after lunch.
Cutiepies!
Thank you Junna-chan and family for inviting us to be a part of your special birthday celebration! We can’t wait to see how you’ll continue to grow… 🙂
My college friend Amy just moved to San Francisco last month, so Mio and I went to go visit her in the city on Friday. We hadn’t seen each other since she had graduated in 2005, so it had really been a while! We picked up just where we left off, though, and could talk and laugh like old times. We ate oyster po’boy sandwiches at the Ferry Building and then walked over to the artMRKT event (a contemporary and modern art fair) that was going on this weekend, which Amy had tickets to. We couldn’t fully enjoy all the awesome art there because Mio kept needing to be fed, changed, or taken outside to run around, but the art that I did get to see was pretty cool!
The photos I took were from my phone so they’re not the greatest quality, but here’s a peek into some notable pieces at the event…
Life is like a box of chocolates... my kind of art!
LOL
Cake monsters!
Pretty cool...
"Occupy Art Fairs"
Thanks for inviting us to go to the art fair, Amy! I love sharing new experiences with old friends in this beautiful city.
My friend Miyoung and her husband Mike were visiting San Francisco this weekend — they came all the way from New Jersey! I’ve known Miyoung since she moved to Virginia when we were in middle school, and we have been friends for over fifteen years! It feels like yesterday that we were both still in junior high, chatting for hours over the phone and having sleepovers watching The Joy Luck Club. We have both have grown up so much since, and are now both married! (I couldn’t make it to her wedding this May because I had just had Mio, but from the photos, she was the most gorgeous bride ever!) I always have fun when I’m with Miyoung, and it was nice to see her again and catch up — I’ve missed her so! Here are some photos from when a bunch of us friends went to lunch together on Sunday.
Mio and Jinwoo decided they wanted some playtime on the table after we were done eating.
Jinwoo is almost 11 months old. What a cutie!
My little chubster wondering what's going on.
Mio meets Miyoung for the first time!
Missed you, Miyoung!
John getting some Daddy practice with baby Jinwoo before his own baby arrives in December!
Miyoung's husband Mike with Jinwoo.
Jinwoo was quite the hit with the guys.
Jinwoo looks so tiny!
Jinwoo with his Mommy Kayo! Oh the cuteness...
Jinwoo reaching out to Mio. He is the first fellow baby friend she ever met!
After lunch, Miyoung and Mike came over to our place, and Miyoung and I caught up for a few hours while our hubbies bonded playing video games together, and concluded the day with dinner. We so appreciated Miyoung and Mike spending the day with us, especially since we live on opposite sides of the country now. I miss you already, Miyoung! ♥
