Happy Halloween! This year marks our first Halloween together as a family of three! Halloween is one of my favorite festivities of the year, and I love thinking of creative costumes every time. I especially like costumes that go together in some sort of a theme and last Halloween, I was just at the beginning of my second trimester so I was pregnant Quinn and Dan was Finn from the TV show Glee. This year, Dan was Mario from Super Mario Brothers, I was Princess Peach, and Mio was… ::drumroll please:: Toad (the toadstool mushroom)! Dan and I had actually thought of the idea of being Mario and Peach for Halloween and had prepared our costumes two years ago, but I got deathly sick that Halloween and so we hadn’t been able to use them! But I suppose it was for the better, because our costume idea was made exponentially better with the addition of Toad Mio!
We had a busy Halloween weekend — on Saturday, Dan and his coworker friend co-hosted a baby-friendly Halloween party in the neighborhood, and on Sunday we drove into the city for an evening of Halloween bowling in the Presidio with our friends from Nakayoshi! Check out all the photos of the Halloween fun from this past weekend…
Mio and I as Toad and Princess Peach.
Cedar was an alligator, and Cristina was the alligator tamer.
Mio looking up to Cedar.
Toad Mio with Mario Daddy.
Standing with some help from Daddy.
She was a little overwhelmed by all the people...
Jasmine and Emme, the older girls at the party.
Pocahontas Sofia pointing... adorable!
Going after Mario's fireball.
Kayo and Jinwoo.
S & S!
Gorgeous view of the skyline and San Francisco city lights, taken from the balcony.
A family picture at the end of the night.
Bowling at the Presidio Bowling Center with Nakayoshi. (I believe this is the first time we’ve taken Mio into the city!)
The Toad mushroom hat we had originally bought for Mio.
The hat was ginormous and way too big on her, so we opted for a different one that was a little more manageable...
...much better!
Jamie lives in San Francisco now! She's my dear friend from Virginia Tech. I'm so thrilled that she's in the area now!
Mio got lots of lovin' from her Nakayoshi aunties and uncles.
Mio's first time meeting Graig... and she loves him already!
Wow, look at that chin. Fat angle much? hahaha*
My happy mushroom, aglow under the black lights.
Graig was so good with her!
The masked men: army man, wolf, and storm trooper.
Basketball star Graig and Little Red Riding Hood Aileen (with mushroom hat)
My new friend Hisae-san! Loved her hat!
With lovely Sam... so glad we got to see her!
With Haruka and Aileen! Mio has known them since she was one month old! π
Standing around.
"There's a smile!"
She looks like she's about to break into a dance.
Mio's first encounter with a bowling ball.
Jason took this cool picture of Mio in front of the bowling lanes!
She's loving it! She is as round as a bowling ball.
There she goes, scrunching her face again in an all-out smile...
Mio loves Auntie Jamie!
Couldn't resist putting the giant mushroom hat on her one last time...
Hope everyone has a fun Halloween! Perhaps next year Mio can go trick-or-treating!!! I’m already thinking of more family costume ideas….
There was a photo booth from Magnolia Photo Booth Co. at Jason & Tarrin’s wedding last Saturday, and we had a lot of fun with it! Such a great idea — a big thanks to the bride and groom for letting us indulge in it. Here are some of the memorable ones….
We were wondering what Mio would look like with a lot of hair. Now we know.
She’s doing the kissy-face, too!
Here I am as a jolly pirate (with a feather boa!) with my awesome coworker friends: Pharaoh Estella and adorable Sarah.
We decided we needed some more Allen family photos, so the three of us stepped into the photo booth once again… but Mio was sleeping. :(ΓΒ She retains the same face throughout with those bulldog cheeks, until the last one in which it crumbles from the frustration of disturbed sleep.
Estella, Mio, and I were lucky enough to get a photo opp with the lovely bride, Tarrin!
Yesterday was our three year wedding anniversary, and Dan’s parents offered to watch Mio while Dan and I went out to dinner after work to celebrate! We chose to go to Skates on the Bay in Berkeley, a waterfront restaurant that specializes in seafood. It boasts views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and San Francisco, and offers up an innovative menu of platters made from fresh market ingredients.
Skates on the Bay in Berkeley
Arriving at the restaurant
We ordered the Skate's Tasting Sampler for the appetizer. In my opinion, it was the best part of the meal!
chili-smoked tiger prawns
teriyaki beef tenderloin
crispy ahi roll
truffle chips
Ready for the main course!
Dan enjoying his beer
We had a view overlooking the water.
...and got to watch the sun set on the waters.
The waitress sucked at taking photos; hence the blurry picture.
Dan ready to dig into his seared ahi.
I love seafood! Excited to dig in.
The seafood linguini. It wasn't my top choice - I had wanted the mixed grilled seafood platter but they were out of the ingredients so I had this instead. It was a little underwhelming....
But it ended on an unexpectedly positive note. There was a group of ladies at the table next to us who were chattering away, and I noticed that they kept looking over at us but I just dismissed it, thinking that they were just admiring the view outside the window (which they probably were, most of the time). But as we were getting ready to leave, their table was also standing up to go and one of the young ladies came over to us and said, “I just wanted to say that you two are a very cute couple.” The stranger’s sweet comment took us by surprise, and it was a good reminder that although not everything will always go so smoothly, it doesn’t matter as long as we are happy together and can bring smiles to those around us.
After the women left, Dan added, “Little do they know that this very cute couple has a very cute baby!” and with that, we hurried home to see our little munchkin.
Mio just woke up when we got home.
"Did you miss me, Mio?"
This anniversary was all the more special with you in our lives, Mio!
People would tell us that once you have a child, everything changes. And they were right; it does. But while I expected the sort of change in which we would become so consumed by the responsibilities and challenges of parenthood that we wouldn’t have time to even really look at each other, I find myself pleasantly surprised. Beholding the little miracle before our eyes, who is half one of you and half the other, it brings you closer in a way you never would have imagined. And watching your partner transform from a husband to a father and seeing the way he pours out his love and affection for this baby is a truly eye-opening experience. You see a whole new side to the person you thought you knew so well, and you find yourself falling in love all over again. Becoming a parent opens up a completely new dimension and depth of love in yourself, and it has been amazing to watch not only ourselves but our relationship as a couple grow because of it. We thought that we had come so far in our journey together, but now we’re realizing that it has only just begun…. Happy anniversary, and here’s to all the years of continued laughter and joy to come.
We just returned on Sunday morning from our vacation in Hawaii! We actually hadn’t taken our honeymoon when we got married almost two years ago, and we’d always wanted to go to Hawaii since we had both never been. We took a little over a week off to finally go on a real “honeymoon” vacation — we thought it would be appropriate to go now, right before we hit the 2-year mark since our wedding and graduate from our newlywed status. We went to two islands, Oahu and Kaua’i, and we’d been diligently researching and planning all the things we could do for a couple months, collecting recommendations on places to go and things to eat from our friends. Thanks to their help and all the planning, we had a truly amazing and memorable trip!
Because we took so many photos and did so many things, it’s impossible to cover everything in one blog post, so we’re going to try to do this by each day… and Dan will most likely have some video footage to share here and there, too. π So here’s Day One!
We left San Francisco Airport in the wee hours or Friday morning on June 11th, and arrived in Hawaii in the late morning — there’s a three hour difference between California and Hawaii, which worked in our favor the way there (but of course, we lost three hours on the way back).
Flying into Honolulu Airport.
After landing and picking up our rental car, the first thing on our minds was lunch! We were pretty hungry from not eating anything on the plane, and we were ready to start getting our grub on with all the good food that we heard was in Oahu. We headed over to Andy’s Sandwiches & Smoothies, which my coworker-friend Tarrin had recommended.
Andy's Sandwiches & Smoothies in Honolulu.
It was a small eatery with a hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, and they are known for serving up fresh sandwiches and fantastic smoothies! They are especially known for their avocado sandwiches, but as I’m not a fan of avocado, I got the turkey sandwich without avocado.
My turkey sandwich!
Dan had an avocado sandwich, since he LOVES avocado.
Super hungry and ready to eat!
Both the sandwiches and the strawberry smoothie we had were delish — big thanks to Tarrin for her recommendation. π But as if that were not enough, we decided to try some of the shaved ice in the area, too. Everyone who we’d talked to who really knew Hawaii well or had lived there in the past had recommended Waiola Shave Ice in Honolulu. Matsumoto Shave Ice in Haleiwa is of course the famous one that all the tourists go to, but they all told us Waiola was where it was at! So of course, I couldn’t wait to give it a try….
We got our shaved ice! (No worries, one of those is for Dan...)
I got the Obama Rainbow -- what the President himself ordered when he brought his kids to Waiola Shave Ice -- lemon-lime, cherry, passionfruit!
When I hear about shaved ice here, I’m usually very skeptical because I expect the rock-hard snow cones that are typically served here in the U.S., as opposed to the finely shaved ice that I grew up on (our family had a Japanese shaved ice machine that we’d bust out every summer). But the shaved ice in Waiola was the most finely shaved ice I’d ever seen! It was seriously the best shaved ice I’d ever had — I was blown away by how good it was! The flavors were great, too!
The hotel we were staying in while we were in Oahu was all the way up in the North Shore, so for the first day, we decided to drive along the Eastern side of the island and take in the views, randomly stopping here and there. It was a gorgeous day, which made for some breathtaking views and several stops along the way….
This was near Hanauma Bay...
Gorgeous blue waters and a beach in the distance... the photos don't do it justice.
The Halona Blow Hole
Waves crashing against the boulders.
Our silhouettes in the sun.
Random artsy photo of necklace and dress.
Driving with the windows down, enjoying the warm Hawaii breeze.
Such lush, green mountains!
I believe this was Punalu'u Beach...
After a couple hours of driving (it took us a while since we were driving up the Eastern side of the island instead of cutting through the middle, and because we kept making stops), we finally made it to the Turtle Bay Resort, where we would stay for the next five nights.
The road into the hotel, flanked by palm trees.
Finally arriving at the Turtle Bay Resort! This is where they filmed the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
After checking in and settling into our hotel room, we were hungry for dinner so we decided to eat dinner in the local area of Kahuku… at none other than Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck!
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck in Oahu.
We saw a lot of shrimp trucks in the North Shore, but apparently Giovanni's is the best!
Waiting for our order to be called. If you know me, you know there are few things in the world I love more than shrimp. I was super excited.
The hubby is excited, too.
Shrimp Scampi from Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. SO GOOD!!!
Dan decided to get something different and went for the lemon butter shrimp. The shrimp scampi was definitely better. Still good, though!
This was actually the only shrimp truck we went to at the North Shore during our whole trip. We wanted to try some of the other ones that are supposed to be good (like Macky’s, and Romy’s…), but we were down in the Honolulu area most of the time, so we never got the chance. I definitely could have gone for more shrimp during our stay! Thank you Estella, Megumi, Bryan… everyone who told us about Giovanni’s! It was so good, I am drooling now just thinking about it.
After dinner, Dan spotted a roadside fresh fruit stand on the way back to the hotel, and he was seduced by the big fat Iced Cold Coconut sign. Dan loves coconut! (Me? Not so much.)
Dan getting his coconut from the fruit stand in Kahuku, on Kamehameha Highway.
Dan with some young coconut! He can now die happy.
We returned to the hotel for the evening, taking dips in the pool and just relaxed. The Turtle Bay Resort was right on a beach, so we had a gorgeous view not only from the pool area but from our hotel room as well!
Relaxing by the pool at Turtle Bay Resort.
The sun setting in the distance.
Only Day One, and we already ate so much good food and saw so many beautiful sights! We were definitely excited for the days to come. Stay tuned for more of our adventures in Hawaii!
Last Saturday, we went on a chocolate factory tour at Charles Chocolates in Emeryville. My sister Miwa (who recently relocated to the area) is doing a research paper on cocoa and chocolate, so we went in the name of “research.” It’s confirmed for me that chocolates — not diamonds — are a girl’s best friend.
arriving at Charles Chocolates in Emeryville
the selection for the chocolate tastings. (from left: salted caramel, raspberry filled, peanut-butter filled, almond cluster, and lemon marzipan)
