We celebrated Valentine’s Day a little early this year, because I had plans to visit my best friend in Philadelphia with my girlfriends on February 14th. I took some photos of the girls matching in red to commemorate Valentine’s 2015!
It was impossible to get them to both smile in one shot! Sigh.
Smiling sweetly for the camera! ♥
Mirei’s expressions look so mature lately…
Dan and I got to have an early Valentine’s dinner date on Thursday, thanks to my sister watching the kids for us! We dined at Maple Ave Restaurant, which we had heard so many good things about! We were pretty excited to have a quiet romantic dinner together, and the food did not disappoint. Everything was so incredibly delicious!
Steamed PEI mussels with saffron coconut broth, chinese sausage, and crostinis as an appetizer.
I ordered the duck leg confit with caramelized brussel sprouts, truffle aioli, and apple cider gastrique.
For dessert, we had the chocolate dumplings with fried pastry shell, melted chocolate ganache, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce.
…and the “omg” flourless chocolate cake. Both were amazing!
Love you hubby! Thanks for a lovely and romantic evening.
When we got home, Mio delivered surprise Valentines gifts from Dan!
A sweet Valentine’s card from Dan and the girls!
Mio signed her Valentines to her classmates this year! This was actually her first time writing her name out. We’d been encouraging her to write her name for a while now and she always resisted so we’ve tried not to push her… but she willingly wrote it this time. So proud of her!
Mio’s Valentines haul from her classmates. She loved it, and has been treasuring her bag of Valentine’s cards in the days since!
On the same day (Friday), we received this card in the mail. Mio’s preschool class has been learning about the post office, and apparently they sent their Valentine’s to their parents out in the mail in time to get to us by Valentine’s Day! I will treasure this always.
Mio telling us about how she sent the Valentine in the mail.
Thank you sweetheart for such a beautiful Valentine! We love you and your sister so much!
Steamed black mussel with pan-roasted sea scallops in a Pesto basil white wine broth
This sparkling Australian wine was so sweet! I loved it.
I got the filet mignon…
…while Dan got the rack of lamb.
Bon appetit!
They gave us a dessert sampler since it was our anniversary. Everything was great!
A beautiful sunset greeted us after our dinner.
It’s been six years since our wedding and over 11 years since the beginning of our journey as a couple. We’re so blessed to have had so many wonderful years and memories together, and we look forward to several more! Can’t wait to see what the future holds. I know it’ll be a beautiful life as long as I have Dan by my side. ♥ Love you, hubby!
Last Saturday was our friends’ daughter Aubrianna’s first birthday party! The three of us were happy to go celebrate the special occasion with them, and they hosted a lovely party for sweet Aubri. Here are some photos from the party!
Mio reaching for a balloon at Aubrianna’s birthday party.
The spread at the party was amazing — so much good food! We all stuffed ourselves.
Yewon made mussels with garlic — heaven for a seafood lover like me!
Mussels with marinara sauce, cheese, and hot sauce.
Chinese chicken!
California rolls made by Shin Nan.
Everyone was impressed (or rather, aghast?) at how much Mio was constantly eating… lol.
In the Korean tradition of Doljanchi, there were items placed in front of Aubrianna for her to choose something that represents her future calling. (Very similar to the Japanese tradition of Erabitori, which we prepared for Mio’s first birthday.) Everyone watched with anticipation to see what little Aubri would choose!
Aubri was intimidated by everyone watching her, and burst into tears.
After getting comforted by Mommy, she chose… the PlayDoh!
…and then the toothbrush! Future dentist, perhaps?
Celebrating with one of the prettiest birthday cakes I’ve ever seen! Yewon’s friend is a professional cake decorator and made this gorgeous cake for Aubri.
The adorable birthday girl and her lovely mama!
Daddy’s girl sitting in Dan’s lap.
Mio had a great time playing with the other kids at the party, and especially enjoyed indulging in all the delicious food offerings! Happy first birthday Aubri!
We spent Sunday afternoon at Oktoberfest in Reston Town Center! Dan’s new office building is right in Reston Town Center, so it was a nice opportunity to go see the area he works in and also enjoy the good eats/drinks and carnival rides that the festival had to offer! It was pretty cold and misty, but we still had a great time! 😀
We were cracking up at how big Mio was smiling when she got there, with her hands folded in her lap. It looks almost like she’s a villain (think Dr. Burns from The Simpsons)!
What is Oktoberfest without a cup of overpriced (but apparently delicious) beer?
Delicious steamed mussels from McCormick & Schmick’s
My sister and I don’t like nor drink beer, so our main focus was the food!
Amazing chicken kabobs from Midtown Kabob
…complete with samosa, also yummy!
Enjoying the meal while Mio looks on.
Peruvian chicken from Pollo Peru. So. Effing. Good.
Mio reaching for some while we chow down.
She grabbed a french fry!
Mio’s learned how to do “cheers!” and clink her cup against another person’s, but she’s so into it that she’ll do it with every type of food she happens to share with you, and multiple times (as in every five seconds). So when she and I both had Peruvian french fries in hand, she insisted on toasting and bumping them together… over and over. Here it is on video!
We just couldn’t get enough of that chicken, so we went and got a second plate to share!
Mio kept whipping her head back and forth to look at all the people passing by. She was so curious about everything that was going on around her.
A Daddy’s girl moment.
Enjoying the view from Auntie Miwa’s shoulders.
Buying tickets for the carnival rides.
There was a train ride that we could all ride together.
Our little family on the train.
Mio kept saying “ppo ppo” (Japanese equivalent of “choo choo,” the sound of a train puffing out smoke) while riding.
After the ride was done, she was eager for more carnival fun!
Mio kept saying “ba~ ba~” when she saw the Jamaican banana.
A carnival isn’t complete without funnel cake! So of course, we had to get one.
Miwa and Dan wanted to go on one of the scarier/intense rides. Here they are before taking flight.
Mio was really scared for them! When the ride lifted up into the air and started flying around, she started screaming and clung onto my legs. Poor girl was scared for her Daddy and auntie…
Dan and Miwa flying in the air! It looked terrifying, but they seemed to enjoy it.
As a finale, we took Mio on the carousel. She doesn’t really understand the difference between horses and cows yet, so she kept mooing and making cow noises while waiting in line and riding on the carousel. I corrected her the first couple times, but it was pretty cute so I just let her moo the whole ride through.
Mio getting on the carousel.
She had a very grave expression on her face the entire time.
Clenching her teeth! Mio’s been on carousels and merry-go-rounds a few times before, but she seemed more uptight this time – maybe because it was cold?
Of course, when the ride ended, she started getting upset and wanted to go on again… (On a separate note, isn’t the heart-shaped elbow patch on her jacket adorable? My mom got this jacket for her.)
Like with the Marin County Fair, there were a lot of rides Mio couldn’t go on because she wasn’t 36 inches tall, so that was kind of a bummer. Maybe in a year or two, she’ll get to enjoy more of the rides! 🙂
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).
