tea

Cupcakes & Tea!

January 9, 2013 By Misono in Mio, Videos Tags: cupcakes, Mio, New Years, party, tea, video

On New Year’s Day last week, Mio hosted a little party for Dan and I and her doll friends using her new kitchen. We also let her play with her cupcake set (which our friend Katie got for her last year) and she was super excited to bake cupcakes just like Mama! She knew exactly what to do because she’s always watching me closely while I’m baking.

Mio was so excited to "bake" her own cupcakes! — Taking the cupcakes out of the oven. She even wore her oven mitt and said “Acchi-cchi!” (Japanese sound for when something is hot to touch.)

Putting frosting and candles on the cupcakes.

Giving everyone their treats. — She made sure everyone got a cupcake. (Poor girl scratched herself in her sleep so there’s a scratch next to her nose. Thankfully, it’s already healed and disappeared!)

Decorating the cupcakes. — I helped Mio decorate the cupcakes. By the way, this cupcake set by Melissa & Doug is awesome! It comes with a cupcake pan, removable “frosting” and dry erase “icing” markers that you can draw on the cupcakes with. And it all wipes clean when you are done.

Mio surrounded by cupcakes! — Mio was so happy with her cupcakes!

Tea time with Daddy — Dan teaching Mio how to properly drink tea (pinky up! lol).

A video that I took during Mio’s “party”:

It was so sweet to see how much Mio loved playing with the cupcakes along with her kitchen. She’s definitely a dessert lover — she’s so quick to spot them in a book or at a restaurant, and will point and says “kei-ki” (her way of saying “cake”) obsessively. A girl after my own heart! ♥

An Enchanted Tea Party

December 23, 2012 By Misono in Family and Friends, Mio Tags: Mio, Miwa, nursery, tea, tea party

We’ve been trying to find ways to keep Mio entertained indoors during the cold winter days when it’s too chilly to play outside. Last week my sister Miwa, fresh off her fall semester, planned and set up a tea party for Mio in her nursery! It was so sweet and magical. Here are some pictures.

Miwa setting up the table — My sister Miwa setting up for the party.

A teacup for Mio — A mini teacup for Mio! The play teacup set was a birthday gift for Mio earlier this year from our dear friends Sonya & Sofia. 🙂

All of Mio's friends came! — All of Mio’s friends came!

Mio's invitation to the tea party — My sister had even made invitations for Mio and I that she delivered the night before.

Mio handing Miwa the invitation to enter. — Mio handing Miwa the invitation to enter the party.

Mio arriving at the tea party. — Mio was in awe upon arriving at her party.

The guest of honor! — Mio was the guest of honor, and she knew exactly where to sit without being told.

Our little Alice in Wonderland — Dressed in a blue dress, she was our very own little Alice in Wonderland.

Toasting with Auntie Miwa. Mio loves doing “cheers!” so we must have clinked teacups 30 times or so during the tea party.

Mio enjoying her tea. — Sipping (or rather, chugging?) her tea.

Mio trying to get her bear to drink. — She insisted on making sure all her friends had some tea, too…

Feeding her doll — …and that they were well fed. 😉

Mio giving me a kiss! — Mio loved the party so much, she gave me a kiss!

I love this girl — My little sweetheart. I’m so glad she had such a fun time!

Sweethearts. — Of course, the actual one to thank was Miwa, who orchestrated everything and made it such a lovely afternoon for all of us! Thank you Miwa â™¥

Mio seemed to really love the tea party, and it seemed like she knew she had to be proper and well-mannered during such an occasion, because she was on her best behavior! We’ll definitely have to do one again now that we know how much she enjoys it…. 🙂

Earl Grey Lavender Ice Cream

May 31, 2012 By Misono in Kitchen Concoctions Tags: Earl Grey, gelato, ice cream, ice cream maker, lavender, sorbet, tea

Dan and I pulled out our ice cream maker on Monday to try making some home-churned Earl Grey lavender ice cream. I was craving Ici’s Earl Grey-flavored ice cream, and thought, “why not make it ourselves?” It turned out delicious — we’ll definitely be making it again!

We used to make gelato, sorbet and ice cream all the time when we first got this ice cream maker three years ago while we were living in Berkeley. I found a few pictures of some of our creations from back then… can’t wait to try making them again!

making chocolate hazelnut gelato — Chocolate hazelnut gelato... this was one of our favorites!

chocolate hazelnut gelato — I had a whole bunch of unused Chinese takeout-style paper containers left over from a design project at the time, and they were perfect for storing our frozen creations. We'd have 5 - 6 flavors at a time in the freezer!

I especially loved making sorbet -- here's a bowl with four flavors of sorbet I had made at the time: kiwi, strawberry, orange, and cantaloupe! Like I said, we went on bit of a sorbet-making spree at the time...

Since having Mio, we got a little lazy and our ice cream maker didn’t get to see much use, but as summer approaches, we hope to pull it more often again! 😀

Sweet Surprises in the Mail

May 22, 2011 By Misono in Mio Tags: baby, cherry, cherry blossoms, gift, green tea, jinbei, Lupicia, Mio, newborn, tea

We got a couple surprise packages in the mail this past week! The first was from my friend Aya (from Hiroshima, now living in Saitama). We met back in 2003 when we were both in Chicago, and although we haven’t had many chances to see each other again, we still try to keep in touch. She sent us these super sweet gifts for Mio!

Green tea flavored with cherries from Lupicia. The tin was personalized with Mio’s name and birthdate — adorable!

How cute is this jinbei for Mio? It’s still a little big for her, but it may be perfect come late summer… 🙂 I can’t wait for her to wear it!

The pattern is cherry blossoms… perfect for my little Mio. â™¥

We also got a package from my cousin Yuko in Arizona! We opened the little package to find these sweet contents…

A personalized bib for Mio! Super cute!!!

I put the bib on Mio to take a picture, and ended up catching her first smile on camera! She’s started showing us some smiles since a couple days ago but they’re still few and far between. So excited that she has finally started smiling for Mommy! 😀