Brunch Date

Many moons ago, my hubby suprised me w/brunch at Julienne, a restaurant with a Napa-ish feel.
The restaurant's grocery section included ginormous flower bouquets, olive oils, breads, jams and freshly made salads to-go. I wanted to buy everything....but of course my Korean sensibilities prohibited me from buying 100% marked up products.
I had my book & coffee on hand. My ONE cup allotted during this pregnancy. Do you know how delicious coffee tastes after 6 months without? Try it, you'll see.

Egg white spinach omelette w/fresh berries.

Potato pancakes w/poached eggs.

Overall, it was a cute & romantic restaurant w/yummy entrees. However, the portions are a little small. Next time, I'll take the diner down the street....a pregnant girl's gotta eat!

Refrigerator Art

My nephew, C, age 5, handed me this drawing at church last week.

From l-r, yellow sun, Uncle Joey, Me, & baby in the belly:

Pre-Baby Weekend

It was a busy, fun-filled weekend. The first weekend of which I thought to myself "we won't be able to do this anymore when baby comes."

To start, on Saturday evening was our first official Shepardess meeting. Shepardess = basically a group of pastor's wives. I'm on the planning committee, and was in charge of food, set-up, & decorations.
It was a fairly good turnout, though not as big as the last time. Dr. Soonja Lee, our sponsor and chairperson, spoke on "how to deal with difficult members." It was excellent and helped me to learn about situations before actually having to deal with them.

I catered from Happy Family (all-vegetarian Chinese food), which was a hit with all, thankfully.

Then we met up around 10:30pm that night to try Gogi truck & see what all the fuss was about. Can you guess how long the wait was?

I had the galbi & tofu tacos, and Joey had the tofu. They were both good. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The taste and flavoring were both to my liking. However, they are a little small, and the wait?--1 hour long! It's worth trying if you haven't had it, but I don't see myself going very often, what with the wait and the truck driving all over LA.

See how small they are? Thanks to Kange for setting up this foodie find!

The next day, Joey & I went to see Rent. I had told him not to get me anything for my birthday, (I didn't want him to spend any more money, what with me going to NY and everything,) but he didn't listen. I felt a little guilty initially, as he always does more than I expect for special events.

However, I am glad that we got to go (enjoy our dates pre-baby, right?). This was my 3rd time seeing it, and Joey's first. The 2 main characters, Mark & Roger, were from the original Broadway cast, and they were terrific singers. Joey liked it more than I thought he would.

Can you see the bump now??

After the show we got to see babies & friends @ Island's. Isn't this one darling & photogenic?

Joey couldn't help but comment that we need to have a boy b/c they are so much more fun to play with than girls.
This little neice of his prefers guys though...and I think Uncle Joey likes that just as well as any boy;).
It's easy to see how this little girl has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

I wanted to see C&C immediately after we left them. Can't wait to see you guys again this weekend!!

NYC, the big 3-0, & the Getty

February's been a fun month so far. Let's see, first, I turned 30:). Second, I had an entire week off of work:). Thirdly, I got to spend it in NY with my sister:). Can you tell I've been all-smiles-all-month?:)

Most of our photos center around food and not much else. The rest of the time was devoted to days upon days of shopping...oh what fun! When I got back, Joey commented that he knows how much fun I'm having by how often I call him when I'm away. I rarely called him that week. Haha. I did miss him though...I think;).

Breakfast at Sarabeth's:

Rice pudding at Rice to Riches:

Vodka pizza at Pomodoro:

Mac & Cheese at S'mac:

Bagels in Long Island:

On the subway:

Cynthia Nixon in Distracted. This was SO GOOD. About a kid with ADHD. I laughed & cried:

Red velvet cheesecake & cupcakes at Magnolia's. My favorite!

Birthday dinner at the Stanton Social:

It was one of the most uppity restaurants I'd ever been to. The food was good...but small. I supplemented with pizza afterwards!
Thai food in Brooklyn:

When I returned, Joey had planned a museum/brunch at the Getty:

My camera lens is a little messed up. The 'clear' photos below are from J.Mita:).
Homemade birthday card...1 of 4 she gave away. Thanks J, I feel special!!:

Like I said, it's been a fun month. More to come in a few weeks, when the celebration continues...yes, my husband spoils me:).

Pregnancy, Week 19, Part 2

Okay, so I admit I knew there was a "Part 2" coming. By Thursday's end, we were already looking into 3D ultrasound clinics. I just couldn't wait!

Plus I was off to NY this week to see my sister... and I wanted to get a jump start on baby shoppping.

I was ecstatic when my husband wholeheartedly said "let's do it."

So we went.

The ultrasound was clear as day. She was smiling & her heart was beating 154 beats/minute=).

Pregnancy, Week 19, Part 1

I heard this idea from my grocery store manager friend. His cousin & wife had gone to their prenatal appointment, all ready to find out the gender of their child. But instead of having their doctor tell them the gender, they asked her to write down it down on a piece of paper. Then they went to dinner together, opened the paper, and voila!--"it's a boy!/girl!"

I told Joey the idea for our upcoming 19 week appointment, and he suggested getting a card to have the doctor write inside it. I carefully picked out a gender-neutral card at Border's for my appointment the next day, and preceded to wait anxiously.

Well, we got to the doctor's, and Baby Oh wasn't being cooperative. First the legs were side by side like wooden chopsticks. Then the foot was up in the crotch area. My doctor swished around for a bit on my belly, then said sorry, she can't see anything, and to please come back in a month.

Up till now, I've had a sense of unreality about this whole pregancy. Denial, not acceptance. Plus, no baby movement so far. So I was so psyched to have something concrete to grab onto. I knew there was a small chance the doctor couldn't tell, but I didn't think I'd be one of those people. haha. I coudn't believe how bummed I was after the appointment. I almost cried over my french toast.

So instead of being the gender announcement post, this is the you'll-have-to-wait-for-it post. I'll leave you with a photo of my out-of-this-world honey orange french toast, from auntie em's kitchen.