Tag Archives: marriage

May25

Jackson at 7 Months

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The last seven months have been incredible. Jackson is learning so much, and he seems to reach a new milestone every few weeks.

3 Months

We took our first family vacation (to Maui). We rented a condo by the beach in Kihei an enjoyed lots of poke and sunshine. Jackson did not go into the ocean, but he did take a dip in the pool.

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4 Months

I returned to work. Jackson gets to hang out with his nanny Elizabeth during the day. He loves her and she is teaching him so many things.

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5 Months

Paco and I ventured out on our first date night since Jackson was born. For my birthday, Jackson stayed home with Grandpa while we went to omakase (yum). My birthday present from Paco and Jackson was a professional family photo shoot. It was so much fun, and it is great to have pictures with all three of us in them.

Photo credit: Carissa Woo Photography

Photo credit: Carissa Woo Photography

6 Months

Jackson went on his first road trip, to to Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Also at 6 months, Jackson could sit up on his own (using hands to balance), he could get up on all fours and scoot around (not quite crawling), and he said, “mamamama”! We also introduced him to solids at 6 months. . .he loves mango, oatmeal, green beans, carrots, pears . . . he is natural eater.

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7 Months

His first tooth appeared on his 7-month birthday, which also happened to be Mother’s Day. It was a Mother’s Day miracle!  He can sit up on his own and is getting pretty good at scooting around.

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Next month we are taking him to Palm Springs for the weekend. I’m excited for Jackson’s second pool adventure!

Feb17

President’s Day Weekend Project

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Apparently, the rule is that when you get married and move somewhere relatively close to your parents, they give you all of the boxes that they’ve been storing for you back. Totally understandable, except you realize exactly how much crap you’ve been hanging onto! Anyway, my last box of old stuff is mostly of pictures from college and possibly high school, so my project for the weekend is to go through and pick out which ones to save. I’ve ordered two albums that hold 300 pictures each, but I think I should be able to reduce my high school/college pictures to one album. We’ll see!

Feb14

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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I used to think that Valentine’s Day was a silly holiday, but last year, I decided to embrace it. Is it so terrible to have an excuse to go to a nice dinner and get flowers?

Paco and I celebrated last night with dinner at The Tasting Kitchen, and tonight we’ll continue by going to see The Safe House (exactly my type of movie!). What’s not to like about Valentine’s Day?

Jan31

Roast Chicken (Engagement Chicken?)

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When I first heard about Engagement Chicken, I was already engaged.  (This is the type of important stuff you learn on weddingbee.)  Supposedly, if you make it for your boyfriend, he will propose. I had made Ina Garten’s roast chicken before getting engaged, however, so who knows, maybe it does work!

Although it might seem sexist or old-fashioned to some, I have to agree that the way to many men’s and women’s hearts is a nice, home-cooked meal. It shows that you care enough to take the time to make someone a nice dinner, and it creates images of many other cozy and delicious evenings to come.

A whole chicken is probably enough for four people, but I still like to make the entire chicken for the two of us and save the rest for soup, Roman-style chicken, or chicken salad.

I don’t usually associate chicken with gravy, so the recipe has been adapted accordingly.

Roast Chicken, a.k.a., Engagement Chicken
Adapted from Ina Garten

1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs.)
kosher salt
pepper
olive oil
half head garlic, cut in half so that the insides of the cloves are exposed
1 lemon, quartered
2 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs thyme

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the giblets from the chicken. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken in a roasting rack, breast side up. Stuff the chicken with the lemon, garlic, rosemary, and thyme.

As the chicken cooks, these flavors will permeate the meat. Tie the chicken legs together and pin the wings behind the chicken.

Brush the outside of the chicken with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for one hour. The chicken is done when you can insert a chopstick or knife between the leg and thigh, and the juices run clear.

Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes and then carve. I served mine with roasted potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, and parsnips.