christmastime.

i know people say that a lot of christmas traditions are for kids, but one thing i know i'll never grow too old for is getting together with family and eating home cooked food.


one to make the taste buds happy and one to make the heart happy. but actually, they both were really good.

gluten, just the way my grandma used to make it and now my dad makes it the same way. it will always be one of my favorite foods. made from scratch and cooked with onions, garlic, soy sauce and lemon juice - just makes your mouth water doesn't it?



a trifle, a pavlova, a blueberry pie, a banana cream pie, and bitsu bitsu. so many good desserts that even after i was super full i just kept eating - i had to try them all.



all the first cousins...

she was lost in her pile of gifts. "mommy! this ones mine and this one and this one! they're all MINE!"


i hope your christmas was as family and food filled as mine. i can't wait till next year.

mele kalikimaka.

weekend snow.

it snowed the other night...

ok maybe it wasn't real snow, but it was the thought that counts right? i guess it was more of a soapy concoction - the same kind of "snow" that falls at disneyland - than a frozen one.

soapy snow is the best we can do here in the inland empire and until i can make it up to the mountains i guess it'll have to do.

it's ok though, this eclair from beard papa's made up for the lack of authentic snow.

christmas party.

friday was one of those no good rotten days.

luckily i was able to get together with some good friends to try and ease some of the pain of that afternoon's events.






thank you for a night filled with amazing food, gifts and socializing. each one of you was a bright spot in my not so bright day.

kizana.

i love her.

spitz.

winter was definitely here this week and yesterday it was especially cold. it was pouring the entire day and i was freezing. i know 40 degrees doesn't sound so cold to some, but to me when i'm at home, that's freezing.

the winter weather didn't keep me inside though. mello, michelle and i went out to glendale to meet up with irv. jay flew into LAX late last night, so michelle and i went to keep mello company and we decided to make a day out of it.

of course we weren't able to do all that i wanted, because of the rain, but we were still able to make a short trip out to little tokyo and eat some wonderful food.

irv's favorite restaurant in glendale right now is spitz, so thats where we decided to eat lunch.

spitz serves mediterranean, turkish, european type food. they use all fresh ingredients and their food is super good.

i got the falafelite with season fries, but after trying the lightly fried pita strips with humus that mello and michelle got, i've decided thats what i need to get next time - they were delicious.




they also have the most amazing gelato i've had outside if italy. a falafel and gelato, a weird combination i know. their gelato gets flown in from a company based out of san francisco. every time i go in, they have new flavors, i want to try them all.



i'm loving the cold weather right now [gelato is good for eating during cold weather too]. after yesterday's storms, there's tons of snow up in the mountains...i'm hoping to make a trip up there soon.

tea party.

princess kaela's royal tea part celebration was this afternoon. irv and i were honored enough to have kaela invite us to celebrate her 5th birthday with her.

mello said they've been preparing for this afternoon for weeks. it showed, the backyard was transformed into the perfect setting for a tea party fit for a princess - complete with amazing food.




a party isn't a party without scavenger hunts and games like pass the teapot.


not only were there games, but there was also a make-up station. yes, its true, every 5-year-old princess' dream come true - lipgloss, glitter and nail polish.

i hope the afternoon wasn't too girly for irv. =]

and for the best part...the birthday cake. mello baked another one of her amazing cupcake cakes again. this time a cupcake made out of cupcakes!



definitely an entire afternoon fit for a birthday princess.

knott's merry farm.

many, many weeks ago, irv needed to service his car. little did we know that the toyota dealership was giving away free tickets to knott's berry farm.

we finally found time this week to use those 2 free tickets.


its been forever since the last time either one of us has ridden a roller coaster. after riding ghost ridder, irv turned to me and said, "am i getting old? i don't think i can take these things anymore."

i was gripping the handlebar so much that my ring cut my finger just a little.

supreme scream will forever be my favorite, but i don't know if i'll be able to drag irv on it again. i guess it doesn't work out too well when i love heights and he's terrified of them.



i love it when theme parks are decorated for christmas. knott's doesn't compare to disneyland when it comes to holiday decorations though. i think halloween is a bigger holiday than christmas when at knott's.