This trip to Barcelona wasn’t my first. I had spent a few days there just after college when I was working in London. However, I only spent two nights and...
My friend and I attended this event on February 18th. We missed the march and joined the rally at City Hall in downtown LA. It was a much smaller crowd...
This is so cute. There are many variations on Pinterest. I think the original idea came from the Free People blog which is worth looking at. I had these animals...
Last fall when I heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge I claimed to have felt bullied into donating since I didn’t want to make a spectacle of myself on Facebook....
We braced ourselves for the start of kinder this year. After all, we knew how pre-school had gone two years prior. She only cried every day for 1.5 years of...
It’s getting HOT and making pasta every night is killing me. I’ve been trying to branch out to more salads now that it’s summer. This is a really tasty dish...
I listened to that song over & over & over again when I started an ill-fated & short lived boarding school stint. Now with M starting school for the first time, it keeps looping in my head. On a side note, does anyone know what “Uncle John’s Band” is actually about?
My “you could do MORE if you really wanted to be a good mother” voice (inspired by Pinterest) made itself heard the first morning of pre-school. You know what I’m talking about…
It seemed simple: Maddie would hold up this adorable sign:
in her perfect outfit, with hair in two neat pigtails & a cheery smile on her face.
PINTEREST’s VERSION: [I am unable to find the origins of this pic - seems the blog it came from has been taken down.]
OUR VERSION:
Oh well, Maddie has never been able to go with the flow and that’s what I secretly like about her. But it can make all our lives harder at times. Like yesterday for example.
As we waited outside the classroom for the teacher to let the children in, I had that sick feeling I always had on the first day of school. I tried like hell not to project it but I’m sure I failed.
M seemed to be in relatively good spirits.
Do I look as ill at ease as I felt?
As we walked in the teacher gave each child a name tag (masking tape, actually) to wear on their shirt.
Bea ran right in and took over the play kitchen.
Bea, you are not a student here.
I’ll spare you the details except to say that after staying on a bench for 30 minutes with Bea who was in desperate need of a nap, I finally gave M a hug goodbye. She was really good about it, even gave me a kiss (which she doesn’t do), then thought better of it, grabbed my hand and let out a shriek from the bowels of hell. I felt like I was in Sophie’s Choice as she was wrenched from my arms and I walked out with Bea. I wept in my car for a minute, then headed home.
When I arrived later the teacher told me that she cried “often & LOUDLY” adding, “She’s got some lungs on her!”
Egads. I know. You think I don’t know that?
When M saw me through the window, wouldn’t a normal person come running & try to get out of there as soon as possible? What does M do? She smiles at me and yells, “NO!” and runs back inside to play in the kitchen.
Frog Pillow had a very important seat.
On the way out M showed Bea how to drink from the water fountain.
**UPDATE: Native Foods no longer has this happy hour! Very sad as we looked forward to it every Friday. Maybe it will come back periodically?**
Last night I took the girls to Happy Hour at Native Foods. It opened about a month ago on Ocean Park Boulevard between 29th & 30th. We used to go to the one in Culver City once in a while. Like twice a year. Since it opened here a month ago, G’s been once and I’ve already been twice (two Fridays in a row!)
This time I took the kids solo. We parked our massive stroller outside, walked in & ordered at the counter. All the starters & sides are 50% off during Happy Hour. We ordered accordingly:
Saigon Roll. A really tasty wholesome wrap accompanied by a spicy/sweet dip. YUM! I love these.
Bowl of Black Bean Soup. I could take or leave the soup. I make a fair amount of soup myself in the wintertime and found this one to be just so-so. It had some croutons in there that immediately turned to mush. Plus, the flavor was very one-dimensional. Can you tell I’ve just watched “Around the World in 80 Plates?”
Seasoned fries. (I recommend the sweet potato fries but my kids don’t like them. Bea liked the seasoned fries.)
Sweet Potato Fries (Photo taken last visit…)
Native Chicken Wings with Ranch. (I got these instead of the kids’ chicken nuggets b/c I knew my kids wouldn’t eat the rice and they didn’t need the lemonade.)*
Mini Greens Salad. This is an excellent, pretty little salad that is piled precariously high in an adorable little bowl. I dumped mine out on the large plate so I could toss it in the dressing better. This is no lame-o salad you typically get for $5.00. (Keep in mind – you get it for $2.50 during Happy Hour!)
I also got a glass of chardonnay for 50% off. Nice!
NOTE: I do NOT recommend the kids’ Macaroni & Cheese. It’s in a milky/watery sauce. Last time I was there, neither of my kids liked it and they were really hungry.
I took the pix LAST Friday when we went with our friend Elsie. Last night I was the only ahem…adult there and I had NO free hands to take pix!
My bill came out to $16 and change. Of course I had to leave a big tip for the greasy booth we left behind but still a great deal! We were all stuffed full of mostly healthy fare (‘cept for the fries) + a nice glass of wine. Not bad.
NOTES:
- Although there is patio seating, wine & beer are currently only allowed inside.
- Be sure to get a Native Foods frequent diner card. I have been twice and already got a free non alc drink.
Btw: G is a meat-a-tarian and he likes it!
Native Foods
2901 Ocean Park Blvd.
(310)450-3666
Park behind (off of 29th Street), at a meter on Ocean Park OR take the #8 Blue bus which goes from Westwood to Main Street (and not sure where it goes from there). I highly recommend the bus so you can have a couple of glasses of wine!
NATIVE FOODS
Happy Hour:
Fridays
3-6PM
50% off all appetizers, beer & wine.
Let me know how you like it!
*Incidentally – they also have Native Foods in Boulder and at several locations in Chicago! Check their site for more.
Who’s hot? Seems heat waves have been rolling across the country all summer. I’m BURNING UP!!
Actually, it’s a cool 73 degrees here. Sorry to mess with you East coasters. We don’t call ours the BEST Coast for nothing.
Watch: now we’ll have an earthquake or something.
Anyway, during our 2 hot days last week. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) I got sicka drinking tepid water out of my battered old Camelbak. And it was way before 5 so I had to think fast.
How about a refreshing iced tea?
People, this is so easy. So yummy. So refreshing & with just a touch of caffeine to get you over that late afternoon hump.
You can get all you need at Trader Joe’s (or any old grocery store.)
You need:
- green tea
- mango nectar (juice)
- fresh mint (OPTIONAL)
- ice cubes (not pictured – but I know you’ve seen them before)
I use a large saucepan to boil my tea water. When it’s JUST ABOUT boiling, turn off the heat. Dunk in the tea bags & steep for 3 minutes MAXIMUM.
This is something I just learned – green tea will tend toward bitter if you steep it too long.
Then I just let it cool on the countertop. I usually make it the night before. When it’s cool, I put the whole saucepan in the fridge overnight. In the morning I pour it into my glass Pyrex pitcher & keep it chilled.
Measurements are by eye. I add mango nectar to that pitcher until it’s almost full. I then pour myself a glass over ice and taste it. Then stir the rest with a spoon, adding more nectar if it needs it.
I don’t like it too sweet – just a hint of sweetness. I think I add 2-3 cups of juice to the tea.
You can also crush some mint leaves & drop them in if they don’t bug you when you’re drinking.
Refreshing & a little more special than water or a bottled drink.
Add any toppings you like. I tried some with meat substitute but nobody liked it so I stopped. I also put shredded cheese on half of them since M hates melted cheese.
Yesterday I made them with 1 sliced jalapeño (jarred) on each of mine. I then sprinkled taco sauce on top of that. Yes, that thick nasty taco sauce you get at Ralph’s. I don’t care!! I love it!! Spicy ketchup!!
Bake for 5-7 minutes. Won tons should be getting browned at the edges. Once you figure out how your oven works (I use the toaster oven to avoid heating up the house in the summer!) you can decide how many minutes.
There is always that tenuous moment when you present new food to the kids. It definitely helps if they haven’t snacked since lunchtime though.
She LOVED them!
Bea didn’t like them until I broke hers up. I don’t think she has enough back teeth to really chew them. Now she loves them! (Bea not pictured.)
M thinks she has long black hair when she wears this hat.
It ended up being just over $20 for a really beautiful & heartfelt gift. And I’m sure you can do it much more cheaply than I did…
When the baby was napping, M and I went out back. I poured silver-dollared size blobs of the five different paint colors, each on a different plate. Next to the table I had a bucket of water & an old towel for hand rinsing between colors. I only brought out ONE color at a time and let M smush her hand in it all over the plate. I put all three mattes (I planned on making 3 of these for gifts) on the table. First we did pink. I let her practice pressing her hand down on a piece of scrap paper first so she understood what we were doing. Then I had her press her hand in the pink and PRESS, PRESS, PRESS stamp all three mattes in the same spot. Very factory-like. When she was done, I moved the pink paint away, she washed her hands in the bucket & dried them with the towel. I then brought over the next color.
After they dry – the fun part. Assembly!
This is the one I made G for Father’s Day.
Photo taken by Tempting Weddings (click picture for link!)
[I am unable to find the origins of this pic - seems the blog it came from has been taken down.]
(I tried it with vegetarian ground “meat” but I didn’t care for it so ignore that in the photo!)
