and then there was - - - snow ??

So I have lived in the LA area for about 4 years, and well, I have NEVER seen this falling in the area before.  Apparently this doesn't happen too often.

Korean BBQ - My Absolute Favorite

I must admit, there is something about Korean cuisine that beckons to me.  Maybe it is my love of salty food . . . . or my love of variety.  Today, my friend M (not to be confused with my husband M who dislikes Korean food) and I went to our favorite Korean BBQ place which is called The Corner Place.  The Corner Place is conveniently located in the heart of  Koreatown at the intersection of West 9th Street and South Vermont.

In Korean cuisine there are a lot of side dishes called banchan.  Usually at one table you will get at least 6 different sides that are meant to be shared among the table, and you can always request more when you run out.

One of my favorite banchan is kimchi.  There are few things I like better than kimchi (fermented Napa cabbage with hot sauce and red pepper flakes).  One of the things I really like about kimchi is that no matter where you go the kimchi will taste a bit different because there are hundreds of varieties of kimchi.

This is the other banchan we had at The Corner Place:

1. Kongnamul (cold boiled bean sprouts in sesame oil)
2. Not Sure on Name (cold boiled bean sprouts with sesame oil, cucumber, and green pepper)
3. Not Sure on Name (carrots with fish sauce - I don't like this one)
4. Muchae (radish with sweet vinegar)
5. Not sure on name (carrots and cabbage in sweat vinegar)
6. Not sure on name (sliced pickled radish in ice water)

Korean restaurants often have one dish they are known for.  The Corner Place is known for their cold noodles: rice noodles in a vinegar broth with scallions, cucumber and tomato.  This dish is served at about the temperature of ice water.  I love it!

After cold noodles, it is time for the Korean BBQ part.  There are many cuts of meat one can choose. 

My two personal favorites are: kalbi (beef rib marinated in soy sauce, sugar, and garlic) and bulgogi  or bulgoki (beef marinated in soy sauce, sugar, garlic, mushrooms and scallions).  

Today, M and I chose bulgogi (1). The bulgogi is brought to the table raw, and it is cooked on a grill at your table (3).  The Corner Place serves their meat with a side of scallions (2) and a sesame oil dipping sauce (5).  This is super yummy . . .

I hoped you enjoyed Korean BBQ (I did!).

sophisticated baby girl ("SBG") - spring collection

Introducing my Sophisticated Baby Girl - Spring Collection (not sold in stores):

"The Working Girl" - For the professional baby . . .

Belt Buckle

Breast Pocket with Handkerchief

"Baby Bug" - For the exploring baby . . . 

Butterfly

Ladybug (when you pull the red button back you can see the little legs)

Back view (off-centered bow)

"Green Girl" - for the environmentally conscious baby

Front View

Back View

I love giving gifts to people for their second born child.  Its not because I am a second born, its because you get to be creative.  The family usually doesn't need the basics anymore, and you can do some fun things.  My wonderful sister-in-law (K), my brother-in-law (E), and my goddaughter (C), are expecting a new addition to their family this spring - a baby girl.

I was trying to think of something special I could give the family.  I really wanted to make something, but I am not an amazing seamstress.  Basically, I can't run a sewing machine - so actually making something from scratch - not going to happen.

I had a lot of ribbons and buttons left over from my Valentine's Day party  . . . hmm.   I figured babies spend a lot of time in onesies - but a lot of them are pretty - well blah.  I went to my local Target, and bought some 0-3 month white onesies, and this is what I came up with.  I hope you had just as good of time viewing this post, as I had preparing it.

Stay tuned for the summer collection debuting in April (3 to 6 month onesies).

baby shower extravaganza

Today was a very special day.  My friend ("M"), had a baby shower for her sister, and it was quite lovely.  I was really excited to be invited to her sister's baby shower.  Today is the first day that I met her mom and sister (both very lovely people).

M - being the hostess - did so many things right.  She provided a nice atmosphere for guests to mingle, good food, and fun games. (Way to go Auntie!).

This is M:

ATMOSPHERE:

The baby shower was at the  The Scarlet Tea Room in Old Town Pasadena in a private party room.

Lets Get Started

Table decorations

Centerpiece

Party favor - inside was a bar of soap in the shape of a button

FOOD AND DRINK:

Strawberry Sorbet with a Mint Leaf

Tea sandwiches - curry chicken, pesto chicken, prosciutto and red bell pepper, 
cucumber, and much more!

Scones (cranberry, cinnamon raisin . . . .) 
with whipped cream, lemon custard, and raspberry jam

 Tea - mango green tea, Eve's temptation, and black tea

Assortment of mini tea cakes

Bavarian cream with blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries

 A cake from Porto's Bakery - a wonderful Cuban bakery that will be the
 topic of a later blog I am sure, lets just say this cake was
 super yummy and beautifully decorated. 

GAMES:

When guests arrived at the shower, they were all directed to draw a number.  Later on in the day, M gave us a sheet of paper and we were told to write a birthday wish for the baby for the baby's birthday that corresponded with the number we received.  The wishes were to be kept by mom, and read on the baby's birthday.

After we were finished writing, M had a few guests read the wishes they wrote for some special birthdays that were milestones for his parents.  The first year chosen was (I think) 13, the year that the baby's father moved to the U.S.  Another was 15 (I think), the year the baby's mom moved to the U.S. The last year chosen was 28 - the year the baby's parents met and fell in love. Each guest who had the corresponding numbers received a prize, after reading their birthday wish.

The next game we played was the old faithful - guess the number of M&Ms in the baby bottle.  M used peanut M&M's because they were her sister's favorite.

The last game was - guess the inches of mommy's tummy.  For this game, guests took blue yarn and cut the length they thought represented the mommy's tummy size.  The winner also received a prize.

All of these games didn't take long to do - and they were not difficult, but fun for the guests.

The day ended with the opening of presents - there were some really cute presents, but I didn't get any pictures :(

so it is raining in L.A. - take a moment to relax

I spent about two hours in traffic tonight.  I left work early for a three day weekend (well, not too early I was the third to last to leave the office), but nonetheless I made it out at 5:30 p.m., thinking I would make it home by 6:30. Unfortunately,  even on a good night, it usually takes me about an hour to drive the 12 miles home from Beverly Hills.

So at 5:30 p.m. I shut down my computer, and left the office, a little excited, because today it was raining, and I actually had my umbrella with me.  I slipped out of my office building, and I opened my bright pink umbrella with the purple handle and smiled.  Why would a professional woman carry a bright pink umbrella with a purple handle you may ask?  

M got this umbrella for my birthday this year. 

I told M a few weeks prior, that on the very rare occasion that it rains in L.A. it seems like everyone at court and at the office has an umbrella except for me.  This I said, kind of made me feel like a child, because everyone is prepared except for me for the two weeks out of the year that it rains.  So M's solution was to buy me a bright pink umbrella with a purple handle (I am pretty sure it is a child's umbrella).  Okay, I admit, it is cute.  A little childish, but what I can I say, I do like it.  

Anyway, I started my drive home, and after sitting in my car for about 40 minutes,  I got really bored.  Rain is nice, but traffic in L.A. when it rains is a NIGHTMARE.  As I headed out of Beverly Hills things seemed hopeful.

But, as I headed into West Hollywood, things got a little out of control.  I began to snap lots of pictures on my phone because after only moving a few blocks in an hour I was now both bored and frustrated. And then it really started to downpour.

It was about that time I started to think, why did I leave work early again?   I could have just stayed, and avoided the water torture (lame, I know).

But then, Claire de lune started to play on the classical radio station I turned to.  With the sound of Claire de lune and the rain splashing on my windshield, how could I be frustrated?  And then it happened, there for a few minutes on a street in West L.A. after an hour in traffic, I felt at complete peace.  I heard somewhere once, that it is the little things in life that give people the most joy.  I agree, and I guess this was my little thing today.      

i hate build up!!!

I hate that after you use certain hair products, residue is left on you scalp.  Yuck!  Recently, I was telling my hair stylist that one of the things that grosses me out the most is shampoo build up.  I have used Aveda hair products for quite some time, and they are all pretty good.  But I love this one - my scalp feels amazing.

teaching self control to children

I am not a parent, but I am fascinated with early childhood development, and nature v. nurture studies.  Yesterday, on my way work I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR, and there were two stories that really caught my attention. 

The first was a story about an experiment where researches allowed children to pick from a menu their choice of lunch.  Researchers found that many children in the study were able to regulate their own calorie in-take.  In another experiment, kids were given a meal, followed by a snack free-for-all, and in that study researchers found that "the kids who had mothers who were more restricted, when the mother wasn't present or wasn't putting restrictions on and the kid was exposed to snack foods, like cookies for example, that child ate significantly more cookies when the control was not applied . . . ." The following link is to the article on NPR's homepage, where you can read about this study.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133629227/to-win-toddler-food-battles-take-a-softer-approach

The second story was about the proposed effects of not learning self control as children.  The article states that researchers followed children from the pre-school years through age 32, and discovered that the same children that did not show self-control as children were more likely to be in jail, be single parents, or living below the poverty line.  You can read the full article here:
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133629477/for-kids-self-control-factors-into-future-success

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

herb update - two weeks and going strong

Okay, so about two weeks ago, I posted my thoughts on keeping herbs fresh {see earlier post http://theurbanhome.blogspot.com/2011/01/keeping-herbs-fresh.html}.  I thought I would be doing well if I could get my herbs to stay fresh in the refrigerator for two weeks.  So here are the results with the vase/ziploc bag system.

Parsley: (this is actually after three weeks because I had the parsley for a week before the experiment)

Cilantro:

So, I guess it worked.  Lets see how long we can go.

Happy Birthday Mom!! - i will always cherish . . .

Being a couple thousand miles away, makes it hard to celebrate birthdays, but I hope this post adds to your celebration today.

I made you a card yesterday, but it won't reach you in time for your birthday so I thought I would post it instead.

Envelope:

Front of Card:

Inside of Card:

Mom,

i will always cherish . . .

when years ago, I must have been 9 or 10 and very sick with the flu, you asked me if I wanted tea, and after I said "yes,"  you and my brother ( we'll just call him "I"), snuck up into my room while I was asleep and left a pot of tea and a teacup (basically a full tea setting - cream, sugar, teaspoon) beside my bed.  Now most people may have brought their daughter tea in bed, but you always went the extra mile to make things special (even when I was in state where I could not fully appreciate it).

i will always cherish . . .

our shopping trips in high school, after a bad day.  One bad day I remember was after my first break-up with the man who is now my husband.  I remember you said - "we'll make him know what he is missing out on . . ."  And we went to Omaha and went shopping all day for an outfit I could wear to school after the break-up so that I would look great the next time I saw him . . .

i will always cherish . . .

when you and my sister (we'll just call her "D") came to visit me when I was studying abroad in the UK.  You were such a trooper - looked beautiful every day and dragged your suitcase everywhere in London - through the underground and up mountains of stairs. 

i will always cherish . . .

that no matter where I live you are always the person that comes to visit me the most.  And you are always ready for any adventure - especially more shopping.

Washington D.C.

New York (I never lived here - but we did visit it together)

Los Angeles

i will always cherish . . .

that you are so predictable.  I know exactly what you are going to say - before you say it - and exactly how you will say it.


Love you always,
Your daughter