Power Strips and Eggs
10 Jan
We left Westwood for Orange County this morning, bright and early. A friend of Ali’s had a baby 4 months ago and I am embarassed to say that only today did we have a chance to visit them. What’s been holding us back? The long drive down South. Despite what Lauren Conrad implies (or used to imply) it is probably only about 45 miles door to door, but traffic is so unpredictable that we just never get down to Orange County. Clearly we are not very good friends.
Somehow we managed to get to the OC without too much traffic, any motion sickness, or having to hear the OC’s theme song on the radio. We did not manage to get there without tying our pants to our foot, however.
I never knew I’d have to utter the words, “Maya please don’t tie your pants to your foot anymore.” Parenthood is full of constant surprises.
After visiting Ali’s friend and one of the cutest babies we’d ever seen, we headed down even further to have lunch at the best mall on the planet, South Coast Plaza. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the place we initially planned to eat at was permanently closed, so we decided to try out a new restaurant called Anqi instead.
We have been to the An Family’s Beverly Hills restaurant, Crustacean, many times so we were excited to try Anqi. The restaurant was beautiful, with a very zen-like, modern feel.
We found out the restaurant had just opened December 10.
Maya behaved for a little while, but then things got a little crazy with the chopsticks.
Luckily our food came before she could poke my eye out.
Maya and Ali split the beef sliders with french fries. I had no idea that Euro-Vietnamese fusion cuisine also included American comfort food.
They also split the famous An Family Garlic Noodles.
I had the Hawaiian Ono with Citrus Sauce. It was excellent. I didn’t want it to end but of course, it did.
The restaurant was kind enough to give us dessert on the house…Chocolate Lava Cake with Eggplant Relish.
Maya went to town on the dessert but left all the relish. I had a taste of it and then chased it down with some decaf. Interesting concept but I think eggplant is better left as part of an entrée.
I don’t normally make a habit of taking pictures in a restroom, but this bonsai (I think?) was too awesome not to document.
All in all Anqi’s food, service, and decor was excellent and I can’t wait to go again.
After the restaurant Maya took a trip on the Merry Go Round…
And then we walked and walked and walked the mall in an effort to tire her out for the car ride home. As you can tell, it’s all about planning in our family.
But then on our way home we saw an Ikea and deviated from the plan. Can you believe I have never been there? Ikea is basically Costco Supersized. Where else can you buy dish towels and Swedish Meatballs in one place? But the best part of all?
They have free daycare! What an amazing concept!!
Maya was thrilled to have a place to play and didn’t want to come out of Smaland when we picked her up 30 minutes later. Ali had second thoughts himself about picking her up.
We ended up buying batteries, a storage container for Maya’s shoes, and three power strips. We have power strips coming out of our ears but Ali likes to err on the side of caution. One can never have too many I guess.
We just finished dinner…pasta for Ali and Maya and yes, scrambled eggs for me. Maybe I should stop calling the kettle black?
