A Buffet of All Buffets
Yesterday we attended the brunch of all brunches at our friends Adam and Maliha’s place. The food, the set up, and the decor was so amazing that I felt like I was at the Peninsula Hotel’s buffet brunch. Minus the $75 price tag.
There was a chef who made crepes to order.
There were also waffles and hash browns that the chef had made ahead of time but you can’t really see them because my husband is blocking their view. He elbowed everyone out of the way to be the first in line. He’s classy like that.
I obviously wasn’t able to eat a crepe but they looked delicious and smelled even better. I did get to eat a spoonful of the Nutella filling which is almost as good as eating a crepe. Almost.
Maliha had tons of other food that I could eat:
Watermelon/feta/green bean salad, asparagus and tomato salad, shrimp salad, roast beef, salmon, and an assortment of muffins, bagels, and croissants.
One of the best parts of the afternoon was the coffee bar she had set up on the balcony:
From lattes to cappuccino, the coffee person had it all. I had a cappuccino and it was delicious.
It was a chilly but clear day and the tables outside were a great addition:
Dessert included fruit, a vanilla cake, baklava, and a Godiva Chocolate Bar Cake, courtesy of Maya and I.
Maya was nice enough to help bake the cake, despite the fact she couldn’t attend the party. Pretty selfless of her for a change.
My friends are gorgeous and are all blessed with amazing hair. Without the need for Japanese straightening. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous.
Maliha, Nurya, Me, Nadia
Despite eating enough for an entire weekend, we still went out to dinner. We relieved my mom, who watched Maya for 4+ hours, and headed to Hugo’s Restaurant in Hollywood.
I had the Moroccan-Style Stew which was more like a vegetable soup. It was okay but not the best thing I’ve had at Hugo’s.
Butternut squash, carrots, potatoes, green beans, garbanzo beans, garlic and raisins in a slightly spicy, exotically full-flavored Moroccan sauce. Served with fresh mint, a side of yogurt, cucumbers, a slightly spicy harissa sauce and organic quinoa.
Ali had the Tres Tacos which he said were good but too small:
Chicken breast and vegetables sautéed with organic black beans, corn, Pico de Gallo and roasted tomato chipotle sauce. Served on flour tortillas spread with guacamole and filled with shredded lettuce. Served with a small Caesar salad.
And Maya had pasta with broccoli, which she didn’t like.
I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to bring her food with us wherever we go because she rarely likes restaurant food. Not only does it kill me to see food thrown away, but I hate paying for it too.
I’ve also decided that from now on I’m going to let Maya take all my blog pictures because she does a much better job than me:
I’m sure you are probably all relieved too!
Vacations = Stress
Vacations stress me out. Sounds ridiculous, right? But while everyone else looks forward to the positive aspects of vacation – the relaxing, the sightseeing, the shopping – I immediately start to worry about the negative ones as soon as our tickets are booked.
What can I say? I am a professional worrier.
If we are going on a vacation with Maya, I dread the following:
- The increased possibility of getting vomited on due to her air sickness.
- The crocodile tears and the “my ears hurt” complaints during the ascent and descent portions of the flight. I’m not heartless, I just know her complaining stems from wanting the loads of M&M’s I have on hand to keep her distracted.
- Her ugly but necessary Dora “pullage.” My daughter has coined a new term because she didn’t like the word luggage.
- Lugging her booster seat, my carry on, my purse, and our coats (if applicable) through interminable airport terminals and germ-ridden security lines.
- The airplane bathroom situation. Trying not to breathe or touch anything in a tiny closet full of bacteria is challenging enough. Trying to fit myself and Maya and still not touch anything or breathe? Near impossible. During a trip to Turks and Caicos last year, I assigned Ali this wonderful task. I think he is still recovering.
If Maya is not tagging along and I am selfishly able to focus on my own problems, I dread the following:
- The food situation.
I am excited that Ali and I are going on a Maya-less vacation to Japan and Singapore later this month, but I am equally nervous about how I’m going to successfully handle all of my food allergies. Since I am now down to about 10 things I can eat that don’t bother my stomach, and even those 10 things are touch and go, I have no idea what I’m going to do. Especially in Tokyo where people don’t really speak English. I picture myself in a restaurant trying to ask for a meat-free, soy-free, gluten-free, egg-free (that’s my latest elimination), dairy-free meal, and then I picture the irritation and puzzlement that will surely come next.
I tell myself that I need to just roll with it. That I need to stop stressing about something 2 weeks in advance because that clearly isn’t going to help anything. I decided that my plan is to just eat what comes and deal with the pain, if any. Someone told me that often times gluten-free people can eat bread in other parts of the world because the gluten concentration is less. I’m holding on to this hope more than you can imagine.
Thank you Kim and Sophia for your great recommendations. Does anyone else have suggestions of things to see and do in Tokyo, Singapore, and possibly Kuala Lumpur? As you can imagine, accommodating restaurants recommendations are especially welcome!
Public vs. Private
You wouldn’t believe some of the reactions I get from people when they find out that Maya will be starting kindergarten this fall…at a public school. It alternatively cracks me up and annoys me that people think public school is a dirty word. Honestly, the elementary schools in our area are fantastic, and as Ali pointed out, why pay 5 years worth of tuition when Maya can get an equivalent education for free?
Ali actually had a good point. For a change.
So here I was thinking that I saved myself a ton of money AND extra work by not applying to private school…no essays to write, no interviews to attend, no recommendations to obtain, no donations to be made, and no you-know-whats to kiss to expedite admission. But then I received a thick enrollment packet from Maya’s elementary school full of waivers, questionnaires, health cards, and verifications. After many curses, a few eyeball rolls, and a flung pen or two, I stopped procrastinating and decided to get to work.
I completed and signed all the forms I could, dropped by Maya’s dentist for a signature, and then ran to the other side of the city to get Maya’s doctor’s signature. At that point the doctor informed me that Maya needed a TB test, and an eye and ear exam. I rolled my eyes again, battled the traffic, picked Maya up, and drove back to the doctor.
Here she is moments before the shot, asking the nurse just how much “a little poke” is going to hurt:
After much crying and other unneccessary dramatic effects, we left with a sparkly band-aid and a Hot Wheels sticker. Maya demands her freebies, whether or not she is hysterical.
I had every intention of buying Maya a dessert somewhere to “reward” her for being a good girl, but when I opened her lunchbox to get her water bottle and found her apples and broccoli untouched, I told her to forget about it.
“I’m very disappointed in you Maya.”
“I’m trying really hard, Mama.” This is her standard answer for everything because she knows when she uses this phrase I will immediately forgive and forget. Which I did.
20 minutes later we were at Urth Caffe and Maya was drinking the hot chocolate I told her she couldn’t have:
I had a much-needed and very delicious almond milk Italian cappuccino:
We were just hanging out, enjoying the sunshine when a giant bug flew into Maya’s hot chocolate. She took it surprisingly well considering she still had half of her drink left. Since she didn’t complain too much I let her pick out a bath toy from a nearby toy store:
“It’s just what I always wanted, Mama.” She says this about everything. Can you tell the canned responses drive me nuts?
We have to head back to the doctor on Friday to have Maya’s TB test read and then Ali and I have to attend parent orientation later this month. Why is everything kid-related so involved?
If/when you have kids would you enroll them in public or private school?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 