Power Strips and Eggs
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?
A Rocky Night
We had no clue what to do with ourselves today. After going to the gym, making and cleaning up breakfast, and reading to Maya I had no more energy left. And it was only 9:01 am.
When in doubt…clean. So Maya and I bonded as we swept the floor.
She actually did a pretty good job and it kept her busy for a bit. But when I looked at the clock and it was only 9:10 I realized that we really needed to go out.
So we hopped in the car and headed to my father-in-law’s for salvation. Halfway to his house I panicked because things were pretty quiet in the backseat and my vomit-meter was suddenly activated.
When I turned around to check on her Maya was just deep in thought. No barf in sight, thank God!
But a minute later she and I almost threw up from laughing too hard when we caught Ali in his self-described “sophisticated” pose.
We finally reached our destination, dropped Maya off, and took off again before Ali’s dad could change his mind so we could catch Up in the Air. Since we only had 30 minutes to eat lunch before the movie I had no choice but to agree to lunch at a fast food place. I seriously haven’t stepped foot in a fast food restaurant in about 5 years so this was a huge sacrifice for George Clooney.
We decided to try Rubio’s Mexican Grill because of it’s proximity to the theater. I was pretty surprised at how nice the interior of the restaurant was:
The place was super clean and the menu was much more extensive than what I expected. I ordered the Mahi Mahi Bowl special:
It was very good but I wish it had a lot more Mahi and a lot less rice and beans. I ate all the fish and about a third of the rest of the bowl before we ran to catch the movie.
It was really good! Very interesting and engaging and funny. I am not normally a huge George Clooney fan but I really liked him in this movie and thought he fit the part perfectly.
Afterwards we picked Maya up, stopped at Trader Joe’s to pick up a frozen pizza and headed home. That’s us, living it up on a Saturday night. I obviously couldn’t eat the pizza and really wanted something different for dinner than eggs. So I thought about it, contemplated the contents of our fridge, and went with….eggs. Sometimes thinking of something different just isn’t worth the effort.
Plus, I was feeling kind of gross that I hadn’t had any vegetables today and scrambled eggs go great with just about anything.
Ali is watching Rocky on TV for the millionth time. I’m going to refrain from commenting any further on that.
Good night, all!
Bargain Basement
Today I trekked out to Pasadena to join my mother and cousin for lunch. While beautiful, Pasadena is unbelievably far from where I live. It only took an hour, three freeways, and several angry gestures to get there.
My cousin wanted to go to CPK for lunch. For anyone unfamiliar with California Pizza Kitchen, it is a great place for casual dining. They have excellent pizza, salads, pasta, and soups. This location, in particular, is one of the nicest ones I have ever seen. Ali, Maya, and I have a slight addiction to CPK and thus have visited probably 30 different branches so I know what I’m talking about.
I had the BBQ Chicken Salad with avocado instead of chicken, no cheese, dressing on the side. I am super low maintenance. I forgot to take a picture but here is one from their website:
I have literally eaten this salad over 1,000 times and I still love it.
We took my cousin Ambareen out to lunch because she has just 8 weeks left until her due date life changes forever.
Sleepless nights? Check. Screaming baby? Check. Supportive cousin to help with the sleepless nights and crying baby? Sorry Ambareen, been there, done that. Maya sucked all the patience out of me when she was about 3 days old. I have nothing left to offer.
We took this picture outside the restaurant where it was a balmy 80 degrees. I can’t get over hot much warmer Pasadena is than where I live…it always seems to be about 10 degrees hotter.
In my cousin’s honor, I managed to dress in something other than my sweats. Can you believe this dress was only $4? I think it was originally $25! I am not a bargain hunter in the least but if you have the energy to get past their jumbled shelves and crazy lines Old Navy is just a fabulous store. Their regular prices are unbelievable and when they have a sale? Prices are so low they are almost obscene. It is a mystery how Old Navy makes a profit.
I just had scrambled eggs for dinner and am looking forward to some HGTV and some chocolate. I am a cheap date. How lucky is Ali? It really doesn’t take much to make me happy.
Are you a good bargain hunter? Can you beat my $4 dress?
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 
