It's a Boy!

My cousin Irene gave birth to a healthy boy - Sawyer - yesterday afternoon. He's six pounds and 7 ounces - simply an angel .

Twas a splendid weekend, well as good as it could be in the absence of Z.

Tidepools Half Moon Bay (Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.) There was a whole family of seals out in the ocean swimming about fifty feet away from where we stood. We didn't miss the hermit crabs! I was worried the tide would be an impossible 3 feet by the time we finally arrived, but it wasn't too bad. Next time, we're definetely wearing rubber boots!

Lunch at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market: We shopped first. Sampled and brought home treats, like lavender salt, heirloom tomatoes, caper hummus, and just ripe nectarines. Then dined at Taylor's - I went fancy pants and ordered the Ahi burger, oh and a white pistachio shake. It was worth every penny!

Sunday: Craft Fair at Fort Mason with gals Wendy and Aiko: Aiko's auntie had a booth displaying her origami. Cho kiri! We were on the hunt forJeung-Hwa Park's scarves . Jewelry at JanosikNY looked and felt divine. I especially loved the hearts collection; she makes tactile pieces using leather and foam rubber. Ooh and there was this really nifty drawing hand by Agelio Batle, made of graphite. (The pieces don't stain your hands.) Though just the idea and the experience of writing with a hand was a bit freaky, as was using a foot, double ended finger and nose, but I made some fantabulous (can I use that Z?) doodles using the lily.

Speaking of appendages, everything at the fair cost about an arm and a leg making it a purely window shopping event, but it left me inspired to get more crafty. Then I could charge and arm and a leg off of other people . . . er I mean create beautiful things.

Evening: San Mateo for a carborific dinner + 1 ginseng carrot soup at Joyluck Place and spent oodles of time at Suruki Super and Ichiban-kan. Had wacky fun browsing everything from Naive wash, to Hakodate ramen, to oil splatter guard - great invention for keeping the stove area clean.

And now back to the rat race!

Dear Traveling Fairy:

I would like to go to Casablanca and Marrakech. There I will shop in a bazaar for tagines, some scrumdiddlyumptious pistachio treats (a.k.a. lokum), and a hat, you know, the kind with a tassel. I would also love love love to go to Istanbul and experience the travertine pools at Pamukkale. Please also take me to the Amalfi coast. It's supposed to be mah-velous! And I can't leave out Budapest. I hear it is one of the most romantic cities, even more so than Paris. So I must judge for myself. (Paris if you're listening, don't be hurt - je t'aime toujours; personne changera mon avis!)

Yours truly,
I heart Avocado

Cho Sugoi!

Today's highlights: Made an informercial purchase (How wrong is that?!) Thoroughly enjoyed Gothamist's post on the "Ichiban in the Oven" which led me to Metrodaddy is Mad and to Seinfeld's The Parking Space episode. Hilarious!

Had a delectable peach, which I sliced and mixed in with some European style plain yogurt and Sweet Meadow honey from New Zealand. I love yogurt and honey. Independently they're great, but together, they're just a match made in heaven. Here's a dessert I learned from Tyler Florence's cookbook. Heat up a pat of butter on a skillet. Add your favorite honey, and some fresh sliced figs (I'm sure fig compote would be yum-o too.) Cook until the fruit starts breaking down and carmelizing, and the honey thins a bit, and gets kind of bubbly. (If you have the time, toast up some almonds or walnuts.) Once everything is nice and hot, serve it over Greek style plain yogurt and enjoy!

All this at my cube. It takes a lot of work to look busy!

And all along I thought I was such a foodie.

Turns out I'm just a debonair diner.

On y va!

Voluntourism - Let's go!

So I guess I'm definetely a . . .

Yankee.

Long Vacation

It's been two months since I've blogged - "What have I been up to?" you ask. Well Zigzagger and I jetted off to Tokyo (our first time to Japan!) for my dear friend's wedding, trekked around the Kansai region, then made our way to HK and then back to SF. Then to NY. Then I alone came back to SF. I'm bi-coastal like that. Can you handle it?!

Below is an abitrary list of highlights from the past month(s) that I love to revisit in my daydreams:

Tsukiji Market
Vending machine restaurant
Ran and Masaharu's wedding
CHEF SAKAI!
Shopping at Takashimaya's basement near closing
Takoyaki and fried rice
Gourmet Japanese dinner w/Sugimori family
Kyoto temples - drinking local spring water
Shinkansen and geisha
NARA deer and 6th grade friends (thanks for the reminder A!)
LOFT and MUJI!
Raw meat sushi
Uncles'/Auntie's zen pad
HK Disneyland
Fantasyland Cantonese tourguide
Journal-envy
McDonald's Fan-tastic!
DADA- MoMa
Tapas and Veneiro's with Jessica and Tom
Mercadito's Tacos (see previous post!)
Klimt's Five Paintings from the Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer Collection