She's rollin, rollin, rollin

For the past few weeks, I could see it happening....little o starting to roll over! I was filled with excitement, seeing a new milestone approaching.



And here she is, after weeks of anticipation, rolling over off of her tummy time mat!

Weekly dinner roundup #2

This week, little o was surely amazed at the flavorful, and colorful foods on our plates each evening. Shown up above, Nat explains to little o what we will be eating that evening. Chick peas, (pois chiches), cauliflower (chou-fleur), brussel sprouts (choux de bruxelles) and carmelized onions a top of pearled couscous.

Nat also made a delicious pasta dish with clams and spinach. He paired it with a frisee salad with figs, sauteed potatoes and a balsamic vinagrette. The figs were picked locally from our very own fig tree!

Nat and I both helped out in the kitchen on this one-shrimp tacos-yum-this is one of my all time favorite meals. I can eat tacos most nights of the week with some variety...fish, shrimp, veggie...
This one had shrimp mixed with zucchini, onions, & mushrooms in a taco seasoning sauce. On top we also added pinto beans, cilantro and shredded cabbage.

One of Nat's signature dishes is his amazing Pizza he makes from scratch. It is so fun seeing him prepare the dough, as he swirls and flings it up into the air as if we were in a pizzeria in Italy! Ahhh...someday. Each pizza has their own unique ingredients and I never know what toppings to expect until I see it piping hot right out of the oven. This one had eggplant and portobello mushrooms. I spied the eggplant earlier that day and was secretly hoping he would use it:)

Perfect little whirl

Oh little o, some days I think of how much fun it will be to put barretts and pig tails in your long hair, but for now, I am content to just be able to give your little hairs a daily brush and marvel at your little whirl each and everyday.

A love for music

Today I took little o to a music class over at Toddle Tunes. The teachers played the piano, the violin and the viola. We also sang some great songs like "You are my sunshine" and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Then the babies got a chance to show off their talent with a few of the instruments. I think little o really enjoyed it, even though the Violin was bigger than her!

Weekly dinner roundup

Family dinners have always been important to me. When I was growing up, my mom always had a home cooked meal waiting for my sister and I. It was such a peaceful way to end the day and share a meal with the ones I love.

I have been lucky enough to continue this tradition with Nat (and now little o) each night. Usually he cooks (he is an amazing cook!) and he always knows how to please my hungry palate! Check out some of the meals we had this week....

Mushroom & cheese pizza (front) / Fig & gorgonzola pizza (back)

Mushroom & cheese pizza

Shrimp & veggie curry

Potato leek parsnip bisque with roasted cauliflower and sweet potato fries on top

Since little o arrived into our world, she has been mindful about allowing us to have this time together. I don't think we missed one night. She would either take a nap or simply hang out in her swing, entertaining herself by cooing to her friends on the mobile above.

If she ever got too fussy, Nat would simply put her on his lap and tell her all about what was on our plate that evening. He would even translate some of the foods in french or italian.....les aricot vert...gli spinaci, i pomodori!!

Sunday Farmers Market Visit

little o in front of beets and bunches o spinach

A beautiful variety of squash

Today we stopped by the Farmers Market in West LA. It is one of our favorite markets of the week. It is never too crowded and since some of the vendors already know our faces by now, they will occasionally throw in an extra pluot or two. Today I was craving a crepe, so we stopped by Crepes Dusigne for a simple butter sugar crepe. Little o was kind enough to hold the french baguette I was carrying around.

Date Night

Nat and I went out for our first date since little o was born. Has it really been 3 months already?? We decided to check out the new restaurant Zengo in the newly renovated Santa Monica Place. The restaurant specializes in small plates that blend both Asian and Latin American flavors. We got a variety of dishes to share such as seared scallops, shrimp potstickers, chipotle miso soup and these pork arepas (I thought they would have been much better without the pork:)

(This was the only photo I was able to get, since we gobbled everything else before I had a chance to get a shot!) I loved all the dishes, but I have to say they were all a bit salty. The mall itself was something right out of Hollywood (or Vegas for that matter), yet had spectacular views of the ocean. On Friday nights they have KCRW djs during hapy hour-we'll have to check that out!

Here is a photo from the rooftop deck, where all of the restaurants are located and where the djs do their thing.

It was a great night. Even though we missed out little o, we knew she was in great care with my sis (thanks Lis!). It was so nice to have time with just my hubbie out on the town...