Hanging out | Hip to be Mom

And so because we had a little drama last week, Skye, my feisty 15-year-old, decided it was time to cheer me up with a couple of little surprises.

And let me zoom that up so you can see the words on this cute little strawberry bookmark.

We bumped into my Dad at the mall and decided to mosey on over to Coffee Bean for a cuppa. And when I came back with coffee and cheesecake, Skye presented me with this origami lily in full bloom which she folded while I was in line. Isn’t it the prettiest?

What do your kids do to cheer you up?

You all know the girls and I love Japanese food. On a whim, we decided to do lunch at Mizu yesterday. It’s tucked away in some obscure corner of a nearby suburb, way off the beaten path. We didn’t even know the place existed.

Strangely there was no starving early bird of a Sunday crowd that we’ve come to associate with buffets, which was good. Up flights of tiny narrow staircases and we were in a cozy (read: small) place with a rather limited spread.

Skye and I were giving each other the puzzled look – this is it? Apparently there’s a menu checklist that you can check off items that are not on the spread and those will be served to you. Let’s just say that if I have to order off a menu, it’s not a buffet in the real sense of the word now, is it?

We weren’t particularly thrilled about that. We like to walk up and down, survey the spread and discuss what’s good to try or discreetly hoard the stuff we love. I mean, that’s half the fun of a buffet right there. You sit down, take a few bites, chat a bit and then you’re ready to go grab something else to try.

Salmon sashimi is my favorite-st that kept me going back for seconds, thirds and fourths! The slimy raw oysters weren’t for me, eww!

Pregnant fish. No way my girls and I would touch this. As a mom, I definitely couldn’t stomach a pregnant anything! It would just be wrong.

Teppanyaki salmon and scallops from the list. Loved this and the mackerel which I chomped down before I remembered to take a picture.

Chawan mushi which my girls love. I just like the pink spiral.

4 types of ice cream from the list. The cement-colored one in the foreground is a roasted peanut flavor. Pretty good, that!

So yeah, we love the idea of buffets (if only it weren’t so anti-waistline). But they’re so not worth it for us because we’re picky and not particularly big eaters. I know of folks who starve themselves ahead of time so they can binge and make it worth their money. If we did that, we’d only end up with tummy aches and not be able to eat much either. Either way we lose. So forget about it!

Still we ate a lot, by our standards. I think the word ‘buffet’ has a way of taking your brain down the dangerous path of telling your tummy that it’s got way more room than it really does . When we got up to leave, I swear I could hear the floor boards creak under our weight. In case you’re wondering, yes, we ended up skipping dinner altogether.

So when was the last time you had Japanese? Anything you wouldn’t touch? Any favorites you can’t resist? Any interesting buffet stories? I’m all ears!

Okay, so we’re smack in the middle of a long weekend which officially started at noon on Thursday for us. Raine is into her first week of summer school and she has sneakily planned her schedule so she has no classes on Friday. Pure genius! Skye too is starting her 2-week school break. Clearly music to my ears!

The thing about city living is that there really isn’t much to do, not in our city anyways, except to hang out at the mall or drive out in search of food. I’m a pretty uninspired food chaser. I love good food but if I have to chase it down, nah!

Summer school is on for Raine so no vacation for us. Which is good too because we’re saving our pennies, not to buy�gold chains but for our next trip to Cali to see Steev. I’m guessing we might be up for another round of Disneyland.

So staycation it is. I guess there’s no escaping paradise!

Luckily we have a few things to celebrate this weekend. Raine scored a 4.0 in her first semester in college. Remember I told you how she would suddenly jump up an hour before class and declare she’d forgotten she had a test or a midterm that day. Yes, that would be my girl !

We’re also celebrating the fact that Raine and I have dropped a whole jeans size (and then some) from working out and eating healthier. We’re having to wear belts to hold up our jeans and that’s something to get excited about.

What are your plans for this Memorial Day weekend?

Looking at me, you’ll never guess I’m a couch potato. Well, most times, I’m not. I just depends where I’m at. But believe me, there is a couch potato, albeit a little one, inside.

Our TV is undoubtedly the laziest on this side of the planet. It just sits there and does nothing. We gave up on it a long, long time ago simply because there’s nothing to watch, or rather nothing that appeals to us. When my kids were little, they watched some Saturday morning cartoons. But once they outgrew the cartoons, they too gave up on TV.

But when we’re in Hiptown, California, we’re couch potatoes. Totally! So many good shows, so little time!

Right now, we’re hooked on Chuck. Sometimes you just want to watch something light, nothing that requires your brains or heart to work too hard after a hectic week. The plots are simple yet each one is exciting in its own way, and so funny too I’m sure our neighbors can hear us laughing.

I really like Chuck and Sarah as a couple but Ellie and Captain Awesome, now that’s an awesome couple. Really cute!

Anyone else a fan of Chuck‘s?

The 3 P’s

Posted by Clairity 9 Responses »

Mar 242011

My kids are quite a deprived lot… when it comes to zoos. I think we can count on one hand the number of times my 3 kids have been to the zoo in total.

Steev was 1 year old when we first visited our zoo on the invitation of our friends whose daughter is the same age as Steev. I’m not particularly fond of zoos, even less so the ones that are poorly maintained. But I feel they’re a necessary educational experience for the kids and we found other zoos to visit.

Steev was just learning to walk when we visited the Sydney Zoo in Australia. A few years later, we took Steev and Raine to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The girls were around age 10 when they visited the Singapore Zoo with their cousins. And that’s pretty much it! The only times my kids have ever been to the zoo .

This New Year’s, we were at the San Diego Zoo on a cold but sunny January day. Yeah, I� know, my kids are teens now but there are still certain animals they really enjoy seeing.

Penguins! That big guy on the left is so fat and round he practically rolls around all day . Don’t they look like they’re wearing a nurse uniform?

Polar bears. So chubby and cute they almost look like stuffed toys from afar.

Giant panda. I don’t think we’ve seen too many of these but they were a crowd favorite at the San Diego Zoo. Everyone was waiting for this guy to get up and walk around but he just sat glued to the tree enjoying his bamboo stem.

Dang these cold, rainy mornings, how I love ‘em! But it’s Monday and I wish I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed. Dang Sam and Dean too, we’ve been doing late movie nights this whole past week trying to catch up with an entire season of Supernatural.

If you are, you’ll simply have to agree that Sam and Dean are super-addictive, I tell ya, and not just from the global warming point of view . As soon as we’re done watching one episode, my girls will go, let’s watch the next one, and the next, and the next, and that’s how we ended up going to bed way past 1 am practically every night this past week.