Chinatown

We recently returned from an adventure in San Francisco.

Today I'm sharing a little Chinatown highlight!

 Check out the view from the top of the parking structure!

I could have just stayed on the roof all day!  It was a spectacular day in SFO!

On our drive up from Los Angeles, I was searching YELP for the best Dim Sum in Chinatown.

Good Mong Kok Bakery was our winner.

Not touristy

Off the main road

No menu

No seating

Perhaps a bit risky!

That's how I like it!

We got in line and were a bit nervous because the place is very tiny and there is a bit of the "soup nazi" feel when you go to order!  It was a little stressful with the line, no menu and language barrier (or was there?!)

Check out those stacks of steaming delights!!

Mouth wide open was exactly how I felt!

Lunch for 5 for $12!

In addition to YELP, I called on my oldest friend Marc (friends since we were 2 years old and still going strong!) to give us his grand tour of Chinatown.  

There is little this guy doesn't know about San Francisco!

We took our lunch to the steps of the Chinese Methodist Church 

and enjoyed the authentic delights.

(I hoped the food would be extra blessed if we ate it at a church and 

God would protect us from any tummy troubles!!)

That chowmein was ridiculous!

Everything was so good, especially the BBQ pork buns!

After lunch the tour began.

Leading us to the most sacred of places, Ross Alley!

Sacred?

Yes, because it's the home of the back door to this place!

The smell is intoxicating and the process fascinating.

Such a treat.

The tour continued

These lanterns are my favorite!

Such a bright, happy display that spurs on celebration.

It was a fabulous day

Thanks Uncle Marc for the interesting facts, laughs and fun in Chinatown!

Happy weekend everyone - go on an adventure and don't be afraid to eat where the locals do!

Let It Go

I know we make a lot of excuses once we become mothers - like we dress like hobos because our kids are just going to spit up on us.  Or when they get a little older we still dress like hobos because we seem to spend more time and money on cute outfits for them than for ourselves!

And we don't do our hair, let alone go get our hair done because there simply isn't time!  

Praise God for the ponytail!!

Since becoming a mother, I only go to the salon once a year to get my hair done.

Once a year.

And every time I leave the salon I think, "why did I wait so long to do this?"

Perhaps you remember a few weeks ago my little ladies made their first visit to the salon to lose 8 inches of their hair to donate.  On that day I kept telling the hairdresser that I'd be back at the end of summer to have mine cut off too!  

It's been getting WAY TOO LONG!

But why was I going to wait?

My hair is a long straggly mess.

I wear it up all the time because it's too long to manage - not to mention how many times a day my kids accidentally pull my hair when it's down!  A cute hug from them could mean a headache and serious bruising for me as they pull my hair in their embrace.

I grabbed the phone and just made an appointment right then.

Why did I need to wait until the end of summer?

As I sat in the chair, I realized that I didn't take a before picture!

(And sadly have since realized that I have no pictures of my hair at the great length it was! 

 Longest it's been since high school!)

I had the hairdresser snap a quick pic just after she washed it, before the big cut.

You can't really tell with the Darth Vader cape and wet hair how long it really is, but trust me, if I were wearing high waisted mom jeans, my hair would rest a few inches above the belt!

7 inches gone.

Praise the Lord!

How awkward is it taking photos of yourself in the bathroom mirror?

How in the world is there a "selfie" obsession?

Anyhooch,

after pondering why it took me so long to have my hair cut and why I would possibly keep putting it off, I came to a few conclusions - #1  Although I wanted to cut my hair, I kinda liked the attention I got from friends and family about how long it was.  I often heard, "I can't believe how long your hair is!" 

 And that attention felt kinda good.

You know what's funny?

Many of my friends haven't even noticed that's it's gone!  

Neither did my family!

Oh vanity!

You silly little fool!

Conclusion #2  The little voice in my head that says, "It took you about 4 years to grow your hair this long, and will take about 10 minutes to cut it all off."

Time wasted.

But here's the point friends - Conclusion #3 - The main reason I kept putting off cutting my hair is the same reason why I put many things off - I'm lazy.

Yikes - how many other things do I hold onto because of my vanity, personal investment, or laziness?

I think it's time I take the scissors to some areas of my life and stop making excuses!

Some things just need to go!

(insert your most favorite Frozen tune here "Let It Go")

Yummy Summer: Watermelon Salad

So I've seen these delightful summer salads drifting around the internet for sometime, 

but truth is, I'm not a huge watermelon fan (for shame - I know!)

and not a big feta fan either.

Until we had some friends for dinner and this little summer salad seemed to be

the exact match for kabobs and flat bread!

Watermelon Feta Salad

• 1 small seedless watermelon, preferably chilled
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 10 mint leaves, minced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

I've converted!  This salad is amazing, easy and a cool crisp refresher for a Summer BBQ!

What is your favorite summer salad?

Yummy Summer: Pizza Party

Our children left for Camp Grammie yesterday, 

so my husband and I celebrated with a Pizza Party on our patio!

Some dear friends came over, no children, and we dined for about 4 hours with uninterrupted conversation!

On the menu:

Traditional Combination Pizza

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Rosemary Potato Pizza

Thai Chicken Pizza

We like to make pizza on the BBQ using a pizza stone.

That way we don't heat up the house and the crust is perfectly crisp!

Last night we thought it would be fun to do mini teasers before each pizza

 to prepare everyone for what was coming.

First up, Salad Bite

A sliver of tomato, slice of cucumber, wrapped in Romaine lettuce and drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette, all in one small bite!

Can you guess what pizza this preceded?

Traditional Combo

Second mini teaser was a Shot of Potato Salad

This came before our BBQ Chicken Pizza

It's my favorite potato salad recipe, simple, no frills, a hit ever time!

Here is the Potato Salad recipe

(I don't really follow exact recipes, so play around with it to your liking!  I also like the potatoes to be on the cusp of falling apart, so that the potato salad comes out a little more like mashed potatoes with solid chunks.)

Our third mini teaser was Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus

One small bite of delight!  I blanched the asparagus and wrapped it in prosciutto, then simply drizzled with olive oil, balsamic and fresh cracked pepper.

This came before our Rosemary Potato Pizza.

We saved our favorite pizza for last!

The mini teaser was a tasting spoon of Thai Mango Salad

Thinly sliced fresh mango tossed with lime zest, lime juice, red pepper flakes and a touch of sugar.  I let it marinade for a few hours and served it cold, topped with a cilantro leaf.

(this would be over the top with a few crushed peanuts mixed in)

A cool treat that came before the Thai Chicken Pizza.

It was a beautiful evening with great friends, wonderful conversation and a fun food experience!

How are you enjoying some "grown up" time with friends this Summer?

How about a little Pizza Party on the patio?

Sacrifice

Would you believe I've never taken my girls for a "real" haircut!

They are 8 and either my mother or I have always cut their hair.

They really needed a haircut so it was time to call the salon.

We had talked about donating their hair, but it meant cutting off a few more inches than they really wanted.

I could see the fear in my daughter's eyes.  She really didn't want her hair cut above her shoulders.  I told her that a few more inches meant some other person who is sick with no hair would be able to get a wig.  I could see the battle in her mind.  I kept encouraging her that it would grow back quickly and she was so close!

She finally decided to do it ( I felt badly for being so persuasive!) and it's adorable!

Sister followed suit.

We had talked about them donating their hair for sometime as it is something I want to do now that my hair is crazy long and needs to go! (If you know an organization that takes color treated hair, let me know), but once we got to the salon and it became real, they started to question their decision.

It was really just a few inches more than they planned on cutting to be able to donate, but those few inches were a real sacrifice.  

We all know that great sacrifices are required of us in life to reap great rewards - like sacrificing your body for 9 months (let's be honest, it's more like 2 years) if you want to have a baby.

Or uprooting, leaving your community and moving to a new city to take the job you really want.

Quitting your dream job and moving to another state to marry that man that God has called you to share your life with.

Sacrifice.

But what about the choice we face almost daily to sacrifice something small for a greater good?

I don't know about you, but often in my life it's those few extra inches, one more lap, another hour... that stops me from making the sacrifice. 

It might be a small thing like not making the dish I want because the recipe is too demanding and I don't want to sacrifice my time.  Or not having a stronger, more healthy body because I'm not willing to stay on the treadmill for 30 more minutes each day.

But to get the result we want, be it a fantastic meal, healthy body or helping someone, it means a little sacrifice.

Are you willing to sacrifice a few more inches today to help another or get what you really want?

Yummy Summer - Hide It In Your Heart

Last week my children were in Vacation Bible School at our church and it was the first year in a long time that I didn't volunteer!  Praise Jesus!
So I took the week off blogging and enjoyed mornings without children.
It was glorious!
So today I'm making up for it with 2 Yummy Summer treats!
A few years back I chose a few verses to concentrate on for the Summer and have the children memorize.

I wanted to do the same this Summer and as I've been reading Ann Voskamp's blog, I saw that she has a scripture memory plan for the year!  Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'm using a selection of her verses to memorize this Summer.  She has adorable printables (I mean totally cute people!) so I printed them, cut them out, bought precious, tiny, wood clothespins and hung them up!

They are a lovely Summer decoration, and our tool to memorizing scripture this Summer.
You can check out the printable verses and bookmark that outlines the memorization plan here on Ann's blog, or simply click the photo above.
AND...
Another Yummy Summer treat - Ann is the famous author of 1000 Gifts (if you haven't read it, do!) where she stresses the importance of living a life of gratitude.  She talks about counting all the gifts that God gives and challenges us all to keep a gratitude journal and list at least 1000 gifts throughout the year.
Well, she has another adorable printable to help you start counting your blessings and I've been doing it on my own for sometime now, but for the summer, we're doing it as a family.
Each day, Ann suggests 3 different gifts to look for.  Kind of like a scavenger hunt of sorts.
For example, for June 30 it says, "3 gifts you gave today."
We read it in the morning and then at dinner, with my journal, I ask everyone to share a gift that they gave today and what it meant to them.  I write their answers in my gratitude journal.
Here is her printable guide of the 3 different gifts to look for each day. (Of course you can list any gift you received that day that you are thankful for, but her promptings are a fun way to get the children searching throughout the day for specific ways God shows His love for them and the gifts that He gives.

How are you hiding God's Word in your heart this Summer?

Plan B Park

Do you remember the Plan B post from a few weeks back?

I planned on photographing a friend's child at a familiar garden and when I showed up for the photo shoot, the staff at the garden told me I couldn't take photos there without a permit that takes about a week to acquire!  They suggested a nearby park instead - "Plan B Park," as I've renamed it!

Well, a few weeks later, the Plan B Park became my Plan A!

I took my tiny dancer to the Plan B Park to take photos of her in her Swan Lake costume.

Aside from putting her in a pond, it felt appropriate that a swan should be in a park!

It's funny, I wrote that sometimes our Plan B is really God's Plan A!  But when that happened to me a few weeks ago while photographing a friend's child, I had no idea that God was redirecting my path that would change my destination today.

Sometimes our Plan B is not only God's better plan for us, but it opens our eyes to a new gift that blesses us beyond the present moment.

Happy Weekend friends, and here's to living in God's Plan A for us - even if it's our Plan B or C or D!!!

Investment

The Summer Garden has started to produce!

Who knew veggies could be so much fun!

I kinda look at our Summer garden like I look at parenting.

You start with an empty space that only holds potential.

You dream, plan and start the hard work.

Getting the space ready.

Preparing the soil.

Deciding what kind of harvest you want to reap.

Then the investment.

Investment of time.

Investment of work.

Investment of money.

Investment of energy.

Investment of care and nurture.

And then you wait.

It seems like nothing is happening for awhile.

Did I do something wrong?

Did I invest too much in the wrong things?

Not enough in the right things?

Where is the evidence of all that I've invested?

And then one day,

all of a sudden,

you see a little fruit of your labor.

Some growth, even if it is small, is totally worth all the investment!

PS - anyone know a good recipe that calls for 2 green beans?!!!

Yummy Summer: Blueberry Muffins

Each year I take the children berry picking at a local farm.

I've found that early June is best for blueberries around here.

I was hoping for a load of raspberries this time as I've been pinning raspberry jam recipes!  

But no such luck - too early for raspberries!

But the blueberries didn't disappoint.

I added my own touch to a blueberry muffin recipe I found and they turned out perfectly!

Go get some fresh local blueberries and try this recipe - you'll thank me!

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 c. canola oil

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1 c. fresh blueberries

topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 c. butter (softened, not melted)

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder.

Place canola oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture.  Line muffin tin with 8 large cupcake wrappers (they stand up fairly high over the top of the pan).

Toss blueberries with 1 Tbsp. of flour.  Fold in blueberries.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour,  2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

Bake for 20 to 23 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Should make 8 large muffins.

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What yummy things are you baking this summer?