this week has been pretty uneventful. which is a nice break after holiday traveling, and also nice to allow us to get some important things done…like getting the car emissions test, a windshield replaced, new wiper blades (are you sensing a theme here?)…yes, we hope to sell our car and trade for a different one. but most of the days and nights it’s been mellow.

- this is what the girls look like about 21 out of the 24 hours a day…

- i am trying to better plan my time. i know i previously mentioned about being more on top of meal time. i also just visually wanted to see how the time is allocated on off days, work days, and days wil is at work and i am at home (supposedly getting things done). so i laid it all out and tacked it to my closet door. i don’t think i gave myself any unreasonable goals, and there are definitely lots of open spaces, but if i can just hit some of the hours i set aside for certain things, i think i’ll feel better about my days.

- i may not be craving pickles and ice cream, but this week has been all about smoothies. remember when we picked an insane amount of blueberries? lucky for me i froze most of them (and other farm berries), and then forgot about them in our deep freezer until we moved this past month. today it was greek yogurt, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, banana, apple, flax seeds and honey. the crazy thing? i didn’t like smoothies before pregnancy…now it’s the highlight of my day!

- last night, i probably had plenty of other more important things to do, but instead i made a little coat for the dog’s sock monkey. ridiculous, i know. i promise, it was purely for longevity, as the sock monkey is ava’s current favorite toy, but the main part of the body had a bunch of holes in the weave letting out stuffing…this way the jacket stays on and covers all his injuries! (goodness, i want to find out what we’re having soon, so i can make baby things instead of messing around with dog toys!)

i’m off to work the next couple nights and the week will begin again…have a great weekend.

our apartment complex, what was originally military housing built in the 40′s is quite close to what seems like a semi-affluent area…on the edge of an old golf course and surrounded by picturesque houses and tudor cottages…i LOVE my walk to the bus for work. on the other edge we have an asian supermarket, and if it weren’t for wil’s current job that dips into polynesian and asian flavors, i doubt we would have vetnured in there.

we took a little jaunt as he was on a mission for a couple things, and i immediately was taken aback by the culture within these four walls. i felt like i had been transported to a completely different place!

nearly half of the produce i couldn’t identify.

a good portion of the meats and fish made my stomach a little queasy.

i was blown away at the vast selection of soy sauces and noodles…nearly an entire aisle for each.

and my curiosity went wild thinking about their cultural traditions when it came to parties and entertaining…paper shirts and cardboard watches?

although the quality might not be heirloom, i kind of got sucked in to all the kitshy porcelain, like this teapot for 4 dollars.

this was one of those days where i dreamed about our kids and hoped we continue to live in places that offer cultural field trips right around the corner. the world is so big and people are so different…around the globe, as well as just down the street!

here’s how i’ve been kicking off the month of december when at home during the day…

foggy frosty morning drive to drop wil off at work…we’ve been on a weather alert of “air stagnation advisory” until friday. seriously? what the heck is that? i guess scientifically it means that the air is trapped without any weather patterns to move it till the end of the week, so pollutants increase. honestly, it just feels like quiet winter mornings where everything is still and frozen. yes please.

as much as i thought i was on top of it, this move really snuck up on me and the minute we got home from thanksgiving, we had to pack like no other to be ready to move this past tuesday…and on top of that i had a deadline for some freelance work shortly after. the office got unpacked and put away well before the kitchen and the bathroom so i could get straight to drafting. but so far, i love this 2nd bedroom’s light and the way my desk(s) make a nice open workspace. the bare walls probably won’t last long, but they are a bit refreshing after my office space before was mostly walls of black bookcases closing in on me.

oh my garden…it’s gone. i will be sad i don’t get to have one for 2012, but you can bet space for one will be a huge priority when we look for a house to buy in the future!! in the last ditch efforts at the duplex of emptying pots and cutting down long dead tomato plants for the new owners, i cut every last piece of parsley to take with us. now i just have to figure out what to use it in.

and who can go through the month of december without hot chocolate? my afternoon treat most days, complete with marshmallows and a christmas mug. i’ll take my hot chocolate any way you want to give it to me…the cheapest mix with mini marshmallows to the $5 cup with the finest south american melted chocolate. you name it, i will drink it. and savor it.

wil’s brother took some pictures of us over thanksgiving in hopes to get a christmas card picture out of it. well, i didn’t plan it very well and we had about a 15 minute opening between the sun going away and a bitter blizzard starting to blow us around. and throw two dogs into the mix, and well, we were lucky to get one halfway decent option with some immense editing. i’ve been trying to decipher which one to use…

but i think it will work, so i’ve been attempting at making our own card…for those who like to save moolah, did you know that costco’s christmas cards are crazy cheap for how many you get? but what’s even better, is that did you know on the last page of all the templates, there is a blank option for you to upload your own? i scoured a lot of the really cute more spendy sites to get the ideas rolling, and i am making my own. fingers crossed it turns out.

and all the while, i’ve made sure i’ve been listening to christmas music…my favorites:

a very she & him christmas

sufjan steven’s songs for christmas

and of course, a charlie brown christmas

even during school, these three friends used their relationship and drive to take their formal education outside of the school walls and to the next level. friendly competition, bouncing off ideas off one another, and challenging each other. if you ever join all us for a beer at our neighborhood pub down the street (we all live within walking distance of one another), they will always be talking about food, restaurants to try, and the professional kitchens they’ve worked in.

this time it was momofuku. i don’t know if i can properly describe david chang’s effect on the culinary field, but this cookbook is a peek into his three new york restaurants and his interesting asian-american techniques. our goal was simple…each person take a different recipe or two out of the book. follow it exactly, or put your own spin on it, either way create a unique asian inspired dinner.

although the day of cooking started around 12, it was relaxed with a little prep here and there, a little sitting here and there. when wil initially came home from the asian market, i watched him put all sorts of ingredients i’d never seen on the table…but soon enough over the course of the day dishes began to take shape. doughs were rising, chicken wings brining, pork belly roasting, and veggies pickling!

it was a hot day already, but with all the cooking, our two neighboring houses indoor temperatures were rising. so we spent a good portion on the shared front lawn. soon enough we had ongoing bocce ball games.

it wasn’t until almost dark that we sat down for the shared meal. i’m not exaggerating when i say we were all giddy with excitement as we laid the table out…bowls and platters of food everywhere. all of our work led up to this point!

we feasted on chicken wings, roasted corn with miso butter, pork belly buns with cabbage and kimchi, and ssam with pickled mustard sauce.

0ne of my favorite things about the place we live in are our meals that happen out on the lawn. evening summer air, good drinks and friends laughing does a soul good.

david chang’s recipes are not for the faint at heart…the chicken wings wil chose to do definitely needed a day-ahead start. they were brining for hours, then in the oven to confit, then cooling for hours, etc. the pork belly buns were the highlight of our meal and if you choose to make them you will not be disappointed. but you’ll also need a whole free day or so as well.

the instructions are lengthy in his book, but here’s a link to the pork belly buns recipe that has been published online if you can’t get your hands on his cookbook.