Isla: 37 Months (3 yr, 1 mo)

I think my mom put it best after spending 4 days with my kids: Isla is quite the little leader!

This month she has taken a real interest in cooking with me in the kitchen. Whenever she spots me digging around in the fridge, she pulls a chair up to the counter, grabs a cutting board and a cheese knife (the only one I let her have) and asks if she can help. As messy as it can be, I'm loving this new-found bonding activity.

Isla was quite the star while we were away! She got to spend time with both sets of grandparents and talked all their ears off. Whenever we called to say "hi," she was far too busy playing to stop and visit (she must have missed us terribly...)

Isla loves her new cousin Lilly and usually she and I have to fight over who gets to hold her.

She continues to ask "why" about 12 billion times each day. It's literally her response to everything that I say, even if she already knows the answer. Sometimes I think she's truly curious, other times I wonder if she's just not ok with silence.

Everyone who told us "just wait until three" when we mentioned the challenges of the "terrible twos" was right! Ever since her 3rd birthday, we've ventured into uncharted territory: epic tantrums, sass and defiance to name a few. Isla's spending a lot more time in her room these days, learning to self-calm. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." This is proving to be a lot harder than I ever dreamed possible!

One of my favorite developments this month is that Isla has begun to pray aloud. In the past, she always provided a list of who we should pray for but now she's formulating her own prayers. Usually they include thankfulness for her family and food and house and prayers that mommy and daddy would have a good trip (maybe we get another one since she keeps praying it?) The other day she also prayed for Christmas. Love it!

Any time we hear music playing, this girl begins to dance. One of her favorite dancing locals is the wine section of Trader Joe's (don't ask....) Every time we pass that section, she parks her cart and begins to twirl and throw her arms about - eek! This morning she was digging the music in Starbucks and gave all the customers a show. I do admire her free spirit and we have yet to have an accident....

Isla told me the other day that she doesn't like bounce houses "because they have too many kids." The more I get to know this little girl, the more I see a little mini-me. Chaos is not her thing and she likes to stick to situations she can control (bounce houses and trampolines do not fall in that category!) This being said, she definitely has some extroverted tendencies and is very outgoing when it comes to greeting other kids and asking them to play. I'm proud to be her mama!

California Getaway - Days 6 and 7

 We closed out our trip with a whirlwind day of touring San Fransisco. We started where all tourists should: the cable car turn around. It was a gorgeous, sunny Saturday in San Francisco so the line was LONG. Just long enough that Graham had time to run and grab a couple of lattes and some croissants that made up our "breakfast."

 We ended up getting separated in the mad dash to board the cable car (people don't understand how lines work apparently) and so ended up on opposite sides from one another. Dumb tourists. Way to ruin our romantic ride. But, we did our best to enjoy the views all the same. 

 We got off at Lombard Street and had fun watching all the cars and motorcycles come down the crooked road. A good number of them had video cameras attached to their hoods or helmets - maybe it's the new hip thing to record the ride?

  We walked down Lombard and then back up the steep hill opposite to the Coit Tower which ended up being rather anticlimactic. It might have been more cool had we paid to go up the tower but we're too cheap.

We decided to continue back toward our hotel on foot rather than taking the bus as planned. We went through Little Italy and then ended up in China Town. It just so happened they were having some Harvest Moon festival and the streets were PACKED with people.

 We stayed just long enough to buy a fun scarf for me (Graham insisted) before the crowds and the pangs of hunger became too much for me. Once back at our hotel, we did a quick change of clothes and grabbed two of the complimentary bikes that were included in the amenities. We biked through the busy streets of downtown to the Ferry Building Market which I would liken to a more upscale version of Pike Place.

 Can I just say that I LOVED biking in the city? San Francisco is so well designed for public transportation and biking! We purchased some fresh bread and a couple of juicy tomatoes and ate them on one of the piers with the cheese and salami we had leftover from picnics prior. 

 We had a gorgeous view of the Bay Bridge from our picnic perch! We biked all along the piers down to 39 where we had a good view of Alcatraz and the famous sea lions. 

 Our final destination was Ghirardelli's where I enjoyed an ice cream cone in the square.

 

 Biking through traffic, buses and all!

We got back to our hotel just in time to turn the bikes in, change and make a beeline for the bus back to State Bird Provisions. This time we arrived 25 minutes before opening and there was already a long line so it didn't look promising. But, we were pleasantly surprised when we were told they could get us in at 7 PM. We came prepared this time, armed with books to keep us occupied while we waited. We ended up in the sandwich shop/sports bar next door where Graham had a beer and watching a football game while I read. When we got the text that our table was ready, we walked into the restaurant and all the staff did a double take. Stuart immediately approached us to welcome us back and tell us how flattered he was that we would spend our 2 dining opportunities in SF in his restaurant. We had numerous conversations with him throughout the night as well as with Joey, who we'd befriended the night before. His comment when we walked in was "Soooo. I guess you liked it then?"

 

We were excited to be able to try some of the dishes we ran out of room for the night prior:

-ciccioli with chanterelle & cocoa nib cracker

-garlic bread with burrata

-whole sardine with lemon and onion (marinated for 72 hours)

-CA state bird with provisions (quail)

-cumin lamb with scallions, grapes & zucchini

 

We were stuffed at the end of the night but made space for the double chocolate pudding, pistachio crunch, passionfruit dessert. And, much to my delight, our dessert arrived with two more glasses of peanut milk (on the house again!) I still can not get over how cool of a place this was. I loved their food, their decor, their concept, the owner's approach to running a restaurant, the cheerful atmosphere of the place. I would hands down recommend everyone dine there if given the opportunity!

 

We left one beautiful city bright and early the next morning...

 ...flew over the cloud-covered Golden Gate and returned to a second beautiful city that we call home.

 We were joyously reunited with our precious girls, who actually did appear rather pleased to see us again. We are so, so grateful for such loving family and the HUGE gift they gave us of watching our kids while we had some time away. I'm not ashamed to say that I can have pretty high expectations but this trip exceeded them - it was that good. As we launch now into this incredibly busy season of life, I'll be feeding off the sweet memories of this trip!

The End. (Thanks for reading.)

California Getaway - Day 6

 I was determined to maximize my opportunity and get as many stroller-free runs in as I could while we were away. Kenwood is a tiny little town but I looked online and mapped out what I thought would be a good little running route, but had no idea what the elevation gain would be. It ended up being a gorgeous run on a dirt road up in the hills, through remote, unlabeled vineyards. Other than the fact that I was literally FREEZING (it was thirty something degrees and I was in a tank and shorts), it was lovely. 

 

Upon my return, we enjoyed another delicious breakfast at the Inn. We were fascinated by the chef who was training another cook while we ate. He had a great accent and kept using hilarious and unfamiliar phrases like "These kinds of pans get banged up like a Lexus!" Graham approached him as we were leaving and we struck up a conversation about his copper pots. As it turns out, he worked in New York under Gordon Ramsay (Hell's Kitchen) for 7 years prior to coming to Kenwood! And his wife (also a chef), works with dietitians in a restaurant in New York called Rouge Tomato where their menu is closely analyzed to meet specific nutrient needs. He gave us his card and I felt like we had a brush with fame!

 

We decided we needed to squeeze in one more free wine tasting before we headed back to the big city and so, feeling somewhat guilty for choosing an Italian winery while in California, we went to VJB. It was no mistake. The wines we tasted were amazing and they kept giving us more unique varietals to try that weren't on our free tasting list.

Our "brief" stop for wine then turned to a cheese-buying adventure followed by a delicious wood-fire mushroom pizza in the courtyard, followed by the BEST gelato I've ever eaten on this continent. 'Twas a great way to end our time in the country before heading back to the Golden Gate. 

 The sky was much clearer this time so we could enjoy an amazing panoramic view of the city.

 We had booked our rental car for a week (it's cheaper that way) though we only really needed it for 5 days. Parking prices in SF are ridiculous so after the urging of our concierge in Kenwood, we ditched our car early near the airport and took the subway downtown to Hotel Palomar.

We learned later that there was only one hitch in our brilliant plan: the subway didn't run early enough on Sunday to get us back to the airport in time for our flight. Oops. Should have checked on that one first but we still live in the 20th century and don't have internet on our phones... (One of us might remedy that here before long as internet can be reeeeeally handy when you're traveling.) Anyway, parking downtown was $45/night so in the end, our plan was still brilliant and money was saved.

 

By this time, it was late afternoon and time to go get in line at State Bird Provisions, in hopes of being one of the lucky walk-ins to get a table. You see, they recently received some really good press that you can read about here which more or less makes getting a reservation a 2 month process. I guess being named the #1 new restaurant in the nation will do that to you. I checked daily for weeks leading up to our trip in hopes there would be a cancellation but no such luck. So walking in was our only hope (they set aside a couple tables a night for walk ins). We hoofed it on foot all the way from downtown (quite the walk!) and got there one minute after opening (5:30 PM) to find a long line out the door. Uh oh. Not looking good. Thankfully some of the people in front of us had actual reservations so we weren't all trying to walk in. We were able to get our names in for a walk-in table at the bar at 8:30 PM. Sweet! But now what to do for 3 hours in Japantown (which, I can officially now say after having lots of time to explore, is not an SF must-see)?

 

We'd walked by a couple of theaters on a way over and so popped in to see if we could see a movie while we waited. Unfortunately none of the show times would get us out in time for our dinner. So, we looked at our map for ANYTHING remotely interesting nearby and realized the "Painted Ladies" (famous colorful houses) were only about 10 or 12 blocks away.

It was a worthwhile stop and as it turned out, our timing was impeccable and we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset over the city in this giant, city-block-sized park.

 We continued to walk the streets and found some more really unique San Francisco-style houses as well as these cool trees that we both loved. Then we finally settled at Starbucks until we got the text that our table was ready.  

 Oh my goodness. The restaurant was worth EVERY LAST SECOND we spent wandering around the streets of San Francisco. I'm serious. I found this picture on the camera (apparently Graham took a couple sly photos while we waited) but it's all I have to represent our evening there.

 We ended up being seated at the bar basically where the guy on the far left is standing so we got a front row view of everything that was going on in the kitchen. I loved it! The chef with his back turned in yellow is "Joey" who worked the station right in front of us so we became friends with him over the course of the evening. The way the place works is that basically there is a small set menu of about 12 items (including the desserts) that are available all the time. Then there are a bunch of specials each night (ingredients that are hot/in season/fresh etc) that are served dim sum style that are presented to you as you dine. If something looks good, you take it and they mark it off on the back of your menu. You basically can tell anyone (wait staff, cooks, owner etc) what you want at any point and they will make it happen. The staff had loose job descriptions but basically everyone did everything and we saw the chefs out delivering plates at times and busing tables with everyone else. I've never seen such a CHEERFUL crew. And they really knew how to "sell" their dishes. We immediately recognized the head chef and owner, Stuart, from the pictures in the Bon Appetit article. He greeted us and we chatted a bit about his creative concept, how he's managed now that people are coming like wildfire etc. He asked us where we like to eat in Seattle and it turns out he knows many of the chefs at the top restaurants over here. He impressed both of us so much because he was busy wiping counters and busing tables like the rest of them. When we asked him about it, he told us that he really tries to lead by example and it really shows in the way the restaurant runs.

 

Of course we wanted to try everything on the menu but over the course of the evening settled on:

-guinea hen dumplings with aromatic broth

-eggplant ‘fries’, sungolds & pimenton

-melons with curry and goat yogurt

-haas avocado with seafood ‘salsa’

-sweet corn & garlic chive “shortstack” with mt. tam cheese

-braised beef curry, bok choy, french crepes

 

The highlights for sure were the eggplant fries (and Graham doesn't even like eggplant!!) and the guinea hen dumplings. It was all REALLY good actually. The only thing we felt we could have lived without was the melon. Our "friend" Joey took great care of us and when we said we were too stuffed for dessert (we were), complimentary glasses of their ‘world peace’ peanut muscovado milk showed up at our place.

 

Holy cow! Did I have "my favorite food is peanut butter" written all over my face!? This stuff was to die for! And it was a good thing they gave it to us for free because the term "peanut milk" never would have drawn me. Basically what they do is simmer peanuts in milk and a little cream for ~4 hour and then strain out all the peanuts. Then they served it over a tiny bit of muscovado (it's sweet) and it tastes like a thinner version of a peanut butter milkshake!! I've got to replicate it!

 

We had such a wonderful evening (maybe our best dining experience ever) and were well attended to by both the owner and his staff. And all that for only ~$60! We'd only make it about 1 block on our walk home when Graham turned to me and said "Want to try and get in again tomorrow night?"

California Getaway - Day 5

We woke late (thank you once again blackout curtains) and only had to wander a few short steps to the courtyard of our inn where breakfast was served. The waitress greeted us and then brought out these adorable little glass jars filled with fresh berries.

 Our agenda for the day was packed quite full (um...not!) as our sole goal was to make use of every last penny we paid for our luxurious accommodations. It was still a couple degrees too cool for swimming just yet so we opted to begin the day with some post-breakfast wine tasting (it was 5 o' clock somewhere!)

 Our first stop was at Kunde Family Estate which was literally a stones throw across the road from our Inn. We were hoping to go into the caves but apparently they had just begun the fermentation process and the levels of carbon dioxide in there were too high to allow tours. We settled for posing outside instead. 

The grounds were gorgeous (I think Kenwood had the prettiest countryside) and the wines pretty good (better with the complimentary chocolate!) We didn't buy any wine but we found a green bracelet in their gift shop that somehow found itself on my person (you can see it in pictures below). The trip was quickly taking on a "Let's accessorize Kelsie" theme.

Next we popped over to Kenwood Vineyards where we did some side-by-side comparisons of their various cabs. A couple of them were pretty rockin' if I do say so myself and I would have purchased a bottle had we been checking luggage. And if I had an extra 60 bucks or so to throw around...

 

While we were tasting, one of the winemakers walked in, straight from the field, with a cluster of Gewurztraminer grapes for us to sample. And then they pulled out a bottle of fresh-squeezed Gewurztraminer grape juice and gave us a little pour. AMAZING! Oh the perks of being in wine country during harvest!

 Our last stop was at Landmark Vineyards where we tried a couple sips of wine, but mostly we were there to use them for their bocce courts and gorgeous setting.

 

 I take bocce very, very seriously.

By this time it was HOT so we drove the mile back to our hotel and made a bee line for the pool with books and picnic in hand.

We spent 4+ hours reading and floating and sunning and trying to push the unsuspecting victim under the waterfall (Graham).

The beauty of being at such a small hotel with very rich people was that all the other guests were off of extravagant wine excursions while we enjoyed the grounds 100% to ourselves. I literally think we were the only people there for most of the day.

 

I mean, our fellow guests were wealthy people. Look at the cars parked out front (the white one was ours). Ok, so maybe we hid our lovely Kia around on the back side of the lot...

 No joke, right before this picture was taken, we walked out of the hotel with the spa's massage therapist who was just leaving for the day. She asked us "Do one of these lovely cars belong to you two?" to which I responded "No. I wish!" Then she said "Yeah me too. Maybe someday I'll get to drive a nice car too" and then I watched her unlock her Mercedes and drive off. I'm sorry, what?! 

 

We snapped a quick picture from the parking lot of the view across the road and then drove just up the road to Cafe Citti, an authentic Italian restaurant. We were both craving a more laid back (and less expensive!) meal and it fit the bill perfectly. 

 We shared a Caesar salad that was so garlicky, it literally bit you back (in a good way). Graham had their famous ravioli with meat and swiss chard in a basil cream sauce and I had the homemade gnocchi with meat sauce. We talked a lot about the future, specifically where we dream of buying a house someday. The meal tasted just like Italy and we left feeling satisfied after a good meal and good conversation.