The Adventures of a Calamari Queen – Page 29 – Christian, Wife, Mommy, Homemaker, Retired nurse, Fur-mama,living a simple and minimal life!

Burger and Lobster!

Hello friends! Our first dinner in NYC was Burger and Lobster! Thank you to my sis for bringing us there. We really enjoyed our dinner! The place was spacious, and the ambiance was great. I ordered the lobster and burger combo so I could share with Mia (the burger was OK! nothing special to be honest!). We all loved our lobster rolls (sis and hubs got the lobster too) and their lemon garlic butter was the BOMB! PERFECTION!

After dinner we checked out Barnes and Noble and got my sis our Christmas gift to her! We also stopped at Dough to try their doughnuts and they were amazing!

New York!

Hi friends! We just got back from NYC early Sunday morning, it was so much fun to see NYC during the holidays. This is our second time to see New York during Christmas time and it’s such a fun thing to experience. It was Mia’s first time on a plane, and I was a little nervous because you never know how a toddler will react (if she’s gonna have ear pressure issue, etc.) Thank the Lord that she did so well, she cried every now and then during the 5 hour trip (SEA to JFK) but no big deal, she did so good!

We stayed at my sisters cozy apartment (thank you dick for accommodating my little family), we watched 2 Broadway shows ( The Rocketts and Wicked), lots of eating, and checked touristy places like Rockefeller, Central Park, Times Square,etc).

It was such a fun week at one of the busiest cities in the world! I will try to blog more in the coming days (where we ate,etc). I loved all of the Christmas decorations especially the light displays at 5th avenue and Rockefeller Center (but the crowds were exhausting! HA! We surely expected things to be crazy so no surprise there!

Till Next time Big Apple!

Lots of things to bring when traveling with a toddler!

With Sis and Aca! After watching The Rockettes, we wanted to try Halal food! It was good:)

Thanksgiving 2017

Hi Friends! Happy Thanksgiving! We had a simple celebration at home with my In laws. It’s so neat to see Mia eat her first Thanksgiving meal (stuffing, turkey, etc.) she totally devoured her food! I also prepared roast pork belly and it turned out perfect! My hubs baked a mascarpone cheesecake (Giada De Laurentiis recipe) and it turned out perfect! He said he’ll probably make it again.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends! Blessings to you and your family!

Happy Birthday!

Hello friends! Yesterday was my birthday and we had a simple celebration. We had dinner at a local restaurant near our home, Hubs had sushi while I got my fave steak Pho! We are planning to have a little get away celebration in the coming weeks, so we are looking forward to that. Thank You to all my family and friends who took time to greet me, your birthday wishes are appreciated. Thank You Jesus for another year:)

Birthday cupcakes we shared with the In laws (the eve of my Bday)

Mt. Rainier, Washington State!

Hello Friends! Before we went to Oregon, we stopped first at Mt. Rainier. My sisters have never been there and wanted to see it, and because it was such a beautiful day we decided that it was worth the extra time. I’m so glad to share this special time with my family (got to enjoy God’s creation). Mt. Rainier didn’t disappoint! My hubs took the pictures and I think he captured the beauty of the place.

Oregon Trip!

Hello friends! Last week (days before Mia’s Bday) we did a quick road trip to Oregon. We visited Portland, Cannon Beach, and Seaside. Originally we wanted to see Multnomah Falls, but due to the fire that happened recently, it was still closed to the public. It was still fun spending time with family ( it was more of a food trip! HA! we ate too much) despite that it was a very hectic schedule. We ate at PokPOK thai restaurant (everybody loved their famous fish sauce chicken wings and thai iced tea). We enjoyed the ice cream at salt and straw, had doughnuts at Voodoo, shared sandwiches at St. Honore Boulangerie Cafe (Zach’s fave every time we visit Portland). We had seafood at The Crabby Oyster (food was Okay, nothing special) in Seaside.

What a quick yet fun road trip with family! It helped that Mia “cooperated” the whole time. She was such a little trooper!

*pics overload

with my Sisters! Road trips are more fun when you genuinely get along with family:)

Till and Aca sharing ice cream at Salt and Straw

Voodoo Doughnuts! Zach’s order, I had the coffee

Till and Aca at Moda Center! Home of the Portland Blazers

Mia’s 1st Birthday!

Hello friends! We celebrated Mia’s 1st birthday last Saturday! We invited some of our family and friends. It was such a fun afternoon! Thanks to everyone who took the time to celebrate with us. She sure is growing so fast, we love seeing her little personality blossom. We love you Mia, you’re our little miracle and answered prayer from the Lord! We pray that you will have a heart for Jesus!

Opening her bday gifts from family and friends! thanks to everyone for their generosity!

Thanks to my sisters for traveling to celebrate her bday with us!

thank You Faye for your gift!hehe, we loved it!

her Bday flowers we got from Pike Market!

Mia’s birthday cake! Thanks to my sisters for buying her cake!

We had Filipino food (lechon/roast pig, lumpia,chopsuey,pansit). Thanks to my sisters for buying the lechon!

Ocean Shores, WA!

Hello friends, last week we spent 3 days at Wesport and Ocean Shores, WA! We try to do this every year (together with my In laws) as a family thing, but for the last couple of years we haven’t been doing it (last year I was pregnant with Mia, I didn’t feel like traveling).

We already have a “routine” every time we do this! First stop is always Brady’s Oysters(in Aberdeen) and get some smoked oysters and salmon to enjoy during this trip. We also get tuna belly and loin at one of the many boats at Westport too. After getting our seafood, we shared fish and chips from Bennett’s (so good).

After Wesport, Off to Ocean shores we go! I think the drive time is around 1 hour and 30 minutes. We rented a cottage house, that was just walking distance to the beach (5 minutes walk from Damon beach), we really like the rental it was clean and enough space for the whole family (plus it has a nice hot tub). We had fun times with family, especially Mia who get to experience the Ocean for the first time! Although Zach had a little injury ( he fell and twisted his ankle) and had to spend the afternoon in bed, it was still a good getaway with the family,we are already looking forward to next year! p.s: LOTS of pictures coming your way!

Labor Day weekend!

Hello Friends! Happy Labor day weekend. Hope you had a great and safe time doing fun things with family/friends. Ours was pretty busy over here! We went to the fair with family (eating junky fair food, which is my fave part!), and we attended our neighborhood labor day/bbq party!

Mia had a wonderful time at her first fair. She did so good despite it being so hot out! It got to at least 98 deg F in the shade! I wanted to take her on a carousel ride but she was too short for the ride, maybe next year!

We went to Church and then afterwards we discovered the Wing Stop restaurant near our favorite ramen place…and now it’s our new fave chicken place! Hubs and I loved all their different flavors and dips.

Hubs pickled our cucumbers from our garden, I’m excited to have this because he always wanted to try pickling and now it’s happening! HA! Good job, Ga:)

We joined our neighbood bbq/labor day get together and we brought deviled eggs and caramel flan (leche flan). It was nice to see and get to know more about our neighbors (more than the usual wave!). I love it, it’s so diverse! American, Indian, Chinese, South African, Filipino families in our area!

I’m off to bed now, it’s been a long busy yet fun day! Have a great day:)

Fruit Picking at Grandmas!

Hi Friends! Last Sunday we visited and had lunch at Grandma Jean’s (Hub’s Grandma) house. We had a great time spending our afternoon with her. My In laws were also there so Mia got to see all of them. I like her spacious yard because she has lots of fruit trees like Apples and plums. She also grows blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. She told us to get as much as we wanted, so of course we obliged! The green apples are not that big,so we’ll probably just juice them. If my hubs is up for it, he might bake some sort of apple tart! He’s the baker in the family:) Love spending time with family.