small stuff // giggle

thanks to giltcity.com, i have some serious gift card money to burn at giggle. have you heard of it? it's THE cUuUtest little kids store.  they're big on cute stuff, bright colors and modern design. i loooooove eye candy and giggle definitely satisfies that sweet tooth. here are a few things i've had my eye on. 

this adOOOOOOrable book. i mean, seriously, 

how can you resist that cute slobbery face? 

chase already has a kitchen and cookware, 

but this and this make me want to upgrade ;)

i blogged about p'kolino activity tables before, 

so you may know that i'm head over heals for their orange furniture. 

this chalkboard storage bench and art easel 

also by p'kolino are no exception.

this drum set is perfect for my little rock n roller. ;)

  

i'm on the lookout for dress up items for chase.

i think this crown and pirate hat are so cute! 

this p'kolino clothes tree and cubino chair are adorable!

thanks for stopping by and letting me share my latest shopping obsession. i'm off to bed now. but first, i'm going to peak @ my lil guy, who is sound asleep in his crib with 'baby' aka his rocket pillow. good night! 

chase meets lily

photo by lily @ lilypham.net

we were trekking around old town pasadena this past saturday, when chase met lily and her friends. they were hanging out taking pictures and, as we walked by, they asked if chase could join them.  i happily obliged and quickly plopped him next to them. he certainly didn't object. he's such a flirt already.  ;)

it turns out that lily is a photographer and blogger. she kindly sent me copies of the adorable pictures that she took.  that was so sweet of her. check out the other pictures she took of chase on her blog. while you're there, take a peak @ her portfolio. she's an awesome photographer. thanks again, lily! it was so nice meeting you and your girlfriends. :)

photo by lily @ lilypham.net



me time...sorta

photo by lizzi @ lizziloves.com

today, i was lucky to get a couple of doses of alone time.  earlier in the day, paul took chase with him to run some errands.  i got some work work and housework done while they were away.  then, to get some additional alone time, i decided to stay behind while the two of them headed to the staples center for the laker's game. i ended up using a couple of coupons i had to buy some art supplies for chase at joann's and some wooden toy fruit @ borders. hahahha..i guess i have to laugh at myself for using my supposed 'me' time doing wifey and mommy tasks. ;) 

him and him

i love him and him. i love that they're alike in so many ways. i love that chase has inherited his dad's love of basketball. he often runs and grabs his b-ball when he hears the garage opening, indicating his daddy's arrival. i love that it's already becoming 'their thing.' it's the only thing we really let chase watch on tv and only because i love seeing the both of them get excited watching games together. i love imagining them continuing to bond over basketball as chase gets older.

i love that chase has inherited paul's social precociousness and his sense of humor. these are 2 things i love about paul so i feel lucky to now also have a munchkin that seems to have adopted these traits himself. paul is such a social and likable guy. it seems like he's remained friends with everyone he's ever been in contact with and i love that. he has this knack for finding common ground with everyone he meets. i love his sense of humor. he's often the entertainer of the group, always making everyone crack up with his wit. it's definitely always fun when he's around. i love that.

i'm glad that chase seems to be taking after his daddy in these respects. he loves being around social gatherings. he often stops what he's doing to join a group engaged in laughter. he'll start laughing himself, even when he doesn't know what he's laughing about. he just wants to be included in the fun. i love that.

i love my knuckleheads. they keep me entertained. :)

haute skillet dinner party

this past saturday, we were invited to a small dinner party @ a friend's house. it was catered by christian navarro, an up and coming chef/partner of haute skillet. the night was uh-may-zing!!!! mmm...mmm...mmm! this guy has some major talent! his menu blew the foodie in me away.

as we waited for other friend's to arrive and all throughout the evening, chase loved poking around in the kitchen. he found christian and anDrew Snyder, another chef christian was cooking with that evening. they were both busy prepping away for our group of 10. right off the bat i got a great vibe from them. i could tell that it was gonna be a great night.

seriously? who wouldn't be impressed to see this going on in their friend's kitchen?!

the menu

french baguette with rosemary butter

vietnamese spice herbs, sprouts, pears & champagne vin salad

a fun twist on longsilog: longanisa vigan, egg 63 and crispy basil

roasted chicken, chayote squash, ube and anise broth

chinese bbq rib, lengua, carmelized peach and polenta

duet of beef, which was filet mignon, braised beef shank, potato gnnochi, broiled bok choy and kimchi puree

and this little foodie in the making ate quite a bit of the food himself. he loved the bread and rosemary butter, risotto, roasted chicken, ube and gnocchi.

PS - check out haute skillet for info about christian's upcoming food events. you can also read more about him via this blog post.

day light savings

i love this time of year. when we 'spring forward' and set our clocks an hour later. i really don't mind the losing an hour of sleep part. because i love the gaining an hour of day light part. i love love love this! this means more days like this. picking up chase and spending some outdoor time.

after work today, we walked down a trail, picked up rocks and sticks, ran up and down a grassy hill and laughed and squealed a lot! we talked about the different sized rocks, how some rocks are 'stuck' in the dirt and some we can pick up, the ants and different bugs that crawl around and how birds and airplanes both fly in the sky.

i'm reminded of this time last year when i first went back to work from maternity leave (i went back early march). i remember wanting to spend as much quality time with chase (& of course, i still do!). we took to the park almost every day. i'm excited to start a fun new routine again.

ice cream date

these days we're working on rules and boundaries with chase. you know. the normal toddler stuff. keeping food on his plate/tray, using gentle touches, 'talking' in a quiet voice, sharing with his friends, staying seated in the shopping cart etc. as with most things in the toddler world, it's a work in progress. some days he does great and some days consist of a lot of reminding him about the rules.

lately though, it seems like he's recognizing more the behaviors that we are encouraging. he's eager to show us that he knows how to follow the rules. we took today to celebrate his effort...over ice cream! :) before we dug in, we had a nice little 'talk.' we chatted about how he is such a good boy. that mommy and daddy are proud of him. and that we are having ice cream as a little treat. oh and lots of hugs and kisses were involved too.

we had cookie dough ice cream with captain crunch and mochi in a waffle bowl. i think he liked the toppings as much as the ice cream itself.

this is the 2nd time he's had ice cream. i think it's safe to say he loved it.

trucks and buses...oh my!

i mentioned before that chase is obsessed with things that go. he's especially intrigued by trucks and buses. he's been known to pant, point, blow kisses, squeal, stare and/or rub his tummy @ the sight of one. so what's a mom to do? feed his obsession of course! we've been on a major truck/bus hunt lately. we've made special trips just to find these monstrous vehicles. i mean come on...check out chase's reactions below and tell me you wouldn't take this little boy out searching for buses and trucks yourself!

oh my! there's a fire truck right next to me! what's a boy to do?!

mommy...look a bus!

mommy..there sure are a lot of trucks @ this parking lot

and they all have really big tires!

mommy! i think i love this place. there are so many trucks!

in fact, there are so many i just don't know what to do!

maybe i'll just rub my tummy! :) awww...yes...much better!

behind the scenes // @ a lizzi shoot

i'm grateful for having had a nice lil break from the hecticness. for the past month, work has consisted of 3:30 am wake up calls, 12 hour shifts, long fridays and working on sundays. definitely not the best recipe for balance.

but alas, the weekend so far has been spectacular. it started with happy hour after work on friday. i haven't attended happy hour in FOREVER. in fact i've probably had 1 glass of wine and maybe 1 other drink since getting pregnant with chase - that's in over 2 years! so you can probably guess much fun i had after just 2 drinks. ;) needless to say, i needed that!

then i had the most amazing saturday. it started off with a photoshoot with my good friend lizzi. if you follow dibble dabble, you already know how talented this little lady is. she did our family holiday shoot, my blog banner and one of chase's earlier shoots at the park. :) this time we headed to topanga canyon for a kiddie shoot amongst the rocks and grass. chase was joined by derek, the son of our good friends, zenia and roman. i'll share lizzi's pictures soon. for now, here are some behind the scenes pics through my lens.

me loves how focused lizzi is behind the lens! ;)

me & zenia. we loved how much the boys got along with one another.

me loves how this guy never fails to find ways to keep himself entertained

all star / p. diddy

the hubby does communication planning for adidas. i know! it's either theeee perfect job for a sneaker head or the most dangerous. ha! every year he usually does stuff for nba all star weekend. so every year he heads out, works and then partakes in the festivities - all without sad little wifee. every year i get to hear about the fun weekend and wish i had been able to join him. this year tho, asw took place in los angeles. yippee! and finally, the wifee got to go. it was worth the wait since chase got to join us as well.

the 3 of us attended the nba jam session and dunk contest. the hubby also watched the actual all star game. we had so much fun, especially chase, my little basketball star in the making. i was worried about how much he would sit still, but during the dunk contest, he sat on my lap and watched the entire contest completely mesmerized. he totally loved it. and me, i had fun experiencing the weekend through the eyes of a 16 month old. as a bonus, i spotted and then totally stalked p.diddy @ the mcdonalds in staples center. what?!? you know you would have stalked him too! ;)