v.2

Here’s the 2nd in a series of food posts. I went to dim sum with my parents and aunts in Queens on the first day of Sienna’s Spring Break. I forgot to take note of the name of the restaurant but they were having a weekday special where all the dim sum was $2. Needless to say, I stuffed myself and I actually did not eat much dinner later that day! There were the usual standard fare (none of Yves’ favorite-funkore-probably not the correct spelling!) and then a few different items. Chow fun noodles, fried chicken (never actually saw fried chicken at dim sum before), some crab meat dumpling wrapped in rice and muscles with a cheesy like topping. Everything was pretty tasty.

Chow Fun

“I’m gonna eat you don tat”

Fried Chicken

Crabmeat with rice, this was eh

Mussels with cheese like topping. The mussels were good, the topping not so much.

Sienna thanking Aunt Helen for the stuffed dog (among other toys she got from her!)

I really dug these lamps

Sienna asking who I was taking a photo of!

The next night was date night! We dropped Sienna off at grandma’s and grandpa’s and headed over to The Burger Bistro. You get to choose every aspect of your burger, from the bun and meat and cheese and toppings! I was tempted to get the lamb, as I do love lamb burgers, but since it was our first time there, thought it better to see how they make their beef burgers. We started off with one of the special appetizers, frito pie. Basically nachos with frito chips instead of nacho chips. The waiter really played up the dish but it fell short of expectations. Oh well. Thankfully the burgers made up for it! It was huge! I got beef with cheddar, portobello mushroom and bacon on a whole wheat bun with a side of frizzled onions. It was very good. My only complaint was that the bacon were crumbled into bits. I much prefer they were kept in strips. I’m not sure what Yves got and I didn’t get a good photo of his burger. Definitely beef and probably bleu cheese!

This didn’t warrant the $7 price tag and I hate when places use sliced cheese melted over nachos!

Can you tell how huge that burger was? (I did not eat breakfast the next morning!)

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Last week, Brenda was able to answer my call of distress and go out to dinner with me. I had a bit of a crazy week with Sienna being sick and in need of getting out of the house. Sienna had a fever for 4 days!! She’s never had a fever that long, usually any OTC meds I give her for fever takes care of it within a few hours or by next day. Her fever would reduce but then it would come back. She also complained about her ears hurting (she had an ear infection in both ears last month!) and a bellyache so we went to the doctor. The doctor said her ears were fine (thankfully!) but that she had a throat infection! Total surprise on that one. Since the throat infection was viral and not bacterial, he didn’t give her any meds. I felt so bad for her. She started getting better by the 5th and 6th day and it was actually the aftermath of the sickness that drove me batty! Mopyness and whinyness…she is now back to her usual, happy self! Whew!

Brenda suggested we head out early and go to The Meatball Shop. Been wanting to try this place as my friend Pete likes it AND they’ve been on the Martha Stewart show!

Brenda got the Everything but the kitchen sink salad with spicy pork meatball (she shared one with me!)

I was tempted to get the naked meatballs but you could only pick 1 protein so I opted for sliders and got veggie with spicy meat sauce, chicken with mushroom sauce and beef with tomato sauce.

Veggie

Chicken

Beef

My favorite meatball was probably Brenda’s spicy pork! They were all good (although I wasn’t too keen on the mushroom sauce) and I definitely want to go back to try more. But wait! Here is the best part and probably the main reason I would go back; homemade ice cream sandwiches! I love that you could pick the cookie and the ice cream (which is housemade! Awesome!!) Brenda chose the one I would have picked, chocolate chip and mint so I got the ginger snap and vanilla, which actually was the better one. I loved that they use fresh mint but it was a little too much. The ginger snap was so good and just the right amount of ginger.

Since we were in the ‘hood, had to drop by Bisou Ciao and picked up 2 macarons for home, the salted caramel and blood orange with dark chocolate filling. Do I have to tell you they were delicious?

Our next stop was Baohaus. When Brenda sent me the link and asked if I wanted to stop by after meatballs, I said hell yes!

We got the Chairman Bao, which is pork belly. Very delish! Definitely need to go back to try more!

A very small place

Cute family photos on the wall

And of course, how could I not pick up some Sugar Sweet Sunshine cupcakes to take home for the family (big wink)?

2 pistachio (by far their best), a peppermint chocolate and spicy pumpkin. And proof that family ate it:

More photos of food excursions to come as it just so happened that I went out to eat 4 days in a row! Oy, my belly…

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As mentioned in earlier posts, we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia a few weekends ago. We decided to make a weekend out of it and booked a room at Crowne Plaza Hotel, chosen because of the indoor pool (which ended up being close for renovations! GRRRR!) Anyhow, lots of photos were taken so I’ll keep the words short. Pete joined us for the trip and it was great fun to have him with us. The museum totally rocked, the building majestic and I would definitely recommend this place and want to go back!

On to the photos!

Pete was a good crayon assistant to Sienna in the back seat

The sign outside

The beautiful ceiling (I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo of the building, which is beautiful)

They had a few of these cutout head bodies. Lots of fun!

Garage

Water Area

These clouds and rainbow were above the water area, I loved them!

This cracks me up!

They have an awesome Alice in Wonderland area!

We played with blocks for a little bit and Sienna enjoyed knocking down all our blocks.

These were taken downstairs in the “city” area. I don’t remember why they had a vespa there. Sienna found this dog in the house area and played with it what felt like forever! This was also the area where Pete’s video was taken of the shopping. There was also a hospital but we did not go in there.

There was also a section of old stuff and I really thought the typewriter was cool!

They also had a display of retro toys (not in the same area as the old stuff). I had to take a photo of this because we had one when I was younger.

Waiting in line to shoot a “rocket”

Shooting the rocket!

There really are so many photos I am not posting. I ran into some old friends at the museum (small world!), me and Sienna rode the carousel, Sienna ate a hot dog for lunch and we went to Dalessandros (recommended by a friend) for cheesesteaks! MMM!

And of course, I have to show Sienna wearing the 4 shirt I made for her for her birthday (which she did not want to wear on her actual birthday but the day after!)

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This embroidery was made for the Profile Stitch swap for cobalt gypsy

Mug Rug swap for zigg13pra, who is a GS volunteer.

Sienna went to a birthday party in early March for Olivia and I made her this shirt. Funny and cute photos of the party can be seen on here!

I have been getting Sienna into more crafts! The first photo she is coloring Princess shrinky dinks from a kit I got at the craft store (plan to make my own next time!). The 2nd photo she is helping me paint a box for Yves to keep his watches in. That one is still a WIP because we have to put Spider-Man stickers on it.

I’m happy that Sienna likes Super Heroes as much as Princesses so I made her this Wonder Woman paper doll cut with my Silhouette

And that was before she got a real Wonder Woman doll and Green Goblin (or Gobalin as Sienna says it) from my former boss at Mada Design! How I love Facebook!

Sienna’s school had a Wacky Tacky day. Wear the wackiest outfit for a chance to win a free lunch (although Sienna doesn’t eat lunch at school!). So I sewed together 3 different parts of 3 different shirts that Sienna pretty much outgrew. I wanted to take a couple of photos and she totally went into pose mode. I posted the above photo and 4 others here. She is such a crack up. I did not give her any direction whatsoever! All these poses were done on her own and within 5 minutes!

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Well, I’ll probably say this every year for the appropriate age so here goes this year’s! I can’t believe my little girl is 4 years old!! I was just telling Yves how I can remember her birth like it was yesterday. Yes, I really can! Everything else after that is pretty much a blur but the birth I can remember! Anyway, she already had 2 celebrations before today! One with my parents on Thursday and one at school on Friday. It’s good to be 4, huh? Today we are heading to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia and our friend Pete is coming along. Even though it is only 2 hours away, we are making it an overnight trip. Sienna likes staying over in a hotel with a pool, which is exactly what we are doing. We almost had a party for her but after doing some research at some party places, we decided it was just too expensive. We would have to invite all the kids in her class and then with her other friends outside of school, it would just be too much. And for 2 hours! I’ll wait to spend that money for her birthday parties when she is older and I’m sure there will be plenty of them!

Chowing down on the cake from my parents. Strawberry!

Birthday crown at school

Cupcakes for class. I like how they turned out! I’m getting the knack of the decorating tip!

Sienna in between Abby and Sarah

Sienna in between Caius and Darany

Happy Birthday circle with Sienna in the middle

A big birthday hug from Elli

Zipper pulls I made for the goody bags

The goody bags

Happy Birthday Sienna! from Lisa on Vimeo.

I’ll sure I’ll have another post about our Philadelphia adventures!

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We met up with Tammy and Zack at the Maritime Aquarium up in Norwalk, CT. I have to say that I wasn’t that excited about the aquarium (but was excited to see Tammy and Zack) as the reviews were good and bad. The aquarium rocks! The only aquarium I really know is the New York Aquarium and I have to give it up to the CT folks! They are both small aquariums but I think the Maritime one seems to have a lot more stuff. Not only that, there is an awesome burger place right down the block. Burger Bar and Bistro had one of the best burger and fries I’ve had in a long time. Actually, I can’t remember the last time I had such a wonderful burger!
On to the photos!

(I LOVE the jellyfish exhibit, I could stand and stare at them for hours if I could!)

Sienna touches a horseshoe crab!

Monkeys having some sort of important discussion (I just realized they both have monkeys on their shirt!)

FOOD!

Sienna and Zack had hot dogs

Yves got the boomer (goat cheese, mushrooms and truffle essense). Me and Tammy both ordered different sliders and split them! I got the chimi (argentinian cilantro sauce, garlic, avocado) and Tammy got the Ultimate (sweet onions, gorgonzola, pancetta and aged balsamic). The fries were DELICIOUS but no photo of them!

Zack plays connect 4

Ride ’em cows!

Overall a very nice day. I can’t wait to go back to the “aquarium!”

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Last month we took an overnight trip to the Crayola Factory. It can be done in one day but we decided it would be nice to get away (and into a hotel with an indoor swimming pool!) We originally were supposed to go during winter break but Mother Nature had other ideas.

Upon first arrival (by the way, Easton looks like a very cute town!) I was sure we would be finished within an hour. There were lots of areas to do activities but with Sienna’s ADD, I didn’t think we would be staying at any one station for too long. Surprisingly we lasted 2.5 hours there! I’m not sure if we would go back again but it was a fun time.

The first (of many) free crayons she got.

Not sure what this psychedelic motion screen has to do with crayola but it was fun!

Lots of coloring stations (obviously)

Free model magic that Sienna shaped into a hippo and colored pink

The t-shirt to color was extra but at least they had the fabric markers to use and not have to buy (because I have a set at home!)

Sienna stands in front of the largest crayon in the crayola store.

We stayed in Bethelhem at Hyatt Place. It was nice enough. The indoor pool was small and there were a lot of families around.

We went to dinner at Thai Thai II and was surprisingly impressed with the food! It totally rocked! Even thought Yves’ pad thai came with a lemon (usually it’s a lime), he still enjoyed it. Sienna ate all her chicken sate AND some of my rice and sauce. She seemed like a bottomless pit that night!

Because we stayed in one big room, Sienna did not get to sleep until late since Yves wanted to watch some football playoffs. She still woke up way too early considering how late she went to sleep. We found a Waffle House so Yves and Sienna were happy about that.

Unfortunately, the ride home wasn’t the best. I was hoping Sienna would fall asleep for most of the ride, which she usually does. For some reason, she did not sleep well on the way home. We were about 45 minutes from home when I offered her a cheese stick and she threw up shortly after. The rest of the night wasn’t fun either as she kept complaining about her tummy hurting. It was painful for us to see because she never complained so much about something! She was fine the next day, thankfully! We think it was a combination of lack of sleep and bumpy car ride that made her sick.

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Ok, so I made it through Iron Crafts 1-4, what a great start! I’m really getting my craft on and was really excited for number 5. Oh, a Valentine challenge. Drat. Don’t get me wrong, I love hearts and candy and my husband proposed to me on Valentine’s Day 2001. I was just wondering how I was going to fulfill this challenge and not have my husband or daughter see what I made them since it’s a good week and a half away! Then I had an idea! I’ll make Valentine’s for Sienna’s class and then I wouldn’t have to scramble at the last minute! Yay! (I’m sure I’ll end up scrambling last minute for their Valentine’s anyway!) So, I got this idea from Martha Stewart and Sienna was a great model and helper! So here it is, goody bags for her classmates!

We did a photo shoot last week and boy, she is a ham. She couldn’t take after me, could she? Here are some outtakes!

She helped me put the lollipops in the baggies last night and was telling me who was getting which bag even though I hadn’t made the bags specific for anyone. I closed the bag with some heart deco tape and then used my tape runner to attach the bag top. I really like how they came out!

I was also toying with this idea but wasn’t sure it really looked like Sienna was throwing hearts at you. What do you think?

I am also counting this as my Thing a Day for day 2! (Keep track of my thing a days here!) Yeah baby! I love it when a plan comes together! 😉

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As I mentioned in Miss Social Part 1, Sienna’s social calendar is better than mine! Part 2 consists of some playdates she had. The first was during Christmas break. I was so happy to get out of the house after the big snowstorm! We trekked over to Eli and Costas’ house and I was super surprised that I didn’t hear any whining from Sienna on the 10 block walk. I usually get a “I’m tiiiiiired of waaaaaalking” after 2 blocks! I think trudging through the snow made it fun for her. Antoinette and Frank were wonderful hosts. We ended up staying for several hours and had dinner there too! We all had a great day! Sienna fell asleep on the sofa when we got home.

(notice the yummy treats in the foreground? Frank is a chef at the Ritz!)

Milk break!

Sienna got an unexpected Friday off of school in early January so we went to another classmate’s house, Alexis! Alexis LOVES princesses! So Sienna was really delighted that she had princess outfits to dress up in. Alexis wore hers for 5 minutes and I had trouble getting Sienna to take off hers when we were leaving! Another great playdate!

Princesses sing Itsy Bitsy Spider from Lisa on Vimeo.

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I know I mentioned that Sienna’s social calendar is better than mine and I don’t mind! I’m very happy that she has activities with kids her age or thereabouts. That being said, she’s been very busy this last month and I’m going to break it up into 2 parts. Part 1 is the 2 birthday parties she’s been to in December.
Birthday girl Samantha

Sienna Slides

Sienna concentrates on crafts

Sienna and Emma

Daniel’s showing off his balls

Leah showing her lady side

Daniel’s birthday!

Sienna getting her faced painted!

Sienna and the 2 Emma’s

Her hands painted too!

Balloon animals too

Balloon Animal Chase

Look who showed up! An attempt at a group photo:

Sienna and Emma with Minnie, Sienna was so happy!

Blow out the candles!

Pull!

Grab!

This video is a tad long but if you stick with it, you’ll catch Sienna looking up Minnie’s skirt near the end! She also kissed the back of Minnie’s leg (??) but I didn’t catch that on video! Can’t wait to show this to a future boyfriend! HA!

Mickey and Minnie do the Chicken Dance from Lisa on Vimeo.

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