Family Vacations.

Up until last weekend, I had my doubts about family vacation spots and vacationing with children in general. I love traveling, and I love exploring off the tourist track. I usually try to avoid places that are overflowing with souvenir shops and filled with everyone and their family reunion. Kid-themed attractions also top this list.

Now that I have my own child, I have different expectations. I don't think I can take Mugga backpacking across Thailand. I for one, am not up for that sort of thing anymore. (Hostel hopping has never been my thing.) I also don't see us dining in gourmet restaurants in NYC (Mug is really into chucking things off the table lately) or shopping for hours at Piccadilly Circus in London (it might interfere with nap time).

There are times when I have thought, "Man. My days of real traveling is so over. Now I'm stuck with a kid, and she's gonna slow me down."

But after taking Mug to the beach for the first time in her young life, my perspective is changing. She was afraid of the water at first and shrieked when the wave licked her toes. After a few minutes, she was loving it. She loved, loved, loved the beach. Absolutely fascinated by the sand, Mug spent about 45 minutes shoveling it into this yellow bucket:

(Notice the lack of swimming suit. Like everything else in her wardrobe, it was left at home.)

Seeing Mug's reaction to her first real elephant at the wild animal park was also completely priceless. She got one look at the giant Asian elephants and screamed to go inside their gated-off home.

"Ed-di-die! Ed-di-die!" she pleaded. ("Ed-di-die" is her word for "elephant.") Mugga almost feel over when she came face-to-face with a stray duck in the park. She's seen ducks before, so a second encounter was a real treat.

There were other kids in the park experiencing this same wide-eyed captivation, and it touched my cold, traveling heart. My reservations melted away, and I too, became fascinated again to see a lion up close. Wow, those things are scary.

It's interesting how everyday, my outlook on life changes now that I'm a mom.

I love to travel and explore the world because I like to expose myself to new and different things. I feel like it opens my horizons and helps me be a better person. I thought that vacationing with a child would limit this experience. I would be stuck visiting contrived kiddie attractions with absolutely no interest to myself.

But traveling with Mug isn't as bad as I thought it would be. If fact, it's actually better. To see my little one experience these new adventures, to touch the ocean for the first time ever, see a real giraffe, listen to the laughs of a spider monkey -- these are the greatest explorations. Her eyes are opening to new things, and at the same time, mine are too.

Whisper lamé tiered skirt.

I love this outfit from J. Crew. It's positively ethereal.

Flower Child Double Strap Footbed.

I cannot believe the Birkenstock look is back.


Flower Child Double Strap Footbed by Free People

No!!!

I hate that these two are together. Man, do I love this show.

Flowers to Go: Favor Bags.

I've mentioned before that I've been helping my sister plan her wedding. This is a cute idea for favors: waterproof bags to hold flowers from the reception. The personalized message printed on the bag is adorable.



via Martha Stewart

Butterfly Appetizer Plates.

Right now, Mug freaks over anything with butterflies. She absolutely loves them, it's so weird. I bet she would love these Andy Warhol butterfly appetizer plates. Mom loves Warhol too, and at $1.95 a pop, I bet even dad would approve.

Animals at the Park.

While we were in Southern California, we took Mugga to the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. It was extremely hot that day, I think it was close to 100 degrees. When we arrived, there were actually paramedics on scene. I heard someone tell their kid that some child must have gotten too close to the lions, but I think the ambulance in the enterance was for heat stroke causes. The boy looked really scared though.

I of course, was paranoid Mug was going to burn in the hot sun or get dehydrated. I lathered sunscreen on her every 45 minutes or so and made sure her sippy cup was filled with cool drinks. It was so hot, despite her love for animals, I think her favorite part of the park was playing kiddie-sized water park:

{Mug with her Auntie Juan}

The elephants, giraffes and monkeys were all exciting for Mugga. But by the end of the day, she was a pretty tired, grumpy and hot. So was I. On the tramp ride back to the parking lot, she was telling everyone on the tram about her discomfort. In other words, she did a lot of screaming.

One lady sitting in front of Axel and Mug turned her head slightly towards the sound of my daughter and snarled, "Cool it!"

I was sitting further away, so I didn't hear exactly what she said till Axel told me later. I did hear the meanness in her voice and I shot back with a sharp, "Hey!" I then complimented Mug till we reached our stop, saying what a good girl she's been and how great she's been the whole trip.

The mean lady made no other remarks but I was furious. Here we are, leaving a family friendly attraction and some woman snapped at my child. Axel was pretty shocked too. He was much too polite to say anything, but I know he wanted too. Since moving away from California, I think we lost some of our edge.

Walking back to our car, here are a few things I had wished I had said:

"You cool it!"

"Don't talk to my child that way you animal!"

Or, I would have talked to my girl directly (in a very loud voice so that the mean lady could hear):

"Mug, that woman may not realize how rude she was right now. She may be tired after a long day walking in the hot sun around smelly animals with her own loud grandchildren. She's probably gotten too much sun and not enough water. She probably doesn't realize you are not even two years old, and you've had a long day too."

A little more passive aggressive, but with tons of sarcasm. I've never had someone snap at my child before, and I was caught off guard.

I don't expect everyone to love my little girl, but I guess I was naive with the amount of kindness people show towards children. Man, I'm still furious.

Back Home.

As much fun as it is to travel, it always such a relief to be home again. Especially if I managed to clean the house before we left. Returning to a clean house after a long trip is one of the greatest feelings ever.

We had lots of fun adventures on our Southern California trip. We try and get down there once a year to visit family and to eat delicious food (where we live, dim sum isn't the best).

Probably one of the most memorable things happened about 4 hours into the drive. This is the point when Mugga exploded in her diaper and needed a change of clothes. We stopped the car and I went straight to the trunk in search of extra pants. As I was rumaging past the portable crib, the stroller, my own clothes bag, it occurred to me that my daughter's bag was not in the trunk. It was actually sill sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

What kind of mother am I that I forget my daughter's clothing? The same kind that was even more bothered that my makeup bag was also left on the coffee table back home. In my mind, replacing a few days worth of children's clothing isn't that big of an investment. But my makeup? I am very particular about everything I put on my face. From my SPF 30 face lotion to a certain eye lash curler, the contents of my makeup bag is much more costly. Yes. So whatever kind of mother I am, I am this one.

We ended up buying Mug a few cute summer things from Target (so cheap!). I also swallowed my pride and just bought more foundation. Luckily I still had some lipstick in my purse.

Now that we are back home, it's nice to remember all the fun we had in California. I'll probably post more about the trip later. It sure is nice to sleep in my bed again. Put Mug in her crib. And use my favorite eyeliner.

Late!

As always, we are behind on schedule. We should have been out of the house 38 minutes ago. Yup, blame the toddler.
I'm headed off for a long weekend in SoCal. See you Monday!

Back to the 101.

In tribute to my road trip to Sunny Southern California tomorrow, here's a video that I love so much because it makes me laugh. Also, doesn't Albert Hammond Jr. kinda look like Thom Filicia?

Strawberry-Soy Milk Shake.

This tofu milk shake looks delish. I'm always looking for ways to sneaky in something healthy in for my little Mugga and myself. Also, I want that spoon.

recipe and photo via Cookie Magazine.

Plastic Baby Bottle Safety.

Here is another reason why I worry as a mom:

Wal-Mart to Pull Bottles Made With Chemical BPA (not till next year. I guess Canada and European countries have already banned them from shelves)

Bottle Maker to Stop Using Plastic Linked to Health Concerns

Yet the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association in the U.S. still considers them safe. Read here.

*update* here's a great blog with information on BPA free bottles, sippy cups, tableware, etc. There's even a download for a wallet-sized info card:

Z Recommends

I appreciate blogs and news articles like these that help consumers stay informed. When manufactures see the response of concerned parents and the decrease in sales, I think they are more likely to make changes.

Jewelry Box for Mom.

Speaking of Mother's Day presents, I love this red Ningbou Jewelry Armoire. It has tons of storage space and I love the Asian flair. The sides have necklace hooks, and the top opens up to a mirror. (Plus, it's on sale!)

Slow Cooking Summary.

Well, on Friday I decided to stop being fancy with my slow cooker and just try something simple. I opened up my Betty Crocker Cookbook and tried this Slow Cooker Potato and Double-Corn Chowder:



Once again, what I made in my pot looked nothing like what came out of the test kitchens. The chowder was okay, a little unremarkable. It still looked gross to me, and I didn't want to eat it (luckily there are husbands, who out of the kindness of their heart, will eat any kitchen disaster).

This might have been the worst challenge I've ever done. Everything I made turned out awful. I mean, I don't even think I'm that bad of a cook, I guess I just can't slow cook. I don't think I'm ever trying again. And now I no longer want that beautiful All-Clad Slower Cooker. so maybe there is something good that came out of this experiment after all. Oh well, I'll just have to hint at something else for Mother's Day.

Skirt Tugging.

Despite the frustrations of crock pot cooking (i had no idea I would be so horrible) there have been some great highlights in my kitchen this week.

Example:

As I scrambled eggs for Mugga's lunch yesterday, she did the amazing thing. She stood next to me and tugged at my skirt. My toddler has never done this before, and the small little gesture surprised me.

It wasn't a nagging pull, like a "Hurry Up With My Eggs Mom" pull, but sort of a flapping dancing motion. She clutched my hem in her little hands and moved it back and forth. Her body swayed from side to side and she gazed up at me. To whatever imaginary song she heard in her head, we both bobbed our head to the music.

Mug was so cute right then, dancing with my skirt to some song only she could hear, I couldn't help but laugh. I scooped her up in my arms and we danced and stirred the eggs together. 

Having her in my life is so fun at times. But honestly, Mugga was probably just happy I wasn't slow cooking anything. 

Another One Bites the Dust.

Yesterday's crock pot adventured was awful! I'm not sure what it is that is causing me to blunder so much. Maybe I'm trying all the wrong type of recipes in a crock pot. Since I have no experience in slow cooking, I don't know what works and what does.

I attempted the Cheesy Spinach-Artichoke Dip, and l just couldn't bring myself to eat it. The dip look like regurgetated puke, and it smelled even worse. The reek of melted feta cheese was way overpowering -- seriously. It smell was like something out of a baby's diaper.

Just on scent alone, I am not touching that dip. Of course the sight of it also makes me shudder.

After this week, I maybe never crock pot, or eat feta cheese again.

Cast Iron Pans.

A lot of my growing up years, my mom would subject Nazi-like enforcements on the food we ate (and how we cooked it). Anything with the words "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" was banned from the kitchen cupboards. We also were givens strict instructions on never cooking food in the microwave with plastic.

Mom even threw away all the Teflon pans one day (to read possible health risks associated with Teflon, read these articles here, here and here).

I used to laugh at her and call her crazy. I noticed though, when I started caring for my own family, I took her advice a little more seriously. I mean, people are getting cancer from somewhere right?

Last year I chucked all of my Teflon coated pans. My thinking is, better safe than sorry.

In their place, I bought a couple of cast iron beauties. I was skeptical at first. Cast iron was strange to me. The whole you-can't-soak-this-pan-in-soap-and-water bit made me nervous. But my husband, the great cook that he is, talked me into them.

Cast iron is amazing. It browns beautifully. Eggs slide of easily. Best yet, no Teflon!

Lodge makes a great inexpensive skillet, you can get it at Williams-Sonoma for $27 for a 12 inch. Sure it's no Le Creuset pretty, but it does the job just fine.

(Best Buy: I picked up a pair of Lodge skillets from Costco for around $20 something.)

Missing In Action.

So sorry about being M.I.A. yesterday. I had a post all ready to go, but you know. It was one of those days where nothing really gets done.

So much, that my husband Axel actually took over the crock pot cooking. He made the Spicy Country Ribs and they were good. So, maybe it actually isn't the recipe or crock pot. Maybe it is me.

{Real Simple photo}

Chocolate Mud Cake.

{This post should have been blogged yesterday, but it never made it to the web. Sorry for being a day late with my updates!}

For my recipe yesterday, I put off my Spinach Articoke Dip and made a Chocolate Mud Cake from the FamilyFun web site. I figured chocolate cake would be a more encourage recipe to try for my second day. Iwas terribly dissapointed. My cake was not molten-like at all. Half was fudgy and moist, the other half was chocolate water.

The reviews for the recipe were all positive, so maybe it's me. It's one of the easiest forms of cooking, but maybe I'm not meant to be a crock pot cooker. This slow cooker thing is discouraging. Maybe I didn't cook my cake long enough. I'm beginning to not want that All-Clad cooker.

My cake looked nothing like this (from the web site):

Puffalumps.

Here's another nostalgic toy for you:

The Puffalumps are back! One of my sisters had the white cow one, and she loved, loved, loved it. According to the Fisher Price web site, they are sold exclusively at Target (I have yet to see one at my local store).