BoLA Musings > Happy Mother's Day!

Mom & Me, circa 1979

A friend asked, "Is this you and your mom, or you and your son?"

I love that she asked, because I never get told that I look like my mom.

My mom is beautiful, with big round eyes, a petite frame and a dazzling smile. I have my dad's nose, his small almond shaped eyes, and have inherited my family's premature gray (really, it's like salt and pepper) hair. I always get told that I look just like my dad.

But here, maybe it's the vintage Kodak print, the oversized 70s sunglasses or her downward glance... I see a little bit of me holding my son in her loving hold of me.

Do you see a resemblance?

I think it's pretty clear from my baby photos that Chase looks a lot like me - something that makes me laugh inside. Knowing that there's a mini-me in the world. I can only hope, though, that he grows into a tall, handsome man - much like MS. (Especially since I'm 5'2" and I'm one of the taller ones in my family!)

So on my second Mother's Day weekend, we celebrated with our families, homemade cards and comforting eats of Thai and Chinese food. My white chocolate dipped fortune cookie fortune from Panda Inn?

"Enjoy the good luck a companion brings you."

So true. Thank you MS for being my companion and love in life! We got lucky when we were blessed with our healthy, beautiful and silly boy!

Our Little Family

Happy Mother's Day, every day!

Out&About > Scoops, a Parklet & a Park

Ice cream for me. Ice cream for you.
(But mostly, for me.)

A few weeks ago, MS and I took Chase to York Boulevard in Highland Park. We had to go to the Post Office to deliver a package and some mail, so we decided to make an excursion out of it.

After a quick line at the post office, we walked over to Scoops for some ice cream. There's really no storefront sign in bright neon lights to indicate that it's an ice cream shop, or any real sign at all. But we found the small store and sampled a few flavors before we chose our preferred combinations. In all honesty, I completely forgot which two flavors I chose, except that one was some kind of caramel but both were deliciously sweet. Just means, we'll need to go back for more soon!

What's a parklet?
Not a park, not a parking space; but a space to park yourself by the sidewalk.

We walked across the street to the Highland Park Parklet and enjoyed our scoops of ice cream while sitting on the recently built parklet benches. That is, until the guy from behind the counter of the car parts store in front of the benches came outside and lit up a cigarette. Totally unnerving, especially since it was clear that we had a child with us. It was as if he was telling us to leave. Before that happened, I was planning to go in for a car part after we finished our ice cream. The shop reminded me of something I needed, but unfortunately, once he started smoking, I couldn't wait to leave. Maybe next time, he'll think twice about lighting up a cigarette and just maybe, I'll buy something from the store.

Peek-a-boo!
And before heading home, we stopped at a favorite neighborhood park in Mount Washington - the Cleland Avenue Bicentennial Park. There's a lot of green space for kids and dogs to run around, and a nice sized play area that Chase loves. This time, though, he wanted to play peek-a-boo and with a smile  like his - who can resist?

Happy days!

Scoops, Highland Park
5105 York Boulevard | Los Angeles, CA 90042
Mon-Sat: 2pm-9 pm, closed on Sundays
Cash only

www.yelp.com/biz/scoops-los-angeles-3

Cleland Avenue Bicentennial Park

4800 Cleland Avenue | Los Angeles, CA 90042

Eating Out > The (Little) Oinkster

He's my little oinkster!

As much as I love that my little man is quite the eater, I know it's oftentimes a gamble. Sometimes, when something new is tried, it comes straight out of his mouth and on to the floor. Or when he's being generous, he'll hand it back to me so I can finish his half-chewed mess. And yes, I do.

A few weeks ago, MS and I took Chase to The Oinkster for an early dinner out. Now that we're on the east side of LA, Eagle Rock is just a quick drive away.

Reminiscent of days of yesteryear

When we pulled in to the driveway, flashbacks of a gluttonous taco run and an excursion to The Oinkster for some pulled pork and pastrami from years ago came flooding back. Those were the days of old school food blogging friends and late night eating. If memory serves me well, I had about 12 tacos and part of an oinkster. By the time we got home, I could barely roll into bed. Never. Again. Will I eat that much. Well, maybe if it was some really good sushi, I could do it.

This time around, we ate a respectable amount. I had half the below sandwich and no tacos whatsoever.

Slow cooked pulled pork sandwich with fries

I was pleasantly surprised that they had a few high chairs for little oinksters - although there's not a whole lot of room to put one by a table inside. I'm not even sure if we were supposed to have our high chair on the side of the table next to the order line, but it was too cold to eat outside and nobody said otherwise.

So it was a good thing that we got there a little early. Once we sat down, the order line went out the door! Young people, older people, couples, friends, families - everyone wanted some of The Oinkster that evening, and a number of them commented that our little man was such a cutie! Love!

Although, they probably wouldn't have thought he was so cute had they seen our food spectacle at the table. The soft pulled pork was not a hit. Neither were the fries. Instead, I gave Chase some cheese and crackers that I packed in my purse for him.

MS and I enjoyed our food, especially when paired with their house-made chipotle ketchup and garlic aioli. Hopefully, Chase will grow out of his chew-and-spit phase soon! Here's hoping!

Happy eating!

The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Boulevard | Los Angeles, CA 90042
P: 1.323.255.6465
Su-Th: 11a-10p; F-Sa: 11a-11p

www.theoinkster.com

BoLA Musings > Good Advice for Purchasing a Home

Our Little Family

I mentioned in a previous post that the home buying experience had been an emotional roller coaster of a ride. We started our search in 2010, and began seriously looking in the last year or so. We even placed several offers on homes, only to be outbid on each one. But as MS would remind me throughout the entire process - it just meant that a better place was out there for us.

We probably looked at several hundred properties online and visited over 50 open houses before finding "the one." And it was my girlfriend, JT, who gave me the best piece of advice that made all the difference in getting our offer accepted. She told me that we should write a letter of introduction and add it to our offer. She also mentioned that it helped her sister-in-law as well as another girlfriend when they were purchasing their homes.

And in all honesty, it makes sense. If I were selling my home - one that I loved and raised my family in for many, many years - I'd want to know that the house would be going to a good family, if possible. Sure - I'd want to get as much return as I could for the property, but if it's between two good offers, I'd choose the person or family who wrote me a nice letter.

So we wrote a brief letter of introduction and included the above photo with our offer. Here's what we wrote:

Thank you for considering our offer to purchase this property. We are a young family looking for our “forever home” to raise our son, Chase, who recently turned one.

[We] love to cook and spend time with family. Chase is a budding musician who loves to read books and play with his toy cars. We’re hoping that as he gets older, he’ll enjoy cooking with us as well. We can already envision him rolling out cookies on the kitchen countertops and baking them in the oven. 

Wishing you well!

In the end, our real estate agent told us that the letter played a big factor in our accepted offer. So, thank you to JT who shared this piece of advice with me! And hopefully, this "good advice" may help someone else in their home buying process. And if it's meant to be, as MS continued to remind me through it all, it will.

As we continue to unpack and settle into our forever home, we've been able to set up a reading and music nook for Chase, eat at our small dining table as a family, share meals with relatives who have come to visit... and we look forward to when Chase is a little older to bake those cookies!

Happy home!

Eating Out > Takamaru, formerly known as Mishima

How cool is this Japanese bento lunch box for kids?

This Valentine's Day, my little man and I treated my grandmother to a family favorite - the restaurant formerly known as Mishima. My grandmother especially likes the mugicha (iced roasted barley tea) here and was happy that they still had it. Thankfully, the menu seemed to be the same and we ordered a couple of bento lunches with salmon and cod. Both were satisfying with a variety of sides, including shrimp and vegetable tempura, California rolls, miso soup, and salad.

How did Chase enjoy his lunch? At 15 months, he's become quite the little foodie. He'll try anything you give him without fuss which is great. But you know right away if he doesn't like something - it comes right back out.

Guess what's in my mouth!

So when his space shuttle bento lunch box was placed in front of him, he went straight for the fruit. The verdict? Well, he didn't like the melon balls but ate the kiwi and berry. He also devoured all his rice (and then some of mine), a bit of avocado, the insides of a couple of fried chicken karaage, and all of my tofu in my miso soup. Sadly, the potato salad was not a hit.

My grandmother and I laughed when he tried to stuff the entire strawberry into his mouth. (Somehow, the above photo I snapped of him makes me want to sing, "Mahna Mahna!" from The Muppets.)

A Surprise Valentine from Kennya!

Our Valentine's Day celebrations continued as we went to a nearby park in the afternoon. While running around, Chase was approached by a young boy who gave him a Valentine's goodie bag from his little sister - which was super cute! The boy was sitting with his mom and younger sister on a picnic blanket, eating an after school snack. The two children laughed as Chase smiled back at them and waved. Unfortunately, he's still too little for the candies and some of the other goodies in the bag, but the warm gesture by these strangers is something I'll remember for a long time.

May every day be like Valentine's Day - full of love, laughter and kindness!

Takamaru
street: 8474 West 3rd Street #108 | Los Angeles, CA 90048
tel: 1.323.782.0181