Halloween 2010.....I Love Spam Musubi!

Kirk officially moved in this past week so we celebrated Halloween together for the first time in our house. We actually got a bunch of trick-o-treaters and some friends also stopped by. I made Kirk a spam musubi costume....its one of our favorite snacks. I wore his spam musubi t-shirt and added some stickers letters to it. It was kind of a pain to make the costume, but well worth the laughs it got.

Ford's Filling Station in Downtown Culver City

I thought I was going to miss Dine LA week this past few weeks as I have trying to be good about not eating out too much. My sister has been mentioning and going to a bunch of places that I've never even heard of. So, I've been feeling a little out of the foodie/restaurnt world. Lucky for me Kirk surprised me with a dinner at Ford's Filling Station in downtown Culver City. We both have never eaten there (well, I had dessert and drinks before). That whole area was super packed that night. We ended up not getting the Dine LA menu, but it didn't really seem that great. Instead we shared a bunch of small plates including bacon wrapped dates, fig and prosciutto plate, squash blossom flatbread, and roasted beets and burrata. For dessert we shared a butterscotch pudding. All the food was really delicious, sort of a casual comfort food feeling. They seem to be good with the meats and cheeses there. The fig and prosciutto plate was my favorite, a nice little sweet and salty dish with a lot of good flavor in the meat. A definite recommendation!

Kirk's Wonka Themed Birthday Celebration: "Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination...

This past weekend was Kirk's birthday party and in celebration of that I organized a Wonka themed party. Kirk loves singing the golden ticket song and he loves candy and chocolate, so I ended up going crazy with candy. There was candy garland, a candy buffet, and lollipops all over the house. All his friends and family were there to celebrate. Thank you to all who came.
Special thanks to:
Kirk's parents for bringing the yummy beef and cooling fans
My parents for bringing some very professional looking ca roll, inari sushi, and spam sushi, and chicken teriyaki as well as cleaning the outside
Kimie and Brice for bringing the sign and for staying afterwards to help clean up and keeping us company.

Lollipop Lane

Gumball Tree

The Gates to the Kirk Chocolate FactoryContract to the Party

Cricut Signage

Chocolate room cake: Lilikoi Crunch Cake from King's Hawaiian decorated with Candy, chocolate waterfall, cookies, and rice krispy treats
Kirk going down the chocolate waterfall

Rice Krispy Treats and Candy shaped cookies
Food Spread: Artichoke dip, Spinach Dip, 7-Layer Dip, wontons, Chicken Teriyaki, Flank Steak, California Roll, Inari sushi, Spam sushi, Chili rice, Stir fried veggies, and Salad



Wonkatons...cream cheese wontons

Kid's Corner: Everlasting Gobstopper Toss, Candy ring toss, and Oompa Loompa Bowling

Oompa Loompa Bowling

Prizes

Favors and Prize

Candy Shop

Homemade LiHing Sourbelts and Fruit Salad, Mini Chocolates, Whoppers, Sour Patch kids, Pretzals, and Peanut M&Ms...all of Kirk's favorites

My Signature Personalized Water Bottles

Dots Candy Garland

Game station

Fizzy Lifting Drink Burping Contest

Five Course Guessing game: the flavors were Dr. Pepper, Cotton Candy, Green Apples, Blue Berry, and 7-up

Golden Egg Hunt: golden eggs were hidden in the house for the kids to find and inside were golden kirk tickets

Violet's Bubble gum blowing contest

Golden ticket: redeem tickets for a prize

Candy lollipops with personalized pictures

Washcloth Candies and Lollipop centerpieces

Me and the Birthday boy

This past weekend was Kirk's birthday party and in celebration of that I organized a Wonka themed party. Kirk loves singing the golden ticket song and he loves candy and chocolate, so I ended up going crazy with candy. There was candy garland, a candy buffet, and lollipops all over the house. All his friends and family were there to celebrate. Thank you to all who came.
Special thanks to:
Kirk's parents for bringing the yummy beef and cooling fans
My parents for bringing some very professional looking ca roll, inari sushi, and spam sushi, and chicken teriyaki as well as cleaning the outside
Kimie and Brice for bringing the sign and for staying afterwards to help clean up and keeping us company.

Cricut Swarm Party

Today I invited a few people over for a craft party. I ordered up some Pat and Oscars so we had some munchies. Kimie brought over some wine and my favorite li hing sourbelt candies. Tricia brought Susiecake cupcakes and Joni made her famous apple dip. We chowed down on some food, then got serious about the crafting! I think we officially brainwashed Kimie into our Cricut cult...aka Cricult. Now to be part of this Cricult...you must first own a Cricut machine. Next, you must have Cricut advertising merchandise (Kimie now has a water bottle with the famous Cricut logo). I love crafting with other people, because you get so many great ideas. But at the same time, I see all these cool new things I want to buy. Tricia has the Gypsy and I really want that (Kirk...hint hint, Gypsy...and no, not a woman). We all did a project or two, but it was just fun to spend time together, letting the creative juices flow, and doing something occupationally meaningful and productive with our hands (that's the OT in me). Anyone, else interested in joining the Cricult, or if you would like further information about it, please contact me!

Bob's Okazuya...a BIG Plate of Goodness

Kirk and I had a nice double date lunch with his sister Kimie and her boyfriend Brice. They introduced us to this awesome hole-in-the-wall Hawaiian plate lunch joint in Gardena. Brice is from Hawaii so he knows all the places to eat at out here. And lucky for me, there are a lot of places in the South Bay. It's nice to learn about more places to eat and it's always great to eat with friends. The food is good and huge, so come hungry. I liked the portuguese sausage fried rice and the mac salad was good. Kirk had the nori chicken which I guess they are well known for. It's really casual and the people there are super friendly. Sundays, they have a live Hawaiian band which sounds nice, but can get a little loud.

Bob's Okazuya
16814 S Vermont Ave
Gardena, CA 90247

Breakfast at the Ocean House

Lately Kirk has been spending the weekend at my house. We try to eat healthy and light when we're at home. And since the weather has been so nice, we've been enjoying our breakfast on sundays, al fresco. Today, I made fruit smoothies...very simple, just frozen costco berries, Kirkland vanilla soy milk, and a banana. I don't feel like you need anymore sugar or ice. I blend mine in my Cuisinart Food Processor. Kirk thought it was cute that I cut a straw and stuck it in the glass to drink.