Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

California Science Center April 7, 2014

Filed under: Babies,California,Dining Out,Family,Happy,Los Angeles,Weekends — Kelocity @ 7:56 pm

Yesterday, we ventured down to the California Science Center to enjoy some time with Adele. We started the day with breakfast with our friends Melissa & Robb and their daughter Claudia! She and Adele have been friends since the womb! We did prenatal yoga together. It’s so cute to watch them play together.
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They kept each other on their best behavior and we all enjoyed a relaxing meal al fresco. Nothing better!
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After breakfast, we said goodbye and headed to the museum. We hoped Adele would nap in the car on the way there, but she sang the whole way down. Our plan B was to bring the Ergo and Stroller, walk around and then maybe she’d nap on one of us while we explored some more….but we were silly to think that, she was WAY too excited to sleep! I mean, there are fish!
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The kelp forest is awesome. Lots of fish and sharks! And even a tube you can walk through. Toddler approved!
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At one point, i just sat on the edge, with Adele in my lap, and we sat together talking about the colors of the fish, and the size of the sharks. And we watched the fish swim ‘up, up up’ and ‘down down down’. I enjoyed it so much. The Science Center is free and I foresee us spending lots of time with the fish in the future!
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I can’t get enough of pony tail silhouettes!
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We had to literally drag her away from the tank, she loved it! We also saw some Turtles, mice, lizards and birds! There were so many other exhibits to visit, but we will have to save those for another day. We didn’t want to overwhelm her, and she was already pushing her limits without a nap.

But we did sneak in a little ‘toddler’ town action first. Check this out, it’s a ‘sand box’ but instead of sand or rocks, it was made out of shredded rubber tires! If I ever have a backyard, I’m getting a truck load of this stuff, it was awesome! And I loved their additions of vegetables to go hunting for! So healthy and cute.
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We thought for sure she’d sleep in the car on the way home after all that stimulation! But alas, no dice. We waved the white flag and hung around the house for a couple of hours when we got home. Then we decided to squeeze in one last errand of the day and within 2 minutes of the drive… she was out. Yep. We’re officially ‘those parents’. The ones who swore we’d never resort to driving to get our child to sleep. We enjoyed a blissfully quiet ride and then i sat in the car for an hour checking email while Irving meandered around Costco. All in all… the perfect day full of friends, family… and finally, a nap. =)

 

Holy Weekend, Batman! November 23, 2011

Hello world! What a crazy week so far! We’ve been going non-stop. Friday we went to Burbank’s Holiday Open House where stores and restaurants open their doors and offer free drinks, snacks and goodies. We met up with Erika and Timmy and explored some stores we hadn’t heard of before. Such a fun way to kick off the weekend.

Saturday morning, we met up with Erica for breakfast and a walk. Here’s a preview of the Banana Peanut Butter Crunch pancakes we all split for “dessert”. (Yep, those are Oreos on there).
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After a walk around a new neighborhood, we cleaned up and headed an hour north to a beautiful wedding in Camarillo.
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The setting was just gorgeous, it was at an old farmhouse. We had a blast and enjoyed the evening chatting with friends.
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But the cake! Oh, the cake! Each table had its own cake and it was love at first sight. It was everything you could want in a wedding cake. Rich, sugary buttercream frosting, chocolate cake, strawberries inside. All wrapped in a shell of white chocolate. I went back for an extra smear of frosting.
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On our way home, the 101 freeway got completely shut down just a few cars in front of us. We turned the car off and it took almost an hour for them to open up one lane again. Ridiculous.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to the LA Auto Show downtown. We are thinking of replacing one or both of our cars in the next year or so it was a great opportunity to scope out some contenders. We were actually impressed by what we found. We have lots of research to do now.
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Sunday was POURING in LA. The rain came down in thick wet sheets. The kind of rain that has big droplets that soak you to the bone. On the way back to our car, we both stepped in a huge puddle and our socks and shoes were soaked. But we had to keep truckin’ because next up was the Major League Soccer Championship game! We got tickets months ago before we even knew which teams would be playing. Luckily our LA Galaxy made it in and we were excited to be in the stadium.  Our seats were not covered and we spent four hours outside looking like this:
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We made the best of it though and enjoyed the game. We were in the third row in the corner and had great views of Donovan stretching before the game.
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And then the game began! LA vs. Houston.
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Oh hey, David! Bend it like Beckham!
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In the end, we won 1-0 and the field erupted in celebration.
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And remember that trophy that we saw last weekend in the mall?
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There it is! Now officially in the hands of the LA Galaxy.
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Did you watch the game on ESPN? This game was like the superbowl of soccer. So cool to be able to see it in person.
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After, we did what any normal person would do after sitting in the rain for four hours…. we went to Chili’s for dinner. haha

I’m exhausted after typing all that. Looking forward to Thanksgiving! Safe travels during the holiday, everyone!

 

Eastern Europe: Bite by Bite October 20, 2011

Filed under: Contiki,Dining Out,Europe,Food,Travel — Kelocity @ 6:24 am
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Oh Europe, why do you make such amazing food. As if your chocolate wasn’t delectable enough, you have to have things like strudel, schnitzel and french fries (why, WHY are the fries so darn good in Europe?!) I admit, I’m not much of a foodie. I don’t venture out to try strange foods, taste the art of famous chefs or pick restaurants based on reviews. Maybe someday my palate will be more refined, but that’s not to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy my culinary experiences while on our recent trip.

Here is my recap of all things food from our 17 days over seas, grouped by category.

THE RESTAURANTS
We dined at so many different restaurants. 15 full days x 3 meals a day = 45 places to eat. Here’s a few of our favorites! I think the winner goes to Zapieck in Krakow for their award winning pierogies.
Exteriors

SOUPS
Some highlights included Borsht in Warsaw, Paprika Soup in Budapest and French Onion Soup in Vienna.
SOup

 
SALADS
I ordered mainly vegetarian meals every night (with the exception of a few chicken dishes) so I really enjoyed the European salads. The goat cheese is creamy like in Greece, and totally melts in your mouth. And all of the veggies were fresh from the earth. And the tomatoes! Oh, they were fantastic.
Salad

CHICKEN
Skewered on kabobs, deep fried, swimming in sauce and paired with rice or fries. Nothing special, but all delicious.
Chicke

BRATS
I admit, I am not a huge fan of brats, but my husband LOVES them. I think there were some that went photographed, because there were a lot of brats on this trip. His favorite were the boiled ones from the Hofbrauhaus.
Brats

BREAKFAST
Breakfast was included each day of our tour. Some hotels had better choices than others. My favorite (by far) was the IBIS in prague because they had fresh watermelon both days they were there.
Breakfast

MAIN COURSES
Irving ate just about everything, but I opted for mostly vegetarian. Contiki definitely does a great job accomodating and I felt satisfied after each meal. Here’s just a sample of the good (carb loaded) food that we ate.
Main Course

SHNITZEL
There are no words. We thought the chicken was better than the pork and our favorite was served at the Summer Palace in Vienna. Austria sure does love this dish. There is even a fast food chain called Wienerwald dedicated to serving schnitzel.
Schnitzel

PIEROGIES
I’ve already declared my love for Pierogies in my post about Poland, but here they are again so we can honor their amazing-ness.
Pierogi

PIZZA
It’s Europe. Pizza costs about $4 for a whole pie. There was lots of pizza for on-the-go lunches and quick snacks. And you don’t have to share. You’re expected to eat the whole thing. Love.
Pizza

FRIES
Yes. European Fries get their own collage. They are SO GOOD. And they go with juuuust about everything.
Fries

DRINKS
We aren’t huge drinkers to begin with, but we did indulge when appropriate (ie. German Beer Halls).
Drinks

PRETZELS
It goes with beer. Enough said. (I always try to buy mine without salt though.)
Pretzels

DESSERT AND SNACKS
I’m pretty sure I had dessert every night we were there. The hands down favorite was the Hotel Sacher chocolates from Vienna. Coming in a close second would be my nutella crepe from Slovakia. My least favorite? The Rum Raisin custard from Krakow.
Dessert and Snacks

 

Wings, Fries and Trolls August 10, 2011

Filed under: Dining Out,Food,Random — Kelocity @ 8:09 pm
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Ahh! I was so hungry after work today that I would have seriously ate anything you put in front of me. That kind of hunger that makes you dizzy and not nice to be around. Hi. That was me.
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But Husband to the rescue! We headed right out to find some buffalo wings and fries. I felt like I was in college. But sometimes, that’s just what you have to do.

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In other news, randomly spotted in a window on Ventura:
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We are now on night FOUR of trying to watch Meet Joe Black. It’s a good movie, but it’s pretty slow moving. We are not very good movie watchers, we easily get bored and sleepy. Let’s hope we can finish it tonight!

 

Did you have Trolls? I had a bunch. Kids these days don’t know what they’re missing!

 

Royal High Tea July 9, 2011

Filed under: Dining Out,Food,Friends,Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 9:00 pm
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In honor of Prince William and Princess Kate’s royal trip to Hollywood, my friend Janet and I decided that having afternoon tea would be the perfect way to celebrate.
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Ok, so that’s not entirely true. We bought a groupon a few weeks back and scheduled our Tea Date long before we realized the Royals would be in town. But it seems appropriate, don’t you think?
Our destination was “Two A Tea”, a cute little tea house about an hour away. And we agreed it was definitely worth the drive.
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The tea house is set up like an old Victorian home. Complete with crystal chandeliers, baroque art and antique linens. It was so fun to dress up, act proper (as proper as snapping photos of your meal can be) and enjoy some dainty foods.
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They have various menus to choose from, each varying in the amount of courses you can enjoy with your tea. We chose the “Royal High Tea”. It was my first visit to a tea house, so might as well go all out, right?
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The tea list is pretty big, and it’s hard to decide on a flavor. We each got our own pot, so in the end, decided on Vanilla Coconut and Peach Apricot. While the tea brewed, we started up a great conversation. It’s fun to catch up with friends without distractions. I really needed an afternoon of girl talk.
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Before long, our tea pots were ready. Freshly brewed tea is so delicious. And even on a hot California day, it hit the spot. It was so fun to drink out of beautiful teacups too. It felt fancy schmancy.
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Our first course was a freshly baked blueberry scone. It was the perfect mix of crumble and sweetness. Served with lemon curd, clotted cream and berry preserves. I admit I was scared to try the clotted cream, but it was really good.
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Next up was the soup course. I got the pureed red pepper with feta cheese and croutons.
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And Janet ordered the carrot ginger that also came with croutons.
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Next up was a citrus salad. This was so perfect for a summer day. The dressing was sweet and refreshing!
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Meanwhile, we were sip sipping our tea the whole time. Cup after cup.
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Soon a scoop of sorbet came out to cleanse our palettes. I thought it was adorable that they served this on a tea bag rest.
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Then we were ready for our tea sandwiches!  We had a turkey, cream cheese & cranberry sauce, egg salad, roasted vegetable, curried chicken and cucumber. I had one of each (minus the egg salad). My favorite one was the cucumber, although I was too full to finish it.
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And finally, we had dessert. We decided to each get one and split it half and half. One was a warm berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce and the other was a black forest chocolate cake with a chocolate mouse with raspberry drizzle and fresh whipped cream.

Oh my, they were amazing. Sadly, all my camera wanted to focus on was the whipped cream, but you’ll have to trust me that it was beautiful and yummy.
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I think we sat and chatted for almost three hours! The waitress refilled our teapots once, so I’m pretty sure I drank almost two pots of tea in all.
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What a great afternoon, hope to do it again someday. Thanks for the great company, Janet!

 

 
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