Carmel Trip

Hi guys!   We went on a little trip to the east coast right after my last blog post, so I did not get to do this Carmel by the Sea post that I wanted to document on here. So here are some photos and thoughts on the trip.

I use to work in Carmel back in the late 80's when my husband was doing his graduate degree at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS).  Carmel was such a different place then. Filled with beautiful unique shops, including the gallery I worked in. Today it's a bit different, and I was saddened to see that the beautiful space that I worked in was now a darkly painted shoe store. The space before was the epitome of Carmel. It was filled with the cream of the crop American Handcrafts. Beautiful turned wood bowls, blown glass, gorgeous hand made furniture, pottery etc. filled the shop. We were not the only shop like this, and that is what made this storybook village so special. Granted, we didn't walk the streets of Carmel this visit, and only had dinner near my old work place, so maybe the criticism isn't fair, but from what we saw,  there wasn't anything that special. The things that still remain from the past are, good food, the cute little thatched roofed tea house called The Tuck Box, and another shop that we use to love called Carmel Bay Company. Perhaps I'm seeing the past through rose colored glasses and I need to spend more time checking out the new shops. The only constant though.........Carmel is still drop dead gorgeous!  The  homes that were there in the 80's have stood the test of time and still look just as beautiful today.  On this visit we stayed in a two bedroom cottage at Lincoln Green Inn. Click on the name and check out the site. They have four cottages that are decked out inside with all kinds of comfort. It's been a while since I stayed somewhere where the bed was equal to my own cloud bed. Four stars for this place! 

We took Ruby to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the first time. She was very overwhelmed, and it didn't help that it was a weekend, but I think she did have fun.   One thing they have added since we were last there, was a whole area for little ones that are Ruby's age, which made it fun for her. I thought she would really love the wall of jelly fish, but there were just too many people, and it slightly scared her. I'm sure when we take her again at an older age, she will have more fun, and perhaps we can go mid week instead of the weekend, because what were we thinking?! We were members of the aquarium when we lived there and took Nicole there when she was  little. Weekdays were the prime time to go. 

We ordered take out that night,  because another restaurant outing with a toddler was just not going to cut it, and we were all so wiped out chasing Ruby through the exhibits. We had some good food from a place called Yafa. We liked it enough that we would recommend it to anyone who likes Mediterranean food. You can't really go too wrong with the food in Carmel though. 

On our last day we drove through 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach, and then found a spot to get out near Carmel to walk on the beach for a while. Again, I think it was overwhelming for Ruby, because she didn't want to walk at all in the sand and only wanted to be in her daddy's arms. Maybe next visit we won't be able to tear her away from the beach. We had lovely weather and enjoyed the short amount of time we stayed. I'm glad that the overall feel of Carmel is still there even though some of the favorite shops have moved on. We will definitely go again soon, and not wait 11 years!

I'll be doing a post on our trip to Pennsylvania and Boston, so if you would like to come take a virtual trip, check back soon.

Ruby's Arrival

She's here!!! Ruby Valentina. Born on May 10th, at 3:13 am, weighing in at 9 lbs. 3oz.   The first picture of Caitlin was taken on May 3rd. They had given Caitlin two due dates, one being the 7th, the other the 4th. We still have no idea why they did this, because later Caitlin found out that it was always the 7th. We think the ultrasound tech had changed it to the 4th because of baby's size. When May 4th rolled around and there was no sign of labor, we started thinking that  the date of the 7th was going to be the correct due date. I really thought she would be born on the 8th. I was partly correct, as her water broke at 11:30 pm that evening. She had no significant contractions, so I thought we might be in for a long night. 12 hours passes by....I decide to go home real quick to take a shower, and when I was at home, they had decided to give something to Caitlin to hasten the contractions. By the time I got there, she was in significant discomfort. By the 24 hour mark, she was ready to start pushing. She was a trooper, and had no epidural or other  pain medication. They offered her nitrous gas, which is more popular in Europe, and now coming back into play here in the States. Other than this, she had a natural birth. Lots of other details, but it is Caitlin's story to tell. I was humbled and honored to be Caitlin and Cyrous's co-birth coach. Words can't really express the emotions I felt through the process. It was truly hard to see your baby in such pain, at the same time I was in awe at her strength and determination to push this baby out into the world! Such a beautiful experience to see your daughter give birth. I have been a co-birth coach for my sister with two of her children, but nothing prepared me for what I felt on Ruby's birthday. The next day after I had some time to sleep, I called my sister to tell her about the birth..... that is when I cried like never before. If I think of the day too much at any given time I'll get emotional.
She is beautiful, healthy and looks a lot like her mama. I see dad in the mix too, but when I hold her, I feel like I'm holding baby Caitlin sometimes. I look at her and wonder what her personality will be, what those little hands with create, where those little feet will take her. It's a wonderful feeling to be a grandparent. The circle of life is a beautiful thing.

Our Easter

Easter day was so sunny and pretty! We had two days prior that were overcast and glum, but Easter was sparkly and gorgeous. We had a lazy one this year, including me being lazy and not really decorating the house until the last minute. I think I pulled it off though haha.
Since Caitlin couldn't eat rare lamb, I made a shoulder of lamb and cooked it kind of like you would cook carnitas. The recipe was from a cookbook called "A Kitchen in France." By Mimi Thorisson. There was some tinkering I had to do with the cut of the meat, because here in the US they butcher meat differently than they do in France. I ordered a shoulder, thinking that it would look like a pork shoulder roast, but it didn't. When I arrived to my favorite butcher shop and asked for my order, the guy came over and said I'm really curious what you are making, and why you requested 3 pounds of lamb shoulder. After discussing the recipe and having a fun conversation on how butchering varies, even from the East Coast, we decided to add a couple more blade shoulder chops to the three pound piece and tie butcher string around it to make it a bigger roast. So having done that, it brought up the weight more from the recipe. I upped the temp a bit and adjusted the cooking time. I think I could have taken it out sooner, but it was pretty tasty. The sauce was a garlic cream, made with pan drippings, cream, and ten cloves of garlic. As you can see from the first picture, there are already several heads of garlic with the lamb up there! That garlic caramelized quite nicely and perfumed the meat. We started dinner with a carrot ginger soup, with a spoon of creme fraiche and chives. I found some morel mushrooms at Berkeley bowl and added them to the asparagus, along with lemon zest. I lately have been loving Yukon gold potatoes more than red, so we had some with thyme.  No time this year to plan out a dessert, and having just finished consuming Caitlin's cheesecake the week before, I was a bit maxed out of baking. We bought this cute little coconut cake at Whole Foods, and I decorated the top with some cup cake picks that I already, and that was our Easter!

On good Friday I shot Caitlin's maternity pictures. I'm doing a separate post on that possibly on Wednesday. I'm still editing the pictures and hope to have them completed by then. They turned out so pretty!  You will have to come back and check it out.
Speaking of Caitlin, we have less than five more weeks to go before little miss Ruby is born! We are all so excited :)   Last Saturday we went over to their house to check out Ruby's little nursery area, and it was super cute. Caitlin painted the cutest little water color to hang above her little bassinet and everything is so nicely  color coordinated. All the little clothes are washed and now we wait.

Ok, I'm off to edit the pictures!

Caitlin's Baby Shower

It all started with an Anthropologie Christmas ornament to come up with the theme of Caitlin's baby shower. While I was sitting on the couch in December, wondering if Caitlin and Cyrous were having a boy or a girl, I looked at the pretty swan ornament on the Christmas tree and thought, if the baby  were a girl, I would love to do a swan theme. Everywhere I looked, after I decided this, I would see swan items or pictures everywhere!  Surely it was a sign that it was a girl I thought to myself. Perhaps it was, or I just read too much into it, hahah. The minute we opened the envelope on Christmas morning,  and found out that the baby was a girl, my baby shower planing started in earnest! Shortly after Christmas I did a search on Etsy for swan decor, and up popped up the beautiful swan planters, that I had Florali (our florist from the wedding) do two beautiful arrangements in, and I knew they had to be part of the table decor for the shower. After that I searched almost daily to find more items or ideas to incorporate the swan theme in. The next item I purchased was the beautiful banner behind the table. I ordered it from Spoonflower, and if you don't know about them, click here and check them out! You can upload your own design or use the designs that others have designed. I just did a quick search using the word "swans," and this beautiful design came up! It's 6 feet tall and about 54 inches wide ( I used eco canvas option). I then just stitched up the sides and made a casing at the top to run a pole through. I didn't want to take it down after the shower hahah. Also on Etsy, I found the most perfect invitations that had almost the same look to the banner's swan. Here is the link to them (Hank and Petunia)
When gathering all the goodies for the shower, I noticed that most of the really pretty party decor that had swans on them, were from Australia or the UK. I ordered the cute garland on the fireplace from a UK company called "Talking Tables." No planning would be complete without making a Pinterest board right?! If you follow me on there, you can see how I put it together and came up with what I did. I find Pinterest very useful when planning parties and weddings for that matter. I found a cute idea on there for flower letters, and made  Ruby's name in silk flowers. More than one person thought they were real flowers! Really fun project using mdf letters and silk flowers from Michael's. The balloons were fun and games to fill and transport home. I found the balloons in a shop in Berkeley, but realized they were kinda fancy, so I looked into who could fill them with the confetti that was inside them. I found another shop in Berkeley that specialized in filling these 36 inch balloons. At first I thought I was going over the top and could have filled them at the near by grocery store, but I'm glad I didn't, because there really was a technique to it. They added the pretty tassels for a little extra money. I had to put down the seats in the Volvo to transport them home, they were that big! One more  detail. The swan candle sticks on my mantel are from Anthropologie. I have been eyeing them since they arrived at the store. They were pricey, so I passed (even with my employee discount). Then a couple of weeks or so before the shower, they were in the sale room. I waited for them to drastically get  marked down, and then waited for them to do a sale on sale. I was really hoping that they would still be there when they had that sale. Lucky me they were still there! So they graced our mantel on the day with pink candles to boot! Oops, I almost forgot the light pink boas I used were from Etsy as well. I ordered 3 of them, but only needed two, and tied them together to make a garland around the table. One day, maybe Ruby can use them in her dress up box for play time.

After I had rounded up all the decor, I embarked on making Ruby a little outfit. Then it evolved into a a casual outfit and dressy one. The fabric used, is Liberty of London that I actually bought in London a few years back. I hung onto it hoping that I would have a granddaughter someday to make a little dress out of it. Wish granted! I made bloomers to go with the dress, and then I used some organic knit to make a onesie. The little bib was fun to make and perhaps I will make more of those for the shop.  My gift was the Moses basket filled with more goodies. I was happy I found the sweetest little stuffed swan to complete the whole theme of the day to add to the basket.
The first picture was another project I made using photos of both Caitlin and Cyrous when they were babies. I borrowed some pictures from Cyrous's mom and then matched some of Caitlin's baby pictures by age. I uploaded them and with a few edits and making them black and white, I turned them into a collage.  Oh, I almost for got to talk about the little outfit that is on my coffee table with the stork. That was Caitlin's coming home outfit! I recently found all the pieces and was thrilled to include them on the day.  I also made the little napkin rings, after I came across this cute clip art with a swan carrying a baby on its back.

Next came the food planning. I decided I wanted to do three salads that could stand alone as a meal. Two of them were from my Ina Garten cookbooks. They were: Chinese Chicken Salad, and a cous cous Moroccan salad. The third salad was a French potato salad that I love to make in the summer months, but thought it would be a great addition to the other two.  While flipping though my Instagram, I came across an account from Australia dedicated to "grazing tables." I got obsessed with looking at them! It was super fun gathering up all the food for it I must say. I used: several artisanal cheeses, meats, olives berries, crackers, dips and jams that went with the cheese.  I poured the most beautiful honey all over the brie. I sprinkled edible organic flowers between all the goodies to make it pop to finish the table. I highly recommend making one of these for your next party.
I have to give a huge shout out to my step mom, who with my dad, came all the way from Pennsylvania to be here for Caitlin's shower. Had it not been for my step mom helping me put the salads together, I would have been working into the wee hours of the night before the shower. I really couldn't have done it without her!

The dessert table included macarons, little wrapped biscotti from Italy, cookies and mini tarts from Whole Foods, candies from Dean and Delucca, and lolly pops from See's. The candies and sweets were to be taken home as a favor.

The cake was from the same baker as Caitlin and Cyrous' wedding cake, click on her name to see her beautiful cakes! ( Katrina Rozelle)  The flavor was a white cake, that was more like a classic yellow cake, with Bavarian vanilla cream in the center and fresh strawberries. Her butter cream frosting is hands down the best I've ever had. I usually scrape all the frosting off cakes, but I find it very hard to do it with Katrina's cakes. All the roses were handmade by her and tinted in a peachy blush tone to match the flowers in the banner. To top off the beautiful cake was the ornament that inspired the whole baby shower, the ornament from Anthropologie!

Hope you enjoyed my lengthy post on Caitlin's shower. I'm detailing it for future eyes that might want to see how much she was loved before she was ever here.