best mail ever & a new book.

I love my mom. 

I love her for many reasons, but as of right now, my top reason is how she sends me handmade cards filled with piles of coupons. 

BEST. MAIL. EVER.

When I was young, I very clearly remember couponing with my mom. I thought it was so fun cutting out all of the things that I thought looked good! Needless to say, we always had coupons for cookies and ice cream. 

Now I don't know if couponing came with motherhood, but once I got pregnant, I found comfort in clipping out these old money-saving friends. Unfortunately, once I started working full time, my printer broke and my couponing days took a very sad halt. But mom to the rescue! It's like she had a sixth sense for knowing I hadn't been couponing and she started sending me hers! :] That's real love, folks. Pre-clipped coupons in the mail is real motherly love. 

Speaking of my adorable mother, she has recently become a published author! As a new parent, I was always sad that there weren't more children's books to help me teach my child about his Filipino culture. Apparently my mother felt the same as a new grandmother, and took it upon herself to create something! As a former educator, she is taking what she knows and currently working on a series of multicultural books catered to the Filipino-American community. I don't know if she realizes, but this is definitely a helpful step to keeping future generations of Filipino Americans in touch with their roots. 

Buy your own copy here!

world series champs.

YEAHH! 

The Giants are officially the World Series Champs of 2014!

Makai was pretty excited. "Let's Go Giants" is the one chant he REALLY gets into.

But really, how serious was that game?! The tension during that last inning was no joke. Now, I'm not claiming to be the biggest baseball fan, but I thought I was going to actually throw up! Then Bumgarner did it! And yay! We won!

I got to pick up this sweet copy of the SF Chronicle this morning. How magical is that hug on the front page?

The parade is on Friday, and as much as I want to go, I don't think it's in the stars. Large rowdy crowds don't really mix with 3 year olds, and adding rain to the mix will only make it more miserable.

I suppose it just means the Giants will have to win another one!

my first attempt at roasted pumpkin seeds.

When we bought our pumpkin last week, what I was looking forward to most was roasting the seeds. I love eating pumpkin seeds, so I thought it'd be fun to try and roast them myself for a change! I love to bake and getting Makai to help, so I figured roasting a few pumpkin seeds would be a breeze. (Dumb.)

So we finally hollowed Mr. Pumpkin out and washed out the seeds. I found a couple of fun recipes (like here and here), but I was in the mood for something a little more on the salty-sweet side and thought I'd try something like this this time. (Although I probably should have done this one). I didn't quite have 4 cups of pumpkin seeds from my little pumpkin, so I just adjusted the recipe to taste.

Makai thought all the mixing and melting of things sounded like fun, so at least I got him to do something. Spatula and mixing duty seemed to be the right up his alley for the night. I love it when I convince him to be hands on and help. Cooking is a skill he'll need to know.

Once we got the seeds in the oven and set our timer, I thought it would be the perfect time to decorate our pumpkin! Makai very quickly extinguished my dreams and decided that wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. And since my son has recently turned into a crazy tantrum filled demon-child (I don't know why they bother calling it the "terrible 2s" when it's really the 3s you've got to look out for), I decided it wasn't worth a fight to make him cut up the gourd of the month. Oh, well.

After the alloted time, my pumpkin seeds smelled lovely and had a beautiful caramel color from the the sugar. Unfortunately for me, I burned these babies and it all ended up tasting like burnt popcorn.

It was a sad night.

I tried my best to just eat them... but really, no one likes the taste of burnt popcorn.

Next time, I won't take these for granted and I'll do a little more research before I try something new. Perhaps I'll watch this in preparation.

All in all, I can't complain. Mr. Pumpkin has served us well and given us many activity options, although they didn't all come to fruition. Maybe once Halloween passes I'll buy a couple pumpkins on clearance and try again.

car paint.

I don't know if I'd call myself the craftiest mom out there, but I at least try to come up with alternative activities to sitting inside all day. Whenever we sit inside just watching tv, I picture his brain actually turning into jello.

So in came the Family Fun activity tip! It's nothing very spectacular, but it was something new to keep Makai busy :] They suggested mixing up finger paint time and using everyday things like his little toy cars! I put little puddles of paint on parts of the paper and let Makai drive the cars around the page to spread the paint. It's supposed to help open his mind to think of different uses for everyday things. Makai isn't a fan of getting too messy so paint time usually doesn't last that long, but adding in the cars made it last a little bit longer. 

I'm thinking of playing around with this idea on a canvas for something a little more elevated to hang around the apartment. It's abstract art!

In the meantime, I'll worry about finding more magnet space on the fridge.

star wars and barnes & noble.

When I was lucky enough to work part time and spend my days with the little guy, I always looked forward to Thursday morning story times at the local library. Unfortunately, the stability of my new 9-5 meant having to give it up. 

Luckily, my local Barnes & Noble has been able to fill that void. While I still can't make the story-times they offer during the week, they tend to offer special "reading events" on Saturdays! Perfect! These little reading events promise small activities, kiddie swag, and treats. Winning way to spend 2 hours if you ask me. 

Last Saturday was a Star Wars reader day, and thanks to my 2 older brothers, I was born and raised a Star Wars fan. Since I expect my son to love everything that I love, I thought this sounded like our type of event.

It ended up being super cute! 

There were just enough kids for seats and they all gathered around to hear the stories. Apparently, it was a pretty small crowd this week, but I think that actually worked out in our favor and  made it a little easier for Makai. (He's not a big crowd person.) After the associate read 2 short Star Wars books, they offered a fun scavenger hunt around the store, coloring pages with crayons, a little bag of sugar cookies, and some fun Star Wars themed goodies to take home. Makai loved it and is constantly showing off his mono-colored coloring pages, talking about what fun he had at "the book store" with his friends.

One of my challenges as a broke parent is trying to consistently offer my son fun and new experiences that fit into my budget. While a free story time may not sound that exciting, it's such an easy way for us to get out of the house, do something together, and promote the whole "reading is fun" idea! And since these story times are "events," they're always a new theme, a new book, and offer new things (I heard that on special occasions they bring in people in costume). Plus I don't have to spend any money. Amazing! 

Now, will I spend money? Probably. (I'm pretty sure that's the whole idea) But at least it's on a new book that Makai excitedly picked out himself for our nightly story time at home. I'd much rather buy him a book than another useless toy.

To sum it up... we'll definitely be back and I will make it a point to regularly check out any upcoming events. Have a Barnes & Noble near you? Check out what they have coming up near you!

P.S. We took game ONE of the World Series! We're ready to take the rest!

Makai:

Charlie Brown Giants Tee - JCPenny

White pocket tee - Old Navy

Giants jersey - gift

Olive skinny jeans - Old Navy

Orange slip ons - BabyGap

Colorblock sunglasses - BabyGap (other color here)

marks bday.

In case you happened to notice my blogging absence, let me apologize for depriving you of the very exciting details of my life. I was no-fun sick in bed and staying alive may have been higher up on my priority list than blogging. My bad. But here I am to fill you in on some fun that you missed!

Last Thursday, Mark turned 27!

I'm not actually sure how exciting that is, turning 27. I wasn't exactly ecstatic when I turned 27, but hey! Most people like birthdays. So why bring everyone else down?

Unfortunately, the day wasn't especially festive on account of me being sick. I tried my best to give him a little surprise birthday fun to come home to after his long day of work (by which I mean I bribed my friend to drive around and pick up some orders for me) so that I didn't feel like the worst girlfriend ever and do nothing for Mark.

So at least he got to come home to some cake, cards, and balloons. (that pile of ripped up paper glued to felt was Makai's "homemade card")

Luckily, we had some early birthday festivities a couple weeks ago, so his special year didn't go completely uncelebrated.

As you should already know, Mark kind of likes beer, so I thought a brewery tour would be right up his alley. I did some search engine-ing and yelping and found Bay Area Brewery Tours. Initially, it sounded a little steep at $95 a person, but once I read into it, it sounded like a pretty complete package. $95 included a shuttle service from the city Caltrain Station to 3 breweries (we took the Sunday tour which included Lagunitas, Moylan's, and Marin breweries), tours of all all 3 breweries, plus all tastings and lunch from the Lagunitas menu. Pretty decent, right? So basically, we had a drive free day of eating and nonstop drinking - I'd call that a winning trip.

As you can guess from the photos, Lagunitas was the total highlight. The food was legit, the tour was incredibly informative/interesting, and the beer is never disappointing. My favorite is DEFINITELY the Kronik. I would also definitely recommend a tour if you ever get the chance.

Click any of the above links for more information on brew tours!

Oh! And the Giant's played on Mark's bday and  
MADE IT TO THE WORLD SERIES!!! 
I don't think I can ever buy Mark a present that could match that.

Mark:

Navy short sleeve button up - Old Navy

Tan cargo shorts - Old Navy

Tropical print shoes - Radii from JackThreads

Giants hat - Giants Dugout

Giants Windbreaker - CostCo

Black skinny denim - Old Navy (available here)

Alyssa:

Geo print tank - F21

Raw hem distressed shorts - Old Navy

Shoes - Converse

Grey leather tote - Banana Republic (other colors here)

Makai:

Dino thermal - Old Navy

Giants jersey - gift

Skinny denim - Old Navy

Camo shoes - Airwalk at Payless (available here)

mustard sweater and a semi-romantic love story.

To go with today's "dad fashion," here's the story of how Mark and I met:

I started working as a sales associate at Banana Republic in San Francisco in 2009.

Mark worked in the stock room and I went to the back for a stock check. Voila! Workplace romance.

He wooed me for a good while, and I decided he was worth my time - or if you ask him, he won me over with his style and charm.

We hung out, and 3 months later, we pulled into a gas station where he looked at me and said "You know you're my girl, right?"And like a total G, I looked back at him, let out the most regrettable little giggle and said "Yes." (Apparently I'm a sucker for terrible lines.)

Done. Love.

Pretty romantic, I know.


A lot has happened with us between 2009 and now - but all I know is now I get to spend my days with my best friend, hanging out and raising the kiddo.


Alright, my title may have been a little misleading. I apologize. I'll make it up to you someday, I promise.

Mark:

Brown felted bow tie - handmade by me (etsy here)

Chambray button up - Banana Republic (similar here)

Merino mustard vneck sweater - Banana Republic (other colors here)

Brown trench - Banana Republic

Skinny denim - Gap

Brown leather boots - Sebago

Gold calculator watch - Casio (available here)

pumpkin patch.

It's mid-October and I figured it was about time we got ourselves a pumpkin.

My family was never the "pumpkin patch" type when I grew up, and there aren't too many exciting ones in the area, so I saw the opportunity for a little day trip and decided we should go out to Half Moon Bay. There are tons of pumpkin patches there, many of which offer hay rides, train rides, pony rides, petting zoos, etc. plus I thought it might be a fun experience for Makai. 

...except that everyone else in the world decided that it was a good idea too and it ended up being way too crowded. Mark and I chalk it up to part of "the experience" and figure that at least we did it once.

I did a little research on the many, many pumpkin patches that Half Moon Bay has to offer and decided on Lemo's Pumpkin Farm. They had a "ghost train ride" which felt like an easy win for our little train enthusiast, so I figured it was our best bet. We spent our morning having our fill of pumpkins, hay, and snow cones and got to share a new experience together. I'm pretty positive that next year, we will be doing our best to avoid the crowds and opt for a much quieter and traditional field of pumpkins. But I'm glad we got to do this together. I never feel like we can afford much for Makai, so we try and make up for it with quality time and shared experiences. 

 

 

Of course the pumpkin patch would have been the PERFECT fall photo opportunity. I expected a lot of cliche pumpkin patch photos to happen, but Makai decided he wasn't going to be my monkey anymore and refused to sit or stand anywhere cute. There may have been a lot of crying and dragging involved at the end of the trip, so I thought it best to to just get out of there and make less of a scene. I'm not quite sure why the situation escalated so fast, but I'll just assume it was nap related.

Once we got home, I decided to bribe him with some ice cream in exchange for a couple of decent pumpkin photos. Unfortunately, we ended up with some major chocolate mouth.

"IT'S TOO HEAVY MOMMY!"

I may have underestimated his size vs. this pumpkin's weight.

I planned on grabbing a few pumpkins, but could barely make it out with the one and all of my parenting dignity. It's cool. I'm pretty sure I picked myself a winner. I look forward to carving this puppy later in the week. Now to decide.. happy pumpkin? Funny pumpkin? Creepy pumpkin? Painting? There's so many choices!






p.s. can we all take a moment and realize how terribly thought out this front sign is?

Makai:

Placed stripe pocket tee - Joe Fresh at JCPenny

Olive skinny denim - Old Navy

Camo lace-up shoes - Airwalk at Payless (available here)

Mark:
Giants hat - Giants Dugout (available here)
Sunglasses - Banana Republic
Heathered "luxe-touch" Polo - Banana Republic