Happy Birthday, Bubs!

Here are some pictures from our big boy's birthday.  We spent the day eating at his favorite spots, bowling, and relaxing in the park for a few hours.

"Yay!  I'm the birthday boy today!"

Perhaps...

I should have my 5-year-old kid teach ME how to draw.

Arnabeet Mekleh (Fried Cauliflower) Salad Recipe: My Open Sesame Re-creation

My favorite salad.  If you haven't had this before, you are most likely wrinkling your nose at the lowly cauliflower.  Just like I did.  

Whenever we visit Southern California, the restaurant that is always at the top of our must-eat list is Open Sesame, which is located in Long Beach's Belmont Shore.  This restaurant opened up on 2nd Street when I was in college and it was always fun to check in on them and see the rave reviews slooowly appear on the walls and eventually take over.  As word eventually got out, it became harder and harder to grab a quick dinner there, but it was always worth the wait.

My Thoughts on Disaster Preparedness

I am guest posting this over at HeyLauraWhat.com so please go and check out the series that Laura is doing over there!


One morning in 1987, I woke up and I made my way to the bathroom to get ready for school.  A quick bath, a dry, undies, leggings, an oversized shirt, and two layers of socks in different colors....put on with one black sock first then a hot pink sock over that with exactly the opposite layering on the other foot, you know, just to look a little private school Punky B.  I brushed my hair, but before I could give myself a side half ponytail, it struck.  

There is nothing quite like running down a narrow hallway of stairs and watching humungous cracks form, chase you to the bottom and win.  I met my mother there at the bottom of the stairs and we quickly hid under our massive dining room table.  It stopped, only for a minute and then another one came.  It was quite a scene for my eight-year-old self to experience. 

Thank You, Sibelius 6!

JJ has been busy scoring strings for the past 10 days or so and I just found this in my camera this morning. Considering my child has never had a music lesson in his life, I found this hilarious.   Just learning by watching good old dad...

"Look mom, I wrote the Angry Birds theme song."