Chicago trip

Yay! My baby boy is growing!! As of January 19, he was 1lb1oz. Here is a cute picture frame my mom got for the babes.

2 nights ago, I accompanied Tarek into the city for his interviews. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency because we got a really great rate on Priceline's name yo own price but we ended up getting screwed in parking; it was 53 BLEEPin dollars!!! Thankfully we were only staying there one night before moving on to the Day's Inn (much better and cheaper stay) in Lakeview. 

As if spending money for parking wasn't enough, I had T order us room service for breakfast. I don't know what I was thinking since I wasn't feeling too great from the other nights food. I could barely finish my breakfast :(

On Tuesday, I checked in to the Day's Inn while T was at his interviews. I was super stoked to find a Trader Joe's across the street from the hotel since I haven't been to one in TWO YEARS!! Sigh.. it feels SO good to be back!!

Unfortunately, this is one of the few times where choosing healthy isn't necessarily better. To be honest, everything tasted like crap!

I just wasn't feeling this "Super Spinach Salad". All the ingredients were fresh but it all just tasted too cold (if that makes ANY sense) and really unflavorful.

Ewww.. these spicy California rolls were pretty disgusting. The brown rice was hard, chewy, and had a really weird vinegar taste to it.

Sigh.. the only redeeming quality to the lunch was a few chewy chocolate chip cookies. I swear TJ's usually doesn't let me down!! After eating, I laid down with a stomach ache and before I knew it, T was back and ready to eat dinner.

Kalbi and shrimp tacos

bibimbap

We managed to sneak out to a new place for dinner called Del Seoul in Lakeview, a Korean street food restaurant that opened up after we left London. http://delseoul.com/index.php. My tastebuds weren't all there but from what I could make of it, everything tasted pretty good!

pork dumplings

 

On our last day in Chicago, my appetite finally returned and I was craving a sandwich/soup combo. Luckily there was a deli within walking distance to our hotel. I ordered a really delicious pastrami and chicken matzo ball soup. Yummy!! 

Matzo ball as BIG as yo head!! http://www.francesdeli.com/

For your viewing pleasure... Sonoma's back! We got her a new coat while we were in the city.

We're baaaack!!

.... and it feels so GOOD!!

Sonoma got her first walk last night by my mom. Needless to say, T and I were spent and crashed at 11.

She lovada snow!!!

It's freezzzing outside and so much more colder than it is in London. I have no idea why I was complaining about the cold in the UK, lol..

Now that we're back at my moms, I have a fridge full of fresh veggies and healthy Korean food!!

Week 22

Let us see my life without pictures in a nutshell: Had food poisoning this past Tuesday, yes that's two cases of food poisoning throughout my pregnancy!! On Day 1 of food poisoning, (Night 1 was when all the symptoms started), I laid in bed all day with stomach pains and many trips (some false alarms) to the bathroom.

Day 2 aka Mover Day, I was struck with severe heartburn symptoms which I put off as being "normal" and then by Night 2, I decided F*it, and I had T bring me some heartburn medication. To top it all off, I couldn't sleep last night because each side I chose to sleep on felt increasingly uncomfortable as the night went on.
Phew.. Seriously, can my little guy cause me any more trouble? At least I got a chuckle out of the hubby as he gave me a condensed Simpson's version of my life lately. Ahhh food poisoning ! Ahh stomach pains!  Ahhh Itchy rash!!!!! Ahh food poisoning!!! AHH Heartburn!! Guess you had to be there :-)

Our movers came yesterday at 8 am and pretty much took everything out of our apartment so it's looking very bare. I didn't lift a finger and legitimately started having chest pains starting at 10 a.m. I holed myself into my room and did the only thing that made me feel better; I laid in bed!

Today we have our 22 week anatomy and growth scan. I'm praying everything turns out alright since it's been 10 holy moly! weeks since our last perfect 12 weeks can.

Barrafina

On Sunday afternoon, T and I finally managed to make it out to Barrafina, a Spanish tapas restaurant that we've been wanting to try out since we basically moved here. The only reason we haven't gone any sooner is because it's a first come, first serve restaurant, so that pretty much deters us if we want a guaranteed seat for lunch/dinner. We also thought it would be a great way to end our days here in London.

When we first arrived, there was a decent size line but the wait was only 30 minutes so we toughed it out and ordered a couple appetizers.

We started with olives- green and kalamata (the green had much more flavor whereas the red was really bland!)

olive oil and tomato spread on a toasted baguette- it was juicy and delicious!

The wait went by really quickly and we were soon seated at the bar. There isn't any other seating, but I actually preferred this intimate setting where you face the cooks and wait staff. 

 

One look at the glorious raw bar and my mouth was already wet in anticipation! T and I agreed that Spanish tapas, especially seafood is by far my favorite cuisine. Nothing else gets me this excited to eat!

The clams tasted very fresh but something was a bit off about the flavor that I couldn’t put my finger on. A tad bit disappointing since the waitress raved that they were her favorite! Different strokes for different folks I guess!

 

All the Spanish cured meats were fantastic!

lil shrimpies! Actually, these were decent size and really yummy!

A classic Spanish tortilla- it was egg based with a potato cheesy gratin in the middle. Yum!

2 juicy and garlicy tiger prawns cooked from the raw bar.

I decided we needed some veggies in our life so we had the massaged kale in olive oil and slivered almonds.

 

Quail egg on top of a huge slab piece of chorizo. This was my least favorite dish since the chorizo was a bit overwhelming to eat with the delicate quail egg. 

 

We ended the meal with the perfect piece of grilled quail with aioli dipping sauce. All I can say is you must order this dish- it was muy delicioso!!!

Dinner and Goodbyes

The highlight of my day yesterday was Lunch at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The concept of the restaurant is interesting; the dishes are from British past but the presentation is very modern. Many dishes were dated from the 1700 and 1800’s. Something I didn’t know is that the restaurant isn’t run by Heston himself, but by his executive head Chef Ashley Palmer-Watts of his more famous and upscale restaurant The Fat Duck.

 For my starter, I ordered the roast bone marrow with pickled vegetables- it was creamy, smokey and warm. The pickled vegetables helped balance out the heaviness of the marrow. I almost wish I ordered the Meat Fruit starter but was initially turned off by 1.) the name of the dish..umm meat FRUIT? 2.) it was a chicken liver starter and I'm technically not supposed to eat too much liver during my pregnancy. Thankfully our friends ordered this starter and it was by far my favorite tasting and looking starter. Here's what it looks like: The plate comes out looking like you're about to eat a mandarin orange but when you cut through the middle, you find a super flavorful chicken liver pate. If you ask T, I don't even like liver, but this was the best liver I've tasted.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/feb/02/restaurant-review-dinner-heston-blumenthal

T had the rice and flesh starter with saffron, calf tail, and red wine. It looked and tasted equally good! He was a bit disappointed by the little 4 pieces of calf tail (flesh) that was in his dish.

Tarek and I split the Wing rib of Irish Angus with mushroom ketchup, which tasted exactly how it sounded, a tart tasting sauce with mushrooms, and a red wine juice that was a perfect complement over the steak. Yum!

Sides- triple cooked chips, black cabbage, green beans

Dessert was really fantastic though. Each couple ordered the tipsy cake, which tasted similar to a sugared, incredibly soft donut with a butter topping. The warm pineapple that was placed aside the cake had been roasting for hours and was so good!! My only complaint was that we didn’t order two!

 We ended the meal with a rich chocolate mouse with a hint of orange. It was seriously so decadent that I couldn’t finish the tiny shot glass! Besides the chocolate was an earl grey and caraway biscuit that helped balance out some of the sweetness.

After our 3 hour lunch, we only had 2 hour to recuperate/cat nap before heading off to our next outing: our farewell dinner and karaoke night. Dinner was at tried and true Lahore Kabob house and then karaoke at Rudy's Revenge. Lahore was the only place that could host such a large group and thankfully, the food is delicious. It was really nice to say goodbye to friends and Tarek's colleagues.

Surprisingly, I wasn't too in the mood to take pictures but T convinced me to bring it out so I made him do most of the dirty work. I often wonder if we would have any pictures if I didn't remember to bring my camera! No one seems to care much for pictures in this group

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.  And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.  ~Irish Blessing