The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

Hi Friends! This past weekend our City had a big 2 day event to celebrate the salmon returning home to spawn…. We enjoyed the fair like food (lots of different cuisines) but we got the Mexican corn (elote), korean cheese dog and refreshing lemonade! The big hit for the kids was the cotton candy character! Mia picked Ducky:) I’m still thinking of my Korean Cheese dog!HA

How Pretty is this tree!

Sunday morning Matthew was still showing signs of his cold, so we decided to keep him back from church. We decided to get an early start on the birthday celebration prep. The whole family went to the Asian market to get groceries and we stopped by at our favorite bakery. Hubs really liked their egg tarts:) We wanted to cook crispy orange beef and sweet and sour garlic shrimp for Mia’s birthday dinner with my In laws (most of the ingredients we need are from the Asian market).

We really enjoyed the food. Crispy Orange Beef was a HIT! I made pork belly humba and my DIL loved it:) Mia got lots of love and attention this week! Thanks to our families for their generosity. We appreciate all of your thoughtfulness. Mia said this was the best birthday ever! Thank God we had a great weekend celebrating her.

Mia and I did our 30daywalkchallenge! Today was Day 9!

Have a great Monday evening friends! Take Care:)

Hi Friends! Mia had her birthday this week and we had fun celebrating her:) We had fun shopping, a special lunch date, and dinner at a nice restaurant. We started the day with a McDonalds breakfast and donuts! She facetimed families and they’re all so excited for her.

Mommy and Mia birthday walk! HA! Day6 of my #30daywalkchallenge and she wanted to go with me! We love taking pictures of the fall beauties around our neighborhood!

Shopping and lunch date! I got her some new dresses, pens, and lipgloss!

She requested steak for dinner! So off we go to John Howie Steak. It was a great dinner but a little stressful because Matthew got antsy after he was done eating while we were still enjoying ours.HA! This is why we’ve avoided going out to dinner for so long, he is good for like an hour or two! But we made it:)

We got there a little early so we walked around the place and got some Bobba drinks!

Mia got Fillet Mignon and fries! I got Fillet Mignon Oscar style too:)

She opened one gift from her Auntie when we got home. Thanks to our families for sending their birthday gifts to Mia!

Happy Birthday, Mia! Thank You God for blessing us with her:)

Take Care friends and have a great rest of your weekend!

Hi Friends! We had a family walk/biked with the kids this afternoon, and it was so nice outside. Next week will be rainy so we will enjoy these next couple of days full of fall sunshine. I’m still going strong with my #30daywalkingchallenge that I sort of follow. Day 4 going strong!HA

I did some major decluttering yesterday again! That was great:)

We had our sliding door removed and updated. It was a mess of a day but they’re done now!

We’ve been playing memory match games most nights. Mia is always winning. She has a great memory:)

We had spaghetti and Jalapeños poppers (hubs fave) and grilled shrimps for dinner. I’m also trying to minimize eating out/take out this month. Eating out is getting so expensive so we are trying to lessen that.

Have a great rest of your evening friends! Stay safe:)

Hi Friends! Happy October:) It’s been a rainy Monday here in the Pacific Northwest. I did a little walk today while waiting for Matthews drop off. I’m seeing some 30 Day walk/October walk challenge on social media, not “officially” joining the challenge but it does inspire me to exercise/walk. So far, so good!HA

We did our first October grocery shopping this morning. Prices are still ridiculous! I’m also tracking our grocery expenses this month, our grocery bills were high this past summer (so this month I will really take note!).

I took a pic of this pretty tree in our park during my walk!

First soup of the season. French Onion soup! It was a hit for the Hubs:)

More pics of pretty trees during my walk yesterday!

Hubs baked pumpkin spice bread! Winner recipe:)

I did more decluttering this evening, so that felt good!

Have a great rest of your Evening friends! Going to bed here soon:) Take care!

Hi Friends! Today we had an impromptu playdate with Mia’s BFF at the park! It was such a nice fall day to catch up with friends.

We had a late start today and overslept! It was nice to have a slow day after such a busy week. Yesterday, we checked our local Salmon hatchery and the kids had fun watching salmon swimming home to spawn.

After our playdate earlier,we decided to order pizza and have a relaxing night.

I baked banana bread for breakfast tomorrow before church. I like mine paired with coffee while the rest of the family have it with milk.

It was a happy mail day for me! Matthew and Hubs suffer from eczema every now and then (it’s so much better lately) so we used this brand of soap before, they had a sale weeks ago so I stocked up. I think we are good till next year in the soap department:)

I’ve been wanting to get some walking shoes with good support for a while now. None of my sneakers right now give me that. I’m still in my low spend and intentional buying but I will not sacrifice foot comfort!HA! Hubs has been encouraging me to just get a pair, and I finally did! Originally I got a HOKA Bondi but I didn’t like the look and find them too bulky. I got the Hoka Mach 5 and so far I like the support and how it looks. The lighting in our kitchen is not flattering, it’s a pretty white color. I’m excited to use them on my morning walk!

Here’s a better look!

I hope your September was great friends! Stay safe and Take care:) Talk soon.

Hello Friends! Happy Friday:) I’m looking forward to a weekend that’s peaceful as we’ve had busy and noisy days here. We had new windows installed all over the house so it’s been loud during the removal / installation and workers getting in and out of the house. We had to move our furniture, so the house was a total disaster! They are done aside from our sliding door so they will be back in couple of weeks (wrong door measurements!).

We’ve been enjoying our morning walks this week too. It’s so nice to see fall colors around our neighborhood, enjoying crisp air while getting exercise:) We live in a beautiful area and I can’t help but be so thankful that we get to enjoy this part of the state. Thank You Lord!

While waiting for the school bus, Mia found a friend:)

Mia got to have a Grandpa/Mia date! They had hot coco and a little shopping after:) She was so excited to hangout with Papa! They brought us cookies after.

Mia’s been into painting this week!

Have a great rest of your Friday friends! This weekend we plan to visit our community’s salmon hatchery, continue to declutter, and organize our kids room.

Take Care and Stay Safe!

Hi Friends! Happy First day of Fall (yesterday!). Yesterday, we visited our local farmers market and got fruit, veggies and pastries. It was nice because it wasn’t so crowded and the weather was perfect! One of my favorites to buy at the market are the affordable yet pretty flowers.

I enjoyed an almond croissant(from framers market) with coffee this morning before Church.

An exciting thing happened this week, Matthew started riding the school bus! We are so glad that he liked it and didn’t make a fuss. My little man is growing too fast!

My BIL and nephews were visiting Seattle this week and they stayed for 2 days with us! It was a short but fun visit:) The kids had fun playing with their Uncle and teenager cousins!HA

My decluttering journey continues this week. Our hallway leading to the garage was a mess, it’s random stuff like food boxes and a coat rack. I donated the rack and put the food boxes in the garage pantry. Thanks to my Hubs who took the donations to our local center.

Have a wonderful Sunday friends! Talk later:)

Hello Friends! It’s been a busy past couple of weeks for us here. Lots of things going on, like Matthew’s birthday and he’s back to school now. We started our second year homeschooling Mia, and my sister is back to the east coast! Hubs got sick and is doing some new projects with work, but now he’s got his energy back and we are settling into our fall routine!

I made a little charcuterie board for Matthews Bday, we had burgers (and fix ins!) ordered Mac and Cheese because the kids like it:) Hubs baked a burnt basque cheesecake and we got Matthew’s birthday cake from our local super market.

We prepared steak and lobster dinner for my sisters last night with us! YUM!

We’ve been enjoying Fall weather here, flowers and fall candles are two of my favorites decorations in my cozy house! The hydrangeas are from the yard and Dahlias from Trader Joes!

Have a great Tuesday night friends! About to relax here (watch an episode of Kdrama) then start preparing dinner! Talk later:)

Hi Friends! We had a busy weekend visiting two places with my little fam and sister. We try to visit Edmonds,Washington every summer (it’s 50 min drive from our place plus traffic). We checked their farmers market, ate lobster rolls at one of the restaurants called MARKET, then walked around the beach park and watched the ferry. The kids played in the beach (Daddy too!). We got cookies and donuts at Edmonds Bakery to take home with us. It was a nice day! We really love their lobster rolls, and crab in a bag (fried soft shell crab)! I paired my roll with iced coffee!HA

Yesterday, we went to Kachess Lake again! We went there last month. I wanted to bring my sister to one of my fave Lakes that’s close to our place (another 50 mins drive). Enjoyed nature and swam in the cold lake!HA. The Lake was empty not sure why, people are probably staying indoors and avoiding the smoke ( we have fires around the area). The air quality yesterday was not bad at all! We enjoyed the warm breeze while we were there.

I hope you had a great and restful weekend friends! This is the last week of summer for us. Matthew will be back to school later this week and Mia will start homeschool.

I’m back to decluttering and simplifying the house.

Have a wonderful week! Stay safe:)

Hello Friends! We are finally back home after our Hawaii Vacation. We were supposed to be there for just 10 days but we (kids and I got sick) on the day of our travel back home, so we decided to just extend for another 6 days. It was such a great time because my sisters were also there. It was a mini reunion for my sisters and I. Thanks to my sister and Bro in law for hosting and taking care of us. We spent the majority of our stay at Sheraton Waikiki and couple of days at my sister’s house. LOVE our room view of Diamond Head and Waikiki beach.

Thank God that the kids did well on our plane ride. I was anxious about Matthew, he did get antsy on our way there but all in all he did good. I made sure that both their iPads have kids shows that they like. Lots of snacks and little toys to keep them entertained. Hubs got some cheap toys at the Dollar store the day before we traveled.

We can’t wait to visit again! HI is always a fun place for us with their white, sandy beaches and sunny warm days! Till next time HI:)