chef aaron

aaron is now at an age where he loves to help. he loves to help clean, go to the grocery store, hand the money to cashiers, carry things himself and now bake. as much as it pains me that it's slower and significantly messier, i know aaron loves to help so i suck it up. here are 2 things we've made in the last week.

heart crispy treats. this is an alternative to the popular rice krispy treats. i follow weelicious on instagram and she inspires me to think and be healthier for aaron. this is definitely not as sweet as rice krispy treats and you have to like peanut butter to enjoy this. surprisingly, aaron loves this (however, i've never give him rice krispy treats so he doesn't really have much to compare to). i'm not usually a whole foods shopper but that's the only place i was able to find the brown rice syrup and brown rice cereal.

nutella cookies w/ sea salt. i can't remember how i stumbled upon this website but i've had this recipe bookmarked for months and finally got around to making it. soo super easy and tastes AMAZING out of the oven. her recipe actually makes roughly 24 cookies. this is definitely the opposite of healthy but everything in moderation right?

happy baking!

review: juice cleanse w pressed juicery

during the holidays, i (like most people) had quite indulgent meals. how can one say no to all the deliciousness that surrounds you? after christmas and into the new year, i did start to feel some of the effects. my face was breaking out a bit more than usual and i just felt a bit more sluggish and unhealthy. i thought this would be a good time to try a juice cleanse; just get my body back to a healthier state. if i was still working and drinking coffee everyday, it would definitely be a harder sell. however, since i stopped working, i have also given up coffee. =) i also wanted to mentally challenge myself that i could shop, cook and eat healthier: less process foods and more fruits and vegetables.

i did some research online and through yelp on reviews of different companies offering juice cleanses. i decided w/ pressed juicery for 2 main reasons: 1) their juices are tasty and primarily 2) they were offering a promotion: 3 day juice cleanse for $149 w/ free shipping (normally $199). typically most 3 day juice cleanses are between $199 - $299 and do not offer free delivery.

to prepare for the juice cleanse, they do advice that you start avoiding some foods prior to the juice cleanse. for the most part, caffeine and alcohol were easy. processed food was definitely harder due to my snacking tendencies. dairy, rice and red meat were a bit harder but it was just about moderation.

day one:
the morning started annoyingly, because on the pressed juicery website, they state that deliveries would arrive between 3-7am. well, my juices didn't arrive until 10am. in most cases, if people had to work, they would be set back one day and they suggest all juices be consumed w/in 3 days. since i'm lucky enough to be not working right now, i was okay holding out in the morning until the juices arrived. also, the juices arrived w/o any labels as to what order to drink the juices. when i called them, the lady was not very friendly and said, "you can find it on the website and the order is just suggestive. if you have a personal preference, you can consume in any order". this seems a bit of a farce as most juiceries recommend an order as how you absorb and digest the juices since it's based on what you've have or haven't consumed during the day. (okay, sorry, that was my rant on poor service; you know how i'm a stickler for good service). back to the cleansing...i drank one of the juices and was fine hiking for about an hour. i felt fine the rest of the day. because i had a late start, i was drinking the juices quite frequently and didn't feel hungry the entire day. i do have to say, drinking 6 bottles of juices w/ water in between each juice is going to clearly make you go to the bathroom a lot! that i would say is probably one of the more annoying parts. i didn't have any problems not chewing anything all day and i definitely wasn't hungry.

day two:
i wouldn't say i felt any immediate effects from juicing. i do admit, it felt nice to have a flat stomach and "feel skinnier" since you aren't eating. ran some errands and went for a walk and felt good. energy level was fine and again, didn't feel hungry. heck, i'm cooking dinner for my husband and son, so talk about temptation.

day three: 
home stretch. have to admit, there were times my stomach was growling but i didn't feel hungry. i am not exactly a fan of cold drinks (hey, i drink just hot water all the time). so for me, each bottle of juice would take me between 30-60 minutes to finish. couple that w/ water in between the juices and i literally felt like i was drinking ALL the time. so i had no cravings to snack on anything. by day three, i do feel more energized in the sense of when i wake up in the morning, i'm not snoozing my alarm 3 times, like i typically do. my skin, hard to say. it could be mind of matter that it seems brighter and healthier. i do feel more balanced in energy level and less highs and lows of tiredness. in fact, yesterday i had both my son and nephew all day and felt great. usually i'm exhausted and would be napping when they are napping.

so, overall, am i glad i did this cleanse and would i recommend this to my friends / family and do it again. YES! (but not pressed juicery). for me, this wasn't about losing weight, it was about cleansing my body from all the holiday unhealthy eating and forcing myself to view food and dieting a little differently. i'm open to trying more vegetables and non processed foods; trying to cut back on carbs and sugar. i'm definitely not going to the extreme and eating only organic, raw and non processed things. i do wholeheartedly believe everything in moderation.

what also helped was doing the cleanse w/ people. i convinced some friends and family members to cleanse w/ me. it's emotionally great to have other people to root you on and vice versa. so pieces of advice for those considering cleanses: 1) avoid social gatherings where you are out and food is around! it's really mind over matter. you aren't hungry but if there is food in front of you and you can't have any of it, i'm sure you think you are starving! 2) try to cleanse w/ someone. seems trivial but the support is so great and critical. it's also interesting to see how other people's body reacts to the cleanse versus yours.

**there is a special on gilt city:sf right now from urban remedy for a 3 day juice cleanse for $149 (normally $200). they have great reviews on yelp and their website is pretty awesome and informative (ten times better than pressed juicery).**

perbacco

hands down, a great restaurant for everyone to try in san francisco. perbacco, located in the financial district, is an italian restaurant with awesome food and great service.

 always need to start w/ a glass of bubbly

 pesce credo - hamachi, seasonal citrus, shaved fennel

DELICIOUS. the hamachi was so fresh and great combo w/ everything else on the plate

 papperdelle - wide pasta ribbon w/ slow cooked short rib ragu and grated horseradish

 semifreddo - vanilla white chocolate mousse - so yummie

lime panna cotta - so light; i could have had 2 of these!

curry up now

i am the first to admit, indian food is not always the first on my list when i'm thinking about what to eat. however, curry up now might change that. this is probably my 3rd time there and i feel like it gets better each time. steve loves indian food so he's more than happy to eat here. it does get a bit tricky w/ aaron because most things are spicy but he'll eat the chicken tikki masala and naan bits. 

bonus: tpumps is right across the street.

 i love their logo

 the "naughty naan" open faced sandwich. naan w cheese, greens, onions and shaved jalapeno

sides: left - "sexy fries" criss cut sweet potato fries w/ cheese, onions and topped w/ chicken

right - "itsy bitsy naan bits" w/ tikki masala dip

my ikea hack

in our bedroom, we have a small wall in between 2 closet doors. this wall is perfect for a dresser. we didn't want a very tall dresser since we are mounting a television on the wall as well. to convince my husband to spend money on a quality dresser was pretty impossible since we can't seem to agree on a style. so i scoured the internet for what could be a cool looking, affordable but not big box dresser. yes, it was impossible to find. what i did stumble upon was this ikea hack for a night stand. i loved the warmth of the wood w/ the clean white dressers. well, i figured, i can be "crafty" when i apply myself and my husband can certainly help me since he is quite the paint / stain expert. so we paid a visit to ikea to pick up 2 dressers, osh hardware for the stain & paint and anthropologie for the knobs.

 

dresser: ikea 3 drawer chest $34.99 each
knobs: anthropologie $8.00 each 
stain: minwax dark walnut
paint: chantilly lace by benjamin moore

yes, the price of all the knobs cost more than the actual dressers. however, i love anthro's knobs and how beautifully painted they are. a year later, they are holding up fairly well! i'm actually itching to do another hack.

mommy and son time

aaron and i took a last minute trip to maui. my friends convinced me that this is a really great opportunity to take a vacation and REALLY relax. so i found some cheap flights to maui and a great deal on a resort in wailea. this was also a great chance for steve to have some "me time".

traveling by myself w/ a 5 yr old might seem brave to some but really, as my sister would say, aaron is almost like an adult. he literally does everything himself. he actually had to remind ME to bring our room key when we left our hotel! the four days we were in wailea absolutely flew by. it was definitely an experience that i'm SO grateful i was able to have w/ my son. although we both missed daddy, it was nice to spend some quality time w/ my son.

 waiting at sjo for our flight!

 dinner at alan wong's amasia

 yummie pineapple sangria

 ahi tartare

 braised short ribs

 amazing coconut sorbet

 wailea beach

 vibrant beautiful flowers at the grand wailea

 nothing like a romantic stroll along the beach w/ your 5 yr old son

 my favorite - lava flow

 view from our hotel room

  our "partial" ocean view

 our upgraded large lanai. amazing what empathy you get when you are traveling solo w/ child hahaa

 dining at humuhumu

 seriously the MOST delicious dish i've had in awhile...

seared ahi loin w/ foie gras dumpling, mushrooms and snow peas in broth

 aaron's dessert - macadamia nut ice cream

 independent little man; wanted to stroll our luggage

thankful for...

...all my wonderful and supportive friends and family
...the most amazing and healthy 5 yr old son
...my jack of all trades hubby who puts up w/ me
...this time to refocus on my personal life / reevaluate what i want to do next professionally
...our home; grateful for all those who serve and sacrifice to protect all of the above =)

thursdays...

aaron goes to preschool 4 days a week. on thursdays, he and my nephew actually spend the day w/ my parents. my sister and i felt that it was nice for them to spend some time w/ their grandparents. well, now that i'm not working, it only makes sense for me to spend the day w/ the boys. we do still see my parents; we'll usually meet up for lunch or dinner depending on what i have scheduled for the boys.

month one

three weeks of unemployment has flown by. it's been relatively busy catching up on tons of things that i wasn't able to get to since i was so busy previously. boring things such as different doctor appointments; house appointments and other errands. many of those things are one-time occurrences since i've just been putting it off. i feel like it is a lot about organizing my life, family or house.

i am starting to get into a good routine:
- mondays are all about getting the week ready and cleaning up the house from the weekend. it's so nice to go to costco or target or the grocery store during the week. it's just so much more calm and quiet. 
- tuesdays / wednesdays are about the house. we purchased our house a year ago and we haven't done much with it. we are finally starting to remodel one bathroom. i've been helping steve w/ the demo. i need to start sourcing and buying materials.
- thursdays are spent w/ aaron and my nephew joshua. spending an entire day w/ a 5 and 4 yr old is quite exhuasting. 
- fridays are reserved for my 6 yr old nephew. i pick him up after school and take him to his tae kwon do class. 

i'm cooking dinner every night. that is probably the most shocking part. when i was working, i never cooked - i mean never. even on the weekends, i never cooked. i never even washed the rice when we had to cook rice. how many times did i say never (i mean just in case you guys didn't get it the 1st time around)? 

weekends are also different now. since i'm running all the errands on the weekdays, our weekends are more enjoyable. the quality of what we do is better because it's not about having to check things off our list.

one chapter closes; another one begins

i am now on day 7 of this new chapter called unemployment aka stay at home mom aka lady of leisure.

let's do a quick recap of my last chapter with some background:

i was employed at a private retail company where i started over 7 years ago as a manager. i had always been very ambitious and wanted to be on the fast track. i had the same amazing manager for the first 6 years who always found a way to get the best out of me and our team. after he left at the end of 2012, i was promoted to vice president. in the last year since becoming vice president, life had been anything but fun. work was insane: we were extremely understaffed, were given additional responsibilities (without any being taken away) and had no tools, resources or systems to do anything well.

it was a very imbalanced life:
1 - i was working on average 65 hours a week
2 - we had so many meetings that i wouldn't have time for lunch at least 2 days out of the week
3 - with the stress and lack of time to eat: i went down 3 pant sizes!

that doesn't even describe the emotional strain on my personal life or the imbalance in our home. on weeknights, i would come home and steve and aaron would already be done eating dinner. on weekends, steve would take aaron to the park and i would be at home working. i never got around to doing any housework because i always had work to do. 

needless to say, it was not sustainable. i was struggling to find the right answer. just say no to the executives to all their projects / requests? quit and take a break? look for a new job? well, it was answered for me because i got LAID OFF.

it came as a complete SHOCK (to me and to everyone in the company). we had some changes in our leadership team and the new COO was not a fan of mine. it was a hit to my pride. i thought, how could someone possibly say i was not successful when i've built 7 years of solid results and teams, credibility and amazing working relationships in the company? how could this possibly happen to me? i became the 10th VP to leave the company in the current year (that's north of 40% turnover). 

many will say, it's par for the course when new leaders come into the company. sure, if they want to make me a scapegoat, fine. however, i feel for my team that is still there and all my other colleagues that i've developed great relationships with. 

this entry is long enough already so i'll end it here; more to come on what are my next steps...

*the artwork is buttefly by aldo luongo. my colleague gave me a bottle of wine w/ the this painting and i just fell in love with it! it's a great symbol of a woman flying to her freedom. =)