NY Aquarium

The NY Aquarium is right next to Coney Island. I want to return when the weather is warm so we can do both the boardwalk and visit the Aquarium after the renovations are complete.  

Currently,  the aquarium is under major renovations because of the damage from Hurricane Sandy. This still did not stop us from having a great time!! It was the kids' first time at an aquarium, so I actually liked that it was small and we were able to see everything in 1.5  hours. We got to touch coral, feel the sharp teeth of a piranha, observe hundreds of beautiful fish from all over the world swim together, watch sharks up close, watch a sea lion show AND experience 4D spongebob! We did not stay for the animal feedings, but they also do penguin and sea otter feedings. Unfortunately, the walrus exhibit was closed because of the construction. 

We sat in the 3rd row at the Aqua Theater for the sea lion show and the kids were AMAZED! During the show, the Sea Lions come around to greet the audience and if you sit in the front, they bark right at you! Henry and Em were definitely surprised! 

Also, PACK YOUR LUNCH! The cafeteria is under renovation, so there is no place to buy food. There are outdoor picnic tables, so dont forget to dress warm (temp is a bit cooler because of the ocean breeze).

Henry and the Piranha

shark tank

Em up close to the shark tank

PACK YOUR LUNCH! Cafe is under renovation.

Sponge Bob 4D! Bubbles and vibrating chairs...

PERFECT DAY!!!

It was a GORGEOUS 60 degrees today! Not only was the weather PERFECT but I also had a GREAT day! Wish every day was like this!

Day went like this: dropped Henry off at school, went to yoga in the AM, drank a mocha flavor Shake-o!, went for a run around the Jackie kennedy reservoir, kids got to enjoy this beautiful weather with their friends and the BEST PART WAS DINNER DATE WITH HENRY (&EM).

It was my first time taking both kids out to dinner by myself.. and it was a SUCCESS! We went to bareburger and Henry had a cheeseburger with fries and I had a fried chicken sandwich. Emilia slept through part of dinner, but when she woke up, she had her first taste of fries... and loved it! This is deifinitely a "mom of 2 milestone"!

Preview of Spring in NYC

It was GORGEOUS this past weekend! The snow is still on the ground from the last snowstorm and yet it was mid 60's in NYC.  We are so lucky to call CENTRAL PARK OUR BACKYARD!! We got tickets to watch The Princess, The Emperor and The Duck at the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in Central Park. It was such a great show! Super cute theater and you can even have your birthday party there. We then walked through central park and of course ended the afternoon at the playground! Central park has playgrounds every 5 blocks, AND they are the BEST CITY PLAYGROUNDS in the WORLD.  

waiting for the puppet show to start

The Princess and the pea

outside swedish cottage

Gorgeous Central Park

Diana Ross Playground

Lucky Emilia!

Hanging with our cousin E!

Play ALL DAY! at wild west playground, OUR FAVORITE!!

Year of the Rooster

The year of the Rooster is right in between Rich and Me. He's a Monkey (& so is Emilia!!) and I'm a dog. Everyone thinks Lunar New Year as Chinese New Year, but it's not just Chinese. It is also part of the Korean Culture.

We celebrated it with traditional Korean rice cake soup, presents & a trip to the Met with our cousin Elijah for the lunar new year festival! I am so happy they incorporated Korean culture into the festivities at The MET. There were Korean performers in the show and it was so GOOD. I Love their beautiful colorful traditional dresses, and the dance and music was upbeat and fun!

watching the Lunar New Year Celebration show

Fam selfie time!

Our Babies!!

PRESSURE COOKER KOREAN SHORT RIBS

Galbijjim, or braised short ribs is a favorite dish of ours...  Its super easy to make, so you can really make it in 90 minutes with a pressure cooker. 

Ingredients: 

8 beef short ribs on bone

3 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

broccoli

1 apple, peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1/2 onion, sliced 

Marinade:  (taste it before you pour it over the meats and veggies)

1/4 cup soy sauce

2-3 tablespoons of honey

4 tablespoons of miring

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Step 1- OPTIONAL - 

Soak your meat in cold water for 30 min.

This draws out the blood and makes the meat more tender.

Step 2- 

Prepare your veggies while meat is soaking.

Step 3-

Boil your meat for 30 minutes. 

This will draw out the fat in the meat. It also draws the nutrients from the bone into the meat and into the water, so now you have delicious BEEF STOCK!

Step 4-

Mix your wet ingredients and coat your meat and veggies with the marinade.

Step 5-

Cook in Pressure Cooker for 40-60 minutes!

Enjoy!!

DAY OFF!!

I am so thankful to only have to work 4 days a week. No more calls, nights, weekends or holidays!! Time with these little monster munchkins is so precious. I don't embrace their madness all the time... and they usually drive me crazy- but I also love being able to spend daytime hours with them!

I look forward to my random day off- because I get to a little quality time with Henry during our walk to school and back home... and with Emilia when Henry is at school. And I finally make it to yoga class! Bonus- I get to check off some things on my list of errands that run through my head all week.


Everyday is different, but my mornings GO BY SO FAST:

8:00 SLEEP in

8:45 Drop Henry off at school

9:00 ENJOY breakfast alone!! Start meal prepping & love on Emilia!

10:00 YOGA

11:30 PICK UP HENRY

Once Henry comes home, anything can happen!
Yesterday, it snowed! Henry napped during the snowfall, so we made the most of the remaining daylight and had so much fun on the balcony!!

Working hard

shoveling is so much fun

Emilia is unsure about the snow

Tastes good!

He really wanted to try making a snow angel

Our snow family

Papa, Mama, Big Boy, Baby

Unwinding with family yoga

CHICKEN SOUP in 5 MINUTES!!!

With the cold weather and flu going around, it was inevitable that both babies get sick :( here's a recipe that is perfect for both my 3 year old and 7 month old.
Almost all my daily meals are prepped under 10 minutes. Once in awhile I'll get glamorous and cook a gourmet meal with lots of prep. Thankfully that's like 1-2 times a year. Haha

Prep the chicken soup in 5 minutes!
Total cook time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients:
Whole chicken
Chopped Carrots
1/2 White onion, sliced
1-2 Ginger roots, peeled and sliced
4 Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1. Throw all the ingredients into a pot big enough to fit chicken and fill 2/3 with water. Cover and boil for 45 minutes.

2. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour.

3. Put in fridge for few hours or overnight. The fat will harden.

4. Scoop out hardened fat and reheat.

5. Season to your taste with salt and pepper.

Optional: add rice or cooked noodles right before serving.

Voila! Bon apetit!
This chicken soup is perfect because the chicken will slide off the bones, tender enough for my 7 month old and the flavor is simple enough for my toddler.

Paw Patrol birthday!

My sweet handsome baby turned 3 this week!! And we are celebrating with a paw patrol party. Ideally, I would love to have thrown this task to a party planner- and just show up! But I'm on a strict budget. After all, he is ONLY 3 and will love any party with cake.

Tips to a successful party:

PLAN AHEAD- I started 2 months before the party date. The party is on the Saturday of MLK weekend, so I decided to send out invites early in case anyone was thinking of leaving the city for the long weekend. This gave me time to shop around for decorations, party goods and cake!

STICK TO BUDGET - so important in throwing a party. You can get lost in the costs when planning a party, and having a budget really keeps you focused.

PARTY CHECKLIST- now the fun stuff! What is on my list and where did I find it??

• ENTERTAINMENT: always the toughest choice! We went to a party over the summer and Henry watched his first magic show and fell in love with it! We decided to hire a magician for his party also! Few months later, his school had a fall fair and they had the most talented childrens magician. Of course, we hired him for our party too!

• CAKE: I kept a strict budget for my paw patrol cake. I was going to go with sheet cake from whole foods with an edible paw patrol picture on it, but that costs ~$80! I figured why not pay a little extra (and just a LITTLE!!) and get a cake I really LOVED. I emailed like 10 different bakers before I found someone I loved! and within budget!! I found my baker off of Instagram! and she IS AMAZING!

• PAW PATROL THEMED GOODS- plates, napkins, banner, tablecloth, candles, cupcake toppers, stickers are all from orientaltrading.com- my favorite place to shop for party goods. Lots of options, good prices and occasional free shipping!

• BALLOONS- preordered and prepaid from party city. I went to the store to pick them out and pay for it, but the prices in the store are higher than they are online. Thankfully they PRICE MATCH! 

• DRINKS- juice box, beer, wine, water bottles, sparkling water, diet coke ALL from FRESH DIRECT. I didn't want to drive around the city picking up these bulk items, so I did what I always do with heavy items...ordered them! I even FOODKICKED some items.

• GOODYBAGS- Our awesome party treat bag includes: paw patrol masks (amazon- although a bit cheaper at party city), stickers (orientaltrading), party size play doh (michaels), fireman hats (amazon) & lollipops.

• FOOD:  pretzels, freshly popped popcorn (love my airpower) cut fruit & ordered 9 pizza pies!

MOST importantly, have fun!!! Things never go as planned with kids. Just loosen the reigns a little and let the kids be kids at the party! If your child eats ONLY cookies and cake, let them, just for one day. Everyone will have so much more fun!

We are set to party!!

Back to Reality!

We are back from our short vacation to the Dominican Republic! It was such a great time and I found it to be so relaxing! Rich said it wasn't as relaxing for him (maybe it was because he didn't sleep one night to play in the casino...?) We stayed at The Reserve at Paradisus Punta Cana Palma Real and LOVED it. The resort was BEAUTIFUL, food was DELICIOUS and the weather was AMAZING 4 out of the 5 days. I loved it so much, I wanted to learn more about the timeshares and condos there! But we didn't... because we hate having to sit through those presentations. I will totally return to the Paradisus in Punta Cana!!

I ate soooo much on this trip, that I am going on a mini diet! Im going to challenge myself and when I crave anything sweet, I will quench that craving with a glass of water! During my maternity leave, I joined a water challenge where you had to drink half your body weight (in lbs) in ounces per day. It was easy back then because I was home AND nursing so I thirsty all the time! When I went back to work and life because more chaotic, my water consumption was dipped A LOT! Im lucky if I get to have a glass of water at work! I felt so much more nourished when I was hydrated and Im hoping to get that feeling back!