Changes, wonderful and new!

It's been forever since I posted to our family blog! As all of you know, the biggest change in our life as a family has been the addition of our little angel, Selah Grace. She was born at Cedars Sinai Hospital on June 18, 2010. She weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz. at birth. The last 6-7 weeks have been full of sleepless nights, endless feedings and laundry -- and so much love and joy! She is so beautiful and Lorenzo and I can hardly believe we made such a little angel.

4th of July

Now on to our 4th of July celebration... after lots of debate, we decided to stay in town to celebrate Lorenzo's favorite holiday. James and Traci were sweet enough to host a party at their home in Rosemead, and lots of people showed up to enjoy the barbecue. Pete rented a large jumper/waterslide to entertain the kids, and it ended up entertaining the adults and dogs too! WE had an all-American picnic - burgers, hot dogs, deviled eggs, lots of salad, tri tip, apple pie, cookies... it was delicious! After the day of eating and playing, we sat out on the Espinozas' front lawn and watched two fireworks shows - the one at Rosemead Park and the one done by Jesse and the kids in front of the house! Ironically, I think we enjoyed the home show more!

The night before the 4th, we went up to Sierra Madre for some hometown fun. Charity and I packed a big picnic, and we had a great time watching the bands play, visiting with old friends, and hanging out in the beer garden. Our friend Chris took some great pictures - here's the link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=jfto1ll.2jvfak1h&x=0&y=k7o9zu&localeid=en_US

All in all, a great holiday!

Memorial Day Arizona Trip

Time to catch up! Whew! The last couple of months have been so hectic - but full of lots of fun too! Where to start?

Lorenzo and I joined our dear friends James and Traci on a great trip to Arizona over Memorial Day weekend. We did a lot of hiking and eating! We stayed in Sedona, and from there took day trips to Slide Rock State Park and, of course, the Grand Canyon. Both were absolutely beautiful and we will definitely go back. This was Lorenzo's first time at the Grand Canyon, so I enjoyed watching his amazement and wonder at the sheer size and grandeur of the place. We saw California Condors and Vultures during our hike in the Grand Canyon. The hike was tiring for Lorenzo, Traci and I (although James was, annoyingly, totally NOT winded and energetic after :) ), and we were really glad that we had chosen to do the hike on a cool Spring day as opposed to July or August!

On our trip, we found two restaurants worth recommending: Cucina Rustica (this is the sibling restaurant of Dahl and Deluca - they are in the same complex in Sedona) and Chino Bandido in Phoenix, Arizona. Cucina Rustica (http://www.cucinarustica.com/1/main.htm) was a spot Traci and I learned about on chowhound.com; other travelers had blogged about how good this spot was, and they were right! The restaurant serves Italian food, but with a definite Southwestern flair. The decor is Southwestern/Mediterranean... right up my alley. This was one of those meals that you do not mind paying the tab for at ALL. My favorite was the chili-flavored oil they served with their fresh bread. Anyone traveling to the area should really check it out. The second was a restaurant we had all seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network: Chino Bandido in Phoenix (http://www.chinobandido.com/). This place has Mexican, Chinese, Jamaican, etc. fast food that you can get in any combination. I ate Chili Verde, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, and Pork Fried Rice. Crazily, it was delicious together! Also, they have fresh snickerdoodle cookies for dessert, which everyone knows is Sarah's favorite! I'm so glad I don't live in Phoenix, because we'd be there all the time! Traci and James, we had a great time on the road with you two!

Sarah's Broccoli Salad

I make this broccoli salad from time to time at home - I love it. I made it today for our Father's Day celebration. Mom asked for the recipe - I had to think about it for a minute! Here you are, Mom:

Sarah's Broccoli Salad

2/3 to whole bag of pre-cut and washed broccoli
1 pkg. Italian pancetta (or 5 slices bacon), cooked crispy and chopped – optional
½ red onion, diced
1 cup California golden raisins
1 cup sliced honey roasted almonds (or lightly-sweetened walnuts, chopped)
¾ c. shredded cheddar cheese
1½ c. Best Foods mayonnaise
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
¼ c. sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Trim the tough parts of the stalk from each piece of broccoli. Cut larger pieces of broccoli into bite-size pieces. Place broccoli into large serving bowl. Add pancetta, onion, raisins, almonds and cheese. In separate small bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for 30 minutes and serve.

Notes: (1) How much broccoli you add depends on how moist you would like the salad to be. You find that the finished salad has too much dressing for your taste, add the last 1/3 of the bag of broccoli. (2) We tried pancetta today instead of bacon because I happened to have some in the refrigerator. I usually opt to make it without bacon (just to save a few calories), but if I'm making it for a crowd I will opt for the pancetta from now on. It is much more delicate and light than the bacon and keeps the salad from getting too heavy. However, some bacon-lovers might still prefer the bacon.

Birthday Fun!

This past month has been filled with lots of birthday fun!

My birthday week was great. On my actual birthday, Lorenzo and I went out to dinner with my family at Rod's, a diner in Arcadia that is a sentimental favorite because my Grandpa Pop used to take us there. I actually ate dinner there on my 16th birthday, too. Everyone brought great presents and Charity brought cupcakes for dessert! The following weekend, Lorenzo took me to dinner at the Napa Rose in Anaheim. The restaurant is located inside the Grand Californian Hotel, the newest hotel at the Disneyland resort. The dinner was delicious, and the wine pairing done by the server was excellent. After dinner, we spent the night at the Hyatt and went to Disneyland the next day! Noah and Charity joined us halfway through the day, and we got to take Noah on some rides for an hour or two. The picture is from about 3/4 of the way through the day - we were already really tired! Renzo and I must be getting old, because we went home in the early evening... wondering how people with kids do it all day! :) But the day was great and we really enjoyed the time together.

The following weekend was Charity's 30th birthday party! We held the party at the Mahan Indian Restaurant in Alhambra. The meal was delicious, and everyone enjoyed trying out the different dishes. There were many sweet toasts to Charity, led by siblings, cousins and Charity's godfather Shane. After dinner, most of the young(er) folk went across the street to Havana House for dancing and cocktails. It turned out to be a wonderful night, and I could tell that Charity felt very loved by everyone. She looked beautiful, too!

At any rate, school is winding down and all the pressures of planning for next year are beginning. I am looking forward to summer and all the extra time I will have for cleaning my house, scrapbooking, reading, and spending time with friends. A few of the things I'd like to do this summer: take more yoga classes, take a weekend trip up to Fresno to visit my aunt and uncle, repaint the living room and bathrooms, go to the beach with my parents for a few days, and finally organize all of our wedding pictures! We'll see how much I'm able to do. :)

March-April 2009

Wow, Spring is moving so fast! Thankfully, my Spring Break is finally here and I am enjoying a week of putting the condo in order. I have a few pictures from the last couple of months to share. Lorenzo and I had a great time at my dear friend Monica's wedding in March. She and her husband, Luis, have a beautiful son named Joaquin. One of the best parts of the evening, of course, was sitting with my closest friends from the early years of teaching in Lynwood: Mary, Laura and Wendy. It's Mary's turn next! Congratulations, Mary and Lance!

My cousin-in-law Elisa's last and finally-girly baby shower was in late March. It was so fun, full of pink and excitement over the impending arrival of little Raina Elisabeth! Elisa was so cute in her dress sprinkled with cherries and we played some fun games. Everyone really enjoyed the great food. The boys were happily occupied with a St. Patty's Day "Man Party" for Jason out in the garage.

We had a great Easter celebration on Sunday. After 9:00 AM service, we joined Lorenzo's family for brunch and a dual Easter/Happy Birthday Grandpa celebration! Lorenzo's grandpa turned 91 years old. He and Grandma Duran are always such a joy to be near. Lorenzo loves his grandfather so much and was happy to get to toast him on his special day. A picture of Renzo, Grandpa and I from the brunch is above. We also brought Jonny with us, and he had a great time getting to know Renzo's family better. After brunch, we joined the Hernandez/Mott family at Aunt Becky and Jay's house for a great Easter lunch.

Those pictures I promised

Here are those pictures of our family trip out to Arizona over Valentine's Day weekend - we had a great time riding quads with the Rocha/Hernandez family. Our nephew Noah did an awesome job riding for the first time! The first picture is of Noah and his best buddy and cousin, Andrew. Andrew was a great cousin and shared his quad with Noah all weekend - they had a blast. I rode the monster quad with Lorenzo - my first step towards getting over my fear of riding on the back of a motorcycle. It was really fun.

Catching Up... desert fun, wine tasting and Semper Fi!

Whew! I can't believe it's been a couple of months already. I keep waiting to blog - need to find the cord to connect the camera so that I can upload some shots from the last two months! Some of the highlights have been our trip to Arizona with the Rocha/Hernandez family, a weekend of wine tasting in Temecula for Michelle's birthday, and watching a performance by the Marine Silent Drill Team, Band and Color Guard at the Rose Bowl.

Our trip to Arizona took place on Valentine's Day weekend. It was so, so relaxing. The boys enjoyed some target practice with the rifles, I enjoyed visiting with Elisa and playing with the kids, and we all enjoyed riding the quads. We brought our nephew, Noah, along to enjoy the weekend with his cousins and he did awesome riding the quad. He and his cousin Andrew are so fun to watch, they take turns and play together with so much joy. You can already tell that they will be the best of friends growing up.

My sister Charity and her boyfriend, Michael, organized a birthday party weekend in Temecula in late February for Michael's sister and my dear friend Michelle. She and I became best friends at the end of middle school and she has stood by me ever since, through life's many ups and downs. I had a great time sampling the wines and especially enjoyed toasting the birthday girl. I realized that she and I have been friends now for 20 years. As I said in my toast during the birthday dinner, she has been there and witnessed many of the best and worst moments in my life. I am a witness to her life and she is to mine in a very unique and special way. I truly treasure her friendship; although I usually have a hard time when people refer to friends being "like family" or "a sister to me" (I think "family" is too special a label to be tossed around lightly), Michelle truly has been through it all with me and is a sister. (Pictures above are courtesy of Chris Galvan... thanks Chris!)

Lorenzo, Jonny, Ryan, Brad, Pete and I all went to watch the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team perform last weekend at the Rose Bowl. I hadn't seen the team perform since I was a child (I saw them in Washington DC; I think it was at Arlington). They truly take your breath away. It was fun to be with so many Marine and former Marine families watching the performance; as Ryan said, it truly is a very proud community. Lorenzo always loves sharing memories from his Marine days with me; his service definitely had a big impact on the man he became, and I love learning about the traditions he still celebrates being a part of. He never fails to celebrate the Marine Corps birthday with his friend Michael ("Scooby"), his best buddy from the Corps, my cousin Ryan and any other "Devil Dog" he knows.

Getting a great room in Vegas

People are sometimes surprised that I (Sarah)... love Vegas.
I don't gamble (much), I don't club (anymore), I don't stay out late.
And I love Vegas - go figure.
I love Vegas because it is one of the few places where a middle-income person can have a fabulous, luxury vacation and not go into debt! I probably go to Vegas, on average, 2-3 times a year. If you know how to look, you can book amazing hotel rooms for great rates. I was chatting today with a friend at work about how to do this, and this is the easiest way to start - it's a trick I learned years ago from a Los Angeles Times article for finding a five-star room at a great price:
1. Click on the website for the Luxor Hotel (http://www.luxor.com/).
2. Click on their reservations page. Locate the box that says "Check Rates." On this page, you will find a basic rate calendar that lists the rate for every day for the next year.
3. Check the calendar for the month(s) that you are interested in going to Vegas. Find the days with the lowest prices. As the Luxor is a major hotel on the Strip, you can assume that these prices will probably reflect which days will be cheapest at all of the major hotels (these days are cheap because there are no major events - holiday weekends, conventions, boxing matches, etc. taking place).
4. Go to http://www.hotels.com/ or your favorite bargain travel website, and search for hotel rooms on those inexpensive dates. You will find low prices at many of the major hotels. Using this trick, I have stayed at the Venetian, Bellagio, Platinum, Palazzo and MGM Signature and paid rock-bottom prices. Use the money you save to go out for some fabulous dinners!

We'll be in Vegas over Memorial Day weekend (annual trip) - can't wait. Plus, I'm hoping Mom and I can go sometime this year to see Cher in concert. Lorenzo wouldn't be caught dead on that trip, but Mom and I will have a blast! :)

Just for Traci... :)

Traci asked me to post the Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe I stole from Charity. She found it in a magazine, and I think this is the best version I've had so far. Here it is!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, diced fine
1 (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and chopped
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed
1/2 pint sour cream
1 and 1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Melt butter over medium heat in large sauce pan. Add onion and cook for 8 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, the parmesan, paprika, pepper, salt and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Pour into baking dish and top with rest of cheddar cheese. Bake for 10 minutes.

Serve with crackers or tortilla chips.

Hope you enjoy it, Traci!

A Hike in Malibu

Lorenzo and I went for a great hike in Malibu yesterday with our good friend Pete. As you can see from the picture of me, the view of the ocean was incredible. We enjoyed seeing some of the properties Pete is working on for his clients. Pete showed us the trailer that he, Lorenzo and the rest of the guys will be adopting and refurbishing as a tailgate trailer for next year's football season. As you can see from the pictures, it will be a big project!

Coco (left) had a great time on the hike - it was one of the few times he's been allowed off the leash. Pete brought his dog, Dinosaur (right), and they were able to be rowdy and play.

The Three Amigos and Other News

My brother Jonny's moved in with us for the next couple of months, and Lorenzo and I are so excited and happy to have him. Lorenzo and Jonny have become very close, and I enjoy watching their friendship grow. Coco loves our new roomie and now I have a house full of boys!

My friend Traci and I are taking a yoga class every Wednesday - Lorenzo has taken to calling us the two yogi bears. The first class, we thought we were going to have an easy time because most of the class members were much older than us... a lot of those old ladies kicked our behinds. :) I'm really enjoying it so far, and feel very relaxed after class each week.

Lorenzo, Jonny and our friends Pete, Jesse and James have decided to adopt a camping trailer Pete found out in Malibu - they will be completely gutting and rebuilding it as a tailgating trailer. Needless to say, they will need all 6 months between football seasons to accomplish this! Some of the guys' dads have already volunteered to help, so they are excited to get started. Lorenzo will post some before and after pictures so everyone can see their handiwork!

Melissa's Request

Melissa asked me for the recipe for the hot crab dip we brought to the Rose Bowl Party that she and Pete hosted. I actually adapted this recipe from one I found on the Betty Crocker website - the original was great, but I like my version better!

Hot Crab Dip

1 package (8 oz.) of cream cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
5 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Best Foods mayonnaise
1/4 cup Hansen's Strawberry Apple Juice
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ground mustard
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 can (6 oz.) crab meat, drained
1/3 cup sliced almonds (optional, but recommended)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together well all ingredients, except crabmeat and almonds. Stir in crabmeat.

Spread in a glass pie plate or small casserole dish. Sprinkle almonds over the top. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Serve with crackers (I like parmesan Wheat Thins).

Enjoy, Melissa!

Welcome!

Dear Friends and Family,

We're excited to begin this blog! We'll be sharing our latest family news, as well including but not limited to:

• our friends and projects
• Sarah's adventures in the kitchen
• travels
• random thoughts on anything we find interesting

I hope you all enjoy it! Please do reply with your thoughts whenever you like.

Love, Sarah & Lorenzo