San Diego Little Italy's Festa- Gesso Italiano

It's actually been awhile since I've posted. Been really busy with family and upgrading of a new computer, baby, and finding time to get on the computer. Finally everything has been said and done and now it's time for fun and postings! Today I got to finally make it to the San Diego Little Italy's annual Festa! Celebrating all things Italian and got to see some cool Gesso Italiano "Italian Chalk." The weather was picture perfect in San Diego and the artworks were amazing!

We got to take the trolley to the Festa! First time for Ava and Mommy!

Chilling while everyone is hard at work painting with chalk.

I was so torn to pick this one for most creative, the most unique out of all the chalk paintings! But I ended up picking a different one!!!

Chalk but in an oil painting style! Definitely unique!

Another good one!

FESTA!

The one below was my pick for Best In Show. He's not quite done yet but just look at it!!! Amazing on the spot painting!

Super talented!!!

I ended up picking the one below as the Most Creative. She painted this from a photograph and this was also spot on!

Very  beautiful!

The next two is cute chalk stuff I found I thought Joseph would of approved! Mario and Minecraft, he would of went crazy for these!!

MARIOOOOO!

Here is Ava posing with Steve the Minecraft guy for Joseph :)

Overall it was a great time and I think Ava had fun!! Can't wait until next week when we go apple picking and pumpkin picking :) Until next time!! Pin It Now!

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Baby Snacking Time!

Ava is now at the age where she is starting to feed herself snacks. Browsing through the Target baby snack aisle, I knew I wanted to get the puffs for Ava. Those were life saving snacks when Joseph was a baby and was so convenient and tasty as well. I thought I try out couple new ones that wasn't there 6 years ago.

Now which of these does my 6 year old like as well???

I picked up couple flavors of the Gerber yogurt melts. They are so cute and look like mini chocolate morsels (except they are yogurt). Once they melt, they taste exactly what the packaging states...YOGURT! My 6 year old son loves these and pretty much ate half of the first bag, so I went back and stocked up on 3 more bags. Gerber's Puffs are great too, they have great flavors, but just too bad they don't sell mini containers or packages of them. So packing that in a diaper bag takes up room. Last but not least, Ella's Kitchen's baby cookies. They actually look like mini cookie bars. The texture is more coarse and does not melt/dissolve like the Gerber products. I personally do not like this product cause when Ava starts eating it, it basically turns into a big, mushy, muddy mess. Complete with the mud color as well. This product is pretty tasteless as well.

Aside from the American brand baby snacks, I also carry my little arsenal of Japanese made baby snacks. First of all, they have the cutest packaging! The products are very easy to dissolve and easy for babies to hold.

Japanese always get it right when it comes to cute branding..^_^

Top left: Rice bars Top Right: Rice puff balls Bottom Right: Little balls

I love the rice bars! They are the perfect size for baby to grab. Not thin enough for them to shove the whole thing in their mouth. They come in original and vegetable flavored. The rice puff balls are basically like KIX cereal but made of rice and dissolved easily. The bottom are little balls processed with egg and flour and very dissolveable. I decided to buy the pumpkin flavored ones.

All of these snacks are not only Ava Approved, but Joseph as well with the exception of Ella's Kitchen baby cookies. I find these snacks are the best items to keep in the diaper bag because it keeps them busy at restaurants but also helps put something delicious in their tummies!


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Garden Fresh, Market Fresh

The Lucky 5

I wish I had a nice picture of the heirloom tomato to go with these San Marzano tomatoes, but unfortunately the squirrels striked again! My mom managed to salvaged these and kept them safe in her bedroom. The funny story with these San Marzanos and heirloom tomatoes is that these weren't originally the ones I started with. These came from the seeds of the tomatoes my co worker gave me to try. My mom took the seeds and just stuck them in the garden. Low and behold a year later, we have these tomatoes and none of the one I planted the year before!

Interesting find at the Korean Market. Red Corn!!?!?!?! My friend and I stood and stared for awhile before asking a Korean lady what does red corn taste like? Her response? That it's sweeter than the white and yellow and stickier. Hmm I didn't even know corn can be sticky!

We simply just boiled the corn. The only creepy thing about this beautiful corn is the nice red coloring disappears during the boiling process and it becomes this purple dot color. Scary!! But other than that, taste like any other sweet corn. Pin It Now!

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These are a few of my favorite things...

1. Oliver Appetizer Plates 2. Oliver ice cube cooler 3. Square Baker 4. Flatbread Board 5. Reusable Napkins 6. Humble Pie Platter 7. Meat Markers                       8. Kitchenette Dishtowels

I love shopping for kitchen pieces. It's actually not even the best idea considering we have no more room for storage in the kitchen cabinets. Alot of the bigger appliances have now made its way by the stair storage room. I'm sure sooner or later they will end up in the garage. For now, I still like to look here and there for stuff to have for plating dishes. Crate and Barrel is a great place to look because they offer a sale section AND an outlet section. Most of their small kitchen items are pretty cheap and white is always a good color to have. Also CB2 (an offshot of Crate and Barrel), have more modern urban stuff. I would say their quality is a little lower end than Crate and Barrel, but definitely better than IKEA (though they have some nifty stuff as well). Pin It Now!

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Paris map framing comparison

Take a look at photo 1 and photo 2 below. Which do you think cost more? Please disregard the photo quality in terms of choosing your answer.

Photo 1

Photo 2

If you said photo 1 probably cost more, well, I hate to tell you but it is not!!! I got this print back in March when I was shopping for thank you cards at Paper Source and saw this with all the pretty and pricey wrapping papers. I just had to have it (and it was only $3.95!!) I didn't immediately think "oh I would love to use this to wrap a present with!" Instead I was thinking "OMG OMG OMG I want this framed in Ava's room!!" So I started looking for frames for it. Come to find out, I would need a frame that was pretty much 20"x28", so nothing I would be able to just walk in and buy. I went to Michael's the other day and asked about custom framing. I was told it's not a cheap thing...well..the nice saleslady quoted $180!!! Without any matting!! AND that's for the cheapest frame!! Um no thank you I will just thumb tack this to her wall instead. The only reason I didn't jump on the quote (and I even had a 70% off coupon that day) was because I found this same picture in a frame from The Land of Nod for $99. So I knew I wasn't going to pay more than that.

Discouraged I did a search and found a result that IKEA had such a frame. Really?? Why didn't I come across this sooner?? I checked it out and literally my jaws dropped open...$19.99 and with mat included!!! OH-MY-HAPPY-GOODNESS! This frame is part of their RIBBA collection. I know, I know, IKEA's quality are not top notch, but $180 vs $19.99..gee I'd be dumb to pay a gazillion times more for a frame for the Paris Map..excuse me, "wrapping paper" that cost me a whole whopping $3.95.

So yes, Photo 1 is the Paris Map I framed in the RIBBA frame, whereas Photo 2 is The Land of Nod one. It's pretty amazing how you can easily find things you like from upscale stores for wholesale prices elsewhere. It takes a little searching, but once you find the company or the name of the product, it is not that hard. In the end, I only burned about $30 vs $180+who+knows+what+else, so I would consider myself a TRUE WINNER! Pin It Now!

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Adorama Photobooks!

Today is a double posting day apparently. Only since I got ANOTHER package at the door. I used to order my photo prints from Snapfish whenever they would send me emails for 100 prints for a ridiculous price. At first they were fine to me, but after I started testing the water with photography, I wanted more, something more and better. So I found Adorama. Not only they rent cameras and lenses, they do photo prints, photobooks, you name it..they should have it (photography related of course). I've ordered printed twice now, and they even order wallet size prints which is perfect to give to family and friends.

So awhile back I saw they were having this $9.99 deal for a 8x8 book. I thought, shoot let's try it! (Previous attempts with MyPublisher was daunting for some reason, back to that later).

Right out of the package. Why 3? You know one for self, then his gramps and my gramps..

The pages actually have a little bit of texture to give it that "it was worth the price" look.

OoOOoO fold down pages! I didn't get those with MyPublisher photobooks back in the days..or uh maybe I just didn't know!

Nice. Just nice. 

I downloaded the software thingy and I just couldn't get through a page. Maybe because after having two kids only half a brain works or something but I found it difficult to navigate and figure it out. Or..maybe I was just lazy. One day I will give them another try since my cousin used them to create Photobooks and he was quite pleased with his.

Looking at the final product I think I need to dedicated myself into hiding in this office room and make photobooks for Ava and Joseph like crazy! My mom said, "why only 14 pages?". Uh well the deal only gives me 14 pages.. but I can make more but it might cost me a handful!! MAYBE when Miss Jellybean Ava sleep for a good 5 hours stretch I'll go for it. Pin It Now!

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How many stuff did you order?!?

This post is going to be a little on the long side. We recently got Ava some new "toys" or more like chew toys since everything is hand --> mouth at the moment. So I will try and keep this post short but for those with a little 6 months old will know, your time is up when she is ready to feed :)

With my first child Joseph, everything I got him he took immediately..totally awesome for a first time mom right!? Never have to try any other products. Joseph used the first pacifiers we bought, bottles, clothes, shampoo, diapers, wipes, you name it, we never had to try a second brand. So obviously I assumed my second child would be the same. NO WAY!! Some items she is ok with, like diapers and wipes. But shampoo, certain fabrics, diaper rash cream, etc...it is all about trying out brands. Too bad I'm not getting paid for testing them out right?

I never got any Aden + Anais swaddle blankets for Joseph. I just bought the ones I saw at Target or wherever. However, Ava would get really hot and her clothing would get drenched with sweat. Seeing how much she loved her A+A swaddle blankets, I thought why not give their crib sheets a try. Like everyone else who owes A+A, they are soft and definitely breathable. So then I also thought..well, why not also get the "Dream Blanket".

<3 (Scroll down to see the product in its place)

The so called "Dream Blanket"

I've also been looking at toys that are quality made that if she chewed hard enough, she wouldn't be digested shards of plastic or nasty paint. I found these handmade knit sock dolls called "BLA BLA" dolls. They are totally TOTALLLLY cute and when we got them in the mail and showed it to Ava, she was yelling, screeching, going nutso for her little mini-Fleur bunny. "What a good buy" : husband says.

Handmade in Peru

I really do feel that quality made products do last much longer. The quality, the feel, and sometimes the style. Not everything in Ava's room are pricey items, some stuff I get at the regular chain shops do just fine. Well, it is definitely time to put the blanket in the dryer and check on Ava to see if she's napping or doing circles in her crib. Until then, enjoy! Pin It Now!

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