cheese cheese and more cheese

A weekend or two ago (this insanely busy month has already completely blended together), we embarked on our 4th annual cheese party.  For those of you unfamiliar, a few years ago Stefan and I had the GENIUS idea to host a dinner party consisting only of cheese.  While Year One was four courses of cheesy goodness (cheese plate, raclette, fondue, cheesecake), we learned that even the most serious of dairy lovers can fatigue.  Since then, we've opted for three courses, alternating between a main course of raclette and fondue.  This year was fondue.

Per usual, the day-of was jam-packed with errand-running.  
But first up was having a good, solid breakfast to power us through the day:

Donuts while pumping gas

When you've got a baby in tow, things such as proper nutrition become secondary to optimal baby schedule time management. :)

Next up (and most importantly!) was a trip to Cheese Plus for our most essential goods.

Fondue anyone?

My favorite part of the evening is always the first course, a.k.a. the Cheese Competition.  We ask each guest to bring their absolute favorite cheese to participate.  We then all sample and vote on the winner of the evening.  People go balls to the walls in bringing the most ridiculously delicious cheese they ever did taste.  In addition to being insanely fun (who doesn't love some good dairy-laden competition?), the result is that everyone gets to have the best cheese plate of. their. entire. life.

Because of that, I did not waste a precious second of mindblowing-cheese-consumption-time to snap any photos, but rather can share with you the stage being set for the evening's event... 

everyone labels with cheese name, animal and origin

cheese bringer is concealed

soon-to-be-filled cheese boards eagerly awaiting competition entries

prize bottle of Veuve for the "Best in Cheese"

Halfway through Course Two, however, I hit a plateau where I was able to take a break from cheese-eating to snap a shot of the crew in action:

People were pleased.
Stefan especially.

As people finished their fondue and we prepped for Course Three (a cheesecake of course!), we had our guests vote on our "Best in Cheese".  The cheese that won, however, was not the Truffle Triple Cream or the Cave-Aged Alpine Varietal, but rather the Queso. :)

After the night was through we were sure we had seen enough cheese until next year, but amazingly by 12pm the next day, we were ready for some leftovers.

xoxo

KK

jackson fillmore

In life pre-baby, dinners out were a pretty regular occurrence.  One of our fav neighborhood spots was the lovely Jackson Fillmore - a no-frills Italian joint two blocks from our old abode.  We'd go there for a romantic dinner out, a casual Sunday evening supper, or even solo to sit at the bar if the other was traveling for work.  The crew there greeted us by name, knew our orders by heart, and always let us sample whatever wines they had open (and sometimes some they didn't).

But now we have this lady in the picture:

And dinners out don't happen quite as often.  That being said, we've tried to venture out whenever we can.

Not too long ago, we decided to head back to our old stomping ground to Jackson Fillmore. 

Unlike before when we gladly took a 9pm reservation or waited at the bar for a half hour while sipping the start of a bottle of wine, we opted for the early bird special: arriving promptly at 5:30pm.  I know, I know: we are so cool.

We were surprised by how many kids were there as well.  The table next to us featured a 1.5 year-old and a 3-year-old that happily banged their forks and knives while they waited for their bruschetta.

Oh how I had missed that on-the-house bruschetta.

We enjoyed our delicious meals (with wine on the house as a congrats on the new addition!) and were all done by 7pm sharp leaving us plenty of time to get some frozen yogurt for dessert.

While we may not be enjoying the splendors of Jackson Fillmore quite as much as we used, the reason is certainly worth the adjustment in plans.

xoxo

KK

back at work

Today is my first day back at work.

I'm excited to get back into the swing of things, but I'm sad.  Real sad.  This little munchkin is one lovely babe to spend time with.

We've had a busy past few weeks - there has been so much excitement that I haven't had a moment to tune you in. 

The highlights include...

Having Stefan's lovely mother stay with us to explore SF, help out, and hang with Samantha:

Taking Samantha on her first flight:

Dressing her up for Halloween:

Celebrating my fabulous sister's incredible nuptials:

And spending some time in Milwaukee with my parents:

It's been a pretty incredible finale to this pretty incredible maternity leave.  More details to come I hope although I'm in uncharted territory here with the whole working with a baby thing.  I make no promises.

xoxo

KK

swiss in san francisco

Stefan's mom is in town this week and next visiting us and meeting little Samantha.  We've got lots of fun stuff planned - stay tuned for details! 

Whenever she comes to visit, she always asks what she can bring us from the Motherland and we always have two very special Swiss items we just can't live without:

Sprüngli - seriously the world's best chocolate, bar none.

And Aromat - the world's best spice, bar none.

perfect for dolling up your eggs, salads, fish or veggies

These very coveted, only-found-in-Switzerland items are two of my most favorite things.  While I'd tell you all to go sample them immediately, you'd be unable because these exclusive Swiss delicacies are only available to the elite Swiss (and those fortunate enough to have inside ties).  

But as we enjoyed some salad sprinkled with this special spice and savored a piece of the Sprüngli (we have a strict only-one-a-night policy around here to make them last as loooooong as possible), I began thinking: maybe it's not the actual substance of the items that allures me; rather, could it be that the exclusivity is what drives my deep and intense affection?  After all, my absolute favorite fruit (persimmons!) also has a limited quality about it, being only available in a few precious fall months.

Our fruit basket these days:

Just a thought.

xoxo
KK

behind-the-scenes of our newborn shoot

When Samantha was 8 days old, we opted to do a newborn shoot.  We were hesitant at first because photo shoots with young babes tend to be outrageously expensive ($800-1200! Can you believe it??), but the fabulous Krista Marie (who did this shoot way back when) agreed to do it for a much reasonable rate.  Plus, her photos are much more my style than your typical corny baby-wrapped-in-blanket-and-hanging-from-a-branch type thing...

  

We ended up using a bunch of the photos in Samantha's birth announcement (which you've already seen!), but I thought I'd share a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the other photos I loved.

One of our little fam hanging out on the bed:

But while Samantha was supposed to be perfectly centered (and of course looking towards the camera!), she kept moving her head towards Stefan.  Despite attempt after attempt, we could not keep her still!

I had also seen a gorgeous photo of a mom holding her little babe up in the air that captured the little one's teeny legs and feet.  We attempted to do the same:

The photo, however, required some impressive acrobatics:

poor Samantha!

We also did a bunch of her in some adorable (but completely impractical) outfits.  We're all about comfy long sleeved onesies with the chilly San Francisco climate.

To keep her happy in between shots, however, we needed to keep her covered by a blanket and sucking on Stefan's little finger.

Getting a really good shot required her going sans diaper in her cute little clothes. While it resulted in prettier pictures, she loved being able to show us how many times she could pee in one hour: five.  You win Samantha!

We had lots of outfit changes:

Some of my other favs:

What do you think?

Is a newborn shoot worth the money and effort?

xoxo

KK

our birth annoucement

For those of you who haven't seen it already, I thought I'd share Samantha's birth announcement.

We just went with Minted.com, which made things beyond easy and simple.

We loved how they turned out:

She's already up to 24 inches and nine and a half pounds!  Can you imagine gaining 40% of your body weight in just two months??  For a 140-lb adult, we're talking a 54-pound uptick!

xoxo

KK

sat night

This past Saturday night I left Stefan home with little Samantha to head up to sunny Healdsburg for a surprise 30th birthday party for the lovely Sarah Jenks.  While both Stefan and Samantha were invited to the soiree, we decided to spare Samantha the 2ish hour drive up and not subject the party guests to the distraction of a baby (no matter how adorable :).  Stefan sacrificed himself to stay home with his little lady while I got a night of luxury up in wine country.

For the big 3-0, Sarah's sweet (and sneaky!) husband had arranged for a private outdoor dinner among the grape vines at Kelley & Young Wines.  Not only did the guest list include 15 of her closest friends, her family also all flew in from out of town to surprise her.

We all gathered at the gorgeous Kelley & Young property around 5pm.

Every detail of the set-up was perfect, from the gorgeous setting to the lovely tablescape to the beautiful blooms.

While we waited for the guest of honor to arrive, we sipped on Sauvignon Blanc and munched on a spread of savory snacks, all prepared by the fabulous Claudine Dagit of Stilettos & Spice.

When Sarah finally arrived, she could NOT have been more surprised.  She immediately sprinted over to give everyone a big hug.

While I was enjoying this succulent menu:

Stefan was enjoying this one:

And while I was slowly dining on heirloom tomatoes,

fresh melon with Serrano ham,

tender flank steak with crispy potatoes, and - best of all - flourless chocolate cake with freshly whipped cream,

Stefan was slaving away at home - doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, all while watching little Samantha. 

Totally and completely fair. :)

As much fun as I had getting spoiled up in Healdsburg, I couldn't wait to get back to my two favorite people.

(And my very clean kitchen.)

xoxo

KK