There are three things that I love at The Cheesecake Factory: 1. Vanilla Bean Cheesecake; 2. Mushroom Soup; and 3. Avocado Egg Rolls. Everything else on the menu is good and I have my favorites and not-so-favorites, but the three dishes I listed above are truly what get me through the restaurant’s doors. The first dish, Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, I will never, ever, try to re-create. Ever. It’s just one of those recipes that deserves...

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  Usually, I’m quite the motivated cook in the kitchen. However, these days (ok it’s been more like a few months now), all I wish for is some type of cooking-kitchen-elf who will make dinner magically appear. Let’s also include lunch for that matter, since a few days out of the week I also need to feed Bebe lunch on days she’s not in school and the appearance of a cooking-kitchen-elf twice a day wouldn’t be so...

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Pre-school is winding down for us this week, although we still have a little time before Nene’s high school lets out. Our plans for the summer are still up in the air and aside from swimming and play dates I’m not quite sure what activities Bebe will be involved with during the warmer months. The last month or so she’s been quick to let me know that she wasn’t interested in going to school although she always comes home...

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You can’t have a blog post without photos. But I finally realized this morning that I can continue to blog, despite the fact that my iPhoto application on my laptop has been completely out-of-commission for about a week now. I can’t upload any photos from my camera to my laptop, and I can’t access any photos that were previously uploaded prior to my tech-mess. Apparently, my iPhoto application is busy updating my library of...

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Admittedly, I’ve always been a shopper. From a child being dragged to the mall by my Mom, to a youthful teen shopping (or gossiping) with girlfriends, from window-shopping and meeting best friends for lunch at a favorite cafe – again in the mall, I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoy spending time at the mall. These days, however, one of our favorite malls to visit is the South Coast Plaza. Not only is it stocked full of lovely...

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Our tree has been up for almost two weeks now, our wreath is hanging on the door, the stockings are hanging in front of the fireplace, and thanks to a wonderful suggestion from a friend from nursery school, the Elf is on it’s way to check on Bebe E daily, and report back to Santa – naughty or nice. At first Bebe E was very scared about our Little Elf Girl visiting us, when I told her that she would be watching over her each day. She...

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The holiday season is fully upon us! Last weekend we celebrated with our very first holiday party of the season. It was quite the celebration! We enjoyed a lovely rendition of The Nutcracker performed by 30 children aged 3 to 5. It was Bebe E’s debut on stage and she performed beautifully. Bebe E was a snowflake, and she did quite well smiling, dancing slowly and silently with arms in the air, gliding and twirling like, well, a...

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  Just when the rain started to fall, the weather turned cooler and I felt as though it might finally be time to get the flannel sheets out, we are suddenly facing hot Fall weather in the upper 80’s this week. I love Southern California! (Photo Credit: Hideki Ueha) Fortunately, grilling is practically a year-round activity in my neck of the woods because I love this Korean style marinade that I learned over a decade ago from my...

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