We’ve got the stockings, we’ve got the tree and lights, we’ve got presents! I think we’re ready for Christmas! Are you? I’m definitely ready because I am SO TIRED of being asked every single day, “Can I open a present now?”
The 3yo’s preschool had a Christmas party on Friday, complete with a Santa, crafts, face/hand painting and a gongfu performance!
The one in the middle doing the completely wrong move is mine.
On Saturday, we met a friend who was in SF for a conference, and took the kids to the Exploratorium for the first time. It was such a lovely huge space and surprisingly not very crowded. For the past year, we were members at Cal Academy and while we always went early (or on their Sunday early members-only hour), it always seemed very busy. The Exploratorium seemed far less so. Is it because they don’t market themselves so much? I know I always hear Cal Academy radio spots, and Cal has the benefit of animals like penguins and its famous albino alligator. But I quite liked the Exploratorium, with its beautiful newish space on Pier 15, and the views from the restaurant and some of the exhibit spaces!
Currently…
Reading:
Swing Time – Zadie Smith
The Fortunes – Peter Ho Davies
Watching:
Mad Men Season Two
The Grand Tour
Eating:
Rainy Day Brownies!
Drinking:
Nespresso
Cooking:
Stir-fried beef and broccoli
Maybe oxtail stew again!
Browsing:
Bookmarking this for myself until after I finish reading Swing Time – Carnegie interviews: Zadie Smith
River City Reading’s Best Books of 2016
Buried in Print talks about some 2016 novels that I promptly added to my tbr list (and of course my library doesn’t have 2 of them)
Not at all bookish but sounding delightful and very cozy are these Espresso Martinis from How Sweet Eats
Last week:
I read:
Supergirl Vol 1 – Jeph Loeb
I liked the first few issues included but then the story is continued by a different writer and I get confused by it!
Generation Chef: Risking It All for a New American Dream – Karen Stabiner
Among the interesting things I learnt was just how much sous chefs get paid (not much, especially considering this is New York City) and how difficult it can be to sustain a restaurant and hold on to good staff! It was a pretty good read.
I posted:
#amonthoffaves2016 – Picking Favourites
#amonthoffaves2016 5 Fave “New to Me” Authors
#amonthoffaves2016 Best Changes Made This Year
#amonthoffaves2016 – Snow Reads
Real Life Reading 
Looks like you had a great week. I have never read Zadie Smith but I keep meaning to.
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I think Swing Time isn’t for everyone – it took me nearly three weeks to read it and that’s a long time for me. I kept putting it down and reading it here and there. But in the end, I really liked it.
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In the end, I liked it more than I thought I was going to at first, too. (And, thanks for the link: I bet I know which two books you can’t find locally: what a shame. You’d like Melanie Mah’s story I think!)
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I read Generation Chef too and was so nervous for them! Starting a restaurant takes some serious guts! And I have no idea how some of these sous chefs (much less line cooks!) survive in NYC…having lived there myself. Everything is so so expensive and the taxes are so high, etc. Also – it’s so hard to start a business in NYC…ridiculous regulations, red tape, etc. Kudos to anyone who tries!
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Exactly! When they started up their brunch and it was just so slow, I was just amazed. I really liked learning just how important buzz, hype and liquor licences can be though!
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That top pic is so adorable! It just warms my heart. 😍
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