Have You Read "Three Cups of Tea"?

Last year the the bookgroup I'm part of read the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, and then we had a tea party to celebrate this wonderful inspirational story. Unfortunately, at the time, we were unable to procure any rancid yak butter, but a member made some fantastic traditional Chai in it's stead...omg, yum!

Synapse Institute, the progressive lab school my son attends, has been inspired by the book, too! The students have decided to put on a garage sale to raise money for Pennies for Peace, an organization put together by the author. The proceeds will be sent to help students in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This is a fun and interactive way to show your kids the spirit of citizenship in action, and heck, you might pick up a used Burberry bag for a steal ;0)

Located at 305 N. California Ave in Palo Alto from 8:30am-2pm this Saturday, March 20th.

Any donations to put up for sale are welcome, and can be dropped off at the above location anytime before Friday afternoon.

For the Facebook info page go here .
For more info go here .
For more info about the organization Pennies for Peace go here .

LEGO-cy Exhibit

Ever year, the Bay Area Lego Users Group puts together an exhibit at the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto. Any budding builder is bound to LOVE this moving, brick creation! A whole scene is created out of legos by members from age pre-school all the way up to grandparents!

Admission is $2. The event opens December 11th (Friday, Sat, Sun) and runs through Jan 17th of next year.

For the Eloise in All of Us...

I'm in Pittsburgh, PA right now visiting my family, and met a friend for High Tea at the Omni William Penn hotel. Coincidentally, this is also the place where I had my wedding reception, but hadn't been back in 6 years! We had so much fun. You can read about it here.

Anyway, it got me thinking that High Tea would be a super fun thing to do with any little kid who's into Eloise. And you know, you don't have to go to the Plaza to partake! Spurred on by my love of fine dining, or drinking as it were, I decided to investigate some kid-friendly places to do High Tea in the Bay Area.

Here's the list!

Lovejoy's Tea Room (San Francisco) - One of the best and most well known spots for High Tea.

Secret Garden Tea House (San Francisco) - Another tea lover favorite.

The Terrace at the Ritz-Carlton (San Francisco) - High class tea time.

The Rotunda (San Francisco) - Do some shopping at Neiman's then freshen-up with some tea.

Laurel Court at the Fairmont (San Francisco) - Opulent surroundings!

Lisa's Tea Treasures (Menlo Park, San Jose, Campbell) Victorian, frilly, girly tea! They do party bookings, too.

The English Rose (San Carlos) - Nice, homey, traditional English Tea service

High Tea at the Fairmont (San Jose) - Specialty kid's menu is especially cute!

Alexander Peers Park

Our family has really come to enjoy Alexander Peers Park. Having two kids that are very spread out in age (6 years) there's something for both of them to enjoy, and plenty of shade for us parental units. There are several tennis courts, a wide open space for running, and a really cool rock-form play structure. It's also set back from the street, and is along the train line. Every now and then you get an opportunity to point and hear the Caltrain whoosh by!

"My Son is Inigo Montoya...Prepare to Die"

My son started fencing this year. Surprise, surprise...he LOVES it.

We signed up for classes at the new Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. No, we're not Jewish, but the facility is very friendly and welcoming to all interested parties. The staff was super helpful in getting us all set-up even though the center hadn't officially opened yet, and they were super nice about my crazy kids running around like they owned the joint. The facility is state-of-the-art, eco-friendly, and very fabulous. Alexi can run around out in the courtyard while Math's in his class. As long as the weather holds out it's a win-win.

The class itself is wonderful! The teachers are very, very thorough and encouraging. They kids are all very collaborative, and advise each other. I love that the older boys mentor the younger ones. There is a huge amount of etiquette involved, and I appreciate that the game melds competitiveness and good sportsmanship together. And, of course, there are swords, right? What's better than that?

The Counter

Last night we hit up The Counter for dinner. They have two locations Bay Area, one in Palo Alto and the other at Santana Row. It's a gourmet burger joint, but it's still a very family friendly spot. The Counter at Santana Row is located right across from a gated tot lot, and it makes for easy waiting during busy times. The restaurant is always a little on the noisy side and always chock full of families with young kids.

I've got to say The Counter's food is consistently tasty. The burgers are pretty good (you create your own by checking off a list of selections). The onion strings are out of this world! I'd definitely recommend getting the 3x3. It comes with onion strings, potato fries, and sweet potato fries...a little bit of everything plus a bunch of dipping sauces. Waitstaff tends to be a little hit or miss, but really it doesn't stop us from coming back again and again.

Community School of Music and Art

The Community School of Music and Art in Mountain View is by far the most amazing place! I signed Math up for a comic book drawing class last month and he's been digging it big time! The class has some classic components like learning basic anatomy drawing and pen and ink filling, but it's also very fun and laid back. Math is learning a lot, but having a blast all the while. I have a feeling we are going to be here a lot for the foreseeable future.

If you're not sure your wee-one is ready for a full fledged series of classes you can sign-up ahead of time to take part in a One-Day Saturday Funshop class. For $35 you and Junior can enjoy a two part music and art session with some of the finest early childhood education facilities around. The class is broken into two 45 minute sessions with a snack break in-between. Classes are developmentally appropriate, and is wonderful hands on exploration for any youngster.

Here's some photos of Alexander chilling at CSMA while we waited for Math's class to be over.

The Play Store

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with an associate at The Play Store on University Ave in Palo Alto. She was very gracious about letting me take pictures, and answered all sorts of questions about their stock and play philosophy.

The Play Store is a small independent toy store for children of all ages. It is unique in that it almost exclusively sells natural, wooden, and/or organic toys and accessories. I was also told they don't buy from any one particular region (though European toys seemed to have a heavy influence). Instead they specifically chose items based on child-centered functionality, and quality. The Play Store has a Waldorf inspired methodology regarding their beliefs about play and learning, and also believe that toys should be made to grow with a child (not ceasing to be useful after a certain age).

The associate also emphasized that safety was very important to them, and they did not purchase from countries known to have toxins in their paints. In fact, they try to veer away from paints all together, and mostly stock items that have been naturally dyed. And on top of all these great perks, they store has a conscience, too! They only purchase from companies and sources that treat workers fairly, and are environmentally friendly.

The store itself is very child-friendly, too. They have a wooden train table set up with a simple assortment of Plan City and wooden train pieces. Alexander spent much of his time playing there while I took some photos of the rest of the space...

Busy playing

Front of the shop

For the budding culinary virtuoso

Adorable wooden foods

Beautiful and naturally dyed wooden vehicles

Organic baby section. The Play store also partners with a local woman who makes unique knitwear, too!

Thaiphoon

I was back in Pali this afternoon with a friend and her son. We call the kids Alex ^2 or Alex squared because they both have the same name. They're pretty different in many ways...my Alex is short and chubby, her Alex is long and lean. My Alex is impulsive and mischievous, her Alex is thoughtful and intelligent. But, both our Alexes are VERY cute, and it's cool to see their budding personalities take shape.

Anyway, we did our usual park routine, and then hit up Thaiphoon for lunch. Thaiphoon is located on Emerson a block off University. It's a nice little restaurant with polite, efficient service. The hostess was very accommodating on seating, and we choose to sit outside since it was nice out. The lunch menu was extensive, and most meals (consisting of soup, salad, main course, and rice) cost around $8-$10. The kids behaved, the waitstaff was attentive, and we enjoyed a nice relaxing meal in the warm California sunshine. Bliss...

Veggie soup was light, and a slightly spicy. Very nice.

Isn't this pretty? I like how it came bento style, and was just the right amount of food!

Alexander enjoying his meal, eating like a civilized child for once.

Alex waiting for the bill.

Sprinkles Cupcakes

I'm sorry, but you haven't had a cupcake till you've had a Sprinkles Cupcake.

These aren't your everyday, run of the mill cupcakes, either. These are high-end, gourmet cupcakes that come in a wide array of flavors. The cake itself is not very sweet, but the sugary frosting balances the whole entirely. Each and every cake is scrumptious, but we're nuts about the strawberry flavored ones in this house. Next week's book group meeting is about breast cancer survival so I'm thinking about bringing the pink ones since they kinda go with the theme ;0)


This Beverly Hills establishment is sweeping the nation, and I am glad we have one in The Valley to call our own. Don't have a Sprinkles in your hometown? No problem! Buy the mix at your local Williams Sonoma.


Sprinkles is located in the Stanford Shopping Center.

Pasta? and Satura Cakes

We eat out a lot. I love to cook, but I love to eat out more. And since we just recently figured out the practicalities of a babysitter, we've done most of our eating out with our kids. Dining with kids can be a tricky thing, and it can be especially tricky when your idea of dining doesn't involve some golden arches and an indoor play structure.

Palo Alto is smack between my older son's school and our house. Therefore, University Avenue is a typical lunching hot-spot for Alexander's and my playdate posse.


Anyway, here's a review of one of our favorite typical eating routines...

• Playtime at Johnson Park

• Lunch at Pasta?

• Dessert at Satura Cakes (or Fraîche)

There is a wonderful, fenced park on the corner of Everett and Kipling called Dr. Edith Eugiene Johnson Park. The concrete slide there is legendary, and even remembered by Gen X kids from around the peninsula far and wide. There is also a small garden next to the park good for future green thumbs.

Pasta? is a little local Italian restaurant here in the bay area. I like that their food is consistently tasty, fast, and reasonably priced. They have outdoor seating at both locations which makes it easy to pull up a stroller and people watch, and I've never seen a waitress cringe upon approach of my kids.

The hubby's favorite meal...

Satura Cake Company is another local to the bay area (and Hawaii, go figure). The one in Pali is just down the street from Pasta?. Satura is known for providing beautiful, organic, Euro-Japanese culinary confections. My favorite creation by far is their "cup-cake" Choco-Misu. It's a twist on a classic Italian Tirimisu, with a marscopne chocolate-coffee mouse filling ontop of a bed of soaked sponge cake. YUM.

The best part of is that crunchy toffee thing

Common Ground Spearker Series

Common Ground is a symposium brought on by a bunch of Bay Area private schools to further enrich parent education. The speaker series brings in many experts from a wide variety of fields related to raising children, education, and health topics (many progressive in nature). All member school parents are free to attend any of the speaker series, and guests from an outside school can attend for a $20 fee. Even if your child doesn't attend a member school, the $20 fee is worth the free food (private schools have the best grub, seriously), and the speakers are pretty good, too ;0)

Some examples of past speakers:

• Dr. Robert Sapolsky a noted Stanford professor and neuroscientist.
• Dr. Denise Pope, another Stanford professor and author about stressed out overachievers.
• Richard Lavoie, author and special needs expert.

I'm a huge fan of Drs. Sapolsky and Pope, and was bummed to miss their lectures, but Rick Lavoie was entertaining, insightful, and I really enjoyed his book about social pragmatics and learning disabled kids.

Fraîche

So there’s this little organic fresh and frozen yogurt shop on Emerson in Palo Alto called Fraîche. It sells probably the BEST frozen yogurt I’ve ever had (and, yes, I’ve been to Pinkberry!). Fraîche specializes in European-style tart yogurt. The yogurt base is organic, non-fat, and low sugar (I counter this by adding lots of Callebaut chocolate shavings). You then can add any number of delicious toppings like fresh berries, puree sauces, homemade granola, nuts, etc. We tried the fresh organic yogurt once, and I’ve got to say it’s SUPER tart. If you love that sort of thing this one’s for you...

On top of their awesome frozen and fresh yogurts, they have excellent organic micro-roaster coffee...nothing like a nice dinner and Fraîche for dessert...or in our case sometimes we skip dinner and go straight to dessert!

They are kindof cranky about photography in the shop (okay, really cranky), but I got this one of my dish before I dug in...


UPDATE: It's been almost 6 months since discovering the wondrous world of Fraîche. We are there at least three times a week...people yell at me for driving to Pali just for yogurt, but they don't understand...

Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo

This is a well known hang out for parents of toddlers in the Bay Area. If you have a kid under the age of 5 you’ve probably been here, but it’s worth mentioning for the newly relocated.

The PA Jr. Museum is a small, hands on, interactive facility full of kid friendly exhibits. Alexander especially likes the “plink-o” boards, and the ball tubes. There is also an outdoor zoo with ducks, fish, birds, and bunnies to look at.


Admission is free, but they request a donation to help fund future projects.

Also, Rinconada Park is located right next to the museum...great spot for after visiting the Museum since they have a nice little play park and picnic tables.

Mountain View Summer Concert Series

Math dancing with his cat

Last night we went to a concert at Cuesta Park. It was a cover-band of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We packed some blankets and a picnic dinner, and the kids had a blast dancing and playing in the nearby park next to the stage. Only drawback was no alcohol allowed in Mountain View public parks. In all, though, it was a pretty fun night.