Simple Baby Back Ribs

To be honest, I'm a horrible chef .... But, I love to cook , specially making something simple and easy. My husband bought the Instant Pot on Black Friday and I gotta say that I love it. It's so easy to use and clean, and it can make great meals. I made baby back ribs last time and everyone loved it. Winner!

Here's the recipe that I used.

Ingredients:

• 2 slabs of baby back ribs
• 1 whole white onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 cups of Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce
• 1 cup of water

Cut the ribs into smaller pieces. Mix all the ingredients together and put it in the pot with the ribs. Press the "meat" button and set the timer to 40 mins.

When it's done, making sure the meat falls off the bone and fully cooked. If not, try to cook for another 3-5 mins.

Remove the ribs from the pot, leave the sauce in the pot, and bake it for another 5 mins at 210 degree in the oven.

After, serve it on a plate and pour the remaining sauce from the pot.

Voila ... Dinner is served and everybody is happy.

Do you have any great recipes for Instant Pot/pressure cooker? Please do share :-)

Xoxo,

Lishya

The Struggle Is Real

Before having kids, I thought a stay-at-home Mom is such an easy job. You just stay at home, do whatever you want, whenever you need to, take care of the kids, and sleep late. Man, I was wrong ... Totally wrong. You can stay at home, but you also have lots of things to do. My laundry takes days to be finished, I constantly cleaning and wiping until I don't care because I'm too exhausted to clean and prefer spending time with my girls. I run out of ideas what to make for dinner, sometimes I forgot to buy this and that even I already typed it down on my grocery lists. Grocery shopping is just like another test on how I feel God really teaches me how to be patient. Skye is 3.5 years old, and let me tell you, she's nothing like it ... She's more like a teenager. She's one strong minded child, she's very persistent and she's very good in negotiating (just like her Dad). Sometimes I lost words with her, she really tests my patience and honestly, I lost it here and there. But ... If you asked me if I would have the power to change it, I wouldn't. They are my everything, I'd take it as hard as it is and as it will be and I feel very blessed that I can be their 24/7 guardian. They always need their Momma and Momma's love is the best unconditional love, isn't it? (Okay, gotta give the Dads all the credits as well). It is as hard as it seems to be, but it's the most rewarding job I've ever had and I wouldn't changed a thing. I can say that I LOVE my life!

I love you, Skye and Summer ... And I love you endlessly, Kenji for letting me do what I do and support me all the way through thick and thin ...!

Xoxo,

Lishya

Relationship Goal

Who would have thought that having kids is a game changer?

Before kids, Sean and I used to go on a date night every weekend. We used to explore new places, try new restaurants, go to karaoke and sing our hearts out, do mini getaways, try different kind of food trucks, go bowling and golfing, and million other fun things. Don't get me wrong, we feel so blessed with Skye and Summer. No matter how frustrating it is sometimes, they are fun and precious. I wouldn't change a thing. Still, we, as a couple need to have a quality time together. Date night is very important to us and since we don't have any family around, we need a great babysitter that we can trust and reliable. Fortunately, we just found two! They're on call and we feel very comfortable with them. With that saying, we can't wait to enjoy each other again like we used to. Here are some tips on how to keep our relationship alive and exciting ...

• Obviously, date nights. It doesn't have to be fancy, can be at home having a quiet dinner without the kids, or go to your favorite restaurant and enjoy the food and each other.
• Cards. I told Sean before that I love readings cards, specially on certain occasion. No matter what kind of gifts he gives me, if he doesn't give me a card, I'd be disappointed and so far he never failed me ... And I love it more when he always writes a sweet note in it.
• Open communications about everything, even sensitive topics. Sean is such a good communicator and I'm learning a lot from him. We talk about our finances, our goal in life, our wants and needs. We know each other like an open book.
• Compliment each other whenever you can. Most of the time, I feel that I look like a chicken without a head. Life gets so busy with kids and mostly I'm on my tshirt, yoga pants, and hair up. He's still saying that I look hot and usually I respond with "Psssh, shut up ... You always say that because I'm your wife." But inside, I smile a little bit ;)
• Call and text each other no matter how busy your day is. He's the most person I'm texting, I text him over a thousand texts in a month. Go figure!

With that saying, everyone has their own principle and favorites. Just try to make the most of it for your relationship. A healthy relationship equals a happy family.

These pictures are from our date night last week ...

Xoxo,

Lishya

Staycation

Before the kids, Sean and I used to take mini vacations as often as we could. We love to

travel and venture out new places. Skye experienced her first trip when she was 8

months old, we took her to San Diego and she loved it. Since then, she's already been to

Seattle and Vancouver in Washington State, Portland, Hawaii, Singapore, and

Indonesia. She loves to travel, experience new things, and try different kind of cuisines. We want Summer to have the same experience, so we took her for her first trip to Palm Springs last weekend and stayed at Ritz Carlton. It's such a gorgeous resort and from the start, they really treated us like a royal family. As soon as we arrived, they offered a chilled fruity drink and there was a guy with a big cart full of toys and Skye could choose a few for her to play with. Everyday between 12-5pm, they have a very cool candy bar, even the adults love it! The room itself, is just beautiful. We got the view of the gorgeous Santa Rosa Mountains and the bed is just ahhhhhmazing. The girls loved it and they slept late, which is unusual. We spent most of our time at the hotel and just relaxed by the pool in a cabana. You can rent the cabana the whole day and it really helps when you're travelling with kids since you can put all of your belongings inside and they also have a safety box, TV, and a ceiling fan. The weather was brutal, around 105 degrees, but we still had a great quality amount of family time.

Of course, travelling with kids is not that easy, but with more and more experience, you'll get the hang of it. You just have to plan and pack right and have lots of fun.

I have some tips on how to make travel more bearable with the little ones.

• Find a good hotel/resort that is family friendly
• Locations also play an important role, find ones that close to restaurants and markets, so when you need to buy necessity things or food for the kids, it'll be so much easier and save time 
• Pack light and bring snacks
• Call the hotel and ask if they provide cribs for the babies. Some hotels even have toiletries for the kids
• Book in advance, it'll save you quite amount of money
• Bring lots of water bottles for the room
• Don't forget to bring chargers for phones
• Entertain them with toys and books in the room
• Have fun and ENJOY!

I leave you with pictures from our first getaway as a family of four :)

Xoxo,

Lishya

About Me

It's been a while in a blogging world that I haven't post anything. Life gets a little hectic around here with two hands full of kiddos. I'm juggling in between making sure both kids are happy and well taken care of, taking Skye to preschool, gymnastic and dance class, doing house chores, preparing for our first weekend getaway as a family of four this weekend, and just recovered from food poisoning.

I think it's time to introduce myself ... Here's a little fact about me:

• I was born in Indonesia and moved to LA right after high school in '99 for college. I was about to go back for good to Indo, then I met my husband ... I'm stuck and it was the best decision ever :-)

• I have the best job, being a Stay-At-Home Mom and watch my 2 girls growing up and educate them about life. It's not easy, they always challenge me every day, every week, every month, but I'm up for it ... Always.

• I'm a clean freak, I take a bath twice a day, in the morning and at night before bed. I cannot not taking a shower and wash my hair no matter how late it is and how tired I am. One night during college days, I came home from clubbing and found out the water heater broke. I still took a shower at 3am with the cold water ... Haha, crazy I know!

• I used to do a lot of crazy stuff in high school and college and now, looking back, I was like, holy camoly, God was watching over me all those time and He still is.

• I'm a foodie. I asked my husband to drive 120 miles (it's a four hour drive round trip) away just for a slice of pie. I love looking for new places to eat and don't mind the drive. 

•  As much as I love sushi and can eat fish everyday, believe it or not I CAN NOT touch the living fish. It scares me to death. My husband thinks I'm weird ... Lol, yeah ... I'm weird like that.

• Some people thought my husband and I met in college. Actually he's 12 years older than me ... SCORED, lucky me!

• I'm good at profiling people, I can tell from the first impression if that person is sincere and personable or not.

I leave you with those for now, and will share more in the future. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of my family ...

Xoxo,

Lishya 

Hello, September

A new month, a new beginning ... Specially for our near and dear friends, Hiro and Utako from Sushi Koyo.

33 years ... That's how long Sushi Koyo was in business. It's a hole in the wall sushi place, very simple and quaint. Sean used to go there 3-4 times a week when he was a bachelor and when we were dating we used to go there twice a week and after kids, we went there every other Saturday. This place holds a special place in our heart.
Hiro-San and Utako-Chan are such a genuine couple. We are like a family, they're really caring about their customers above and beyond.

Hiro-San did everything himself, from buying the fish to making his own salad dressing. Every morning, for 33 years, he went to the fish market in LA at 4.30am. He chose his fish, cut, and served to his loyal customers. He also made his own ponzu sauce, salad dressing, and miso sauce. He had the best sushi rice and hand rolls, specially his famous Blue Crab Handroll. We will miss this place for sure, specially Skye.

Sushi Koyo is Summer and Skye's first restaurant. Skye loved it here, usually she ordered New Zealand Salmon, Pink Scallop, Blue Crab Handroll, and Ankimo (Monkfish Liver). She's also a trained helper. As soon as she's done with her dinner, she loved to help Utako with the customers. She knows how to give napkins and chopsticks to the customers, put away dirty dishes, bring oshibori (wet hand towel offered to customers in places such as restaurants and sushi bars in Japan, that is used to clean one's hands before eating), and give customers their bills.

Over the weekend, they held a private party for their long time customers and it was one of the best parties I've attended. We had fun, the kids had fun, and of course we enjoyed great food and drinks as usual. It was good to spend time with friends that you've known for years.

Congratulations Hiro and Utako! We are sad because we can't go to Sushi Koyo anymore, but also very happy to know that now you can travel all over the world freely and spend more time with your grandson. Cheers ...!

Enjoy some pictures from the party :-)


Xoxo,

Lishya

Two is a game changer

I have two beautiful girls and as much as I adore them, sometimes they're very challenging. I think threenager is worse than terrible two. Skye, a three year old, is very smart and one strong minded kid, I tell ya. She doesn't take no as an answer and she always finds her way to get what she wants. On the other hand, Summer, the 10 week old is very mellow, yet she loves to be held. Some days I just spend almost the whole time either on the couch or in bed, holding and cuddling her. My laundry will take days to be done, and I have other million things to do, yet I enjoy this phase since they're growing up too fast and I will definitely miss these moments.

For some people three is a game changer, but for me it's two. Just because we don't have any family here who can give us extra help. Sean's family live in Hawaii and mine are in Indonesia. Fortunately, as a second time parent, I have more experience and it's so much easier since Summer is a great sleeper and she barely cries. Speaking of having more experience with the baby, now I  know which items that are essentials versus the ones that I can live without. These 5 items are my life savers with Summer and I wish I had these with Skye.

1. Diaper bag: Petunia Pickle Bottom.
2. Muslin swaddle blankets: Little Unicorn
3. Oil diffuser: DoTerra
4. Baby wrap: Solly Baby
5. Car seat cover: Milk Snob. 

Here are some pictures of Summer and Skye. Without them, life would be boring ...

Xoxo,

Lishya