Tale of the Multi-Tasking, Craft-and-Design-Loving, Mother-of-Two, Singaporean-Living-in-US, Corporate-Working Mom Named Grace Hester

In Las Vegas

I have been travelling for the day job quite a bit and have been trying to balance family life, day job, and the prints and paper goods orders, as well as birthday parties for our girls and for their friends, swim classes, and gym classes, and a science and math enrichment commitment for Naia, ya-da-ya-da-ya.  So this blog has been a little neglected.  I have a ton of photos and just never get to post them.  So here's one today from the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.  But we are not on the strip which is really neat.  We are at a resort location called The Ravella and it is absolutely beautiful.  They also have a little village area called "The Village" which has some galleries, boutiques, and restaurants.  Although our schedule is pretty crazy here, the sun and overall relaxing environment is giving me such a sense of zen.

Gotta run!  Or walk serenely . . . .  

Pay It Forward

Brought in cups of free coffee today. But anyone who took one had an assignment. Spread the goodwill and cheer!

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

 
Happy Rosh Hashanah! My non-Jewish colleague brought in homemade honey and a box of crackers so that we could enjoy something sweet as a symbol of a sweet new year.

Fourth of July Weekend in Review

 
Accompanied a bus-load (40 total) of chatty and spirited six- to ten-year-olds on a field trip to Graeter's for a facility tour and Great Harvest Bread.  I learned alot but I also realized we do not pay their teachers nearly enough. (Haha.)

(Note:  Naia's front tooth fell out today.  See that big tooth in the photo?  Yes THAT one fell out.  It had been loose for 2 days now and it took her all restrain not to yank it out.  (She was told the Tooth Fairy Rules of Engagement - if you yank it out, she or maybe he? does not visit.)  So when it finally fell out, she gave the biggest "Whoopie!" I have ever heard come out of her and she ran around the entire house showing everyone her tooth.  (Now when she grins in mischief, it adds to the heart-meltability-factor and it is so hard to stay mad at that face.)

The tooth fairy came and she received four quarters.

 
Had breakfast with the family at Le Chatelaine on Saturday morning.  I had their brie, pear, and carmelized onions omelette, a palmier, and a great cup of tea.  Noah had their Parisienne omelette (Ham, Mushrooms and Cheese Provençal: Tomatoes, Pepper, Onion and Cheese Fine Herbs: Chives, Parsley, Tarragon,Chervil and Cheese - Yum!) and toast.  My mother-in-law had blueberry french toast and Gianna kept sticking her finger into Grandma's whipped cream. (Grandma was not exactly discouraging her either - sweet Grandma.)  The girls had scrambled eggs, TWO beignets each, and 2-4 bacon strips each.  We were all happy campers.

 

We think both girls are too sensitive to noise to really enjoy watching fireworks right where the city would launch them but as an added bonus of where we live, we can see the fireworks from our upper floor rooms!  A large tree was blocking our view this year so I woke Naia up (Gianna had a long day so I let her sleep) and we walked out to the front of the house to view the fireworks.

 
Twice this weekend, the girls had fun with stickers, felt and foam cutouts.  Best $3 spent for craft supplies (I keep an eye out for them at the Target $1 bins and especially when they go on 70% off).  The masterpiece above was made by Gianna who titled it "Africa".  And the one below was created by Naia titled, "The Parade".  They promptly put it up on the wall with washi tape.  (I love seeing their artwork all over the walls of our house so thank you washi tape - the tape that does not damage the paint on our walls.)

 
We ended our Fourth of July weekend with a small BBQ.  We had a smorgasboard of food - homemade coleslaw, steak, tilapia, buttered french bagette, even tried grilling a lobster tail (Noah's idea and we would TOTALLY do it again - it was SOOOOOO good.) and shown here, ham and pineapples, mushrooms, honey chicken.  We have extras left for the week so one or two less meals to make for the week - SCORE!

All in all, a relaxing, family-centered weekend.  More often than not, we usually host something on the Fourth of July but I am glad we just chillaxed and took it easy.

Where's Grace?

 

Traveling for the day job.  More traveling to come.  Continuous improvement workshops/projects.  Coordinating a product launch event in 3 weeks.  More customer visits.

 

Trying to make healthy food choices while on the road or while trying to move at 120 mph.  Guacamole made fresh at our table at Cantina Laredo.

 

Ironically, I have been able to do some reading.  Really enjoying Tess Gerritsen's Rizzoli & Isles series.

 

It's not all fun and glamour.  I spent 2 full days of my Miami, Florida visit in 40 degree cooler rooms.

 

And most of all I miss these punkins when I'm not home. (Yes that big one in the middle is my punkin' too.)

Have a Purr-fect Valentine's Day!

One of my team mates gave everyone these valentine's day cards today.  For those who are not in the US, these pre-printed valentine's day cards come in quantity boxes and are perfect for kids to distribute to one another on Valentine's Day.  Naia came home with 28 on Friday when her class had their Valentine's Day party (some from her classmates, some from her teachers).

For an extra special touch, my colleague also added a small chocolate treat.  Can you tell she wrote it with her left hand to mimic a young child's handwriting?  Too cute.

 
 

There were cupcakes and candy and cookies all over the office today.  No large bouquet of flowers in sight (we have an open office environment) which is surprising to me but maybe it’s too showy for this wing of the office.  My boss got 2 flat tires at lunch.  And I spent 6 hours working on a quote.  Seems like a pretty average day to me. :o)

New Orleans Day 1

I am in New Orleans this week for a work event.  Our team arrived yesterday evening and walked a short trek from our hotel to Emeril's New Orleans for dinner. 

 

 
 
When we got there about 8-ish, the restaurant was already packed and people were waiting for their tables.  We had reservations and were still seated late so I wonder if the people we saw who just walked in, ever got seated. 

But it was worth the wait because the food was SO good, we could not stop raving at each item we had.  I managed to take some photos but mostly I was too busy eating and enjoying the company :o) 

I pieced together what we had from the menu online,

Rolls - Sweet Potato Roll, Cornbread Mini Muffin
(These were out of this world yummy, especially the sweet potato roll)

Appetizers (Shared)

Creole Marinated Calamari - Flash Fried with Olive Salad, Smoked Tomato Sauce and Parmesan

Fresh Angel Hair Pasta - with Smoked Mushrooms and House Made Tasso Cream Sauce

Soup of the Day - Crawfish Bisque (sorry, forgot the "before" photo *haha*

Entrée

Chef David Slater’s Creative Fish of The Day - Mahi Mahi Atop Etoufee with Mussels Over Saffron-Infused Rice (Oh Emm Gee VERY good.)

 
Dessert (Shared)

Chocolate Cake (well, it wasn’t just called “chocolate cake” but a fancy name that I forgot and was not on the menu)

Warm Cranberry Bread Pudding with Pecan Streusel Topping, Toffee Sauce and White Chocolate Ice Cream

 
Lemon-Tarragon Ice Box Pie with Nilla Wafer Crust and Torched Meringue (no photo - oops again.)

The wine list was really extensive and the waiter/server team was very attentive.  I highly-recommend this place if you are ever in New Orleans.

Thank You Card from a Good Friend

Received a beautiful thank you card from a dear friend this morning on my desk.  I had found some stamps and a large stamp block on serious sale at TJ Maxx so I got a set for me and for my best bud Tia.  In return, she included the use of the stamps to create this card. 

 
SO GORGEOUS!  But I think she may have done more damage than good because now I want to glimmer-mist!  I have been fighting the trend since I need to do some serious downsizing of the scrapbooking supplies before I should get more things but it's soooo preeetty.  So thank you Tia.  And THANK YOU *sarcastic* Tia.

Life

Life has been anything but boring these past two weeks:

1)  We received a call from a school we were on the waitlist for who called to say that there was a spot available for Naia.  So there was alot of scurrying around this week to visit new after-school care centers, sort out transportation, get uniforms, figure out schedules, school supplies, etc.

2)  Within the same time and space continium, Naia has been throwing up every 4 days or so over the past 2 weeks.  She did it again yesterday so we spent today going to doctors and hospitals trying to figure it out.  Is it allergies - was she exposed or did she develop new ones?  Is it nerves - I find that hard to believe since she has been super excited and seems frustrated that kindergarten didn't already start.

We also found out that this new school, and the school we had enrolled her in as a back-up, were both NOT nut-free facilities.  So Noah and I are also making this decision on which school to send her to, with a slight weight in our hearts.

3)  We are very close to meeting a milestone at the day job so although I try not to do so at all (personal mantra about pushing a productive 8-hr work day so I don't mix work with family time), I have been very motivated to spend outside-work hours to push towards meeting the milestone.  But this means even lesser sleep than normal.

4)  I received 3 rush order requests this week.  I don't mind doing them usually and in fact see it as an opportunity to leave a positive impression on the customer.  But understandably so, rush order or not, a swamped week is a swamped week.

[Updated:  Insert #5 Here]

Oh yes how could I forget, my credit card information was used to make shopping purchases out in California.  Thankfully it was caught but nevertheless one more thing to do or be concerned with.

6)  Due to above, I have been stress-snacking alot.  So I feel crummy.

So I am a little behind on my to do list, blog posts, and my home office is a disaster zone, and I am so tired of being connected 24/7.  But I look forward to the air when I resurface and rejuvenate this weekend.

Good Morning!