Mother’s Day 2012

Wow, I can’t believe a year has passed since my brother and I invited my mom down to San Diego for a Mother’s Day weekend mini-cation. Check out my brother’s blog for our homemade breakfast, Point Loma Seafood picnic at NTC Promenade, breakfast at The Cottage, and dinner at The Prado in Balboa Park. This year, my brother was unable to come home to celebrate with us, but he again showed off his artsy fartsy skills with these beautifully handmade flowers that arrived in the mail just in time.

Since Serena took me to Santouka in Mitsuwa for my first time a few months ago, I have been meaning to take my mom to try the ramen at this place, which has 4 star Yelp ratings and high recommendations from close friends. So on Saturday, I took my mom there for lunch, and then we watched one of my favorite movies, Pride and Prejudice.

On Sunday, I made an imitation of last year’s homemade breakfast for my mom. The menu included much of the same as last year’s except we skipped out on the bacon and substituted smoothie for coffee. I fried over easy eggs, toasted Eggo blueberry waffles, and attempted Josh’s recipe of strawberry jam that was the hit of last year’s breakfast. While Josh left me with simple ingredients, I guessed my way through the instructions. My version turned out to be overcooked since the chunks of strawberries weren’t as visibly seen and it was redder and thicker than it should be. Nevertheless, the taste of the strawberry jam came out normal, even if my mom thought it looked like hot sauce… haha!

Breakfast Menu: Over easy egg, Eggo blueberry waffles with strawberry jam, and coffee

Then, my best friends and I hosted a fancy schmancy dinner for our moms at my house. Planning started a few weeks ago, preparation began around 4pm, and our families came over at 7pm with dinner served shortly after.

Appetizer: Romaine lettuce salad with carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, and walnuts

Entree: Tri-tip with seasoned potatoes, French green beans, and garlic bread

Dessert: Fruit salad with pineapple, strawberry, kiwi, and blueberry, and Tiramisu cake

Drink: Sparkling Red Grape Juice Cocktail

Afterwards, we played a trivia game, “How Well Do You Know These Moms?” The moms worked individually and each family was a team. Questions asked about each mom were birthday, next new place to visit, most scared of ___, what nags her the most about each child, and a list of favorites: color, animal, season, hobby, fruit, grocery store, clothing store, book in the Bible, Bible verse, and Bible character. Even with my brother’s help over the phone, I answered only three correctly about my mom: birthday, favorite grocery store, and what nags her the most about my brother and me. I even answered more correctly about the other moms… how incredibly sad! Nevertheless, I am glad our game helped everyone to learn more about the moms as we laughed over each other’s answers.

Click here for more photos of our dinner party!

Mom – I hope that you not only felt special this weekend, but also feel appreciated throughout the year and not just on Mother’s Day. Thank you for who you are and everything that you do for me and for others!