Some Thoughts on Turning 30

Taking a moment at Cannon Beach, OR to contemplate my birthday...

A little over a week ago was my 30th Birthday.  A lot of people look at their 30th birthday as a scary, anxiety provoking milestone.  I can say with certainty that it was not for me.  I really enjoyed my 20's - when I think of everything that I did and what I accomplished - I feel content.  My college experience was everything I wanted it to be (maybe with less A's than I wanted), I moved to New York City and accomplished my masters degree in a subject I love, I traveled to Europe for the first time (and what I thought would likely be the only time....boy was I wrong!), and I met my amazing husband, who I can safely say is the love of my life.

I had hard times during my 20's too...and things happened that will affect me for years to come.  My father was ill (gravely on several different occasions) and eventually passed away from cancer, I lost a friendship, one that felt more like family, and I made an unsuccessful attempt at gaining admission to a PhD program (but I did try! and boy it is competitive!).  These things were all difficult, and made an indelible impression on me - but it is for that reason that I don't feel bitter or allow them to mar the view I have of that time period in my life.  Both the good and the bad have made me the well rounded, semi-flawed, self-conscious and hopeful person that I am.

I look forward to what my 30s have to bring.  Who knows what will happen or where I'll end up.  In the meanwhile, to all my family and friends who read this blog - thank you for helping make my life what it is, and I can't wait to see where this decade goes.

Happy 99th Birthday Uncle Marty!!!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man - Marty Kaprelian!

Uncle Marty Celebrates his 99th birthday today!  Can you believe it?!  We are so lucky to have him in our lives, he's a true treasure.  Having never met either of my grandfathers, I consider myself blessed to have had the chance to develop such a wonderful relationship with Uncle Marty (he's really my great uncle - in all senses of the word).  Uncle Marty has lived through many many things in his lifetime, I cannot even imagine what it must be like to have experienced so much change! 


He was born in the back of a shoemaker's shop...and has seen the world through industrialization, war, peace, prosperity, depression, technology and so much more.  A man who once as a kid sold newspapers on the street corners in Chicago, who acted in community plays in Milwaukee, who made gin in his bathtub during prohibition, who served in the United States Navy and countless other amazing things.  I wish I could write an elegant snapshot of his life thus far, but Uncle Marty leaves me practically speechless. 


What can we say, except for maybe "Hip Hip Hooray!  Happy Birthday Uncle Marty!!!"


Some more photos from his family birthday celebration this past Saturday:

An Evening with Friends

The Guys playing pool at Bar Nine

Yesterday we went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate Virginia's 30th birthday (Yay! Happy Birthday Virginia!) and had a really nice dinner at Becco. The food there is delicious and super reasonably priced - no wonder Josh and Virginia love it so much!

After Becco we went to a bar up Ninth avenue a ways, where Mike was waiting for us. The guys had a nice time playing pool (see the above photo with Josh, Mike and Felipe) while the rest of us relaxed and chatted on the huge couches they have in the back. It was a very enjoyable evening.


Felipe, Virginia and Josh


Josh showing off his fancy behind-the-back moves (he did make the shot!)


Mike taking a shot


Josh on another shot. Felipe was more a spectator/fan - didn't play but encouraged/heckled Mike and Josh.

Happy Birthday....

Today would have been Dad's 64th birthday - I hope he's up there rockin' with Elvis ;)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Outside the Christmas windows at Tiffany's in NYC

Wish I could be there to celebrate with you, but I know my sisters are keeping things fun for you! Happy Happy Birthday :D

Happy Birthday to You!

I wanted to find something clever and witty to say here...but alas, I have nothing! I can never claim to be a poet, that is for sure.

All I wish here is to wish Felipe the best birthday ever! And I think it's true...most things in life (love, friendship, wine, cheese...) get better with age. May you have many more (happy) birthdays, and some tres leches cake to come...

Happy 98th Birthday Uncle Marty!

Happy 98th Birthday to my Great Uncle Marty! What a guy...I only wish I could see him on a weekly basis again. This distance between us isn't fair! I'm looking forward to our next visit with him in November...

A Beautiful Lady

I woke up this morning, and as I gazed at the clock wishing it weren't 6:30am already, I realized today was July 21st. My Grandma's birthday. So I just wanted to post a photo, and stop to remember a really beautiful lady. If she were still living, she'd be 103 today. And even though she's been gone a while, I still feel lucky to have had the time with her that I had.

Birthday "Fiesta"

Last night Felipe and I hosted a birthday "fiesta" (my birthday was last Monday - thanks to everyone for the well wishes!), and had a blast with our friends.

So I basically spent all day cooking and prepping the food, which was tiring but fun, and got to try out a few new recipes. Above you can see the table, all set and ready to dig in - except for some Carne Asada which was being prepared on our "grill". We had ground beef taco, chicken fajita, carne asada, black beans, Spanish rice, guacamole, a terrific and spicy tomatillo sauce that felipe made, and all the other typical taco fixings.


Chicken Fajitas


The Spanish rice - super yummy!

I got the recipe for the Spanish rice from Allrecipes.com, and it turned out super well.

Spanish Rice


Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup uncooked white rice
* 1 onion, chopped
* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
* 2 cups water
* 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
* 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste (I used 1 tablespoon and it came out well)
* 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute rice, onion, and bell pepper until rice is browned and onions are tender.

2. Stir in water and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed.




The guacamole - also yum!

I got the recipe for the guacamole from Simply Recipes. Super easy to make, and delicious.

Guacamole


Ingredients

* 2 ripe avocados
* 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
* 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
* 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* A dash of freshly grated black pepper
* 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.
Method

1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)

2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Serves 2-4.


Tres Leche cake

I made a tres leche cake, recipe from Alton Brown, and everyone devoured it! It was super yummy (the pound of sugar doesn't hurt), but also very heavy!

Tres Leche Cake

Ingredients
For the cake:

* Vegetable oil
* 6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
* 8 ounces sugar
* 5 whole eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the glaze:

* 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
* 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup half-and-half

For the topping:

* 2 cups heavy cream
* 8 ounces sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake:
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F.

Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:

Whisk together the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and the half-and-half in a 1-quart measuring cup. Once combined, pour the glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake overnight.

Topping:

Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

After stuffing ourselves, we played a couple of games. Oh how I've missed game nights! We did both Taboo and Apples to Apples - we had to keep it to games that the 10-12 of us could play together. Taboo took a little getting used to - agreeing on or understanding all the rules and such. Felipe was super on top of controlling the buzzer!







Thanks everyone for coming over and having some food and fun. I had a terrific birthday!

Happy Birthday Marms

Happy Birthday to my sister Mar (on the left). Wish I could be there to celebrate with you!

p.s. - card and gift are late, as usual. Sorry for being a jerk!

Happy Birthday Eda!

Just to wish my mother-in-law Eda a happy birthday! She's enjoying summer in Rio right now, and Felipe and I wish we were there to celebrate with her!

Happy Birthday Mom!

So I'm a little late in getting this up...I will chalk it up to the fact that I was traveling and rightly distracted.

I was able to call and wish mom a happy birthday from Spain, but neglected to put a post up on my blog...what a jerk thing to do! I guess it goes along with the fact that she got her birthday present a month afterward too.

Happy Birthday Felipe!

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday! Of course I wish him happiness in the year to come - and look forward to celebrating his birthday tonight with a few friends :D

Happy Birthday Aunt Robbie

Mom and Aunt Robbie

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Robbie! I hope you're having as much fun as possible! Hugs from afar!

Ninety Seven Years?!

Today my great Uncle Marty celebrates his 97th birthday! For most of the time that I was growing up he lived in California, but around the time I was in High school he moved back to Wisconsin - and since then I have really been able to enjoy getting to know my great uncle (my paternal grandmother's brother). He's the closest thing I have ever had to a grandfather, and I am lucky to have such a relationship with him!

When I lived in Madison, after graduating from college, I would go visit him to listen to his stories, play backgammon and enjoy his company. The last time Felipe and I were in Madison I recorded one of our conversations...I've transcribed it here...and will try to do more in the future.

I had wonderful parents. I can never figure out, my father was a shoemaker. But he would take me around wherever he went, in Chicago there were two huge Armenian carpet dealers in the loop. They were huge, we’d walk in there and they’d take my father in the office and they’d sit and talk for hours. I’d sit there and I don’t know what they’re talking about, they’re talking Armenian, I don’t understand Armenian. I never thought anything about it. I’m just a kid. We go to the ice cream factory and the same thing – they go in and talk and I would get a nice big plate of ice cream. I would listen to them talk and I don’t know what they’re talking about. No matter where he went people treated my father like somebody special. He never indicated, he never showed any indication, never talked about his past. I get a hunch he was raised by the Armenian Church. He could speak French, he came here able to read English and speak English. He was bright.

I was born behind the shoemakers shop, a little later we moved to another street, he moved to a bigger shop and we had an apartment not directly above but almost next door. He had the shop there and all I remember about that is I remember a kitchen; I remember a bedroom and a living room. I remember the 1918 Flu, everyone was sick but me, I’m a kid I walk around and everyone is on the floor. I’m walking around and I’m not sick.

And then from there my father opened a shop at Wieboldt's, the dept store in Chicago. He rented the space and he did so well the company took over the space and made him the manager of the shop. Which didn’t make him too happy but he did it for a while, but then he left and got a partner. Got a great, a nice – was a, it had everything, shoe shining, hat cleaning, clothes pressing, everything, the whole ball of wax in the loop, off the major drags. (Do you remember where exactly that was?) Michigan boulevard and State street – between those two streets they had this shop. At that time, the only time I would see him was on the weekends. He’d leave before I got up and come home after I went to bed. He worked himself to death. He got sick. He had to leave and his partner took the whole thing. He took it all and wouldn’t give us a dime.

We moved to Milwaukee then and he worked with his brother. After a year, there was something wrong. His brother also had hired a cousin who was a drinker and a gambler, which didn’t fit my father’s ethics at all, so they got in big squabbles and they had a fight one time and I was there and I was grabbing my father’s legs because I didn’t want him to get hurt. And then we moved back to Chicago, but it wasn’t long before my father went back. But we stayed, my mother and sisters and I stayed in Chicago a year and then we went back to Milwaukee.

One problem that caused was, I was a good athlete, I was good at almost all the sports. And I mean I was good, I wasn’t moderately good, I was good. And I was never eligible until my senior year, second semester. And I went out for the football team and the coach said, “I don’t care how good you are, you’re not going to make the team, I’m building for next year”. I was good at football and I was good at track, and I was good at baseball. (What did you like best?) I played more ball than I did anything else. I was quick. Not necessarily, I ran a great 100-yard dash, a good 200-yard dash, 400 was beyond my limit. So I was quick more than I was fast. I ran, I went out to practice with the track team, and when they had the city meet. And I ran and did a high jump that was better than the city champs and I ran a better 100 yard dash than the city champs, but still couldn’t compete. In a way it would probably have paid for my education if I were able to do that.

The year I graduated from high school my father went into the sanitarium for TB and I had to go to work. He left before, they didn’t discharge him, but he left on his own recognizance. I’m sure because he wanted me to go to school. Inside of a year he was back in the hospital. I used to take the train, not the train, the streetcar – it was way out on the Westside, we lived on the east side. The sanitarium was way on the west side and it took a long time to get there. And they would be in the open; in those days they kept them in the open air – even when it was below zero, because that’s what they thought it was necessary. Later on it wasn’t the case. That’s what I remember.

Feliz Cumpleaños Sergi!

(I know...a bit of a serious photo - but a rather nice one!)

Happy Birthday Sergi! - Felipe and I wish we could be there to celebrate with you and the family! Hugs from across the ocean!

Happy Birthday Uncle Bruce!

Hope you have a wonderful day with the family! We're thinking of you!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Tomorrow is my wonderful grandmother's birthday - she's celebrating 92 years! Felipe and I will be going back to Wisconsin on Saturday to celebrate with her.


In her old kitchen.


Reading the morning newspaper.


Trimming the flowering bushes in her yard.


Reflections in the mirror.


Keeping scores for the Orlando Magic.

This was a series of photos I took of grandma when I spent two weeks visiting her in 2006.

Happy Birthday Aunt Kathy!

Wishing you a Happy Birthday! I'm sure you are having a wonderful time surrounded by the family.

Hopefully soon Felipe and I will be able to take a visit to Michigan!

Feliz Cumpleaños Primitivo!

Photo by Eda

A very happy birthday to my father in law over in Spain! I hope that it is filled with fun and enjoyment. Felipe and I are wishing that we could celebrate with you at the pizza parlor....

Happy Birthday Primitivo!