Xenia Olivia

Noam's Newborn Pictures at Home

2017-03-21T22:03:00.000+08:00

(En ESPAÑOL abajo)

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share some tips on how to take newborn pictures in your own home, as we did with Noam! Newborn pics are usually taken between day 5 and day 10 of live, as it is when babies sleep the most. We took Noam's when he was 13 days old and he was awake almost all the time, oh my!

This is what you'll need:
1. A heater! This is a must, specially if you're to take pics during the colder months. No matter how warm the house is, a heater is needed to warm the space where the baby will be without clothes.
2. Natural light. Choose the area of your home which gets the better natural light, it makes all the difference!

3. A blanket (or several!) to use as a backdrop. Blankets with textures work great for this purpose!

4. Newborn wraps/outfits/accessories (crowns, hats, stuffed animals), so that your baby looks as cute as can be!

5. Props such as baskets to put your baby in. This is not a must and pictures in which the baby simply lies on a blanket are perfect, too, but it does give the photoshoot some more variety!
6. Newborn posing ideas! Go get some on my Pinterest and get inspired!
7. A DSLR camera is highly recommended!

I hope you liked the tips and Noam's pictures, do not hesitate to leave a comment if you try this at home, I'd love to know ;)

Hoy quería compartir con todos vosotros unos cuantos consejos para hacer una sesión de fotos de recién nacido casera, tal y como nosotros lo hicimos con Noam. Las fotos de recién nacido suelen hacerse a partir del día 5 de vida y hasta el día 10, por ser cuando el bebé duerme más profundamente. Nosotros hicimos la de Noam a sus 13 días y se pasó casi toda la sesión despierto(!!!)

Aquí va una pequeña lista de cosas que necesitaréis:

1. Un calefactor! Es probablemente en lo que menos pensamos, y es un indispensable, sobretodo si las fotos se hacen en los meses más fríos. No importa lo caliente que esté la casa, el bebé desnudo necesitará un extra de calor a su alrededor.
2. Luz natural. Lo primero antes de empezar a preparar nada más es decidir dónde haréis las fotos, y el sitio ideal será el que más luz natural (indirecta) tenga.
3. Una o varias mantas. Estas servirán de fondo para las fotos, así que cuantas más tengáis, más variada quedará la sesión. Las mantas con textura son una excelente opción.
4. Accessorios para bebé tipo conjuntos de crochet, alas de ángel, coronas, fulares, muñecos de trapo, etc.
5. Elementos decorativos tipo mini-cunas o cestos para poner al bebé en ellos. No son imprescindibles y las fotos en las que el bebé está encima de una manta sin más también son bonitas, pero está bien variar un poco!
6. Ideas para poses de recién nacido! Encontraréis bastantes en mi Pinterest.
7. Una cámara reflex para poder jugar con la luz, focalización y, en definitiva, obtener mayor calidad de imagen que se asemeje a una sesión profesional.

Si os animáis no dudéis en dejarme un comentario y decirme cómo os ha ido!

Noam's Birth Story

2017-03-05T17:56:00.000+08:00

(Relato en ESPAÑOL abajo)

Nesting hit me like crazy on the evening of February the 4th. It was a Saturday night so that meant one of the only shows we ever watch on TV was on, and Jeff was asking me to join him in the sofa to watch it, but I felt I was way too busy and had a lot to do. That day was my EDD and my hospital bag wasn't even ready, so in a way I had indeed a lot to get done, but then it went way beyond that: I felt the whole apartment was a mess and everything needed to be cleaned and tidied up. I finished my hospital bag and left everything in the lobby, telling my husband that we would be heading to the hospital that same night. I just had it in my guts, you know. I didn't even have any symptoms, I just somehow knew it. That day we had walked a lot, and the whole cleaning thing at night left me exhausted, so we went to bed and I was soon in a deep sleep.

I was awaken by a contraction around 4:30AM. It was a bit painful so I assumed it wasn't a Braxton Hicks contraction like the ones I had been having for the whole pregnancy, but still I wasn't sure. And I didn't really care honestly, I was so tired I just wanted to sleep! By 5:30 I had has several contractions and I must have made some sound, because Jeff woke up and asked me if I was really in labor. I said: I think so... But both of us simply went back to sleep, ha! This may be due to the fact that with Liam's birth, from this very first contraction until he was actually born, 32 long hours went by, so this time we knew better and knew we had to rest while we could! What I didn't know is that this time around things would go so much faster.

Around 8:30AM my contractions were painful and I couldn't keep quiet so I ended up waking Liam who was sleep in between my husband and I, and got all worried that mama was in pain! I downloaded an app to count contractions and was so amazed at what I saw, my contractions lasted for 1 minute and came in every 3-5 minutes, it was time to head to the hospital! I called my parents and asked to come pick Liam ASAP, and then I headed to the shower. The warm water on my lower back was the best feeling ever, I didn't want to leave! When I finally did stop the water, the contractions had escalated from mild to very strong, and I could only bear the pain by bending over or on the floor on my knees. At this point my parents arrived and my mom, seeing me like that, advised me to head to the hospital right away, but I told her there was no way I was going to deliver a baby on an empty stomach! So she made breakfast for me and I ate it the best I could in between contractions, and only then was I ready to leave. It was 10AM.

The problem at that point was I was on the floor as soon as a contraction hit in, so it was like impossible for me to make it to the taxi. But I gathered all my strength and stood up after a contraction had just passed and started walking and didn't stop until I reached the taxi, when another one came in. The taxi ride lasted for a bit more than 10 minutes and, surprisingly, the movement of the car seemed to soothe me, and I only had one moment of deep pain. When we arrived I waited for a contraction to finish and started walking right after just as I had done before, and went all the way until the delivery room admissions. Once I got there, I went down on my knees on the floor again, not only because of the contraction that I got but because of the notice I saw on the counter: Please wait for some minutes, we'll be with you shortly. There was no one on sight! Only a waiting room full of relatives who started standing up as soon as they saw me like that, to see if they could help finding some midwife around. I remember several of them asking me if I wanted to sit on the chairs, they were so kind and yet so naive, I couldn't even stand up! Finally they found a midwife and I rushed inside while Jeff filled in the documents needed for admission.

The midwife asked me to remove my clothes and left me alone. When she came back I don't know how many minutes later, she found me fully dressed and laying on the floor. I simply couldn't move! Jeff came back at that moment as well and he helped with my clothes, so the midwife could finally check how dilated I was. It turned out I was 8cm dilated. All I could say at this moment was: epidural, epidural!! I wanted the anesthesia so bad, and I was worried they would tell me I was too dilated at this point to have it, but luckily it was ok.

As I soon found out, though, the moment Noam had chosen to be born was chosen by many other Barcelona babies as well, and the maternity ward was completely collapsed! The minutes that went by while waiting for the anesthetist were the longest of the whole labor process. When he was finally available for me, he came in and sat down with the intention of explaining the secondary effects of the epidural. I was like, are you kidding me, just give me the anesthesia, I'll sign whatever paper I have to! But then apparently someone needed my bed more than I did?! and they took it away so I had no bed in which to lay for the epidural to be put! Oh my. I went to the toilet and saw my mucus plug was coming out. After a little while they told me we would put the anesthesia in the delivery room directly (I was in a dilation room at the time), so off we went!

I got my shot and started to relax just to find out some minutes later that the anesthesia hadn't worked on my right side, just on the left one. The midwives said this happens sometimes, if the baby is pressing on one side, the anesthesia may not flow correctly. They said the solution was to put the anesthesia again or simply give birth, and given my state, it was clear: I was to give birth. So they suggested breaking my waters so that Noam would make it down the birth canal faster and I could start pushing already. And so we did, and before we knew it I was ready to push. I was sitting on the bed, holding myself onto a bed-sheet that was attached to a bar on top of the bed, and with a big mirror in front of me to see Noam coming out. The minutes in which Noam's head was fully stuck in my vagina I shall never forget. I don't know how on earth I didn't tear! I pushed for about 10 minutes and my baby boy was finally born.

Noam arrived at 12:42PM and weighted in at 3515gr, 50cm long. I didn't need any stitch, and that was the happiest thing I could hear at that moment, right after knowing my baby was perfectly healthy, of course! A new love story had just started... I love you, Noam!

****************************

ESPAÑOL

La noche del día 4 de febrero me dió un síndrome del nido bastante importante. Era sábado por la noche, día de Oh Happy Day en la tele, uno de los pocos programas que miramos, pero yo no estaba por la labor. Jeff me llamaba desde el sofá para que lo miráramos juntos y yo sólo sabía decirle que tenía muchas cosas que hacer. Es cierto que había algunas cositas urgentes pues ese día 4 yo había salido de cuentas y mi bolsa del hospital aún no estaba lista. Había preparado la de Noam unos días antes, pero la mía seguía a medias. Pero no sólo me dió por la bolsa, sino por toda la casa. Me parecía que todo estaba desordenado y lleno de polvo y yo venga a recoger. Ese día habíamos estado en el puerto y habíamos vuelto a casa andando, por lo que la verdad yo estaba bastante cansada y la limpieza acabó de dejarme KO. Dejé todas las bolsas en el recibidor y le dije a mi marido que esa noche nos iríamos al hospital. Se lo tomó un poco a broma y puso cara de circunstancias al ver las bolsas prostradas en medio de la entrada, pues si Noam fuera como Liam, aún faltarían 10 días para su llegada! El caso es que una vez me pareció que todo estaba listo y la casa más o menos decente, me fui a dormir y caí rendida, cosa rara en mí, pues suelo tardar bastante en dormirme.

A eso de las 4 y media de la mañana noté la primera contracción. Me dolió un poco y es lo que me llevó a pensar que era contracción de parto y no de Braxton Hicks como las que venía teniendo durante todo el embarazo. Pero yo ni mucho menos pensaba despertarme, con Liam desde esa primera contracción hasta que parí pasaron 32 horas! Al cabo de una hora no sé si yo estaría haciendo ruido cuando me venían las contracciones, pero Jeff se despertó, y me preguntó: Sí o no? Y yo: Creo que sí... Pero nada, como si allí no pasara nada, los dos a dormir! Yo me iba despertando con cada contracción y llegó un momento en que no podía pasarlas sin ruido. Al final hacia las ocho y algo con tanta contracción acabé despertando a Liam, que dormía entre mi marido y yo, y se puso algo preocupado viendo que mami tenía pupa! Por fin ya todos despiertos me descargué una aplicación para contar contracciones y empecé. Lo que ví me dejó de piedra: las contracciones duraban un minuto y eran cada 3-5 minutos, era hora de ir al hospital y yo aún en pijama y sin desayunar! Llamé a mis padres para que vinieran a por Liam ipso facto, y yo me fuí a la ducha a relajarme un poco. Qué bien se estaba allí, no hubiera salido ya en lo que quedaba de trabajo de parto! Si hasta ese momento las contracciones me habían parecido llevaderas, al salir de la ducha el dolor me doblaba y solo quería estar en el suelo a cuatro patas. A todo esto llegaron mis padres y mi madre diciéndome que me fuera ya al hospital, que me veía muy mal. Y yo que yo no me iba a parir en ayunas! Así que mi madre me preparó el desayuno que comí como pude entre contracciones, y entonces sí dije que nos podíamos ir. El problema era que para entonces ya las contracciones eran demasiado seguidas y a la que venían yo me tiraba al suelo a cuatro patas. Reuní las fuerzas que me quedaban y a la que pasó una contracción me puse a andar y no paré hasta llegar al taxi, dónde me dió la otra al subir. Sorprendentemente, el traqueteo del taxi me fue bien y solo lo pasé mal una vez en los poco más de 10 minutos que duró el trayecto hasta el Hospital de Sant Pau. Al llegar, otra contracción antes de bajar del taxi, y luego vuelta a andar sin pararme hasta paritorios. Al llegar por fin al mostrador me desmoroné al suelo de nuevo, no solo por la contracción que me vino sino por el cartelito que tenían colgado: Les atenderemos en unos minutos, por favor esperen. Dios mío, vomo iba yo a esperar nada más?? Yo, la del plan de parto sin anestesia, que solo quería que saliera el anestesista allí fuera mismo si era necesario y me pinchara la epidural pero YA. Jeff no sabía que hacer y allí no había nadie del hospital, solo una sala de espera llena de familiares que empezaron a levantarse al verme en el suelo y a mi marido perdido. No sé cuantos fueron los que se pusieron a buscar a personal, y los que vinieron a reconfortarme y decirme si quería sentarme en una silla (qué majos e inocentes). Por fin me encontraron a una comadrona y pude pasar mientras Jeff rellenaba los papeles. Me llevaron a la sala de exploración y me pidieron que me quitara la parte de abajo para hacerme un tacto y ver como estaba. Me dejaron allí sola y cuando volvieron me encontraron toda vestida y estirada en el suelo, pero es que no podía moverme! A eso llegó también Jeff y me ayudó a desvestirme. Por fin me senté para el tacto y lo único que salia de mi boca era: que yo no puedo, que yo me muero, EPIDURAL!!! Y la comadrona diciéndome que antes había que ver como estaba. Y me hizo el tacto y dijo: Pues estás... pariendo! En completa de 8cm. Y yo: EPIDURAAAL!!!!!!!

Bueno pues resulta que el día que Noam escogió para nacer, lo escogieron también unos cuantos más (todos varones por cierto), y estaban las comadronas, el anestesista y las instalaciones en general saturados. El rato de esperar a que el anestesista viniera fue el más largo de todo el parto, y cuando vino me quería leer no sé qué efectos secundarios de la epidural en plan sermón, y yo calla por favor que te firmo una hipoteca ahora si me la pones delante! Firmado el papelito se ve que alguien necesitaba mi cama más que yo, y se la llevaron! Aproveché para ir al baño y vi que estaba perdiendo el tapón mucoso. A todo esto volvió el anestesista y no teníamos cama para ponerme la epidural, yo no podía creerlo. Finalmente se liberó el paritorio y para allá nos fuimos ya directamente. Estaba ya tan al final que tenía miedo que me dijeran que ya no me la ponían, y de hecho me iban preguntando: seguro que quieres la epidural?? Y yo: sííííí!

Por fin tuve mi bendita epidural conmigo y me relajé un poco, solo para darme cuenta al cabo de un rato de que me había hecho efecto solo en la parte izquierda del cuerpo pero no en el lado derecho. Según las comadronas a veces pasa si el bebé está haciendo presión en esa zona y no pasa bien la epidural por allí. La solución es o poner más epidural o parir, y en mi caso por como estaba ya, sin duda era parir. Pues a parir se ha dicho. Me propusieron romper aguas para que Noam acabara de bajar y acepté, y en nada ya era hora de empujar! Me senté con las piernas abiertas y sujetándome de una sábana atada a una barra que pusieron encima de la cama. No sé explicarlo mejor y no sé si os hacéis una idea, pero así es como estaba, y con un espejo delante que pedí para ver como salía mi Noam! Empujé no sé si serían 10 minutos, los minutos que pasé con la cabeza totalmente encajada en mi vagina no se me olvidarán nunca, yo no sé como pude salir de una pieza de semejante barbaridad. Pero sí, Noam nació, y mi periné seguía intacto y no necesité ningún punto. Después de un bebé sano, es la mejor noticia que me podían dar. Estaba en una nube con mi bebé perfecto, un parto rápido, fácil y respetado. No sé si es porque estaban un poco saturados o porque siempre es así, pero solo estaban en paritorio conmigo 3 comadronas y Jeff. Marta delante mío ayudándome y animándome, otra a mi izquierda también animándome, y otra que preparaba cosas que pudiéramos necesitar por la sala. Me sentí genial, súper tranquila y relajada, nada que ver con toda la gente que recuerdo en el parto de Liam.

Noam nació a las 12:42 y estaba cubierto en vérnix, lo que me sorprendió ya que Liam había nacido súper limpito! Pesó 3.515g de amor, y midió 50cm. Ya estaba conmigo mi segundo príncipe, y una nueva historia de amor no hacía más que empezar... <3 T'estimo, Noam!

Twist Snood For Kids Free Knitting Pattern

2017-02-22T04:08:00.000+08:00

(Tutorial en ESPAÑOL abajo)

You may have noticed on Instagram that I've been knitting a lot lately, mostly for baby Noam, but also for Liam, for whom I knitted this warm snood he's been wearing every single day recently! Here's the pattern in case you want to give it a go, it's easy and lovely!

Twist Snood Knitting Pattern - Size 2-3 years

Choose a Category 5, Bulky Chunky Yarn. I used Katia's Big Merino in color 3. You will need around 120gr.

Using 6mm straight needles, cast on 28 stitches.

Row 1: (K2, P2) to last stitch

Row 2: repeat row 1

Row 3: (P2, K2) to last stitch

Row 4: Repeat row 3

Repeat Row 1 to Row 4 until you have 120 rows. Draw up and secure.

Fold your work horizontally and sew the edges. Twist one of the sides of your work and, like that, sew both ends.

This tutorial is based on Galex La Fee's twist snood and Tricotriu's Majo Snood's stitch, and is perfect for beginners! Let me know if you do try it out :)

ESPAÑOL:

Seguramente os habréis dado cuenta a través de Instagram de que este invierno he estado tejiendo mucho. He hecho cositas sobretodo para Noam, pero también para Liam, como es el caso de este bonito cuello que le hice y del que hoy os dejo el tutorial.

Tutorial para dos agujas para un cuello retorcido, talla 2-3 años:

Con una lana para agujas de 7mm, yo utilicé la Big Merino de Katia, en color 3. Utilizaremos agujas de 6mm para que el cuello quede más apretado y por lo tanto más calentito. Necesitarás unos 120gr.

Con agujas de 6mm, monta 28 puntos.

Pasada 1: 2 puntos del revés, 2 puntos del derecho. Repetir hasta el final de la pasada.

Pasada 2: repetir Pasada 1.

Pasada 3: 2 puntos del derecho, 2 puntos del revés. Repetir hasta el final de la pasada.

Pasada 4: repetir Pasada 3.

Repite Pasada1-Pasada4 hasta que tengas 120 pasadas. Cierra los puntos. Dobla tu labor horizontalmente y cose los extremos. Dobla una de las puntas de manera que la labor quede torcida y junta cosiendo los dos extremos.

Es un tutorial muy sencillo perfecto para principiantes! Está inspirado en el cuello retorcido de Galex la Fee, utilizando el punto del Majo Snood de Tricotriu.

Animaros!

Maternity Pictures in the Snow

2017-01-31T22:29:00.000+08:00

Not short after knowing that we were expecting a February baby, I decided my maternity pictures would be taken in the snow. I couldn't imagine a better scenario for a winter baby! When I hit the 36 weeks mark, we finally made it happen in the French Pyrenees.

Desde que supe que esperábamos a un bebé para febrero, me imaginé con fotos de embarazo en la nieve. Creo que es lo más bonito que puede haber para una sesión premamá en invierno. El día que cumplía 36 semanas, por fin lo hicimos realidad en los Pirineos franceses.

As it happens, it was Liam's first time in the snow, so the day was even the more special! We made a vlog for the occasion that you can watch in my YouTube channel.

Era también la primera vez de Liam en la nieve, así que ese día fue aún más especial! Hicimos un vlog para la ocasión que podéis ver en mi canal de Youtube.

I was wearing the prettiest pregnancy dress from Asos, which I had already worn to a wedding some months before and absolutely love. Also, how amazing is this natural light effect we got in the pic below!

Para la sesión de fotos llevé este vestido premamá de Asos que ya había llevado a una boda unos meses antes y del cual estoy completamente enamorada. El color, el estilo, el encaje... todo es YO! ¿Y qué os parece esta foto de aquí abajo? Menudo efecto de luz natural capturó la cámara, me encanta!

These are pictures I'll treasure forever, the second time my body makes such magic and blesses our family with a new treasure.

Estas fotos serán un recuerdo para toda la vida, de este momento tan precioso en el que mi cuerpo, por segunda vez, obra su magia y nos obsequia con un nuevo tesoro.

Liam Rides A Pony

2017-01-23T21:39:00.002+08:00

Last month we had one of the most memorable adventures with Liam yet. We went pony riding! Recommended age for pony riding starts at 2-3 years old, so off we went! We decided on the Centre d'Equitació Poni Club Catalunya, in Sant Just, as it's right next to Barcelona and that's where my friend Helena's brother keeps his horse, which we visited after the pony ride, too.

I thought the activity was fantastic, not only because Liam looked like a pro on the pony and really enjoyed it, but because the ride is very well organized. A pony ride costs 7euros, and lasts for about half an hour. That's an approximate timing, because no one from the club comes with you, you just take the pony and go on the signaled path by yourself, which we thought was marvelous. The path is a circuit that leads you back to where you started, and it takes, indeed, around 30 minutes at a slow pace.

Our partners in crime: my friends Helena and Cristina <3 Also, I love how Liam looks at mommy in this pic!

I was truly amazed at Liam and his pose for the whole time, he looked like he was born to ride a horse, ha! A month later, he stills asks me at least once a day to go back to see "Ben", his pony :D

We went to see Helena brother's horse and Liam fed him so good! I'm so happy he enjoyed this day so much, as we all did!

By the way, I was 33 weeks pregnant and felt huge already, imagine now at 38! :D

A Tea Party At Home

2017-01-21T03:23:00.000+08:00

Meeting up with friends for afternoon tea is always a good idea, and as nice as meeting in a cafe can be, there's nothing quite like hosting a tea party at home. Not only because it's way more child friendly and you don't need to be worrying about where everyone's kids are, but because of the hominess that no cafe, no matter how hygge, could ever achieve.

This last Monday I hosted a tea party for a party of four (plus two kids and the hubby who cared to join for the yummy cakes), and it was so nice! I made this rose hanging arrangement for the occasion, because I thought it looked so girly and quaint, perfect as a wall backdrop for a girl's tea party! You can find the original DIY tutorial here, even though in my case I simply used fake roses I already had home.

As for the cakes, I baked a cheesecake and brownies, and I was congratulated on both of them. I used this matcha cheesecake recipe, simply omitting the matcha part. It was top notch for a regular cheesecake, but I like the matcha version (which I made for the hubby's 30th birthday) even better. You're bound to get compliments on both of them, so you're safe no matter which version you choose to go for :) Seeing how I had created the floral wall arrangement, I decided to incorporate some edible flowers to the cakes as well!

The brownies are something from another world, really. Definitely the best brownies I've ever had, and the reason why I never order brownie outside of home anymore, because I gave up on trying to find a better one. These ones are BBC's best-ever brownies after all, so yummy! I just think 180 degrees Celsius is better than the recommended 160. Also, I think it's better to make them the day before, as they do take some time to cool down.

Even though I have several kinds of teas at home, everyone wanted to try the Tea Shop's White Gracia Blend, which smells heavenly, so I just made a big pot of this. It's kind of expensive, as white teas are more delicate than green or black ones, but it's all worth it! We all enjoyed it and I highly recommend it.

Do you ever host tea parties at home? Next time I think I'll try an English style one, my fave!

Merry Christmas 2016

2016-12-26T04:50:00.002+08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here's our complete Christmas photoshoot, although you've probably seen most of it on my Instagram already!

We chose El Parc del Laberint d'Horta (The Labyrinth Park of Horta) as our location because of its beauty, and it didn't disappoint :)

Let me know what you think and enjoy the season!

Vegan Carob Cake Recipe

2016-11-24T21:30:00.000+08:00

Truth be told, I hadn't baked in a while, let alone taking pictures of my creations or blogging about it! I feel like recently all I have time to do is cook proper meals, since to be honest, having to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day for two and a half doesn't leave you much spare time!

A couple weeks ago, we treated one of our friends to a vegan cooking class for her 30th birthday, and it was such a fun experience! The dessert was a carob brownie, which inspired me to cook this vegan carob cake this week.

For those of you not familiar with carob, it's a healthy alternative to chocolate because it's naturally sweet, high in fiber, low in fat, has twice the amount of calcium compared to cocoa and, most importantly specially for kids or caffeine-sensitive people, it doesn't have caffeine.

I got the recipe from here (in Spanish), and it's SO GOOD! I feel like next time I want to go cocoa-free the whole way though, because this recipe has a bit of chocolate in it.

You know I'm a huge chocolate lover, but this doesn't mean I don't have a major crush on carob ever since I first tasted it a couple weeks ago. Some people dislike it because, obviously, it will never taste 100% like chocolate, but I simply love it. It's slightly different yet totally mesmerizing.

So without much ado, here comes the recipe!

VEGAN CAROB BANANA CAKE

2 or 3 over-ripe bananas
1 and 1/2 cups of spelt flour
1/2 cup of carob flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of olive oil
2 spoons of pure unsweetened cocoa
1/2 spoon of ground cinnamon
2 spoons of baking powder
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of oat milk

Blend the bananas, sugar, oat milk and olive oil together.
On a separate bowl, mix the spelt flour, carob flour, baking powder, cocoa and cinnamon.
Gently place the dry mixture on the liquid batter and keep folding until blended. Fold in 1/2 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.
Pour the mixture into a pound cake pan or any other baking dish of your preference.
Last but not least, distribute the remaining 1/2 of chopped walnuts on top of the batter so as to create a nice coat.
Bake for 50-60 minutes at 170C.

TIP: This recipe will be even healthier if you use 1 cup of dates or 1/2 of molasses instead of the sugar.

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RECETA EN ESPAÑOL

BIZCOCHO DE ALGARROBA VEGANO

2 o 3 plátanos maduros

1 taza y 1/2 de harina de espelta

1/2 taza de harina de algarroba

1 taza de nueces picadas

1/2 taza de aceite de oliva

2 cucharadas de cacao puro en polvo

1/2 cucharada de canela en polvo

2 cucharadas de levadura
1/2 taza de azúcar moreno
1 taza de leche de avena

- Bate en un bol los plátanos, el azúcar, la leche de avena y el aceite de oliva.

- En otro bol, mezcla la harina de espelta, la harina de algarroba, la levadura, el cacao y la canela.

- Incoropora la mezcla del punto número 2 al bol del punto número 1 con movimientos envolventes hasta que esté bien integrado. Añade 1/2 taza de nueces y integra suavemente.

- Pon la mezcla en un molde y esparce el resto de las nueces por encima.

- Hornea a 170C durante 50-60 minutos.

NOTA: Puedes sustituir el azúcar por 1 taza de dátiles o 1/2 taza de melaza.

I hope you like it as much as we did. Thanks for reading!!!

Second Baby Gender Reveal

2016-10-27T17:59:00.000+08:00

* Boy or Girl?! *

I know you guys have been waiting for a long time for this post! Thanks for bearing with me and having patiently awaited until the gender reveal pics were ready!

So, without further ado, here it comes! Our second baby is a...

BABY BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost everyone thought we were having a girl this time around! So if you're one of the ones who thought so, please comment below to let me know why! :p Also, on yesterday's Instagram post, a lot of you thought the surprise I was referring to was that we were having twins!!! Definitely not, what I meant is barely anyone bet for a boy, and that's what our little one is!

It's a little prince we've been blessed with!!! And the other major reveal... His name...

* NOAM *

Noam is a name of Hebrew origin, and it means "pleasantness, charm, tenderness".

I think Noam is really similar to Liam, and I love these two names for the 2 brothers! They are going to be 2.5 years apart, and I'm not sure I can handle so much cuteness! :p

It took me a while to decide on Holi Powder for this gender reveal. You may remember we did Liam's with balloons! I love the result and we could have never done it without the help of our friend KC Leung, our photographer for the day. These pictures require so much movement, it would have been impossible to take them as we usually do, with a tripod.

Baby Noam is due in less than 15 weeks, and we all love him so much already it's crazy! Liam likes kissing mommy's belly and even pronounces Noam's name better than his own haha!

I hope you liked the pictures, we put so much love in them and hopefully we can show them to our Noam one day! <3 Thanks for reading!

Summer 2016

2016-10-24T19:11:00.000+08:00

Our summer couldn't have started any better, after finding out we were expecting our second baby on the 6th of June :) Shortly after that, on the 11th, our road trip in southern France started, and we spent 10 lovely days in a secret early babymoon discovering the Languedoc-Roussillon, Camargue, and Provence regions.

One thing we soon realized was how much better did French schedule fit our family rather than the Spanish one. French have lunch (as most of the world does I think) a bit before 1PM, and dinner around 7:30PM. In Spain, we eat at 2-3PM and 9-10PM respectively. This schedule is really bad for going out to restaurants with toddlers who need to nap/sleep by the time we're just starting to eat. Eating earlier as the French do definitely smoothed our trip a lot, as Liam was ok during lunch (it was in fact his lunch time as well), and same goes for dinner.

In the Camargue region, we specially enjoyed the salt mines of Aigues-Mortes. They were SO pretty with their pink color, it was such an enjoyment for the eyes! There were several huge, white salt mountains around, and we were allowed on one of them! We took these pics below while on it, and Liam and I dared trying the salt directly from the ground :p

The Provence region was our main destination, and getting to visit the lavender fields was a dream of mine that finally came true! The bloom had just started in June, but they were already absolutely gorgeous.

We also enjoyed discovering Les Baux de Provence, St Remy de Provence, and Roussillon, lovely little Provence towns we fell in love with.

Les Baux de Provence

Roussillon

The farthest we went in our trip was Les Gorges du Verdon, which is the beginning of the Verdon river, an absolute delight, it was SO pretty! We really enjoyed this one-day trip.

The most pleasant surprise from our trip though, was our last stop: Collioure, a lovely little French town by the sea next to the Catalan border. I chose it because it was in the middle of Arles (our last real stop) and our home in Barcelona, but it ended up being a major highlight of the trip. We absolutely loved being in the seaside after spending our trip in the inland, and Collioure truly surprised us by being absolutely gorgeous.

In July, I had major bleeding in my 9th week of pregnancy as I explained here and was on sick leave for 77 days, so I didn't take much pictures...

When Liam's school term got to an end by the end of July, we moved to our beach house and Liam and I spent the whole month there. The hubby came back everyday after work, luckily it's not too far from Barcelona. I didn't exactly get to rest having to take care of Liam one-on-one, but it was the best for him, he had a blast every single day! So I guess that makes it all worth it :) Plus my 20 week ultrasound confirmed everything was ok with my pregnancy and I could go back to work, so yay!

We also celebrated Liam's second birthday on August 28th, which is when we also announced that we were expecting our second baby. We've just recently taken the gender reveal pics, so you know which post will be next! I hope to post it within this week.

Thanks for taking your time to read all the way until here, I hope you liked our little summer summary!

Second Pregnancy: 20 weeks ultrasound

2016-09-22T21:39:00.001+08:00

It seems surreal to me that I'm already halfway through my pregnancy, but I'm so glad I am because this is definitely the best half! I'm already feeling my baby kicking inside of me, my bump is showing nicely and, most importantly after thinking I was going to die in the first trimester due to morning sickness, I don't feel nauseated and my energy is back!

We went in for my 20 weeks ultrasound last week when I was 19w4d pregnant. This is probably the most important ultrasound in the whole pregnancy, because they check every single one of the baby's organs to the detail. Luckily, everything was just fine, not only with the baby but with myself as well, as the internal bleeding I had is completely cleared! We were over the moon about these news, and also about the fact the ultrasound confirmed the baby's gender as it was told to us in my 14 weeks ultrasound. Thank God, because we have been buying stuff and calling the baby the gorgeous name we have picked for her/him already!

Here are some ultrasound pics I'll treasure forever, how cute is this baby already?! Top to bottom: 12w4d, 14w5d and 19w4d.

Now, time to connect with this baby and let him/her know just how much I love him/her already! Oh, and time style my bump as well! I'm really enjoying putting together lovely maternity outfits!!! Are there any maternity fashion brands you'd recommend?

Love,

Second pregnancy

2016-08-29T17:43:00.001+08:00

Yes, friends, this is finally happening! Our second baby is alive and kicking inside my womb! I feel so blessed and happy and over the moon I can barely breath. I already love this baby so much it's crazy. We found out we were pregnant on June 6th at 5ish AM! I woke up and had to pee but I didn't want to let my first pee of the day {the best to check for pregnancy} go to waste without doing the home test we had decided we would do that day since it was the day my period was due. So I decided I might as well just do the test at 5AM! We had been trying for a couple months without success already so I wasn't super nervous anyway. It goes without saying it was a mind blowing moment when the two stripes came out and I confirmed I was indeed finally pregnant again! You know what they say, third time's charm!!! It was at least for us! The thing is the pregnancy stripe came up even before the control stripe did (you need to be a little familiar with prengnacy tests to know what I'm talking about here), so it was even crazier! Because in that nanosecond before the control stripe came up (the urine reaches the pregnancy stripe first), I already knew I was pregnant but still had to see two lines to be absolutely sure and it was such a moment OMG! It's amazing how some seconds can have such deep impact in our lives, I will never forget the moment I saw I was pregnant with Liam, and I think the same will happen this time around! I went running {flying?!} to our room where Liam and the hubby were sleeping in our bed. I turned on the hallway light because I needed some light but I didn't want Liam to wake up either and I flashed the test in front of J's eyes after shacking his shoulder a bit. I think he was a bit too sleeppy to properly see anything on the test, but my smirking face was probably all he needed to see to know what was going on. He asked: Yes?? I said Yes!!!!! And again: Yes??? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we hugged and kissed in an absolute state of bliss for a good two hours before falling asleep again for a little bit before the alarm went off. All of this without waking up little Liam sleeping on our same bed, ha! =D

Now, with this being said, this pregnancy hasn't been as smooth as was Liam's. The first trimestre was a bit better nausea-wise since I didn't throw up as much, but I felt way more drained physically. I guess it's normal since I now have Liam to look after and he requires SO much energy!

Other than this, we had a horrible episode when I was 9 weeks pregnant, we thought we lost the baby and it was the most heart-breaking feeling I've ever felt. On Monday July the 4th around 9PM when we were almost ready for dinner, I noticed something coming out. At first I thought it was maybe just vaginal discharge, but after a while I thought it was too much and went to the bathroom. To my dismay, it was blood. Bright red fresh blood that wouldn't stop. I don't think I've ever felt the pain I felt at that moment. I feel so sorry that Liam had to see me like this, too. I know he still remembers. We left to the hospital immediately but it wasn't until after midnight that they admitted me in for an ultrasound. At that point my sanitary napkin was full and I felt so miserable. I just couldn't understand what the doctor meant when she said everything looked fine. I thought: the miscarriage looks just fine? But she said, the BABY looks fine! And she turned the screen so that I could see. My baby was there indeed, and I was able to listen to its heart. By then, the hubby and Liam where not with me because Liam hadn't been fed before leaving home and they had to go back at some point so that he could have his bottle and maybe fall asleep before coming to pick me up. I felt sorry J couldn't be there to see the baby, but the most important thing was that everything was just fine. There was no sign of internal bleeding either and didn't know where the blood had come from. They diagnosed me with miscarriage risk and sent me home on bed rest until my first official ultrasound three weeks later, the 12 weeks one. I spent two weeks literally not moving from bed more than to go to the toilet and to eat, and I started going out on the third week, when I started to feel better.

Soon enough it was time for my 12 weeks ultrasound, and I was convinced I would be able to go back to work after that. Unfortunately, a retrochorionic hematoma, where the placenta attaches to the uterus, was discovered during this ultrasound, filling me with worries again and being confined to more rest. A couple weeks later, we did a follow up ultrasound and the hematoma was still there, albeit a bit smaller. I was sent home to more rest until my 20 weeks ultrasound, and this is where I am at the moment.

I am now 17 weeks along, and I have been feeling the baby kicking since 16w 1d, which is a major relieve, too! :) Also, in my 14w 5d ultrasound we found out the gender of the baby! It is to be confirmed 100% at my 20 weeks ultrasound, but I do hope they were right because I've started buying clothes already! My due date is February, 4th, 2017, my babies will be 2.5 years apart, since my Liam turned 2 just yesterday! {Happy happy birthday my treasure, mama loves you SO much!}

This was a lenghty post, but it couldn't be otherwise after having been MIA for so long!

Prayers for a healthy pregnancy and baby will be much appreciated.

Love,

Rambla 130 Urban Spa Giveaway

2016-05-04T18:33:00.000+08:00

Last week I decided to pamper myself and book a beauty service through Bellahora, the leading website in Spain to book beauty salons, and I decided on beautiful Rambla 130 for a nice pedicure + foot massage. Rambla 130 Urban Spa couldn't be better located, right at the heart of the city, it's on Rambla de Canaletes, 130, as its name suggests.

Once at Rambla 130, I was greeted by the owner and showed all the place {it was early in the afternoon so there was practically no one at the time and I was able to peek all around}. It was love at first sight. The most stunning room is their mani-pedi room, but they have different massage rooms and even a huge fitness room, too! I was surprised by how well curated everything was, even the bathrooms were perfect.

I was offered a drink in the lobby while my beauty agent came to find me for my pedicure. We first decided on the color I'd be using {Essie only!}, and then off we were to enjoy the pedi and the massage which comes with an amazing exfoliant and hydrating mask. I was surprised the hubby noticed when I went back home that my feet were way for hydrated than before!

Now that you know how my experience was... comes the best part:

I have a GIVEAWAY for you all today, {anyone who can make it to Barcelona whitin this year, that is!}. The giveaway is a full pedicure + foot massage, for a total of 50 minutes, at Rambla 130, valued at 35€.

All you need to do is head over to my Instagram @oliviaschoice, find the picture in which I'm talking about the giveaway and follow the steps there!

************************** CATALAN VERSION **************************

La setmana passada vaig decidir dedicar-me un temps i reservar una pedicura a través de Bellahora, el portal líder a Espanya per reserves a centres de bellesa. Al seu web vaig tenir la sort de descobrir Rambla 130, que em va enamorar només veure'n les fotos. A més, la seva localització no podria ser millor, i és que està al cor de Barcelona, a la Rambla de Canaletes, 130, com el seu nom indica.

Una vegada a Rambla 130, em va rebre la propietària i vaig tenir sort, perquè com que era un dia entre setmana a principis de tarda, no hi havia gaire gent i vaig poder veure totes les instal·lacions. L'habitació que enamora més és la de mani-pedis, però també l'entrada, la sala de fitness i fins i tot els lavabos estan cuidats fins a l'últim detall.

Vaig demanar un tè mentre era a la bonica entrada esperant la noia que em faria la pedicura. Vam començar escollint el color d'esmalt que faríem servir, i a partir d'aquí va començar al pedicura i el massatge, que inclou exfoliant i mascareta hidratant. Em va sorprendre que quan vaig arribar a casa, el Jeff va saber, sense que jo li digués res sobre el massatge, que els meus peus es veien molt més suaus i hidratats que abans! :)

I ara que coneixeu la meva experiència... arriba el millor:

el SORTEIG! Sortejo una sessió de pedicura + massatge per un total de 50 minuts, a Rambla 130, valorat en 35€. Busqueu la foto al meu Instagram @oliviaschoice on en parlo i seguiu els passos!

Molta sort!

Uncle & Auntie's 25th Wedding Anniversary

2016-04-20T19:56:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday we had a lovely family get-together, after not having been all together since Liam's 100 days party! My uncle and my auntie celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and it was really nice. Can you believe I remember their wedding to the detail? I was just 4.5 years old! I was the girl who brought them the wedding rings, and I remember my auntie crying of happiness :) I asked my mom why auntie was crying on such a nice day?! :p

We met to go to church at 12:30 and the Father gave a nice speech commemorating their 25th wedding anniversary. We then headed to the restaurant, El Rubell in Monistrol de Calders, which serves the yummiest catalan cuisine and I highly recommend. The only drawback is the horrible winding road you need to endure to get there! The atmosphere was more wedding-y than I had thought, with presents for the guests and other suprises I really liked! My auntie and other girls surprised my uncle with a FlashMob dance which was so cool!

Liam had a blast playing in the terrace, the weather was amazing and he was oh-so cute with his shorts and elastics! :)

To my dismay, I realized we didn't take any family-of-3 pic, and Jeff was SUPER handsome in his suit. Awwwww :( Anyway, here is a pic with my cousin instead :p

Love,

One Day Getaway from Barcelona: Banyoles + Besalú

2016-04-08T02:18:00.000+08:00

The hubby had been asking me to go on a Sunday getaway for the whole winter, but being it so cold, who would want to go out anywhere for the whole day?? So when the weather got all spring-like we knew it was our chance!

And so we on a 1-day getaway we went! It was the hubby who chose the location this time, and it was Banyoles, a town an hour and a half away from Barcelona.

The most typical thing in Banyoles is its huge natural lake. Lots of water sports take place in it, and going on a stroll or riding around it is absolutely wonderful.

We rented a couple bikes, one of which had a cute chair for Liam at the front. Honestly, I had never seen a baby chair like this one. All the ones I had ever seen were at the back, and we loved this one! Liam had a blast being able to see everything and getting a hold of the handlebar!

During our ride around the lake, I accidentally saw a road sign to Besalú at just 7km away! Besalú is one of my favorite medieval towns ever, it's absolutely gorgeous.

I didn't know we were that close, and of course after lunch off we went to Besalú! I did a video too and hopefully I can upload it on my YouTube channel soon :)

I would love it if you guys want to leave some 1-day or weekend getaway trip ideas (from Barcelona!) below in the comments! =)

London 2016

2016-03-13T22:32:00.000+08:00

This was my third time in London, and undoubtedly the best. The hubby and I traveled by yourselves without Liam or other family members after not having done so since our honeymoon a couple years ago. It felt like a second honeymoon to me! It was also a magnificent break from all the frenzy we've been going through lately, as if you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you will have seen we just opened our shoe stores in Barcelona, and this has had a great deal of work behind.

I was extremely happy we got to meet up with my BFF Soraya and her boyfriend, who currently live in Cambridge and came all the way to London on Sunday to spend an afternoon with us. I can't wait to show you all about it in the YouTube video I'm editing.

One of the things I was most looking forward to for this trip was visiting Maitre Choux in South Kensington, an amazing eclairs shop {by a Spanish maitre actually!} that I couldn't wait to try! We tried two and all I can say is they're not only the prettiest I've ever seen, they're also the yummiest. Good job! I absolutely loved them.

The highlight of this trip, and the reason why Liam didn't come with us, was going to the theatre to watch Billy Elliot. It was unbeatable! I hadn't been to the theatre for a while {mommy's life!} and I had the best time!!! I highly recommend it.

I was impressed at the beauty of London's Chinatown. I had never been and I thought it was so cool! Not only the location itself, but the food, made our mouth {the hubby's specially} all watery!

For one of our dinners we went to Burger&Lobster, a restaurant in which they only serve 3 dishes, and so there is not even a menu. You can have a lobster (grilled or steamed), a lobster roll, or a burger. Each costs 20 pounds, which is pretty expensive but we did enjoy it a lot! I had the lobster roll and I must say it was way better than Luke's in Tokyo, way more expensive too, of course!

Our hotel was perfectly located in Piccadilly Circus (The Z hotel Piccadilly, highly recommended), and so Covent Garden was just 5 minutes walking distance, hence is where we had lunch the first day, in this really cosy place called Chez Antoinette, which is owned by a French girl and we were delighted to have stumbled upon.

We did some touristy stuff on our last day before heading back to Barcelona, it's always nice to see London's main attractions again.

And last but not least, we went to Sketch for afternoon tea! Sketch is an insane restaurant in the heart of the city, one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever seen. Their Gallery Room, where we had our afternoon tea, is all pink and gorgeous and dreamy and and and I totally loved it!!!! The light was not the best at that time for pictures, but believe me, it's a girl's dream. The egg shaped toilets were another mind-blowing experience, whoever could have thought of that?! There's more of this in the video too, I can't wait to have the time to finish editing it!

We all know how London's weather is, so it did rain a bit indeed, but overall it was better than my expectations, and not too cold either. Such a lovely trip, I can't wait for another one :)

Via Tokyo - Green Tea Desserts in Hong Kong

2016-02-18T04:11:00.000+08:00

Don't you even think for a second that I'm done blogging about all the afternoon teas and sweet treats I had in Hong Kong! In fact, I still have a traditional afternoon tea {the only one I had this time around} review pending.

Today's post is all about green tea again, this time at Via Tokyo, another hype in Hong Kong that doesn't seem likely to fade anytime soon. We visited their newest branch, in Tsim Sha Tsui, since less people knew about it and the chance of avoiding the queue was higher than in their original location in Causeway Bay. And... we didn't have to queue indeed and got a table for 5 people + a stroller, how cool is that? :)

I was meeting my friend Daisy who was at the very end of her pregnancy {the baby is born already!}, her husband, my husband :D and our friend KC. The five of us devoured five different desserts that we shared, and I absolutely loved it because it gave me the chance to try so many things! Indeed, when you know you only have that ONE chance to go a place you've been dying to try for a while, you're faced with the horrible responsibility of choosing one single item from the mouth-watering menu. Sharing 5 desserts was AWESOME!

I had really high expectations for this place and I think the reality was not up to it. I've only ever tried a green tea cheesecake once before, at Teakha, {which I blogged about} and totally fell in love with it. This one though, was not nearly as cheesy, more mousse-y, so not that great. The parfait was good, no arguing about that, as was the mille-feuilles. The two soft serves though were in my point of view disappointing. Way too sweet and the matcha one not matcha-y enough. The one from Shatin's Sweet House Cha Cha is way better on my opinion.

Have you been to Via Tokyo and felt just like I did or is it just me?!

Visited on: December 25th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4*
Price: pricey at around HK$60 for a dessert.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I do, but it's definitely not my fave.

Via Tokyo

G/F, 29A Cameron Road
Tsim Sha Tsui

+852 2385 6388

Dessert Art at ATUM Desserant Hong Kong

2016-01-10T20:01:00.000+08:00

Abstract art, innovation, molecular cuisine, imagine all of this in a dessert plate designed just for you, right in front of you? This is ATUM Desserant, the new hype in Hong Kong which has brought dessert to a whole new level. Never again will you think of dessert as something simple if you happen to visit ATUM Desserant, an unconventional dessert bar in Hong Kong you don't want to miss out on!

Basically, how this dessert bar works is you sit in the bar and have an appointed dessert artist, who draws the most amazing contemporary dessert plate in front of you. I really enjoyed the experience, not only because I was there with my good friend Chloris, but also because our artist turned out to be really nice and good at her job, and we had an amazing time watching her perform her magic! We also enjoyed seeing other artists performing dessert plates next to us, each of them was different!

ATUM Desserant Menu

The final touch, dry ice {liquid nitrogen} sorbet with a huge fog effect, makes for a killer ending! I made a video of the whoooole process that will be up on my Hong Kong trip vlog, (which I still didn't start editing!), so make sure to stay tunned on my YouTube channel!

The dessert itself wasn't my fave, basically because there was a lot of jelly, which I'm not really fond of, but I wouldn't mind going again if someone (hubby?) really wanted to try and asked me to go again!

Visited on: December 24th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4,5* I was impressed by this molecular cuisine dessert, I must say!
Price: Improvisation set for two at HK$348 with drinks included.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I would! I had never seen something like this, so innovative!

ATUM Desserant

16/F, The L.Square,459-461 Lockhart Road

Causeway Bay,Hong Kong

+852 2956 1411

Nakamura Tokichi Hong Kong - 中村藤吉香港店

2015-12-26T21:13:00.001+08:00

Nakamura Tokichi, originally from Kyoto, Japan, is one of those new spots in town Hong Kongers are crazy about. The queue can be of one hour if you're lucky. We were extremely lucky (as I think we always are, thank God!) because we run into one of J's friend who had taken 45 minutes ago 2 tickets: numbers 92 & 99, in case her wife didn't make it for the first one, since he arrived early. The wife made it for the 92 and he gave us the 99, instead of the 122 we had taken ourselves! Awesome!!!

I was surprised by the beautiful Japanese decor and the amazing views of the harbour and Hong Kong's skyline.

Nakamura Tokichi is famous for its Matcha Zaru Soba (cold noodles), and for its green tea desserts. Since we went there for tea, we had two desserts. One (Kyo no Fukiyose) had cakes and matcha ice cream (best matcha ice cream ever!), and the other was a hot matcha sweet soup with rice balls and azuki (red bean). They were really yummy and I was glad we went, although I won't be going again if the queue continues to be as crazy as now.

During our visit, a tea ceremony expert from Japan dressed in a kimono was there to teach a tea ceremony class in the tatami. From what I saw from Nakamura Tokichi's instagram, she flew in from Japan for three days exclusively to teach this class (three times each day I think). It looked really interesting, and was priced at $HK150 per person.

Visited on: December 24th, 2015

Overall Quality: 4,5* (venue is great; food really yummy; long queue is horrible (not their fault, though!)) I particularly didn't like the fact that one of their most coveted desserts, a matcha mochi kind of slices, was sold out when we went, and apparently is sold out early everyday. Why not simply make more?!
Price: pricey at around HK$65 for a matcha latte and between $HK80-100 for a dessert.
Value for Money: 4*
Would I recommend it? I do and I don't at the same time. I think the craze needs to ease down a bit, otherwise queuing for an hour and a half is simply nuts. There's other places in town with yummy matcha desserts like this one!

Nakamura Tokichi - 中村藤吉香港店

18/F, The One, Nathan Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui

Tokyo

2015-12-20T00:25:00.000+08:00

When planning for a short trip in Asia for our 3-week stay in Hong Kong, I always had beach&sun in mind: Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, you name it. But the hubby was determined to go to cold Tokyo. It took us several weeks to reach an agreement, because I had been in Tokyo in January 7 years ago and almost frozen myself to death, and we had plans for a second pregnancy which meant I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the deliciousness involving raw fish.

Never ending sushi boxes at the Tsukiji Fish Market

After discussing it for several weeks and not finding any interesting beach resort we REALLY wanted to go to, I started considering the idea of postponing my second pregnancy until after the trip. And when I came to terms with that, it was much easier to accept that it might be cold, because Tokyo is an amazing city and that's no reason to not visit it in this time of the year. And so our mind was set: Tokyo it was!

Truth be told, I couldn't be happier with choice. I have to admit the hubby always has the best ideas. We have enjoyed our trip in every possible way: we ate all we wanted to:

Sushi

Tempura
Donburi
Tsukemen
Zaru Soba
Yakisoba
Shabu-Shabu
Katsudon

Okonomiyaki
A5 Beef Yakiniku

Onigiri
Dorayaki
Mochi

And Totoro Cakes!!! <3 I wasn't expecting them to taste too good but they actually did! We chose the ones filled with custard and accompanied with a yummy matcha latte :) This was at Shiro-Hige's Cream Puff Factory, a super cute cafe specialized in Totoro, which I absolutely loved! I'm looking forward to share my YouTube video with all of you so you can see how cute this place was =D

We visited the main districts:

Shinjuku
Shibuya
Harajuku
Roppongi
Asakusa
Tsukiji Fish Market

J at the Tsukiji Fish Market eating Japanese omelette

Tokyo Tower!

We got to do things I'll never forget:
- Going to a bunny cafe (Ms. Bunny in Roppongi) with bunnies and hedgehogs that you get to cuddle while having a drink!

- Meeting the adorable Grace from Texan in Tokyo, (and her husband Ryosuke!), whose hilarious comics I blogged about some months ago. We had lunch and did some shopping together and it was one of the highlights of the whole trip!

You can check out her amazing comics on her blog www.howibecametexan.com! I'm working on the YouTube videos for my channel where hopefully you get to see more than pictures can tell (that's what I love about videos!), so stay tunned!

- I got to feel more close to the novels of Haruki Murakami, which I'm absolutely hooked to because they are simply perfect, and almost always take place in Tokyo. Recognising all the places I had read about in his novels was a real thrill! I also loved seeing the boys and girls in their uniforms, as I was totally addicted to anime when I was young and it marked part of my youth and teen years.

Sensoji Asakusa Temple

After this trip, I spent a while reflecting on which things of the Japanese culture I think should be imported to Europe, because they're simply genius:
- Heated toilet seats. Toilets in Japan have multiple functions that we've never even heard about in Europe. Besides the toilet seat being warm (which is the most incredible feeling ever, specially when it's cold outside), there's the option of cleaning yourself down there with warm water! I think we could pass without this one, but the heated seat is a must :)
- Removing your shoes at the entrance of home, which is what we already do in our home since it's common practice in Hong Kong as well, and it's way cleaner than not doing so. I know there's probably less than 5% of people in Spain who do this though.
- Removing your shoes before entering the changing rooms in any shop. Changing rooms in Japan have a carpet and trying your clothes there is super comfortable. I mean, how many times have you struggles trying to put on some pants in a shop in Europe after removing your shoes and not wanting to step on the filthy floor? It happens to me more often than not. By removing your shoes BEFORE entering the changing room, the changing room stays forever clean and everyone can step on it carefree instead of staying there disgusted on your tiptoes trying not to step on that floor with your bare feet.
- Politeness. This is the crucial one. I probably should have put it in the first place. Japanese people are so polite it blows my mind away. They will never have a bad face for you, nor will they seem upset. Everyone seems the most attentive, hospitable, educated person in the world. You're always greeted with a smile and I never felt as if I bothered someone, unlike what happens in Europe when you ask for directions or whichever other thing. When you buy something in a shop they will thank you at least 5 times, it may as well be 10.
- Attention to detail. I feel like Japanese shops and public areas (hence I'm guessing homes too?) are always extremely tidy and well organized. Everything is laid beautifully, clean, and paying attention to every single detail.
- Free hot tea with the sushi. I feel like this is a super important one, too! There is nothing better to accompany sushi than hot matcha tea (not matcha latte, just matcha powder with boiling water), and I hate that sushi restaurants in sushi don't offer it. If you ask for a tea (paying, of course) you get a small cup or a tiny tea pot if you're lucky whether in Japan each person has a hot water dispenser in front of them to keep refilling their tea. Because the sushi is cold, hot tea feels like heaven, and I think Japanese people would not understand sushi without it.

These are some of my ramblings from this awesome trip I couldn't be happier about, with the hubby, Liam and the in-laws. Hopefully the video on my YouTube channel can be up soon!

Merry Xmas 2015

2015-12-07T17:37:00.000+08:00

Merry little Christmas, everyone! I know this comes a bit early but with these gorgeous pictures I got a couple days ago, I just couldn't wait any longer to show them all to you! I'm absolutely in love with how they came out, such a great memory for years to come of little Liam and his second Christmas. The pictures are by talented Nagira, to whom I'm so grateful for fitting us in even though I arrived when her Christmas schedule was already closed. Yay to these beautiful pictures, I couldn't like them any better!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas 2015

Staycation at Praktik Bakery Hotel - Barcelona

2015-12-01T18:39:00.000+08:00

You may remember last year around this time {exactly this day actually since today is J's birthday}, we went on a really nice staycation at the Praktik Rambla hotel. This year we decided to go on and try another of their nice hotels, this time the Praktik Bakery hotel. All of the Praktik hotels are in premium locations, all within 10 minutes walking distance one from another, along Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla Catalunya. This, their sleek design and the good price is the reason why Praktik hotels are always the ones I recommend to friends traveling to Barcelona from overseas.

Even though our room at Praktik Rambla was way more amazing {hey, that's why they call it WOW Room!}, we enjoyed our stay at the Praktik Bakery just as much, the main reason being the amazing bakery on the first floor, where we enjoyed a yummy afternoon tea and breakfast buffet.

Afternoon tea at Baluard Bakery

Breakfast buffet at Baluard Bakery

We also did a vlog of our stay at the Praktik Bakery that you can now watch on my YouTube channel. I hope you like it!

Praktik Bakery Hotel
Provença, 279

Barcelona

Best Vegetable Lasagna Recipe

2015-11-20T19:45:00.000+08:00

Seeing how my latest vlog on YouTube features a day at our beach house in which I cook a vegetable lasagna, I thought I'd right the detailed recipe here, in case any of you actually decides to give it a try, which I highly recommend! I know "best" is a subjective word, but to me this really is the yummiest lasagna I've ever eaten, no matter homemade (it took me a while until I got the PERFECT recipe), or in a restaurant. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. This is the video I'm talking about btw:

Ok, so here we go, let's get this Lasagna started!

VEGETABLE LASAGNA:

Serves 4:

Ingredients:

- Spinach (200g)

- Zuchini (1)

- Carrot (1)

- Eggplant (half)

- Tomato sauce (100g)

- Dried No-boil Lasagna Sheets (200g)

- 100 g Cheese (Emmental or Gouda, in slices or grated)

- Flour (75g)

- Butter (40g)

- Milk (1.5L)

- Salt

- Olive Oil

Utensils:

- A pot

- A pan

- An oven-proof recipient to bake the lasagna (mine's 10x25cm glass)

1. Start by boiling the spinach leaves (with a pinch of salt). 10 minutes will do. Reserve.

2. Cut the zuchini and the carrot in slices or pieces, and sauté in the pan with olive oil and some salt until soft. Reserve.

3. Cut the eggplant in pieces and boil for about 5 minutes (with a pinch of salt). Then dry and sauté in the pan with olive oil for another 5 minutes. Reserve.

4. At this point, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

5. Take out the lasagna sheets you're going to use for your recipient (count 5 layers) and place them, one by one, on a hot water container, so that they can soak for around 10-15 minutes.

5. Bechamel sauce: Put the flour in a pot and keep moving until melted. Add the flour little by little until all blended in together. When this mixture is of sandy consistency, add milk, also little by little until, not adding more until the previous is already blended in. Add a pinch of salt in the process. The final consistency for this bechamel sauce should be liquid.

6. Get the eggplant we reserved and put it in the blender. Add a bit of bechamel sauce and blend together. Reserve.

7. Time to start layering the lasagna!

7.1. Put the bottom lasagna sheets layer.

7.2. Place the spinach evenly.

7.2.1. Pour some bechamel sauce randomly on top

7.3. Second lasagna sheets layer

7.4. Place the zuchini and carrot evenly

7.4.1. Pour some bechamel sauce randomly on top

7.5. Third lasagna sheets layer

7.6. Pour the mixture of eggplant and bechamel sauce evenly

7.7. Fourth lasagna sheets layer

7.8. Pour tomato sauce evenly

7.9. Fifth and last lasagna sheets layer

7.10. Pour all the bechamel sauce evenly

7.11. Place the cheese on top

8. The lasagna is ready to go into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

If you want to see the recipe demonstration, I recommend watching the video I made. It wasn't originally intended to be a step-by-step demonstration, I just wanted to put it in my weekend vlog above, but it turned out really long, so I decided to fast-forward it in the vlog and just upload the recipe as a new video.

Enjoy!!!

New AMWF YouTube Channel

2015-11-16T17:46:00.000+08:00

Some months ago, one of my friends mentioned a YouTube channel to me that, she said, I might be interested in. Knowing as she does that it is my dream to have four kids, she recommended channel Verdeliss, the life of a stay-at-home mom who has four kids and expecting twins #5 and #6, even though she's our age! If you speak Spanish and you're interested in seeing how to run a house with 4 kids, I strongly recommend her channel to you. I myself got addicted to it and have been watching sooo many videos these last few days. I loved the idea of recording the everyday life of our family, so I decided I'd give it a shot, too! That's why I've just opened a YouTube channel, where I plan to feature our life as a (currently) AMWF family of 3, and eventually (hopefully) a family of 6!

I love going through my old blog posts and seeing what I was up to some years ago, and I think videos get even more personal, and I will enjoy watching them later on even more. I don't have many videos of Liam's first year of life, and it's something I regret deeply. Hopefully this new YouTube project will put an end to the lack of videos! I hope you like this first video I've prepared, in which we feature our 24-hour routine on a regular day. The video was recorded on Tuesday November 10th, and it shows how our family spends a normal school/workday.

If you do like it, please give it thumbs up, and SUBSCRIBE! <3

Cactus Garden Barcelona

2015-11-11T18:38:00.000+08:00

This is apparently one of the most unheard of gardens in the city. Yet, given its beauty, it's hard to understand why! The Mossèn Costa i Llobera gardens feature an amazing selection of cactus from all over the planet, mostly Mexico (duh!), and South America. It's pretty amazing that the cactuses get to make it here in Barcelona. I mean, I know it is a relatively warm city, but it's no desert either!

The cactus garden, as it is known, is located at the top of Montjuic, a bit out of the way, wich may explain why not that many people know about it.

The most perfect plan if you decide to visit, is to stay for lunch at Martinez, an amazing restaurant located right at the entrance of the gardens, from which to enjoy awesome sea-views while having a yummy paella. Ask for a table by the window to make sure you get the most out of it!

I was wearing TRF dress and Elvio Zanon boots. Liam was wearing Zara baby clothes and Privata boots.

Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens

Crta. de Miramar / Plaça de l'Armada

Barcelona