Mini Babymoon Daycation

As of right now, the Mr. and I are on what we call a Budget Lockdown. This means, no shopping, eating out less (and try to keep our meals to $10 or less per person if we do go somewhere), and no trips for awhile.

Budget lockdowns suck, but we have to do it. This is part of growing up I guess. We just had a large wedding this past August (300 guests!) and are trying to pay off stuff from the wedding and save up for ze bebe, along with pay with all the other things in life (insurance, gas, taxes, car payments, hulu plus). And as much as I would love to go on a 5 day Babymoon in Kauai, that is just something we don't have in our budget right now.

So we ended up spending a day in San Francisco instead, just the two of us. And I loved it just the same.

We picked up some Custard Buns and Egg Tarts from Wa Li Bakery in Chinatown, then we headed over to Tony's Pizza Napoletana for lunch. (Fun fact: During my pregnancy the top things I ate were cookies, pizza, and eggo waffles).  We had their special award winning Margherita, their New Yorker, and their Bone Marrow appetizer. Everything was super delicious. Then we headed off to Coit Tower since we were close by and I have always wanted to cross this off my bucket list of places to go in the city.

After we soaked up some views and the amazing sunny weather we visited a friend who works in the city, picked up some Chantal Gullion Macarons, and headed over to Twin Peaks to kill some time before dinner.

We had dinner at a new spot called Lolinda. They serve Argentinian tapas, and we just love anything that has to do with tapas so we had to check this place out. We ordered so many things (you can check out my review on Yelp) and we had a great experience and left with happy full bellies.

In the end, a day well spent, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Just makes me super thankful I have this person in my life that is an amazing husband, companion, and will be a great dad. Mushy, I know, but you'll just have to be ok with it. ;)

note: If you are curious, all of these photos were taken in jpeg format on my husband's beloved Olympus OMD EM5 with little quick editing on iPhoto. I love this camera.

Preggers have needs too..

Pregnancy is a continuous learning experience, especially when it's your first one. We can Google as much as we want, but we seriously don't know until we go through it ourselves. There is so much information on the internet, from articles, to pregnancy birth clubs, to blogs, it can get overwhelming at times. I had to keep reminding myself to just listen to my body and to take all advice with a grain of salt and to just make sure I took care of myself.

Here are some things I loved having during my pregnancy! These would make a great gift for someone who just found out about their pregnancy.

1) Belly Band $28 (but I found one at Target for $17) : My only regret is that I didn't buy this sooner. It made it so much easier to wear pants I already owned instead of having to buy maternity pants.

2) Water Bottle $13-$17 : I have to confess, pre-pregnancy I was the worst water drinker. But seriously, staying hydrated while pregnant is crazy important. Having my trusty Camelbak water bottle was so helpful. You can see how much water you consumed (mine has 8oz, 16 oz, and 24 oz marked on the outside of the bottle) and its more environmentally friendly than store bought water bottles, AND it's BPA free. Once I started using my CamelBak, I noticed I started drinking a lot more consistently, and I now drink about 9 cups of water a day. I really think staying hydrated also helped me pass my glucose tests (which I thought I would totally fail because I love carbs and sugar, lol..)

3) Belly Cream $12-$35 : I personally used Mama Mio every night before I went to sleep. It is on the pricier side, $35 per tube, but  I started using it around week 21 of my pregnancy, and so far like it's consistency and that it's not greasy. It absorbs well and also has a nice scent to it, that's not overpowering. So far I have no stretchmarks (Hallelujah), but we will see as I get closer to my due date. I know some women who start using belly cream very early in their pregnancy, so no matter what the brand, it's always nice to have something to keep your belly moisturized.

4) Maternity Leggings $25-$30 : SO COMFORTABLE. And that's all you really need to know.

5) Lamb Hot Water Bottle $29 : Around the end of my first trimester, I started getting lower back pains. I bought some ThermaCare heat packs that seemed to do the trick, but I didn't want to keep buying heat packs all the time just to throw them away. I ended up ordering this Lamb Heat Pack from Amazon, which was not only super cute, the perfect size for my back, but it also worked just as well as those disposable heat packs.

6) Bringing up Bebe $16 : I actually received this as a Christmas gift from my great aunt. It is based on an American mom who moves to Paris and then raises her children there. I thought that there were parts of the book that were really interesting, especially when they compared some American parenting vs. French parenting. It is a nice break from reading all these articles you might Google about what you need to do and not do while pregnant.

Sometimes everyone gets so excited about the baby coming, that they forget about this vessel that carries and nurtures the baby for 40 weeks. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited for the baby to arrive and I'm sure it will be spoiled with all these goodies (this is the first grandchild for both families), but seriously being preggers ain't easy. If I could be that magical pregnancy unicorn that can wear heels and look amazing everyday and not ever be uncomfortable or have to pee a million times a day, that would be amazing, but that is not the case most of the time, lol. So next time you hear about a new pregnancy, instead of jumping at your first chance of buying the baby a toy or a onesie, maybe think about the mommy to be and buy her a little something instead.

P.S. Also, gift cards for shopping, manicures, pedicures, haircuts, and massages are always welcomed. As my cousin says, "Because a preggers needs to feel beautiful." True datttttt.

Note: I do not get paid or endorsed to use these products. I'm just posting up what I have used and loved!

Baby Bump, Bump, Bump it up

First, I just want to say, I am not one to really take pictures of myself. Don't get me wrong, if you take #selfies, more power to you, but I would prefer taking pictures with others or of my food or of other things. Since I found out I was pregnant though, I felt like maybe I should record this amazing process of my growing belly on Instagram, because I did love seeing belly bump pics of friends who were also pregnant.

With all the apps out there, I had fun playing around with some and seeing what I can do with it to spruce up my pics a litt

In the photo above, I used FuzelPro and Phonto, then uploaded them onto IG (short-version of Instagram). FuzelPro is one of those apps I use a lot. It makes it easy to collage multiple photos together and also comes with its own set of filters. You can even create your own custom templates for layouts or edit the existing templates they have for you, and you are not confined to a square layout. Fuzel also comes in a free version, but I personally don't know what is offered in the free app since I've had the pro version from the get go. Phonto is a free app that is also available in an ad-free version for a cost. Phonto lets you easily add text to your photos. It is easy to use, you can have multiple set of texts in one edit with different colors, fonts, and sizing. The UI isn't really a wow-factor, but it does what it needs to do, which is enough for

For this photo I added a filter (I forget which app I used for that, but there are so many out there to choose from) and used SketchBook Pro (iPad version) and was able to write/draw on the photo with a stylus. Sketchbook Pro is a great tool for designers. Not only does it let you upload photos from your Camera Roll, you have the freedom to draw so many things with the amount of tools they have. Sketchbook Pro has layers you can control and also allows pinch to zoom which can be pretty useful. Yes, its $4.99, but if you think about it, that is the same cost as a foot long at Subway, and this app will last way longer than that Turkey Avocado Sandwich in your hands.

This most recent one of me (I am currently 25 weeks as of yesterday), I used VSCO cam for the filtering and cropping, Whitagram for the whitespace, and this new app called Over. I just recently bought VSCO cam (0.99 cents) and I am in love with it. It is a simple filter app with a beautiful UI that just makes my photos look awesome with little work. Whitagram helps if you don't like being limited to the infamous square template of IG. The one thing about this app though, is that I haven't yet figured out if I can preposition my photos, because as of now, when I upload them into Whitagram, it automatically centers my photo between the whitespace. What if I want my photo to the left more? If there is another app out there that can help me with this, I'd love to know. Over is similar to Phonto, in which it lets you add text to your photos. The some things I enjoy about Over is their clean UI and the beautiful standard fonts it comes with, but for $1.99 I expected a bit more flexibility. As of right now, Over only lets you add one set of text at a time. In order to add a different style of text, you have to save your photos and reload it, which then you might end up with 5 progress photos in your camera roll that you don't need. You can't edit multiple texts at the same time, which I think is Over's downfall. Also, you have to pay for other fonts you might want to use, although I personally think the standard fonts it comes with gives you just enough variety that you don't really need to pay for the other fonts. Over is fairly new, so I am sure they will continue to work on it, which I hope, because I do love its UI.

As you can see, our creativity is limitless with the amount of apps out there! My friend has also done her belly bump pics with her own DIY chalkboard where she wrote the stats of the baby during the week she took the picture and she continued to use that same chalkboard to write about her beautiful baby girl during their monthly photos of her growing. I love those awesome handmade things, but between working full time and studying for this huge certification exam I have coming up in April, I decided to get a little help from the app store.

Take me back

Finally got around to developing some film from some underwater cameras we had when I went to the Big Island with my family last summer. I have some Yelp reviews on things we did and saw while we were there. I love Hawaii. No matter how many times I've been there, or what island I've gone to, I always had a great time there.



My favorites are probably the one of me and my dad jumping from a 20+ ft cliff somewhere off the coast during a kayaking tour we took.

None of these were edited in any way, and I think that's the cool thing about it. Makes me just want to put #nofilter on these, haha. It always makes me nostalgic getting film printed, especially when I Instagram (@ohwelljeziell) all the time. It's always so funny to me to bust out with a big plastic disposable camera once in awhile, especially when everyone just uses their phones. My local Costco only does digital prints now, and I had to get these done at Walgreens, and even then, not all Walgreens offer film developing services. Hopefully film sticks around for awhile, so it will be easier for my children to post #throwbackthursdays on Instagram from the photos I got printed of them from film. Lol. I know, I'm so thoughtful.

Welcome! Won't you have some bread pudding?

Welcome to my blog! I'm pretty excited about this, something I've never done before. For my first post I wanted to share a recipe with you!

I've been experimenting with bread pudding lately, especially with a smaller portion, since sometimes when I make a big pan of bread pudding, it doesn't get finished (I know, crazy right?)

Please forgive my newbie food photography staging. This is gonna be a process. Join me on this journey, won't you?

Now onto that good good stuff...

I have made a basic recipe you can tweak and add to, and is perfect for 3 ramekins! (I got these ramekins from Target, they were on sale for .98 cents each. Ugh, I love and hate Target. Target is a black hole of time and money. But that's another topic for another time.)

Banana and Brown Sugar Bread Pudding for Three

Prep Time: 30 Mins | Bake Time: 45 Mins | Serving Size: 3

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

3/4 cup milk or heavy cream (I've tried it with both, both versions still came out derricious)

Dash of Salt

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Sugar

¼ teaspoon Cinnamon

½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract (I used ½ teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste)

1 Croissant (or 1 cup of bread - stale is good)

Optional: A mix-in. Some ideas - chocolate chips, mashed bananas, or blueberries

Brown Sugar Butter Oat Topping:

2 Tablespoons Flour

2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1/2 Stick Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1) Combine eggs, milk, salt, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl and mix well.

2) Cube or tear apart the bread and incorporate it well into the wet mixture.

3) Cover the bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, occasionally stirring the mixture to make sure the bread is evenly absorbing the wet ingredients. The longer you let the bread soak, the more creamier the bread pudding will turn out.

4) While the mixture is being refrigerated, make the topping. Melt 1/2 a stick of unsalted butter, then mix in the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of old fashioned Quaker oats.

5) Before you take out the mixture from the fridge, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease or butter the ramekins. And for ease of taking them in and out of the oven, I placed the ramekins in a baking pan.

6) This is where you can get a bit creative. Add what you want (blueberries, mashed bananas, chocolate chips, you get the idea) and fold it into the bread mixture until it’s well incorporated. Or you can keep it simple. You'll figure it out. Then divide the mixture evenly into the ramekins.

7) Generously spoon some of brown sugar oat mixture on top of the bread mixture and bake these in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and top is nicely browned.

8) Let cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy.

• Can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days past baking.
• Can also be enjoyed with maple syrup, whip cream, or ice cream. Go ahead. Go crazy.