Recommendations

A Fountain Frenzy!

by Sarah Novak on March 30, 2013

Today we took a family field trip into downtown Lima to see Parque de Las Reserva (or the “Fountain Park” as it’s called when you can’t remember the Spanish name). We’ve been meaning to get here forever but something’s always gotten in the way. Today, we finally made it and were rewarded with the most glorious day ever!

First, a bit about the place. The park is comprised of 13 unique fountains. It’s open from 3-11 PM Wednesday through Sunday and only costs a little over a dollar to get in. Some fountains are for viewing only and others are open for kids to play in. After dark, all of the fountains light up and the largest has a fountain show with lights and music (similar to the Bellagio one in Las Vegas).

We only stayed from 3-5 PM, so we’ll have to venture back at night some other time to see the light show. Despite missing the big draw, we had an absolutely marvelous time. Besides food, parks are the other thing the Peru does consistently well. They’re always well-manicured, spacious, litter free escapes from the city.

We have a small fountain by our house and each and every time we pass it Nia screams with delight. We knew that 13 gigantic fountains would guarantee some pee-your-pants excitement from her (ha ha – baby joke!)

The kiddo loved each and every one. She was sooo eager to jump in them and finally got her wish at the end of our visit when we arrived at the kid’s fountain. I’m sure you’ve all seen these before, the ones where the water changes heights and shoots out and surprises you. That’s exactly what it was, but like quadruple the size of normal ones.

I wanted to be brave enough to go in with Nia, but I chickened out and Nick had to take her in (I’m not too keen on water unless it’s 100 degrees)

Nick desperately wants us to blend in public, but unfortunately he ended up with two loud-mouthed, attention-loving blondes. Blend is one thing we do not excel at. He was mortified by all the attention, but we ate it up. 2 vs 1, girls win!

Some days, parenting kicks my butt. Other days it is effortless and magical, full of good memories & meaningful connections between the 3 of us. Happily, today fell into the latter category. I know “Fountain Day” will stay seared in my memory for a long time to come. . . I love my little family!

From Novakistan, post A Fountain Frenzy!

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

A Little Trip to the Country-side

by Sarah Novak on February 25, 2013

On President’s Day Weekend we ventured 3 hours south on the Pan-America Highway to Lunahuana, a country-esque area know for its adventure sports. It’s located in the middle of a mountain valley with the Cañete river cutting through the center. White-water rafting and kayaking are big there, as is 4-wheeling and zip-lining. Since I know you’re going to ask, we did none of those during our stay, although Nick has come here 3 times before for day trips to do white-water kayaking.

Ever since Jenna’s visit in January, Nia’s aversion to the water has ended (we are sooo grateful to Auntie Jenna!) We spent much of our weekend in the pool, enjoying the mountain view as we soaked up the sun.

I was shocked by how bold Nia was in the water, given that she’s been in a pool no more than 5 times. She was eager to follow Dad into the deep end and even let him throw her a bit. I can’t tell you how happy this makes Nick, as he is a fish at heart. Me, not so much, but I do hope it’s a past-time they can enjoy together.

We stayed at Los Palomos Hotel, which was a charming family-run boutique hotel. We felt so comfortable there that we inquired if they had someone on staff that could babysit so that we could enjoy an afternoon date. 2 hours later the cleaning lady showed up at our door to watch Nia and we were off!

We had heard amazing things about a place called Refugio de Santiago, which was also in Lunahuana. I was expecting good, but this place was SENSATIONAL. Everything was either grown on site or raised locally and wow could you tell it by the taste! We shared an amazingly fresh salad and Nick tried duck with berry glaze and quinoa risotto, while I devoured trout medallions with a potato puree and vegetable side. I am already dreaming about our return visit… I will not, however, be eating roast dog! :)

The best part of this weekend was all the relaxing we did as a family. This collage captures the joy we found in the more mellow moments, which is a nice change-up from the chaos of Lima.

From Novakistan, post A Little Trip to the Country-side

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

A Meet and Greet with Peruvian Farm Animals

by Sarah Novak on February 23, 2013

It’s summer here and we’ve been capitalizing on the good weather by doing lots of fun outdoorsy stuff. One of our adventures this week was a trip to Granja Arriero (Arriero Farm), a small farm/petting zoo an hour outside of Lima, near Pachacamac. Nia’s obsessed with animals as of late, so I knew this would be a HUGE HIT. What I didn’t expect was all the fun we’d have with other Peruvian children!

Due to the fact that it’s summer break, there was a whole group of kids there. I was touched by how sweet they were to Nia, bringing animals over for her to pet and being patient with her crazy antics (aka: ADD tendencies). A couple of them even decided to stay with us the entire time we were there! Here she is petting a cuy (guinea pig). This will probably be someone’s dinner soon, as cuy is crazy-popular here in Peru. Peruvians are always shocked when I tell them that we keep Guinea Pigs as pets in the US. I have yet to try one, but I feel it wouldn’t be right to leave Peru without at least a bite. I’ll keep you posted.

Dogs are Nia’s favorite animal of the moment, but the bunnies and guinea pigs seemed to capture her attention quite nicely as well. That is, until she saw someone holding a cell phone….

And as usual, she managed to use her charm to acquire the cell phone for her enjoyment. Honestly, I am amazed at how frequently people hand over their phones to my child!

Nia’s other obsession of the moment is “Big Kids”. Basically, if there are older kids doing something interesting, then she’s eager to try it too. Here she is giving it a go on a rope swing. I do admire how willing she is to try things though – she’s definitely a risk taker!

It was a lovely afternoon and we plan to venture back again next summer (and maybe even take Daddy along too).

From Novakistan, post A Meet and Greet with Peruvian Farm Animals

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

Choco-Mania!

by Sarah Novak on January 22, 2013

January has been plum full of visitors! My sister Jenna was here from January 2nd to the 12th and then my dear college friend Rachel arrived on the 12th and stayed until the 21st. Talk about non-stop hostessing! Oh, and did I mention that my in-laws arrive in 4 days for a month-long stay??? I love having visitors but I’m not going to pretend that it isn’t exhausting, especially now that I have the baby to tend to also…

Jenna and Rachel had very different ways they wanted to spend their time. Jenna was all about adventure experiences, tanning and Nia time. Rachel, on the other hand, was all about the Lima food experiences. We did our best to satisfy her wish.

She tried her first Pisco Sour and Ceviche at Gaston Acurio’s La Mar Cevicheria, took a cooking class with Nick at SkyKitchen and cinsisted on the truffle-making class at the Choco Museum.

I was a huge fan of the Bean to Bar Class I had taken with Jenna the week before and couldn’t see what the Truffle-making Class had in store for us! What was great about taking both classes was that they each covered different things. In this class, we learned how to temper the chocolate (stabilize it) and make the ganache filling that goes inside a truffle.

Tempering is a process of heating the chocolate to 43 degrees Celsius, cooling it to 28 degrees Celcius and then bringing the temp up one more time to 31.5 degrees Celcius (careful, if you go over 32 degrees Celsius you’ve overcooked it and have to start the tempering all over again – guess if we might have done that???)

When cooling the chocolate down to 28 degrees Celsius, it’s best to do it by spreading it out on a marble slab, although you can also do it in the fridge if you’re lacking marble.

The process involves repeatedly spreading the chocolate and then collecting it again, taking temperature readings throughout.

Here I am using a fancy-pants thermometer to test our chocolate (we had to put it in the fridge because it wasn’t getting cool enough on the marble with the sun shining in). A candy thermometer works just as well.

We had previously made our ganache to go in the center of the truffle. Ganache consists of 2/3 chocolate + 1/3 cream and whatever you want to flavor it with (in our case, crushed coffee). You heat the cream to boiling with the crushed coffee in it, then pour the cream/coffee mixture into the warmed chocolate, capturing the coffee bits in a strainer. Next step is to let it cool for 5 hours and then mold it into balls for the center.

We had the good fortune of making both ball truffles and molded candies with ganache centers. In the photo above we’re coating the mold with the chocolate so that it will form a hard shell around the ganache. For the molds, you don’t let the ganache cool for 5 hours, you simply use it while it’s in a lukewarm, pliable state. Once we had filled the chocolate-coated mold with our ganache center, we sealed it up by putting another chocolate layer on top.

Once cool, we had to pop our molded candies out of their shells.

We also convinced them to let us paint them using this wicked-cool silver and gold candy paint. Check out those pyramids! Pretty sure we were just supposed to dust the candy, but it looked so pretty caked on…

The final step for the Truffle balls was to dip the hardened ganache centers into the warm chocolate and tap them off, creating a smooth chocolate coating. We then were free to decorate them with a variety of toppings.

Look at my beauties below. The toppings I chose are, from left to right: Quinoa (a Peruvian grain), Sea Salt, M & M’s, Chili Powder, Coffee Bean, & Coconut!

Not gonna lie, I am insanely in love with this place. Where else can you do a 2 hour fun workshop and then get to take home 12 pieces of AMAZING hand-crafted chocolate! I’m thinking about doing a Valentine’s Day class next. Any takers?

From Novakistan, post Choco-Mania!

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

From Bean to Bar at the Lima Chocolate Museum

by Sarah Novak on January 13, 2013

One of the activities Jenna was most excited to try during her stay in Lima was a Chocolate-making Workshop at the Choco Museum in Lima. This was my first time going as well, so we made for quite an excited pair!

We opted to do the Bean to Bar Workshop, where you complete the steps that go into making a Chocolate Bar from raw cacao. In case you were wondering why a chocolate museum in Peru, you should know that Peru is really beginning to make an international mark for it’s chocolate. The fertile ground is great for growing a high-quality product and cacao production provides an alternative living for poor farmers previously growing coca (the plant used to make cocaine). Fear not, I am taking full advantage of all the yummy Peruvian chocolate options available here!

Now, on to the workshop!

We started by picking a handful of raw cacao and heating it in a unique shaped pot that trapped the heat and helped it roast. We stirred it continuously for 10 minutes until we heard the beans pop.

After that we began the tedious process of winnowing (separating the bean from the shell).

At that point we were finally ready to begin grinding the bean down into a course powder using a pestle and mortar. That was serious work – there may have even been some sweat dotting our faces…

Here’s a look at the contrast from initial bean to ground powder. Isn’t that amazing?

Next we made three cacao-based drinks. We took the discarded shells from the beans and steeped it into a yummy tea. Then we made two more hot drinks with the ground cacao. One was an ancient Mayan drink made with water and the other was traditional Hot Chocolate. Here I am frothing my hot chocolate the old-fashioned way!

Since we had used up all our ground product, we were then provided with a bowl of melted chocolate that had been prepared and tempered (this would have taken to long to do during the workshop apparently). We then selected our molds and went about the difficult task of selecting our mix-ins.

We each made about 10-12 chocolates and were able to take them home an hour later after they set. We had a blast and learned a lot too. In fact, Jenna liked it so much that she convinced Nick to go back with her the next day and do a truffle-making class. If you’re in Lima, I’d definitely recommend this as a fun activity for all ages.

From Novakistan, post From Bean to Bar at the Lima Chocolate Museum

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

On the Town: Scoping Out Mario Testino’s New Museum in Barranco

by Sarah Novak on October 25, 2012

I recently joined an Expat Club in Lima called the Canadian International Society. This group is hosted by the Canadians, but open to any English-speaking expat living in Lima. The group has a monthly social with a speaker, does various charitable projects and also has a monthly outing in Lima. Today I had the opportunity to participate in my first outing (which is sadly the second touristy thing I’ve done in Lima during my 6 months here).

The group had arranged a private tour of Mario Testino’s recently opened museum in Barranco, a neighborhood in Lima. And not only did we get to see private areas that were closed off to the public, but the tour was also conducted by the museum’s executive director who gave us fun pieces of information about Mario’s work.

For those who don’t know, Mario Testino is arguably one of the best-known photographers in the world. He has photographed everyone from the Royal family to Madonna. What I did not know until recently is that he’s Peruvian (although he currently resides in London).

As part of his charitable association (MATE), he wanted to make his art accessible for Peruvians. To do this, he went about buying and restoring a historic building to showcase his body of work. The building is located in Barranco, a section of the city that is home to many artists and writers.

Words cannot explain how stunning his photos were in person. The way he captured the light and colors was simply UNREAL. I kept falling behind the group because I’d get immersed in trying to figure out how he set up the specific lighting in the shot to get the angles he captured. And did I mention they were giant? Oh, head’s up though – lots and lots of nudes if that sort of thing doesn’t suit you.

Here are a sampling of my favorites from the 54 piece collection. I was delighted to hear that his “Greatest Hits” collection will be going up in January. What a perfect excuse to go back! Oh, and did I mention that there’s a charming little café there as well? I can’t tell you how glad I am that I discovered this place early in our tour, as I know I will be returning many, many times…

Model: Reese Witherspoon (Sienna Miller above in white dress)

PS – The cherry on top of the tour was that an Indian Princess was doing a photo shoot at the same time we were there so I snuck in and watched a bit!

From Novakistan, post On the Town: Scoping Out Mario Testino’s New Museum in Barranco

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

{ 1 comment }

Sheer Brilliance: Mommy & Me Movie Days

by Sarah Novak on March 5, 2012

Nia and I recently started attending Mommy & Me Movie Days at the Regal Potomac Yard Theater in Alexandria. They take place every other Tuesday for the first showing of the day (usually around 1 PM). There is one designated Mommy & Me movie on that day and the movie selection is voted on in advance via an email distribution list (contact Lorien Benson at the theater to get put on it).

I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of this concept before, since it’s pure genius. It’s a well know fact that theaters have a hard time filling their weekday matinee shows. It’s also common knowledge that stay-at-home Moms are always looking for activities to take their babies to that help break up the day. Put that together and you have a win/win for both parties.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect for our first visit to the movies. I walk into the theater and immediately notice the ‘stroller parking’ directly below the screen. I turn to look up at the stadium seating and am floored to see 50 Mom & Baby pairs spread out across the rows (carriers and all)! It was quite a sight to behold. Some were nursing, others standing or bouncing a fussy baby on their knee.

Here’s what makes these showtimes special:

The sound is lowered
The lights are kept up more than usual
Your child can make as much noise as they want and no one will bat an eyelash
You are free to walk around the theater, nurse or stand up and bounce your babe
And best of all, this is no Disney flick you’re watching – it’s an ADULT movie (and most likely a chick flick). So far we’ve seen The Vow and This Means War

I feel so fortunate that I stumbled upon this and I feel like it’s my public duty to make other Moms aware of it. This is too good to keep secret – and besides – The Hunger Games is one of our March movies!

From Novakistan, post Sheer Brilliance: Mommy & Me Movie Days

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

{ 2 comments }

The First 100 Days: Our Top 5 Most-beloved Items

by Sarah Novak on February 5, 2012

We are pleased to report that we made it (mostly unscathed) through the first 100 days with our little one. We attribute our success to 1.) Our parents’ assistance, 2.) Caffeine and 3.) These 5 Amazing Products. I’m not one to keep great things a secret, so bookmark this link for the next time you need a baby shower gift. Here we go, in no particular order…

First, a receiving swaddle blanket by Swaddle Me Designs. Our baby is a flailer and this was the only thing that kept her from whacking herself in the face and startling herself awake. At first it felt cruel to put her in a straitjacket wrap, but as they say in “The Happiest Baby on the Block“, for the first 3 months, it’s all about recreating the womb (and in this case that tight feeling is soothing). Now, mind you, this blanket is worthless if you don’t perfect your swaddling technique. We recommend having the nurse show you over and over again until you master it at the hospital.

We originally bought these for cloth diapering but when we scrapped that our friend Christy showed us a second use for them – they are the PERFECT burp cloth/drool-cleaner-upper. They’re small and compact and the spit-up just blends right in. They’re soft and fuzzy too, so you can use them like a cloth napkin on baby and get up nice and close in her cracks and neck folds. I’m sure they’re great as cloth wipes too, we just can’t vouch for that.

Next up is the BundleMe Car Seat Cover. You may not know this, but you’re no longer supposed to seatbelt a child in outerwear. The solution: A BundleMe. They come in an original (for winter temps) and LITE version for spring & fall. We have one of each and L-O-V-E them to death. I honestly don’t know what we’d do without them. They’re a must buy in my mind.

The Lamaze High-Contrast Panda may seem out of place in this line-up but it’s our go-to item when Nia is fussy. The black and white is easy for her eyes to pick up, making it ideal for tracking. The handle is narrow enough that she can grip it as well. It’s a rare moment when this toy is not hooked on her arm or being clutched in hand. In my opinion, it’s a perfect first toy for baby.

My final recommendation is for the breast feeders out there. I was not a fan of pumping to begin with but this Hands-free bra by Simple Wishes made it much more bearable due to the fact that I could multi-task. It has all sorts of straps and velcro to ensure that it’ll fit your ever-changing breasts. Two thumbs up for this product – I can’t imagine nursing without it.

So there you have it folks, my top 5 recommendations. Click on the pictures to take you to Amazon for purchasing. If you feel up for it, please share your go-to products (with links, if possible) for those new moms who are trying to wade through the mess of baby products out there!

From Novakistan, post The First 100 Days: Our Top 5 Most-beloved Items

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

{ 3 comments }

A Newseum New Year

by Sarah Novak on January 1, 2012

Much like Christmas, our New Year’s Celebration had a bit of a different feel to it this year. The biggest difference would be that it all took place on New Year’s Eve DAY since we knew we’d be fast asleep by 9 o’clock that night and too sleepy to party the night away. That being said, we managed to have a pretty grand old time.

We started at the Newseum, which opened in 2008 and covers all things NEWS (duh). This museum occasionally gets dissed because in a city full of FREE THINGS, it is a whopping $22 a person. That being said, it is WELL WORTH IT. The galleries are stunning and really, really fascinating. It covers all forms of media including broadcast, print, internet and photography; using interactive displays and movies to portray the info in unique ways. If we didn’t have a 10 week old with us, I could have spent an entire day there! The good news is that our expensive ticket gets us a second FREE day to the museum, so we’re planning to go back tomorrow when they reopen after the holiday.

One of my favorite exhibits was the Berlin Wall. The museum had acquired a significant chunk of the wall (see photo at top of blog post) as well as a guard tower (you can see the top of it in the second picture). They also had a chunk of stone displayed that you could touch. It was really fascinating to get up so close to such a famous piece of history. Not having seen this in any museums before, I was totally captivated!

My other favorite exhibit was the 9/11 gallery. The radio tower that stood atop the World Trade Center’s North tower was displayed, set against hundreds of the front pages from around the world that came out that day. They also had a hunk of fuselage from the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania and the camera equipment and last photos of the one journalist that died that day. If you go, don’t miss the movie where they interviewed the journalists who reported that day. It was remarkable to hear their stories and marvel at the courage they displayed in covering the event.

Nia held up pretty well and we managed to do feedings in picturesque spots like the 6th floor viewing gallery that overlooked the Mall. Despite having 2 hours there, we only managed to get through a third of it. Hopefully we’ll be able to hit the remainder tomorrow, assuming she cooperates!

We capped off our morning with lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian‘s restaurant. The restaurant is known for its native cuisine from various regions of North and South America. Nick opted for the turkey and cornbread, while I selected an Indian Taco which was composed of Frybread on the bottom with Buffalo Chili on top. Definitely a pricey treat ($30 without beverages for these two meals), but fun to be able to sample authentic cuisine.

We told Nia she could try whatever she wanted, but she just opted for boring old milk. That’s babies for you. Hope you had as adventurous of a New Year’s celebration as we did! Make it a FANTASTIC 2012!

From Novakistan, post A Newseum New Year

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

{ 2 comments }

Nia’s Nervous System Checks Out

by Sarah Novak on December 18, 2011

Friday was a big day for little Nia. It was her first visit to see Dr. Tonnie at Wellness Wave. As many of you know, I’ve been doing Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) with Tonnie for several years now. My work with her has helped me eliminate my chronic back pain, deal with my anxiety better and have a better overall level of health. I can’t say enough good things about NSA and my two sisters (who now go there too) would agree. I also had the opportunity to go during my pregnancy and I attribute the ease and short length of my labor to the neural conditioning I did beforehand. I won’t go into the specifics of what NSA is – you can read about it at her website above or on two of my previous posts that describe it in detail: POST 1, POST 2.

So back to Nia. When Tonnie told me that Nia could really benefit from NSA and that she did sessions for babies as young as a few days old, I jumped at the chance to get Nia’s neural network functioning at a highly efficient level from early on. Since her neural pathways are so fresh and are forming connections so rapidly at this age, she’s able to undergo a much more rapid, radical transformation than an adult can.

Dr. Tonnie’s report was very positive. Nia’s nervous system looked great. Her only issue was that her upper-most vertebrae (C1) was out of alignment from her passage through the birth canal. This is very common in babies since birth is the single greatest stressor they will experience in their lives. She told me that if left out of alignment, Nia would see a greater incidence of ear infections. Tonnie was not surprised when I told her that Nia had already gotten her first ear infection at 6 weeks old!

I’m so thrilled that my daughter is getting to experience holistic medicine at this age. It’s made such a difference in my well-being and I sooo wish that I would have started earlier.

From Novakistan, post Nia’s Nervous System Checks Out

Post Footer automatically generated by wp-posturl plugin for wordpress.

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries

Recommendations

A Fountain Frenzy!

A Little Trip to the Country-side

A Meet and Greet with Peruvian Farm Animals

Choco-Mania!

From Bean to Bar at the Lima Chocolate Museum

On the Town: Scoping Out Mario Testino’s New Museum in Barranco

Sheer Brilliance: Mommy & Me Movie Days

The First 100 Days: Our Top 5 Most-beloved Items

A Newseum New Year

Nia’s Nervous System Checks Out

Don't Miss A Single Post!

Looking For Something In Particular?

The Latest and Greatest!

Categories

In Case You Missed It!

Recommendations

Don't Miss A Single Post!

Looking For Something In Particular?

The Latest and Greatest!

Categories

In Case You Missed It!

Tags