Osechi is a very special meal. One only gets to eat this very symbolic food during New Year's, and frankly, I have not been back to Japan for New Years to eat my favorite osechi since I left for college. Every year, I missed it...but it's too specialized to cook by myself. Traditionally, the women of the house would pre-cook the food so they didn't have to cook on New Year's Day and several days following, but this would take a long time to prepare. It's not something I'd whip up over the weekend here, even if I could.

Last year, on a whim, I ordered a small version from Nijiya here, and we shared with the Regenbogens. Luckily, they wanted to share again...and with another couple coming, we all chipped in and order THE GORGEOUS version. Dav can tell you, I was excited for weeks until I could eat it!!

I was not disappointed, and feel so lucky to live in a city that offers pretty much all the home Japanese food I miss (vs. restaurant stuff). And very lucky that our friends went in with us for this special meal since it really was not cheap...

I should add that Rachel was in my heart as I really wanted to share this with her too...and I'd love to share this with my bro's family too :)

The 3 layered boxes, waiting on the table. (Yes, that's a giant moose sitting at the table...) Opened boxes to reveal simmered vegetables, cooked meat and fish, and sumptuous delicacies. The ozoni I made with omochi (puffed up in the toaster)...I was unfortunately disappointed with it as the soup base had too much shiitake when I tried to experiment...then got watered down and wasn't that good. Ack...next year! My plate...and our wonderful group on New Year's. And thank you to the Regenbogens who brought 2 bottles of very elegant sake...very nice!

Thank you to Michelle for taking the pics!!

Original here with related quote.

We got out the RV again, decorated it with lights, stocked up the bar in the back, and drove around ferrying our friends to various destinations. If space permitted, we were going to pick-up strangers like we did in 2006, but for the majority of the evening, the RV was packed with our friends as most opted to just hang on the RV as their destination. We were pleasantly surprised at how many preferred to ride around in our old, clunky RV...but we were all together and it was super fun and special. For a few hours at the beginning, I handled both Dav and my phone's texting and calls to coordinate how and where to pick up folks, and that got hectic!

Sarah and Christine, who did a Confession Taxi also in 2006, this year borrowed an RV (that was pretty much the same model as ours) and drove with lit-up signs saying "Free Taxi." Although we had different routes much of the night, both RVs headed to the Bay Bridge timed for the midnight fireworks. Along with other cars, we all got out of the RVs, and enjoyed an amazing view from the bridge. After that, we gathered in SOMA to park and celebrate the start of 2009 together.

Luckily, Patrick joined us with his new fancy camera that takes amazing night shots...(here is the entire gallery)

Click to enlarge the small ones. The last one shows our trusty old RV. I'm rather proud of all the fun it gives us!

It's been an interesting year to say the least. Who knows what 2009 will bring, but we expect changes both good and difficult.

I never imagined we'd create a card using the American flag as background. A bit too patriotic for me, but it's apt considering how much we cared about this year's elections.

Continuing our card-making tradition from 2007 & 2006.

Christmas chez nous is not that big of a deal, but it's still fun to decorate just a bit (a regular house plant that gets to shine once a year), and enjoy the festive moment of opening the gifts that are sent to us. Honestly, we did not get anything for each other or Tesla. It's just not our thing, although we imagine that in a few years, we'll have to do more so she doesn't feel left out. It's very nice, nonetheless, to receive gifts, and Tesla enjoyed opening them for sure. Here is Tesla opening some anpanman crackers and loving that! Thank you all, for the wonderful gifts! Christmas eve, we went to my brothers. I forgot my phone so used Ian's camera so pics will be later. For Christmas Day, we went up north to one of Tesla's aunties where the family gathered. Great-granny, gran Marie, cousins, aunties, and uncles. I just love that Tesla is growing up with them...Here is Tesla with cousin Maria-Rose, joined by Ava later, and jumping on the bed with cousin Ava. You gotta love this last picture of Granny Maria and Markus!

Tesla had a check-up at Kaiser the other week, and I wanted to capture a moment with Dr. Yap. Obviously, Dr. Yap was Tesla's first regular doctor, but the neat thing was that Tesla was one of Dr. Yap's first babies. Dr. Yap is finishing her position at Kaiser soon, to graduate and move on to her next position, so this visit was Tesla's last with Dr. Yap. It's been fun for both Dr. Yap and myself to enjoy watching Tesla grow, and it's been super nice to have Dr. Yap's extra attention thoughout these years. She even called me on her day off after we saw a different doctor during the pneumonia.

We wish Dr. Yap a super new chapter in her life, and thank her for caring so well for Tesla : )

The founders of Red Cap Cards, Hal & Carrie, camped with us at Burning Man this past year. They gave out some of their cards, and ever since, I've been in love with Carrie's illustrations. They now include other illustrators, but I love Carrie's the most, and have purchased several gifts from them.

For holiday gifts, I wanted to frame a few, but they only sell card sizes. So I emailed Hal, and he very kindly printed just for me, a larger version of Carrie's prints. Now that I've given them as gifts, I can show them here : ) Aren't they adorably lovely?

Here is a more detailed version from their store. I also ordered this.

We are a proud owner of a specially made juju by Katia for us! (Click to see details which are amazing..she cut out each piece.) I knew Katia made jujus, but it wasn't until I followed her blog that I felt her sensitivity to colors and aesthetics, and liked the naturalness of what she perceived. For T's 1st B-day, she made the cutest "T" card...and I loved the details. Finally, I got around to commissioning her to do one of us living in San Francisco. I gave her very little direction, trusting she'd figure out what was best. Sure enough...I am thrilled. Dav is too, especially because of the grand Sutro Tower that Dav loves, and we see everyday over the hill from our living room. I also love the 3 little birds (one of my favorite Bob Marley songs is "Three Little Birds"), and the swirly background. I have a stamp like that I often use on letters. That's Katia's Juju power...I have never told her that but they are in the juju!!

Last weekend, we went back up to Willits with the Regenbogens to ride the Skunk Train which offers a cute Christmas-y version during the season with elves, cookies and milk (spiked hot chocolate for parents- smart!), songs, decor, and last but not least, a special guest appearance by Santa!

We all built this up quite high for both Fia and Tesla, but T had little clue about what was going on. However, the timing was perfect because her auntie Katherine sent her a DVD game thing of The Little Train That Could, and Fia just happened to have the book version too, so Tesla has been quite into trains lately. So to ride a real one made a huge impression.

Regarding Santa...well, he was just weird and scary for her, although Mr. Santa tried hard. The only shot we could get was of her turning away to hide in daddy's arms. I can see her point. Who else wears all red with an obnoxious white beard? Could be the devil for all she knows. I got a few pictures of her in utter wonder about all the singing and hype as Santa boarded the train.

However, she loves to sing Jingle Bells, and both Fia and Tesla practically flipped out when they discovered we were staying in hotel rooms that had a connected door, and jumping on the bed was allowed!

Of course this was the special breakfast with dear Rachel just before she flew away across the country to live in MA. She honored me with having her last friend gathering chez nous, and snoozing on our sofa. Breakfast was the extra treat.

But I maintained (and still maintain) super denial, and enjoyed the time as if it was regular time. And the only pictures I took from breakfast was of Fia and T. Sure, they dominated the scene, and I mentioned to Rachel how it can be quite hard to eat out with kids because everyone spends all their time keeping the kids occupied...munching the meal in between when there is time. It's not exactly relaxing. But still, I can't quite fathom how I failed to take a commemorative picture of darling Rachel. Denial to the core indeed.

Here's a video of busy Tesla (Flickr is finicky so it might not load now)