Things I Love About Chico #1 - Fantastic Foodiness

Today's post is a bit of a departure from my posts as of late.  I am going to try to increase the number of posts on the blog as well as the diversity of posts - so, if you only read to follow Bean's story, you can skip this one as she is but a bit player in today's post (there are some pics though - she loves to have her picture taken, so its inevitable).  But, I will continue to cover her health care story...I will just be writing other things in between.  I'm going to attempt a blog schedule and my Sundays (when I post on Sunday) will be Things I Love About Chico posts.  Simply because I love Chico and its a good way of introducing my readers to some of the things we get to experience up here in the Northern Northern California area! 

I am getting ready to head out to my third Taste of Chico.  For those unfamiliar with this type of event, let me explain.  The city's (and surrounding area's) restaurants, caterers, stores and other businesses set up a booth on downtown streets and provide small "tastings" to ticket holders.  You buy pre-paid punch cards for so many food and drink tastings and the vendors punch them as they provide your tastes.  In addition to the food, there is a beer/wine garden for adult beverage tasting, bands playing all day in multiple places and a lot of coupon/discount offers from many vendors.  Its a really fun and tasty day and you get to sample some food that you might never otherwise know about.  I discovered one of my favorite Chico foods at Taste of Chico two years ago - Bacio's catering and their BBQ chicken or pork sandwich!  I've now eaten multiple things at Bacio's (which has a counter service as well as catering) and all of them have been fantastic - but without Taste of Chico, I may have never eaten there!  This year will be especially nice because it isn't horribly hot (it has often been in the 100s, but right now it is high 70s and at the peak today it will only be 92), which will make the whole experience much more enjoyable!  I can't wait to make a new discovery this year!

Speaking of new food discoveries, I have been participating in Upgraded Living's "Secret Menu" challenge and so far it has been a blast!  Basically, the challenge is to visit 18 local restaurants in the month of September, order the "Secret Menu" item listed in the magazine (some are not actually secrets, but are just the hidden gems on the menu), take pictures and post them on the magazine's Facebook page.  They are giving away $50 gift certificates to each of the restaurants and a $200 cash prize to one participant.  So far, I think I've been to the most places, but its still relatively early in the month.  But, it has been a lot of fun to try new places and new items at old places.  It is amazing how a relatively small city like Chico has so many great places to eat and so many hidden little places around town.  I think I'm close to being half way done with the 18 places and so far there has really only been one thing that I would not get again - and it is not a reflection of the restaurant, but the fact that their item was a gluten-free pizza, which wasn't bad, but not having a gluten allergy, I would prefer my usual pizza crust, thank you!  But, its nice to know there is a pizza option for those with gluten allergies in town!  I have gone to three new places due to the challenge (Donut Rising, Farm Star Pizza and Left Coast Pizza) and ordered a bunch of new and really good items at places I had been before.

Because of these food adventures, Bean has tried some new foods as well.  She really liked the donuts

 and very much enjoyed the dough on the pizza from Farm Star Pizza.

I have always loved the food choices in Chico, but this is bringing me a whole new appreciation for the variety and quality of food here!  Thanks Chico!  I'm not a foodie, but I love food and Chico is perfect for a food-loving non-foodie like me!

Finally, the last food thing I love about Chico is the Saturday Farmers' Market.  Its a year round farmers market with lots of great produce, some specialty food items and great gift possibilities from local artisans. This past weekend, my friend Theresa and I took some photos to give you a "taste" of this local event.  Enjoy!

Bean's Halloween

Just thought I would share a few of our highlights from Halloween!  We celebrated the whole weekend, with Bean's Grandma and Grandpa from Bakersfield in town.  We had some professional pictures taken at the Picture People on Friday - and they turned out beautiful!  They are located in just about every mall (we got Bean's first professional pictures taken there between hospital stays, but in Bakersfield) and because I am a horrible person about planning ahead, the fact that they seem to be able to fit us in when we walk in the door is great for us.  Our photographer this time was great with the Bean, who can be a handful when she is the center of attention!  I have mixed in the pictures from the session throughout the blog post.  If anyone wants to order any pictures (friends and/or family who may be reading) and I haven't sent you the online ordering form, just shoot me an email and I can do that - these are copyrighted, so if you try to enlarge they get distorted, but I thought they were cute, even if small.

It was like Bean was in a parade as we made our way through the mall to the picture place!  She was, of course, quite noticeable in her cow costume, so people were commenting and saying how cute she was, and she was waving at them and blowing kisses to them and had to stop and smile and babble to people along the way.  It was actually quite ridiculous and slightly embarrassing.  She is one of the biggest hams I've ever seen!  And definitely not shy in any way!

 

On Saturday, we didn't do much Halloween related, but my MIL and I went downtown for the farmer's market, but ended up skipping it because of the rain.  We went shopping instead, checking out my favorite stores in downtown Chico - Made In Chico, Powell's Sweet Shoppe, Bird in Hand, and The Silver Sandbox!  We didn't buy much, but we got some great ideas for Christmas and I did get Bean a cute bib that says "I want my Mummy!" and a ceramic wall hanging that says "Witchy Woman" for myself!  I love Halloween!

 We then went to lunch at the Sierra Nevada Brewery - another of my local faves.  I didn't drink any of their world famous beer this time - just had a fantastic pork tostada that was sooooo good!  Bean wasn't liking sitting around so much after her busy morning, so we didn't stay long, but if you're ever passing through or visiting Chico, be sure to set aside a meal to visit the brewery.  They offer tours as well during certain hours!

 On Halloween, we went to the annual Treat Street celebration downtown.  We ate for the first time at the new Burgers & Brew and had a pretty tasty meal in a relaxed, but nice atmosphere!  After we ate, we took Bean around to the local merchants that were handing out candy and we all loved seeing all the fun Halloween costumes the little ones were wearing!  Once again, Bean had the time of her life waving at people and seeing all the other little kids.  It was great fun, if a little exhausting!

 We stayed home for the evening hours, and Bean helped me answer the door and hand out treats.  She was so excited every time the doorbell rang or a knock was heard on the door!  She would run with me to grab the bowl of candy and take a close look at all the Trick or Treaters, then say "bye" and blow kisses to them as they were leaving.  It made Halloween all the more fun for me!

 We ended the weekend on Monday morning with breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa at Country Waffle.  We were sad to see them go, but will be spending some time with them during the Thanksgiving break, which is coming up really fast (how has it already been a week since Halloween weekend began?)!  Thanksgiving won't be quite as much fun as Halloween, but maybe it will encourage Bean to eat a little more.  Her nutritionist visited again this week and she had gained 4 oz. in the last 3 weeks, which isn't bad, but isn't great (esp. since part of that 4 oz. was a wet diaper).  But, as you can tell from my report of Halloween weekend, the rest of us more than make up for her poor eating habits!  :)

 She is progressing quite well developmentally!  This morning at her therapy session she was matching toys with related pictures, which is pretty advanced according to her therapist. She is quite the smarty-pants most of the time, but I worry about her becoming something else that begins with Smart...hopefully she keeps her pleasant disposition!

Zero = Perfect Score on this Test!

We got great news yesterday!  Bean's latest biopsy came back a zero for rejection!  This is the first time since her transplant that she has shown zero rejection and the docs were starting to consider changing medications (again) if it didn't happen this time.  So, we are all relieved and happy that she is (1) fully accepting her new heart and (2) able to start weaning off the prednisone (which may be contributing to her lack of growth to this point).  Prior to this, she has had mostly 1 or 1A results, with a couple of 3s thrown in for good measure (and three day hospital stays).  So, hopefully we have the medication levels figured out and she will continue to get these zero readings for a while.  We now get six weeks off from clinic appointments and a whole three months before the next biopsy!  A nice break in our travel schedule, especially with DH being in Michigan for work for six weeks!

Despite this good news, we also have to add another appointment to our long list of medical appointments we have for her.  The GI docs referred us to an endocrinologist to see if there may be some hormonal cause of her lack of growth.  She is on the low side of caloric intake, but not low enough that they thought it should cause her to be as small as she is - and she is small in both height and weight - she is proportional.  So, we have a pediatrician appointment on Tuesday and will ask him to refer us to someone at UC Davis so we don't have to drive to Stanford for those appointments.  Hopefully we can find someone there and will not have to add another trip to Stanford to the mix. 

Other than that, she is loving her weekly therapy through the Far Northern Regional Center with Angie.  She gets to play with all the toys that Angie brings in her big bag of toys and she is learning to put things back "in" to containers (versus just taking them out), to put pegs "in" holes (versus just taking them out), stack items, etc.  And she gets to play with bubbles, wood puzzles, and other cool toys.  Angie is fantastic and I can't say enough good things about the Regional Center here in the North State.  Bean is also getting physical therapy twice a month, but she seems to be quickly surpassing the goals they had set for her a few months ago.  She is climbing stairs (a little too well - had to put up a baby gate), cruising along furniture, crawling like a speeding bullet and has even let go to stand unsupported a couple of times.  Very exciting changes!  She is not talking at all yet - but, lots of babbling and a few things that sound like words - "up", "dada", "mama", etc.  But, she doesn't have a lot of purpose tot he words, so I'm not sure if she is really talking or just babbling more.

We are looking forward to summer in Chico.  There are a lot of fun things to do here during the summer and I plan on taking advantage of as many as possible.  There are movies in the park once a month, a family fun fair in one of our local parks each month (moves around from neighborhood park to neighborhood park), and of course the Thursday Night Market and Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings...and I am now part of the Chico Mothers' Club and we have a weekly playgroup, monthly bunco, and a lot of fun "field trips" for kids.  So, I'm planning on keeping busy this summer and taking advantage of my first summer with Bean out of a hospital and in our fun town!

First thing on the list of fun is a visit from our good friends from Arizona!  They come in on Monday and will be here for the week.  This means I need to finish reorganizing the guest room (which is a chaotic mess right now) and getting the house tidied up a bit, finish the laundry, and get stocked up with snacks, etc.  I'm looking forward to their visit and enjoying a little "stay-cation" while they are here.  There will be a trip to Lake Almanor to golf (well, I won't be golfing, but will be enjoying the scenery) at Bailey Creek Golf Course, an Oakland A's Game, Thursday Market, maybe a Chico Outlaws game, and of course some BBQing!