Berry Bakes + 30 Weeks!

I know, I should be past the craving stage, but I was craving for an honest to goodness chocolate chip cookie and I didn't want any of the commercial chocolate chip cookies found in grocery stores. I didn't even want patisserie cookies, although a chocolate mousse cake from Financier would have been good too, heehee.

So Berry and I decided to bake some cookies, and the Valrhona bar in the pantry that I bought a month or two ago sure came in handy, especially since we had to use that before it's best by date. We asked my SIL Leslie for her chocolate chip cookie recipe and our initial test was such a success!



We made the chocolate chunks from scratch!


See?


Here's our masterpiece...It was sooooo good! Chewy in the middle and a bit crunchy on the sides! We ate 5 cookies in five minutes! Heehee!


Here's Leslie's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe:

1 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350F. In large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt gradually then add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chip and nuts. Drop rounded teaspoonful into greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 mins or until lightly brown.

(In our case, we baked it a little longer, about 12-15 minutes to get that bit of crunchiness to it! We also did not fold in the chocolate chunks and instead added it on top of the cookie dough prior to baking. My SIL Lorr, who is the best in baking, suggests chilling the dough first overnight to make the caramel flavor of the cookie settle in. We only chilled this batch for a couple of hours because we wanted to eat the cookies right away, but it seems using chilled cookie dough instead of freshly mixed cookie dough does work wonders! Enjoy!)

We've been eating so much lately, no wonder Berry/belly has become this BIG! At 30 weeks!




Tunic: Topshop Maternity
Necklaces: La Elegancia, Marc by Marc Jacobs
Belt: Abaco
Zipper Trim Leggings: Topshop
Ballet Flats: French Sole London (For Kelly: I sent an email to them for their HK stockists, so I will update this when I hear from them, but in the meantime, you can check out Lane Crawford as they sell Repettos and they probably have French Sole as well!)

It's so funny actually, because 2 weeks ago, when we had our ultrasound, Berry weighed in at 2.7 lbs when babies her age should be 2.25 lbs. At this stage, she should be weighing 3 lbs., but I have a feeling she's much heavier than that now! Oops!

Mamma Mia!

Three months to go and the Little One will pop out soon!!! See how my tummy is now?



Wait, this is better...


Yeah, I know my belt buckle is skewed, but I did that on purpose. See, I didn't want the buckle to squeeze my tummy when I sit! Smart huh? Heehee!

It's been really cold these days that my usual suspects - tights, leggings, harem/drop crotch pants are not cutting it. Still too flimsy, so I have to wear denims. But I didn't want to spend on maternity denims because after I give birth, it won't be of much use, and it'll just go to waste. So I decided on these boyfriend denims instead which I think are the best maternity denims ever! It sits low below the belly and is super roomy and comfortable! Plus! I can wear it years after I give birth!





Scarf: Isabel Marant
Shirt: A.P.C.
Cardigan: Uniqlo
Jeans: Current/Elliott*
Belt: Abaco Paris
Tights: Topshop Maternity
Flats: French Sole

I've realized, buying maternity clothes can really be kept to a minimum. So far, it's really just my maternity tights, leggings and a tunic shirt that are my true maternity buys. Other than that, any of my dresses and loose tops are still ok, plus all the pants I got (a total of just 4 pieces! All of which I can use after I give birth!). Then again, I don't work so I don't have to spend for career maternity clothes. But my friend Me-an, who was working while pregnant, said she made do with 5 pairs of maternity trousers and that was it! She says, being pregnant made her realize she can actually live with just a few clothes on rotation. Now I know her words ring true. I've really been just wearing the same clothes over and over and over...

Maybe it has something to do with maturity and becoming a mom? Back in college, I used to take note of all my outfits just to make sure I never repeat the same outfit twice in a month. Then again, during these times especially, it doesn't make sense to be shopping so much. Better to save our money and shop our closets instead! For sure, there are treasures there that are just waiting to be unearthed!

*Here's a tip if you're planning to buy Current/Elliott denims. They are indeed one size too big as most online shopping sites have warned. So you should size down. I'm pregnant so I decided to get it in my usual size which is a 25. Ideally, I should have gotten a 24 as the 25s are very loose on me. But I have three more months to go and I have to have room to grow!