Mother's Day and Nate's Birthday

Mother's Day was pretty awesome. All the non- mom's got the opportunity to cook for them. They truly deserve their own appreciation day as being a mom is probably the hardest yet fulfilling job out there. The menu included grilled carne asada and chicken, spanish rice, tortas, salad, pasta salad and grilled veggies. The torta was delicious! It was comparable to El Taurino and King's Taco and that's saying a lot. We celebrated my nephew's birthday as well so that's why the kids are devouring their cupcakes. What's cute about birthdays now is that even if it's your birthday the kids blow out the candles, not you, haha. They LOVE blowing out the candles.

Peonies

Peonies are truly beautiful flowers. We saw them in abundance at Trader Joe's and couldn't resist taking some home. When we first brought them home, they hadn't fully bloomed yet, however once I put them in water it was as though they've been thirsty their whole lives and hit upon an oasis...they bloomed =). As you can see they were deep pink in color and as the days went by the color faded to ivory with subtle blushy pink throughout. They were absolutely beautiful every single day even as the color faded and petals fell, right up to its death. I wanted to keep it for a couple more days, but seeing that the pollen was falling all over the place, I knew it was time for it to go.

Brunch at Tavern, Brentwood CA

Tavern was delicious! Suzanne Goin just gets it. From the decor, lighting, ambiance and of course the food- it all comes together perfectly. I love how the place fills with natural light coming through the glass ceiling. I like the comfy chairs and the trees strategically placed throughout the dining room. I like how they have a separate area for takeout or a quick bite to eat where locals stroll in after their morning run for a croissant or other delicious treats (e.g. chewy chocolate chip cookie). There's also a dark lounge area where you could order a drink at the bar and sit in ginormous chairs....it's pretty dark, you could almost fool yourself into thinking it was night out if it wasn't for the sunlight beaming into the dining room. I couldn't leave the place without getting myself a chocolate chip cookie to go. I ate half of it once I got home and I'm saving the other half for later when I take a break from studying. Oh, and the best part of the meal was that my brother paid for it, haha, thanks Danny!

 

La Jolla Half Marathon

1. Our outfit for race day, 2. tina and tim, 3. pretending to stretch, 4. on the run, 5. something got on the lens, so pic is blurry =(

Whoopie! All that training and hard work for a half marathon that ended in 2 hours and 40 minutes, haha. The hardest part of this whole experience was training and surprisingly on race day I ran without complaining to which Tim was very happy about. Something about running with a mass of people and hearing people cheer for you gives you energy that carries you to the end. Along the way we saw a total of 4 men that passed out. They didn't look like someone that would pass out, they seemed physical fit, but I guess you really can't tell what's happening internally. I think it was all the hills/mountain that pushed a lot of us to the point of exhaustion and fatigue. When I saw the finish line I started to tear up...I don't know about others, but this race was pretty emotional for me because when I first started training I couldn't even run for 5 minutes straight. I was also thankful for my husband being there for me, encouraging me, training me and helping me from the beginning to the end. It was a culmination of many things that caused me to almost shed a tear, but I held it together, haha. It's over now and I'm actually considering running another one come October. 

Izakaya Sakura, San Diego

 

1. Fried tofu, 2. Miso-baked cod fish, 3. Chicken Karage, 4. Chirashi sushi bowl

 

Last weekend we went down to San Diego for the La Jolla half marathon and to make most of the trip we decided to head down early Saturday morning. I've been reading about a particular Japanese tapas style restaurant called Izakaya Sakura and was eager to try it out. We started out with a few small dishes and ended the meal with chirashi sushi. This is the first time I tried a 22 dollar chirashi sushi bowl, wth! Maybe it was $22 because of the oyster and uni...I don't know because in retrospect it definitely wasn't worth it. I've had better in LA that cost $14, even less. The albacore tuna salad was really good, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I made reservations because it was recommended to do so on yelp, but honestly it wasn't that packed and the decor/interior is kind of ghetto- they don't even have a sign in front of the place and no, it's not like those fancy schmancy places that do this on purpose.

Honey Pig, Bibim Gooksoo and Cupcakes

1. pork belly & kimchi chillin' on the grill, 2. pork belly kimchi fried rice, 3. bibim gooksoo (spicy cold noodles), 4. Cupcakes from Frosted Cupcakery

I've been really forgetful lately and haven't been carrying my camera around with me. As a result all the pictures for this post was taken by my brother via blackberry. Friday night he treated us out to Honey Pig in Ktown, omg, this place rocks. First, I love the atmosphere and the layout of this place. It feels open even though it's jammed packed with people surrounding each grill. You see smoke rising up from the grills all across the room and the aroma is heavenly. It's tasty, savory, drool worthy food like this that makes it really hard for me to even try to become a vegetarian. The real treat comes after all the meat is eaten. The waitress comes around and makes fried rice right on the grill pan and the grease from the pork, the seasoning from the grilled kimchi and vegetables permeate each grain of rice. The super hot grill creates my favorite favorite part of the meal...noolungji, it's basically a crust of rice that is formed by the heat of the grill pan. 

For lunch, we visited my grandparents and my grandma made another favorite Korean dish called bibimgooksoo which is composed of thin cold noodles, red bean paste, sesame oil, a little bit of sugar and salt, squash, cooked sliced eggs and little bits of marinated beef- YUM YUM. On our way home, we stopped by Frosted Cupcakery where my brother picked up a dozen cupcakes and I got three. Tonight, I'll be eating some kimchi jigae full of sliced pork belly, pan fried potstickers and some banchan (Korean side dishes) that my grandma made me.