When things are just right, doesn’t it make you feel happy? I love when things fit perfectly, whether it’s the right size, personalities, colors, or otherwise. Take this bowl, which we have deemed the “pho” bowl at home. It is exactly what I need whenever I bring home pho to eat. It’s large enough to hold all the broth, noodles, and veggies that I want and I never have to worry about anything spilling out! Similarly, I feel that same satisfaction when I find clothes that fit just right or a blanket that is just the right softness and warmth. I found it with my cat Missy, who is exactly the right kind of cat for me. We’re truly two peas in a pod. You know all those phrases – made for each other, yin and yang, complements, soul mates… the perfect fit. I have that with Panda too – I really can’t think of anyone who as a whole could be more perfect for me. Sure there are clashes and incompatibilities, but I am constantly amazed at how right we are for each other. It’s a beautiful thing and such a great feeling when you find that fit, whatever scenario it may be.
Posts Tagged ‘eating’
365great Day 347: perfect fit
365great Day 308: subs
Sandwiches are so much tastier in sub form. I find the bread to be an important component of the experience and I love how many ingredients get stuffed in. You can have hot subs or cold subs and get endless combinations of flavors. It makes for a versatile meal, whether you’re enjoying lunch, dinner, or a snack. Wrap them up in wax paper and you can generally eat them without too much of a mess while keeping your hands clean. There are so many delicious sandwich shops serving subs now and each has their unique offering. I get Firehouse Subs when I want something sweeter, Jersey Mike’s when I want something more tart and refreshing, Quizno’s when I want something rich in flavor, Santini’s when I want something spicy… the list goes on! I’m a huge fan of the range of choices within this one meal type. There are all kinds of great options!
The holiday break
With just about a day left before Panda and I headed back to LAX to return to our life out east, I started to feel anxious. It had been a wonderful two weeks, exactly the sort of healing, growing, relaxing, and enjoying I needed. I was kind of worried about getting back into things at work and all the other obligations being back entails. Luckily, the transition hasn’t been that bad at all and I’m happy to be (what is now) home.
Here are some highlights from my time in balmy SoCal. Other moments included hanging out with my mom, chatting with my cousin (and helping her get a new laptop at Best Buy), enjoying quiet moments alone at the mall, meeting up with some AKPsi pledge bros, grabbing lunch with an old UCLA AFROTC friend, catching up over tea with a friend I met at a Gogobot event, a session with my microdermabrasion guy (it’s been over a year!), relaxing at my fab reflexology spot, and reminiscing over old pictures (many that will slowly make their way into blog posts).
And off we go on our winter vacation.
We got upgraded to first class on the way in! I smartly brought a blanket.
As we took off, I tried to spot our new condo with little luck.
The creepy gray clouds tried to climb over the fluffy white ones…
Breakfast is served! I enjoyed the potatoes au gratin best.
Gettin’ frosty up here but I’m toasty in my blankie. 🙂
What’s that brilliantly bright light in the distance? I think it was probably a large lake catching the sun.
First order of business at home is to hang out with Missy.
Umm, how does this even happen to an apple?!
I discover a new favorite snack at the mall: Tornado Fries! Take a whole potato, swirl cut it, spread out along large stick, fry, and sprinkle on various powders for flavor. Fun!
Had my ring cleaned at my jewelers for the first time since getting it and it was nice to catch up with the owner.
Hehe, Missy doesn’t mind that the pillow is crushing her. She loves snuggling with me anyway.
For my birthday, I basically hopped from restaurant to cafe to bakery to restaurant. Happy taste buds and belly!
Oops, we over-ordered for food. Two people got what five probably should have.
Missy walks all over me and I love it.
When she’s like this, how can I work? Too cute.
I had a quiet NYE just watching the show on TV.
Ringing in the new year with this guy jamming on his electric guitar! #culvercitycharacters
Lol, I never got to check out the Westwood Farmer’s Market once it was moved to Thursday, and now here I am.
My absolute fav to get at Gushi.
Little miss princess.
Trying out a new pizza joint in DTLA with my Gogobot buds.
(re)Met a Gogoboter and we do some selfies.
Got together with old friends who I met the year I met Panda! Yes, the picture is intentionally blurry.
I couldn’t leave LA without bringing some treats.
At the airport, I got dinner since I hadn’t eaten all day.
I thought we got a pepperoni and mushroom, but we accidentally left off the mushroom part of the order. Oh well!
Festa di Carrabba First Tastes
Woo hoo, it’s time for another Carrabbas First Tastes event! This time they’re celebrating the new year with this tasting menu. It’s offered as a three-course meal with appetizer, entree, and dessert. We got to try all six possible entrees!!
This time I showed up a little late and found Panda sitting with a mother and daughter pair. They were super friendly and we had a grand old time chatting it up as we enjoyed course after course and drink after drink.
First up was the arancini appetizer, breaded and fried balls of risotto, sausage, bell peppers, and romano cheese with marinara sauce. I like the crispy shell and soft interior of this one, with a blend of savory flavors. It kind of reminded me of a small (Italian) version of the fried balls from Seoul Sausage.
The first of the entrees was the parmesan-crusted chicken, sauteed and covered in breadcrumbs. A grilled lemon offered a wonderful zest to the taste and I enjoyed the rich flavor of this one. The meat was not super succulent but it wasn’t too dry either.
Then we tried the potato-crusted haddock, which looked like hash browns at first. It was topped with a creamy mustard sauce and fresh diced tomatoes (mine happened to be missing that bit). I can’t say I’ve ever had fish and potatoes together, so this was an interesting combo. I liked the texture, but it didn’t have much flavor and I’m not sure the mustard sauce was fitting. I still gobbled it up though! I like how it feels lighter than a pasta dish.
I was looking forward to trying the champagne shrimp & scallop linguine because I love shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms. It’s a solid dish that I would try if I ever felt like a creamy pasta. I kind of like how the cream gathered at the bottom so you could get as much or as little as you like, to taste. Don’t know if that was intentional.
The grilled tuscan skewers came a little out of order, but that’s ok! A normal skewer would have six of these, I believe. I liked the combination of the tomato, red onion, and grilled sirloin. Great complement of flavors!
Mmmm, probably my favorite dish of the night (not counting dessert). The “forever braised” beef brasato was wonderfully tender and worked really well with the risotto. It’s rich and filling. I loved it even though I usually don’t care for beef!
The last entree of the night was the lobster mac & cheese. I thought the corkscrew pasta was perfect and they were quite generous with the lobster portions. You won’t need to dig around wondering where/if the lobster is there! I’m not a lobster person and this one was creamier than I’m used to, so it was decent for me. Perfect for lobster lovers though.
Throughout the meal, Panda took notes as feedback for the restaurant. At the end, the proprietor collected the feedback to review. I guess I should have written something down!
Finally, we ended the meal with a wooonderful sogno di cioccolata dessert. The brownie portion was amazingly dense in just the right way and the chocolate mousse and sauce added to the rich taste. We all devoured our pieces. What a meal!
28 going on 30s
Was it really my birthday today? It feels so surreal. At times I marvel that I’m now 28 though (more recently) sometimes I kind of am ready to just be in my 30s already. I guess I should enjoy the next two years before that big 3-0 hits for real and I can’t go back to these crazy 20s. 😉
I started off my day much like I ended my night yesterday: with Missy sleeping on my chest. 🙂
Once I got up, I went to get Panda and he took us to this dim sum place with MASSIVE lobsters (no, we did not eat any). Note the normal lobsters in the tank next to it.
After our meal, we explored a fun Japanese store. These earmuffs are fun but too cutesy for me. I got a hedgehog microfiber glove instead, lol.
As we sat looking for a tea place we’d heard of, I was amused by how Panda’s pant leg rode up and he had a random thread on his socks. Silly boy.
We found the place with 3D latte art!
Such adorable designs! I got that marsh-minion for free just for checking in on Yelp.
As I drank my drink, the bear slowly drifted away into oblivion (or my stomach, as it were).
The next stop was Frances Bakery for deeelicious cronuts.
I was so excited I totally over-ordered!
Nom nom nom… couldn’t wait to enjoy the goodness.
Then it was off to Glendale Galleria, where we wandered around the stores and I entertained myself trying on these crazy heels.
What do you think of making this necklace a headdress?
L’Occitane had a free hand massage offer so I got treated to it.
For dinner, we went kind of overboard and ordered 5 things, not thinking the portions would be ENORMOUS. Sooo many leftovers!
We stopped for boba and then went to our respective homes. I arrived to find Missy ready for my attention.
As my mom and I chatted in the kitchen, Missy lay claim to the cronuts. Or maybe she just likes the box. 😉
And now I’m comfortably in bed snuggling with Missy. I think she’s pleased I finally went to bed… she’d been waiting over an hour for me!
Hello Fresh Week 50 Delivery review
Has it only been 2 weeks since this delivery? Gosh, so much has happened that it feels like a distant memory. (Interested in trying Hello Fresh? Use my referral code to get $20 off your first order: 9CAMJS)
Hello Fresh is just under $70 per box and comes with 3 meals of 2 servings each. That’s less than $12 per meal serving. Boxes are sent weekly unless you choose to skip (which is very easy to do). They offer a referral code that gives $20 off to both the person you referred and for your next order.
First up was the least adventurous dish, which we liked because it seemed most filling.
Stir fry is probably my favorite way of cooking, next to baking.
Good, solid dish. I never knew I’d actually enjoy my vegetables but frying them helps.
For lunch on the weekend, we opted for this soup to warm us up.
This whole time I had it in my head it was couscous and not quinoa, oops!
A very tasty stew indeed and it felt healthy with the quinoa.
Finally, we made a lunch out of this too since the portion seemed small for dinner.
There was supposed to be an onion, but it got left out. I emailed support and they gave me a $5 credit. I’d say that’s a good deal!
The contrast of spicy with sweet was very intriguing. Wonder how it would have been with the onion.
I had fun with these dishes and would definitely consider trying them again, though I’d want to incorporate some carbs into the shrimp one.
[This post contains affiliate codes. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]
365great Day 247: Dinners for 12 Strangers
This is a fun UCLA tradition that I have participated in both as a student and alumna. You basically get alumni to volunteer to host a bunch of students for dinner. Usually this is at an alum’s home, but sometimes it could be at other venues that they have reserved, like one time when I had a meal at one of the restaurants at the Anderson School of Management. On average, it will be two alumni to about ten students, but of course the number will vary depending on how many Bruins sign up. As a student, it was an opportunity to meet some fellow students, enjoy a free meal, and learn from alum. It was nice to see what some of them had been doing since graduating and getting any advice from them regarding school and/or work. On the flip side, as a host, I enjoyed working with co-hosts to put together the meal, learning about what’s been going on at UCLA since graduating, and sharing my apartment for a night of chatting. For hosting, we were given these cute little cutting boards as a thank you. 🙂 It’s a great way to connect with more Bruins over the years!
365great Day 223: desserts
I’m a sweets kind of person. That’s why my favorite course is dessert and I often don’t wait until the end of a meal to enjoy it. In fact, in high school my best friends and I would go out to restaurants and get our dessert brought out first. It confused many a waiter, though I’m not sure why they made it such a big deal. So what if we wanted to treat the dessert like an appetizer? I figured we may as well start with the best part and work our way from there. I also find desserts to be really fabulous breakfast items. My favorite is a giant cone of vanilla bean ice cream to kick off the day. I did that many a morning in middle and high school and I thought it was great!
365great Day 129: seaweed
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I love seaweeds of many types prepared in many forms. There’s the crispy, crunchy, slightly sweet taste of seaweed salad as shown or the dry, flaky, airy crunch of dried seaweed snacks. There’s seaweed that is long like strands of spaghetti and seaweed that is flat like paper. Sometimes it’s green, or red, or brown, or black(ish). I enjoy it as a snack on its own or as a topping for a soup. It’s pretty versatile as a food and I’m a huge fan. It probably has something to do with my Asian upbringing, since I grew up viewing seaweed as just another snack, much like carrots or cucumber. I’m especially a sucker for the kind of seaweed salad that is offered at Japanese restaurants. You can’t tell in this picture, but this plate is actually shaped like a fish! I was amused by that. A food that can be eaten in so many forms is less likely to bore me and that definitely is great.
365great Day 128: fortune cookies
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However they were invented, fortune cookies are quite amazing. Have you ever watched them being made? It’s a skill that is fascinating. Only during a few key seconds can you form them into their unique shape. Even more interesting beyond that is the idea of a slip of paper inside with a little nugget of wisdom or vague statement printed on it. Who doesn’t enjoy a bonus in their treat? It’s really a simple, but brilliant concept and it’s no wonder it has lasted so long. Truly good fortune cookies are tasty treats in their own right, but turning them into a treasure is even more satisfying. I always enjoy eating a fortune cookie at the conclusion of a meal; it wraps things up so nicely and warms my heart every time. For such a simple pleasure, that’s pretty great.
