Retail Therapy

I'm very grateful for the things I have...but there's nothing wrong with wanting more! :)


Audi 4 Door in Gunmetal
Not silver, not black...somewhere in btwn...almost like a steel gray. Gotta be 4 door...I hate 2 doors! Sigh, someday!


Matt & Nat purses
Isn't this a lovely color? I always buy my Matt & Nat purses at TJ Maxx. I wish this style would show up someday! Even though they can retail for $100+, it's never more than $25 at TJ Maxx.


Delicate Shiny Silver Hoops
I found these on the Zales website. So pretty!


House
Must haves: a library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and windows, and reading nooks, a bright, spacious, and airy kitchen, bathroom with a HUGE tub that I can relax in, and a backyard with a swing set and laundry lines (I like wind-dried towels!). Not too picky about much else.


Lappy Top
The Sony Vaio C Series is so nice! Well...I don't care too much for the green or pink. I prefer the gray/orange combo. Some HP models have remotes though...hmm maybe I will look into those too. Even though HPs are cheaper they don't look as nice as the C series! Well, I'm overdue to buy one in the next few months so we'll see what I end up choosing!


Ao Dai
Even though I'm pretty Vietnamese-y I've never owned an ao dai. Someday I want to be fitted for one. Hmm what color? DEFINITELY NOT RED. I like blue, green, or purple but those colors seem super bright. Also I don't want any flowers or girly patterns...just plain, simple, and solid.


Coat that is...

...this shade of green
I'm in love with kelly green! And I love this coat, the neckline is cute! Too bad I'll never find it in this color. They never make green coats...well J Crew sometimes does but J Crew never fits me!


Diamond Studs
Found this on the Kay Jewelers' website. I think studs are so pretty! I like the little ones though...not the bling-bling ones that cover your earlobe, hehe.

Risotto Night

How did I go through the first 23.5 years of my life without eating risotto?
I have had: paella, pilaf, congee/porridge, fried rice, jambalaya, etc but how could I have not eaten risotto?

There you go folks! I can't take any credit for this display of yummy cooking though. :D

Let's see...what was in it? Italian rice, butter, white wine, olive oil, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, pasta oil, more butter, chicken broth, garlic and salt. I ate garlic! I couldn't even tell! I bet if you put onions in there I would have eaten it too. :P Next time we put bacon!
It was creamy...but in such a hearty and mouth watering way. The rice was cooked just right- definitely not to the point of being soggy. The mushrooms and sundried tomatoes added a punch of flavor to each mouthful of rice. Omg it was soooooooooooooooooooo good. I want more.


Ready to eat...along with white wine and sourdough bread. And cheeeeese for Nikolaj. None for me...I'm not there yet!


Homemade chocolate dipped strawberries to end a lovely meal
I'm so lame:
"Ooh where'd you buy 'em?!"
"Uhhh...I MADE them."
Whoops. Thanks =D

Anyhoo, yay for expanding my palate and trying new foods. :D It's so nice to eat in. Can't wait to do it again...my turn to cook next!

Happy Tummies at the Noodle House

As a creature of habit, I usually go to the same restaurants and order the same items on the menu, esp if I am with ppl who have never been to that restaurant. That's partly b/c I want to make sure that they enjoy their meal- tried and true for me, so I feel comfy recommending it, ya know? The problem is, I never get to try anything new!

But finally I got to go to a new restaurant! Since we wanted something close to Arcadia mall because we had tix to watch 300 later that night, and I wasn't really in the mood to eat along Valley, I decided that we'd go to Noodle House based on some reviews like this one and this one.

Definitely the right choice! :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


Pan cake with Green Onion (cong you bing)
Perfect combination of chewy and flaky. It had onions, guys, and I still ate it! They also give you this garlic infused soy sauce to dip it with. YUMS! See, I CAN eat garlic and onions...sometimes.


Meat Fried Steamed Bun (xian rou shui jian bao)
Omfg these are the best I've ever had...better than at J&Js. The bun was soft but not soggy...the bottom was crispy thin but not overcooked. The ground pork was juicy! Ahh...I think I ate like the majority of them...sorry for hogging it all Nikolaj! :P


Beef Noodle Soup (niu rou mian)
Spicy! In a good way though. The noodles are handmade...and mixed with a tiny bit of veggies, hence the greenish color. The beef was tender. The broth hit the spot! Some bok choy and crunchy perserved veggies were laid on top also.

To top it off, we had iced tea flavored with dates. Perfect flavor to accompany our meal! Bill: $17.88 before tip. Definitely not shabby at all.

Noodle House
46 W. Las Tunas Drive
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 821-2088 and (626) 821-0668

Hours:
Closed Mondays
Tues-Thurs: 10am-9pm
Fri-Sun: 7am-9pm

Who wants to go back with me? I'm determined to try out most of the menu!

*edit
So Nancy went with me today, yay!

Shanghai Fried Noodle (shang hai zhu chao mian)

This was basically shang hai nian gao. It's much better at J&J. It wasn't as chewy and "meaty" but rather sticky and lumpy. Well, maybe it's because I just got my braces re-adjusted? :D

Ten Jin Pan Cake (tian jin jian bing guo zi)

This is basically a "you tiao" wrapped in an egg/something else wrapper. Btwn the dough stick and the wrapper is a layer of hoisen sauce we think, along with cilantro and green onions. It was very interesting! A bit too oily for me, but it was good to try! I also scraped off some of the green onions. It was too raw for me. :P
This is how LA Weekly describes it:

"The automatic accompaniment is a long, twisted cruller fried to order, unless you are persuaded to get the Tian Jim pancake instead — the same cruller smeared with bean sauce, sprinkled with scallions and wrapped in a thin pancake that is in turn washed with scrambled egg, like a Bombay-style frankie. A cruller burrito may seem a bit much at 7:30 in the morning, but with soy milk the pancake is exactly right. The combination of salty and sweet, crunchy and chewy, coronary-inspiring yin and artery-clearing yang is just this side of perfect."

Yeah, it was something like that. Haha. Ok, who's going to Noodle House with me next?? :)

My Night at the Opera Went Like This...

7:15- Want to make a quick run to the ladies room. Was told that if I left my seat now, I wouldn't be allowed in for another 22 minutes. Blah.
7:18- Act I starts...and my jaw drops. "Dude, are they really naked?" Well, we were sitting in the nosebleeds; I couldn't tell!
7:19- Person in front of me has huge head. Can't see naked ppl!
7:31- So, are they gonna start singing yet? 'Cause the Venus sex scene is weirding me out...
7:42- There's subtitles? I gotta read? Wah.
8:10- 22 min intermission- I eat Phillipine Dried Mangos. Too lazy to wait in line to pee.


Act II
I took off my boots and propped my feet up. I stopped reading the subtitles. I really liked the scene when this guy was singing. Ate Yan Yan during 2nd intermission. It's already 10pm! I feel like I've been here for ages, haha. Still have yet to go pee.

Act III
I dozed off/stared at the ceiling/went ADD on Nikolaj. I already know how it ends, 'cause I read the nifty program.


The end.

Elia: "So, what did you think of it?"
me: "It was a bit long..."
Elia:"Oh? This is one of Wagner's shorter ones."


11:05- I take this pic
11:50- I finally answer nature's call!

Ok, so it wasn't that bad! I just have a horrible attn span and I am too uncultured to appreciate opera music. But great company really made a difference. I had fun because I got to try something new. Thanks Elia and Nikolaj!

Philippe's, finally!

Why is it that I've been to Chinatown hundreds of times and yet I've never eaten at Philippe The Original French Dipped Sandwiches until tonight?

Must be the same reason why I lived 4 blocks away from the Hammer museum and passed it everyday and yet never went there during the FOUR years I spent at UCLA.

Or the same reason why I've lived in El Monte for over 14 years and I didn't eat at King Taco until LAST YEAR.

Nah, I don't really know the reason. I'm just silly like that :D



Some tips:
1. Plenty of FREE parking: enter from Alameda, left on Ord, left or right into lots/enter from Spring, right on Ord, same deal.
2. Loooooooooooong lines inside. Definitely know what you want when it's your turn to order.
3. Look at my puny sweet pickle! It was yummy though.
4. I thought that mine had a bit too much meat. The guys wolfed down their sandwiches in like 2 min, so maybe it wasn't enough meat for them. The beef was okay, next time I want to try pork. I think I prefer The Hat's Pastrami Dip though.
5. Coffee was 9 cents! I don't drink coffee but to a coffee lover that must be quite a deal!
6. There's rooms upstairs too! (But we didn't get to go, next time I want to come back and explore.)

I want to go back! Mostly because we stood in line for over 15 min and ate in under 5 min so I didn't get to enjoy my meal. Also, there's some side dishes/desserts that I didn't get to try!

Fun Reads for February!

Let's get right to it:


Loose Balls by Jayson Williams with Steve Friedman
Really enjoyable. But then again, it's prolly b/c I'm a sports nut. The anecdotes are hilarious! There's not much else I can say about it. I think you'd prolly only find it entertaining if you were into basketball.


Bookends by Jane Green
I need my dose of chick-lit! This one was particularly enjoyable b/c the storylines revolved around food and books.


Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
It took me FOREVER to finish this book. Mostly because I found myself re-reading some parts over again. Also, I'd stop after certain points to digest what the author had written. Because I'm lazy:

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the brothers Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that “stick” and explain sure-fire methods for making ideas stickier, such as violating schemas, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating “curiosity gaps.”

Read it! It will definitely change the way you think, though in a subtle way.

Anastasia Again! by Lois Lowry


Anastasia, Absolutely by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is one of my favorite authors. The Anastasia series rock! I've read every single book in the series at least dozens of times over the last 10 or so years. If I have a daughter, I am sooooo gonna have her read these books as well as watch the Brat Pack movies. :)

More to come next month!

My Date with Ann :)

Angel is old HS friend of mine and Ann's who goes to the Collins School of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.

Because I'm lazy, I decided to do the 'ol c&p:

Overlooking the beautiful, rolling hills of Diamond Bar, The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch at Cal Poly Pomona boasts one of the valley's most romantic & chic settings. The Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch is a student-operated restaurant, serving both lunch and dinner. The restaurant is part of the Hospitality Management curriculum at The Collins School of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona.

In the restaurant, students rotate weekly through various positions, including management, in order to learn all aspects of a hospitality operation. Some of the finest professionals in the industry facilitate student learning. The faculty team includes Chef Ernie Briones, Lesley Butler, Barbara Jean Bruin, and Chef Scott Rudolph.

We were there that night to support her! It was her turn to manage this week and we think she did a fantastic job running ship. :) It almost reminded me of Hell's Kitchen! In fact, everyone was working really hard.



Appetizers

Pan Seared Diver Scallops with Assorted Mushrooms- served with mushroom vinaigrette, herb oil & topped with micro greens
Scallops were pretty tender except Ann and I are not fans of those kinds of mushrooms.


"Tapas" Trio- olive tapenade & duck confit and vegetable roulade & English cucumber encased in cured salmon and topped with spicy Crème Fraîche
I liked the tapenade, as always. I have no idea what duck confit is- Ann ate that one. Cured salmon was yummy. Ann is not a fan of raw fish.

Salad

House Salad- Mesclun mix with fresh Cal Poly's Oro Blanco grapefruit and navel oranges, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and crumbled blue cheese dressed in creamy citrus Dijon vinaigrette.
Of course I got mine sans cheeeeese. We didn't really like the dressing. The salad was just okay.

Entrees

Braised Beef Short Ribs- beef short rib slowly cooked in a savory red wine, garlic and herb sauce accompanied by horseradish mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
The first few heavenly bites melted in my mouth. After that it became kinda stringy and I got tired of trying to dislodge the meat from my braces.


Apple Glazed Grilled Pork Chop- a grilled center cut pork rib chop, glazed with an apple cider reduction & served with house glazed apple sauce accompanied by vegetable risotto and seasonal vegetables.
The pork wasn't really tender. I'm also not a huge fan of fruit cooked in a savory dish. Ann was so-so about it. The risotto was super soggy. Is it sposed to be that soggy? Hmm.

Dessert

Chocolate-Dipped Ice Cream Profiterole- soft and fluffy éclair dipped in warm chocolate fudge filled with your choice of Dr. Bob's vanilla, strawberry or chocolate ice cream.
The éclair wasn't soft and fluffy. It was hard and crunchy and as I was cutting up a piece it flew off my plate. Whoops. The dark chocolate ice cream was super creamy and hit the spot.


Chocolate Kahlúa Crème Brûlée- chocolate egg custard with a hint of Kahlúa coffee liqueur Topped with caramelized sugar and fresh strawberry.
This was YUMMY. But the chocolate egg custard tasted like dark chocolate ice cream to me, hmm...But it was still yummies!

So basically it was a 4-course meal for $31 bucks. Not too shabby. But we didn't know that our measly salad was the 4th course so we ended up paying $31 for everything instead of $25 for a 3-courser. They should have explained that to us. Not that we're super cheapos or anything but I think we could have lived without the salad. Besides, since the service was pretty great I wouldn't have minded putting the extra $ towards tip. Ann and I actually tried to tip this really nice guy separately but he said they aren't allowed to take the money. Also, we thought we had each ordered one glass of mineral water but they came out with TWO freaking huge bottles so basically we were chugging mineral water all freaking night. Us gals could have shared just one bottle easily. So with tax & tip it came out to be $90 even.

But the company was priceless. Ann and I had so much fun talking about EVERYTHING. What a memorable "date." :)


Going on 15 years of bestfriendship!

How to NOT get hired as my financial adviser

1. Tell me that "the silliest thing you could do at your age is put your money in a CD."

2. Repeatedly say that "You should have done something about my CD yesterday."

3. Make me feel like I have to make excuses/give explanations for how I choose to manage/save my money.

4. Expect me to take out my cell phone right then and there and give him names/numbers of my friends to partake in a future consultation.

5. Continue to press me when I said that I DON'T want to refer my family members. And then point out: "Don't you care about the financial future of your family?"

6. Say in a disparaging tone: "You definitely need our help."

Yeah, that's not how you do it.

So my good pal Johnny is starting off as a financial planner and he's trying to build his client base. His presentation was fine- I felt at ease and was comfortable in asking questions. Also, I didn't feel judged by him. But then his boss came in and it went downhill from there. He was pushy and made me feel defensive.

I left the consultation feeling like crap. In fact, I still felt cruddy this morning. Johnny is a very good friend and I'd throw down for him as well as for some of you guys anytime. I'd really like to help him out but at this moment I really can't. Even though I would love to have a financial adviser, I simply can't afford one at this time. I understand that in the long run I'll get that $500 back and then some. And I do foresee myself making this investment in the next couple years, but not right now. Even though I'm only 23 I think that I'm on the right track when it comes to saving $ for retirement. I just have to continue that track and take some risks here and there to build my nest egg. But I certainly don't think that I'm so hopeless to the point that I'm clueless. Doh.

Ugh. Well, I called Johnny and told him how he felt. He explained to me why his boss was like that. Still that doesn't change the way I feel. I'm not upset at you Johnny! Don't take it personal!

The positive thing is, this experience has motivated me to learn about other investment options that I can do on my own for now since I have some free time. Shoot, they shoulda taught you some of this stuff in college. Now I gotta go borrow "Investment for Dummies" from the library. :)

"No One Mourns the Wicked..."

No one ever notices the white part. Haha.

I've never been to a musical before so this was quite a treat!

Opening night was pretty neat. There was an exciting buzz in the air that enveloped us as we walked into the theater. Our seats were amazing. We sat in row RR 301-308. Try to get those seats if you go!

Some little things about Wicked that I didn't know prior to the show:
1. Winnie Holzman, the creator of My So Called Life, is the book writer for Wicked (adaptation of the novel by the same name by Gregory Maguire)
2. The actor for Nessarose (Elphaba's sister) was Libby on Sabrina the Teenage Witch (admit it, you guys used to watch that show!)
3. There is a lot of physical comedy that isn't conveyed through the music. G(a)linda had the best parts in this respect!
4. There are actual tie-ins/connections to the original "Wizard of Oz" (I don't want to give anything away)


Thanks Christina!

I want to go again! Who wants to take me?? :)

Finger fooding!

Pre-oven: I think Christina's friend's SLR totally did justice to my stuffed mushrooms.

Stuffed mushrooms were pretty easy to make. The recipe came out of a book so I don't really remember much.

Basically, I wiped the mushrooms down with a wet paper towel. Then I popped off the stems (quite easy) and chopped 'em up. Then I diced one link of sausage (habernero to give it a kick). I mixed the mushrooms stems, sausage bits, one egg, some bread crumbs, garlic, parmesan cheese all together. Next I added enough olive oil to make it all shiny. Finally I stuffed the mushrooms and stuck the pan in the olive at 400 degrees for 15 min. Sorry I don't remember the proportions! It's basically a free for all...dump whatever you want in the mix. It turns out yummy anyways.

Next time I want to experiment with different items like...bacon! Bacon anything is yummys!



Ingredients:
2 bags (1 pound size) fresh spinach
1/8 pound butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced onions
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pint heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce -- to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
artichoke hearts -- coarsely diced

Directions:

Steam spinach; strain and squeeze through cheesecloth. Must be very dry. Chop finely and set aside.

In heavy saucepan, melt butter. Add garlic and onions and sauté about 3-5 minutes. Add flour to make a roux. Stir and cook about 1 minute. Slowly add heavy cream, stirring with a whisk to prevent lumping. Mixture will thicken at the boiling point. When it thickens, add lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and Parmesan cheese.

Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Fold in dry, chopped spinach, coarse diced artichoke hearts and jack cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Serve immediately, or portion and microwave to order. Serve with salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips for dipping.

This is the recipe I used except I didn't put in the tabasco sauce or jack cheese 'cause we didn't have any on hand. The spinach part took the longest.

I didn't try this dip myself but everyone at the dinner party seem to like it, so I guess it tasted good! It is possible to make a cheeseless, garlicless, and onionless spinach artichoke dip??? Maybe I'll eat it then!