Giving Thanks

That turkey above was really, really good. The gravy that you see directly behind it, even better! Some of the best turkey I have had. For the first time, the boy and I spent Thanksgiving at my godmother's who whipped up a fabulous feast. It was delicious.

My godmother and I share an affinity for sparkly pretty things. Here you can see the pretty tablecloth she set out, and the pink glass peaking in the corner. 

 Yams are underneath this cloud of toasted marshmallows. Mmmmmmm...

Even though I had a horrible paper to write (ugggghhhh) the boy and I managed to have fun with his time off from lab. It was really nice. We spent the day at the zoo, which I always love. I've been to the zoo several times, and each time the hippo, Otis, is smushed up against the glass and looking positively lazy. This time he was actually posing on this rock, so I took the opportunity to get a photo with him. Hi Otis! [These lucky folks got Otis to smile.]

After the zoo, we had dinner at one of our favorite spots in La Jolla, PrepKitchen. 

[Photo from PrepKitchen]

That dinner was amazing. The boy's dish was particularly good--a turkey leg with polenta. This was fall off the bone good.

 

To top it off, we shared a pumpkin bread pudding. We were full of food and happiness. 

Annnnnnnnd if that wasn't enough, we also saw The Muppets, which was SO GOOD. It totally made me smile all the way home and had me in love with Amy Adams (and her wardrobe!) again.

[Just hanging out with my Muppet buddies]

On a more serious note...

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for all of the experiences I have had in my life thus far. I am thankful for the love I have received, the places I have been, the knowledge I have the accrued, and the possibilities that my life has to offer. The fact that I got to eat a delicious Thanksgiving meal, visit the zoo and see so many animals from around the world, have a romantic dinner by the ocean, and see The Muppets, all with my best friend and love, is quite a weekend. I'm quite grateful that this is my life.

I am thankful that my friends and family have their health and are fed well and live in warm homes. And although my Dad isn't doing so well (he's back in the hospital and I hope he is out by the time I go back home,) I am thankful for the education and experience of the doctors and medical staff who are helping treat him and make him better so he can go home and be with us.

I am thankful that I have this public vehicle to share my life with you, and I am thankful that you share your life with me so I can read about the love that other people share around the world.

Hope everyone had a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving.

Let the holidays--whatever you may celebrate--begin!

Being Happy With My Body

[Mo today vs. Mo 8 weeks ago]

I reached my goal weight just before vacation (woohoo!) and now would really like to stay here, no more, no less. Yes, I did eat a lot on our vacation (but didn't the food look good??). No, I didn't really exercise in the past week because of said vacation. I know, I'm already off to a bad start. But really, I'm tired of getting to the point of my clothes not fitting anymore and then exercising more and eating less. I've grown up eating a lot of whatever I want. It's hard to break that habit. I'm going to try to make more of an effort this time post-diet to keep exercising and eating less sugar and fat.

I also find dieting really exhausting and would love to never want to go on another one. When I'm on a diet (which to me is 1200-1400 calories a day) I am constantly thinking about food. What I can eat, what I can't eat, how my body looks from day to day. It's all consuming and altogether very tiring. In the midst of my calorie obsession, I found two websites with Asian perspectives on body image and food. They've helped me stay grounded:
Lynn Chen's personal food blog, The Actor's Diet, and her collaborative blog with Lisa Lee, Thick Dumpling Skin.

I'm so glad they exist. Reading other people's stories makes me realize I'm not alone, and helps put my own issues with weight into perspective. Yes, my mother's wedding cheongsams are a size 0 and do not fit me. Yes, I had a boyfriend tell me to lose 10 lbs when I thought I was thin (not the boy, thank goodness.) Yes, I'm told at family meals to eat and eat and eat but then am criticized for gaining weight.

No, I do not want other people's disparaging comments about my weight to get me down.

Yes, I am happy with my body.

And since I'm on a roll declaring things, I'd like to eat cake and not feel bad about it. Like this one.

[Inside-out Neapolitan Cake from Sweetapolita]

Wish me luck.

For more eloquent writing about Asians and body image, visit Thick Dumpling Skin.
To peak inside Lynn Chen's food world, visit her personal blog.

One Year Anniversary/Birthday Trip: New Mexico

[After my birthday dinner at Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe (loved it here)--we were both very tired but full and happy!]

I had a lot of confused looks from people preceding the trip: "New Mexico? How random." And even on the trip, people kept asking why we chose New Mexico. But I'm so glad we went. It was a beautiful, more affordable (compared to Hawaii) getaway destination that allowed us some time to reconnect. 

Here's a breakdown of our 3 nights in the Southwest.

What We Did: 

+ We floated down the Rio Grande Gorge in a hot air balloon ride in Taos, a town about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe. The ride was gorgeous, and most definitely the highlight of our entire trip. I'm not sure either one of us has woken up so early (3:45 AM!) but we did. And we loved it. We took the tour through Pueblo Balloon Company. They drove us to the site, let us watch our balloon be blown up, and then took us down the gorge. To top it off, we had a champagne brunch at the end of the flight.

+ In Santa Fe, we wandered around The Plaza and checked out some local art, including these incredible wooden flowers from The Rainbow Man.

 

+ In Albuquerque, we took the Sandia Tramway and caught this amazing sight of a rainbow in the clouds. 

Where We Stayed: 

In Santa Fe, we stayed two nights at Terrain Santa Fe, a boutique bed and breakfast about 20 minutes outside The Plaza. It was one of the nicest places we have ever stayed in, and definitely the quietest! Not only were there ample spots outside to lounge/relax/meditate, but inside we had our own jacuzzi tub, plus a hot tub outside that we could soak in under a bed of stars. Looking to book your honeymoon/second honeymoon/'get away from it all' couples trip? This place fits the bill. We stayed in the Shoji Suite and had everything we could ever want at our fingertips.

 [The outside patio, which looks out onto a beautiful landscape and is surrounded by wind chimes and fountains.]

[The amazing bath tub! The room also had all of these candles which made the whole place magical.]

On our last night, we stayed at the Chocolate Turtle Bed and Breakfast in Corrales, a village outside of Albuquerque. The Chocolate Turtle was lovely, with beautiful views and cute bunnies, road runners, and quails scurrying around the yard. It was very different from Terrain in that it had more of a family-oriented/homey feel to it rather than a chic/urban oasis vibe. It was quite comforting to stay there--we ended up playing cards on the porch with another couple and then watched a movie with snacks and popcorn. Man we sound old.

 [The view from the backyard at the Chocolate Turtle--you can see the Sandia Mountains in the distance.]

[We stayed in the very colorful Road Runner Room.]

What We Ate:

 I saved the best for last! Since we stayed at b&bs, we ate a lot of our meals at the inns. No complaints here, all the food was delicious. Behold, the breakfast we were served at Terrain Santa Fe:

[Stacked New Mexico blue corn enchiladas, sunnyside egg, ginger granola parfait with mixed berries, strawberry lemonade, scones, raspberry streusel--are you full yet?]

I also had my first fritatta at the Chocolate Turtle, which was SO GOOD. It had feta, parmesan cheese, mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes. Mmmm...

And because I can't leave any post about food without mentioning sweets, we visited two chocolate shops part of "The Santa Fe Chocolate Trail": Kakawa Chocolate House (really, really cute space--I bought some peanut butter bites here for my niece) and C.G. Higgins (super nice owner who helped us picked out gifts and gave us free chocolate-covered strawberries,) which we had a Groupon for and bought lots of yummy treats like chile caramel corn and raspberry chocolate fudge. 

[Truffles from C.G. Higgins]

Hope you've enjoyed my New Mexico recap!

We're already brainstorming our next getaway.

How about you, what's your favorite destination to reconnect and unwind?

Weekend Eats

We spent yesterday in L.A. at LACMA (more on that in the next post!) and also tried out some places we've been wanting to go to: dim sum restaurant Lunasia in Alhambra, and ultra trendy but ultra tasty Umami Burger (we went to the Santa Monica location and got take-out.)

Both didn't disappoint! Dim sum is our comfort food, and Lunasia was better than anything we could get in San Diego. On our way home, the boy let out a big sigh. "I miss good dim sum."

Sorry San Diego.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend!

A Dress, Some Candy, and Afternoon Tea

After a blustery weekend in the SF Bay visiting family and friends, I'm back at my desk in typically sunny but temporarily gloomy San Diego.  I've been on overdrive lately with work, and coupled with all the tragedy in the news, and the boy also trying to deal with his own work, it hasn't been the happiest of times.

For some cheer amidst the gloom, I've 1) finished one more quarter toward my master's, 2) found some grounding at yoga class, and 3) bought a dress and had some tea.

I own too many dresses. Some people own too many shoes, handbags, books, I have way, WAY too many dresses, and here's another to add to the bunch, which I bought on sale for a wedding next weekend. It's my first one-shoulder, except because of my annoyingly slanted shoulders the one-shoulder doesn't really stay up very well: 

[Draped one-shoulder dress in pistachio from BR]

But I kept it because I LOVE the color. In the photo it looks baby blue, but it's actually a pistachio green color, more like this:

Speaking of pretty colors, over the weekend I finally had the chance to visit Miette in San Francisco, where I picked up some adorable little candy bars and a bag of lavender cookies. I could have stayed inside surrounded by the colorful candy jars all day, le sigh.

And then to top off the weekend, on Saturday I had afternoon tea with my sisters and girlfriends at Lisa's Tea Treasures. I had blueberry green tea, a variation I've never tried before, dainty cheese sandwiches, a scone, and pistachio cookies. Mmmm...

Phew. Okay, it's time for me to rest and do laundry before I get thrust back into the office and my school books!

How are you doing? Anyone else got the blues?

Beer+Cupcakes+Coffee=A Happy Saturday

 Knowing my love of cupcakes and the boy's love for beer, a friend suggested we try out PubCakes, a marriage between none other than, beer and cake! They just had their grand opening last month. The space is super cute, especially the small area outside that is decorated with succulents. PubCakes also shares the space with Treehouse Coffee Company, which supplied us with delicious caffeine for the day.

We had three mini cupcakes: the Top Ten Cake, Beer for Breakfast, and an Irish Carbomb (made with Guinness). You can see pics of them all below.

Overall, an interesting cupcake experience (have you ever had bacon on a cupcake?) that I would recommend trying out. I just wish they were closer to our neck of the woods. 

[Top Ten Cake: Karl Strauss Tower Ten IPA, cayenne caramel, cherry, and ancho chillies]

[Beer for Breakfast: Alesmith Wee Heavy, maple cream cheese frosting, and, wait for it, BACON]

PS: My iPhone camera amazes me more and more everyday!

Things That Are Happening

Did you miss me? I've been gone for a while, I know, I'm sorry. I had a very long weekend, had a good friend visit, and then my week was packed with non-stop work, school, and Ugly Betty and Buffy on Netflix streaming. My TV boyfriend (who has an insane amount of argyle sweaters in his wardrobe) really missed me too.

Here are a few things happening in my neck of the woods.

1. Thanks so much to Brandi for eating lunch with me at MIHO Gastrotruck, because this portobello mushroom burger rocked my world. I can't wait to go back (as luck would have it, this truck parks a couple blocks from my office!) For those of you planning a park wedding in San Diego, they also cater!

[The MIHO Gastrotruck]

2. If there is one time to avoid San Diego, it's the end of July when Comicon rolls into town (unless you are going to Comicon, then of course you have no choice.) Despite my insatiable appetite for pop culture, I've avoided Comicon and the daunting race to get tickets online. This year tickets sold out in one day. 

My kind coworker accidentally purchased too many tickets, so guess who gets to go to Comicon finally! We get to brave the crowds with all the other geeks that understand obscure pop culture references. I can't wait.

3. I'm still on my mascara kick.

My newest mascara try is Fairy Drops. So far, does a much better job of lengthening without clumping. My lashes typically aren't visible--huzzah for some actual length!

4. I would like these very much. Especially if I get to wear this dress with them.

I'm in for a weekend of more work, but hopefully I can escape outside! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. :)

Conversation with (almost) vegan green tea cupcakes

 

 [Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World]

Dear (almost) vegan green tea cupcakes I just made,

As your maker, I'm going to be the first one to admit that I didn't really do you justice. When I checked up on you after 20 minutes and saw how gorgeously green and puffy you were, I thought "Sweet! These are gonna look great!" 

But after I took you out of the oven, you sunk on me. Right in the middle. How could you do that? Were you punishing me for not doing the toothpick test? Were you upset that you weren't purely vegan cupcakes because I substituted soy yogurt with cow yogurt? I guess I wasn't the best supporter, I mean, I did keep yelling "Stop sinking you a**hole!" which probably wasn't the most constructive thing I could have done to help you reach your fullest potential. I just pushed you too far and too fast. I'm sorry.

And let's face it, as a result of my impatience, you're kinda ugly. There's this little pool in which the glaze just sort of sits and sloshes over the sides, and even though I know it's sugar, margarine, and matcha powder, it just kinda looks like...slime. No one wants to eat slime. Not even if it's on a cupcake.

It's a good thing you taste incredible (not greasy, just the right amount of sweetness,) and that your glaze, even though it kinda looks like slime is so good you just want to eat it straight out of the bowl. Otherwise, I would disown you. 

The boy and I look forward to consuming all 12 of you. 

xoxo

Mo

Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Glaze

Makes 12 cupcakes

From the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1/2 cup soy yogurt (I used regular plain yogurt)

2/3 cup rice milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 to 4 tsps matcha tea powder (I used 4 and got my matcha at Mitsuwa but I also saw it at Whole Foods)

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners.

2. Whisk together yogurt, milk, vanilla, oil, and almond extract, beating well to blend yogurt. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Beat to break up lumps. Fill liners two thirds of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes (or insert a toothpick into one and see if it comes out clean) and cool on racks before spreading glaze on top. 

Green Tea Glaze (a.k.a. YUM)

2 tbs magarine

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/8 to 1/4 tsp matcha powder (I used a 1/4)

1 to 2 tbs rice milk

1/4 tsp almond extract

Drop of vanilla extract

With a fork, beat margarine to fluff, then mix sugar and matcha to form a crumbly mixture. Slowly beat in milk, almond, and vanilla extract. Generously dollop on top of cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

My Holiday in Sweets

[From top to bottom: chocolate tart with kumquats from Esquire Grill in Sacramento; earl gray tea cupcake from Esther's Cupcakes in Sacramento; creme brulee cupcake also from Esther's; tree sugar cookie from Dolores Park Cafe in San Francisco]

I had a pretty crazy holiday break, but in between hugs and catching up, I managed to do what I do really well--eat sugar.

Originally I went to Esther's Cupcakes to try their green tea cupcake, but was sorely disappointed when there weren't any. We settled on the earl gray and creme brulee cupcake, and friends agreed that the frosting was the stand-out component of the cake. Mmmmm...

To make up for my green tea cupcake fascination, I'm actually going to ::gasp:: attempt to bake today. If you've been reading this blog you know cooking and baking are scarce. Eating is plentiful, making the food is not.

I'm lacking in domesticity, so send your best baking vibes my way--wish me luck!

Warehouse Sale Recap

On Saturday, I had a blogger date with Brandi of not your average ordinary to go to the Warehouse Sale, which had two of my favorite things in the whole wide world: stationery and cupcakes. I had a chocolate mint cupcake from Vignette Patisserie and bought a few treasure bags filled with letterpress cards from Delphine Press, which was a great start to a really nice Saturday. Here are a few photos from our lovely morning!


 

[Chocolate mint cupcake made with organic ingredients--really yummy--courtesy of Vignette Patisserie]

 

[Brandi had this pumpkin walnut cupcake and loved it, and this girl knows her food! Check out her food blog, Pizzelles.]

[The Delphine Press table had every stationery lover's dream, an entire table filled with printed goods at a discounted price. I think I picked up about 25 different items before settling on a few treasure bags.]

[Fun little bags filled with cards, tag, ribbons, and other cute treasures]

[That stack of cards was a mere $3, and these soy candles smelled really good. The cute thing about them was that a small pack of matches is tucked inside the packaging.]

[Can I buy the entire table?]

Thank you to Delphine Press and Vignette Patisserie for letting me shoot some photos, and to Brandi for driving and hanging out with me!  I think every Saturday should be reserved for stationery shopping and cupcake eating.

The Boy Has a Birthday + Happy Monday

[Steve Madden oxford heels]

I love these new shoes of mine, and yesterday I paired them with these purple tights for the boy's birthday at Sushi Ota, which you should all try if you're in the area (just make a reservation at the sushi bar!) He absolutely loved it--a no-fuss, sake-filled gourmet birthday without any cheesy singing.

[Top: salmon belly and unknown white fish, Middle: red bean ice cream, Bottom: stuffed persimmon, organic vegetables, lobster, urchin mixed with spicy cod, and a cracker with sardine eyes (no joke!)]

I was reminiscing about his very first birthday with me. We had just started dating, and I gathered people together for a party, even though I didn't know anyone. Back then I didn't obsessively take pictures of my food so I don't remember the exact details, but if I tried to organize something after only dating for one month, I must have really liked him. :)

Hope everyone has a great week!