September Birthdays

September is my favorite month…not because it is my birthday month but because I love September weather!

My sole requirement/request for my birthday is to have the correct number of candles on my cake! This is a chocolate cake from Ji Reh.

Nationals Game with friends! Hot and humid that day, but still fun and we had really awesome seats.

Our view…pretty good for $11 tickets. Section 108-109, I believe.

Best part of my birthday this year (besides celebrating with my favorite people) was getting to try two restaurants I have been dying to go to…Blue Duck Tavern and Founding Farmers.

I went to brunch at Blue Duck Tavern with my family…I got the eggs benedict…pretty good.

We went for brunch so the prices are very reasonable but I think more than their food, I really liked the ambiance and interior of the restaurant. It was a very chic, clean, open-concept design. Almost felt like I was in my rich friend’s ny flat with a huge gourmet kitchen. One of the cleanest kitchens (and they want their customers to know because one of the entrances cuts through the kitchen)!

 

yolk oozing out

 

 

My mom got biscuits and gravy…yum…biscuits were soo good. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of my brother and dad’s orders but they got some steak in a pan dish? I do remember it being really good…

Ahh, Founding Farmers…THE restaurant that I have been meaning to try for the longest time but never got around to it…I went with my favorite girlfriends…felt so happy and content. good food- good people

Prices are reasonable, the interior is trendy and feels clean. The outside walls are glass, and there is an upstairs. I really loved their food AND the interior the same.

I got their butternut squash ravioli  with some sage sauce. It was REALLY good…I didn’t feel disgustingly full after like when I eat other pasta or ravioli since it was filled with squash.

My friend got chicken and waffles which is one of their most popular dishes..It was good and surprisingly a good pairing–waffles and fried chicken with maple syrup.

My other friend got the steak enchilada?  which was very good as well. sorry for the bad pictures–all pictures are taken from my phone per usual.

 

Overall a good birthday weekend! I’m extremely blessed.

 

 

First Jewelmint Purchase

My first Jewelmint purchase!
I love this ring and it is pretty good quality. I love the colors and design. This site is a little addicting. I bought this ring first and after seeing the quality of it, I went ahead the next week and bought 2 more items with a promo code. Can’t wait for them to come this week! A downside for me is that the smallest size ring is 6, which is a little too big for me–i can only wear this on my index finger (my thickest finger) and there is a chance it could slide off. Other than that, based on this first purchase, I’m satisfied and impressed with Jewelmint! Great packaging and good quality jewelry…I’m looking forward to the other orders!

 

Korean Thanksgiving 2012

Tyson busy playing with some ice.

 

Gogi…beef…not sure what the name is

some meat/veg dish

veggie pancakes…i forgot what the name of it is in korean

kimchi

Jap Chae, not at its best…looking a little plain this year…

Lotus root, potato, carrot dish
I believe there is maple syrup..this isn’t exactly a korean dish, but kind of looks like it…this is probably my favorite. It doesn’t look exciting, but it’s pretty good. Crunchy from the lotus roots, but a little sweetness from the maple syrup.

Emily turns one in November! Those cheeks…

Sisters! Yenna and Emily

Whenever anyone is cross-legged on the floor, Tyson will lay and nest on his/her legs. SO CUTE. I must mention that yes, he looks sweet here, but he kept following Yenna and humping her leg…he’s picking/humping someone his own size haha. bad pup!
Here, he has made my cross-legs his bed.

Happy Korean Thanksgiving/Chu Seok! I’m glad I’m Korean, mostly for the food.

Ogling Over Gray Furnishings

I love to gawk..I craftgawk, foodgawk, weddinggawk, and most of all, dwellinggawk.

My coworker is moving from living in a two bedroom with a roommate to a one bedroom apartment. She has been telling me how ecstatic she is to live alone and finally decorate her house with her personal touches and not have to coordinate/compromise with a roommate on style and price.  She is in the process of furnishing her new place by shopping for shower curtains during her lunch break to planning a visit to Eastern Market for antique furniture this weekend.

ONE of my dreams at the moment as a mid-twenty, avid HGTV viewer who is living at home is to have my own place. My heart longs to have my apartment (even accepting to pay high rent), but in the end, my brain says NO, WE HAVE NO RENT MONEY and we get to live here for free!! with parents…whooo. No seriously though, I’m not complaining (heh). I have it pretty good and I feel lucky and thankful.

In the future, when I do have my own place, I  have plans…oh big plans for my home.

I have been gawking and ogling at these designs and deco for inspiration for the future. Although my deco tastes my change over time, currently, I’m really loving the gray pallet as it is a neutral tone. You can easily spice up the room by adding pops of color with pillows, or lamps shades, or a fun end table painted in a different color. If you get sick of the general area, you can always change and add accessories to alter the atmosphere without having to buy different pieces of furniture. I like how the gray interiors are showcased in different architectural structures and rooms.

Here is what I have been dreaming of and ogling  over from Dwellinggawker. And I don’t think I’m too crazy since all of these designs and deco styles are realistic for the future, and for everyday living…it could be worse. I could be dreaming of the tortoise shell  furnishings designed by Kelly Wearstler in expensive hotels or elaborate gold sconces from a historic castle…oh wait, never mind,  I do that all the time heh .

Anyways…

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source actually from apartment therapy

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I love this!

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I’m realizing that most of the pictures are from Casa Valentina as I am linking them.

I’m loving the different shades of gray on the wall from charcoal to mesh gray.

This is one without gray but  with a lot of blue tons with glamour and sparkle that I’m loving..

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Tyson at 11 Weeks

Tyson came to visit for the week since my brother was out of town.

He is really good about peeing and pooing on his puppy pad. For instance, he sleeps in his crate near my bed and will sleep throughout the night. Around 5am or 6am, he’ll start whimpering, so I let him out and go right back to bed. Without me, he’ll run to my bathroom (connected to my bedroom) where there is a puppy pad set up for him, and pee AND morning poo there. What a good boy. Then he’ll just play by himself with his toys or go back to sleep at the foot of my bed (on the floor). My room is (for the most part) clean, so there is nothing for him to chew or teethe on. He still has some accidents, but at this rate he’s doing really well.

Crate training is going just as well, if not better! He doesn’t LOVE his crate yet, but he does know that that area is his, and will go inside his crate all by himself at night when he is tired. All we do is close the door. He may whimper when we crate him during the day when we have to go somewhere without him, but not for long.

He loves grass! He loves sitting on it, running through it, laying in it, chewing on it, and eating it! Yesterday, he ate some and then threw it up on my mom’s rug in the dining room…someone was not happy and someone else got a yelling.

He also loves laying and sleeping on the hardwood floors. He drinks a ton of water and pees very frequently (on his puppy pad of course) and he has a ravenous appetite. Litto Fatty!

I can’t say that he knows his name completely, but half of the time he’ll turn his fluffly head when we call.

Lynn’s 24th Birthday at Old Ebbitt Grill

For Lynn’s birthday, we went to Old Ebbitt Grill in D.C. for oysters, clams and shrimp! It was my first time there for their oyster bar happy hour.

Sorry for the dark, blurry picture–but Happy Birthday Lynn!

I ordered the #2 Walrus platter. Since we ordered before 6pm, everything on the oyster bar menu was half off! So originally the #2 Walrus platter was $24.95, but I got it for $12.47. Good deal!

I never had raw clams before. We all thought they were a little too salty. The oysters were delicious! I ordered “pemaquid” oysters which were from the Damariscotta River, ME. On the menu, they are described as medium size, plump in shell, briny with a crisp finish. yum. They had (red wine?) vinegar and cocktail sauce to dip in; I preferred the cocktail sauce because I love horseradish, but Lynn and her other friends preferred the vinegar.

I’m glad I hauled my lazy butt over to DC from McLean for Lynn’s bday and also to enjoy some oysters on a Tuesday night! I went home surprisingly early too! Happy Birthday to my dear friend Lynn! Love you Lynn!

My First Time in Annapolis, MD

Daydreaming and making plans for things to do during the summer seemed to be ALL TALK….as in, yes, we all bring up these cool ideas to go to trendy places and try tasty things with our friends…however, all of my plans fell through this summer…boo.

BUT WE MADE IT TO ANNAPOLIS, MD…something that was on our  summer list… W00T W00T

WHOO…We were planning to go to the beach for the day, but we decided to go somewhere closer. Annapolis is only about an hour and twenty minutes from my house and we wanted to get eat some crabs by the water. We yelped it, and number uno for crabs was Cantler’s Riverside Inn.

All-you-can-eat crabs and corn on the cob was only $32.99. We ordered hush puppies as well, which were delicious!

My girlies waiting outside to be seated…We waited about 45 minutes for a table. Not bad since everyone on yelp said it was going to be at least an hour wait. We arrived around 2:30, which probably helped since it was after the lunch rush. We also got a table inside since the wait for an outdoor table was longer.

bring it!

hush puppies!

my first fat tire

Duckies!
Of course we had to hit up a dessert place in Annapolis after crabs! The little town by the water that we went to was so cute! It was old, had tons of character, and OF COURSE the cherry on top was MEN IN UNIFORM. har har. It was also Naval Academy Family Weekend, so all the navy men, or “seamen” haha as referenced by Sunny from SATC, were looking all crisp and proper…after further examination from S, we realized that they were class of 2016, probably had JUST completed basic training (we thought they looked a little scrawny hehe, still cute, but scrawny for some military boys)…and felt just plain old….but did that keep us from checking out and acting all weird around underage boys? NOPE.

hahaha

**the next couple of pictures are stolen from S and J =D

We went to JoJo’s Ice Cream and explored. It was so quaint and pleasant. The weather was perfect and hello! boys in uniform all around. hahahaha

We went to this candy store that also sold weird, quirky things. We found some candy grillz and took pictures. hahaha Thanks Sunny for the GRILLZ.

I think the grill looks really good on Sunny. It fits her well. I look like a vampire and Jiyon looks like she’s from a trailer home with her gold grill. LOL

Annapolis is beautiful at night! =D

I think it’s a perfect place for a date night! BUT just as fun, no..FUNNER with my girls of course <3

My Favorite Celebrity Style Icons

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My number one celebrity style icon is Rachel Bilson.

Why? I’m about to make a list because I love organized, easy-to-follow lists

• she has a similar body type and shape to me, a little boy-ish and petite, so I follow what she wears to see what my body can TRY to pull off. har har
• she can pull off a lot of short-people “no-no’s”–like maxi dresses, flats, weird hemlines, booties that cut-off at awkward places (all things to make short people appear shorter than they really are, she defy all of these “rules”!)
• she pairs unlikely things together–like patterns
• she dresses comfortable, yet chic.
• she can dress grungy and cute one day, then preppy and sexy the next
• she doesn’t always follow trends but makes her own, then eventually people follow her
• she has fun with fashion and doesn’t take it too seriously
• yes, i love the way she dresses, but i also love that she does different things with her hair–from almost-too-big-for-her-face bangs, ombre hair, bobs, up-dos.

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My second favorite celebrity style icon, second because I solely gush what she wears and can’t really apply it to my own style since she has the model body and can pull of a variety of styles, is Olivia Palermo. Her bf is super gorgeous too. I first saw her on the MTV show, The City, with Whitney Port. Yes, she was portrayed as the bitch, but a fashionable bitch. I was just in love with her style.

Why?

• she is the queen of accessories– a skill that not most people have, yes people can wear an accessory, but this girl really goes all out to pull the look together
• she can be super preppy, girly, romantic yet all of her looks are pretty fashion forward
• she plays with a lot of color and mixes unlikely shades and patterns together
• she has the best body for fashion..she can wear whatever and look good
• yes, I love Rachel Bilson’s style which is realistic for me for inspiration, whereas Olivia is more (?) fantasy? as in ”wow, if I were skinnier and taller, she would probably be my top celebrity style icon”
• this girl DOES follow trends and plays them up like crazy–ya know, since her body is fit for any type of clothing
• no outfit is plain with her and she takes risks–like leather pants and patterned leggings (which she doesn’t make the look trashy like Rihanna)

note: one thing I may be picky about- is that sometimes she can dress too old for her age. like a rich old women who owns an estate.

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NOTE: Both Rachel and Olivia can pull off the middle part in their hair and look awesome.

Natalie’s Wedding Disasdress

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Really Natalie? I adore you, but why.  I know you love Rodarte, but why this dress? Why this little girl’s dress with the worst hemline that cuts below the knee? ugh. Us short people cannot pull off this cut. Maybe other people may disagree and think you look beautiful, but I think you could’ve looked more gorgeous like you usually do ( red carpet events) on your wedding day.

TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT.

 

Potty Training Tyson and Pasta Carbonara Without Cream

Tyson is now 9 weeks old. He is technically my brothers, but I had him for the weekend.

Activities he loves: exploring nature, chewing on the tassles of the rug (in which he immediately gets yelled at by my mom haha), playing with his caterpillar toy, holding leaves in his mouth, running around in the grass, cuddling next to me, sleeping on the hardwood floor

Activities he hates: when I try to clean his butthole hair (i know, tmi), when I try to clean the gunk near his eyes

He is such a good puppy. Potty training and crate training are going well. He only whimpers about 5 minutes in his crate before he goes to sleep or calms down. He is also teething, so he wants to chew everything.

herro

 

falling asleep

knocked out

knocked out

pooped

dreaming…

schleeping

daddy

bossy friend

“i’m cute”

 

Pasta Carbonara Without Cream Attempt:

I absolutely love pasta carbonara. At restaurants it is always made with heavy cream incorporated into it. I didn’t know pasta carbonara was originally made without cream and solely the creaminess of the eggs. I’ve made it with cream before and it was delish but I wanted to be “healthier” and try it without cream.

I decided to try it out this weekend. I researched and researched good recipes for pasta carbonara at first to see how other people have made it but most people I follow make it with cream. Like Ree Drummond from The Pioneer Woman and Giada De Laurentis  all use cream.

I used the ingredients in this recipe, but adjusted the amount suggested since I didn’t want to make too much. Pasta carbonara is one of those things you want to make and eat immediately after. It is hard to reheat since the eggs may scramble.

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Chopping up onions and panchetta

Eggs and pecorino parmesan mixture with salt and pepper

Pouring the egg mixture into the hot noodles

I used broccoli instead of peas–I just used what i had at home. It turned out to be just as good.

Results: It was pretty good. It wasn’t creamy but sort of saucy-like.  I love that I didn’t feel all gross and greasy since there was no cream. Of course it tastes better with cream, but this is the healthier and more original way of making it and it was ALMOST just as good. Different, but good. I was afraid that I would be eating uncooked raw eggs, but I researched online, and the heat of the noodles cooks the eggs so it is safe to eat. It is just like tempering eggs for homemade ice cream.  Just because the eggs are not scrambled or look “solid” doesn’t mean that they are not safe to eat. Just make sure to be constantly mixing the noodles when pouring the egg mixture in order to keep from scrambling. Movement is key.
Will I make this again?

Sure, but I do realize why everyone adds cream. It makes it more creamier and richer. It is pretty delicious with cream when I made it before. I think I may incorporate some cream, but not make it a 1:1 ratio, cream to egg ratio, like many recipes out there.  Maybe a 1:4 or 1:3 ratio, cream to egg. I think I like it creamier and I’m willing to pig out and not worry about eating healthy on dishes I love yet still  being conscious of cream-intake.