May 8 – Happy Birthday Kate <3

My beautiful sister/twinnie/wifey/lover and I both took her birthday off this past Wednesday and spent the day together. After I went to my morning dentist appointment I headed straight to Kate‘s with a delicious raspberry profiterole chocolate cake and some Moet pink bubbles!

After thinking about what to do for lunch before our “appointment” at Juli Moon… we ended up at Panera… always a yummy choice

Kate got her Bacon Turkey Bravo Smoked turkey breast, bacon, smoked Gouda, lettuce, tomatoes & signature dressing, on Tomato Basil bread.

Which she was craving… [as did her Hubby M]

And I tried the new Salad…

Spinach Power Salad Fresh baby spinach, roasted mushrooms and onion blend, diced eggs, applewood-smoked bacon, frizzled onions & smoky Vidalia onion vinaigrette

Turns out I’m not a fan of frizzled onions which remind me of just canned fried onions but 10x saltier…

I also had chicken added to it.. which was NOT on the menu, but funnily enough there was an “Add Salmon” so I go:

Me: Can I add Salmon to that?
Cashier: Of course you can…. but we don’t have it.
Me: Oh…..

So chicken it was….

And then off to Lynn, MA — my first time in that town… actually not as far away as I assumed it would be… lol

Us waiting. For once I’m not the most pale. Thank you Miami.

Is it time yet? Whatever O Clock

We are excited

Kate’s readdddyyyyyy to get down and dirty

I went first

“Curiousity often leads to trouble” and two dragonflies

And then this happened

Kate’s turn

Two dragonflies…. the little pink one is me… the bigger purple/orange pink one is her

Even M got in on the action!!!

Feettttsies

Thanks CS for our awesome bestie tatts

And then after going back to Kate and M’s house for a bit with CS we decided we wanted MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT.

Sooooo… Texas Roadhouse it was…

The most amazing bread with cinnamon butter… I think we kept asking for refills til they ran out…

PEANUTS.. which I DEVOURED

Kate is excited. The  menu is HUUUGE, what to get what to get?!?!?!?!?

CS and I both got Margaritas [mine is the LESS girly one] with an extra shot of Patron….

CHEERS!!! And good job on our feets

YUMMMYYYY

Fried Pickles!!!!! Since Kate LOOOOVES Pickles

Her first fried pickle!!!

My Salad…. with…

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING!!! This is for YOU, KELLY LIN!!!!

Then we all got or food… except Mike, he doesnt get his food…

Kate’s Fried Chicken

Bday girl is super ready

CS’s ribs and steak and sides

Mike’s chicken and ribs…. and sides

And of COURSE I got the bone-in Ribeye…

Although sadly it wasn’t “medium rare on the rare side” like I wanted… but it was tasty nonetheless… I think I was the only one that finished my plate… [ok CS helped a bit]

Another one? I actually thought the tube shot was a fat straw at first…

CHEERS TO KATE THE MOST WONDERFUL LADY I KNOW AND LOVE!!!!

Sisters for life <3

Tiffie’s 21st Birthday in Vegas… AGAIN

Woke up super early Thursday [the 23rd] morning to head over to the airport.  A quick reminder from my Godfather before I headed off…

Which is funny cuz when I got to Vegas my mom texted me to bring BACK a husband HA!!!!….

I got to Logan Airport WAY too early, just like last year, so I sat at Boston Beer Works for some breakfast.  Apparently they don’t serve alcohol til 8am so the waitress MADE my Bloody Mary, with Grey Goose!!!, placed it a few feet away from me, and waited til 8 to give it to me. TEASE.  Thankfully she gave in and gave it to me a few minutes before

It could’ve been bigger and spicier but it was tasty.  I almost got another one but then the guys next to me, obviously headed to Vegas for a bachelor party, were downing absolut vodka which made me wanna gag so I decided to just drink on the plane instead.

Vegetarian Omelette with Wheat Toast, Potatoes and a side of Bacon

The omelette was filled with peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, the works.. and two kinds of cheese.. I think it was a mozzarella and cheddar. YUM – it was ridic cuz two guys next to me were eating SUPER healthy. NO cheese egg white omelettes.. no meats no thing. LAME. I wanted more bacon but the service was SO slow I could barely down this plate in 10 minutes before I rushed off to my gate.  Got some snacks, candy and a few magazines, and I was off. WOOHOO.

OH. Guess who was on my flight with his kids?!

Casey Affleck!!!!!

Most RANDOM photo when I googled him ^^

HIS ASS BRUSHED UP AGAINST MY HAND! He was flirting with one of the attendants in the front the whole time. I tried to give him googlyy eyes hahaha.. SO MUCH HOTTER IN PERSON!!! I love his raspy voice :] Short though.  But he actually got on the plane in a hat and sunglasses and yet I still recognized him. Oh those Affleck boys sure are dreamy… in that rough manly Boston sort of way.

I’m weird.
HAHAHAHA…

A few drinks and some snacks on the plane later. I tried to sleep.. but ended up watching random tv shows, caught up on Hell’s Kitchen and watched Lorax… I was in Vegas. WHAT WHAT!!!  Kelly’s flight was delayed so I ended up going to Caesar’s Palace first.  The cab totally took a super long way and overcharged me – BITCH – but I was there YAY.  The guy at the front was nice enough to upgrade our room to a bigger one with a living area – with couch, and a hot tub for just 50$ more a night. WOOT!  So not only did we get an awesome deal for a little over 100$ a night from Jetsetter, we got a great upgrade YAY…

58th floor

Fucking SEAN gave us the FARTHEST room POSSIBLE.  I knew, just walking there, that we were gonna have some problems getting back at night.

Our view!!! See the orange umbrellas?!  That’s Venus Pool Club… we got invited to a few, one was topless but it was MEH, plus you can hear the music from our FREAKING ROOM so no need to go in and see a few gross boobs.

HOT TUBBBB!!!

I ordered some food, a delicious Asian Chicken Salad.. and bubbly while waiting for Kelly.. but they FUCKED IT UP.  Stupid service said there was NO house champagne so they gave me something else bubbly but they charged me 20$ more and gave me white wine. FLAT. So HUUUUGE WHOLE commotion and trouble later, managers involved, etc etc I finally got our bubbly.  Right when Kelly got here.

 
The salad was tasty but with some faults. Water chestnuts, cabbage, carrots, sliced green beans.. sightly dry but still quite tasty grilled chicken and but gross out of the can mushrooms yick.  The sesame dressing was really goo thought, yum.

Cheeseburger with Swiss.. sadly the Fried were soggy

FINALLY BUBBLES!!! – and they DID have House Champagne, bitch be cray.

These were so good, I snapped off a piece and got a heart :]

We got  few more drinks and bubbly… after shopping all day, I bought some jewelry, Hello Kitty stuff and slutty dresses… and the we ordered a margarita.

And then started getting ready…

We are so cute.

And then headed to dinner. Freaking place was 20 minutes walking from our room.  And it was IN Caesars, BLAH! So far.

Sushi Roku was like Hipster sushi which sucked.

Afterwards we went to TAO Nightclub in Venetian.  It was a long night of blah and even blah-er guys.  But at least I got a nice long sleep and lots of good drinkage. MMMM sake, bubbles and free drinks at the club. WOOT.  Feet hurt like a bitch tho.

TIME FOR THE POOL!  Brought a little bit of Detroit with me to Vegas.  [this is for you W]

Kelly hates me.  And I have no boobs.  I ended up waiting at the cocktail line and the food line most of the day. WORST SERVICE EVER.

The pool was nice though, no hot guys or girls tho. SAD.

Snackus Maximus

Shrimp Papaya Salad & Nachos

Salad was disgusting.  The shrimp was half raw and so fishy.. the papaya was ONE slice and it wasn’t even close to being half ripe. It was hard and bland.  There was mango and pineapple in it too. Just BLAH.  The NACHOS were really good tho – beef, jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, etc etc…- needed more cheese.  HAHA, I ate all of Kelly’s Nachos.

Frozen Pink Lemonade. SOOO GOOD… tons of Vodka!!! I got Kelly a Strawberry Margarita, with muddled fresh strawberries, BOTH AMAZING!

Kelly being a creeper. I look like Miley Cyrus here.

Kelly went back first to nap.  When I went back I went straight to the hot tub. AHHH, living the life.

And then I was hungry again so I ordered room service again.  Another bottle of champagne… and

Chicken Noodle Soup

It was SO good, but mostly noodles, with chicken.. some carrots and celery and a splash of soup haha…

And also got some Veggies with Hummus and Ranch dip.

The veggies were fresh and delicious.  They also gave us more bread YAY.. hummus was really bland and too chunky and not creamy enough for me.

And then we napped and got ready and then freaked out for a few hours about where to eat.  I had W helping as well with the hotel concierge who DOUBLE booked the restaurant and we had to cancel like 3 different places.. but hey it’s…… see-thru dress time!!!

Photo check to see HOW see-thru it was.  Not too bad.  All the right parts were covered…

Can you tell I’m wearing leopard print undies?

We ended up heading over to Scarpetta at the Cosmopolitan to meet up with my old co-worker/Manager George.  Where I had one of the best Polentas of my life.   Read more about it here.

I fucking LOVE Scott Conant.

After we headed over to XS where I got to see B but also waited like over 2 hours in a million lines….. LAME.

WOKE UP STARVED.  I wanted breakfast, so I made Kelly wake up and eat with me.  She got a BLT and I got grapefruit segments…

And an Egg White Veggie Frittata with Potatoes and Bacon

1. They forgot my Tabasco and 2. They forgot Kelly’s fries.

LAME. They also tried to force me to get a Fruit Plate. NO!!!!!!!… grrr… But we did get Bloody Marys and Bellinis :D AND they gave me more Bacon than my frittata.. and the potatoes were shit.  Soggy, flimsy and gross. BLAH.  SO I ate Kelly’s fries.. which came with my tabasco sauce like 40 minutes later.. but they were hot and fresh and crispy. OK, I have faith again in their fries.

BTW, everytime we’ve gotten room service they give us a million straws and we never used them. THE ONE TIME I NEEDED A STRAW for my Bloody Mary, there was none, so I went to the straw that’s been on our floor for the past few days… hahahha

 

The fries, that were finally NOT soggy

I asked for FOUR bottles, they gave me five. Not to complain but they never get shit right!

AND THEN OFF TO THE POOL

Another Pink Lemonade while I attempted to stop being see-thru pale.

Kelly was a creep and paparazzi ’d me.

After a few hours I came back to hot tub some more…

This time we planned dinner better. Last night we didn’t eat til like 1030.. this time I got us 9 resos at Gordon Ramsay Steak thanks to W and him knowing the Chef there.

Taxi sono qui?

And so began our self-dubbed INTERNATIONAL NIGHT

Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris

Tasting Menu

Afterwards we headed to PURE thanks to Cheri for getting us on the guestlist!

I feel asleep ALL DRESSED, ALL MAKEUP, ALL JEWELRY.

BEST CLUBBING NIGHT the whole time!!!

Dear Kim, the German with the most girly un-German name, if you ever read this. We want rights to those pics you took of us. HAHAHA.

Dear Canasians.. thanks for herding us like sheep, calling us old and being sad when you couldn’t get some, that’s what happens when you give us bad drinks.

Dear big black guys, thanks so much for saving us from the tiny Canasians.

And we woke up to this in the middle of our bathroom floor. WTF?!

The next day we woke up, and while I wasn’t hungover the whole time there, it was pretty bad anways… I wanted a BURGER.

Fruit Plate. AWESOME. Fig, Rambutan. Grapes, Berries. Kiwi. Papaya. Peach. Mango, Dragonfruit, Watermelon, Cherries, etc etc…. 
BUT REALLY?!.. only ONE rambutan adn HALF a fig?!.. LAME. But at least thumbs up to the exotic fruits.

[btw I MUST say the menu is pretty cool and offers a lot of food.  Also a HUGE Asian menu!  Including CONGEE!!!]

Kelly got the Southwestern Chicken Wrap – which sucked. Dry and nothing like the description.  So I gave her some of my chili from my burger.

Hangover Burger for breakfast makes everything better!

And then I headed to the pool and came back the tannest I’ve been in a long long time.  YES, this is super super SUPER tan for me.

Napped.  And then got ready for our last big dinner in Vegas.

We met up for drinks at Aria and then dinner at Sirio from one of my college friends Min :]  He’s a sommelier so obviously we had amazing wines.

After a million glasses and different drinks. I came back to the room wanting more food and champagne.  I ordered Hunger Games and promptly passed out.

You can see passed out photos here.  HAHA.  

I woke up so comfy tho… and with an indent on my face.  I was called Scarface for the rest of the day.

And then we got Donuts for Breakfast at Central.

We had already packed so we came back to nap and re-watch Hunger Games.  Haha, good thing I got them to give us 1pm checkout.

SCARY!!!

We decided to take pictures of ourselves in the HUGE bathroom in Caesars hahahaha…

And then we putzed around on our phones at a lounge while drinking from our NUMB Dildo cups

After a ton of gambling, and losing monies… we decided enough was enough, it was time for the airport and FOOD.

Boobies and Chophouse.

Bye Bye Las Vegas

All about the Wine – Sirio

Last night in Vegas and we’re going out in style, with a bang bang bang…

Angel & Devil… or Devil & Angel?!  Who is who?!

I love this girl <3

We headed over to Aria to meet with my college friend Min – and while he gambled we settled at a nearby bar for some drinks.

Drinks  at Julian Serrano Tapas – place smelled good though, got hungryyy fast!!!

Kelly got a nice pretty fruity pear drink

And I got one with ginger bear, cucumber and Absinthe. HORRID. I wanted to die and barely downed a few sips. DISGUSTING. Just say NO to absinthe and bad drinks.

Min met up with us.. also tried my horrible drink and then off to SIRIO to wine and dine!!!!.. Min is a sommelier at Benu in San Fran and knows the sommelier at Sirio so I knew we’d be in for a good wine treat ;D

Another Italian treat..!!!  They also own Circo and Le Cirque … sooooo….. lots to look forward to. But super competition since we had an AMAZING Italian meal already earlier at Scarpetta…

Beautiful space!!! And we got to sit next to the windows to watch them make salads and prepare the meats/cheeses, etc…

It took us FOREVER to go thru the menu, it was overwhelmingly HUGE! There was way too many item and sections and made our heads hurt. In addition there was a specials menu AND they offered a Truffle Tasting Menu. ARGH.  Good thing we were greeted with complimentary glasses of a delicious champagne.  Bubbles helped the headache of the large menu.

I was more distracted at looking in the windows.. especially at the guy who just stood there the whole night mixing caesar salads. hahaha..

Bread and EVOO/Balsamic Dip

6 Oysters. 2 of each kind. [4 West Cost, 2 East]

They were super super tiny and the worst shucked EVER.  There was shell and they weren’t even released, we had to do it ourselves. Blah. Not worth it. Severely disappointed.

Yellowtail Tartare…

It was fresh but lacking.  Needed some acid and salt.  It’s amazing what a little salt and pepper can do.  Good little breadsticks tho, I’m a fan.  I found myself wanting to season it myself… and I rarely do that – I like light foods and tend to frown at OVERseasoned things – I think it needed a bit more texture too… frisee worked but there was just like a bite of it to split between us.

Two different Salames, Bresaola, Mortadella and some Parmigiano Reggiano
Salames for the win!!! I loved them.. there was a small one and a big one.  The mortadella was a bit mealy but good, I’m used to “slimier” feeling ones – for lack of better words – which are more bologna like, OK, better explanation, this was a drier mortadella.  It came with walnut raisin bread, grapes, honey.. balsamic?!, breadsticks and flatbread crisps with melted parm.  The parmigiano was delicious.. munch munch munch nibble.

Just the beginning… champagne… red… white :]

And then came our pastas… MMMM carbs… so far so OKAY… nothing amazing.  So we were totally counting on the pastas – it IS an Italian place so it all depends on the pasta!

Min looking good… and ready to get his eat on… 

—

Can you believe it? One of our last pics together was our sophomore year.. yikes!!! We’re all getting old.. but getting better looking with age ;]  When he was angrier and I was wayyyy nicer… hahaha

“We’re assholes, that’s why we get along so well”

“I don’t remember you being an asshole, you were nice, you were really really nice…”

The last time Min saw me was in AC for my 20th Bday… way back when… and I looked like this… and was blooonndeeeeee – freaking 8 years ago!!!

 And what do you know.. at another Caesars hahahah

–

Ok back to the delicious food..

We got two pasta specials

Left: Pappardelle with a Prosciutto Sauce and Peas…
Right: Risotto – you could also chose tagliatelle - with Black Truffle

Pappardelle was perfectly cooked and so good. The sauce wasn’t very prosciutto-y but it was really really good. Loved it.  The risotto was AMAZING, creamy, but a bit underdone.  But FUCK YEAH truffles galore… INHALED BOTH! We cleaned the two plates CLEANNNNN

Partway thru I dropped my napkin…

And the waiters walked over it, avoided it and didn’t give me a new one.  I even went to the bathroom only to come back to it STILL on the floor

Excuse me do I have something on my lip?

Min finally gave up and asked for a new napkin for the lady. HAHA “the lady” I’m so not a lady.

Grilled Lamb Chops

These were cooked really well, THERE WAS SOOOO MUCH, the portion looks small here but it was actually HUGE…. not gamey at all… barely a lamb taste – I’ve noticed I like lamb when it’s rarer than when cooked – really really good.

Ossobuco on Risotto

Fell off the bone and had delicious marrow.  The risotto was cheesy and the veggies were nice, crisp and fresh!  It wasn’t amazing or mind-blowing but quite tasty.  We were SO full by now that we could barely eat any more.. which probably affects the taste.

But we got dessert anyway :]

Min: I’m gonna make them do all that Birthday stuff…
Me: YAY
Min: HAHA you LIKE that shit!!!
Me: YEPPPP!!!!

Chocolate Souffle

Amazeballs. I LOOOOVED it – I love a good souffle.

The sommelier and our tray of dessert wines/liquors, YES all of that for the three of us.

4 each.. omg there was some bourbon one that almost killed me.  The housemade limoncello was FREAKING amazing tho. SOOOO fresh and tasty… nice and tart and not too sweet :] *swoon

UMMMM… Fuck it…

I die ;D

While the food wasn’t particularly spectacular.. the company and the booze was FUCKING amazing!  Such a great fun night!!!!!

❤❤❤ Happy Birthday to Meeeeeeee….

August 3. 2012. Birthday.  Day off of work but I ened up doing some work anyways.  Spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing video games….  Good thing I  was part of the joint birthday party last weekend and I’m going to Vegas at the end of the month, cuz this year, nothing but a dinner is planned for the Birthday and the weekend. But back to my afternoon… video games til dinner time.

YEP. Lollipop Chainsaw ❤

SUCH a good stress relief.  Die zombies die!

I think I need to start getting ready soon…

I got a special delivery :] Aside from my gifts W got me, I got a cute cupcake flower arrangement, a box of chocolates and…

BALLLOOOOONS – which ultimately pissed Didi off since she hates balloons.. but she only barks at them when she gets fussy now.

All ready and ready to go. SO HUNGRY.  I barely ate all day.

Didi wouldn’t kiss me.  Probably pissed she couldn’t go out and eat dinner with us.  She gets like that haha

OK, stop fooling around. I slipped on my 6″ YSL pumps and headed out the door to Blue Ginger.  Tradition for the family – every year parents take me to eat at Ming Tsai’s joint out here in the boonies.. Wellesley MA – srsly.. almost every year.  Not sure why I can’t find of my old posts, but you can def find old pictures all over my fb. LOL.

The Delicious Blue Ginger Bread Basket

I love the crisp flatbread. Salty and crunchy, so good.. there were two types of bread, one more like sourdough adn the other more like a fluffy brioche with a eggwash crust. MMMM

A bottle of bubbly — Perrier Jouet, Blason Brut Rosé  (Epernay, France)

Rosé champagne, pretty much the only time now I have rosés… is tradition just like eating at Blue Ginger, we always get this champagne for dinner.  As we do usually for apps and my meal.  I usually like trying new things but places I go to all the time, I become a creature of habit – especially if they don’t change menus often.

Appetizer Round

Hawaiian Bigeye Tuna Poke with Crispy Sushi Rice Cake & Peppercress-Tosaka Salad

Super fresh tuna.. I LOVE POKE great combo of flavors… also loved it with the crunch of the greens on top.  The crispy sushi rice cake was pan fried to a black color, but not burnt, and was great.  Tasted like the sticky burnt ricce on the bottom of the stone pot bibimbap [the BEST part] YUM!

Asian Gazpacho with Grilled Corn-Lemongrass Crab Beignet and Summer Vegetable Guacamole

Nice cool and refreshing.. I think it was a bit of basil oil or pesto dribble?! The guacamole and the beignet was the icing on the cake.  My parents aren’t even that into crab cakes but they LOVED this. They also LOVED the soup, which is rare since it’s 1. thick 2. cold… and not asian at ALL haha…

Ming’s Tea-Smoked Salmon & Beef Carpaccio with Avocado-Jicama Salad & Fresh Wasabi Emulsion

Always a favorite of ours.  My parents aren’t into raw beef but they’ll eat this. SOOOO delicious and SOOOOO tender and fresh and delicious. MELTED IN MY MOUTH. Taste SO good combined with smoked salmon – who would’ve thunk.  These and guacamole?! Amaze balls. The portion was small, especially compared to this, but just enough.

Miso-Sake Marinated Alaskan Butterfish
Wasabi Oil, Soy-Lime Syrup and Vegetarian Soba Noodle Sushi

My GO-TO here, I always get this. Tried and true, I’ve had other things but this is definitely my most favorite!  Buttery, silky, flakey, melt-in-my-mouth fish… with a light wasabi vaciar and sesames on top.  The only complaint is that the pan-fried part was a but over-burnt/crisp – No biggie, I ate the whole thing.

The soba sushi atop seaweed salad with picked ginger was brilliant… 
I could eat these all the time, especially for a snack or lunch! YUM

Daddy, of course, got pork
Pan Roasted Pork Chop
with Morel- Spring Vegetable Ragout Wasabi-White Sweet Potato Puree

Dad inhaled it except for some of the wasabi sweet potato puree which was meh. Mundane, nothing special. The pork was cooked perfectly, a nice pink in the middle due to the brine.. lots of veggies!!.. to be honest I picked off a lot of the veggies hahaha…

And mommy was gonna get the salmon, which was my second choice, but I knew she wouldn’t eat it so I urged her to get her other choice:

Seared Sea Scallops
with 3-Grain Grilled Vegetable Salad Roasted Eggplant -Miso Purée, Tomato Confit Sauce and Saffron Yuzu Aioli

I think they called it a ragout on the real menu.. the grains and veggies tasted healthy but it was just mush. Grains overcooked and I couldn’t distinguish what was what.  Usually I can eat a mixed dish and pick it apart. NO idea what veggies and grains were in here since they melded together.  The scallops were cooked to perfection, chewy, tender and buttery YUM.

G R A P P A

Hugest glass of grappa I’ve ever had.  I sipped half of it thru-out dessert, and dad shot it in one mouthful UGH

Bittersweet Chocolate Cake
Cardamom Ice Cream
Spiced Sugar Wafer and Chocolate Ganache

I was gonly gonna get one dessert since we have cake at home, but I couldn’t choose between the two so I got both. BITCH IT MY BDAY so I can eat what I want ;D

Chocolatey joy!  I thought it was delicious and not too sweet, and the cardamom ice cream is to DIE FOR!!! Love the almond/marizpan cookie on top :D

Coco Nib Angel Food Cake
Plum Wine Drunken Cherries, Meringue and Vanilla-Cherry Ice Cream

The angel cake was good, light, fluffy but not amazeballs.  Loved the meringue cookie on top and the boozie cherries though :] YUM  Hands down, parents and I loved the chocolate cake better!!!  BOTH were demolished though hahahah.. we love our sweets.

Asian taking a picture of an Asian taking a picture of food :D

Happy Birthday to meeeee!!!

A Birthday at The Brixton

After some Korean, we headed back to food coma and relax from the hot weather in the apt.  We watched some teevee, I changed into my sparky shorts and then we decided to head over to Brixton for Nikos’ birthday party.

It took awhile for me, but I finally settled on a Riot Sling
Gordon’s London Dry Gin, Lemon, Honey, Black Tea, Ginger Beer

Delicious. I’m hooked. I got two.

Samosas
curried cauliflower, potatoes and tamarind gastrique

These were pretty good, but the flakey skin fell apart too easily, I like mine crisp and firmer. Light curry taste and the taramind and frisee was a nice touch.

Charcuterie Board

So not a real charcuterie board, just pate and fish. WTF?!.. we didn’t finish this and they ended up giving the table two fo these and none of us touched it. haha. OOPS.

After this and ordering another drink everyone was here and we sat down at the bday table.

Red Vino & White Vino for the table…

The Birthday Boy!!!

Heirloom Tomato Cucumber Salad
with mint-yogurt dressing

This was delicious and refreshing.. amazingly beautiful sweet heirloom tomatoes… with crisp crunchity cucumbers… MMMM… the dressing was light and accented the fresh veggies… MMMM

Cheddar Ale Soup
with crispy bacon and crusty breadMost of the table got this soup or the salad..MMMM so good.

And then a lot of the table also got the Fish & Chips
beer-battered haddock with mushy peas, thick cut fries and malt vinegar remoulade

B with his Fish & Chips with mashed peas.. I may have stole some ;D

And the rest of the table, along with me, got the

Roasted Half Chicken 
with roasted vegetables, and brown gravy

It was just as J described.. melted off the bone with a crispy skin.  It was a bit on the salty side but it was good.. and the roasted veggies were also delicious. YUM.

Spike and his girl got here late and ended up ordering everything else the rest of us didn’t. HAHA.  When S’s lamb shank came me and J tried to get him to eat it from the bone, hands only, BOO, he ate it with knife and fork tho. LAME.

Shot shot shot shots…..

And sometime inbetween I made friends with one of the waiters and me and B and him got in a deep convo about Pot & Shrooms.. apparently if I ever do shrooms I have to do it with him hahaha…

and then it was back home early to finish packing and help W with his clothing donations.

:] Good times. Good people. YAY.

Best Life: Bday Pool & BBQ Party

After a nice lunch of gyros at Astor… 

We headed to the triple BBQ/Pool Party…

Isn’t he the CUTEST?

SOOO MUCH SHRIMP

BBQ TIME!!! Ribs, Bacon Burgers, Sausages, etc… amaze balls

Kid totally took a shrimp as a pet

A lot of booze was consumed, oops

Ping Pong…

A lot of running around :] hahahaha… I actually have some funny photos of me with paint all over my arms floating around somewhere that Allison took of me :]

BEAUTIFUL DAY for GOOD FOOD and FUN FRIENDS

I. LOVE. MY. LIFE.

I love MAC & CHEESE… and visiting W’s parents

I headed into DC early the other day, W was back for a few days so obviously I was gonna visit.  Squish face. Why? Freaking HANGRY. I woke up super early, got into the airport early and had the most LONG WAIT in the “more speed” line and “bag drop” line ever. I barely had time to pee… but then PLANE WAS DELAYED. PER USUAL.  Nothing in my belly and no sense of how long the delay was – I was cranky… and hangry…

Thankfully I ended up having time to buy a salad…. which reminded me of Detroit. RIP Wolfgang Puck resto at the MGM in Detroit HA HA.

Soon after we got there, W and his mama picked me up and after debating over where to eat lunch we headed to Costco to buy some things and to get food…

I found a shed and ME being ME I opened it and found bears.  I wanna take them home and cuddle with them, they’re huge.  I also ended up inside the shed, closed, and staring at people outside the window holding a giant bear. I RULE.  Poor bf thinks I’m CRAJEEEE…

We got Berry Froyos and Pepperoni Pizza. YUM!

And when we got back to W’s parents’ house we swapped bday gifts!!!

MINE

W got me Gold Snakeprint Alexander McQueen heels with a heart cut out and a beautiful gold ring!

I got baby a SEXY Burberry watch… no pic of it here, just him opening the box :] TEEHEE

SHOES <3
LOVE! I can’t wear them til my Birthday trip in Vegas tho.. I promised him.

:D Pretty Furbabies

Chigga what?

And after some QT with his mama at the grocery store we came home with groceries and we popped open some delicious Chilean wine and made spaghetti.

CARB OVERLOAD, I passed out EASILY that night watching MasterChef with W….

Next morning…

Mac & Cheese MAC MAC MAC & Cheese… I already inhaled W’s mama’s homemade fresh Fried Chicken Thighs HAHAHA.. OOPS

Happy Birthday to my W <3 @Will0724

Happy Birthday to my W ♥

You are the Fried Chicken to my Waffle <3

While I couldn’t be in Detroit for it… I’ve set up a slew of surprises for him that he’ll get in the next few days leading up to us meeting in DC this weekend :]

Love you Baby!  Miss you terribly and I can’t wait to celebrate together soon!!!

My Baby turns 4!

My beloved furbaby and this blog’s unofficial but totally official spokespuppy, Dior aka Didi, turned 4 on December 20! Yep I hurried back from Taiwan just to celebrate her birthday with her! Tons of gifts and new clothes in hand… another day to remember. Wonder if she knows that it was her birthday or she just got super lucky ;]

She spent the day snuggling with her mommy in her new bunny suit, me, since I took the day off of work to recover from Jet Lag :]

Had her dinner…

And then changed for the birthday cake!!!

Whole Foods Raspberry Mousse… SOOOO GOOOD

Time to blow out her candles…

I want the whole cake mommy….

Or a big slice…

Hehehe don’t worry we shared :] She only got a nibble…

But got to lick the plate clean ;D

Happy Birthday my LOVE <3

It’s Somebody’s Birthday :] – Happy Birthday 白鬼

– Decided to set this to post ON the big day.. hahahaha so just keep in mind that this was written.. a bit beforehand –

It’s T’s birthday on Tuesday but since work is crazy busy for both of us, it’s easier to plan a nice birthday weekend :] The weekend after is Halloween and Papa Ding’s bday [hehe and I'm a daddy's girl so I have to do a nice big celebration for him] blah blah blah blah so on and so forth, I tend to babble a lot – especially when I’m procrastinating – sooooo I took the Bear/White Devil/Monkey aka my 白鬼  ;] to MOOO… :] Nothing like good steak and wine to celebrate a birthday! I haven’t been to MOOO… for awhile.

I’m a spoiler, I love spoiling the people I care about in my life, from friends to family to significant others – I think I’ve been doing a good job – just maybe not so much of a good job in choosing boyfriends.. most of the time :]

We’re excited.. and slightly intoxicated… we’d been drinking since the AM – mimosas, wings and nachos galore while we watched the BC/VTech Football game. – which btw started off yay but ended up waa :[ I blame me taking a shower because BC was totally winning before I hopped in for a quick steammmm....  that or cuz the nachos ended up getting sad and mushy. Blaming things that don't make sense makes things so much better :] See?! Don’t you feel better already BC fans?! It’s all my nachos’ fault! Ok babbling again, back to the FOOD

First a goofy picture…

Finally the time came and we got there just in time!  Valet, walked in and they gave us a great cozy table away from the crowds of people.  As soon as we sat down we got, per my time at reservation request, two glasses of delicious champagne… mmm bubblyyyy!!! Happy Birthday!!!

And then we went on to find a delicious bottle of red.  After perusing the wine menu we decided on just asking the waiter for help.  I love bold juicy not earthy reds and T prefers not too fruity, light Pinots or Merlots.  Waiter, most boss waiter ever, helped us come to a happy medium/balance.

Orin Swift, ‘The Prisoner’, Napa Valley 2009

This wine, The Prisoner, was SO delicious.  We tried two different kinds of wines and while the first, a zin was amazing, this just blew it away. YUM!

Warm buttery cast iron skillet rolls with a ball of melty gooey butter sprinkled with sea salt.

Time to chowwww down!!!

Classic Caesar

We started off with the salad to split and they were sweet enough to split it for us.  Delicious, not too heavy on the dressing, nice and cheesy and crunchy croutons and super fresh romaine. Chew chew crunch crunch – loves!

Next up was steak tartare, we were caught between this or the carpaccio… T isn’t a huge seafood eater so those were two obvious choices.  He’s not a big raw food guy either and we were trying to figure out what he had had before…. I’m thinking it was carpaccio he wasn’t sure if it was tartare – at first – or not. So we went for the tartare – WHICH I’m glad we did cuz looking back at my last post on Mooo… I wasn’t a fan of the blue cheese and cherries on the carpaccio here. Score!

Steak Tartare

He liked it, he liked it – and I loved it.. chunky.. not overly seasoned or goopy.. the pita chips that it came with were grilled, perfect thickness for crunch and chew.. not too crunchy and not spongey or chewy or rubber :]  There were huge capers and gherkins on top and it was delicious… super super fresh beef – obviously, it’s a steakhouse, and it was a great dish!!!.. I’ve had a lot of steak tartares but this was definitely a yummy one.

For our main courses.. we both got the 12 oz Filet.  I got mine rare and he got his medium rare. Delicious. Tender.

Filet Mignon with Roasted Garlic/Bone Marrow Butter

Side Special of the Day: Oyster Mushrooms

T isn’t that into mushrooms and I couldn’t get him drunk enough to try them. They were soooo good tho.  Great texture, a bit crunchy and browned on the edges, thick and hearty  - amazing meaty flavor.. like a really thin portobello.. shaped in a fan.. MMMM, sooo gooood… lightly seasoned so the mushroom flavor came thru

Other Sides: Mooo Mac & Cheese, Creamed Spinach, & Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes

Delicious delicious delicious. When we ordered everything the waiter said it was a lot of food. To which I replied, I eat a lot. T confirmed and our waiter said he wished his wife was like that.  Everything was delicious. I’m not even a huge creamed spinach fan but this was perfectly proportioned - cream to spinach ratio – not overly done, not too wilted, but just enough to be yummy and still retain a slight fresh chew to the spinach - not mush – I’m def not a mush fan.

Yeah, I rule hahahaha #fattiesrule

Chocolate Stout Cake

Dark Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream

It was funny cuz while T was in the bathroom I told the waiter that whether or not we ordered a dessert, to bring out a chocolate cake with Happy Birthday on it.. BUUUUTTTTT… T wanted the chocolate cake anyways so win win :] This cake was SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!! Chocolatey, rich and not too sweet. Even better with the ice cream in the nice crunchy chocolate shell NOM NOM NOM!

Marshmallow Chocolate Bon Bons, delish!

And then with a few more glasses of champagne with our dessert, it was gift opening time.

BUBBBBBBBBBBBLES

Me: What do you want for your bday?
Him: A really big mug!

And guess what I found:

Pug Life shirt :]  How Vinny #JerseyShore

And a Wine Monkey :]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 白鬼