Monday, August 31, 2009

The Other Menu

In the episode above, Anthony Bourdain learned about the legendary "Other Menu" also known as the "Phantom Menu." I never knew that there was another menu because my hubster's parents always order in Chinese in for us whenever we go to Chinese restaurants.

Tonight, we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant and I had a craving for Mapo Tofu/Mapo Doufu. I didn't see it on the menu. All they had was Tofu in Brown Sauce and Family Tofu. Then, my hubster asked the waiter if they had
Mapo Tofu/Mapo Doufu. Suddenly, the waiter got all excited that we were ordering off of the menu. We even got extra chili sauce without asking. Points for us. Yay!

Please Meet the Nibblette

My parents just got a new wee one to add to the family. Her name is Alice and she's the most adorable scruffy little black kitty. She's named after a Twilight character since my mom is a huuge Twilight fan. We heart her to pieces. She loves to dance on you all night long. We just love to tickle her and squeeze her. We can't wait to see this little furball of ruckus again.




Friday, August 28, 2009

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

New Favorite Song

Owl City - Fireflies

Best last line: "It's hard to say that I would rather stay awake when I'm asleep because my dreams are bursting at the seams."

"Do I Have to Live on the Other Side of the World?"

http://thepartingglass.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/after-the-wedding-poster.jpg

We've been pretty lucky lately with our foreign movie choices. After the Wedding has been one of our recent favorites. It's pure drama. Honestly, I don't remember feeling that attached to the main character. Most of the time, I was curious to see how things would end rather than rooting for the best for him.

Monday, August 24, 2009

"I Hope That Both Your Legs Get Broken"

http://goodmorninggloucester.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/outsourcedmovieposter.jpg

Sweet but not too sweet. My hubster considers this movie falling under the international funny category. I think of it like Asian candy. I love Asian candy because it always seems to have just the right amount of sweetness. It's not too sweet where I worry I'll get a cavity instantly. It's just sweet enough so I know that it's candy. That's just how this movie is. It's not an overly cheesy romantic comedy that has you rolling your eyes after every predictable moment. There are some eye rolling moments but you're still rooting for the main character of Todd also know as Mr. Toad.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Le Ciel

les nuages

la lune

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Waiting...

Waiting for this book to arrive at my doorstep...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YCE6G66RL.jpg

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Anagrams

I love anagrams. We play anagrams at Disneyland while we're in line. We play anagrams on long drives. I teach my kiddos in the classroom how to play anagrams.

Here are the anagrams made from our names:

My hubster: All Nectar
My BIL: Calendar Rot
Me: Cobra as Electric Rat

Thanks Facebook App! :)

Hobbies

Per Jove's suggestion, I've been looking for a new hobby. I've managed to narrow it down to two:

Paper Quilling



Source

Calligraphy


Source

Honestly, I'm a little bit nervous because I have commitment issues when it comes to hobbies. I don't seem to do well with hobbies when I intentionally seek one out or consciously give it the title "hobby." Most of the hobbies that I have now, I stumbled upon. I didn't even realize they were hobbies until I was forced to think, "Do I have any hobbies right now?"

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Temporary Retirement

I'm on the brink of unemployment, which I like to fondly refer to as a temporary retirement. For awhile, I've been disappointed and upset about it. It has finally hit me that it's a time for self-discovery. I look forward to filling my time with habits and hobbies that are meaningful to me.

Thanks Jove and Carlos for helping me come to this important discovery!

Monday, August 17, 2009

We Heart St. Monica

This past weekend, we went to LA for Nicole's birthday, so we decided to make it a mini trip to visit Jove in Santa Monica. (Funny enough, one of the things I missed during our road trip was the Spanish influence in the naming of cities, streets, etc. Those Native American words get tricky!) We strolled along the boardwalk and promenade.

The next day, we had a wonderfully delightfully delicious lunch at Taco Por Favor. The tacos (both hard and soft) are delicious in their own little ways. The soft tacos are made with fresh tortillas and the perfect amount of cilantro. The hard tacos have a delicate crispy flaky shell and stacked with guacamole and sour cream. The horchata should be ordered the largest size possible. The prices are unbeatable.






Thursday, August 13, 2009

Things I Love...About Our Garden

  • The smell of the tomato plants as I water them.
  • The strength of our geraniums to survive anything.
  • The soft tendrils of new vines from our Jasmine.
  • The harvest of our tomatoes and peppers.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Vintage California

On our way back home, we took Hwy 101. One of the reasons I love Hwy 101 is seeing all of the vintage signs and stops. It reminds me of the California in the 40s and when vacations were really roadtrips.

On our to-do list for our next trip up north: hang out at Mt. Shasta and drive through one of the redwoods.

Paul Bunyan and Babe at the Trees of Mystery stop.
Love the chest hair.

I heart Babe.


P.S.
There's a dude that sits in Paul's beard and talks to people. Paul can even wink. lol.

Water, Berries, and Christmas Trees Part 4

We took our time coming back down. One of our stops was Fort Bragg. My hubster remembered Sea Glass beach from a high school field trip. It was gorgeous. We woke up early because the tide was only low before sunrise, so we did a bit of tidepooling. Then, we moved onto Sausalito and stopped at Jelly Bean Factory after that. Luckily, we just made it time for the tour. Honestly, the belly flops were a wee bit overpriced.

Our B&B, which was super cozy.

From the garden outside of our B&B.

It was bright and early when we went tidepooling.

Sea glass resting above the sand.

It's getting a little brighter.

It was so much fun because it was just us.

All of the big blue pieces are gone but there are some little pieces.

The biggest little crab that we found.

The mailbox on Sea Glass drive. I would do the same.

The hills of Sausalito.

Us in front of the popular Sausalito fountain.

The theatrical fountain.

The SF Castro St. inspired Christmas tree.

Flying jelly belly motif.

Yep, you have to wear the hats while on the tour.

Water, Berries, and Christmas Trees Part 3

On our second day visiting Eliot, we went to Vancouver. We had an amazingly busy day. We went to Granville Island, Chinatown, and Stanley Park. While at Stanley Park, we went to the Aquarium and saw the totem poles. Afterwards, we drove over Lions Gate Bridge. We hung out by the convention center and listened to the music from a firemen/police sports convention. My hubster loved how the city looked at night.

On our to-do list for our next Vancouver trip: go to Whistler, ride the tram at Grouse Mountain, and visit Victoria.

Granville Island has an adorable collection of artsy stores.

This little display sits outside of a cement making company.

They're not just businesses but also apartment flats.

A Chinese apothecary shop, which the boys liked browsing.

We found these fellas in the apothecary shop.

They're both dogs.

They're having a possible thoughtful conversation in the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen garden.

We couldn't have asked for better weather.

Can you believe it's a reptile?

Not just for the little kids.

They're little jellies.

Graceful.

My new favorite kind of jelly fish.

I got to see the totem poles that I was longing to see.

Vancouver at night.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Playing with Photoshop

Since we have that spiffy SLR, I've decided to finally learn how to use Photoshop to enhance the photos other than changing the size and using the artistic filters. I found a website called PSDTUTS+. They have a lot of great artsy tutorials. I'm looking for something a bit more practical though. The photos below were altered by sharpening the edges and using curves to play with the color. My hubster says that there's not too much of a difference other than the contrast is a bit more noticeable. We'll see how learning more about Photoshop goes.

Before

After

Before

After