Thursday, February 27, 2014

A Really Great Day!


Today, is a great day...
Rain.
Cool Breezes.
Book Reading and Finishing.
Fuzzy shae socks.
and
Chai tea, with some sugar and milk.
-
These days are rare, and valuable to me.



Monday, February 24, 2014

The Triangle


Sunday, my Husband and I headed over to the Triangle in Newport Beach.
We decided to finally check it out because apparently unknowing to us previously, they had a movie theater on the premise, with particularly cheap matinee tickets.
We had been meaning to check out the Lego Movie, I thought it would be an awesome movie to see in theaters, and we hadn't gone to the movies in over 7 months, so finding that movie theater online was perfect.

We didn't plan on doing much else other then grabbing a bite to eat and groceries after, so it was a casual outing.
Sadly the movie didn't live up to my expectations, I'm not sure was I was expecting, and I think a part of me didn't like the fact that it looked too much like a stop motion protection.
It was enjoyable, and I'm sure I'll see it again once it comes out, but I'm sure glad the tickets were $6 each.
Also the theater was jam packed with kids, young ones, so it was kinda weird, especially I think I was expecting it to be a little more geared towards the older crowd, just with the people that were in the movie, and how the commercial made it seem.
Although I think there probably were a lot of kids too young to understand some of the humor, it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.

So its safe to say, even though it was enjoyable I was a little disspointed.

After we headed to the Yard House.
It seemed pretty empty compared to the rest of the restaurants in the Triangle, but the place seemed more like a dinner place anyways, so we figured it probably gets busier later.

I had the turkey burger:


and Michael had the Ahi tuna burger:


Both were enjoyable, but nothing memorable.

After we decided to head to Trader Joe's (I love that place so much) and while michael shopped, I picked out of bunch of flowers to make an arrangement for myself, it was kinda supposed to be my redo valentines flowers :p so all in all, I got 6 bouquets of flowers for $30, and I ended up making 2 arrangements for the house :) other than helping arrange center pieces for a friends wedding tables, this is the first flower arrangement I'd ever done, so of course its nothing amazing.
But I love it! Not necessarily my favorite flowers, but my favorite color duo - Purple and orange.

All in All it was a nice day, it could have been better, but there is always next time :)



Friday, February 21, 2014

Va Va Voom Valentine

Last week was Valentines day, and although our weekend plans didn't turn out as we had hoped, because of some financial hiccups.
Our Valentines was great.
My husband left a card on my pillow, that said everything I knew he thought himself, and I could just hear him in every word :) it was perfect.

Before he got home, a disgruntled delivery lady delivered flowers to my house, and once home, he commented on how they weren't the ones we wanted, and I admit, I didn't care for them much, the color was off, and the flowers looked cheap, but once i took one of the flower types I didn't like out, it was pretty nice.



Sadly we couldn't complain to the flower site he bought them from, since it says that if they don't have what you ordered in stock, they are free to use whatever flowers they see fit, so that wasn't cool.
but the thought, and gesture from him, was wonderful!

After Michael came home to change and pick me up for dinner, we headed to Charlie Palmer.
a posh, Orange County restaurant, that we hadn't been to yet, but wanted to check out, and thought V-day was the perfect time to do so.


As it turns out, their V-day dinner menu was a 4 course meal, and $100 per person, thankfully we were able to order off the regular menu.


(Above) Slow Braised Crisp Pork Belly. Sunchoke Puree, Cocoa Nibs, and Rosemary Cranberry Jam.

    

(Above) Crispy Pork and Chicken Spring Rolls, with Peach Miso Sauce.


Filet Mignon. Lyannaise Potatos, Sautéed Broccolini, with Red Wine Jus.


Creme Brûlée Trio - Classic Vanilla, Passion Fruit, and Honey Chai.


(Above) Steamed Yam Cake. Mascarpone Mouse, Kumquats, Candied Pecans and Brown Butter Ice Cream.

It was wonderful!!!! The most expensive meal either of us have every had, but the experience was worth it :) The Filet Mignon was shared between the two of us, since it was expensive, and we decided to try an appetizer, small plate, and two desserts to get a good array of things, and although it was the perfect amount of food, even so I wish we had more filet.
One of the best meals I've ever had, and honestly, I'm not a steak person, but I sure am a filet mignon person :p lol I would definitely go back for that!




       

Also, its safe to say, i felt pretty attractive :) and I'm super glad i got to finally wear this dress!

Monday, February 17, 2014

BIRCHBOX - February 2014 Edition

February, Birchbox came Thursday. Gotta admit, compared the January's Birchbox, the samples seemed pretty small, which just made me realize that birchbox probably doesn't control the product sizes. Which is understandable, but disappointing when they give you a sample with only the amount of a one time use.

But hey, it's still quite exciting :)

 This month Birchbox teamed up with USweekly to produce - Step and Repeat:



Benefit Cosmetics: Big Easy, Complexion Perfector.


OPI: Sheer Tint in I Can Teal You Like Me.


Dr. Brandt: Pores No More, and Agave: Healing Oil Treatment for hair.


Benefit Cosmetics: Fakeup, Under eye Concealer 


Surprisingly the Fake up and Pores no more matched my skin exactly. I've only used them once, so I don't have a full opinion yet, but so far I actually prefer the fake up compared to the under eye concealer I have been using.
The OPI Tint was ok, not my flavor, to me it looks kinda like I accidentally stained my nails when wearing blue nail polish, so plain I'm not a huge fan of, but I think it would be pretty neat over another color, so I'll be trying that.

I haven't had a chance to try the rest, since there is only about one use in the Agave hair treatment and Big Easy, I'm saving them.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Adventure on Balboa Island



This last weekend, like the one before, we went out on the fly. No planning, we didn't know where to go, we even questioned whether we should go out at all, since we were feeling lazy. But since this always happened, and I needed something to put in week 6 of my project life, we decided to get out and do something new anyhow. It's been good for us and we're always glad we push ourselves to do it.
So we decided to check out Balboa Island, in the daylight finally, since we had been to a restaurant once before when we first found the island, at night, we didn't get to check out much else.

We got dressed up, Headed out, found a great parking spot and took some pics before heading to a late Lunch/early Dinner at Ciao's. 



We chose that place because every time we drove by, it looked adorable, and I loved how the front had no windows, so you could sit in the restaurant but basically be outside, which, lucky for us, the "window" seat was open so we got to sit there.
Ciao's is a little italian restaurant that seemed to also pride itself on great seafood, and considering its on a little island/peninsula, it should.
Not wanting too heavy a meal, so we decided to split an antipasti appetizer, and a salad, which sure, sounds lame, but actually fit our mood and appetites perfectly.
We decided to go with the raspberry vinaigrette goat cheese salad, because I figured we decided to try new things when we go out if we can, and even though its something I probably wouldn't have chosen in the past, because I've had bad experiences with goat cheese, the salad was AMAZING! I would definitely go back for that. Which is super surprising! 


the appetizer we got was... special, it was a classic italian appetizer of just a platter of meats, cheeses, and veggies, that also had two pieces of brochette, and pasta salad.
Other then the brochette and the pasta salad, (which both were amazing, we decided we are going to try brochette everywhere) we didn't really know what to do with the rest. We ate a lot of it, but gosh, it was a little strange. 


New experiences are good, and thats our goal every weekend, so we left very happy and satisfied :)

After we grabbed coffee and doughnuts at a local bakery and chilled out on a bench in the harbor for awhile. Which could have been nicer, but it was a busy day and there were just too many people around.
All in all it was a nice day though :) Balboa Island is a neat little place, with beautiful little boutiques and shops, food places everywhere, and a charm that I haven't seen much in California except for maybe Big Bear thus far.



Thursday, February 6, 2014

Red PolkaDots


Saturday was February 1st and we decided to kick-off the new month by getting out of the house, checking out 'The Camp' (http://thecampsite.com), right here in Costa Mesa, like 1 mile from our apartment. Which is funny since we hadn't been there yet, but we had gone to 'The Lab' (http://thelab.com) on the other side of the road plenty of times, and we thought about why we hadn't gone to the camp yet, and our only excuse... was because we would have to cross over like 4 lanes... which is like the worst excuse in the world, but hey we are lazy I guess, haha!
Anyways we had a great day out, we had a really late Brunch at the Old Vine Cafe, grabbed baked goodies at the Blackmarket Bakery, walked around and took pics, and stopped at the beach at sunset, for unknown reasons, lol. it was just one of those "whatever goes" days
Sadly Brunch wasn't the best, we were expecting better, and it wasn't bad, but both our dish's had turn offs, and the bakery was good, but it was my first eating a tart, and even though it was good, its not really my thing. So it was definitely a nice day out, and the Camp is super awesome. But there were a few disappointments, also since we got out so late because we slept in, the day went by far too quick... didn't seem like we actually got to do much.
but it happens.