Polenta, mmm

| April 30, 2010

Polenta

Tuesday, I drove downtown to pick BJ up from work and we stopped by the farmer’s market on campus. We ended up buying a couple of macarons, raspberry marshmallows, and one of my favorite meals this week—polenta with some sort of tomato and cheese from Maison Burdisso. BJ bought baby-back ribs and grilled them up. So delicious. The roasted tomatoes on the polenta reminded me of how my mom prepares them with catfish.

We also were gifted with tickets to New York City for our honeymoon! B’s mom made it all possible, and I’m so excited to do all the things we usually make plans for—when we do go there—but never get the chance to do. No more 10-minute run-throughs in the Met. We’re already setting aside one day for that. (With breaks of course.) Eeek!

Happy Friday!

Yee Haw

| March 24, 2010

Flags

Lent Fish

RidersSky

FriedStand

FriedOreo

After a long drive in the car, multiple redirections from stadium cops, and a quick trip to use the bathroom (guilty) we finally made it to the rodeo on closing day. It didn’t help that most of Houston had the same thing in mind and that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were slotted to perform later on. We took a scenic ride on a gondola/ski lift Total food count inhaled: four fried oreos, sausage on a stick, super baked potato, brisket sandwich, sausage in a bun and corn. whew.

+ Still recovering from a stomach virus. Finally broke my 14 year no vomiting streak (tear. tmi?) Can’t be rodeo food right?

spring

| March 4, 2010

TootsieRoll2

Looking forward to spring break and Easter candy. The weather has been surprising nice in Houston, almost perfect. I hope it stays around for awhile.

I’m a bit on the fence about these egg shaped tootsie roll pops. I’m not sure if this is the best way to describe it, but they taste the way they look- a little opaque/foggy! hmm.

good eats

| February 8, 2010

Photos from this weekend

  1. Pasta Bolognese. Recipe from America’s Test Kitchen
  2. BJ’s guacamole for a Superbowl Party
  3. Mexican Coke in bulk at Costco

Pick-me-ups

| February 6, 2010
Tuesday Night Outfit

An imaginary, ideal outfit that can easily transition from work to Lost watching parties at BJ’s. I know we have plenty of throw blankets, but how comfortable does that wool blanket from Dace look? Maybe if we move north…

I’m feeling a little sick towards the end of the week, and I’ve been curled up on the couch watching ABDC. I’m a little sad the crew from Providence with former Hope High kids didn’t make nationals, but thank God this season isn’t so gimmicky. I overheard some pretty funny conversations when I mentioned to my class that I watch the show. Speaking of which, I realized Friday that my ear can’t pick up certain frequencies anymore. I prided myself in the fact that I could pick up on the mosquito ringtone when students texted each other. It must be annoying for students who hear it but don’t want to be the tattletale. Fortunately, some kids don’t care about that, so when one called out his friend for using the ringtone, I quickly fibbed and said I could hear it too!

A few winter pick-me-ups that have made my days a little brighter:
  1. Smores at least twice a week*
  2. Girls concert at Walters
  3. Tofu Cheesecake at Aka Sushi
  4. Waza happy hour
Hah! Most of them involve food.
*Microwave marshmallow on crackers for 8 sec., add chocolate, microwave for another 9 sec. = two perfect smores.

1, 2, 3, go

| December 29, 2009

chau_jump

thuytam_menil

oporto_bakedbrie

oporto_mushroom_web

Monday, BJ, my sisters, and I went downtown to work. At the end of the day, we stopped by the Menil, but they were closed until Wednesday. (Why does this always happen to me?!) All was not lost: it was a beautiful day, so we walked around and Thuy and I couldn’t resist jumping in the huge pile of leaves in front of the Twombly gallery. As a special treat, we ate at Oporto Cafe and ordered the usual: baked brie and portobello mushroom. Mmmm MMM.

I’m going to miss having everyone under one roof. I think it’s starting to sink in . . . tomorrow, BJ and I head to D.C. for the wedding. We can’t wait to see our friends before going back to work again.

Bon voyage!

→

| December 7, 2009

Weekend_12_6_09_web

I had a nice weekend. I only wish there were more hours in the day! On Saturday, I bought several rolls of film and fell in love with a Mamiya 645, picked out fabric and ribbon, went to the bookstore, ate a delicious dinner at Empire café, and got beignets for dessert. Oh and I added a shirt to my collection of all things striped. Thanks BJ and Thuy for spending the day with me!

making it official

| November 28, 2009

So I thought I could sneak the engagement party into my sister’s graduation party this summer, but it never was meant to be. However, I am very happy we did have one this week because it gave me a chance to meet BJ’s dad, to see his mom and brother again, and to thank all our family members for their support. If only I had another week off, because this has not been a break at all! There has been a ton of cleaning, renovations, errand running, and late nights. Whew. Here are a few images I was able to capture.

wall_frames

I removed all the hideous vinyl wallpaper, painted, and hung some of my and my sister’s artwork.

mini_cupcakes

Carrot mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

tea

Serving tea with lots of whispered directions from the elders :) (pic by Quynh)

me_bj_engagement2

Still a little teary-eyed from my speech. Why am I so emotional!?

XXVI at Reef

| November 11, 2009

REEFBJ

We celebrated BJ’s 26th birthday a few weekends ago with dinner at Reef. Overall, everything was delicious, but the appetizer and desert were the shining stars! For starters we shared mussels cooked in Shiner Bock, and we ended the meal with a “deconstructed” cafe sua da: Vietnamese coffee tart, condensed milk ice cream, with mint syrup. Heaven.

photo2

photos from BJ’s phone

TGIF

| October 24, 2009

10_23

And TGIS. Last week was long and tiring due to a combination of a variety of things: weather, Homecoming Week at school = crazy students, workshops, trying to stay healthy, late buses etc. Late Friday night, we were both in a funk, just got off of work, but everything quickly turned around after making plans for some frozen pizza, Dark n’ Stormies, Double Chocolate Stout, Dots, and grilled T-bones. MMMmmmm. We capped the night off watching Grey Gardens with Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.

Btw, RISD girls, I thought of y’all and the Wild Colonial after mixing my own Dark n’ Stormy. Even BJ liked it!