Puppies, fiances, & wine

I got a prezzie in the mail...it's a Canon Rebel 2Ti.  Woo!  With a 50mm f/1.8 lens.  Below are my first shots.  Keep in mind, I have no idea what I am doing yet.  My practice sesh was with what I had in sight which was my puppy Sophie, Scott, and a couple glasses of Merlot.

 Low light...this was my first manual photo.  Wasn't sure about aperture.  But I had to post.  Look at that face!

My favorite!

Fishbar

Fishbar: My new favorite restaurant.  It's a fantastic new seafood restaurant located in Manhattan Beach.  I've already been twice, and I'm hungry for more.  From the cocktails, to the entrees, to the dessert everything is absolutely delicious.  Scott and I have been on the hunt for the perfect dirty martini.  In our humble opinion, Kingfisher (Tucson, AZ) always had the best dirty's, and no one has ever topped that...except, Fishbar.  Perfection.  The wine selection was also great.  I settled for a Sonoma Pinot for just $7 a glass.

On to the food.  You could probably order anything on the menu and not be disappointed.  The first time we came here, I got salmon and Scott and Steve both got the lobster.  BEST salmon I have ever had.  It was seasoned in a blackened seasoning mix, and cooked just to that flakey perfection.

Goofball.

The second time around, we brought our friend Tom.  We started with a 1/2 dozen oysters, but we ate them all before I could snap a photo.

 I got the salmon...again.  I just had to.  I was craving it!

Scott got the linguini with clams and mussels...can't go wrong with this one.

Those are brussel sprouts!  Caramelized and nestled in a balsamic reduction with a capers and bacon.  OMG this was the money dish.  It was one of the specials this night, but I hope they add it to the menu permanently.

Tom ordered the lobster mac & cheese.  I'm kind of a mac & cheese connoisseur, and this dish was divine.  I like that they used penne instead of the typical elbow macaroni.  And the cheese sauce was creamy and just cheesy enough.

Pure, seafood perfection.  Aaaand, I'm done.

Watching Whales

For Scott's birthday, I surprised him with a whale watching trip.  It was long, tiresome, and most of all COLD.  However, we did have some luck searching for wildlife whilst embarked upon the Voyager.

Sea lions perched on the Redondo buoy

Whatcha see there Scottie?

Almost immediately after departing from the harbor, we ran into a giant pod of dolphins.  There were thousands, and I mean THOUSANDS of dolphins jumping in the air as far as the eye could see.

This photo does not do justice, but every white splash in the photo is a dolphin.  Multiple this snapshot by 100, and that's what we saw.  Just amazing.

Despite the fact that is was FREEZING, we still kept smiling.

There was a point in the journey where other passengers starting throwing food into the water to feed the seagulls.  We had quite a seagull following, I was terrified one was going to poop on my head.  This would have been a nightmare situation for my dear friend Kindra who is not of fan of any animal in the bird family.

 

Yep, that's a jellyfish.  Imagine taking a swim in the ocean and coming face to face with one of these?

This is the ONLY whale we encountered.  It's called a Minke whale.  I thought it looked like a giant dolphin.

We had a great time, but I think we both vowed to not repeat this adventure again...unless it's summertime.

Adventures in Koreatown

Over the weekend I had a remarkable food experience at a place called BCD Tofu House in the Koreatown. My step nephew, Kurt, brought me there for lunch and taught me the ways of Korean food. (he's only a year younger than me, if you were wondering). Apparently this is the place to go at 3am after a night of partying. Where I come from, we went to Nico's. Mmmmm Nico's. I want a burrito RIGHT now.

We both ordered soon tofu soup (soon just means it's extra soft and crumbly) and a side of pork dumplings. After ordering the waitress brought out an array of sides including kimchi bean sprout salad cold pickles and a fried fish!  Now, I am trying to diversify my palate by trying the fish...but the eyeball was looking at me in a "help me" kind of way.  I couldn't do it.

The tofu soup was amazeballs.  I'm craving it as we speak.  The broth had just a hint of spice, and the tofu provided a bit of density to round out the meal.  Everything was fantastic! I even enjoyed the kimchi regardless if it burned a hole through my tongue.

Besides going to shows at the Wiltern, this was my first real Koreatown experience in LA. I kind of felt like I was in Korea, based on the fact that ever piece of signage around the town was in Korean, and Well, Kurt and I were the only non-Koreans in the place!

By the way, check out the bill...cheapest lunch I've ever had in LA!

I cannot wait to go back and bring Scott this time. He will conquer that fried fish for me.

Do you know the Mango Man?

In LA there are tons of street vendors that sell fruit for the business folk during their lunch break. I call them "The Mango Man" or "Fruit Cart Guy". It's a little scary trusting street food, but it's hard to resist the sweet aroma of the delicious treat as your walk by the cart.  This fruit is special because they doctor it up with a south of the border flair to give you a flavor explosion in your mouth, all for a mere $4.  It sure beats a greasy hamburger and fries for lunch!  Recipe is as follows:

Delicious Street Cart Fruit
Adapted from: all the Fruit Cart Guys of LA.

• fruit and vegetables of your choice 
• watermelon
• cantaloupe 
• mango 
• pineapple
• jicama
• cucumber
• juice of 2-3 key limes
• a couple dashes of salt
• a couple dashes of chili powder

First, cut your fruit into 2 inch pieces and mix together in a bowl.  Add chili powder and salt to your liking (I enjoy a bit of a kick, so I like to amp up the chili powder).  Add the lime juice, mix everything together, and enjoy!

I feel better after I wine a little

It's nice being engaged to a guy in the food and beverage industry because your wine fridge always looks like this:

Mmmmm...the world is my wine oyster.  Check out the big guy on the bottom.

To give you some perspective, I've placed a normal sized bottle next to it:

Right?  Big Bertha Bianchi has been chillin' in the fridge for six months already.  We'll have to throw a huge soiree in order to kill that bad boy.  The bottle next to it is a 2007 Clos LaChance Zinfandel and super tasty.  (excuse my crappy photos....I'm pinching pennies to get my fab Canon DSLR).

Speaking of Bianchi, check out some photos that I took of the winery when we visited Paso Robles back in August.

So purdy.  Purdy enough for a wedding, right?  Just one problem, it's slightly out of our budget.  Damn. We know the winery owner, winemaker, and wine rep so they treat us well and gift us with bottles whenever they get the chance.  I highly recommend the Petite Syrah....the wine rep calls it "orgasmic"....and I concur. 

Wine is something that I have developed a palate towards.  When I met Scott, I'd be happy with a bottle of $4.99 Yellow Tail, now I wouldn't touch that stuff if you paid me (well, maybe if you paid me.  We'll talk numbers later).  Everyone has their favorites.  My go-to wines are Pinot Noir and Zinfandel (red, not that rose stuff...bleh).  Scott loves Syrah and Zinfandel.  I have yet to meet someone that absolutely adores Merlot.  Remember that scene in Sideways?

To refresh your memory (kids, earmuff please):

 

Did you know that this movie severely affected Merlot sales?  It's true!  Read about it here:  Hell No, Merlot: 'Sideways' Alters Wine Market

I enjoy a good Merlot.  The Bianchi Merlot was the first Merlot that I actually liked and made me get out of the "but Sideways told me to not like Merlot" mindset.  I swear this is not a sales pitch for Bianchi, although it may sound like it.  Check out their winery here, Bianchi Wine. 

Did I really just write an entire post on wine?  I guess I really like the stuff.  

I want this for my kitchen:

allposters.com

I hear the (faint) ring of wedding bells..

We've been engaged for a year and so many people give me a strange look when I tell them we have no wedding plans yet. Is it that strange? To answer everyone's puzzled looks, the reason we are waiting is simply because we are not in a financial position to throw a huge party anytime soon. We are building our savings and once it's at a point where we feel we can take a chunk of dough out and still have a nice comfortable cushion, then we'll start planning!  However, it may be another year before we can go forward with this.

With that said, we are keeping the wedding a low budget affair with most of the details being DIY. This means getting creative and it requires a ton of help from friends and family. It makes the wedding more personal, and really gets the community (our guests) involved with creating and planning this party.

Being on a low budget is exciting, it's like trying to solve a problem with limited resources, kind of like a tough project you get in school. Welp, I'm ready for the challenge!  I wouldn't have said that a few months ago as I was certain Scott and I would end up eloping...that idea changed when we both realized we really want our friends and family to be there to share our special day with us.

I've been obsessively following budget wedding and DIY blogs to gather ideas.  I'm going for a vintage, rustic-themed wedding...and I want quirky too!  I have been very clear that I do not want the average wedding.  I'm thinking picnic blankets with snacks for our guests during the ceremony...old coke bottles and vintage tea tins will be the vases to hold flowers on tables...perhaps we will set up a bocce ball court for guests? 

Go to my Pinterest and check out my "DIY Budget Wedding" board for my inspiration and let me know what you think!