January 2013: Month in Review

Seems like we were just celebrating the new year and now it's already the end of February! Here's what happened in the month of January.

Jan. 1st-10th: The first 10 days of January consisted of work... work... and more work. I was literally exhausted. It was the busiest time of the year for the pharmacy with insurances changing in combination with flu season being absolutely crazy. I really wanted to quit because I was so tired but I got a 3-day weekend after all that craziness so that was enough to rejuvenate me back to my usual self.

Jan. 11th-13th: A much needed 3-day weekend in which I did absolutely nothing lol. I feel like I need more of these as a grown up. Actually, on the 11th, after the stressful 10 days of working, I realized I needed to buy some anti-aging remedies stat (I make this weird-ass face when I'm QA-ing and it gets my forehead all wrinkly) so I went to the Fashion Valley mall and stopped at both Sephora and Nordstrom. You can read about that little haul here. Other than that, the weekend was literally a blur. Days off these days seriously pass too quickly.

Jan. 14th-18th: Worked all week. Had a nice little break Thursday night when Tony and I went out to enjoy San Diego Restaurant Week with Brit and Virgilio. You can read about our Brooklyn Girl experience here. On Friday night, we ended up going to Pamplemousse Grille with Tony's friends. You can read about that experience here.

Jan. 19th-20th: Another weekend off. Super thankful. My parents came down to visit for the first time. We ended up going to Fashion Valley just to walk around and then my parents got to meet Tony's family for the first time. The meeting actually went really well and they were actually able to communicate so that was good. There were a lot of jokes flying around and it was a fun time for everyone. Sunday was just another lazy Sunday where we watched football. Had Brandon, Brit and Virgilio over and then headed over to Live Wire to meet my cousin and her boyfriend.

Jan. 21st: Worked an early shift and then headed home to get ready for the Muse concert! Got some grub at Cheesecake Factory beforehand. There's seriously only 1 Cheesecake Factory in San Diego so it's always super packed so I took advantage of this weekday to eat there. Yum as usual. Read about and see some videos from the Muse concert here.

Jan. 22nd: Had a bunch of errands to run on my day off. Went to the post office, got a bunch of the new $1 reusable cups from Starbucks for my co-workers, and then went to go get my car washed. I hadn't washed my car since I had moved to San Diego (in September!) so it was filthy. There was this huge nasty stuff all over my hood and the guy said that it might've been eggs! Who the heck would egg poor lil hood is my question! Anyways, they recommended a wax and it ended up being $50. I could've been hella ripped off but I didn't really care 'cause lil hood was so filthy. I used to park near my sprinklers at home and because the water was so hard, I had hella water spots all over so $50 for the wax was worth it. After the errands, we had plans to go out for San Diego Restaurant Week 2 with Tony's family. We ended up choosing Bo-Beau since Tony's coworker said the food was good. You can read all about that after Pamplemousse Grille here. After dinner, I actually had to go into work because they were installing some lights in the pharmacy so they needed to have someone there.

Jan. 23rd-25th: work work work

Jan. 26th-30th: Kimmy and Trung's wedding! Started off the day getting our roof fixed. Brandon was house sitting for us while we got ready. Because I had made some purchases from Radial at Nordstrom, the sales lady asked me to come back to get a free facial with them. It's always nice to get a free facial. My skin was definitely radiating afterwards. I ended up buying a few more items which I'll probably post about later on. After that, I came home and got ready for the wedding. Here are some pictures. I didn't get very many because I left my memory card in my computer! It happens every time!

beautiful

presenting mr. and mrs. nguyen

After the wedding, we just went home since I had started feeling a little sick and Tony was sick too. The next day we went to Tacos el Gordo which was delicious! It was just a little sucky since I was all sniffly and it was really cold but worth it for the yummy food.

After that we went to get Chamango and I think that was the final tipping point. After that I got home and just holed up. I started running a fever and had to call in sick for the next couple of days. Ended up going to the Minute Clinic to see if I had the flu but my symptoms didn't warrant Tamiflu. Ended up having the roofers come over a few times as well since I had time off.

Jan. 31st: First day back at work after being super duper sick. My throat wasn't feeling that great and I was still super congested but I felt good enough. My throat was so sore afterwards but thankfully I had a few days off again.

January: Foodie Adventures Part 2

Pamplemousse Grille

Our 2nd night out for San Diego Restaurant Week was spent at Pamplemousse Grille. We got there before our table was ready and John was able to sweet talk his way into some free truffle fries from one of the hostesses. Let me just say they were the best truffle fries I've ever had! Possibly the best because 1) I was hungry and 2) They were free lol. We got started with some drinks at the bar and then our table was finally ready.

pamplemousse martini

lobster ravioli w/ seared scallops, asparagus, wild mushrooms,
baby tomatoes & ginger soy beurre blanc

the trio (supplemental)

warm chocolate caramel cake with salted caramel creme anglaise,
vanilla gelato & variety of berries

Overall, I liked the food but I would only go back for those truffle fries! So delicious! The desserts for most of the restaurant weeks have been disappointing and this one was no exception. The dessert here was pretty much like the Applebee's Warm Molten Lava Cake. It was nothing out of the ordinary. The food was good but again, nothing out of the ordinary. I was seriously pining for dineLA restaurant week at this point because none of these places had met my expectations. If I could do dineLA, I would definitely do STK again. So good and cooked to perfection. Everything was unlike anything I had ever tasted.

Bo-Beau Kitchen + Bar

Our 3rd night out was unplanned but ended up being one of the best places we tried during San Diego Restaurant Week. We went to Bo-Beau after Tony's co-worker had recommended it to him. We decided to invite Tony's family along for this foodie adventure. The parking at this place is extremely cramped so you'll probably need to find street parking. If you have a nice car or a lowered car, I would not park in this lot. It's pretty much all gravel. 

crispy brussel sprouts (sooo good!)

escargot with garlic herb butter

le romantique

steak frites (+$10 upgrade)

cinnamon roll - so effing good!

Some of us ordered off of the restaurant week menu and some of us decided to order the things that looked good from looking at the Yelp pictures. There seemed to be a consensus that the Cripsy Brussel Sprouts were good so we ordered that. And the Yelp community was correct! Super tasty! They were a little crunchy so it almost didn't feel like I was eating veggies. My drink was pretty good although I can't remember if it was strong or not. My first course was the escargot which was quite tasty. It was my first time having escargot and I was very afraid it would become a "Pretty Woman" moment where Julia Roberts flings the snail across the room. The sauce made it extra tasty. The steak frites was very, very good! The fries very super good and the meat was cooked to perfection. I also got a chance to try Tony's dish which was the Fettuccine + Duck confit which was very good. I think I would get that instead next time.

Overall, I definitely think I would come back. The ambiance is super romantic and is absolutely perfect for a date night. We were looking at the different chalk boards on the wall and they actually had some specials. For instance, it said Tuesdays were their "Cheap date night for 2" so you could get 2 selected entrees and a bottle of wine for $40 which is a pretty good deal.

Happy Hump Day, lovers!

January: Foodie Adventures Part 1

January was the month to try new restaurants in San Diego because of San Diego Restaurant Week! Lots of yummy food. Some of the places weren't during restaurant week but I thought I'd add them into this post anyways.

Devine Pastabilities

The first place I tried this month was Devine Pastabilities in San Diego. I'm a huge fan of pasta so I was super excited to try this place since they put pasta in a sandwich. I was actually pleasantly surprised! The sandwiches were super good and it's definitely a place I would return to. I think it would be perfect for a night in watching movies. Totally a comfort food for me.

garlic parmesan fries. believe me, my breath smelled delicious afterwards lol

sausage and penne torpasta

tony got some kind of  special one

lasagna torpasta

Brooklyn Girl

After seeing an article in the Westways magazine and it was also named number 5 in Troy Johnson's Best of 2012 list in San Diego Magazine, we decided to give this place a try. We tried to go to this place on either Thursday or Saturday night but they were booked for the night! They have community tables and also a bar area but it's first come first serve and even when we dropped by, there was nothing available. When we found out they were also doing restaurant week, we decided to go back. We invited Tony's cousin and her fiance to come along and made a same day reservation at about 5pm and the only available reservation was at 9:30pm. We grabbed some drinks at the community tables since we had gotten there early and our table wasn't quite ready yet. Their "Back Pocket Mule" was super good! I would definitely go back to try more of their specialty cocktails. And we also got some popcorn to snack on as we waited.

For the first course, we really wanted to try the Oyster Sliders but they were completely out since we had the last reservation of the night :( so we ended up going with the Bacon Wrapped Vietnamese Meatballs. They were actually really good and a lot spicier than I thought they would be.

bacon wrapped vietnamese meatballs

first courses

popcorn and my back pocket mule

restaurant week menu

tony got the fire roasted poblano chili

course #2: seafood stew
very good! good for those that like spicy foods and seafood.
there was A LOT of everything so they aren't skimping out on the good stuff.

course #2 for tony: kung pao short ribs

creme brulee

banana cheesecake

The meal started off great with the food and drinks tasting great however, the dessert really killed it. I don't usually get desserts so if this wasn't a San Diego Restaurant Week thing, I probably would have been more satisfied with the meal. The appetizer and the main course were very tasty and flavorful so I would recommend going elsewhere for dessert. This would be a good place for drinks and appetizers with co-workers or to hang out with friends. Probably would head back to try some more of their specialty cocktails and try their friend oyster sliders!

Happy Valentine's Day!

brunch at brockton villa in la jolla for chinese new year

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours :) 

Also, since I missed out on a Lunar New Year post on here, Happy Lunar New Year! 

May you all have great health, lots of happiness, and no worries in the money department.