A Fruitful Lunch

Every now and then, family friend's Becky & Tory of Tory Farms stop by our family parties and bring in crates of the best fruits to share. It wasn't until sometime last year that I found out that they set up shop twice a week at the SF Ferry Building farmer's market. So in addition to stopping by Namu, I strolled around to find the Tory Farms tent and there they were! Today, they had Oro Blanco grapefruits, Owari Satsuma oranges, Page mandarins and Cara Cara oranges. Everything was soooo juicy and so much sweeter than fruits I pick up at the grocery store. Of course, they wouldn't let me leave empty handed so I was able to take a bag full of fruits home and some to share at work. Healthy snacks all around :)

Korean Taco at Namu's Market Stand

#90 Korean Tacos at Namu's Market Stand
7x7 The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die 2010

I think I've been to the SF Ferry Building way too many times the last 2 weeks. I love this place and can  never get enough. Since they do a farmer's market twice a week (Thursday and Saturday), I decided to swing by and check out the offerings and turns out, many of the notable food trucks/ tents were set up today: Namu, Roli Roti, Tacolicious and more (all of which have items on the 7x7 list for 2010). Today, I went for a Namu Korean taco.

Namu has a very unique take on the taco. Rather than using a tortilla, they wrap their ingredients (kalbi, seasoned rice, daikon, kimchi salsa, kimchee remoulade, housemade teriyaki sauce) in Japanese and Korean toasted seaweed. After just reading the ingredients in this "taco" I knew it wouldn't let me down - and it didn't disappoint. Prices are reasonable considering food in the area is not cheap, but I was hoping for a slightly larger quantity though it was still good. $3 for 1 taco and 2 for $5. I've tried their Korean style pancake at a street food festival and didn't fancy it much, but this, I'd definitely have it again.

Return to Sin City

I'm returning to Vegas this weekend for the first time in 2 years. With all of the big trips I've been taking during that time Vegas was not a top priority for me, but it's Tiffany's birthday and it's been a hectic holiday season so I'm ready to get out there and paaartaaay. Can't wait to eat good food, have a few drinks and dance it out with the girls (and guys). Maybe I'll even hit up a few craps tables. Excited!!!

On that note, here's a photo from my last time in Vegas...

Gott's Roadside Cheeseburger with Sweet Potato Fries

#40 Cheeseburger from Gott's Roadside (Formerly Taylor's Automatic Refresher) with sweet potato fries
7x7 The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die 2009/2010

Situated on the Embarcadero, Gott's Roadside not only has amazing burgers, it has a great location as well. This city has been getting such great weather the last few days, it was the perfect place to enjoy an outdoor lunch. Now, back to the burger. Gott's uses only vegetarian-fed patties with no antibiotics or hormones and they're paired with only fresh ingredients. They're also known to have a great wine/ beer selection,  delicious milkshakes, onion rings and sweet potatoe fries. I'm getting hungry just thinking about this! Anyway, it's connected to the Ferry Building Marketplace which is an added bonus - you can grab macaroons from Miette, a coffee from Blue Bottle, gelato at Ciao Bella or walk through the Farmer's Market for fresh fruits.
............................................. 
Update: Okay I came back again a week later and got the Texas burger (comes with guac, pico de gallo, jack cheese and jalapenos - yum) and the famous sweet potato fries. Both pretty scrumptious. What I loved about the fries is that they're cut thin and come with a really good dipping sauce. They are a must-try!

Snowboarding at Homewood

It was my first time going to Homewood resort and it was a nice change of pace from our usual visit to Sierra. The views here were breathtaking. The sun was definitely out and we were burning up in our boarding gear. Due to the weather, the snow was not the finest during this visit but we managed to have a fun time anyway.

MLK Weekend in Tahoe

I never get sick of this place in the Winter. It's nice to have amazing weather in California and be able to drive 2 hours to get to the snow. Since we're so close, we normally do day trips, but after receiving an invite from a friend to spend a weekend at their timeshare we couldn't turn down the offer.

During our first morning, I woke up and had a mimosa on the balcony. Fortunately the weather was bearable even for a summer weather lovin' girl like me.

$10 for a $20 Amazon Gift Card

So I'm a sucker for flash sales! Well, this one is hard to pass up because you can literally buy anything and everything on Amazon.com. Here's today's deal - get it while it's hot:

https://livingsocial.com/deals/21336?ref=personalized-link-box-4199631&rpi=4199631

Fashion Blogger Faves

I love my fashion magazines, but I've also become a huge fan of fashion blogs over the last year or two. It's great to see women (and men) express their personal style so effortlessly (or so it seems) and with confidence. What amazes me is women like Rumi Neely started blogging for fun and was able to make a career out of it. Here are a few of my favorite fashion bloggers out there right now:

Rumi of Fashiontoast:
http://www.fashiontoast.com/

Emily of Cupcakes & Cashmere:
http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/

Rachel of Studio Swag:
http://studioswag.blogspot.com/
P.S. She's doing a giveaway contest and you can enter it HERE

Julie of Swank Heights:
http://swankheights.blogspot.com/

Tahoe Prep

Off to Tahoe for the holiday weekend and aside from my board and boots, I can't find ANY of my gear. This is my first time hitting the slopes since last season and in between moves, riding in other people's cars and leaving stuff at others homes, my pants, jacket, goggles, beanie, fleece neck wrap and gloves have gone missing. Speaking of jackets, someone borrowed one of mine and never gave that one back. If this is you, please lmk. As you all know boarding gear is not cheap and unfortunately given the lack of preparedness for this trip I'm going to have to leave work early tomorrow to hit up REI and scrounge for goods before heading out in the evening. Wish me luck.

Please magically reappear!!!

Shadow Sitting

I've been kitty sitting Shadow since the end of December while my friend JD was off venturing through Macau and the Philippines and today she finally went back home. Just to give you some background, JD and I used to be roomies. I've never been a cat person, but when I met his cat Shadow I fell in love. Maybe it was her dog-like personality that got me, or the way she would literally fall asleep on my belly, or the look of her curved paw reaching under a closed door to make the "boing" sound with the doorstop - she's just the best cat. Craig and I spent 2 weeks with her and we had such a blast we were both sad to see her go. If this is how I feel letting go of a cat, I'm going to be a train wreck when I have to see my kids off to college haha. Until next time Shadow!

P.S. It's really amazing how having animals around completely changes ones mood.

Seasonal Flavors from Scream Sorbet

#15 Any seasonal flavor from Scream Sorbet 

7x7 The Big Eat SF 2010: 100 Things to Try Before You Die

 I never thought $28 could be spent on one visit to a sorbet shop, until coming to Scream Sorbet. I tried just about every flavor they had available today and although some of them were very strange combinations, they all tasted so fresh and delicious. Today, I took home Feijoa, Coconut Thai Basil (Craig's pick) and Coffee Almond. I've always been a fan of sorbet, so I was excited to find that they opened up shop nearby after selling their products at farmer's markets for awhile now. Even though they have a new free standing shop, they are still traveling and selling at various markets in SF, Santa Cruz and more - find them! A little on the pricey side, but oh well - I can't wait to try more flavors. 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I can't believe it's 2011. This past year has been amazing. I know I said I matured so much in 2009, but this year I really did.  I took the plunge and moved in with my boyfriend into an apartment that I love, got promoted at work, experienced the beauty of Thailand, learned the meaning of true friendship and so much more. Looking back on the year, there were definitely ups, downs, bumps and bruises, but there's a lesson to be learned in everything we do, so I wouldn't have changed a thing.

As for resolutions, I'll be keeping my 2010 resolutions on the table as things to do, but I'd also like to work on being/ staying healthy, optimistic and driven.