The Scan Gun

Last year at this time, I remember holding a scan gun perusing the aisles of Bed Bath and Beyond. This year, it's a whole different story... I'm holding a scan gun perusing the aisles of Babies R Us and learning about strollers and car seats. What a difference one year makes!

The Holidays Are Here!

How did mid-November creep up on us so quickly?! Last year, we were still planning our wedding and stressing over table assignments. This year, well... this year's different. According to our official (free) wedding page, it's already been 323 days since we got married! Wow...

Virginia is for Lovers

It's been a while since something's been up. The excuse? Laziness and time consumption with the new www.foodied.com blog.

This past week, we took a trip out to the East Coast, Virginia to be exact to visit the Shinn parents and Toffee. After that visit, we both had a greater appreciation for the Bay Area life, especially the food. However, the shopping there was great since tax was half of what we're used to paying here.

We took a one day trip out to D.C. and took some tourist-y pictures to fulfill my year one scrapbook, aka: Our Adventure Book, volume I.

We also visited this awesome museum, Crime and Punishment in D.C. which gives a medieval to present day walk through with crimes, weapons and everything else in between.

Overall, it was a nice trip - a 5 day getaway from the regular husslin' and busslin' of life here. We did miss our little Dottie a lot though. When we came back, this is where Dot was while I was busy unpacking everything...

We missed home... it's nice to be back!

Plants vs Zombies

So, what do you guys do at night now? (Look below...)

... yup, we're addicted! (Not on this crazy level yet.)

Mischievous Dot

I woke up one morning to use the bathroom (Dan was already out of bed)...

... come back and discover this little rugrat taking over my side of the bed! (Don't worry, she's clean... got a bath the night before)

I turn my back for a few seconds to start dinner and here's the mess I see...

You're lucky you're such a cutie Dot...

Two Meanings, Same Deed

Recently, a friend told me what option she chose for her date night - homecooked dinner and a movie. Perhaps it's the way it was worded or what not, but it sounded pretty date-y and fun. But after sleeping on it and thinking about what we do in the evening time, I realized that we do the exact same thing! Homecooked meal (mostly made by yours truly) and a movie afterwards, since that seems to be the simplest option for two lazy bums. Why doesn't that exact same thing seem date-y or romantic in my eyes? Well, it's cause I do it practically every single day! In conclusion, don't choose so many of these homecooked dinners and movies because once you get married, that's what you'll be doing on most weeknights anyway.

Our Baby

Food, Friends & Fun

Here's what our dining area looks like when there's 10+ people coming over to eat and hang out...

A lot more food came later, this was just the people who showed up on time.

Introducing... the COOLBAR! We should've done this in the summer when the weather was warmer and people could utilize the Coolbar to the max! After closing up the Coolbar, we learned that the insulation is great - the ice lasted three whole days!

Now I wish I had taken more pictures... there was quite a bit of food and we're still munching on some leftovers (four days after the party).

The Land of Cupcakes

Upon looking for deals on cupcakes for my niece's upcoming 1st birthday, I decided to venture out and check out what kind of cute cupcake designs are out there, and here are three that I thought were really cute... but not practical. I decided this year that I'm more of a practical person - ie: good light European cream over pretty fondant (where fondant ALWAYS tastes like crap)!

Yeah, if I were into Super Mario Bros, the last one would be really cool... but I'm not. What would be amazingly cool is to change cupcakes into Minions (yes, after watching Despicable Me, I've been into this whole minion craze, especially the one eyed ones).

But anyway, even though these cupcakes are cute to look at, the insides probably just taste mediocre. In the long run, I think I'll just go with your typical classic cupcake with the awesome frosting.

One of my favorites (very rich, but delicious!) - Icing on the Cake in Los Gatos.

Oh! On a side note, I should really learn to bake... cute little bakeries make a KILLING off these things!

Five Guys vs In & Out

Not like I do a lot of these, but it's always fun having a food showdown. The first time I took my first bite of Five Guys, I obnoxiously proclaimed "this is so much better than In & Out!". The second time I stepped into Five Guys, I said the exact same thing. When we went to meet up with some friends in Fremont for this showdown, I proudly said that I was going in biased and will be choosing Five Guys.

... half an In & Out and a mini Five Guys later... I humbly changed my mind as I looked at my score sheet. In & Out had beat out a Five Guys burger by one vote! The Five Guys patty came out better and juicier and the hot sauce helped to intensify the flavor of the patty, but I have to give it to In & Out for their better presentation of the burger in full as well as their toasted bun. For some odd reason, it was the bun that actually won me over. Not being a fan of sesame and non-toasted buns, Five Guys lost the battle, which eventually led to me inching towards In & Out more.

Burgers side by side... presentation wise: In & Out ftw!

When Five Guys opens in Sunnyvale, showdown #2 shall begin...

Staring Contest

MY FAVES!

The World's Cutest!

Dot has been with us for a blissful (almost) 8 months! I don't mean to be biased here, but she is quite possibly THE cutest dog in the world, or at least THE cutest Chihuahua in the world. No, she is not a barker, not a yapper and doesn't have a temper like her typical breed.

Such a cutie!!!

Wall Decors

Since the start of this year, I've been pretty obsessed with looking at etsy.com. It's crazy to see how creative people are, and how much they charge for their items. Well, I guess I would do the same too if I were just as creative. At the moment, I spend countless hours looking through people's creations and try to think of a way to mimic them.

My new infatuation is tree wall decors. Since our place does not have a lot of space, especially since we filled every single wall with stuff, I always found it nice to maybe have wall decors here and there to give it even more of a feminine touch.

Some of my favorites:

Yeah, I'm really into this Asian theme...

Indian & Chief

The premise is this - whenever one of us decides to do something because everyone else is doing it and not doing it because they want to do it without everyone else's input, you're called an indian. A chief is someone who decides to do something without the opinion of anyone else.

me: my brother says kicka$$ is a funny movie

Dan: so now you wanna watch it with me?

me: yeah

Dan: one word for you....

me: im an indian

Dan: INDIAN

me: YOU...!!!!

Dan: i always wanted to watch it

me: whatevs

you indian

Dan: same with inception

me: indian

Dan: i'm a chief

always a chief

married to an indian

me: whatevs

Dan: it has nic cage in it

you like him too

can't believe you wouldn't watch it beforehand

What Money Can Buy...

We are firm believers that money can make anything look nice, physically that is...

(BEFORE) Meet our backyard, pre-$$$$... the tan bark on the floor is nasty, there's leaves that's been there for who knows how long and you definitely won't see us (or Dot) out there just hanging out and enjoying the sun.

(AFTER) Now, a couple $$$$s later, it's become a backyard that's nice enough for our liking so that we would actually sit outside on a nice summer's evening and drink a few brewskis while shootin' the breeze.

Now it's time to look into plants and herbs and actually enjoy the "great outdoors" before Fall creeps up on us.

For a more step-by-step transformation of the backyard, go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/edeshinn/Backyard02#

Magazines Define You

It was in middle school when I first got addicted to reading magazines. Back in the day, as a 12 year old, waiting for my mom to pick me up from the library, I would read "16" magazine and catch up on all the latest gossip on JTT and Brad Renfro and all those guys who passed away at an early age.

During my early 20s, I was really into US Weekly and all those other "trashy" celebrity gossip magazines. Well, I still read US Weekly, but it's just not as interesting as it used to be. (Yes, Nick & Jessica were still happily married during that time)

During the engagement period, I was stuck on wedding magazines. Ever since I got married, I don't think I've picked one up.

The last time I was at Borders, I caught myself picking up a lot of interior decorating, backyard landscaping and food magazines. As I passed through this generation's version of "16" and had no idea who the people on the cover are (seriously, who are the Jonas brothers?!), I realized... crap, I'm no longer an adolescent... the magazines in my hand definitely define who I am now.

Dream Machine

When we went to Wonder Con earlier this year, we received a grab bag full of t-shirts. When we both pulled out this shirt (look to your right), we had no idea what this was. Dan washed his shirt because he thought it looked cool and the shirt felt cool, and I told him he can eventually eBay mine for a few bucks.

Now, fast forward to now... after watching Inception (good movie, you should go and watch it if you haven't done so already), we realized that the shirt we had was actually a limited edition Inception shirt. AHHH!!! Also, after watching the movie, we realized that the little top we both threw away was the one and only totem! Looking at eBay now, the shirt is going for at least $20 (we're selling our XL shirt as we speak)! Maybe we should hold on to the shirt even longer for a greater profit...

Lesson learned - hold on to shirts you get at these places because you never know what movie may pop up at a theater near you in the summer.

Taking It Back Old School

Technology is all around us, and as each day goes by, it gets even more and more advanced. Example: a decade ago, who would've thought you could carry your own computer around in the palm of your hand (iPhone).

While people are using technology to Photoshop (which I am not against) amongst other things, I have decided to bring back something old school - scrapbooking. Sure, I can easily make a virtual scrapbook online (that would definitely save time), there's something nostalgic and personally satisfying with spending hours working on different events, collecting pictures and designing a page.

This scrapbooking business started up again once I put together our wedding table scrapbook which consisted of our table number sign, a picture of the people at that table and the various congratulatory cards people gave us (yes, I did rip your cards up). Like Pringles, "once you pop you just can't stop", I decided to make use of all the random pictures I've taken after we got married and decided I will document every single year via scrapbooking. Each year will have it's own scrapbook, so 20 years down the line, I will have to find a place to place 20 of those scrapbooks.

Twenty years from now, when I no longer get mistakened for a high school kid, how awesome would it be to showcase how much weight I've gained since I got married and everything to our kids? Plus I can also live my side life as an "All-American" wife... scrapbooking.. even when technology is at it's finest and still growing.

(Now, how does this hobby benefit Dan? While I'm scrapbooking at night, he gets to play video games and watch movies. Talk about not losing your independence, huh?)

San Diego

No, we did not go down because of Comic Con (I guess after you get married, you have to give up some things). This was a nice short weekend trip to support my brother during his Bodybuilding Competition and eat lots of good food!

a part of Balboa Park (this is SD's version of Golden Gate Park... except I think it's a little better because of the ample parking throughout the entire park). While walking around, we must've stumbled upon 5 different groups of people taking wedding shots that day. Crazy!

Every So-Cal trip results in Chik Fil-A... I love you spicy chicken sandwich!

Family breakfast @ Hash House

Other recommendations to eat in San Diego: Phil's BBQ (be prepared for the long wait, but it's well worth it!), Extraordinary Desserts (good place for an after dinner date, or in our case, just-got-off-the-airplane date) and Cotixan (California burritos).

6

Has it already been 6 months of marriage? Time sure flies...

The only real drastic change is that D is now wearing pink clothes and E got chubbier. Other than that, nothing real interesting to talk about.

Best Camera EVER!

Everyone's talking about the new iPhone (including the husband), but not me... I've been talking about the Canon S90 since April. Yeah, I'm different, mainly because I'm still not completely bought into this whole Apple gimmick, at least not yet.

My devious husband (after living with me for half a year, he's learned from the best) decided to leave me a pleasant surprise while he's enjoying his weekend in Sin City. After five clues which left me scrambling around the house trying to figure out where the next clue is, I finally figured everything out and was led to a box of molten chocolate cake. And inside... was THE camera I've been talking about forever!

We have been using a Canon SD300 for a while, so you have no idea how great this new camera is for me! Thank you hubby, you're the best!

Weekly Menu

On Saturday night, before the weekly (at least first half of the week) menu is "printed" on my cute pig stationary, I like to peruse through cook books around the house and menus I've grabbed from random restaurants to think about what our upcoming week's dinner is going to be. It's fun to have a strictly Asian meal, a strictly American meal and a random fusion (what exactly is fusion?) mix for other days of the week. Fancy restaurants like Parcel 104 has a different menu every day, so I figured... why not? It'll be fun to experiment as well.

Since summer has arrived, and Bible study, as well as other random things are on a break, it means that I have more time to experiment with a more lengthy assortment of recipes which I never had time to do before summer was here. So for this week...



MONDAY - the "All American" meal! Clam linguine + baked chicken thighs with potatoes and carrots (Monday's the start of a brand new week and I usually like to start with an American meal since it's easier to prepare and doesn't make as much of a mess.)



TUESDAY - the Chinese meal! Steamed fish (which the husband has perfected) + duck (this is a cheating dish since we bought it from Won Kee) + tomatoes and egg



WEDNESDAY - two types of salmon (Yoshinoya marinated + "special" baked salmon) + bok choy (This was taken out of William Sonoma's Weeknight Meals but tweeted a little to my own liking.)

THURSDAY - we took a break on Thursday and went out to eat.



FRIDAY - By the end of the week, whatever's left is usually thrown together... what started out as a Pad Sieu fusion turned out to be more of a Mongolian BBQ dish, oh well.

The husband and I like to rate our dishes so we can repeat the good ones and serve it to our guests. Since there's more free time over the summer, perhaps you'll get served next!