Happy Anniversary!

After teaching zumba last night, T and I went out to dinner at Taro in Soho. Our original plan was to go to Wahaca for Mexican but decided to skip it once we found out the wait time was an hour!! It was almost 9 by the time we arrived. There is no way in heck I am going to eat at 10 p.m. Have you seen me when I haven't eaten?! Movin on..

Thankfully, we've been to Taro several times and we've always enjoyed the food there. The food is one story, and the crowded tables put reaalllllllllllllllllllly close together is another. As we were about to leave the restaurant, I noticed the two girls I would have to ask to move so I could leave the table. One girl proceeded to scout in her chair a centimetre as if I was some skinny waft who could fit between the little space she graciously gave me. Another gave me a horrified look as if I could magically lift her seat and throw her out the way!! Grr, respect people.. Seriously?!? Anyways, I digress...I ordered the seaweed salad to start and it did not disappoint; it was really flavorful, fresh, and delicious!

miso soup that came with T's teriyaki chicken bento.

the teriyaki chicken at Taro is their speciality bento box. The chicken skin is lightly fried but SUPER crispy and the meat is super tender and full of teriyaki flavor. Yuum!

I ordered the seafood noodle dish since I had an itch for it, but was pretty disappointed when this came out. The noodles had a weird consistency to it and the soup was ehhh bland.

This morning we celebrated our 1st year wedding anniversary with some exchanging of wedding gifts. I can't believe its been a year already. How time flies... and we they said it wouldn't last ;-)

although I'm not a watch person, I was super excited to get this watch from him. Now's a good time as any to start wearing a watch!!

 

It's slightly big on my tiny wrist so I'll have to go and get it adjusted, but it's a beautiful watch.

I already knew this one was coming- We're going to the Bears v. Buc's game on October 23. Hot diggity dawg!! I'm SOOOOO stoked!!

BEST. PRESENT. EVER.

more workout gear for the pink luva in me!! 

Time for some 2 star Michelin dining!!

Making my mouth water

Yesterday, we went over to the MIL's house and she prepared us an amazing lunch of rice, chicken, beans, egg rolls, and salad. I don’t throw around the word amazing just because she's my MIL; in fact, I would be honest and tell you if the food wasn't that good for one usual reason or the other. Everything was so delicious that I had thirds and left beyond stuffed!

The table was already set when we arrived.

Looking at this right now at 9 a.m. the next day makes my mouth water, literally!

a simply dressed salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots.

this bean dish was very comforting and delicious. It consisted of beans, tomatoes, pureed carrots, and celery.

Seriously.. keep me away from these fried, amazing "egg rolls." I swear I had like 3 but could have eaten 4, 5, 6... There were two kinds, one with meat and the other with cheese. I had 2 meats and 2 cheese. Yuuuumm!!!

This chicken and rice dish was so delicious- the chicken was fall off the bone tender and the rice very flavorful-- I'm not sure what kinds of spices she used, but the rice was so tasty!! So glad she gave us leftovers ;)

assorted cookies and tea for dessert.

After the meal, the rest of the day was spent as a lazy Sunday afternoon. I really wanted to watch the Bears game last night but I had no one to go with :( This is probably my LEAST favorite part about living in the UK. I don't really have anyone to watch American sports with and its kind of a pain for many reasons

1.) Games usually air at 12, 3, or 6, and if its anywhere in the latter time period and it's a Sunday, I don't really want to stay up that late!

2.) We usually have to leave home to watch a game

3.) Only certain games air at specific bar or dining locations

4.) Ordering sports channels online or on tv costs more money

5.) Ordering the sports channels at home doesn't guarantee a game will even be showing! 

On a more positive note: my team won!!

At least a sushi dinner made up for the lack of any football action in the house..

We ordered delivery from My Sushi Club through just eat.co.uk.

I thought everything was delicious and probably the best delivery Japanese food we've ordered through Just Eat.

the chicken katsu stayed crispy through the delivery process-- score!! The only downside to this dish was that there wasn't any sauce to accompany the chicken. I was impressed with the amount of veggies that were underneath, everything ranging from peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini.

freebies

chirashi

On my plate was: spider roll, salmon and avocado roll, spicy tuna (fav!!) handroll, eel and avocado handroll, salmon and seabass nigiri-- the salmon was good but I wasn't a fan of the seabass, and a piece of spicy yellowtail gunkan

After dinner, I watched Resident Evil: Afterlife. Yes, I must have been that desperate. At least it was entertaining!

Breakfast time: What's a girl to do when there are no eggs in the house?!? Make buttermilk pancakes of course!

one chocolate chip and 1/2 a regular pancake

doused in real Vermont maple syrup-- nothing beats it!!

Whoop Whoop- I got my delivery this morning! I'm so cheap that I bought a youth sweatshirt in a large size, lol..

Hat- check, Sweatshirt-check.. Bring on October 23 baby!!

Thank you Steve Hatt

and huge thank-you to the hubs for preparing this lovely sushi lunch

I came back from the gym SO pleasantly surprised. I was craving sushi-- how did he know?!? :-)

this was T's take on a baked scallop dish that we had at Mai Sushi. The scallops were baked in a delicious spicy mayo sauce with roe on top. OMG.. it was/is drool worthy!!

a whole lotta fresh fish

and freshly shucked oysters!!

Seriously, if you've never had an oyster, you're missing one of the greatest slippery experiences in your life. They are so delicious!

asian inspired oysters with mirin, sesame oil, and roe

beautiful aren't they?!

so sad when they are all gone :(

T made us chirashi bowls with most of the fish

yay I love ginger- such a wonderful palate cleanser

salted cooked mackerel and after all that heavy white rice, time for a nap!

The Big Feastival

T made sushi yesterday with his new sashimi knife and all I have to say is WOWZA! Everything was really fresh and tasted sososososo delicious!

http://www.urbanpath.com/london/fishmongers/steve-hatt.htm

We went to Steve Hatt- the fish monger for fresh salmon, sea bream, mackeral, and scallop. I love Steve Hatt because his fish quality never disappoints!

breakfast this morning was a simple 2 egg omelette with some mature cheddar cheese

We went to Jamie Oliver's Big Feastival because we had won tickets. We had decided previously not to go because we had already been to the Taste of London but we figured why not since these tickets were free. We still had to pay for the food though as the tickets were just for free entry and music. The food vouchers were pretty expensive at £5 a pop and you didn't really get that much food!

http://www.jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival/

We were a bit disappointed with the lack of organization at this festival. There were tons of people waiting in line for food(there should have been a better serving system or more workers) and people were just sitting in the middle of the grass where a path should have been for people needing to stand in line for food.

Maybe we were just spoiled with Taste of London's festival but we both agreed that this festival didn't really compare. The food was good but it definitely wasn't worth £5 for each dish! Uhm..£5 for a brownie I could have made at home? No gracias!!

a delicious scotch egg

pulled pork with coleslaw

I love the taste of fresh pasta and the kid goat ragu was really delicious as well

I've been meaning to try Wahaca for the longest time but haven't been able to get out there. It's Mexican food that actually tastes like a local mom and pop joint in Chicago. So exciting!!

these pork tacos from Wahaca was by far my favorite eat of the festival. The line was ginormous most of the time we were there too. The meat was so tender and juicy and the flavors were spot on. I love cilantro ! Omg... my mouth is still salivating just thinking about this taco.

http://www.awana.co.uk/

chicken curry and roti from Awana. We've been to Awana twice in the past and its never failed to satisfy my hunger or my taste buds. Everything is always very delicious there!

the line was really long for this okonomi-yaki but it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was going to be. I thought it could have used a bit more mayo and whatever sauce they top it with.

a triple chocolate brownie to end the Taste (LIES all Lies! it wasn't as chocolatey and in fact tasted like they used sugar substitute or something). After the festival we went to a local pub to watch Nadal lose to Djokovic.. so sad :( I was really pulling for Nadal. I guess my good luck vibes didn't work!! :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jul/03/rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-wimbledon-2011

Time for a bit of relaxation aka Keeping up with the Kardashians and Ice loves Coco- my newest guilty pleasure- hahaha!!