I HEART FOOD

Just a few snapshots of my cooking lately...

Filippino Chicken Adobo

Japanese "Omrice" omelet with chicken ketchup rice inside

Cold pasta with tomatoes & avocados in a Japanese style sauce 

Salmon & bak choi cream pasta

Eggplant (&beef) Lasagna

Caprese salad, Steak & mashed potatoes 

I love EATING. Which always is a great motivation for my cooking. And taking pictures... so when I get to do ALL of that at the same time!?? this is when I am the happiest! I've always enjoyed cooking and do it a lot but lately I've been doing even MORE to save money!! Why go out, when you can cook for cheaper and cook whatever you desire!? ;)

On a side note, stop by Violet Bella's blog also for a chance to win a pair of Blowfish Shoes! They are probably the awesomest shoe company around.. they were one of my sponsors for the Japan benefit gig I organized last year.

Don't forget to enter my Boy Meets Girl® Tights giveaway!!!!

Back from Japan & Bed in Breakfast!

Just got back last night from a relaxing and amazing two weeks in Japan.
It's always nice to visit home and spend time with my family.
I got to visit Hokkaido, Kyoto, Nara while mostly staying in Osaka and so as you can tell
I was a lucky girl...and had so much fun.
There are still so many places I'd love to visit in Japan though!

Anyway, I ate tons of good food because that's the only kind I eat lol,
went to two different stone spas--which btw are awesome and I'm going to be on the look out for one over here, visited the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, saw the best fireworks in Osaka, saw a bunch of deers in Nara, and swam in a big river for the first time ever, in the countryside of Kyoto. Those were the highlights of this trip...

Not as jet-lagged as I usually would be..I surprisingly slept for more than 12 hours today. Something I hadn't done in a while.. And I was woken up by my hubby to something like this:

except i had pancakes and eggs. But I thought this picture was lovely. And I thought my hubby was even more lovely. He remembered that I'd said d I'd never had breakfast in bed! How sweet of him..
What a great way to start the day :)

Will be posting some photos from Japan hopefully soon... and some outfit posts again soon.
Definitely had some happy times.. and they definitely keep me going! Motivation.

More happy things are ahead of us!

4 Year Dating Anniversary

Today marks our 4-year dating anniversary! I can't seem to tell lately if a year is long or short. So 4 years... I guess that's probably pretty long! I can't even believe we've been married for almost 

2 1/2 years. But it's been an incredible 4 years. If I were to describe it in one word, that word would be.. 

beautiful.

We've traveled so much, and done so much fun and happy things together! It's also been a treat for me to see Michael go through the last year of undergrad, then grad school, and seeing him accomplish so much. I love watching him and HEARING him do the things he loves. There's so much going on in his mind, his heart and his life ALL THE TIME...but somehow he manages to make time to always care about me and be the sweetest BEST hubby! Thank you, Michael. This may sound corny but sometimes I still can't believe how perfect we are for each other.

Michael is gone to Ohio for a gig starting today though, so we celebrated early on Wednesday at one of our favorite places to dine, Hondaya, in Little Tokyo. It's an Izakaya (a popular Japanese tapas-style dinner place where many order alcohol and munch on little dishes). The great thing about an Izakaya is they have SO many items on the menu.. so I always have an extremely hard time picking just a few things.

Have you tried mackerel sushi before? Michael LOVES that stuff. It's delicious. We got a few other things like one of my favorites, buta kakuni (stewed pork), and of course, some Sapporo beer! yummy!

And here's a happy reminder that's related to Michael! 

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway for a chance to win Michael Mull Trio's first album! 

It's open to those who don't own a copy already and open to anyone outside of the U.S. too!

What happy thing happened to YOU today?

More happy things are ahead of us! 

Have a great weekend everyone!