21st birthday at the slanted door

For my birthday BF took me to Charles Phan's restaurant, The Slanted Door, in the Ferry Building. I'd always wanted to go there since I first moved to the Bay but never had anyone to go with until now. I love cheap Vietnamese street food as much as any other person who grew up eating it but our meal last night satisfied me just as much in a different way.

Obviously I'm still very new to this DSLR thing and I cared more about gorging myself with delicious food than getting the perfect photos of the food. So here are the two most semi decent ones I could find of the Slanted Door spring rolls and grilled ribeye steak with garlic soy sauce and fingerling potatoes. In addition to the spring rolls (which were spectacular, I must say) we started with their chilled wild louisiana gulf shrimp which I was too excited about to get a picture of. Have I ever told you guys about my obsession with shrimp? Probably. These were on a whole other level, however. BF doesn't even like shrimp and he enjoyed the dish! Also not pictured is the chicken claypot with caramel sauce. Out of the two entrees my favorite was the grilled ribeye steak. It reminded me so much of the grilled beef in the Vietnamese rice dishes that I grew up eating... except a million times better. I think that's what I liked best about last night's dinner: the forerunning of familiar smells and tastes coupled with an extraordinary attention to enhancing them without overpowering their original essence.

And well, here we are with our cocktails. It's my 21st birthday, remember? I can't remember what my drink was called (our waiter reccommended it to us) but BF got a whiskey smash. I definitely preferred that to ordering a bottle of wine and letting him be the one to invariably drink most of it since I'm so much of a lightweight.

And finally, this is what we got to look at all night, other than each other of course. What a perfect way to end a perfect night. I'm glad BF has already realized that the way into my heart is through my stomach. This also marks eight whole months of us dating... has it really only been that long? Ahh well, cheers! As an added bonus, here's what I ended up wearing:

vena cava dress, h&m wedges, bottega veneta clutch

testing, testing

I am quite happy with my new camera. Ended up going with the Nikon D5000 which has a video feature! I want the 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX lens but that can wait for now. At the moment I'm just glad that I have a working camera. Today I went to eat ramen with my mom for lunch and pho with my dad for dinner. No major shopping for me today other than motorcycle boots from Anthropologie and some make up. Birthday party at home tomorrow, then my actual birthday in the Bay! Can't wait to see what surprises BF has in store :3

molto bene

It's no coincidence that the number of times we've cooked Italian food has increased since BF moved into his new apartment. Lucca, a local Italian store, is right around the corner and we've been stopping by there at least once a week. This time around we tried their meatballs and fresh egg pasta. Delizioso! It's the closest you can get to a perfect homemade Italian meal without having to actually prepare it from scratch. Okay, I know that's cheating but it's much better than prepackaged items from the supermarket. Not that that's bad, either.

On another note, I just saw these pictures of me taken by Sophia a while ago before lunch. If only I had enough time and money to devote to getting into medium format photography. Sophia took these without a light meter and they still came out amazingly well. I want to see more!

done with film for a while

I just developed film and man, this is getting expensive. Don't get me wrong, I love using my film camera every once in a while but since my digital point-and-shoot started crapping out I've been using it significantly more often. Need my DSLR now! I still really like how these three photos came out. I ruined my oxfords after an impromptu game of kickball with friends at midnight when I happened to be the only one lucky enough to step in dog crap. They still smell like shit.

still searching

vintage striped one piece, thrifted skirt, old jazz shoes, bdg cardigan

Only one more week until I get my new camera! I love using my film camera but it's too expensive to develop film once or twice a week. The quality of the photos I take with my broken camera is dreadful but I'm trying my best to work with what I have. I'm heading home in exactly a week and coming back to the Bay the day of my birthday. I still have not found my perfect birthday dress and may just end up wearing something I already have or buying a random dress at Zara or H&M. I'm actually really tempted to buy the Shipley & Halmos dress that I modeled for Tobi a couple months ago. I'd like to find a simple strapless cocktail dress that I can wear two different ways: first, with my family on Saturday and second, with BF for dinner on Sunday night. Anyone have any suggestions?

And so the pictures don't seem completely unrelated to the text: I threw this outfit together last minute after a night of fishing around in my closet. The striped top is actually one of those old school one pieces (with the buttons at the crotch and everything). I also haven't worn this skirt in ages plus the shoes are ones that I wore for a dance class in high school. I'd love to go out shopping but this will do for now. I also found the photo below which I took last year around this time. I dislike the cold weather most of the time but this photo reminds me the reasons why I love autumn so much.

you and me could write a bad romance

vintage dior sweater, thrifted uniform skirt, thrifted booties
Maybe I'm the only one who can tell since I know my own body well but can anyone tell that my thighs are swollen? I somehow ended up doing more physical activity than I'm used to this past weekend and my body is killing me. Somehow a couple friends and I ended up playing a few rounds of kickball late at night and I was fortunate enough to be the only one to step in dog crap and ruin my favorite oxfords. I also had a slight limp for two days because my knee popped when I was squatting down looking at books. When I tried to get up I heard a loud CRACK and suddenly I was on the floor unable to get up for ten or so minutes. I have the body and stamina of someone 30 years older than I am :/

My body may suck but my hair actually turned out the way I wanted it to today! I'm quite proud of this at the moment so I'm taking a moment to gloat... this doesn't happen very frequently. Oh and, I've decided not to cut my hair. To answer your questions, yes, I've had short hair before and I hated it a couple hours after. The last time I cut it that short was right before college since I was convinced I needed a fresh start but it pissed me off more than anything. It also didn't help that it looked terrible with the chubby face I was developing while gaining twenty pounds my Freshman year. I'll save the weight discussion for another post.

wandering around san francisco

I have this strange habit of wandering around aimlessly in various settings whenever I'm feeling terribly anxious or somewhat depressed. There's something slightly intoxicating about not knowing where I'm going in the immediate future, especially when I'm feeling uneasy about where I'm going to end up in the long run. For someone as uptight and order-obsessed as I am, being impulsive like this is a nice change. It felt surreal at first to come across this scene: it was eerily quiet except for the clamor on the street at the beginning of the pier and everyone seemed absorbed in their own worlds. I even felt weird about whipping out my camera to capture the moment so I waited until no one was paying attention.

I mean, you'd think a spectacular place like this right off Embarcadero would be more infested with tourists but I suppose no one really seems to wander past the Ferry Building unless it's to go the opposite way towards Pier 39. I'm not saying that this should be a tourist attraction but if you're in town and looking for a quiet photo-op, go to Pier 14. It's something you have to experience for yourself.

something (a bit) different

h&m trench coat, alexander wang skirt, thrifted sweater, vintage dior tights, vintage etienne aigner oxfords

Outfit for a rainy day. Or the day after a rainy day where you think it's going to rain again and realize that you're completely wrong when the sun is shining down on you. Ahh well. This is my favorite type of weather (not too hot, not too chilly, and clear skies) but the rain yesterday was a nice change. I had a great time in the city with BF eating Mexican food and staying in to watch movies. I love lazy days.

Like the new hair? I'm getting really sick of it and have thought about chopping it off but I know the novelty will wear off in a day when I look in the mirror and realize that I wasted two or three years of growing it out. For now I'll just stick to styling it differently (aka side part and bangs). For now...

ike's place

I'm looking through old pictures and DYING. At some point BF and I were going to Ike's on a regular basis but more recently we actually haven't been since the summer. I do remember that there was this one weekend where I had it twice and wanted to die since it really doesn't help that I like to order the behemoth known as the "Hella" Fat Bastard. See that white blob in the center of the first sandwich? That, my friends, is a fried mozzarella stick. A F-F-FRIED MOZZARELLA STICK!(?) I'm dead serious, just look at their giant menu. Oh my g...

But really, if you haven't been there yet and are/will/may be in town sometime soon, you MUST go. We usually call in and pick up (it usually takes 45 minutes to an hour) but you can easily just show up and order. Just avoid peak lunch hours because those waits are impossible. My friends called in recently and were told they had to wait two to three hours for their sandwiches, wtf. But trust me, it's worth it. Just look at these pictures!

that joke isn't funny anymore

vintage silk top, forever 21 cardigan, thrifted button up skirt, vintage etienne aigner oxfords

Outfit from last week that I never managed to post. My camera is frustrating me more and more as time passes. No idea what's going on with this weird pinkish/purple haze. Is it just my monitor? I'm wearing navy blue, black, and brown in case you can't tell. Yes, those three together. If I hear another person say that you can't pair any of those colors together I'm going to slap them.

Guess what, I'm also wearing tights with socks. I posted an outfit on a Livejournal community once and was chewed out by some [expletive] who acted as if it was the crime of the century that I had combined the two. Umm, really? There's a reason I don't post there anymore...

seeing red

clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

A couple things I have my eye on at Anthropologie and all of them happen to be red. Did you know that it's my 21st birthday at the end of the month? Yes, I'm one of those late November babies and while all of my friends with earlier birthdays have already been going to bars for months, I've been stuck at home counting down the days. I've also been looking out for a special birthday dress since BF says I'll need something exceptionally nice for where he's taking me. I'm thinking strapless with a full skirt? Meh, I have a month to think about it. Wait, how did I go from Anthropologie to my birthday? Oh, yeah, I was about to mention the 15% off card that members get to use during their birthday months. I guess I just have to hold out until I get mine sometime this month.

ahoy there

For some reason I'm always really bad at taking photos of myself on Halloween. This time around I was so busy during the day that I didn't dress up until I had to before going out at night. I copped out again and wore this vintage child's sailor top with a navy skirt and went as a Japanese school girl just like I did last year (and to various other themed parties this past year). I'm really lazy, guys. Compared to me, BF went all out for his outfit (which I shall not disclose due to my feeling a little embarrassed to admit it). Halloween just isn't a big deal to me, hmph.