Life Lately - June 2011

 Hello all. I have been MIA because it's really getting down to crunch time with the wedding planning. My blog readers have probably forgotten because I basically posted about my engagement last year and then natta til now. Its been a crazy year with school, work, wedding planning, and house hunting, but the wedding is still on and it's coming up like soon-soon. Once the whole shebang is over, I promise to give you guys more wedding details. Until then, since I know I won't be posting as much in the coming month, I leave you with a teaser post about what I've been up to and will delve deeper once wedding mania subsides.

 Event 1: Phil and I invested in quality Henckels knives from Macy's. Purchase here. It was on mega sale and with his friend's discount, we probably got the set for about $250ish, give or take. (UPDATE: I just looked up the price we paid and it was actually $96 before tax. It was friends and family weekend, and also we had additional discount. What a steal!) I forget but I remember being very pleased with the price, especially for the kind with the twin tribal men symbol. I read on forums that the more figures there are, the higher rating the knives get. I'm no expert but compared to the cheap college Ikea set we have been using (on the right) our Henckels set (on the left) is amazing! Actually, amazing even without comparison. The handles are heavier and more balanced and the blades are super sharp. My only disappointment was that the block counts as 1 piece so you only get 14 knives and 1 block = 15 piece set. Technicalities....

 The 8" chef's knife compared with the chef's knife from the college set on top. Look at the cheaper knife, why is it serrated when it's a chef's knife? That was a terrible knife. It took forever to prep any type of meat.

It even comes with a sharpening tool. How cool is that? Does anyone's parent's use those old school sharpening blocks that you can find at an Asian market? It's gray and rectangular and you would have to wet the block and just run your knife forever until it was sharp. The Henckels directions say to sharpen the knife after every other use so I'm excited when sharpening time comes. I also remember at a workshop for the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival last year, Chef Mary Sue Milliken taught us that knives should never remain wet. They should always be dried and stored away and sharpened often too. Now I'm religious about keeping the knives dry. With the Ikea set, I just washed it and let it air dry on a rack because I didn't care to keep them in good condition. 

 Event 2: I went down to LA the other weekend and hit up the Asian fruit market where I found these teeny tiny mangoes. They're smaller than my palm. I had my doubts but bought them out of curiosity...

...along with mangosteen (mang cut) and rambutan (trom trom). All of this was really good. I can't wait to hit up a tropical area for our honeymoon and eat nothing but exotic fruits all day. Gonna be gassy for days but its well worth it!

The reason I was in LA was for one of my 2 bachelorette parties. Yes, I got 2! Because I'm awesome and have too many friends. Just kidding, there were logistical reasons why we couldn't all just go to Vegas. But I had a blast at both parties.





WARNING: this picture may not be safe for kids

My bridesmaids and friends did a great job decorating me for both parties. I felt like a princess. The sash in the previous pic was handmade by TP and this sash here has flashing lights. The tiara above had blinking lights the fascinator in this picture is adorned with pink penii =). LOVES THEM ALL!!!

We stumbled upon a random polar bear guy at the club we went to. The randomness of his appearance really made my night.

Event 3: My birthday has come and gone and usually I like to eat interesting food on my birthday and post about it later, so you can definitely expect a food post soon. After a grueling final on my bday, Phil took me out to Tanto Japanese Restaurant.

Event 4: I also threw an awesome BBQ in honor of the many changes in our life this year. It was a house warming/birthday/engagement/bachelorette/bachelor/end of school year/just because summer started party! Cotton was really bored during the party. That's because he doesn't drink. tee hee

This summer is shaping up to be a fantastic one! Do you have anything planned for the summer? I'd love to hear about it.

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