society.

During our little excursion to Canada, we had a fancy evening at Society in order to celebrate Ann-Marie and my 20th birthdays. Located in the heart of Yaletown district, Society is a vibrant and luxurious lounge-restaurant. With cotton candy plumes, pink chandeliers and a luxurious atmosphere, Society is every girly girl's dream come true.

Katrina and I shared a mac-n-cheese platter, which I forgot to photograph. For dessert, our lovely waitress brought us a surprise dessert plate with caramel popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, chocolate cupcakes and macarons! It was so lovely.

Our sweet waitress and the birthday girls.

From L to R: Janelle, Katrina, Ann-Marie, Me, and Saya.
It was a wonderfully classy evening.

papa haydn.

When I was younger, I never quite understood why older people didn't enjoy turning their birthdays into extravaganzas. As a child, I would create extensive wish lists, make countdowns, and parade around with an air of invincibility in honor of my birthdays. These days I think I'm beginning to think that I'm growing senile because I just might understand now.

Birthdays can be pretty exhaustive-- all the people, all the planning, and all the presents. I am at a point where I would much rather spend my day with a few special people doing a few special things rather than orchestrating large celebrations.

During the spring holidays, I have had the luxury of going on a trip to Canada for a few days as well as spending some time at home with my family. Earlier this week my mum, sister, and I celebrated my birthday by dining at Papa Haydn and walking around in Portland.

Papa Haydn is a wonderful restaurant with a fireplace, French doors and kind waiters. Although Papa Haydn serves sophisticated entrees, such as the Portobello Mushroom Sandwich, they are best-known for divine desserts. It was the perfect restaurant to have a classy birthday lunch.

My mom and I had the Portobello Mushroom Sandwich, which included little onion rings to provide a contrast in texture.

They actually had a good time.

Lilia had a chicken club sandwich, which was served with a cold cucumber salad.

We had a difficult time trying to decide which desserts to order because they were all tempting!

The St. Moritz Chocolate German Cake has chocolate buttermilk cake layered with coconut praline and covered in milk chocolate ganache. It was promptly devoured in under four minutes.

Happiest birthday girl in the world.

I selected the Champagne Cake, which included strawberries, orange blossom and vanilla cream. This lovely cake made me feel like a princess.

I had a very nice and intimate birthday. Special thanks to my family, whom I love to the moon and back and then back again.

happy times.

I am sad to say that I have hardly eaten out as of late, hence the lack of food posts. Instead, I have channeled all my efforts into an equally unhealthy hobby; shoe acquisitions. Sometimes I wish that I had hobbies that did not involve money or calories..

But as I dwindle away all my paychecks, you may still live vicariously through my past by checking out the newest addition to my projects, Yummy Eats, a food guide to a few places that I love. So far, I have created a little directory for Seattle, WA and Portland, OR and I hope to expand as I continue my explorations.

And lastly, I've finally created a tumblr in celebration of all the wonderful things on the internet and also because I keep running out of words to say.

paris.

EF - Live The Language - Paris from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

I want to fall in love in Paris.

blue valentine.

Today is February 14th, more commonly known as Valentines Day. This is will be my 20th V-Day without a special someone of the opposite sex. When I was younger and much more of a romantic idealist (I still am sometimes, but maybe with a realist inclination), I would roll around in self-pity. I used to scorn Valentines Day as an opportunity for unnecessary pressure and expectations in relationships and an opportunity for corporate America to get people to spend more money on useless things with hearts on them.

But when I was in the 10th grade, my mom and I begun our own tradition for Valentines Day. The two of us would go to Starbucks, get a fancy coffee (back then I did not exclusively drink boring black coffee as I do now) and buy a Valentines Day-themed coffee tumbler.

I'm not with my mom this Valentines Day, but she's taught me that Valentines Day is not about a specific type of love. It's not about boys (even though boys can be cute and great). It's not even about chocolate or coffee. It's about celebrating the people you love. I'm surrounded by the nicest, funniest, cutest and most clever people on the planet-- and I'm celebrating that today. Cheesy valentines and luxurious chocolate included, of course.

Ann-Marie and I went on a date night to see the Picasso exhibit and eat at Wild Ginger. We had an eight hour adventure getting lost in Seattle. On another occasion we watched Blue Valentine and cried together (or at least I know I was bawling). Needless to say, they were both lovely excursions and Ann-Marie is a lovely girl.

The wall where dreams come true.

i will never love you more.

madeleine bread and dessert.

On a fateful Friday morning, my 8:30 French class was cancelled and Katrina and I had indulgent waffles and coffee at Madeleine Bread and Dessert. The meal, which can be more accurately described as a waffle sandwich, was filled with heaps of butter, jam, and chocolate.

Somehow the juxtaposition between salty, sweet, and chocolatey worked out very well. Although these calorie-packed condiments were unexpected, I would be lying to say that at the time they were unwelcome.

french toast and other confessions.

Confession #1: Last week I went to everybody's favorite brunch place in Seattle- Portage Bay Cafe with Alyssa and Champ.

In an effort to safeguard my waistline, I thought about getting the oatmeal or a veggie-ish scramble or something with at least a little bit of nutritional value.

But I couldn't. (Big surprise, I'm sure). I have really, really bad eating habits. (A world-shattering revelation, I'm sure).

I gorged myself on the fantastic Lemon Curd French Toast to the point of fatigue, bloating, and of course, over-indulgence. But it was all worth it: Organic challah bread, lemon curd, ice-cream scooped butter blob, and berries galore!

Confession #2: J.Crew and Madewell have effectively brainwashed me and taken over my wardrobe. I don't think this is healthy.

Confession #3: I hate wearing pants. For instance, even though I like my adorable J.CREW (!!) toothpick ankle skimmer jeans, I just dislike wearing pants in general. They are so constricting and wearing pants so much in the winter makes me feel like a man...

But then, during the winter holidays, I acquired these J.CREW (!!!) curator pants. These pants, which are of a dressier, suiting material, have a lovely cropped and high-waisted cut. Also, they feel like pajamas... And as I have made it well-publicized on this blog that I like to wear pajamas as often as possible (I like to try to wear my pajamas in the real world by disguising them), it is safe to say these pants will be getting a lot of wear.

Confession #4: I did this post instead of studying for my French quiz tomorrow. Whoops.

ratatouille.

Ratatouille, the heart-warming tale of a mouse who has a passion for cooking, is one of my favorite Pixar films. The animated images of the classic French dishes, particularly ratatouille, a traditional Provençal stewed vegetable dish, made me drool.

Last year, Nicole introduced me to Smitten Kitchen's ratatouille recipe. The flavors are rich and comforting.

The dish consists of a tomato paste with garlic and onion at the bottom. Then, layers of eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, and yellow pepper slices are sprinkled with thyme, ground pepper, and salt.

fun-saved nights.

Before the holidays, I attended a classy dessert potluck soirée. It was an unhealthy dose of happiness disguised as sugary confections, such as the raspberry and hazelnut thumb print cookies Monique and I baked.

I've been rather excessive with my disposable cameras these past few months, but I cannot resist the urge to save the fun with my fun savers! I savor the surprise element involved with developing film and the romantic photo quality that the sharpness of digital photos cannot always convey.

Needless to say, I'm switching over to my first real film camera for practical and economic reasons once I finish my current disposable camera. It will be sad to say goodbye to an era of fun, but I look forward to whatever is to come.