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French Laundry

Hi everyone! I have been on a mad crazy hiatus. Sorry!

I seriously came up on the chance of a lifetime: my friend got us a reservation at The French Laundry  If you don't know what that is, it is probably one of the most amazing restaurants there is in Napa Valley. (rated 3 Michelin stars!) It is owned by Chef Thomas Keller. The man is a culinary wizard.

Ever since my first taste of fine dining, I had always dreamed of dining at The French Laundry. I've dined at Bouchon in Las Vegas so French Laundry was the next step! (just kidding) However, I heard that reservations are extremely hard to get and they only let you book 2 months in advance. I was thinking "How hard can it be if you can do this 2 months in advance?" Well, let me explain to you how hard it was!
My friends and I agreed on a Saturday, June 2 reservation 2 months ago. My friend called every week repeatedly trying to get the date and time we wanted. Finally, she was told that they were fully booked and that we could be put on a wait list if we would like. We waitlisted ourselves and carried on with our lives making other plans for June 2 thinking that we wouldn't get in. Boy were we wrong!! On Wednesday, May 30 my friend got a call from The French Laundry saying someone had cancelled on Saturday, June 2, would we like the reservation?

WHY WAS THIS EVEN A QUESTION!?

We took it in a heartbeat and I cancelled my Saturday plans. Then came the panic..

What to wear? What to wear?

Well.. Here you go!

The shoes. 

the little black dress

the face. 

Just MUFE duo mat powder, Christian Dior brow pencil in Universal Brown, some Japanese liquid eyeliner (I forget the brand, my coworker bought it for me in Hong Kong) and Shu Uemura lipstick in #270. I always love a good red. I normally go with a matte red but MAC dries my lips out. This Shu Uemura red has a blue undertone but is super moisturizing.

... And now, there will be an onslaught of pictures of food. If you're hungry, do yourself a favor and don't scroll any further! hahahaha

2006 Littorai pinot, Haven Vineyard

we made a couple of stops along the way..

 my first time having a Bouchon macaron!

...and now, let the real food journey begin!

I wonder how many of these old school clothes pins go missing every year..

1st course: 1st course: "sabayon" of pearl tapioca, island creek oysters and white sturgeon caviar

smooth, creamy, briny, mmmmmm. muy fantastico! 

 2nd course: Moulard duck "foie gras parfait" summer yellow peaches, wild ramps, celery branch, Pearson Farm pecans and whipped yogurt.

I have never had a terrine of foie prepared in such a way. It was crazy good. The peaches were so sweet, went excellent with the foie.

Here is a look at the layers:

3rd course: Kona Kanpachi Amandine. Holland white asparagus, cauliflower and "beurre noisette" Best way I have ever had kanpachi! Tender, juicy, great crunch from the almonds. I love a good trout amandine but this kanpachi one definitely takes the cake!

4th course: "Beets and leeks" Maine lobster tail "pochee au beurre doux" , King Richard leeks, "Pommes Maxims" and red beet essence. Basically the lobster is poached in its own shell and bathed in butter. If there's anything the French love, it's butter. Best lobster I have ever had in my whole life. 

 I am more of a cabernet sauvignon person, but this 2006 Littorai pinot was delicious! Paired excellent with our light dishes at French Laundry. Very well balanced and had a sweet finish.

5th course: 49 day dry aged beef tartare. quail egg, spring pole beans, garlic scapes, and dijon mustard.
Each cube of beef was perfectly marbled. So tender.

6th course: Marcho farm nature-fed veal. "Coeur de Veau" English peas, Tokyo turnips, Nantes carrots, Sicilian pistachios and Madras curry jus.
Most tender veal I've ever had. Not gamey at all either. Loved the English peas, they were so sweet!

 7th course: Tomme Dolce. Violet artichoke, Castelvetrano olives, pine nuts, arugula, Meyer lemon condiment.

Cheese isn't really my thing (Hello. I'm Asian. Kinda lactose!) but it was still good.

 8th course: "Buttermilk Glace" cornmeal financier, Delta blueberries, and noble maple syrup.
Never thought I'd enjoy a buttermilk sorbet so much but this delicious. 2 bites and it was a goner

 9th course: Cream cheese "bavarois" acacia honey "granite" French Laundry Garden strawberries, and black pepper "aigre-doux
That granite was something else. Never had a honey granite before but it complimented everything perfectly. Why can't other restaurants do a proper granite!? I've had one at 5a5 in San Francisco and it was disgusting. They can't all be Thomas Keller restaurants.. 

Not a part of the chef's tasting menu but at French restaurants they always give you extra.

Donut holes and cappuccino semifreddo.

Geezus.. Even the donut holes were good, and I don't even like donuts!

Not pictured was the amuse-bouche (It was a gruyere cheese puff ball thing and a crepe like thing with red onion creme fraiche and salmon. I didn't take pictures beacuse it looked like a penis to me. But whatever, was still super amazing delicious), the chocolate hazelnut covered nuts, and some chocolates. I would've been okay with petit fours but they went with chocolates!

This was a crazy expensive meal so don't take this the wrong way. I do not dine like this all the time. I am not a rich person, I don't make six figures. I am wealthy in the sense that I have great foodie friends! However, if you yourself are a foodie, I do recommend you make the decision to dine here at least once in your life. Every single course was amazing.

what a remarkable dinner with Tracy, Cherlynn and myself!

♥

Oh, hai!

Hey everyone. I'm alive, I swear.

NARS concealer - packaging change!

(L) new packaging = 0.07oz (R) old packaging = 0.17oz

 new packaging: all 0.07oz of product

As you can see.. NARS has changed up their packaging for their concealer. 

The price is still about $22. Is it worth it?

I normally wouldn't make a stink about this but you are getting ripped off! I use concealer under my eyes every single morning. Since this is a daily product for me, I felt it was necessary for me to do a little digging. 

Like I stated previously, the new sleek packaging brings it to a whopping measly 0.07oz. The old packaging was 0.17oz, a little more than double the amount!

Most people will say the weight has changed due to less packaging but I disagree.

Since I used up all of my old NARS concealer, I used a MAC lipstick for comparison. The old NARS concealer came in a lipstick shape.

You are getting way less product now folks. =\

 Screw this.

I need a new concealer anyway. NARS hasn't been working well for me anymore. It gets dry and cakey under my eyes despite me using eye cream. 

Suggestions?

the ugly

I'm going to Sephora's VIB event tonight. I get 20% my purchases and so does one friend that I bring along. Of course I am bringing Melissa.That woman has not blogged since she went to Miami in April but I have hopes that she'll return to the blogging world.
Anyway...

When I first started this blog, I had every intention on this being a beauty blog. I got so caught up in appearance, cosmetics, basically the superficial. I came to know other bloggers, met fellow beauty bloggers, befriended and DEFRIENDED a few... *ahem* I tried to keep up and I couldn't.
I think a good majority of the few true beauty bloggers that still stand today are great people. I never had a well known blog, and I know my blog will never culminate to that point. I admit, I could not keep up with the superficial.

I am an average person. I go to work Monday through Friday, from 8am to 5pm and make a decent living for myself.
However, I cannot afford to spend, spend, spend on the monthly. I can't keep up with the latest MAC collections (they seem to have a few every couple of months, what the fuck),  I can't purchase all the nail polishes from all the seasonal collections I want. Whenever a brand comes out with a new foundation, whether it be drugstore or high end, I don't bother to purchase it. Let's be real. Am I ever going to use all my nail polish and makeup!?
FUCK NO.

I don't know how the hell the other ladies keep up with it and manage to have the SPACE to store it all but props to them.
I am an average person living in a small San Franciscan home, which means my room isn't spacious.

So tonight when I get to Sephora, I only intend on purchasing things I really want: powder foundation (I've completely hit pan and almost killed it all) and under eye concealer.

I'm not afraid to show who I really am. I have atrocious bags under my eyes. I genetically have dark circles under my eyes. I have freckles, sun spots, and moles on my face.  I'm 5'2 1/2" and I weigh around 125 pounds. Yes, I weigh one hundred and twenty five pounds. I am not a "skinny" person like many claim I am. I am average. Camera angles and positioning can be deceiving. I am not okay with my weight gain and belly pudge, but I don't whine. I am the one in control of my weight, my looks, and my feelings. I'm just going to push myself to actually exercise.

the magic's in the makeup.

Beauty is only skin deep. Don't get swept up in the hype like I did. 

Vegas round 3

On the plane with my Latina half

sometimes things don't make sense after 32oz of pina colada.

 

CHOCOLATE WASTED @ DEADMAU5

do you know who I am?

did Mel's makeup for Black Swan. Think I did a pretty good job..

 poor Kim. poor? yea right, she's still a millionaire

After 4 days in Vegas, back to work & reality.

Hair cut!

 going to rename someone in my phonebook as Liam Neeson in case my phone gets jacked

it only makes sense if you've seen "Taken"

 I somehow always do this.. wear a white shirt, order RED noodle soup and splash on myself *smh*

 Theophilus London @ Rickshaw Stop. Check him out, he's blowing up

 I rode a crocodile while waiting for him to come on.

and I wore stickers on my face.. they were given to me by my favoritestestestest 4 yr old girl in the whole wide world, my friend's niece.

It's been beautiful in San Francisco lately.

one of my friends lost a bet and owed me a whole entire cake. I went to pick it up from his house and look how he answered the door.

then I flew to Los Angeles for a baby shower. this was my carry-on pal

went to my friend's house for a kick back and he made margaritas.

tequila is not my alcohol of choice but he made some damn tasty margaritas. couldn't say no!

cheers to the weekend!

the actual baby shower..

flew back to San Francisco...

I hate flying Southwest. No tv's, no music. UGH

who else redeemed their full sized L'Occitane shea butter hand cream for "liking" their FaceBook page?!

I also copped 2 more hand creams with the 15% off coupon included 

Thank you again Eki for tweeting about it!

damn me and my white shirts...

HERE YOU GO MICHAEL

THIS

WAS

AN

UPDATE

OF

RANDOM

BULLSHIT

PEACE