Wednesday, August 28, 2013

paris adventure!

My boyfriend and I went to Paris to visit his family couple weeks ago - so much fun! It was filled with lots of touristy and family times which included a lot of home cooked meals. I've always wondered what French food consists of and discovered that it's lots of baguettes, steak, pasta, pastries, etc. I love croissants and the boyfriend made sure I had some every morning (they were so fresh and yummy!) :)
we had a plate of croissants and eggs with lardons (taste like ham) almost every morning 



ribs with potatoes, steak, baguettes, carbonara pasta with lardons, and salad























at the concorde

It was pretty hot in Paris so my outfits consisted of summer/maxi dresses, tank tops, and shorts.

One of my favorite highlights of the trip was going to Pont Neuf - where couples from around the world visits to place a locket on the bridge that symbolize their love and throws the key into the river to symbolize eternal love.


We're gonna try to find our locket the next time we visit - hopefully next year. :)

Thanks for reading!

<3, phu






Wednesday, August 14, 2013

brunch: banh tom

again, with all the traveling we've been doing, we changed it up a bit.  instead of making something, we gave each other the option of either making something, or sharing with you all the brunch we had.  

when i think about brunch, i don't often think about Vietnamese food.  so i thought to myself, if i was having a Vietnamese brunch, what would i eat?  the first thing that comes to mind is chao, porridge, which is probably because i will eat that any time of day.  i then thought about what my mom would make when we got to sleep in a little bit on the weekends.  the first thing that came to mind was banh tom, which is a sweet potato shrimp cake.  so that is exactly what i ordered when i met some friends at Minh's Restaurant in Milpitas, CA

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Banh Tom (sorry, we dug in before i could take the picture)
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if you'd like to make your own, which i definitely recommend, i found the recipe here on Sea Salt with Food.  This recipe looks exactly how my mom used to make them, the thinly sliced sweet potatoes patties with the shrimp nested in the middle.  a shrimp nest, if you will.  i remember walking into the kitchen and seeing the thin slices of the orange sweet potatoes and shrimp bathing in their batter, as my mom was tending over the hot frying pan.  she made platefuls of these little guys for me and my brothers to chow down on.  she made sure we ate our greens by showing us that we would need to wrap it in lettuce before we ate it.  i miss sitting down with my mom and siblings and enjoying a good home cooked meal.

i hope you try making these yourself, i know i definitely will the next time i get.

thank you for stop by and joining!

<3 roe [a roesy life]

travel diary: nuptials in San Diego

FLAN has been and will be jetsetting all month, so we decided to share with you our travels instead.

earlier this month i had the honor of attending and taking part in my friend's wedding.  a long time high school friend met the love of his life in San Diego, and we travelled all the way down there to share in their special day.  if you read my personal blog, you would've seen a quick snap shot here.

the Friday before the wedding, we rounded up the posse that was driving, left around 9:15pm, and didn't arrive in San Diego until 4:30am.  remind me never to drive to San Diego, again.  i did not have the luxury of sleeping in.  3hrs later i was up and getting ready.  since i had the honor of placing the veil around the couple during the ceremony, i had to get to the church on time!

Bride & Groom with their parents.
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our gorgeous bride during their vows
after the Church ceremony at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, we went on a hunt for food and a little necessity shopping.  once we got to our beautiful hotel, Hotel Palomar, i proceeded to knock out for an hour.  then it was up again, to get ready to enjoy the reception at Jasmine Seafood Restaurant.  it was a beautiful event, from the sweets & treats, to our spotlighted couple.



"love is sweet" dessert bar & "Mr. & Mrs." treat bags

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i love, love.  and couldn't be happier to see two people who care about each other so much. hope you all feel the love!
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we ended the night lighting up the sky
the next morning, we checked out, went to Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop for lunch (review to come), then hit the road again back to the Bay Area.  9-10hrs later, we were finally home, and i ko'd in my bed.

thank you for joining me on this short trip to San Diego.  I hope you all felt the love!

<3 roe [a roesy life]

Thursday, August 8, 2013

H&M Home!

I'm sure many of you have seen it, and if not, I'm happy to share it.

H&M Home is finally available for us!


it couldn't come at a better time, since i've been looking to get new pillows for my living room. here are some of my favorites

some solids and prints in a mix of neutral and bright colors

maybe some sequined pillows for some glam fun?

and definitely a postcard pillow to keep my travel bug going
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i can't wait to browse some more and see what good finds come about it.

what are some of your favorite finds?

Thanks for stopping by!
<3 roe [a roesy life]