the weekend is over

:(. time to reminisce as i get ready for yet another week.

one note about friday's dinner. daisy mint has no corkage fee, and almost every table except ours brought a bottle or a few in. so if you're a wine-o, please take note.

saturday, i slept in while the bear went out to see his parents. i was originally supposed to go with him, but i just could not get out of bed that morning. instead, i slept in. . .ahhhh bliss. . .then woke up and started straightening up our place in anticipation of some friends coming over.

the bear is one of those people fortunate enough to still be BFFs with people he grew up with. like, he's known them since birth or elementary school. b was the "other asian" in his elementary school, and despite that rivalry, they became good friends. during the bear's birthday bash last year, it somehow came up that b had a girlfriend of a couple months, which he somehow had failed to mention to all of us. she's currently working and pursuing a degree in NYC, so we hadn't had a chance to meet her until yesterday. she seems pretty cool - smart, strong, friendly, and cute to boot. yay for b! we are totally happy for him and hope this works out. she was regaled with tales of little b and little bear and all the mischief they got into together way back when, and i had to roll my eyes as usual while inside i vicariously lived through them since i was such an obedient, square child.

after some conversation and beverages at our place, we headed out to our favorite dduk bo ssam (rice noodle/skins which you use to wrap korean bbq) place in orange county, shik do rak. yes, there's a ktown location, which is just as good and some argue better, in terms of food. however, garden grove is a better location for wining and dining as it's much cleaner, bigger, and even has this waterfall theme going on with its decor. also, i don't think i've seen an ahjushee (older man, about "dad" or "uncle" age) fight go down in garden grove. weekend nights get crazy, with waits up to 2 hours, so we decided to do dinner instead.

anyway, we ordered a #6-4 combo (4 different kinds of meat, dwenjang jjigae (fermented soy bean paste stew), and a bottle of soju), which includes enough meat for about 6 people despite the menu declaring it as "4 servings." the banchan (side dishes that should always be provided) were alright and not quite as nice/good as at dinner. BUT. . .their new dessert made up for it. they used to give out the melon gum that loses its delicious flavor in approximately 2.54 seconds along with the kind of translucent lollipops they used to sell in bulk at korean sanrio store knockoffs such as morning glory. they now give you a mini serving of tart frozen yogurt, like pinkberry, but icier and even tarter. it was a refreshing way to end the meal, and b and his gf, both pinkberry virgins, enjoyed it a lot.

we were too full for dinner after all that meat-eating, but the bear brought his friend, the turtle, home after their pickup hockey game. they went to our local thai place and brought home some spicy spaghetti, thai chicken pizza with a panang sauce in place of the marinara sauce, wings, a bathtub full of thai iced tea, and bacon-wrapped shrimp. that [thick-cut] bacon-wrapped shrimp was so. freakin. delicious. and yes, the local thai place also happens to serve sub sandwiches, italian, pizza, and burgers, in addition to their more authentic thai menu.

in honor of super foosball sunday, we went to eat at bobby bouchee's, i mean bouchee's bistro. the bear read about it awhile back, he passed the article along as he knows i flip over ANYTHING miniature, and i put it on our list of places to try. it ended up being on restaurant week's list, but it turned out not to matter as their food isn't on the uber expensive side anyway. we had really wanted to try the various burgers, but they only had their brunch menu available, with a limited selection of three burgers.

i got the ahi tuna burgers, and the bear got the turkey sirloin ones. my ahi was tender, perfectly seared, topped with arugula, avocado, and some sort of aioli that was too salty and not all that flavorful, again. the bear's turkey sirloin was surprisingly rich and meaty, and it was topped with juicy roasted tomatoes, mozarella, and some sort of sauce that was delicious. since each of our dishes came with three minis, we split and had 1.5 mini burgers of each kind each. each burger dish also came with a small bowl of thickly cut fries sprinkled with pepper and sea salt, with a chilled, deliciously zesty homemade ketchup. i'm not a ketchup person at all (i prefer condiments such as ranch, thousand island, real mayo, or something garlicky and/or spicy), but i was dousing each bite of fry into this and even spreading some on my burgers. the waitress also mistakenly brought out a sirloin au jus burger to us, and that looked delicious. the cute, sesame-poppy-seed buns were topped with thin, rare roast beef which was then topped with a mini pile of roquefort cheese with au jus on the side. too bad it was soon whisked away. the bear and i also shared a side of baked macaroni and cheese, which consisted of small shell pastry in a velveeta-textured (but much tastier and more natural-colored) cheese and topped with just the right amount of crisp bread crumbs. the portion was perfect for the two of us to share as a side, and it was only $3.50. not bad. they have cupcakes for dessert, but we passed as we were too full.

no photos?!?! i wanted to share a relaxed date with the bear, so i kept the camera at bay since he allows it but doesn't love when i whip the camera out. i've also been feeling a little self-conscious about the camera toting lately, for some reason.

we then made a couple of stops on our way home and arrived just in time for the big game. all the parties we were invited to were a bit too far, as the bear had a hockey game this evening, so we snuggled on the couch, and the bear watched the game as i napped on and off. i woke up in time for the exciting fourth quarter, though, and am so happy the underdog won!

and now, back to our regularly scheduled work week. hopefully i can squeeze some gym or yoga time in, since i've been eating the world, as you can see.