Weekly Wanderings {week 6}

The last couple of weeks have been more hectic than usual, what with dealing with taxes (bleh), and more client work than usual. Hence the lack of a Weekly Wanderings post last week, and a several-days-late post this week. On the bright side, I got a new desk chair! I’m all about celebrating the little victories. 😀

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I had to take care of something at my dad’s in the middle of the week, which was the perfect excuse to steal an old-school ice cream sandwich from his freezer. I never have these at home, but they’re like a taste of my childhood summers. Neapolitan for the win!

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Last weekend, we had to head inland to visit Son’s dad. For some reason, traffic was waaaay worse than normal, so we ended up taking a detour that cut through Chino Hills state park. Driving through the hills felt like we were on vacation. We even pulled over to the side of the road for a little bit to take in the scenery, while Son took a cool little video of the moon.

We got some much-needed rain that evening – as the sun was setting, you could see the storm clouds moving in.

We went for Korean food, as we tend to do when we visit Son’s family. Tofu soup is especially perfect on cold, rainy evenings.

Son opted for a spicy seafood hot pot that he had seen other people ordering in the past. He quite enjoyed it.

And we found the ittiest, bittiest, cutest little crab in Son’s dinner!

After dinner, we ventured through the rain to a dessert restaurant called Wähfle. I got the “Salted Ganache” Wähfle, with chocolate ganache, bacon, candied walnuts, and vanilla ice cream. Just as decadent and delicious as it sounds.

Son got the “‘Murica” which had berries and sweetened condensed milk, while his dad got the creme brulee Wähfle. All were delicious.

And then, on our way home, we stopped by the grocery store. And found a couple of ducks in the parking lot! Son herded them off to the side of the parking lot so nobody would run over them. As we left, the employees of the grocery store were tossing the ducks pieces of bread. Hopefully the ducks got home alright!

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Lest you be fooled by all the beautiful, delicious, magazine-quality food I post (*snort*), let me assure you that most of my meals consist of roasted veggies, rice, and frozen meatballs. And just in case you might think I’m the most amazing cook… you should probably know that I managed to burn all the green beans, asparagus, and mushrooms I made earlier this week. I’m super talented like that.

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Though I used to be a Girl Scout, I don’t really buy Girl Scout cookies much anymore. But I also can’t let a year go by without at least one cookie… and luckily for me, my mother knows me well. I had started craving Tagalongs, and when I stopped by to visit my mom earlier in the week, what do you know – she just happened to have a few Tagalongs set aside just for me!

My mom’s awesome like that.

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So… my younger brother is pursuing an acting and modeling career. Which is awesome. I’m totally jealous.

And his girlfriend (who’s also an actor/model), had the idea that Patrick should start taking ballet classes, to help with his career. Since I used to dance quite seriously, he asked me if I knew any beginner adult ballet classes he could take… and then asked if I would join him. I enthusiastically agreed, of course, as it has been waaaay too long since I’ve been in the studio, and I miss it dearly. Plus, I’m never in better shape than I am when I’m taking ballet classes.

Wednesday was our first class.

… I may have overdone it just a bit.

I couldn’t walk the next day… or the day after that. Or the day after that. And even now, nearly a week later, my calves are still rather tight.

Oops?

Worth it, though! Back to do it all over again on Wednesday! 😀

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Of course, the day after the ballet class, my sister invited me to go to the farmer’s market with her.

Remember the part about how I couldn’t walk? Yeah…

Well, she and her girlfriend felt bad for me, so they stopped by with flowers and kettle corn afterward! So sweet. Made my day. ^_^

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Our new favorite sweet snack: toast with sweetened condensed milk. SO. GOOD.

My brother’s girlfriend, who is also Vietnamese, suggested soaking French bread with Vietnamese coffee, then dipping that in sweetened condensed milk. Guess what I’m trying next? 😀

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Reading: I just finished Servants of the Storm, which I bought a couple of weeks ago when Amazon had it as a Daily Kindle Deal. It’s pretty good, not as spooky as I’d worried it would be, but still a good, suspenseful book.

Now I’m reading Libriomancer, which is a fun book. Kind of reminds me of a mix between the Dresden books and Percy Jackson. A nice, light read (would be a good beach read), and it also happens to be on sale for Kindle right now.

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And lastly, in case you’re worried my life was getting a little too boring, we spent our Friday night chasing a cricket out of our apartment. How it got in (and all the way to the back room!) we’ll never know, but it was a slow, jumpy chase to the front door that involved the tossing of decorative plates, see-through tupperware, and reflective poster paper. Thankfully, both for the cricket and for the sake of our sanity, we finally got the poor thing outside! Sweet, sweet silence.

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Links I’ve loved lately:

This is a powerful piece.

Uptown Funk is my jam these days, but this version is by far my favorite.

Who knew vegan ice cream could sound this delicious?!

I need this pork belly in my life.

Also, this Sriracha duck.

And I always love a good bacon waffle.

This strikes a chord. Even though I don’t have kids, work from home, and could be considered to be somewhat experienced in the kitchen, even I have trouble getting a good meal on the table most days! Sometimes, pre-packaged frozen foods (see: meatballs, above) are just easier, and tastier, and feel like a more reasonable option.

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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.