+ Does anyone else’s 4 year old son check out pretty older girls like mine? Max does it all the time. Either he’s going to be a ladies’ man or a model scout. Max and his daddy were at Gap the other day, and while the hubby was trying on some shorts, Max just kept staring at the pretty saleslady. The hubby said Max was taking his sweet time leaving the fitting room. And then just yesterday, while riding his bike around the lake, Max almost ran into a tree because he was too busy looking at the cute ladies jogging by. The hubby had to snap him out it. It’s really funny to see this.

+ We went to try Mort’s Deli today for dinner after hearing all the buzz about it. I had the Hot Brown, and the hubby had some sort of hot pastrami sandwich. My dish wasn’t that great, but the hubby liked his. I wouldn’t mind going back, but will try something different. We did leave with a slice of Carnegie Deli’s famous cheesecake. Sooooo good. I think it might be better than Cheesecake Factory.

+ Yesterday, we hit up the Mpls Farmer’s Market for lunch. We had the usual corn on the cob, brats, lemonade & mini donuts. We walked by Cocoa & Fig’s booth, and they gave Max a free cupcake. So nice of them. I couldn’t help but take a bite of it, and OMG the cupcake was amazing, especially the frosting. It was the perfect amount of sweetness. I will definitely consider them for sweets next time. I love their blog & pictures too, so check it out.

+ Have you guys seen this guy’s photos of Hmong people in Vietnam? Simply beautiful. I like this one & this one, among others.

[Me, Lisa & Merrilyn]

+ Weekend recap: Lisa’s 29th Birthday Party, Tator Daze with Mike’s parents,  and Father’s Day lunch with my Dad & siblings.

+ During Lisa’s birthday celebration, the hubby got super drunk with my brothers & cousins. He suffered from a hangover for a day & a half afterward. He won’t be doing that again anytime soon. Lol. I don’t care as long as he doesn’t throw up in our new car or in our bed–which he couldn’t because he slept in the tub. I wish I thought to take pictures.

[Having a Father's Day dinner at Punch by Lake Calhoun.]

+ Some new restaurants we’ve tried in the last few months (sorry, no pics):

1. Five Guys (Edina) - Eh… I would rather go to Convention Grill or Culvers even.
2. Zen Asian Restaurant  (Uptown)- I usually try & stay away from places that has the word “fusion” in it, or that has a mish mash of different Asian cuisines, but decided to give this place a shot. We had their wonton napoleon appetizer, chicken pad thai, and Korean short ribs. The ribs were decent, but the cabbage slaw that came with it was not very good. The pad thai was below average, lacking in taste even though it had some heat to it. I don’t know if we’ll go back.
3. Kozys  (Edina) - Pretty good, but a little on the pricey side. I had a chicken pot pie, and the hubby had the French dip sandwich.
4. The Craftsman (S. Mpls) - Mmmm good! My dish was the grilled grass fed beef hangar steak with fries and béarnaise. :9 The hubby had the white cheddar, harissa, and bacon beef burger. Definitely going back.
5. Pho Hoa (Eat Street) - Yuck! One of the worst pho places I’ve been to in a long time.
6. Tiger Sushi (Uptown) - Eek…. Fish didn’t taste fresh.
7. Sebastian Joe Ice Cream (Uptown) - Good ice cream, but the homemade waffle cone was not good. It tasted stale & wasn’t sweet at all. I am still searching for some good gelato.
8. Kinh Do (Uptown) - We went here specifically to eat egg rolls (which aren’t comparable to Que Viet’s), beef over potatoes and hot & spicy chicken. Que Viet still wins in all three dishes AND price.
9. Smashburger (St.Anthony) - This is another new burger joint in town. The burger was alright. Verdict: being all the way across town, their burger isn’t good enough to warrant the drive. Also the onion rings were pretty sorry. Very thinly sliced and soggy.

+ We’re taking Max to Day Out with Thomas the Train in August with his cousin Christopher. While he’s not obsessed with Thomas, he does like trains, so I think (hope) he’ll enjoy it.

Weekend recap in the fewest words possible: Annual family picnic. Bought Max a bike. Lunch with Pajjar & Maysee. Dinner with my sisters.

Made steak sandwiches the other night. This is not the same steak sandwiches that I always make for the hubby. This is Ina Garten’s (of Barefoot Contessa) recipe. The hubby loved it, and says it’s in his top five sandwiches of all time. (He loves sandwiches.) Btw, the hubby wanted me to take a picture of the sandwich with the Glad box as if I was in the Top Chef show. Here’s the recipe:

Steak Sandwiches
Adapted from Ina Garten

1 (12-ounce) 1-inch thick New York strip boneless beef top loin steak ( I used ribeye steaks)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
2 yellow onions, sliced in rings
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Mustard Mayo, recipe follows
2 mini focaccia buns, sliced in 1/2 (I used ciabatta)
1/2 cup baby arugula

Season the steak liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan over high heat until it’s almost smoking, then sear the steak on each side for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low and cook the steak for about 7 to 10 minutes, turning once, until very rare in the middle. Remove to a plate, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Slice the steak into strips.

Using the same saute pan, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and thyme and saute for 10 minutes, until the onions are brown and caramelized, stirring occasionally.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread a tablespoon of Mustard Mayo on the bottom half of each bun. Place a layer the steak strips on top of the mayo, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with the caramelized onion rings. Place the baby arugula on top of the onion rings, and cover the sandwiches with the top half of the buns.

Mustard Mayo
This is much different from the original — a lot less mayo, more mustard, more present flavor, we thought.

1/3 cup good mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (I omitted this since I couldn’t find any. It still tasted good.)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve at room temperature. Makes 2-3 generous sandwiches.

I love fake lashes. Mainly because my real lashes are so skimpy & sparse. My cousin Shanna is currently trying out Latisse, and she says it’s working for her. I wouldn’t mind paying for longer & thicker lashes, but you have to consistently use the serum or else your lashes will not stay long & thick. Not very convenient. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to see how different lashes look, so here are two I like. I usually wear the 7 lash when I go clubbing or for special occasion. I was at Sally’s the other day, and picked up a couple of Ardell lashes since they were less $$, so the pair on the left is new for me. Price wise, the lashes by Ardell are about $3.50/pair versus $12/pair for the MAC ones.

Yesterday, I had my girlfriend Mitsue cut my hair. Check it out… I still can’t style my hair like how she can, so the styling in the pic is not that great. There was a lot more volume & curl. I am seriously thinking about treating myself to a blow out once a week. I just love how my hair feels & looks when Mitsue works her magic.

Does my teeth look whiter? I’ve been using those Crest Whitestrips. I just started last night. Go get some right now. They’re doing a buy 1, get 1 free deal (only for the premium). The only thing I don’t like is how they keep slipping off my teeth, and how they make me drool. Note to self: do not wear outside the house. But hey, it’s cheaper than going into the office. Btw, I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, so I hope for healthy teeth.

Have a good weekend! It’s gonna be beautiful here. Woop di woo!

This weekend was a busy one. It was Mike’s buddy John’s birthday, so basically we spent the whole weekend with his friends. Friday, met up with my girlfriend Maysee & her sisters (and their SO’s) at Karma. It was also their brother Tou’s birthday too. Lots of fun that night. Reason for the hijacked blog the other night. Mike was a little drunk & couldn’t sleep after we came home. I should change my password huh?

On Saturday, even though it was chilly & rainy, we went to Sandy’s picnic for her son Landon. Everyone ate real quick & went home since the weather was so icky.  Later that evening, we went over to John’s place to hang out. Auntie Meetas watched Max the whole night for us. Since we didn’t leave until 2am, Max ended up sleeping at her place. His first sleepover ever.

Then on Sunday, had lunch with my sisters & cousin Shanna, who left for France yesterday (have a safe & fun trip Shanna!) at Quangs. Later, we met up with the hubby’s friends for dinner at Manny’s. Ate too much food, as usual.

I made risotto for the first time tonight. I found the recipe from Epicurious. It was ‘lemony risotto with asparagus & shrimp‘. Sorry no pics. I think if it weren’t for the lemon zest, this dish would be pretty bland. Anyway, it was good, but don’t think I’ll be making it again anytime soon. Took me longer than 45 minutes. And the little munchkin wouldn’t eat it either.

Max’s last day of school was today. We gave each of his teachers a giftcard to Convention Grill with a Thank You note. Max is going to miss them. He doesn’t really understand that it was his late day, and that he’ll be at a new school next fall. Good thing his teachers didn’t get all emotional, because it would have made me tear up too.

Spent too much moola this weekend, but it was all fun. Be back later to recap. And yeah, the hubby hijacked my blog while I was sleeping.

Mike has graciously volunteered to fill in as a guest blogger today.

The rest of this post is from Mike.

Hum the Charles in Charge theme song to yourself while you read this for maximum impact.

I am sitting at home with a brick of spicy cheese (I am not drunk enough *yet* to snack on one of those stacks of American cheese slices) and no crackers. So what do I do you are probably asking? Well, I have tried texting my friend 2-men to see if he has something better to do - what is better than eating a brick of cheese you are probably asking yourself - but no luck.

It is now 4 in the morning and I am debating if I should stay up  a couple hours longer until 5:35 so I can go buy donuts, just eat the damn cheese, or should I try to watch Charles in Charge so I can fall a sleep. I do not mean that Charles in Charge is boring and will put me to sleep in the middle of the night.  I just mean that there is only 12 episodes on Hulu and I am one of the lucky few that have seen the entire first season multiple times, so it is not like I am going to be surprised and jump out of bed when Charles figures out how to put that kid to sleep or whatever he has to do. That Friggen Buddy Limbeck.

Side Note:

Mackenzie forget whatever you learning in whatever classes you are doing Friday and Thursday night, because Charles will guide you and your kids to a better future.

Update:

Ok, I took a bite of the cheese without any crackers, and I have to admit It was great. I ate it like a apple like George Constanze. I was also able to buy a box of 12 Ho-Hos for only $2.50 (you can get Twinkies or those cupcakes ones or Ding Dongs if you prefer them), so I am now washing down the cheese with that. So yes, the night just got even better.

Ok so stop humming that friggen theme song, and go do something.

+ This weekend was lovely, and the weather even better too. On Sunday, I dropped the boys off at Southdale to watch “UP”. Then I went to Mall of America for some shopping. (I’m so in need of new clothes.) After Mike & Max were done watching the movie, they caught a bus to MOA. We planned it that way since Max loves to ride buses & trains. It worked out nicely, and I was able to get at least 3 hours of shopping time. Although I was only able to get 3 shirts, a skirt, and a pair of sandals.

+ Here’s the sympathy arrangement I made for Maysee’s Aunt that passed away. RIP Mrs. Olson. Maysee & her sisters found a picture online of what they liked, so I just worked off of that. The arrangement was huge. At least 4 feet tall & 3 feet wide. There were dendrobium orchids, cymbidium orchids, gladiolas, hydrangeas, irises (from my backyard too!), and wax flowers. All of the flowers were just gorgeous.

+ I actually have a busy summer this year, so I’m kind of glad that I didn’t take a class. I have my sister’s baby shower to throw, some flower arrangement projects, some craft projects, a couple of weddings to attend, house maintenance projects, swim classes for Max, and we might go somewhere on vacation.

+ Hope you all had a lovely Memorial Weekend. We were car shopping on Saturday. Sunday was at the mall. On Monday, we were at Maysee’s for her baby girl Rylee’s 2nd birthday. As always, good food & good company. I wish I would have thought to take some pictures.

+ My schedule for this weekend: parent/child class tomorrow morning, sympathy flower arrangement to do, Sandy’s coming over tomorrow night so I can help dye her hair, have graduation open house on Saturday, and also taking Max to Vehicle Day.

+ In regards to Vehicle Day, if you have a kid who loves any kind of vehicle, there will be police car, buses, firetrucks, etc at Sabathani Community Center parking lot on 310 E. 38th St in Minneapolis on Saturday, the 30th from 10-1pm. One year they even had a helicopter, so that would be cool if they have it again this year.

+ Speaking of vehicles, we traded our car for a new Bimmer (328i xDrive) the other day. We couldn’t resist the good deals–0.9% APR and below invoice price tag! The hubby’s been wanting this car since college graduation. I really wanted a white one, but black was all they had left for what we were looking for, so the hubby got the color he wanted. I’m kind of sick of black cars, so next time, we are getting a white for sure. Not backing down again. I felt like we were cheating on our Benz when we went to the dealership. I miss the Benz, but performance wise, the new car is better.