Birthdays and Israeli food

These past couple of days have held birthdays of a few people close to Chris and me. On the 28th, it was my parents' 28th anniversary and my aunt's 54th birthday. Last night, we celebrated our good friend Wes' birthday at an Israeli restaurant in Philadelphia called Zahav.

Five of the six of us had never been to this place before, and we were all pretty much blown away by how good the food was. Plus, it was tapas style, so we were all able to taste a little bit of everything. My favorite presentation, though, had to be the starter salatim, which had eight different salads.



While the portions were small, we had so many dishes that we were all stuffed after the meal...but not stuffed enough to decline dessert! Cashew baklava, yum...



And here's Wes blowing out the candle from his dessert (the Halvah mousse):


Happy birthday!

Binh & Chen: Engagement

We had the pleasure of shooting Binh and Chen's engagement photos this past weekend at their alma mater, Rutgers University. We were pretty excited, as this was our first e-shoot, so THANK YOU, Binh and Chen, for trusting us with your photos!

These two were in the same physics class when Binh was a freshman and Chen was a sophomore. During an after-exam review, Binh and her roommate noticed Chen, and they referred to him as "The Physics Guy." They ran into each other randomly on the Rutgers bus, but Chen never noticed Binh sneaking glances at him as they rode to class.

One day, Binh's roommate intervened and dragged her to the computer lab (where Chen worked) under the guise of making photocopies for a class.

Finally, a year later, they met, and the rest is history.















After walking around campus, we headed to the famous Rutgers grease trucks for lunch, followed by I's Cafe for bubble tea (we on the west coast call it "boba").

Slow-roasted salmon

I absolutely love seafood. I can eat it raw, roasted, baked, broiled, fried (although not my favorite prep unless it's calamari), sauteed, you name it.

I recently found a recipe for slow-roasted salmon from the Cooking for Friends cookbook from Williams-Sonoma. My friend Steph is an avid cook and she and I like to scour the internet for recipes and trade. I saw this book at WS, fell in love with the photography first, and realized that this was a book we BOTH needed.

Chris and I decided to (and by Chris and I, I mean I decided to...he just agreed) try out this new recipe. It sounded healthy, very simple, and absolutely delicious. I paired with smashed potatoes from Simply Recipes, using red potatoes instead of new.

Verdict on the salmon was...well, let's just say Chris bought 1.8 pounds and we ended up eating 95% of it. It was THAT good (and good for you). Rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with only salt and pepper, it was simple enough to let the freshness of the fish shine through. We did squeeze some lemon on, after garnishing with chives and parsley, and pair it with a little bit of creme fraiche, and that just catapulted us into a whole other level of bliss.

Pam and Ray's wedding

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of flying out to California to attend the wedding of our two good friends, Pam and Ray. Chris and I met them in college (I was in a co-ed service fraternity with them and Chris worked in student government with Ray), and they were also in our wedding. Ray was Chris' best man and Pam was one of my bridesmaids. It made us so happy to see two of our favorite people start their married lives together!


Kiss from her dad...


...and kiss from her groom!


I love this photo of the two of them, mainly because we've never seen Pam look at anyone the way she is looking at Ray in this picture.


During the dragon dance


Classic Pam and Ray: Ray was laughing at her during their engagement video, and Pam puts up with Ray's shenanigans. :D


First dance

Spicy Asian Crab Cakes

When it comes to adding anything hot or spicy to a recipe, I tend to go a bit overboard. Not that whatever I'm making becomes inedible, but enough to make Chris and me hiss a little when we take our first bite. Nothing wrong with a little kick though! ;)

Tonight's dinner is courtesy of the Steamy Kitchen cookbook.

Happy 1st birthday, Jake!

Last Friday, Jake turned one year old. As Chris and I were taking pictures of Mike and Charlotte opening the gifts, we commented that we still remembered taking pictures at the baby shower!

After braving through a crazy snowstorm, we arrived to the party a little late, but just in time for cake and presents. Jake's party had a Paul Frank theme...I absolutely loved his hoodie!







After all the guests cleared out, Chris got this shot of one pooped Jake...

I got the sear!

One of my other passions (besides photography, traveling, and anything diabetes related) is cooking. Don't get excited now, I hate spending lots of time in the kitchen, so I appreciate quick, easy recipes. The last thing I want to do when I get home after a full day at work is cook something that takes three hours. No thanks.

Today, I found a simple recipe for scallops and pasta by one of my favorite food bloggers Jaden Hair. I thought I'd give scallops another try, because a few months ago, I made a dish with scallops purchased from the market. The guy lied to me and said they were dry packed, when in fact they were not. I was so disappointed that I gave up on trying again— it was a fairly expensive mistake. The total cost of ingredients that time around was about $20, which is a lot when you're accustomed to paying $5-7 for dinner.

This time around, I decided to go to a high-end market (Di Bruno Bros.) on the way home, pony up the extra dollars, and give it another shot. I got some tips from the seafood guy, who said, and I quote: “Pat it dry, then sear the f*ck out of it.” YESSIR! *salutes*

Imagine my joy when I did exactly what he (and Jaden) told me to do. I got an AWESOME sear (the apartment filled up with smoke, but let's ignore that). I whooped and hollered (literally; I scared Chris) when I flipped over the first scallop.

Chris snapped this while I was plating. For the record, we each had six jumbo scallops, but I only put four on so you could still see the pasta. ;) Total cost of dinner tonight: $25, which includes the scallops, pasta, tomatoes, onions, and other items.

Naya

Naya is my coworker Jess' daughter. She's so full of energy, just like her mom. Naya's dad told Chris and me on our way to their house that she absolutely LOVES taking pictures and that she'll totally ham it up for the camera.

Not only did Naya deliver the cheesiness, she obliged to her mom's request for a more "toned down" smile. After all, these would be going on their Christmas cards this year!


Chris caught this one as she was preparing to smile for me

The Windy City

This year, Chris and I spent Thanksgiving in Chicago with our cousins Jenn and Fred. Jenn is the sister of Charlotte, baby Jake's momma, and Jake's godmother. I explain this relation to friends by saying we were staying with Chris' cousin's wife's sister and her husband. Imagine the weird stares I got!

Chicago was great, as always. It definitely tops my list as one of my favorite cities, and it's right up there with San Diego and San Francisco. There's just so much to do, and no matter how many extended weekends we take (this will be our second), I don't think we'll ever run out of things to discover.

Take, for example, the Sears Tower Skydeck. Or, more specifically, the GLASS BOX OF DOOM. I'm not normally afraid of heights, but there is something about being 103 stories above the ground with nothing but concrete below you. Chris, on the other hand, got light headed when he stepped on. He's not a huge fan of heights.

He is, however, a fan of awesome views, such as this one. This is the view from Jenn and Fred's 15th floor balcony. The sky was crazy cool that night, so I just stood out there with a tripod.



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Vanessa: Boudoir

A few nights ago, our friend Vanessa instant messaged Chris, asking for anniversary gift ideas. She and her boyfriend are celebrating two years together, and she wanted to surprise him.

Chris threw the question at me, and I jokingly yelled out, "BOUDOIR SHOOT!"

One thing you should know about Chris and me is that, when we joke about something, it always comes true in one way or another. Case in point: our trip to Italy, which started off with me sending him the link to Expedia.com's promotion on cheap flights to Rome.

That being said, we totally did not expect Vanessa to think it over and agree (all within about 20 minutes). We warned her it was our first time doing such a shoot, and she said that it was fine, because it was her first time doing one.

For both our first times, I think it turned out pretty well. Here are a couple without getting too risqué!

Jake's Baptism

Last month, Chris and I made our way down to Virginia for Jake's baptism. As you dear readers may remember, we did a maternity shoot with Jake's parents, Charlotte and Mike, and another shoot when Jake was a few weeks old. He's now a growing happy baby, and we were so glad to see him after a few months!

Here are some shots from his baptism over Labor Day weekend.






The poor guy fell asleep before and after the water was poured over his head! So cute.




Knocked out.


The proud parents, Charlotte and Mike.


The proud godparents, Jenn and Fred.


Man of the day!

Jefferson 2013 White Coat Ceremony

Sorry for the semi-long hiatus, folks! We're back with

This past Friday, Chris attended Jefferson University's White Coat Ceremony for the Pharmacy class of 2013. He's in the inaugural class (2012), so last year I was taking his class' photos. This year, however, Chris was behind the lens! Here's a sampler of the reception afterwards...

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful mamas out there! I know I'm a little late, but Chris and I were in NYC all day yesterday so I wasn't able to do a proper post. Here's to my own beautiful mom!


taken by eWed Photography

And of course, Chris' mom:

taken by eWed Photography

Both are the strongest, most inspirational women we know. I'm so blessed to have both the best mom ever and an awesome mother-in-law. We were a bit sad that we weren't able to spend the day with either one of our moms (thus the most recent photos of them are from our wedding back in January).

To all you moms out there, especially to our own...thank you for what you do. Thank you for the never-ending patience and wisdom you have. I can't wait to become a mom myself one day (hopefully in the next couple of years, cough), and when I do, our kids will have the fear of both grandmas instilled in them. *evil laughter* Seriously though, we wouldn't have gotten where we are without you both (tough love sometimes, but definitely necessary!). We love you!

Elaborate Plan of Deception and the Carlsbad Flower Fields

Last weekend, I flew in to Orange County to surprise my dad, who was visiting San Diego and Irvine for work. Thank goodness for Southwest vouchers, because I was able to book, rebook, and change itineraries about three times before finally flying out on Friday, April 24th!

I had an "elaborate plan of deception," as my boss called it-- I told my dad I had to work late on Friday night because a donor was doing a site visit/reception/dinner, then emailed him earlier that day saying I had forgotten my cell phone at home and would call him after the event. Chris and I even went so far as to change the outgoing message on Chris' phone to my voice in case my dad called him (and I forwarded my number to Chris' number during the flight). All was well when I got to Phoenix and called my dad, who I ended up waking up from a nap. He had no idea I was pressing mute after everything I said because announcements were cycling through the airport like crazy!

When boarding time came near, I quickly said goodbye to my dad, saying I needed to get to bed because I was exhausted and had a huge headache. Anxious to get back to his nap, he didn't keep me for long.

I landed in Irvine, hightailed it across the airport and into a cab, and called my dad from the hallway of our condo building. I said a friend of mine had dropped off the package he was waiting for (she's taking care of our place while we're gone) and that she didn't ring the doorbell because I said he was asleep. He said, "Okay, I'll get it now...go back to sleep; I know you're tired!" I said okay and hung up...and waited for the door to open.

I heard the lock turn and waited eagerly for my dad to step out. He emerged from the door, looking down at the ground for a package. I popped out from my hiding place and said, "Hey Pa, what's up?!" The look on his face was PRICELESS. I wish I had a video camera on me!

We had a great time that weekend. There's really nothing like hanging out with my dad one-on-one; we haven't done that in a while, and I think we both really enjoyed having an uninterrupted conversation at Yard House that night, him trying out the house beers and not having to worry about driving himself home (I, btw, drove for the first time in seven months, haha).

On Sunday, we stopped by the Carlsbad Flower Fields on our way down to visit family. In the 18+ years we lived in San Diego, we had never visited the flower fields. Here's to making up for lost time!
















excuse the mean mug...bright sun! :)

And for you inquiring minds, YES, I did get my Mexican food fix! Yay for carne asada fries! ;)