Tastebud Heaven

Now that I am on a "special" diet I sometimes like to picture myself eating one of my favorite foods trying to remember how it tastes, like warm, gooey, chocolatey brownies, or cheesy savory paninis, or giant, juicy burgers.

That brings me to Umami. Yesterday, msn's delish.com had an article highlighting the top 25 best hamburgers in the U.S. Umami Burger was GROSSLY overlooked. For months, Erin and Emily had been telling me things like, "Oo...look! We're passing Umami Burger!" or "You haven't been to Umami yet!" "Sarah Arnstein is wrong. Umami is better than 8 oz. Burger Bar." I had gone to 8 oz. once and their burger was undoubtedly delectable. If anything I was leaning towards Sarah's side since I lived in ignorance.

Then, one day, Emily told me that we were going out to eat before going to Crystal's house. She refused to tell me where because it was just too exciting and she was going to make it a surprise. I started dreaming big. It was like my anticipation for the finale of "Lost". My imagination went far beyond reality. On the way I guessed that we were going to Umami and Emily confessed. She was disappointed at my lack of excitement. But really, how good can a burger be? My tastebuds were ready for intense euphoria.

When we arrived I was encouraged by the atmosphere. Atmosphere does a lot for me. This place was in a unique area, right next door to a Halloween store with a line out the door extending all the way to Grauman's Chinese Theater. Okay...not that long. We sat down and I received my menu. I'll admit, the choices were impressive. I had never seen that many different kinds of burgers listed before. Than my eyes rested on the words "Truffle Burger". I had never tasted truffle sauce before but I knew it's reputation. My mind was set. And let me tell you.... .... ............. ....... you haven't tasted a burger. Until. You've been to Umami. Words cannot describe not only how good MY burger tasted, but also the ones Erin and Emily ordered. This blog post's ending is slightly anticlimatic, because the real climax is awaiting you....at Umami. Trust me. Is their slogan "the fifth taste" not enough for you? Go. Now. Skip work or school if you have to. And thank me later. ;P

More "Recent Times"

October, November and December are always packed with various events, parties and traditions, so they fly by. We didn't really do too much during Halloween this year. But we did still carve pumpkins! Em's is a nerdy pumpkin.


For some reason I chose to carve out Clark Gable's face. Random, I know. I don't even know where I got the idea.

We also went over to Crystal's house a few times in the fall for Farkle game nights and a crazy hiking documentary. I think Crystal is made up entirely of creative bones. (That sounded kinda weird.) She is an amazing cook, decorator, florist...you name it, she does it!

She lives in this really cool old house in Hollywood up on a hill.

I want to be like her! Not many single girls decorate with moose heads and bear rugs. At least I haven't met many that do.

In October we also hosted Dany's baby shower! It was animal themed.

Dany and her sister-in-law, Ruth. Ruth helped host and had lots of fun ideas.

Ruth and Aunt Donna both brought scrumptious desserts.

More food! Including Aunt Donna's deviled eggs. I LOVE her deviled eggs.

What a cute pregnant momma she was!

This little girl was so cute. A 15 year old in a 10 year old body.

And a month or so later...baby Joel! He's four days old here. I need some more recent ones.

I hope to wrap up the recent times tomorrow, so stay tuned...my three readers. ;)

Halloween Greeting

Today I came to the realization that I have had this blog for at least a year, because as I was walking up to the front door of my parent's house, I noticed that our neighbor's graveyard was all set up, the topic of my post last Halloween.

I went to my parent's house tonight for a few reasons...one was that the cul-de-sac across from our house was throwing a mini-potluck dinner, which meant a free meal. Hardly any students showed up to tutoring today because of Halloween, so I only worked an hour and then headed on home just in time to eat. It was a tad awkward because we don't know anyone in the cul-de-sac these days and they all have younger kids. This random kid dressed up as Buzz Lightyear came up to me and asked if he could have a drink. I was kinda thinking, "I'm not your mom, kid' but I headed over to the lemonade pitcher. Another man was already pouring a drink and Buzz tried to take his cup, but I told him to hold on. I think Buzz should have actually dressed up as a camel. As soon as Em and I were done eating we headed on home.

For some reason, I like going home on Halloween to pass out candy to the kids. I don't know why because tonight I found out that I am the worst Halloween greeter on earth. I should have remembered last year when the kids came to the door and shouted out "Trick or treat?!" I would answer "trick" and they looked back at me with blank stares. My mom and my dad are the best at greeting the trick-or-treaters and Emily isn't bad herself. Everytime they answered the door I heard exclamations of "What a cute outfit!" or "Well hello there, who are you supposed to be?" The first time it was my turn to answer the door I heard the kids yelling "Merry Christmas!" before I even opened it. So as I put some candy in their bags I told them they were a bit early. My family mocked me incessantly for being a mean greeter. I just had trouble thinking of what to say to the kids and making it sound sincere at the same time. You'd think I would be better at this considering that I would like to be an elementary school teacher.

Later on tonight, I was thinking over how strange the whole concept of Halloween is. You buy a bunch of candy (which isn't cheap!) to pass out to a bunch of kids that you have never met, that are dressed up as Spiderman and Transformers.

Anyway, at least we had an enjoyable time watching a classic Hitchcock movie. (Despite the fact that it was interrupted every five minutes by the doorbell.)

The Extra Hour

I have just got to say, I am thankful for daylight savings time! My neighbors next door are a young couple that are apparently obsessed with Halloween. They created a musicians graveyard out front. Come on over if you want to pay your respects to Johnny Cash, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Ringo, and a few others. There's also a lovely little headstone that says, "U must die." Hm... Anyway, they are having a massive Halloween party tonight and I don't think I will ever fall asleep. So ya, I'm thankful for that extra hour. It's kinda funny though, that extra hour. I don't think I know a single person who actually takes advantage of it. If anything, it seems that people stay up later than they normally would.
I remember when I used to dress up for Halloween...it was fun, but now I really like what my Bible study does. We have a Reformation day party. This year it was really cool because John Glass came and talked about John Calvin and showed us pictures of Geneva. It was encouraging remembering what happened long ago on what is now Halloween. It's a great reminder of men who stood firm for the truth, God's Word and His glory, no matter what opposition they faced. It was very convicting to me, as lately I have easily been caught up in school (and Lost, pathetic as it may sound) and other things...and not in what really matters most. Jesus said in Luke 21:34, "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with...cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly." It's really easy to get caught up in the "cares of this life" but I want to focus on Jesus instead.
Hm...it sounds like the techno music is starting up...maybe I should try and fall asleep fast before it gets louder.