Open House

This summer was really busy for me.   We have decided to sell our house in  Fremont where we have lived for over 28 years and start a new life in another city.   We held our open house in early April and sold the house in a week which was insanely fast in this terrible economy.  We moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Fremont soon after that.  House hunting was another story - I will blog about that later. 

Thanks for all of your messages throughout the months I was absent from the blogging world.  I am still unpacking some of the boxes but thought I should start posting and unloading the tons of pictures I took over the past few months.  These pictures were taken when we had our open house.

Breakfast Nook

Family Room

Dining Room

Living Room

Mater Bedroom

Master Bathroom

View from family room and breakfast nook

Backyard

High Fashion at Barney's New York

We stopped by the Barney's New York at the Carlsbad Premium Outlet Mall while visiting San Diego area.  I have always loved to look at the high fashion at this store.  There were a few pieces I found very interesting this time and thought to share them here for fun.

The black straps on this dress was what attracted me.

I love the combination of this outfit.  The gray print scarf with a chiffon dress.  Very light and airy, plus...

laces on the back, what a surprise.

This is elegant.  Beige and black, love the flowy design of the dress.

Here comes the shoes department.  If you have nice legs, imagine wearing these with shorts and layer with a longer jacket outside, so chic.  This is one pair I love to own.

Suede Booties, the chunky heel is actually not chunky.  It's tappered downward but gives a chunky look.

What's unique about this is it deliberately showed the buckles and zipper.  The stilletoes just make it more faminine.  Very nice combinaton.

I like the little details that were placed on this.  See the silver strap at the ankle?

Clutch is everywhere these days.  The silver accents added a little nice touch on this grayish leather clutch.

Metallic gold and ruffle leather clutch

Now, this is really unique.  This wrap is leather weaved with silver beads. 

Doesn't this look like a curtain?  I only like the color combination.

Shall we go see something else, where am I?



This pink hat is really nice on me but the pink is ..... too pink.

Perfect for this spring - stripes.  I like the pattern on pattern design.

It's too bad that I didn't have time to check out the jewelry section.  I should do that next I go to Barney's New York again.

Barney's New York

Carlsbad Premium Outlet Mall

5620 Paseo Del Norte

Carlsbad, CA 92088

(760)804-9000

Humprey La Jolla at Sheraton Hotel, La Jolla

During spring break, we visited San Diego again. This time we stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in La Jolla. 



A beautiful hotel to stay in at a special rate of $110 for that night.  We were also told the hotel restaurant is offering 50% off the entrees from the menu that night only.  We were estactic to hear that and went there for dinner.  We walked through the beautiful poolside area before arriving the restaurant around six o'clock that evening.

The Humprey La Jolla is located inside the hotel. There was a lounge before entering the dining area.

We were seated at this right sided booth.  The place had a very nice ambiance and comfortable seating.
The sourdough bread was still warm when the waitor brought it to us.  It was so good that we asked for  second before our food arrived.

We ordered fried calamari as appetizer.  It was cut and fried into long strips, not what we expected.  We were dissapointed at the taste too.



I have never had beef wellington before.  This was a little bland in my opinon but it's not a bad dish.

 I ordered the fillet mignon. It was so delicious that it just melt in your mouth.

My daughter ordered this salmon with resotto, and it was just to die for.

 I couldn't remember what this is.  I think this is mahi mahi.  All the side dishes went really well with the fish.
All the entrees were around $19 to $28 originally.  With the half off, we were very happy with the delicious meal.  That was a very nice and fine dining experience.

Humprey La Jolla
3299 Holiday Court
La Jolla, CA 92037

(858)453-5500

Mayfield Bakery and Cafe, Palo Alto

I went to see my long time friend at Los Altos hill yesterday.  She and I went to this really nice cafe restaurant in Palo Alto for lunch.   There were not many customers when we arrived before noon.  At 12:30pm the place was already packed.  We were seated at the last booth on the right of the picture below.



My friend had been here before. She was going to order the thin pizza but decided to order the samething I ordered.

Grilled California Yellow Tail, Leek Fondue,Wilted Fava Leaves, Shimeji Vinaigrette, $19

The dish was well presented with a little bit of vinaigrette taste.   It would be pefect if the fish is little bit undercooked.  I always like my fish medium rare but they had cooked it medium.  It was still ok not too dry.  I like the fresh vegetable and they were just cooked right.  Very nice combination dish.

The bread they served was just unbelievable good with thick crust.  The sourdough bread was only a slightly sour.  It's really hard to explain the fantastic taste of the bread. 

For dessert, my friend ordered the Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with carmael sauce, Vanilla Gelato, $8.00


This is way too sweet.  If you don't like something too sweet, skip this one.

I ordered the Citrus Crème Brulee, Madeleines $8.00

I like this dessert.  This had a generous portion and citrus flavor.  It was smooth and not too sweet with a thin sugar crust on top.  It came with two pieces of madeleines, chewy and nice citrus flavor too. 

The bakery next door prepares all the desserts and bread at the cafe.  There were big slection of buns,pastries and desserts.   I bought these buns home afterward.   They each tasted differently and were really good. 

Left to right: sugar bun, brown sugar bun, hot cross bun ( Price around $2+ each)

.

This place is located in Town & Country, which is closed by Stanford Shopping Mall. It would be nice to have breakfast or coffee breaks after shopping in the area. Ask for weeknight Harvest Dinners if you want to enjoy and get a better deal for a complete dinner

Mayfield Bakery and Cafe
Town and Country Village

855 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 853-9200

Stripes In The Spring

The fashion trend for this spring is all about stripes.  I always love the black and white stripes but was afraid to wear them.  After reading this article: Horizontal stripes make women look thinner, I was excited to try on all the stripes fashion that are availalbe at the department store.

After experiencing all the difference clothing, I have found only certain type of cut and width of the stripes that across the body gave the slimming effect.  Here are what I found:

Medium size horizontal stripes that are in darker color are better to wear.  It gives a depth of curve and hide area that you don't want people to notice.  I found it is important to not wear top that's fits to the body.  It should not be too loose or too clingy.  It definitely gave a curvy look with a supported bra.

With broad stripes across the top gives an illusion of a bigger bust and narrower waist.


Bold wide stripes works better on a loose garment

I love this diagonal and vertical stripes blouse which elongates the body.

I particular like the look of  a broad stripes cardigan over thin stripes top.  This cardigan is similar to what I have at home but mine has broad and even stripes across.

If you are one not into stripes but still want to keep up with the trend, layer a plain cardigan or jacket over a  top like this:

or use these cute accessories:

I bought this infinity scarf for my daughter.  She looked so chic when she wore it with her solid black long sleeve top.

There are also many colorful stripes around to have fun with this season.  Colorful stripes accessories can really make a simple outfit "pops". It's best to avoid yellow color when pair with black and white stripes as it would seem like a "bee" costume.     I hope everyone is having as much fun as I have with this trend.

Easy Avocado Tofu

Tofu was believed to help lower choleterol and also good for the skin.  This tasty recipe was given to me by a friend who is a vegetarian.  I like the fact that I can prepare this healthy snack in no time and fill my stomach with no guilt at all.

Ingredients:

Soft or silkienTofu
Avocado
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Black pepper

Direction:

Cut tofu and place sliced avocado on top.  Drizzle some sesame oil and soy sauce over.  Sprinkle some black pepper.

Notes:

For variation, sprinkle some shredded roasted seaweed or green onion. Or substitute soysauce with prepared cold noodle sauce.

Bun Bo Hue Vietnamese Deli

After our big feast at the Boiling crab.  We went and find this deli which was known for their excellent bread and sandwiches. This little Vietnamese deli was just on the back side of the Boilign Crab.

After all the saltiness from the "whole shebang", I wanted a cold drink and my friend said her colleague loves to drink Avocado bubble drink.  I decided to try it.  Oh my goodness.  It tasted so declious with a bit of rich but refreshing taste.  I asked the owner what's in it.  He said only milk, sugar and whole avocado.  That was one recipe I have to try to make at home.

We both ordered the sandwich for our kids.  I ordered the number 1 combo sandwich and it was about one foot long.  I had tried a small bite of the sandwich.  The bagguette was crunchy with really fine grain. I have to remember to come to this place again to buy more sandwiches the next time I come to The Boiling Crab.

Bun Bo Hue Vienamese 

(408) 270-7100

2060 Tully Rd, San Jose, CA 95122