Since it was a special day of love, the restaurant hired a violinist to serenade all of the diners table side.  I requested that our violinist play a Whitney Houston song but unfortunately he was unable to oblige.  Instead he played a horrendous rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.  I’m sorry but as far as divas go Celine does not equal Whitney in my book but that is a discussion for another day.

Regarding gifts, Rob and I set a $20 limit this year.  We ended up getting each other the same gift.  Moleskin notebooks.  His is Star Wars themed and mine is Valentine’s day themed.  This coinky-dink only gives me further proof that I am going to marry the most awesome guy in the whole world!

I also got Rob this bacon and egg themed Valentine’s day card because he makes me bacon and eggs every weekend!

[1] Cargo Van, Mini Van and Astro Van [2] Abita Mardi Gras Brew [3] Sneak peek of DC Brau Brewery tour [4] Pancit Dumplings topped with pulled lechon and sweet chili sauce from Tarsier [5]  Kalbi Ribs from Il Mee [6] Office Supply Porn

I recently got the chance to cover the 11th Annual Sugar and Champagne benefit event for DCSocialite.com.  See below for my recap:

A sold-out crowd of humans and their canine companions gathered at the Ronald Reagan Trade Center last Wednesday to attend the 11th annual Sugar and Champagne event benefitting the Washington Humane Society. Hosted by Chef Todd and Ellen Gray of Equinox fame, the highly anticipated event featured an evening of fine wines, savory treats and gourmet desserts from some of the metropolitan area’s most talented chefs. Even four-legged guests had access to fresh fare at an exclusive and fabulously decorated “Doggie Bar”.

Highlights of the night included:

Best Display:  Jose Andrés once again proved he was king of this town with Oyamel‘s “Day of the Dead” display of Rome point oysters with a citrus broth and pasilla de oaxaca air.

Most Photogenic:  Meet Chilly, this poodle showed everybody the 70′s were back with his large afro puff and tie dye attire.

Best Use of Pork:  PS7 served a savory and sweet pork cinnamon roll with a side of iced cardamon coffee with spiced rum that would be perfect for either breakfast or dessert.

Best Classic Interpretation: Props to Founding Fathers for their mini peanut butter pie. A perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate with a salty crunchy finish thanks to its caramel corn topping.

Celebrity Sightings: Contestants from TLC’s Next Great Baker were on hand to dish out handmade treats. Contestant, DC native Pamela Anh and her daughters showed off cherry blossom themed cake pops.

Best Savory:  The Source‘s tuna tartare in a crispy sesame cone was spicy and addicting. I had to walk away from the table after the chef started recognizing me from coming back so many times.

Most Surprising Dessert: Flowers in champagne by Taberna del Alabardero. After sampling dozens of heavy, chocolate desserts this simple and fresh treat was a delight for my eyes and palette.

# of Dog Fights Avoided:  Three

For more event photos click here.

I love Super Bowl food!  I even have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to small, bite sized, crowd-pleasing snacks.  This year we went to our friend Carlo’s house to celebrate this all-American holiday so we decided to go with something simple and easy portable — pretzel bites and queso.

I usually do most of the cooking in the house but Rob has been on a whole “I want to learn how to be a good husband” kick so he helped me whip the whole thing together.  I am not going to lie, I was very impressed with his kneading skills.  It takes a lot of muscle power to knead dough, so he definitely came in handy during that section.

We used this recipe from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures.  I didn’t read the directions right and we mixed all of the wet and dry ingredients together at first, but everything still tasted perfect.  This recipe was VERY easy and received an A++++ from us!

For queso, all we did was mix a can of Rotel with a block of Velveeta cheese in a small crock pot.  I received the recipe from one of my fellow Junior Leaguers.  She is from Texas and apparently they call it “liquid gold” over there.

To celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, chef Hou Chun-sheng, winner of the 2011 Taipei Beef Noodle Soup Competition will serve his special beef noodles during a reception at the Freer, followed by a screening of Eat Drink Man Woman. Chef Hou’s beef noodles are a must-eat for international gourmets and the perfect dish to prepare viewers for Eat Drink Man Woman–Taiwan-born director Ang Lee’s food-centered film about an elderly chef and his family as they experience the trials and joys of life in modern Taiwan. Settle in and enjoy an evening of homestyle Taiwan food culture! Free and open to the public.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art – Myer Auditorium
Wednesday, February 15
6 pm
Free; Walk In

For more information click here.

Thank you to Jian for the heads up on this fun and free event.

Anybody want to take the Intro to Calligraphy class with me?

Original Price: $295
Sale Price: $135

I am in lurve.  I wasn’t even planning on spending that much money but that day but it spoke to me.  Plus the price point was a-mah-zing.  Other purchases included:

Swarvoski Crystal Earrings
Original Price: $25
Sale Price: $15
Purchased from Fornash 

Rabbit Fur Hat (I didn’t realize it was rabbit fur until after I bought it — sorry!)
Original Price: $45
Sale Price: $11
Purchased from Shoe Hive 

All-in-all I am pretty happy with all my purchases and all of them except the earrings fell in my new “don’t buy anything unless its 40% off or more” rule that I made up.  If you are interested in checking out another sample sale,  Gilt City will be hosting one downtown this Saturday.  For more information click here.

The DC area’s hottest fashion SHOW and high-end bargain trunk SALE returns to Crystal City this February 7th to February 11th, 2012. Crystal Couture – Show & Sale brings over 40 of the metropolitan area’s most stylish boutiques and designers all under one roof. The one-stop shopping experience lets guests browse discounted offerings on the rack AND on the runway as models showcase offerings of participating boutiques. Shoppers will also enjoy sips from the bar, free make-up and hair makeovers, chats with fashion consultants, music from DJ Neekola, and experience the one-of-a-kind ambiance that is Crystal Couture!

The SHOW portion of Crystal Couture brings a high quality, professional fashion show complete with gorgeous DC area models (including America’s Next Top Model contestant Bianca Chardei), fabulous runway choreography, exquisite styles, and upbeat tunes. Professionally managed by Maggy Francois, Crystal Couture’s runway show always puts Crystal City on the map of the fashion world!

For a full schedule of participants, runway schedules, and more click here.

Anyways, it’s been a loooooong time since I said anything newsworthy, so I was really happy to find out that The Washington Post was able to feature one of my quotes in their recent article “40 Dishes Every Washingtonian Must Try” .  

Check out a screen cap of all my glory below:

Thanks to some Twitter research, I found out that all of the food trucks in my area posted up at Farragut Sqaure around lunchtime .  Since the weather was a sunny 65 degrees, I grabbed my partner in crime (my fiancé who works two blocks away) and had a wonderful mid-day picnic.

So many choices, what to pick?!

All of the bright colors and fun costumes led me to the beautiful land of Merlindia, a traveling food carnival.

Butter Chicken and Curried Potatoes with Cauliflower for $4?  YES PLEASE!  (The 5 Hour Energy Drink was a free sample that I did not drink)

Sir Robert went with the ever popular bulgogi tacos with kim chi slaw.

I loved the casualness of people lunching on this grand statue.

Barbie pink scooter I found on my walk back!

Overall, I am loving my little office vacation in the city but a little part of me misses my suburban office.  I have yet to encounter a Peruvian chicken joint on my block and pho in the city costs $10 or more per bowl!  That is basically highway robbery people!