When Tomato Returns! <3 <3

When Tomato Returns I will hug her because I miss her so much.

She is special, curious, and amazingly observant.

She is smarter than other tomatoes and vegetables too.

She is sweet as her skin is red.

She is perfect, well rounded, and always well grounded.

She is my special fruit that makes my heart go toot and my bottom thump.

She is the Tomato of my eye like the moon in the sky.  That's Amore.

-Carrot

09.09.09 - Mark it!

Today is the 100th Anniversary of Santa Monica Pier! How amazing is it to be in the area where it marks a historical moment in time celebrated with thousands of people. There were colorful fireworks that lit the night sky, a newly lit ferris wheel that had intricate light designs, and people of all ages roaming the wooden pier enjoying the atmosphere.

Unfornately for me, I didn't have the honor of actually taking in all of the festivities or watch the fireworks because I had my first cake decorating class. I've decided to take a beginner's course in cake decorating because it seemed like a fun idea to learn something new. I was always fascinated by how people decorate such elaborate designs on a cake plus those cake shows on the Food Network.

I signed up for my class at Michael's Arts & Crafts store through their Wilton cake decorating course. Here's a picture of what my course one book looks like. We learn the basics of icing the cake, producing borders, different shapes and designs with the icing like shells and hearts, and finally roses. To do any of these, you need to make sure your icing is at the right consistency whether it's stiff, medium, or soft. However, my first class just went over the basic procedures, what to buy, which I must say can be quite costly for students because you need to have "specific" materials to use in the course, and what to bring in for next week's class. There are only 4 classes, once a week. We need to prepare a cake and bring in two batches of icing. FYI: 1 batch of icing requires 1lb of confectioner's sugar. :O omg is right.

Aside from all these things, today is history - 09.09.09! This is certainly a rare occasion. I spent it with Carrot after my cake class. We went down to the pier, but by the time we got there all the festivities were over. We went home and just enjoyed a nice dinner together. Yay to 9.9.09!

Hope everyone had a memorable o9.o9.o9!

-Tomato

Updates on Week 4

Hi everyone!

We've been pretty busy this week, but we're here to update you all on what's been going on. Last week we made a trip to Vons to stock up our fridge with delicious goodies. However, we've been lacking on some special ingredients that you can usually find at a better price at an Asian market. So on Monday, I, Tomato, went to Ranch 99 while Carrot went to the local Vons to make some more food purchases. Most of our money seems to be going to food expenses, which is kind of mind-boggling because we seem to consume a lot of food for just two. The closest Ranch 99 is approx. 30 mins away from us. I must've spent an hour or so inside there searching for tasty spices and sauces. I wanted to buy short ribs because it is one of our favorite foods to eat. As I checked out my total ended up being $43.71. When I drove back home, Carrot came home and spent $43.65 at Vons, which is practicaly almost the same amount spent! How weird is that?

That night I wanted to try a my hand at making us some Pad See Ew. I love that dish so much! If you're unsure of what it is, it's a Thai flat rice noodle dish, similiarly like Chinese Chow Fun except much more sweeter. So that evening I was in the kitchen cookin' up a storm! I chopped up some carrots, sliced some tender chicken, used a couple of eggs, and placed the fresh flat rice noodles in the wok with some oil, pepper, soy sauce, sugar, and oyster sauce. Since I didn't have any other veggies to use, I just kept it simple with the carrots. Keep in mind this was my first try at it and I plan on improving each time. Here's my Pad See Ew!

What do you guys think of it? I'll be preparing another batch soon because I have another pack of noodles! Noodles are awesome 'cuz they're my favorite! I'll post more pics when I make it next time. Carrot thought my first try at Pad See Ew was pretty good. We ended up watching Hollywoodland that evening; it wasn't as appealing as we had thought it would be.

On Tuesday I bought us some Italian ice dessert before going to the movie theater. We got one scoop of blood orange and another scoop of margarita. $5 for a tasty treat. We sat outside of the little gelato shop staring at the nice cookie up in the sky. We watched (500) Days of Summer starring one of the guys on 3rd Rock From the Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Again, this movie was not so much romance-comedy, it had a pretty important lesson to enlighten people with. I won't spoil it, but it's definitely a good movie to watch and understand some things that people must go through to get to the next level in their life.

During our dinner on Wednesday we watched a movie called "The Ramen Girl" starring Brittany Murphy. The film was located in Japan and had a good number of Asians in it, not many with well-known names, but it didn't matter because sometimes it's nice to have some authentic people in these acting roles. It's a cute story, but it's not entirely a romance-comedy flick. This American girl travels all the way to Japan to move in with her boyfriend, but eventually finds something she really wants to do. People may say the acting isn't that great, but Carrot and I both really enjoyed watching this movie as it was not a typical movie you'd see around... so give it a try if you're enjoying some dinner.

On Thursday we went to a special event in Hollywood that was hosted by CAPE. We arrived fashionably late and ordered drinks right as we walked into the H. Wood lounge. I had a Red Bull Vodka and Carrot had a Jack and Coke. Not too long after we had Jagger bombs and a beer to down. Carrot and I hadn't eaten much prior to coming to the event because we figured we'd eat a lot of the hor d'oeuvres. However this wasn't the case. So we ordered another beer on top of the one we finished. We chatted it up with many aspiring Asian filmmakers and made some new friends. I must say it was a nice outing for the both of us since moving. After a good few hours at the lounge we were craving some ramen! Driving through the streets of L.A., we finally ended up in Little Tokyo and found the ramen shop we were looking for. Mmm... ramen!

I ordered the shoyu ramen with gyoza combo. It was so delicious!! ^^ After a long night we somehow arrived home... safely. Hahaha! I was so exhausted, but all in all it was a great evening.

Friday was all about shopping for me. I had to find a suitable dress for a wedding I would be attending with Carrot over the weekend. I drove to a very spacious mall and made my first stop at Macy's. I tried on some really nice dresses, but I chose two out of the bunch. I bought a fushia halter dress and a white and baby blue floral patterned summer dress. I was excited to get back because Carrot was preparing short ribs! Mmm mmm mmm... we love that. That evening we had some tasty short ribs and some rice. Soon after we had to finish up some work before our long weekend ahead.

Tune in for a recap of our wonderful weekend down in San Diego. Goodnight!

-Tomato