Written by Candace on March 20, 2013 | 4 Comments

Umami Burger

America is well known for it’s hamburger, but unfortunately, it is grossly misrepresented by McDonald’s.

I grew up eating McDonald’s and every other food chain, but thankfully my palette matured with my age. I am now somewhat of a foodie and much more selective of my beef patties. While on a lunch date in the city last year, we were recommended by a good friend to check out Umami Burger. Let me just tell you, it was love at first bite!

Umami is one of the five basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. But I swear dictionary.com has it all wrong because to my taste umami seems to be a combination of all the basic taste sensations exploding with a new found sensation of pure awesome-sauce. Speaking of sauce, theirs are all homemade. We recently rummaged through google to find their ketchup recipe to make at home. But nothing I say is going to quite define how incredible this place is so go check it out for yourself.

It’s a perfect spot for a lunch date or dinner date in SF. You can stroll the neighborhood which has lots of cute shops. Umami has even become part of our itinerary when we play tour-guide to friends and family coming for a visit. Here are a few photos we took during a double date with my cousin and his girlfriend when they were in town last.

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Written by Candace on March 18, 2013 | 4 Comments

Rolling Hills

I realized recently that I’ve started to take my surroundings for granted.

I remember when I first moved to northern California I would often drive to work each morning amazed at where I now lived. I still occasionally have these moments, but they are fewer and farther between. The bay area has become home to me. I’m finally comfortable here, and if you’re like me, it’s easy to put off exploring and appreciating the world around you.

Vitaliy and I discussed this and decided to make a better effort at getting away from our computers and out enjoying our beautiful surroundings. We were thrilled last week when our friends from Choco Studio invited us on a hike at the Garin Regional Park.

The sun shone brightly and the breeze kept my warm skin the perfect temperature. Everything seemed to be lush with life. Like nature was announcing that spring is near. The rolling hills were dressed in a rich green that only accentuated their depths and layers as far as you could see. I tried to watch my step, but I couldn’t seem to take my eyes away from the beauty around me. There were moments I was tempted to walk backwards because I didn’t feel quite finished gazing at the last view before being taken by the new one.

These same hills will be a sweet shade of gold in a few months. But I’m happy I didn’t put off seeing them just as they are in this season. Both deserve to be celebrated. I’m thankful we were able to capture this memory so that we won’t soon forget.

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Written by Candace on March 15, 2013 | 6 Comments

RJ+Jamie
Engaged

RJ likes to refer to himself as the “silent killer.” He slowly and silently worked at winning over Jamie’s heart.

Jamie and RJ started off as just friends. She was the younger sister of a close friend which meant she was off limits. RJ was the life of the party so Jamie never took him too seriously as boyfriend material.

All that would change the day RJ realized that Jamie was worth taking a risk. But he was also well aware that he would need to work at making her take him seriously. RJ invited Jamie to a casual dinner but arrived all dressed up in work clothes in order to let her know there was much more to the party guy than she knew. But it wouldn’t be that easy. Not realizing that RJ asked her on a “date”, Jamie arrived to dinner with a mutual friend. Oops!

Though it may not have been the date of his dreams, he accomplished what he set out to do. Jamie definitely took notice and realized RJ was worth getting to know…off the dance floor. The two continued to drop hints to one another until RJ finally asked Jamie out on another date. This time she arrived alone and the two have been a pair ever since.

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