Month: July 2024

Random Things I’m Loving Lately (Part 7)

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Hey Sunny Siders, it’s been a long time since I’ve done my last favorites list but I thought it was finally time to share some of the things that have been making me happy lately!

Éminence Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant

I love a skincare product that really feels like my face is clean and fresh after using it. This dermafoliant has been my favorite product for that! I use it once a week and my skin feels so smooth and like all the grime has been removed. It’s a little more on the expensive for what I’d pay for skincare, but I’m really loving how it’s making my skin feel so it’s worth the price.

La Roche Posay Facial Cleanser

This cleanser is my favorite value cleanser out there. Shout out to my cousin for helping me find these amazing products that are affordable but not harming my skin. She recommended all these skincare products and this brand specifically has become a staple in my cabinet. You get so much cleanser for what you pay for and my skin has been feeling amazing!

La Roche Posay

This moisturize has been keeping my skin so hydrated. I also love that it can be used on the rest of my body as well. It’s a nice thick moisturizer and I love using it before I got to bed.

Essentials by Casetify

Recently upgraded my phone case and I’ve been loving this one I purchased from Casetify. I always get Casetify cases since they are extremely durable and keep your phone from getting damaged when dropped. I love this new line they designed it’s so simple and classic. It’s got a nice silicon and hard plastic mix so pieces that used to be plastic and might break while dropped are now reinforced with silicon. It’s been a great purchase so far!

Core by Chloe Ting

I’ve been loving using Chloe Tings app for all my workout needs. The past 3 months I’ve used the app to follow along on scheduled workout programs and it’s helped to keep me motivated and accountable. I workout after I get home from work, and usually by that time my brain can’t handle making any more decisions for the day. I love know that my workouts were already planning and I just have to open the app and get started.

The Royal Tenenbaums

I recently watched this movie and it was super fascinating. It’d been a really long time since I’d watched a movie that wasn’t based on a book or an extension in a franchise. This was a unique story made just for this movie and I loved that! I don’t even know how to explain this movie and do it justice, but I felt super smart and sophisticating watching it.

Uniqlo Rounded mini shoulder bag

This has been my go to bag for the past couple of months and I am really enjoying it. It holds just a bit more than my Lululemon belt bag and that’s what I love about it. Before I was trying to Tetris all my items to fit but now everything fits and there’s a bit of extra room just in case.

Uniqlo AirSense Pleated Pants

These dress pants from Uniqlo have been a staple in my closet for months now. I genuinely wear a pair of these to work every day. They are comfortable but professional and I love that they are high waisted. Favorite dress pants I own truly.

Living out my dream – going to an Omakase dinner

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Hey Sunny Siders, I am so excited to share this as I got to live out a dream of mine! I recently went to a Japanese Omakase tasting dinner where the chef specially crafted a 17 course menu for us! So naturally I’m going to share all 17 courses with my thoughts!

1. Kumamoto oyster with yuzu jelly and smoked trout roe

I had never had an oyster prepared in this way before! I usually only ever add cocktail sauce and horseradish to my oysters, but this really changed my perspective! The addition of yuzu jelly added such a nice acidity and almost made the oyster sweet. I really enjoyed this preparation and it’s inspired me to get more creative when I have oysters.

2. Cobia crudo with raspberry vinaigrette, Asian pear cured in blueberry ponzu and spring mix salad

This was such a fun dish. The fish was wrapped in Asian pear which created such a great balance of salty and sweet. I loved the blueberry ponzu sauce that accompanied the fish, such a great summer flavor combination.

3. Tuna tartar with osetra caviar on milk bread toast

I’ve never been a fan of tartar, but this dish changed that for me! The tartar was so flavorful. It had a very garlicky flavor but there was no garlic in it so I have no idea how they got such a depth of flavor. The milk bread toast complimented the tartar perfectly and all in all I loved this dish!

4. Japanese monkfish liver garnished with cucumber, daikon radish yuzu ponzu jelly and blueberry ponzu

This was super out of everyone’s comfort zone, but I gave it a try anyway! It honestly had no resemblance to fish whatsoever, it really was like eating foie gras. The shizo leaf felt similar to mint, and complimented the blueberry very well.

5. Saba – Japanese Spanish mackerel with fresh ginger

This was our first piece of nine absolutely phenomenal nigiri! Every piece came with rice and fresh wasabi, not the fake stuff we are accustomed to. My words can’t do justice to how good these nigiri were, so I’m just going to share little details as I can!

6. Kinmedai – Japanese golden eye snapper with nikiri soy sauce

This golden eye snapper nigiri was my favorite piece of fish for the evening!

7. Kamasu – Japanese brown barracuda with chili garlic oil and yuzu Kosho

The chili oil complemented the barracuda exceptionally well and added a nice spice.

8. Akami – dry aged back loin of bluefin tuna

All the tuna were dry aged for 7 days which I had never heard of before, but wow did it make such a difference in the depth of flavor!

9. Chawanmushi with truffle, Maitake mushrooms, and dashi glaze

This dish was like eating a warm egg custard soup and wow was it amazing. This is the epitome of comfort food, it was warm, savory, and delicious!

10. Chutaro – medium fatty belly of bluefin tuna

This was my favorite of the 3 tuna nigiri it had a great balance of meatiness and fatness, also dry aged for 7 days.

11. Hokkaido Hotate aburi – Japanese scallop seared

This was the best scallop preparation I’ve ever had. Essentially it was scallop nigiri, but they drizzled brown butter over top and then torched it. The depth of flavor that this had was beyond words, my mouth is watering just remembering it!

12. Ootoro – bluefin tuna belly with ossetra caviar

This was the fattiest tuna we tried, it literally dissolved in my mouth which was crazy! It had tons for flavor and the caviar added a nice saltiness to cut the fat.

13. King salmon with Shiso aioli

This nigiri was phenomenal once again it literally melted in my mouth. The shiso aioli added a nice tang as did the charring from the torch.

14. A5 wagyu with ossetra caviar, Hokkaido sea urchin, and 24k gold flakes

This was literally the most boujee thing I’ve ever eaten, I mean it even looks expensive! It was A5 waguy nigiri with sea urchin, brown butter, and gold flakes! This bite had a lot of rich flavors going on, and it was my first time trying sea urchin. To me, sea urchin was like eating seafood cream cheese. Overall, this was a super luxurious piece of nigiri.

15. Sweet miso Chilean Sea bass

This was the only item in our entire tasting that is part of every tasting. This is the chefs signature sweet miso Chilean sea bass and wow was it phenomenal. I totally understand why this is a menu mainstay because the flavors on this sea bass were exceptional.

16. Akadashi miso soup with enoki mushroom

Our last savory item was the fanciest miso soup I’ve ever had. It was the basic broth with A5 waguy, enoki mushrooms, salmon, and sea bass! Talk about a melting pot of all the most delicious sea food flavors!

17. Sweet corn crème brûlée

To end our tasting we had sweet corn crème brûlée. What was so funny about this is that I had treated my dad to this tasting experience for his birthday… and my dad HATES corn. We were both laughing at how of all the things to end our meal with it was CORN crème brûlée. But, in all honesty this was amazing! The corn added such a fun flavor to the crème brûlée and we both ended up loving it!