diamond rings & omd (again)

venue: regency ballroom (sold out!)
band: omd with diamond rings
who: cousin lam & nina
when: 12 april 2013 (friday)
doors open at 8p

when i saw diamond rings open for stars at the fillmore, i was blown away. his energy was contagious, along with his music. it was an 80's throw back. i was thrown back. i was very excited to see that diamond rings opened up for omd. i'd never been to the regency ballroom and was unsure about what general admission tickets would look like since nowadays i prefer sitting to standing at concerts. luckily, others preferred standing. we were able to get seats next to the stage.

during the intermission, nina and i found our way to the merch table where diamond rings was doing a meet and greet. i was also interested in adding another record to my collection. it's also an excuse to talk to him. and he is so so pretty in person. i don't think the picture above does him justice.

you can tell that most of the audience was there to see omd as nina and i were basically the only ones dancing to diamond rings. i didn't care, i couldn't help myself. i saw omd for the first time in october of 2011. i had waited about 20 years to see them. not sure why i didn't see them sooner, it's not like they haven't had any albums out since sugar tax. in fact, they've had two albums after sugar tax before the tour of the show in 2011.

the show was fantastic. even more fantastic was going with my cousins. we all got up out of our seats and danced like it was 1989. the night was a great 80's throw back.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

food adventures: state bird provisions

after attending the lecture on eleven madison park loves new york on wednesday, april 3 at the jewish community center of san francisco with chef daniel humm & will guidara (co-owners of eleven madison park) in conversation with james oseland (editor-in-chief of saveur magazine and top chef masters judge), my dear bff decided to take them up on their recommendation to try state bird provisions that night. except she didn't tell me.
she surprised me upon arriving there. but being the retard foodie that i am (ok, more like beginners foodie), i didn't realize the amazing adventure she was taking me on. on an ordinary wednesday evening. clockwise from the top left: duck liver mousse with almond biscuits, ca state bird with provisions (aka quail and the name of the place), glazed pork ribs with swiss chard togarashi, crispy pork belly with winter citrus (a must since we had two of these), spicy yuba kimchi with smoked egg bottarga, and 'world peace' which were shots of peanut muscovado milk (not pictured and complimentary). we couldn't even finish the shots.

the concept of this place is innovative. it's like dim sum, where they have a menu but also plates on a cart that they attempt to roll around the place. they end up just walking around with platters of the plates as it is a tight squeeze towards the front.

we walked in thinking it would be easy to get a table on a random wednesday night at 9p. we were wrong. while we eventually got two seats at the tables near the kitchen, we had to wait to get spots standing right next to the door. i'd recommend getting reservations though i hear it takes a month or so to get a table there. but read up about it (i did!), it's one of the best new(ish) restaurants.

girls' glen ellen getaway

funie and i decided to go on a girls' getaway to nearby glen ellen located north next to sonoma. funie wanted to celebrate finishing her degree and i had a couple of days off in the middle of the week. what better way to use them on a quick getaway to wine country?

i made my way up to pick her up around lunch. we didn't get to glen ellen until close to 2p. we decided to go down the road and find some grub at the grist mill restaurant. i ordered a burger with fries, a salad, plus a side of mac and cheese. funie also had a couple of plates with a side of fries. we were both really hungry, apparently. our small table for two was covered with plates. a couple stopped by our table, coming or going (i can't remember), asked us if anyone else was joining us. we looked at each and said, noooo. after we finished, our waiter came by and told us he was quite impressed with our appetites. afterwards, we checked and got on our way after all of the heavy food we'd just ingested, i felt the need to walk. so we found our way up to the sugarloaf ridge state park. it was beautiful driving up through all the greenery. we even saw a small waterfall on the way up. for some reason, they charge to park so we couldn't stop until we could find a way to pay for parking.

despite having just eaten a feast consisting of very heavy foods and going to a couple of wineries, we decided to have an early dinner at the fig café. another food adventure, it was very exciting and delicious. the next day after check out, we visiting the kenwood winery. of all three wineries we visited (chateau st. jean, benziger and kenwood), the last was the best.

on our way back through napa, we stopped by the napa valley premium outlets. funie found a new professional wardrobe and i snagged these super cute orange wedges.