"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day. And I believe in miracles."
~ Audrey Hepburn

2.16.2010

Feelin' Risky on Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was last weekend and
I was feeling a little adventurous.
You know what that means...















I ACCOMPLISHED ANOTHER GOAL!
#006: Order what the person
at the next table is having

Last saturday Bryan & I went to Nicks,
an American style restaurant right on the beach in Laguna.
I have always wanted to order what the person at
the next table is having (maybe because I love surprises?),
but I could never force myself to do it because
I would get nervous that the person would order something disgusting.
I decided that I had to find someone with impeccable
taste, which resulted in a very intense screening process.
And that is when this beautiful family walked into the restaurant:

You can't really tell from this creepy rapist picture I took,
but this was easily one of the most beautiful
families I had ever seen in my life. There were
four girls, ages (?) 8, 12, 16, and 18.
How were they so beautiful?! They looked like models!
Even the baby!

At first I was going to order what the oldest
daughter ordered, but I was afraid she was
going to order a burger or something lame.
I thought the mom might order something exciting
and sophisticated so I went with her, haha :)

Drum roll, please!


Mama ordered Pan Roasted Salmon with
Sautéed Spinach, Caper Mustard Beurre Blanc,
and Butter Chive Mashed Potatoes.

Not bad!

I was half afraid that she was going to
order a stick of celery with some fresh grapes on the side.
The salmon was amazing; I loved the buerre blanc
that was drizzled over it. Strangely enough,
the best thing on the plate was the spinach. It
was all buttery and had slivered almonds in it.
As Rachel Ray would say, YUM-O!


Bryan decided to get in on the fun
and ordered what the father ordered.


Papa got Red Wine Braised Boneless Short Ribs
with Firestick Onions, Roasted Vegetables,
Horseradish Cream, and Mashed Potatoes.

Believe me, the pictures do not do this food justice.
I need a good camera, dang it.

Overall, this was a pretty exciting experience.
It made going to a restaurant really interesting
and I am definitely going to do it again.


OTHER WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS


Disneyland on friday:

Beignets!!!
Beignets!!!
Beignets!!!
BEIGNETS!!!

Uggghh I wished I lived closer to Disneyland!
I had beignets at the Tupelo Junction Cafe in downtown SB,
but they pale in comparison to the ones they serve at
Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney. GO! NOW!


Valentine's Day with Bryan:
After dinner, we sat on the beach and waited
for the next showtime of Valentine's Day (the movie).
Comments: Celebrities were extremely hot/beautiful.
The actors were way too famous/hot/beautiful to be believable characters.
The overabundance of celebrities made it impossible to have a believable plot.
But... it was cute? Haha, kind of?


Valentine's Day with family:
No pictures, but it was great...
Visited Dad at home, who had approximately
3 dozen Sprinkles cupcakes waiting for us :D
Went to din-dins with Mom & sissies at
Woodranch in Santa Anita. One word: bread.
The most perfect bread any restaurant has ever served
(close second: garlic balls at Palazzio in Santa Barbara).
And then! We went to go visit Des at her work.
My little baby is all grown up!!!


♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


In other news, lent starts tomorrow.
What are you giving up? I am giving up
baked goods.
Seriously.

Lord, help me.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

DO NOT GIVE UP BAKED GOODS. AND ALSO, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TOOK A PICTURE OF THAT FAMILY. YOU ARE A FREAK.
luv, shelly

Anonymous said...

Aww your weekend sounds so fun and cute :) And I highly doubt the bread beat palazzio's garlic balls.And I guess I'll have to do my beignet goal at Disneyland. I'm glad your weekend was amazing. Good luck with lent :D

~Lex
P.S. I'm too lazy to actually sign in haha

Anonymous said...

1.) I can't believe you're giving up baked goods. That is a) preposterous and b) tragic, as I haven't been able to try any of yours yet!
2.) Alfred and I went to Tupelo Junction Cafe after I read your blog. It was delish! We debated getting the beignets, but decided not to. Darn it.
3.) Your weekend sounds glorious.
4.) I miss you.

-H

Cella Babee said...

Just because I can't EAT baked goods doesn't mean I can't BAKE them! Also, I thought it might be a good time to practice COOKING... like food, haha.

Bryan Murray said...

Umm hello. You forgot one of the best parts of this weekend. The Bobby Flay Brownies you baked! Yum. Also you failed to mention the fried deviled eggs we ate, the chocolate covered strawberries and bananas i made for you, and drinking champagne with our baked brie and baguette before dinner! Btw everyone, we're both obese now. Plus we watched It's Complicated and Up In The Air (both really good movies). Geez you need to make your blogs more detailed haha :)

Kelly Leigh said...

just stumbled across your blog! I've never thought about ordering what the next table ordered. Would be hard for me cuz I'm a vegetarian but it looks like fun!

Cella Babee said...

You could always do so at a vegetarian restaurant! ...they have those, right? Haha :) Thanks for stopping by!