Sunday, October 27, 2013

Breaking Bad Cake

My boss's birthday was coming up and he's obsessed with Breaking Bad so my tall friend and I surprised him with a Breaking Bad cake.  I contacted Rowena at Keyks Bakery in Chelmsford and she created a cool cake with the face silhouette of Walter White.

Breaking Bad Cake

We had some friends over to watch the Patriots vs. Saints game and I thought I would also surprise the Mo with a birthday cake.  We are huge fans of the hit show Breaking Bad and I wanted to get a themed cake for him.  
 


We snacked on appetizers from Eggroll Cafe along with homemade sliders, wings and eggrolls






Saturday, October 26, 2013

Blue Taleh in Lowell

The Mo and I visited the Blue Taleh for a quick birthday dinner before heading to a Halloween party.  He loves sushi and we wanted to stay local so he suggested this downtown Lowell restaurant.

We were lucky to grab the last table for two as the restaurant was almost filled to capacity upon our arrival.

For starters, we split our two favorite maki rolls, mine being the soft shell crab "Spider Roll" and his being the Caterpillar Roll.  I loved the presentation of the two maki rolls and the sushi chef creativity using the green wasabi to shape the caterpillar's head.  It was so cute, I didn't want to eat it! The rolls were delicious and fresh!

The Mo ordered phad thai for dinner (not pictured) and he said it was good.  I got the chicken lettuce wrap.  It has got to be my most favorite version beating out the famous P.F.Chang's lettuce wraps.  Blue Taleh's version is stir fried ground chicken in a house special soy sauce with string beans and hot sauce on the side.


There was enough leftovers for us to take home and enjoy it the next day.

The restaurant is a little on the pricier side but the ambiance and food is worth the difference.

Blue Taleh on Urbanspoon

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Wedding portraits session in Downtown Lowell, Ma

Living in Lowell almost my whole entire life, I've developed an appreciation of the city rich in culture and history.  There are so many wonderful parks and architectural buildings and bridges within Downtown Lowell itself.

I knew I wanted to have my wedding portraits done in Lowell but I wasn't sure howto go about the logistics. My photographer, Nicole Sakr did an amazing job capturing the dynamic city and architectural elements within our portraits.  We are so happy with the pictures and chose our favorite ones to share. Enjoy!

(Note: These are not the high res photos, I just copied and pasted them from the online gallery,therefore the image quality on my blog is not a reflection on the photographer)


The original plan to get ready in Lowell, do the formal portraits then head over to Andover Country Club for the ceremony and reception.  It seemed like it would be a long day and I was afraid my makeup and hair wouldn't be at its "peak" when the wedding actually started. My photographer also swayed me against it because she mentioned that brides are sometimes nervous and anxious before the wedding. I am so happy with the route we went and did our formal wedding portraits one week AFTER our wedding.  After all, we did not have a "traditional" wedding and nothing in our lives is "traditional."

After a week of heavy drinking and eating, I had to fit back into my dress. It was a bit harder the 2nd time around.  It was fun getting my hair and makeup done again.  I used a local Cambodian hair/makeup person that specializes in Cambodian weddings that my friend introduced me to.  Nicole met at our house and Jill was kind enough to assist us with Chewie and Odie and we were off to Downtown Lowell.

The first stop was the Boarding House Park where the Lowell Summer Music Series is hosted.  There is a large stage area, a large sitting area with steps, columns wrapped with beautiful botanical vines.






We took some pictures on the facade of the historical boarding house where the female workers stayed in the 1800's when they  worked at the Lowell Boot Mills.



Behind the Boarding house stage was train tracks that added a great texture to the portraits.






Kudos to Nicole!, She spotted the cool bridge tucked away and thought it was a great location for a shoot.





We headed over to Lowell Riverwalk area and Nicole was really excited with the weeping willow trees.  I loved home ambiance of the photos she captured.  So warm and romantic!









The last stop was Downtown Lowell and the train parked on Shattuck Street.  I really love the cobblestones in that area and wanted to take advantage of it.  Cars kept driving by so we had to keep moving out of the way to let the traffic by. The Mo got really excited to change into his "Chucks", take off his jacket and put on his hat.  It was so much fun!