Asian-Inspired April

So I started out this week with nothing much on my calendar, so part of me was looking forward to some relaxation/taking it easy but the other part of me was kinda sad I didn't have anything exciting to look forward to...but boy did I end up having nothing to worry about! This week/weekend ended up being AWESOME and I have a ton of pictures (and new food recommendations) to show for it!

So...Telling loiterers that police take notice of them? Directing police to take notice of loiterers? Or telling police to take the notice?

So on Wednesday I decided to take a walk to the library instead of hitting the gym since it was so pretty outside.

It was over a mile walk and half of it ran alongside the Boston Commons 

Spring is in the air!

I really liked the fence around the Commons

You can just barely see the bridge in the background

Again with the fences..but this was near a church with beautiful magnolia blossoms :)

I just can't get enough of it!

This will soon be my laptop background :)

I absolutely *LOVE* when you can see clear reflections in building windows....after this last shot I picked up my books at the library and then met up with CJ for some fro yo at BerryLine (one of my new favorite places)

Look what I found! I still had boxes under my dresser that I hadn't unpacked since moving to Boston, and I came across a box of my study abroad mementos - made me kind of 'homesick' but I was happy to find them

Look at this blast from the past! Can you find me? ;-)

The next several weeks' worth of reading. There's just not enough time in the day to do it all!

So I was perusing Yelp looking for sushi places close to my office and came across this gem - Avana Sushi. It's located in this 'mini-food court' type area that's complete with the sushi station, a dumpling station, a bon mi station, and an egg puff station - and it's all DELICIOUS and CHEAP.

Egg puffs (sweet, waffle-like pastries) - 30 pieces for $2.75.

Of course I couldn't resist!

Not sure how long the 'grand opening' was...

Vanessa is another one of my coworkers and my lunch buddy - she tries things out with me :)

OH. MY. GOSH. On the left we have the Spicy Volcano Roll (typically $12-$13 at most sushi places, here only $8!) and on the right is a standard Salmon Avocado roll (only $4.75). You just can't find sushi this good and cheap anywhere, I'm so stoked to have found this place!

Look what was waiting for me on my front porch Thursday evening!

'Somebunny' loves me ;-) (can you see the can of Spaghettios peeping out? great minds think alike....)

My brother is the cutest kid on the planet! He made his own 'newspaper'

Thursday evening I met up with some friends to go see a show in Harvard Square. We hit up Pinocchio's for pizza beforehand (oh hey Lisa!)

Look who it is!!! Calin and Mike (friends of mine from UNC) are touring in their band - Jessica Long & The New Kind. You can download their new single FO FREE for a limited time, just visit their website.

Faz, me, Jasmine, and Lisa

Such a good show! I've got some video clips posted at the bottom of the blog

"Please use straw hole" - oops

On Friday I tried Gaslight Brasserie for dinner. They brought the baguette to the table wrapped in paper - reminiscent of Paris, but didn't quite taste the same... *le sigh*

I opted for the Steak Frites - quite tasty

A glass of red wine was a must

Now *THIS* was the highlight of the dinner - chocolate beignets with creme anglais dipping sauce. You bite into the beignets and they just ooze warm chocolaty goodness. Accompanying coffee made this the most spectacular end to my work week.

Saturday morning I got to Skype into my little brother's Suzuki piano graduation - he did SO WELL!!!

Every so often he would look over to see if I was still watching and smile at me :)

Look who's missing a front tooth!

He's just too cute...and look! It's Ms. Corinne! 

After the piano graduation, I ran out to meet up with Niraj for dim sum brunch in Chinatown. We hit up Gourmet Dumpling House - quite the line, but worth the wait! Here we have pork and leek steamed dumplings

Xiao Long Bao - more steamed dumplings. Niraj taught me that you scoop them up in your spoon, bite the bottom crease just a little so you can drink out the hot soup juices inside, then eat the dumpling.

Scallion pancakes - some of the best I've ever had.

Mango chicken was the highlight of the meal - DELICIOUS

Beef noodles with sauteed veggies...eh....nothing to write home about.

Quite the feast - let's just say we were more than stuffed by the end of the meal :)

After brunch Niraj and I met up with Lawrence and other friends for.....a PILLOW FIGHT!!!! Yesterday was International Pillow Fight Day, so there were a couple hundred people in the North End for a citywide pillow fight event :)

READY

Some people dressed up - Pooh was there with Tigger and Eeyore!

This family dressed up as bunnies haha

Mix-n-match PJs?

Lawrence (background) looks excited. Niraj is....mentally preparing.

These girls came PREPARED

PIIIIIIIIILLOOOOOOOOOOW FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!

Best part - when the little kids started attacking Pooh & Friends...but could only reach their knees. Haha awwwwwwwwww

Pooh & Friends fought back nicely with the little kids 

Even grandma got in on the action!

After wearing ourselves out with pillow fighting, we stopped by the Hanover St. Market to pick up a few items

Very smelly

The produce here is SO CHEAP. When it's warmer I really need to start going here for my fruits and veggies

A refreshing beverage pit stop at Quincy Market - Passion Fruit Pina Colada mmmmm

We got back to L&N's apartment for a lesson on....how to make SUSHI! This is something I've always wanted to do and just never have...

Sushi grade fish - so pretty, so tasty

Ready to assemble!

Get your seaweed paper and spread on a thin layer of sticky rice

Add in desired fillings

Roll *tightly*

Roll with bamboo mat for uniformity

And slice

My attempt...I put a little too much rice on mine, oops

I wanted to do an 'inside-out' roll and opted for a salmon-avocado filling

Mine is the one on top - almost done!

Look at ALL THAT SUSHI

Had to make my roll a bit prettier :)

Look! I made sushi! 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand....Lawrence had spicy mayo!!!! It's probably my favorite condiment ever...and now I know you can buy it in Chinatown!

After gorging ourselves on sushi, we tried this party trick - you set up 4 chairs and have everyone sit in them and lean back....to make a human table.

Hahaha watch out for the inevitable crash and tumble!

L&N have this incredible wall of meticulously peeled off beer bottle labels - no two labels are the same. And the wall is ever-growing.

Now on to today...I tried out a new church this morning for Easter with my friend Sarah (Aletheia Church - seemed cool, I'm going to go back next week!), then went grocery shopping at Whole Foods in Central Square and got ingredients to make....my own Pad Thai!

Rice noodles - you soak in boiled water for a few minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water

The Pad Thai Sauce...don't even ask what's in it

Chicken bits marinating in a soy sauce and corn starch mixture

And it all comes together!

I can't believe I made authentic Pad Thai! That's what's on the menu for lunch this week, so excited! You can make it too - use this recipe!

Clips from the show I went to earlier this week - that's Calin on the guitar

This is their new single, 'Simple' - remember you can download it for free for a limited time!

This is my favorite song that they do - 'Don't Cut Me Loose.' I saw them perform it with another friend from college, Lydia Kiefer, on violin and it was phenomenal...

And to finish, a clip from the pillow fight! Yes, that's me laughing hysterically in the background (it was so much fun!)

So there you have it ladies and gents - as you can see, my food consumption this week was basically nothing but good Asian delicacies. I don't have much lined up for this week (other than to *finally* get my taxes done, meet with my trainer, and work a TON), but maybe it'll turn out like this week did and I'll have fun stuff crop up!