Oooh the Anticipation!!!

Other than the Cream Confection Coat, I really have not been as excited about many of the new fall items coming out.  I believe I'm not the only one that's feeling this way, so I have started to look at other stores to help fill my much needed fall wardrobe. 

After seeing Vivian in her lovely Tucker by Target dress here and Rosa here, I was intrigued enough to make a couple of purchases online.  Both pieces qualified for free shipping, so I thought there's nothing to lose.  I've been looking for pieces I can transition from fall to winter and also pass for spring or summer wear.  So...here are the two pieces I recently ordered:

I can totally see myself wearing this halter with a nice gray skirt.  Or even a nice black skirt.  I love the vibrant colors and of course, it's versatility to be worn with a skirt, slacks, cardigan.  And at $25, it's a great deal!

This was one of the few colors I can find still in my size out of all the Tucker dresses online.  But I think it'll match with my skintone really well and I can dress it for work with some brown boots and tights.  I can not wait to get this and try it on!

Also, guess what else I'm super excited for?

Yep...the Anticipation Heels!!!  These are so darned cute and I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them online.  I like that you can wear these in the summer or in colder winter weather with some tights.  After reading the reviews online, I ordered these in a half size smaller...so I hope they work out.  I'd be sad if they didn't. 

Have a great night, everyone! 

Birthday Weekend...

Hello all!  I turned one year older this past Friday and whenever it's the time around my birthday, Chris always makes it extremely special for me.  He always says September is my "birthday month".  And that one day is just not enough time to celebrate.  A couple of years ago, he gave me numerous gifts and took me out almost every weekend.  I think I might have gained ten pounds that month.  :)

Friday September 10th is my actual birthday.  Chris made reservations at an Italian restaurant called Anchovies and Olive which I was really excited to try.  But I'm sad to report that the restaurant disappointed me.  The food was only OK and the portions were teeny tiny.  Way too over rated for my taste.  But on a good note, here's what I wore!

I finally debuted my Discovery Lace dress!  It was a bit chilly that day so I wore it with my black tights and some gray suede booties with ruffles I got at the Nordies' annual sale this year.  I got a lot of comments with this outfit and it made me feel so pretty!

Yes ladies, that IS the Cream Confection coat!  I decided after trying this one that I liked it a lot and with the mild winters we get in Seattle, I'll get a lot of use out of it this year.  I've decided to actually take back the Clinton Trench in exchange for this, and it was a great decision.

Our dinner reservations at Anchovies and Olive was at 7:30.  We had some time to kill so we went into this tiny wine bar across the street called Poco Wine Bar.  It was great!  Ladies, don't you love those times when you and your man are not in a hurry, and can just enjoy the time with one another trying out new things.  I love these little date nights we have and I believe it's essential to keeping a healthy relationship.

No pictures of Anchovies and Olive, but after dinner we met up with some friends at another wine bar called Portalis Wine Bar in Ballard.

Saturday night, Chris' mom wanted to treat me out for dinner so we went to a fusion Asian place, also in Ballard.  For those followers that know me by now, can you tell what neighborhood in Seattle is my favorite? Hehehe.  Anyhoo, I wore my blue Camilla dress and we ordered some tapas and for dinner I had the chicken curry which came with three different dipping curries.  Very yummo!

Sunday my parents took me out for sushi.  It's more for my dad really since he always wants sushi when we go out...so I decided to have it for him.  It was a little cloudy so I decided to grab my field game cardi and match it with some brown boots I got not too long ago.

I always think it's so cute when my parents grab their reading glasses in public.  They only share one...it's adorable!

And OMG!  We went to a place called Kisaku, which is probably my favorite place in Seattle.  They have the best fish for the best price I believe.  It was my parents' very first time trying sea urchin...which is the yellow tongue looking thing on the right side.  It's an acquired taste and texture for people so it's not for everyone.  But Chris and I love it and so did my dad.

Random pic: This hoodie was one of Chris' bridal presents on our wedding day.  He gave me this with letters on the hood that read "Mrs. Jocson".  He also gave me some underwear with Mrs. Jocson on the booty.  Haha!!!  Finally, he gave me the Michael Kors Swarvski Cystals Ceramic white watch which I've yet to debut on the blog.  And what did I get him?  Well this of course....

And what happens when the daddy and his son gets tired after playing on the IPad?

Sunday nap!  Our cat loves to cuddle...and he's always sleeping with us on the couch.  Isn't this just precious?

There you have it?  My weekend in a blog!

Before I leave, check out the following giveaways...

Aimee at all things aimee is giving away a lovely pair of esty earrings.

Lisa from respect the shoes is giving away an Anthro necklace!

The girls at In Pursuit of Pretty Things is giving away a $65 CSN gift card.

Check these girls out and make sure to follow and enter.  Have a wonderful night!!!

Honeymoon in Hawaii...Conclusion!

At last, our final two days in Hawaii!  Are you guys tired of looking at island and food pictures yet? :)

Musubis, as I've known them, are spam and rice wrapped in seaweed.  It's a Hawaiian staple and I have always loved them.  I know some people can't stand the thought of canned meat, but for me, it's not a problem.  I love this stuff.  The Japanese also has these rice ball snacks wrapped in seaweed and we were able to find a small place that served only these musubis.  We ordered regular spam ones, fried spicy chicken ones, and spicy mayo ones with salmon.  It was oh so yummy!

We stopped at Pali lookout for some nice scenery.  There were quite a few families of wild chickens wandering around in the parking lot.  The chickies were so adorable!

Manoa Falls was always a place I wanted to hike and finally got a chance to.  It's about 45 minutes to get to the waterfall but the trail to get there can get a little messy.  I knew this and we brought tennis shoes, but I saw people doing it in flip flops which wasn't a great idea!

On our way back to the hotel we stopped for Bubbies!  It's an ice cream shop with home made mochi ice cream.  They make all sorts of exotic flavors like guava, passion fruit, and pineapple! 

Layered on the sunscreen (I learned my lesson in Santa Monica) and we went out to sit on the beach for a bit.

Before dinner, for "appetizers" we decided to stop at the ABC Store to get some beverages.  My drink of choice?  Pineapple and Kettle One that night! :)

Mmm...we went to 3660 On The Rise that night.  The risotto was lovely!  Just so amazingly cooked.  And I'm a sucker for butterfish, so I had that and Chris had a steak!

Our last day in Hawaii was really chill.  We decided to walk around the Ala Moana mall and get their popular Acai fruit bowl from Blue Hawaiian.  It's like a thick granola parfait with fresh fruit.  Very refreshing on a hot day.  We also went to the Japanese market in the mall and tried these Taiyaki's.  Basically it's a fish shaped crepe filled with red bean and cream cheese of all things!  Combined it was just amazing.  But you can choose other fillings as well.  Fish shaped pastries?  Hell yeah! 

Our final dinner was at Sasebune Sushi.  We are huge fans of chef's choice sushi bar dinners because you get the freshest stuff.  You sit at the bar and let the chef choose what to serve you.  Those that aren't daring or have food allergies might shy away from this, but our 14 course meal was so splendid.  Sadly, our sushi pictures are on our 7D Canon but let me just tell you, imagine the freshest, most buttery raw fish and oysters you've ever tasted.  Mix it in with a lobster tail, a blue crab roll and hot sake.  OH MY!  It was just a great way to say farewell to paradise. 

Before I go, I'd just like to acknowledge those individuals that lost their loved ones nine years ago.  The best thing about our country is our ability to rebuild, recover, and rediscover ourselves when we've hit rock bottom.  Today, lets all continue to look forward at all the great things this country's got in store for us. 

Honeymoon in Hawaii - Part 2...

First of all, HAPPY Friday everyone!  I'm sure all ya'll are happy this day's finally arrived.  Any plans for the weekend?  I have a lovely birthday outfit for you today, but will save that post later after I have more pics of this weekend.  So stay tuned.

Now back to my island adventure...

The morning after we had our ramen dinner, we woke up early and walked to the shopping center on Waikiki to get my usual morning coffee.  The mocha made with macadamia nut coffee beans was delish!  And Chris made an impulse buy at the Apple Store.  His first Iphone ever!  The 4% tax really did it for him haha since we pay 9.75% here!  :)

After spending money at the Apple Store, we were pretty hungry.  We saw an episode of Man vs. Food and one of the places Adam, the host, visited during his visit was to Helena's Hawaiian Foods.  This was a hole in the wall place in one of Honolulu's neighborhoods and if it weren't for the show, we would have never stopped here.  We're sure happy we did.  It was some of the best food I've ever tasted and the service was superb! 

After our lunch, we decided to stop at the famous Liliha Bakery to try their coco puffs before we headed for the rest of the day.

That night we had made luau reservations at Paradise Cove, and one of the fun things I've always loved doing while traveling is what I call "hotel crashing"...so we stopped at the Ko Olina JW Marriott resort next to the luau to chillax a bit by the pool.  We ordered our beers, brought our own beach towels and relaxed!

The luau was wonderful.  It was my second time going but Chris enjoyed it for the first time. 

The next morning, we drove all the way around half of the island to get to the Hukilau Cafe!  If anyone's watched 50 First Dates, the Hukilau Cafe played an important role in the movie.  It was where Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore's characters met.  But the cafe in the movie was a built set, the real Hukilau is a dive but the food was sooo good.  I had the famous burger!

We then headed over to the Dole Plantation.  They had the world's largest maze shaped like a pineapple...so we had to complete that.  It took us over an hour! :)

We returned back to Waikiki after the maze and decided to hotel crash again at the Sherton on the beach.  It was almost sunset and the view was great!  There was a local band playing and I enjoyed some Sangrias!  Enjoyed...yum!

And of course in Cindi and Chris style, we end our day with FOOD!  Korean House was a place my friend brought me to the last time I was in Hawaii and of course I had to bring Chris here.  I loved all the little dishes they gave us!

More drinks!

There's a big Korean community in Seattle with some decent food, but my favorite place that served Gham Ja Tang (pork bone and potato soup) closed down!!!  So when they had this soup on their menu, I had to order it.  And it was so good.  Mix that in with some bibimbop (mixed rice with egg and beef above) I'm a happy camper!!!

Phew!  I'm still not done!  Part three will come soon! :)

Have a great Friday everyone!