My DIY earrings (and random foods)

I was so sick of paying 50-70 bucks for a pair of crystal earrings, so I trooped down to the bead and jewellery store to buy supplies for my own earrings. Came up to a bill of 130 bucks. Shit. I think the cashier was so affected by my look of dismay that he gave me 40% off my tools. Oh well.

But! I spent the whole day making earrings yday and it was soooo fun! A lot of chipped nails but it was all worth it. I really like what I made. :)

I've always wanted looooong earrings, but I could never find any that was long enuf without being garish, so I made this one as my first pair. I love it, and how it shows even with my hair down.

I love this, cuz every crystal was wound with sterling silver wire and attached loosely to the chain.

I like this piece because there's a lot of dangling pieces, so as you walk, they glitter a lot.

This was inspired by the shape of a monkey toy. I put a little dangling tail and a smoked amber bead as it's head.

I just made this because the ice blue crystals go so well with the red crystals.

And I know this sounds dorky, but I wound the wire into a DNA helix psuedo shape. And added the dangling parts to intertwine with it.

Me with one of my creations. :)

In short, I loved everything I made. :) So if anyone likes what I made, lemme know, and I could make to custom. :) Think imma sell every pair for around 20 to 40 bucks, depending on crystal quantity and friend status. :D

Went to Whisk and ladle for a drink or two and tapas on Friday.

Tom staring at the huge tv screen showing this *yawn* football game.

Ariana and me and mike and deron!

BTW I love love love Okan. Seriously that place just gets better and better and better. Everytime I go, there's a new dish that tastes out of the world. There's a difference between good flavor, and amazing flavor, and I think Okan gets the latter tag. Everytime I put food from there in my mouth, it's a mixture of pleasure from the 10 diff flavors that hits your palate, and the texture too. I love love.

They have this local spotted amaebi (sweet shrimp) sashimi that was out of the world. The shrimp heads were still moving, and their pinchers were moving around and everything. Can sashimi get any fresher? The flesh was still clear and succulent....

They cook the shrimp heads after you're done with the sashimi, two ways, either in a miso soup or tempura style. Super good.

They have this grilled pork jowl that was awesome. It looked so boring, but the sauce was heavenly, and the pork was grilled to perfection. It was tender, with the pork fat oozing out of your mouth, with a hint of lemon to it.

The cold chawanmushi I love. It has seafood stock in it, and served with a strong lemon rind flavor. Sooooooo good. :)

I would have more pics but I keep eating and spoiling the arrangement of the food before I could take pics of it. For the record, the ramen noodles with mayo and perilla dressing and local ranch tomatoes was frigging awesome. The ramen noodles were al dente, and the soy ginger and mayo dressing was AWESOME.

And the earl grey tiramisu was really good as well.

And we went to this REALLY good Italian restaurant called de medici in the gaslamp quarter, and seriously I think it's the best italian restaurant in San Diego, hands down. On par with Pamplemousse Grille in my opinion.

The lobster langostino we had as an antipasti was AWESOME.

Langostino
Baby Icelandic lobster sautéed in extra virgin olive oil and roasted garlic butter, served with fussili pasta in a béchamel sauce

The lobster meat was sweet and the sauce was so delicate. Not heavy at all. Sooooo good.

Sole Portofino
Fresh fillet of sole stuffed with lobster, crab and shrimp, then oven-baked to a golden brown

This was the signature dish of the restaurant and it deserved its name. I've always thought sole was a boring fish and usually overcooked too easily, but in this dish, it just melts in your mouth, with an explosion of sherry butter sauce of delicious lobster, crab and shrimp meat. Even the mashed potatoes on the side was the best I've ever tasted. It was made with a rich chicken stock and rosemary and burnt on the outside, and melty on the inside. On top of it, the baby carrots were just wild. I don't even like baby carrots to begin with, but it was soaked in a rich butter brown sugar sauce with a red wine reduction that it was just fabulous. Melty, rich and nothing resembling boring carrots.

And the lobster risotti was a dish the owner brought back from Sardina a month ago, and it was crazy good. The rice was al dente, and the lobster sauce was light, rich and sooooo delicate. Attacks your palate left, right and center. This was the first time I like the rice more than the lobster meat on a dish. Cuz I'm such a lobster whore.

Anw in short, no complaints about this place, except that maybe the lobster meat wasn't top grade, but the culinary skills put into every dish just outshines the quality of the materials. Antipasti is around 26 bucks and mains are around 30 to 50 bucks. Def a go for a special occasion. :)