Aren’t you guys thankful that I didn’t do a “miso” pun for the title? So tempting!! But then you would have every right not to follow this blog again. Miso sorry! Bahahaha!!! Couldn’t help myself.

Okay, in all seriousness, Lar and I are head-over-heels in love with Miso Izakaya, an amazing Japanese restaurant in the Old Fourth Ward district. We first heard about it from our foodiest of foodie friends, Chloe, stopped by for the first time a few months ago and we’ve been hooked ever since.

For a few weeks Troy was Miso’s FourSquare mayor because we would go three times a week. We’ve been a little more practical and only go once (maybe twice) a week now so he’s been de-mayored.

If you live in the Atlanta area forget about the meal you’re about to make and go immediately to Miso Izakaya. For those of you who aren’t nearby, you need to come visit and check out this amazing restaurant. Until then, drool over these photos.

Crispy duck buns:

Shoyu Tomago – a soy marinated egg over a crispy rice cake:

Troy with pork belly, kimchi fried rice:

Onigiri – grilled rice ball with salmon skin. One of my absolute favorites:

Pork kimchi:

Tuna edamame pesto:

I rarely order dessert at Asian restaurants, but I make an exception at Miso Izakaya because it serves amazing green tea creme brulee with blackberries:

It all looks amazing, no? Well these photos don’t do Chef Wong’s food justice. And AsianCajuns is obviously not a food blog, so check out Chloe’s post to hear about Miso from a pro.

Let’s us know if you’ve been to Miso Izakaya. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Cath and I have decided that enough is enough with our long hair. We’re hopping on the Alexa Chung bandwagon and clipping our hair just above our shoulders. The last time we had hair that short was 10+ years ago, and I don’t think we’ve had matching hair styles since this photo:

We’re going for the slightly longer disheveled bob (with long bangs). We might do the ombre highlights once we’ve mustered the courage to do the cut (our appointment is this Saturday afternoon). We’re going together for moral support, and hitting up my most favoritist hair stylist in all of Atlanta, Robin at Dada. She cuts hair like a dream. (Marcus at Soge is our man for color).

We’re hoping to look like this post-cut (including the extra 5 inches Alexa has on us- and those lovely eyes):

p.s. Alexa also happens to be our mix (dad is Chinese and her mom is Caucasian). So not exactly an AsianCajun, but an AsianBritain (?)
p.p.s. Speaking of British people/things. I have some news to share that has to do with my move and Britain (I unintentionally mislead you with that whole “I’m moving to the West Coast!” thing). more to come in the next post.

“Open Your Eyes” by Oryx and Crake from Oryx and Crake on Vimeo.

Our friends Tom and Jamie at Chronicle are the masterminds behind this video for the amazing local band Oryx and Crake. About 50 Altantans web-camed themselves for an entire day at work (myself included) and were then spliced together by editor Aaron Byrd.

Even if you guys aren’t interested in watching me making funny faces (in a fur hat), you should totally listen to this incredible song. And tell me what you think!

p.s. Was your Monday magical? I’m just off now to meet Kitcath at Miso! Yum yum!

Cath and I designed a birdhouse for this Sunday’s Solarium Patio Party auction.* Doesn’t that sound fancy?! Well, the party certainly is, but not the AsianCajuns. So we had to bring the fancy to our birdhouse in the form of Dorothy Draper (over-the-top interior designer extraordinaire)!

Here’s a photo of the fancy lady herself:

The key to painting a birdhouse a la DD? Don’t hold back on color, gilt, and pattern. I sure hope there are some more-is-more birds out there. I’d be so embarrassed if our birdhouse sat on the market, ignored by cardinals and finches in search of beige siding.

Above: the Dorothy Draper birdhouse. Below: Dorothy Draper’s actual designs (most of these images are from the Dorothy Draper Exhibit in New York).

I love her exuberance, don’t you? Big and bold and color everywhere. I’m sure some of you are wishing for a beige-y Restoration Hardware catalog about right now – and I can totally understand that. I’m not sure I could actually live in a DD house, but I sure hope our winged friends can!

What do you guys have on tap for the weekend? Patio parties? Birdhouse painting? Do tell!

xoxo,

Lar

*Proceeds from the auction support The Solarium in Oakhurst. Purchase your Patio Party tickets here!

Most of you know Matt, Lar’s husband, nerd-glasses-wearer, doctor scientist and owner of a fantastic mustache. But you may not know Troy, my boyfriend. I mention him frequently, but rarely post photos of him on the blog because I want to respect his privacy. Why should he have his face plastered everywhere just because his girlfriend is a blogger? Am I right?

Well right or wrong, I’ve decided to forgo that mindset because I want to take a minute to brag about him – ha!

Last Wednesday Troy played on the square in Decatur and sounded amazing! That’s right, Troy is a musician (singer, songwriter, guitar player) and an amazing performer – yeah I’m biased, but it’s true! The concert was one of the first times he’s played his original songs in front of so many Decatur friends (he usually plays covers for his paid gigs) and everyone loved it. The whole event made me swell up with pride even though I can take absolutely no credit for his talent and drive whatsoever as a musician. I just sit back, listen and enjoy.

The photo above makes it look like just one person was in the audience – whoops. Girlfriend/photographer fail. Just believe me when I say it was a great turnout. Tons of friends, family, colleagues and locals showed up for the event.

Want to see a proud girlfriend face?

Horrible. I have no idea what I’m laughing at or why my eyes are closed, but I’m including the photo so you can see the whole outfit I was wearing for the concert, which took place midday so I’m wearing my work clothes.

Asos jacket (hand me down from Lar), thrifted shirt (gift from Lar), Limited skirt, Madewell heels and necklace from Vivid Boutique in Decatur.

I wore my sparkly gold Sally Hansen nail strips for over 2 weeks. They ended up chipping during my move this past weekend, but I’m so impressed with how long they last. I’ve heard from a few people that the solid color nail strips don’t hold up as well, so I’ll be sticking to the sparkles and patterns.

Ever the supportive sis, Lar came out for the concert too.

Lar’s outfit details: thrifted marching band jacket, Target shirt, Blank jeans, and Frye boots.

I absolutely love the detailing on Lar’s jacket. It brings me back to my high school marching band days – oh yes, I was intimidatingly cool in high school as a band geek. Any mellophone or french horn players out there? Woot, woot!

All in all, a fantastic outdoor concert and perfect weather. Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and see Troy – I know it meant the world to him!

And thanks to everyone for the kind words about my move. It was a hot and long Sunday, but I’m now officially moved into my new space – Troy’s itty, bitty house in Decatur. I’m surrounded by boxes and bare walls as I write this post and it’s driving me crazy. I’ll be spending the next few weeks after work unpacking and decorating. I promise I’ll post photos once I can get the place looking somewhat presentable.

Confession: I love doughnuts and am scared of guns. But that’s really being unfair toward guns because I’ve never tried one (and doughnuts and I go way back). I hate being scared of something just because I’ve never tried it, so I’ve always wanted to go to a shooting range. I figured once I understood how to use a gun (just like I understand how to shovel doughnuts down my gullet with not-a-crumb-wasted precision), I would, if not be a fan, know I had nothing to be scared of.

Okay, true that guns can be lethal and doughnuts are comparatively benign (unless given a plate of Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen doughnuts- and then you’re done for). I still felt that guns would be less scary with the proper instruction.

Enter Chloe of Chow Down Atlanta. Not only is she a genius foodie blogger, but she also happens to be a NRA instructor. Chloe introduced Cath and I to our first shooting experience at Quickshot last weekend.

We finished the day off with these (below)- those doughnuts from Duck’s that I mentioned. Seriously, you guys need to come visit us just to try these! And as much as I loved shooting (much less afraid of guns now), I do kind of wish we had more doughnuts than guns around. What a tasty world that would be!

Lulu’s Giveaway Winner!
We used a random sorter and this lovely lady (below) won our Lulus giveaway! Visit the lovely Ashley’s blog if you haven’t already. We hope everyone else had a chance to use the AsianCajuns Lulus discount too! Thanks to all of you for entering! Cheers, Ashley 🙂