Category Archives: Miscellaneous

5 July 2011

Ocean City Update

Hi Lovelies!

So it turns out getting the wifis in our retro condo by the sea was a lot harder than we thought. Right now we are at a hotel just outside of D.C. (happy belated birthday, country!) getting ready to meet our Maryland  fam for dim sum. One more night on the road and we’ll be back in the ATL.

For me this vacay started out pretty miserably (sick for the first 2 days or so – even on our birthday, bah), but there have been some major highlights once I managed to drag myself out of the condo: boardwalk funnel cake, doughnuts, sunny beach days, putt-putt golf!

We’ll “see” you guys back in Atlanta soon! Hope you’re having a wonderful week – let us know what you’ve been up to!

Category: Uncategorized
8 Comments
29 June 2011

Dim Sum Delights and Away We Go!

Hello all! Look at what Lar wore around her head the other day when we took our parents out for dim sum – a schnazzy headband! What you can’t tell from the photo is that Lar’s headband is homemade. Impressed? I was too. She bought some stretchy neon fabric at Hancock Fabrics, made a few cuts, did a few twists and tucks and voila! I’m in love with it.

Yum, yum, dim sum! Our favorite isn’t even pictured here. Anyone else out there love steamed cha siu baos – also know as steamed bbq pork buns?

 

Lar’s outfit details: homemade headband, Gap tank (word on the street is that this tank sold out super fast in stores and there’s only XL sizes left online), FCUK for Sears skirt and Jeffrey Campbell shoes.

My outfit details: H&M sweater worn over a dress from Rockit Boutique, Vivid Boutique bag and Nine West sandals. I would normally not advise anyone to wear a sweater during the summer in Atlanta, but a lightweight sweater is perfect for the indoor AC temps.

The photo above is a kind of behind the blog scenes view. Although we consider AsianCajuns to be a lifestyle/fashion blog, we spend a good portion of our picture-taking focusing on food. I also like how the photo shows off the, uh, inviting ambiance of Oriental Pearl with bright red walls, a pretty clear view into the kitchen and one of the many LCD TVs hanging all around the restaurant allowing you to stay up to date on your Asian news or soap operas while you eat.

But enough talk about food! Lar, Matt, Troy and I are heading up to Ocean City, Maryland tomorrow for a much needed vacation. Why are we going to a beach all the way up in Maryland – especially one that could compete with the Jersey Shore in tackiness? Because our extended family owns a condo up there and we get to stay for free! Plus, the condo’s retro decor alone is worth the 12 hour drive:

To see more photos of the condo, check out the photos that Troy took of the place last year here.

We’ll be bringing our laptops with us and have every intention of blogging. However, if you don’t hear from us for a week, just know that we’re thinking fondly of all of you as we sit on the beach, sipping margaritas.

Category: Uncategorized
16 Comments
26 June 2011

Our Favorite Food Truck

“Wow” is right, Mr. Flying Arepa! It’s the Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen food truck off to a tasty start. Cath and I have swooned over Duck’s fare for years (here and here), and now they are on wheels!

Their food truck specializes in arepas: a Venezuelan corn bun stuffed with the best pulled pork (or chicken or beef) topped with cilantro, lime sauce and crunchy onions. They also happen to carry my favorite veggie burger in the city. I crave this thing (and I am a meat eater).

(Above) you can see Cath’s thought bubble for once: “I’m just a stuffed corncake, be gentle.” So not what I thought she was thinking, but just goes to show you that sometimes twin telepathy doesn’t work.

(Below) I’m doing a happy arepa dance along with my friend Wheatie:

(Below) Here’s what a pork arepa and apple slaw looks like:

And here is the genius behind the arepas-in-Atlanta concept, Ms. Wendy Cross (follow her on twitter at Wendy Cross (arepagirl)) – so much talent in one familia (This is her brother. I hope we meet him at the arepa truck one day.)!

Wheatie (aka Cath’s bf’s golden doodle), is a big fan of the Duck’s/Arepa’s truck desserts  – specifically the famous Duck’s doughnuts.

“Doughnut, Wheats?”

“Good, boy!”

Do you guys have a food truck movement going on in your cities? Cath and I are deeee-lighted that Atlanta (and soon Decatur) has hopped on that band wagon, hence a whole post about our most favoritist. And the Atlanta deliciousness does not stop at arepas, in fact we have a whole Atlanta Street Food Coalition movement. Check out their site for a list of vendors and where they set up shop around the city throughout the week.

Category: Decatur/Atlanta
6 Comments
25 June 2011

Things Are Looking Up

The good this week: shooting that TBS pilot at Sugar Coated Radical. The bad: Matt has been away in LA for a conference all week – boo. The ugly: I’ve had bronchitis for a week and a half and sound like a 4-pack a day smoker).

Luckily Friday evening redeemed the bad and the ugly for Cath and I. We met up with a bunch of friends at (where else) Miso Izakaya – yum yum yum yummmmehhh!

On moi/Lar: Tee from Kohl’s • Old H&M cargo skirt • Vest is FCUK for Sears (for Sears! Can you believe it?) • Mango shoes • Deux Lux purse

On Cath: F21 dress • swap meet necklace • Madewell shoes • Tennessee-made bracelet (local artisan) • Frank Gehry for Tiffany’s ring

Ooo and look what I had for dessert at Miso (below)! It’s not usually on the menu but because we know people in high places (thanks, Chloe!), the sous chef, who happens to be a trained pastry chef, whipped this beauty up! Belgian waffle, topped with Georgia Pearson Farm Peaches, a generous dollop of hand-whipped cream, topped with lemon mint – heavenly!!!

When I get really excited by dessert (which is often/every day), I’m a really, really bad sharer. I barely let Cath take a bite and shielded it from my friends. Nice, right? I didn’t even know Cath was taking a picture (hence the blurry, self/dessert-absorbed movement):

Cath is much more refined than me and looks like this when waiting for food:

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead! We’re heading out to dry the new arepas food truck at Duck’s Cosmic Kitchen!

Category: Cath's Style, Lar's Style
8 Comments
23 June 2011

A Little Healthy Competition

Lar and I don’t consider ourselves competitive types – we’ve never competed against each other. But once in a while, a little competition isn’t bad – especially if it involves getting to wear a beautiful dress for a few minutes. Enter: WARdrobe.

Our friend, Mr. B3rtrand of 2econdFloor, invited us and two other fashionistas to style a little black dress by Atlanta designer Lake. That’s the stylish Mr. B3rtrand pictured below.

Check out the full post here to see how the other ladies styled their LBDs.

Lar and I both tried to go the non-Audrey Hepburn black dress route (no typical pumps or pearls) – and boy did we ever! Lar outfitted herself with a BCBG straw hat (yes, that’s black fringe on the circumference), mesh gloves, a red/pink ribbon around the waist, a vintage straw bag and her pair of ruby slippers from Burlington Coat Factory.

I wore my Sam Eldman booties, BCBG blazer and a stack of bracelets to go for a kind of downtown/uptown/working girl thing. . . look. It ended up being more of a hobbit look, but I can honestly say I was at least headed in the direction of what I pictured it to look like in my head. You follow? No matter!

At the end of the day, the lovely Charee won the contest and we had a lot of fun playing dress-up. I only wish I could have kept the dress!

A big thank you to Mr. B3rtrand for including us his WARdrobe series and letting me steal these photos for the post.

Category: Uncategorized
6 Comments
20 June 2011

Filming a Pilot for TBS at Sugar Coated Radical!

Cath and I, along with four awesome ATL foodies/bloggers, got to stuff our faces with chocolate and beer on camera today. It was a hard day’s work, but somebody is spoiled has to do it!

We can’t tell you the name of the show just yet, but (fingers-crossed) it should air on TBS in the not-too-distant future. We’re basically just talking extras on this one show, so we won’t be on camera for more than a minute. But the shoot was a few hours of moaning over incredible chocolate and beer tastings by Sugar Coated Radical. Ahhhh blisss!

Cath and I decided we should be really twin-y, so we wore quasi matching outfits:


On Cath: Bobi tee • Madewell belt, necklace and shoes • Gap 1969 skirt and leather wrap bracelet



On Lar: Bobi tee • Zara skirt • Gap belt • Jeffery Campbell shoes • ring from Heliotrope

Category: Cath's Style, Decatur/Atlanta, Lar's Style
17 Comments
17 June 2011

Lar’s New Shoes


Silvia Tcherassi for Payless and Hunter boots

Two new pair of shoes in the same month is a little extravagant. Well, “extravagant” is relative, right? The first pair: from Payless. And  I paid for them with a 20% off coupon from Kroger (that’s one of our local grocery chains for those not familiar). I also had been eying them for about a month (stalking my prey- you know how it is), and I took the grocery store coupon as a sign from the shoe god (can you imagine his/her closet?!), and scooped them up.

The second pair: real wellies – dressed up. I’ve wanted a pair of Hunter wellies since about the age of 10. My anglophilia started very early (with PBS). I was going to go for the classic wellie until I saw these 1) had a heel, 2) had laces and 3) were on sale at Shopbop. Yippee!

Guess which pair will work better in Edinburgh?

Somehow I don’t think this outfit will work as well in the wind and rain:

 

Category: Lar's Style
13 Comments
16 June 2011

About Scotland.

Have you guys noticed in past posts what nutters we are for Scotland? Cath and I studied abroad in Edinburgh in 2004 and then Matt (Monsieur Mustachio) and I visited last year – which actually began this whole moving thing.

Since studying abroad, Cath and I have always said if the we could move to Scotland we would in a heartbeat. Once again, we have no idea where all this Celtic love crept in. We have no Scottish ancestry (German, yup. French, check. Irish, English, Danish, check, check, check. Chinese – but not Scottish). Studying in Edinburgh was a bit of a whim (I wasn’t even sure exactly where Scotland was located in the UK before we went there — file that under “things you shouldn’t admit in public,” please). But Scotland wrapped us in its green, peaty, woolly bear hug, and we couldn’t wait to go back at the first chance.

Now I have a chance to move there with the man of my dreams (that’s you again, Mr. Mustachio), and I’m really, truly excited, but the excitement is very strongly tempered with a heavy dose of *&%!-I-Won’t-See-My-Twinie-For-6-Months-At-A-Time!!! I’m so not okay with that. I don’t think Cath is either. In fact, we haven’t really discussed it, have we, Kitcath?

So that’s where you come in, AsianCajun readers. We’ll be morphing this blog to be a bit like a twin love letter to keep in touch with each other and you. Cath will tell me everything she is up to in the big peachy ATL, and I’ll tell her everything I do stomping around in my rain boots in Edinburgh.

These changes will happen at the end of the summer (I’ll be moving in September), but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.

p.s. That photo above obviously has nothing to do with Scotland, but my expression is kind of how I feel: wistful, bittersweet. (Actually, that’s what I look like when I wear too many clothes on a hot humid Atlanta afternoon, and I start grimacing because I can feel another fat drop of sweat roll down my back).

Category: General AsianCajuns Info
20 Comments
15 June 2011

Miso Izakaya Deliciousness

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!

Category: Decatur/Atlanta
13 Comments
13 June 2011

The Haircut(s)

We did it! Cath and I have lost (what feels like) 10 lbs of hair all together.

Here is our beautiful stylist Robin chopping into the first braid:

Our four braids will be on the way to Locks of Love shortly. We were originally worried they wouldn’t take our hair because of our highlights, but Robin – genius that she is – cut from the underside (un-highlighted) locks. Wooot! We have so much hair that we should really be donating about once a year. AsianCajun harvest! (Ewww, sounds creepy, but for a good cause!)

Doesn’t Cath look awesome?!


On Lar: UO dress, thrifted shoes, Madewell belt. (In the pic on the left I’m showing Cath how easy it is to swing our my hair now).


On Cath: H&M romper, Madewell shoes, freebie sunnies from years ago

What do you guys think? You likes?

 

Want some more big AsianCajun news?

I’m moving to Edinburgh in September!!!! (More info to come – including how Cath and I will cope with the distance via AsianCajuns.com, and if that doesn’t work I’ll come back to the states and bring her back with me – sorry, Troy!).

Category: Uncategorized
27 Comments