Soy Latte Crackhead

  Hello! I didn't forget you,  I promise. It's just that I got a little busy last week. Let's see, quick re-cap:

-Wednesday: Freaked out about what to do for Valentine's Day. 
-Thursday: Brainstormed ideas about Valentine's Day...failed.
-Friday: Forced Jermaine and Sey to go to the mall with me and help me think of a Valentine's Day idea...and failed. Actually, no. I started to form an idea.
-Saturday: Looked more into my idea and came up with a genius plan.

  Basically, I was too busy freaking out about what to do this year so I had no time to write...especially since I would have asked you about ideas and that wouldn't have worked out because Brent and my mom would have seen your suggestions (hi babe! hi mommy!) .  Anyway, I think I started to feel the pressure even more when Brent started asking, "Can I give you your present now?" on Thursday. It didn't help either that the flowers (pictured) that he ordered for me came a day early. Needless to say, by Saturday, I buckled down and actually took notes on what I was going to do.

 Come Sunday, I woke up at 10am (which is early for me on a weekend because I'm extremely capable of sleeping in till way past 1pm) and ran out of the house with my full paged grocery list. I was crack-out on soy latte and literally did not stop doing anything all day. I ran out of the house about three times and kicked my family out after coming back the second time.  I told them not to bother coming home until 7pm. Although I didn't get to rearrange everything, I did manage to turn the dining room into a cozy and romantic setting for the family. I had fun listening to Lisa Ono's Bossanova music and prepping the food and table. When they got home, I was pleasantly surprised to hear my mom say, "Kawaii! (cute!)" I kept them out of the kitchen as I started off their meal with French bread, Brie cheese and an olive oil/Balsamic vinegar dip.  I also served up strawberries and champagne (well, apple cider for my sister) for a drink. The main course was grilled stuffed portobello mushrooms and slow-roasted green beans and potatoes. After everyone had their fill, I served up dessert--phyllo pastry cups with one of two fillings: cheesecake-custard and strawberries or hazelnut chocolate ganauche with strawberries. I think the crowd favorite was the cheesecake-custard but they seemed to like both just the same. It made me really happy to hear that my dinner was a success...my soy-latte crack day was definitely worth it.

  By the way, Brent's gift to me was this super-kawaii HK wallet. I know, be jealous.

  Harada's Valentine's Day.