MONDAY DATE NIGHT #4 // Pick Your Own Crops at Underwood Family Farms

We went to Underwood Family Farms  for our Monday date night this week. They are about a 5 minute drive from where Taylor works, so I finally convinced him to go with me.  The original plan was to pick a bunch of veggies, and then come home to cook dinner with produce picked straight from the farm. But to tell you the truth, I was so pooped after this, we ended up drinking jamba juice and eating pre-frozen hash browns for dinner instead!

I've been reading up/listening to podcasts on locavorism (both for and against) these days, so all the talk of delicious and unique local produce had me itching to pick some local produce and see for myself.  I don't think I know enough about the complexities of the food production system in American to fully determine my own opinion on whether or not locavorism is good or bad for our environment as a whole; however, in terms of a personal experience, I did find it quite theraputic to spend an hour or so picking vegetables and learning about crops.  (If it was about 5 degrees cooler, I probably could have stayed out there for a lot longer!) There were definitely a lot of veggies that I didn't even know existed, and I can't wait to come home from work tonight and experiment with what we picked. 

MONDAY DATE NIGHT #3 // We finally went to LACMA!

Taylor and I haven't had a Monday date night in a really long time (since June), because we've been traveling a lot lately, so I was happy we were able to get to it this week, and even more happy that I finally got to go to LACMA! I had been dying to go for quite some time now. We kept waiting for the first Sunday of the month, because it's free admission if you have a Bank of America debit card, but somehow we still ended up not going this past Sunday.  I was so sad we didn't go that we decided to rush over after work on Monday since admission is free for LA county residents after 3:00, even if it meant the visit would be shorter.

One of the exhibitions I was most interested in seeing was the Levitated Mass  (pictured above).  After all the hype about the "340 ton rock arriving in LA" earlier this year, I have admit that I was kind of surprised at how small this guy looked! But I have to say that I still loved the exhibit. At first when you approach it, it just looks like a big rock in the middle of nowhere, but as you get closer, you realize that it's actually suspended in air with a tunnel underneath for you to walk under. A simple concept, but I loved how it plays with perception of space, location and scale.

They didn't really let us take pictures of the indoor exhibits, but the outdoor exhibits were just as fun! Here were some of the photos of the outdoor stuff (which is free all day, everyday):















There were a ton of other things that I didn't get a chance to look at and absorb. The museum is quite large. So I think I will look at this trip as more of an introduction, and I do hope to go back and spend more time with the artwork there! It's a very relaxing atmosphere and I could picture myself spending a huge chunk of a day there.

Some things I cannot believe I missed are Metropolis II, Watts Towers, and the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, which was designed by one of my favorite architects, who also designed one of my favorite museums across from another one of my favorite museums, in one of my favorite cities!

MONDAY DATE NIGHT #2 // 2 coupon clippings + a gift card = popcorn and a movie!

We saw Brave this week for our Monday date night.  I didn't know how much of a coupon clipper Taylor was a coupon clipper until we got married.  I've never really been one for coupons- I hate junk mail, and never have the patience to sift through everything, let alone cut portions out and save them and remember to bring them places!  However, if someone else does the work for you, well then coupons are great! You end up doing things you don't always do and for less money.We also used our gift card from my dear friend Hanna :) Thanks so much Hanna!

 We originally were going to try and catch the matinee, but didn't get there on time, so we caught the next show which was a 3d showing. I've never seen a movie in 3D before, but I always hear that it ruins the movie, so I figured I wasn't missing much.  After seeing for myself what it was like, I think I could do without it, but it was still fun to try on the glasses and satisfy my curiosity!  






I didn't hate the movie, but I wouldn't say I loved it either. I was totally charmed at the beginning, and then it started to go off into too many undeveloped directions for me towards the end.  Although the animation (at least to my untrained novice eyes) was pretty great... that hair! wowowow.  It definitely made me want to watch Up and How to Train Your Dragon again!  I loved those!

It was also interesting to note how much animated movies have evolved since I was a kid. I remember waiting all year for Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Lion King, Pocahontas.  Gosh those were great- but definitely of a different era.  Every movie was always centered around an epic romantic love story in some way, but it seems that "finding true love" is starting to take the backseat and that we are inching away from that more and more.

Oh! and we saw someone "famous" but I can't actually remember his name.  (I guess that tells you how "famous" he actually was!).  Taylor knew his name, I'll have to ask him again. He was in the dad of one of those family shows during the era of Family Matters, Full House etc..Ah! I loved those too when I was a kid!!


Anyway, date night has been really nice, I  hope we can keep it up!

MONDAY DATE NIGHT// mom + mom-in-law recipes!

When we first got married, a lot of people gave us the advice of having a weekly date night. We've been trying on and off again to have a date night on Mondays, but a lot of times we end up not doing anything in particular because sometimes it feels a little pointless to have a date night when it's usually just the two of us most nights anyways! However, I'm realizing it's still nice to pick one night of the week to go out of our way to do something a little extra for each other, so I'm hoping we can start this up again.

We were both eating out a ton last week, so we decided to stay in for a home cooked meal. Plus, we finally cleaned our apartment, and nothing feels better than being in a clean apartment!!

This meal was definitely a gift from a lot of our loved ones. I used my mom's unbelievably simple lobster tail recipe, and Taylor's mom's insanely good mashed potatoes recipe.  Trust me guys, you haven't eaten mashed potatoes, until you've eaten these mashed potatoes!  And then to top it off, my Auntie Ruth gave us those delicious cherries. I don't know about you, but I feel like a queen and that the world is mine for the taking when I'm eating fresh fruits! Such a treat!

I also made a simple leaf garland to hang over our dining room table to bring some of the summer prettiness inside. Our apartment is still so blah right now. I wish I could find more time to decorate, but, here we are.  Regardless, home is still about who you live with and not the vintage sofa you've been eyeing, so no complaints here, I still have what's important to me  :)







**P.S. Thanks so much to my Auntie Ruth for the chairs,my mom for the silverware, and Taylor's brother Ryan for the dining table. Knowing how long it takes us to get around to buying furniture, we would probably still be eating with our hands on the floor without these!!