Showing posts with label Mel's life. Show all posts

Mel's Life: What I ate for my Birthday Dinner

I turned old 29 this past Tuesday and decided to try Masseria with my good friend and fellow food enthusiasts (aka literally eating money) Naddia. Masseria is located in the old Florida Ave Market side of the newly renovated Union Market here in DC. It is an oasis amongst warehouses and a pleasant surprise if you are not searching for it.

The cuisine is coastal European and takes you on a blended journey through Italy and Greece. A clear nod to Chef Nicholas Stefanelli's background. For dinner I decided to go with 4 courses because I decided to devour loaded baked potato fries at Bar Deco because I am a savage.
 Anyway...I digress.... 
I almost had a near death experience straight out of the gate because I was half listening to the bread plate description. Of course the first thing I decided to eat had seafood in it. So I had to hightail it to a nearest pharmacy and inhale a Benadryl. Long story short...I scared our server to death but I survived. 

For my first course I had Pinzimonio which is a light and refreshing vegetable salad. My second course I had the Carne Curda which is veal tartare with black truffle and parmigiano.  AMAZING...
For my third course I had the BUE, aged sirloin steak. The Texan in me couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy a well cooked piece of steak. My fourth and final course was dessert. I believe I had the Torta Al Cioccolato, I am not exactly sure because the Benadryl had kicked in at this point. However my dessert was eyerollingly good.








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Mel's Life: #SweetSweetTnT

Last week I got to witness another friend get hitched, this time in Trinidad. My friend made a gorgeous bride and looked absolutely radiant. It was such an island wedding. I loved every moment of it. The day after the wedding a couple of friends and I went to Maracas Beach, where I urged them to get a Bake and Shark (fyi you cannot go to the beach and not get bake.) Last year when I was in Trinidad with my mom I did not get to go to the beach so I happily soaked up all the sun I could take. Luckily this time I did not get sunburn (look at God). 



On Monday we went to Tobago for a day trip. We took a glass bottom boat and checked out the coral reefs and eventually ended up at the famous Nylon Pool. If you are in Tobago you HAVE to get to the Nylon Pool. The water is beautiful and most importantly shallow (lol). Hopefully the next time I am in Trinidad I will get to spend more time in Tobago. It's the perfect getaway spot for a slow paced vacation. 





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Mel's Life: #ChristmasTree

El BF took me to Maynes Christmas Tree Farm today to pick out my first live Christmas Tree and it was everything. I am the most indecisive person so I was a bit anxious selecting the perfect tree when literally 20 were perfect to me (lol). I finally fell for the Goldilocks of Christmas Trees (not too big, not too small...just right). Once, we had the tree we had to decide on a theme asap because...who plans ahead? I decided on a minimalist color scheme of gold, translucent bulbs, and a pop of red. I think it turned out ok for my first official tree as an adult lol.





Merry Christmas y'all! Xo -Mel
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Life Musings: Fear

This Tuesday, I sat down at my desk feeling trapped and a little depressed. This feeling lead me to randomly apply to grad school that same day. One of my greatest fears is not reaching my full potential and forever working a dead end job that sucks my soul of its creativity. Even though I have been feeling completely uncomfortable with my current position in life for a while, I did not act. More so I could not act because I was afraid. I was afraid of failure. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of pretty much any disastrous scenario I could think of (and trust I have a wild imagination lol).

In all honesty, I am still afraid but I cannot keep myself back any longer. If I am the key to my own happiness then I have have to take a step out of my comfort zone and get sh*t done. I have no clue where I will end up in life but I do know that I will continue to better myself each year.



- xo Mel
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Food: Beef and Broccoli

I made a quick and easy beef and broccoli with quinoa the other day and decided to share the recipe with you guys. I pretty much followed the Honey Beef and Broccoli  recipe from the Food Net work but added my own spin on it aka Sriracha and red peppers.



Ingredients
1 lb sirloin
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper
1 small onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (I used flower because I didnt have cornstarch)
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons cooking sherry
2 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used grape seed oil)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Sriracha
Directions
  1. Cut onion, red peppers, and beef into thin strips (beef should be bite size).
  2. Add two tbl oil to hot pan or wok.
  3. When oil is hot and swirly, add garlic and onions. Cook two minutes or until onion is lightly browned.
  4. Add florets and cook two minutes.
  5. Add sirloin and stir fry until cooked through. Don't overcook or florets will be mushy!
  6. Meanwhile, Combine sherry, cornstarch and soy.
  7. Turn heat off and drizzle honey all over stir fry. Add soy mixture and stir.(and add Sriracha to taste)
  8. Stir in red pepper.
 
I also pre-seasoned the steak with onion powder, fresh black pepper, and sea salt. Which I think it really needs or the meat would've have been kind of on the bland side.
For the quinoa I washed the quinoa and cooked it according to the directions. However, instead of water I boil my quinoa in chicken stock for added flavor. 

Enjoy ;)
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iLife: Life Via iPhone Pics

Hey y'all! I've been M.I.A for a bit. So much has happened! I am officially the big 2-5! Eeeek! I feel so old lol. I wasn't exactly the worlds nicest person on my birthday. I was indeed a big crabby pants. I was overwhelmed with feelings of my life paths and the 10 pounds i've gained. Needless to say I remained in bed that evening. I did a redo however the next day and had a great time.


25!


Let the celebration begin.


I took a stroll around the SW Waterfront

I still haven't worn these shoes yet!


My birthday Sunday courtesy of Siemi
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iLife: The Weekend

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I got this lovely skirt at H&M to wear to a wedding that I never made it to o_0.



Riding around in the country. Headed to the wedding we never made it to! Lol


 Triplets! Without fail my friends and I always end up dressed similar.
(All Pastel Everything)



The food we destroyed on Cinco de Mayo. Yumm!



The Roomies.




Twinsies!



My cousin Zuri a style maven in the making. 



<3 Mel

*follow me on instagram @M3lloyellow*
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iPhone Pressed

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I finally got an iPhone! I'm super excited about it...solely because I'm an apple stan lol. Now I can instagram my life for all of you lol :)

I went out last night with my BFF to H st but quickly left as it was a little dead. We ended the night at our home away from home U street lol.

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