I was proud of my gold and silver sprinkled cupcakes for New Years.  Brought them over to Beck's party and finally got to use my new Martha Stewart cupcake carrier that I registered for and Kea bought for as our wedding present :)

I had on my list to try out Gonpachi in Japan, per my best friend from home, Alanna, when she was giving me recommendations.  Unfortunately, we were trying to do so many things, we never made it there.  I had heard the one in Beverly Hills wasn't as good as the one in Japan, but when we got an email from Travelzoo offering a $70 certificate for $35, we figured we might as well try it.  The food and sushi were good-- not great, but not bad...but the dessert (tempura ice cream) was to die for!!!!  Sean even said it was the best dessert he's ever had in his life!!!  I also enjoyed the ambiance... it felt authentic and like I could be in Japan!
And although it has nothing to do with food, we visited the tallest Xmas tree in the US at the Grove afterwards... 

Our roommate Kyle wanted to take us to dinner as our wedding present.  When trying to figure out where to go, we decided Mastro's was the place.  It is probably the best steak I've ever had, and Sean has never been there.  Not to mention their dessert ranks amongst my favorite!  Warm Vanilla Buttercake...mmmm.... apparently I forgot to take pictures of my steak and all the yummy sides we got  :( whoops!  But I did get one of the dessert in... 

Attended my cousin Jennifer's Christmas party and spent the night down in OC.  The next morning was a rainy day and what better way to spend it than having some clam chowder?  Well when it comes to Clam Chowder my all-time favorite is the Crab Cooker in Newport.  We've been going here for years.  When we used to visit California (when I still lived in Hawaii with my family), we would always make sure we went here.  My dad even filled up a thermos (a big one) and brought it back on the plane with him once!  

We just picked some up to go since the little boys had to take their naps, but it was just as good.  They even give you the yummy bread sticks or bread balls to go as well!

well since we were already in OC, we thought hmmm, maybe we should stop at "Claws" on the way back to LA.  We just LOVE Claws!  And my memory evades me sometimes but I'm sure I have blogged about this place before.  We decided to splurge this time and get some oysters as starters!  Yum!

My mother-in-law, Marilyn, is so crafty-- we were reminiscing about Hawaii and the yummy garlic shrimp truck -- Giovanni's yummmmm-- so she decided to try and make it on her own! Not only that, she had some young coconuts to drink and shave ice machine with all the yummy toppings to have for dessert... what a great meal!