Things An Likes

Vitaly: best gelato in the OC

An — Tue, 07 May 2013 06:38:31 +0000

Roberta, my foodie partner in crime and Italian gelato expert told me that a new italian shop opened in Costa Mesa last week and that they have the best gelato in the OC. With that recommendation, of course I had to go! And yes, she’s right, it’s amazing. The gelato is so incredibly rich, both in texture and in flavor. I tried the ricotta with peaches and the pistachio and I’m already planning my next trip back :)

Caravan Adventure at the San Diego Safari Park

An — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:59:37 +0000

Isn’t this face adorable?! I can’t believe I got that close to a giraffe. For Joan’s birthday this year, we went on a caravan adventure at the San Diego Safari Park. If you’ve been before, you know that there’s a safari tram that takes you around the african safari area, but for an extra fee, you can take a small group tour inside the enclosure. It was really fun. We fed some giraffes and saw a couple of baby rhinos. I also learned a few things I didn’t know before. Did you know that the leaves giraffe eat come from a tree where the thorns are like 10x the size of the leaf? Giraffes have adapted to this horrible situation by developing tongues that don’t have a lot of blood flow so they can’t feel the pokes of the thorns! I also learned that the rhino’s horns aren’t real horns, they’re made of keratin and they grow back! Also, that baby white rhino is just the cutest thing, all big feet and big ears. All in all, thanks Joan & Andy for taking us along for a wonderful adventure!

3rd anniversary and parasailing!

An — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 06:02:03 +0000

I really can’t believe Drew and I have been married for 3 years now. It’s gone by so fast. When I think about it, we’ve been together for almost 9 years! I feel like we’ve really grown up with each other. There’s a lot of uncertainty about the future with both Drew and I graduating this year and moving on to the next phase of our careers, but I know that I have the most amazing partner to share my next adventure with.

It sounds cheesy, but I think about how lucky I am all the time. Not only do I get to share my life with someone I love so much, but for the last 6 years, we’ve lived in paradise. Sure, it’s not Hawaii or even San Diego, but we’re 10 minutes from the ocean and it’s pretty much 70 degrees year round. Before we leave this paradise, we figured we’d take advantage of it and go parasailing! I thought I would be so scared since I’m afraid of heights, but it was actually not scary at all. In fact, this is possibly the most fun thing I’ve ever done. It felt so free being up there, almost like you’re flying! The best part was looking down and seeing the dolphins play. We went with Balboa Parasail and they have deals online all the time, so if you have the chance, I highly recommend doing it. You won’t regret it!

P.S. These pictures were take with my Golden Half. It’s such an awesome little toy camera and cheap enough that if it got destroyed on our trip, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. I’m so glad I took these pictures, they’re so joyful and so quintessentially SoCal :)

Brunch at Canéle

An — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:06:11 +0000

This might sounds crazy but this place is my favoritest brunch place in the world. Yes, it’s that good. And I LOVE brunch. The baked pancake with lemon curd is ridiculously good, but really, order anything from that magic oven, it’ll be delicious. The carmelized leeks on baguette is amazing. Drew had the duck hash with perfectly fried eggs. It’s a good thing this place is in LA as otherwise neither my wallet nor my heart would probably be able to handle it.

The World Famous San Diego Zoo

An — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:18:21 +0000

I’ve always loved going to the zoo. When I was a child in China, the zoo was my favorite place. When I see it now, I realize that it is quite a sad zoo where animals are kept in cages and are not properly taken care of. When I was small, though, I thought it was the best place. After I moved to the States, we were fortunate enough to live close to St. Louis, which has a fabulous FREE zoo. Yes, free admission! We went practically every month until my sister was 8. Now, I live near probably one of the best zoos in the world. While admission is not free, Drew’s parents have memberships so we’ve been able to go a a couple of times with their free passes.

This time, I really wanted to see the baby panda, Mr. Wu. He’s just a few months old, and is only on display in the mornings. So we got up bright and early, met Drew’s parent’s at their house, then drove down to the zoo. Mr. Wu apparently decided it was too early to say hi to all his visitors as he was napping inside a tree trunk. Still, the zoo has so many fun things, we had a wonderful time. I loved watching the gorillas getting a snack and the hippos playing in the water. We will have to come back when the new outback exhibit is ready and hopefully Mr. Wu will be less sleepy :)

Post-Defense // Pre-Christmas Getaway

An — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 02:08:34 +0000

End of last year was pretty crazy and stressful so after my defense, Drew and I went on a little getaway. We spent a couple of nights in Palm Springs where we hung out at the street fair, had an awesome brunch at Cheeky’s, and took a hike to a desert waterfall. Then on our way to San Diego for Christmas, we went by the Salton sea, checked out the International Banana Museum (Guinness World Book of Records for most banana related stuff in one place!), and marveled at Salvation Mountain before grabbing some world famous Dudley’s bread (date nut flavor is my favorite). It was a great trip, the perfect way to relax and have a little adventure at the same time.

Lunch time!

An — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:51:28 +0000

I have many photos to share, but first, I’m gonna just try something new. I took a video with my D7000! Probably need to get iMovie or something to edit but thought I’d share this cute video anyhow. When we got to the gorilla exhibit at the zoo, they were just lying about, then suddenly they all got up and walked two feet away from the window, turned around and sat down. It was lunch time! I like how this particular gorilla was obviously the head honcho since he just plopped himself there and never moved.

Gorilla Eats from An Tyrrell on Vimeo.

Yellowstone National Park

An — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:32:21 +0000

I just recently realized that I never got around to putting up these pictures. Yellowstone is such an amazing place, filled with natural wonders. The thermal springs and geysers were my favorite part of the park. We also got a few glimpses of bears, bison, and elk. I’m so excited for 2013, big changes are going to happen this year, but for now enjoy a quick look at a highlight of 2012.

Rafting the American River

An — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 01:29:36 +0000

In the doldrums of winter, let’s take a look back at a glorious moment of summer. Drew and I had the most amazing experience rafting the middle fork of the American River. It was just the right amount of excitement for a newbie like me with a few faster rapids mixed in with more easy, slow ones. If you go, I cannot recommend Tributary Tours enough. These guys are the best. They let us jump off some rocks (drew did it, but I was too scared :p), showed us where the wild blackberries were, and where to swim the rapids if we wanted to. I was a perfect summer getaway :)

Go Chargers!!

An — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 06:57:30 +0000

Drew finally lived his dream of going to a live Chargers game :p
We had such a fun time in SD, getting some carne asada fries, tailgating in the parking lot, F-15 flyover. And we beat the Chiefs!
And if you wonder whether or not a nosebleed seat is worth it, it’s actually pretty good!