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Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake, CA

Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake

we decided to go to izakaya sushi ran for dinner one day because they had a pretty good happy hour deal! score. rolls here are yummy, colorful, HUGE, and even better when its 30% off. first time here, we got: (i) the number one roll, (ii) vivid roll, (iii) super tiger roll and (iv) spicy salmon hand roll.

Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake

it’s been a solid year or two now and now this place has become our go-to sushi place / happy hour joint (for us and our peeps). i want to say kyle comes here once a week to grab a beer and a roll. our favorites now that we have tried pretty much every roll:

  • my king roll – spicy crab meat, mango, jalapeƱo, avocado and tuna.
  • abc roll – deep fried rice and spicy tuna.
  • number one roll – shrimp tempura, spicy tuna, crab meat, albacore and fried onion.
  • baked baby lobster roll – crab meat, cucumber, avocado with baked baby lobster on top.
  • super tiger roll – shrimp tempura, crab meat, avocado, cucumber, spicy tuna and shrimp.

Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake Izakaya Sushi Ran | Toluca Lake

  • parking: since sushi ran is located in a strip mall, it shares a small parking lot with a thai food restaurant, a dominos and a few other stores. if you can’t find parking in the lot, there should be ample street parking.
  • service: we love the girls here. super energetic and efficient.
  • ambience: relative small joint. clean. modern decor.
  • overall: we love this place! check it out 3-5:30pm for awesome deals!

Izakaya Sushi Ran
10658 Riverside Dr
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Neighborhood: Toluca Lake

izakaya Sushi Ran on Urbanspoon

By | June 8th, 2012 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 3 Comments

“We Won in Friendship” Part II | Napa Valley, CA

our napa itinerary:

  • mumm napa – sparkling wine. since it was memorial day weekend, we actually couldn’t get a full tasting. instead we just enjoyed walking around with a just single flutes. mumm is beautiful.
  • farmstead – we couldn’t get over how cute this place is! there is a little winery on the back/side. we spent quite a bit of time here since they had 2 for 1 tastings! highly recommend.
  • castello di amorosa – this is a castle. enough said.
  • bouchon – pastries / macaroons! score.

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van, check (oh yeeah, thats how we roll). wine, check. awesome weekend, check. wine is good… but even better when with friends. a few of the pictures we took on this fabulous day: (current obsession: benches and shoes!)

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By | May 30th, 2012 | California, Food, Friends, Life, Marriage, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 1 Comment

Anniversay in NorCal | Part I

for our anniversary / memorial weekend, we took a trip up to norcal to visit friends, eat at a bucket list restaurant, see the city and spend some time in napa! bad news: my 50mm lens broke on sunday…the day we went to napa! sadness. good news: we had an amazing time! here are some pictures from our trip.

day one. we met up with stell to see a’s vs yankees. even though the a’s lost… we won in friendship. lol. which is the theme of the weekend.

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went to 900 grayson for brunch. best chicken and waffles. ever.

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By | May 30th, 2012 | California, Food, Friends, Life, Marriage, Restaurants, San Francisco / Oakland, Travel | 1 Comment

Kyle + Me = Married for 2 Years!

not only is this a level 5 friday, we will be celebrating our two year anniversary! i cant believe its already year number two. for this special blog post, i would like to share 50 things about us. kyle, i love you. these 50 little things, are just a few small reasons why i love you. i cant wait to get in the car with you today and celebrate our two year anniversary! thanks for being an awesome husband and best friend! from linh (143)

fifty things about us.

  1. he’s a better cook than she is. she appreciates it.
  2. we both love musicals.
  3. he’s a big lions/lakers fan.
  4. he likes to cross his fingers during the game and makes her do it with him.
  5. we are best friends.
  6. he takes his socks off when he gets home leaves them on the floor (even though the hamper is two feet away).
  7. she hates it so she takes a picture of it and sends it to him to remind him that she hates it.
  8. he likes drinking soda.
  9. we have the names of our future children picked out.
  10. our first date was during the summer after 8th grade graduation and yes, our parents dropped us off at the movie theater.
  11. he always quotes movies, she’s horrible at it.
  12. we overestimate our stomach capacity and always overorder.
  13. we are trying to start a hot dog thursday night, but we forget about it when thursday rolls around.
  14. she gets moody when she’s hungry.
  15. he proposed to her the day before he turned 21, in vegas.
  16. when we called friends and family to tell them, they thought we had eloped.
  17. she went to berkeley. he stayed in los angeles and started the drill tower. long distance relationships are hard.
  18. he drove up to berkeley at least once a month.
  19. he tells her to put the toothpaste cap back on. she tells him to clean the bathroom mirror.
  20. we love talking about and planning our future together.
  21. she loves onions and condiments. he likes them too now.
  22. she used to like her steak well done and with ketchup and mayo. he thought that was disgusting. now she eats steak medium rare like him (and eats more of it than he does).
  23. relaxing time means watching a weekly list of shows on dvr…even if the shows are really awful.
  24. her favorite flavor at BR is baseball nut. his is jamoca almond fudge.
  25. he can sleep forever. she always wakes up at the same time every day and makes him wake up with her.
  26. we had a bucket list but did them all so we have to write a new one.
  27. she likes to sit next to him at restaurants. he likes to sit across the table.
  28. we danced down the aisle in front of our families and best friends (most of whom we have known since middle school and high school)
  29. we have competitions to see who gets the better card.
  30. we have a lot of inside jokes.
  31. she loves ordering dessert. he does it because he loves her.
  32. he says “melk” instead if “milk”
  33. we love our friends.
  34. he used to write her songs.
  35. she cried when he sang them to her.
  36. she doesn’t like the last bite or sip of anything. he thinks she’s crazy.
  37. she hates folding laundry. he doesn’t mind it.
  38. we like to drive around toluca lake looking for houses we would like to live in.
  39. he sings, a lot.
  40. we both hate eggs.
  41. his favorite movie as a kid was homeward bound…then he matured and changed it to forest gump. her favorite movie is my best friend’s wedding.
  42. his car is messy. her car is clean (inside at least).
  43. he pumps gas for her.
  44. he loves golf. she’s learning to play for work.
  45. we are guilty of making friends wait to eat so that we can take pictures of the food.
  46. she wrote him a poem/rap for their wedding vows. his vows included the epic line “i like hanging out with you”
  47. he likes to buy her flowers. she’s bad at arranging and watering them.
  48. he’s good at finding deals at the supermarket. she just buys whatever she wants to eat, even if its not on sale.
  49. we both love kim chi.
  50. through our ups and downs over the past 10+ years, we are lucky to have grown together and to be married to each other. bi-winning.
By | May 25th, 2012 | Marriage | 13 Comments

Level 5 Friday

firstly, the day has come for a level 5 friday! so excited! so you’re thinking…what is that? short backstory: coworker started made a spreadsheet ranking all possible fridays throughout his career and started referring to them in casual conversation. naturally we were all curious what it meant so he sent this baby around to everyone: (isn’t it glorious?)

10 – Retirement Friday

9 – Vacation Payday Bonus Friday

8 – Payday Bonus Day Friday

7 – Bonus Day Friday

6 – Payday Vacation Friday

5 – Payday Long Weekend Friday

4 – Vacation Friday

3 – Long Weekend Friday

2 – Payday Friday

1 – Friday

By | May 25th, 2012 | Life | 1 Comment