celebrating number 8!
eight years ago today, phil and i said these words to each other, in front of family and friends:
“i, take you, to be my wife/husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward,
for better or for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish;
from this day forward until death do us part.”
and happily, we both agreed today that we’d say those very same words to one another all over again. even after eight years of high highs and low lows, through medical school and residency training, through five moves, living in two states, three babies, one miscarriage, big fights, bigger reconciliations, lots of vacations, tears and laughter, sometimes together, misunderstandings, deep talks, silly jokes, thousands and thousands of pictures… all part of sharing this life together.
God has led us each step of the way and we have been truly truly blessed.
eight years and we’d do it all over again. with each other. 
so, to celebrate, good friends of ours agreed to watch all three kiddos (!) for us on friday so that we could go out and pretend like we were a giddy engaged or newly married couple again, doing a fun little photo shoot before eating MEAT for dinner.
me and my phil.
me…
him…
us…
being silly together…
then it was off to dinner! we decided to try out this restaurant called “the steak house” which was located a whole two blocks away from our house. yup, no distance is too far for really, really good food! it’s not much to look at from the outside, but as they say, you can’t judge a book (or restaurant, in this case) by its cover.
phil had gone in the day before (yes, he traveled the long two blocks TWICE!) to make reservations (not that they were really needed) and to let them know we were celebrating our anniversary. turned out to be a great thing that he let them know because the servers totally went out of their way to make this dinner special for us. it all started when we were seated and found our napkins tied with cute little ribbons. our table was the only one set like this, all the others had the napkins folded in the standard stand-up triangle. i didn’t notice this til phil mentioned it later.
we decided to have the chef’s special set menu for the evening. it started with roasted duck salad with a grapefruit vinaigrette.
then came grilled chilean sea bass. this was a really small appetizer, but soooo good!
followed by sauteed scallop and foie gras in a braised tender leek soup. also delicious!
then came a sorbet to cleanse the the palate.
and then it was time for the main event– authentic grade a-5 wagyu beef imported from japan! phil had the new york steak.
i had the filet mignon.
oh my, SO good! but very, very rich. definitely could not eat this with any regularity!
mmmm. so good, so good. but the highlight of the meal would have to be the wonderful service we were treated to. the servers were a japanese husband and wife who took turns making sure we had everything we needed, were prompt with filling water glasses (something i always appreciate when we eat out), bringing out each of the courses quickly, and just generally being super nice. the wife casually asked us how long we had been married, and made a little conversation about how they had been married for a year and asked us if we had any advice for keeping a marriage going. i didn’t think anything of it at the time, but was pleasantly surprised when they brought out our dessert plates.
we asked our server to take our picture with my camera. then the wife came over and took our picture with their camera, too. i was curious as to why she wanted our picture, but didn’t ask at the time.
she came back a little later and handed me a little card. at first, i thought it was the bill. but it turned out that she had printed out the picture she had taken and put it inside the card! really sweet of her.
so yes, not only an incredibly delicious meal, but also the best service we’ve ever received at a restaurant. was definitely an evening to remember and an excellent way to celebrate anniversary number eight!
11 Comments
hongfamilia
happy anniversary!!! even though you were just couple blocks away from home, what a treat that you got to go out alone on a date like newlyweds. the silly picture of you guys is so cute!
mamajoyjoy
happy anniversary! that’s fantastic service. the card is super sweet too. the food definitely doesn’t look like it came from that bldg. where is this located? we’ll have to make a trip on one of our future anniversaries.
mtsai
@mamajoyjoy@momaroo – the restaurant is located in torrance, in a Ralphs strip mall on crenshaw and rolling hills road. i’d say it’s worth the trek, even if your trek is more than two blocks!
babymomof2
how romantic you guys are…CONGRATS, LOVEBIRDS..KEEP THE FIRE GOING….i love your post and the words you shared….girl, i so understand everything…we just celebrated our 11 years, and as always NOT WITH EACH OTHER AGAIN……my hubby recently told me, somehow the years just seem like yesterday that we met and got married..maybe because the first trialing moments we passed and made it through thick and thin, like you guys…….GIRL, BACK THEN BEING MARRIED 3 YEARS FELT LIKE 20..AND NOW, 11 FEELS JUST YESTERDAY WE WERE GOOGLING NEWLYWEDS………wow, how perspectives and life changes………..girl, praise God for blessing you too…………how crazy but i totally feel the love sparks through your pics…..lol………i don’t think your husband will be successful in his career, life and who he’s become without you….AND YOU BEING WHO YOU ARE SUPPORTIVE AND LOVING AND PATIENT MOM WITHOUT HIM…….way to go, mommy of 3…both are blessed to have each other…………
babymomof2
btw, I LOVE YOUR DRESS……….SO PRETTY ON YOU………
mamajoyjoy
@mtsai – ok. my husband will be there for training for work in august. they get quite the reimbursement for meals. he was just there for training 2 wks ago. he likes the king’s hawaiian restaurant. he hit up lucille’s smokehouse bbq and the loft.
jiNNie_g
Awww… how romantic. You guys are so sweet. Hard to believe it’s already your 8th… you guys have the freshness of a newlywed couple.
joesee22
Happy 8th Anniversary! The food looks so good…I need to add that restaurant to my list.
Kavedissian
is it the coloring of the photo. but does your filet look a little raw? that dessert looks DEELISH. I agree about the food and the outside of the restaurant. totally looks like you would just get regular ol’ chicken fried steak and beans. not sorbet to cleanse your palate. You guys are total foodies and way gourmet. Phil did another awesome job for you guys and YOU did a great job at telling us all about it. Love you!!!!
mtsai
@babymomof2 – aww, thank you for such a kind comment! you totally made my day. even though we’ve never actually met in person, i’m so glad to ‘know’ you!
babymomof2
You know Ali looks so much like her father but in a girl version…Seriously, your family is really beautiful…I don’t even have to know you but i already see, your family filled with so much blessings……….BTW, what part of California you do you live?…We will be making trip out there this winter…We will be staying around the Burbank and Glendale area……….were going to try to vist as much places as possible……….if we are in the neighborhood, let me know…we can do coffee………….i would love to you guys and especially your kids…………i need to get an autograph as I mention to the other moms…because its through kids we all came together……Sammie and i will probably be star struck seeing them in person…….lol…….i’ll keep posted when its gets closer………