Fatshion 101: Eat, drink and be married; Our June Adventure

When I proposed that we explore new adventures at least once a month, I was really trying to convince my husband to attend a dinner, very pricey dinner with Outstanding in the Field.

As is it turned out, it didn't take much convincing but when we looked up dates in January - they were all booked! :-(

And because I am who I am - I felt defeated, I said "fuck this idea" and was over it.

My hubby didn't want me to lose momentum and so he began implementing a trip to Italy (a pretty big adventure to last us a lifetime), AND on our flight back home, I kept on thinking about what struck this "monthly adventure" idea, so I checked the @out_inthefield insta account and decided to follow them in hopes they would add dates.

Then as luck would have it! More! Dates! Were! Announced! And we had a gajillion choices all over the coast of California and we settled on Temecula Olive Oil Company.

We booked our flights and our hotels, and a friendly mini travel tip that works in our favor 90% of the time; priceline.com gives you the option to book 4 star hotels at a great discounted price - the catch is you won't know the actual hotel until after you have paid... And in the times that we have done this we have booked Hilton, Marriott and Westin hotels at almost 30-50% off.

Temecula was an hour and a half away from Palm Springs and San Diego - we chose to fly into San Diego only because the flights were significantly more affordable and through priceline.com we got to book a Hotel in La Jolla.

Days leading to our trip I had some really bad stomach cramps that BTW have still not been explained to me - two set of doctors basically said take this medication and this medication and this medication in case it's x, y, and z... So yeah... Go figure...

Though I really wanted to feel better just for the simple fact that I wanted to feel better - my main concern was this special event that I'd been dying to attend for months! So I took all the medications and only consumed water and saltine crackers leading up to the event.

When we arrived to the event, we weren't really sure what to expect of an olive oil farm and so we were pleasantly surprised to find almost like a vineyard ambiance but rather than grape vines we were surrounded by olive trees.

We were greeted by one of the friendliest hostesses, signed in, got to check our jackets, and were welcomed to check out the grounds, enjoy the hors d'oeuvres and the drinks!

I was afraid to eat but I came prepared with all my meds and prayed that I wouldn't cut our adventure short with stomach pains - and the Good Lord knows the things I am willing to overcome in order to enjoy good food and wine ;-)

First up were the libations, in particular, the "Sherry Cobblah" from Cutwater Spirits that was so delicious and refreshing in 85 degree weather! I had one sip from my husband's drink and the hubby said "worse comes to worse you puke your guts out..." So he then grabbed me my own glass and after 30mins of babysittig the drink, I didn't have stomach pains (the days before, a sip of water or gatorade would have made me feel green- so figured the Good Lord blessed me with a pass)

Up next were the small bites and I threw caution to the wind when the server said pancake bites!

Pictured below - it was like breakfast in one bite!

 And then we had a "bao" mac and it was like having an Asian Big Mac and was scumdeeliocious! 

The husband was most obsessed with the noodle cup "hors d'oeuvre" (It was mas more like a lunch snack)  when I took a bite it felt too heavy so the hubby had my cup and then practically 

inhaled 3-4 cups of these!

And after a short tour and education about olive oil making techniques, we were ready for dinner. Everyone is escorted to the dinner table and you pick up the plate you brought with you and if you didn't bring a plate, they provide guests with plenty of unique plate options. I chose the plate photographed below - cause of course - aesthetically pleasing is always my goal.

Seats are not reserved unless you attend the event with a large party so we did our best to find something in the middle to really take in this long table of strangers coming together for a night of good food, good wine and good vibes.

To my left was my hubby and in front of us was a young couple of color like us, Amir and Sabina! (When we first arrived, majority of the crowd was white and/or much older folks than us) To the couple's right was a white older couple,( they told us they had kids our age and grandkids- before I get accused of being an age-ist.)

To my right, I had an elderly white woman, attending the event with her adult daughter, sitting across from her - the older white woman didn't want to eat anything on the menu (she had never had sushi and didn't even know duck could be roasted like chicken) but she was really talkative and made for interesting conversation, like the other couple in front of us.

I am an introvert so taking in and observing is more fun for me and when I get seated next to extroverts (with something genuinely interesting to say) I feel a huge sense of relief!

And when I chose this event, my anxiety over socializing with strangers almost stopped me from booking the event but I thought I can always count on my hubby or other extroverts - AND I am so happy to have gone through with the event, to risk yakking all night because this event was a friendly reminder that we have more in common than differences. 

Conversations revolved around pets, kids, favorite foods, favorite travels, Disney (duh), and even within differences: color of skin, age, socioeconomic backgrounds, geography, religion, etc - We were able to enjoy to dinner side by side.

The menu is a set menu and first up was ahi-tuna! And y'all know I. Love. Ahi. Tuna. Poke.

Somewhere in between we had a baked potato that we honestly could've done without... 

(Not photographed)

The main entree was duck! And we had seen the chef preparing it earlier in the day so the hubby's mouth was obviously watering all day - just salivating over this roasted duck and I'm telling y'all this duck was divine and juicy!

Before

After

As the sun went down, the OITF staff began to light up candles to create one of the coolest ambiances I've had the pleasure to be a part of.

Truly beautiful - both in aesthetics and in representation of what an extended dinner table can look like with various backgrounds, our differences aside and a focus on commonalities. 

Building walls and seeking retaliation will never make sense to me because the idea of adding chairs and extending the table with more tables for more people to join, is what the world should and could be, if more of us extended a hand, extended kindness and built a stronger and longer table for all.  

PSA: And this thought of food bringing us together touches my heart in more ways than one - with the recent death of Anthony Bourdain (whose episode to Nicaragua touched the very essence of my soul)- this adventure of food and this blogpost just felt a little more relevant to me - food is love - food is a connector - food is life - and in more ways than I can count, food has played an enemy, an antagonist of my life AND it's only in recent years that I have grown unapologetic about the space I occupy and that has done wonders for my mental health. 

Thus, it saddens me to hear people, especially women that I love and respect dearly, torture themselves over "eating badly." In the grand scheme of things, we're only on this planet for a spec of time, and in that time do you really want to stress over eating a donut or do you want to enjoy the bite and focus on being kind to yourself and others?

Just a little over 50 years ago - it would've been illegal for us to marry, I didn't think I would ever see our world revert to the type of thinking that wouldn't allow us to be together but here we are - and events like this - reassures us that maybe there is hope - if even for one night of dine and wine.

 

Her Fit deets:

Dress is from Zara bought on sale for $10 - wearing XL (Styling tip - The original dress had puffy sleeves and I'm not fan of the puffy sleeves - so I had it tailored)
Hat from Hats By Olivia
Jacket from Levis - size L (doesn't close but I can still style)
Scarf from boutique in Paris
Shades from Francesca's $10

His Fit deets:

Shirt is from LaCoste
Shorts are from the men's section at Forever 21 $5
Shoes are Sperry bought at Marshall's
Shades from Jins at Valley Fair

That is all,

Toodles,

Lilly Perez-Ngo