BBQ & Build-A-Bear Adventure

I've been dying to try at least one or two of the Korean restaurants in the area before we head to Seoul so this past Friday night I asked Brian if he was up for a little food adventure after work. He reluctantly said "yes" not fully knowing what he was agreeing to. After I did some online research (food reviews & Facebook recommendations) we decided on a place called Oz Korean BBQ (Brian wasn't quite ready for a "hole-in-the-wall" type of place). Their whole deal is that you grill your own food (meat & veggies) at the table. Their slogan is "All You Can Grill & Eat!" I instantly knew that we were in for an adventure. My main goal for the night was to try two dishes; 1) Bulgogi and 2) Kimchi.

Although we went into the evening (and the restaurant) with an open mind, we also figured that this was going to be not-so-authentic and more on the "experience" or schtick. Well, I'm happy to say that we were pleasantly surprised. Great food, great service and lots of fun! And, MAN - a ton of food! There were the "starters" which consisted of kimchi, wasabi salad, sprout salad, radish salad, jalapeno & cabbage mixture, broccoli with some sort of sauce and finally the "little fishes."
Here's a picture of just some of the starters. I really liked the kimchi and the sprouts.


Ok, so back to the "little fishes." We're not quite sure what they were. That was the only item all night that I didn't try. It looked like a little bowl of minnows. You could see their eyes. Enough said, right? I dared Brian to try them. Here is a photo I snapped with my phone of his reaction just after he put the "little fishes" in his mouth. I think it pretty much sums it up. . .


So, we had a blast and I will have to say that I now LOVE bulgogi!!! I really have no other version to compare it to, but OMG it was sooo good. I can't wait to go to our next Korean restaurant of choice and order it again.

Now, on to the Build-A-Bear portion of the weekend. As many of you know, sadly our Little Peanut will not be home with us to celebrate his 1st birthday on May 28th. We are in the process of putting together a care package to send over with the usual goodies, but we wanted something extra special for his special day. My good adoption friend Lori gave me an idea awhile back that has stuck with me (thanks Lori). Build-A-Bear for those that don't know, is an adorable "workshop" in the mall that allows kids (and adults) to choose, stuff, stitch, fluff and dress your furry friend. What was particularly appealing to us was that you can also record a personal message that can be inserted to be played when you hit the stuffed animal's pawl or foot.

We decided to take a trip to Build-A-Bear on Sunday and meet up with my brother's fiance and her 5 year old son Jaden. We selected a monkey which we named "Manny" and we recorded a personal birthday greeting to Wesley from Mom & Dad. He will hear our voices and his American name for the first time when we send Manny next month. The whole experience was fun and Jaden was very helpful showing us the ropes since he was clearly the experienced Build-A-Bear expert :)
Here is a photo of our Manny the Monkey all decked out in the outfit we selected.


It was a very fun weekend full of new experiences and fun thoughts of things to come with our Little Peanut Wesley. I continue to think good thoughts about my fellow adoptive moms - it seems as though things are moving along. Hopefully, we will have some good news to share soon.