Sunday Post: My favorite Spot

The Sunday post from Jake’s Printer could not have come at a better time. The theme this week is to post your favorite spot.

Although, I have many, many favorite spots. I have one in particular that means a lot to me. It is a restaurant called Sushi Zone located in Arlington, Texas. In my three years of blogging, I have written about it twice. Once for our Friday nights with Sushi and, again years later with photos.

I wrote it about twice……because I LOVE THIS PLACE.

It is my favorite spot, not just because I discovered I loved Sushi here, but because, my husband has gone here for years, and years.

Then? I became a part of that world – like I became part of his world.

Then? It became my world too. And I brought my daughter Sydney into the fold. A well-blended Sushi family. Dining at our home away from home.

This is the place we go for meet-anniversaries, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays.

This is our special place.

And yes, you can get Sushi at a lot of restaurants in the city, but you can’t get the atmosphere of this place. You can’t make memories that last. You don’t know the chef’s name, where HE eats, and the sports teams he follows. You don’t know the waitress, how old she is, that she is a widow, and she works part-time at the IHOP down the road from us. This is a place where they don’t ask where you want to sit. They just know.

At the Sushi bar, you are greeted with the most delicious cucumber salad. It is pickled in something divine, because that is exactly how it tastes.

The first thing we order is Salmon. Always. It is my favorite fish, and that first melt-in-your-mouth piece explodes the taste buds. Boom!

We always drink sake – Japanese rice wine. We ordered a special bottle this time, an incredibly pure Sake, served chilled.

Jason then shows Sydney how to use the chopsticks….again. He is ever so patient, but she has yet to get it. Not after years of being handed them. She tries to pick up one piece, it falls, and then she just digs in with her fingers. Every time.

She would say, she knows HOW. She just CAN’T. Sorta like bike-riding..ahem.

A California Roll usually comes after our fish pieces. I love this roll….it’s called California! Yes! My favorite State. AND it is LOVELY for photos. So pretty! And colorful!

I can’t help it. I have to PHOTOGRAPH this wonderful display. It’s like fine art.

Lastly, after I have stuffed every bit of fish and rice I can hold in my stomach. They deliver the yum-a-licious orange. Cut, flavored, and sprinkled with orange-suckling goodness.

And I feel healthier for eating it.

We LOVE this place.

That is why I took so many photos on Friday night. So that we can always remember all the times we spent here, all the memories it holds, and how special it will always be.

You see, Sushi Zone closed their doors on Saturday, September 29, 2012. They served their last roll, their last order of edamame, and their last sashimi. Koji can hang his Sushi-chef hat high. What a wonderful service he has provided all these years. The outpouring of patrons visiting for the last time, like us, was truly phenomenal.

We wish he, and his crew much love, and success in the future. And really hope to see them all again.

Sushi Zone…this post was for you. ♥

You will always be my favorite spot.

Sushi Zone

The gift of new foods.

As long as I can remember, I did not like fish. No fish of any kind, or cooked in any way. Just bleh! I do not like them Sam I am.

Then, I met Jason, and for him (what love does to a person) I tried RAW fish for the first time.

To my surprise…it is the only fish I like. And it totally backs up my theory that I was a mermaid in a former life.

    Reasons I was a mermaid in a former life.

    I love to swim.
    I feel called to the ocean.
    I could gaze, surf, or snorkel in it – all day long.
    I love deep-sea fishing.
    And to top it off, I only like raw fish.

See, told you I was mermaid.

Every month, if I get special spending money from Avis/Budget/Hilton brands for booking cars and hotels. We go to our favorite Sushi restaurant owned and operated by Koji called Sushi Zone. You can even follow them on Facebook.

It’s a place where everybody knows our name. The waitress knows the day we got married. Koji remembers every type of roll we eat, and even that Sydney does not like cucumbers in her California Roll.

They are hands-down the best in service, and quality.

I am not paid in sushi to write this about them (I wish!). I just love them and wanted to share what great service they have with you. Good service really is hard to find these days, and that makes it a gift.
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Ready for Sushi.
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My absolute favorite – fresh Salmon.
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Jason’s sushi plate with hot sake.
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My second favorite – California Roll (less the cucumbers for Syd).
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And another picture of the California Roll because it is so pretty in color.

My iPhone 4S camera does REALLY great in low-light.

I never imagined I would like this type of food. I guess it just goes to show that life is full of little surprises.

What’s your favorite food? Is there a restaurant that you frequent?

The Journey of Choosing a Photo Edit

Tonight, we dined – on fish! Lots and lots of fish.

My friend, husband, and greatest supporter introduced me to sushi. I only tried it because he loved it. I’m so glad I was brave for love’s sake. I heart sushi. My entire life I did not eat fish, nor like fish. Any fish. I hated it. I did not even want to try sushi. Now? I am a sushi monster. Love!

So, tonight after a birthday party at Dave & Buster’s, we head out for sushi. I was not only thrilled about getting to eat sushi. I was also thrilled to get a picture of sushi for my 365 Project.

This time I didn’t spend too long picking the photo. I got that. But what grabbed me in rapt attention was the edits on this photo. From the original picture, to applying different edits; the picture came alive in all different ways.

This is where photography supersedes to a whole new level. It’s not just the angle, the settings, and the shot. It can be about the edits too.

Here is the picture I took.

Sushi Original Image - used vibrance for color boost.

The rest are the same image using edits (I use Picnik) to enhance/change texture or coloring.

Sushi Infrared Film edit
Sushi Lomo-ish edit.
Sushi Holga-ish edit.
Sushi HDR-ish edit.
Sushi CinemaScope edit.
Sushi Orton-ish edit.
Sushi 1960's edit.

Pretty cool, eh?

I’m leaning towards the Orton-ish for my Day 29 photograph, but torn between that, and the CinemaScope, or HDR-ish. See what I mean?

Thing is, none of these are a better image than the other – they are the same image. It all comes down to preference.

Which is your favorite edit?

Another day, Another post

So far on target with my New Year’s goal. I happen to think that is genius for day two. Of course, I’ve probably lost my subscribers because they are already sick of my constant dribble of posts, updates, and tweets.

Have I?

Are you still there? ~there~there~there~?

Anyway, I am not posting this at midnight since tomorrow is back to work day (noooo!).

Tonight is also the last night of Jason’s birthday weekend. I am taking my man out for sushi. Then hopefully home to watch his new movie (which happens to be one of my favorites), Inception, gee wonder who bought it for him?

It’s been a wonderful 2011. I feel exuberated with life and creativity. I know I will be talking to myself on this blog more. People are busy. People have lives. People can’t come by every day. I TOTALLY get that and do not blame you. I LOVE your comments and if you can leave one – GREAT – if not I still appreciate your support. I cherish your visits whenever they are.

My other goal of the new year is progressing my photography. I am working to learn more of the technical side; camera, business, and photoshop (I got CS5 for Christmas).

I have joined my wedding photographer Bella Lucia Photography on a 365 Project. She created a Flickr group and I have joined the group, pledged to post, and even added my Flickr account to a side widget on my blog. The goal is to post a picture taken that day – EVERY day. I know this (also) won’t be an easy task to keep up with, but again, the goal is to use my talents and grow them.

2011 a year of growth.

My third goal is working on my insides (to outsides). More on that later, but it starts with eating healthier. Period.

I bought a large bag of frozen chicken breasts to steam and eat for lunch starting Monday. I will join the masses (and Jason too) losing weight (We added the loseit app on our iPhones)(it’s really cool!!).

Here is my Day 2 submission for the 365 project.

The best part of my day.