hi friends.

hello fellow foodies out there in blogland! how goes it. so, this is me. i'm 24, living in oakland with my adorable boyfriend and tiny dog. a native to the east bay, i grew up drinking really good wine and noshing at chez panisse with my totally rad foodie dad. in fact, the name for this blog is a take on my foodie dad's generic name for your average strip mall steakhouse: mr. happy steak (ie, "i was on a business trip in charlotte and had a late night new york strip at mr. happy steak."). i was born into a family of hardcore carnivores, save my mother who hasn't had red meat since seeing jaws in the 70s. i recently came out of an eight month stint as a vegetarian. the transition wasn't so bad initially, and since i converted for moral and ethical reasons, the proper motivation was there. however when i came down with a nasty case of pneumonia in just four short days, i knew i wasn't getting what i needed out of my food to survive.

of course i felt guilty when i decided to return to my carnivorous existence. visions of sentient beings at the slaughter fluttered through my head. but after those first bites of fresh, succulent maguro sashimi - i was home. not only did i feel better physically and mentally, but i was thrilled at the realization that i could revisit my passion for food snobbery. with the principles of slow food at the heart of my epicurian journey, i plan on using this blog as a vehicle to document my return to the land of happy steaks.

oh, but there's a catch. i've also been a not-so-but-sorta dedicated member of weight watchers for about a year. this is my third or fourth (i stopped counting) attempt at the program. it's a great program. it is. but i just can't help myself most of the time. food just tastes so good. i'm currently down 10 lbs, and am about 20 lbs or so away from goal. it's a battle. let's see how i do.