What We Ate in L.A.

Actually we didn't stay in L.A. proper. Tai's from the Valley so there's we stayed and ate.
Our first stop was Zankou Chicken. Tai can't get enough of Zankou's so we ate there twice.
For breakfast we ate at Vip's twice. I love their freshly squeezed orange juice. There's nothing like it in Seattle.
We tried Jinky's which was really good. I had the Coconut Flaky Toast. Look how yummy it was:

We also went to Bob's Big Boy. Both Tai and I used to go there as kids.

Tai had the Big Boy. I had a cobb salad. Both were delicious.

Speaking of burgers, I wanted to stop at In N Out and get a Double Double Animal Style.

I also had to stop at Pinkberry. I love frozen yogurt.

I got the pomegranate frozen yogurt with yogurt chips, raspberries, and granola. It was delicious.

 I begged Tai to take me to Olvera Street. I used to go there as a kid all the time.

 I stopped at the church my mom used to take me to:

We also had some delicious Japanese food at Chiba's and Daichan. And some fantastic Chinese food at Bamboo Cuisine (get the Chicken in Black Pepper Sauce. Amazing!). We tried Boulevard Burger which was conveniently located near our hotel which had a good burger and good fries. I wished they'd been open later though.
So that was our trip. I'd like to go back under better circumstances.

#35-Done

A couple of years ago I made a list of 41 things I wanted to do before I turn 40. I haven't made as much progress as I would have liked but a lot of it is pretty over the top. But last week I was able to cross off one more item, #35-Meet Tai's dad and his brothers and sisters.
Sadly it wasn't for the best reason, Tai's dad fell and wound up in the hospital. He's stable now but it was kind of touch and go at the beginning. But we took off last week for Southern California. I was excited to meet Tai's brothers and sisters (all but his oldest sister). I wish I could have met his father under better circumstances but what can you do.
I'm behind on reading my blogs but I got tons of reading done. Three books closer to the magical 100th book.
Tomorrow I'll post about the food we ate (really the only non-hospital thing we did). I was glad to meet the rest of Tai's family and be there for his dad but I'm so glad to come home. I like sleeping in my own bed.

Road Trip

This past weekend Tai and I hit the road to Portland. He joked that we left one city for another. His idea of a vacation is to go to the beach or the mountains. But we headed to Portland to see a Cirque show.
This post is devoid of pictures. I just didn't take that many. So I'll do a bullet style review:

• We stayed at The Paramount Hotel. I highly recommend it. It was lovely.
• Best risotto in the world is at Bistro 921 in the downtown Hilton hotel. We couldn't stop eating it. The very nice waiter brought us some to take home. Tai declared it blog worthy!
• The Creme Brulee French Toast and the Poutine at The Original were awesome.
• We were not aware it was Naked Bike Ride Day (NSFW) in Portland on Saturday. We caught part of the festivities on our way home from Cirque Du Soliel. That was a lot of naked people, Portland. 
• I got my fill of Stumptown Coffee and finally tried a burger at Burgerville. Yummy. We tried their asparagus fries which were also good. I thought their fresh strawberry shake was the bomb! 

Overall it was a great trip. It was nice to get out of town and relax for a little bit. Now I'm looking forward to our next getaway (possibly in October/November). My next vacation can't come soon enough.

Friday Randomness

* I'm loving Pinterest. Friend me there.
* I haven't been posting much about food. I don't know if that will change. Tai got braces so I'll be making lots of soft foods and soup.
* I bought some garam marsala for butter chicken (yum). I love the smell. I need a lotion with that smell. I could smell it all day along. 
* I need a haircut but I'm not sure what I'll do. I'm reluctant to cut it because I'll probably do the same thing I always do. I don't feel like "wasting money". I'm waiting for a Groupon before I bite the bullet.
* I got new glasses. I usually wear contacts but I wear them too much and it's damaging my eyes. I miss my old 1992 glasses. They were huge and covered half my face! My new glasses are tiny and I have limited peripheral vision. They'll take some getting use to. 
* We've got everything set for our Portland trip in June. I wish we were going now!
* We started watching Justified. I love Timothy Olyphant.
* About once a month, I must watch Buffy's Once More With Feeling. I have the soundtrack on my iPod.
* I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. It's been a long week.
* I'm on track to read more than 100 books this year. I'm pretty happy about my progress so far.
Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?

Check!

Remember 2 years when I made a list of things I wanted to do before I turned 40? Yeah, I been failing on that list hardcore. I kept forgetting about it. But I really wanted to do number one on the list-get a passport. I kept telling Tai we just needed to do it. But things kept coming up. We didn't have Tai's birth certificate and his father refused to help us. Then we sent away for his birth certificate and had to wait to it. Getting a passport is expensive. $110 for each passport book! We considered doing the enhanced driver's license but if we wanted to fly to Europe or Asia we'd need passport books. Plus I had a hard time finding a passport office with open times that fit with our schedule. Finally a few weeks ago, I took a Friday off and since Tai has half days on Friday, we hussled to the nearest court house where a lovely women (seriously she was so nice) processed our paperwork and got us on our way in less than 30 minutes! And after a few weeks of me stalking the mailbox, here are our passports!

Now we can start planning our out of the country trips. First on the agenda is Victoria in the spring!

What I Wore In Portland

The day before we left for Portland, Ashley and I were talking on the phone. I noticed that the forecast called for temps in the 90's (it's been in the 70's in Seattle). We agreed if it was going to be that hot we should pack dresses. I didn't have a ton of dresses so I went out and bought 4 including this first one from Old Navy I was wanting.

I wore this one on the train ride to Portland and all day Friday. From Old Navy. Very comfy but I showed a lot of cleavage.

This next one I bought at Ross. It's teal not the same blue as the Old Navy one. Less cleavage was shown. I wore this Saturday day time.

Another one I bought at Ross. I wore this Saturday night time for our dinner at Beast.

And for Sunday I wore this one from Old Navy. It's the same as the first dress but in a different color. So again more cleavage.

Portland: Part 3-Voodoo Donuts

Ah, Voodoo. If I had one place I could have gone in Portland it was to try Voodoo doughnuts. Voodoo seems to be the place where strange doughnuts got their birth.

And since I love Frost doughnuts, I wanted to compare.

This made me laugh so hard!

Every time we saw someone with a pink box we believed a Voodoo to be nearby. But we only found the one we went to (the original). I know there were other locations.

This is kind of their trademark. They had undies with the same phrase on it. Hehehe.

The doughnut I came to try. The doughnut I waited an hour for. The  Bacon Maple Bar. Good. Although I like Frost's bacon better. Point awarded to Frost.

My favorite type of doughnut, the Cruller. Not as light and fluffy as Frost's. Point awarded to Frost. Frost 2, Voodoo 0.

The Marshall Matters. A plain doughnut covered in mini M&M's. Clever. Point awarded to Voodoo. Frost 2, Voodoo 1.

The Voodoo Doll. I think mine was cherry filled doughnut with a pretzel stake. Totally cute and yummy. Point awarded to Voodoo. Frost 2, Voodoo 2. It ends in a tie! Everybody wins!
What's your favorite doughnut? Do you like "odd" doughnuts or the more traditional kind?

Portland: Part 2-More Food

This post will talk about the sit down places we ate in Portland.
Friday night-dinner at Clyde Common. Sorry no pictures! Yummy. I recommend the burger which is not on the menu.
Saturday lunch-Kenny & Zukes.

I ordered the Pastrami on rye with potato salad. The potato salad was delicious. They give you a lot of pastrami. Go hungry.

Ashley and I split a bowl of matzo ball soup. Delicious.

Saturday night-Beast. Ok this was way the heck out there. Unlike everywhere else we ate, we had to take a cab there. It wasn't in downtown. I don't know where we were! 

 Beast has a fixed menu, 6 courses for $60. What they have is what you get (no substitutions). I was really impressed that they featured Thundering Hooves beef as the main entree. Everything was delicious especially the beef. So tender!
Sunday brunch-Veritable Quandary. When I asked for Portland food recommendations, Budget Babe mentioned Veritable Quandary! Since it was so close to our hotel, this was a no brainier for brunch.

It was like sitting at a garden party!

I ordered the corned beef hash with poached eggs. Yummy. The food was spicy but delicious!
There were about 50 more restaurants that we wanted to eat at in Portland. But there wasn't enough time. We can't wait for our next trip!

Portland: Part 1-The Food Carts

Whew! Just got back from weekend trip to Portland with Marta and Ashley. This is the first post about what we ate in Portland. Honestly all we did was eat so most of the posts are going to be food related.
Seattle has nothing on the food cart scene in Portland. It's not uncommon to see food carts every few blocks downtown and in the Pearl District.

Bulkogi.

Philly Cheesesteaks and Burgers. I actually saw this same cart 3 times. I think it was a mini chain.

Tabor. Ashley actually got a “snitzelwich”- a breaded and fried pork cutlet served on a fresh ciabatta roll and served with horseradish mayo and a paprika-red pepper sauce and lettuce. It was huge and we all had some.

Ashley and Marta also got Korean tacos from Boolkogi Taco. They liked them.

La Jarochita.

New Taste of India.

Thai Sky.

Brunchbox.

District Sandwiches and Spuds.

Smokin' Pig.

Bro-Dogs.

Built To Grill.

Big A** Sandwiches.

Ninja Plate Lunch.

Flavour. Marta got a waffle here and she said it was yummy.
Obviously we did not eat at all these places. We ate a lot but if I'd eaten something at every one of these places in one day, I would have needed a wheelbarrow to bring me home. So what did I eat?

Fried catfish and hushpuppies from:

The Swamp Shack. I was incredibly impressed with the fact that the guy made my food after I ordered it (so there was a little wait). No fast food here.
We ate at the food carts for lunch on Friday which was a great way to start the weekend.
Do you like eating at food carts? Is your town big on food carts?

Jetsetter

I learned about Jetsetter from Tara a few months ago. Jetsetter is owned by Gilt and gets you deals on gorgeous hotels and resorts. I've been jonesing for a real vacation and hoped to find the perfect locale through Jetsetter. Jetsetter is still above my budget but I love to dream. I mean when you get emails filled with pics like this who can complain?

All pics stolen from Jetsetter. Los Angeles, Miami, New York, St Lucia, Sri Lanka. Sigh. I love to dream. If you too would like to dream and get Jetsetter, go here for an invite. If you are a member of Gilt, then you are already a member of Jetsetter.

Portland Bound

Next month, Ashley, Marta and I are going on a girls weekend to Portland, OR. This isn't my first time to Portland, but I'd love some recommendations.
High on our list is Voodoo Donuts and checking out some of the street food trucks. I can't wait to head back to Powell's.
For those of you familiar with or from Portland, where should we eat? Which are your favorite street food trucks? Do you know a good place for brunch?
Ashley wants a massage. Can anyone recommend a good massage place near downtown?
Lastly we want to go out and dance. Can you recommend any places that we can shake our thangs? We like top 40 & hip hop mostly.
We won't have a car, so please keep that in mind while giving me recommendations!

A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words

I saw this on Becky's blog and thought it would be fun to do for a Friday.
I have to use Google Images to explain my answers for each category listed below.

1. Favorite Beverage

I love ice tea. It's my perfect drink. I can drink gallons of it. Tai and I have an ice tea maker so we always have a fresh pitcher handy.

My Hometown

I've in my hometown for more than 1/2 my life. I love it too. If you look hard enough you can see the Seattle skyline in the background.

My Favorite TV Show

Yes both of my favorite shows are no longer on the air. I watch them on DVD all the time.

Your Occupations

I've been working in social services for about 10 years. I love helping people.

My First Car

I love Patricia or as Tai calls her Smokin' Betty. Yes I've named my car :)

Your Favorite Dish

Right now, Pho is my favorite meal. I love it.

Celebrity You Have Been Told You Resemble

My uncle always told me I looked like Brooke Shields as a child.

Celebrity On Your To-Do List

Oh Gerard. So lovely.

Your Favorite Childhood Toy

I loved my cabbage patch dolls as a child.

Any Random Photo

I'm dreaming of going to Hawaii. I've never been. A nice relaxing vacation sounds perfect right now.
Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to play.