"People on 'ludes should not drive..."
Jeff Spicoli, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
"Whoa, canine cologne!" Grandpa Fred.
"Oooh…no more yanky my wanky. The Donger need food!!!" Long Duk Dong, 16 CANDLES
"His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance, that's not a name!"
Duckie, PRETTY IN PINK
[Update - Closed and relocated to Otay Ranch mall]
A few weeks ago, the coworkers and I went to the end of the year party for our union. The bash was held here:
I first noticed this place last year when we ate at the Broken Yolk, when there was an "Opening Soon" sign where the Brigantine used to be...
This is another post with one off photos. The kind where I only take a few and it's not really enough for a full post. Either that or I've forgotten about them until now.
Every weekend there's always a different group selling food after mass. Sometimes there's donuts or Mexican pan dulces. This time, it was Filipino food. I like the backwards dollar sign there!
With the weather getting warmer, that means it's time to wear open toes shoes again...
Near my parents house is a little strip mall off the 805 and Palm Ave in Otay Mesa.
You can find Teresita's there (home of the Chamango), as well as El Ranchero (known for their birria), Mc D's, and more neighborhood favorites, such as this sushi place up on the hill past KFC...
Earlier today I was in the area doing errands and thought I'd stop by to get a few breakfast pastries...
It's nice going in the morning because everything is fully stocked, very fresh, and smells so good...
I ended up having to go here again later that day...
It's everything you wanted to know about why brussel sprouts make your farts smell so horridly! Let's not try to pretend we're all genteel and don't fart! This is educational and should be shared, ha ha!
If you would like to test this out, please feel free to try out this simple recipe for research...
Just the other day, I was reading Kirbie's blog and saw that she posted on homemade fruit bars.
I really liked the look of her fruity bars and decided to dig up our old popsicle maker. This is one of two that I bought years ago at Target...
This post features party food from a few different events I attended over the past few months but never got around to posting until now...
Two months ago I went to a friend's daughter's baby shower. The baby has since been born and is a happy and healthy two month old...
That shower was one of the most put together and over the top (decor and theme-wise) I'd been to...
So, my idea of wanting to check out the newly opened The Baked Bear ice cream joint in PB was nixed by Bert who loathed the very idea of driving to that crowded beach community on a weekend.
He was more amenable to driving up north to the Convoy area to try out another dessert place I suggested...
Plied with the promise of coffee for Bert, we made our way up after our lunch at Sherman's Shack...
Last week, I attended this event...
Roped and cajoled into going by my gym gal pals, they promised it would be a fun event. Anti-social me contemplated the idea of just donating my money towards the price of the ticket but not actually going, but their cow-eyed pleas and incessant begging won me over...
Back to Record Store Day, which was April 20th this year. I had a fun time checking out different record stores with Cy. The San Diego Record Show was also a very cool event that I'm glad we checked out...
Hopefully, I can catch the event again next year and bring Bert and TC with me.
Here's a roundup of the stuff I picked up that day...
[As of Summer 2014, the space for Indulge is now empty]
This post is nearly a couple of months late. During spring break, I took TC and her friend out and one of the places we stopped by was this little enclave of shops on Ray Street in North Park.
It's near these murals and I was interested in checking out this tiny shop...
Last weekend we wanted to try something new...
I remembered a place I'd read about from one of Mary's old posts (well, not that old). It was a place that offered stuffed burgers. That was all it took for Bert to agree to check it out...
So this was it, the last place we stopped at during our Record Store Day crawl, the cute Irish bakery, Sugar & Scribe...
It was so convenient having everything right next door to each other...
As mentioned earlier, we wanted to see the Asian Cultural Festival at the NTC Park in Liberty Station. May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Apparently, this is the fourth year of this festival, but the first time I've ever heard of it.
Since we didn't walk in the right direction and didn't feel like looking for it earlier (the food won out, ha ha), we kind of put it on the back burner while we enjoyed our day with lunch (except for the pizza), dessert and even more dessert! Kirbie went back home while I drove down the street to see if I could find this festival, which I did. It was near these Gun Platforms...
which used to be on an old battleship, but are now displayed at the park...
Right after Thrift Trader, we walked the few steps over to Cow Records next door.
This is the other location of Cow, which has another store in OB on Newport Ave. I'd always been curious about this place so it was only right that we visit Cow during our Record Store Day Crawl...
So far, our week in Canada had been quite fun, traveling via minivan with my friend C and her family. After last night's awesome dinner at Le Cochon Dingue, we crashed for the night at a local hotel in Levis. We then met up with C's blogfriend, NM and her youngest for breakfast at a popular breakfast chain, Chez Cora.
This was just down the road from our hotel and while it was a bit overcast in the morning, it would soon burn off and turn into a scorching hot day...
When I asked Kirbie if they had desserts over across the street at Con Pane, she said, they did, along with bread, of course...
Our two little chocolates weren't going to be enough for us, so a short walk across the street was in order...
Barracks 19 was just a few buildings down from that Italian restaurant that serves hair on their pizza (as well as BURNT RIBS, per Mary's experience)...
It's right across the street from a bakery as well as around the corner from Slater's 50/50.
Both Kirbie and I had been to Chi Chocolate before, but were excited to go again to try something new...
After our foray in Groovy Records where we found some good deals, we thought we would TRY to check out M-Theory in Mission Hills. As we approached the record store located on Washington St., we saw a longass line that snaked out the door and spilled onto the sidewalk and beyond. We were like, "Uh....NO!". There was no way we were going to deal with that, so luckily, that meant it was time to have a break for actual sustenance since our sugar high from the donuts had already worn off.
Which led us to PB on a weekend. But I have a secret for ya'...instead of trying to find parking on Garnet on a Saturday, drive around the back alley and find the small lot behind Sugar & Scribe Bakery. Free parking!
I figured this would be a good place to stop...
since it was literally next to three other places I wanted us to hit up...
Last weekend's weather was beautiful, clear, sunny, and warm. A perfect day to have lunch with the lovely Kirbie...
Liberty Station was our destination that day and we were hoping to not just have lunch, but perhaps check out a festival on site that same day...
[Update - Closed as of Summer 2013 - the owners closed up the tasting room but will still have their bottling production center]
A few weeks had elapsed since our last visit to local nanobrewery, Mad Lab Craft Brewing.
It was time to pay them another visit.
These are the signs you should look for off the 905, Otay Mesa Road, and then Corporate.
Before going back to the Record Store Day crawl posts, I thought I'd throw in a random outfit post...
In honor of record store day, I wore my aluminum 45 adapter necklace which I thought rather fitting. In fact I got compliments on the necklace while Cy got compliments on her yellow 45 adaptor earrings that day...
Don't you just love these random images painted on utility boxes?
See No Evil, eh? This was somewhere in Mira Mesa while on our way to get some o' dat shaved snow ice...
Bert and I were with the childrens (TC and her two friends)...man, it was like we had three kids, but two were returnable. That sounded bad, didn't it? Well, you know what I mean, I hope. If your humor is as dry as mine.
Anyhew, located at the strip mall next to Lucky was the other strip mall...
After our satisfying dinner at Le Cochon Dingue, we headed out to walk off some calories...
Even though it was night time, the weather was still a bit warm. It was nice not having to wear a jacket and feel cold.
I was also on the lookout for a few souvenirs to bring back home...
Sometime during Spring Break, we took TC and her two friends out for some good old fashioned and free fun. None of this amusement park crap. We went here, to Mission Bay Park. It's easy to see why locals and tourists love this place. There's lots to do here (if you like being active) and the views of the Bay are quite pretty.
It was a good thing getting here early. We had optimum parking for one thing, and secondly, no crowds to contend with on the sidewalks...
With our trek to the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge behind us, I wanted to take a quick detour to North Park to check out a small gourmet shop on Ray Street. But first, we had to find parking. I parked a few streets back from University Avenue, ending up on Grim Street.
When I got out of the car, I was pleasantly surpised to see that we were near Lucky's Breakfast, which used to be calledGolden Phenix (no "o" in their spelling), a place I've only read about through Kirk's blog (that post has a photo of the old sign).
It had an old school look and feel both outside and inside. It was already the early afternoon, so Lucky's was definitely closed, as they are open for breakfast only. A quick peek in the windows showed a completely, uh, "uncleaned" restaurant. No one was around. Dirty plates and dishes were still on the tables.
I actually wanted to take a quick peek in the store that was next door to Lucky's before going to that gourmet shop...
A few days ago, I finally got my copy of "The Adobo Road", a newly published cookbook by Filipino American foodblogger Marvin Gapultos (of Burnt Lumpia fame). I was so excited leafing through the pages and thought I would try out a few of his recipes for Mother's Day. My brother and sister thought we should do a potluck for our mom so she wouldn't have to cook. I had my eyes set on a main dish and a dessert involving mangoes...
This case of sweet Manila Mangoes (ironically grown in Mexico, although they did come over FROM the Philippines many years ago due to the Manila Acapulco Galleon Trade. This box was about $10 at Seafood City and well worth it...
Our next stop was a record store we both haven't been to...
But before we get to that, a few more scenes from movies involving record stores!
Even though I really hated "500 Days of Summer", the flick did have a record store scene...
in which they bag on Ringo Starr! Poor Ringo doesn't get any respect...
Iona using her staple gun at Trax in "Pretty in Pink":
And a more "recent" movie (if you call 1995 recent), "Empire Records"...
which I didn't really like, but it did feature a very young Liv Tyler (she has her father's lips), along with Renee Zellweger, and the song "Free" by the Martinis (featuring ex Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago). I thought the premise was okay (small independent music store tries to fight off its impending conversion to a chain music store) but the acting really sucked!
The mid-90's were a dismal time in music, in my opinion. Says the chick who's stuck in the 80's (and 70's and mid to late 60's!)!
We were both curious about this store which was a few steps away from The Flame (just around the corner from Park and University)...
After our lunch at Project Pie, I thought it would be fun to take the three girls here since we were in the area:
Looks like someone graffitied this since the last time we visited back in the Fall...such a shame that people feel the need to vandalize public property...
My favorite clip from "High Fidelity" starring Jack Black as Barry, a snarky record store clerk at Championship Vinyl...
"Buh-bye...."
DAMN, I WISH I HAD THAT JOB!!! Ha ha ha, but of course, If I actually said everything that I was really thinking in my real job, I'd be fired. Seems like many of the genteel niceties and social mores are thrown out the door when you are a record store employee...It's like a free pass to be an asshole!
A view of the glorious Chateau Frontenanc on the edge of old Quebec was quite majestic...
The relatively short ferry ride from the picturesque town of Levis across the river took only ten minutes...
Another compendium of odds and ends from the past couple of months...
It took me about a year to finish the first damn book. I think I'm doing better with the second one, "Clash of Kings". Just a few more chapter to go then I can start on the third book and be caught up with the seasons for HBO's "Game of Thrones"!
I must confess, I "cheated" and read ahead on certain chapters in Book 3. Let's put it this way...for Season 3 and Book 3, Ygritte is TOTALLY wrong when she says, "You know nothing Jon Snow...."!
The Record Store Day Crawl (both records AND food) was shared with fellow music lover (she's hard core!) and fashion blogger, Cy of any2ndnow.
I couldn't help but think of a couple of movies that had scenes set in a record store. The first one was from the John Hughe's classic "Pretty in Pink" (released in 1986 and the first "date" movie for me and Bert while we were wee young 'uns back in high school). The movie featured a pre-"Designing Women" Annie Potts as Iona, the fashionably chameleonesque owner of TRAX, a new wave record store, frequented by Andy (Molly Ringwald) and Duckie (her best guy friend who "likes her" but whom I felt was obviously gay but still in the closet).
One of the funniest scenes involving a record store:
Even though I am not a fan of Otis Redding's, "Try a Little Tenderness", the Duckman did killeth the song whilst prancing about in his super cool creeper shoes and thrift store garb!
Non-music lovers right about now have probably clicked the "read more" button because the post title refers to "donuts" and were either not interested in hearing about records (SACRILEGE!), Jack Black, Duckie's sartorial choices and my nostalgic interest in vinyl, or were very impatient to read about some damn donuts. Ha ha. But moving right along...
TC is so used to my wierd requests...Sometime last week while on the freeway, I spotted this truck with a rather curious image from afar...
Me to TC: "Hurry, get the camera from my bag and take a picture of THAT please!!!!"...
April came and went by so quickly...I was surprised to find that there is a song about May 1st:
Wow, so THAT'S what Barry Gibb looks like without his beard and leonine hair! It was wierd seeing the Bee Gees wearing tweed instead of white leisure suits unbuttoned all the way down to their belly button and adorned by gold medallions....
There was another song about the fifth month as well...
