New Year's Eve dinner + a new dessert, Raspberry Pecan Blondies

This was another Christmas gift that I was happy to receive...

(Thank you D!)

The design is pure genious...every piece has at least two  edges!

Fire! More holiday art and yay, I finally made it - Finnish pannukakku

Earlier this morning before heading on the 805 North from H Street, I saw a thick black plume of smoke in the distance...

You don't see it anymore in the photo above since it was taken about an hour and a half later...

Christmas 2015

Christmas it is...

Merry it shall be...hmmmm?

You know it's the holidays when you see these paintings....

This is actually a throwback photo from four years ago...

but nothing shows that the holidays are here in San Diego until you see store windows painted (usually by the prolific Dano)...

Chestnuts time & new flavor from Donut Stop

This past weekend Bert and I were out and about doing errands...

which took us up to the Mira Mesa area...

My Star Wars Tree

Several years ago when Borders was going out of business...

I bought this lovely purple Christmas tree, which I used on and off over the years.

This year however, was the best version yet...

Making the The Man Eating Wreath from "Nightmare Before Christmas"

Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" is one of my favorite movies...

I recently saw a tutorial how to make this...

Out with Astroboi - Phuong Trang, Caffe Bene + the Thai tea donut @ Donut Panic

It was an early appointment for me and once I was done...

I grabbed a seasonal holiday drink before heading up to enjoy my day off with my dear friend Astroboi...

Albondigas from Los Primos

Yesterday I was feeling out of sorts, achy and sick. For the first time in 10 years, I did NOT attend the PASACAT Parol Festival which bummed me out to no end...

Too lazy to cook and willing to drive out...I headed off to nearby Los Primos in San Miguel Ranch for an item they have for a limited time during the holidays...

Virgin of Guadalupe 2015

Third year doing this...

(T-shirt seen at a tourist shop somewhere in SF)

showcasing images of the Virgin of Guadalupe on her feast day...

Kawaii Sushi

In looking at some of my older photo file folders, I found one place I had almost forgotten, Kawaii Sushi...

It's in this busy strip mall on Mission Gorge Road...

The same one with Donut Panic (the sign has since been updated to reflect the name change) and the new Purple Mint...

Glo mural in Normal Heights

Mural by artist Gloria Muriel (aka Glo) as seen on Black Friday....

(as seen in my post, "En route to Normal Heights with commentary" Nov 2015)

during our foray to Golden Hill earlier and Normal Heights later that day...

Kula Revolving Sushi Bar and return to Blush

During the Thanksgiving Break, I took TC and one of her school friends here...

Special request...

Dessert fail at House of Bites

After our lunch at Supernatural Sandwiches"...

Mary suggested that we try House of Bites just a few doors down.

Cali Baguette & Pho, Chula Vista

I remember seeing this through the window while enjoying breakfast with TC and Bert...

(photo from my "Return to Manna" post, Aug 2015)
while across the street at Manna...

Los Pollos Cuban Bakery

The sky as it looked yesterday around 5'ish...

while heading west on J...

Stick Station

We'd never really wandered around Old Town Pasadena before...

There are a lot of little alleyways (all named after historical buildings/people) that have restaurants and shops within....

Noodle World

View from the top of our hotel room in Pasadena.

Lovely view of the San Gabriel mountains there...

Copenhagen Pastry

[Update: Copenhagen Pastry closed as of late September 2017]

Not too far from Pooh Bahwas a fairly new bakery.

It was actually the 2nd location of Copenhagen (the original location is in Culver City).

It looks quite sleek and modern...

Pooh Bah Record Shop

From the peace and tranquility of Arlington Garden, we headed over to the outer reaches of E. Colorado Blvd...

where we admired the pretty flowering trees...

and noticed a few places we wanted to stop at...

Arlington Garden

I am a big proponent for costless fun.

For me, public gardens are a source of relaxing entertainment and wonder especially if one is interested in flowers, plants, trees and such...

I found out about Arlington Garden while doing an online search for "free gardens" in the area...

Lucky Boy

From Burbank to Pasadena...

Lunch was beckoning...

(love the font here!)

as we headed over with burgers on our mind!

Wonder Years House (& Winnie Cooper's too!)

We headed over to Burbank fom our nostalgic visit to the Filipino American history mural at Unidad Park...

to make another pop culture pilgrimage to a home featured in one of the best TV shows of all time...

Unidad Park - return to the Filipino American history mural

[*The return of this year's Presidents' Day LA roadtrip]

After checking out the famed Music Box Steps in Silver Lake, we headed over to Historic Filipino Town (Hi-Fi)...passing by Bert's former college fave, Tommy's on Rampart...

which was a few short minutes away from a mural we last visited back in 2010 (post linked at the end)...

located in Unidad Park...

Snacks from Harvest International Market

Yesterday I thought I would get some Christmas shopping done at an ethnic grocery store I hadn't yet been...Harvest International Market in Clairemont.


This used to be North Park Produce...

Takeout from Bane Phonkeo

I almost forgot about this...

while on our way home, on a whim, I asked Bert if we could stop by the Laotian place off Imperial Ave...

En route to Normal Heights with commentary

It looks like all the crying and screaming by the South Park denizens did  not prevent Target Express from taking over the old Gala Foods

I wonder what it's like inside...

Scenes from Golden Hill + lunch @ Pizzeria Luigi & pastries from Panchita's

This nice sidewalk emblem can be found on the southeast corner of 25th and Broadway...

in front of the Golden Hill Fire Department, with it's fabulous art deco style building.  Sufficiently caffeinated by our drinks from the newest location of Dark Horse Coffee...we made our way north on 25th for lunch...

passing by lovely historic homes such as this...

Dark Horse Coffee, Golden Hill

The view of the mixed use You Are Here complex directly on the 25th St. offramp from the 94...

As seen on the 25th Street Bridge after we checked out the "hidden but in plain view" Crab Carillon....

At the bottom of the building is San Diego's third location of Dark Horse Coffee...

Playing the Crab Carillon on the 25th Street Bridge

This rather inocuous bridge from above is one you might have driven under many times while on the 94...

Atop the bridge on the western pedestrian walkway is a piece of interactive public art...

Our anti black Friday morning - MLK Mural on the 94 & painted stairs in Golden Hill

Under dramatic cloud cover we ventured off into the late morning...

on this so-called Black Friday...

but instead of acting like crazed materialist consumers at the malls, we did our own Anti Black Friday thing...

Thanksgiving 2015

It's time to give thanks....

(banner seen at one of the houses on Mt. Nebo near the La Mesa Secret Stairs)

for all that we've been fortunate to enjoy this past year...

Almond Kringles are back...

Hey now...

Remember these?

Supernatural Sandwiches

My first day of my weeklong Thanksgiving Break was spent up in Mira Mesa...

where TC and I met up with Mary for lunch at Supernatural. Sandwiches.

Heartsleeves Coffee (formerly Mad Fix)

Sunny and warm in November?

We'll take it...it beats freezing our @$$es off eh!

Our morning was spent checking out the newest coffee place in Little Italy...

Fried pies from McD's

Earlier this morning we had some time to kill before mass while TC did her volunteer service. I had a craving for a hash brown but when I saw this sign (see below)...

we just had to...

Taco Bell, La Bodega and the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club

All right...

I did a drive thru (hangs head in shame)...

Return to Andres and Gelato Vero Caffe

TC was watching a play for extra credit for school which meant...

date night for a few hours, so off we went to Linda Vista...

Music Box Steps

Our next stop was over in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles...

Apparently, this place is becoming more and more hipster (i.e. gentrified) from what I've read and seen...

I was curious about a set of steps that played a big part in an old Laurel & Hardy movie...