Frock You! Vintage Boutique

Right after we enjoyed our relatively tame burgers from Crazy Burger, I wanted to do a quick looksee here...

before we headed out to dessert...

Record Store Day crawl finds...

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...

Papa Luna's, Thrift Trader and Gay Slang

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...

Record Store Day outfit

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...

I wanted to be comfortable so...

"The Girl Can't Help It"

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...

NYLA, Bleu Boheme, Cream & Little Ashes

[Update - NYLA closed a few years ago]

Today was so much fun. I went out with one of my GBF's (heretofore now known as "Astroboi" at his urging). Our mission? Have lunch and watch "Little Ashes" (yes, the 2nd time for my Robsessed self). Since the first showing of the movie wasn't until 2 pm, we had lunch first. It was either Burger Lounge or Bleu Boheme. He wasn't too keen on Burger Lounge (the site of the defunct, Just Fabulous Desserts), although I hadn't tried it before. I'd tried Bleu Boheme and he hadn't so....when we went there, it wasn't quite 11:30 yet, so we went across the street to this clothing boutique I'd always wanted to check out.

This place is called NYLA Kensington (check out the owner's blog NYLA) I drive by it everytime I go to Talmadge or Kensington. Plus, I was always attracted to the supercute window displays. I was so glad we went in because not only did I get a really nice lacy black top (no, it was NOT lingerie), I met a fellow Twi-Crack addict - the owner herself! We happened to mention that we were going to watch "Little Ashes" after lunch, then Astroboi said I was obsessed with Rob Pattinson. That's when the Twi-confessions came out! Because, as you all should know, the superhawt RPattz who played Edward in "Twilight", is also in "Little Ashes" (actually, a far superior movie to "Twilight). It was cool meeting someone else that's not a teen or 20-something that's read and liked the Twilight Saga. Anyways, her store is really cute and fun. It's also affordable - there's something for everyone in there. I definitely plan on going back!After my brief shopping excursion, we crossed the street over to Bleu Boheme. I haven't been here since Bert and I ate here nearly two years ago (right after we watched that cinematic masterpieces known as "The Simpsons Movie". Here's an old post here. Here's their official website here and reviews from Yelp here.
View from the corner:Hmmmm, what to order?

Lunch specials for Spring and Summer 2009:

We had our choice of where to sit since it was pretty empty. We chose the table by the front window...

View from our table - you can see part of the bar. You can also see the corks under the glass floor partition:

Our rustic bread with butter. The crusts were a bit too hard though.

Astroboi's French Onion Soup. It sounds so much better in French - so here goes (described straight from the menu): Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée -Caramelized Sweet Onions and Fresh Herbs simmered in a Beef Consommé, topped with Croutons and Melted Gruyère. Please say this in a cheesy French accent like Maurice Chevalier or Eddie Murphy.

He ended up giving the cheese to me since dairy products don't agree with his GI tract. I had some of his soup and it was really delicious and not overly salty.

Astroboi's Grilled Chicken Sandwich, $9.50 - Thinly Sliced Grilled Chicken Breast, Saint André Cheese, Aioli, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion. His frites were excellent - I like this size, not too thick and not too skinny either. I could have used some aioli or even ketchup with that. Yes, how American of me to want to eat this with ketchup.

More of Astroboi's sandwich:

This was my Croque Madame sur Brioche, $12.50. Parisian Style Toasted Ham and Cheese on Brioche, with a touch of Dijon Mustard, Mornay Sauce (I keep wanting to type "Rebecca de Hornay")and topped with a Fried Egg. I had a choice of either frites or green salad as my side. I I wanted to eat somewhat healthy today. Oh, WTF, who am I kidding? I ate some of Astroboi's fries!

My Croque Madame is ready for its closeup now. I ended up eating this deconstructed and not sandwich style. I also picked apart my egg on another plate because I didn't want the yolk to run all over my food.

After lunch, we had some time to kill so we took the surface streets over to University Heights. Check out this rad mural on the side of Cream Coffee Bar. Isn't this Cholariffic mural just droolworthy? She would look awesome as a tattoo! Astroboi took a photo of me tweaking her left nip! Sorry, that pic isn't posted!

Yayssssss (say it like Morris Day dammit!), we just had to go to a place called "Cream" (quick! cue the nasty Prince song of the same name!) See the video here!

Cream Coffee Bar Cream Coffee Bar is in University Heights on Park Blvd.

View of the counter from our table...Lots of people sitting at the perimeter on their laptops (free WiFi, I bet) or just chatting. Cream had a variety of pastries, coffees, teas, and other types of drinks. I ended up getting a slice of banana nut bread because I wanted something sweet after our lunch. Plus, we had some time to kill before heading over to the theatre.

I felt like I was in a groovy airport from the 1970's. Actually, I thought the color palette was kind of dull'ish. Like, trying so hard to be retro.

This place was pretty spacious with lots of empty tables with Old School looking chairs - I really liked that yellow one there:

My slice of banana nut bread from Cream. I realized halfway through eating it that I hadn't taken a photo of it!!!! Aaagh, I'm losing it, I know! By the way, the guy working the counter really liked my bag!!!! (FYI - it's Tokidoki, Celebrazione print, Winter 2008, style - Graziosa messenger).

Beautiful trumpet flowers:

Cool iron gate on Park Blvd, University Heights:

One of the few places to watch independent films in San Diego, the Landmark Hillcrest. The other Landmark location is La Jolla and the Ken (the last surviving single screen theatre in San Diego).

We caught the matinee/2 pm showing @ the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas. Hmmm, I don't think the Dali 'stache is becoming on RPattz, do you?

I know I haven't done my review yet (man, vacay keeps me busy!) but I'm seeing it again on Thursday with a couple of friends...Let's put it this way, the movie was much better the second time around. The sound at the Hillcrest Cinemas was far superious to that of the Ken's. I could actually understand what Javier Beltran (as Lorca) was saying. I was the only female there. There were maybe 20 people at the most in the theatre, and only a few couples (male). There were more solitary males there. Hmmm, I was glad there was no Pee Wee Herman action at the theatre! Anyways, I loved the movie and the soundtrack/score (by composter Miguel Mera). That shit needs to be released like, NOW!

Boogers, Evil Buckle and Puff Sleeve Rant

After getting out of the hospital, we met my sis for her lunch break in Mission Valley. I wanted to get some new eyeliner (okayyy, and some new jeans) at Nordstrom Rack before going home. We first went to the Mission Valley Mall Food Court where I observed an Old Asian Guy who worked at Santorini Grill digging into his right nostril. He had no gloves on and was at the front counter next to a younger female worker. They were just standing around since no one was in line to buy food. Was he a cashier? A food server? Or God forbid, a cook? I had no idea. In any case, I was a bit put off. He even saw that I saw him but obviously didn't care. Why should he? His expression was so blase. He continued his digital nostrillar spelunking oblivious to all around him. Hey, I'm not the nose picking police, mind you. Pick all you want but if you work in the food service, at least pick your nose in private and I would hope that you please please wash your hands before touching food served to unsuspecting victims!!!

Don't be surprised if you eat at Santorini Grill, to find an extra ingredient or two in your tzatiki sauce, lemon chicken kabob, or gyro plate.

Another funny thing I saw had to do with an eldery man who was quite thin. He was getting helped out of a car by a woman. The man sported that classic "old-man-high waisted" pants look with his khakis pulled up to his nipples and cinched with a thick belt. One that belt was a very large black enamel belt buckle that proudly proclaimed the silvery word "EVIL" in all CAPS. Hey, at least he had a sense of dark humor, or maybe he really does subscribe to the fact that he is indeed "evil", a grandpa badass if you will. That pride reminded me of like Samuel L. Jackson's embossed "Bad Mother F--ker" wallet (from "Pulp Fiction" folks). Click here to see the wallet. Gotta love the Blaxploitation font!

You go old man! Represent the evil!
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A few weeks ago I bought a blouse online from Banana Republic and received it last week. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try it on until today because the day I received it, I had to go to the hospital and all. The blouse was on sale and I had my eye on it for awhile. It's a reddish violet silk blouse with puffed sleeves. (update 7/8 - now the damn blouse is on sale for $19.99 and I paid more for it - I'm definitely going to return this - not just for the high prices I paid for but for the poor fit...read on)

Look at that skinny chick. Just look at the SPACE between the sleeve cuff and her bony stick like arms. She's probably wearing an XS.

I figured a size S would fit me just fine. That size is what I normally wear from that label. Mediums are usually too wide for me.

But my fashion desire and the fit of this blouse was not to be.

The puffed sleeves were so tight over my biceps. If I even flexed slightly , I would have had my circulation cut off or did a Hulk and tear the sleeves up! I had to struggle to pull the blouse off. It's not liked I'm yoked or anything! I think my arms are okay---toned but not as cut as I'd like them to be. I'm not a "big" person nor do I have fat arms. In desperation, I thought, maaaaybe I could take out the buttons on the puff sleeves and move it to the very edge of the cuff to allow more space for my seemingly monstrous biceps. However, even if I did that, those sleeves would still be tight! WTF!!!

I think Banana Republic sizes their puff sleeve arm hole diameters for people with 7 or 8" biceps like the anorexic chick pictured above from their website. Ergo, I am going to return this blouse to the store (instead of mailing it back in). Sigh...And I liked it so much too - the style and the color. Alas, online, the only size left to buy is XL.

Note to self, stay away from puff sleeve designs made for prepubscent bodies.