Smoked short ribs + doughnuts: a love story.

Dining at Majordōmo Meat & Fish was a religious experience. Can all of my meals be prepared tableside???

Escaped the LA rain this weekend and wound up in this fever dream (@ Meow Wolf Las Vegas)

Much needed social hour and frosé with my faves (@ Pacific Social)

Oh, look… another glorious morning… makes me sick!

When spooky season coincides with conference season 🎃🤓

Caitlyn Jenner and Angelyne? Was Kanye unavailable???

To the asshole who stole my skincare subscription box: I hope you’re allergic to $100 worth of plant-based moisturizers!

I apologize if you knew me and my brown chola lip liner in the 90s!

Take my money 🖤

Even the trio of babies having a crying contest throughout our entire 5-hour flight couldn’t break my aloha spirit (they really tried, though!).

Retail therapy (@ International Market Place)

We stumbled upon the greatest food truck ever in a Walgreen’s parking lot (@ Leonard’s Bakery Malasada Truck)

I’ve had malasadas in LA before, but they don’t even compare to the pillowy deliciousness that is Leonard’s. This was my most favorite thing I ate during the entire trip… even better than the garlic butter shrimp we waited two hours for at Romy’s! The mango gummy bears from Lin’s Hawaiian Snacks were a very close second.

Getting our daily dose of vitamin sea (@ Halona Beach Cove)

The scenic drive up the coast to North Shore was such a welcome contrast to the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. It felt like we were in Kauai again!

I tasted the Obama rainbow and it was presidential AF (@ Waiola Shave Ice)

It’s a well known fact that drinks taste better when served inside a pineapple (@ Diamond Head State Monument)

Pops went parasailing for the first time at 67-years-young (@ Xtreme Parasail). Pammie rode tandem, while I just came along for the boat ride and the shirtless captain.

Hawaii is three hours behind LA, yet I still never woke up early enough to see the sunrise! Ha. I did catch this sweet sunset every night, though (@ Prince Waikiki)

Did you even go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet if you didn’t leave with a karate kid drum???

Display this in a bigger font for the people in the back (@ Hawaii Theatre)

Cheers to a great (and safe) trip! Till next time, Hawaii!

Home for the week (@ Prince Waikiki)

I feel seen.

I want you in the worst way
Is the gate code still your birthday?

John Mayer will forever be my guiltiest pleasure.

Just Luna Grill notifying me that I have half a year left in my thirties (and offering some free baklava as consolation).

I’d rather hitch a ride and pay with my life than pay uber $100 for a 10-minute ride home from LAX! (I grabbed a $25 cab instead and lived to blog about it.)

When it’s triple digits in LA, what’s another 10 degrees???

Is it too late to start dieting for my Hawaii trip in 2 weeks???

Recipes: Baked chicken breast cobb salad with ranch dressing // Avocado sweet potato toast // Chicken salad lettuce cups with avocado oil mayo // Air fryer brussels sprouts

Contrary to popular belief, DTF is just a dim sum place I ate at with Christine, Pammie and Jessie today.

Also, I didn’t realize that venmo automatically adds my phone contacts to my friend list, which would explain why I know that the guy I sold tickets to on craigslist in 2012 paid for his share of the wifi bill last month.

I enjoy long walks to any burrito (@ Redondo Beach)

When your friends have kids but still like to party 🥳

Pacific coolers are the new pickleback!

Ditch day with my favorite 40-year-old at my favorite place (@ Grand Ole BBQ)

It took me four hours to drive from LA to SD this holiday weekend! The bestie is lucky I love BBQ her.

Rise & grind (@ Phanny’s)

Poolside mom-osas, anyone??? (@ Lakehouse Hotel and Golf Resort)

Hope everyone had a great mother’s day!

Thanks to all the moms out there (and to tiktok for teaching me the art of salami roses!). If this graphic design thing doesn’t work out, I think I’ll just make charcuterie boards for a living.

The girls and I got a lesson in self defense from Raquel at Stronghold this past weekend! Christine and Shi demo’d groin kicks while Pammie and I practiced our sticky glue – pancake – butterfly grips on the side! Ha.

Lord Huron at the cemetery? Yes, please 🖤

Vaxxed, waxed, and ready to relax!

Hawaii trip officially booked. Is it summer yet???

BRB charging my crystals ✨

IDK if it’s my graphic design skillz or dat crystal energy helping me through this brutal conference season at work, but I’ll recharge these babies tonight under the full moon just in case!

Silently cheering so my neighbors don’t murder me.

My sister’s husband armed me with pepper spray when I first moved to LA. I used to keep it on my key ring, but it was confiscated years ago at some seedy show downtown. I honestly never thought to replace it until now…

Given the rise in anti-asian hate crimes, I’ve amazon primed myself some pepper spray plus a stun gun for good measure. COME AT ME, BRO.

You ask for ketchup at a steakhouse once and nobody ever lets you forget it.

I ordered the bestie a tata towel as a gag for her 40th birthday. It was delivered earlier this week and has been sitting in my apartment lobby for days now. Had I known how indiscreet the packaging was, I would have picked it up sooner LOL!

The only shells we cracked this Easter!

Happiest birthday to my favorite little pitmasters (who coincidentally also love BBQ and being in their birthday suits).

(via @ketnipz)

My first road trip in a year, and all I got was a jar of fried apples and a sunburn from the prison yard.

It’s been tough working from home this past year, but I don’t miss my windowless office. The view from my studio is pretty uninteresting (though today I captured some rare LA rain!). When I get bored of the view, I just visit WindowSwap and pretend I’m working from somewhere else in the world… I’ve been in Georgetown watching this dog fetch a frisbee for hours now!

Me:

Shi:

I didn’t think I needed to include instructions with these hot chocolate bombs, but I’ve been wrong before ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

BRB eating my feelings.

Hello, old friend (@ Grand Ole BBQ)

A year ago, I would have never thought that eating at a restaurant and spending time with friends would be such a rarity. This is the first time I’ve hung out with the bestie or been back at Grand Ole BBQ since my birthday weekend last year. It was nice to feel a sense of normalcy again, but when I saw that drunk girl dancing at the bar with no mask on, I took that as my cue to leave!

Sweets for my sweets ❤️

Won $62.50 and gained 5 pounds this super bowl sunday hbu?

Chunky Monkey is my spirit animal.

When your family asks you to photoshop trash out of their picture and you turn it into treasure.

Back in the day when we were allowed to dine inside restaurants, I had an amazing meal at Jon and Vinny’s. I loved everything we ordered, from the marinara braised meatballs to the LA woman pizza, but the real star of the show was their spicy fusilli alla vodka (what’s not to love about carbs and alcohol?). I’ve been dreaming about it ever since, so when I came across Jon and Vinny’s recipe on Bon Appétit, I knew I had to make it for dinner.

This dish was surprisingly simple to make. I mean, did I have to ask the guy at Trader Joe’s what a shallot was? Yes. And did I see my life flash before my eyes for a split second when I flambéd that vodka? Also yes. But it turned out just as delicious as I remembered it being. And what was already an amazing dish was made even better by the fact that I didn’t have to schlep over to Fairfax in LA traffic or make a reservation a month in advance to eat it!

Best birthday gift EVER.

Pammie surprised me with BBQ from my favorite spot in Texas, and I didn’t even have to wait in line for hours to get it!

The first time I ate Franklin Barbecue was years ago on a trip to Austin City Limits. It was day-old brisket reheated in a hotel microwave, but it was (and still is) the best BBQ I’ve ever had.

Lady Marion Donutton of Quiksilver

(I knew I’d come to regret postmating Randy’s Donuts today.)

If you’re not binging Bridgerton, then I don’t know what you’re doing with your life. Make haste, y’all!

Drive-by shots with the birthday girl, Christine! She sent everyone home with tall boys and 40s in paper bags. I was going to take my drinks back to LA, but my dad was like, “Leave the malt liquor… I used to drink that when I lived in Oakland.” My bad, gangsta!

So good seeing my favorite girls, if only for a short, socially distant while, with half of our faces covered in Christine’s driveway. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we’ve all been together!!!

KG covering one of my favorite songs on my birthday ❤️

39 is staying in, binging Schitt’s Creek for the fourth time, eating your favorite pastrami sandwich and cookies from NYC, and finding joy in vacuuming all of your crumbs with the dream dyson you just got for your birthday (I’m clearly going hard this last year in my thirties).

Luckily, my neighbors drive maseratis and porsches, so my mazda hatchback and glove compartment full of hi-chews went untouched.

I literally just got back to LA, stepped out of my car and dropped my cali burrito from SD on the floor. This pretty much sums up 2020 for me.

That’s a wrap on 2020! Pammie upgraded me to the new Cricut Maker, so 90% of the gifts I gave were personalized (the other 10% was whatever I could amazon prime at the eleventh hour).

This is the first holiday I’ve spent without my crazy family, and I miss all their ugly faces. Hope everyone had a safe and merry christmas!

Pammie’s quarantine birthday was magical as hell.

Lego party, but make it covid friendly.

I think the real tragedy here is that the curfew starts hours after I’ve already taken off my bra and called it a night.

And on the 40th day of my grandma’s death, we wore masks and matching shirts.

My mom and her party tricks, ladies and gentlemen.