Stuffed with tacos and wrapped in a mexican blanket (@ Tacolandia)

Today was a good day.

Juice flight-ing this cold (@ Verve Coffee Roasters)

Spicy Pork Belly Ramen (@ Ramen Champ)

I only eat ramen when I’m sick or when Shi is in town. Today it was both!

Love when she visits ♥

Much needed sick day after working overtime every day this week with a cold! Somebody please bring me more donuts and be the big spoon.

(@ Santa Monica Farmer’s Market)

You bring a donut to one marathon and no one ever lets you forget it.

(But still bring those donuts though.)

Day ruined (@ Smoke City Market)

I still had my beloved beef rib and brisket. Best BBQ I’ve had so far in LA (and in life!).

Day ruined, part 2 (@ Churro Borough)

The last time Deane and I tried to eat Churro Borough, they sold out at the pop-up they were having at our beloved Ramekin (RIP!). Now that they’ve set up a brick and mortar at Ramekin’s old spot, they’re even more popular! Hopefully we’ll get to have churro ice cream sandwiches again before we’re on social security.

I’ll be the asshole eating donuts at the 12-mile mark (@ La Jolla Half Marathon)

So proud of my little marathon runner, Shi! Just one more till that triple crown…

Cubanos on the curb (@ Animal)

Jon Favreau and Roy Choi hosted an El Jefe pop-up from one of my favorite movies tonight! Chef was everything, and so was this sandwich (and so was this soundtrack!).

Strawberry rhubarb empanadas in the making (or shall I say, mmmpanadas!).

Because when one of your friends has surgery after a career-ending fútbol injury, you bake them a little post-op pick-me-up!

These tasted like heaven… I still have to drive them down to San Diego this weekend, and I don’t know if they’re gonna make it, tbh.

Get the recipe HERE.

Make a donation of $10 or more to sponsor my participation in San Diego Humane Society’s Walk for Animals and receive a bag of homemade beer bones made with repurposed spent grain locally sourced and generously donated by LA craft brewery, Progress Brewing!

You can donate HERE. Please put your address in the “Personal Note to Walk Participant” field if you want dog treats. If you’re in LA or SD, I can probably just meet up with you 🙂

I battle my obvious love of dogs on a daily basis.

I can’t watch a cute puppy video on youtube without clicking on all the related videos. Next thing I know, I’ve lost three hours of my life watching 103 videos in a puppy surprise playlist and have been crying for at least two of those hours. Just kidding. (I cried for all three.)

When Pammie asked if I wanted to do a walk for animals, I immediately said yes without knowing any details other than dogs were somehow involved. Her office organizes this huge fundraiser that includes a bake sale where homemade dog treats are sold for donations, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to combine my love for dogs with my love for baking and get involved.

I reached out to some local LA craft breweries, and Progress Brewing in El Monte was generous enough to donate some spent brewing grain towards my cause. I drove out to what the dude described as “east of east los” with nothing but a 5-gallon bucket and a friend to witness my death in case the dude chopped me up into little pieces and dumped my body in the mash tun (I did meet him on the internet, after all).

Kevin, the co-owner of Progress Brewing, was actually a really nice guy. He asked if I preferred “Black IPA” or “American Red” doggy biscuits! Ha. I went with American Red, obvi, since I’m not a fan of IPAs. Dogs are also allergic to hops, so if you’re going to repurpose spent grain, make sure the brewery didn’t mash hop the batch you’re getting.

It’s best to use the spent grains within the first few days after brewing, otherwise they’ll go bad. I used a FoodSaver and froze them in portion-sized bags for storing and later use, since they gave me around 40 pounds of grain.

Here’s a simple, all-natural recipe if you want to try making these at home:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups spent grain
• 2 cups organic barley flour
• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 organic eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all of the ingredients and mix with your hands until a thick dough forms. Roll out the dough on a generously floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters like this cute dog bone.

Line the biscuits on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 225 degrees and continue baking for 2 hours. Cooking them the additional time at the lower temperature will help ensure they dry completely, extending their shelf life.

The dried biscuits will keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container and even longer if you freeze them in zipper bags. You can give them to your dogs straight from the freezer as a cool summer treat, or, if you’re in LA, in the dead of winter when it’s 90 degrees out!

I woke up before the sun on a Saturday to go hiking and eat vegetarian food with Deane, Ledi and Isadora (@ Kitchen Mouse).

I don’t even know who I am right now.

Excuse us while we eat our feelings (@ The Hart and The Hunter)

Sunday adventures with this slut (@ Eggslut)

He took me to Home Deeps to get a tire pressure gauge and made sure my car was safe to drive, but he also took me to Compton to get BBQ for dinner. Idk if he wants me to live or die, tbh.

Pretending it’s 1991 and helping Shi refuel after her half marathon (@ Cafe Topes)

Morning brews (@ Benchmark Brewing)

Fried chicken, doughnuts & coffee with Chel & these clowns (@ StreetCar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee)

My favorite place in LA is closing for good this weekend, so I had to go there one last time before I went home for the holidays. Deane and I cried into our last chocolate bread puddings ever, and then we ate our tears (@ Ramekin)

Pammie’s birthday brunch (@ Great Maple)

When asked if I want a big ass pickle inside my bloody mary, the answer is always yes.

I suggested we have our first friendsgiving this year, partly because I wanted an excuse to make dessert, but mostly because Anthony owed me smoked wings for telling me he was gonna come up for the Rose Bowl flea market the other weekend, having me drive back up to LA at 2am, and canceling via text at six in the morning!

There were no smoked wings (he made a pot roast instead), but there were tons of laughs and surprisingly delicious healthy food from Shi. Haha. Till next year, clowns!

Because half pint glasses make his hands look bigger (@ Alpine Beer Company)

Anthony upgraded his second annual shrimp boil with an invite that tested our friendship and a bloody mary bar by me and the girls. All that was missing was some fried chicken!

Winning combo: Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix + UV Sriracha Vodka + Sriracha Chili Sauce

…or the wurst idea ever! #onlyinLA

Greenhouse vibes (@ Commissary at the Line Hotel)

Ooh, baby, I like it rawww (@ Fishing with Dynamite)

The claws are out (@ The Port of LA Lobster Festival)

Overheard at the table next to us (@ Grub):

“I need an exact headcount for the lobster bake I’m throwing at my house for my birthday, because I’m flying in fresh lobsters from Maine.”

“My sister is really into strippercizing right now. She has a room in her house with just a stripper pole in it.”

Oh, Hollywood. I nearly spit out my blackberry pepper champagne cocktail.

LA opened its first Dunkin Donuts today, so I’m halfway there, you guys!

Crossed another one off of LA Weekly’s 99 Essential Restaurants list… 93 more to go! (@ Father’s Office)

Anthony visited before his BBQ class in LA, and we tried one of LA’s best burgers. It was meh, felt more like a sandwich because it was served on a french roll, but the beers were excellent. My favorite burger in LA (and in life) is still from Plan Check!

Hopefully he learned some new skills from the BBQ Pitmaster for the next party he unwillingly lets me throw at his house.

Bloats magotes (@ Anaheim Packing House)

I live down the street from Manhattan Beach Pier, but nothing beats being at the beach with my buds in SD (even if it is PB!) (@ Pacific Beach Alehouse)

Sunday Slutty Sunday (@ Eggslut)

Let’s get ready to rumbleeee (@ Cooper Design Space)

I threw my pie for you (@ Pie Not)

Angelenos (@ Angel City Brewery)

Cute carbs (@ Superba Food + Bread)

Holy hipster (@ Anaheim Packing House)

Who doesn’t like a little chorizo in their bloody mary every once in a while? (@ Great Maple)

Ice cream flight kind of night (@ Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream)

I was the only person they carded! #faceofaminor (@ Alpine Beer Co)

On Wednesdays, we eat Churro Borough (@ Ramekin)

Who wore it better? (@ Waypoint Public)

The 4 most beautiful words ever put together: Churro Ice Cream Sandwich (@ Ramekin)

Churro Borough had a pop-up shop at my fave dessert spot in LA the one day I happened to be there, and my life will never be the same.

I’m pretty sure my car is totaled, but at least I was near a Pizza Port when I almost died on the 5 today. (@ Pizza Port)

I love the silence between us when it comes to burgers and bread pudding. Like, don’t even talk to me right now. (@ Hook & Plow)

You leave LA for one weekend, and people cheat on you with wonuts.

I procured this hen for Deane last night (@ Guelaguetza)

Beer, buddies, and beer buddies (@ Pizza Port)

About that brunch life (@ BLD)

Best. Pancakes. EVAR! I want to marry them, have their blueberry ricotta babies, and live happily ever after in that maple syrup log cabin tin.

Keep cool, my babies. Recipe here.

Adobo burgers and ube shakes. This is about as Filipino as I get. (@ The Oinkster Hollywood)

LIFE GOAL: Eat my way through LA Weekly’s 99 Essential Restaurants list (or die trying). 3 down, 96 to go. (@ SQIRL)

Macarons, tea and my beansss!

Awesome decor, freakishly large chicharonnes and colombian neck ties. (@ Escala)

Last night’s much needed michelucas (@ Karina’s)

…or the reason why I missed my morning hike! SORRY, SHI!

White negroni to start off the best meal I’ve had in a while (@ Bestia)

I can’t pass a cronut shop without swerving into the parking lot (@ California Donuts)

Pot for dinner… also, we might eat at this Roy Choi resto (@ Pot at the Line Hotel)

Cro-muffin top (@ Kettle Glazed Doughnuts)

Fuckin’ french toast (@ Blu Jam Cafe)

Every Tuesday, Deane and I go trolling for sweets in LA. We coincidentally started doing this on Fat Tuesday, not realizing it was Mardi Gras—we just wanted some pie! And so… Fat Tuesdays were born.

So far, we’ve been to Alcove (Los Feliz), The Pie Hole (DTLA), and Ramekin (Los Feliz). We went to Ramekin two Tuesdays in a row (and the Saturday in between!), because their chocolate bread pudding fixes things in the universe. So does their s’mores cookie. And their strawberry brick toast. That are all BAKED TO ORDER. Don’t even get me started on their earl grey ice cream.

Someday we’ll get to the other places on my sweets list, but today is not that day.

This week’s edition of Mayan burns the toast.

Tajin margarita (@ James Republic, Long Beach). Happy birthday, Karey!

Am I doing this right? (@ The Pie Hole)

ME ON FRIDAY:
Have fun in SF, Deane! I won’t go to Glazed Donut Bistro without you.

ME ON SATURDAY:

I’m eating my feelings, and they taste delicious.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (13.6 oz.) dulce de leche (you can find this at Target or most grocery stores next to the condensed milk in the baking aisle)
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1 tbsp chocolate liqueur or heavy cream

Directions:

Make the crust. Position an oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 325F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Spray parchment paper with non-stick spray.

Mix the graham crackers, sugar and butter. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then place on a cooling rack to cool for 5 minutes.

Make the filling. Spread the dulce de leche evenly over the graham crust, then place pan in refrigerator while you prepare the cream cheese layer.

Beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to beat on medium-high for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dulce de leche layer and spread evenly, and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely-about 2 hours.

Glaze the cake. Heat the chocolate, butter, liqueur and light corn syrup in a double boiler or in a microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Cool for about 10 minutes. Pour the glaze over the cheesecake, tilting the pan to ensure the top is coated evenly. Chill for several hours-or at least 30 minutes before serving.

Lift the cheesecake from the pan using the parchment handles and slice into squares using a sharp knife, wiping it clean after each cut. Let the pan sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes before you lift the bars out and cut them. The chocolate glaze will crack if you cut them while they are still very cold.

Brunch at Bru’s yesterday with Deane and Sabrina. I slept for 13 hours after this meal.

Happy hour followed by open bar at my company holiday party last night! Someone please bring me a breakfast burrito and gatorade. I’ll be in bed under the covers.

Homemade cranberry bliss cookies on this rainy Saturday! Recipe here.

• Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of enough chinese food to feed a small village plus a turkey (which a chinese restaurant deep fried for us for $25). Ha. Is it weird that I’ve never had stuffing before?

• Bingo, bitches! Now I know where I get my competitiveness and foul mouth from… I’ve never heard my grandma curse so much in my life!

• The Debutante @ The Haven. Good beer and good pizza with good friends.

• I haven’t been home in a while, and Rocky clearly misses me! I found this cuddle bug in my old bed every night I was in town.

We had more dessert than actual food on Thanksgiving, and this chocolate croissant bread pudding I made tasted like a slice of heaven! I’m pretty sure I saw the face of Jesus while eating it. This will probably happen again for Christmas.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Ingredients
3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
10 chocolate croissants (I used a box of 10 from the Vons bakery)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside.

Slice the croissants into 1-inch cubes. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the cubed croissants evenly. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.

Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn’t touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My Epicurious Thanksgiving Feast pinterest board won first place and an All-Clad Stainless Roasting Set just in time for the holidays!

Now if only I could figure out how to roast a turkey…

Homemade chicken sopas + Netflix. This pretty much sums up my entire weekend.

I had dinner plans on Friday and Sunday, but I was too sick to go to either. Now the inside of my car is clean for no reason! Ha. Just don’t look under the blanket in the trunk. Nothing to see there…

Nothing says “I live in Manhattan Beach” quite like drinking pressed juice for lunch. All I need are some Lululemon pants and a jogging stroller.

Palomas @ Cinco. They use mexican soda here, so this is obvi my new favorite drink!

Cheers to my pops! He turns the big 60 this week. I challenged him to a shots-off, but he passed out after two beers. For shame.

I followed this gluten-free banana bread recipe, but I cleaned it up by subbing coconut oil for canola oil and agave nectar for sugar. I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth (ignore my contradictory donut post below), but this was def worth writing home about.

My coworker brought in Randy’s Donuts this morning because she wants to ruin my life, obviously.

These mini mushroom pizzas satisfied my cravings!
No more Valentino’s for me…

Just came back from my low fat, low carb, gluten-free lunch to this email from the cafe at work. HOW DARE YOU, SKECHERS.

Sometimes I think about how much I love cronuts, and I cry a little.

All health is about to break loose.

My Summer of Smoothies pinterest board won me a new Vitamix blender! I’m pretty sure that 90% of my meals will be served in liquid form now. The other 10% will still consist of pre-packaged food and takeout (you know I don’t cook). Time to get my omega swirl on!

After this weekend in SF, I should probably start with a detox smoothie…

Blackfish, beers, and the bernie with Anthony. Brandom!

While I was in SD this past weekend, my friend was telling me about the new Donut Bar that just opened a few months back, but I know better than to go anywhere downtown during the shit show that is Comic Con! Donut Bar is known for their ‘cro-bar’ – a croissant/donut hybrid recently made famous by a pastry chef in NYC. After googling pictures of it, I decided that I needed that sorcery inside of me ASAP, so I made it myself!

Get the recipe here.

I entered this pinterest contest to win a $500 blender after Anthony made me a smoothie with his Vitamix when I was sick (and shortly before he handcuffed me, and Pammie took pictures while he went to get the key, but that’s a story for another time).

I found a ton of popsicle recipes while making my Summer of Smoothies contest board. It’s been crazy hot lately, so I thought it would be the perfect time to bust out my popsicle tray, Vitamix blender or not.

One of the things I miss about San Diego is Teresita’s Fruiteria. I have to travel to a seedy part of LA to get a good chamango around here—the one place I found was next door to a barber who sells Herbalife in the back of his shop (don’t ask me how I know). Now I can have chamangos in the safety of my own home, and even better, on a stick!

Chamango Popsicles

12 oz mango chunks (1 frozen bag @ Target)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp chamoy
Popsicle mold tray
Popsicle sticks

Blend 12 oz mango chunks, water and sugar until smooth. If it’s too thick, add more water.

Add half a tbsp of chamoy to the bottom of each popsicle mold.

Pour the blended mixture into each popsicle mold and leave a quarter inch room on top. I filled up 8 molds and had some left over.

Take a popsicle stick and swirl the chamoy around.

Freeze overnight. Once it’s frozen, you can dip the popsicle tray in warm water and the popsicles should slide right out.

Enjoy!

Lunch at Bottega Louie with my loves ♥
Best. Macarons. Ever.

The highlight of my work conference was the free food trucks at lunch, obvi.

Finally starting my weekend after working 17 hours of overtime! Super bummed I missed cicLAvia and Anthony being in town. If there’s a silver lining in this, it’s that I can drown my sorrows in the beer he left at my apartment…

When my mom texts me to call her ASAP, I expect there to be some kind of emergency. Like my grandma is back in the hospital. Or there’s a new episode of Scandal on that night and her DVR isn’t working again. Yes, she considers that an emergency. And yes, I inherited her flair for the dramatic, obviously.

She just wanted to make sure that I got her earlier text to stop by Porto’s and bring home a dozen potato balls when I visit SD this weekend. I meannn. She also thinks that since I live in LA, I’m close to everything in LA. It will probably take me an hour to get to Porto’s after work on a Friday night! She’s lucky I love potato balls her.

Does anyone know how to get a Kogi BBQ burrito grease stain out of a white shirt??? Asking for a friend……….

Cotton candy cloud @ SpringFest 2013.

Would it make me less of a fatass if I told you it was thin crust???

Many have eaten here, few have died. Just kidding.
(Not that many people have eaten here.)

I REGRET NOTHING.

It’s been a drinks for dinner kind of month.

• Much needed mule @ Tin Roof Bistro, Manhattan Beach
• Cape Cod @ Forbidden City, LBC
• Sangria @ Phil’s BBQ, SD
• Lost & Found @ Eureka!, SD
• Anthony’s fruity ass cocktail + my back pocket mule @ Brooklyn Girl, SD
• Shock Top Belgian White @ Buffalo Wild Wings, Torrance

File under ‘reasons I can’t go out this weekend’.

I should probably go grocery shopping.

What was supposed to be a quick break from baby shower planning turned into 7 hours of drinking and me getting a ride home at 2am! This hostess was def hurting in the morning.

Dinner and drinks at Whisknladle with my loves last night! 31 feels a lot like 30.

Much needed mo-pho-jitos at Manhattan Beach Post last weekend with my friends who came to visit and a one Marshall Faulk who is probably the biggest dick on earth.

He and his bevy of blondes were seated at a communal table with us. I had no idea who he was, of course, but Anthony has been a fan of his since he played for San Diego State. Marshall Faulk was such an asshole to Anthony when he tried to talk to him, though! Hey man, only me and my friends are allowed to be assholes to Anthony! Ha.

It was raining all weekend, so naturally I thought it was a good idea to bust out the ice cream maker attachment that my brother-in-law got me for my stand mixer!

Last night, I made a raspberry sorbet that would bring you to your knees.

Framboise Lambic Beer Sorbetto
from The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato & Sorbetto

6 cups fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Simple Syrup (see below)
1 cup Framboise Lambic

Place the raspberries and lemon juice in a food processor and puree until smooth, then pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract the raspberry puree. Discard the seeds.

Whisk the chilled simple syrup into the raspberry puree. Put mixture in fridge to chill.

Pour the beer into a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and boil for 1 minute. Watch the pan carefully so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Gently whisk the beer into the raspberry mixture. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Simple Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking often to dissolve sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and-low and simmer for 4 minutes, while continuing to whisk until all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool, then transfer to a container, cover, and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour.

…and maybe have some coffee, too 😉

Chel’s birthday brunch at Prepkitchen last Sunday!

(Photo courtesy of @instapammie—I was too busy getting served by Anthony to take any pictures! Ha.)

I instagram’d that hoe, and then I had my way with it.

Snooze with my loves! Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with news 😉
Thanks for breakfast, Anthony ♥

Okay, but only if it’s on the dollar menu. I’m cheap.

If I’m going to participate in that office juicing potluck tomorrow (don’t ask), I’m going to have my way with Ben and Jerry tonight!

Things I learned at the OC Fair yesterday:

• Young the Giant is just as good the third time around.
• The porkabello kabobs from Bacon A-Fair are gravely disappointing.
• I only like cute farm animals on the interwebs—IRL the smell of livestock elicits my gag reflex.

It’s like they know me.

@ ‘Lette Macarons in Newport Beach!

(Somebody’s getting just as stupid about macarons as Shirley May is.)

Thrillist describes the Douche Burger as “a $666 edible fiscal disaster that piles caviar, lobster & truffles on top of a foie-stuffed, gold-leaf-wrapped Kobe patty, smothers it with Gruyere melted with Champagne steam, and finishes it off with BBQ sauce made using Kopi Luwak coffee that’s passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet.”

Do five other people want to go in on one of these??? Also, this image from 666 Burger’s facebook page looks like the first thing I created in Photoshop 4.0 circa 1996:

Armed with my Les Petits Macarons cookbook, Shi and I trolled the grocery store and soon realized that the Vons in Santee doesn’t carry the necessary accoutrements for such parisian delights! We gave up and bought some already made macarons from The Living Room instead. Boo whore.

There is a hell, and it’s the Via de la Valle off ramp during fair season! It took us four hours to get to the fair last night, but the deep fried deliciousness and freakishly large turkey legs that put me in a food coma made it worth the drive!

My Girl Scout Cookie Locator app has met its match.
Take me to your leader maple bacon donuts!

Free bundtlets for a year from Nothing Bundt Cakes???

Now I don’t have to go in there and pretend I’m buying a cake for someone else anymore. Or birthday candles to corroborate my lies. I mean what. I don’t do that.

When my friend suggested dinner at D Bar, I had no idea it was owned by Keegan Gerhard from The Food Network… that is, until he came up to our table at the end of the meal and asked if something was wrong with Chel’s half eaten dish! While their chicken and waffle sandwich was nothing to write home about, I thoroughly enjoyed everything else I put in my mouth last night—including the food at D Bar 😉 Ha! I wanted their shrimp poppers to have my babies, and I thought that their lobster mac & cheese tasted infinitely better than the crab mac from Lei Lounge. Had I known this place was owned by one of the top ten pastry chefs in America, I would have saved room for dessert! I will def be back for dessert and drinks, especially since Keegan was so sweet to us and graciously comp’d Chel’s food.

Last night, I did two things I haven’t done in a long time—I went to happy hour with Kelley (who I haven’t seen in four years!), and I ate solid foods.

It was glorious.

Someone at the bar thought I was 21 (bless their heart) and told me that I had beautiful skin! My inner goddess swayed in a gentle victorious samba. Clearly, I’ve been reading too much Fifty Shades.

Pammie and I made these maple bacon donut holes for her fiance’s birthday tomorrow!

Pinterest is slowly domesticating me, one recipe at a time…

I made these portobello pizza bites, and they were so good that I almost forgot that I ruined my Calphalon pan broiling these bad boys. Almost.

I baked these cookie dough brownies for my boss’ baby shower at work today. I don’t plan on eating any of them, but I’m sure I gained 3 pounds just thinking about it.

Also, I’m skipping the gym tonight. This has nothing and everything to do with brownies, but I mostly just wanted to get that off my chest.

Today, I got off Pinterest long enough to actually make this Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice recipe that I pinned, and I managed to do it without burning the house down!

I don’t even know who I am right now.

Last night’s happy hour turned into eight hours of sangria swirl margaritas at La Puerta, sake snow cones at Gaijin, beers at Blind Lady Ale House, and vodka at The Ould Sod.

I def won’t be drinking tonight… or maybe ever again.

I usually try to go hard on my days off, but I just ended up going to the DMV, having brunch at The Mission, playing with my favorite frenchie, and calling it a night at 9:30. What has my life come to?

This pretty much sums up my summer plans.

It’s hard to binge drink and still mind your calories. I was hoping that Skinnygirl Margarita would bridge that divide, but I’m pretty sure it was made to test my gag reflex!

GPOY.

I instantly regret wearing jeans instead of leggings to work today. How can I stuff my face with Phil’s BBQ when my clothes are so binding?

This is pretty much how I approach telling someone that we can never be together.

Million dollar margaritas with Trace last night! Happy birthday and happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor 🙂

My Instagram feed exposes my obvious love of booze, fine dining, and other people’s babies.

St. Paddy’s Day doesn’t usually register as a blip on my radar, so I intended on having a low key movie night instead… which turned into beers with Shi and Anthony at Tiger! Tiger!… followed by house margaritas at my house… followed by me waking up on my bathroom floor (not pictured). So… just another Saturday.

Christine and the birthday girl before she got kicked out of El Camino last night! Happy birthday, Jessie!

Is it weird that I have half a baguette in my tote bag right now?

I had happy hour at The Prado at Balboa Park last night! We enjoyed margaritas and live music by Trent Hancock. The highlight of my night was when he asked for song requests and hand to god, someone suggested Hoobastank (and it wasn’t me!). The lowlight was parking down the street on 6th and trekking to the restaurant because I didn’t want the valet attendant to see my secret shame! Ha.

Phil’s is opening a restaurant in Santee! This alcohol notice confirms it. Soon I’ll be able to get drunk and stuff myself with meat closer to home. And then I can head over to Phil’s afterward 😉

Another Saturday night in working on my design portfolio and eating enough takeout from Domo Sushi to feed a small village.

My Saturday nights have been pretty wild lately.

I would be lying if I said that I finally updated my jailbroken phone for the wireless syncing capabilities.

Since I didn’t instantly turn into a little old troll under a cave when the clock struck midnight on my 30th birthday, I abandoned my original plan to hide under my bed all weekend and celebrated instead:

• Pink champagne to toast my dirtieth at work, courtesy of my boss
• Pammie’s CMYK balloons made my little design nerd heart race
• European Cake Gallery cake with a message from Gloria from Modern Family! Ha. It was just as good as last year’s message from the cast of Saved by the Bell.
• Pizza and beer at Blind Lady Ale House to celebrate Anthony’s, Christine’s, and my birthday week! The only sausage I had that night was the chorizo on my artisan pizza, Shirley May =P
• Moscow mules at El Camino and a Seau sighting at Lucha Libre with Christine, Pammie and Jessie
• I made a wish on my creme brulee and practiced my indoor voice at Donovan’s for Restaurant Week with Pammie, Chel and Shi.

I made it through my 30th birthday relatively unscathed with a little help from my friends and a lot of liquor 😉 Thanks for a great weekend, loves ♥

Know when to give up and have a margarita.

There’s this Chinese hole-in-the-wall that I order food from whenever I’m feeling shitty (so like… every Wednesday), and they used to give me four sets of plastic silverware, because I clearly ordered enough food to share with three other people.

And then there was a period of about a week where I ordered takeout from them like three or four days in a row, and they started giving me just one set of utensils for all that food plus extra fortune cookies (to feed my pain, I’m sure). Actually, this was last week.

(L-R) tomato sauce/alfredo sauce (Shi’s, obvi), pepperoni and pesto, chicken alfredo

Over the weekend, we had our way with all the DIY pizzas we could eat and somehow lived to blog about it.

YTG had 99 comments on their status update, and mine was the only one they “liked” 😉

I don’t know what’s sadder—is it how easily I recognized an In-N-Out secret menu order, or is it the fact that this was the highlight of my weekend?

Whoever said that nothing tastes as good as thin feels has never had a Porto’s cheese roll, obvi. But I didn’t go to the gym at an unholy hour on a Saturday just to offset my workout by inhaling one of these delicious treats… that my aunt brought me from LA… that I probably won’t have again till Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. Or 2012.

JESSIE: Your turn, Mayan!
SHI: You’re having another sake bomb?
CHRISTINE: She’s had a rough week!
SHI: It’s only TUESDAY!

Lately, my decisions on where to eat dinner have been 80% what I feel like eating and 20% where I can become mayor.

Welp, there goes my dinner plans.

SD Restaurant Week has been extended! Coincidentally, my diet has been postponed.

This = me during SD Restaurant Week. And pretty much any of the other 51 weeks during the year.

Fight night at Anthony’s. I kept asking what time “the game” was. LOL.

Yeah, I was just there for the 2-in-1 burritos from Lolita’s.