Anytime I don’t feel Asian enough, I have dinner at Crab Hut followed by boba next door at Tapioca Express.

So… every weekend.

And all this time, I thought the Starbucks barista near my work didn’t know my name…

I left my heart at Bi-Rite Creamery.

The Joy Formidable – Whirring
[audio:http://www.mayanrocks.com/blog/The Joy Formidable – Whirring.mp3]

I had pizza and beer with Jessie, Shi and Anthony at Pizza Port before heading to The Joy Formidable‘s sold out show at the Belly Up tonight! Anthony was worried that Jessie and I were gonna ditch him for these boys who were supposed to buy Jessie’s extra tickets, but I think we were more worried that Anthony was gonna ditch us for Mike, some guy we had just met at the show who works for Stone Brewing Co. and loves craft beer (like Anthony), plays the drums (like Anthony) for the band Sweet Ever After, and just happens to have the same exact phone as Anthony. When Anthony found out that Mike home brews, his panties fell off and their bromance became official. I mean, am I gonna have to fight Anthony for him???

Quote of the night:

I need to find a new job… one where I can be home by five and drunk by six like you bitches.

I’m actually home by 5:30… but I’m still drunk by six :p

Yesterday was the perfect ending to my far from perfect week. I had lunch at Influx (where a ham & brie croissant melt #1 could turn anyone’s day around), witnessed sweaty eye candy at the Und1sputed Ones soccer game, and finished the night off at Blind Lady Ale House with pizza, beer and my girls. And some random dude who joined us at our table. And put his hand on my knee.

The fact that I even mentioned the random dude who put his hand on my knee as one of the highlights should be an indication of how shitty my week really was.

Liberty Station’s Summer Movie Mania night consisted of Mona Lisa sandwiches, wine, brie, Jessie’s brownies, my favorite girls, and Tom Cruise before his crazy couch jumping days.

Quote of the night:

Who needs a boy to keep you warm when you’ve got wine?

I had Sunday brunch, bloody marys and breakthroughs at The Tractor Room with Jessie, Christine and Pammie, or shall I say “Can’t Commit” Mary, Mama Rosa Mary and The TJ Mary—I’ll let you guess who’s who 😉 I’m The Drunk Clam Mary, obvi.

After hours of sunshine and margaritas at the SD Oyster Fest on Saturday, Jessie and I continued the party at Las Hadas, El Camino and Starlite with Christine and Sher.

Day drinking always sounds like a good idea until it’s past midnight and you’re still drinking.

The San Diego County Del Mar Fair is back in town!

The girls and I enjoyed some bacon donuts and Bruno Mars before heading back down to see Mayer Hawthorne spin at El Camino (where Jessie got me drunk enough to rap about ass and titties).

Quote of the day:

Maybe we shouldn’t be making decisions to do things like this when we’ve been drinking for 5 hours prior.

Bring your face closer to mine.

Shi posted this picture of us inhaling Tropical Shave Ice on Facebook, and as a result, Arlene has threatened us with the PINK card at tomorrow night’s circuit training session… the same pink card that made me throw up (three times!) the first day I did it.

I didn’t even put any toppings on my shave ice!!!

Not on my first one anyway…

Lobsta Truck lobster roll? Check. KalbiQ spicy pork fries? Check. Lee’s Philly surf & turf cheese steak? Check. Tropical Shave Ice? Check. Stretchy pants? Check.

After Boomers’ Food Trucks & Fun event last night, I’m pretty sure I’ll be in a food coma for the next couple of weeks (at least until the Del Mar Fair opens).

This morning, I woke up at an unholy hour to do the Navy Bay Bridge Run/Walk with the girls. Jessie and Christine had their long run yesterday in preparation for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon next month, so they rested their stems and strolled the 5k with us. I realized that this would be my only opportunity in life to beat their time, so I sprinted past them just as we were crossing the finish line! Ha 😉

Afterward, we walked another mile to The Mission for breakfast brunch lunch (the wait was 90 minutes!) where I tried some delicious soy chorizo. Who knew that fake Mexican sausage could rock my world?

I had dinner and drinks at Craft and Commerce with four of my faves last night… four and a half if you count Chel’s 32-week belly! Is it weird that it wasn’t the first time this week that I hit up a bar with one of my preggo friends? I had drinks with Belle at Cottonwood Golf Club after work the other day. The bartender poured me another double vodka cranberry to-go before we made our way next door to a dry charity event for some silent auction action and complimentary noms from Outback.

We’re a couple of classy broads.

Run Into Flowers:

Mayan made these delicious chocolate chip cookies with an oreo cookie inside. Ummm sham wow! I’d have to say that her cookies beat the #1 cookies in San Diego, Uncle Biff’s Cookies.

Once this @MindzAlike #BLC ends this Sunday, I’m going to stuff myself with meat.

And then I’m going to eat at these restaurants:

1. Crab Hut – Full house/medium shrimp will be my VICTORY meal (yeah, I said it!)
2. Pizza Port – Meet Extreme Meat pizza and a beer
3. Hodad’s – Bacon Cheeseburger Basket (my #1 craving these past 8 weeks)
4. Sarita’s – Carne asada fries from my favorite taco shop in the valley
5. Phil’s BBQ – Beefy Rib Tickler
6. Shik Do Rak – AYCE KBBQ that’s worth driving up to the OC for

One restaurant a week, of course. I’m still trying to get bikini tankini ready by summer!

I’ve been training my entire life for this.

Update 4/25/2011: This event has been CANCELED 🙁 The light at the end of the tunnel just got dimmer.

Update 4/28/2011: Boomers is having a Food Trucks & Fun event from Friday 5/20 to Sunday 5/22 with over 20 gourmet food trucks from SD/LA!

Sometimes I like to go all out and have another Asian hook up my toes.

Yesterday, I had some QT and a much needed pedi with the bestie and her mini-me before meeting up with the girls for some late night sushi and laughs.

Can every day be like this?

Going to Chez Nous and not getting a spicy chicken melt is like going to Outback and not getting steak. Today, I did both.

My coworker’s husband brought me a fruit salad for lunch instead of my usual spicy chicken melt, and for a delicious second, I thought that the nectarine strips were fries. After work, I went to Outback for Alicia’s birthday dinner and ate grilled fish while everyone (including the 7-year-old sitting next to me) ate steak.

I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Today was especially rough.

I was sitting here after my workout, watching Unwrapped: Sandwiches on the Food Network (torture, I know). They featured the Grilled Cheese Invitational in LA, and I decided that this event would be well deserved after the @MindzAlike #BLC was over. I googled it, and of course it’s happening the weekend before this BLC ends! Boo whore. That would have been the ultimate celebratory meal.

Five weeks left, and I’m on top with over 20 pounds lost. Those delicious grilled cheese sandwiches will just have to wait till next year…

Anthony: crab hut tomorrow?
Me: i can’t 🙁 i have a weigh-in this weekend.
Anthony: let me know when this contest that appears to be ruining your life is over and we can go to crab hut. i mean, i can only go there in the company of celebs, such as those who have their pic on the wall.

The fact that I’m willing to risk my Crab Hut mayorship and dukedom alone should strike fear in the eyes of my fellow @MindzAlike #BLC participants.

Garlic parm fries + spaghetti and meatball torpasta from Devine Pastabilities FTW.

I’ve been carbo-loading this whole week in preparation for the @MindzAlike #BLC initial weigh-in on Sunday.

I plan on winning all your monies, bitches. The only thing I ever lose is pounds 😉

I love when my preggo co-worker’s husband brings her Chez Nous, because that means I get Chez Nous, too! Their spicy chicken melt fixes things in the universe. Throw in some garlic parm fries, and we have a meal I’d ask to marry me.

Ain’t no party like a Hi-Chew party, ’cause a Hi-Chew party don’t stop!

Pammie and I watched Sam the Cooking Guy teach us how to cook our own food, then we let those lessons marinate while someone else cooked us dinner at Banbu Sushi.

I skipped our workout tonight for Mary’s birthday dinner, so Arlene told me to “prepare for a beat down” tomorrow. Yikes. Does carbo-loading with Hot Hot Mexican rolls from Sushi Deli 2 count as preparation?

Most of E’s party was spent trying to keep Vince’s baby from crying while resisting the urge to go back to the taco truck for seconds. I didn’t succeed at either.

Chel gave me this awesome idea to put red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting inside jars for the holidays! Could these be any cuter???

Watching my co-workers eat bird portions while I scarf down Taco Fiesta has shamed me into eating healthier.

Belle made us these yummy stuffed bell peppers on Monday:

Last night, I attempted to make us a spicy turkey sausage and mushroom pizza:

Yes, I cooked. And yes, that’s reduced-fat mozzarella. On a whole wheat pizza crust.

I don’t even know who I am right now.

Mini cheesecake pan, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, don’t you?

I can’t decide if I’m more excited about the Cranberry Bliss Bar being back at Starbucks or my mini cheesecake pans arriving in the mail today. What has my life come to?

I tried three estheticians before discovering Linda at Viva Brazil. And when I showed up for my appointment this afternoon, my stomach fell out of my butt when they informed me that Linda had called in sick. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t let just anyone touch my vagina! After having survived our waxings with Margarita, Pammie and I had a celebratory lunch at Phil’s BBQ where we ran into my BFF and her fam. How dare she eat there without me??? At least she let us cut in line 🙂

After another heartbreaking Charger loss, Jay, Pammie and I ate our feelings at Cafe Hue and Crab Hut (where I finally regained my title as mayor! Suck it, Lindsay C.).

Brunch with my sister at The Mission this morning. She always orders savory, while I order sweet, and then we switch plates afterward. We’re total opposites, and I’m pretty sure the only thing we have in common is our love for fine dining. And our nose.

I know five* couples who have called it quits these past few weeks. Okay so maybe three of those couples are celebrities. Technicalities. Nobody stays together anymore… not even Christina Aguilera and her husband.

I met up with the girls and Anthony for sushi and drinks last night. As I listened to them talk about broken engagements, unofficial relationships, ex’s reaching out to them while they’re married… I had absolutely nothing to add to the conversation in regard to myself, and I guess that’s a good thing for once. So much for happy hour! Almost everyone I know is in some kind of relationship, whether it’s between a husband and wife, a man and someone else’s wife, a girl and her long distance love, or a boy and his fleshlight. Even though I miss being in a relationship sometimes, I don’t miss all the drama that comes along with it, and was happy to drink my mai tai in silence.

*Update: Six couples now. 2010 has def been the year of babies and breakups.

Movie night with Shi on Friday. We watched Easy A, and it was hilarious! Def the funniest movie I’ve seen this year. Kind of makes me want to censor what I post on here. And possibly get checked for chlamydia.

Lunch and lingerie with the bestie on Saturday. Domo Sushi was fab, although as far as sushi in east county goes, my heart belongs to Banbu. The sushi at Domo is crazy cheap, however. The Mexican roll was half off at $4, and I’ve never gotten a Mexican roll for that cheap (or without consequences) before. Alicia is celebrating her 15-year anniversary with Ray next weekend. Their relationship has lasted longer than the sum of all my relationships. And I’m even counting the online boyfriend I had for a brief moment in 1997. This occasion clearly warranted two hours of lingerie shopping at Parkway Plaza. All I went home with was some Starbucks and ideas for my future boyfriend. Boo whore.

On Sunday, I got up at an ungodly hour to make strides against breast cancer with the women in my family. Afterward, we had brunch at Brian’s to celebrate Chel’s birthday. Seven chicken and waffles, please! YUM. I did not feel the least bit guilty after having just walked 5K in the rain. Christine 1up’d us and ran the Nike Women’s (Half) Marathon in SF! While we didn’t run 13 miles and weren’t greeted at the finish line with firemen in tuxedos handing out Tiffany necklaces (lucky!), we walked for a great cause and in memory of my aunt. It’s not too late to make a donation towards breast cancer research here.

Craft & Commerce & Casbah with Jessie last night. She’s an old friend, but my newest concert buddy!

We met up at Craft & Commerce in Little Italy for dinner and drinks. Our bartender, Frank, was truly a man after my own heart. From his plaid button down shirt with his rolled up sleeves, to his mustache, to the artful way he shook those cocktails with such conviction… I don’t normally like mustaches when they aren’t accompanied by a beard, but I think I can make an exception this time. Jessie and I shared the Mother’s Ruin punch bowl. It’s supposed to serve four, but the two of us drank it for dinner. Jessie called it “Frank’s punch,” but Frank told us that his punch packs a bigger bite! Yeah, that’s pretty much when my panties fell off. We were so full off of drinks that we barely touched our appetizers. Jessie had the bacon-wrapped corn dogs, while I ordered my newest obsession, Devils on Horseback (applewood bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cheese). C&C is home to bacon-wrapped deliciousness, and they even have ice cream sandwiches with candied bacon in it. Def not your typical bar fare!

A corn dog and a couple of dates weren’t enough to soak up all that alcohol, so we walked our drunk asses nine blocks to the Casbah to see Blind Pilot. Even though we were surrounded by freakishly tall hipsters sipping PBR and blocking our view, I really enjoyed the music and spending time with an old friend.

Besides becoming the Mayor of Sonic on Foursquare or finding out that I’m someone’s missed connection on Craigslist, another one of my life dreams is to become a Yelp Elite. I already blog about all the restaurants I eat at, so I might as well post my reviews on Yelp where someone other than my grandma can read it. So far, I have one stalker fan on Yelp. I don’t know who it is, and it’s ruining my life!

Christine gave me a pair of free tickets to Taste of North Park yesterday, so Pammie and I spent the afternoon eating and drinking ourselves into a coma. Urban Solace was the only restaurant we had eaten at prior to this event, and they actually had the best offering: Duckaroni and S’mores. Om nom nom. While some may think the highlight of this event was getting to sample 45 different restaurants and bars for free, the real highlight for me was the hot bearded fellow who served me my Islander IPA at Ranchos… followed closely by the dirty old man who walked past me on 30th, took a look at each of my breasts, and greeted them, “Hello and hello.” Yep. Still got it.

We had Restaurant Week: Part Deux at Indigo Grill in Little Italy last night. Instead of partaking in their special menu, Christine, Jay and I decided to order appetizers and drink our dinner instead in the form of white sangria. Not only was everything we ordered plated beautifully, it all tasted pretty outstanding, too. We had Pipian Crusted Brie (with jalapeno jelly, honey roasted garlic, grilled nopales, mole negro, and scallion flatbread), Scallop and Shrimp Ceviche (cured in lemon juice with cucumber pico de gallo), and Arugula, Frissee and Radicchio (with cotija-stuffed dates wrapped in applewood smoked bacon, blackened shrimp, and a prickly pear vinaigrette). I couldn’t get enough of the mole negro and bacon-wrapped dates! The salad and ceviche are half off during happy hour, so def try to arrive before 6:30 if possible. The white sangria was ridiculously good and refreshing. It’s $50 for a pitcher, and we were able to get at least 10 glasses out of it. It costs $11 a glass, so if you think you’re going to have a few drinks each (and we always do), then get the pitcher for sure! After an awesome first time, I will definitely be back for seconds! I’d love to see what else this restaurant has to offer.

It’s Restaurant Week, so Jay invited me to dinner at Peohe’s in Coronado. It was like that one time he took me to Black Angus before the Sweethearts Dance when I was sixteen, except we didn’t slow dance afterward. Nor did I earn the title of “Freak Me ’98” tonight. Haha. He wishes!

Peohe’s is the place that Jay takes every girl he’s trying to cupcake. I always jokingly gave him shit about never taking me there, and he finally took me so I could quit my bitchin’! Looks like I’ve finally made it 😉 The hostess sat us down outside, and I sipped on a Mango Mojito while checking out the menu and enjoying the view. We started off with Maui-Style Onion Rings. They’re fried in coconut batter, and I’m not a fan of coconut (unless it’s dessert, and even then I’m selective), but I thought I’d give it a whirl. I ended up liking the chipotle ketchup dip better than the onion rings, but I could see why Jay likes them so much. We both ordered the Lobster Bisque and Crab Stuffed Tilapia with caper butter and wild rice. Jay finished off with the No Ka Oi (macadamia nut ice cream pie in a chocolate cookie crust with chocolate sauce), while I got the Macadamia Nut Creme Brulee. Yowza! I’ve never eaten so good in my life.

I’m not gonna lie, I was thoroughly impressed… from the food, to the amazing view of the bay and downtown, to the attentive waitress who occasionally swept the crumbs off our table while we ate. Fancy! Too bad I was there with Jay and not a real date! Haha. All of this right here… wasted. Oh, well. I’d rather be there with him than some ass clown who orders their steak well done and butterflied. Deal breaker!

Our old friends, Donna and David, were in town for a wedding, and we got together one last time at Extraordinary Desserts before they flew back home to North Carolina. I ordered my new favorite, Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. YUM. Jay took a bite or two (or five), but not without asking me to drizzle chocolate sauce on it slowly while talking dirty to him first. Is it weird that it wasn’t the first time someone has asked me to do that?

Jessie, Pammie and I had dinner at Urban Solace in North Park before the Muse show! Everything tasted AMAZING from the cheese biscuits with orange-honey butter to the Duckaroni (macaroni with duck confit!) to the Monte Diego (their version of a monte cristo with smoked ham, fontina cheese, grilled pears, marinated onions, and strawberry-currant jam). I don’t usually like sweet potato fries, but I wanted theirs to bear my children. I’m not sure why I don’t dine out more with Jessie when (a) she’s just as excited about good eats as me and (b) there’s a good chance she has dated one of the bartenders and/or barbacks who can hook us up with drinks 😉

Happy hour with the girls at Analog before the Phoenix show at SDSU tonight. We all had tall boys and totchos (nachos with tots instead of chips!) to start. I wanted to get something different this time, so I went with the Dirty Sanchez (grilled cheese with jalapenos and bacon). What was once my favorite move is now my favorite sandwich! Just kidding. (It’s not my favorite sandwich.)

Phoenix was amazeballs. Thomas Mars sang a French lullaby to me. And 4,600 others. But mostly just me.

“Rome” was def my fave performance:
[audio:http://www.mayanrocks.com/blog/Phoenix – Rome.mp3]

Always and forever more
We’re together dead and lonely
I thought I couldn’t do this without you
Single in his bed somewhere
Ashes still it fall, fall, falls

MUSE TOMORROW!!!

I went up to the OC to help my sister paint her condo this weekend. It was my first time taking the train, and I loved everything about it. In the 90-minute ride, I was able to avoid traffic, finish designing wedding invitations for a new client, and watch the ass clowns sitting in front of me get escorted off the train by the deputy, all while taking in the view of the Pacific Ocean.

Pammie picked me up in Irvine and we ate at Shik Do Rak, a Korean BBQ joint with my favorite kind of meat—all you can eat! We went to Lowe’s afterward to buy everything she needed to paint the living room. The previous owner painted it an offensive powder blue. Who does that??? Almost any color would’ve been a definite upgrade, and she picked one within minutes. We are such opposites. I once went to Ikea and stared at two coffee tables for half an hour and then went home empty handed because I couldn’t decide which one I liked best. This is why people hate shopping with me. And eating with me. I’m always the last one to order at restaurants, too. Luckily, we were painting Pammie’s condo and not my own.

Painting was harder than I expected. By the time we unscrewed all the outlet covers, took down the curtains, moved all the furniture, taped off the baseboards and set down the drop cloths, two hours had passed and we hadn’t even started painting yet. When we finally went to bed at four in the morning, her living room was painted a beautiful London Coach.

Despite my early morning tomorrow, I decided to take a later train out and stay a bit longer. After eating that spicy lobster roll with Shi at RB Sushi, I’ve been craving it ever since. I found it near my sister’s at a place called Kokoro, so we ate there for dinner. We had cupcakes from Frostings afterward for dessert, and now I’m on the train back home to SD, still partially covered in paint in places I didn’t think you could get paint. I’m exhausted!

Last night after work, I wanted to do nothing more than go home and veg in my chones pajamas. I must have had a stroke when I agreed to hike Torrey Pines instead with Shi. The view from the top was worth jogging the straightaway (and then some!). Afterward, we had spicy lobster rolls at RB Sushi in our gym clothes and caught up on our love lives (or lack thereof—I’ll let you guess whose was lacking).

Dinner at Banbu Sushi with Pammie and Shi last night. While we didn’t order the protein roll (Shi’s favorite) or the double pleasure roll (my favorite, of course), we did take advantage of happy hour and got jalapeno poppers, kobe beef rolls and hamana rolls! My lychee martini and Banbu Bites weren’t offered on the happy hour menu, but both are definite must-haves. I used to live down the street from this place, and I can’t believe I didn’t eat here till after I moved. Their sushi is pretty outstanding, albeit a little pricey for a restaurant in La Mesa. It’s beautifully designed, though, and besides the night I came here during Restaurant Week, I’ve never had to wait too long for dinner. I def recommend taking a date here. And by “date” I mean me.

Happy hour at Analog downtown with Chel, Shi and Christine last night. Lobster corn dogs. Grilled gruyere, mozzarella & truffle cheese sandwich with a side of honeycomb made by real bees (lolol Chel). Twinkie tiramisu and pot brownie for dessert. Owned Christine (and our waiter!) in Street Fighter 2. Ran into Adam Brody from The OC because his brother was throwing a charity event there. NBD 😉 Love the interior design and old school vibe in this place. Will def be coming back for more!

So it’s no secret that I want the shrimp at Crab Hut to have my babies. Pammie comes down every weekend, and every weekend we go to Crab Hut. We always order two pounds of boiled shrimp with full house/medium sauce and rotate the appetizers (clearly, we’re creatures of habit). Lately, we’ve been ordering fried calamari and sweet potato fries. And then we get boba next door at Tapioca Express afterward, because we’re Asian and we like stereotypes. I’m pretty sure that no one frequents Crab Hut more than we do, so my title as mayor is secure unless Pammie starts sneaking trips without me (I wouldn’t put it past her).

Last night, I had dinner plans with Trace at Crab Hut. I invited Jay just so he could peel our shrimp for us! Jay invited the newlyweds, Alana and Jed, and Trace brought her boyfriend, Gary. If I knew this was going to be a couples thing, I wouldn’t have brought Jay! Haha. Just kidding. Like I would’ve peeled my own shrimp!

ha•lo-ha•lo [from the Tagalog word halò, “mix”] – noun. A popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and milk to which are added various sweet beans, fruits and ice cream, and served cold in a tall glass or bowl.

Extraordinary Desserts with my faves, talking about each other’s backups and back ends. I’ve already said too much.

Shi wanted to have dinner at Pho Cali tonight to ease her sore throat. It seems like everyone has been getting sick lately!

We met up with Jay, Leah, Charlene and Sha at Babycakes for dessert. As former ASB president, Leah’s been trying to get me to go to our ten year reunion this weekend. But I left high school where I left my crush on Jordan Catalano—in the 90s where it belongs. Why get all dolled up to make small talk with old classmates at the Marriott when I can sit at home in my chones and read their Facebook statuses on my news feed instead?

(I’m kidding. I totally block their status updates.)

P.S. If you don’t know who Jordan Catalano is, then you are too young and I am too old.

I’ve made cupcakes for a few of Kristin’s parties, so she asked me to make a Hello Kitty cake for her niece’s birthday. I can make cupcakes in my sleep, but I’ve never actually baked and decorated an entire cake before. I decided to make a practice cake first, just in case I was in over my head.

Isn’t this a pretty kitty? (That’s what she said.) Too bad this cake won’t stay fresh till next weekend! I’ll have to make another one on Friday, and now I’m left with a Hello Kitty cake that I’m not going to eat… How weird would it be if I showed up at my uncle’s retirement party with this thing?

Anthony suggested that we all meet up for weekly happy hours till the end of summer (he also suggested that we play glow-in-the-dark bingo, but that’s a story for another time). Chel, Shi and I had our first happy hour at El Camino in South Park tonight (while Antho was out of town, of course). Sangria always tastes better when it’s served in a glass boot!

El Camino’s Happy Hour details:

• Monday-Friday 5-7pm
• Free chips and salsa
• 1/2 off quesadillas and nachos
• $3 Coronas, margaritas, and sangria
• $15 sangria pitchers
• $20 margarita pitchers

Thanks for treating us out, Chel ♥

Jay has a tendency to turn his birthday into a month-long extravaganza, but this year he only subjected us to two outings (shocking!). The girls and I are notorious for disappearing during his birthday celebrations every year, and he’ll never let us forget the time we left in the middle of his party for frozen yogurt at Yogotango. Or dinner at Friday’s. Or dinner at The Spot. This year was no different.

This Irish Angel (chocolate cake layered with Bailey’s creme brulee) was totally worth the shit Jay’s going to give us for leaving The Office again this year when he sees the pictures we took of us eating at Heaven Sent Desserts on his camera 😉

Chel taught me, Shi and Pammie how to make our own sushi yesterday!

Check out my inside out crab and cucumber sushi roll topped with shrimp, unagi sauce, spicy mayo, toasted panko crumbs and masago:

You’ve changed my life, darlin’. I can’t wait for more cooking lessons!

Jay’s bacon chocolate birthday cake at The Riviera Supper Club!

(App: Hipstamatic / Lens: Kaimal Mark II / Film: Ina’s 1969)

Whenever there’s a potluck, I usually bake cupcakes, but it’s not something I enjoy eating all that much. Anthony invited us over for a potluck dinner tonight, so I thought I’d go a different route and make something I’d actually eat. I’m no cook by any stretch of the imagination, but bacon-wrapped jalapeño cream cheese poppers seemed simple enough.

I’ve eaten jalapeños on nachos, burgers, sushi… but I’ve never handled a raw jalapeño before, let alone thirty of them. And now I’ve got jalapeño burn! I didn’t even know that existed until I googled, “how do I get my hands to stop burning after handling jalapenos?” The pain caused from de-seeding the jalapeños with my bare hands feels something akin to shoving bamboo splinters under my finger nails. Ouch!

I should stick to baking.

Seven of my friends and I sat in the theater waiting for the movie to start last weekend, and all seven of them were playing with their iPhones. The only thing I could do on my non-iPhone was check the time. Boo whore. I said what I always say when this happens (which is every time we go out), “My Verizon contract isn’t up till July, you bitches.” Except this time, it WAS July. I mean, where did my life go??? Anyway, I visited the AT&T store the next day and snagged their last iPhone 4G. Yay!

Here’s my first photo taken with my iPhone…
App: Hipstamatic / Lens: John S. / Film: Kodot Verichrome

Chel, Shi, Flex and I ate dessert waffles topped with Nutella, taro ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream at Crepe World tonight. We sat there for an hour or so playing with our iPhones before realizing that we could be doing the same thing at home in our chones. So now I’m blogging this from my iPhone at home. And yes… I’m in my chones.

This evening left me all kinds of satisfied:

• Good food: Japanese tapas at Yakitori Yakyudori (bacon wrapped asparagus!!!) followed by dessert at Babycakes
• Good company: Pammie, Chel, Shi, Anthony, Christine and Cynthia
• Good movie: Eclipse, baby! Don’t judge us.

(image via Run Into Flowers)

[showtime width=435 height=326 transition=fade rotationtime=2 transitiontime=1 transitionease=none autoplay=on fullscreen=off scale=noscale showcontrols=on showtext=off showalt=on shuffle=off bgcolor=#FFFFFF]

I’m both disgusted and amazed at the amount of food that Jay, Pammie, Christine, Shi, Ella, Sha and I collectively inhaled at the fair today:

• BBQ Tri Tip Sandwich
• BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich
• Applewood Bacon Cheeseburger
• Pizza Bread
• Sausage Sandwich
• Deep Fried Cheese Curds
• Caramel Apple Tower
• Strawberry Tower
• Mini Donuts
• Baklava
• Bavarian Funnel Cake
• Deep Fried Pop Tart
• Deep Fried Klondike Bar
• Deep Fried Oreos
• Zucchini Curls
• Chicken kabob
• Chocolate/Vanilla Swirl Cone

I’m not gonna lie… I kind of want to throw up a little.

(Round 2 on Friday?)

The San Diego County Del Mar Fair opens today! I look forward to it every year. Where else can you watch the pig races (my fave), stock up on Quick-n-Brite, see a freakishly large horse, and eat deep fried Twinkies all at the same place? Is it weird that my heart started to race when I saw the new fair food map?

Can we go on record and say this is the last picture we’ll be taking at a Salinas fiesta?

Every year, the town my mom is from in the Philippines hosts this fiesta in San Diego. And every year, I look forward to one thing… nachos. It used to be seeing my relatives, but lately we’re the only offspring who show up to this shindig since all of our cousins are too busy reproducing. So as I got ready this morning, the only thing keeping me from staying home were those nachos.

Pammie and I met up with Chel, and I noticed she was eating an empanada. She loves nachos even more than I do (if that’s possible), so I asked her if she had already eaten nachos before we got there, and she tells me they ran out! WTF. We only stayed there long enough to say hello to our aunts and take this one last picture. Boo whore.

This is my third post this week that has food as its focal point. Someone randomly messaged me and asked where he should buy his girlfriend’s birthday cake yesterday. Do I look like I’ve eaten a lot of birthday cake or something? Because sadly, I have. And if you’re wondering what I suggested, I told him that European Cake Gallery in Point Loma is the place to go! Their White Bavarian cake with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and white chocolate shavings is the best I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a lot.

Anyway, Pizza Port just opened a location in Ocean Beach, and I’m excited because it’s closer than the ones in North County, and it’s near Trace’s house so I’ll have an excuse to see her more often. She couldn’t make it tonight, but Chris, Jay and Liz were able to go.

In preparation for the damage I was going to do at Pizza Port, I got my Slim Fast on at work (I didn’t lunge and squat to an entire Ke$ha song after an hour of kickboxing last night for nothing). Yes, that’s Robert Pattinson on my desktop. And yes, I know that my desktop is littered with an embarrassing number of icons. Get off me.

It probably wasn’t the best idea to have a beer when all I’d had was Slim Fast the whole day. I already felt buzzed by the time our food arrived.

We started with some Garlic Beer Buddies (whole grain beer crust brushed with garlic and deliciousness):

Then we ordered the Meet Extreme Meat pizza. And the Garlic Veggie pizza (pictured). And some wings and cheese sticks, too. In our defense, they were just 35¢ each. It would’ve been ridiculous NOT to get them…

As we rolled ourselves back to the car, we passed by the OB Farmers Market and picked up some mini donuts like we hadn’t just gorged ourselves at Pizza Port:

I wish we would have stopped there, but we hit up Yogurtland before heading home, too. For shame 🙁

At the risk of ruining what glimmer of street cred I might have, I’m going to let you in on my secret shame… I used to be in show choir. I have the sequin dress and nude character shoes to prove it. Fortunately, there’s no audio or video proof, but I think that admitting it is proof enough. Naturally, I fell in love with the TV show, Glee. And yes, I’m a total Gleek… What of it??? Last night, the girls and I headed up to LA to watch them in concert.

I took the day off from work, but was awakened at an ungodly hour by Shi, who loves her job and decided to take a half day instead. I mean, I don’t even know why she went to work at all. I’m sure her day consisted of taking two lunches, removing her nail polish with the cotton balls and nail polish remover she keeps readily available in her office, and calling me six times before 10am. Seriously, can I enjoy?

We picked up Pammie in the OC and stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. With our ridiculous order of extras (extra fries, extra-large drinks, extra-toasted buns, burgers cut in half… who are these people?), I’m surprised we ever made it to LA at all.

The LXD opened for Glee and I was blown away (especially by Madd Chadd Smith and his panty droppin’ chest pops). Def check out their inspiring performance at TED earlier this year. I’ll spare you the rest of the concert details, but the show was amazing. And I’m pretty sure Puck singled me out in the crowd and gave me a thumbs up in this picture. Try not to be too jealous:

We stayed the night at Pammie’s and planned to eat brunch at Break of Dawn in Laguna Hills before heading home:

Little did we know we’d be waking up at the break of dawn, too. Shi needed to be back in SD by noon, so brunch turned into breakfast. 8:30 isn’t too early for a cocktail, is it?

Shi ordered the craziest mac and cheese I’ve ever seen. It had Sicil­ian sausage, short ribs, smoked gouda, tomato carbonara sauce, and was topped with bacon fried eggs:

Pammie and Chel both ordered the green eggs and ham benedict. Would they eat them in a box? Would they like them with a fox? And an even bigger question—how has Shi never heard of Green Eggs and Ham???

I ordered the most sinful thing on the menu… creme brulee french toast. It def beat the strawberries and cream french toast I had from Cafe 21 (and that’s saying something):

Pammie also got promoted to manager of her auditing department yesterday, so I just wanted to say congrats again! I know she won’t be moving back home to San Diego anytime soon, so I guess I’ll just have to keep going up to the OC to visit her. And if I’m forced to eat at Break of Dawn while I’m there, then so be it.

Christine, Shi, Chel and I hit up The Pearl Hotel for dinner, drinks and Dive-in Theatre tonight. They were showing Sex and the City: The Movie poolside, so we thought we’d get together and watch it for the millionth time.

Shi: (looking at the menu) What’s a pom-us fritz?
Mayan: Pommes frites! It’s what you’re eating, crazy! French fries!

I wish I wasn’t so mean about it. Karma’s only a bitch if you are (as I would find out later). How is she supposed to know what pommes frites is, or how to say it? This is the girl who thought we made up the word aioli, after all.

I love it when I arrive for dinner and there’s a cocktail already waiting for me:

Our pommes frites appetizer tasted like skinny In-N-Out fries (my favorite!):

The highlight of my evening… prosciutto-wrapped shrimp skewer with fig/onion marinade:

And the lowlight of my evening… eating shit on the way back to my car with Chel. I tripped over the curb, scraped my elbows and knees, bruised my shins, and ripped a hole in my favorite jeans.

I’m sorry, Shi… You can call it “pom-us fritz” if you want to.

If my mom had taught me how to cook, I would have made her brunch today. Instead, my aunts came down from LA for Mother’s Day and made these nutella-filled ebleskivers. I inhaled maybe twenty of them, give or take a few. Fucking Europeans trying to sabotage me with their delicious treats. It’s not racist if it’s a compliment, right? Is that how it works?

I’m not sure how I got swindled into baking brownie bites with peanut butter frosting for the Cinco de Mayo potluck at my work when a) I don’t even eat anything at the potlucks because I Lean Cuisine it during the week and b) what the hell do brownies with peanut butter frosting have to do with Cinco de Mayo? Someone scribbled “Marion’s brownies” on the sign-up sheet underneath the guacamole and tortilla chips. Freak ass freaks. You bring something good once, and people just won’t let you forget about it.

The girls and I stumbled by Station Tavern and Burgers when we were down the street getting our Booty Bassment on at Whistle Stop a couple months ago. The restaurant is beautifully designed, and they’ve got these gorgeous lights hanging in their outdoor patio, so we said we’d come back to eat there sometime. We had dinner there last night, and it changed my life! My burger was amazing, and I wanted its pillowy challah bun to have my babies. Hodad’s still has the best burger I’ve ever had, but Station Tavern is a very close second. If the bacon at Hodad’s joined forces with Station Tavern’s challah buns, its level of deliciousness would be illegal in some small countries. Their garlic fries were pretty outstanding, too. And it was cheap! The four of us spent $50—burgers, sides and beers included. It’s in South Park, so it’s family-friendly. Everyone was there with their babies and/or their dogs. Well, everyone except for us. #1: I don’t have a baby. And #2: I left Rocky’s funky butt at home where he belongs. We stayed there bitching about ex loves reminiscing till they closed at midnight. And as if we didn’t have enough meat on Saturday, we hit up Phil’s BBQ today for some more meaty goodness. I think I might have been overcompensating.

I had brunch with the girls at Cafe 21 this morning. You know I’m never up this early on a Sunday unless there’s food involved.

Shi’s almond-chocolate butter stuffed french toast:

Pammie’s salmon benedict:

My strawberries and cream french toast:

Def will come back for more once I’m out of this food coma.

Chel surprised me at work with these homemade strawberry nutella cupcakes. Sweet, huh? 🙂 Thanks for making my day, babe ♥

I came home from the gym this morning to this chocolate covered strawberry bouquet sent from my sister and her fiancé. I smell sabotage… sweet, sweet sabotage. I didn’t work out every day this week and pull three two-a-days to indulge in dessert—I did it so I could drink my sorrows away tonight with my single friends. My sister is so thoughtful, though 🙂 She knows how much I hate this godforsaken holiday.

Pammie, Chel, Shi, Anthony and I (the Choadorios!) hit up Pho Cali and Cups for Shi’s birthday. No matter where we are, we always end up being that table—the loudest one in the restaurant. Sorry if we’re just having more fun than you… Vietnamese noodles and cupcakes aren’t exactly fine dining, so learn to love our obnoxious infectious laughter and keep cool, my babies. My stomach hurts from all that laughing. Or maybe it was from those two cupcakes I ate. Or the breakfast burrito I had earlier… Get off me.

After a week of kickboxing, salsa dancing, and sweating my ass off (literally) everyday after work, I treated myself out to dinner at Banbu Sushi with the BFF and Ray. The wait was an hour long and the parking lot was ridiculously tiny, so I had to park down the street. Maybe I should have made reservations. And not worn high heels. I may be biased from eating nothing but Lean Cuisines all week, but the food was so, so good! I can’t believe I lived up the street from this place all last year and never tried it. It was San Diego Restaurant Week, so we got three courses for just $20. All of the specials came with edamame and your choice of soup or salad. We all chose onion soup, since none of us were planning on making out after dinner. For the appetizer, Ray and I got the Banbu Bites—shiitaki mushrooms stuffed with crab, spicy sesame ahi, and surrounded by tempura (pictured above). I can’t even explain how delicious they were. By far, the best thing I ate last night. Alicia got the Calamari Salad, which was deep fried calamari on top of baby greens and seaweed. It was good, but def not as good as our Banbu Bites! They were really busy last night, but Ray had already finished his beer before they brought out my Strawberry Mojito that I had to remind them about. The service wasn’t that great, but the food made up for it. She brought out mine and Ray’s main courses next. I got the Tangerine Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce and Ray got the Short Rib Ramen. Ray and I kept making these orgasmic sounds that you only make when you’re eating something really good! Haha. I wasn’t expecting such large portions, but it was a good amount of food. We were halfway done with our main courses before they brought out Alicia’s food, and all she ordered was the 10-Piece Sushi Combo. I’m not sure what took so long, since they didn’t even have to cook it! I think the waitress kept forgetting about us. The sushi was slathered in some wasabi/horseradish sauce and Alicia’s mouth was on fire. I’ve never been to a place where the sushi came with wasabi already inside of it, but Alicia ate what she could. They brought out dessert next. Ray got the Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Gelato. The cake was too rich for me, but the gelato was good. Alicia chose the Mochi Ice Cream in red bean, green tea and vanilla. I didn’t try it, but I’ve had mochi before and I love it. She said the red bean was the best flavor. I got the Mango Crème Brulée with Tropical Compote. Other than forgetting to brûlez the crème, that part of the dessert was really good. I didn’t like the compote because there was ginger in it. Yuck. I hate ginger. But I love gingerbread cookies. And ginger ale. Is that weird? Anyway, I ended up paying $40 with tax, tip and mojito. So much for spending $20! The courses I picked were definitely worth it, though. I would go back just for the Banbu Bites alone.

I had dinner and drinks at Benihana last night with Frank, Jay, Liz, Josie and Nancy. The food was SO good and the company even better. I couldn’t stop laughing with Josie over there talking about vagina wigs and Frank telling me how I should eat a cherry tomato. LOL. One Passionate Pearls martini, two glasses of Benihana punch and three sake shots later, I was too drunk to realize how much this fun was costing me. Haha. It was worth it. More pictures here.

I made chocolate peanut butter cupcakes for Kristin’s birthday last night. It took me three trips to the grocery store—I don’t know where my head’s been lately. I had too much vodka fun at her birthday party. It’s a good thing my coworkers were too distracted by the leftover cupcakes I brought them to notice all that fun seeping through my pores this morning.

Shi: How do you like your eggs?
mayanrocks: in a poke
Shi: Of course you do!
mayanrocks: egg in a poke is an egg fried in the middle of bread, cochina
Shi: I thought it was something else… Everything’s always gotta be nasty with you!

Just had the last Waffle Wednesday of the year at mi casa. Good food and good friends. Until next year!

She’s only the coolest 6-year-old I know. I had to make her some cool cupcakes:

Ask Mayan about her banana bread.

Even though Jay made me tell this story six times in one night, I thought I would post this on the interwebs, so it never has to be repeated again!

Okay so I decided to bake some banana nut bread the day before everyone came over for ABDC night.. Have you ever had my banana nut bread? It fixes things in the universe FYI. I had enough batter for two loaves and only one pan, so I had to bake them one at a time…

The first one came out perfecto, but the second one… not so much:

I put it in the oven, fell asleep, and woke up the next day. True story. I have the petrified loaf in my cupboard to prove it. I was going to throw it away, but Jay insisted I save it so that I could look at it every now and then to remind myself that I’m not that cool.

Don’t think it was a mistake that I moved into the unit nearest to the only fire extinguisher in my apartment building.

mayanrocks: I can’t believe I did that. Can you believe it???
Chel: Actually… I can believe it.

Sad times.

Sam the cooking guy made Cap’n Crunch seared tuna on his show today. Clearly, he is a man after my own heart.

So you’re shopping on Melrose and you only have, oh, let’s say, $5.96. (I’m just throwing a number out there.) You can either try and find something affordably vintage at Wasteland or buy a cup of deliciousness at Pinkberry instead! It’s only the greatest frozen treat you’ll ever taste in your life. Every reason I could think of why I’d never want to live in LA was forgotten once Pinkberry hit my lips.

I could go on and on about my love for Pinkberry, but instead I’ll tell you about my awesome weekend in LA. I had work till eleven o’clock at night all last week, and looking forward to this weekend was the only thing keeping me sane. I drove up after work on Friday and crashed at Pammie’s in the OC. Shi and Chel were fading in and out of sleep by the time I got there at one! The four of us went shopping at Southcoast before having lunch at Auntie Em’s Kitchen in Eagle Rock afterwards. Their cupcakes were featured on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown and Pammie’s been raving about them ever since. We didn’t get to try their famous red velvet cupcakes, because the biatch in front of us snagged the last two. Oh, well. She was really skinny and needed the cupcakes more than we did. They had really good food there otherwise, and we got to try the chocolate and carrot cake cupcakes (our favorite!).

Afterwards, we hit up Gallery 1998 on Melrose to check out Kurt Halsey’s exhibit. It was beautifully intimate! It closes tomorrow, so stop by if you’re near the area. We were browsing through the shops on Melrose when we saw this crazy line at the Pinkberry across the street. We decided to try it, and I’ve been a changed woman ever since. After my first bite, I was like Hmm. This is pretty good. Then I bit into some Cap’n Crunch and was like Oh my, this is ridiculous! When it was over (and it was over fast), I was like Did I really just eat this entire thing? I almost ate the cup. It was that good. After froyo, Shi graciously treated us out to dinner at Roscoe’s House of Chicken & Waffles. We somehow rolled ourselves back to Pammie’s apartment close to midnight and Chel and Shi drove back home to SD.

On Sunday, Pammie and I slept in and ate a late lunch at Sonic Burger—Yet another food chain I wish they had in SD. I don’t know why they tease us with Sonic commercials on TV when they only have one location in the OC for everyone in southern California to eat at. There’s upwards of ten Sonic Burgers up north in Bakersfield. There is nothing to do in Bakersfield. I’m sure that all anyone does there is eat at one of the many Sonic Burgers they have to choose from. And that would be perfectly fine by me. We hit up the Beverly Center where we weathered the most annoying elevators I have ever been on and returned my only purchase from Southcoast the day before. We ate a vegetarian dinner at M Café de Chaya with my cousin and her friend who both live in LA. It was the only healthy thing I ate all weekend. The best part though was that M Café was right next door to Pinkberry on Melrose. I had me some more Pinkberry goodness (with MOCHI topping this time… FYI you have to ask for it because it’s not on the menu). By the time we had gotten back to our cars, both my cousin and I had received parking tickets for having our cars parked on the street after six! I looked around and found a very confusing parking sign, and clearly, it wasn’t confusing to just me because every car parked on that street had a parking ticket. Apparently, these confusing parking signs are rampant in LA. Bah.

After dinner, we headed out to the Hollywood Bowl nearby to see John Mayer. It was our first time at that venue, so we weren’t sure where it was exactly. We just parked at the first paid parking lot we saw on Hollywood and Highland and ended up trekking almost a mile up to the show. I’m sure I burned the calories from at least that second Pinkberry I had that day. The Hollywood bowl was GIGANTIC and crowded and pretty awesome. We don’t even have a venue in SD that compares to this in size. Ben Folds was the opener and he was alright, but he didn’t sing The Luckiest which is pretty much the only song I know and like from him. John Mayer was really, really good. I’ve seen him one time before in SD and this show was so much better! This was an add-on show, and he had played the Bowl the night before, so he didn’t sing some of the songs we hoped he would (Comfortable, Stop This Train, In Repair), but he did sing some of my old favorites. He’s a very charming guy who knows how to entertain. There are few things I dislike more than going to a show and being bored. Jack Johnson hardly uttered a word in between songs when we saw him last, but that didn’t stop Edgar from being the happiest person on earth! Ha. By far, the highlight of my night was when he opened one of my favorite songs, 3×5, with Springsteen’s I’m On Fire:

I’m unbelievably starstruck, so it’s probably a good thing I don’t live in LA. Although San Diego does have its share of homegrown celebrities (Um, hi? AC Slater?). We ran into Schuyler Fisk and Joshua Radin on our way to our seats, and I just about died. Pammie was like, “Wait, who are they?” You’re probably thinking the same thing. I saw Joshua Radin a couple years back on the Hotel Cafe tour and Schuyler Fisk is his ladyfriend (also a singer/actress). It’s a good thing Paris Hilton’s in jail. My stomach would’ve fallen out of my butt if I ran into her at Pinkberry.

Before I dropped off Pammie in the OC after the show, we stopped by Diddy Riese in Westwood for cookies (as if I didn’t eat enough unhealthy food that weekend). As I drove home from LA, I sighed at each and every Pinkberry-less mile.