all over the place.

Lots going on.

I couldn't perfect my vlog so I will just announce the winner of the giveaway the old-fashioned way...congrats to Lauren of Wayfarers and Worksheets! If you could just get me your shipping address, I will be sending you your package of Hawaiian treats soon! You're probably wondering what you've won...

Hawaiian Host Macadamia Nut Caramel Chocolates
Hershey Kisses with Macadamia Nuts (the best!)
Dark Chocolate Espresso Bar with Kona
Maui Onion Sea Salt Seasoning
Honolulu Cookie Company Shortbread Cookies

I am really enjoying Hawaii Five-O! Not just because I love Hawaii, but I really do think the show is entertaining and clever (and Alex O'Loughlin...yum). This week's episode featured our hotel and surrounding area A LOT so that may have made me enjoy it even more.

We started watching Dancing with the Stars this season and it is good! I like most of the teams, but poor Michael Bolton really has to go.

Last Sunday, C and I had to escape the Valley heat so we went to Venice Beach for the Abbot Kinney Festival. We had so much fun and I found the cutest vendor, Bungalow 360. I am kicking myself now for not buying more because all of the wallets, wristlets, and tote bags were $5 each! She sells them on the website for waaaaaay more.

Speaking of the festival, there were also an abundance of food trucks there. C and I had to try Baby's Badass Burgers to compare them to the Grill 'Em All guys. So supposedly, Ryan (the owner of Grill 'Em All), worked for Baby's for 2 weeks before he quit and opened his own truck! There is a big divide here in Los Angeles over who has the best burgers. And apparently C and I are divided as well. I choose Baby's...he likes Grill 'Em All.

Do any of you watch the Cooking Channel? I was watching a show called Unique Eats and saw a pie place in New York called Four and Twenty Blackbirds. They make a very delicious looking "Salted Caramel Apple Pie" that was featured on the show. It looked AMAZING! So I googled it and found the recipe...definitely going to be trying this soon!

Okay, I didn't realize this post was so food centered, but who are we kidding? We all know I love my food :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

be inspired.

I just watched this video, and had to share...



Read more here.


Truly inspiring, no?

vlogging is hard...

I just want you all to know that I really, really, really want to do a video blog to announce the winner of my Hawaii giveaway. And it's not for lack of trying that it hasn't happened because believe me, I've tried! I think I've driven C crazy with all the "tries" and I still can't get it right. First of all, anytime I find myself in front of a video camera, I freak out...big time! I can't handle it! I have no problem with getting my picture taken or making speeches/presentations in front of my boss or classmates, but when a video camera is within 100 yards of me, it's over. Not to say that I haven't improved because anything that's not 5 straight minutes of giggling or 30 seconds of sheer silence and panic is improvement in my eyes [both of which I may or may not have done Friday night while practicing].

So the point of the story is that it may be a long time before I ever successfully film my video blog or before I convince C to start the video over "one more time"...whichever comes first! I am going to keep trying, but if I can't get it soon, I will just announce the winner the old fashioned way. How boring, right? :)

Wish me luck!

image found here

Let's Talk...

Television!

Top Chef DC - I was VERY surprised to see Kevin win because I thought that Ed was the strongest chef left in the competition. For me, he seemed to peak at the end, whereas Angelo really seemed to falter and lose confidence in himself as the show progressed. I also noticed that Kevin seemed to get stronger as the weeks went on, but he never stood out, per say. Did he even win an elimination challenge? Anyway, it's very clear that the judges base their decisions on the food that is presented to them in that episode, not ever thinking about the chef's overall performance in the competition. I think this is how Kevin won. He made the best food of the night, but I don't think he is the strongest chef of the three. To me, he seemed to play it safe with all of his dishes (regular competition included) while Ed really showcased his different skills and talents as a chef, with innovative food and ideas. Unfortunately, he just didn't do as well as Kevin that night. I also think his horrible decision to leave the dessert to his sous chef was a big part of why he didn't win. And Angelo?? Forget him. I'm pretty sure he's a self-sabotager and can only cook Asian food.

Nikita - One word...OBSESSED. As in, I am obsessed with this show. If you aren't watching it, you really should be. The return of Shane West aka Landon Carter (A Walk to Remember! I know I'm not the only one that loved that movie) and the awesome bad-assness of Maggie Q is a winning combination. (CW, Thursday at 9 pm)

Survivor: Nicaragua - Holy cow...hilarious! From contestants like Jimmy Johnson to the sarcastic comments from Shannon, this is going to be a good season! Plus, I have a crush on Jeff Probst :) In all seriousness, I am surprised that the tribes are split into "young" and "old" and am curious to see what kind of challenges they'll have to compete in. It will be interesting to see if young bravado or old strategy will prevail. (CBS, Wednesday at 8 pm)

-------------------------------------------------

The Great Food Truck Race - The season finale of this show is Sunday! I can't wait to see if Nom Nom Truck or Grill Em All Truck takes the prize! Both of these trucks are from Los Angeles, and I was actually lucky enough to go to an event that they were doing together and try their food (pictures below). I'll be excited for either of them to win. (Food Network, Sunday at 9 pm)

C with Misa, of Nom Nom Truck...

kinda like meeting a celebrity!

banh mi?

I want you to know that I waited 2 hours and 15 minutes
in line for Grill Em All...totally worth it!

yummy!

Both have great food, and surprisingly, the Grill Em All guys were EXTREMELY nice (I think they come off as rude on the show but it couldn't be further from the truth). Luckily, we got there early so we had a decent place in line (and I still waited over 2 hours), but by the time we left there was still a line of at least 150 people waiting to order. It was crazy, but I'm glad we went!

-------------------------------------------------

This week is full of premieres. Here's what I'll be watching:

Monday
Hawaii Five-O (CBS) 10 pm

Tuesday
Glee (Fox) 8 pm
NCIS (CBS) 8 pm
NCIS: LA (CBS) 9 pm

Thursday
Bones (Fox) 8 pm
The Mentalist (CBS) 10 pm

Sunday
The Amazing Race (CBS) 8:30 pm

What's on your Must Watch List this season?

an island state of mind

Thought I would post this for my preppy friends...
Everything has an island flair in Hawaii..even J Crew!

Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

[taken on oahu]

Last Hawaii Recap

I'm sick of doing these recaps! Haha, I know that I'll be grateful for them later on down the road though, so here goes...

Friday
I had the best coffee of my life on Friday morning!


My mom and I went shopping and we had quite an adventure! We were at the jewelry store and decided to pick an oyster and get a pearl, for fun. Long story short, we kept getting "free gifts" and our oysters kept having 2 pearls in them each. So my mom and I both ended up with a ring, earrings, and necklace! I picked a sea turtle theme since it has ended up meaning so much to me and I feel so lucky to have these special pieces to help me remember my vacation. They're pieces of jewelry that tell a story so I love that.

My mom was leaving on Saturday so C and I wanted to take her and Dad out for a nice dinner. We decided to walk down to Shore Bird, which is right on the beach. It's a place where you grill your own food on a huge communal grill. It's so fun! Our dinner was awesome!


Saturday
Like I said earlier, Mom had to leave on Saturday so that was sad. While she was packing, we stepped out to get some breakfast and made plans to meet at the pool a little later. I don't know how we found Eggs 'n Things, but it was very popular. We had tried to go Friday morning, but the wait was just outrageous. We got there much earlier this time and were seated within half an hour. Breakfast was delicious!


We spent the rest of the early afternoon at the pool before having to take my mom to the airport. After we dropped her off, it was just Dad, me and C. We found a hidden gem on the way back from the airport and enjoyed a few cocktails and snacks.


Sunday
This was our last full day so we drove around the island and finally made it up to the North Shore. Before we went though, we had to stop at Leonard's Bakery for a famous malasada. Yummy!


We stopped at various places along the way, but the one that stands out the most is Sharks Cove. C and I swam around this reef and saw even more different fish than in Hanauma Bay.


We had to eat lunch so of course we wanted to find a famous shrimp truck. It was definitely delicious shrimp! You can write on the truck and Puffin wanted to leave his mark...


Driving around the island really doesn't take that long (maybe 3 hours). So we spent the rest of the late afternoon at the beach for the last time.

I hope you've enjoyed my Hawaii recaps. I definitely recommend a trip there, and I hope to be going back soon!


Oh, and over the weekend, I'm going to *attempt* to do a vlog to announce the winner of the Hawaii goodies so look for that next week!

Hawaii #5

Part V Recap

Thursday
I had so much fun learning how to surf! We had originally wanted to do surf lessons up at the North Shore, but decided to stay in Waikiki because we found a great deal with the Hans Hedemann Surf School. After a 20 minute lesson inside the school, we grabbed our boards and walked over to the beach. The hardest part was definitely paddling out into the ocean. Once we got to our spots, our surf instructor would watch for the wave, make us start paddling, and give us a push. Then we just had to stand up!


Honestly, all of the pictures look the same so I'm only going to post one of each of us. You can go to our Tumblr to see more if you want (FYI - there are good wipeout pictures there)!

After surfing, we were so hungry and we knew just the place we wanted to go! Nico's Pier 38 was another place featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. They are known for fresh seafood and reasonable prices. The place was packed! The food was delicious...two thumbs up!


The rest of the day was spent at the beach and pool again. Another perfect day in Hawaii!

Last recap coming up next!

hi there!

(via)

I wanted to say HELLO to all of my new followers! I'm very excited to have you here, and am glad you are following along!

For some reason, when I click on some of your profile pictures from my follower list, no blog is listed...so if you have a blog, please leave me a comment because I'd love to come visit you!

Hawaii #4

Part IV Recap

Tuesday
We had an early tour to go down in a submarine off the coast of Waikiki Beach. We were picked up by a boat, and taken about 3 miles out to board our submarines. The tour takes you by man-made reefs, plane wrecks, and a boat wreck. All the fish congregate in these areas so we saw thousands of them! We also saw sea turtles (honu), a black tip reef shark, and sting rays. At one point, we were 113 feet below the surface. Colors like red are completely lost and everything turns blue! So that's why all of the pictures look the way they do.


After our tour, we had lunch and went to pick up my dad from work. We had to start getting ready for our sunset dinner cruise pretty early. This was a great "touristy" thing to do! It's fun to get all dressed up, eat dinner on a big boat, watch the sunset, and listen to live entertainment while you cruise around the Pacific Ocean.


Wednesday
Finally, we slept in! After we finally woke up, we convinced my mom to drive us back to Hanauma Bay. We had an underwater camera, and really wanted to get some pictures with the honu! Mission accomplished!



After all of the excitement, we went to Kona Brewing Company for a drink and some food. C was happy to get to try some new beers that don't come to the mainland. We finally made it back to the hotel (after missing the last bus back to Waikiki) and called it a night!


Up next, surfing! Almost done with the recaps...promise!!

my weekend

Happy Monday :)

I've been sick since Thursday, and am still not feeling like my normal self. I didn't have the energy to get my next Hawaii recap ready so I hope to have it up tomorrow morning.

I was feeling awful on Friday and Saturday (plus I had to work a half day on Saturday) so C and I did absolutely nothing. Well, that's not entirely true. We watched three hours of Real World and is Ryan crazy or what? Yikes.

C and I did venture out on Sunday to the LA Farmer's Market, which is always fun. We took the motorcycle down, had lunch, walked around The Grove, and did a little shopping.










All pictures taken via C's new phone, using the FX Camera app.

How was your weekend?