Friday, June 29, 2007

This and That

Yawn. I am so over the job, it's not even funny. Moving on.

This weekend will be both busy and really quiet. Figure that one out, would you?

Saturday: Disneyland, Secret Mission, Bristol Farms and Starbucks...watching a sappy movie, too.

Sunday: Starbucks, Pedicures and Jack party...dinner will be Angelo's and watching the train wreck that is the "Next Food Network Star"...

Ahem. And applying for jobs, naturally.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Job Update

So.

Due to Union wrangling, I wasn't even given the chance to turn down the Social Work job...my last day is July 13th, Harry Potter movie day!

Ha!

I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad or what. They are trying to rush through a position for me.
*shrug*

New York, in pictures...










Friday, June 22, 2007

New York, what we did...

It's more like what we didn't do. *ahem*
Which, if you ask the Mom, was nothing. I walked her to death. And then some.

Friday: Caught a super early flight and had SkyMeals. I love SkyMeals. Peanut Butter and a Banana Sammie, made just for me...with cookies! *thud* The flight was uneventful and I read. Woo. We landed on time and then took a wacky Super Shuttle Van into the city.

Let's just say that I now know all about JFK and the various terminals. Snerk. We were the first dropped off at the lovely 70 Park Avenue Hotel. Kimpton Hotels ROCK. It was beautiful and clean and they left me a welcome gift of water and snacks. Hee.

First up? Duh, a BAKERY. We took a cab to the Black Hound Bakery, because we weren't quite sure about the subway yet. It cost $10 and was worth it. The bakery was adorable - itty-bitty yum-o cakes! *thud* Back to the hotel and onward to Top of the Rock.

I hate tall buildings. I went up and took pictures. Enough said. Dinner was take out from Dean and Deluca, then....duh, cake!!!

Saturday: Woke up and hit Starbucks (literally 600-feet away, I love New York!). Then we took the Subway to the Met, where I hit Egyptian and Impressionist over-load. HA!

Back to the Subway and on to the Village - for, of course, Peanut Butter & Company. Which was much smaller and much better than I thought it would be. We only got lost a few times trying to find the place (the Subway maps sucked and the hop-stop maps sucked), but it was worth it. Mmm, peanut butter - cookie dough surprise: creamy pb, vanilla cream cheese and chocolate chips! We wandered the Village, then went back for Starbucks. And a mini nap.

Hee.

I convinced the Mom to get back up and wander up Broadway, walking by the Empire State Building, Macy's and Herald Square, ending up in Times Square. It was crowded and not fun in a "Vegas Strip" kind of way. Then it clouded up and we ducked into Coach to get out of the rain. We ended up at Grand Central, wandering and getting food. And cheesecake from Junior's.

Sunday: Ah, Father's Day. Spent at Ellis Island and Ground Zero. We took the Circle Line Ferry to the Island and wandered, it was kind of interesting and strange - the main building is all done up as a museum, but content was kind of light. The outlying buildings were totally falling apart. We walked up to Ground Zero, which was over-whelming.

Enough said.

Back to the Subway to head to Chelsea...for snacks and to take pictures of my Great Uncle's Brownstone. We found the Food Network and Chelsea Market easily and had...wait for it, sammies from Amy's Bread. Mine was peanut butter. We shopped a bit (brownies! cookies!), then hunted for the Brownstone.

I went out by myself later for...shopping...and I only got lost once! I am proud of myself. Hee.

Dinner was from an organic place, Josie's, the hotel recommended. It was YUM-O! And we had pie, from the Little Pie Company. Mmm, pie.

Monday: It was all about the running around. We went to the Levain Bakery first, it's way up on the Upper West Side of Central Park and not near anything else we wanted to see, but....they have huge-o cookies! So we took the Subway, trying to avoid rush hour.

We weren't successful. At all. It was hot and bad.

We dropped the cookies (oh my god!) off and then headed back to Bloomingdales, walking/shopping down 5th Avenue. It was hot. And fun.

Then? Subway to City Hall. Where we walked ACROSS the Brooklyn Bridge. Remember how I said I don't like Tall Buildings? I don't like walking across high bridges either, OK? But I didn't. It was hot. Ahem. Memorable, but HOT.

Luckly, I had a plan. At the end of the Bridge, in D.U.M.B.O. was Mr. Chocolate and his $5.00 ice cream sammies. And trust me on this, they were worth $5.00. You have to love a place that dips CHEERIOS in chocolate. Ahem.

We dragged our hot tired butts back to hotel, where we crashed. Then I convinced the Mom to get back up and go to Union Square Park - to see the Union Square Green Market, walk up to Madison Square park to see the Shake Shack and the Flat Iron Building, then get dinner. She fell for it and we hopped back on the Subway.

The park was hopping, Broadway was hopping, we shopped and avoided a huge traffic accident. Dinner was...'wichcraft...and a peanut butter sammie for me...and a massive cookie...

Sense a theme?

Tuesday: Awww, time to book. We left New York and got to JFK in record time...it was early enough that we were BOTH able to upgrade on the way back. Nice. I got to sit next to Robert Klein, who is really nice. And they gave us warm cookies! Ha!

Pictures will follow...

Hey, it's Friday!

Got to love these weeks - go back to work and it's already Wednesday.
Ha!

This weekend is all about catching up on things - sleep. Laundry. Peanut butter. You know, important stuff.

Saturday: Breakfast with AJ1 (pictures!), Susie Cakes, Starbucks, Bristol Farms, Pie and catching up on DVRed shows while having pb and pie.

Sunday: Drop off kid presents, get sammies at Olives, catch up on DVRed shows while having sammies and a whoopie pie.

Yup, it's a full weekend. HA!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Whee!

I'm back!

It was four days of constant walking, heat and humidity, people, subways, bakeries, getting lost and going in circles...and shopping!

It was soooo much fun.

Yay!

More details to come...I'm super tired and very much not looking forward to work today.

Monday, June 11, 2007

*whimper*

Is it Friday yet? Ugh.

Let's see, the weekend was fun - got lots of stuff done for the trip. My toes are now "Espresso your Mind"...ha!

But? I probably caused a mini-panic at work on Friday and there will be hell to pay today. I have an *interview* at 1pm, then a dentist appointment at 3:30pm today.

And? Wednesday, another interview.

I think I'm going to puke.

*sigh*

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Mmm, pie! Hof's Hut Restaurant and Bakery


You know, I think I'm becoming swayed by the pie. Ahem. :)

This is a mini 5-inch Peanut Butter Cup pie. Dude! Ha!

It's got a butter crust, with cookies mixed in. I'm assuming, from the taste and texture, that they are peanut butter cookies. Then there is a base layer of chocolate cream, followed by a nice layer of peanut butter cream. The pie is decorated with rosettes of whipping cream, peanut butter chips and an artful drizzle of chocolate.

Is it like a peanut butter cup? No. But that doesn't really matter, it's chocolate and peanut buttery and yummy. That's what matters.

Again, it's real custards and whipping cream. This is a nice pie. It's not some crappy icky pie.

Mmm, pie. *thud*

Hof's Hut Peanut Butter Cup Pie - A+!

Hof's Hut - Long Beach Marina
6257 East 2nd Street
Long Beach, CA 90803
562) 598-4070
http://www.hofshut.com

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Mmm, cake! La Maison Du Pain


Oh, my. Chocolate Royal Cake. *thud*

The Aunties found a local bakery that we haven't visited (shut up, So Cal is huge, there are plenty, trust me), so after our breakfast, they went off in search of baked goods.

And I insisted they get me something cool. Ahem.

After the lady stopped laughing at their question ("Do you have anything pumpkin or peanut butter-flavored?"), she suggested the Chocolate Royal Cake.

Nice. It was 1.5-inches wide by 4-inches long by 2-inches high. It was a bar of goodness.

The cake was topped by a hand-rolled chocolate truffle and dusted with cocoa powder. The cake itself is a a layer of chocolate mousse over a layer of crunchy almond cake, separated by a strict layer of what I imagine were almonds.
*drool*

The mousse was nice, a deep rich chocolate ganache. The cake was moist and delicate. And the crunchy cake playing off the mousse? Oh, the texture!!!

It was chocolate-y and lovely. Yum-o!

La Maison Du Pain - A+!

La Maison Du Pain
5373 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90019
323) 934-5858
http://www.lamaisondupain.net

Thursday...what?

My eyes hurt. My whole body hurts. *yawn*

Sleep would be good. ZzzzzZzzZZZzzzz....zzzzZzzz

What?

It's Thursday, yay! We head off to New York in like 7 days, so this weekend is all about getting ready.
And apparently that means pedicures and going to Barnes and Noble. Ha!

Saturday: Starbucks, Pedicures, Barnes and Noble, Pie, Hair Cut, Olives, Movie (????).

Sunday: Starbucks, Sweet Jill's, Laundry.

A whirl-wind of fun, I tell you. Oh, and? I saw Erg-boy at Bristol Farms last week.
AHHHHH!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Mmm, cookie bar! Doughboys Bakery


You know I love the peanut butter. So when I saw that Doughboys had a peanut butter bar...I had to try it! :)

Mmm, peanut butter.

This cookie bar is 3.5-inches by 3.5-inches. It's got a walnut cookie base, a layer of peanut butter filling and then is topped by a layer of roasted peanuts.

First thoughts: soft. Gooey. Peanut buttery. The bar manages to be light, sweet and nutty all at the same time.

The crunchy peanuts topping the cookie play off peanut butter filling well - salty contrasting with the sweetness of the peanut butter. The walnut base is soft and works with the peanut/peanut butter. The walnuts come off as slightly sweeter, different than the peanut-goodness of the rest of the bar.

The whole bar is moist and nutty - thumbs up!

Doughboys Bakery - A!

Doughboys Bakery
8136 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323) 651-4202
http://www.doughboys.net

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Mmm, breakfast! Doughboys Bakery


Now this was a fun outing. We hit Doughboys for a very casual Saturday Morning, to catch up after our trip to Chicago with the Aunties. It was very relaxing and service was fabu - prompt and not rushed at all.

Yay! Decompression rules when you're all stressed. *snerk*

Auntie J2: Breakfast Special - Scrambled eggs with apple raisin griddle cakes, coffee.
Auntie J1: Toad-in-the-Hole, coffee.
The Mom: Breakfast Quesadilla, latte.
Me: Spiced pumpkin muffin and a bowl of fruit, earl gray ginger tea.

AJ1's breakfast looked sooooo good when she got it that she drooled. I think we all drooled. It was covered in olive tapenade and goat cheese. Wow....yum-o! AJ2's griddle cakes rocked and the Mom loved the breakie quesadilla, it was huge and filling.

And do you have to ask about the muffin? Really?

Doughboys Bakery - A+!

Doughboys Bakery
8136 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323) 651-4202
http://www.doughboys.net

Friday, June 1, 2007

Birthday Weekend, Version 2.0

Woo! It's my birthday!!!
(Well, OK, my birthday is tomorrow, but it's my birthday!)

Whee!!!

Saturday: Wake-up early and have brunch with...Chip and Dale! Oh, the Mom and AJ2 are so going to kill me. Hee! And then hang out with the family, because...I'm really tired.

You know I'm old now. *snerk*
But it's OK, there are going to be presents. And cake.

Sunday: Cake for breakfast (a post-birthday tradition!), then finalize the New York plans. Woo!

Did I mention it was my birthday? Whee!!!