Spring Break: Culinary Adventures

Well, originally this blog was entitled "Epiphany" because I thought I'd be writing about meaningful topics, but lately it seems like my entries are all focused around food.

When you come home on spring break after being gone for months, though, that seems to be what life has been revolving around! If food isn't being shoved in my face by my parents, I'm driving or riding my bike off to faraway places to get it.

So I guess food can be meaningful as well.

Yesterday I rode bikes around with Kristine all day. We started in Irvine and rode to Kéan coffee in Newport. I got my favorite, the "Café Napoli" which is a subtle blend of espresso, orange, chocolate, and steamed milk. And of course they served it in a ceramic mug with perfect latté art! Delicious!



Then we rode across town and got Alejandro's (amazing and CHEAP Mexican food) and also went to a Mexican bakery off Nineteenth and Placentia where I proceeded to buy some empanada queso and other various pastries I can't recall the name of.





After I thoroughly stuffed myself, we rode home and crashed on my couch since we were exhausted after our thirty mile bike ride. Made me feel a bit less guilty about the food, though.

Shortly after Kristine left, my family came home and we made dinner. Since my dad's girlfriend was over, she brought her latest choice wine: 2006 Chianti from Trader Joe's that was delicious (and apparently only $6? Definitely on the cheap side for her taste...).



She also made amazing food to go with it, of course. Spinach cooked in a wok with cooking oil and garlic, spring rolls, steamed rice (a staple at the Anderson residence), and orange chicken (probably at my brother's request).



Later that night, got 85 degrees with Julie. Asian coffee with condensed milk is sooo good.

More delicious culinary adventures today as well, but which will be left unmentioned for now. I've probably bored all of my readers with details about food anyways.

Tomorrow, Disneyland with Cheyenne!

Top of the World

Tonight I went with Kristine to Peet's for coffee and hung out for a bit.

Afterwards we got the idea to go to top of the world and smoke cigars.

Probably the most relaxing thing I've done in a very long time.

To just sit up there under the stars at the top of the hill and see everything below was just amazing.

For some reason seeing everything so small makes life seem a lot easier to deal with for a moment. Everything is clear and I feel at peace.

Oh, and of course we saw people fucking in their car as we were leaving, but that's to be expected. People often take advantage of the amazing view at top of the world...



Tomorrow riding bikes to the beach and hanging out with Patricia. Should be wonderful.

Spring Break 2009: Off to a Good Start

Yesterday I slept in, drove home, and ate a delicious lunch with my mom, got Peet's and then spent the majority of the evening with Julie.

We went to few of the usual spots: Mitsuwa, Kinokuniya, Deelux, and Ikea (I'm already starting to look for furniture for my new place I'll be moving into in June)

After that, we met up with Pat and Tanya at Shinsengumi and ate delicious RAMEN! That made me so happy.



Then we went to Christine's "Pisces Riot". It was so much fun! Never thought I would go to such a great party in Orange County. So different from IV parties :D





Probably going to spend the majority of the break writing and working on the new "Overheardiniv" website. There are a few new sections I'd like to add, and the whole look needs to be rejuvinated so that this thing can actually get serious. I won't be overexerting myself too much over break though...

I've been working on a loosely autobiographical piece for a while, some poetry, and short stories. Want to publish some of it by summer so I better finish it!

Anyways, I think this spring break is going to be wonderful. Relaxing and productive.

Edit:

I love being home so much now.

Mainly for this:



Steamed artichokes with melted butter, tri-tip with a special sauce, and steamed rice all washed down with a nice glass of pinot noir.

My dad's girlfriend is an amazing cook and the food just keeps me coming back.

Holga: A Pleasant Surprise

So I have a Holga that I've never really used and I finally developed a roll of film that had been sitting in there for ages.

A few of the pictures came out alright.





Definitely using this thing more often!

So unprediactable.

À Cause de Yelle

This week is going to finish well.

What a wonderful way to end a stressful week that is not yet over.

I've been waiting for Yelle to come to L.A. for some time now.

Let's hope that some more Electro Français follows her.



Je veux te voir
ce jeudi orgasmique!

Oh, AIG. How you have FAILed

My roommate showed me this video today--an old AIG commercial from a few years back that quotes "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot.

Considering the recent economic crisis and what a big part AIG has played, I'd say this video is pretty hilarious.

You MUST watch the video until the VERY END to see why it is so funny.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At6F0M4bSP8 (Copy and paste this link if embedded video doesn't show up)

I guess the second greatest risk after not taking one is taking a REALLY SHITTY RISK.

Thanks again AIG :D

Ode Santa Barbara

I've been listening to Lily Allen a lot again lately since her new album came out.

When I went to go back and listen to "Alright Still", the lyrics of "LDN" reminded me a lot of Santa Barbara.

Don't ask me why, hear for yourself:



I guess it's just the whole "sun is in the sky, why would I want to be anywhere else?" thing. But then again I guess the crack whore part is equally relevent.

But then again Santa Barbara kind of reminds me of Tropicalia by Beck, too.



Oh, the ironies of life in paradise.

I've been hibernating for days writing papers, don't ask. :D

Stock Market--Rash?

The Dow fell below 7000 today.

Right when I was beginning to think that things were going to improve...



I don't think this is the change America hoped for.

Edit:

They cut hours at work today... again. I was almost where I wanted to be for the week and now I'm back down to a mere twelve hours. Perhaps this was in reaction to the further drop of the stock market today? One thing is for certain--in retail, the psychology of economics is extremely important and when the stock market goes as low as it did today, it will certainly not help our sales and therefore won't help my wallet either.