My Latest Obsession

So, my friend Ashley recently told me about her new favorite cereal - “Peanut Butter Panda Puffs” by Envirokidz. As the name suggests, this is a kids cereal, and I am no kid; but then again, aren't all the best-tasting consumables marketed to the younger generation?

I happened to be at Whole Foods the other day (strange, I know), and spotted said cereal on the shelf. "Hmmmmmm....." I thought. The box says that they are organic (and you all know how I feel about health food). However, Ashley has impeccable taste, and if she likes them, they can't be that bad. So I bought them. And I bought a box of “Leapin' Lemurs," also by Envirokidz, since they looked kind of interesting and had the words "chocolate flavored" in the description (plus, I loved saying the name!).

These cereals are organic, gluten-free, wheat-free, low-sodium, have no trans-fats, synthetic additives, or preservatives – and despite that, I absolutely love them!! I can’t stop eating them. It’s like they put an addictive chemical in them or something (and I crave them more than fortnightly!).

Now I just might be forced to try Envirokidz “Gorilla Munch” and “Orangutan-O’s.” Seriously, could there be anything more fun to eat than kids cereal? I think not.

Damn Recession

So, I went into See’s Candies today for a little sugar rush, and for the first time EVER, was not offered a free sample. Nor were any of the other people waiting in line with me.

Excuse me? Baking powder? No free chocolaty goodness?! The free sample is the main motive behind any of my visits to See’s, and I am now truly saddened by its apparent discontinuance.


What next? Are we going to have to start paying for the use of pillows and blankets on airline flights? Oh wait………

Stupid economy.

That's Amore!

The very first restaurant I ever went to upon moving to LA was this awesome little Italian place called C&O Trattoria. Upon walking through its doors, I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere. It has both inside and outside seating, but the outside seating is my favorite because it looks like a quaint Italian grotto. Actually, truth be told, I like the outside seating because something about the scenery reminds me of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disneyland – you know, the part in the ride where that chubby guy is getting dunked in the well, and that woman is up on the balcony yelling “Don’t you tell them, Carlos. No, no, no!” Yeah, I know. My brain is a little warped. But there you go.

This is the outside seating area.

Anyway, I went to C&O again this past weekend with some friends, and enjoyed myself immensely. There are 3 things I absolutely LOVE about this restaurant (and they are the reasons I keep going back):

1. The Garlic Knots

 

These mouthwateringly delicious knot-shaped garlic rolls are free to all customers. There is a large plate in the middle of each table in the restaurant, and the waiters just keep coming around and refilling it with knots every 10 minutes. They even walk around outside the restaurant with a plate of knots and serve them to the guests who are waiting for a table. I usually have a very hard time not filling up on these bad boys before my actual meal arrives. Which brings me to my next reason…….

2. The HUGE Entrees

 

The entrees at C&O come in two sizes – Half and Gargantuan (no, I am not making this up). A half order can quite easily feed two people. Ergo, after gorging myself on garlic knots, I know there is absolutely NO way I am going to be able to finish my dinner – so, yay! Leftovers for tomorrow! Not quite as good the second day, but still totally palatable.

 

3. (And this is probably my favorite thing about C&O) The Singing

Every hour-and-a-half or so on Friday and Saturday nights, the waiters run around the restaurant and pass out lyrics to the song “That’s Amore” to all the tables. Then, the song’s music starts playing over the restaurant’s speakers…..and the fun begins! Everybody in the restaurant, both guests and employees, starts to sing along to the music. The waiters then start weaving their way through the tables, clinking glasses with the guests as they do, and exclaiming “Salute!”

Now, I have no business singing anywhere in public, but this is one instance where I will make an exception. I can belt out the song at the top of my lungs and not bother anyone, because all the other guests are singing too, and no one can hear my off-key nonsense! I also insist on making everybody at my table sway in time to the music. A little childish, yes…but it makes the experience so much more entertaining!

Here are a couple of pictures of some of the group and I holding our lyrics sheets, right before the singing started.

 

Seriously, I love this place. And you would, too!!

It's Alive!!

Yeah, so remember the vacuum I mentioned in a previous post that I got for my birthday? Well, I used it for the first time today and got the shock of my life. I vacuumed my bedroom – just one SMALL room – and emptied the canister to find this:


A dust ball the size of a large rodent. Uugghhhh!! Eeewwwwwww!! Vomit!!

After I picked myself up off the floor, I got to thinking. All this, from vacuuming just one room!! Now, I am not the cleanest person in the world, but I am also by no means a slob. It absolutely floors me to think that I have been living and sleeping in the same room with such a large amount of filth, and I now fear for what else might be hiding out down there. Can you sterilize carpet?

I can feel things crawling on me. Really, I can.

On the upside, my new vacuum is one awesome sucking machine!!