Weekly Wrap-Up: L.A. events & O.C. shopping!

I had so, so much fun this week!  A couple of amazing events in L.A. and so much fun with friends and family.  Let's get to it!


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  Crave Expo, The OC Mix
• Eats:  Lobster Roll Rumble, N'ice Cream, Long Beach Cocktail Hop, Industriel

Crave Expo

Mid-week, I went to the Crave Expo, a food expo with a fun mix of chefs, event planners, media, and individuals looking for inspiration.

I was just a bit more interested in the food than anything else, of course.  :)

However, I found some great desserts that may be destined for my sister's engagement party, bridal shower, or wedding some time soon!

It was a fun time with some serious party atmosphere!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Sake Express, Renegade Craft Fair, and more!

Last weekend was so much fun, because I was REALLY looking forward to Renegade for the longest time.  At the last moment, I thought that I wouldn't be able to make it yet again... but luckily I did.  :) Let's get to the wrap-up!


Precap (Jump to):

• Sights:  National Dance Day, Renegade Craft Festival
• Eats:  The Oinkster, Sake Express, Fugetsu-Do

I was stuck way out in the middle of nowhere (a.k.a. Sierra Madre) and dinner plans had changed.  So, we visited one of my favorite spots: The Oinkster!

Besides the awesome burgers, a pastrami sandwich, piggy fries, and an ube milkshake, we had this banana split cupcake!  To see more delicious photos and one of my favorite signs of all time, head over to The Episodic Eater.

On Friday, we went to Sake Express, a fundraiser held at the iconic  Union Station!

There was tons of sake, beer, and plum wine to try.  :)

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Weekly Wrap-Up: White Light White Night and more!

This week was an interesting one!  It's always interesting to get back to normal life after a vacation, even just a weekend away.  Let's get to it!

Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  White Light White Night
• Eats:  The Rockhouse, El Pollo Loco, Fish Tale, Umamiburger, zpizza

Before I left Vegas last weekend, we caught the World Cup final at The Rockhouse.

Lots of fun and food for viewing the World Cup.  Can't wait until four years from now!

And since I shared our roadside eats on the way to Vegas, I thought I would share it on the way back home!  We stopped at El Pollo Loco, so everyone could share a family meal.

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Wrap-Up: Food Fun! (Part 2)

I'm back with Part 2 of all of the food fun that you might have missed over the past 6 weeks on The Episodic Eater.  (For Part 1, click here)  Once again, I had a sneak peek of a few new restaurant menus, attended two of the best food events in L.A., and had a dessert that is so popular that some are calling it the next Cronut.  There are lots of delicious food photos ahead, so be warned!

Alegria Cocina Latina (Long Beach, CA)

The newly revamped menu at Alegria Cocina Latina is packed full of dishes that are lovely and colorful.  Not to mention that the dishes taste amazing too!

Tacolandia (Los Angeles, CA)

The second annual Tacolandia was just ridiculous!  Catch a taste of the 43 different tacos from vendors around California and Mexico.

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Wrap-Up: Food Fun! (Part 1)

Oh my goodness.  In the time that I have been studying for my exam, lots of new, exciting things have been happening on the blog.  Not this one, but The Episodic Eater.  First of all, there's a new redesign, so check it out!  Second of all, I had lots of food over the past month and a half.  Yes, I haven't posted one of my weekly wrap-ups since May 30th, so I had to split up the food fun into two posts.  Lastly, I started being recognized as a member of the media via food blogging, so that means more events and tastings.  Yay!

So anyways, I don't want you to miss a moment on The Episodic Eater, so here is Part 1 of the food fun.  :)

La Parolaccia Osteria Italiana (Long Beach, CA)

This restaurant is one of the busiest restaurants filled with locals, so you can imagine how wonderful the pasta is!  Take a peek here.

Spago (Beverly Hills, CA)

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck began serving wonderful food at his Spago restaurants over 30 years ago, and I remember many amazing brunches and dinners here over the years.  We had an amazing dinner for my mom's birthday, but I had my first really big blogging fail here...

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Bite at the Beach & more!

This week was much less crazy than last week, thank goodness!  In a way, I was making sure to prep for an event that I had been looking forward to all week: Bite at the Beach!


Precap (jump to):

• Eats:  Corner Bakery
• Sights:  Bite at the Beach

On Friday, we grabbed a quick dinner at Corner Bakery, which I recapped on The Episodic Eater!

Now, to Bite at the Beach!  It was a fantastic event!  Really, what a way to spend an awesome weekend.  To see the whole thing, with tantalizing dish descriptions, even more photos, and to see the discussion panels with a few faces you might recognize from The Food Network, head on over to The Episodic Eater!

Now, for just a nibble of Bite at the Beach!  :)

Just so you know, the event paired craft beers with restaurants, so you know that both my man and I were happy!  This was about 1/3 of the brewery & restaurant booths, so you know we had a ton to see!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Exploring L.A.!

Originally, I had zero plans for this weekend, but then my friend and I decided to catch a last minute craft fair and have fun being tourists in our own city!


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  Echo Park Craft Fair, Echo Park, Carroll Avenue, Grand Park, Walt Disney Concert Hall
• Eats:  Oaxacan Quesadilla Cart, Bouchon Bistro, Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ, Creme de la Crepe

I invited my friend to go to the Echo Park Craft Fair, which was not in my original upcoming events post.  It seemed like it might be cool and had some shops I hadn't seen before, so we met up!

It was kind of a strange craft show: very crowded, dark, and not conducive to showing off the best of the goods.  Still, I did find some awesome features for Shop Small Saturday Showcase!

However, outside the craft fair was something pretty awesome: the Oaxacan Quesadilla Cart!

The fresh, handmade blue corn tortillas were shaped and formed for a long line of hungry people.  To see the whole process and where to find the cart, check out The Episodic Eater!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Delicious food & Unique LA show!

This was one action packed week!  We celebrated, ate, shopped, and really had a whirlwind of a time.  Let's get to it!


Precap (jump to):

• Eats:  Forage, Brite Spot, Guisado's, Providence, La Tavolata, 85°C Bakery Cafe
• Sights:  Dad's wine birthday, Unique LA, Banksy in L.A., Driving in L.A., Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

This week was my dad's birthday, so he decided to open up a ton of his wines.  This is only 1/3 of the bottles, but I know how much fun they had.  My guy was especially excited to try some of these, since he is becoming an amateur connoisseur, following in my father's footsteps.  :)

I was more interested in the pickles, olives, and corks that my father's chef friends brought.  I always have dibs on the corks and I may have pilfered a jar or two.  :)

The next day, my friend and I went to Unique LA!  I loved the holiday show a few months ago, which I recapped here.  :)  I actually think this one was better!

It was held at the California Market Center on the penthouse floor, with a pretty fantastic view all around the L.A. skyline!  By the way, for any of you street art lovers, my friend pointed out the Banksy at the bottom of the photo.  There was a second one that I was unsure about though on the roof.

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Artisanal LA & more!

This weekend was really fun and the start to the craft show season, as I mentioned in last week's post of upcoming events.  Let's get to it!


Precap (jump to):

• Eats:  Casa Inka
• Sights:  Artisanal LA

On Saturday, my guy went to a beer festival with some of his friends and although it would have been fun, I ended up catching up with my friend.   We spent a ton of time chatting about blogging and how to get started.  Sometimes we are crafty and cook together, but it was just a major gabfest!  P.S. - She is the one I mentioned in my Blogging 101 series post yesterday.  :)


Afterwards, we met with my family at Casa Inka and had yet another Peruvian meal!  This time it was much more casual and traditional.  :)  This dish was absolutely fantastic!

And how could you go to a Peruvian restaurant without ordering ceviche!  For more, including the beautiful and tasty fish, chicken, and vegetable dishes that we ordered, visit The Episodic Eater for the full meal and photos!

The next day, my guy and I hit up Artisanal LA.  I was extremely excited to go because this was my first show and I could finally make it!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Exclusive TEAVANA Oprah Chai sneak peek, Delicious treats & Retro row !

This week was totally fun-filled with so much to do!


Precap (jump to):

• Sights:  Retro Row, TEAVANA Oprah Chai sneak peek
• Eats:  Honduras Kitchen, Candle Light Bakery, Greenspan's Grilled Cheese

You might have noticed in my precap above that we went to Honduras Kitchen again!  We went with one of my guy's coworkers who is half Honduran.  It passed the test and it's easy to see why...

I have been there so often that I m now the Duchess on Yelp.  Ha!  Check out the whole delicious meal on the The Episodic Eater!

Then we went for a stroll down Retro Row, which is always fun!  So much to see, like sewing patterns...

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Weekly Wrap-Up: SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Can I just say how busy I have gotten these past few weeks now that it's spring?  Craaaaazy!  Add to that my sister's wedding planning, and it seems like I constantly have a million invitations to eat out.  Uh oh, time to hit the gym!


Precap (jump to) : 

• Eats:  The Attic, nékter Juice bar, The Boiling Crab, Beard Papa, Urth Caffe, Mo Chica
• Sights:  Meeting with Miss Lulu, wedding updates!

A few weeks ago, my friend from Miss Lulu Sews (whom I met at mimi g's conference) mentioned that she would be in the area.  Since she likes out of the way places, I suggested one of my favorites, The Attic!  For the whole meal (including a delicious Boxy Benedict) check out The Episodic Eater.  :)

Later that day, we had some juice from nekter Juice Bar.  The one on the right is called The Cure, with beet and tons of greens.  Want to know about my drink and why it is so pink?  Find out on The Episodic Eater!

We went out to The Boiling Crab for my aunt's birthday and it is just a crazy restaurant!  See it all at The Episodic Eater.  :)

As if we weren't stuffed enough, I convinced everyone to hit up nearby Beard Papa.  So many sweet treats, including their famous cream puffs!

But they had some very bright, delicious-looking macarons as well.  Sooo tempting!  Check out the rest of the pretty desserts on The Episodic Eater!

Also this week, we went to Urth Caffe to meet my sister's potential wedding planner.  It's such a pretty building, a good place to meet up with someone for the first time, and grab a coffee or some food.  Check out a few more photos on The Episodic Eater!

By the way, it was a great fit with the wedding planner, so "It's a Match!"

Source

Then, we went to Mo-Chica, another fantastic restaurant.  We pretty much had one of everything: fun cocktails, quinoa salad (below), grilled artichoke, a light & lovely seabass appetizer, hearty beef filet, portobello with plantain, fried egg & beans, chicken stew, braised short rib, a unique creme brûlée, and...

...sweet potato and kabocha beignets!  It was a fantastic meal, and to see all of the dishes above plus a gorgeous bar area, check it out on The Episodic Eater!

Well, that was pretty much a food-filled week, right?  Time to drink some water and hit the gym!

What do you have planned for this weekend?

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Old favorites!

A couple of weeks ago, I tried three new, different restaurants and this week I went back to some old favorites!  It's funny how these weekly wrap-ups somehow have themes.  :)

Let's get started!


Precap (jump to):

• Eats:  California Pizza Kitchen, Katella Deli Restaurant, Katella Deli Bakery
• Sights:  Stuff!

We needed to grab a quick bite, so we headed to one of the few chain restaurants that is an old favorite: California Pizza Kitchen!

Yes, this was an incredible steak, and even though I was skeptical about ordering steak from here, it was really great.  To see more, plus the actual pizzas we ordered, visit The Episodic Eater!

For most of the weekend, I actually ended up doing lots of errands like clearing out the thousands of e-mails from my inbox.  Yessssss!  I usually get about 30 that I save daily plus about 100 more that I clear out periodically throughout the day, so you can imagine how long it took to accumulate over 1000!

I had a father-daughter dinner at Katella Deli Restaurant and Bakery because my mom was out of town and my guy went to a Game of Thrones viewing party that I skipped.  Since we were both free, it was sandwich time!  Yay!

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Weekly Wrap-Up: Earthquake!

This weekend, we took it pretty easy with a few errands, but we definitely had a little bit of excitement to start it off!


Precap:

• Sights:  Earthquake!
• Eats:  Sapporo Sushi & Bistango

If any of you have lived in California for any period of time, you probably have felt a little earthquake here or there.  They never bothered me as a kid, and you just have to know how to react.  Anyways, a couple of weeks ago there was a pretty sharp earthquake that was just like a jolt.  This week's earthquake was way more concerning because it was extremely long!  My guy and I were at my parent's house and they had a guest over.  It was funny how everyone reacted.

My mom was upstairs, so I'm not sure what she did.  However, my dad ran to the front door to open it up (in case it got jammed).  My guy went to the nearest door frame.  Our guest and I kept sitting, hoping to ride it out, but when it went on a bit longer, I stood up to get to a safer place while he kept sitting.  Basically, we represented just about every level of concern from, "Oh crap the house might fall down!"  to "Eh, it will be over soon."  Then we called my sister who didn't feel a thing as she was driving.  No damage at my parents house except in my old room where an old picture frame that fell from a top shelf.  No biggie because it really isn't my style anymore.  :)

After my sister arrived, we watched the news to find out about the earthquake.  By the time we had our fill of information, it was pretty late, so we ended up scrapping our original dinner plans and eating at Sapporo Sushi, which was still open.

By this time I was pretty hungry, so I ordered the "Hungry Roll."  This ridiculously huge plate showed up, which was totally shocking to the whole table.  To see the whole dinner, including a fun bento box, click on over to The Episodic Eater!

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