Aca-Mazing

WOW I HONESTLY SERIOUSLY TERRIBLY APOLOGIZE TO YOU ALL FOR NOT POSTING THIS IN SUCH A LONG TIME I AM A HORRIBLE PERSON AND LOVE YOU ALL AND AM BACK!

Well now that that is out, I must share with you all in the holiday spirit since I am super excited for Christmas! Whether you celebrate or not (Happy Channukah a few days ago respectively to those who celebrate), I want to share my latest obsession.  

Acapella is amazing and I am a big fan of all of the music from "Pitch Perfect" and any other acapella groups but the greatest acapella out there (at least that I know of) is PENTATONIX.  They won NBC's "The Sing-Off" which I did not watch but I have watched almost all of their videos and love just about all of their renditions of their songs.  And to make it even better, THEY RELEASED A CHRISTMAS ALBUM - I KNOW RIGHT!??!!

My greatest obsession on the album is their rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" which I basically binge listened to on my drive from San Diego to LA which is probably unhealthy but I was able to learn all the words and each time I sang it I sang different parts and was basically a one man acapella group.  Also it should be noted I played it so loud in my car that I sounded super good and basically sounded just like them which is unusual because I don't sing well but for this song I sounded amazing.

HERE IS THE LINK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_MGWio-vc

You all should listen to it it is amazing, although my sister and my friend did not like it for some reason but that don't even phase me because I still listen to it at least once a day and sing it in the shower and know all the right tones and melodies to hum along to I am just awesome basically haha

Aside from their holiday music they also did Radioactive with LINDSEY STERLING 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2GCa-_nyU

AND OF Royals - AWESOME

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9XQ2MdNgKY

Medley of Daft Punk - SUPERB

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MteSlpxCpo

And they did "Somebody that I Used to Know" (this is the song that made me fall in love with them)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOKuAigsrec

But yea if you have not heard them check them out I promise they will NOT DISAPPOINT 

Side Note: definitely listened to them while writing this post , ITS GOOD TO BE BACK

who knew it would be during Finals Week that I would find time to post on the blog again?

Burger Hoedown

I am so sorry to everyone! I did not realize it had been so long since I had posted in my blog I have just been so busy with school and work and what not but hey! on the brighter side, I am here and posting about FOOD!

I'm not sure about you but my posts about food are my favorite because they get me all excited and hungry and hopeful that someone will randomly bust into my room offering delicious dishes but it never happens.

Hodad's is the topic for today and it is me and my friends' favorite place for burgers.  But the thing about these burgers, is that we can never seem to go to Hodad's without completely stuffing our faces and ending up ordering delicious french fries and onion rings and chocolate shakes as well

Located in Ocean Beach, CA and Downtown San Diego, CA this awesome burger joint has even been featured on FOOD NETWORK: ON THE ROAD.  I have so far only been to the one in Ocean Beach and whenever I go it is always with a big group of friends which I think makes it so much more fun since we all munch off of each other's sides and take sips of each others milkshakes too.

The only thing I do have to note is that no matter what time you go (it seems), there is always a line outside the door that seems like it would take forever but with good company and a tall person to shade you from the sun, it goes by fairly quickly AND it is totally worth it.  Also, if you wanted to you can just walk in with your group, order at the counter, and take your food to go.  This is what my group of friends did when we were a literal group of 18 and we just took all of our burgers and junk food and walked about 2 blocks down and sat in a nice grassy lawn by the beach.

Recommendation include EVERYTHING ON THE MENU, I am actually a bigger fan of the onion rings than I am on the fries but then again it is up to you really. 

 I also have to mention that the staff there is awesome.  They all have the same style of having some form of facial hair, a trucker hat, tattoos and A KICK ASS PERSONALITY.  But seriously, they are the most chill servers around never wanting to cause problems and always keeping the customer in mind.  If there is anything wrong with your order they are quick to fix it and are always joking around.  Ask for a sticker and you can easily get one it is great!

So go ahead and wear some loose pants when you go because you are NOT going to want anything tight around your waist when you eat there.

Les Misery

No, sorry, this is not about Les Miserables I am sorry but at least with this title you do not have to exert any phlegm and can actually pronounce it correctly.  This post is actually about the 1990 Thriller "Misery" starring Kathy Bates and James Caan.  The movie is awesome and I found it to be a very fitting post considering Kathy Bates' latest role in "American Horror Story:Coven" which she is nailing every week since its premiere so far in my opinion.

I really wanted to do this post because a lot of my friends did not know who Kathy Bates was and I freaked out and thought it was my duty to make sure others knew who exactly this great actress was.

So "Misery" is a thriller based off of Stephen King's hit novel "Misery" where a famous novelist gets into a car crash up in the snowy mountains and is rescued  by his self-proclaimed BIGGEST FAN (played by Kathy Bates).  The writer soon finds himself in deep trouble when his Biggest Fan drowns him with her obsession and will not let the man leave.

Like how creepy is that!?! And don't worry, I did not spoil anything because I was told that exact same plotline and was still freaking out as my sister and I watched the movie and were definitely screaming at the TV screen and sweating with blankets tightly wrapped around ourselves.  

Sweet ol' Kathy Bates from "Titanic" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" decided to give me a whole new perspective on her acting capabilities with this movie and she also gave me enough reasoning to always road trip with somebody and never drive anywhere far with terrible weather conditions unless I want .... well, you'll find out what happens.

The movie won Kathy Bates an ACADEMY AWARD and a GOLDEN GLOBE both for Best Performances by an Actress and let me just say that she was up against Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, Angelica Huston, and the head honcho - MERYL STREEP so if that does not put it into perspective of how well she did I have no idea what other way to tell you to watch this movie.

I think it is on Netflix but I am not 100% sure, but either way if you do not have netflix I am sure you have some means of finding a way to watch it and SUPER DUPER RECOMMEND it especially since it is October and it is perfect for Halloween especially for those of you who are not Horror fans but LOVE a good thriller

Be Careful Though, She is Out There

Straight Up Muggin' It

Shopping for Birthday gifts most of the time (at least I have found them to be) can be one of the most difficult things to do especially when you want to express to someone you care about how awesome they are.  Typically what happens to me is that I realize it is someone's birthday soon and then I think, "OK, what is it they like? Well, they like that stuff so much they ALREADY have everything they would want from __________ .... well maybe I can give a gift card? But typically family members you don't speak with on a regular basis give those....shit."

[This is what I look like, LOOK I EVEN SIT DOWN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TO BUY]

Perhaps a lot of you go through the same thought process, or maybe you are actually awesome at buying birthday gifts, and if so I envy you.  If you are more like me and struggle sometimes, I have a solution... at least for one gift.

Starbucks actually has this cool mug you can buy that you can draw whatever design you want on it, bake it for like an hour or something, and then the design stays imprinted on it permanently.

LOOK! Isn't that cool?

And since Starbucks is in just about every city across America, I am sure you could easily find the nearest Starbucks location and pick one up.  It's really fun designing whatever it is you wanna make for said birthday person (or Christmas person since that season is approaching too) ((Or whatever holiday you wanna celebrate, everyone could use a good mug))

Anyway, it comes with a double sided pen with white ink to draw on the lower black region, and on the reverse side of the pen is black ink to draw on the upper white area.  I actually bought one as you could guess and made one for my sister for her birthday!  It was a little nerve wracking since it is kind of marker that I was drawing with but I found that you can first draw with pencil and it easily erases by wiping it with your finger.

So if you could not guess from the design I did, my sister loves Disneyland and all things Disney so I put a popular quote from Walt Disney himself "It's Kind of Fun Doing the Impossible" and I even looked up Walt Disney Font online and was able to draw it by looking at a template.

I was nervous at first and it definitely took me some time to figure out what it is I was going to draw but I was really happy with the end result and think it summed up Disney and my sister fairly well.. my favorite is the Pocahontas at the bottom on the back of the mug

I tried to capture the majestic beauty in her hair which admittedly was really difficult, I mean look at those locks, but I managed to do it and had a lot of fun doing it.  Also, I guess I forgot to take a picture of it but I drew a star on the inside of the mug so after finishing a drink she could see the evening star/ wishing star/ second star to the right/ pretty star.

But yea, I honestly had a lot of fun and might even buy another DIY (Do It Yourself) mug and make one for someone else but I am not officially sure.  I definitely recommend it and think that someone will love it especially since making something homemade shows a lot of love.  It shows a lot of effort in my eyes, and would love a homemade gift since you realize that when that person was making the gift, they literally saved time in their day to work on something FOR YOU.

Pretty Much Pretty Patties

What do I love almost as much as food you ask? That's easy ... Dessert!

Let's be serious for a moment, dessert is a whole separate category from food because you eat food for meals and for snacks and what not, but you can never be too full for dessert.  Like when you are at a restaurant and you are stuffed full of delicious FOOD ...and then that rapscallion of a waiter/waitress comes over with the dessert menu because they saw into your eyes that you have an on-again-off-again love/hate relationship with sweets and just know you cannot say no.

OR WORSE! When they actually bring the freaking cart around that has the example desserts and you know they have been sitting there for a while because every server uses it to tempt every customer into desserts but yet it all looks so good.

ANYWAY! I am not even talking about desserts at restaurants in this post but that was my rant about sweets/desserts and now to the best part.

1. Macarons are amazing. 2. I think they look like "Pretty Patties" from Spongebob Squarepants. and 3. I think if I ever went to Europe and tried legit macarons I would probably cry, then die, then come back, stuff my face with macarons, cry some more, and then die again - in that order.

[Look at that, these things are so good the gif is bugging out]

I do have one place in particular I must talk about though that sold me some awesome macarons and that is Dolcissimo Bake Shop.

Located at:

13885 City Center Drive, Suite 3010

Chino Hills CA 91709

Ph: 909.591.3646

Store Hours:
Monday to Thursday 10am-8:15pm
Friday & Saturday 10am-9pm
Sunday 11am-7:15pm

At the Shoppes at Chino Hills (North of LA) in California my sister and I were walking around and found this little shop on side of the shopping center, went in, and were super happy with our find.

Now we unfortunately did not get a chance to try everything since we had just eaten BUT if you understood what I was ranting about earlier, we did buy some macarons without too much guilt. 

YEP, YOU READ THAT RIGHT, NUTELLA & FRUITY PEBBLE FLAVORED MACARONS

and not only were the Nutella macarons flavored like nutella, the insides were creamy nutella spread

... you know, maybe it wasn't even nutella flavored... but I just know that they were delicious.  At that moment I really wished I had not eaten lunch and rather we had just gone straight to Dolcissimo and filled ourselves with macarons and cupcakes.

So if you are around the area or visiting LA or maybe even just in some part of California... Go to Dolcissimo and you will not be disappointed.

Jottin' It All Down

I definitely have not been able to post as much as I had before but that is mainly because I am back at school and classes have picked up but I still have it in my head to at least post once a week but preferably twice a week but we will see how this all goes.

Going with me talking about classes and the fact that I was an Orientation Leader at my school, I think it would be good to give some tips about taking class notes for new college students and/or for anyone who is having an epiphany that maybe the reason you failed that class was because your notes were 3 pages long for a quarters' worth of lectures.

First off, be clear in the way you are going to be taking your notes... In this I mean that from the first day of classes (WHICH YOU HAVE TO GO TO), make the decision of whether you will be taking notes on your laptop or on actual paper with a pen like they did in them olden days.  Whatever floats your boat, but really let's be real, it is fun to type notes on your laptop and hearing the click click of every letter you type... but Wi-Fi is pretty good in lecture halls and Facebook/Tumblr/Yahoo/Reddit is only a click away so unless you have a strong will against it... I recommend the old fashioned note taking way.

BUT IF YOU HAVE TERRIBLE HANDWRITING AND NO ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS AND RECOGNIZE THAT IN YOURSELF BY ALL MEANS TYPE IT OUT

(you the night before a final incapable of reading your own writing)

ALSO KEEP YOUR PHONE IN YOUR POCKET : I know it is very convenient and fun to pull it out and check your messages, check Instagram, check your email, and suddenly decide you want to color coordinate your apps and make them spell out funny things... but this ain't the time and you cannot honestly pay attention to your professor and also enjoy social media nonsense.

Yea, it is hard, trust me, you may think you "are listening while on your phone" but after about 30 seconds of being tuned into the lecture, you will find yourself 20 minutes behind the lecture and the professor 6 slides deep into their discussion.

Some more tips I found were these lovely quick tips that I found on StumbleUpon and cannot believe I did not write down the site but read them and enjoy.  I don't claim them as mine but would love to share them with you.

KEEP ON STUDYING!

Just Look At It This Way

So far I have been pretty good in crossing off movies off of my list of 250 movies to watch in my 'Just Add Popcorn' and the latest movie I saw was Life is Beautiful.

HOLY COW EVERYONE

That movie was amazing.  Like seriously.  It is on Netflix.  And if you do not have Netflix, you HAVE to find a way to watch this movie.  It's a foreign film from 1997 that was nominated for 7 Academy Awards and won 3 of them including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Roberto Benigni, Best Foreign Film, and Best Music Score.

The movie was incredible and made me feel so many emotions it was not okay at all.  It is a World War II Concentration Camp in Berlin type movie... except for not.  It was like no Holocaust movie I had ever seen and because it was so different and heartwarming it instantly became one of my new favorite movies.  

To put it into perspective, the day before I watched The Pianist and was ready to just die from the stress and so the next day when I started watching Life is Beautiful I was expecting death and tears and blood and me crying in my room but instead I felt really good from this movie.  The beginning part of the movie even had me look up on IMDB the genre of the movie because I was doubting whether it was a drama or a comedy.

Like y'all do not even understand, even finding this gif I just smiled remembering the sweet lovable character of Guido.

Also the movie reminded me of an awesome story that one of my high school teachers once told us all.

HERE READ THIS AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WILL WATCH THE MOVIE FROM THIS STORY

"There were two men in a hospital room for two different types of symptoms.  One man's bed where he lay was by the window and he could sit up unlike the other man who was closer to the door and he could only lay flat due to his condition.  Everyday the man by the window would tell the other man about the beautiful sights of a park across the street from the hospital and of families walking around and having a good time.  The descriptions would amuse the man without the view but it also made him jealous that he could not see outside the window.  One day, the man with the bed by the window saw a parade and told the other man of all the smiles, colors, and happiness he could see and this enlightened the other man, but still made him more jealous.  The next day, the man by the window could not breathe and could not reach his remote to call the nurse.  The other man saw this but did not act upon this.  The man by the window passed away that day and as they moved his body, the man without the view asked the nurse if she could move his bed to be by the window.  She gladly moved his bed and left.  The man was extremely happy that he could finally see something else besides the room he has been in for many days now.  He somehow found the strength to lift himself.  When he looked out the window however, all he saw was a massive brick wall from the building beside the hospital."

I have always loved that story and all I could think about while watching Life is Beautiful was this story and how all it takes to make someone else happy is to change their focus from what it is making them depressed and keep them dreaming for more.  To change someone's perspective is a selfless act I wish one day I could do for someone else just as Guido and the man in the story did for someone else.

Twisting Your Tongue for Ice Cream

Try saying this 5x fast: Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous

For some it is easy, but for me it is terribly difficult mainly because I cannot get through the first two times saying it without starting to drool because Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous is probably my new favorite place to get ice cream in San Francisco.

Me every time I go there

Located at 699 22nd St. somewhat near the SF Giants Ballpark is a small corner shop that changed my life.  I was introduced to this place by my good friend who actually took me to the french sandwich shop I had posted about before.  Even though I was really full and completely satisfied with my meal, she urged me to go with her to get just one scoop.  HOLY CRAP am I glad that I did so.

Those are some shots of the inside of the ice cream place.  Not only do they sell amazing ice cream, but they also have chocolate malt balls, cookies, and all sorts of other goodies that make you loosen your belt just by looking at them all.

So the way it works, is everyday they have different flavors and most of those flavors are definitely a little more different than your typical ice cream shop.  So far I have gone twice and have been really happy with every flavor I have tried.  They make it there themselves and once they run out of a certain flavor, they simply erase that flavor from the chalkboard and don't serve it again until the next day you find it on the menu.

In case you can't read the flavors in those two pictures, here are the flavors that I have seen so far

• Banana with Sesame Brittle
• Sweet Cream
• White Russian (Kahlua, Cream, Vodka)
• Bourbon & Caramel
• Pink Squirrel (Chocolate with Almond Liquer)
• Sassafras (Root Beer)
• Cookies n' Cream
• Vanilla Bean
• Sour Cream Cheesecake
• Fruity Pebbles
• Cinnamon Chip (like the 'hot/spicy' cinnamon)
• Molasses Ginger
• Butterscotch & Butterfinger
• Salted Mango
• Fig & Marscapone
• Ovaltine
• Frosted Flakes
• Crema Cataline (Lime Custard with Burnt Orange Caramel

So far I have yet to be disappointed with any of the flavors.  I haven't necessarily gotten a scoop of every flavor but I do have the tendency to sample just about every single one of them.

(From Left to Right) Fig & Marscapone, Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles with Cookies n' Cream

Another thing I love about this place is that they are not at all stingy when it comes to serving you and when you order anything to go and take home, they fill these little containers (they have bigger sizes too) all the way up to the brim... and then squish it down to fit more.  Both times now I have brought some home and made sure to bring home flavors that I did not already get served in a cone so I could enjoy something different.

So if you are in San Francisco and want to try something other than the typical Ghirardelli Chocolate Ice Cream (I am not bashing, I love Ghirardelli, just sometimes you need something different), go over to Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous and get some amazing ice cream before it runs out!

September Can be Spooky Too

It may still be September but as soon as I saw that the pumpkin spice latte was back in Starbucks, I have basically decided it is time to get into the Halloween Season!  Pumpkin flavored everything, orange leaves (in pictures, none outside where I live really), and watching Classic October Halloweeny movies!

[I have yet to see my neighborhood look like this]

Typically this includes The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown Movies (Classics and you know it), and a bunch more!  But this year I found another one that I think needs a little more appreciation.  Mockingbird Lane is what I am talking about.

I first heard about it when I was on the Studio Tour at Universal Studios and had heard about an upcoming series.  1313 Mockingbird Lane was to be the home of a remake family of Munsters.

[Paul from the past took this photo on the tour in case Future Paul liked Mockingbird Lane and it turns out, Past-Paul was right!]

Mockingbird Lane was supposed to be a series picked up starting last fall but was found to lack enough potential to be a compelling enough series but not due to it being sucky, instead they turned it into a Halloween Special on NBC.  I did not watch it last fall when it premiered and instead watched it last weekend.  I actually enjoyed it even if it was only 40 minutes long and found it to be a cute family Halloween thing to watch that I would not mind keeping as a September/October tradition.

The special had Jerry O'Connell as Herman Munster (the Frankenstein Dad) married to Portia de Rossi (the Vampiress Mom) whose Dracula Dad/Grampa was played by Eddie Izzard and whose "normal" niece is played by Charity Wakefield. 

Above is the son of 'Frankenstein' and the sexy vampiress of this show is Mason Cook who is going through some changes of his own as he deals with becoming a werewolf... without knowing that he is the werewolf wreaking havoc on the innocent (not much of a spoiler that's how the show starts).  

In terms of the characters, the Dracula thing was a little over the top for me...

... but looking back I think it was more playful and meant to be over the top due to it being for families and kids more than being a horror version of the Munsters.  I mean, I never saw the Munsters original series but I am sure that this show did it justice in portraying the family the way they did as they took up an abandoned home originally set to be destroyed due to a homicidal past...not the house killing people, but the people in it ... hopefully you got that.

Anyway, in case you were interested in watching it here is the link to the NBC website 

http://www.nbc.com/mockingbird-lane/video/mockingbird-lane/n29651/

and if that does not work I am sorry but I am sure you have other ways of finding a way to watch if you really wanted to.  Personally I think it was a good way to kick off the Halloween Season and start dreaming of packing in candy.

HAPPY ALMOST MONTH OF HALLOWEEN!

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