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!

What is College?

A short post just to let you all know that I added a new tab at the top dubbed "What is College" where I identified what college means to me so far.

for real though... anyway!

I randomly started it at the beginning of my first year after so much was going on in my first year that I figured I should jot it down so as to never forget it all.  I kind of began imagining publishing a small book that you could find at the back of a Hallmark Store or in the discount section of your local Target but for now, I think this will do.

I remember around the time of graduating high school that so many of my friends would not shut up about moving away from home and becoming independent.  I remember getting tired of hearing it all because to most of them, being on their own meant they could not wait to live under the same roof because they were tired of their parents and yadda yadda yadda their lives are so difficult while they drive off in their new car their parents are letting them take to college.

 It honestly disgusted me a bit that they did not appreciate all they had received from their parents.  It is kind of sappy, but I really hope that they learned that independence is not solely living on your own, but it is taking what you have learned from your parents, and implementing it in the real world.

But besides all that deepness of knowledge I just bombshelled you all with, college is also the greatest years of one's life where you start on your way to your future... and there is nothing more terrifying than realizing you are growing up

Oh! And check out what it is college means to me in my new page DUH! that's originally what this post was supposed to be about


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Attack of Burritozilla!

I sincerely apologize that this is another food post but then again I don't really apologize completely because I love food and everyone loves food and even if you are on a diet, you love food so sit back and enjoy this sight.

No, those are not posters rolled up in foil.  Those are none other than Burritozillas.

5 Pounds of Pure Burrito with meat, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, and pure destruction sitting in enough foil to cover an infant in for a good nights rest

You can find this monstrosity at Taqueria Iguana in Santa Clara or in two different locations in San Jose and my friends and I were crazy enough  to try it out.  Well.... at least me and another friend were

• One of my friends ordered a regular burrito knowing he would not even make a dent in the thing
• And the other friend gave us moral support whilst secretly knowing we would not finish it and waited to eat some of the leftover burrito (The real winner in this story)

When we first started we had no idea how to handle this culinary monstrosity so I cut mine in half and decided to just take it in portions hoping that would work.  My friend, as you can see from above, went hardcore hispanic caveman on this thing and just went for it... as you can see in the second picture he needed one of the other guys to hold the lower end of the burrito because this thing was so big.  My friend definitely did not eat as much as I did (not sure if I am proud of that) and as you can see from the pictures most of it ended up on his plate so no offense to him but he was not very fierce of a competitor but it was still fun!

Not sure how it looks on the computer but that picture above is how much I left and was unable to finish.  It was basically a little bit more than a regular burrito and honestly I think that 5lb burrito may have been a bit more than 5 pounds but I just thought I would share that with you all and give you the swell tip to prepare more physically and mentally because me eating a bento box for lunch that day was probably not the best idea :p

Food Fanatic in the Streets, and Coma Patient in the Sheets

San Francisco is great for so many different reasons, but for right now, I am going to discuss the awesomeness SF has to offer in terms of FOOD.  This past weekend my friends and I went to this huge street festival on Folsom St. that had a crazy ton of different food stands and street food trucks.  Let me just say that I have never wished so hard for an anatomy more resembling that of a cow than that day because all I wanted was a second stomach to fit in that great food.

(This event was SO BIG they handed out maps since it covered 6 blocks down Folsom St.)

I don't have too much more to say about it other than all of the food there was delicious and afterwards I could barely move from all that we ate so here are a lot of pictures of the different things we all ate on Saturday.

First off was the Latin food which all was delicious with the traditional corn of the cob with lime, salt, and chile and also some homemade fresh ceviche

 (Necessary corn on the cob preparation steps)

LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE EATING MY FOOD

My personal favorite of the day was this find right here.  It's called Onigilly and was rice and your choice of protein wrapped in seaweed... it was DELICIOUS! They had teriyaki chicken, spicy shrimp, and cooked eggplant so we all tried the different types and it was a unanimous vote that the spicy shrimp was too savory to not consider it as the best.

The PORCHETTA SANDWICH from A16 Food Cart was Amazing as well! Freshly carved pork with some kind of garlic spread in freshly baked ciabatta bread was delicious!

 Craziest find of the day I give to this drink right here.  The PRICKLY PEAR AGUA FRESCA, I mean look at how pink that drink is ... I could not get over the color of this one and could not resist from sharing it with you all.  Oh! and it was beyond refreshing really hitting the spot in between all of the eating.

And of course, you cannot eat all this food without having some kind of dessert right? So we did it right and ended our long meal with Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee hitting the spot perfectly.

COCONUT JUICE to keep us refreshed after we downed the Prickly Pear Drink

(WHOLE FOODS does not fully understand the concept of "subliminal" messaging)

I definitely recommend it to anyone who lives in the area to mark this down on their calendars for next year, and if you aren't in the bay, just research for some kind of street food festivals around you. They are so fun and give you the chance to try all sorts of new food! Just be sure to park nearby because by the end, you will still be wanting to eat delicious food.... but moving around is not so easy

(Me and my friends by the end)

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The Belgium of College Apartments

Why does the breakfast champions always have to be something healthy?

I think that a real 'breakfast of champions' is anything that makes you feel really good in the morning.  Like for instance, I just got a waffle maker for my upcoming year in my new apartment and I AM BEYOND EXCITED to start making waffles every morning with chocolate chips, bananas, pecans, bacon, and a whole bunch of other mixtures (but not all at the same time)

(me everyday at our apartment this coming year)

But i mean seriously, who does not like Belgian Waffles?  They're fluffy and delicious and oh so filling I just can never get enough of them.  And if you ever come to crave a more traditional breakfast with eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns or whatever, boy have I got an innovation for you haha.  Over the summer my friends and I used a belgian waffle maker at another home and cracked an egg inside, let it cook for a bit, and it turned out surprisingly good! Don't believe me, TRY IT!  The eggs were really fluffy and and fun to eat so I will most likely be doing it again. 

BUT, that is not what we got the waffle maker for so I will definitely be making regular waffles and not "waffl-eggs" (as we dubbed the 'waffle maker eggs').  I am gonna need some restraint this year because I am gonna cut loose with that waffle maker and have waffles so much! 

OH! and I forgot to mention the best part! It isn't like those typical belgian waffle makers where you lift the thing, pour in the mixture, and then close it... Ok it is for the most part like that, but the one we got is more like the ones at the Marriott Hotels where you flip the maker thing and then let it sit... Just look at the pictures and let me know if you get the gist of it

Cool huh? I can't wait, It is going to be incredible and I cannot get over it!

Also! I should mention that I have been learning a lot of my mom's recipes because it is gonna be real important that I know how to fend for myself in the scary world that is college (without a mother's cooking) and let's be real, although waffles are awesome, I am gonna need some regular food too.