Krispy Kreme Minis

When's the last time you indulged in a Krispy Kreme doughnut? Did you feel guilty after? Well, Krispy Kreme is making their treats less of a guilty pleasure. They've introduced Minis - smaller versions of their most popular varieties... Check here to see if your local store is participating...

Support Your Holiday

Whatever holiday you celebrate, don't support the Happy Holidays generic. Make the companies work for your business! If you celebrate Christmas, buy the wrapping paper that says Merry Christmas. If you celebrate Hanukkah, buy the gift wrap that says Happy Hanukkah. You get my drift?

Don't let them get away with products that will work for everyone...they should have to work harder to receive your hard earned money!

Or you can go totally green and just don't buy any new wrapping paper. Tell those companies "too bad, so sad" and be a little creative on your own. Wrap your gifts in blankets, towels, or even newspaper...something that the recipient can reuse or recycle!

Man vs. Food

The holidays are in full swing. If you haven't already recovered from your Thanksgiving dinner, you don't have much time left before Christmas hits! My Christmas celebrations start next week. Ahhh, the holiday food challenge. With so much food at the different parties, how does one tackle it all? Sorry - no answers here...I haven't figured it out for myself! Besides, that's not what this post is about.

Have you ever been in a restaurant that issues food challenges to their patrons? For example, those restaurants that have huge burgers/sandwiches/pizzas and will pay for your food if you can finish it? The closest that I've gotten to trying one of these is buying a Vermonster from Ben & Jerry's for my sister and her friends and helping them eat it.

ANYWAY, there's this guy - Adam Richman - who has made it his mission in life to complete as many of these challenges as possible. His reward? The Travel Channel gave him his own show, Man vs. Food, which puts his never-ending appetite on TV for your viewing pleasure!

I wonder if he'll ever come to Los Angeles...

Happy eating!

Christmas is for Sharing

Christmas is the time for sharing. Right? Right.


This made me think about how I share. Have you ever been eating a box/bag of candy that's mixed flavors, and you eat all the ones that you like less to save your favorite flavors for the very end...then you decide to share with someone and they take all of your favorite flavors? Does that make the sharing even more noble?

This didn't actually happen to me, and I think I'm actually a pretty good sharer (is that a word?). Anyway, this is your one chance this year to wax philosophical... :)

Christmas Music Video - the Premiere

You might recognize some of the people in the video...
View...enjoy...get into the Christmas Spirit!



Music: "O Holy Night" by Clay Aiken

Survived Black Friday!

Black Friday is usually the time when people start buying gifts for those on their Christmas lists. This year, my Black Friday was completely self-serving. The highlight? I bought myself a vacuum. Think that's a weird highlight? Obviously, you don't know me very well. Those who know me know about me obsession with cleaning and cleaning products. I think I've vacuumed every night since I've opened it up and put it together!


Even with all of the vacuuming, I've made time to shop...so it's allllllllll good! :)

Christmas Gift for Someone Who Has Everything

Why not give them a Lamborghini Laptop? Of course that would require you to have $3300 (plus applicable taxes) to spend on this lucky someone.

And hey, if they already have the laptop, you can always try to help them accessorize! :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

I know Costco's been selling Christmas goods since October, and Target is all holiday-ed out as well. But there's some good news! The Christmas season can officially begin on Sunday, November 23. That's when Dr. Stephen Colbert's Christmas special airs on Comedy Central.

Yippee! Enjoy - 'cuz I know I will! :)

Soon to be Taking Applications

I'm looking for a friend replacement! If I've seen you recently, you have nothing to worry about because you're not on my list. If you haven't seen me recently, your friend status could be in jeopardy. That doesn't mean that you can't apply. (Yes, you can apply to replace yourself.) However, you should keep in mind that you might be asked to make some improvements before your application will be considered.

Sounds a little like a school or job application, right? Well, if it doesn't, it should. I do take into consideration the fact that at least one of the two applications has been completed and led to successful acceptance by a REAL institution. :)

Am I losing my mind? Perhaps...
It it lunchtime, after all...

Oreo Idiosyncrasy

I scrape out the cream before eating Oreos. Is that weird?

Tim Tams SLAM the U.S.

Not only have they made their way into production in the United States, but they're available to everyone in Target! Pepperidge Farm is the smart company that jumped onto this bandwagon.

They're really there at Target...I just got back from buying some. And I wouldn't have known if my mom hadn't pointed them out in the Target mailer.
I'm not sure how they're going to stack up to Arnott's Tim Tams, but I'll find out soon. Testing commences this week! :)

Stephen Colbert and Halloween (he's always right)

Dr. Colbert correctly identified "trick-or-treating" as teaching children how to panhandle. But now the kids are getting picky! Here we were...giving free candy to strange looking children...when they started making requests!!! My sister was smart and engaged the first kid in conversation:

Kid (looking into the candy basket): "Can I have some Oreos?"
Sissy: "What are you going to give me back?"
Kid: "Anything you want..."

The last five kids that came by ALL asked for Oreos. I'm thinking that next year we should buy no candy and all cookies.

Stylish Baby - Courtesy of Gucci

Gucci realizes that sometimes some moms have awesome purses and they don't get to carry them when they are carrying a baby, so they've made a way to make it a little easier for both mom and baby to be stylin'...in the form of the Gucci Baby Carrier!


If you have friends that will be in need of something like this, plan ahead. You can only buy 3 within a 3 month period. :)

Warcraft the Movie

My first thought: Oh no. WoW the movie. Please-please-goodness-gracious-they-cannot-possibly-be-serious.

For all of you who jumped on the World of Warcraft bandwagon, denied your addiction (and still deny the addiction), (thankfully) got bored, and finally stopped playing, the WoW movie will bring you on a trip down Nostalgia Lane. For those of you still playing, this must've been awesome news.

Well......we'll see how this all develops. Who knows - I may be the first one in line to watch it. :)

Favorite Chefs

Someone asked me who my favorite chefs were, and for some reason, the answer didn't flow out as I thought it would. Anyway, I did some thinking, and this is the thoughtful answer...

For sure I love Ina Garten. I've been using her recipes since before Food Network was created. Why? Because I know that if I try a recipe, I know that it will come out like the picture/demonstration every time. It gives me hope that I will actually make something delicious, okay?! :)

Anthony Bourdain is awesome. I'll sit down and watch hours and hours of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. And now (as a part of the No Reservations series) he dines and talks with other chefs on At the Table with Anthony Bourdain. They trade stories, theories, ideas, etc. I'd be so intimidated to be a chef or even a server at that meal!

I have added links for these guys, and I'm sure I'll add more as I continue to mull over this question.

Sarah Palin on SNL - WEAK

If you haven't seen it yet, don't waste your time...at least not if you are watching it to see Sarah Palin do something funny. Or do anything at all. Let me sum it up for you...

Tina Fey comes on as Palin, then they cut to Palin talking to Lorne Michaels. Palin opens the show ("Live from New York - it's Saturday Night!). Later, on Weekend Update, she sits there pseudo-dancing while Amy Poehler does her work for her. Then Palin steals Tina Fey's line ("Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow").

If you're going to watch it for anything, save yourself the disappointment of expecting anything from Palin and just watch it for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

In-n-Out Anniversary

You might have heard that the good people at In-n-Out are celebrating their 60th anniversary on October 22. You may also have heard that they're taking their prices down - waaaay down. Like burger for 25 cents. Sad to say, this is a rumor. :( At least that's what their website says.

I was all excited about it, so I checked their site to see if they sent out a press release. When I got to their site, there was a nice button labeled "October 22 Rumor." Rumor?! So sad. Here's the announcement for your viewing displeasure.

Ben & Jerry's - Free Ice Cream for Voters

That's right! Utilize your right to vote on November 4, 2008, and Ben & Jerry will reward you with a free scoop of ice cream! Don't believe me? Check it out!

Happy Voting!

Starbucks Splash Sticks

I went to Starbucks this weekend to order from their new Signature Hot Chocolate line. When I picked up my drink, I saw something new sitting next to the cup sleeves...Splash Sticks!

You know how people make money off of the simplest ideas - so simple that maybe you could have thought of it? Or you did think of it but failed to move on it? This is one of those. Simple idea. Simply genius.

LA Valley Mini Food Tour

I was in the mood for a food tour, so we headed to Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks - the Valley, as it's known in Los Angeles. Destinations? Nata's Portuguese Bakery and Fab's Italian Kitchen.

Nata's Portuguese Bakery

They introduced themselves as the only Portuguese bakery in Los Angeles. It's a cute little bakery with a dessert counter that is about as big as the cupcake shops (think Sprinkles in Beverly Hills or Dots in Pasadena), with a few tables out front for those customers who want to soak in that good ol' California sun...or that wonderful LA smog...

If you try their malasadas, remember that they're not Hawaiian malasadas (from Leonard's Bakery - made for you as you wait and served hot). Their baker makes them in the morning, and they serve them cooled until they run out.

The desserts are not too sweet, so you won't come away with a crazy sugar high.

Fab's Italian Kitchen

When I worked out in Brentwood, we would ALWAYS order from this place (and occasionally got ourselves down there to actually eat in the restaurant). We had the Italian chopped salad - delicious, as always. Tried their chicken piccata for the first time. Pretty good, but even so I think next time I'll stick to my old favorites - the parmagianas....