Disneyland's Halloween Time

This is BY FAR my favorite Disneyland celebration - Fantasmic, Halloween fireworks, "Nightmare Before Christmas" Haunted Mansion, Ghost Galaxy Space Mountain. There are some pretty decent videos of the fireworks show online...like these...

Thank goodness for annual passes and conference tickets!

No New Candy?!

I've been conducting my usual search for new candy (you know, every time I go to a store that sells candy), and I haven't found anything new in a while. This is driving me nuts! Usually I will find some sort of special edition of a candy bar as soon as they start selling holiday candy, but I've had no luck this year.

Maybe I'm just not searching hard enough...or maybe candy makers are slacking off!
Let me know if there's something out there that I need to try.

New Godiva Treats

So Godiva makes a suitable Reese's peanut butter cup substitution for me, and they're pretty tasty. I joined their club so I can get a piece every month for free. But now Godiva is trying to raise my sugar levels with other products - they now offer cupcakes and brownies.

They finally jumped in on the cupcake fad with these chocolate cupcakes (with a chocolate center) and vanilla or chocolate buttercream. Sorry kids, these treats are only available online and by catalog order (not in stores), so you'll have to plan ahead if you want these.

Free KFC - Take Two

KFC is trying for a second time to give their chicken away. On Monday, October 26, they will give one piece of their Kentucky Grilled Chicken to anyone who visits their stores. No coupon is necessary and they promise that they will have enough for everyone.

So if you're in the mood for KFC, but are not interested in the grilled chicken giveaway, I would recommend that you plan to satisfy your craving on any day but Monday.

Homemade Deliciousness

My brothers surprised me this past weekend with their cooking skills. The bros and one cousin decided that they wanted to cook...and cook they did.

We were treated to several flavors of homemade buffalo wings, garlic fries, and a pizzookie (a cookie baked in a deep dish, but they used a regular sheet pan) with ice cream for dessert!

Big thumbs up to the boys...for exercising cooking skills and for saving us from having to go out to a restaurant. I think they should do it more often. We just have to find a place to sneak in some veggies...

Just Say No

...to the Buffaloco wings at El Pollo Loco. Well, I can only talk about the Buffalo flavor, since that's the only one I tried. It may be that their BBQ flavor may be tasty and delicious, but I have yet to try them.

So I got the 5-piece buffalo wings...opened the container and got a whiff of the sauce. Yep, something got me. Good? Bad? I wasn't completely sure yet. So I proceeded to the visual inspection of the wings. It was a weird color for buffalo wings...a little too yellow...but maybe I'm just too used to the reddish sauce of the bar food in the area. The real test was to actually taste the sauce. Oh. I quickly discovered that I should have paid more attention to the initial indicators (smell and looks). They have this weird taste...some additional herb or seasoning that gave it a weird taste. My first guess was there was too much oregano or rotisserie seasoning that was competing with the buffalo sauce. But the wings didn't keep me interested long enough to figure it out.

Maybe I got a bad batch, or maybe I'm spoiled with the other good wings nearby. Whatever the reason, I'll stick with the restaurant wings when I allow myself to indulge.

Oh Romanos...

Guppy Tea House

We've found the perfect place to have a fat kids party. It's called the Guppy Tea House. If you thought that the food at Claim Jumpers was giant, this will blow your mind. Giant toast, giant shaved ice, it's crazy! I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.

San Diego Food continued...

So I had the chance to visit Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego, and this gave me the chance to have some good food.

D-Lush
One of the employees did a really good marketing job on me. I was walking by with Dippin' Dots in my hand. He took one look at me and said, "Dippin' Dots? Oh honey, why don't you try something healthy. Here's a sample of our Strawberry Banana smoothie." I tasted it, put my ice cream in the trash (before you freak out, it was almost done!), and decided to give them a try. I chose their Lemon Lover Jello Shot. Tasty! It was basically frozen lemonade with Jello snack packs blended in...it was big and I didn't finish the whole thing. So if you come across one of these places, you'll probably be lured in by the samples, coupons, and crazy fun employees. I hope whatever you try is good.

There's one here at Hollywood & Highland...if the mood ever strikes again.

Uno Chicago Grill
Chicago Pizza. Just the basics...nothing fancy. So delish. After lunch today, my grandfather made sure that there was still some pizza for his mid-afternoon snack. :)

Oh, and I can't forget the visit to Neiman Marcus so the employees would have an opportunity to be stuck up and ignore me once again. All for the love of the Yoku Moku. Thank goodness the people that helped me were friendly!

Have You Ever Tried To...

...find a Mexican restaurant in San Diego? They're not hard to find. In fact, you'd probably have some trouble finding the RIGHT one...if you were looking for a specific restaurant. If you drive through Old Town San Diego, almost every restaurant there is a Mexican restaurant! (This is actually what happened tonight.) And they're probably all awesome.

San Diego Foooooood

So it's more than a week into October and I haven't posted about food yet?! Shocking, I know. But I've been saving it up for this trip that I'm on. I'm in San Diego at a conference...and so I can eat. What have I had so far? Let's see....

Village Pizzeria at the Coronado Ferry Landing
New York-style pizza from those geniuses who decided to ship NY water to San Diego to make the crust as authentic as possible on the west coast! Yum.

Bloomingdale's 59th and Lex Cafe
So cute - a small cafe on the top floor of Bloomingdale's. I tried their frozen yogurt - swirled their plain and their raspberry/strawberry (that supposedly had rosewater...for your health?) - with their raspberry sauce. The sauce was really sweet, but strangely addicting...at least while I was eating the yogurt. I had to throw the cup away so I wouldn't look pathetic trying to scrape it all out.

More tomorrow, I think. I believe the stop is Uno Chicago Grill for some Chicago-style pizza!

Xooro Churros

I often blog about cupcakes and cookies, but I've never explored the world of Mexican desserts. But this weekend, my cousin gave me a new destination for CHURROS! The store is called Xooro in Santa Monica.

I plan to visit them...I've heard they're quite delicious. Hopefully I will get there soon.

This Is Why You're Fat

Well, this might be why I'm fat...AND why you're fat. My cousin referred me to this site - This Is Why You're Fat - this weekend. Some of the things that you'll see are completely outrageous and some are deliciously fantastic. As my sissy and I looked at the site this weekend, there were several things that we thought we should make! :)

Cold Stone Creamery - Free Ice Cream

It's Make-A-Wish time again...and Cold Stone Creamery is inviting you to the world's largest ice cream social.

When: Thursday, September 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Your local Cold Stone Creamery
What: 3 oz. of Jack's Creation (free...with a donation)
What's that: Sweet cream ice cream with brownies, rainbow sprinkles, and caramel

Maybe I'll see you there! More details here.

Rainbow Sherbet

I loved sherbet as a child, and I still will crave it every so often. Sometimes orange, sometimes lime, sometimes pineapple, and a lot of times rainbow.

There's only one drawback with rainbow sherbet...it's not pretty when it melts. But...can you think of a better way to show children what happens when you mix all the colors of the rainbow?

Jamba Juice BOGO Again!

Just in time to say goodbye to summer...Jamba Juice has another Buy One, Get One for a buck special.

Buy one smoothie (any size) and get a 16 oz. smoothie for $1. Coupon is here and good through September 27. Yummmm...

The Jay Leno Show

Whoohooo!!! He's back starting Monday, September 14. I'll be watching, and you should be too!!

Turkey Hill Ice Cream Sandwiches

I'm on a mission for ice cream sandwiches. Epicurious listed Turkey Hill Ice Cream Sandwiches as their top-rated ice cream sandwich, so I'm so wanting to try this.

I'm also looking for their first runner up - the Nestle Super Sandwich. I might have a harder time finding this one - it looks like the ones they sell at arenas and stadiums. But I might find it at my local gas station convenience store, huh?

We'll see. I'll report when I find them to tell you how delicious they were. :)

Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale

We found a new iteration of Ginger Ale this weekend - Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale. My brother tried it and reported back to me: "It tastes exactly how you think it would taste."

I asked, "Ginger ale mixed with green tea?" He nodded his head.

So if you're ever in the mood for both, Canada Dry has got the perfect product for you. Details here.

Portillo's - A Taste of Chicago...in California!

I don't eat red meat, but I still gave this place a chance. Of course, they have to have their Italian Beef sandwiches and their Chicago hot dogs. But it turns out that they have quite the selection on their menu. Lots of chicken and fish options, and even a veggie sandwich and lots of soups and salads. You can check them out here.

Most of their stores are in Illinois, but they have two Cali locations - both here in Southern California (Buena Park and Moreno Valley).

I've heard only good things about their Italian Beef sandwich, so I'm guessing it's a MUST TRY. And if you can't make it out to one of their restaurants, they have Italian Beef Sandwich kits available. They're making it easy for you - just try it already!!

Godiva Rewards Club - Free Chocolate!

That's right. Godiva has a Rewards Club, and yes, they do give you free chocolate! You don't have to pay anything to be a member, and it does have some nice perks. You get a free piece of chocolate from their case every month. You also get free shipping on one online order.

So it might be something for you to check out. Free chocolate! Info here...or just visit one of their stores.

This is not helping my addiction to their Roasted Almond Truffle!!!