1-800-4-QWERTY

As I've been listening to the radio and watching TV this past week, I've gotten more and more irritated with the way that people/companies display their phone numbers. Example...

George Clooney did a very nice thing in organizing the telethon for the people of Haiti. Celebrities all came together to donate their time and talents to get people to watch and give. The problem was...everytime they displayed their number, it was displayed like this:

877-99-HAITI

Usually they would give another number right below, giving the real number so you don't have to go searching for the numbers that correspond to the letters on your phone. Helpful, right? I thought so.

But no, they didn't do that, and I have a smartphone. With a full keyboard. I didn't know what number to dial. But that's okay...I'll give somewhere else.

Chocolate Cheerios

Because you needed a new flavor of Cheerios to add to your collection, General Mills has introduced Chocolate Cheerios! They're also offering a coupon for 50 cents off your purchase of Chocolate Cheerios. Unfortunately, I found it AFTER I bought my cereal. :(

Krispy Kreme's Free Doughnut Day (for Southern California)

To celebrate 10 tasty years in Southern California, Krispy Kreme has declared tomorrow (Saturday, January 16, 2010) Free Doughnut Day.

Participating Locations:
• 4760 Los Coyotes Diagnol in Long Beach
• 1199 W. Artesia Boulevard in Gardena
• 4034 Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles
• 4485 Mills Circle in Ontario
• 330 City Drive South in Orange
• 1548 Azusa Avenue in City of Industry
• 1521 North Victory Place in Burbank
• 4180 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in San Diego
• 25802 El Paseo Avenue in Mission Viejo
• 1231 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica
• 2305 Otay Lakes Road Suite 206 in Chula Vista

Enjoy your free tasty treat, SoCal...

Oatmeal Wednesdays

If you've tried the steel-cut oatmeal from Jamba Juice and like it, you'll definitely like this:

Every Wednesday in the Month of January, Jamba Juice is offering their oatmeal for $1! Plus applicable sales tax, of course.

Enjoy!

Cake Balls

It's weird for a title, I know. But that's what these creations are called. I know you can make them...in fact all you need to do is bake up a cake (boxed is fine), roughly crumble it up and mix it with a can of icing (more or less to your own taste/desire), roll the mixture into balls, and dip them in chocolate! Or white chocolate. Or cover with fondant if you're ambitious. Search for a recipe on the web and you'll find them all over (like on All Recipes).

OR...if you're lazy and have money to burn (or if you have a sister who has a free day on the weekend), you can have someone make fancy ones for you! :) A company called The Cake Ball Company (imagine that) makes these desserts and will ship them to you. If you're in Texas, they've even invited you to their production facilities. They are fancier looking than ones that the lazy people will make at home...and they have lots of flavors to choose from. Find them here or (occasionally) at Neiman Marcus online.

Disneyland for free

Yes, Disneyland is offering up free tickets again this year.

Last year, you just had to be born...but this year, you have to work for the tickets. You have to get involved in community service activities, which you should be involved in anyway! Unfortunately, not all community service projects will get you these tickets. You have to pick a project that is with one of the participating service organizations.

It's not bad at all, though. Give a day of community service, and get a free ticket to Disneyland! You can feel good about what you've done, and you get rewarded with a day to 'the happiest place on earth!'

Good plan, Disney. Way to teach everyone about community service.

Click here for details.

Happy New Year! From Baskin Robbins

...and me too...

Baskin Robbins announced a special to welcome in the new year. Buy a 4 oz. scoop of ice cream, and add a second scoop for 99 cents!

Plus, they have a new flavor - Dulce de Leche.

I've got a special to offer too! If you happen to get ice cream from me, it's likely that you can add scoop for free. But that's only as long as supplies last and if you can find where I keep the ice cream! :)

Hope you have a sweet new year.

Ukelele Cutie

Can't understand a word he's singing...but the kid is a ukelele genius! At least with the Jason Mraz...

Move Over, Reese's Pieces...

...you've got some company now. Meet York Pieces, Almond Joy Pieces, and Special Dark Pieces!

All without peanut butter, and just in time for the holiday baking season! YAY!

Ben & Jerry's New Flavor - Maple Blondie

I love new ice cream flavors, and Ben & Jerry just created Maple Blondie (description here and below)! They have timed this just right - it's time for me to replenish my ice cream supply.

In the words of Ben & Jerry (well, their email, at least):

Our new limited batch flavor is inspired by Hannah Teter, her Olympic Gold Medal & her mission to make a difference! It's Maple Ice Cream with Blonde Brownie Chunks & a Maple Caramel Swirl. It's available in scoop shops & starting in December, it'll be in grocery stores near you.

Krispy Kreme and Christmas

Krispy Kreme has announced this year's Christmas treats:

Snowman Doughnuts - so cute!!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Chocolate Iced Glazed doughnuts with Christmas Sprinkles

White Iced Glazed doughnuts with Red & Green Drizzles

Wreath doughnuts with green icing and a bow

Gingerbread Crunch doughnuts-original glazed dipped in white icing and "holiday spiced" gingerbread crunch

Wow sugar rush!

Red Robin Gingerbread Shake

Red Robin has introduced their Gingerbread Shake to celebrate the holidays. You can try it for $2.99, but make sure that you specify that you want the $2.99 shake or they'll surprise you with the sidecar and charge you the full $4.59!

I was really excited about it until I conferred with my sissy. She pointed out that it was blended with graham cracker and topped with a gingersnap. My review? Tastes Christmas-y, but not gingerbread-y like some might gather from the name. Maybe it would be better to call it a Holiday Shake... I'll be sticking to the good ol' glass of water from now on...

Jamestown Pie Company - Buy a Pie!!

My mom and aunt visited West Virginia a few years ago and discovered the best chocolate chip pecan pie that we've ever had. After some searching, I was able to find the company that made the pie...and I thought that I'd better blog it because of their awesome URL...

http://www.buyapie.com/

Buy a pie. Straightforward...and easy to remember! Genius. Their motto is pretty fantastic too:
Because Round Food is Good Food

:) I can't say that I can argue with that!

Many thumbs up for their pies; just don't eat too much at a time or you'll have sugar overload.

Pinkberry BOGO

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

As my family sat around and talked during Thanksgiving dinner, I discovered something very important. I found out that one of my cousins works for Pinkberry...and has for the past two years...wow I lag.

Anyhow, she gave me a BOGO coupon that starts tomorrow - and I think that you can get it via facebook or twitter too. The reason for the celebration that Pinkberry starts to serve their chocolate yogurt tomorrow! Yum. So print it out and treat someone tomorrow...hopefully it will help your bodies recover from the overeating from today!

Eggo Waffles Shortage

Yes, this is sad news for all Eggo Waffle lovers. Due to flooding at the Atlanta bakery - their largest waffle bakery - there will be a shortage of Eggo Waffles that could last until mid-2010. No joke.

I'm going to stock up tonight. If you want your Eggos, you better beat me to the grocery store!

Hershey's Irish Creme Kisses

I FINALLY found some new holiday candy. Hershey Kisses come in an Irish Creme-filled variety. I would've posted a picture, but I left them for the girls in my office. Don't worry if you want to find them - Target stocks tons of them, so they're easy to find. Just look for the green packaging.

Ben & Jerry's Gingersnap Ice Cream

I got an email a while back letting me know that it was on its way to stores...but last night I found it! Gingersnap Ice Cream - yummm. It's a sign that the holidays are here.

When I was younger, my sister and I would always find the gingerbread men ice cream sandwiches around the holidays. They don't make them anymore (so sad), but this is an acceptable substitution!

Now on to planning the Christmas lights for our house...

Pizza Party

I celebrated my birthday this year with a pizza party. Sounds simple, but it was probably a big pain for my family to deal with. This party involved pizzas from all over - from Chicago to LA.

Lou Malnahti's deep dish Chicago pizza straight from Chicago.
Round Table Pizza's Gourmet Veggie pizza - ooh garlic and veggies.
Domino's Regular Cheese Pizza and Thin Crust Veggie Pizza
Numero Uno's Thick Crust Cheese Pizza
Brownstone's NY style Pizza
Gourmet Pizza Shoppe's Dessert Pizzas

Add to that a sampling of Portillo's Italian Beef Sandwiches - both sweet and hot - plus other sides, desserts, and lime punch!

Total carb overload. Hopefully I'll get a picture of this smorgasbord and post it.

Halloween Candy Overload

It's been four days (in Sesame Street Count's language, that's 4 days AH, AH, AH, AH) since Halloween, and I'm still flooded with Halloween candy.


Usually, the manufacturers will just change the packaging. There are those, however, who decide to tint their white chocolate orange, or in the case of York Peppermint Patties, tint the peppermint cream orange. Weird.

But the weirdest thing is that I got a Kit Kat bar and the wafers were vertical instead of horizontal. I was going to take a picture, but I'm such a fat kid that I couldn't wait to take a picture. I just ate it. And now I'm telling you about it with no visuals. Sorry.

Pain du Monde

I'm a big fan of little bakeries. Coincidentally, some of the best ones I have found have been in the food courts of malls. Example? Paradise Bakery. I just stumbled upon Pain du Monde, which is another great example.

Pastries, cookies, sandwiches, everything that a bakery should have. I'll be visiting them again soon!