Burgers, Beer, Bands, and Boobs

Z and I spent the last weekend of March traveling down to Southern California (specifically Los Angeles and Santa Ana) to meet up with friends, family, and to attend Burgerama IV! Before driving down for Burgerama IV, Z and I stopped in Burbank to have lunch at Porto's Bakery & Cafe and feasted on their Cuban sandwiches, potato balls, and horchatta / dulce de leche lattes. Since we were going to stay at our old friend from UCSD's apartment in Silverlake, we decided to drive through Griffith Park and check out the scenery. I forgot that LA does have its beautiful parts that can sometimes be forgotten among the traffic congested freeways and urban sprawl. 

We arrived to our friend Di's apartment who's area that had the cutest little streets leading down to Sunset Blvd, where we went and grabbed a quick cup of coffee at Intelligentsia Coffee before heading to see a Comedy Central taping of The Meltdown With Jonah and Kumail at Meltdown Comics. In this comic book shop's backroom basement, we were able to see comedy sketches by Fred Armisen and more thanks to Di's boyfriend! After the show, we drove into the boroughs of South LA to find a little food stand at a Tire Shop that only opens late at night after the tire shops closes. (No permits, but whatever--good food!) This Tire Shop taqueria has Tijuana style tacos that I absolutely miss since leaving San Diego to move up to San Francisco.  Finally putting my Spanish skills to use, we ordered tacos upon tacos and I am going to cry right now reminiscing about the handmade tortillas and grilled to perfection meats and spicy salsas. Could I have been shot or mugged going to obtain these tacos? Yes, but at least my stomach would have been extremely happy. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

After spending time with Di, we headed down to Santa Ana to stay with my sister and her boyfriend. I miss my sister so much! Seeing her made me wish that we lived closer to each other, but she is the happiest I have seen her for the longest time and it just makes me happy to see her this way! We ate at BCD Tofu House (for the best silken tofu dumpling soup around) and Alerto's (to fulfill Z's California burrito cravings)  while we were there, but also managed to sneak in some Guitar Hero and Mario Party Wii battles in-between.

Burgers, beer, bands and boobs--Burgerama IV definitely brought the essentials. For Christmas, I bought Z and I tickets to Burgerama IV because the line-up was ridiculously amazing and any excuse to come down South and eat better Mexican food is okay with us. The sold-out two-day festival at the Observatory also showed its ability to super-size itself with big-budget headliners while still keeping the local flavor of a packed parking lot festival filled with tie-dyed Burger ilk of all ages. Going into its fourth year, the festival wasn't short on growing pains as it continued to figure out the constraints of holding a massive festival in the middle of a business park. Some of my favorite bands at Burgerama this year were: Cherry Glazerr, Tennis, Death Valley Girls, Gang of Four, Weezer, Bone Thugs, La Luz, The Aquadolls, and ummm...I guess just about every band that played. Thanks Burger!

After that jam-packed weekend, Z and I drove up the 101 North this time instead of taking the dreary 5 North and toured the little coastal town that I was born and raised in:  Lompoc. Where is Lompoc exactly? It is probably best summarized by this Fresh Prince of Bel Air clip. Growing up in a predominately Caucasian-small town definitely had its ups and downs for me, but I'll save that for another blog post. We drove by my parents' old house and my old high school--Cabrillo High . The school looks exactly the same from the day that I first attended. Glad to see that some things don't change. Hope you all had a great weekend as well! Cheers!

Pumpkin Pies & Turkey Thighs

I just finished my finals last week so now I am free to blog again! Thanksgiving was wonderful and there were fifty billion different types of pumpkin desserts, which was not exactly a bad thing. My sister is a master chef and was in charge of the main dish for the evening--the turkey! Z and I contributed some red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberries. Since I live so far away from my family now, I really cherish these times that we can get together. We played a rousing game of LIFE (which I really don't remember being so long and complicated when I was younger) and talked about when the next time would be that we could all get together and eat more food! 

I am wearing a dress from Nadinoo that came right in time for Thanksgiving and is the perfect holiday dress because it hides my holiday tummy. When I received the dress I was blown away by how lovely and well made it was. It was even more beautiful in person than I could have ever imagined...and it fit like a dream! I am so glad I was able to purchase a dress of her's. I have been lusting after them for so long! How was your Thanksgiving? What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I can't wait to see my family again this Christmas!

Outfit Details:
Lula Under the Mistletoe // Nadinoo
Grey Sheer Tights // Target

Congrats Sister!

I know this post is so late, but I just wanted to congratulate my beautiful sister on graduating from her Medical Assisting program, which makes her just one step closer to becoming the best nurse ever! She is such an inspiration to me and always manages to kick some major butt where ever she is and with what ever she sets her mind out to complete. These photos were taken outside of the graduation auditorium before heading out to the celebratory dinner. The lady at Walgreens (where I usually end up taking my film to be developed for lack of time) managed to do the most terrific job at cropping my photos where faces are cut off and hands are growing out of no where. I tried to fix the photos when I could, but alas...this batch was beyond saving. I posted what I was able to salvage, but looking at them still make me laugh a bit.

Outfit Details:
Black Lace Dress // H&M (from 2 years ago)
Tights // Walgreens
Rachel Comey Boots
70's Knit Sweater Cape // Cobra Cult Vintage

I am in love with this 70's knit sweater cape that I received from  Cobra Cult Vintage. It's the perfect cover-up that provides just enough warmth for when I'm out and about in Southern California where it doesn't get too cold. The cape's print has floral patterns, hearts, and checkers running through out and the buttons feature a windmill, tree, and farmhouse. There's just so much detail that I will have to photograph and share with you all later.

Congrats Sister! I love you and I'm so proud of what you've accomplished so far!

Winchester Mystery House

After taking care of Finnegan while Z and I were away visiting his family on the East coast, my sister drove up to San Francisco for a visit and to drop off my beloved pig pug. During her short visit, we decided to venture out to San Jose and check out the Winchester Mystery House. Growing up on the Central coast, we had always seen huge billboards advertising this spooky house and we finally decided to see what all the hype was about. We arrived at a lot surrounded by suburban malls, fast food chains, and parking lots to find this little Victorian house nestled in between. The place was definitely a tourist trap, but my sister and I made the best of things by enjoying some wine spritzers before going on the tour. I enjoyed learning the history of the house, the Winchester rifle, viewing the vintage decor and beautiful design of this famous ghost trap. We were only allowed to photograph the outside of the house, which is really such a shame since some of the work and detail that went into the inside of the house was amazing.

Outfit Details:

Mod Chambray Shift Dress // Vintage

Market Bag // Vintage

Sunglasses // H&M

Blue Sandals // Vintage

Here's a photo that my sister and I took before entering the house. We felt pretty awkward holding the imitation rifles. What were we supposed to do with them? Pretend to shoot each other? Use the rifles to make lewd gestures?  We decided to keep things G-rated since this was, after all, a family establishment.