geek off the street

holy goat this is hilarious!! for sure you need to check out the synopsis for the song regulate by warren g and nate dogg. i'd like to party with the straight laced geek off the street who wrote this. any ideas on how to make this happen?

On a cool, clear night (typical to Southern California) Warren G travels through his neighborhood, searching for women with whom he might initiate sexual intercourse. He has chosen to engage in this pursuit alone.

Nate Dogg, having just arrived in Long Beach, seeks Warren. Ironically, Nate passes a car full of women who are excited to see him. He insists to the women that there is no cause for excitement.

Warren makes a left at 21st Street and Lewis Ave, where he sees a group of young men enjoying a game of dice together. He parks his car and greets them. He is excited to find people to play with, but to his chagrin, he discovers they intend to relieve him of his material possessions. Once the hopeful thieves reveal their firearms, Warren realizes he is in a considerable predicament.

Meanwhile, Nate passes the women, as they are low on his list of priorities. His primary concern is locating Warren. After curtly casting away the strumpets (whose interest in Nate was such that they crashed their automobile), he serendipitously stumbles upon his friend, Warren G, being held up by the young miscreants.

Warren, unaware that Nate is surreptitiously observing the scene unfold, is in disbelief that he's being robbed. The perpetrators have taken jewelry and a name brand designer watch from Warren, who is so incredulous that he asks what else the robbers intend to steal. This is most likely a rhetorical question.

Observing these unfortunate proceedings, Nate realizes that he may have to use his firearm to deliver his friend from harm.

The tension crescendos as the robbers point their guns to Warren's head. Warren senses the gravity of his situation. He cannot believe the events unfolding could happen in his own neighborhood. As he imagines himself escaping in a surreal fashion, he catches a glimpse of his friend, Nate.

pork redemption

a few days ago elle and i came up with a menu for the week so we could get our fridge stocked and ready for her brother lars to visit. it was decided that on sunday i would to cook the cafe rio pork for burritos. last time i messed it up and i wasn't going to let my rookie mistake happen twice. i started my process last night and cooked the pork for 8hr in my crock pot. i then woke up early so that i could shred and trim the meet before heading off to church. after the trimming and shredding were finished liz and i were off to church. about half way to church (which we were already running late to) i realized that i hadn't turned my crock pot back on after adding the pork and ingredients back in, there goes my great idea of letting the pork cook a few extra hours. it ended up being fine and i just let it cook a little longer this
afternoon. i do have to say that even though i wanted it to cook longer the pork turned out great and i was able to redeem myself on this dish. thank goodness for that, i'm sure liz, punky, elle, lars all appreciated that i didn't make such an armature move this time. we all seemed to really enjoy it so i'm sure i'll be making this again. aslo this picture is for the creamy-tomatillo-dressing that i previously posted the recipe for.

imelda marcos wannabe's

woke up this morning earlier than i expected but it was fun to see lars (elle's younger brother who is visiting from out of town) and elle before they left on their quick trip to l.a. liz spent the night so we could enjoy the day shopping. shopping soon turned into shoe shopping for me... imagine that. i will take a picture of my shoes so you can see but i went home with 5 new pairs and liz purchased 7. i love shoes so much and it was just what i needed on this lazy saturday. we landed at chevy's for lunch since i had a coupon and i didn't want it to go to waste. i ate chicken flautas and a chile relleno with a mango lemonade. i know chevy's isn't the most authentic place to eat but i do love their corn tamalito!

after shopping we had some time to relax before heading over to a luau in san bruno. i will say that the luau itself wasn't amazing but we did meet a few new people. as for the food at the luau, i liked some of it and some of it i didn't. overall the luau was ok but at least i got to spend time with liz plus we were able to meet a few new people.

cajun pacific

brenda's birthday was last week and since we were unable to celebrate with her then we went to dinner tonight at cajun pacific in san francisco. she'd heard about this place awhile ago but had never been until now. i was so excited to check it out since the menu looked so appatising. it ended up being a very small place with great food but bad service. besides the fact that the food took forever to arrive the lady seemed annoyed with us since not everyone ordered full entres. mind you they couldn't seat us until 8pm even w/reservations so some of our group ate something light before but ordered appetizers. since the food was good, i'd say if you want to check this place out you should order take out and not bother dinning in. my meal consited of andouille sausage & chicken gumbo, souther fried rock cornish game hen with sides of garlic-mashed potatoes and sweet potato gratin (wish i got a better picture of these). i also tried a bite of some type of crawfish pastry (shown in picture below) which i didn't like but if the crawfish was left out it would've been very tasty. my favorite part was the sweet potatoes but a very close runner up was the gumbo and fried chicken. the fried chicken batter was so crispy and the gumbo was so flavorful but hands down the sweet potatoes were uniquely mouthwatering.

never ending pasta

one of my favorite things about olive garden is the never ending pasta bowls!! they don't have them often but when they do i make a point of stopping in. thank goodness for elle since no one else wants to eat this with me. when i say wants i mean no one else dares to eat the extra carbs. to them i say embrace it and make carbs your friend. as for the drink it's a strawberry-mango limonata but it's not worth ordering even if my picture makes it look appealing i don't recommend it.

wake up!

i wish i could sleep off the days from now until september 21st then wake up! in time for this album release cause the anticipation is killing me. how is it possible that this collaboration hasn't happened before now? and who's genius idea was it create such a masterpiece? whoever it was gets an A+ in my book just for creating this idea. i can hardly contain myself when i think of how magnificent this cd will be and when i think of what songs are in store. seriously john legend & the roots combining forces on not only one track but an entire cd dedicated to their musical mojo.

here is a preview of the greatness that will soon be wake up!

ps attention ladies you need to check out the first few moments of the video because john legend isn't wearing a shirt.. i'm just saying.

the presents just a pleasant interruption to the past

something corporate has been flying under the music radar during the past five years when they decided to take a break after being burnt out from their endless tour dates. during this break andrew mcmahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. being the rock star that andrew is he not only bounced back from his illness but he also completed his first solo album under the name of jack's mannequin. i do love jack's mannequin but i will admit that i have been hoping that eventually he'd make a glorious announcement of a reunion party. when i heard the news i knew i had to get tickets and i have been anxiously awaiting this night. reunited and it feels so good!! it was a nostalgic evening that left me reminiscing on the good old days from 8-10 years ago when something corporate was in their punk piano prime. lucky for me they decided to have this reunion tour and i'm not able to check them off my list of must sees, that is unless they come around again cause in that case i'll be there too. the band had great chemistry with one another even after being apart for so long. my only wish was that they would have played a little longer but really i have no complaints since they played ever song i wanted to hear. their set was flawless and they didn't even have an opening band which for tonight was perfect.
thank you for making my dream of attending a something corporate show my reality. also, i would like to give a shout out to my little brother who introduced me to soco many years ago and for that i am so grateful!

have i mentioned how much i love that andrew jumps and stomps around on the piano. i also love that he's a fighter and a lover and that he's married to such a normal adorable girl.

headed for the bright lights

this weekend punky, liz, the main asian and i went to la to say farewell to our friend who is moving to the bright lights of new york. the girls drove down friday but since i had a concert i flew in early saturday. they picked me up at the long beach airport then we were off to new port beach to play. we shopped and ate lunch at ruby's diner where i ordered the cobb kobe burger with no cheese or tomatoes and a chocolate banana peanut butter milkshake. the food was either really good or i was much hungrier than i thought. my favorite part was the milkshake which was all that i hoped it would be. after lunch we went shoe shopping at a hecka sketchy place then headed to the beach to soak up some sun. at the beach we met up with a friend who was visiting from out of town as well whom i hadn't seen for about five years. it was so fun to see him and catch up. after a few hours of basking in the sun, peeing in the freezing cold ocean, chatting with friends and nearly getting pummeled by the waves i was ready for a lazy night chillin in front of a bonfire. punky and the main asian picked up mexican food for dinner and i chose a california burrito. it was filled with carne asada, french fries and all the fixings. it tasted fine but it didn't satisfy my need for carne asada french fries but it did fill my belly. we finished the night at a farewell bonfire with her friends. sunday morning we were able to meet up with my little brother for breakfast at mimi's cafe. it's always a great day when i get to see my little brother so it was so fun to start my day with a short visit before our drive home. during one of our pit stops off the 5 for gas i spotted a taco truck and quickly decided it was time for dinner. i ordered a chili verde plate to go and it was well worth my few moments spent stretching my legs to wait for my dish. it was a little tricky eating in the car without spilling but it sure was delicious. wish i knew where to tell you it was beisdes somewhere off the 5 between l.a. and san jose but i sure didn't pay any attention.

this picture is of the long beach airport, my meal at ruby's and my meal from the taco truck.

don't say a word..

tonight marks the forth time i've seen john mayer in concert. although i did't think tonight was his best show i've seen it wasn't the worst and i'm sure it won't be my last. his musical talent on a guitar alone is phenomenal and add to that the fact that he sounds fantastic live is a bonus. alexis said to me at the show that he sounds the same live as he does on cd and i 100% agree with her. i can't even think of the right words to express how impressed i am with his voice. it's pure and perfect even live in an enormous amphitheater. i wish that he would personally tuck me in and sing me to sleep every night, thats right john, 'just come over and lie here with me'.

yes i do understand that he is a complete mess off stage and outside the recording studio i also recognize that he is a lyrical genius. how can one man spew such verbal vomit and turn around to write lyrics like he does? i don't think i'll ever understand but i can forgive. after you hear him say stupid things these songs will make you forget about what an idiot he can be:

though i've been warned to live day by day
there's something taking over

so come on and face it
it's time that we say it
you can cross the line
whenever you want to
i'm calling it love soon

from one of my favorites love soon or these lines from slow dancing in a burning room:

i was the one you always dreamed of
you were the one i tried to draw
how dare you say it's nothing to me
baby, you're the only light i ever saw

and what about his lyrics that put things into perspective from my stupid mouth:

my stupid mouth
has got me in trouble
i said too much again

it's another social casualty
score one more for me

and i could see clearly
an indelible line was drawn
between what was good
what just slipped out
and what went wrong

how could i forget?
mama said, "think before speaking"
no filter in my head

i'm never speaking up again
it only hurts me

i may never know what his motives are behind the rants and that's fine because i don't have to. even though i don't understand him i do respect him. i respect that he puts himself out there by saying how he feels in such a raw and vulnerable way. i respect that he's not forcing his ideas or beliefs onto his fans like some celebrities. instead he speaks his mind without a filter and awkward or not he owns up to it and isn't running away. you or i don't have to agree with him but i don't think he is asking us to. he is simply a man who is trying to answer questions thrown at him from left field as honestly as he knows how to and right or wrong i respect that. at times i think his answers are a little out there however i give him props for being so real. if you are offended by his interview statements than maybe you can let him slide this time and start fresh. pop in his room for squares or heavier things cd's then sit back and fall in love with john all over again. i mean the fact that he has seven grammy's speak volumes about his musicality. lets just hope that from here on out that he'll do as he sings by never speaking up again, this way we can still enjoy his incredible talents.

throwback thursday - hangin' tough

'just get on the floor and do the new kids dance, put you in a trance with a funky song'


oh oh oh oh oh... i'm picking this months throwback by new kids on the block because i want to pay tribute to the first concert i ever attended. don't be jealous of me and my center stage eleventh row seat. jon was an absolute dream boat and i so badly wanted to rush the stage and do who knows what when i got there but lets be real i was only ten and in the 5th grade. i'm certain that wouldn't have gone over well with my friends mom who took us. the show from what i remember was magical and the coolest thing i'd ever done while in elementary school. i was in heaven for a night then went home and swooned over my nkotb posters even more. this was the night i fell in love with live music. i remember wishing i was older because i wanted to stay at the show and in that crowd of people, i really didn't want to leave.

fajitas in a wok

it's been so much fun getting settled in to the new place but it was nice to take a night off and have company over for dinner. we were able to have lois over for dinner and enjoy a girls evening in. for dinner we decided on fajitas which gave me a chance to finally break in my new wok. it sounds a little funny to say that i made fajitas in a wok since a wok is typically used to asian cuisine but i'm daring what can i say. since i'd never cooked in a wok before i was a little scared but now that i've started there is no looking back. it was fun and i can't wait to try new recipes and creations in it. the meal turned out delicious and the night was so much fun with lois. we were able to catch up, watch a movie and she even gave me some decorating ideas.

who dat is?

that's just my babies daddy



happy birthday to the man of my dreams!!

"well, call the vatican! we got ourselves another immaculate conception!"

seriously intrigued

my younger brother sent me a link to american cupcake, he knows me well. aside from the cupcakes they also have a savory side to their menu. although there are several items on the menu i'd like to try there is one specific item that caught my eye. are you sitting down? if not maybe you should brace yourself... red velvet fried chicken. yep you red that right it's chicken dipped in red velvet cake batter then fried. sound delicious?? ok maybe not to you but really i can't wait to try. i'm excited to give this a shot since they blended a few of my favorite foods to what could possibly be the next big thing. weird to you but this might be perfect for me, fingers crossed it's not a disaster.

sweet potato fried delight

i know it was only a month ago that i wrote about city bistro but i returned for lunch today with elle. this time i ordered the sweet potato fries and they were worth every calorie they were laced with, elle and i already discussed trying to recreate these at home. we decided to order two different sandwiches and split them so we ended up with a california club type sandwich and a pork & steak sandwich smothered in bbq sauce. the food portions are huge and the atmosphere is fun and set to look like a deli in NYC. all food is cooked perfection so don't go if you're in a rush but i promise it's worth the wait.

and yes those are huge strips of bacon!

mmm good

the first meal i cooked at the new place. chicken breast in chaka sauce with steamed rice and sparkling cider. i didn't even marinate the chicken till the afternoon on the day i cooked it then threw it on the foreman. fast, easy and mmm good.

fireworks in oakland

don't think i don't think about the yummy food and fireworks at the a's games. in fact the only reasons i attend the a's games are friends, food and fireworks.

so glad i was able to hit up the game tonight and spend a little bit of time with my co-bff, her hubby and the griffins... don't think i don't think about it and don't think it don't get to me.

mexico tipico

alexis, one of our friends from work and i went to mexico tipico for lunch. i really love this place and i seriously don't even remember what i ordered but it was so so so good!! it was some type of chicken plate that i need to figure out what it was so i can order it again.

perfectly fried, every time

there are very few meals in this world that i like better than this famous fried chicken dinner. lucky for me i know the cook really well and she occasionally invites me for this amazing feast. i'm not sure how she makes her chicken such a tasty treat but she always seems to make a perfect batch every time. it's easily the best fried chicken i've ever had and that includes roscoe's. it's full of flavor yet uses only the bare minimum of ingrediants. i aspire to one day make chicken this good.


also served was homemade mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, biscuts and it was topped off with homemade ice cream. sorry i didn't get a picture but i was in a food coma and wasn't thinking clearly.

breakfast of a champion

there are no words but early or not it was good!!

stopped at jamba on my way to work for an orange dream machine and i paired it with leftover chips from last night. you know what they say breakfast is good for you so who am i to pass this up?

goonies never say die

tonight they played goonies so a group of us decided to go. they played the movie on a huge sceen on the beach. it was so fun but they had the sound up so loud that it was distracting. gotta love the boardwalk in the summer for free movies and free concerts!

silersun pickups

tonight before heading over to oakland for the silversun pickups show elle and i ate dinner with the griffins. lois had us over for homemade pizza to celebrate peters birthday. if you ask her the pizza didn't turn out but if you ask anyone else eating we'd all say it was a success. the toppings were plentiful, the sauce was great and the dough was fine even if lois doesn't think it was. next time maybe the slightest change to the dough but overall i thought she did an amazing job. after pizza we had carmel cheesecake and i'd like to say this was so so so delicious!! seriously lois is a champ for that cheesecake even if it was her first attempt she rocked the free world. once we were pleasantly filled we were off to oakland for our concert.

we took bart to oakland since it's so conveniently located.


the opening band wasn't very good so i'm not going to write about them but the next opening band was against me! i have their 'searching for a former clarity' cd and i was shocked when i found out they were on tour together. i like against me! but i wouldn't think that these bands would draw the same audience. i previously felt like they weren't exactly well matched but it actually worked. as for their performance sadly the sound was off, their instruments were too loud to understand the lyrics from most of their songs. elle and i are convinced that the fox theater does this on purpose so that the headlining band sounds better than the rest. even with the snafu in sound i enjoyed listening and i'd be willing to check them out again.


next up was silversun pickups and of course by this time the sounds was perfect. they sounded just like they do on their tracks but they were right in front of me. besides his voice being so unique and vibrant it was nice that they didn't chat it up between songs. if you don't have anything fun to say just sing and don't waste my time with your nonsenses. i thought the entire band did a great job but it was funny casue i noticed that all them members just stayed in one place. the singer moved around a little but he stayed in a straight line and only moved backward and forward... hahaha good times!

2 months = me ashamed

first off i cannot believe that a full two months have slipped by without attending a show. this is unheard of for me during the summer months. every year it does slow down late fall/winter but not in june or july. i've had a lapse of time between shows recently since my little sisters came for a 2 1/2week visit, i had a big birthday, had to find a new place to live and moving. even with these legit reasons i'm disappointed in myself for letting life interfere with my summer concerts! at least tomorrow i will break my concert drought, silversun pickups here i come.

don’t they look enthused to play for me?