ten years older

only 9 days away from my 31st birthday and although i was planning on posting this song then i thought why not early.  i figured that it was meant to be sine today the latest interview from jarrod was posted (link added below).  each time i listen to the devil's made a new friend i find that most of jarrod's lyrics hit really close to home on a very personal and meaningful level.  ten years older is about the pain of regret and the affects it has on us over time.  there are few things that i truly regret in life but this song makes me stop and think long and hard about those few things.  i feel like this song is pleading at me to make a change and live the remainder of my life regret free.

check out the latest jarrod gorbel interview

one day you woke up ten years older
you taken prison like a soldier
you left your home for what seemed noble
give anything to do it over

alone now, there must be some other way
to control how your anger turns into rage

cause i know, i know life's so unfair
used to escape under the brilliant glare
it's the high that conquered you
stole the soul from the friend that we knew

well everyday it's something else
divert the blame from yourself
cause you can never do wrong
feels so good to be alone now
for too long now you've been misunderstood
all alone now go and save yourself

cause i know, i know life's so unfair
used to escape under the brilliant glare
it's the high that conquered you
stole the soul from the friend that we knew

well are the rumors true?
did your family rescue you?
cause you pushed everyone else away
i've heard so many things
don't know what to think
did you really try to put it all to an end?

cause i know, i know life's so unfair
used to escape under the brilliant glare
it's the high that conquered you
stole the soul from the friend that we knew

phoenix

2 years ago today a french alternative rock band called phoenix released an album called wolfgang amadeus.  before the dropping of this (their fourth record) i had actually never heard of them but thankfully that has now changed.  if you were like me and somehow missed out on phoenix please do yourself a favor and listen to what you've missed out on the past few years.  i still find myself drawn to this cd and when i listen to it i can't help but feel a little happier.  here are my favorite tracks off the album:

wear your real eyes no you don't realize
what you say yes to but you say yes too

past and present they don't matter now the future's sorted out

know how to let it go, from a mess to the masses

salted-caramel ice cream from bi-rite

after dinner we stopped off at bi-rite creamery and treated ourselves to some ice cream.  my favorite was the salted caramel and it's because of the intense mouthwatering flavor.  both the salt and caramel where mixed to such perfection that i could taste them in every bite.  really all three of these flavors were wonderful and i would gladly pay $7.99 for another pint.

#35 check, only 86 left to go

dosa

alexis flew in for a visit and it was our friends bday so it was inevitable that we were going to celebrate.  i just didn't know how tantalizing our meal experience was going to be.  all three of us girls were craving indian food so i looked to my list of places to try in sf but after driving by it didn't like the type of place we were looking to eat at.  since was driving i had alexis log onto yelp and find us a different indian place in the city and she found a total gem called dosa.  we went to the location on valencia and got seated right away.  once i looked over the menu i was completely unsure as to what i should order.  i do eat indian food but this menu had nothing that i've ever hear of so i was a little worried but even more scared.  things sounded like i would enjoy tasting but still every item is be a gamble.

they brought these chips out to start off our meal, not sure what they are called but they are gluten free.  these chips were interesting but i liked them better when i dipped them into a sauce or ate it with the chick peas.

the starter we ordered call chennai chicken - boneless chicken marinated in straus yogurt with coriander & cumin.  i did enjoy this chicken but in comparison the rest of my meal this was last on the list.

channa bhatura - chick pea masala served with an over sized soft and puffy wheat bread or vegan poori.  i am absolutely in love with this dish!!  if i had known it was so delicious i would have eaten this as my meal

here is the over sized puffy bread or vegan poori, when you poke it all the air comes rushing out and it turns into a large flat piece of bread, this bread was such a fun surprise and tasted great too.

this is alexis's pepper chicken with coconut rice, poor thing it was very spicy!  it was good but the spiciness overpowered the dish.

here is the birthday girls meal, a paneer & peas dosa - filled iwth spiced grilled farmer's cheese, peas and cilantro.

and finally my meal was the masala chutney dosa - savory rice-lentil crepe with creamy spiced indian potatoes, cashew nuts blended with eggplant chutney.  can you tell how big this dosa is?  when i opened it up right in the center was a perfect pile of the potato mixture so i ate it by ripping off pieces of the dose and grabbing some of the mixture then topped it off by dipping it into one of my 3 sauces.  after eating this email i think i may be sold on southern indian cuisine over whatever it is i've been eating at the other indian places.

a fun fact about the evening is that dosa was on my list of 100 things to try in SF before you die and i had no idea.  thanks to alexis for her yelp skills she lead us to a must try restraunt in the city.

#67 completed only 87 to go

goldfish s'mores

never heard of these before but don't mind if i do.

they made a tasty snack for the long road trip home.

iceberg drive-in

my girthy pistachio milkshake from iceberg
 

top three reasons you should stop in and enjoy iceberg for yourself:

• the delicious milkshakes (i'm certain they make your favorite flavor), where even their mini is more often than not too big to finish in one sitting
• they make the best fry sauce
• iceberg has a rather large menu where you are sure to find something for everyone

cal bear champions

BYU vs. cal bears for the college premier division rugby championship.  it was my first rugby match and it was so fun.. even if i don't understand what i saw it was exciting to watch.

 after working up an appetite watching the game i ate both this grilled cheese sandwich and nachos, both equally delightful!

tucanos

after driving all night brenda and i rewarded ourselves with lunch at tucanos.

 alexis and a two other friends also met up with us so they too could enjoy the half priced lunch special.  we started with the mouthwatering brazilian lemonade.  if only i knew how to make lemonade as wonderful as this i think i could actually give up soda.

this picture doesn't look like anything special but believe me the grilled pineapple at tucanos is one of the best items on the menu!!!

here is a picture of some of the endless meat they sever table side.  although this visit was my least favorite of visits to tucanos it still satisfied my craving.  for some reason all the pieces of meat i got happened to be too fatty for my liking.

cream

while this ice cream sandwich was a nice treat it is not worth making a special trip into berkley.  now if you happen to already be in the area then yes off and get yourself on of these fun inexpensive treats for only 2 bucks.  one reason i was disappointed by cream was the fact that their cookies are just the pre-made pop in the oven otis spunkmeyer cookies.  while the cookies were indeed fresh it was a slight let down since they were not homemade.  the ice cream variety did help make up some of the difference and the ice cream itself did make my overall experience worth while.

throwback thursday - dust on the bottle

it's one of those things that gets sweeter with time

to this day i still can't get enough of this song and i love those rare occasions when it gets radio play.  i mean i have it on my ipod so i can listen to it whenever i want but when it plays on the radio it seems to be even more awesome.  i think it's because i like the idea that other people are getting to enjoy it as well.  as i'm writing this i think back to the first time i heard it and i just figured out why it has been one of my favorite country songs for so long.  i was introduced to this song by a boy a couple years after it's release.  hahahahhahaa i know it's lame but i totally had a crush on this boy who shall remain nameless.  yep that is it, i haven't thought about that in years but now i can picture it like it was yesterday.  i'm totally laughing right now because i never ended up dating this boy let alone going on a date with him.  i was much to chicken to let any one know i liked him but after all this time i still can't help but sing aloud.

pizza antica

just tried a small slice of pizza from pizza antica that my coworker brought me to taste.  he made his own creation but i was very pleased with the flavor.  the pizza had truffle oil and garlic instead of sauce topped with pancetta, fontina, potatoes and i'm not sure what other seasonings but it was good and it sparked my interested enough to share.  sorry the picture is so small!  like i mentioned before the piece was small and it wasn't until i took a few bites that i realized i needed a picture to share.

dis beat was bubblegum

ever since the song teach me how to dougie was released i've loved it.  it's a fresh jam with a bubblegum beat and i'm gonna dougie some more.

RIP m-bone of cali swag

sweet potato pie

ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked sweet potatoes
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 cup milk

directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees

boil sweet potatoes whole in skin for 40-50 minues or until done.  run under cold water and remove skin

using an electric hand mixer, combine the potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt and spices.  mix thoroughly then add milk and continue to mix. (i just threw it all together then mixed it, sorry paula deen for not reading your directions but i never do).

pour mixture into the pie crust

bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

"just how pretentious is this wedding going to get?" - m'lynn

i stole this picture off of a friends blog and just had to share.

this morning while hanging with my nephews my 8 year old nephew stopped on the news channel.  so i asked him "what's going on in the world" to which he replied "i'm not sure but i think the royal wedding is in a few days".  of course i informed him that the wedding had already happened, to which he replied "then why is it still on the news?"  touche little man touche

psycho donuts

dead elvis - the king’s favorite snack in donut form with bananas, bacon, peanut butter & jelly and a banana pudding filling. it’s a hunka hunka donut love from psycho donuts

the donut was interesting and worth trying but please split it with someone else, it's much to rich to eat alone.  these donuts are not nearly as good as dynomo dunuts in sf but these do have their own fun and crazy spin.  i'd say these donuts would not be anything special on their but with such crazy ideas they have made them unique and desirable.  the fun ideas aside the donut itself is no better than the average donut shop around the block.

my green curry needs a pick me up

green curry chicken that didn't turn out so well.  i used green curry paste, coconut milk and brown sugar but skipped the fish sauce and it just wasn't what it should have been.  i think part of my issue was the fact that i used a bag of frozen stir fried veggies and it sort of watered it down.  my belief is that the flavor would have still been missing something but it would have helped out at least a little bit.  don't worry folks i'm not giving up.. this will be done.

palo alto sol

for some reason i feel like i've hit up several new places to try and i have not been entirely satisfied with.  unfortunate for me tonight at palo alto sol was no different.  my meal was a complete let down even if i ate nearly every bite (i was hungry) but it left me thinking how they could get just simple things wrong.  for starters i wasn't thrilled about the chips and salsa but i did like that they brought 3 types of salsa to the table.  second their guacamole wasn't amazing but it was $9.50 (chevy's isn't even legit but they can pump out better guac).  they pilled on a heaping scoop of sour cream and the sauce was over powering plus the pork was extremely plain.  there was no flavor to my pork and at times it was tough since it was cubed before being cooked verses shredded after it's cooked and very tender.  ok that's enough complaining about my meal.  if it wasn't the for a bit i tried off of elles plate i wouldn't even give them a second shot by returning.  lucky for them that one bit i tasted was good.

rick's ice cream

i do enjoy the flavor the rich bold flavors at rick's ice cream and the inventive flavors they offer.  i think they could work a little on the ice cream itself and improve on the base ingredients.  if they did and it worked out i could become a fan.  don't believe everything you hear about this place good or bad just stop in and try for yourself.  i will return but will be trying the frozen custard.  below is a picture of my double scoop cone with pistachio and salted carmel ice cream.

ps their waffle cone was deceiving.. it smelled delicious but was rather average and they didn't have a good seal on it so my ice cream dripped and dripped.  they should tip the tip in chocolate to help their customers keep their shirts clean.

drive home from a weekend in redding

my sister: "you have 5 minutes to figure out what you would like to eat or you will have to wait until we get home"

my 6 yr old nephew: "i want french fries"

my sister: "u can't just eat greasy fries you've been sick, what else do you want?"

my 6 yr old nephew: "ok, i'll have a donut"

---------------------------------------------------------------

today my sister, nephews and i went to turtle bay in redding to explore and stretch our legs before making the long drive home.  here are a few pictures from our visit:

sundial bridge

what's your wing span?

cattleman's steakhouse

blue cheese bread

believe it or not this was my favorite part of the meal.  it was mothers day weekend and i was with my nephews so i treated my sister to dinner from cattleman's.  it took at least 2hrs to decide this is what we were eating after the fiasco's with my nephews not wanting to eat anything.  my sister had the stuffed mushroom appetizer and the steak and shrimp meal.  i ate a 1/2 rack of bbq ribs which were dry even after the mounds of sauce they were smothered in.  we split a baked potato and order of mashed potatoes so we could have some of each.  i was so stuffed from this bread that i didn't even touch my side of beans.

i feel the need, the need for speed

can you believe it's been 25 years since they released top gun?  i don't remember the very first time i watched it but i can tell you in the summer of 1991 while visiting family in alaska i watched this movie nearly everyday for four weeks.  the only reason my top gun streak stopped was because my cousin and brothers hid the vhs tape from me.  tonight with a group of friends we went to AMC in san jose where we watched top gun on the big screen to celebrate the 25th anniversary.  people were singing and quoting right along with the movie and it was hilarious to hear some of the lines that were used.

iceman: you two really are cowboys.
maverick: what's your problem, kazanski?
iceman: you're every one's problem. that's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. i don't like you because you're dangerous.
maverick: that's right! ice-man, i am dangerous.

carole: hey, goose, you big stud!
goose: that's me, honey.
carole: take me to bed or lose me forever.
goose: show me the way home, honey.

for the record tom cruise you are a really sloppy and bad kisser, for real watching the kissing scenes on the big screen will make you want to puke.