The most tempting peach tree

I saw this amazing peach tree in my neighbors yard. The peaches looked so rip and luscious like they were from the Garden of Eden just tempting me to take one. Then I saw this sign -
No fruit for me, no fruit for you and definitely no fruit for Cathy!

The odd couple in Beverly Hills

I spotted this couple in Beverly Hills. He looked old enough to be her father, she looked like a mail order bride. She was carrying a LV bag on her arm.
Take a closer look at the dog in her bag -
It's FAKE!!! Who the heck carries a stuffed animal in a bag like that? So strange.

The McMansion Makeover

What do you do when your orange McMansion won't sell?You paint it!

It looks so much better don't you think? Hopefully it will sell soon.

Interested? I know you are at least curious about the price. Click here to satisfy your curiosity.

Crustacean, Beverly Hills

Every once in a while Q and I decide to go to a Beverly Hills restaurant and this weekend we chose Crustacean. While we waited for a table in the lobby we spotted Magic Johnson, he's kind of hard to miss. He towered over everyone and he had on an awfully out of fashion suit, it was a yucky brown color with a very bright with an oversize pinstripe. I know he's a tall man but the jacket was way to long on him like it was 1995. Poor guy, as much as he is worth you would think that his people would dress him better. Please Magic, if you googled yourself and you found this post, CALL OSWALD BOATENG! That man will make you a beautiful custom suit that is current!

Back to our meal.
We were seated outside with a view of Sprinkles across the street.
There is something really special about the light in Beverly Hills.
I started with the corn and crab soup. It was very mild and could use more crab. I'd skip this dish next time.


Q and I split an order of the famous garlic noodles. $11.50 for this dish? Don't get me wrong, it's really good - they may not photograph very well but these noodles are infused with garlic. They are very flavorful but still not worth $11.50 if you ask me. One order is plenty for two to share, some entrees come with the garlic noodles be sure to ask so you don't order extra.
Then for my entree I ordered an asian tapas dish - Crustacean Surf and Turf Roll - grilled steak, coconut prawn, asparagus, shitake mushrooms, avocado, cilantro, spicy aioli, garlic lime drizzle. Whew, that's a lot rolled up into a little package. The only problem is that whatever they use to wrap it all up with (some sort of black rice paper) is too thick and it overpowered all those delicate ingredients. The strongest flavor on the plate was the garlic lime drizzle.
Q ordered the ratatouille eggplant with tofu and ginger - so fresh and colorful! He loved it and I loved it! I kept picking at his veggies, the eggplant and tomatoes were the best!
He also ordered a side of the gingered brown rice with pesto. Wow! I could make a meal of this dish alone! Skip the famous garlic noodles and order this instead - plus this dish is only $4.50
I don't know that we'll go back to this place anytime soon. First of all, you really need a reservation to get a decent table and we don't really plan ahead that well. We went there on a whim and we were lucky to get a table at all. For what we paid, there are better restaurants right here in Studio City so why even bother making the drive when we don't have to. There was just nothing that special that made me say wow we really need to go back there except for maybe that brown rice and that's still not worth the drive.

You put pumpkin in my chocolate?

These are THE best low-fat chocolate muffins ever! I saw this recipe on the Hungry Girl weekly newsletter and it caught my eye, mostly because it has only two ingredients - a cake mix and a can of pumpkin, really that's it.
To make the muffins you have to completely ignore the cake mix directions on the box, so there's no oil and no eggs. According to this recipe you just mix the can of pumpkin into the cake mix. I added 1/2 cup of water because the batter was just too thick for me.

(not so pretty I know, but stay with me)

The muffins after baking -




So chocolaty and delicious! You would never know that there is pumpkin in the muffin. These are great out of the oven, but I find that they taste even better the next day. Hungry Girl says that this recipe makes 12 regular muffins - I made 18. I guess I could have filled the muffin shells a little more. I'd invite you over to try one, but Q doesn't like to share my muffins! Go ahead and make a batch - you can thank me later.

It's all business in the front

It's all business in the front, but it's one heck of a ponytailed party in the back. A mullet in LA. I had to share because it's just not something you see around here very much.

A new batch of Runyon Canyon Flowers

I went to the canyon yesterday with Q and I saw so many new flowers in bloom that I brought my camera with me this morning to photograph them all. Don't ask me what kind of flowers they are because I'm clueless in that department - I just like to take pictures of them.click on any photo to enlarge

and I couldn't resist a shot of Day-Z!

Like flowers? Check out my previous posts here and here.

Petco, Studio City

After all of those tasty Natural Balance samples, I had to take Day-Z on a shopping trip to Petco for more.
(This isn't the actual petco in Studio City, I was just having a little fun with Photoshop)

The sign at the main entrance of the Studio City Petco does say that "Leashed pets are always welcome". Day-Z couldn't wait to go in there.

Day-Z followed me around with the shopping cart.She found the Natural Balance meat rolls right away.

We loaded up on a couple bags of the Ultra Premium dry food - and it was on sale!
She loved shopping but once we got in line to pay she started to get scared like we were at the vet or something. I need to take her out way more often, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a monthly trip to Petco.

Recycle this.

It happens pretty much every Thursday morning around here. I see people going from recycle bin to recycle bin picking out anything with a CRV refund. They gather all the plastic, glass and aluminum and stack them all on a grocery cart. If you collect enough it can really add up and some people actually make a living doing this. I was walking Day-Z and I saw this guy making his weekly collections a few streets over from us.
This particular guy didn't use a shopping cart to schlep around his goods. He loaded up his bags into his gas guzzling ford explorer.

Seems kind of silly to me.
How many extra bottles and cans does he have to collect just to pay for the gas he is using driving up and down every block?

Fun with Natural Balance Samples (part 4)

We're down to the last Natural Balance dog food sample. Day-Z thought she should eat in the area off the kitchen that Q and I jokingly call "The Cafe". We have our morning coffee in "the cafe" on the weekends and pretend we are at a very exclusive coffee shop. The table was a prop on a television show that we bought for 5 dollars.

Even though Day-Z will be having the super fancy sounding "potato and duck" variety of Natural Balance, she'll be eating at her normal spot and not at the grown up table.
The potato and duck formula is really good for dogs with food allergies. I read a few of the testimonials on the Natural Balance web site and many of them mention the benefits of this potato and duck formula.
I wasn't sure if Day-Z would like the duck flavor. What was I thinking?
After Day-z finished her meal, she took a moment to reflect back on how delicious all four of the samples were.



Poor Day-Z looks so upset that this little experiment is over.
She's all like "really, that was the last bag? Say it isn't so"

Well, it's not quite over. I've decided to take Day-Z on a shopping trip to Petco and of course I'll be bringing the camera!

Boob Job Bargain?

This billboard is very disturbing to me on so many levels.I always think that you pretty much get what you pay for, and a $2999 boob job sounds like a hack job to me.

Fun with Natural Balance Samples (part 3)

We're down to two Natural Balance samples left and today Day-Z wanted to try the Sweet Potato and Fish Formula.I know what you are thinking - you thought only cats like fish, right?

Wrong - dogs love fish too!

As I was pouring the Natural Balance sample into the bowl, Day-Z let me know she wanted to eat her breakfast by the pool.



She said that having her breakfast by the pool reminded her of the ocean and it was only appropriate since she was enjoying salmon. Natural Balance makes this variety with fresh high quality salmon not commonly used in pet foods. This fish and sweet potato formula is made specifically for dogs prone to beef, poultry or lamb allergies. This variety is also great for dogs with grain allergies (it's grain free). Did you know that the number one ingredient in most dog foods is corn meal? Corn is pig food, not dog food! The number one ingredient in this dog food is easily digestible sweet potatoes and second is salmon.


I personally think that Natural Balance should change the name of this variety from "Sweet Potato and Fish" to "Sweet Potato and Salmon" it just rolls off the tongue so much better.

Today after her breakfast, Day-Z decided to hide in the shrubs with her sqeaky toy and watch the hummingbirds. Awwwwwwww, I wish I could hang out with for the day but I'm off to work.

Attack of the Hummingbirds

My neighbors bottlebrush tree is in full bloom and my kangaroo paw shrubs are also really lush right now and hummingbirds love them both. I got a few shots, but I sure wish I had a better camera.

Don't you just love spring!

Fun with Natural Balance Samples (part 2)

With only three samples of Natural Balance dog food left to choose from, Day-Z was quick to pick the Organic Formula tonight.I love the organic formula, it's made with free-range chicken! Some of the other notable ingredients include organic brown rice, organic flaxseed and they even snuck in some organic carrots (but don't tell Day-Z she's eating carrots!)
She couldn't wait for me to pour the sample out into the bowl.


She loved it so much she was checking the floor for any spillage -

Dogs can smile, right? I'm sure that they do, just look at Day-Z in the photo below for proof. Now that's one happy girl.

How much did I spend to fill my gas tank? The answer!!!

I paid $3.999 a gallon for gas for a total of $39.77.

The closest guess came from ZombieMom with a guess of "right around forty". When you have a moment check out her blog Purses and Poop - she is an inspiration! Not only does she have a toddler, and an infant, she also works, and she recently lost an amazing amount of weight, plus she's training for a half marathon! When does she have time to blog?!

Not only did ZombieMom have the best guess, she also gave us all a good website to check out - gasbuddy.com. I found out that the cheapest gas around this area is only $3.79, had I checked gasbuddy.com first I would have saved $2.08!

Thanks everybody for playing along!

You know, the house with the dead grass....

"You know, the house with the dead grass...." is how I would always describe this house to Q.

Our conversations were usually something like this -

"You won't believe what I saw at the house with dead grass today.

What?

Now they have remote controlled cars and they were playing with them in the street and almost hit me and Day-Z. She was ready to grab that car and tear it to bits.


You should have let her!" (true story!)
I always knew something fishy was going on with this house. It's one of those McMansions here in the Tujunga Village section of Studio City that took a while to sell. A family moved in and I didn't really like them from the start. They always had crap in their front yard, tons of toys with all the cardboard boxes everywhere. They never watered their yard, which is fine if you have xeriscaped, but they just had dead brown grass, weeds and dead roses. They would spend money on things like a pool table and a separate ping pong table and yet they wouldn't spend any money on things like window treatments, that's why I know all their business.

They also had 6 different business names stuck on their mailbox, pretty suspicious don't you think. So I can't say I was surprised when I saw this notice on the front window of this house.

I don't know if they were renters that were evicted or if they bought the home and defaulted on the loan, either way I'm glad they are gone. Right after I took this photo one of the neighbors told me that they thought that the people that just moved out were gypsies. Hopefully that's all they were. I can't help but wonder if they bought all those toys on other peoples credit....

Fun with Natural Balance Samples

I received 4 samples of Natural Balance dry dog food, Day-Z LOVES the dog food rolls so I was very excited to see what she thought of the dry dog food. I decided to have some fun with Day-Z and let her have a different sample every day - and Day-Z gets to pick what variety she'll try. I laid out all four samples on the floor and waited to see which package she would go to first.
She picked the original Ultra Premium formula! Then she waited patiently for me to pour it in her bowl.

She ate that Natural Balance dog food so fast she came out blurry in all the photos!
and then she waited for more -

I'd say this Natural Balance dry dog food is a big hit with Day-Z wouldn't you? I can't wait to see what variety she picks next.

How much to fill my tank?

Let's play a game shall we? Why don't you guess how much I spent to fill my Prius gas tank. I don't have a prize for you but I'll be sure to announce the winner of the non-prize and I'll link to your blog.

I have a small tank, my warning light was flashing to get gas and I could only get 9.9 gallons in there - but I've never spent this much on gas before. When I first bought my car it would cost about $27.00 to fill the tank, now..... the difference is shocking. Thank goodness I get about 40 MPG!

So how much do you think I spent to fill my tank? I'll give you a hint - I filled my tank in Glendale CA with regular unleaded.

I'll post the answer and the winner Monday night!

It's Hotter than Haiti!

It was 89 degrees at 11:00am in the valley this past Saturday.




So Q and I hit the road and headed to Haiti




A Haitian restaurant that is. I've actually been to Haiti, I went as a young girl with my grandmother and grandfather. It was a port of call on a cruise we were all on. I don't remember much about Haiti except for the poverty. It was the first time I saw a real shanty town. It made a lasting impression on me. I wish their government would get their act together. They have some beautiful beaches and could really thrive on tourism, but that won't be happening for a while.

So for now I'll play tourist at Tigeorges Chicken.

It's not in the best neighborhood, but I've been to worse so it's nothing to really worry about.

When we first sat down George himself came over to our table. Photo by Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times

He let us know right away that he doesn't serve any alcohol but we could go to the corner store and buy whatever we liked and bring it back. BYOB with no corkage fee...love that. We didn't take him up on his offer but it's nice to know.


The plantains topped with some sort of spicy pickled cole slaw. The plantains were a little bland but that cole slaw was T.D.F.D ! (to-die-for-delicious)
Q wanted to try the red snapper but George just ran out. He prepared a traditional Haitian breakfast for Q that had included herring, peppers and onions all sort of stir fried together. Q loved it!

I had the traditional chicken that George is known for. The meat falls off the bone almost like when you use a crock-pot to cook something and he gave me more of that amazing pickled cole slaw on the side.


We decided to try some of Georges home grown Haitian coffee after our meal. We would have tried dessert but we were too full!


The coffee is really more like an espresso or a cuban coffee - it was rich and thick with a nice thin foamy top.George sells he coffee by the pound for $18. If you are coffee aficionado, I dare you to try this and not be impressed. It's better than any Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee that's for sure!

Did I mention there was a live band there? I didn't get any shots because Q and I were too busy having a good time listening to their music! They play on Saturdays from 4-6, bring a few extra bucks to put in their tip jar.

The only weird thing about Tigeorges is that he closes so early, 7pm on Saturday. So eat like a senior citizen - early!

If you want to know more about the man behind this restaurant, George was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times.

Lucky Lady

I don't know who this man bought flowers for - but she is one lucky lady! Viva Viagra!

Axe that.

When I lived in North Hollywood we would have people park by our house (we were on a corner lot) and they would have "relations" in their cars.

How do I know this?

Sometimes they were bold enough to start the "relations" in the early evening while it was still light outside, right there in front of my kitchen window! Don't y'all wish I was blogging back then because you know I would be taking pictures! Sometimes they would leave evidence, and by evidence I mean disgusting used condoms right there in the street.


Cut to 4 years later I'm walking Day-Z in lovely Studio City this morning and what do I find? Take a look -


I'm sure I looked like a crazy person because I just started laughing really loud when I saw this arrangement. Then I took the camera out and had to share it with you! The used Trojan was nowhere to be found - thank you!

Two things I know about the guy who left this behind - he wants to smell good and he is concerned about HER pleasure. Unfortunately this guy is also a litterbug, which for me is a total turn off!

I wanna whip his behind

Latarian likes to do bad things, he got caught doing something REALLY bad and he'll tell you all about it.



He may like to do bad things, but at least he's honest.


I wanna whip his behind, if I thought they wouldn't take me to jail that's what I'd do right now - Latarian's Grandma

Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day

Don't forget, today is free cone day at Ben and Jerry's!The cone might be free, but remember this event is about supporting local charities so bring a couple of bucks for a donation. I might stop at the Ben and Jerry's in Burbank on my way home from work. Click here to find a participating scoop shop near you.

Disneyland again!

While all the cool kids were at Coachella this past weekend, Q and I went to Disneyland... again! Yes, we had to. Twice within in one month? Really, we absolutely had to. Why? It's 2-fer time! Local California residents get special discounts at the park including 2 parks for the price of one called 2-fer. The only hitch is that you can't visit both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure) on the same day. It's kind of a good thing and kind of a pain in the ass. It's a good thing for a Disney newbie like me because I really wanted to take in all the cheesyness of the original Disneyland Park in one full day, so for me both parks in one day would have been way too much to try to see and do. The 2-fer special is kind of a pain in the ass because we had to get up early and get down there on a whole separate day and pay for parking ($11) again.

So here we are enjoying the second park -

I wasn't about to try and take photos on the roller coasters, so I took this shot of Q waiting for this orange swing ride thingy to start -
Then I made him take my photo -

The High School the Musical Float made the rounds around the park several times.Every so often it would stop and the whole fake HSM gang would break out into song.

Yes I'm a fan!
The California Adventure Park is smaller, we were done by 2pm. We headed over to Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen for a lovely late brunch. We had an even better meal this time, that post and photos to come.

You can't have it

Don't even think about taking this lawn jockey...
I know it's hard for you to resist the urge so the owner of this lawn jockey has taken measures of security.
So there, you can't have it!