Wellie Hack: DIY lace up boots.

Restyle a pair of rubber wellies for large calves, or just to spruce up a pair to wear around town. 

Start with a pair of wellies/rain boots to restyle. 

Measure 4" or what ever length of lace up you'd like. Then cut with sharp scissors. Measure where you'd like the grommets, metal fixtures for laces, and mark the placement on a strip of scotch tape. You can purchase a grommet kit at a craft store or large grommets are at hardware stores. 

Punch the holes out with a craft punch, I punched through the lining on the top as well to keep it folded down. 

Using the grommet kit place the fixture through the hole and set on a hard table surface or cutting board, careful not to place on a nice dining table or tears may follow this project. Place the grommet setting post on back side of grommet and lightly hammer. The post will curl the grommet over the rubber and voila! 

After you have hammered all grommets measure your laces to about 36" and laces through.

You are now set with a cute pair of side laced boots!

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Shopping for Local Vintage- Online

When you want to find a great piece of home decor that's not new--we're talking 'vintage' here, probably you check out the list by Craig for Los Angeles. Next time take a look at another venue that offers alot more than good ol' Craig: Apartment Therapy Classified. With colored photos to cruise through, and way too many listings, this a great rabbit hole to fall through on a rainy weekend. The listings are grouped by cities, so it's possible to drool over a teak table in San Francisco too, which may be a good way to plan your next trip there, based around checking out mid-century mod tables rather than cafes.

Cleaning out the storage unit? Apartment Therapy's site could be a great option for listing the victorian table your mom gave you now that you have found a better solution to the dining problem in your kitchen. I haven't tried listing here yet, so let me know how it goes. This site does require that you sign-up and enter your location to get the right listings for your neighborhood/location.

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My Big Fat Gypsy Tv Marathon

Every once in a while I watch a ton of tv and after the rough week I had and a crazy Halloween, a girlfriend of mine and I watched about 6 episodes of My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. 

For those who don't know it's now on Netflix Instant and centers on the big events in the American Gypsy community.  The gowns are incredible feats of tulle and crystal and the men's hair puts the bros of the Jersey Shore to shame. One thing I really like about the series is that it doesn't feel super judgmental nor sensational. But perhaps that is because it is based on the British series that was fairly straight forward. When your subject is as fascinating as the Romanichal community you don't need to fake it. 

There is no way I can watch a show featuring that much glitter and glam and not get a bit antsy for a bit of my own, not to mention I love crafting while watching. I guess I feel less like a lazy sod if I'm creating while I sit on my tuckus. I ran for the closet and grabbed a pair of chunky heels that were on their way out and got to gluing. Sure I only finished one but I guess the right foot will have to wait for the second season to be released. And wait I will for another round  of fueds, family and young love. 

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Pain in the Neck- Battling the Back

Two weeks ago I assisted my mother, newly retired, with installing ceiling fixtures for her craftsman bungalow. The following day it felt as though an ice pick had made its way into my shoulder blade. After heroic attempts at massage by the boyfriend, several hundred milligrams of ibuprofen and constant applications of Salonpas patches, I gave up and called a chiropractor. My first visit, 6 am due to my failure to get day off, was odd and a let down. X-rays were taken, weird machine hooked up to monitor breathing and a quick meeting with doc took two full hours. Two hours with no treatment. I wandered in the next day for the continuation and this time it also took 2 hours and no adjustment. This time I was instructed to use a lumbar stretching chair, then had my head strapped into a neck stretcher (seen above) and sat for 15 min in it. When is the last time you sat unrestricted by a phone, book or tv? Well I survived and they moved me on to an electrofeedback machine that feels like a light muscle spasm. 

Frustrated and still in pain I decided to go to Target and buy a new pillow, I am not getting great sleep due to my arms constantly falling asleep. I purchased a contour memory foam pillow that helps align my head comfortable to sleep on my back. Now I only wake up once a night with my arms falling asleep. 

My third appointment at the chiro started out the same with stretching and electronic stimulus. Then they moved me to a table that slides to stretch the spine. Finally I received an adjustment on my lower back. But in all honesty I just don't think I can handle a month of 6 am visits to the office three times a week. For one: that's prohibitively expensive and second: my time is way to valuable. Sure sure, I know that it's worth the effort to live pain free but I'm way too stubborn for this malarkey. 

Sitting on my lunch break yesterday, high on excedrin migraine for a blinding migraine, I made an appointment for my very first acupuncture. I'm looking forward to trying out a bit of eastern medicine. Who knows perhaps reiki is next! 

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A to Z USA- aka a lazy Sunday in Azusa CA

Nestled in the San Gabriel foothills, just 32 miles east of Hollywood, is the town of Azusa. A to Z usa is how it got its name. A small town that has a touch of the frontier and a dash of early and mid  20th century architecture. Sleepy little neighborhoods filled with Eicher-esque houses framed by elaborately pruned ficus bushes. 

This Sunday took us to Monrovia, just west of Azusa, on a work errand and since we were on that side of town needing breakfast we quickly looked to yelp for a greasy spoon. We headed to the best sounding breakfast joint on the list, Flappy Jack's Pancake House. How could we go wrong?! Well, there were dozens of people waiting outside for tables. We cut thru the parking lot and redirected ourselves to Flo's Coffee Shop on the historic Route 66. 

It was just what the doc ordered. Simple classic food in what looks like a former Mexican Restaurant. Handwritten signs advertising specials and Corona banners decorate the walls. We could have been roadside anywhere along Hwy66 and this would have fit in. Forget the hipster $14 Benedicts and bottomless mimosas, sometimes all you need are pancakes, eggs and coffee in a white ceramic mug. 

Bellies full of vintage style breakfast we decided to go vintage shopping as we stumbled upon Nit Pickers, an adorable vintage store on Foothill in Azusa. 

Inside we explored racks of vintage clothes and tchotchkes. I even found a gorgeous orange Bonnie Cashin coat from the 60's.  Win! 

Next time I head out east I'm going to make sure it's Saturday so even more of the awesome thrift and vintage stores are open. 

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What in the heck? Window shopping in hell. Aka Weho

Oh jeez wewhores is there no end to the design travesties? Found myself on the wrong side of town, the center, on my way to the Improv to see Jen Kirkman. And right there in the middle of Melrose  Sigh

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Proof- foofy pastries and killer coffee

Don't you love typing a huge wit laden blog post or email only to have it disappear as soon as you quickly check an email or take a photo? Take 2:

I found myself in Atwater Village today hungry and uncaffinated. I usually hit Bon Vivant or Kaldi on Glendale blvd just east of the 5fwy. But for today I thought I would finally try Proof, open for a while now but with hours that I do not tend to be in the area. 

As soon as I walked in the smell of coffee wrapped me up in it's promise of roasted chemical relief. A small number of pastries stared at me, no single one saying "girl you know I'm the one." So of course I settles on two- pain au raisin and almond croissant, my go-to choice. 

I knew that any establishment that smells like this must have perfect regular coffee. I save espresso for places that I don't trust to make a good cuppa. I was right, the coffee was that perfect brew, not too Britney and bitter and not to fruity sour. You might say Goldielocks picked the right mug today. As for the pastries, you raisin was a hit. Flaky but not the kind of flaky that ends up all over my shirt, almond croissant is probably deep within my cleavage. The raisins were sweet and plump. Win. Not enough almond in my almond croissant though. I like to know I'm eating almonds. I want a thick creamy layer of almond between buttery pockets of pastry. Sorry guys but no go on that one. Too dry and not enough punch for the $4 ticket price. In fact my only criticism is that all this cost me $10. An that's not even a prepared barista drink. Next time I'm just having the coffee. 

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Slightly burnt delights and soggy toast

Occasionally I get asked my culinary philosophy and my response is resoundingly,  "You can cook if you try." All that television food porn has made cooking food seem a lofty artistic goal that requires stainless steel full tang knives hand forged by blind monks and recycled bottle bowls endorsed by bleach teethed celebrities. Well shit why try right? "I always screw it up." "I can't follow a recipe." And "ugh cooking is too hard." are all bullshit excuses for not turning on your stove. I think I've followed about 8 recipes in my life. What's my method then? I read multiple recipes for each dish I want to try. I treat a new dish like its a vocabulary word. Learning to cook isn't instantaneous, it takes making mistakes to get a handle on it. I learned by tackling one dish at a time and as I went along I started to understand that certain things just click, like basil and tomato. 

As for fixing things- a dish usually has a blend of basic flavors. Like chords in a song. Say I'm cooking in the key of Thai, I'm going to be spicy, sour, sweet, a little salty and a tiny bit bitter. If I make a dish and it tastes blah I add lime, Thai food's sour flavor. If its still not there I add the heat, red chili paste, or salt, fish sauce or soy. If my dish is too hot- add sweet, agave or honey. To salty? Sour or sweet. See where I'm going with this? It's a balance of flavors and when it swings too far you just need to correct by adding the other flavors. But a warning: sometimes too much is just too much. I've had the lid to a salt fall off into a dish.  FAIL. 

But don't get down! Burn chicken? Oh well suck it up and set a timer next time. Start small and work your way up to the dishes with 25 steps. 

Happy burning! 

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Cheesy Instant Lunch upgrade

Holy college dorm lunch!!! I just saw a coworker blow my mind with his Instant Lunch upgrade. Add water to the noodles, once the noodles are soft dump the water, then add a packet of cheese from an Easy Mac kit. Mix well and add milk if you've got some or even a shelf stable coffee creamer and some hot sauce. Then eat it.  Yeeeeeeaya!!! Better noodles than Easy Mac and more filling. 

(Note: I don't vouch for the nutritional value of this meal)

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Bob's Big Boy- vintage date night LA style

My new beau took me out for quite possibly the most quintessential vintage vixen date: a drive in his classic Bel Air to the Burbank Bob's Big Boy, one of the last remaining in Los Angeles, for milk shakes and diner fare. 

I doned a black and white gingham circle skirt, black tee, black bow high heels and my vintage cats eye glasses and eagerly jumped into the bench seats of the huge land yacht. The amount of glass windows was incredible. Modern cars don't hold a candle to the visibility of this baby, aside from the pope mobile if course. Let me tell you, I belong in that dang car. The rumble of the engine, the wide leather bench, this was my kind of ride. 

My order: spaghetti with chili.  For some reason I've always ordered it. It's pretty straightforward, chili on top of spaghetti but dang it's good. I also had to have a cherry coke because at Bob's they make it with cherry syrup. He had a burger and chocolate malt. Perfect. 

After we polished off our meal we had a desert of ginger ales at his abode along with some 50's exploration films from YouTube.

Here's one we just couldn't resist, but it was painfully bad. 

http://youtu.be/H4sNSd1V6X0

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Truck Tamales- breakfast of second placers

It's 3pm on a Saturday, I'm hiding in my office on a stage at Sony slowly digesting the well intentioned catering provided by the show. Yes that's right, nearly every production in Hollywood provides free lunch, and even more provide breakfast AND dinner. Before you get all "you spoiled brats!" know this: we often work 14+ hours on set trapped in the same 20 foot square area unable to even escape to a gleaming coffee oasis known as 7-11 (you thought I was gonna say Starbucks huh?) 

Back to my 65 degree wooden snack filled "office." Lunch was fine, pretty dang good for free food. But I can't shake the memory of this past weekend's tamales. 

These delights can't be found and graded on yelp. Oh no. These babies were purchased from a cooler in the bed of a Ford truck. 

Friday and Saturday afternoons on my winding street in Northern East LA the high pitched call of a 14 year old girl can be heard echoing off the stuccoed hills. "TA-MAaaaLES! TA-MAaaaLES!"  When I hear the call I rush to put street legal pajamas and sandals on. At the bed of the truck I am given the choice of chicken or pork for a dollar a piece. 6 of each flavor steaming in the bag I rush home to dig in. To this day my favorite was the chicken mole, sold out this weekend. The rest of you saps can go ahead and wait 30 min for your table at some hip joint with Niman ranch bacon and organic cheddar grits, I'll have my breakfast local style on my couch catching up on Orange Is The New Black.  

Footnote: For those of you reheating your truck tamales I recommend steaming them. No micro! Two inches of water in a pot with a vegetable steamer basket or pasta basket boiled for 10 min.  

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The Über Organized Pantry- life hacks from my sister-in-law

I'm a terribly messy and chaotic person, perhaps it's the visual artist in me needing everything at hand or I'm just a hopeless disaster either way I need help. Luckily for me, and you, my sister-in-law is an occupational therapist with epic solutions to streamline life.

 

The biggest hack I learned from her is to organize my pantry in a way that makes perfect sense- by dish rather than ingredient. 

What does this mean? 

Instead of putting all your rice and pasta together and stacking your canned goods by tomato/bean/sauce etc, she puts everything that makes something Indian/Mexican/Italian together. Even better, she puts them in a colorful basket that acts like a drawer so you can see those pesky cans in the way back of the shelves. So, if you love making spaghetti, put the pasta, Parmesan, and marinara in  the same basket. Taco night? Salsa, beans, tortillas, taco mix and hot sauces can go together. My own little tip: with a sharpie label the tops of your cans for a quick and easy way to see what's what. 

This also helps you make your grocery list as you can easily see what is missing to complete a dish. No more "ah crud we can't make tacos because we forgot to buy salsa."

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Decor on a Dime: Mid-Century Mod & Other Vintages

Would you like a mid-century modern living room, but pulling home decor together isn't your strong suit? Often we end up with random finds and that all too familiar Ikea design vocabulary. Getting out to assemble a vintage inspired 'look' can take cash and time, luxuries we don't always have.

While Craigslist might showcase a few pricey pieces, making contact with the seller and then getting out to whatever neighborhood it is located in can be a real chore, especially when that Craigslist photo made it look alot better than it really was (dang, a wasted trip!).

If that is where you currently find yourself, then it's time to hit the thrift stores. Before becoming too frustrated, here are some classic and some lesser known sources for shopping vintage home decor:

GOODWILL: This old stand by is one of the few chains left that seems to have the space to carry furniture. Each store has its own strong points: big open area that is crammed with furniture? Lots of shelves for 'smalls'? Get to know which one near you is best.

OUT OF THE CLOSET: This store seems to get more random donations, and it often reflects the neighborhood, so venture out into the ones that seem to be set in the pricier 'hoods if you want quality goods. I have seen amazing things at the one in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd down the street from PCC.

COMMUNITY THRIFT, VALLEY THRIFT/AMVETS: Ready to leave town for this hunt? Going out the 210 Freeway past the 605 north end and you come to a number of huge thrift stores (lower rent district). Both Community Thrift (Covina) and Valley Thrift (was Amvets Azusa) feel very much the same: huge, pretty well organized, crowded. Be prepared to meet your competition at these active spots! We have walked away with some awesome finds with really low sticker prices.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY--RESTORE : Seriously, I don't know why I am sharing this with you. These are my 'ace in the hole' when I am looking for the unique, inspiring and super cheap. The big plus? They carry out-door stuff as well (yes, I have hauled home a trunk load of stepping stones). So if you go, don't buy up the place, leave a few things for me too!

PS, the photo here shows vintage furnishings found on the curb or at thrift stores, with the exception of that Ikea lamp.

PPS, when looking at furniture, please take care to give the piece a very close look, you don't want to bring home buggies and other little friends.

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Guisados- The 'Curated' Taco

In my 33 years in L.A. I've had a lion's share of tacos, from the simple an tiny authentic tacos with just pollo, onion and cilantro to the 2 a.m. Del Taco shame spiral covered in sour cream. But no taco had stolen my heart so completely as the  tacos at Guisado's in Boyle Heights. 

Guisado's not your typical taco joint. First off, you don't just pick from chicken, asada, al pastor, carnitas and lengua. Each taco is an art piece carefully designed. My personal favorite is the Tinga de Pollo, a spicy complex stewed chicken served on freshly made tortilla and topped with a wedge of creamy avocado. The tortillas are almost half of what make these puppies so dang good. Fresh freakin' masa people! 

Mole Poblano-

Tinga de Pollo

Cochinita Pibil 

Recommended Order: 

Get the six taco sampler. It features six smaller sized tacos of your choice. The menu has at least 12 tacos to chose from, the fish and shrimp are only available as full size. For those vegetarians out there they offer five different choices which is definitely a cut above the usual only quesadilla option you generally see. My order? Steak picado, mole poblano, Tinga, cochinita, chorizo, and chuleta. (These days I do 2 mole, 2 Tinga, picado and chorizo)

Also make sure to try one of the daily aqua frescas, for you gringos they are punches made from a variety of fruits; watermelon, cantelope, lime, hibiscus and the famous horchata (rice milk.)

Another note: Armando Jr. is also a curator, of art. The restaurant regularly features a local artist on their walls. 

For more info follow them

On Twitter @guisados

On Instagram @guisados

On web http://www.guisados.co/

Address- 2100 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave. Los Angeles 90026

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Bougainvillea Views: Gardening in L.A.

What is a hill top view of city without a few neon splashes of Bougainvillea? This hearty transplant from Brazil via Europe is well suited to our climate and scarce watering habits. While we see these everwhere, from well manicured versions on 1920's Mediterranean style mansions, to abandoned city lots, most wouldn't have a clue how to plant and grow one.

While I'm no expert, I can pass along a few tips to get your own piece of color going:

SITE: This girl likes alot of sun. Think: glaring, relentless light, and you have found the best spot for her. If you have a south or west facing front door, she will make you happy when you come home.

NEEDS: Like anyone in the sun all day, she needs some water, especially if young. But don't soak her all day or let her rot next to a leaking sprinkler head. On the other hand, keep an eye out: drooping leaves means she's over due for a drink.

HOW: You can grow this in the ground or pot. She likes to be 'root bound' so don't plant her with alot of space around the root ball. This is the place to mention that her root ball is really sensitive, so taking her out of the plastic pot she came in can be tricky. Try cutting the pot away from the root ball and setting the plant into a hole without spreading or tearing the roots. You could even set that black plastic pot into a bigger clay one, then pack soil around the 'gap' so it looks planted.

TYPE: Bougainvillea has many hybrids and colors these days. Some will grow tall with deadly, thorny canes reaching high up for a grab onto your fence. Other varieties grow low and wide, spreading out into neighboring bushes and festooning them with her blooms at a time when most plants are colorless.

RESOURCES: try this BGI site for lots of details and this article from Dave's Garden can give you more tips too.

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Workin' it at work- Vannieka

Everyday I work with Van I can't wait to see what she is wearing. As a talent coordinator for some big reality shows she needs boots made for walking and to still have style. Here she rocks a military styled blazer, striped/floral blue infinity scarf, stretch cargo pocket detailed jeans, soft oatmeal tee, a unique handmade fanny pack (gotta have that walkie belt, sharpies, and sunscreen on hand,) and irreverent pink and red colored socks peaking out from her black boots. Zoom in and check out those shades. Dang those are hot. Clear acrylic frames edged in black lines like a cartoon. 

Keep it up girl. 

Follow her style on Instagram @van_sneakas

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Workin' it at Work- Shannon

Here is Shannon, a production assistant on the Sony lot. She's paired comfortable brown riding boots with comfy stretch pants. Layered white tee and grey knit tank cover her up just enough to be stylish and still work-ready.  The denim vest is what really nails this casual western vibe. And of course, no P.A. worth her salt would forget a belt to hold the walkie. 

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Trinity knot- As seen on set.

One of my favorite people working at Shark Tank showed up to my table sporting this striking knot. It's pretty large and wouldn't suit a skinny neck but on an average to built guy it looks killer. 

Also note the combo of camel colored blazer, red striped shirt and burgundy plaid/purple tie. Yowza this outfit gets me all tingly. 

 For the full low down on how to tie this visit Black Lapel's post on the trinity knot. http://www.blacklapel.com/thecompass/ask-a-black-lapel-stylist-how-do-you-tie-a-trinity-knot/

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Twin Shadow- Confess

Twin Shadow stopped in Los Angeles as he wrapped up his North American tour and I missed it. BALLS. What a bummer. I'm pretty near terrible at remembering shows and knowing about them in the first place. I was actually super psyched about this show since his album, Confess, has basically lived on repeat all dang summer.  If you haven't heard him yet: here's a little taste of his magic. 

Five Seconds is a song that gets in way deep with a beat that feels like a Molly Ringwald movie but with way more motorcycles and grit. I could go on and on about how freakin addictive his music is but you'd best just take a listen for yourself.

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Tin Ceiling and Regency Sconce Reincarnated

I've always had a thing for tin ceiling panels likely from looking up in the restaurants of New York City imaging how old the panels must be. Often they are covered in coat after coat of paint but occasionally they gleam with rich patina.  I found my tin ceiling panels at an architectural salvage store on Mission just east of the L.A. river called Silverfox Salvage. Of course they are originally from upstate NY so they have delightful finds that one just doesn't find easily in Los Angeles. 

They were originally coated in several coats of lead paint. Gasp. So I attacked them with stripper, a heat gun and steel wool pads. First off: do not use heat gun on the stripper! I did the stripper first with the steel wool. Once I got what I could off I attacked the remainder with the heat gun. That seemed to be disastrous since the tin became extremely hot. DOH! But what was great about the heat gun was the patina it gave the tin. It ended up looking like it was ripped from a Victorian apartment. 

I put old photos I've found at flea markets and photo booth photos that just never seem right in a frame. Using clothes pins I can even clip flowers and objects to the edges. 

These two sconces have plagued me. I love the bronze tone and the scroll work but they never seem to go with my living room. They strike me as a bit to feminine for the public spaces of the house. Well why not embrace the femininity of it all and use them to hang and organize my necklaces?

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Pinup Hair How the heck?

I am cursed blessed with super curly hair with tiny tiny curls haloing my head and strange weak curls on top. So if I really really want my hair to look good for something and I don't want to risk the 'fro acting up I will blow dry and curl it into a bit of a pinup 'do. Now being a recovering tomboy I never quite learned to set the curls properly, so I am left to the big sister/brother we know as YouTube!
Shuffling thru hundreds of tutorials with obnoxious music and blah blah blah can be a time waster, so here is my favorite video how-to I've stumbled upon.




Now I'm gonna let my hair get almost dry and give this a whirl!

For my blow dry I'm obsessed with using, obviously, the Marilyn brush. 100% natural boar-bristle, this baby has changed everything for me. I also spray my mostly dry hair with Rusk Thermal Shine Spray to protect my hair and add shine.

All done and ready for the city. 

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You an me got d-issues.

 Water conservation has been drilled into me at a young age thanks to growing up in Los Angeles during a major drought, one that seems to stick around like party guests at 2am not getting the signals to go home. PSA's about turning off the faucet while brushing teeth and not taking 30min showers were sandwiched between Saturday Morning Cartoons. 

 My mom made us save our shower water and bail it out ourselves to the vegetable garden, a fantastic way to get you used to short showers. So it is no wonder that I'm pretty militant about my dish washing regime. Recently I was horrified as I watched a friend leave water running the entire time he washed dishes. He'd walk away from the sink and leave it. I won't even go into the fact that the water was only warm. Ugh. (I always use water so hot it almost burns.)

So little miss bossy pants showed him how to wash efficiently. My trick, learned by watching a caterer at work, is to have a little bow of hot soapy water to dip your sponge or brush into. 

I realize this seems pretty simplistic, "Jeez Miss Andy thanks for the incredibly mundane post today." But it's totally made washing dishes so much faster and I use hardly any soap, saving me money.  I suds dishes in order of size, utensils and service ware first, then small bowls and cups, plates and finally larger dishes and greasy pans. In the time it took you to wash the utensils and bowls the big pans have had a chance to soak.  Rinse the dishes as hot as you stand which cuts down on drying time and saves you from having all those dripping towels. After talking to the Mother about this topic she added another tip: sanitize and dry at the same time by sticking utensils, pans and other oven safe dishes in the oven and let the heat from the pilot light do the rest. 

Ok back to writing about hot dogs and strippers. 

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Why can't I quit you Slaw Dog?

Hidden along Lake Ave. in sunny Pasadena, 15 miles northeast of Downtown, are the purveyors of the coolest most over thought wieners in town, Slaw Dogs.  Much like the hamburgers with smears of essence of this and birds nests of fried organic purple onion that have taken over the brew pubs all over town, these dogs have kimchi piled high with fried egg, veggie dogs covered in mint ponzu ginger slaw, and even potato salad makes the toppings list. With surprising and creative specials that change often, you can go every day and have a completely different experience each time. My buddy Brian and I went one afternoon and almost couldn't pick just one from the epic menu. We compromised by agreeing to split two along with tater tots.  Seriously, how could we not get tots? We ordered the special which was beef topped with sweet potato fries, sirracha mayonnaise, bacon, kimchi and a single fried egg.  I love love love that fried eggs are the new Gorgonzola. Creamy, decadent, and full of delicious cholesterol, eggs on anything say, "I'm a hedonist and loving it." The second Dog was the Picnic Dog, beef wiener with potato salad, BBQ sauce, onion rings, and a dill pickle spear. Holy S**t I heart pickles. 

We got our dogs, promptly whipped out the camera and snapped away. The minute you see these creations you realize they are special. Crammed with so many ingredients it's hard to even figure out how to eat these suckers. They even have a dog on the menu that has so many toppings that they have to do away with the bun and just wrap it in a freakin' tortilla. It's on the verge of being as crazy as the Taco Town Spoof on Saturday Night Live.

I won't go into a whole food porn description of every single bite, but I will say that it was definitely indulgent, delicious, and worth ever fat cell now joining the jiggle party on my tush. 

They also have a location in Woodland Hills and they're location in Duarte also serves breakfast and sandwiches. Oh and I guess I should say that the DO have salads in the menu but I glazed over that part of the menu, I had serious eating to do. 

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Gaudi: Creative Ideas from the Master Mosiac Guy

It's Gaudi's birthday today, which reminds me to revisit his work as a source for inspiration. He made mosaics from found objects a trend way before 'recycle' was even a glimmer in our collective spirit. What better place to see his work up close and personal than Barcelona on a sunny spring afternoon.

After being immersed in the luxury of his colorful work, I take away with me flashing memories of glittering mosaics, rich in cobalt blues and the surprise colors of cracked pottery and glass, re-purposed into undulating cement benches that have remained glorious for a century.

Aren't these collages of colored crockery in cement inspiring? Maybe it's a good time to create our own pathway stepping stones, wall treatments or even a bench in the Gaudi style. Why not? LA has been using ideas from Spain for centuries.

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