So my birthday is next Wednesday and I will be turning 26 (gasp!).  To celebrate I want to get some tapas at Bar Celona in Pasadena.  Click here if you want to add yourself to the evite.

I'm going to the Hollywood Business Expo tonight at the Renaissance Hotel.  More than 80 exhibitors participate which will feature some of the most popular entertainment, hospitality, museum, boutique, travel, restaurant, and night club and sports venues and businesses in Southern California.  There will also be an abundance of fine food and hors d’oeuvre samples included as well as a complimentary martini bar, raffle prizes and a DJ.  Should be lots of fun if you can make it.

Yesterday went to happy hour at Border Grill in Santa Monica.  Appetizers and margaritas are $3 until 7pm.  Their mojitos and sangrias are pretty good too.  We ordered the green corn tamales, plaintain empenadas (not so good), and the chicken panuchos (yummy!).  I love happy hour now...I can go out and still get home early enough plus the food and drinks are so much cheaper. 

Tuesday night we had dinner at Il Sole in West Hollywood.  We were seated in the wine room which was pretty cool and a little quieter.  I had the Linguine ai frutti de mare paired with a pinot grigio (my new favorite white wine).  Both were excellent.  The atmosphere is very trendy and hip but a little pricey.  Afterwards we went for some martinis at Lola's...their cantalope martini is so delicious!  The chocolate one isn't bad either.  It was a little hard to choose as their martini list is quite extensive.  They even have a pool table.

The usual weekend update:

Friday:  went to a friend’s housewarming party…played some Texas hold’em poker where I lost all my money…watched 16 Candles and Pulp Fiction

Saturday:  volunteered with the Santa Monica Baykeepers as part of Coastal Clean-up Day.  Spent 3 hours on a kayak with a little net and some bags fishing trash out of Marina del Rey.  They served us breakfast and lunch (some burritos from Chipotle) and there was a raffle for some prizes…got a beach bag and a blow up beach ball.  Afterwards went to meet up with some friends at the Lobster Festival in San Pedro’s Ports O'Call Village.  They have a lobster dinner for $17 or 2 lobsters for $29.  The entertainment was a Queen cover band and also bellydancers and poi (fire) dancers.  Later that night met up with some other friends at the Mai Tai Bar in Long Beach.  They had happy hour until 11pm so we got our drink on.  Took an Irish car bomb shot for Scott’s 30^th birthday.  Man you’re getting old…j/k.  Finished off the night at Smooth’s Sports Grille for some dancing on their upstairs patio.  Went over to the bf’s place and woke him up to open the door for me…slept at 4am.

Sunday:  lunch at On the Border…pretty good Mexican food…their chips and salsa are really fresh and yummy.  For dinner the bf and I cooked together.  I made Chicken Parmigiana while he made the garlic bread and pasta with marinara sauce.  We opened up a bottle of Quivera Sauvignon Blanc that we bought in Sonoma…I think when I have my own place I definitely have to get a wine fridge…there was a slightly bitter aftertaste to the wine which I don’t remember which was probably due to it being exposed to too much heat.  In retrospect, we probably should have paired this meal with a red wine.  Here’s the recipe:

Chicken Parmigiana

1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs with garlic and Italian herbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 egg

4 pieces of skinless boneless chicken halves

1 Tbsp. olive oil

8 oz. marinara sauce

¾ cup shredded Mozarella cheese

In a shallow dish combine the dry breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Dip each chicken breast in beaten egg then roll in breadcrumb mixture until evenly coated.  Heat up olive oil in a frying pan.  Cook chicken 7.5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink in the middle.  Spoon marinara sauce over chicken.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and heat until melted.  Serve with pasta and garlic bread.

I was tagged by sukanya so here goes...my 5 out of the ordinary habits

1.  I like to walk around naked when no one is home.

2.  I can watch 24 hours straight of Chinese kung fu movies dubbed in vietnamese.

3.  I don't like talking on the phone unless absolutely necessary...I prefer email or IM...sometimes I'll IM even if you are sitting right next to me.

4.  I like to use elipses...even when a period would be more appropriate.

5.  When I drink coffee I have to have lots of cream and at least 6 packets of sugar.

Sorry my list is pretty lame...I guess I'm more ordinary than I thought.  So to perpetuate the misery I will tag lannyhsu, Rockstar_Jess, dragonflies1004, june850, DigitalChick.

So update on my week so far...started taking salsa lessons on Monday nights at Stardance Studio in Lomita.  I've taken a lot of intro dance classes before but I wanted to pick one dance and learn it more in depth.

On Tuesday night, I went to happy hour at Q's Billiards in Santa Monica...from 4-8pm they have $3 beers, $10 pitchers, $4 well drinks, and 1/2 off appetizers...the jalapeno poppers and quesadillas are pretty good.  Later we hung out in West Hollywood at our usual haunts...Rage, Mickeys, and the Abbey.  Feeling hungry again, we went for our second late night happy hour at Fat Fish from 10-11 where they have $4 wines, $4 fruit margaritas, and $4 rolls.  It always pays to be friendly to the bartender...especially when they give you free drinks  

The next night I attended a mixer at Cinch...it was a very interesting crowd of older Europeans.  There's an upstairs section that is more of a lounge/club atmosphere.  Afterwards, we went to Trastavere on the 3rd St. Promenade for a late night pizza dinner. 

Yesterday, attended a free movie screening of Thumbsucker at the Sunset Laemmle.  It's an interesting independent film that's a cross between Napolean Dynamite and Garden State.  The plot itself is somewhat mediocre but there are some funny scenes with Vince Vaughn, Keanu Reeves, and Benjamin Bratt.  Pretty much the theme of the movie is that we're all messed up in some way and that it's ok to be that way.

TGIF...yay for the weekend!

Happy 29th Birthday Samantha!

This girl knows how to celebrate in style...renting out the Cypress Room at the Pasadena Sheraton for her Roaring 20's themed gala.  There was a costume contest for those dressed up as flappers and gangsters, casino tables with blackjack and poker, and a bumpin' dancefloor.  The typical hotel fare (pork tenderloin and halibut) was actually pretty good here.  It was truly a fun and memorable night (too bad the bday girl didn't remember most of the night after all those rounds of Patron shots )

Here are some pictures (excuse how I look...I forgot my makeup bag that weekend)

The decorations...she had pics of 20's flappers as placemats and cookies that she baked herself as party favors

The girls

The birthday girl and me...getting freaky on the dance floor

The costume contest contestants...the three winners

Went to the driving range yesterday...I'm so frustrated with my golf swing...very inconsistent.  I took a video of it so hopefully I can analyze what I'm doing wrong and fix it.

Some reviews:

The Spanish Kitchen:  styled after an authentic spanish hacienda with waitresses in costume.  We tried oyster shooters for the first time...it has an interesting texture to it.  For the entrees we ordered the red snapper and chicken fajitas...it's a little pricey for just decent food but the ambiance makes up for it.

Montmartre Lounge/The Day After Club:  a little difficult to find as there is no sign...pretty big club with a huge outdoor patio...I know drinks are expensive in hollywood but $13 a drink is a ripoff.

Victoria Gardens: a new outdoor mall in Rancho Cucamonga...the inland empire's version of Fashion Island.  Lots of good stores...too bad my feet were hurting too much from my shoes to really enjoy shopping

Hakata Ramen Shin Sen Gumi:  really good tonkatsu style ramen (broth stewed with chasiu pork bones and garnished with green onions and pickled ginger)...they let you totally customize your ramen by letting you pick the firmness of the noodles, amount of oil, special toppings, and strength of the broth.  Service here is excellent.  The side dishes gyoza (really tiny) and chicken rice ball were good too.

EDIT:  So I guess the new airport themed club LAX is more hype than anything...just because DJ AM, Nicole Ritchie's fiance is a co-owner.  The bacon quiche, teriyaki chicken skewers, and spring rolls that they were serving as free appetizers were really delicious so it was worthwhile.  Had dinner at Fabiolus Cafe beforehand...pretty yummy Italian food.

I'm going to this event tomorrow...part of the proceeds will go towards helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina so it's a good cause.  It'd be fun to see some xanga peeps there

Backpacking the Grand Canyon for the Labor Day weekend

We did the triple rim hike from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the north rim and then back.  In total, we hiked 48 miles with a vertical loss and gain of 4 miles in 3 days with about a 25 to 30 pound backpack.  We had to deal with drenching rain to temperatures of over 100 degrees...in the shade! 

I flew into Phoenix to meet up with my hiking buddies on Friday afternoon.  It was a 4 hour drive from there to the Grand Canyon with a stop at Cuisine of India in Sedona for dinner.  After a night spent at the Yavapai Lodge and a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese we started at Bright Angel trailhead around 9am.

On the first day we hiked about 10 miles to get to Bright Angel campgrounds which is pretty developed with flush toilets.  There are rest stops at 1.5 miles and 3 miles before you reach Indian Gardens which is a nice picnic area about halfway down to the river.  Here's a picture of the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

It was nice to soak our feet in the creek which was close by to our campsite.

We even saw a doe with her two fawns up close.

The second day we continued on our trek passing Phantom Ranch (where the less outdoorsy can stay at a room in the lodge and drink beer).  It was a 7 mile hike passing by Ribbon Falls and Asinine Hill to Cottonwood campgrounds where we dropped off our backpacks.  We then did a 14 mile roundtrip day hike up to the North rim passing by Roaring Springs.  You get a pretty nice view from Coconino Overlook

Here I am at the top by the North Kaibab trailhead which is actually in another state...I hiked from Arizona to Utah!

We didn't get back into our campground until pretty late.  The stars at night in the canyon are so beautiful and bright without the light pollution.  We got up very early around 3am the last day since we had to carry our packs back 17 miles. 

The gorgeous sunset.

We didn't get back to the top until almost around 7pm on Monday.  To reward myself I had a huge steak dinner in Flagstaff before driving back the rest of the way to Phoenix.  The best part was taking off my hiking boots and taking a hot shower.  After sleeping for 3 hours, I had to get up at 4am to catch an early morning flight today back to LA and then head directly to work.  My body now aches in muscles I didn't even know I had but it was worth it.

EDIT:  I wish I could do more to help the Katrina hurricane victims besides just donating money...I can't even imagine what it must be like to be homeless, losing loved ones and all your possessions, not having food, water, electricity...all the things we take for granted.  I'm disappointed in myself that I was even thinking about whether I'll still be able to go to Mardi Gras next year as planned and about how much gas prices will go up when there are people out there who are suffering so much.

Highlights from the weekend:

• Dodgers lost to the Astros 2-1 but at least I got to enjoy some hot dogs and nachos and doing the wave
  
• thai food at Mix Bowl Cafe in Pomona
  
• jambalaya and gumbo at Uncle Darrow's in Marina del Rey...voted best cajun/creole food by LA magazine
  
• went to Ivar...it was cool to randomly run into different groups of old friends
  
• played volleyball, relaxed in the sun, and then cooled off in the water at Manhattan Beach
  
• margaritas and fajitas at Cozymel's
  
• happy hour at El Torito...more margaritas and 1/2 priced appetizers

Yesterday, I went to a Metal Skool concert at the Key Club.  This was my first time ever going to a heavy metal concert since I don't really listen to that type of music...definitely an interesting experience.  It was cool getting the VIP treatment....free parking, no cover and no waiting in line, free drinks, hanging out in the VIP room, going backstage to the green room and meeting members of the band, getting introduced to the manager of the club, etc.  The band is totally outrageous and their act is pretty hilarious...imagine a lot of cussing, girls flashing their boobs, guys making total asses out of themselves.

It seems like all I do is eat and drink and yet my alcohol tolerance is so low now

Monday:  went rock climbing at Beach City Rocks gym...ugh I'm so out of shape.

Tuesday:  went to a Media Bistro event for writers at Flora Kitchen.  This is a cute cafe that is actually also a real florist shop.  It was nice to hang out by the pretty flowers and of course the open bar and free appetizers were pretty nice too   I was really buzzed though after 3 glasses of wine so we walked over to Luna Park for some late night snacks and coffee.  Their curry pork satay was pretty yummy!

Wednesday: went to an L7 social mixer at Akwa in Santa Monica.  They have a really nice patio area but we didn't really mingle much.  After an apple martini and some calamari, we decided to head over to Barney's Beanery for some more fried food...I'm such a pig, haha.

Thursday:  had dinner at Citrine in West Hollywood for LA's Dine Out.  For appetizers we had the Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with tomato confit, cucumber gelee, garlic brioche croutons and the Handmade Reblochon Agnolottis with red wine braised pork belly, wild mushrooms, and wild asparagus.  The entrees consisted of Lavender-rubbed chicken breast, toasted Israeli cous cous, summer vegetables and Olive oil poached salmon with slow roasted tomato and sunchoke puree.  Dessert was mousse cheesecake with blueberries, vanilla ice cream and fruit cream tart with sorbet.  The food was pretty good...excellent presentation...the salmon was soft and flakey and the chicken very moist.  Service and ambiance were outstanding.  My only complaint is that the serving size is small...even with three courses I was barely full.  Good thing I had a huge lunch since one of the sales reps had sushi catered earlier or I would've still been hungry.

Afterwards we went to Nacional a cuban themed club.  Highlights of the night included the open Brazilian rum bar and the hottest burlesque/cabaret show by Bijou.  I mean these girls were hot and super talented!

Friday:  got my first traffic ticket this morning...f*ck.  And it was so stupid too...going straight in a right turn only lane...stupid cop was hiding on the other side of the street just waiting for me.  I guess I'll probably just do the online traffic school thing but ugh what bad luck.  Oh well I got free tickets to the Dodgers game tonight for work and then after the game, I'm going to pick up my wonderful bf from the airport.

Mt Whitney hike

We drove out Thursday night to camp at Horseshoe Meadows (10,000 feet elevation) to acclimate to the altitude.  The next day we did a 7 mile hike to Cottonwood pass to help condition ourselves.  Then we moved to Lone Pine campground which was only 6 miles away from the Whitney portal trailhead.  We started hiking early Saturday morning at 3AM.  Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous U.S. with an elevation of 14,497 feet.  The hike is 22 miles with 6300 feet of elevation gain.  It took me 17 hours to complete it as I was starting to feel the symptoms of altitude sickness…namely headaches and nausea.  So basically I started hiking by moonlight and ended up hiking a little past sunset.  It was exhausting but the views really are gorgeous.  Sunday morning we had the infamous Portal Pancakes…this thing was huge.  It measured about 14 inches and was so big they had to fit it on 2 plates!  Pics to come soon.

Since my brother is visiting for the week we had our usual family dinner at Seafood Paradise on Sunday night.  I remember when I was alienated from my family because I felt so different.  Now I realize that the ties of blood bind us all and no one can escape genetics.  I am more similar to my parents than I would like to admit.  I’ve realized how much I love my family and regret not spending more time with them.

This is the last week for LA Dine Out where really nice restaurants in LA have a prix fixe 3 course menu…$20 for lunch and $35 for dinner.  I want to go check out Citrine in West Hollywood this Thursday.  Email me if you’re interested in going (use the link on the side). 

I got selected for jury duty.  Before, I would think of excuses of how to get out of it but now I’m actually excited to go.  It’d be interesting to see the legal system at work close up.  Besides I’m salaried so I’m still getting paid to do it, hehe.

One of the sales reps took us out to lunch last week at Back Home in Lahaina...the spam masubi and loco moco were so yummy! 

Lately, it seems like a lot of my friends are getting into new relationships.  It's so cute how they have that flush of excitement.  I have a lot of fun trying to give advice about romantic things to do but at the same time it makes me a little sad that the bf and and I are past that honeymoon stage already.  Although sometimes I wish he were a little more romantic, I really do love him and wouldn't want to change who he is.  I can't wait for him to come home this Friday

What do you have when you get 16 girls together?  Girls Night Out!

We started off with dinner at Crocodile Cafe in Pasadena.  Their salads are pretty decent.  It was nice sitting outside on the patio.

Next we moved the party to Le Prive.  This was my first time going to a korean club and it was definitely an interesting experience.  We got a private room which came with a few bottles of Johnnie Walker, some beer, coke, water, and a fruit and food platter.

The shots

Our waiter, Romeo who is a really nice guy...sorry girls, he's already taken

Cheers

Where's my chaser? haha

The unique thing about korean clubbing is "booking".  This is where a table of guys will tip the waiter to drag girls over to talk and take shots with them.  After 6 or 7 shots though, Samantha and I decided to book some guys into our room for our single friends, LOL.  The music is not that great, they tend to mix in a lot of slow songs in between hip hop.  And it is a little pricey since you have to get a table or a room.  Overall, I had a lot of fun but not sure if I would go k-clubbing again.

And of course, what night would be complete without a requisite stop at Hodori's for some late night grub.  Got home at around 4:30am.

Saturday night I went to Spundae at Circus.  They have expanded this club to make it even larger and the DJ's were really good.  There were a lot of Burning Man type people that night dressed in costumes which was kind of neat.  Got home around 2am and had 4 hours sleep before I had to get up to do a training hike.

The hike was to Mt. San Antonio (better known as Mt. Baldy) via the Bear Canyon/Baldy Village trail.  It was 8 miles to the top (10,064 ft) with a 5800 feet elevation gain.  Gorgeous views.  We decided to hike down via the Baldy Notch trail which is only 4 miles and then after a hot dog and a beer we took the ski lift down.  I'm a little sore now but hopefully I'll be ready for Mt. Whitney this coming weekend.

Some movie reviews:

The Skeleton Key:  Pretty suspenseful with good acting.  Interesting suprise twist at the end.  3.5/5 stars.

Four Brothers:  Very violent but also humorous at points too.  I thought Mark Wahlberg was pretty good in this film.  3.5/5 stars.