Monthly Archives: September 2011

Foodie Fever: Restaurant Week In San Diego at Hexagone

Last Tuesday before our family trip to Palm Springs, I had a girls night out during Restaurant Week in San Diego.  It was our regular threesome:  my cousin Regi, best friend Janice and myself, meeting up right after work.   Our choice was suggested Janice’s co-worker, which was a French bistro called Hexagone, located on Laurel Street (Bankers Hill).  We decided that we wanted to sample a cuisine that we hadn’t tried together, and have now decided that we would continue that tradition for our future Restaurant Week jaunts.

We each have such varied tastes that we get the chance to sample everything offered on a “prix fixe (fixed price)” menu.  But we started off the evening with drinks at the bar, while chatting up a gentleman at the bar who was a regular at Hexagone.  He raved about how wonderful the food was while having the liver and onions.  I’m not a fan of the dish, but he said that he wasn’t either, until he had it at Hexagone.  If someone’s mind can be turned on a dish typically turned away, we knew we had made a good choice.  And my mind was made up when my Kamakaze-disguised-as-a-Cosmo drink was as good as it was pretty, all done up in a Martini glass.

I loved the coziness of the restaurant.  We were seated near a window, which had a great view of the street.  I feel like San Diego is so quaint sometimes, that I love places that make me feel like I’ve been transported into possibly New York or other larger metropolitan city.  I started the evening with the subtle but flavorful Bisque de Homard (lobster soup).  Next, I had the Filet Mingnon, which was so tender, and melted in my mouth.  I ended the meal with the Crepes Suzette in a Grand-Marnier sauce.  I last had crepes in Paris, so I just had to have crepes again if we were to have dinner in a French restaurant.  If you enjoy citrus like I do, you will love this dessert.

Other than the exquisite food, the best part of the evening was that each of us wore some kind of animal print.  Although you can’t see Regi’s shoes, she was wearing a pony hair, leopard print wedged shoe.  Although the dinner was definitely planned, our coordinating animal prints were not!  Either way, that just seals the deal with how close we have become as friends that we can instantly agree on the cuisine and the attire for the evening.  And we all agree:  we highly recommend Hexagone.  Bon appetit and have a great weekend!

Blocked in Blue

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I usually take my outfit pictures right when I get home from work.  There are days where my outfits last the day, but there are some days where I wish I could quickly through some steam.  This was basically the only shot where my clothes didn’t look so wrinkled.  I really wanted to capture the shoes that I bought a few weeks ago in Las Vegas and the pretty blouse I bought to bring out the blue in them.  I only realized later that the grey of my purse really tied everything together, bringing out the true color blocking of the shoes.

Outfit – Old Navy blouse; H&M trousers; Qupid shoes; Foley + Corinna moto bag; Michael Kors watch; Wendy Brandes ring; Coach sunnies; Tiffany & Co necklace

FTC Disclosure:  Although this is a sponsored post, the opinions, pictures & content of this post are strictly my own.

Weekend In Pictures: That Place is STACKED!

A couple of weekends ago while shopping, my son and I stumbled upon a new place at the Fashion Valley mall.  The place is called Stacked, and makes the most of our current technology and incorporates it into food service.  Upon entering, the space is quite modern and attractive, with boldly painted walls and 80’s and alternative music piping through the speakers (already a plus with me).  We were greeted by very friendly people, who took our name and put it into a computer as part of a queue.  When it was our turn to be seated, we were taken to our table and noticed every table had a tablet computer.  Our server also handed us a traditional fold-out menu, but really, would you use that over an iPad?  We didn’t either.

I noted immediately how simple the menu was: burgers, pizza, sausages, salads, sides, desserts and drinks.  Because we just wanted a light nosh before heading home, I ordered food from the kids menu for both myself and Dominic.  I kept looking at the burgers, which looked fantastic but seemed a bit much at the time.  So the mini-burgers from the kids menu worked out just fine because they were basically sliders.  Dominic said he wanted chicken nuggets, his go-to dish.  I think he always says that because it’s really the only thing he knows how to ask for.

If you’ve never been to Stacked, the servers guide you through ordering.  They suggest ordering your drinks first because you can “send” your order to the kitchen and have them arrive at your table.  This allows you to have it while browsing through the menu to place your food order.  The menu consists of pre-determined menu items or meals that can be customized or “built”, hence the name Stacked.  They are then sent to the kitchen in the order you want your food to arrive.

The price ranges from $3.50 to $12, which rivals the price of any fast food joint, but with the quality of a good sit-down restaurant.  Our kids portions were full meals and included the french fries and baby carrots at only $3.50 and $4.00 each.  I was pleasantly surprised at how great the food was for the fantastic price.  I also loved how you could build any of your meals, including the incredibly delicious cookie ice-cream sandwiches.  I had the Simply Sweet Strawberry cookie sandwich, which coupled two of my favorite desserts: Snickerdoodle cookies and real strawberry ice-cream.  This dessert was a mere $2.50 and worth every penny.

If you’re looking for good food for the whole family that won’t break the bank, check out Stacked.  Your stomach and pocketbook will thank you.  Hope you had a great weekend!

Randomness: Happy Friday!

By the time this posts, I will be finishing up a few wonderful days in Palm Springs with the family.  We decided to take a mini-break so that Deon could get in a few days of golf while Dominic and I lounge around the pool, sleep in and do a little shopping.  While we relax a bit, here are some random items to take you into the weekend.  Happy Friday!

Fantastic fashionable find

I’m always glad to turn others on to sites that will help make their lives more fashionable.  My friend Andrea turned me onto this great site for gals to find boots with just the right fit.  Wide Calf Boots City is a site with links to different places to get boots with wider shafts to properly and comfortably fit your calf.  Sites include Zappos, Endless and Shoe Mall.

Come and knock on our door!

Last week, my friend Kimberly, who is in town for the month asked a bunch of us to meet her at The Regal Beagle.  I asked, “Like the bar in Three’s Company?!”  Sure enough, there it was, tucked away on India Street in Mission Hills, next to El Indio and Shakespeare Pub, up the street from Lucha Libre.  I had to take a picture of the sign, but I’ll do a more robust post on it at a later time because the atmosphere was fun, the beers were cold and the food looked great.

Was that REALLY 26 years ago?

A reader named David emailed me and asked if I could scan my ticket from the Depeche Mode concert I went to in 1985 because he collects ticket stubs.  I thought it would be cool to include the image here.  Check out the price of the ticket.  If only concerts cost that much now!

Hello to a new sponsor!

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I’d like to say a quick hello and thank you to a new sponsor:  ValueMags.com and MagsDirect.com.  Periodically, you’ll see little mini ads like the one above on my posts.  When you click on the ad, you can check out great deals on subscriptions to your favorite magazines.

Modern Vintage

It’s been awhile since I took pictures in my usual picture spot because there was a car parked in front of it.  Also, I’ve been feeling lazy lately.  I have had a few picture worthy outfits, just not enough energy to make it happen.  So today, I thought I would capture pictures of the other kimono jacket I bought recently.  I got this lovely number at Cotton On.  I love it because of the sheer material and the way it drapes in the back.  I wore with a plain black tank top, jeans, and simple shoes, but dressed it up with my cameo pendant/pin.  I took a close up by request of the beautiful Christine of the blog Un-Stitched.  She asked that I take a close up of some of some of my jewelry, and I thought it was fitting to take one of my vintage cameo, since she is so great at finding great buys and vintage items, creating sophisticated and feminine outfits.

Outfit:  Cotton On sheer kimono cardigan; Old Navy Jeans; Rue 21 tank top; Modern Vintage shoes; vintage cameo pendant; Michael Kors watch; Wendy Brandes ring; Coach sunnies

Weekend in Pictures: Why I Love The Venetian

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Las Vegas for Labor Day weekend.  We go to Vegas several times a year because my husband’s family is there.  It not only allows us to see the family so they can spend time with our son Dominic, but it also allows us time to have a date night on the Strip or date weekend in Mesquite.

One of my favorite hotels on the Strip is The Venetian, maybe because we stayed there on our honeymoon.  Right after our ceremony and reception, we stayed at The Venetian on our wedding night, right before we went to New York and Europe.  So many times on The Strip you see couples going around the casinos dressed in their suit and gowns, so we did the same.  Lots of congratulations and well wishes showered us as we walked through the hotel.  The best part was that we were given the Presidential suite for the price of our regular suite.  My husband still thanks me to this day for that small but effective idea!

Like all of the larger hotels on the Strip, the decor is larger than life and almost overwhelming, depending on which hotel you visit.  Places like Circus Circus, The Excalibur and even New York, New York have almost an amusement park feel to them.  That’s why I enjoy hotels like Mandalay Bay, The Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, The Wynn, and The Venetian.  They feel a little more luxurious and opulent.  I enjoy faux Italian interior of The Venetian, resplendent with beautiful fountains, gardens, waterways, gondolas, and bridges.  Even their bars and restaurants are works of art themselves.

What I really love about The Venetian are the shops and eateries.  Right off the bat, they have the only cafe on the West Coast (as far as I know) dedicated to my favorite coffee: Espressamente Illy.  I posted a picture of a small portion of the pillar of cups previously, but below is a shot of just how high up the cups went into the ceiling.  Also pictured is my favorite item from their menu, the Affogado.  It is a scoop of gelato with a shot of espresso, topped with whipped cream.  A few people both inside and outside the cafe stopped me to find out what I was having.  It is even better than it looks.

We tried a new place to eat at The Venetian called Valentino.  My husband heard about it through a guy he played golf with, who also happens to be a waiter there.  I have learned lately to ask the servers what their favorite dishes are, and he told us about a dish only made when this certain couple calls to request it ahead of time.  I can’t remember the name of it exactly, but it’s basically a cheese stuffed ravioli with a black truffle cream sauce.  Other than in Italy, it was one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had.  They have a great gnocchi dish, too.

Of course last but not least, the shopping.  The shops range from affordable to high-end, depending on your taste.  I got a couple of shots of some beautiful store fronts.  Even if I can’t quite rush in and immediately buy something at a moment’s notice (I actually could, but the hubby would protest), it’s always fun to window shop.  So if you’re ever in Las Vegas, one of your must-see hotels on the Strip has got to be The Venetian.  Hope you all had a great weekend!

Waiting for the Light

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we had a power outage last Thursday that blacked out all of San Diego, parts of Orange County, Arizona and Mexico.  It began at around 3:45 pm and lasted until around 9:30 pm.  This was the longest blackout I had ever experienced.  The ironic thing about it was I had been watching the “Friends” marathon on “Nick at Night” recently and saw the episode called The One With the Blackout.  I recall thinking that I couldn’t remember the last time we had experienced a blackout like that.

We realized how unprepared we were for a blackout.  But I must say, where we lacked in flashlights (we had only two), we scored big with dozens of decorative candles throughout the house.  We definitely had to get creative, placing tea lights in bowls and taller candles in cups with water to ensure we were using them safely.  And thank God for Yankee candles!  Not only are they wonderful smelling and pretty, but very useful, too.

This was Dominic’s first time experiencing a blackout.  He couldn’t understand why we kept lighting candles, why none of the lights or fans were working, and why he couldn’t watch television (he said “Mama, put batteries in TV!”).  Eventually he started to have fun, checking out all of the flickering candle flames and playing with the flashlight.

We were sad because we couldn’t watch the very first game of the official football season, and due to the downed power, we couldn’t even check the internet on our phones for scores.  The reason we had news coverage was because my mom found an old radio that you can hand crank for power in case of emergency.  Once it hit 7:00 pm, we decided that it was going to be a very long night and reports on the radio stated that power may be out all the way until Saturday.  

We sporadically were able to send text messages, finding out if we had to go into the office and checking on friends and relatives to see if everyone was ok.  After an hour or two of intermittent phone usage, my texts started to go through immediately.  We heard that power had come back to Orange County, Mexico, and National City.  Then with a strange powering up sound, all of the lights and the fans in the house suddenly came on. We started to receive and place phone calls, hearing that everyone was fine.  It was an unexpectedly eventful evening, and here’s to hoping for an uneventful and easier weekend!

Dee Lite Before the Dark

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I took these pictures just before a huge blackout hit all of San Diego that supposedly originated in Arizona and stretched all the way to Orange County.  My husband and I were at a company sponsored fundraiser at the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant & Cantina in beautiful Old Town San Diego, when the waiters came out to us and said that their power went out.  We then realized that the power was out everywhere after my mom called us.

Part of the reason I originally wanted to take pictures there was because one of my co-workers said that I reminded him Dee Lite from the “Groove is in the Heart” video in this dress.  I love all of the outfits in the video, in all of her psychedelic 60’s glory!

Outfit – Oasis silk kimono dress; Steve Madden shoes; Rebecca Minkoff pouch; Coach sunnies

FTC Disclosure:  Although this is a sponsored post, the opinions, pictures & content of this post are strictly my own.

All The Way Up Here: Missoni for Target

Target has collaborated again to create a new wonderful collection available today.  In searching for information on the line, I came across this article from The Huffington Post, here.  Right before the announcement in Vogue, it seems that a mysterious blog called All The Way Up Here has had the inside track to all things Missoni for Target.  Clever, Target, very clever!

No matter how they chose to put it out there, I absolutely LOVE the collection. Just like the Liberty of London for Target line, they have hit every department with this new collection, including furniture.  If you like what you see, the collection is available today until October 22.  Also, check out this link on Target’s site here and the full lookbook on Fashionista.com here.  You know where I’ll be today!

All images courtesy of Fashionista.com

Weekend in Pictures: A Day at the Beach

My husband came home from playing golf a couple of weekends ago and decided that the day was too beautiful to pass up a good beach day.  So he packed us all up and we headed over to Ocean Beach for a little fun in the sun.  Although this was again not a first for Dominic as he had been to the beach when he was around 6 months old, this was his first time getting to actually play in the ocean.  I hope you all had a great weekend!