Not a Fan of Pancakes… Until Now. HPK Highland Park Kitchen

Posted on May 8, 2012 by chris

Uh. My name is Chris Lam and I’m not a fan of pancakes.  When done wrong, the taste of them will make me want to vomit. They’re filling and they stick to my stomach for a very long time. After eating a flapjack, I tend to feel like an Alien has laid its babies in my gut.

Until now.

HPK Highland Park Kitchen, Highland Park (LA)

The Wife and I headed out to HPK in (duh) Highland Park for breakfast one day. My eyes bulged and my eyebrows waggled at the Wife when the words “bananas foster pancakes.” That’s like a dare! How could I resist?

Come to mama! Bananas Foster Pancakes - HPK

I ordered these babies and a mimosa to celebrate… breakfast, of course. Who doesn’t celebrate breakfast? I don’t know how they did it but these suckers are FLUFFY. Yes, still filling, but fluffy! I’m not sure how that works – these are pancakes loaded up with caramelized banana slices, whipped cream, and caramel sauce. No matter, these are bomb. I highly recommend them.

Chicken and Waffles, HPK

The Wife ordered the Chicken and Waffles, which he gave a thumbs up. (This is rare. The wife usually says “It’s ok” for EVERYTHING.)

Overall, a great meal to start the weekend. I’ve been regularly impressed with every “new” restaurant we try in Highland Park. I love that it’s so close to where we live. I’d love to find a home here so I’m even closer to good food and quirky stores.

Want to duplicate my eye waggling? Here’s the Yelp link to HPK for reviews, hours and a map. Or you can go to their official website at http://www.hpkitchen.com/.

 

The fine print: This meal was not hosted. We paid with our hardearned cash, shaking our moneymakers.

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Erotica, Gaming, Sex, the IE, and Other Fun Topics – Just a SoCal Lady Bloggers Meetup 4.28.12

Posted on May 7, 2012 by chris

Check it! I'm too legit to quit.

A few weekends ago, I met up with my fellow SoCal Lady Bloggers for a night of drinks and dinner. This was the first time I had met these gals in person, so I was excited. We met right in “Beautiful Downtown Burbank” at a place called Olive’s Bistro. Who knew there was a serviceable restaurant adjacently-across the street from my favorite Burbank Chinese restaurant?

Inspire key necklace by Whitney Howard Designs via my Instagram: http://instagr.am/p/J-94tsm5VD/

Sidney (My MIL is Still Between Us) and Carolyn (This Talk Ain’t Cheap) spearheaded the evening with a special gift for all of us – an Inspire necklace by Whitney Howard Designs (one of our sponsors). Ok, first, how awesome is this? I show up and BAM! I get a fantastic piece of jewelry!?

At this meetup, I knew AJ (Confssions of a Fat Girl) from my professional life and we were roomies last year at BlogHer in San Diego. I invited my pal Clare who runs two blogs, one of which is a hysterical dating advice site with her writing partner called Ken and Ariel.

Clare, Bev, Trina, me and Su - So Cal Lady Bloggers 4.28.12

Bloggers: KenandAriel.com, writinginflow.blogspot.com, thegamingangel.com, me, and IEShineOn.com.

Cheryl, Melissa, AJ, Sidney, Ricca - So Cal Lady Bloggers Meetup 4.28.12

Bloggers: littlebitquirky.blogspot.com, MizMeliz.com, confessionsofafatgirl.typepad.com, MILbetweenus.com, and sprmama.blogspot.com.

Carolyn, Jamie, Mary, Alma and Erin - So Cal Lady Bloggers Meetup 4.28.12

Bloggers: thistalkaintcheap.com, minnesotagirlinla.wordpress.com, alongcomesmary.wordpress.com, fieldtripmom.blogspot.com, and horsingaroundinla.wordpress.com.

During drinks, I met bloggers who were gluten-free, reviewing gluten-free alcohol!, one who owns horses!, a blogger transplant from Minneapolis (one of my fave cities), a marching feminst (yeah!), mom bloggers, new-to-blogging bloggers, and old hands at blogging bloggers. When it was time for dinner, we split into three tables. At my table, I learned a lot about romance and erotica, the Inland Empire (IE), intuitive eating, girl gamers and the acronym TTC (trying to conceive).

Being an avid reader, I had to ask fellow reader (and writer!) Bev (Writing in Flow) if she had read “50 Shades of Grey.” I’m not a big fan of erotica and was wary of the hype it was getting. Her writers group had mixed reviews and she’ll be reading it, so I’m looking forward to her thoughts. That segued into my asking grilling her on the difference between romance novels and erotica.  I know you, too, are interested in this definition. (Nerds!) Romance and erotica can have the same amount of smut and sexy writing. But… Romance has to end with one of two conclusions: HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN (Happily For Now). WHO KNEW?!!!!??? [Now we do!]

Tasty brittle by Pauline's and a Matt Damon movie!

I was also given yet another gift by the group – I received a giftbag with a blu-ray copy of We Bought A Zoo from AJ and praline brittle from Pauline’s Handmade Brittle (another sponsor!). I made out like a freaking bandit that evening. I met 14 new bloggers (and blogs), picked up a piece of jewelry, something sweet, and a movie to load up on my iPad!

All in all, it was a pretty special evening. I’m so grateful to have found this bloggers group. I’ve found that this group to be supportive of everyone’s endeavors as well as helpful when a blogger needs advice on this or that.

If you’re interested in joining this group, mosey on over to http://socalladybloggers.com/.

 

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WIRI: Falling on my ass in Mountain View

Posted on May 4, 2012 by chris

Happy Friday! While I was up in the Bay area for work, I ran into this sign in Mountain View. What better way to show that I was in another city than a sign that said so? I also fell on my ass after this photo. What better way to show the sidewalks of Mountain View who’s (not) boss!

I'm not even that high up, and I still fell on my ass.

Let me preface this by saying:

1. My legs were really tired from the 3-mile run (chase) the day before. I ran with my coworker BB (who, btw, finished the LA Marathon in less than 5 hours!), but really it was me chasing her because she was so fast.

2. I was wearing my Frye boots instead of sneakers. Grip is an issue

My buds took this picture. It was in front of traffic – cars waiting for the light to turn green. When I jumped off, I stumbled, my legs gave way and I fell on my butt. My CWs gasped and then laughed and laughed. I’m told the drivers in cars were worried for me but saw them laughing so they drove off.

You’re welcome.

And Happy Star Wars Day!

 

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I’m late for a very important date

Posted on April 30, 2012 by chris

Remember that Disney song from “Alice in Wonderland” by the White Rabbit? This is how I feel today (and for the past month). It’s been busy, and I haven’t made myself hunker down in front of my computer to write. Hence the lack of posts.

I’m headed to San Francisco today for work and I’m debating on whether to bring my personal laptop, in addition to my work laptop. Alas, I have not yet backed up my files for a quarter so I guess it stays home.

Winnie (Style Shoot Eat) and me

One of my good friends, Winnie, is a professional food stylist and photographer, and she offered to take some professional photos for me. Lucky for me, she’s a fantastic photographer who can shoot humans that don’t take model-ly directions well. (Read: me.) She’s getting them all packaged up for me so I can use them on my other site. In the meantime, I leave you with this outtake – one of my best jump photos!

"Go ahead and jump" - chris outtake

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Book Review: Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #2) by Tamora Pierce – dude.

Posted on April 17, 2012 by chris

Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #2) by Tamora Pierce

Brilliant. I borrowed Bloodhound (Beka Cooper #2) by Tamora Pierce from my trusty LA Public Library.

It’s been about a year since the first book (Terrier) and Beka is no longer a recruit but a Junior Dog. Sergeant Ahuda keeps pairing her up with new partners as all working Dogs are pairs. Fast forward to some fake coin trouble – Tunstall is laid up, and Goodwin and Beka are sent off to Port Caynn, another town in the world of Tortall.

This second installment has been so much fun, watching Beka grow up a little more and see her and Goodwin in action in a different environment. The Port Caynn world introduces us to a few more characters, including a gay police officer (w00t), drag queen performer (double w00t), a female Rogue, and Beka’s new four-legged partner. It is also sex-positive. It did drag a little near the end; I was getting anxious to see how everything unfolded.

Spoilers: Pounce is pretty much out of this book, which sucks. I think Beka did rely on Pounce a lot but who wouldn’t rely on a god-cat? I’m a little sad for Beka to not have a bf in Dale but she’s got to go back to Corus, and he’s a player. This begs the question of when or if Rosto will step up. Goodwin taking up the desk sergeant job wasn’t too surprising but I’m sad to see her ‘go.’ However I’m interested to see how Tunstall and Beka will pair up in the third book.

One of the reasons why I really like this series because Dogwork is gender-neutral. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a woman or man in Dog’s life. You belong to the pound and you do your job. Beka can take down any thug as well as the next guy. [This is also why I loved Ron Moore's "new" version of BSG. Same thing. Makes stories so much better when the woman are of equal status.]

This is the type of series where every girl should read. Beka is a great role model – she’s smart, strong, and independent. She’s not a robot and she needs love, but Pierce doesn’t make Beka into a sopping mess of a girl when “a boy looks her way.” Beka knows what’s up. (At least for the most part. She is still a teenager, even in this Tortallan world.)

Grade: A

Buy or borrow: BUY the entire series. I will be looking for them in paperback so I can lend them out.

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Friday the 13th Five: 4.13.12

Posted on April 13, 2012 by chris

Jason Vorhees - Friday the 13th

It’s Friday the 13th! Again!

This is what I learned this week:

1. Always charge your hands-free bluetooth earpiece. You never know when you’ll need to take a call and you need.. your.. hands.. free.

2. When you know it’s going to be a while before you can get a 3-day weekend, take a day off – in the middle of the week. I scheduled a day off coming up, just for the heck of it. Well, no, it was because I knew I was getting antsy about charging through the days without taking a short break to refocus. Sounds selfish but if I can take the day off, I’m going to.

3. Dear steel-cut oatmeal, why did I stop eating you? You’re delicious and so much better than the instant Quaker stuff. You’re a lower glycemic index (LGI) food, and you’re tastier.

4. L’oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara – Wow. I bought you on a whim and I’m impressed! I don’t even have to curl my sad short lashes to get some volume and length. #win It’s on sale at CVS but I got it for $3.99 when I went into my local store.

5. Be open to new opportunities, keep being present. Keep my arms open and welcome new changes in my environment. Even if those changes make my arms tired of keeping them in open-hug-formation, and open arms makes my arms look flabby.

Magic mascara by Loreal (not its real product name)

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