Mi Tierra, Seaside

After I bought my 3rd and 4th scoops of ice cream from Baskin Robbins during their 31 cent cone promotion, I giddily ran back to my car. Perhaps it was the sugar coursing through my veins or maybe it was just because of my fondness for legitimate mercados - regardless, I decided to pop across the street and check out Mi Tierra Taqueria (also a Mercado y Carniceria) (1000 Broadway Ave, Seaside).

I really liked the inside of this place. Compared to Mi Pueblo in Mountain View, they have a much wider selection of pre-made salsas and ceviche stuff:

- Seasoned Pork Ears $4.40/lb.
- Seasoned Pork Feet $2.69/lb.
- Cactus Salad $3.49/lb.
- Ceviche de Camaron $5.99/lb.
- Salsa de Guacamole $4.99/lb.
- Salsa Mexicana $2.99/lb.
- and... Salsa Verde, Roja, Molcajete (<- anyone know what that is?)




They also have a more extensive butcher bar. I'm guessing that's where the carniceria part comes in...

Beef tendons, beef tongue, marinated pork, pork marinated steak (how does that differ from the one before??), marinated chicken, marinated flap meat, pozole mix (??), patas de puerco (??), pork leg, higado de res (??), beef intestine, cornish, marinated chicken leg, etc!

Enough talk about random animal parts! There was a taqueria in the back of the store, I didn't check out the prices, but I'm sure they were reasonable...

I ventured over to the fruit area and that's where I stayed and ate my ice cream - that's correct, I was not eating my ice cream and staring at the beef tongue display. Instead my mind was whirling around the Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge. I wanted to use Haitian flavors such as mangos and plantains, but I was unsure which to pick and how much I should grab. I used my iPhone a bit and decided to purchase a couple of plantains, a papaya, and a few mangos. (Or is it mangoes?) I also bought a coconut creme that I'd like to integrate into a coconut recipe some day, some chocolate wedges for Mexican hot chocolate (used some in the billiard ball cupcakes I made for my dad), and sugar cane (<- impulse buy! NO IDEA what I'm going to do with it). It was a fun place to shop, cheap, I'll definitely go back to find secret/mystery ingredients!

San Luis Obispo Road Trip

This weekend I went to San Luis Obispo to hang out with some friends, see a dance show, go wine tasting, eat at my favorite restaurants, cuddle with Kerry and Fran, etc.

Tyler, Max, and I left Friday around 4 pm. We cruised down highway 68 (apparently it is one of the most beautiful highways - says Max) and then mobbed down 101. After stopping in Paso for a few of Chili's margaritas, we continued on our way. Our first stop in SLO was at BevMo. I grabbed a 6 pack of Hoegarden; people are always raving about it and the one time I could have tried it (Avila Beerfest, June 2009), they ran out!

We went over to Victor and Clay's house next, watched the Nuggets/Lakers game, and then eventually walked downtown to Black Sheep Bar and Grill (1117 Chorro St, SLO). That's where my old roomies were! I was so excited to see them I could have peed in my pants! I miss them so much :( Luckily I did NOT pee in my pants, that would be messy. Instead I just sort of gave them lots of hugs and kisses. When the bar closed we hopped in my car and went to get some late night grub at Chilie Peppers! (791 Foothill Blvd, SLO). So very freshman/sophomore year of us! Kerry and I split a carne asada burrito that was about $6. I had some sort of salsa/hot sauce concoction with my burrito half and it was amazingly delicious. Especially for 2:30 am.

We drove to Pismo and walked into our hotel room (The Cliffs) and managed to find bed space for 6 people! We set the alarms for early-ish, considering it was almost 4 in the morning!! After waking up, grabbing coffee in my work mug, showering, etc, we made a quick trip to Forever 21 so that I could get an outfit to wear wine tasting. Do you know how hard it is to walk into the second largest Forever 21, give yourself a half hour to cover all that ground, and come out with a winning look? Ridiculous! I found this satin-y tank top that I could use for work, so I decided to get it.

Fran Kerry Andrew Tyler Max and I went to Natural Cafe (698 Higuera St, SLO) for lunch and were joined by Jake, Krish, Megan B. and her bf James. Kerry, Fran, and I all ordered the same thing, the Old Town salad ($7.25 full, $4.50 half). THAT SALAD IS SO GOOD! Mixed greens, short grain brown rice, carrots, feta cheese, tomato, and a scoop of guacamole! Add a little bit of heaven (Tapatio) to the salad along with their yummy tahini dressing, and you've got yourself a treat of a lunch! After a sad conversation regarding tandem bicycles, I decided it was about time that I left to meet up with Kali for her Birthday wine tasting celebration!

Kali and other AOII alums were all at this mysterious "MVP" location. When I arrived, I grabbed a mimosa YUM and, despite the fact I had eaten lunch, grabbed a slice of breakfast casserole that Mandy made. About ten minutes later we went outside and up rolls the stretch Excursion limo! It totally reminded me of what prom should have been like. However, I was a shy girl in high school who never got to experience the whole big-group-limo-fun-blah-blah-date-dances. You know what? Who cares! It's never to late to go to a ball... or be serenaded... : )

I digress. Wine tasting was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. We went to Tobin James (8950 Union Rd, Paso Robles) and JanKris (not Jan Hagel, the cookie) at 1266 Bethel Rd in Templeton. Everyone was enjoying themselves, if you catch my drift. I like to think that I draw a good cat. By the end of our time at JanKris, I could not, for the life of me, remember how to draw the cat that I always draw. Does that make any sense? I had a great time. WINK.

After wine tasting I.... well, I don't know what happened. But eventually I made it to Firestone Grill (1001 Higuera St, SLO) with everyone and had my second favorite salad from the San Luis Obispo region - the Steak Cobb Salad.

After dinner we went and "watched" Orchesis' dance concert ((Continuum)).

Apologies if this is overly descriptive, but right now I'm watching the Super Bowl, (16 to 17, Colts, with 7 minutes left!) and I am doing laundry, and I just feel like giving a thorough account of the weekend. After Orchesis, we went back to Clay and Victor's place and played beirut. Fran and Kerry came over and took me with them to the downstairs bar: Creekside Brewing Company (1040 Broad St, SLO). Random, took a break to put in my light clothes, got to see some crazy plays and now Saints are up by so much! COOL. I like it when games are exciting like this!

You might be thinking, is it still Saturday night in this story? Well, yes. Yes it is. After the downstairs bar we went to the cast party for the dance show, and hung out with all of the Orchesis girls (and boy). I loved seeing everyone there - the dance girls are so classy and artsy, inspirational almost in a hipster sort of way. Next stop: Kathleen's house. We stayed there for a bit, ate cute little peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, I reunited with my estranged curling iron, and then we drove to the Cliffs. Another 4 am night! Sheesh!

I woke up at 8 am, grabbed some coffee (love my work mug!), and sat in the hot tub at the Cliffs. It was absolutely gorgeous out... that hotel has spectacular views. Hot tub > Shower > Drive back to SLO > more coffee with my little, Allison at the Starbucks on Foothill. It was really nice having time to catch up with her.

I had a few final errands to run before leaving SLO. Stopped by Vic's to grab my wetsuit and leftover salad. Went to Sidewalk Market & Deli (1401 Osos St, SLO) to pick up lunch. Freshman year the boys introduced me to Nona's Deli, which is contained in the Sidewalk Market, and it's been love ever since. My all-time favorite sandwich from SLO (and at least top 10 overall) is the Godmother sandwich ($6) from Nona's. Salame, peppered turkey, and provolone with the works (minus the olives [EWW] and mayo). HEeeaaavvvVVVVeeeeNnnnnn! I bought 2! Godmother sandwich for lunch tomorrow too :)

With both sandwiches in hand, I went to High Street Deli, where everyone else was eating. We said our goodbyes, stopped by Ed's to get a shirt, and then went back to Vic's because I forgot my computer charger there. Then we got onto 101, and drove all the way back to Seaside.

What a weekend. I wish I could spend more time in SLO, being ridiculous and silly with old friends. There truly is no better place to live when you are between the ages of 18 & 23. While I'm sad that I had to leave, I'm also very hopeful for the upcoming months. There is a lot to look forward to and this weekend was just the start :)

Papa Chano's

Since Max couldn't make it yesterday to Battleship, Tyler, Max, and I decided to hang out today. As the day wore on, I managed to unpack all of my boxes of clothes (read: I still have 2 full garment bags in my car - eek!), get through 7 episodes of Grey's Anatomy Season II, and rework all of my closet. Around 7:30 I met up with the boys at Tyler's and we carpooled to downtown Monterey. Before we left, Max gave me a plate of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!! YUMMY!

We ate at Papa Chano's (462 Alvarado Street, Monterey). Max ordered the veggie burrito, Tyler got a meat burrito (don't remember prices - whoops). I got the veggie tostada. I forgot to mention no sour cream, so my tostada was extremely juicy. Best part of the whole experience, other than the company of course, was the salsa bar that had.... CHIPS! Free chips and salsa is the number one way to make me a repeat customer. One of the salsas "tasted like Spaghetti O's sauce", another "tasted like rust," but the third one was delish. Max mentioned that the two not-so-good salsas were having an off day; they aren't always like that.

On my way home I stopped at the 76 station at 1600 Fremont Blvd (Seaside) for some gas. I looked in to see if they had any hazelnut creamer and the attendent was so helpful! He offered to give me some of the creamer he had near his coffee machine. So nice....

New Home & Turtle Bay Taqueria

Turns out someone already put a hold on the duplex that my roomates and I were in love with. So, we had to relook at places in Seaside. I was able to convince my sister Nicole to come down to Monterey with me. It was really nice to finally be able to share the car ride down! After looking at a few places, we settled on a duplex that had carpet in the living area, something that we were trying to avoid. This place was just too good to pass up in other areas though. Close to work, young people, good location, neigbors that didn't have kid toys EVERYWHERE. The current plan is to take off your shoes when entering the front door to keep the carpet clean. Also, if we ever have people over for drinks we will try to limit the drinking to stain-free areas.

After picking out the new place, Nicole and I went to downtown Monterey and looked for a place to get lunch. We settled on Turtle Bay Taqueria (431 Tyler Street). We ordered the "Seafood Combo" burrito wrap that they describe as "a meal in your hand - a party in your mouth" for $8.95. We also ordered chips & salsa for about 2 bucks. Nicole and I split the burrito wrap in two. She ate hers fork and knife and I ate mine the old fashioned way - in my hands. I wouldn't say that the burrito was stuffed full, but it was enough food when split in half. While we did ask for the seafood combo, I thought it was too fishy smelling. The place was packed!

I'm already done, ha!

They make their own salsas and had a salsa bar! They had a fire-roasted habenero chile salsa called X'NIPEC (left, below "38").

When leaving, I saw this sign. Basically if you show up on your bike on Thursday then you get 15% off your order (excluding alcohol). I can't wait to take my new bike (named Lukefrancis) and my tandem (named Murray) there!

After we ate we walked around the downtown area. I found a crepe place that I want to try (Nicole wouldn't go because of a bad experience with crepes at Disneyworld. Poo.) Then we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Note to all: do not go to the aquarium on December 28th! It was packed! I'm sure it was a fire hazard in the seahorse exhibit. Too many people! Good thing I've got a season pass and can go whenever I please. We stopped for dessert (Nicole got some fro yo and I got a peanut butter truffle and two sour belts) at different spots in Cannery Row. Sweet tooth satisfied, we headed home!