Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last Post of 2009?

Well, this is most likely my last post of 2009.  And...I did it!  I managed to blog every single day in December...even though some days just complained about being sick LOL

In 2010, I really hope to continue to blog every day, but to improve my blog!  I want to do more reviews/giveaways, maybe get a blog makeover, start doing memes again and who knows what else.

I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve tonight :)

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

SB Axxess #6 - Pastavino

Yay, restaurant #6! I am still chugging along, working on getting my card punched as many times as possible.. Last night, we decided to try a restaurant that opened a few months ago - Pastavino in Camino Real in Goleta. The Axxess deal was buy one entree, get one free. We saved $10!!!

Pastavino has a few appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas and some various entrees. I ordered a pesto chicken pizza (hold the onions) and my dad ordered a pastrami sandwich and salad.

The food was delicious...but I have to comment on the service.  When we got there, we were told it would be a 20 minute wait.  We were seated in about 10 which was cool.  And then we sat there.....finally the hostess brought us some water.  And then we sat some more...and the other hostess finally brought us some garlic bread (It was really good and really garlic-y).  And then....after a while a hostess came back to see if we wanted more bread...and I tried really nicely to ask if we could just order.  And then....after some time someone came and took our order, but we couldn't figure out who he was since his outfit didn't match anyone else's.  After we ordered, our food was there super quickly!  And after I pulled out my camera to take pictures of our food, we suddenly had many people asking if everything was okay, offering more bread and water, etc.

So while the food was outstanding, I will have to try the restaurant again to give the service another chance.  The hostesses were really busting their butts, but it seemed like no one else was!


My delicious chicken pesto pizza...look at the huge chunks of chicken!



My dad's pastrami sandwich...and my Axxess card conveniently got into the picture too.


I also want to be clear that I bought the Axxess Book on my own and went to the restaurant on my own. I received nothing from any mentioned company.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Yay!!!!

So I don't talk about it a ton on my blog, but I don't have all that many friends.  I am not willing to put up with very much BS, so it seems to be hard to keep friends around.  I can say I have been trying harder lately though!!

I was sitting watching Animal Planet this evening when there was a knock on our door.  Now you have to know, we almost never get unexpected visitors at my house!  I have to admit, I'm not much of one for saying "Who is it????"  If it's a bad person, they're going to lie and I'm going to open the door anyway, so I don't see the point.  I was so surprised to see my friend Danny, who has been in Israel for the last few weeks.  He had texted me when he got into town, but then I hadn't heard from him since so I figured he passed out LOL

It was so nice to see him...it's been weird without him.  We constantly text back and forth about whatever...and hang out many times a week!  It was weird to not have him around to tell about every little weird thing that happened.  Oh...and we went for ice cream tonight!!!  How can you beat that??? LOL

Now to round-out what I started my post with, Danny and I have basically been friends since I moved back to Santa Barbara 6 1/2 years ago.  He was one of my "assistants" (code for high school kids who don't want to work too hard) at work and we just clicked.  He's one of the few people who isn't super into drama...although he always seems to be in the middle of minor drama LOL  And most importantly, he tells it to me like it is, which is something most people just won't do!

And because my mom reads my blog I have to throw this in.....NO, I still don't like him!!! ;)

Monday, December 28, 2009

Disneyland

I have been going to Disneyland at least once a year (on average) since I can remember.  Ah the joys of growing up in Southern California.  This last trip though was one of the only times I have been without my grandparents - and able to zip around the park!  We got to do almost everything we wanted to, and even did some things twice!  (The only things we really missed were some character photos, and some rides that aren't our favorites).


In New Orleans Square, we went on Haunted Mansion Holiday and Pirates of the Caribbean.  We did both of these during the parade so the lines were really short!  I love how much they change Haunted Mansion at this time of year...my mom swears she had never seen it before but I really thought we had.  We missed the Disneyland Railroad, but will try to go on it next time!

 The sign to go into Pirates



The front of Haunted Mansion

In Frontierland, we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  We did it once at night and once during the day.  This was by far my mom's favorite ride!


 
A random picture of Sleeping Beauty's Castle lit up - because that I don't remember ever seeing!

In Critter Country, we rode Splash Mountain (wow you really get drenched in the front seat) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (twice hehehe).  We also ate at Hungry Bear Restaurant (which really wasn't anything special).

The picture of a picture I took of us on Splash Mountain

Moving on to Adventureland, we rode Indiana Jones, also twice.  This line really taught us the value of the Fast Pass.  Those things are amazing and I highly recommend them!!!  We missed out on the Jungle Cruise here, but will be sure to go on it on one of our next trips.

My favorite "area" was Mickey's Toontown, because I had never really been there before.  When they were first building it, I was there for a second, but there wasn't even really anything there.  This time we got to go on Gadget's Go Coaster (a fun little roller coaster but OMG the most annoying lady in the world was behind us in line), Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin (a cute ride but we spent the whole time trying NOT to let our car spin) and we went into Minnie and Mickey's houses.

The entrance to Toontown...I love the spinning population sign



Another cute ride sign :)

Pluto's dog door in Mickey's house...too cute!

Super old Mickey and Minnie dolls...they barely resemble what we think of today!

Minnie's emails in her house hehehe



Our car on the Rogert Rabbit ride

The next land on the map is Tomorrowland.  We always seem to spend a lot of time there, which is quite okay by me!  We tried out Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (like Toy Story Mania over at California Adventure...but not as cool), Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (this was also new to us, I liked it way more than my mom did!), Space Mountain (we used our Fast Pass for this and it rocked!!!) and we watched "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience".  We didn't do Autopia cuz no one would go on with me :(  We also didn't go into the Innoventions building because we have done that before and it doesn't change much (and I sprained my ankle in there the last time lol).  We also, as usual, ate at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port.

The cool "thingie" at the entrance to Tomorrowland



A picture of a picture of us on Space Mountain



The pretty new Nemo submarines



Talking Buzz Lightyear in his ride



The cars on the Buzz Lightyear ride (I don't know any of those people)

And lastly, Fantasyland.  I love Fantasyland, but often the lines are sooooo long that we skip over many of the rides.  But this time, we did all but one ride that we wanted to, but we did skip the attractions.  We went on Alice in Wonderland, It's a Small World Holiday, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Hourney, Snow White's Scary Adventures and we did the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough (for the first time ever).  I almost had a heart attack in line for It's a Small World.  My mom asked me to take pictures of all of the "tree animals" (trees shaped into animals).  As I was doing this, an employee tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Come with Me".  I just looked at my mom, she told me I had to go (even though I was petrified) and then thankfully the lady said, "Come, I'm opening up a new line".  My mom and I both thought I was going to Disney jail!!!!  I love how pretty all of the rides are in Fantasyland!  Next time, I hope to go on the Storybook Land Canal Boats (we rarely get to go on those), walk through Pixie Hollow (to meet Tinkerbell) and go through the Disney Princess Fantasy Faire.



It's a Small World with an X-Mas hat



Only a 10 minute wait???  Unheard of!!!!



One of the animal trees that I thought doomed me!



The ride sign for Alice in Wonderland



The first page in the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough

I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my Disney adventures as much as I enjoyed posting about them.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

California Adventure Land

I had never been to California Adventure Land before.  I guess it has gotten negative reviews, but I thought it was really cool!!!!  They have 5 different areas of the park, 4 of which have rides, attractions, etc.  Because we got to the park before it opened, we got to go on everything we wanted to!

In the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area, we went on Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and watched Muppet Vision 3D.  Monsters, Inc is a really cute ride where you sit in a car and kind of go through a movie-themed ride.  The Tower of Terror is an awesome thrill ride, and we were in line with an adorable little boy lol.  Muppet Vision 3D is a really cute 3D movie.


Newspaper machines in Monsters Inc



The entrance to the Muppet movie


A lobby picture from Tower of Terror

Sunshine Plaza is like Main Street in Disneyland, so there isn't anything blog-worthy there.  We also didn't go to A Bug's Land at all since we weren't with little kids (although we probably should have gone just to check it out).

On Paradise Pier, we went on Toy Story Midway Mania!, California Screamin', Mickey's Fun Wheel and Mulholland Madness.  My mom and aunt went on Maliboomer and my cousin and her friend went on Golden Zephyr.  Toy Story really is probably the best ride there, like everyone says!  You ride through various arcade games, racking up points as you go.  California Screamin' is a huge roller coaster with only one loop that is tons of fun!  Maliboomer got good reviews because you just shoot up to the top, as opposed to inching up.  Mickey's Fun Wheel was a cute Ferris Wheel, and we chose the non-moving car.  You get a great view from the top of it!  Unfortunately, I don't remember much about Mulholland Madness except for it being a smaller roller coaster.  My cousin and her friend enjoyed Golden Zephyr, but it isn't a huge thrill ride (you just circle in rocket ships) LOL.  We also ate at Pizza Oom Mow Mow here, and the food was standard Disney pizza and pasta.


The talking Mr. Potato Head while waiting for the Toy Story ride



Mickey's Fun Wheel



California Screamin'



My chicken pasta lunch and my mom's one-bite missing pizza



A cute pic of my mom, aunt, cousin's friend and cousin outside of Mulholland Madness



My cousin and her friend on Golden Zephyr

We only went on one "ride" in the Golden State Area  and that was Soarin' Over California.  It was really cool after I got over my initial motion-sickness.  You are strapped into a seat and it is literally like you are soaring over all of California's cool landmarks.  We also went to the Mission Tortilla Factory where you get to watch them make tortillas...and eat a hot one at the end!  And we went to the Boudin Bakery, where you get to take a tour of them making Sourdough bread.  You also get to try two slices!


 
Pictures of airplines in the "line" or Soarin' Over California


The entrance into Soarin' Over California



The Mission Tortilla sign :)



Various holiday and Disney Sourdough loaves

Hope everyone has enjoyed my California Adventure photos.  I will put up the Disney ones tomorrow...but there aren't as many since I have been there so many times!


Saturday, December 26, 2009

Win a $10 Whole Foods Gift Card




Just in time for New Years, Whole Foods is offering some really great deals and recipes to help stretch your budget. Here is a list of their offerings:

At less than 50¢ a piece, their“small bites” recipes are the budget-minded party host’s solution for a delicious party! Here are links to a few great recipes:
Just in time for the college bowl games on New Years Day, or if you don’t feel like cooking after ringing in the New Year, Whole Foods Market is offering the following on January 1st:
  • Two shrimp platters (caught using sustainable seafood practices) for $15.99
  • $0.89/pound chicken wings in a variety of flavors, including Teriyaki Wings, Mesquite BBQ Wings, Ginger Soy Wings, Korean Sesame Wings, Ginger Teriyaki Wings, Jamaican Jerk Wings, Tequila & Lime Wings, Chipotle Wings and Baja Wings
Thanks to my friends at Whole Foods, I am pleased to offer a $10 Whole Foods gift card giveaway.

For your first (and mandatory) entry into this contest, go to the Whole Foods website and comment with which recipe you would like to make. Please make sure to leave your email address in your comments.

To earn extra entries you can (please leave a comment for each additional entry):

1) Follow Santa Barbara Whole Foods on Twitter (click here and then comment with your twitter name)

2) Become a fan of Santa Barbara Whole Foods on Twitter (click here and then comment with your facebook name)

3) Become a follower of my blog or let me know if you already follow (please don't do anonymous, i have to be able to see you)

4) Become an email subscriber of my blog or let me know if you already subscribe

5) Blog about this contest (and comment with the url)

6) Add my button to your sidebar (and comment with the url)

7) Follow my Becca's Contest List blog

8) Follow me on twitter and tweet about the contest including @sbshortie and @wfmsantabarbara (comment with your twitter name and the url of your tweet)

This contest is open to anyone with a US mailing address that is 18+. Contest ends Saturday, January 9th at 11:59 pm pacific time. Winner will be picked and notified by email shortly after.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Day off

Merry X-Mas to all of my bloggy friends who celebrate.  While I don't exactly celebrate, we do have a family dinner with presents at my aunt's house down in Huntington Beach.  I hope you all have an amazing day!!

P.S. I will continue my trip pics on the 26th (and I have a giveaway coming up on the 26th)

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Crap

My Wootalyzer just went off with Random Crap...and I clicked the links....and I finally got a bag of crap!!!!!!!!

Character pictures

Upon seeing the character, Stitch, at California Adventure, I became obsessed with getting character pictures.  Because I am unsure of how to divide up my posts, I am going to do one of just character pictures, one of California Adventure, and one of Disneyland.


(Me, Stitch, Mom)



(With Pluto)



(Me and Handy Manny?)  I don't know who he is but he is adorable!



(Elastigirl and me)



(Mom, Me, Mickey) (We think there was more than one Mickey in his house lol)



(Me, Minnie, Mom) It was kind of nice with Minnie to do the pic first



(Me, Goofy, Mom) (These characters are so tall!)



(Me and Donald)  Will Donald ever get pants???



Malky, Rochel, Tanya, Me and Mom with Br'er Fox (I had to do a lot of research to figure that out)

They had other characters around...Unfortunately the line for Tigger and Pooh was long and it was getting dark.  The princess walk also had huge lines.  Tinkerbell was 45 minutes!  Who else did I miss?


Who is your favorite Disney character?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Santa Swap 2009

After having so much fun with the Halloween Blog or Treat, I was so excited when I read that Shannon at The Mommy-Files blog was going to do a Santa Swap!

When I went to pick up my mail today, I was thrilled to have received my package from Lauren at Shooting Stars Mag blog.

She sent me such cute things!  Because I am Jewish, I was really worried about receiving X-Mas-y things, but that did not happen!  I got a Hershey's Bar (can't go wrong with chocolate), a great crime book, a keychain from Kentucky with horses, a notebook with a B on it, and 2 bracelets.

Thank you sooooo much Lauren for everything.  Below is a picture of my cute new things!!!




Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Woohoo

I just won a Zicam giveaway.  Now that I think I have the flu and not food poisoning (it's really hard to decide between the two), I'm all the more excited!

I really do swear by Zicam!

Thanks Angela at The Suburban Jungle!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Not sick...Food Poisoning!!!

Considering that I feel okay today...just really weak...I have to assume it was food poisoning and not the flu!

I follow food safety handling guidelines really closely, and I sometimes feel like it hurts more than it helps.  People who eat week old food, food that's been left out for hours etc seem to get food poisoning way less often than I do!

Anyhow, feeling mostly better today thankfully...just have no energy!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sick???

I have a 99.2 fever...with chills and a stomachache :(

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Sobriety Checkpoint

OMG!  Last night when I left to take my grandparents back to their hotel, I got stopped at a sobriety checkpoint by my house (they stopped everyone!)  I thought it was going to be like the ones by my old house...where they seemed to be looking for specific people.  But this one was just what it said it was!  The guy BARELY glanced at my license.

He then asked me to stick my head out the window and follow his finger.  I was so shocked I just stared at him, so he had to ask me again to stick my head out the window.  So I did...and I guess I then failed at following his finger, because he then asked me if I wore contacts (duh, maybe he should have read my license lol).  So I said yes, he did the test again, and then he let me go!

It was kinda scary....but funny at the same time.  Have you ever been sobriety tested??

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ramblings

I am trying so hard (and succeeding so far) to blog every day.  But I don't always have ideas to blog ahead...and I am exhausted from long, hard days of vacation.

Today at Disneyland was a blast.  I did things I had never done before like Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

My only "disappointment" this week was not getting to see my aunt's friends from Colorado.  We were just never able to meet up with them.

If I have time to upload some photos tomorrow and write some blog posts, I will :)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Aloha Friday #22


Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday. Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog . Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

At Disneyland on Tuesday, we saw many women who were obviously religious (just don't know what religion).  They appeared to be Caucasian.  They wore long dresses that were a checkered / calico pattern.  They had these clear hard plastic and rectangular head coverings.  Does anyone have any idea what religion they might have been?  I don't think they were Amish because I am under the impression that Amish people tend to wear solid-colored clothes and soft bonnets.  If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

Just a few random thoughts...

I learned something.  Don't leave home without your camera cord!  I have a lot of things that I want to blog about...but no way to get my pictures onto my computer!

I went to a pretty bad restaurant tonight.  It was a kosher restaurant in LA.  Normally I love blogging about everywhere I go to, good or bad, but I feel bad to name a kosher restaurant that is probably struggling to stay in business.  They advertise / have all kinds of food on their menu that they don't carry.  When we asked questions about the foods, they answered us, never saying they were out of it.  They brought water glasses to some people and not others.  Most of the food we actually ended up getting was good, it just wasn't worth the effort!  Next time we will go back to Pico Kosher Deli where we always have excellent food and service.

Tomorrow we are going back to Disneyland for day 2 :)  I really enjoyed having a day off between our two days there.  We are having a hard time deciding what to go on first tomorrow LOL

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Shanghai Diamond Garden

My aunt and her family keep kosher, so we went out for kosher Chinese food at Shanghai Diamond Garden in Los Angeles yesterday.

I was really impressed with how good the food was!  We started off with wonton strips and sweet and sour - can't go wrong!  We then got an order of egg drop soup that we split four ways (it was delicious) and an order of spring rolls (I don't eat those but everyone else seemed to like them).

We ordered 6 entrees...and I am going to try my best to get them right.  We ordered orange chicken, sesame chicken, beef and asparagus, mongolian beef, sizzling beef with chicken and something else I just can't remember.  But the main point is...it was all delicious!!!!  I have never had such tender beef in Chinese food before.  The sauces were amazing too.

So while the restaurant was a bit pricy (as all kosher food is), it was really worth it!  I would highly recommend this restaurant :)

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

So You Think You Can Dance - Top 6

Believe it or not, I used to barely watch TV.  Then when my ex-boss came to my ex-job, she convinced me to watch a ton of shows...now I'm hooked!

So I haven't been watching So You Think You Can Dance from the beginning, but I have been watching since Season 3.  I think part of why I love it so much is because I just can't dance at all...so I am in awe of these people!

I'm at the point in the show where I am really sad to see people go home.  Since I don't have dancing skills, I feel like everyone left is amazing!  I had tears in my eyes watching Legacy and Mollee go home.  Legacy is so unique, who is like him???  And Mollee is just such a sweet young thing.

I am interested to see how they do a 6 person finale...I think it has always been 4 in the past.

Who do you want to win???

Monday, December 14, 2009

This week

I am so excited...my family is coming into California for Chanukah and we are meeting them in LA and hanging out all week!!!!  Not only do I get a week off of work, but I get to have a great time without going more than a few hours from home!!!!

Monday - take a slow drive down from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles...stopping at Target, Wal-Mart, Camarillo Outlets, Thousand Oaks Mall...and wherever else we choose.  Then we are meeting up with everyone for dinner at some kosher restaurant in LA

Tuesday - Disney California Adventure!  I have never been there before so suggestions are welcome :)

Wednesday - Santa Monica Pier?  Back to Los Angeles for dinner?  We don't have a solid plan, but we know we don't want to sit around!

Thursday - Disneyland!  I haven't been for about 2 years, so I am looking forward to it.  Even though I am Jewish, I appreciate how they decorate for the holidays.

Friday - Back up to SB for a nice Shabbat at Chabad with all of my family.

I am soooooo excited.  I won't be around as much as usual but I am going to try to keep up with one post per day :)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Eggs

I love a few different types of eggs.  The ones I normally make for myself are scrambled eggs or hard-boiled eggs (and egg salad).  But I also love a kind of cooked egg that I don't know the name for.  This is the kind until today, that I had only had from my mom or grandma.  But I decided I wanted to learn how to cook it for myself.

You would start the same way you do with a scrambled egg (cracking eggs into a bowl and mixing them) only we use fake egg.  So, you just pour it into the pan (it makes a circle) and let it sit until it is cooked on top and on bottom.  Then you flip it to let it cook a bit more and you're done.  (The only reason I never knew how to make it is because I never watched anyone do it).  I love to eat it on a buttered bagel!!!

Below is a picture of my masterpiece :)


(It was delicious!!)

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Chanukah

I can't believe I haven't posted anything about Chanukah yet...I guess the thought just didn't occur to me!  Chanukah is one of my favorite holidays.  I love the beautiful chanukiahs filled with candles.  I love getting to see my family and friends.  And of course I love latkes (potato pancakes)!

Below are pics from night 2 :)  (my sister hasn't sent me night 1...should've taken them on my camera!)


(My mom's chanukiah)


(My chanukiah)

Happy Chanukah everyone!