Sunday, August 19, 2012

cupcakes and tea parties: two of my favorite things!

For those who don't know, I love cupcakes!

So back in May, when my friend Diana invited me to join her at a cupcake-themed garden party hosted by our friend Daryl's boss, Dame Barbara Hay, at the British Consul-General's residence in Hancock Park -- also known as the house where Prince William and the Duchess formerly-known as Kate Middleton stayed last summer when they visited Los Angeles -- I jumped at the chance! A fancy tea party where I get to wear a fancy hat AND eat cupcakes... hello!


The party was in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and was being filmed as part of a Cupcake Wars episode that is finally airing tonight at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network. The four contestants, all English bakers, competed prior to the party to have their cupcake creation featured at the party and Dame Barbara had been one of the final judges.

When we arrived at the Residence, the cupcakes were set up in the center of the backyard on a giant tiered table (which I'm told by my Cupcake Wars-afficionado friends, was not one of the show's most impressive displays). All four cupcakes created were present, and I'm still not sure who the actual winner was. Show producers were explaining to people who signed releases to be on camera which cupcake was which, and asking them to taste test. Diana signed up and might be on TV tonight.

I just picked the cupcake that looked yummiest to me... a chocolate cake with pink raspberry frosting and a giant chocolate diamond on top. I also sampled strawberries, tarts and tea cakes, as well as yummy cucumber and egg sandwiches, because this was a tea party after all!



British/American red, white and blue flower arrangements were on each table. And being a friend of the host's right hand man, I got to take one home after the party :) All in all, it was a lovely, very British afternoon.  





Saturday, August 18, 2012

too much entertainment?

So like a year ago, my friend asked if I wanted to go see Aerosmith at the Hollywood Bowl with her on August 6th. Back then, that was a super-long way off. I said sure.

Then back in, oh April maybe, I got a Ticketmaster alert for my fave skinny white kid who sings and plays the blues like a big fat black dude from the South (that would be Jonny Lang, for all of you who are not Cwennen and don't get what I just said) and bought tickets for Cwennen and I to see him August 7th at the Greek Theatre.

Around then, tickets also went on sale for Memphis, the Tony-Award winning Broadway musical written by Bon Jovi's David Bryan, at The Pantages. It was my duty as a faithful Bon Jovi fan for 20-something (let's not get into those details) years to go see that. Tickets purchased... for August 9th.

Then, in early July, after hearing that our summer intern had "Going to the Hollywood Bowl" on her "Things to do in LA before I go back to the Midwest" summer bucket list, I decided to get tickets for the non-video part of my team (who I've spent the better part of this year not having time for) and I to go see Pixar In Concert on August 3rd.

Then a few weeks ago, I got a Living Social deal to see Cirque du Soleil's Micheal Jackson The Immortal World Tour at Staples Center. I'd missed it the last time it was here. I heard it was amazing. I never got to see MJ in concert and now that he's dead, this was probably the closest I'd get. I got tickets for August 14th.

So before I knew it, August 1st rolled around and I realized I had tickets to five entertainment events (most with bad parking situations) in 10 days. And, while I survived them all, I've realized I'm getting too old for this. I really like sitting on my sofa watching Friends reruns and reading magazines. So sad.

Anyway, here's what I thought of all the shows, and the.... let's call it "atmosphere surrounding the experience"... because there were some doozies. People in LA are scary. Like laugh out loud and/or cringe and back away slowly scary....

Event 1: Pixar In Concert
Date: Friday, 8/3
The Show Itself: A+. John Lasseter was there to intro the first and second acts. They played music from all the films and showed clips. Made me want to go re-watch all the movies again.
The Atmosphere: Lovely as all Bowl experiences where the LA Philharmonic, not a popular music act, are performing. We packed cheese, crackers, salads, desserts and wine and picnicked at that top of the Bowl before going to our seats. Only bad part was Lisa wasn't with us... she had to get her gallbladder removed that day. :(

Event 2: Aerosmith
Date: Monday 8/6 
The Show Itself: B. Steven Tyler can't do backflips anymore like he did in the late '80s/early '90s when I last saw the band back at the not-so-fabulous Forum. But they still sounded great. Oh, and they had a hot special guest join them for their last song :) 
The Atmosphere: Normally the Bowl is great... when people are in the audience who know what the Bowl is like. It's not like that at concerts with famous musicians. Their fans don't know that the benches at the Bowl are marked off for X number of seats that fit the skinny butts of people from the 1920s when the Bowl was built, not the butts of the larger, processed-food-eating-generation we are currently a part of. So, sorry Dude sitting five seats to my right. I'm not moving over more so you and your chubby girlfriend have more room. There is nowhere for me to move to. The row is packed like a sardine can. Get over it and shut up. Oh, now you're going to get an usher to check we're all properly ticketed and in the correct seats. Oh look, you just wasted 15 minutes of your time and hers to be proven WRONG. Did I say sit down and shut up yet? Stoopid. Besides him, there were a lot of scary people older than me who looked like they hadn't gotten haircuts or new clothes since the '80s. Frightening. But it did make me feel really young after feeling really old a month ago at VidCon. ;)

Event 3: Jonny Lang
Date: Tuesday 8/7
The Show Itself: A. Jonny was the opening act for blues legend Buddy Guy. Both were excellent. And we had seats in the 12th row.
The Atmosphere: Seats in the 12th row on the aisle were great... until the 50-something man three seats away from me showed up for Buddy Guy, high as a kite. Headbanging (I mentioned this was a blues show, right?) and moving his arms like a spastic person about to have a seizure. Oh, and did I mention he kept sneaking whiffs off his doobie? Yes, five seats in off the aisle, right in front of the ushers manning the front curtain, who did nada. I felt really bad for the older couple sitting in between Spaz-man and I...but not bad enough to switch seats with them when the jokingly asked. 

Event 4: Memphis
Date: Thursday 8/9
The Show Itself: A. I had no idea what the show was really about going in. I knew one of the songs (because it was added to the Bon Jovi 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong box set a few years back when Dave was still writing the show ;). And I was seriously impressed. Great music, poignant story about race relations in the South in the '50s, laced with lots of humor and a little sadness. And does the female lead ever have a set of pipes! 
The Atmosphere: All good. Although if I'd been one row back I might have felt differently... I heard the people behind me saying the woman behind them was yelling at the people behind her to stop clapping and singing along at one point. (Um, I know we're at "the theater" but this is a show full of rock and roll songs written by a guy in a rock band. Chill.) I personally had a great time watching the show and spending part of intermission staring up at the ceiling of the Pantages. It was restored about 10 years ago, and it's still gorgeous... old school theater fanciness :) 

Date: Tuesday 8/14
The Show Itself: A. Most Cirque shows are fascinating to watch and this was no exception. But this one didn't feel all mystically French and mime-y like most do. This one had a live rock band and amazing dancers and choreography, and really cool production effects between the video screens and set pieces. It was like being at a highly-produced rock concert... minus the lead singer.
The Atmosphere: Halfway through the first act I remembered that Staples Center is where Michael Jackson had been rehearsing for his London concert run when he died. Then I also realized that Staples Center is where his public memorial was held. Then everything started feeling weird and kinda creepy/sad. So to distract myself, I spent intermission trying to angle myself in my seat so I could see behind the giant black curtain covering the LA Kings and Lakers banners up on the wall. I wanted to see if they'd moved around the Kings banners to make room for their Stanley Cup Championship banner that will be unveiled on October 12th. I think they have :) Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

products i love: bottega louie butter cookies

I feel sorry for people that don't live in Los Angeles because they will never experience the delicious downtown foodie mecca that is Bottega Louie.

I've blogged before about the delicious dinner and brunch menu, but on this lazy Sunday I'm going to simplify things a notch and talk about the yummy deliciousness you can get without waiting 15-45 minutes for a table: the to-go butter cookies from the Market.


Here's what I love about these cookies:

  • I love how the 12 of them fit so perfectly together in the tiny little bag
  • I love the pink Bottega Louie ribbon they use to tie the tiny little bag
  • I love the tiny little bag's fancy label, which almost makes up for these cookies being in a bag instead of the fancy Bottega Louie bakery boxes that are almost as pretty as a box from Tiffany & Co. 
  • I love that nowhere on the tiny little bag is any mention of nutritional info, or lack thereof. (If they don't say there are calories or fat in them, then there must not be any right? ;) 
  • I love that the cookies are crisp but not dry
  • I love that they absorb tea when dunked in hot tea, but don't crumble
  • I love that the cookies melt in your mouth
  • I love that they cost $4 (that's only $0.33/cookie!)
  • I love that Bottega Louie is far enough away that I can't buy these weekly, cuz then I'd be in serious trouble ;)

Sunday, August 5, 2012

things that make me smile... my rose garden

... especially my giant red rose bush that my mom bought me as a house warming gift four years ago. It's ginormous -- both the plant and the flowers it blooms. I cut this giant red rose (about 5 inches in diameter) from a stem that must have been about 6 feet tall before I snipped it. And it smells heavenly. Love!