Getting cuh-razy in Las Vegas

Stupid title. Forgive me. I have been job searching all day. I'm trying to find a job that will work with my busy student teaching schedule. Mostly because I want to buy a DSLR, go to Ireland and buy more Lululemon yoga pants.



We did some damage at Hash House a Go Go. None of us finished our plates but we still felt pretty full. The Palazzo has an amazing gym & spa called Canyon Ranch Spa so we decided to check it out. I took a yoga class and the boys went to the gym.(Andy walked at an incline with his huge bandage on. He is intense.)

Tiffany and I took part in the sauna, steam room, igloo room, jacuzzi, rainforest showers and relaxation rooms. We felt incredibly relaxed afterwards.

Which obviously meant we needed more alcohol.





This is the dress I wore. It's made by Free People and I am obsessed. Unfortunately it's a little short and I HATE my legs so after a few hours, I changed into jeans.

I try to be a lady, I really do.





We went to Taqueria Canonita for happy hour. Andy's parents have been and told us it was delicious. I started with a blackberry margarita.



Tiffany ordered a mango margarita? I think.



And Gary ordered a long island iced tea. Aren't they a cute couple? I love double dates.



Andy ordered a beer. Which is boring. Right?



For food, I ordered chicken flautas.



Andy ordered ceviche. (And I tried the ahi tuna!) The ceviche was delicious. It came with three different kinds and the seafood-phobe in me was scared. Then I tried it. Love. Getting over my fear was delicious, gotta love that. Taqueria Canonita is a fun place to grab a bite, get a few drinks in and people watch. Go to their happy hour, it's from 2-7. Order the guacamole and think of me.

And I stopped taking pictures at this point. Maybe it had to do with my second margarita. I'll never tell.

I'm also sad because we went to a fun champagne bar with another couple (triple date!) and I forgot to take pictures. Sometimes I seriously fail at being a blogger.

Do you ever forget to take pictures? Or am I alone here?

Sushi!

So last week, Wednesday I believe, our good friend Brett came over and we went out to Sushi. There aren't a lot of amazing sushi places immediately near us, but the best of the bunch is a place called Sushi Planet. We rarely go, because Amanda didn't really enjoy sushi until relatively recently. I blame this on the California Roll, which everyone seems to try first and it tastes like garbage. Amanda is becoming increasingly more adventureous with food, as am I, of late. It is weird all the things I never liked before Amanda and I started going out. The list includes beans of all kinds, cheesecake, and guacamole. Now I could eat those 3 things all the time, but probably not together. That is gross. I digress.

Sushi! If I remembered what we ordered, I would tell you. I was pretty out of it all last week following the surgery. So here we go!

Edamame, which is amazingly as always for being so simple.

Tuna, Crab, Salmon, and Avocado...at least I think

I am ususally of the less is more school of thought with sushi. Too much going on can be disgusting. It appears I was completely out of it, because I ordered this:

Which had crab, shrimp, tuna, and probably more stuff. It was good, but too much. I like clean flavors with sushi.

This was some sort of lobster thing.

Like I said, I think less is more. I should stick with this idea from now on and not go for the overpriced specials. You live, you learn.

We ordered way more, but some how that is all we photographed. I think I had something with eel at some point, which was amazing. Wow, I was totally out of it.

So, best sushi you've ever had? Is less more? I want to try sea urchin soon, but we don't see a ton of that on menus here. I have a mission to try anything intended to be eaten.

BTW, my arm is doing better. It is gnarly bruised, but doesn't hurt much anymore. I got the giant bandage off next Monday. I can't wait.

Santa Barbara Afternoon Date

Andy and I live about 45 minutes (without traffic) away from Santa Barbara. I love visiting Santa Barbara due to the beach, shopping on State Street and the people watching. We've gone several times throughout our relationship and have always enjoyed making a day of it. Our only gripe has been the food. Since we usually only stay on State Street, we usually end up feeling disappointed with the restaurant choices.

But not with Blush.



We happened upon Blush while shopping on State Street. I was hungry but heading towards Lululemon to check out their sale racks.



We ordered the poppers as an appetizer to share. Chorizo and Queso Fresco Stuffed Piquillo peppers with chipotle aioli.



As you can see, they were fried but not super greasy. Not greasy at all!



And one and half poppers was more than enough. The pepper was mild and slightly sweet and the creamy cheese was everything I ever could have wished for.



For our entree, we shared a Short Rib grilled cheese sandwich with truffle french fries. It was the perfect portion for sharing.



After a few hours of shopping and people watching, we drove to McConnell's ice cream. I read about it on All Things Yummy and wanted to try it!



I got a scoop of Cookies and Cream.



Andy ordered the Brazillian coffee nut. He loves coffee ice cream and this was a hit. I highly reccommend!

Locals: Do you visit Santa Barbara often? What do you like to do when you are there? I need ideas!

Zoozacrackers at the Wynn Las Vegas

Ah, Paris. I had to post a picture of Paris! This is my favorite hotel in Vegas.

Andy and I wanted to head over to the Wynn for some lunch. After a lot of wandering around, we decided on Zoozacrackers Deli. Andy ordered a reuben. I love how the marbled rye looks.

I stole a couple bites, it was very good. I liked that it wasn't super greasy like other reubens I've had before.

I ordered a cobb salad. I cannot resist fresh avocado, blue cheese crumbles and bacon.



My salad was so good! I loved that it didn't need any dressing. I had some honey mustard on the side but only found myself dipping into it once or twice.


And of course we ordered some coffee. The Wynn has the best coffee in Vegas.



Zoozacrackers is located inside the Wynn Casino area in Las Vegas, Nv.

P.S. The move is going very well. We are both exhausted and sore from moving all of our stuff up 2 flights of stairs!

Good luck to our best friends Mike & Ashley who are also moving. They move today! Wish you guys luck!

Breakfast is the best meal of the day

Sunday morning breakfasts at Eggs 'n' Things is my favorite. I love how they serve the flavored coffee in a rooster mug. I got hawaiian hazelnut coffee. Delish

Andy ordered a breakfast burrito. He had half of it. This thing is huge!

I ordered the Eggs and Things omelette with avocado and a side of fruit. I never seem to finish the omelette but I still find myself full until dinnertime. The Eggs 'N' Things omelette comes with bacon, avocado, sour cream and green ortega chilies. It isn't healthy at all, I'm sure but it's amazing. I opted for fruit instead of potatoes but just picked out the pineapple and blueberries.

Speaking of healthy, cross your fingers that I lose weight at my weigh in tomorrow! Obviously I went out to breakfast. Not entirely sure how good I did. :

Redondo Beach's Chez Melange

Recently Andy attended a teaching conference in Redondo Beach. I decided to take a few days off work to come visit him. While Andy was at the conference I consulted Yelp to see if I could find a cute restaurant to take him to.

All signs pointed towards Chez Melange. Check out their reviews on Yelp if you're interested.

We walked in right around opening time. The staff was friendly and helpful showing us the menu and highlighting the specials. Andy and I were both in the mood for a cocktail so we started the evening out right.



I ordered a pom-tini. What else is new?



Andy ordered a cheese plate for us to share. It came with honey, pears, crumbly 7 year cheddar, goat cheese and a strong stilton.



I got a pear and gorgonzola salad which we also split. I wish this picture was bigger so you could see how beautifully the salad was plated.



Some baked chips and dips. The dips were great and a fun alternative to the usual bread and butter starter at restaurants.



For my entree, I had the roasted pork with cheesy grits and green beans. I rarely ever eat pork and certainly could not finish this huge meal but it was delicious! The pork had so much flavor. The cheesy grits were good but I was already stuffed to the gills from the salad, cheese and pom-tini!





Andy ordered gnocchi with lamb. He says he enjoyed this dish. I'll let him post more about it in the comments. If he so desires!

We ended the evening with a foamy cappucino and creme brulee. The creme brulee had cacao nibs in it. YUM! We'd definitely love to check out Chez Melange again if we are ever around Redondo Beach. The staff was so nice! The owner even walked over to our table and chatted with us about the meal. I told him about how we found his place on yelp. I left the restaurant with a warm and fuzzy feeling, love that!

I am working on figuring out how to code html or use window's live writer. Any blogging tips?

Tryin' Thai

So I finally tried THAI FOOD! I had to capitalize that because I loved it! It was fantastic!!

I ordered the Chicken Panaag after seeing that they didn't offer a Vegetarian panaag. I asked for suggestions on twitter and panaag seemed to be the way to go.





I dumped mine on top of some rice. It was good! I'm not a big white rice fan usually but it was delicious mixed with the sauce. What do you get when you go out for thai? Any suggestions for next time?



Dessert was frozen yogurt at this amazing little yogurt shop by our apartment. You pick your own toppings and fill yourself. I picked: strawberries, blueberries, dark chocolate chips, waffle cone pieces, dark chocolate covered espresso beans and a few pieces of captain crunch. I thought it would be fantastic but I honestly went a little over the top with this one. I felt a little sick!



Nothing beats bites like these though!

I plan on doing wedding/italian honeymoon recaps ASAP!!!

Granville Cafe- Burbank, Ca

Andy and I went to Granville Cafe after a trip to Ikea. We went to Ikea to look at their prices for candles and vases. I need to make a non-floral centerpiece for our wedding reception.



The menu was full of yummy stuff. I got the grilled cheese dipper. It was not *healthy but it was tasty!



I paired it with a Fat Tire. This was a huge bottle of beer. I barely got through half of it!



Mmm frothy bubbles. I really enjoyed this beer!



My grilled cheese dippers. They were full of grilled onions, cheese and dijon mustard. I LOVE grilled, raw or caramelized onions so I was thrilled. It came with a shallow bowl of tomato soup for dipping. !!!



Sweet potato fries. We split an order of these and loved them! It was my first time ordering them. We only got through about half the bag. I'm definitely going to try to recreate these but without frying them.



Andy got 3 tacos. Steak, Chicken and shrimp. Here are his thoughts on the tacos:

"So looking left to right we have the steak taco, the shrimp taco and the chicken taco. they were all outstanding. The steak taco was pretty straight forward. Carne asada, caramelized onions and cilantro. Tender and delicious and there was no need for any heavy sauce or cheese or anything like that. Simple and flavorful. The shrimp tacos were probably the best of the bunch. They were cooked in some sort of tomato based salsa with cabbage and pico de gallo. It was a giant taco, but so amazing. The chicken taco was very interesting. It had avocado and mango with chicken beast. It was a fairly light meal because the tacos were all small. No chips, no cheese, no fatty sauce. Corn tortillas. Perfection! I highly recommend them if you ever go there. Either as an appetizer or as a meal. AMAZING!