The York

Today is my birthday (control your excitement, please)! My friend Lauren took me out to drinks at the York before we grabbed dinner to celebrate the twenty second year of my life.

When I asked Josh, our bartender, to bring me whatever he recommended, he brought me out the drink that is pictured above. It's a limeade (lemonade made with limes rather than lemons), fresh cherries, and some vodka. It took awhile to drink but definitely gets my stamp of approval. Good job, Josh!

Located between Avenue 50 and Avenue 51 on York Boulevard, the York is one of Highland Park's most talked about hot spots. Walking through the front door, you enter into a room with brick walls and tall wooden rafters. The bar was relatively crowded, with customers ranging from hipsters to business men and women still wearing their suits and ties. In general, it was just a really fun, cozy place to grab a few drinks on a Wednesday night.

I definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a good time! Below are the basics for anyone interested:

The York

5018 York Blvd.

(323)255-9675

www.theyorkonyork.com

Ben & Jerry Free Cone Day!

Yesterday was Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! I made my way over to one of their locations in Burbank last night before they closed where a huge line awaited me (to be expected, of course). It probably wasn't a surprise to many of you who know me that I went because it was (1) FOOD-related, (2) FREE, (3) a great way to get away from the work I should have been doing.

The event was held at most Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops and lasted from noon until 8pm. The purpose was the thank ONE members for their support against the world hunger crisis and to celebrate B&J's 30 year anniversary. In addition, firefighters were on location to scoop the ice cream and collect donations for the Los Angeles Fire Department's "Fill the Boot" fundraising campaign that supports the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Baskin-Robbins is hosting their 31 Cent Scoop Night tonight, April 30th (also my birthday! yay), in order to honer America's firefighters. If you missed out yesterday, here's a second chance to join in all the fun of nearly free ice cream.

La Casa Blue

Around a month ago, I went to lunch at La Casa Blue on Eagle Rock Boulevard which I had recently received a flier for in my school mailbox. As we walked in, we couldn't help but notice the large open space that was only filled with a few tables. They were also assembling their bar counter as we were seated at our table. We soon ordered and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed my burrito. I wasn't expecting the paprika that covered the entire plate, but I'm used to the flavor (I'm Hungarian) and really liked it.

This experience doesn't sound relevant today, but I remembered it when I walked into one of my classes this morning and took my seat. A friend of mine exclaimed when I took the seat next to her, "I saw your picture on the La Casa Blue website. That's so cool!" I suddenly remembered that the owner of the restaurant had requested to take a picture of us, his first customers, before we left. Of course I let him take the picture but quickly let that day escape my mind once I returned home. I found this to be such a funny occurrence, I had to tell you all about it.

Congrat's Summer!

My close friend and roommate, Summer, learned of her admittance to this publishing school at the University of Denver today!  She was really excited about it both because it's a really great program and also because it means she actually has a plan for after graduation (unlike me, ah!).  We decided to celebrate over a good meal, so I brought her to Mogo's Mongolian BBQ.  I used to go to Mogo's all the time when I was little and it was fun to go back.

Here are some pictures from the night:

At Mogo's, food is laid out kind of like a salad bar.  After picking up a bowl, you add in your meats, your vegetables (or lack thereof), and then your sauces for which they provide you with a guide if you request one.

At the end of the line are two cooks who cook your concoction for you.  This picture makes me hungry! Yum!

My final product!

This is Summer with her celebration cake.  I bought it from Bee's Bakery in Sherman Oaks.  It was chocolate with jam on top (very tasty).

Here is a closer picture of the cake.  It was definitely just the right amount of chocolate to cure my sweet tooth too!

This was such a great meal.  You should check out Mogo's if you are ever in the Sherman Oaks area.

Mogo's Mongolian Barbeque

4454 Van Nuys Boulevard

Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

(818) 783-6646

La Luna Negra: Tasting

I've been researching graduation dinner restaurant options and La Luna Negra in Old Town Pasadena offered to have us come in for a tasting. Five of us took them up on the offer and we had such a great time. Both the food and the entertainment were amazing. They brought out tons of paella and tapas after tapas. This was all accompanied, of course, by their wonderfully refreshing light sangria. What a fantastic night it was! I've been researching restaurants for my graduation dinner and have been having trouble deciding on the perfect place. It's hard to find a place that will accomodate me, my five friends, and all of our families, along with all of our different requests. The tasting was a perfect way to preview the food and entertainment that would be provided the night of the event.

The entertainment was wonderful. Nothing beats live Flamenco during dinner!

Dinner Success

Last night's dinner was FANTASTIC!  The whole family was together and nothing is better than good company and food.

Yummy tomato, avocado, cheese and sprout salad.

Simple fig salad.

Chicken with carrots, purple potatoes, and onions.

The veggies from the chicken dish. (mmmmhmmm...)

Chicken.  (This dish looks so simple but it was really tasty.)

This was by far the best dinner I've had in awhile.  I wish I had more photos for you guys but my camera died in the middle of the meal.

Calabasas Farmers Market

So my boyfriend and I decided that we'd make dinner for my family tonight. My parents are coming over to see the construction progress that we've made on our house so we thought we'd add in some dinner.

We went over the Farmers Market in Calabasas this morning to get the ingredients for our dinner and there were some great photo opportunities that I just had to get in on.

I love the way this photograph came out!  Very artistic, don't you think!?!

These strawberries looked perfectly ripe.

Honey jars.  I just thought this would make a cool shot.  I guess I was right. :)

Similar to the first picture I posted on this post entry, this photograph also features an interesting pattern.  I like!

Pretty flowers!

Eat your veggies!

As most of you can probably tell, these photographs were taken by a much better camera than my own.  I borrowed my boyfriend's Canon (not sure exactly which model) to capture these shots and I really love how they came out!