A wiener on wheels

Sunday afternoon, I found myself lost in the massive Griffith Park hills on a 90 degree day looking for a wiener mobile per this twitvite tweetup. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is exactly that, a big hot dog on wheels, which journeys across the country and tweets and blogs along the way @wienermobile.

This time, the truck was in Los Angeles and selling $2 hot dogs and $5 raffle tickets to benefit the Liz Logelin Foundation, which assists families who find themselves in the heartbreaking, catastrophic situation of having lost a spouse, life-partner, and parent. The Foundation’s goal is to financially assist these families as they deal with the loss of their loved ones, and struggle to move forward. The Foundation was established by blogger Matthew Logelin, who lost his wife Elizabeth the day after the birth of his daughter Maddie :( When we were there I asked how much they had raised so far and we were told they were at $400 already and still had another hour to go.

The hot dog crew, called "hotdoggers" were also taking free photos of people in front of the truck and giving out a code to grab them online. Oh, and Raphael told them that we follow them on twitter and he scored a cool twitter tee shown in our photo below:

Although a rope blocked people from going inside the truck, the door was open allowing for people to peek in. Take a look:

Also, I saw my bloggy friend Katelin a.k.a Pretty Sandy Feet there too.

Note: Oscar Mayer is a PR client in our Chicago office, but I do not work on the account.

Partied like it was 1984

Over the weekend, I hit the 80s Prom Party at The House of Blues. I had so much fun, I immediately wished my prom was as cool.

Why was it better than my Senior Prom?
a. I had a date
b. I could drink
c. Live bands
d. Better music
e. Didn't pay for a limo

Check out our awesomely rad portraits:


We also snuck upstairs to the members only Foundation Room where we lounged on the comfy sofas. I might have took it a little too far though...

Twitpic of my 80s makeup

One prom down, one more to go...9 days til Blogger Prom! I'll have cheesier more prom-like attire on then.

Workin' at the car wash

Did you know that washing your car at home uses about 116 gallons of water? So, when I heard about Lucky Earth waterless car wash, I thought it would be a fun eco-product to try out. I don't own a hose to begin with anyway and my car is always dirty.

My car's been so filthy that people have written notes on it from the collected dust and dirt. Sometimes it's me writing When Tara Met Blog though, lol. My first car always had messages scribbled on it by random people, but I was in college and going to the car wash wasn't on my list of priorities or in the budget. One time, someone wrote "Wash me, I'm dirty" on the back of my hood. I was annoyed and didn't want to give in to the mean-spirited people or clean my car. So, I simply wrote next to it "I like it dirty!" with a wink smiley face and drove around another week like that.

I digress, back to actually cleaing my Jetta for a change. Another green reason for me to use this Lucky Earth spray, is that it does not use harmful fumes, or toxic residues. Instead of water, this cleaner works with two reusable microfiber towels--one for buffing and one for scrubbing. The solution is made from organic coconut to break down dirt and contains water-soluble silicone, which captures dirt so it doesn't scratch your car. A 32-ounce bottle lasts seven to 10 washes and costs $14.99. You can buy it online or at a Whole Foods. They also sell a tire shine, but I haven't tried it. Next time.

Sure, it wasn't as easy as throwing buckets of soapy water on your car and quickly spraying it down, "but let me tell ya it's better that diggin' a ditch!" Sorry, I just had to throw in that Car Wash lyric. Anywho, yes, this earth-friendly way of cleaning my Jetta definitely required more elbow grease, but my car looked incrediably shiny after, like it just got detailed. I also spent a beautiful day out in the sun and felt pretty accomplished.

Before:

After:

Today's delivery fills the Gap

When I got home today I was surprised to see a big package outside my door. The address label read Born To Fit, Gap 1969 Premium Jeans. I hadn't ordered anything from Gap and despite being addressed to me, my cat, Patches, thought the package was hers.

First she tasted the curly confetti that spewed out of the package when I opened it. She then investigated more and unearthed a blue striped canvas tote and discovered a welcome letter for me.

The letter read that I was selected to be a Brand Enthusiast for Gap and would be getting soe Gap goodies over the coming year. The first cool perk is that I get to throw a party for my friends with tons of Gap goodies including new Gap jeans "born to fit" before they're available in stores. So more to come on the party as I figure it all out. In this package though was bottle of Close perfume, the aforementioned tote, mini glosses and a white tee that reads "Born To" on the front and "Blog" in the back (yay, another blogger themed shirt for me to pack to BlogHer).

Drink pink

I'm not a big fan of sweet or white wines and I generally tend to dismiss Rosés as being too sweet for me. However, after attending a Rosé & Fromage Tasting at Maison 140 (a chic boutique Beverly Hills hotel), I realized that not all blush wines are sweet. In fact, one was too strong and peppery for me even. My favorite was the Jaboulet—Côtes du Rhône, Parallèle 45, 2008. It has a floral and cherry scent and although sweet and light it wasn't very sweet, but super refreshing and perfect for summer.

The tastings are available through the end of August, for $35 per person on Wednesdays from 6-9 p.m. I think it's a pretty good deal since you get to sip three Rosés from the South of France paired with artisanal cheeses, meats, fruits and breads at Maison 140’s chic, Parisian-inspired Bar Noir lounge. The black and red colored room is small and intimate with comfy French chairs and is perfect for after work drinks, a date or catching up with friends. Personally, I was there chatting it up with fellow Blogger Prom committee members and quickly lost track of time as my face became as pink as the drinks.

Oh, and before we drank the Rose's I had absinthe striaght for the first time. They poured the green colored liquor from a cool dispenser and over a sugar cube which then caught on fire and melted into the drink. It was quite strong and tasted like the licorice flavored Italian drink, Sambuco. My only other absinthe drinking was in New Orleans gulping down a grenade, which apparently has absinthe and lots of other stuff as you can tell by my hazy look in this pic.

You can also check out e*star's Flickr photo stream from the tasting too.

A Land of Giants

For 4th of July weekend Raphael and I along with two friends randomly planned a trip to Sequoia National Park, just three days before the holiday. It was a fun road trip with stops in Fresno to sip some fab reds at Water 2 Wine and then to a lodge up in the second established U.S. national park, after Yellowstone. The Sequoia Nat'l park is most famous for its Giant Sequoia trees, including the General Sherman tree (twitpic photo), which is the biggest tree on Earth, due to the volume of its trunk and not its impressive height of 275ft. The tree is believed to be between 9,300 and 30,700 years old and the Calvary used to guard it, thus the Civil War name. The Giant Forest also contains five out of the ten largest trees in the world, in terms of wood volume.

Here are some silly tree hugging photos that we took at one the many giant trees:

The lodge where we stayed meanwhile, Montecito Sequoia Lodge, is where they filmed the original Parent Trap movie with Haley Mills, which of course I loved hearing about as I'm a HUGE fan of the classic Disney film.

Our cabin-sans bathrooms provided some extra excitement with the addition of some uninvited guests--field mice. We managed to scoot two of them out the door with a broom and lots of squealing and directing by me.

Hope you all had a happy 4th!

Tea & Cupcakes

It's no secret that I'm a fan of cupcakes and I've also blogged about my love for whole leaf tea, so when I met Ebony at Layers Cupcakes I asked her if she could make a green tea cupcake for me. She said she'd work on it. A few months later she partnered with Naja Tea to come up with five tea-infused cupcakes. I actually liked all of them, but below I've put them in order of preference:

Sassafras
Sassafras tea infused French Vanilla Cupcake filled with wild yam mousse. Frosted Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream and finished with dramatic explosions of torched cinnamon Meringue. Who knew yam would be good in a cupcake? But it is and tasted just like pumpkin pie.

Crimson Berry
Crimson Berry infused rasberry/strawberry cupcake filled with a four berry mousse. Frosted with Blueberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream and topped with a simple quartet of fresh berries. This was wonderfully colorful, sweet and moist. I also could taste the roobios tea in this cupcake.

Tahiti
A Green Tea infused cupcake filled with fresh papaya mousse. Frosted with Pineapple Swiss Meringue Buttercream and topped with dried pineapple and papaya. This one is very tropical and summery.

Allure

This citrus tangerine cupcake is filled with tangerine creme. Frosted with Tangerine Swiss Meringue Buttercream and topped with tangerine zest and a candied tangerine slice.

Mix and Mingle

Mix and Mingle tea (vanilla, toasted coconut, chocolate roobios tea) infused coconut cupcake filled with Coconut and Chocolate creme. Frosted with Coconut Swiss Meringue Buttercream and topped with toasted shaved coconut and chocolate powder. Great coconut flavor. If you could smell this loose leaf tea, you'd recognize instantly how dead on the flavor of these cupcakes are.

I especially liked the moist mousse and pudding inside and the overall light and fluffy textures of each cupcake, after all, I hate a dry cupcake. They also smell amazingly fruity.

Layers Cupcakes is a cupcake catering and delivery service, but they also make appearances at Thursday's Farmers Market on 7th and Fig in Downtown LA at the Naja Tea Booth and Saturdays at Americana at the Glendale Tealandia Booth. Coming up in one month's time they will also be in South Pasadena, Brentwood and Larchmont Village.

A Fresh & Easy pool party

Literally that is. Last week after work, Raphael and I headed to a pool party at The Roosevelt Hotel and hosted by Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market. The party was in honor of the market's Hollywood store--which I blogged about when it opened last year--receiving a liquor license like their other locations. Now the store can sell its 200 wines, many of which are under $10 and 70 of them are exclusive to F & E. Thus, watch out Trader Joes! Unlike TJ though, I find that F&E is more modern and less of that country feeling (IE the place my mom goes to get cheese spreads and dips in fancy jars for her boating friends).

Out of the wines that we tasted Raphael liked the Fresh & Easy St. Helens Riesling (only $4.99 a bottle!) and I liked the F&E Napa Family Vineyards Cabarnet Sauvignon ($11.99, yup I have more expensive tastes ;). There was also this sparkling wine, La Gioiosa Prosecco ($7.99) that provided me with a sweet peach & pear buzz. I'd especially go back to purchase that bottle since nothing goes to my head like Champagne/sparkling wine.

I also love The Roosevelt Hotel's pool side bar and lounge. Usually the only way to get in though is if a friend is staying at the hotel or via some party like this. The party was made even more fun by hanging with Linday and Zach from LAist, Elizabeth of Traded My BMW for a Minivan and Noelle.

The folks at Fresh & Easy meanwhile will be donating two of their wine varietals at Blogger Prom next month and providing their canvas totes to hold all the swag we'll be giving out. Yay!

Pinkberry's new summer flavors

Today Pinkberry launches their new summer flavors--coconut and passion fruit and you can also get them swirled together for a tropical mix. In honor of the announcement, all Pinkberry locations from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. today will be giving away a FREE small cup of either of their new flavors (more here).

Yesterday though, I got an exclusive “sneak tasting” of their new offerings. I thought the coconut was subtle and tasted and looked a lot like the original, until I swallowed and then I could taste the coconut more. The very pale yellow colored passion fruit flavor though was my favorite. It's nice and refreshing and unlike their other flavors. Perfect for summer, like a tart and satisfying lemonade. The swirl was nice too, but the passion fruit overpowered the coconut when swirled together like that. For toppings, I chose mango (super fresh, I’m not normally a mango fan either), pineapple and my favorite—mochi. These summer flavors along with their pomegranate one will be available through the summer, temporarily replacing their green tea flavor, so get it while you can.

Pinkberry also launched their new Pinkberry Fruit Parfait, which I also tried. I can so see having it for lunch sometime because it was very filling and fresh. Basically, it's layers of fruit, granola, a little Pinkberry yogurt with a topping of Pinkberry at the top (you can select the flavor of yogurt and specify the fruit too). Apparently, they are hoping people will start ordering it for breakfast—move over Jamba Juice.

Other special summer options include the Bing Cherry topping, at first I thought it would be a hassle because of the pits, so I was really surprised to find out that they remove the pits, thus pitiless Bing cherries.

Here I am in all my Pinkberry glory, trying all of the above:

Ed McMahon's Hollywood star desecrated

While walking on Hollywood Blvd yesterday evening, I was shocked to see that tar and newspapers were spread over the recently deceased Ed McMahon's Hollywood star.

Here are the iPhone shots that I took:




This isn't the first Hollywood star in ruin that I've seen though, He really doesn't get any respect.

Update: LAist says it has now been cleaned up. Glad to hear that.

Fat Burner Energy Lip Balm?

Another odd product that I had to try and review for ya'll is Burner Balm, a chapstick that supposedly boosts your energy level and helps control cravings.

Since I'm a lip balm addict as it is and because I do not drink coffee, I thought the combo might be interesting especially on tiresome days. However, caffeine can sometimes make me shaky when I do have it and I feared that side effect. Luckily, this balm didn't make me too caffeinated, but did provide a quick pick me up (doesn't last too long though). It also feels like regular chapstick, no burning of the lips or tingling like with lip plumpers.

They claim that "putting on the flavored lip balm with Green Tea Extract could be a distraction from eating, similar to chewing sugar-free gum.” I'm not sure if it was just a placebo effect and that I willed it to work, but the balm did distract me from snacking at work, plus who wants to ruin a nice shine on the lips with crumbs and food?

Burner Balm is currently only available online for $5.99 (Amazon and at burnerbalm.com) and comes in five yummy flavors, acai berry, original, strawberry, vanilla and pomegranate. I have the original and strawberry and both taste and feel nice, but I have my eye on the vanilla as well.

Xooro churros (say that 3x fast while doing a shot)

Last week, the Blogger Prom committee and I stopped into xooro (pronounced Sure-oh) in Santa Monica by the 3rd Street Promenade for some special flavored churros, "Spanish fritters." They of course offer the classic fried dough sticks with cinnamon and sugar, but this specialty churro shop also has more exotic flavors like maple bacon, cream filled, chocolate covered, raspberry filled, nutella and many more. They are also looking to make some more savory flavors soon. Best of all, the churro's are nice and warm when served and are made using authentic ingredients and healthy frying techniques (rice bran oil). A gluten free xooro is available for those with a wheat allergy too. They come in one size and range in price from $3.69 to $4.20, thus not some cheap street eat anymore.

Xooro just held a sneak peak opening party for their new second location on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles/Hollywood area, only a few blocks from where I work. The event included some yummy samples and I got to hang out with Caroline on Crack who was also there.

Also chatted and took a pic of the husband and wife team who founded xooro--Begonia Amaya and Vicente Cisneros from Mexico City.

Officially, opening day at the new store is on Wednesday June 24th where they will also be offering free xooro’s to all guests from 5:30- 7:30 p.m. The new xooro is located at 8360 Melrose Avenue, between Orlando and Kings Road. Street meter parking available.