Curious about eyebrow threading? Check out the blurb I wrote on Whoreders, discussing my switch from waxing to threading.
29 Tuesday Nov 2011
Posted beauty
in28 Monday Nov 2011
Posted food, Ladies Who Brunch
inTags
Agent Lover, bld, Brunch, ladies who brunch, los angeles, marie, vanessa
These ladies will brunch, come rain or shine. Last time we braved the downpour, and this week we were rewarded with warm California sunshine. The weather was so nice we decided to brave the 101 and hit BLD on Beverly Blvd. Traffic set us back, and we worried when we saw the large crowd milling about outside, but it turned there were a couple of seats at the counter (which is first come, first served) so we didn’t have to wait at all.
Now came the difficult task of deciding what to order! Aside from the regular brunch menu, there are also daily specials (BLD prints the date and weather on the menu, which is a brilliant touch). Marie and I decided to splurge and order a sweet starter before making any final decisions. We’d originally settled on a breakfast crepe, but our server highly recommended we try the Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes instead. He was so right, they were incredible!
My favorite pancakes are blueberry, but I’m often disappointed when they end up being regular pancakes with some sort of blueberry compote dumped on top. I want golden, fluffy pancakes with blueberries cooked inside them. BLD goes one better and adds ricotta cheese, the result is a thing of beauty. I’m still daydreaming about those pancakes, and next time I visit I plan to order a full order. I was able to find a recipe published in the L.A. Times a few years ago, so if you can’t get to BLD I highly recommend making some yourself. The pancakes are served with a side of softened butter and maple syrup in a teeny log cabin. I have to confess, I don’t actually like maple syrup, but that log cabin might inspire me to try it. We were off to a good start, so we perused the menu and, after a few sips of our Blood Orange Mimosas, made our final choices.
I knew I wanted to try one of the Benedicts, there are six to choose from (including a vegan version), I picked Ode to Butterfield’s. Ready for the description? Hang on to your hats: “thinly sliced flatiron steak, poached eggs, cabernet sauvignon hollandaise, house made english muffin (!) and choice of potato.” How could I resist?! I went with the home fries, which were so mind-blowing, I wanted to bust into the kitchen and steal a batch to take home. They’re described on the menu as Spanish chorizo home fries, and I assumed it would be the ground chorizo I’m used to seeing. But no! It was like pepperoni, and was so good, my mouth started watering as I typed this sentence. I ordered my steak medium, and it was perfectly cooked. The eggs were great, although the sauce hid the flavor a little, so I didn’t get to taste them as much as I would have liked. The whole thing was served on toasted homemade English muffin, which I couldn’t stop eating. Even after I was too full for another bite, I kept slicing off just one more bite of the muffin. The potatoes are what really blew me away, because we’d had the pancake before our main dishes, I knew I would get too full to finish everything on my plate. I made sure I gobbled up all my potatoes, so not a single morsel would be left behind.
Marie went with one of the specials, House Made Andouille Sausage Frittata (also available as a Scramble). You get your choice of potato and bread, she opted for the Spanish chorizo home fries and homemade biscuit. Marie was also a fan of the potato, and she’d never heard of sliced chorizo either. I gotta get my hands on some of that. The frittata was fluffy and delicious, made with piquillo peppers, roasted poblanos, and smoked Cajun cheddar cheese. The sausage and peppers made for a spicy and flavorful combination, everything was fresh and scrumptious!
The food at BLD was great, and the staff was extremely friendly and helpful. The atmosphere is casual, there are plenty of metered spots nearby and there is some outdoor seating. We met Zoe, an adorable French Bulldog, enjoying the warm weather with her family outside on our way back to the car. What a perfect ending to a fantastic brunch!
Want to see what a couple of happy brunching ladies look like? Nothing puts smiles like that on these mugs except brunch!
26 Saturday Nov 2011
Posted life
inWe did it, we made it to Murder House!
Relax, no blood was actually shed, it’s just the house used in American Horror Story, on FX. Marie and I are obsessed with the show, and decided to try to find it after our latest brunch session. I don’t know what it is about this house, but I love it and wish I lived there. There were a few other fans there when we pulled up, and a few other groups showed up while we were staring and sighing wistfully.
Such a lovely day, the stars were aligned for us. A delicious brunch, with perfect parking and no wait despite a long line out front. Followed by a trip to Pygmy Hippo Shoppe, if I can keep from buying everything for myself, it’ll be my main source for Christmas shopping. Then it was off to the El Capitan to see The Muppets, with a special sing along appearance from Miss Piggy and Kermit! We even managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to get a look at the fresh, still protected by a barricade, footprints left by the Twilighters (Why? Why not?!). There was even a heartwarming lost dog story with a happy reunion ending!
Now I’m resting at home, in my comfy but embarrassing black leggings, basking in the glow of a perfect Saturday. Yay!
23 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted food, Ladies Who Brunch
inTags
Agent Lover, Brunch, Ladies Who Lunch, marie, Tutti's, vanessa, Ventura
My friend, and fellow bon vivant, Marie aka Agent Lover and I love brunch. (Who wouldn’t? You can sleep in late and still get breakfast foods and booze!) We’d toyed with the idea of starting a brunch club and finally, thanks to a vampire baby, Ladies Who Brunch was born. Our craving for eggs and weakness for the Twilight movies set the date for our maiden brunch voyage for this past Sunday. The first stop was Tutti’s Off Main, in Ventura, CA.
Unfortunately, it was raining, so we weren’t able to take advantage of their lovely (pet friendly!) patio. When we arrived the dining room was only about 1/3 filled, I think the weather thinned out the morning’s usual brunch rush. I noticed a dude with a guitar stationed in the corner and cringed. I’m not usually a fan of live music playing while I’m eating. I feel awkward and vaguely assholey stuffing my face while someone is singing for their supper brunch. But this guy was great, he played a good variety of songs and all at the perfect volume – not loud enough to drown out conversations, but loud enough to cover up the sound of chewing and fill in lulls in in chit chat.
The menu was a bit different from the one posted online, so I had to rethink my original plan of attack. I’d planned on ordering the Eggs Benedict, but it wasn’t on the menu that morning. So I went with the Prosciutto Pizza.
It’s a thin pizza crust, served with prosciutto, three cheeses and topped with two poached eggs. The first thing I did was go in for a piece of the crust, it was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside – just how I like it! The prosciutto was incredible, salty and crisped up from baking in the oven. The cheese blend was tangy and flavorful, and the eggs were perfectly poached. It was a fantastic flavor combination, everything worked together magically. It was a little messy, but I couldn’t make myself knife and fork it. It was too good, and I needed to get my hands all up on it, sopping up the yolk and every bit of cheese.
Marie was caught between the Breakfast Crepe and Crab Benedict, both which sounded delicious. I loved the way she decided, “I’m going to be decadent and do the crab!”. Brunch is not for the meek, my loves, you gotta go big or stay home and eat Corn Flakes.
This was Eggs Benedict turned up a few notches – two poached eggs on English muffins with crab, shrimp, asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. It was served with yummy potatoes (Marie gave me a taste, and I wanted to steal a few more) and fresh fruit. I got a sample of the dish (strictly for scientific blog purposes) and it was so good. I don’t care much for crab, and would never normally order it, but this was really tasty! I like that it was served with fruit, in case you got a little overwhelmed by the richness of the main dish.
Some Yelp reviews mentioned slow or rude servers, but I think it’s just a more European style of service we Yanks aren’t used to. You’re expected to take your time and enjoy the meal with minimal interruptions. True, our server wasn’t very chatty but she did refill our waters (before we were empty) and the food was brought out fairly quickly. We were greeted warmly and seated immediately, after placing our order our server brought a plate of mini breakfast pastries & bread (zucchini bread, cinnamon roll with icing, and cornbread muffin). They were great for sharing, just enough for a few bites while we waited for our meal without ruining your appetite. The meal portions were generous without being super sized, ideal for brunchers who want to share. Marie and I both cleaned our plates, and were pleased as spiked punch with our first official meeting of our brunch club.
Thanks to Marie for the official LWB header and the late night brain stormin’.
17 Thursday Nov 2011
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15 Tuesday Nov 2011
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08 Tuesday Nov 2011
07 Monday Nov 2011
03 Thursday Nov 2011
Posted picture it
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After weepin’ over the movie 50/50, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lighten the mood and strike a pose with my favorite celebrity chipmunk. I jokingly called it “Steel Magnolias for men”, but 50/50 was really great. I needed a good cry, so it felt good to get it out then yuk it up with Marie in a photo booth afterward. Laughter through tears is one of my favorite feelings!
01 Tuesday Nov 2011
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I was at a party recently when someone said something that left me somewhat unsettled. I actually like the person who said it, so it’s not like it was something some jerk said to piss me off. Anyway while describing something that happened earlier in the evening, he referred to this girl as “mouthy”, and my hackles were instantly raised. When I hear that word it’s sounds like someone describing a person who should keep quiet and know their place. I don’t believe for a moment the person who used the word meant it like that, but as a proud mouthy broad, I took umbrage.
I come from a long line of verbose ladies, it’s part of the reason I started blogging – my pen & paper journal could no longer handle me. My mouth is usually what makes people love or hate me (get your dirty, filthy mind outta the gutter!), because I wasn’t raised to hold back. I’m not tactless, but my filter doesn’t always stop the barrage of verbal diarrhea before it’s too late. Years ago my mom suggested I should have kept quiet during a heated discussion, and I told her that was the worst thing she could ever say to me. Why should I keep quiet or dumb it down for anyone?
The long and the short of it is that I’m a smart ass, and I cannot pass up an opportunity to give a comeback or make some sort of remark… especially if someone pushes my buttons. It shouldn’t matter if I’m a man or a woman, but I can’t help but suspect that my big mouth is seen as a negative quality because I’m a chick. If I’d been Alexander (the name my parents picked out for a boy) no one would ever have told me I should watch my mouth if I wanted to be liked by other people.
Because all important moments in my life are eventually imagined as movie montages, I already have the perfect song picked out.