Breakfast at Bottega Louie's

"Mean reds" optional but after eating a chocolate croissant here you might be having the blues instead.

Friendship + Food

The older I get (which I'm in denial about) the more I realize the importance of good friendships and good food. And since time is so scarce nowadays, it just makes sense to combine the two! :)
I met up with my childhood best friends - Christine and Cheryl - at Susina Bakery for a night of catching up and good desserts. Christine and I hadn't seen Cheryl for YEARS and connected again through the magic of facebook. After experiencing milestones like marriage (Christine and Cheryl) and having a baby (Christine) we decided it was high time to get together and reminisce about the good old days.

Growing up we only saw each other about once a week since we were church buddies. During the week, we would receive 14 page letters from Cheryl...which we still have! Cheryl just had a knack for writing interesting letters, complete with Hello Kitty drawings and stickers. In jr. high, we had a huge fight but ended up talking it out at a slumber party. I think the only reason why we talked was because we literally had rice sacks as pillows and no one could sleep a wink. Come to think of it, maybe we were set up...?

Fast forward to more than 15 years later - Christine is a lawyer, Cheryl is a speech therapist, and I'm a floral designer:

*our before and after...I can't believe that I can't find a picture of us 3 as kids together...but then again, who could afford a real camera AND film processing at the age of 12?

We chatted over coffee and cake for about 3 hours. On the table: americano cake, apple pie, and tiramisu. The Americano cake was really light in spite of the the ganache and chocolate cake - the espresso was a great compliment. The tiramisu was also done well and not overly doused with rum. The apple pie had perfectly cooked apples. An A+ in my book with the candy jars and plethora of cake stands!


It was a great night that made me appreciate our friendship - we pretty much picked up where we left off which I think is pretty amazing. Now we're hoping to meet at least once a month to chat over dessert - food feeds my appetite but friendship feeds my soul! :)

so corny. haha

meet the gang

The 1st official liu/yun/wong grandkid picture:

*as cute as they are, i'm surprised they cooperated

food adventures

I love it when we get to lunch!

Last week we went to visit Kelley's new office in the mid-wilshire area with the peeps over at Cakes by the Pound. We went to Joan's on Third for some star sighting and good grub:

*the food was fantastic and it was a total feast for the eyes. kendra got her dream sandwich of bacon, chicken, and brie on a perfectly pressed baguette.

Last week we had a wedding and hit up Milk while waiting for our rentals. It took me all of lunch to debate what I wanted for dessert. Kendra and I split a prosciutto and provolone sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich. The black pepper cream and manchego cheese made for easy decisions!

*can you tell what i got for dessert? :) i do regret not getting a blue velvet cake - smurf blue poo would have been delightful!

The food excursions continued through the week with a trip to Pearl's Cupcakes, a new bakery in the heart of San Marino (and also where i used to work baaaack in the day when it was Juice It Up). Although I wasn't totally fond of the texture or flavors of Pearl's, I have to say the presentation of the cupcakes deserved 5 stars and they really don't skimp on size.

*l-r: lemon coconut (with a delicious lemon curd center), orange chocolate (with a pulpy orange paste within), blueberry lemon (lacking on the blueberry), and dark chocolate (a bit more like a muffin...which is not a bad thing in my book)

David also took me to La Grande Orange (la grOnd OrAAHnj) one night for dinner. The food was delicious and I later found out they currently have a Tuesday promotion where you buy one entree and get a second for $5. For this quality of food it really is a steal. Gooooo recession!!! We also came by for lunch after a flower mart excursion:

*from my dinner with david: short ribs w/ an egg, perfectly fried fish | lunch with the girlies: cheeseburger, 1/2 press, chicken nachos, deviled eggs with bacon

*t & tracy :)

After all this food, we went to Europane for some macarons. Lunching is great, but desserting is better!

The Newest Wong Member

About a month ago, my cousin Kevin said good bye to bachelor-dom and had a very beeeyootiful wedding in Maui. Arlou, his new wife, had been coming to family parties for awhile...and we were all wondering when that day would come that he would pop the question and she would (hopefully) respond with "YES". Well he asked, she said yes, and off they went to celebrate their love in Hawaii! I wasn't able to attend their wedding but I straight stole some pictures from Arlou's facebook of their wedding. Sssh!

*the lovely couple

*the bamboo arbor and a dendrobium orchid aisle runner set against the ocean

*set against an awesome sunset

Upon returning home they held a more "traditional" banquet and the whole entire family commenced for a big feast!

*Just a few of the guests - L-R: Emily, Megan|Benjie (Emily's parents), Kevin| Benjie (brothers), Addison (M&B's newest daughter), Vicky|Elvis|Kathy, Po|Justin|Austin

I'm so lame...i didn't get any pictures of Arlou and Kevin together during the dinner.

It was nice seeing the family and catching up. Here are some features of the many faces of Ian:

*i don't know where he gets all that flexing from...

*mireya happy

*the kids having fun

I've always looked up to Kevin - literally and figuratively. As a kid, I thought he was the tallest guy ever. He was always listeing to cool music (like Tribe Called Quest and Stereo MCs) and I thought his fixed up, slammed to the ground, red integra was the best car ever. Oh the good old days - too bad he's not cool anymore. :) As it's apparent (or is it...), my cousins are really important to me so I'm glad that Arlou decided to become part of the extended family that I love so much. Welcome aboard - and make Kevin cool again!

more food adventures + people reports to come. been super behind and busy with work. til then...

*Reya says hello!