Beard Papa!

It's been more than a year since I returned from Japan ... more than a year since my last incredible Beard Papa cream puff. ... That is until yesterday! As posted earlier, I found a Beard Papa shop in Costa Mesa, just a couple hours away. So yesterday I embarked on a little adventure: Orange County Swap Meet shopping extravaganza followed by a sweet treat or two.

Well, the day wasn't as idyllic as I had hoped. I caught a cold (probably from the pretty drastic drop in temperatures ... 105 to 85 within a week ... not that I'm complaining!! It's beautiful outside). So I wasn't feeling so great, but I was determined to enjoy a nice Saturday morning. I enjoyed a great drive, complete with a lovely rainstorm, but when I arrived at the swap meet the effects of the rainstorm were obvious ... not many vendors. A little disappointed, I still managed to find a few fun things: knockoff sunglasses and a couple of really cute hats (yep, going to start wearing hats more!)

Starting to feel not so hot, I decided it was time to reunite with Beard Papa! The shop was inside a cute little Japanese grocery store. Kind of fun to see familiar sites: bakery items, people eating ramen noodles ... and fresh pastry puffs being filled with sweet cream! I splurged and bought a whole dozen ... enough to hopefully take to work and share.

Even though there were a few disappointments and I didn't feel well, it was a nice morning that was followed by a nice long afternoon nap!

Cream Puffs

I was reflecting today with one of my reporters about my favorite treats in Japan.
Beard Papa was a cute little bakery, located near the train station that served up the most dreamy cream puffs ever!
Well ... turns out there are some Beard Papa shops here in California!! The nearest is just over an hour away and I'm already making plans for a weekend day trip! A little shopping topped off with a selection of fluffy, warm, fresh Beard Papa cream puffs.
Check out the web site (click on the "Cream Puffs" title or follow this link... www.muginhousa.com) and learn about the story of Beard Papa in Osaka, Japan.

A great vacation...

So I've been home from Utah for almost a week and I miss it so much!
Here were some of the highlights:
* Driving with two crazy dogs for 6 hours makes for a very LONG drive ... especially when one very spoiled dog insists on sitting on your lap the entire time.
* BBQ at Brent's newly finished, remodeled house with Amy, Elaine, Brent, David, Brian, Rob and Mike. Good food and GREAT friends!
* "Twelfth Night" at the Utah Shakespearean Festival with Shawna! Great comedy with an incredibly HOT Michael Sharon in a leading role. Great time visiting with Shawna catching up on love lives, gossip and other drama.
* Horrible, terrible, pathetic blind date. OK, so this one is another classic. I met this guy (37 and never married) at the Clark Planetarium in SLC. He stank of old man cologne. We saw a movie at the theater that was completely over my head. Somewhat interesting and incredible visuals, but I felt like I needed a doctorate in astronomy to understand it. Yikes! So afterward we wandered through the gift shop and he bought a 75 cent mini slinky and gave it to me ... I think it was just to get a parking validation. So we walked out to the parking garage. I knew my car was on an upper level, but he tried to convince me that it was on the save level as his. Well ... it wasn't. I told him my car was on the upper level and he then told me he had better go and find his own car, before he got lost. Yep, he actually left me alone in a parking garage to try and find my car by myself! I laughed the entire way to the elevator and continued to laugh all the way back to Layton. Including drive time that date lasted less than 2 hours ... thank heavens!!
* Uncovered new job opportunities in Utah!
* Took the parents out to lunch at a really nice new restaurant in Layton. Good food.
* Had plans to meet Joni in SLC at the Gateway for a little shopping/errand running and dinner, but plans quickly changed to just a quick visit instead.
* Got a text message from my favorite solider ... Keith and I met up at the Gateway. He had been serving in Afghanistan since Christmas and, after being wounded in a helicopter crash, he was FINALLY coming home!! He had arrived in Seattle the day before and then flew the next day to SLC. We spent a great time at dinner. I was completely excited, nervous and hardly ate any of my dinner. It was so amazing to finally see him after 10 months! The last time I saw him was on my 33rd birthday in October. We had a great time catching up, but I was sad it had to end so soon. I'm hoping we can pick up where we left off very soon.

* Shopping with Kristy for a little flirty nighttime fun was a great afternoon ... like old days when we managed to drop a good share of cash hitting sales.
* The drive back to St. George had a little extra "baggage" as Mom drove back with me.
* Visiting with friends once again, I dreaded heading back home to California, but it was a great trip!

Vacation time!

I am gearing up for a much-anticipated, long-awaited, extremely-overdue VACATION!
A trip back home to St. George and Salt Lake City may not seem like much of an adventure, but it's just what the therapist calls for ... haha!
I'm so excited to visit all my St. George friends. Even though it's only been a few weeks since I've seen them, I love and miss them all so much!

My favorite restaurants, too, await me. Green Chile Chicken Salad at Bajio, Steak Burrito at Cafe Rio, Chicken Tortellini with Creamy Pesto at Pasta Factory, Taco Time's Crispy Chicken Burrito, Honey-Baked Ham store's Bedda Chedda, The Empire State at Gandolfo's ... Ahhh the food! Can't wait! I have missed it so much. I'm so incredibly disappointed in the restaurants here in Palm Springs. There is fast food, crappy Mexican, fancy-schamncy places and completely over-priced wannabes regular faves. There is no where in this desert where I could get a lunch as complete as the Pasta or Pizza Factory lunches (drink, breadstick, salad and pasta) for under $7. Boy I miss Utah!
OK, enough about food...
While I'm home, I'm also going to enjoy one of my favorite summer traditions... The Utah Shakespearean Festival. "Twelfth Night" is on the schedule for a Saturday matinee! Last summer was the first in 11 years that I have not enjoyed all the plays at the Tony Award-winning festival.
After a weekend in St. George I'm heading up the 15 to the 'rents' place. Can't wait to hopefully reconnect with some friends I haven't seen in nearly a year or longer. And maybe, just maybe ... a certain returning, recovering soldier boy will find his way back home while I'm there!

Survey-tastic!

So this MySpace survey was actually kind of fun, so I thought I'd post it...

Aside from Driver's Ed, who really taught you how to drive?My mom (it was a very stressful time! LOL)

What's the one thing you love/miss about your Grandma's cooking? Grandma May made a great chocolate cake, with a fluffy white frosting and then drizzled melted milk chocolate on top of that ... heaven!

If you had money to burn, what 3 charities would you donate to? Breast Cancer, Utah Shakespearean Festival, United Way

What "Late Night Radio" song would you request to your man/woman? Groovy Kind of Love ... hahaha!
Goodnight and Go by Imogen Heap ("Why'd ya hafta be so cute..." Favorite line!!)

What was the last high school/college project you did? Probably my senior thesis ... and for the life of me I can't remember what it was. haha!

As a kid, who was the first "famous death" you remember hearing about? Elvis

What kind of music did your parent's listen to while u were growing up? Classic 50s and 60s .... great stuff! "Calendar Girl" "It's My Party" "Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" "One Eyed, One Horned, Flying Purple People Eater" and all of Elvis' hits

Name 2 historic events that have happened in your lifetime? Regan was shot and Challenger blew up, just to name a few

Who taught you to tie your shoes? my mom

Where did you go on your first "official" date? A girls choice dance

When you "cruised the strip"...who were you usually with? Went in Washington State with my cousin Chris. We thought we were so cool!

Who was like your "second Mom" or "second Dad"? That would have to be Kathy Piper

Who is your Strangest Relative and why? hmmm ... hard to pick just one! haha just kidding!

What's your typical ice cream order at Dairy Queen? Peanut Buster Parfait


THIS AND THAT
Animal House or Caddyshack? Caddyshack

Dorito's or Frito Lay's? Dorito's

Straight-Man or Comic Relief? Comic Relief

Survivor Man or Man vs. Wild? don't really care for either

Casablanca or An Affair To Remember? Affair to Remember ... it's all about Cary Grant!!!

Princess Grace or Princess Diana? Diana for sure! Although I was a fan of Grace, too

Books, Movies or TV? All of the above

Marilyn Monroe or Anna Nicole Smith? Marilyn Monroe for sure

Playboy or Hustler? I love the Girls Next Door

Disneyland, Disneyworld, or Universal Studios? Tokyo Disneyland!!

Halloween or Christmas? Both!

Leading or Following? I'm a follower ... haha ... but I do like to lead every once in a while

Planes or Trains? Amazing memories while traveling as a kid on Amtrak!


FAVORITES
Painting? "Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses" by James C. Christensen (left) and any of the Amish series by Eric Dowdle. Also love anything from Renoir and Degas (WAY too hard to pick just one!)

Museum Exhibit? Paintings and sculpture

Thing to do when you're sitting home alone and the power goes out? Chat on the phone or play card games by candlelight

Snack/Junk Food? Twinkies or pink and white animal cookies

Pet name for your significant other? Either baby or sweetie

Nickname for your best friend? too many friends to just pick one... here's a sampling... Joni loves Chachi, Sliz, Licia, Aim, Charlie Brown

Revenge tactic? hmmm that could be pretty damning ... better not divulge.

Song to sing in the shower? Last song I heard on the stereo.

Bill that you have to pay? Ugh they never end! Electric bill right now ... freakin' $200

Cuss word? So many ... my fave is sonuvabitchin'

Era to read about or watch a movie in? Elizabethan and Victorian

Poet? I'm not huge into poetry, but I do enjoy Poe and Shakespeare's sonnets. Sylvia Plath, too, was intriguing.

Villain in a movie? Anthony Hopkins.. The man is incredible

Topic to gab with your family about? other family gossip and cute things Adi said

AND FINALLY...
If you could be invisible for one day, what would you do? not really sure...

If you could know everything that one person was thinking, who would it be?
It would be a silly boy for sure

If you could have coffee with 3 people, living or dead, who would they be?
Shakespeare, JFK (find out who really shot him) and ... well Brad Pitt!