A Nibble Bit

Aside from trying goods from my favorite grocery store, one of my favorite hobbies is traveling. While working at a full time job does not enable me to travel whenever I want -- because whenever I want would be every single day --, I am lucky enough to get to travel occasionally. I find great joy out of visiting a foreign country and immersing myself in new cultures. And of course, trying all the new food! Towards the end of last year, I was lucky enough to be able to visit a destination I've always wanted to see: Paris, France.

Enter...TJ's Chocolate Lovers' Collection!

Enter, Trader Joe's and their creme brulee.

 As you probably gleamed from my past post, it's full fledged pumpkin season at Trader Joe's!

Accept the inevitable flummox by indulging yourself with Trader Joe's Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins, found in their bakery section.

When visiting a new town, the first thing that comes to my mind is, What are some things I can eat here that I cannot find anywhere else? I took a weekend trip to San Jose recently, and took advantage of some delicious eats that could only be found there. Most notably, Vietnamese cuisine!

San Jose is known for its wide plethora of Vietnamese food: cheap pho (vietnamese beef noodle shop) and desserts can be found everywhere throughout the South Bay area! I took out my handy dandy Yelp app and entrusted it to find me the best food San Jose had to offered. It certainly did not fail me.

But for some reason, when I read through the many recipes on Trader Joe's website, the urge to rush to my local TJ's in order to make one of these meals comes over me. Maybe it's because the recipes are so simple and not at all intimidating. Or maybe it's because I know that I can find all the ingredients under one roof. Whatever the case, I decided to make TJ's Cookie Butter Buddies on this wonderful Sunday afternoon.

These Cookie Butter Buddies were extremely easy to make, and not too time consuming at all! For the most part, I followed TJ's recipe closely with a few adaptations. Please find my adapted version below.

I am a regular visitor to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. I attended college in Southern California where the drive to Vegas was only a few hours. As a result, weekend trips to Vegas were frequent and often in between. I know the Vegas strip like the back of my hand. In fact, I went so often that bouncers at some clubs recognized me!

And contrary to what I initially believed, moving back to Northern California has not impeded my trips to Vegas. Thanks to the Southwest Rewards Premier Credit Card, I am able to easily accumulate Rapid Reward points to fund my travel. (Sign up for the card here!) 

Part of the reason I love Las Vegas so much is that it feels like a new experience every time - maybe because I don't remember most nights? ;) But in any case, there are a plethora of things to do in Vegas: casinos, shopping, shows (I HIGHLY recommend the Boyz 2 Men show at the Mirage hotel!) and most importantly - food!
In addition to the Michelin-acclaimed, fancy pants restaurants, there are some great spots on and off the Strip. 

I had the chance to dine at some praise-worthy places during my Sin City visit this past weekend. Click below the fold to see where!

Two of my friends traveled to Portland, Oregon recently (shoutout to Anna and Brian!) and they made the mandatory tourist pitstop to Voodoo Doughnut. For those of you who are unfamilar with Voodoo, it's a quirky doughnut place with unconventional menu items. For example, they have a"Cock-N-Balls" doughnut, and the "Maple Blazer Blunt" doughnut, which is shaped like a marijuana blunt. You can see all the doughnuts they have available on their menu.

Only in sunny California would it be 70 degrees outside in the middle of January. And I have to say I'm diggin' it! My favorite season is summer, so it was great to wear a skirt and crop top in the middle of winter.

It was an average Thursday weekday. A casual, run of the mill, "I can't wait until Friday is here," work day. On January 16, 2014 at approximately 1:30 pm, something changed my life forever.

That "something" was an It's-It vanilla ice cream sandwich.



What 's an Its'-It, you may be asking?