Favorite T Shirt

I am a love 'em or hate 'em kinda girl. Especially when it comes to clothing. I'll wear the same exact outfit over and over and over if I love it- and you know what? I KNOW you know it's the same old T shirt every time you see me. But now you know that I DON"T CARE. Yeah, I've worn it 3 days in a row over a sweaty weekend at the New. Yep, I've worn it up a 14er and countless other hikes. And at least once a week biking. Because this T shirt is awesome. Amazing. Highly engineered capilene fabric.


How often can you wear an outdoor technical shirt and not look like an 60 year old school marm from 1982? Huh? You can keep your Royal Robbins and Gramicci - I'm sticking to my highly wickable, quick drying, breathable shirt. That's also cute. I honestly don't know how I'll ever replace it -








Yes, I own it in another color too - almost as good as blue

Banh Mi Any Anytime

Banh mi on my mind
Banh mi, banh mi any anytime
Banh mi, my love I can eat it any day or night
Banh mi!

Personally I think Debbie Harry would have no problem with my version of the Blondie song - especially if she knew how obsessively I've been thinking about Banh mi. Though I'm sure some - err most - of you are cringing/puking at the cheesiness of my personal version of "Call Me," just be thankful you're not sharing karoke night with me.

Finally I've satisfied several months of craving for:
1. crispy baguette
2. smeared with rich pate
3. stuffed with vietnamese ham and "meatloaf"
4. topped with crunchy, pickled, sweet and tangy carrots and turnips
5. even better with a burning hot pepper (note all the ribs and seeds left in!)




While the largest Vietnamese community in LA lives in Orange County, thank God there's enough of a population in the San Gabriel Valley for some stellar Vietnamese food.









Walking into Banh Mi Che Cali, I knew we hit jackpot - we fought our way through the mostly Vietnamese crowd to get into line to order. And then had to fight our way through another line to pick up our food. I had the deli meats cuz I just had to have the pate and butter. M had the BBQ pork which was equally tasty.



You know that blissful feeling you get from scratching an itch? That's how good I feel now!


Now I just have to wait out the 90 degree weather to indulge in some pho...


Banh Mi Che Cali

8450 Valley Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

(626) 288-5600

Jennie Lakes Wilderness

Now admittedly, we did not actually go to Jennie Lake - but we did hike to Weaver Lake that is in Jennie Lakes Wilderness area. Lying between Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, it's a beautiful place to bring your dog hiking (which you can't in the national parks). Weaver Lake was an easy 3.2 mile hike in for a total of 6.4 miles out and back and some elevation gain.

The hike starts along a little stream and proceeds to climb with
occasional views of the surrounding Sierras through the trees. Throughout most of the hike you can smell the fragrant pines - our dog had a good time sniffing around. The trail then becomes somewhat of a rock garden, eventually leading to a view of this:




The lake is beautiful, with surrounding grassy areas - perfect campsites! We saw several backpackers with really choice tent sites. You can do this hike as part of a loop, including Jenny Lake, as 2-3 day backpacking trip. I'm hoping to do this soon with the dog, or possibly some beginner backpacking friends,

Pasadena Farmer's Market Flowers

$5 for a bunch of flowers - not your everyday carnation, lily, rose - but lots of vibrantly colored sunflowers, china roses, Queen Anne's Lace - the list goes on and surpasses my admittedly limited botanical knowledge. This weekend I snatched up some purple China Roses - who doesn't feel a little happier seeing a big bunch of purple flowers at the breakfast table in the morning?

Bulgarini Gelato

I spent the day yesterday at a gelato tasting hosted by Bulgarini, in Altadena. A sunny day outdoors eating intensely flavored, cool sweets. Delicious! We had:
1. Golden Kiwi
2. Mango
3. Golden Plum and Chocolate orange
4. Coffee crema
5. Zabaglione - Marsala wine
6. Pistachio - the best of all

The best thing I discovered was that most of the fruit flavored ones are actually sorbets - despite their creamy luscious texture, they contain no dairy. HURRAH!

The owners of Bulgarini are dedicated to finding the best, seasonal ingredients. They treated us to a taste of their ground pistachio paste, imported from Sicily. It was ....decadent. Extremely nutty and rich, a super fatty nut butter that I want to spread on toast - or make a really expensive s'more. Thankfully, Bulgarini is less than 10 minute drive...

Bulgarini Gelato
749 E Altadena Dr.
Altadena, CA 91001
(626) 441-2319