Best Eats (and Drinks) of 2012…and 2013, if you Squint.

I will first and foremost, apologize for my long hiatus. I have so much going on with my last semester of college and going on vacation for the holidays. I’ve been both overwhelmed and very busy. However, I have not forgotten about my blog or you guys…and what I have wanted to do with it. Now that I’m a graduate, I actually have TIME (imagine that) to blog like I used to. I changed things up a tad bit, to which you’ll be seeing in the upcoming week or so. I hope you’ll bear with me. In the mean time, I wanted to post this blog for awhile but didn’t have the time or internet to do so. I’ve had the chance to have some really tasty tidbits over the past few months that i want to share with you all. Though, I will say, I’m currently vegetarian for the next few months or so. So basically everything else I’ll be posting about (foods and recipes) will all be vegetarian. So these are my last moments as a Carnivore…to which I bear no ill will, thank you very much. With that sad, on to the real reason you’re reading this. All the awesome shit I ate (and drank…and drank..):

 

Water Front Breeze: Organic Vodka, Watermelon Schnapps, Local Cranberry Juice and Lemonade. It was awesome, and only about 5 bucks.(Wooden Monkey…and my boyfriends lovely elbow)

Layers of organic blue corn chips, jalapenos tomatoes, olives, peppers, onions, mozzarella & white cheddar served with organic blue corn chips, sour cream and house made salsa (Also Gluten Free for those with Gluten Intolerance). But doesn’t lack flavor, I’ll tell you that.(Wooden Monkey)

My Mothers Homemade Butter Rolls. It’s a family recipe, to which I will not be sharing. So deal 🙂 But it’s delicious, know this.

Lamb Burger
Grilled 5oz. patty from Northumber lamb with garlic, oats & rosemary, topped with with minted goat cheese, lettuce tomato and mayo. (Wooden Monkey)

Oh Jesus. I had never had ginger beer (which is a soft drink, not a beer.) ever. I was in love after my first sip. (Wooden Monkey)

I don’t think words can accurately describe how absolutely delicious these fresh mussels were. I guess there will be a benefit to living near the coast…By the way: these are the Garlic and White Wine Mussels. (Wooden Monkey)

My 24th Birthday ‘Kit”: The Before Shot. There isn’t an after. Draw your own conclusions.

I’ve eaten at Jimmy Johns Many times before (I am a college student and it’s perfect when coupled with alcohol…). But I had NEVER had the JJ Gargantuan. genoa salami, sliced smoked ham, capicola, roast beef, turkey & provolone, onions, mayo, lettuce, tomato, & homemade Italian dressing,..and I added bacon and hot peppers. Yes, continue to salivate.

I spent the day at Starbucks with my friend Austin who was visiting from Cali. Gotta love that Starbucks budget (P.S. If you have not had their breakfast sandwich, please do something about that.)

Austin could NOT leave Chicago without having Giordanos Deep Dish Pizza. And Neither Should You, if you ever to visit.

If you haven’t had Garrets Popcorn. I don’t know what you’re doing with your life. If you’re not from Chicago, I am terribly sorry 😛 I got the Jumbo Chicago Mix, 17 bucks. I devoured it with a burning passion.

He holds onto his with such love and affection. I think most of it was gone in a few days. Desire, thy name is Garrets.

I will be updating you guys on life things briefly, but in more detail in my next post or two. I graduated (yay!), whatever lol I got to spend two weeks or so in Nova Scotia, Canada with my lovely boyfriend (the Wooden Monkey is a restaurant there, so those photos are from the trip…I’ll post all of them later). The rest of the photos are when a dear friend came to visit me in Chicago from California and all the sight seeing and touristy shit we did (as embarrased as I am to say I had to do…). I’m currently living on my own now in a 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment and I’m about 2 months (give or take) from moving officially. I’ll have more details and photos up in the next blog post or two. I’m trying to keep them organized 😛 Oh and I hope you like smoothies because…you’ll be seeing them…in great detail, for the next LONG while. In that regard, I’ll catch you guys later~ Like A Boss ❤

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starbucks Summer Mission: Oreo Frapp Re-visited

So. This is not necessarily a NEW frappuccino. I had tried this “Oreo” frappuccino early on in my Starbucks Summer mission…mission. I was happy with it, for the most part. However, I did think that it could benefit from a better chocolate-vanilla ratio. I stopped by a Starbucks today and decided to give it another go. I think I was much more successful this time. As it stands, the “Oreo” frappuchino is a double chocolate chip frappuccino with white mocha syrup instead of the regular mocha. It is good that way. However, the chocolate flavor dominates the vanilla altogether. So I tweaked it a bit.

Part Deux…much better.

The (much better) Oreo frappuccino:

Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino with: white mocha syrup instead of regular mocha syrup, add vanilla bean powder and whipped cream blended in. This is delightfully topped with (more) whipped cream and mocha syrup on top.

This is much better than the original. You still get the chocolate flavor BUT much more vanilla. The combination of the two blend together in harmony and tastes much closer to our beloved Oreo cookie. It’s a home-run, in my book. So I can leave this one alone, now that I tweaked it to my liking. Another 5/5! Happy Sipping! ~Peace, Love, Starbucks~

My Gripe On…Twitter.

Now, I’ll be clear before I go into this post. I’m not bashing twitter. That is not the point of this post. I’m really more going to blog about those who just go overboard with their tweets. I can’t possibly ever bash twitter since I DO have one. So, don’t get the wrong idea.

Anyway.

There are some things that people on twitter do that just annoy the piss out of me. Yes, it is their twitter. And, yes, they can do with it how they please. I’m just going to gripe about it, that’s all. I think the thing that annoys me most about people on twitter is that they tweet about E V E R Y T H I N G. I mean, absolutely everything under the sun. I don’t even mean interesting things. People seem to use twitter to tell the rest of the world every single thing that they do at every single moment of every single day. It makes me dizzy. I may be guilty of it from time to time, to an extent. I usually tweet about activities for the day (like If I’m going out with friends, or on vacation. etc), or funny stuff that goes on during the day, or stupid (but funny) stuff my friends and I say. Otherwise, that’s about it.

I don’t tweet about the egg salad I had for lunch. Yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw it in my twitter feed.

Here’s a day of tweets that I would hope to never find…but feel like it exists somewhere in the Twitter-sphere:

woke up today. #praisejesus #mylifeissoamazing

Drank some milk #ilovecows #calciumisyourfriend #refreshing #doesthebodygood

Eggs are fucking delicious #thankgodforchickens

Walked to work today #sofit #teambody #iwouldhavetakenthecarbutithasaflat

Got fired #fuckbitches #ihatemyboss #unemployed #cantpaytherent

Gotta pee #8ouncesofwateraday

Got laid #likeaboss #gettingitin #imnotawhorebag

Bedtime #catchingsomezs #suchalongday #gottafindanewjobtomorrow #praisejesus

Makes me want to punch somebody. Please excuse the exaggerations, but SOMETIMES some people are dangerously close.

Now, this isn’t a rule that applies to everyone necessarily. Some people really DO have lives that are so fascinating, that they probably should tweet about just about everything they do. However, it seems that those that have the LEAST interesting lives have a twitter. Now, whether or not they tweet a lot depends on the person. I know I have recently found out that some people I know have twitters and I’m not sure why that is. Their facebook is a big enough yawn fest…so it makes me wonder why they would tweet about. More uninteresting things?

Sitting at home reading about “super cool” inanimate objects #imsofreakingawesome

No, no you’re not. I’m not telling people how to do their own shit or anything. Just saying. We don’t need to know ALL your business. You might as well send tweets like: Wiped my Own Butt #likeaboss.

Or something. I don’t know. Though, sometimes I do get quite tickled at some of the tweets I see. So I guess I’m just a picky bitch at best. I should write a Tweet Etiquette book or something, for fun 😛 I mean, it’s kind of like when people say they get irritated when they see depressing statuses…and when you ASK what’s wrong…they say they don’t want to talk about it. THAT drives me up a wall. Or, the person who always has a status about the same thing that you can’t stand to begin with. It’s like, YES I know you like school, but don’t you have a LIFE? Or…those who always complain in their statuses. Or…the people who have those really trashy facebook profile pictures. It’s like that…but for twitter. 😛

Don’t take this to heart or anything. Most times I actually just only pay attention to the people I follow who actually have something interesting to tweet about. All the other shit I just pass over. So, it’s nothing personal. 😉 So Yeah…

~Until Next Week!~

Starbucks Summer Mission #10 and #11!

I outdid myself a bit today. 😛 I was out with my best friend and we stopped at Starbucks after both lunch and gamestop. I was in a rather jolly mood so I got two drinks at starbucks today. Yet, I’m not feeling much guilt about it. Pft, who needs restraint.

Right.

Anyway. I went against my first thought, which was to get something…chocolatey. Since that’s what I normally tend to get, even when picking from the ‘secret’ menu items. Instead, I went a different direction.

The Butterbeer Frappuchino!

A Butterbeer Frappuchino is simply a White Mocha Frappuchino with hazelnut and toffeenut syrup mixed in. My Verdict? It’s absolutely delicious. It had a nice butterscotch taste to it…both rich and sweet (without being overly sweet). I loved it. The barista was a pretty cool dude and said he loved when people came in and tried different spinoffs of menu items. He had tried the Crunch berry Frappuchino himself (previously mentioned in another blog) and was also surprised at how such a simple combo tasted like the real cereal. We had a great conversation, needless to say. Anyway. I’d give this frappuchino a 5/5 for sure! If you’re not into the chocolate flavored frappuchinos…this might be more your speed. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a butterscotch taste 🙂

Side note: Saw this sign in the store…It made me smile. I love Starbucks.

Clearly, that wasn’t enough. After sitting there at Starbucks for a few hours…I was thirsty again. But I was too full to consume another frappuchino (thankfully). So instead I tried one of their newer drink items: their cool lime refresher.

*Sip* Ahhh~

I liked this a lot. The Cool Lime refresher was…well…refreshing. To be honest, it tasted like a Mojito without the alcohol in it. Which isn’t a big issue, but I thought it was funny. Next Time I’ll try the Very Berry Hibiscus refresher.

Happy Sipping!

Completed Drinks List:

Item 1: Cocoa Cappuchino

Item 2: Thin Mint Frappuchino

Item 3: Cookies and Cream Frappuchino

Item 4: The Nutella Frappuchino.

Item 5: Iced Caramel Macchiato

Item 6: Twix Frappuchino

Item 7: Oreo frappuchino

Item 8: The Gilligan Frappuchino

Item 9: The Crunch Berry Frappuchino

Item 10: Butterbeer Frappuchino

Item 11: Cool Lime Refresher

~Peace, Love, Starbucks~

Weekend Vacationing in ‘Hotlanta’

So. I got a chance to get away this weekend for once. I have not traveled in quite some time…at least two years or more. I have not had the time, money, or physical health to do so. So You can imagine how happy I was to be able to go away somewhere new, even for just a weekend. Sometimes that’s all you need. I went to a friends family reunion in Atlanta, Georgia this past weekend. I was pretty excited but nervous. I’m a reserved person when I meet new people. Granted, I know a good number of them because I know the family well enough…but none of them had really seen me since I had gotten sick a year ago…so I was very apprehensive about the whole thing. I can kind of “clam up” in these social situations. But, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought. I didn’t die on the flight (I HAD a fear of flying…) and I was happy with the kind treatment from the airport workers with the powerchair situation. I had not flown since becoming ill, and wasn’t sure how it all worked. Either way, things went pretty smoothly. It was H O T as balls in Atlanta…but then again it was just as hot back home in chicago 😛 And humid too, jesus. It’s very pretty in Atlanta, where we were. I believe we were in the central downtown area. I won’t go into details about the reunion itself cause that part is irrelevant…but I will say I wish I had more time to go and do more touristy things. I didn’t really get a chance to. I mean I saw some things in passing in the car, I got to see CNN studio and went to Hard Rock Cafe. Otherwise, not much else. That’s my regret. I DID have a good time and enjoyed the weather, but I could have done that at home 😛 Next time, I’ll do a lot more. Oh, I also went to Centennial Park for a brief moment. Twas nice.

I’m in!

Hard Rock Cafe ❤

Souvenir Glass ❤

I have now been bitten by the travel bug. After coming back from my vacation, I know have this sense of adventure and want to see what else is out there. I would LOVE to go on another weekend trip before school starts…I really want to and if I can find someone to go with me, I just might. We’ll see. I AM planning on visiting my boyfriend in Canada for the Christmas Holidays this year AND going on a trip to London next summer before I have to start Grad school. I have never really traveled much and now I just want to see everything. If you have good suggestions of places to travel (for both a weekend getaway, or longer), feel free to let me know. 🙂

 

Starbucks Summer Mission: #9

Ok. It’s been awhile since I have last posted anything for this. Actually, it’s been over a week or so since I had last had any starbucks. Personal choice of mine, I guess lol Anyway, I had some today after a week and decided to go with another secret menu item. One, in fact, that I had been curious about for awhile but just hadn’t gotten around to trying it out.

I present to you: The Crunch Berry Frappuchino *Cue applaud*

It’s absolutely amazing, yet so simple. Just ask for a Strawberry and Creme Frappuchino with a pump of toffee nut and hazelnut mixed in. Who knew such a simple combination would actually LEGIT taste like crunch berry cereal? I was totally surprised. I think I have found my new favorite 😛 I’d give this a 5/5 or…even an INFINITE number out of 5. I can’t explain why, but I just love it. Even if you’ve never had crunch berry cereal before, I think anybody can appreciate how tasty this cool drink is. If you give it a try, let me know what you think.~Happy Sipping~

Completed Drinks List:

Item 1: Cocoa Cappuchino

Item 2: Thin Mint Frappuchino

Item 3: Cookies and Cream Frappuchino

Item 4: The Nutella Frappuchino.

Item 5: Iced Caramel Macchiato

Item 6: Twix Frappuchino

Item 7: Oreo frappuchino

Item 8: The Gilligan Frappuchino

Item 9: The Crunch Berry Frappuchino

~Peace, Love, Starbucks~

 

My Gripe on…group work.

I hate group work. Don’t ask where  this particular rant is coming from because I’m not so sure myself. But the fact remains the same, I hate group work. I have been plagued with working in groups, as most students have, throughout my academic career. It wasn’t so bad during grade school, but it started to get worse in high school. In college? Probably the worst. I’m a senior in college now, with one semester left, and I look back at my group work experience and cringe. I consider myself to be both ambitious and hard working when it comes to most things, especially academics. I’ve always made excellent grades and it’s in part because I put in a lot of effort. I am also a bit of a control freak. So, it comes as no surprise that I don’t appreciate working with others as opposed to working by myself. I am ALWAYS stuck with the type of students I can’t stand worth a damn.

Student type 1: Slacker girl/guy who is just there because he/she has to take whateverthisclassiscalled-oology 200 and has zero intention of: putting in effort, trying to even KNOW what in the  world the assignment is about, and is totally satisfied letting everyone else take up the slack. These students will either screw it all up, not do anything at ALL, or half ass the entire way by not being prepared, etc. Needless to say, I don’t get a long with these type of people much. I normally don’t say much (I’m like the quiet storm, unless provoked) but I’m internally damning said person who is sitting there texting instead of doing anything worthwhile. Either that or mentally trying to shove the phone up their…nose. 😛

Student Type 2: The dumbass. Ever been in a class with a person that you weren’t sure if they had a brain in their own head? I don’t think there’s enough numbers in the world I can count to…to even try to attempt counting how many people I have encountered in this category. It’s both amusing and painful. Amusing because I always get a chuckle listening to the resident ‘airhead’ try to deciper things…and then fail epically. Yet, it’s painful to be STUCK with said person and having to work with them. It’s not so much the lack of effort as demonstrated in Student 1…BUT, sometimes it’s frustrating working with someone who can’t rub two brain cells together. Most of the time, I have to keep myself from head desking a dent into my own head.

Student 3:…another overachiever. Which is not a problem unless the person is the competitive type. Then we have issues lol Control freak, remember?

For the most part I have managed to wiggle my way out of group projects. Half the time the other person or people end up not doing anything, so I just request to do my own portion myself. I feel like group projects are some sort of punishment or torture concept invented to spite me. If it goes well, then no problem. But when it doesn’t…it REALLY doesn’t. It really grinds my gears that someone will put forth minimal effort into something, make ME do the work, and still get the same good grade as I did. It puts one in a bad situation. You want them to fail…but that would mean that YOU fail as well. Which for me, is not acceptable on any planet…I’d rather douse my head in gasoline and light a match then sabotage myself.

I think teachers need to put all the slackers and dipshits (for lack of a better name) together in their own group and just see how it goes. I think it would be fantastic and would make for great television. I think we could make some serious money off that. I mean it would probably be more entertaining than some of these other lame reality shows. If I hear about another House Wives of blahblahblah county again, I think I’ll gouge my eyes out.

What I don’t understand is WHY. WHY on earth are people satisfied with half-assing everything? I don’t understand why anybody is okay with being dead weight. I guess that’s just how things are? I don’t know. I have one semester left in undergrad college and I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t have to be subjected to anymore group projects. Of course, then I realize that I will have to work with others in my career. Well, so much for that. I am optimistic that I have a better chance of working with people who actually want to get things done because they’re actually adults. Who knows. I guess only time will tell. Until then, I guess I’ll try to refrain from pulling out every strand of my own hair in frustration at another late night of picking up the slack.

 

Side note: YOLO (You only live once) is Carpe Diem for Stupid people. Well said Jack Black, well said. I’m so entirely irritated hearing that. Please stop taking the first letter of every word of every phrase (that you didn’t even come up with yourself) and putting them together. It’s called an acronym and this one is not even clever. Stop it. Seriously.
See you next week. ❤

Starbucks Summer Missoin #8

I’m exceptionally kind of excited about this one guys. This drink is the first of the Starbucks secret mission (and secret menu items in general) that is created solely by me. Well, as far as I know at least. I have checked multiple websites, blogs and whatever else to find the many MANY creations for the secret menu. Thus far I have not found anybody posting anything like that one I ‘created’ yesterday. So, if anyone has…they haven’t posted it 😛 So, I get dibs. Sorry bout it.

Anyway. So I kind of wanted to create a tasty blend myself and give it a snazzy name etc etc. It’s actually a lot harder than I thought. There’s so many possibilities…I couldn’t pick anything easily. After a lot of deliberating, I finally came out with a combination that I wanted to try. If I liked it, I’d go with it. If not…well back to the drawing board. Thankfully, It  ended up tasting good on the first try.

~très bon~

I give you all…the Gilligan Frappuchino! For lake of a better name. It’s a coconut creme frappuchino with matcha green tea powder (I asked for only a small bit…maybe just to the first line…or less), an extra pump (or two) of coconut syrup, and whipped cream blended in. Cookie crumbles top this frappuchino for the finish, and there you have it! It’s very coconut-y, as it should be. The green tea powder added to it actually enhanced the flavor and the cookie crumbles was just a nice final touch (but probably not necessary, but I like chocolate flavors in my drinks). My Barista at the Starbucks I go to got a good chuckle as I ordered this, and said he will have to try it himself lol I’m glad they’re good sports about the odd things that I order. I figure, If I’m going to pay for it, might as well get what I want. Right? Anyway, it’s really good. So, I hope that you will venture forth and try it yourself sometime and let me know what you think. If you liked it or didn’t…or if you suggest any tweaks I could do to it. Happy Sipping!

Completed Drinks List:

Item 1: Cocoa Cappuchino

Item 2: Thin Mint Frappuchino

Item 3: Cookies and Cream Frappuchino

Item 4: The Nutella Frappuchino.

Item 5: Iced Caramel Macchiato

Item 6: Twix Frappuchino

Item 7: Oreo frappuchino

Item 8: The Gilligan Frappuchino

~Peace,Love,Starbucks~

Starbucks Summer Mission #7

Lucky 7’s as they say. This is another delicious secret menu frappuchino concoction! I give you….*drum roll*…the Oreo frappuchino. I, despite not eating oreos really anymore,  love them. I mean who doesn’t like them? They’re the perfect combo of chocolate and cream. Mmm…so frappuchino version of this famous cookie sounded like a legit idea.

It’s me in a drink…kudos to the few people who will know what that means 😉

You want to try this cookie inspired beverage? Ask for a double chocolate chip frappuccino with white mocha syrup instead of the regular mocha. I think it was pretty spot on. I might add either an extra shot of white mocha syrup, or maybe ask for a bit of vanilla bean powder added to get a better vanilla to chocolate ratio. But otherwise it’s fine just the way it is. I’m definitely rating this one a 5/5! It was perfect for the hot day I got this on. Loved it. I think you should go try it. If you do, let me know how you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions of drinks I should try (or crazy combinations)…feel free to comment.Happy Sipping~

Completed Drinks List:

Item 1: Cocoa Cappuchino

Item 2: Thin Mint Frappuchino

Item 3: Cookies and Cream Frappuchino

Item 4: The Nutella Frappuchino.

Item 5: Iced Caramel Macchiato

Item 6: Twix Frappuchino

Item 7: Oreo frappuchino

~Peace, Love, Starbucks~

 

 

Thirsty Thursday: (Belated) Tazo Tea

I have been so busy this week and didn’t have time to post a few blogs this week…so now that I have a bit of time, I am catching up. Ugh summertime. I digress. Moving right along to what I should have posted yesterday. I realize most of the drinks I post are coffee related drinks. So, I decided to post something for the tea drinkers out there (as lame as you are. Jk :P). Actually, I like to try to mix things up every now and then. Keeping that in mind, this week’s drink is from Starbucks (surprise surprise). I really like Tazo tea and I usually buy Tazo tea loose leaf tea by the containers for the fall and winter.

I was in Peoria not too long ago with some friends and saw that Starbucks has both Iced Tazo tea and Iced Tazo tea with lemonade. I like my iced teas with a good amount of sweetness so I decided to try it with lemonade. I originally had the Passionfruit tea with lemonade and let me tell ya…it was AWESOME. Probably one of the best non-coffee drinks I had had in a long time. The blend of the passionfruit tea with the lemonade made for a sweet, but not overly sweet, combination. The lemonade kept it a bit tart, so that might have helped. It was great and a lot cheaper than their other drinks at the same size. It’s also a healthier options than their frappuchinos, not that I care…but a nice side deal I suppose.

Awww Yeah~

A few days ago, I decided to get another Tazo tea with lemonade but I wanted to try a different tea blend. Starbucks gives you the choice of passionfruit, black, green and peach tea. I figured black tea and lemonade would  make for an interesting mix, so I went with that. It isn’t as good as the passionfruit but it’s still really tasty. Sooo refreshing ❤ Especially on these hot summer days. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys delicious and cold iced teas. Go try some. Go go go! I think I’ll try green tea next but in the mean time… Happy Sipping 😀