So one thing you should know about my and my time in LA, and everywhere I go is that I plan my day around my yelp bookmarks. I look at food blogs ALL day long. Well actually I look at blogs all day long, facebook has become nearly 0% social for me and has now a newsfeed for blogs on health and wellness, beauty tips, entertainment news, cooking and recipes, DIY ideas, decorating, new restaurants, "best" restaurants, and so much more. It just so happens that I have had jobs with some serious down time, I hope that not to be the case in the future, I'd rather be more fulfilled in the work I do than be in the know of Eater LA's top new restaurants or best of lists, but I digress, so...
Food and Yelp! I have about 2900 bookmarks on yelp, mostly in foodie cities like LA, NYC, Chi-town, SF. (If I ate out 3 meals a day everyday for the next 2.6 years, I could cross all 2900 bookmarks off my list.) My yelp bookmark adventure started when I discovered the feature of the app as I was unemployed and my mom was watching an episode of "The best thing I ever ate" on the food network (or cooking channel). I've grown up watching the Food Network, my mom is a bomb ass cook, I mean amazing, I wish I could hire a cookbook writer to follow her around July-February and just document everything she cooks, because that will capture the summer, fall and winter times and I can get the best of all worlds: bbq, soups, tamales, menudo, baked goods, everything! So as I kid I watched the food network thinking you had to really know what you were doing to even attempt those kinds of dish, and I knew my mom could do it because she knows what's what, but I was still so fascinated that at the end of an episode you witnessed this marvelous dish of what looked to be a heavenly food creation. I first became a fan of Yan from Yan Can Cook, then Emeril Lagasse, his phrases became running jokes within my family, then the Iron Chefs, these guys where no joke, at first it started with all Japanese chefs who held the skill and master of cooking to such a serious art and respect, and then the Americanized one which introduced American master chefs, which definitely introduced an element of casualness of competition and prestige to the show, kind of disappointing to think about Americans watering down such a craft that was so highly revered in Japan, but knowing what I know about America, I get it. So my first "celebrities" who I marveled over where chefs, I had no desire to read gossip magazines, all I wanted to read with the Food Network magazine, Cooks Illustrated, Better Homes and Garden and Martha Stewart Living,and I was 11! The Food Network took up the majority of my free time, especially Saturday mornings as I crawled into bed with mom, and was know meeting Ina, Bobby, Mario, and Giada, then Hell's Kitchen started and Gordon Ramsey was introduced in the mix. So as a preteen my mind is being formed to the ideas that good food is something you work for and work at, quality is important, skills can be learned, and patience is key. (I don't have a lot of patience. My tummy is in knots as I type this now as I wait to hear back from a potential job offer from UCLA Anderson.) Now I'm not a highly skilled cook, I cook about twice a week, sometimes I like what I cook, other times I have to convince myself to eat it and not eat out, but I do enjoy cooking given I have the time to shop, prep, cook, and clean without rushing, and ample space and equipment is available. But now I live in LA and there are SO many restaurants I want to try. I have a real dilemma because although it is more cost efficient to each at home there are amazing restaurants all around me! Living in the West-side of LA many of the restaurants can be expensive ($$$ and $$$$) and I struggle because thankfully in LA you can get incredibly affordable and amazing food at $ (i.e. Grand Central Market) and $$, so I try to keep my foodie adventures to $$, because my wallet just can't handle Hinoki & the Bird at this present life stage. As I create my blog, I hope to figure out a way to publish my Yelp bookmarks, then as my readers travel and dine at the restaurants on my list I can know if they are worth the trip. :) The majority of my bookmarks come from blog lists of award winning chefs, mixologist, historical places (i.e. Clifton's, The Pantry, Phillipes, or innovators, many are recommended by notable chefs, culinary experts, food writers, or bloggers. I do my best to contribute to Yelp with posting reviews, and I hope to get better at it in this next year. I would like to contribute to the feature that I carefully model my time and driving direction around. And I will share as many checked bookmarks as I visit and enjoy them! One last thing to know about me, I rarely, RARELY revisit restaurants and cafes in LA. With 2900 bookmarks I need to use my time wisely and venture to new exciting restaurants, so as much as I love Fix Coffee, Bar Nine, Alcove Cafe, Larchmont Bungalow, Joan's, Intelli, Republique, Bottega Louie, Urth Cafe, The Pie Hole, Milk, Alfred's, Milk Jar, Paper or Plastik, and Coffee Commissary, I have only been to these places 1 or 2 times max, with the exception of Urth and Intelligentsia. It can be discouraging going to new restaurants all the time, because you really never know what's in store such as parking, or the location or if the food is really all its reviewed to be, and if you or your friends/family will be disappointed, but honestly I've been more wowed than disappointed. A few yelp rules I live by, I don't eat a places with less than 3.5 stars, in my opinion its almost always a disappointment, when I'm searching for a place to eat in an area I don't know well and have no current bookmarks, I search for $, $$, open now, and filter by most reviews and try for the ones with 200-250 or more reviews. I've definitely found some gems in unexpected areas that way. Utilizing Yelp definitely contributes to my enjoyment of this city so I continue to intentionally use it and check bookmarks off my list.
Good night blog!
-Stann
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Pilot Post
Hello vast internet space (no followers yet),
Welcome to the moon is mine, and for url purposes themoonesmio.blogspot.com. Some lazy asses took the two blog titles I wanted to use, the moon is mine, la luna is mine, and are doing absolutely NOTHING with them. But whatever, this url works perfectly. I am always trying to find ways to explore and bring out my Mexican heritage, so this definitely serves a powerful purpose after all.
A little about me-I'm 29 years old, from Riverside, lived in Orange County for 10 years after leaving home, and now in the big city, Los Angeles. I work at UCLA in International Admissions for the School of Dentistry, random I know, there are some parts of my job that are extremely life giving, and others that are not so much. I once started a blog about 5 ish years ago, and cannot, for the life of me remember the log in or title or password, so here we go - TAKE 2!
A little about the title-When I was thinking about a blog title I was focused more on budgeting and painting the town red on very little green, but the more I thought about the different things I would post: beauty, fashion, fitness, health, music, recipes, cooking/baking, personal life events, and more; a budget focused title seemed limiting. So I went for something way more personal to me; the moon. I realize that the first read of the title sounds a little selfish and even immature. I associate the word "mine" with a 3 year old claiming ownership on anything shiny and new, but that's not the meaning behind the moon belonging to me at all.
When I was younger my favorite book was "Good Night Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. Even as a young girl, I loved the idea of acknowledging those things that were important to me on a daily basis and having complete closure of one day, and starting with a fresh, new beginning the next, and that's something I continue to appreciate and practice today. But the biggest reason, by far, for the title of my blog is my dad. I have this distinct memory of driving home with my dad and turning onto our street and my dad saying to me, "Stephanie, I got you something." and I asked "What?!", and he replied saying, "That." and pointing to the moon. I'll have to interview him later (future blog post idea) and ask how on earth he deemed me worthy of such an extraordinary gift. And as years have passed he continues to gift me with the moon, text me on nights of spectacular moons, to look up to the sky for my gift. How any farther can love his daughter with the love to bestow upon her the moon is beyond my comprehension, but all I can say is thank you, thank you dad for the moon, its beautiful, priceless, constant, and the best gift I have ever, ever received.
I hope this blog become the opportunity I aspire it to be, to share myself in a truly genuine way, the things I love and the things I don't love so much, as well as achievements, celebrations, and possibly hardships. I also hope to showcase the things in LA and life I enjoy and am learning about myself and the world. Basically, I hope to get a lot out of this, especially since it will take my time and thought to put something truly authentic and significant together.
Thanks for the read. Good night blog.
-Stann
Welcome to the moon is mine, and for url purposes themoonesmio.blogspot.com. Some lazy asses took the two blog titles I wanted to use, the moon is mine, la luna is mine, and are doing absolutely NOTHING with them. But whatever, this url works perfectly. I am always trying to find ways to explore and bring out my Mexican heritage, so this definitely serves a powerful purpose after all.
A little about me-I'm 29 years old, from Riverside, lived in Orange County for 10 years after leaving home, and now in the big city, Los Angeles. I work at UCLA in International Admissions for the School of Dentistry, random I know, there are some parts of my job that are extremely life giving, and others that are not so much. I once started a blog about 5 ish years ago, and cannot, for the life of me remember the log in or title or password, so here we go - TAKE 2!
A little about the title-When I was thinking about a blog title I was focused more on budgeting and painting the town red on very little green, but the more I thought about the different things I would post: beauty, fashion, fitness, health, music, recipes, cooking/baking, personal life events, and more; a budget focused title seemed limiting. So I went for something way more personal to me; the moon. I realize that the first read of the title sounds a little selfish and even immature. I associate the word "mine" with a 3 year old claiming ownership on anything shiny and new, but that's not the meaning behind the moon belonging to me at all.
When I was younger my favorite book was "Good Night Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. Even as a young girl, I loved the idea of acknowledging those things that were important to me on a daily basis and having complete closure of one day, and starting with a fresh, new beginning the next, and that's something I continue to appreciate and practice today. But the biggest reason, by far, for the title of my blog is my dad. I have this distinct memory of driving home with my dad and turning onto our street and my dad saying to me, "Stephanie, I got you something." and I asked "What?!", and he replied saying, "That." and pointing to the moon. I'll have to interview him later (future blog post idea) and ask how on earth he deemed me worthy of such an extraordinary gift. And as years have passed he continues to gift me with the moon, text me on nights of spectacular moons, to look up to the sky for my gift. How any farther can love his daughter with the love to bestow upon her the moon is beyond my comprehension, but all I can say is thank you, thank you dad for the moon, its beautiful, priceless, constant, and the best gift I have ever, ever received.
I hope this blog become the opportunity I aspire it to be, to share myself in a truly genuine way, the things I love and the things I don't love so much, as well as achievements, celebrations, and possibly hardships. I also hope to showcase the things in LA and life I enjoy and am learning about myself and the world. Basically, I hope to get a lot out of this, especially since it will take my time and thought to put something truly authentic and significant together.
Thanks for the read. Good night blog.
-Stann
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