Southern Supper

My friends, donzumoto and Debbie, hosted a souther supper where we all brought a dish. Here was the menu (click on them for the recipes)...

Garlic Shrimp with Cheesy Grits (donzumoto)
Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Dried Cranberries, Pecans and a Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing (tasteedonut)
Fried Chicken and Waffles (Debbie)
Mac and Cheese (me)
Mini Cornbread Muffins (Megan)
Lemonade Cocktail, Wine (Sharon)
Blueberry Tart, Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake, Pineapple Gooey Butter Cake (Megan)

Everything was delicious! It is always fun to meet up with old friends and have a nice meal together. I reck'on we will have another dinner real soon!

Before I end this post, I want to talk a little bit about the desserts. The blueberry cream pie was perfect. It wasn't too sweet and the filling was light and fluffy. Megan had told me that the recipe for the Gooey Butter Cakes is from Paula Deen from the Food Network. Both desserts were fabulous! I will have to try making the Gooey Butter Cakes myself sometime!

A Fun Spring Day (Part 5, The End)

After the Bona Vista Lounge, Sandok dropped me off at a bar called Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa so I could meet up with some friends. It was my first time there and it was crowded. It's a sports bar with pool and foosball tables, shuffle board, dart, and etc. They have an outdoor patio where you can throw your peanut shells on the floor and its ok! I love doing that! We all shared some pitchers and played some games. No one every believes me at first that I am good at foosball, and I totally owned that night. It was really nice to end my spectacular day hanging out at a nice, chill bar. It was also great to see so many friends throughout the day, especially the ones who are home for spring break!

That was my Fun Spring Day! The weather was beautiful that day and thanks to everyone who was a part of it!

A Fun Spring Day (Part 4, Revolving Lounge)

(elevators)
After our mac & cheese dinner, we went to the Bona Vista Lounge at the Westin Bontaventure Hotel. Its on the 35th floor (the top floor) so we had to take the red line elevator up there. The elevators are cool, because the face outward, giving us a great view of downtown during the ride. Also, you might recognize the hotel since it was in several movies, such as True Lies and Rush Hour.
Anywho, back to lounge talk. The lounge is unique because it is revolving, so you can potentially get a 360 degree view of downtown if you stay long enough and boy, is it a gorgeous view! Only the seat area of the lounge moves and at first it seems pretty slow but once you have some drinks in you, it seems to get faster. The funny part about the lounge revolving is that the bathroom seems farther or in a different spot since you last remembered.
The lounge is decorated with retro red furniture and real dim lighting. It has a nice and quiet atmosphere. It was extremely quiet the night I went but it might be because it was a Thursday night. You can order drinks and food at the lounge and they have a happy hour (but I forgot the hours). I had ordered a chocolate martini and boy, was it stiff! I had always heard they were good and indeed it was. It was like an alcoholic chocolate milk. Sandok had ordered a strawberry daiquiri in a souvinere boot cup that he got to keep. The cocktails were the typical LA pricing ($12-18) but they have a very good pour. The Bona Vista Lounge is a cool place to go once in a while or to bring someone who is from out of town.