Sunday Morning in Chinatown

We went to Chinatown to frame some of our art pieces. I brought three sketches, Yoskay Yamamoto, KaToPe and Le Merde. Nate brought a big Luke Chueh, Infected, to get framed. It's been a while since we went to The Framing House and Tai informed us about needing a deposit now instead of just drop off and pay at pickup. Apparently they are having a big problem with people not picking up their art work. He said he has about 100 pieces sitting in the store and were not picked up.

We didn't know and we didn't have cash to cover the work but he let it slide because he knew it had been a while since we were there. We told Tai, the next time we are dropping off art work, we will definitely bring a deposit. That's why I love this place! He always gives us a good deal.

We got to Downtown L.A. early because we wanted to avoid the crowds and we had a specific lunch destination in mind. We wanted to stop by Philippe's. We read the reviews on Yelp, we watched Man vs Food and we knew there were things we had to do to have a positive experience. Number one was get there before the lunch crowd.

It was a beautiful day so Nate and I walked over to Philippe's. It actually was not very far about a half mile walk. When we got there it was 11:30 and it wasn't as busy. A short 15 minute wait. Servers were not crabby but I can understand where some servers would be rude as it is such a busy place and as the day wears on I am sure people's mood sour. But we got friendly service.

Crappy phone pic I know but I was not about to wander downtown carrying our big camera. We ordered the following: two double dipped beef sandwiches, a bowl of chili with onions and cheese only, a side order of potato salad, coconut cream pie, banana cream pie, two orders of lemonade and two diet pepsi.

We found a large unoccupied booth and plopped ourselves down to eat. First off I don't care for the saw dust on the floor. It looked fresh but to me putting down saw dust means an excuse to not sweep the floors as often. So meh to saw dust.

Chili was good. Just the right amount of onions and cheese. I wish I got more crackers though. The bread was fresh and the au jus was delicious. The beef could have used more flavor though and I think I prefer my sandwich wet. As in dip the whole thing in the au jus. Nate prefers his dryer as he likes fresh french bread.

They had squeeze bottles of their famous horse radish mustard on the table and small quantities on your sandwich was delicious. The heat went straight up my nose! The lemonade was refreshing and yummy. I wish I had a bigger glass. Next time we'll order two each of the lemonade.

Overall there is a lot of hype on the restaurant but the sandwiches were delicious enough to deserve the hype. Definitely get there before noon to easily go through the line and find seating. By the time we were leaving there were people looking around to find seats.

As we were walking back to the car, we passed by CBS Restaurant. It's Dim Sum and we have been craving that for quite some time. Maybe on our next trip to Chinatown we'll hit this place.

Purchases of the Week: February 26, 2011

Closet Maid Pantry Cabinet 

Nate actually has been buying a few blu-ray but this is a house purchase for him. We have a small kitchen and space is a premium. We didn't like how we were storing goods on the counter or on the table. There's just too much stuff out and we want things neat. Our pots and pans tend to take a lot of space. I have a Harry Potter style closet under the stairs and I store our cooking appliances there. Hopefully, this will help organize our kitchen to be more efficient.

Someone asked me, "Why are there no toys featured on Purchases of the Week?" Well... we buy toys all the time. It's a norm and I like to highlight non-toy purchasing. This year, Nate and I agreed we need to cut down on toy buying and concentrate on the house and make it into a home.

I have been thinking about posting more toy stuff, food and other things too. Whatever comes to mind really. I just need to set aside time to do it and it looks like late night is the only time I have.

Cat Tree

It arrived today! Yay! Nate assembled it all by himself. Thanks Babe! While Nate was putting it together, Pickles was already sitting on top of one of the condos. Dhani was on the couch sleeping, Marley was under a chair watching and Nodame was upstairs in the hallway, sleeping on one of the cat beds.

When it was completed, Pickles went crazy with the two puff balls attached to the cat tree. Seeing Pickles going nuts attracted the other cats and they slowly started climbing and sniffing the tree. We had to coax Nodame. He is always cautious with new things but once he gets comfortable he enjoys it completely.

I got the Armarkat Cat Tree Model B7701 in Ivory. I wanted the one with the stairs for Marley so she can easily hop up. Now they have a place to chill other than the couches. I've also seen them playing on the tree.

It's not as huge as I thought and it fits the area I have been thinking of storing it well. I plan to add a cave like bed at the bottom. The Santa hat is a crinkle toy that none of them really took to.

I'm glad our cats are enjoying their tree. It's money well spent.

Purchases of the Week: February 18, 2011

The Negotiator - Love this movie. Kevin Spacey was awesome. I think this was before Samuel L. Jackson was in a ton of movies which kind of made him ridiculous. 

Scott Pilgrim - I was not too excited about this movie till I saw it. Probably because SDCC whored it like crazy and when things are too hyped I lose interest. This was a very enjoyable movie. Kieran Culkin sealed the deal for us to get this on blu-ray. 

 
The Wedding Singer - Adam Sandler was at the height of his charm when he did this movie. Now it feels like he's lost that something that made him loveable. I think he stopped being funny. Nate says maybe he grew up from the juvenile humor he's well known for. Either way, we both love this movie.

I can say I am disappointed in blu-ray sales for President's Day. Nothing too much to get excited about. Not as fun as Thanksgiving, that was blu-ray buying paradise. I was hoping that some strangely high priced movies would go down to $9.99 or less. Alas, hardly any reached $13.99 or less. So we just picked up three. Two to replace DVDs and one new movie.

It might be time to hit up Amoeba to sell off some old stuff.

Purchases of the Week: February 13, 2011

Amarkat Cat Tree - Model B7701

A place for our beloved cats to hang out and play. I know the boys will appreciate the height since they often sit at the top of the banister. I plan to rub a bit of catnip in the condos. Marley would love that. This will re-direct their coach potato habits.

I've been researching cat trees for quite a bit. I've seen super complicated ones, modern style ones, too simple ones and the pricing is ridiculous with most.

I know my cats. I know what they love to do. Those sisal posts would be scratcher heaven. Marley loves batting toys and Dhani likes to lounge and sleep all day on one of those pedestals. I can't wait to get this!

Purchases of the Week: February 13, 2011

• Dead Space: Downfall - Nate and I are obsessing over this game, the books, comic books and whatever else we can get our hands on. We really love the whole Dead Space universe. This anime gives us a window as to what happened on the Ishimura before the USG Kelion carrying Isaac Clarke and crew arrived.
• Event Horizon - A lot of the elements we see in Dead Space we first saw in Event Horizon. This was an awesome and scary movie. The vent scene still gives me chills to this day.
• Galaxy Quest - Sigourney Weaver! I liked it. Yes, Tim Allen is in it but the rest of the cast was enjoyable. 
• Ghostbusters - Classic Bill Murray. Enjoyed the movie when I was kid and saw it again as an adult and still liked it. Every year I see people cosplay them at SDCC.
• Inception - We heard a lot of buzz about this movie but never saw it in a theater. We resisted reading about it and spoiling the storyline for us. We saw it only last month at Nate's parents house and it was like wow. Now we wish we saw it in the movie theater.
• The Other Guys - Unfortunately, I didn't get to see this movie as I was concentrating hard on Zach and Kristina's iPad playing Plants vs Zombies. But I could hear everyone laughing. A lot.

I love BLU-RAY.COM it's a great site and we use it extensively to read up about blu-ray, upcoming releases and sales! None of the movies listed above were more than $14 each. Don't pay full price for your movies if you don't have to!

Purchases of the Week: February 6, 2011

Unexpected cash came and I was able to purchase something this week. Something for the house and something for laughs.

Anchor Hocking 10 Piece TrueSeal Storage Set 

I've been looking at ways to have less waste around the house. We never liked the plastic storage containers for storing leftovers and I was looking for alternatives for food storage. I found this set and it has generally good reviews. It's microwavable, oven safe (not the lid), and dishwasher safe. No more wrapping our bowls with cling wrap or foil. There are other sizes but I'll give this a try before I get more. They look promising though.

Beerfest - First few minutes of Beerfest and my first thoughts were, This movie is gonna be dumb." But then I started laughing. Cloris Leachman, bless her, was hilarious. I haven't seen Super Troopers. I should. It's the same crew. It's a great, silly movie and we enjoyed it. That's enough reason to get it on Blu-ray. Now if only they would release Kung Pow - Enter the Fist and Grandma's Boy on blu-ray I'll be a happy camper.

Nodame the Goofy Alpha Cat

No purchase at the end of this week. Unless you count some address labels. But most of the day I spent sleeping.

I woke up after noon and started doing chores. As I went up and down the house, Nodame was just sitting in the living room getting some sun. Marley was sitting at the window. Nodame always likes to sit reclining style. Like an old man. LOL

Essentially, most of our time as a family is spent upstairs. We hardly hang out downstairs which is a shame. The cats have the full run of the house except the Fourth Room and they have claimed the living room as theirs. This year, I mean to take it back.

I have plans for the living room. I want to make it a space where we can sit and chill, enjoy some movies and gaming. A place not just for the cats but for everyone. But before new furniture enters the house I have to direct their natural instinct of sharpening their claws elsewhere and I already have something fun for them to hang out in. I'll probably get it at the end of the month.

Toy News
Nate and I are very excited about the Paul Kaiju x Blobpus Boss Carrion Lottery. One per household so I entered Nate's name as he has better luck than me. I'm not going to lie. I thought about entering again just to improve our chances but when I look over and gaze at that beautiful Golden Mibora and how awesome it was to pull that from one bag, I changed my mind. We started the New Year toy wise in such a great way I am not about to ruin that by being greedy.

If we win, awesome! If we don't, there will be other opportunities. Learning to accept that and having the patience of a glacier keeps the hobby fun. We'll find out in 72 hours! There's other stuff dropping that I am looking forward to as well.