I Scream for Maggie Moo's Red Velvet Ice Cream

My obsession began a couple weeks ago on one of those lazy Sunday afternoons. I was watching Food Network, specifically it was an episode of Unwrapped. I swear, that show always makes me crave whatever they are featuring. They're good! During this episode good ole' Marc Summers featured an ice cream shop called Maggie Moo's. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this because one just opened up near my house a little while ago, I've just never tried it. It's right next to a Jamba Juice so I always end up opting for that. Well, that's not the case anymore, my friend.

On that episode, they featured Maggie Moo's red velvet ice cream! Well, let me back up just a bit. If you're not familiar with this place, it's very similar to Cold Stone where they have various flavors of ice cream and you choose your mix-ins. Well, unlike Cold Stone, they have more unique flavors such as buttered popcorn, very yellow marshmallow, cinnamoo bun (hehe), and red velvet! I just couldn't get that out of my mind (I love ice cream!), so a week later, I drag my nieces with me to get some. Janelle got vanilla with oreos and Caitlin got chocolate with gummy bears. Of course, I absolutely had to get their red velvet fresh escape, which is red velvet ice cream with brownies, pecans, and fudge mixed in. YUMMO! I swear to you, this is the creamiest ice cream I've tasted! It's sooo good! If you get an opportunity to try it, I highly suggest you do!

If you live in the Bay Area, then you have two options, there is one in Hayward and one in Richmond. I've since been back twice and am still as amazed as the first time. Here's a picture of the dee-lish treat taken by my handy dandy Blackberry (please excuse the blurriness).

Summer....what's that?

Summer used to mean sleeping until noon. It used to mean getting Jamba Juice in the middle of the day and chatting with friends for hours (well...I guess that still happens every now and then). It used to mean weeks of doing absolutely unproductive and time-wasting activities. That is, until this thing called "work" entered my life. *sigh....

When iHeartFaces posted that Week 30 would be their bye week for contests, and in its place would be a photo sharing week about summer, I thought, "Oh...should I share photos of my cubicle, because that's where I'm spending my summer."(I actually may do that one day!)

This has been in the back of my thoughts for a few days now, and finally thought of the perfect summer post!

Every year, for the past couple years, me and my sissy try to hit up different festivals during the summer. I mean, that's one of the great things about the Bay Area; we're so diverse! There seems to be an Arts and Wine festival in every city, there was the (unsuccessful) Great American Food and Music Festival, and I can't leave out the famous Gilroy's Garlic Festival. But the one that I want to focus on today, is the Aloha Festival at the Presidio.

I look forward to this festival every year! What more can a girl ask for? If I can't go to Hawaii, this may be the next best thing. Live music and dancing, great food, and shopping!

We took our nieces this year. They were a little cranky that day, and it might have been due to the fact that they were out late the night before (no really....they go out! haha)

Ahh...the food. It's probably the main reason we go. Lomi Lomi, Laulau, Poke, Malasadas, and of course Spam Musubi. (and did I mention Hurricane Popcorn?!?!?.....it's heaven)
Here are the girls with two of the performers. Aren't they adorable!?
I still have a few more weeks of summer and I'm going to end it with a bang. I've got a few mini-vacays up my sleeve, so keep an eye out for those posts!

Ode To A Cupcake

This week, even though it is a short one, has been oh so uber hectic. The sucky thing about it is that it's not over yet. Today marks my busiest and longest day thus far.

It started off at 5 AM when my alarm clock goes off. I usually don't wake up that early (or shall i say...I NEVER wake up that early), but I had an uber early meeting. Let me take this opportunity to thank my collegues in Boston for scheduling it. I actually didn't wake up exactly at 5 AM, so I had to call-in to the meeting from my car (thank you renee for the bluetooth, it came in handy!). Getting into work when no one is here actually made me feel good. I won't be doing that often, but at least I got to experience it once, hah! So moving on. You would think that because I came in early, I would leave early. That's not the case, my friend. I actually have to stay later than usual! And not only that, I have class tonight and will have to sit there for four straight hours.

So knowing that my day is not even close to being over, I decided to take a mid-day Starbucks break. I needed some caffine in my body, like ASAP. (Oh, did I mention my 'coffee only once a week new year's resolution' is totally over?) So me and my friend from work head over to our fave Starbucks spot and we are in line. Then I hear her say, "Red Velvet Cupcake!" *Gasp...I know! I look into the pastry section, and like a ray of light shining on it....I see it. Two red velvet cupcakes. (pause for dramatic effect)

It was perfect, one for each of us. It's amazing that this little cupcake changed my whole outlook on my day. It doesn't beat Marita's though (if you don't know about Marita's then you are certainly missing out). But it did hit the spot. Mmm...cupcake.