Date Night at L.A. Live!

I have to start of by saying, I am so thankful that JD has two sets of grandparents who are willing to watch him everyday if they could (they practically force us to go on date nights)! Since the hubby works in Downtown L.A., he comes across a lot of interesting places in L.A. to hang out. Friday was our date night and we headed to L.A. Live, the premier sports and entertainment center of downtown Los Angeles. We had been to Katsuya, at L.A. Live before and although the food was delicious we agreed that we would try something new.

L.A. Live

So we decided to try Rosa Mexicano, for some drinks and appetizers before going to watch Pirate Radio, at the new Regal Cinema. The atmosphere at Rosa Mexicano was very festive and the food was authentic with a modern twist. The hubby had the Shrimp and Tuna Ceviche and I had the Chicken Flautas and I even tried their signature Pomegranate Margarita (I was tipsy after that one drink), everything was really tasty.

L.A. Live has some great places to hang out, including The Staples Center, Lucky Strikes Lanes, the Congo Room, Club Nokia and 13 restaurants.

more HomeGoods finds...

Yesterday after work I stopped at one of my favorite stores, HomeGoods and found some great buys. My first find was the Infantino Stick and Play, this is so perfect for JD's highchair, because it actually suctions onto the tray (JD throws all his toys on the floor when he is in his highchair), he started playing with it the minute we put it on the tray, it actually kept him entertained for about 20 minutes (that's a long time for JD)!

Infantino Tray Time Buddies

Retail: $12.99

I paid: $7.99

 

My second find was a bit of a suprise, I have been looking for Thanksgiving themed table linens and wasn't sure if I wanted something fancy, trendy or playful until I came across this pattern:

 Quilted Table Runner

Retail: $ 22.00

I paid: $6.00 (on clearance)

so my whole decor this Thanksgiving will be based on this pattern, which I guess would mean I'm going for the playful theme. Best of all it matches all my pumpkin decorations including my last find:

Chantal Pumpkin Casserole Dish

Retail: $20.00

I paid: $6.00 (on clearance)

 

still loving Home Goods!

Gewurztraminer: The Rock Star of Thanksgiving Wines

So what gives it rock star status? It’s the most versatile wine, pairing with turkey, dressing, yams and yes, even pumpkin pie. If you want to pronounce it, try "gah-vertz-trah-me-nur." The primary accent is on the second syllable, and the secondary accent is on the fourth syllable. If you cannot pronounce the name, just ask your store for that "turkey wine," they'll know what you mean. I recommend, Fetzer's Gewurztraminer Valley Oaks '07, it's a great (inexpensive, about $7 at BevMo) wine, it's a medium-sweet Gewurztraminer that is soft and easy on the palate.

The Party Planning Mommy!

It may be a bit soon to start planning JD's 1st birthday party, but why wait till the last minute and stress myself out. So a few weeks ago the "Aunties" (Gabi and Mari) and I started discussing JD's birthday and we got so excited that we pretty much planned the whole thing. I had already picked the theme of his party early this year (funny, before he was born) after coming across a Celebrate Express catalog, they have the cutest  themes and my favorite is called "Mod Monkey" and lucky for me JD loves monkeys, acts like a monkey and sometimes even smells like a monkey! So his birthday theme is officially "Mod Monkey Carnival Party", the hubby keeps insisting I'm crazy to want to plan a big party and he actually had the nerve to ask me, what my budget was (why does he think I went back to work), but I know once the time comes he'll be just as excited as the rest of us. Here are some of the ideas I plan on incorporating into JD's party.