BAJL Day 16: Nom Nom Nom: My Top 5 Favorite Local Restaurants in the OC

             I love to put delicious food in my head hole. I have made it a small quest of mine to find places locally that I can go to and get delicious food items. All of these locations are found in the Orange County area. So here is my list, in no particular order:

Bruxie- located in Old Towne Orange across the street from Chapman University, is a food stand that specializes in waffle sandwiches. There are savory and sweet varieties of sandwiches such as the fried chicken and waffle sandwich as well as a S'mores sandwich. My favorite is the Roasted Mushroom and Goat Cheese sandwich that has Chevre Goat Cheese, Fresh Basil, Arugula, and a Balsamic Reduction. I highly recommend this place. Here is their website

• The Original Pancake House- located in Anaheim, the Original Pancake House is my favorite place for breakfast EVER!!! They have the best bacon I have ever tasted. It is so thick, crispy, and salty. I have had most of the items on the menu and they are all delicious. But what I order the most and I would reccomend is the two egg breakfast but instead of regular pancakes I substitute sourdough flapjacks. I know what you are thinking, Sourdough flapjacks? Trust me, they are so good and are now my favorite kind of pancakes. You can learn more at their website found here

     

 Mexi-Casa- is a Mexican restaurant in Anaheim. I found this place thanks to my wife, who found it through her good friends family. This place has delicous Mexican favorites such as tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and taquitos. Plus, everything on the menu is super cheap. My wife and I took my parents to eat there and it cost us less than 25 bucks for all four of us including drinks and tip. It may look crappy on the outside but the food is amazing. I usually get the combo plate that contains a taco and an enchilada with beans and rice. Yum! The restaurant has no website so I will just post the physical address which is 1778 West Lincoln Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92801.

• The Burnt Truck- is a food truck in Orange County. I first discovered this food truck in Huntington Beach near my work. This truck specializies in sliders and I have tried most of them and they are delicious but one of their sliders stands out above the rest, the Vietnamese Pork slider. Just thinking about those things is making my mouth water. So much tastiness in such a little bite. If you ever try the Burnt Truck, make sure to get the Vietnamese Pork sliders. Below is a photo of the aforementioned slider that I like the best. To learn more and find where the truck will be visit here. 
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• Las Barcas- is a Mexican restaurant in Huntington Beach. I discovered this place after I first moved to HB and it is so yummy. This place is a real locals spot and the wait is usally pretty long, especially on summer nights. I love their burritos so much and I like to get the burritos covered in red sauce and have cheese melted over them. My favorite burrito is the El Grande with beef or pork. Next time you are on your way to the beach, stop by Las Barcas and have some delicious food. Learn more at their website.

 What are your favorite local places to eat? Post any suggestions you may have for places I should try. PS please excuse my poor formating. I am still new at this whole thing.

BAJL Day 14: I don't Want To Let Christmas Go

              Last night my wife and I finally took down our Christmas Tree and decorations. I wanted to keep them up longer as I felt that I didn't get enough of the Christmas season this year. Plus, the tree looks all nice when it is decorated.
              Which leads me to ask this question: How long after Christmas is it acceptable to still have your Christmas decorations up? Is three weeks to long? Oops! Does the fact that it is colder now then it was at Christmas help? When we took down the tree last night I asked my wife if we could listen to Christmas music while doing so, she gave me a look. I'm assuming that meant no.
               The final reason why I wanted to keep up the tree and decorations was that they make our house look better. Without the tree, about half of the apartment looks naked and unlived in. We need something to fill up that space.
               Sorry for the shortness of this blog but I have a very busy day ahead of me today and only had about 30 minutes to blog. I will have something more substantial for all you folks tomorrow.

BAJL Day 13: How Did I Become Such a Disney Dork?

         I have been a fan of Disneyland since I was a kid. My family used to go at least once a year when I was growing up (Mostly near my sister's birthday). As a result I became infatuated with the park. It was a place where my whole family was able to have fun together.
         My love for Disneyland grew along with me as I came to appreciate it as a safe haven. I was and will always be a dork and because of this I got picked on a lot in school. I couldn't leave my house to play without being picked on most days but going to Disneyland was an escape from my problems. It still is the same to this day for me. It is an escape from the stress and cruelty of the real world and the ultimate escape from it. Once you walk through those tunnels and into Main Street, you are taken away to another place, another time. I don't have to worry about bills, my job, or the stresses of my real life. I am free to be what I want to be.
        I can indulge my nerd-dom and experience the Holy Lucas Trinity (Star Tours, Captain Eo, Indiana Jones), or I can annoy everyone by singing all the songs in the Enchanted Tiki Room, or I can eat a ton of junk food and then ride on the teacups (hopefully I don't puke). Disneyland is the place where I can still be a kid. Where I can let my imagination roam free.
         Lastly, I am fascinated by the way things work. I like to know, how does this work? How did they do that? That is why I love Disneyland! Do you love Disneyland too? If so, leave a comment telling why.

BAJL Day 12: Go Pro In the Grocery Store

              I began working in grocery stores at the age of 15 and continued until age 23 for a total of 8 years of experience in that industry. As a result I learned a few tricks about how to grocery shop. It may not be the manliest of household chores but I enjoy grocery shopping. I enjoy the peace and quiet in the store (I usually go very early in the morning or very late at night), planning meals based off of what is on sale, and searching for those great deals. A couple of grocery chains now offer their own app to create a shopping list and provide you with even more saving options. Because of this I usually shop at Vons aka Safeway aka Pavillions. Below are some tips that anyone can use to save money.

1. Do not shop end caps (the displays on the front and backs of grocery aisles) - grocery store chains have studied human behavior while shopping to maximize their own profit. They know that people are in a hurry most of the time, so if the customer sees something that they want/need on an end cap display they will just grab it and move on down their list. End cap displays do not always mean the best deals so make sure to check the aisle first.
2. Focus your search on the bottom and top shelves- grocery stores usually put the cheaper/generic versions of items on the top or bottom shelf. This is due again to exhaustive research done by the store. They know that customers will most likely buy what is at eye level so they put the most expensive brands of products there.
3. Take your time- a hurried shopper is a gold mine in they eyes of the grocery industry. The majority of their tactics are aimed at those who are too busy to notice. If you are rushed in the grocery store you WILL fall victim to these tactics. It usually takes me over an hour to shop, but trust me the extra time will be well worth it when your wallet isn't so light afterwards.
4. Go shopping early in the morning- aside from the serenity of the quiet and uncrowded store, the overnight crew will have just restocked the shelves making it easier for you to find the products you need and not having to settle for the more expensive options.
5. Make a list before hand- I use an app on my phone to do this and it even breaks down the list by aisle so on each aisle I can open up that part of my list. How convenient right? The Vons app can be found at http://www.vons.com/IFL/Grocery/Home The app can also be accessed on your home computer for those of you without smart phones. If you shop at Vons I highly recommend it.

           Follow these tips and you can soon be a pro like me. On average I save between 35% and 40% off my total grocery bill. This is without clipping coupons and only about 30 minutes of preparation. It is worth the time, I promise you that. Do you have any tips for grocery shopping? If so, leave them in the comments.

BAJL Day 11: Because I'm Not A Total Dweeb

               The Arizona Cardinals season ended a while ago and I feel like I have had some time to gather my thoughts and opinions. I have been a fan of the Cards for about a decade now. I started watching during the 2002-2003 season and they have been my team ever since. This may not be the worst record this team has had in that time span, but this is definitely the most embarassing season as a fan. The Cards started the season 4-0 and then only won 1 of their last 11 games to end the season with a 5-11 record. In that span of time the Cards weren't even close in most of those games with some of the games, such as the 56-0 whoopin' dealt out by the Seattle Seahawks, being completely lopsided. This season was really bad because it started off so well. The Cards beat the Patriots in Massachussetts, not an easy feat, and won all three other games in thrilling fashion. The defense was playing really good football. The pieces seemed to be coming together.
              The culmination came in the game against the Buffalo Bills were the Cards kicked a 60+ yard field goal to send the game to OT. Then in OT the Cards kicker missed a much shorter attempt that would have won the game. When they lost this game, I knew the season was over. The Cards have always been a momentum football team. Tragic endings like that one, this team doesn't get over.
               After the loss to the Bills and the loss of Kevin Kolb at qb this team looked lost for the remainder of the season. The Cards have one of the best wide recievers to ever play the game in Larry Fitzgerald, and he spent most of this season wasting his potential. With no offense to speak of and the defense spending more and more time on the field, the consequences were disastrous. In a few scattered games, the defense was able to keep the score low and close, but the offense failed to move the ball. The defense racked up more turnovers this season than I remember EVER happening in any previous season but they were all for nought as the offense would just go three and out or just turn the ball back over. Even with the running game working at an acceptable level, you cannot have a one-sided offense and be successful in the NFL anymore.
                With no talent or leadership at the quarterback position the team continued to get worse and worse. Going weeks without an offensive touchdown. To make matters worse, no attempt was made by the coaching staff or management to seek out a veteran free agent qb. It may not have helped any but I would have like to seen the Cards at least give Vince Young a chance. He couldn't have done any worse than the chuckleheads that they let play did.
                 Once the season was over, the owners decided to let the General Manager go and fired Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and his entire coaching staff, except for the Defensive Coordinator. I am fine with change at manager and getting rid of Whisenhunt. I never really thought he fit the team. He came into a pass heavy offensive team with a future hall of fame qb and wr and said "We are going to run the ball. We are going to be more like the Pittsburgh Steelers". In his tenure as coach that never happened, simply because the Cards do not have the personel to be that kind of team. Many times while he was coach I questioned the play calls he made. Some ended up being tragic and causing heart-breaking losses for the team and the fans. As far as firing the Manager I am ok with that due to one mistake he made, trading Anquan Boldin. Boldin was a star for the Cardinals, he was the perfect balance to Larry Fitzgerald. He was the strong, physical, possesive receiver that all teams need. Without him, teams are now able to just double team Fitz and almost eliminate him from the game.
               I hope the Cards can get a good qb in the draft. Hopefully whoever he is can do what Andrew Luck did for the Colts, what RGIII did for the Redskins, or what Russell Wilson did for the Seahawks. As far as coaches go, they need an offensively minded head coach and pray that the defense can play as well next year as they did this year. If so, the Cards may be able to end next season with a winning record. Let's go Big Red!

BAJL Day 10: Tips for visiting Disneyland

         I am a super huge Disneyland nerd and as such I know many ways to increase your enjoyment of the Disneyland Resort. So here are some tips that everyone should use.
         1.) Use the Fastpass system- this would seem pretty obvious but many people don't use the system to its full potential. I recommend beginning the day by grabbing a pass for the Radiator Springs Racers attraction in Cars Land. You can get a new fastpass either two hours after you get your current fastpass or when your current fastpass is up, whichever comes first.
         2.) Stay on property- besides your savings on parking (15 bucks per day) guests staying at any of the Disneyland resort hotels can get into the parks earlier than those who do not. This promotion is called Magic Morning Hours and runs many days throughout the week. Plus, you can use the Monorail to decrease walking distance between your hotel room and the parks. If you can't stay on property arrive at the park as early as possible. The first 2 hours after the parks open may be the least busy times of the day. You definitely want to enjoy this time in the park.
           3.) See the 2nd showing of Fantasmic!- when there are two showings of Fantasmic! The 2nd showing is generally less crowded so you don't have to spend as much time camping out for a great spot.
           4.) Experience the Fantasyland attractions after the fireworks- most families with small children leave after the fireworks are concluded. As a result, lines for most Fantasyland attractions decrease. (Peter Pan's Flight and The Matterhorn Bobsleds are often unaffected, sorry folks)
            5.) Bring snacks- Disney allows guests to bring outside food into the parks. Bring a backpack and fill it with snacks for the family. You can even pack a lunch, and have a picnic in the park. This can save you loads of money being that even churros cost $3.75 a piece. Lunch and dinner in the parks can be even more expensive.
            You can save money and time through proper planning. Everyone has their own tips and tricks to enjoy a day at Disneyland, these are just a few of mine. But no matter what you do, just enjoy your time experiencing the Disney magic.

BAJL Day 9: Book Review: Not Taco Bell Material

         Today I will be reviewing a book I literally just finished before writing this blog post. The book is Not Taco Bell Material by Adam Corolla. If you aren't familiar with Adam Corolla he was the co- host of Loveline on KROQ for many years as well as the Loveline tv show on MTV, he also co-hosted The Man Show on Comedy Central with Jimmy Kimmel, he had his own syndicated morning radio show, and now has a wildly sucessful podcast, and a show about cars on the SPEED channel. If you aren't familiar with any of this work then you should know that he isn't a very family friendly comedian. He is a little rough around the edges and is well known for his angry tirades on the radio. I was not a huge fan of his before reading this book but I definitely have a higher opinion of him now.
         The title of the book refers to a story within it that talks about how as a teenager he couldn't get a job at Taco Bell causing him to think " how terrible am I that I can't get a job at crappy Taco Bell?" (Not a direct quote, more of a summary of his point).
          So the way the book is set up, each chapter focuses around a place he was living at a certain time in his life and the chapter talks about his living conditions as well as gives amusing/insane stories that happened while he lived there. Starting with his first home, a small dump in the slums of North Hollywood with a dirt lawn that his friends called "the barn", to his current abode, a multi-million dollar house in the Hollywood Hills. The book chronicles the stages of his life, the quirkiness of his family, and has a ton of rageful tangent moments (which are offset in the book by a picture of a literal tan gent, GENIUS!).
              The book is definitely not for the faint of heart as many of the stories revolve around bathroom humor. Fart stories, peeing stories (peeing and being peed upon), and defecation stories (flinging poop and almost being force-fed fesces) abound. As one would guess many of these tales are precursed with drug and alcohol abuse (shocking!). Also, diry potty mouth words are used with reckless abandon as these tales are woven like a tapestry through the pages of this book. Beyond the potty talk/stories are tales about growing up poor, having little to no support from family or friends , and coming to grips with the reality that life cannot be one continuous frat party.
            Overall, the main theme of the book is to show you how he really started out with nothing. He had no support, no real career, no education, and yet he had the desire to do something better, nay, to BE someone better. It was pretty inspiring to read because I too am REALLY poor, have no career, no direction in my life, and to top it off have a baby on the way. Scary I know, but this book somehow gave me comfort because I have more (support of family and friends, my own apartment that isn't occupied with winos and burnouts)  than he had starting out which means I have the potential to be just as, if not more sucessfull than he is. That is a really empowering feeling that I have honestly never felt before.  I have spent much of my life being miserable because I think I have nothing when in reality I have so much more than others do.
            At the end of the book, he writes the cliche line "money doesn't buy happiness" which all poor people scoff at. But he then takes it further and says that he isn't happy because of the money he makes, he is happy because he has a wife and children whom he loves and a house that he built with his own hands. The happiness comes from seeing where you were from where you are now. The analogy he uses is that his new million dollar home is only 5-6 miles away from his crappy childhood home. But in his mind, they couldn't be any farther apart. Who he has become is due to who he was but the two could not be any farther apart. Someday, I hope to feel that same way.
           Overall, I would rate this book a 9/10 and would recommend it. The language may be foul but the message is clear. No matter where you "live" now you can always achieve that dream mansion in the hills... even if you are not Taco Bell material.