Tucked away in some random strip mall in the suburbs is this Italian hole-in-the-wall, Cantina D’Italia.  It’s a little dive that looks so unassuming on the outside but is so delicious on the inside. Catering to the mostly over 50s set, the ambiance is calm and quiet. Who cares about that though, let’s get to the most important part, the food. Is it authentic? I don’t know since I’ve never been to Italy. But good? You betcha!

This appetizer is called clams caprese. The menu describes it as “clams sautéed with white wine, parsley, lemon, garlic and olive oil.” The sauce is so good, you want to pick it up and drink it. Or sop it up with the bread. When the entrees arrived, they looked so delicious that I completely forgot to take a picture and just dug right in!  Worth going back, worth sharing with friends.

I started using Philosophy about 2 months ago. Hope in a Tube. It’s for lips and eyes, which I don’t understand because how is lip balm applicable to sensitive eye areas? Plus, $33 for a half ounce tube of lip balm seems a bit steep. So I use this product strictly as an eye cream. It’s thick and creamy. Does it work? Yes indeedy! My eyes glow! In the dark! Ok, I don’t know. I feel better for using it though. And at first I thought it’d be a pricey habit, but really, it’s not if you consider what a small amount you need for the area around your eyes. One tube will last you a good long time.

Last week, I started using Hope in a Jar, which is a moisturizing face cream. So far, it feels good on my face, very light and non-greasy. In the morning, my face feels silky after washing and that scary just-woke-up look isn’t that scary. My skin looks pretty dewy fresh. Now about my hair… But I must warn you about the smell. Whew! Some people don’t mind it. I’m not one of them. My best description: it’s a cross between diesel and body odor. Even though I may smell like I’ve been sleeping under a mechanic’s armpit, the goodness I think it’s doing for my face makes it worth it. Ah the things we put up with in the name of beauty.

Here’s my new camera.

It’s a Canon Powershot SD1100 IS. Nothing fancy. Just the basics. This is my fourth digital and my first Canon. The first two were Kodak which I loved for the vibrant colors, especially outdoors.

The first was the DX3500. I think my cell phone has more mega pixels than this toy of a camera, which has 2.2 mp. This trusty little camera started my habit of taking pictures of everything and nothing.

The second was the DX6440 (4.0 mp and optical zoom). I started blogging with this camera.

I loved the Casio Exilim EX-S600 for it’s size and user friendliness - it had all these presets. For instance, I love taking pictures of food and plants. It had a setting for food and flowers and more than two dozen other options. I didn’t have to futz around with the other settings. I do not like fussing with camera settings, hence the Powershot with minimal bells and whistles. Just turn it on and click. My one gripe about the EX-S600 was the speed. It was really slow in preparing for a shot. I had to let it think and “boot up” to prep for each photo. That made it really hard to capture those movement or hurry-quick shots which was mildly irritating. Plus, anytime I was trying to take a photo of food, I’d have to hold everyone at bay for what felt like an eternity before my camera would take! Or if I wanted to take a photo of people, they’d have to stretch the cheese! extra long. “CHEeeee-eeee-eeeze? when-r-u-going-to-take-the-dang-foto-already?” But did I mention it’s portability? I could fit it into ANY purse, even a little wristlet. I love the small size. Please don’t be discouraged by my comments from buying the Casio Exilim. The newer models are all faster and it’s an excellent, excellent camera! The only reason why I didn’t get it this time is because I wanted to try a different make.
And since I now have a history of abusing my camera, this time, I got a case.

My not-yet-2-years-old digital camera broke! Waah! I was careless and squished the LCD screen with my books and pens or something. It still takes pictures and they come out fine but because the LCD screen is 3/4 whited out, I can’t see enough to adjust the settings let alone center my picture.

Literally, I point in the general direction, view a corner of the picture, and mostly hope for the best. It’s too bad because I really liked my little Casio Exilim. It was so small I pretty much carried it with me everywhere, weekly. You never know when you might see something that you want to capture. Just the other day, I left it at home and missed a shot of, you guessed it, food. Taiwan shaved ice. Guess I’ll have to eat it again so I can get the picture.

My obsession is still face paint. And the latest thing I really wanted was some brushes, specifically eye makeup brushes. I mean, I have the eye-shadow-I-don’t-really-need, so naturally I need the eye makeup brushes. Actually, what I really need is some heavy duty industrial strength acne cream, but that’s another entry. I’d been coveting this Sonia Kashuk travel brush set on Target’s website for a while but never got around to ordering it because I was hoping I’d find them in the store and not have to pay for S&H. Plus, that whole delivering to your door (a.k.a. - the last mile) is a waste of gas. And just when I was about to give up on getting proper makeup brushes altogether, I found this set in the clearance section!

JACKPOT! They are so soft and I love them.

If you’ve seen Guy Fieri’s show on Food Network called Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, then you know what I’m talking about when I say Urban BBQ reminds me of the places featured in that show. Tucked away in a random hidden street in the middle of suburbia, you almost have to have read or heard about it from someone to know about this little gem. And a gem it is. The barbecue is delicious! Even on a dreary rainy day, it’s still packed with people. But the line moves quickly and the kitchen turns orders out quickly too. I feel like I blog about this place every time I come here because it’s so different from your everyday run of the mill restaurant.

Their pulled pork is juicy and the beef brisket is so tender, it falls apart when forked. They offer a variety of condiments at a station in the back, which is packed with a wall of hot sauces. I stick to the sweet and tangy barbecue sauce.

The decor, see for yourself.

Besides the napkins, they set paper towels at every table. Really, it’s not that messy unless you order ribs or something. They don’t bus tables.

Yes, please. Yuck.

And the food, the most important part.

Chili Cheese Fries!!!
Corn Bread - has little corn kernels in it
Collard Greens (wish they didn’t use Styrofoam cups)
Pulled Chicken Salad
Pulled Pork

They also make their own root beer with honey.

It’s been so hard for me to find a comfortable pair of contact lenses. I am so envious of the people who can wear theirs all day, everyday. I can tolerate mine, at most 12 hours at a time, and not when I’m at work looking at the computer. I’m a weekend lens wearer.

My very first pair of torics were soft, non-disposable contacts I got in high school. The most awful things in the world. I wore them only a few times for very special occasions (read: very cute guys). Hated them. They were thick and large. Getting them in was a long process, taking them out after they were plastered to my dry eyeballs at the end of the day, was even worse.

Next, I tried monthlies: Frequency 55 by CooperVision. They felt so much better. Thinner. Still not good enough to wear daily but at least I was able to wear them for 12 hours at a time versus 6 hours with the previous pair. I wanted to find something even better though, so three weeks ago, I ordered three different brands of contacts to try. Acuvue Advance, Acuvue Oasys, and Vertex. Here’s what I’ve found.

Vertex - These are meant for 1 to 2 week wear so they’re much thinner and flimsier than the Frequency 55 contacts.  I have a much harder time putting them in by comparison to the rest. And I already have a hard enough time wearing contacts as it is. But because they’re thinner, they’re also more comfortable once I get them in right. In terms of lasting comfort, I’m still mixed about them.  They felt ok after 6 to 7 hours of wear, but once, when I fell asleep with them for 2 hours, I woke up to extremely dry plastered-on contacts. Even after using saline to re-wet, I still had a hard time pulling them off. I probably won’t reorder these. 

Acuvue Advance - I got these for my right eye.  Acuvue Oasys - I got these for my left eye. 

By wearing one in each eye, I could really compare which one felt better.  Even though these are also very thin since they’re 2 week lenses, I have a much easier time putting them in my eyes for some reason.  Guess it’s just a better fit.  These two are very similar in comfort but the Acuvue Advance feels slightly better than Oasys. 

So in the future, I’m probably going to get the Acuvue Advance or maybe I’ll just try yet another brand.

Last night, I went out with my cousins for dinner & a movie. Sort of a last get-together before school starts. School. Bleh. Even though I’m years done with school, “back-to-school” still evokes that feeling of dread. Traffic’s going to pick up as soon as everyone returns from vacation and falls back to their business-as-usual routines. So we went out for pho and then watched Tropic Thunder. Goofy entertaining fun. Tom Cruise was great. Robert Downey Jr. was ridiculous-stupid & funny.

None of that involved any bad decisions. It was afterwards when I got home and had dinner number two: Chinese takeout, at 10:30PM. Then I had coffee because well, why not? I wanted it. So I made 4 cups and downed two. And I was unfazed, still sleepy. I finished the rest of the coffee. Then I hopped online and shopped. I don’t even remember what I ordered. Oh yeah, contacts and skincare products. (That’s not frivolous; not the bad-decision part of the evening.) The bad part was when I decided to stay up until 4:50AM doing nothing but browsing online at face products and digital cameras I have no intention of getting. I’m a zombie right now and I need to do some writing -not blogging- and All I Can Think About is SLEEPING even though, yes, I had more coffee this morning but my head is still in a fog and why are all my sentences runny?

Spent this loverly Saturday evening restaurant hopping with cousins from in and out of town. First it was Lebanese Taverna, which I thought was delicious.

I’d go back. I actually liked the Tabbouleh here and I’m not usually a fan of it since it’s so strong.

Then we stood around pondering the meaning of life. And we decided life is about food. So we went and had some more of that.

Oro Pomodoro for pizzas. It’s very reminiscent of 2 Amy’s downtown, only better.

Actually, I’m more of a fan of thick juicy pizzas. But as neopolitan style pizzas go, this was excellent.

We were stuffed by then. Oh, but wait. Ice cream. Then as per usual, rounded out the evening with cards, bluffing and trash talking, making no sense whatsoever, and junk food.

As the tuner was doing his thing, I picked his brain a bit about pianos.

• As far as digital vs. acoustic pianos, he has a digital keyboard because he lives in a small townhome, otherwise he’d prefer a vertical.
• Learning on heavier feeling keys and transitioning to a lighter keyed piano is easier than the other way around. So when you’re picking a piano, keep that in mind. That, and of course, price.
• Spinets - the smallest size of the upright pianos - are terrible. Avoid them.
• You should get your piano serviced once a year. I think we hadn’t had ours tuned for over 15 years. Oops.
• If you want a grand piano, the cheapest decent one might run upwards of $50k. But you can get one for under $10k from China. He’s not sure how long they last though because he doesn’t know if the wood is properly aged and whatnot. Yowza! That’s a pricey little toy.
• If he were to recommend a piano he’d pick a Boston. Although for him, Yamaha’s are easy to tune.

Then he picked my brain about Chinese because he’s trying to teach himself the language. Must be a lot of Chinese households with pianos.

The piano sounds so much better now! Maybe it’ll make me want to play it more now. Imagine, I, who can’t tell one note from another, could hear the flatness of the piano. It was pretty bad. He said he’d seen worse though. A whole note off.