1. My Year In Review: NEW YORK “Concrete Jungle…” I briefly spoke of my trip to NY here. I kind of wish I stayed a little bit longer because I always felt like I was rushing here and there to try and see everything and everyone.I tried to visit with the girls I met at Coachella but it never worked out. I did get to have lunch with my comic book writer friend, whom I met at Comic Con a couple years ago. I did get to meet a couple Tumblr peeps which was cool. Sat on Brandon’s couch. My uncles, cousins and I went to a jazz concert for kids to teach the youth about Duke Ellington which was awesome. I did get to go to Central Park for the first time which I was excited about. I had been to NY so many times and never been.

    My Year In Review: NEW YORK

    “Concrete Jungle…”

    I briefly spoke of my trip to NY here. I kind of wish I stayed a little bit longer because I always felt like I was rushing here and there to try and see everything and everyone.I tried to visit with the girls I met at Coachella but it never worked out. I did get to have lunch with my comic book writer friend, whom I met at Comic Con a couple years ago. I did get to meet a couple Tumblr peeps which was cool. Sat on Brandon’s couch.

    My uncles, cousins and I went to a jazz concert for kids to teach the youth about Duke Ellington which was awesome. I did get to go to Central Park for the first time which I was excited about. I had been to NY so many times and never been.

  2. My Year In Review: SAN DIEGO “Always a bridesmaid….” My trip to San Diego was a brief turn around one. But it did have importance, in that I went for my mother’s wedding. It was a small, intimate wedding on the beach and I walked her down the aisle. I wish I could elaborate more on the trip except there really isn’t much to say. I spent 80% of my time there on the beach. But I’m glad my mom is happy.

    My Year In Review: SAN DIEGO

    “Always a bridesmaid….”

    My trip to San Diego was a brief turn around one. But it did have importance, in that I went for my mother’s wedding. It was a small, intimate wedding on the beach and I walked her down the aisle. I wish I could elaborate more on the trip except there really isn’t much to say. I spent 80% of my time there on the beach. But I’m glad my mom is happy.

  3. My Year In Review: NAPA “If you’re tired you take a nap-a, you don’t move to Napa” Rounding out my trip in San Francisco my friend and I rented a car and drove a couple hours outside of the city to Napa. Technically we stayed in Vallejo, across the street from Six Flags. It was pretty creepy because no one was ever at Six Flags at all, never saw any employees or anything. I don’t think pictures do Napa justice of how breathtakingly beautiful it is. We only got to do tastings/tours of 2 vineyards, which is all we could fit into one day, but we did get to drink a lot of wine. Since Napa is such a small town everyone seems to know each other. Each vineyard is in direct competition but they all are friends and even sometimes work together. Majority of the restaurants out there only use fresh, organic, locally grown products (which is awesome). I did go have some sushi at Marimoto Napa which is owned by Iron Chef Marimoto. Also had dinner at a little French restaurant named Angele. When I go back to Napa I definitely need to stay longer because 2 days wasn’t nearly long enough.

    My Year In Review: NAPA

    “If you’re tired you take a nap-a, you don’t move to Napa”

    Rounding out my trip in San Francisco my friend and I rented a car and drove a couple hours outside of the city to Napa. Technically we stayed in Vallejo, across the street from Six Flags. It was pretty creepy because no one was ever at Six Flags at all, never saw any employees or anything.

    I don’t think pictures do Napa justice of how breathtakingly beautiful it is. We only got to do tastings/tours of 2 vineyards, which is all we could fit into one day, but we did get to drink a lot of wine. Since Napa is such a small town everyone seems to know each other. Each vineyard is in direct competition but they all are friends and even sometimes work together.

    Majority of the restaurants out there only use fresh, organic, locally grown products (which is awesome). I did go have some sushi at Marimoto Napa which is owned by Iron Chef Marimoto. Also had dinner at a little French restaurant named Angele. When I go back to Napa I definitely need to stay longer because 2 days wasn’t nearly long enough.

  4. My Year In Review: SAN FRANCISCO ” Bayyy Areaaaa….” Although I was in SF because of Outside Lands , I decided to break it up into 3 posts. Essentially it was 3 different trips in the Bay Area over a week span. I’ve been to San Fran a couple times I still did a couple touristy things while I was there in August. I went to the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, went to Haight and Ashbury( for the first time), walked the pier to see the sea lions, made a trip to China Town for lunch and Chinese pastries. If you’re ever in SF I recommend going to Yank Sing for Dim-Sum, their dumplings are amaze-balls.  I went to Jack Kerouac’s old hangout Vesuvio. Most of my time was spent eating, as usual. I was disappointed I didn’t get to eat at Crustaceans to have their roasted crab and garlic noodles, maybe next time. One of the days we crossed over the Bay Bridge into Oakland to watch the A’s and Orioles play.

    My Year In Review: SAN FRANCISCO

    ” Bayyy Areaaaa….”

    Although I was in SF because of Outside Lands , I decided to break it up into 3 posts. Essentially it was 3 different trips in the Bay Area over a week span.

    I’ve been to San Fran a couple times I still did a couple touristy things while I was there in August. I went to the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, went to Haight and Ashbury( for the first time), walked the pier to see the sea lions, made a trip to China Town for lunch and Chinese pastries. If you’re ever in SF I recommend going to Yank Sing for Dim-Sum, their dumplings are amaze-balls.  I went to Jack Kerouac’s old hangout Vesuvio. Most of my time was spent eating, as usual. I was disappointed I didn’t get to eat at Crustaceans to have their roasted crab and garlic noodles, maybe next time. One of the days we crossed over the Bay Bridge into Oakland to watch the A’s and Orioles play.

  5. My Year In Review: OUTSIDE LANDS “Byahhhhhh!!- Dave Chappelle” At Outside Lands there was such a drastic difference from being at Coachella. First off, instead of being in a desert it was in the middle of Golden Gate Park. It was surreal to be in a forest watching concerts (since I live in a desert state, trees are big thing to me). It was also pretty gloomy and cold outside. Also on top of being a music festival, it was a food and wine festival. There was a tent called Wine Lands where many of wine makers from Napa came to promote and sell their wines. Like Coachella, I made a concert friend that I still keep in contact with. While waiting for Big Boi to come on stage (he never did, we waited over an hour) my friends and I made friends with a Jewish guy who possibly loves pork equally if not more than I do. And another bonus for waiting for Big Boi so long was we got to see Dave Chappelle. He came out to talk to the crowd to make sure we didn’t start rioting because people were getting antsy.(I have video of it.)  Alas Big Boi never performed because his DJ’s equipment didn’t work. The worst part of the festival was at the end trying to find a bus to get back to downtown San Francisco. It was freezing and we’d have to wait for at least a couple hours. By the time we could get on one the buses with be packed with people like sardines. Here’s a list of the artists I saw: Collie Buddz, MGMT (so boring BTW), Big Boi,  Erykah Badu, Paul F Tompkins(comedy),  The Roots, Girl Talk, Sia, Major Lazer, STS9, Deadmau5

    My Year In Review: OUTSIDE LANDS

    “Byahhhhhh!!- Dave Chappelle”

    At Outside Lands there was such a drastic difference from being at Coachella. First off, instead of being in a desert it was in the middle of Golden Gate Park. It was surreal to be in a forest watching concerts (since I live in a desert state, trees are big thing to me). It was also pretty gloomy and cold outside. Also on top of being a music festival, it was a food and wine festival. There was a tent called Wine Lands where many of wine makers from Napa came to promote and sell their wines.

    Like Coachella, I made a concert friend that I still keep in contact with. While waiting for Big Boi to come on stage (he never did, we waited over an hour) my friends and I made friends with a Jewish guy who possibly loves pork equally if not more than I do. And another bonus for waiting for Big Boi so long was we got to see Dave Chappelle. He came out to talk to the crowd to make sure we didn’t start rioting because people were getting antsy.(I have video of it.)  Alas Big Boi never performed because his DJ’s equipment didn’t work. The worst part of the festival was at the end trying to find a bus to get back to downtown San Francisco. It was freezing and we’d have to wait for at least a couple hours. By the time we could get on one the buses with be packed with people like sardines.

    Here’s a list of the artists I saw:

    Collie Buddz, MGMT (so boring BTW), Big Boi,  Erykah Badu, Paul F Tompkins(comedy),  The Roots, Girl Talk, Sia, Major Lazer, STS9, Deadmau5

  6. My Year In Review: VEGAS “Party Rock is in the house tonight…” This was my only trip to Vegas this year( last year I went 7 times). It was….different. We definitely didn’t go hard as usual but we did go to my Happy Place….Rehab. As usual there was lots of partying and dancing at Rehab. A couple of guys dressed as LMFAO. At one point a lifeguard said he wanted me to meet some NFL players( can’t remember their names for the life of me) and I talked to them for a bit but they were boring so I left. My friend and I literally swam into a group of British guys who were on military leave and partied with them. They were so much fun, as I’ve found most Brits to be.

    My Year In Review: VEGAS

    “Party Rock is in the house tonight…”

    This was my only trip to Vegas this year( last year I went 7 times). It was….different. We definitely didn’t go hard as usual but we did go to my Happy Place….Rehab.

    As usual there was lots of partying and dancing at Rehab. A couple of guys dressed as LMFAO. At one point a lifeguard said he wanted me to meet some NFL players( can’t remember their names for the life of me) and I talked to them for a bit but they were boring so I left. My friend and I literally swam into a group of British guys who were on military leave and partied with them. They were so much fun, as I’ve found most Brits to be.

  7. My Year In Review: CHICAGO “They were the best of times, they were the worst of times…” I went to Chicago twice this year, once in March and again in July,  and nothing can sum up both trips than the quote above. Out of both trips March was probably the one I enjoyed the most, even with the snow. The July trip was my least favorite trip of the year and maybe my adult life so far. I’ve never had so much drama happen then while I was in Chicago both times. But at the same time I also had a lot of fun there. I went to The Museum of Contemporary Arts, 2 White Sox vs Cubs games at Wrigley Field, had deep dish pizza at Giordano’s ( not a big fan, NY pizza is more my thing). I picked the most humid day to go to Taste of Chicago. I planned to stuff my face like the American I am, but instead was miserable and lost my appetite. 4th of July was spent on the beach sneaking drinks past the security and throwing a football around in Lake Michigan. All in all I love Chicago as a city. I would love to go back and visit my friends out there. But I’ll probably go alone if I do..

    My Year In Review: CHICAGO

    “They were the best of times, they were the worst of times…”

    I went to Chicago twice this year, once in March and again in July,  and nothing can sum up both trips than the quote above. Out of both trips March was probably the one I enjoyed the most, even with the snow. The July trip was my least favorite trip of the year and maybe my adult life so far. I’ve never had so much drama happen then while I was in Chicago both times. But at the same time I also had a lot of fun there.


    I went to The Museum of Contemporary Arts, 2 White Sox vs Cubs games at Wrigley Field, had deep dish pizza at Giordano’s ( not a big fan, NY pizza is more my thing). I picked the most humid day to go to Taste of Chicago. I planned to stuff my face like the American I am, but instead was miserable and lost my appetite. 4th of July was spent on the beach sneaking drinks past the security and throwing a football around in Lake Michigan.

    All in all I love Chicago as a city. I would love to go back and visit my friends out there. But I’ll probably go alone if I do..

  8. My Year In Review : COACHELLA ” And I had the time of my life….” When I initially bought my ticket to Coachella last year I had no one to go with. I told my friends to buy tickets, they didn’t, and the show became sold out. Luckily one of the managers at my restaurant (who I barely knew at the time) said I could go with her and her friends. It winds up I couldn’t have picked a better group of people to go with. They were all veterans and had everything planned out. They brought every camping, food, drink necessity for camping out at Coachella. It was such a fun experience, except for the long shower lines and the port-o-potty’s. Our group befriended the girls from NY that camped next to us and I still talk to a couple of those girls now. It was such a small world that one of the girls actually worked with my best friend in NY. But besides the company, I saw a lot of good performances. I was introduced to a couple new bands and reignited my love of others. Here’s my not so small list of acts I saw:  12th Planet, Skrillex, Cee-Lo Green, Lauryn Hill, Cut Copy, Robyn, The Chemical Brothers, Erykah Badu, Mumford & Sons, Paul Van Dyk, Raphael Saadiq, Steve Angello, Ryan Leslie, Wiz Khalifa, Nas & Damian Marley, Duran Duran, The Strokes, and of course last but not least…….Kanye West

    My Year In Review : COACHELLA

    ” And I had the time of my life….”

    When I initially bought my ticket to Coachella last year I had no one to go with. I told my friends to buy tickets, they didn’t, and the show became sold out. Luckily one of the managers at my restaurant (who I barely knew at the time) said I could go with her and her friends. It winds up I couldn’t have picked a better group of people to go with. They were all veterans and had everything planned out. They brought every camping, food, drink necessity for camping out at Coachella.

    It was such a fun experience, except for the long shower lines and the port-o-potty’s. Our group befriended the girls from NY that camped next to us and I still talk to a couple of those girls now. It was such a small world that one of the girls actually worked with my best friend in NY. But besides the company, I saw a lot of good performances. I was introduced to a couple new bands and reignited my love of others. Here’s my not so small list of acts I saw: 

    12th Planet, Skrillex, Cee-Lo Green, Lauryn Hill, Cut Copy, Robyn, The Chemical Brothers, Erykah Badu, Mumford & Sons, Paul Van Dyk, Raphael Saadiq, Steve Angello, Ryan Leslie, Wiz Khalifa, Nas & Damian Marley, Duran Duran, The Strokes, and of course last but not least…….Kanye West

About me

I am a chef
I am a Phonecian
I am a lover of movies
I am Jack's smirking revenge.