Sunday Shopping

On Sunday, after having an epic brunch with some close friends, Kevin and I decided to take on the Long Beach Antique Market. It happens every 3rd Sunday of the month and I've heard many great things about it from friends and acquaintances, so we really made an effort to wake up early to make it over. When we got there, the number of vendors was a little sparse due to the weather days before but there was still a good selection of awesome stuff. Here's a glimpse at our shopping adventure.

Although there were less vendors than usual and few of the vendors packed up early, it was all still really overwhelming. I managed to snag some sweet deals from a couple of the vendors who wanted to pack up early.

I was really excited to have finally purchased a train case (which I've been wanting for a while) for $15. Most of the ones on eBay run $45-80 and aren't in very good condition on the inside, but this was was really clean and didn't have a gross, funky smell. YAY! And then for the serious business setup that I will one day have, I bought a $12 2-hole puncher. Shortly after buying this, I turned to Kevin and said. "Now I just need an old pencil sharpener and I'm set!"

Farmers' Market Grub

Waking up early has been such a challenge since the semester ended. And today I was finally able to wake up early enough to make it over to the Alhambra Farmers' Market. Alhambra's Farmers' Market is fairly small but I can always rely on it to provide me with an awesome brunch. Well what I really mean is, I love going there just to get pupusas. If you've never had or heard of a pupusa, it's this El Salvadorean dish that's kinda like a flattened grilled pancake version of a tamale. It looks like a thick pancake made of masa but it's filled with pork, beans, and cheese. Then it's topped with curtido, which is a vinegar-based cabbage slaw, and some salsa.

The pupusas are made on the premises by the folks from Pupusa Y Mas. And if you eat them while they're still hot, they're oh so gooey. 

After devouring the pupusas, I had to head over to the Paradise Cookies truck which parks themselves at the market every week. Their cookies are so perfect. They're crunchy around the outside but gooey & soft in the inside. I love their peanut butter chocolate cookies (chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips). And unlike other gourmet/specialty food trucks (that are trendy right now), they're local to the San Gabriel Valley (they usually only stay in the Alhambra/South Pas area) and support other Alhambra business (i.e. Fosselman's). They serve up Fosselman's ice cream and they also make ice cream sandwiches with it. 

Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream with Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies

And anyone who knows me knows that I can't talk about ice cream without talking about Fosselman's. I went to high school in Alhambra and it was very common for girls from my school to get a summer job at Fosselman's. They're a little family owned place that's been in business for 91 years. And they've consistently been voted best ice cream in LA. Their ice cream is made with 60% butter fat and handmade using fresh ingredients. I mostly love they're fresh fruit ice creams. They have seasonal flavors that are just as seasonal as the fruit they're made with. My personal favs are the Peach ice cream and the Blueberry. The Peach ice cream is available now until (roughly) the end of August. So go get some! You won't regret it! But also don't blame me if you start craving it at all hours of the day.

Epic Eating

Today, my friend Carolyn joined us for a Sunday Food Adventure. The day started off with a trip to Galco's Soda Pop Stop. Galco's was once an Old World grocery store but to soda junkies, it's home. They have many familiar and not-so-familiar sodas. They even claim to have over 400 sodas. The once produce section of the market was also converted into a nostalgic candy corner. If you've never been, it's definitely a must if you LOVE soda. I decided to be good today and not get the 6 pack of Original formula Dr. Pepper. But I did get one of my favs: Cheerwine. If you like Dr. Pepper and/or Black Cherry soda, you'll love Cheerwine! And you don't even have to go all the way to Galco's to get it. I've seen it at most BevMos.

After Galco's, we headed over to Melrose  and wandered around peeping in & out of the various thrift shops and boutiques. We stopped by Japan LA to check out the Kittens & Ice Cream show. And I just had to get this one-of-a-kind kitten ice cream necklace by Axelhoney. She made quite a few for the show and they all sold out the night of the opening, but she recently dropped off a few more. I'm super happy I was able to snag one! They're just way too cute!

After a whole lot of window shopping, we decided that it was time to stuff our faces. So we decided to take a trip to Pink's. Honestly, if you're from LA, Pink's isn't even a big deal. But because Carolyn was with us, we figured "why not?!"

And then at this point we were trying to figure out what to do to kill some time before heading out to Glendora for Donut Man. Because obviously, we were way too full to head straight there after this meal. So we went to Old Town Pasadena. But it ended being a total bust because silly us forgot that it was Sunday and most places closed really early. (at some point, I checked my phone to make sure Donut Man was open but Google told me it was closed. we were totally bummed out and I was like WTF?! they're supposed to be 24hours.)

So New Plan: Bigfoot Lodge

And it being Sunday meant BINGO NIGHT! Had a few drinks and played bingo. We nearly won a few times but never did. Then we decided to double check again to see if Donut Man was open because we were really looking forward to it. We ended up calling them and we probably sounded really weird and crazy but they were indeed OPEN! So we drove our asses to Glendora STAT!

When we got there, the line wasn't looking bad at all. 

And of course, we bought more than we can eat so we would have them throughout the week.

So the grand total was: 5 strawberry donuts, 3 blueberry cream puffs, and 2 tigertails. Not bad at all compared to our usual damage.

And the best part? We totally beat the late night rush.