"Go Shorty, it's ya birthday."

Dear Hot's,

I'll take the mussels and ahi tuna appetizers, followed by one salmon teriyaki taco and one unagi taco. Yeah...that sounds about right.

*Images are much smaller than they appear in real life.

I apologize, for it's been a while since my last blog. When it rains, it pours, and I've been blessed with an influx of sub and assistant work through the end of this school year, followed by a summer job at CSUN's summer enrichment program. Needless to say, I've been busy, although it's all good things that have come my way. Despite my hectic schedule, the Hip Chick still lives, and I come bearing reviews of restaurants and classes of new and old:

As some of you know, I turned 27 on June 8. I am so fortunate to have so many loving friends and family who made my birthday so special, filled with laughter, love, good food, buttercream-topped cakes, and a buttload of birthday wishes. As a part of the birthday festivities, one of my best friends planned a dinner for my nearest and dearest at Kung Pao Kitty, located on Hollywood Blvd., just west of Cahuenga.

Kung Pao Kitty 6445 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028

Located in the heart of Hollywood, Kung Pao Kitty boasts an old world vibe with a modern twist, dark red lights and a full bar. You can find all of your favorite Chinese eats, topped off with a basket of fortune cookies to be passed around the table at the end of your meal. There were about 15 of us and we ordered family style. Really, everything we ordered was awesome. Since I didn't do the ordering, I can't list the massive amount of items we consumed, but I remember the cashew and sesame chicken being excellent, as well as the fried tofu, cream cheese wontons, and salt 'n' pepper prawns. We also ordered "adult" beverages and the total bill, evenly split, including tip (and the birthday girl's meal) came to $25 per person. Me likey. The one complaint we had was that the "adult" beverages were quite weak for their stiff Hollywood price tag.

*Word of advice: DO NOT PARK ON THE STREET!! Well worth it to pay $8 for valet over the risk of getting not one, but TWO parking tickets (sorry, Stepha).

Hot's Cantina In the shopping center at Devonshire and Reseda, Northridge

All this talk about Hot's and I still had yet to try it. Although I'm partial to the city, my weeks are spent deep in the San Fernando Valley. If any of you recall that episode of Entourage where it's the opening of "Aquaman" and the boys go to Northridge to watch it, you may recall, at the end of the episode, that Johnny Drama says the valley "isn't that bad" (despite the excessive heat and rolling blackouts). I do love the valley (c'mon, I was born and raised here!) and one of my favorite new things about the SFV is Hot's Cantina. This restaurant, with its blacked-out windows in the middle of a strip mall, is truly the definition of a hidden gem. Come expecting tasty appetizers, exotic tacos, a full bar, and a happy tummy when you're stuffed to the brim. Although the tacos aren't cheap, running $6-$12 a pop, they're HUGE and one or two should fill you up sufficiently. This spot is great for groups and a great place to watch sports -- they even have tv's in front of the restaurant if you decide to eat outside. A must try if you brave to drive over the hill.

Lola's Home of the BEST apple martini, 945 N. Fairfax Ave., WeHo

Lola's is a great spot for drinks, as well as an awesome date spot. Young professionals, deliciously fruity martinis (apple, pear, cantaloupe, yadda yadda yadda), and a very laid-back, loungey and classy feel. The food is GREAT, yet very pricey, so if you have the money go balls out, or else save the food for a special occasion. Oh, they do have "Wine and Dine" Sundays and Mondays, happy hour, and this AWESOME deal on Wednesday nights where for $23 you get a martini, an appetizer, and an entree (limited menu with good options). Count...me...IN!

Astroburger 7475 Santa Monica Blvd., WeHo

What more can I say about Astroburger? I think they need to put my picture up on the wall. The best late night dining spot. I bring friends, I run into friends, I make new friends. The grilled cheese is amazing (so simple...yet so delicious) and their chocolate shake is not to be missed. Cash only. Call me after you try it and tell me how much you love me for introducing you to it. Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.

West Hollywood 24 Hour Fitness 8612 Santa Monica Blvd., WeHo

Now I've definitely ripped the Friday Turbo Kick instructor, Anthony B., a new a-hole in past blogs. He runs his mouth about rotator cuff surgery, the "correct" way to punch, and says the word "test" into his mic every five minutes in annoyingly OCD fashion. So you might expect that I wasn't too thrilled about my decision to try his class yet again on Friday night. I had no motivation to hop on a treadmill, so I figured I'd give his class another shot. Friends, let me tell you, Anthony B. redeemed himself! Hallelujah! My ass burned at least 800 calories in that cardio-packed hour. It was a regular kickboxing class that night, not Turbo Kick, and he gave us drills that would send many people straight to the Gay Pride-ridden streets. Squats that burn out your thighs, speed bags to make your shoulders go numb, and running sprints that make you question if your legs are still attached to your body. He still gave his rotator cuff and punching shpiel, topped with incessant "test test tests," but an instructor who says: "Follow her, she's really good," to the big buff man behind me and refers to me as sexy as the puddles of sweat drip down my speed-bagging arms, can't be all that bad.

Well, friends, I'm off to West Virginia. Imma gonna be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend's weddings; the first wedding I've ever been in! Will the Hip Chick return with West Virginian adventures? Do adventures even exist in West Virginia?? I sure hope so...

When Life Hands You Lemons...

      Whoopie Pie and Pizza Pie, courtesy of Susie Cakes and Stone Fire Pizza

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade? Bullshit, friends. My juicer is broken. Life has handed me a bunch of lemons and, as much as I want to, I just can't make a pitcher of juicy, sweet lemonade. I truly believe that things happen for a reason and the speed bumps you hit along the way will only make you appreciate the good things that are just around the bend. Despite my optimistic outlook for the long haul, I get very wrapped up in the here and now. So when life gets me down, I surround myself with good people and hand my sour lemons to a bartender who squeezes them into a stiff round of Lemon Drops.

So Friday night, my boys and I end up going to Crown Bar, this shi shi place that only lets you in if you are a douche bag, on a list, or a douche bag on a list. I don't understand the hype of this place and they violated me (not in a good way) at $12/drink. Harsh. Due to the fact that I met some nice new people, danced to good music (a plus for Crown), and kept the company of three of my faves, I'd chalk the experience up to a 7.5 out of 10. Crown is just west of La Brea on Santa Monica Blvd., walking distance from Jones, Formosa, Lubitsch, and Astro Burger. Valet parking only, which runs about $6-7. Makes much more sense to pre-party and then take a cab. Save yo' dolla dolla bills, y'all. Oh, obvi, we went to Astro after.

Miraculously, the next morning, I rolled my ass out of bed and made it to the 11 a.m. yoga class at the WeHo 24 Hour Fitness. Even though this whole yoga thing is somewhat new to us, my brother and I still gave it a try. The Saturday instructor is Fusako, and she bends in ways I never thought possible. At one point, she balanced her whole body on her arms, and instead of trying to maneuver myself, I found more pleasure in watching the people in front of me fall right on down. Although you get better at yoga the more you go, this lady was so quiet and hard to understand that I had trouble even attempting the positions...or maybe that's due to the fact that I got the spins every time I looked down and couldn't see Fusako past the brim of my baseball cap. The last time we did yoga was at the Sherman Oaks 24 Hour Fitness with two of our good friends, and their instructor, Trevor, was much better. His class flowed and was actually coherent. I would really like to get into yoga for spiritual and calming purposes, although when I workout, I put my mind to it, go for it, get down and break a sweat (where my Saved by the Bell fans at, yo?!). Would definitely try yoga again with a different instructor and without a hangover.

On Saturday, I was graced with the presence of one of my best friends, Keeley. Along with my family, we ate at Stone Fire Pizza for dinner. This place is great! The vibe is a classy sports bar. Good looking crowd and I coincidentally ran into Nick Swardson and some of his friends. If you go for Happy Hour, you get discounts on drinks and pizza. And Stone Fire definitely gets plus points for having Chateau St. Michelle, one of my favorite brands of Riesling. Salads are a decent size. My brother and I started with the candied walnut and fig salad and then went on to share the [clearly Kosher] bacon and pineapple and prosciutto and goat cheese pizzas. The pizzas have a thin, crispy crust (much thinner than NY pizza) and the slices are big at four slices a pie. They also have a vegan pizza for those who don't eat meat or cheese. Pizzas run an average of $15 a pop and salads are around $13. This place is perfect for group dinners and Happy Hour. Parking is street or valet and Stone Fire is walking distance to LA hot spots like The Spanish Kitchen, Koi, The Belmont, and STK.

As mentioned previously, I love my sweets. After I discovered the Farm-e-o, I didn't think anything could compare to its deliciousness. Boy, was I wrong! My dad's girlfriend introduced us to the Susie Cakes version of this sweet treat, a.k.a. Whoopie Pies, just as we arrived at the restaurant. I might have eaten a hefty chunk of the W.P. before my salad, oops. I was gonna eat it at some point! They're veeeery similar to the Farm-e-o, but the actual cookies are softer in the middle and the butter cream filling is a tad sweeter. It's truly a toss-up as to which my palate prefers, although I'll eat both without a doubt. The Whoopie Pies are $5 each, where the Farm-e-o's are around $4 (big difference, I know).

Despite the convenient location of Stone Fire Pizza, we decided to venture to the Village Idiot and Bar Lubitsch, with a side of Los Tacos for our night out. The Village Idiot is a chill spot. It gets pretty packed on the weekends and fills with young professionals. It's a restaurant/bar and the eating area takes up quite a bit of space, leaving little room for standing comfortably.  If you want to sit, you either need to find a seat at the bar, eat at a table, or move to the back where there's much more room to spread out.  There's also a room in back for private parties.  Parking is street or Valet.  We decided to change locales around 11:30, simply because we wanted a change of scenery.  All-in-all, the Village Idiot gets a thumbs up.  

We topped off this fabulous weekend with a trip to Lulu's Cafe, one of my favorite brunch spots.  They have a lot of healthy options and soy milk, soy milk, soy milk!  I love a restaurant with non-dairy alternatives that please my tummy.  I had the baked granola with fresh fruit and soy milk and Keeley and Seth had variations of the two-egg breakfast.  Between the three of us - coffee, tea, and tip included - it came to $15/per person.  I love the ambiance here - open and airy and packed with people enjoying their weekend.  The only drawback is the parking, although I've never had an issue finding a spot on the street; don't even bother parking in the back.  Despite the crowd of people in front, you'll wait no longer than 10 minutes.  

Needless to say, the weekend was a write-off for calories, and I'm not crying myself a river. I'll make it up on Monday.

Burn, Baby, Burn!

I am in the gym, on a treadmill, or canoodling with Marjolein Brugman on our AeroPilates machine at least five days a week.  Last night, after picking apart a rather nasty shrimp burrito from Poquito Mas (ugh too many giant tomato chunks in the salsa), I decided to go for a 30-minute bounce on the AeroPilates rebounder my aunt and uncle have in the guest room.  The rebounder is basically a mini trampoline and you bounce on it lying down.  Sounds strange, but it works.  I thought, "Okay, it's my sixth day working out this week, I can take it easy."  Wowie zowie.  30 minutes on that machine works your thighs to the point where you have to support yourself when you sit down to pee (yes, gents, I know some of you do that too).  Despite my burnt out thighs and being the nut case that I am, I decided this morning to go to my all time favorite workout class: Turbo Kick with Corrine at the Porter Ranch YMCA.  

Turbo Kick is a one hour, choreographed kickboxing workout that is broken into intervals with "sprints" about halfway through the hour.  Don't expect to drop down on mats for 10 mins of ab work at the end of class (unless you do the Turbo Sport round).  Turbo Kick works your core in each move you do.  The workout also comes in rounds, so you may do Round 25 for a couple of weeks, then switch to Round 32, then switch to Turbo Sport.  It all depends on the instructor.  It's overwhelming at first, but the more you go the more familiar you become with it.  So if you like good music and a highly intense cardiovascular workout, try this class!  Corrine is a machine.  I don't think she has an ounce of fat on her body.  She's an amazing instructor and the head of all the instructors at the Porter Ranch YMCA.  I started Turbo Kick just over a year ago and thought I was out of my mind to take such a nutty class.  Now, I hate to miss it.

When it comes to workout classes, I am very particular about my instructors.  I grow incredibly frustrated when an instructor can't keep the beat of the music or criticizes my punches when I know I've trained enough to get them right.  One such case occurred at the WeHo 24 Hour Fitness with an instructor named Anthony (no pseudonyms, bitches.  You gotta know when your class is jacked.).  Somehow I showed up on a day when there were only three people in attendance, myself included.  Lucky me.  Anthony kept yelling, "Your wrist should face up when you jab!  I've had years of rotator cuff surgery from punching wrong and you don't want the same!"  Excuse me, Anthony, but did I hear, above that lissssp, that my jab should face up?  Um, I think that's called an upper cut, bro.  Needless to say, I didn't return to his class, and I have yet to try other Turbo Kick instructors at that gym.  I did try a Turbo Kick class at the Irvine 24 Hour Fitness and really enjoyed it.  Can't remember the instructor's name, although I do remember him having chin-length hair and I'm pretty sure he fancies the dudes.  

At the Y, I am allowed as many guests as I want and each guest can come twice for FREE.  So let me know if you want to accompany me to any of my fantastic classes.  Here's my schedule, and it varies depending on my sub work:

Monday - Turbo Kick 10:30am (Corrine) or Boot Camp 6:00pm (Jenna)

Tuesday - Cardio Kick 8:00pm (Shari)

Wednesday - Cardio Kick 10:30am (Melissa) or Cardio Kick 7:00pm (Bridget)

Thursday - Zumba 8:30am (Trina) or 7:00pm (Corrine)  

Friday - Cardio Kick 10:30am (Leta) or Boot Camp 12:30pm (Jenna)

Hope to see you all breaking a sweat soon!