July 2015 - Life is My Oyster

National Hot Dog Month!

July 29, 2015Oyster Leave a Comment

There seems to be a national day for just about everything! And there’s a national hot dog month/day, and it’s in July. I’m not a fan of hot dogs, but ain’t nothing wrong with celebrating a day that recognizes food! Here in Vegas we have a few restaurants with unique hot dog recipes, and I decided to try the three most popular ones so you don’t have to 😉

First we have Street Dogs! Street Dogs is a Venezuelan food truck that serves a variety of Venezuelan fare. They have ultra-delicious arepas, burgers, and other delicious things, in addition to the hot dog. The hot dog is topped with an assortment of yummy things, including your choice of beef, chicken, or pork. One thing you will quickly learn about me is that among all delicious choices of meat, I gravitate towards delicious-finger-licking pork. So here I am with my porky street dog. I can say it was pretty good, but this one won’t turn me to the dark side (that’s the side of hot-dog lovers).

Next, Cheffini’s. This one is located inside the Container Park. It has a big selection of interesting hot dog recipes. You can get it with bacon, caramelized onions, quail egg, potato chips, pork belly, jalapeños, spicy mayo…. wait… did you say pork belly???? Sold! Yup, I gravitate towards pork! And when there’s pork belly involved, the pull is even greater! So I decided to get The Grand Father dog, because? you guessed it: it has pork belly. Sadly, the pork belly pieces were scarce and not nearly as flavorful as I prefer them to be. This was not a winner in my book. I believe I’ve tried their namesake dog before, and liked it. Not a fan of The Grand Father. My pork belly has led me astray 🙁

But if there is a hot dog that can turn me, it’s probably this one:

Buldogis! Yummy! This restaurant also has an assortment of toppings to meet your ultimate hot dog needs. And of course, I had to order me one with pork belly! This one is called the Banh Mi Dog. Now, it wasn’t just the pork belly that made me turn to this one, it was also my desire to re-live a delicious Banh Mi with pork belly I enjoyed on a recent trip to D.C. Whatever it was that led me to order this dog, I am glad it did. This was by far the most delicious hot dog I’ve had! It came with pork belly, banh mi slaw, cilantro, and sriracha mayo. So good! With this one I felt I commemorated the hot dog deliciously on this most important hot dog day!

What do you like on your hot dog?

ipsy – July 2015

July 16, 2015Oyster Leave a Comment

I have hundreds of samples! The result of months of ipsy glam bags. There are a lot of choices out there, with Birch Box, Curlbox, etc. So far I’ve enjoyed the Glam Bag, or ipsy. Although they’re supposed to be samples, they come in a very generous size. Enough to give each product a fair chance. It also keeps my make-up collection quite diverse, because I must admit some of these brands I’ve never even heard of! And some products I’ve actually bought after running out, which is kind of the point, right? Anyways, I just got my July bag and here’s what it brought:

On the left we’ve got an exfoliating face cleanser. It’s grainy with some “micro-crystals,” and smells good. I am actually pretty happy I got this! I haven’t tried it, but with the ipsy bags I haven’t had the need to go out and buy a cleanser. I always get a new one by the time I’m running out of another.

On the right we have a sea salt hairspray. Unfortunately, mine spilled on the way here. So I only have half the bottle left. It does smell good though, and that’s usually my gripe with sea salt spray. They usually don’t have a very pleasant smell.

Then we have a Tarte waterproof bronzer, a Gel Effect Nail Lacquer by Aurora, and a ruby lip balm by be a… Bombshell.

The bronzer seems pretty good. Now the nail lacquer dried really fast after putting it on, which is awesome! I am always ruining my nails, and this time there’s not a smudge in sight! The color is a bright pink and very summery.

The lip balm has a very slight tint to it. It is also slightly heavy, or should I say greasy? I’ve had it on for about an hour and it’s still there. That’s both good and bad in my book. Good because I don’t have to be re-applying, bad because my lips feel a bit over-moisturized.

All in all, a good bag! The product I can do without is likely the sea salt spray. My hair doesn’t quite do the beachy look.

Have you tried any of the beauty subscription boxes? how do you like yours?

If you haven’t, here are a few pretty thorough guides on what’s out there:

The Ultimate Guide to Beauty Subscription Boxes (BoxyCharm and Wantable look good)

15 Monthly Beauty Subscription Boxes

Cafe Saturdays (on Sunday) – Sambalatte

July 12, 2015Oyster Leave a Comment

Much like the rest of the world, I love Nutella. Unlike much of the rest of the world, I am not a fan of coffee. Maybe I’m more on the tea side of things. I haven’t quite figured that out yet. But when you tell me there’s a Nutella option, I’m all in! And what’s not to like about sitting in a cute coffeehouse enjoying a nice warm drink, and getting some work done?

There a few locations of Sambalatte here in Vegas. One in Boca Park, another on Jones and 215, and a third location in the Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino. I would say the each have their charms. In Boca Park it feels more conducive to work because it has lots of tables and places where you can spread your things. The Monte Carlo location has an outdoor seating area looking towards the strip, perfect for people watching or just taking a coffee break from touristy activities.

The food is a bit on the pricey side, most sandwiches are about $10. I have been meaning to try the prosciutto sandwich, but I haven’t heard good things. Their plain and chocolate croissants are not my favorites either. But I can tell you the ham and cheese croissant is delicious! The macaroons are also pretty good too! I always get a chocolate and a raspberry, because they truly are a match made in heaven.

It’s a cute place, and I am happy to see coffee shops like this sprouting up in the city. Although I do like my Starbucks, a little variety is always good.

P.S. Why on Sunday? Because I had a spectacular meal on Saturday that called for an empty stomach! I shall fill you in soon enough!

My Travel Personality

July 7, 2015Oyster 11 Comments

I call it “Putting it All in Perspective.” What does that mean? Map it!

I usually start off with the place I will visit. It’s weird. My destination almost always just falls on my lap. Either I have to go there for work, a destination family/friend’s event, or plain old my-friend-wants-to-go-there. I don’t mind it one bit though! I get to travel!

I’ve got a decent been-there-done-that list. But no matter how much I travel, being able to know where I am when I get there always seems to be my main concern. So I study the map closely for weeks before my take-off. I like to know how far I will be from my points of interest, and that I will know how to get back to my hotel. It’s funny though, I still get lost, but getting lost is part of the fun. But I never leave without my map!

Next, it’s food! I love to eat, and being able to try foreign cuisines is one of my priorities when I travel. I always make a mental list of the food that I need to find in each place I visit. In Rio? Feijoada; Argentina? Asado; Spain? Paella. Sometimes the countries in my bucket list are there primarily for the food experience!

Then there’s obviously the sightseeing! One down-side from my travel personality is my eagerness to see everything. I get in this mindset that I have to leave this place feeling like I don’t have to come back. It backfires because I end up exhausted in the first hours of arriving. Then I spend the rest of the vacation with a sore body, grouchy, and tired. But it’s worth it! It was only recently, during my trip to Indy, was when I finally relaxed and reminded myself that I can (and should) leave room for a comeback. How do you deal with the anxiety of seeing everything?

Finally, there are certain rules I seem to travel-by: 1) Don’t eat food I can find anywhere else (like food chains); 2) Don’t shop at stores you can find back home; and, 3) Walk! I don’t really go for tours. I prefer to discover the city by walking and taking public transportation. Every once in a while I’ll buy a tour if it seems worth it.

So far it’s been fun, and I hope to see more of the world and continue putting it all in perspective!

Indy

July 2, 2015Oyster 1 Comment

I’ve got a travel bucket list. My top five changes periodically though. A new movie, or maybe even eating a dish from a foreign country, divert my attention and shuffle my queue. Indy was never in my list. Like, never. I heard about Indy, but it never even occurred to me to visit. But I recently did, and it was awesome!

Don’t get me wrong, the moment I found out of the possibility to visit Indy I became surprisingly excited! It turned out to be a gem of a city. I went for a friend’s wedding, which was held in Bloomington, but we had to have our detour in Indianapolis. We only had a day and a half to check out the city, but I think we did it right, and I left room for a comeback!

For lunch we went to the City Market. It is located right across the street from the courthouse, and it looked like it was a place for locals to have a quick bite in the middle of a busy day. We opted for savory crepes at 3 Days in Paris, delicious!

While making small talk with the guys at 3 Days in Paris, we were told to try Milktooth. And it turns out that’s the place to be on a Saturday/Sunday brunch. It’s a cute place. We can file it under the Hipster Eatery folder, and it was good! The menu is seasonal, and the stuff I had was good. Sorry, too hungry to take pictures, but here’s the coffee I had:

For other good places to eat I suggest checking out Fountain Square, which is where Milktooth is (or nearby). There they had a few places I was dying to try but had no time. If you go to Bluebeard, let me know how you like it. In Broad Ripple we ate some Ice Cream at Nicey Treat. They had this really good chocolate with chili flavor that was sweet and spicy. And of course, I visited the classic St. Elmo’s and had their spectacular-nasal-clearing Shrimp Cocktail. Very good!

Bloomington is a beautiful college town! The wedding took place on-campus at IU. When I heard it was going to take place on-campus I was like what?!?! But as soon as I walked towards the ceremony and reception area it became very clear why. It was absolutely green and beautiful.

Nap-town was a great time! I hope to come back some time and take a bigger bite of the food scene. I leave you with this city collage: