Ready for the Random!

So what exactly IS random?

This is just one of those posts where I don't have any one big thing to write about, but lots of little random things. I like these random, mix n' match type of posts, and hope to do more in the future. Some things you  can expect to find in these random posts are:
- random facts that are interesting and useful
- product reviews
- things I have purchased or found
- random eats and creations that do not merit their own posts
- small life updates
- my opinion on random things (never to be taken seriously ofcourse)
- random events or experiences that do not merit their own post
- miscellaneous (this is my favorite category, and also one of my favorite words)

Baby Baby:

The story: As all of my friends and family know, I love BABY everything. I love baby animals, I also love the full grown versions ofcourse, but the babies are just obscenely cute. I love baby nail polish, because they are so much cheaper than the full-sized version, and I never ever use up the whole container of nailpolish. I love baby water bottles which are basically the mini version of the large aluminum water bottles but with way more adorable designs like hello kitty and cute whales since they are targeted at children (and me). In a nutshell, name a baby version of something, and I probably love it more than the full grown version. Case in point is baby foods; I love baby corns, baby broccoli, baby carrots (yes, yes, I know these are not actually younger carrots), and now.......apparently baby pineapples?! That's right, I never knew there was such a thing but at the farmer's market I found an organic baby pineapple.....in fall nonetheless! They just just like the full grown version except they are much smaller; who would thought!

Good Eats:

While we're talking about food, I thought I should mention one of my favorite Foodnetwork personalities. Ofcourse I love Ina Garten and Giada DeLaurentis, but my absolute favorite by far is and has always been Alton Brown. I just love his quirky personality, his unique sense of humor, and his "tell it like it is" attitude. I also love the style of his show "Good Eats," I love that he brings together science and cooking, and always has such interesting demos for the scientific concepts being used in his recipes. I was super bummed when he stopped making new episodes of "Good Eats," but he is still one of the mentors on "The Next Foodnetwork Star" and the host of "Iron Chef America" so at least I can get my daily dose of Alton. Recently I saw him on the cover of a magazine and that just made my day. Alton is such a unique personality and foodnetwork star, and I loved seeing more sides of him since he was a mentor on this past season of "The Next Foodnetwork Star." I honestly think that he is one of the few celebrities that I would be super-excited to meet and talk to; I generally find celebrity sitings not that exciting with the exception of a select few celebrities who I have a particular admiration for (Alton Brown being own of them ofcourse). Needless to say I purchased this issue and read it cover to cover.........maybe one day I'll actually get to meet him in person but for now this will have to do :)

Corny Product Review:

Background info:
One extremely guilty pleasure of mine is my addiction to corn foods; by this I mean things like tamales, cornbread, polenta, grits, corn ice-cream, and corn chips. It's a guilt pleasure because I don't like the whole food (corn off the cob) nearly as much as I do these corn products. I do love corn on the cob ofcourse, but my love for cornbread, tamales, and other corn goodies far surpasses my love for corn on the cob. I have probably tried every vegan tamale out there on the market, and I have also made my own. I have definitely tried every vegan cornbread in Los Angeles and the San Francisco bay area in my search for the best cornbread (still have not found one that I deem worthy of my endorsement........I'm telling you my cornbread standards are high). I recently stumbled upon "Raw Corn Chips" at Santa Monica's Co-Opportunity Market; they are made by Leaf Organics which is a restaurant in Los Angeles. The chips are on the pricy side since they are raw, vegan, and made fresh but they are a delicious treat; to be far you do get a good amount in each bag.
The Review: The chips are are large and the perfect thickness; they are on the thicker side of what a tortilla chip would be which is how I like it. They are just the right amount of crunchy without crumbling or being too dry. They are also flavored very well; they have a hint of spicy, peppery kick in every bite and they also have a fresh kick of cilantro to them. These chips are SO good that I ate most of them plain; I dipped a couple in salsa and I just decided I like them plain because I preferred to just enjoy the flavor of the chips (read THE CORN). If you are looking to try a new, fun snack these are a great choice although they definitely are not practical as an everyday snack due to the price (I think around $8).

Pant Purchase:

The Background: So I saw pants with a native American embroidered pattern awhile ago at a small boutique San Francisco. The pants must have been vintage or one of a kind though, because there was literally only one pair, and when I asked the store owner, she said that they had only ever had that one pair for sale. The pants were not my size and way out of my price range (something like $625). Every since I saw the pants in this small, ethnic boutique (I wish I could remember the name.....but alas I have the memory of a goldfish) I couldn't get them out of my head. I have been wanting a pair like them every since (this was about 10 months ago) and have frequently wished I just charged my credit card for them and had them tailored down to my size because I realized that they were so one of a kind.
The Purchase: And then, all of a sudden, I saw this pair of pants at Urban Outfitters and I died! They are so strikingly similar to the pants of my dreams that I was sure someone on the UO design team must have gone to that same shop, seen those same pants, and copied them. Obviously, at the comparatively reasonable price of $60 I purchased these pants immediately and have been wearing them frequently.

Sandy, Sandy

I am sure everyone has gotten their fill of hurricane sandy news and information, but I just wanted to quickly say that there is no effort that is too small to count. I personally have donated to the Red Cross, but that is definitely NOT the only way to help. If you live in the area, volunteering in person is obviously an amazing way to help, but for those of us who live too far away to help in person ABC news have an amazing list of ways you can help/donate to the victims of hurricane sandy and the hurricane sandy victims. Here is the link to the list of ways to help!

Welllll, that rounds out my first officially random post, I hope it was enjoyable (or at least bearable) and I can't wait for the many more random posts to come. As always, let me know in the comments section what you think of any of the things I talked about, or if you have any questions about any of my random topics :)