wan-na find something?

Thursday, June 5, 2008

i need professional help.

okay, well, that's nothing new. maybe you've noticed that once i discover something i like, it turns into an absolute obsession, and ihavetohaveitrightnow! heh.

yesterday's weather was so weird - it was gray and gloomy and drizzly, which pissed me off as i pulled out of the garage in my clean, shiny, just-washed car. normally, i dig june gloom, but not after i just spent $35+ on a fucking car wash! oh, well.

new shopping centers seem to be popping up everywhere around me. first there was the americana at brand, and now the shoppes at chino hills. i'd first heard of the latter at the bean's gymboree class, where the teacher and a couple of the other moms were excitedly chattering about the new gymboree store opening there. well, y'all know i love shopping, and i dig checking out new places to indulge, so it was inevitable that i'd make my way there in no time. not to mention, there's a pinkberry there. remember that ihavetohaveitrightnow feeling i just talked about? this is where that kicks in. and dammit, i'm salivating again at the thought.

so after i picked up the teen from school, we headed down the freeway and towards chino hills. it's really not very far from our casa, so it only took about 20 minutes-ish to get there, which is good AND bad. ha! and the teen was hungry, so we swung into the drive-thru at chick-fil-a. and then we totally laughed our asses off as we admitted to each other that we'd both wondered what the actual pronunciation of that damn place is. ha!



she went with some nuggets while i opted for a slightly healthier option - a wrap with grilled chicken. it was pretty yummy.



as we pulled out of the parking lot (it was located in a plaza across the street from "the shoppes"), i noticed a sign for ce fiore on an adjacent building. and then the great debate began in my head: do i stop and give it a try, or do i just wait, stick it out, and pick up a cup from tried-and-true pinkberry, my newest craving?

you know what option i went with. i know you do. keep reading.



so the shoppes are laid out in a similar fashion to victoria gardens, but smaller. it's all outdoors, and you can drive through most of it with metered parking right in front of the shops. there's also free parking lots nearby, and we chose to park by the trader joe's so that we could run in for some stuff before heading home. and, of course, there are fountains for the kids to play in. even though it was butt ass cold, there were lots of kids running through and playing in the water. brrrrrrrr. and the other fountain was cool - the water squirted out and danced across to the other side. kinda reminded me of the dancing fountains at epcot center, in orlando.



i noticed that they also had a lot of the same shops as the VG, although there's an H&M here, as well as a lululemon athletica and a handful of what looks like small, locally owned boutique-y type shops. the teen and i browsed in H&M, where we scooped up a handful of cheap tanks and tees, and stopped at limited too. as she looked at their selection of jonas brothers merchandise, the bean tried on some sunglasses.



of course, we paid homage to the gymboree gods, but i managed to resist the urge to buy stuff for the bean. and the silly teen found this pink leopard-print jacket that she had to try on.



we stopped in at the sanrio store, too, where we stopped to look at everything, were tempted by the display of sparkly tarina taratino jewelry, entertained the employees with our antics, and picked out fun hello kitty candy to take home.

and then we could wait no more. because a couple of doors down was this:



today, there was no sharing. oh, no. today, we each got our own cups, liberally sprinkled with our favorite toppings. and shhhhhh - don't tell the hub, but i gave the bean her first taste of fro-yo, and she loved it. hee!



as much as i've come to love the cool, creamy, refreshing taste of the original flavor yogurt, i think i'd be equally happy if they just filled my cup with the little bits of mochi for me to munch on. anyone know where i can just buy a bag of the stuff somewhere? i'll be your best friend.

we walked through the entire center (which isn't much, really), and then did some grocery-ing at trader joe's before heading home.

i wonder where we'll go today after school. ;)

17 comments:

  1. I was guessing you went to both. Maybe next time. Side by side taste test??

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like ce fiore. We should do the taste test in Little Tokyo where ce fiore is right across the street from pinkberry.

    As for mochi, you could probably get a bigger chunk at a Japanese market and cut it up, but it doesn't keep long. Mochi loses its prime freshness after just one day, *maybe* two days, and it can't be refrigerated.

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  3. Ce Fiore is soooo much better than Pinkberry!

    nbbride06
    www.itsmelissaskitchen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wait, there's a Pinkberry AND H&M in Chino Hills??

    Whoa.

    I still remember the days when there used to be NOTHING but corn fields and cows there :)

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  5. You can buy a bag of those bite-sized mochi at some Korean markets. Its hard to find, but they should have it. Try these places:

    H Mart
    2825 S Diamond Bar Blvd
    Diamond Bar, CA 91765
    (909) 839-0300
    www.hmart.com

    Hannam Chain Inc
    21080 Golden Springs Dr
    Walnut (more like Diamond Bar)
    (909) 839-1121
    www.hannamchain.com

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  6. I can also be picked up from school at 2:30. Thanks!

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  7. what pink said re: mochi. you can freeze it, and it thaws nicely although you must do it in the fridge slowly to get it back to its exact chewy goodness. my grams used to make mochi (red bean filled, not little bits of just the dough) and we'd keep it frozen for months. not so good for the insta-wan-want.

    you can also make it from mochiko (rice flour). see justjennrecipes.com for recipes.

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  8. I actually love Chic-Fil-A. I think I could eat it every day, though I'd probably see it on the scales pretty fast since I like the fried stuff.

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  9. jim is obsessed with chick-fil-a. whenever we go to del amo mall, it's the only thing he wants to eat. too funny.

    this is quite a mall tour you've got going on. please don't disappoint for tomorrow, kthx!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You know what's super duper funny? 2 weeks ago at The hubs' big "last day of work" bash, I picked him up and we headed to my parents' house, but I hadn't eaten so we stopped at .... Chick-fil-a and Pinkberry.

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  11. It's pronounced chick-fil-ay. You're welcome and you can thank me with with some chicken tenders and a trip to the mall. ;)

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  12. Ahhh, just a day in the life of Wan.

    You know, I've never eaten at Chick-fil-A or however it's spelled. I didn't even know we had these down in SoCal.

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  13. Lulu is the best workout clothing ever! Seriously, all their pants are skinny pants...let me know when you want some-we sell them at the club!! ;) (you know what that means)

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  14. so jealousE reading about your life...and maybe I finally need to try this pinkberry business.

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  15. I went to Chino Hills opening weekend solely for Peet's Coffee; I didn't even see the Ce Fiore sign. Now I'm inspired to head back to CH just to do a froyo taste test.

    ReplyDelete

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