too much time on our hands

the teen's really getting into this photography thing. since they're doing STAR testing at school this week, she hasn't had homework assignments, which leaves us with a lot of free time to play. and yesterday, she decided it would be fun to grab the camera and her friend rock-el, get outside, and take the bean to the park.

the tunnels were fun:

and so were the swings:

there was even a mini-rock wall to climb, although the bean settled for playing peek-a-boo and offering up some wood chips, in case we needed some.

the bean has been really affectionate lately, since she's learned how to give and blow kisses. sadly for the teen, she doesn't do it on command. and she's also learned the dreaded word "no."

after running around at the park, we were ready for a refreshing treat. well, glendora's on the late train in regards to the recent frozen yogurt craze. we've got an ancient yogurt station (gah-ross) and have had a golden spoon for a few months, and while it's tasty, it lacks the delicious, sweet tart-ish flavor of our beloved pinkberry.

but a couple of weeks ago, a new joint threw open its doors, offering self-serve fro-yo and toppings - blizzberry.

we'd heard all about it - apparently, britney spears is a fan, and the owners of this particular pinkberry knock-off are friends of marky-mark wahlberg [cue "good vibrations"]. he was even present for the grand opening a couple weeks ago, according to the local paper. whee!

the teen and i tried their "tart" flavor, and were pretty bummed to discover that it wasn't very good. in fact, it was downright jack nasty. ew. so she and rock-el settled for "regular" flavors and toppings, while i opted for one of these:

somehow, as we always do *yawn* we started a trend. the store had been totally empty when we walked in, but within minutes of our arrival, the poor girl who was working solo at the counter was swamped. the girls got their yogurt and ordered my drink, but it took forever and about four days for it to be ready.

and when my drink arrived at last, i was just barely able to stick a straw in and take a quick photo before someone snagged it right out from under me - and i hadn't even tasted it yet.

little booger.

that same little booger, by the way, was quite fascinated with french whore barbie.

last night's dinner was out of my rachael ray cookbook - stir fried tofu and veggies with coconut jasmine rice. for the hub and me, i cooked some chicken separately and then mixed it in with the sauce and veggies after i'd served the teen. i can't find the recipe online, so just e-mail me if you're interested and i'll be nice and type it out for you.

as i cooked this, i thought for sure it was gonna be a bust. it's very different from anything else i've made, and i wasn't feeling too confident that my family would dig it. i thought it was pretty terrific - it smelled awesome and the flavor was really good, but i didn't have high hopes.

turns out, i should've had more faith in them. while no one really loved the tofu, the flavor of the rice, veggies and sauce was a big hit, and the hub and i liked the way the chicken tasted a lot.

oh! i got the teen to throw on her fabulous betsey johnson dress today and let me take a picture. we're calling it her "madonna-in-her-like-a-virgin-days" dress:

we're working on finding some awesome hot pink satin shoes and lots of strands of pearls for her to complete the ensemble. and i think we're going to curl her hair and throw on a white lace headband. it cracks me up that fashion from the 80's is cool again. hell, if i'd have known, i'd never have tossed my "boy toy" belt, lace bustier, and black rubber bracelets. ahahahahahahaha!

you think i'm kidding.

before i go, i must share this - just down the street from us is the locally-famous donut man. folks drive all the way into sleepy ass glendora from as far as west l.a. for their seasonal fresh strawberry and peach donuts, and their other offerings are really damn good. i rarely allow myself to stop in and pick up a snack, though, because their donuts are GI-normous. i kid you not, the one i got today was the size of my freaking head:

you like how i put a quarter next to it, to emphasize the sheer massiveness of this thing? it's a bavarian cream-filled, chocolate topped monstrosity that i happily devoured all by myself.

to make up for my ridiculously unhealthy afternoon munching (which also included a soft pretzel and iced chai latte at the mall, heh), i made some vegetarian yakisoba for dinner. i again don't have a recipe to post for this, as i totally winged it, but it was super simple: a frozen stir-fry veggie mix, a package of soba noodles, a half cup of bottled tonkatsu sauce, and a splash of sriracha sauce. and it was yummy:

healthy, yes?

no. more. fro. yo.

okay, so it got a little ridiculous. after i picked up the teen from school, we headed out to claremont, where there's a SELF-SERVE ce fiore.

oh, yes. i was picturing a lovely cup of mochi with yogurt topping. the teen was only slightly amused, but i was giddy.

thank goodness for the navi, because i would have totally passed the shop without it. it's stuck in a shitty little strip mall, right next to a cvs pharmacy. but we found it! whee!

after a taste test of the peanut butter yogurt, the teen opted for a small cup of it with heath bar topping. she pronounced it "delish" and dug right in.

as for me, i had so much fun serving my own yogurt, watching it twirl down into my cup, that i ended up with more than i'd intended. and then i headed over to the toppings bar and damn near emptied the container of mochi bits. ha!

the bean had some, too. yogurt, not mochi. i think ce fiore's original flavor actually has a slightly bitter aftertaste, and i'd say the bean agreed. but she kept coming back for more!

next time we go, we're so going to try a yogurt-topped waffle.

and now i'm thinking that all three of us are pretty yogurt-ed out for a while. really! i don't plan on going out of my way to get yogurt for at LEAST a week, maybe two. ;)

we went home, i pulled out my OG kobe jersey, and watched my beloved lakers go down in flames. damn.

hey, whatever. it was only game 1. we'll bring it in the next game.