cheeky's for brunch... or lunch!

we decided to stop at cheeky's for memorial day brunch before heading back to los angeles, as it was only a mile from our hotel and could walk there.  good idea in theory - bad idea in 95 plus degree weather.  cheeky's, located at 622 n. palm canyon dr., is a hip little spot that serves just breakfast, lunch, coffee & pastries from 8am - 2pm, monday - wednesday.

cheeky's makes all their pastries on premises - their house specialty is the croissant cinnamon roll

cheeky's menu changes weekly, and they aim to use seasonal ingredients that are locally grown and organic.  they also make all their own batters, sauces and dressings.  this place is right up my alley!  after checking out their website and reading some yelp reviews, i was sold.  we made the one mile walk, only to find out that the wait was insanely long!  we ended up waiting for over an hour, but it was so worth it!   

pesto french fries - we could smell these during the long wait and had to try them!  the fries were cooked perfectly and the pesto tasted so fresh!  a great combo!

sweet potato fries - i always like to try sweet potato fries when i see them on a menu & these did not disapoint!  thick cut, crunchy on the outside & soft and sweet on the inside!

blta salad with heirloom tomato, avocado, candied bacon & mache - i am definitely going to re-create this at home!  i was worried that the candied bacon would be too candied, but it was very subtle!  just like eating a blt, but without the bread!

indio corn and squash blossom scramble with homemade herb ricotta - this is what my mom got and she said "it was awesome! the homemade ricotta added a tartness that went perfectly with the eggs."  she also was raving about the use of the squash blossoms and how good they were!

our table also ordered the brioche french toast with fresh white peach puree and sweet creme fraiche, custard cheesey scrambled eggs with maple sage sausage & deb's cheddar scone, and the buttermilk & fresh corn pancakes with blueberries.  everyone loved their food and decided that the insanely long wait was well worth it.  like, we wait that long again to eat such a good meal!  

one thing that i wanted to try, but didn't - the bacon flight.  yes, they have bacon flight!  i can only imagine!  bottom line - you must head over to cheeky's for brunch if you are in palm springs!!

maximiliano's - birthday brunch

i didn't make a big deal out of my birthday this year. for my actual birthday, i just had dinner with a few close friends at wurstkuche (see this post, and this post for food photos).  on sunday i had a brunch with my family at what is my new favorite restaurant (it helps that its less than a mile from my house!), maximiliano's in highland park!  maximiliano's just started serving brunch a few weeks ago and i've been dying to try it (love their dinner menu!), so what better occasion to try it than my birthday?

its not brunch without a bloody mary, and this is probably one of the best bloody marys i've had!  it was nice and spicy (the way i like it it), and the garnish was soo good too!  the season salt around the rim complemented the drink perfectly.  if the food was bad i'd go back just for this bloody mary - but the food was AMAZING!

breakfast pizza - with potatoes, bacon, sausage & eggs!  my sister got this, but of course i had to have a slice and this pizza literally tastes like breakfast!  i'm a big fan of breakfast pizza and this one did not disappoint!  also, i'm pretty sure ron swanson would love this pizza!

eggs benedict - this is what the boyfriend got and he loved it!  he ate it all before i had a chance to try it, but i'm guessing that means it was delish! 

ricotta pancakes with lemon curd & fresh fruit - oh.my.god.  this was even better than it sounds.  can i eat this everyday?  so amazing!  i want to eat this everyday! 

chocolate cake & olive oil ice cream with caramel and sea salt - even though i was so full after my pancake, we ordered dessert for everyone to share (it was my birthday brunch after all).  the chocolate cake was delish (as to be expected), but what i really loved was the olive oil ice cream!  it sounds strange but the olive oil flavor is really subtle and the caramel and sea salt really complement the flavor. 

so my new favorite dinner spot is now also my new favorite brunch spot!  if you ever happen to be in highland park, maximiliano's is a must for brunch (or dinner!  i love the bianca-verde pizza)!
 

the good ole days (pioneertown + pappy & harriet's)

as i mentioned, the bf and i spent last weekend out in the desert with his grandparents. on saturday night we decided to drive out to pioneertown - a small little village about an hour from where we were staying. 

other than the one road (mane st.) that is pioneertown, there is a motel & and restruant/bar - pappy & harriet's.  after walking down the mane st. (which we did pretty fast, it was so cold & i wasn't prepared!), we went to eat at pappy & harriet's.  it was packed, we had to wait and hour for a table!  luckily there was a bluegrass band playing (they have bands every night, i think) so the wait didn't seem so bad.  once we got our food, we realized the wait was welllll worth it! 

mtn man i found at pappy & harriet's... oh no, just the bf who needs a haircut!

extra points for serving drinks in mason jars.  bf wants to replace all our glasses with jars.

chili fries - literally the best i've ever had!

1/2 chicken w/ veggie of the day (broccoli) and garlic mashed potatoes & gravy.  so good.

i will definitely go back to pioneertown and pappy & harriet's, and highly recommend it to anyone going to the area!  happy friday everyone!

strawberry sunday + sausage

i was running around LA with my sister all day sunday! we went to the theadshow, but got there too early so wandered around michael levine for awhile, lunched at wurstkuche, took too many photos, shopped at some local boutiuqes in eagle rock, went to the americana, and then went grocery shopping.  so much for a relaxing sunday!     

gap denim jacket, juicy couture dress (old), frye boots, 

ray-ban sunglasses, jw hulme bag

bracelets - sunday girl 77, katrin jurati via letters from LA, vintage, 

rotary watch, tiffany & co, stratus silver

i've totally been having one of those weeks where i am sick of everything i have in my closet.  thankfully my sister came to the rescue!  i owe this outfit to her really - she came in my closet and just pulled out this dress and said she'd never seen me in it & i should wear it.  the dress is a few years old so i found it weird she hadn't seen me in it!  the weather was warmer today, so the dress really worked out perfectly.  sometimes you just need a fresh set of eyes to look in your closet when you're having outfit issues (whats the fashion equivalent of writers block??).

and i just thought i'd throw in a few pictures from lunch (plus some cute street art)!

hope you all have a good start of the week!

shark bait

if you haven't realized it yet, its SHARK WEEK!  yayyyyy!  i love shark week!  even though it totally freaks me out, and every year a i swear i will never go in the ocean again!!  in honor of shark week, the boyfriend and i went out for sushi.  no, not really.  shark week hadn't started yet and we just wanted sushi.  anyway, friday we went to our favorite (only) local sushi place, mia sushi in eagle rock. 

cilantro in the miso.  might sound weird, but tastes soooo good!

crispy albacore sashimi.  we order it every time and its amazing!

salmon sushi, scallop sushi, spicy tuna hand roll

bamboo roll

we have our favorites - always get the crispy albacore sashimi, always get the bamboo roll because you really can't go wrong with albacore.  the bf always gets a hand roll.  the last few times we've gone i've had the salmon sushi and then decided to get the scallop sushi as well this time.  i have never had anything that i didn't like at mia sushi.  seriously, its delish!!