Busing it to Downtown Fullerton

The most disgusting place I've ever seen: Valencia in Fullerton.

I took the bus again and headed to Downtown Fullerton. First, the farmer's market on Wednesdays so I got off before I hit downtown. I walked a mile down Valencia and it was the grossest street I've ever seen. No joke. There was a mattress with the covers on thrown on the sidewalk and random tidbits like a book. I was afraid. Strangely, in the midst of it were three "Desperate Housewives" type of homes. They weren't even separate from the other homes and once I passed the three houses, it was back to the same old.

The farmer's market wasn't too shabby. It consisted of maybe 20 vendors. I quickly hightailed it out of there to downtown and still was pretty disappointed. Most of the buildings were dilapidated. It's only the central part of downtown that has much.

I went early so not much was open yet. I found the Tranquil Tea Lounge and loved it so much. The space is modern and well, tranquil and spacey.

They had a $5 special before 11 for tea and a scone. I got the Geisha's Kiss, a green tea with lychee, strawberry pieces, jasmine, and rose petals. For the scone, I went with the passion fruit peach even though Yelpers say white chocolate lavender.


The scone and tea were delicious. I only ate less than half the scone though.

Next door is the Rialto Cafe, which I want to go to next time since I wasn't quite hungry enough for a decadent meal.*

I love that they use Scrabble letters! *Jen Disney wrote a little about it and other places in the area so I'm excited to read more for local finds.

I headed to the Villa del Sol shopping center with its little courtyard and British Grocer.


My last stops were to their vintage shops and Buffalo Exchange. I spent a good amount of time at the latter and bought one shirt while trying on several outfits including a very 70s dress (wish I would've taken a pic).

I also hit up Out of Vogue, which is the main reason I'd made the trek to Fullerton in the first place. So pretty, but no price tags... like I could afford any of it though.



Next time: Rialto Cafe & Pieology

Old Towne Tustin: lots of walking & some BodyPump

The last time I rode the bus was freshman year in college, about 5 1/2 years ago.

I took the bus again today and found out how close things are and how easy it is to ride a bus. I was definitely the only non-Hispanic person on the bus, which I texted my roommate because it reminded me of him.

I headed out to Old Towne Tustin.

They have separate bike lanes that aren't one the road - then I would bike because I wouldn't be afraid of getting hit. By the way, pedestrians are prohibited.


I didn't have to stop and smell the roses. They kind of just smacked me in the face.


First stop, Cream Pan to see their offerings. I had a half tortilla with 1/3 apple and goat cheese, but I couldn't resist coffee over at Freesoulcaffe, and while I was there, I got their recommended peanut butter torte. Oh my goodness, this was the best thing I ever ate. Maybe. While the coffee was just okay.


What Freesoulcaffe lacked, I found at Kean Coffee. I went to the one in Newport Beach and got their Turkish latte. Here I got their Caffe Napoli and it was amazing - just look at it.


Yeah, I also got a Blackmarket Bakery cinnamon roll to try. I had a couple bites of this one too. This wasn't as good as the PB torte of course, but it wasn't great overall.

I went by a some low carb store called Miss. Bobbie's Low Carb Shoppe & Cafe. They had PB2 but I had no cash for it. Oh well, I still have lots of real PB to consume.

I needed real food so I went by Rutabegorz. They have one in Orange too, but this one is much nicer. The Orange location looks like a house while this one fits right into a historic district. I went at right before 1 P.M. and it was packed!

I got "The Walnut that Kissed the Chicken" sandwich and rode it home on the bus. I had half that sandwich made with squaw bread (I had no idea what it was either). No pasta salad though. You know how I don't eat sandwiches, but Kath Eats always eats them, is in good shape, and makes them look delicious. Hey and guess what, I didn't feel terrible after eating it. My belly isn't protruding out either.


I took a quickie 30 minute relaxing rest/nap before I hit the gym.

My uncle took me over because he insisted. I got there early and perused Whole Foods and the rest of Bella Terra. There had been a power outage so Barnes and Noble and a few other shops were closed. I even had time to try on a couple of Billabong dresses at Huntington Surf and Sport. Now here's the problem with skin-tight dresses for me: I've got the booty and no boobs. Ick. At least my belly looked aiiight...

Today was a great gym day because I was working hard (20 minutes on the stair climber again!)... and the instructor was Terence. It's awesome when an instructor you like compliments you. I was testing out my barbell weight for the clean & press when he looked over and said, "She's the first person who has done it right!" Sadly, I didn't add more weight because I got so distracted by it.

Then after class, he was amazed by how calm I was while doing lunges. Me?! I'm calm when I work out. Who would've thought that I'm ever calm. I guess that's why working out is so important to me.

Sometimes I find I feel best when I focus a lot on BodyPump and yoga and not so much the cardio classes like Turbo Kick despite how much I love it. I think I get too out of control (mind and body wise) when I do Turbo whereas BP and yoga require lots of breathing and calmness. What do you think?

In an ode to Kath Eats today, I bought Icelandic yogurt: Siggi Plain as well as Skyr.is Plain. Funny thing both are made by companies named "skyr" which is the name for this Icelandic yogurt. I'm going to have the Siggi tonight then the Skyr.is tomorrow. I had no idea these were just as protein-packed as Greek yogurt! I'm super excited. To round off my light dinner, I'm throwing in a Vega Sport berry flavor.


...with some granola.

So I got an e-mail saying that my car has been assigned a truck. Woo! I can't wait.

I'm really dark now. It's not even a tan anymore. Always reapply sunscreen.

Chores tonight: laundry and get a trash bag for the bathroom then some "MasterChef."

Killer (yet perfect) Saturday mornings

This past Saturday was a Zumba and boot camp morning. Boot camp was so killer apparently that my whole body was sore. It began with light jogging, walking lunges paired with biceps/front laterals/side laterals, bear crawls, my most dreaded frog jump, and other basketball drill like exercises. After that, we did a circuit without resting of 1 minute burpees, reverse sit-ups, push-ups, and one leg balancing toe touches.

I went by Yogurtland because they teamed up with Sanrio. I got mom some yogurt and had a few bites myself.

We then headed to the SoCo Farmer's Market, which incidentally had their Farm to Truck challenge. There were about 20 trucks there altogether and 10 of the trucks had 60 minutes to grab food from the market then 60 minutes to cook it up. We didn't stay though.



Instead, we explored The South Coast Collection.


It's a bunch of small rental spaces.

Saturday's eats:
1/3 of Blogilates' low carb, low fat pizza


Made this chocolate PB mug cup, but it was uh, overcooked and rubbery. :/