California Roll

Before I moved out west and back when I did my cross country drive, I tried the best sushi ever at California Roll Factory in West LA (11629 Santa Monica Blvd). I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it played a part in my decision to move here either ;).

The place is small, almost like a dinner with over 50 sushi roll choices with fun names like the 5th Roommate, etc and none of the boring rolls that can be found on the menus at common sushi places. Each choice is written on the wall with a little cartoon and listing of the ingredients.  It's rumored that if you order one enough times they will name the roll whatever you like or you can create your own and add it to the wall. 

So far my favorite is the Graber ($8), which has spicy tuna, scallion, scallop, crab, shitake mushroom and smelt egg. Besides the unusual combos that you can get here, this roll is HUGE, the size of my fist. I actually had to grab it (thus the name) like a baseball and dunk it into the soy sauce as I tried not to get too dirty when stuffing it in my face. Looks be damned though, it's amazing and I don't care who's watching me eat it. 

I went just the other day on my lunch break and sat at the sushi bar with my book, Blue Smoke, although the roll was made so quickly I barely got past the page I was on.  Look at these pictures, notice that they take up the whole plate. I could only order the one roll and still left half of one there when I left. 

 
My Latest Film Review:  Dreamgirls "You and you and you, you're going to love it"

Christmas in El Paso

I just spent my first Christmas away from home on the North East. Generally I would spend Christmas Eve with my mom & stepdad and Christmas day with my dad's family--making the same stops that I would before he passed away.

This year, since I was working the day after Christmas and figured going to New York just for a short weekend would be too exhausting, I accepted the kind invitation to spend Christmas with Raphael's family in Texas. 

Surprisingly it was freezing down there and because all my winter coats are back at my mom's in Connecticut, I was definitely not prepared for the cold. 

So this Christmas was one of many firsts for me: first time not being at home or with family, the first time I made and ate tamales,  the first time spending Christmas with a boyfriend, opening gifts at midnight and not the next morning,  going to the Mercado in Jaurez, Mexico, which is just over the border, and the first time playing Cranium, PS2's Guitar Hero and White Elephant. 

Oh and when we landed at the El Paso airport after being delayed four hours, we arrived at the same time as the Oregon and Missouri college football teams, which are playing in the local Sun Bowl. There were mariachis playing music, folklorico dancers, camera crews and local officials there to greet them, however it felt like the two of us were receiving this spectacular welcome too.  

Link: Welcome is nice surprise for Missouri 

What's in a name

I've wrote it time and time again that I'm obsessed with my name and it's origins. For instance it means The Tower in Gaelic, Star in Hindi and that there is a Hindi and Buddhist Goddess named Tara. "Goddess Tara embodies the feminine strengths of great caring and compassion, the ability to endure stressful and even terrifying moments, the acts of creation, and the source of sustenance and protection." Pretty cool.

So I took it as a good sign (literally) when I moved to Venice Beach and only two blocks away from my apt was a shop called...(you know...)

 

According to howmanyofme.com

• There are 160,483 people in the U.S. with the first name Tara.
• Statistically it is the 372nd most popular first name; tied with 6 other first names (don't worry, I'm slowly eliminating the six others)
• More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Tara are female. (I'd hope so! That poor .1)

Unfortunately though I seem to share my name with skanks apparently, Tara Conner (who knew she was under 21?) and Tara Reid. Well definitely the latter at least.

 

Hmm Will over at FITSNews apparently thinks that the name Tara is synonymous with hot girls, who am I to argue with the man? lol

OK the Tara name love fest is now over, you can stop gagging.

LA or Denver?

Thanks to the recent rain and wind, you can actually see Los Angeles' snow capped San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. Usually they are hidden under smog and clouds and I forget that there are mountains nearby.  Unpleasant weather here is known to clear the air so to speak. 

When we were returning from volunteering we could even see the Hollywood sign from the freeway, which is rare too. Check out this photo from the Los Angeles Times. 

Tis the season of giving
On Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., my colleagues and I donated our time, hugs and muscles to One Voice’s Holiday Drive, a non profit organization helping families living at poverty level to receive what they need for a Christmas meal, as well as toys and books for the children so that they can have presents on Christmas day.

At 8 a.m. we met at the Santa Monica airport and were assigned to a center in Compton in South Central LA, where we set up the different stations for when the families arrived to get their meal supplies and gifts.

As the hundreds of families started to arrive, I was assigned to what I called “The Great Wall of Turkeys,”  where just an hour earlier we had put the 16-19 pound frozen turkeys into double wrapped plastic bags and lined them up outside in the shade. My job was to give the heavy turkeys to the volunteer “schlepers” (mostly guys) who were assisting the families through each station and carrying the items for them in big cardboard boxes. When a team of schlepers had their hands full, I’d carry the massive cold turkey out to the family’s car with them. At first it was fine, but two hours later, just lifting the turkeys to give to the other volunteers hurt. As a result, my arms were sore the next day and my hands were callused from the pressure from the plastic bags, but of course it was worth it. Nothing like manual labor and giving back to put you in the holiday spirit. I definitely left all the more thankful for what I have and happy to have helped others.

The best part of the job was giving hugs to the little kids. I’d pick up some of them up, much to their delight and swoop them around a bit in the air. When I opened my arms for one little girl, she ran from several feet away right into my arms and wrapped her legs around me. I almost kidnapped the cherub right then and there. Even the parents, were equally as happy to have a hug and exchange holiday wishes too. Some of the parents had tears in their eyes as they thanked everyone and were taking photos of their child with Santa. Some of the families had nine in total and the organizer at the center said to be classified in the poverty level means their household makes less than 7k a year!