Wanna know the first thing I ate once I arrived in LA? Chipotle!! :) No American homecoming would be complete without hittin' up some fast food, and I was on it- fast. I honestly haven't been to a fast food joint in aaages... Chipotle is the only one I go to and the last time I was there was during my Cali visit in '09.
I was craving something filling yet fresh, so I went with the vegetarian bowl (rice, beans, salsa, corn, sauteed veggies, lettuce, and a gigantic dollop of guacamole). I asked for a "little" guac, and they plopped on a whole ladle full, which alone would cost like 10,000 won in Korea! Amazing. Someone seriously needs to bring a Chipotle to Seoul. Tomatillo just doesn't cut it.
Then my sister and I went to Trader Joe's, where I wanted to buy every. single. thing. However, I restrained myself for now, knowing that I only just arrived and still have plenty of time to stock up on vegan essentials later. But I reeeally wanted to try some soy yogurt, so I bought the peach flavor from the Trader Joe's brand and enjoyed it for breakfast.
Oh my, it was incredible. I haven't had anything remotely similar to spoonable yogurt in... years, and this took me right back to the omni days. We also went to the Korean Market where I bought an entire box of mangoes (my #2 fave fruit). Yeehaw!
And guess who we saw at The Grove yesterday? Mario Lopez! Hot on camera, but even hotter in person. It's just typical that I never saw a single celeb back when I was actually living here, and then I see one the first day that I'm visiting.
Aww~ Christmas!
We spent most of our afternoon yesterday just chillin' at Borders. My sister worked on her final school project while I flipped through VegWeb magazine and checked out the vegan cookbook section. haha. I plan on getting at least 2 new cookbooks while I'm here, but I'm having a hard time choosing!
We also headed to the Farmer's Market area, where there was plenty of food to ogle.
nuts
dried fruits galore~
For dinner, we settled on Moishe's Restaurant for some amazing Mid-Eastern food.
My sister and I shared the vegetarian plate, which was 2 pita breads and a choice of 5 different sides. There were so many vegan sides to choose from!
We picked hummus (duh), sauteed veggies, cous cous, fatoush salad, and ikra (a spread made with eggplants & tomato paste). Everything was soooooo delicious, my sister and I couldn't stop "mmm"-ing.
We especially loved this Ikra spread because for some reason, it reminded us of Ghanaian food.
Hellz yes.
If I lived here, I would go there all the time. I think I'm the happiest vegan right now!