EARTH TO URTH

Hey! So I'm finally back from my month long trip in Europe! I'll be really busy soon with cousins coming over from Washington, ASB, school, and of course doing summer homework, while balancing out the last moments of my last high school summer. But as you all may know, I loooove to eat! Before I post any pictures of my trip, I will do a very quick update of where I ate after coming back from Europe. I went to Urth Caffe in Santa Monica and stopped at Brandy Melville along the way. But I must say, I certainly missed Mexican food while in Europe, there were some Mexican food chains, but I did not trust them as I do here in the SoCal. Actually, in London, I did happen to try a Chipotle-esque place since it was the closest thing to Mexican food they had, it was not all that great. No flavor and they charged if you asked for just a little more black beans in your burrito! (It was in a Westfield mall next to the London Olympic Building.) Sorry for not remembering the names of everything. Moving on, I was craaaaaving Green Tea Boba without the Boba from URTH CAFFE. Tip: The boba at Urth Caffe is not as fresh and chewy as other popular boba chains so I suggest you guys to opt out for the boba! It is so delicious, I wish I could have it everyday! And YES, if you're an avid follower of Kylie and Kendall Jenner, you know they LOVE Green Tea Boba with their little crew of friends as well! With my Green Tea I ordered the Grilled Chicken with Pesto. They were both delicious! The sandwhich also came with a salad that is DELICIOUS. Urth Caffe is amazing, plus it's somewhat healthy and they have organic products as well! As far as the price, the pricing is kind of high, I would say two dollar signs to two and a half. $$ For 3 dishes and 2 drinks, we spent a little over $50! Wooh! Along with the sandwhich, we also ordered their no meat Lasagna and the Butternut Squash Pizza (which I did not like, but it did look tasty).

If you would like to see what they have on their menu, click here. This was the only type of "menu" I could find on their website!

 IN LOVE. 

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the Lasagna as I got too hungry! HAHA! 

Enjoy guys and talk to you later , 

-Meledy 

[Preview] Blues and Whites

c l o t h e s 
     I have been trying to get in some shopping into my schedule, so I've been buying some clothes here and there. After eating at Native Foods on Tuesday, my aunt and I went shopping at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Many of you may have heard of this mall or have been to it, there are over a gazillion designer brand stores, which is what I like to call, "stores for famous people" I usually never go inside the stores like Miu Miu or Rolex or Mont Blanc, unless my parents go in. They do have Chanel, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, and other stores, but I usually only shop at affordable places for me, which include H&M, Forever 21, and Zara. 

Here is a picture with the filter and one without, just to show you the actual color of some of the clothing I bought from the mall! ( I know, the pic is bad! HAHA)

na·tive [ney-tiv]

na·tive

  [ney-tiv]
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the indigenous inhabitants of a place or country

I recently visited back to Native Foods for the second time in Costa Mesa. Native foods has over 12 locations in the United States and 9 specifically in California! Native Foods is a vegan restaurant that serves freshly homemade foods. They all sorts of dish including nachos, tacos, Greek Gyro, soups, bowls, salads with awesome vegetables such as kale, pies, and more! 

Here is their menu, if you want to know more about Native Foods, visit http://www.nativefoods.com/

and their Yelp! 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/native-foods-cafe-costa-mesa

     As far as the taste, it is not bland as I expected a healthy vegan restaurant would have! Their chicken tastes like real chicken, I could not believe it! The service is very friendly and they are very accommodating to your needs, well at least at the Costa Mesa location. As you walk into the restaurant you are greeted by the cashier. Native Foods is more of a fast food or less casual restaurant style to me because you order your food at the cashier, sit down, and then wait until they bring the food to you! One thing I CANNOT forget to mention are their drinks! All you have to do is ask for a drink which is $2.50 and they'll give you a cup to serve yourself.And as a tip, if you sign up for a point rewards card, you get a free drink! I LOVE the Native Iced Tea mixed with the Lavender Lemonade!I usually just mix all the drinks they have, with UNLIMITED refills! YAY!

I'm getting really thirsty as I edit this right now, and I added some lemon wedges and basil as garnishment.

      

Once again, sorry for the bad iPhone quality, haha! My aunt and I shared Baja Blackened Tacos and the Ensalada Azteca Salad. We both really liked the tacos with its creamy texture from the sauce and guacamole, as well as the variety of different vegetables in the tacos! Not everyday do you see tacos with that many vegetables. ( a PLUS for me, I looooove vegetables!) The salsa with the onions and tomatoes brought out a nice Mexican (or Aztec) flavor to the tacos and the chicken was flavored deliciously with a nice savory chipotle sauce. We couldn't tell that it wasn't chicken! As for the salad, we did not like so much as it was very bland in taste with no sort of savory flavor. It had jicama, avocados, cilantro, a mango for garnishment, tomatoes, quinoa, lettuce, and some sort of Tajin looking red powder.

It was such a nice day, filled with lots of people, quick shot my aunt took before the valet dude came with the car! 

 One last tip of the day! Parking at the Costa Mesa location is hard to find, so you make want to bring an extra $3 to pay for Valet parking or go during non-peak hours!

-Meledy

Gourmet For Meh

If you're ever in the Las Vegas area, let me tell you, Bacchanal Buffet at the Caesar's Palace Hotel is d-i-v-i-n-e! It may be on the pricey side, but if you love seafood, you will LOVE this buffet! The buffet has all sorts of delicious seafoods such as oysters, king crab, salmon, shrimp, ceviche, and more! Unfortunately, I am not much of a seafood lover, but my cousins, aunts, and uncles all said Bacchanal Buffet was the best! The king crab is already cut in half, so no need to fuss over opening the crab and digging for meat. All you need is a fork, or your fingers! The oysters were not too slimy or fishy meaning they're very fresh.They also had freshly made tacos, pastas, Asian food including porridge and spring rolls. Middle eastern food, sushi, etc. The thing I love about Bacchanal is the gourmet quality of their food, I have a love/hate relationships with buffets because the quality is usually not gourmet, as my aunt says, "It's not made with love!" The orientation and landscape of the buffet is just beautiful! As well as the great customer service from the waiters. 

P.S. These pictures were all taken by my iPhone, please forgive me for the horrible quality! I just thought I should share my experience at Bacchanal! 

The entrance of the Bacchanal Buffet. 

Here is the lobster clam chowder(in a cute little pot), seasoned carrots, sweet potato tater-tots, and the seared.... (I totally forgot what the name of the fish was! Sorry!)

Dessert time! Chocolate covered strawberries, creme brulee, macarons, and tiramisu. I loved the tiramisu, it wasn't too sweet, which is a factor I always look for, and it was so fluffy in texture. 

Where do I begin! Once again, the tiramisu, panna cotta(my favorite dessert at Bacchanal), Pazookie with cappuccino gelato, macarons, with a side of black coffee to balance out the sweetness of the desserts. I heard there was also red bean gelato, if you guys do go, definitely try that! As well as the mochi ice cream, I liked the green tea mochi. 

At the dessert bar, an assistant will make the crepe for you immediately, then, there is an array of toppings including blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas, blueberry & strawberry compote, nutella, caramel, whipped cream, nuts, and more. Once the crepe is cooked, you can add your own toppings and decorate however you like. To be honest, I felt like pastry chef, it was really fun designing my crepe, although it didn't turn out as I expected. HAHAHAHA.

If you have the opportunity, I think you should all try the Bacchanal Buffet! Good eatings!

-Meledy

Summer Rush

So lately I've been trying to Brave New World by Aldous Huxley as a summer assignment for school. It has been really hard to start reading especially with all these electronics and gadgets lying around all over the house. And to add to that, I have to finish reading and answering all the questions including an essay basically within a week, before I leave on my month long vacation! Oh my! School began even before summer started. (*sigh*) I've only read to chapter 7 and so far it reminds me of The Hunger Games with the whole futuristic dystopian type genre. Then, I'll have to read another Shakespeare book called, A Midsummer Night's Dream. YAY!(not really) And that is just for my English class! Wait until you hear about AP Biology! 


Well! I hope you guys all have a fantastic summer and let me know what you think of Brave New World! (: Toodle-doo!

-Meledy

H E L L O !

Good day or good night! I have finally decided to get off my butt (actually I'm still on my butt typing this, LOL!) and finally start blogging. I haven't really looked at other people's blogs, so I don't have much experience nor knowledge of what a blog is suppose to be like, so please, Bare with me! 

Expectations?

I've been meaning to make Youtube videos, but I just haven't had the courage to start making videos! Anyways, you guys can start looking forward to Running with Meledy with food blogging, possibly some travel, lifestyle, school, and fashion. If there are any of you out there, hopefully you will like what you see and please continue to follow my adventures that I encounter!