Because this wouldn't fit in the "About Me" section.

I love reading restaurant reviews in the food sections of both the local (LA Times, OC Register) and non-local (NY Times) newspapers. (Yes, those of you who know me well, I do collect these sections primarily for the recipes, but I do actually read the articles and reviews on occasion.) And I would love even more to visit the actual restaurant to check it out for myself, but I am unfortunately still unable to afford the fancy decor, 87-page-long wine lists and gold-flecked menus. I'm po', and I'd like my couple hundred bucks to go toward my car payments, not my dinner bill.

Thankfully, there's OC Weekly's Gustavo Arellano and his "This Hole-in-the-Wall Life" column. Every week, Mr. Arellano reviews affordable OC restaurants and casual dining places of all different cuisine types: Indian, Japanese, Mediterranean, Hawaiian, Mexican, American. This is so totally awesome for people like me, who love -- and love to sample -- all kinds of food, but who don’t mind paying up front and using plastic (or biodegradable -- thanks, Whole Foods) utensils when eating said food.

Over the past few months, I’ve sampled a handful of the reviewed restaurants and have been encouraged to seek out other yummy places and food items even without Mr. Arellano’s recommendations. And since I (1) have been trying new restaurants and different kinds of food, and (2) love to eat/watch/talk about/hear about/read about food, I thought it would be enjoyable to write about it as well. Plus, it would be a method to help cure random boredom and also keep track of the tasty stuff I eat (I forget, sometimes).

And so marks the (delayed) birth of my food blog.

I’m not sure yet if this name will stick, or if I will even keep it up in the coming weeks or months. But I’d like to think I will somewhat nurture this blog baby and feed it once in a while (hmm, I sound like a bad mom already) with deliciously interesting tidbits. Well, interesting for me, at least.

Here's to a journalistic multiple-course meal: so tasty... so wordy.

And now, dinner.

After having my fill of Garden Salsa Sun Chips and a makeshift mango juice popsicle, I can no longer ignore the desperate pleas of my stomach for sustenance.

I've made my choice:


(Okay, I had one set of those. I'm not a complete pig!)

The end to a quest for corn popsicles.

I didn't even know I was searching for such a treat!

But I know now that I always have been. Thank you, L.A. Times.