Baoguette Cafe Serves.. Otter?

A little chuckle for the day especially since we're all trapped in offices waiting for the long weekend...I came across this on the Eater site and thought it was pretty funny.

From Eater: "Please check out the "food porn" pictures on Baoguette Cafe's website. Yes those are otters. Apparently, instead of copying the images to their own server, the restaurant is using the image files that were on Serious Eats' site. SE saw, and changed it. Well played."

The Baoguette Cafe Menu

Surprise surprise, the Baoguette Cafe site is currently down.

Lunchtime Links for July 2nd, 2009

• Conecakes, v. 2.0: Treats Truck conecakes, now with more frosting! I actually like this idea for home conecake baking also, good to know.


• Food Network Hosts: Food Network Humor's Guide to the FN hosts, funny funny.
• Daily Candy Giveaway: Daily Candy's 100-day giveaway.
• TP Wedding Dress: WOW- ok if it hadn't said "Toilet Paper" I would've believed the winner was wearing a real dress.
• BANANAS: Rachel Zoe (I'm weirdly obsessed with her show on Bravo, go figure) is launching a newsletter soon.

Food Review: Mentos Gum

Now with 30% more RED!

• I Paid: ~$1.99 (with a coupon) for a 3-pack at Target. I bought these a while ago so I don't know for sure.
  
• Description: Soft Center; Red Fruit, Lime; 15 Pieces; Artificially Flavored/Sugarfree Gum

I normally stick with Orbit gum (Citrusmint is my favorite) whenever I go out to buy gum, but I figured I'd try something new, especially if I can get it for $1.00 off with a coupon. I didn't have to waste any time pondering which flavor to get, as this was the only Mentos gum available at the Target I went to. Apparently for this review, I will be writing about Red Fruit (WTF?!?!) with a Lime Soft Center (.....ok again, WTF?!?!)

Before I tell you how it tastes, I have to indulge in a random thought (isn't that what this whole "blog" business is FOR?) Do you ever get like, food deja vu? It's like when you smell or eat something, and you can totally place it with something that happened a long time ago. It sounds sort of weird but if/when it happens, you'll know it, haha. Well, Mentos to me totally took me back to this day camp that I went to one summer when I was in elementary school. I was allowed to get one box/display pack of Mentos rolls to eat for the summer, although they never lasted that long. I'd trade them for different flavors that other kids brought into camp, and it was an all-around Mentomania festival those days. So, when I opened this tube of Mentos gum (more on that later) and shook out a few, I totally got like, a flashback to summer camp with all the Mentos I ate and traded with others. Weird, right??

Ok, back to the Mentos at hand. Remember that time I said I opened the tube of Mentos gum? Yeah, like 10 seconds ago? (slightly altered Family Guy/Timeshare boat reference, anyone catch that?) I swear to you, if we want to have real child-proof, adult-proof, everyone-proof bottles, all drugs should come in these Mentos gum tubes. It was the kind where you pull off a tab from the side and then pop open (much like a plastic milk jug), but I had a really hard time opening this. I had to resort to jamming a scissor blade across the tab in order to get enough off to pull on. Maybe it was a fluke and/or I'm an idiot? When I open the 2nd and 3rd tubes I will find out.

The Mentos gum looks like squared off, smaller, thicker versions of regular Mentos- like as if someone tried to make Mentos from scratch and couldn't quite get the shape right. Allegedly there is a lime "goo" center but as you can see from the piece above, it's either non-existant or off-center and I just didn't get it with my bite. It's like a Chiclet in terms of texture- hard shell outside, chewy gum inside. The elusive "Red" fruit flavor doesn't last very long, which might be why they give you a handful of them in a tube- so you can chew multiple pieces without unwrapping each one, like regular gum. Not to mention- Hi, what is the actual FRUIT being used aside from being RED?! Off the top of my head I think of Strawberries, Red apples, Watermelon, and Tomatoes- turns out I got 1 right- the only fruit juices listed are from Lemon, Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackcurrant... ok only 2 of these are even RED!!!

Final verdict? Thanks, but no thanks. It tasted like sugary fruit syrup one minute, and then bland wads of boring after about 5 minutes. The tubes are cute- I might reuse them to keep other candy in for easy transport in my purse. Now, if I brought these into summer camp? That would be a different story- I'd totally make bank trading on these brightly colored, allegedly goo-filled Mentos balls. Alas, alas.

Product Review: Soap & Glory Spa Sugar Crush Body Scrub

Mmm, yummy

• I Paid: NADA! I got this for free, courtesy of an online magazine contest. (Retail price online is $16.99 at Target)
  
• Description: With smashed brown sugar and sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia nuts

As most of you know, I enter a LOT of online contests. Hey, you can't win if you don't enter, so I might as well, right? Fortunately for me, I have actually won a good number of these said contests, which is a fun little surprise in the mail. By the time I've won something, I've usually forgotten all about the contest.

Soap & Glory may look familiar to those of you that peruse the toiletries section at Target- it's a cosmetics/toiletries brand founded by the founder of Bliss spa products. I love Bliss products and spas, and it's easy to see the similarities (yummy scents, fun names, a variety of targeted trouble spot solutions) between Bliss and Soap & Glory. Soap & Glory is more affordable and more accessible in general, being that it is sold in Targets in the US. That being said, I have never bought any of the Soap & Glory products before, so it was nice to receive one for free to try out myself.

First off, this tub is HUGE. A hefty 15.2oz tub of body scrub; this will last a loooonnnnnng time, haha. I liked that it had a thin plastic resealable inner seal- I don't like the paper/foil seals that a lot of body scrubs have, especially if you are opening it while you are actually IN the shower. Texture-wise, it was definitely thicker, and goopier than any other body scrub I've used. Instead of it being only grainy, it was more like a thick honey with stuff inside it. Not better or worse, just different. The smell was like a lime creme brulee, or a warm brown sugar scent with some limeade on the side, so to speak. It smelled really awesome, but wasn't overwhelming which was good for me. I used it on my hands and feet, and both my hands and feet were left smelling great and felt much softer as well.

Final verdict? Definitely a fun freebie to get in the mail- an extra bonus is that I'm actually going to use it! I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a body scrub to try out- it's widely available and not too expensive, especially for the big tub that you get. A great summertime home pedicure staple!

Movie "Review": The Hangover

"I paid $10.50 and all I got was a Hangover" ...har har har

This isn't really so much of a critical/in-depth movie review, since you can find that in just about 23984793843987 other posts online. More like my 2 cents on this movie, if you will.

I was looking forward to seeing The Hangover, since I had heard really good things about it from friends and online reviews. It looked like a fun, amusing, classic Todd Phillips film (Old School, Road Trip, etc.) so I figured it couldn't be TOO bad, haha.

The +

- Funny, funny, movie.

- I love, love, love, Vegas!

- Bradley Cooper looks HOTTTTTT in this movie, big change from anything else I've seen him in yet.

- Todd Phillips cameo sighting (in the elevator of Ceasar's Palace when they go out at the beginning of the night). He's previously been in Old School ("I'm here for the gangbang") and Road Trip (Foot Fetish Guy on the bus).

- Ed Helms, aka Andy on The Office, sings - I like when he sings on The Office, I'll prob like him when he sings elsewhere.

The -

- Some good lines, but not nearly as many memorable ones as other similar "funny guy" movies, like Anchorman, Old School, etc.

- The girl/fiance was pretty, but at times looked like a poor man's Megan Fox that they were trying to make you believe WAS Megan Fox who was trying to be Angelina Jolie. Not that this has anything to do with the movie, but I noticed it.

- I thought Doug/fiance was pretty cute in the beginning, too bad he was in about .0000000038% of the movie. (However, more than balanced out by Bradley Cooper's hotness- See above.)

- Was definitely a stereotypical list of what "happens" in Vegas, at least in the movies. Nothing really too surprising for the most part.

- Extreme plot gaps always sort of bother me. For example, the guys were spending 1 night in Vegas, yet somehow they manage to go in and out of their Villa for the entire duration of the movie, which is a whole weekend, not just 1 night. Not to mention no one at the hotel, housekeeping or otherwise, seems to have noticed the disaster that becomes their Villa....huh? When I've been in Vegas you were lucky if Housekeeping didn't bust in at 9am, and even a "late checkout" was 11am! Hmph.

Lest I sound TOO critical- I did enjoy the movie (I swear). Would I see it again? Definitely. Would I buy it on DVD? Probably not.

Lunchtime Links for July 1st, 2009

Happy first day of July, everyone!

• Britney's video for "Radar": Not my favorite song on the cd, but still catchy.
• Um.. maybe good for Halloween?: American Apparel makes flashy leggings for babies now.
• Worst Restaurant Names: Food Network Humor's list of bad, bad restaurant names, haha.
• The New Face of Disapproval: From Cuteoverload.
• Cakewrecks a la 4th of July: An early chuckle for the upcoming 4th of July weekend.
• Locanda Verde, NYC: I don't even like breakfast foods, but... WOW. Looks awesome.
• Video- The Awkward Orderer: There's always one at the table, haha.

Love, Love, Love: J.Crew triple-strand patent leather belt

During my weekend back in NJ, I was able to get some shopping in, which is always fun- and somewhat expected, given the number of malls NJ has, haha. I got this J.Crew triple-strand patent leather belt (in black, as shown), because I've been getting more "into" belts these days. I know that wearing belts over dresses and other blouse-y items is nothing new, but it is to my wardrobe, so bear with me.

This belt is great!! First of all, this belt (plus many similar skinny belts) were all on sale for $19.99. Second, it's got a little something different with the triple-strands that I think makes it more interesting than a plain leather belt. I've been wearing this over dresses for work, and could see wearing it over an unbuttoned cardigan later in the fall. If I can get to another J.Crew soon, I am definitely going to look more at what other colors are available, because I see this as a surefire "staple" accessory for anyone.