Frosting on the (cup)cake

This weekend, instead of eating in front of the TV, I spent my time eating at various places throughout the Los Angeles area -- all while keeping an eye out for TV (and movie) stars, of course.

Sunday, my good friend Michelle and her husband Edward put together a fantastic BBQ to fill our bellies before heading to the Jack Johnson concert at UCLA. Edward grilled up some cheeseburgers, on which I added guacamole, lettuce and a touch of BBQ sauce. Liz and I stopped by the grocery store on our way over to get a fruit side dish and much to our surprise bought a bag of cherries that cost nearly $10. When we asked the checker how much the cherries were (because they seemed expensive) he snidely replied, “You pay for them by the pound, like most fruit.” Gee, thanks for that. Glad our 6-pack of Pete’s Wicked beer cost $2 less!

Before the concert I insisted we stop by a new place a co-worker turned me on to called Diddy Riese. This shop sells about a dozen kinds of cookies and for $1.50 you can choose your cookie flavor and ice cream flavor to make an ice cream sandwich. I went for peanut butter cookies with cookie dough ice cream. My friends Liz and Eric got chocolate chip with mint chip and white chocolate chip with strawberry respectively. The first half of this treat was delicious, but it got way too sweet for me and I couldn’t finish. For a $1.50, though, you really can’t go wrong. It was also a nice treat before the concert.

On Labor Day Liz and I ventured to West Hollywood for some star sightings, shopping and a nice Hollywood lunch. We drove down to Melrose Avenue and Robertson Boulevard and had lunch at Urth Caffe. Liz and I both got the same sandwich, which was a prosciutto panini with an olive tapenade, sun dried tomatoes and “Italian cheese” (although not quite sure what the definition of Italian cheese is). For $12, the panini also came with a nice mixed green salad with a savory vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes, olives and candied pecans. Despite the lovely olive chunks in left in our teeth after the meal (a snack for later, perhaps), this lunch got the thumbs up from both of us.

Despite many stores being closed for the holiday, we decided to walk down Robertson Boulevard, past The Ivy (where Liz may or may not have seen someone from Friday Night Lights) and then, since we thought it wasn’t too far away (but turned out to be close to 3 miles away), we walked to The Grove. Diet Cokes were ordered immediately upon arrival at this fun outdoor mall and then the star searching and shopping began. On our way to Anthropologie we spotted none other than the infamously collagened-out Janice Dickinson. I also spotted Dave Foley of the short-lived, 90s sitcom NewsRadio. After our sad B-list celebrity sightings and not making one purchase we made the trek back to the car with visions of Sprinkles cupcakes in our head.

Oh, Sprinkles truly is a bit of heaven. I had the pleasure of going to Cupcake Royale in Seattle when I was there in April, but Sprinkles totally tops them. I got a delectable Black and White cupcake and Liz opted for a Red Velvet. Besides not having a glass of milk I simply could not have been more content eating my cupcake. I also brought home a Dark Chocolate and Red Velvet, and Liz brought home a Banana and a Vanilla. It was the perfect ending to our fabulous Hollywood day.

Until next time, eat up!