There’s lots to look forward to next month from Sanrio at Rustan’s! This August, mark your calendar and visit the following Rustan’s branches on these dates:

August 6-8 Rustan’s Alabang

August 13-15 Rustan’s Shangri-la

August 20-22 Rustan’s Makati

You’ll get free Sanrio items like coloring sheets, finger puppets and balloons, no purchase required!

If you present a single receipt amounting to Php1,500 of Sanrio items, you get to take home one of the following as seen on the flyer: Sand Art, Jewelry Box, Pen Making Stand and Drum! And hey, if your total adds up to Php3,000 then of course you get two pick any two!

Just make sure you buy between August 1 to August 22, 2010 to claim your free stuff from Sanrio!

Sorry for the overload on Hello Kitty party favors these past couple of days! It’s just that I was caught up in preparations for Berry’s party and couldn’t believe how plenty of items there were to choose from!

Anywho, here’s a meal I wanted to share from Junior’s! Matzo Ball soup and a tuna sandwich:

With a side dish of coleslaw and pickles:

And yes, this was yum!

Junior’s was founded by Harry Rosen in 1950 and is known as the home of New York’s Finest Cheesecake. Well, they have pretty good food too, which will set the stage for DESSERT! 

A New York institution, the original location in Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue is still thriving. Junior’s is also in New York’s famous Grand Central Terminal, in the heart of the theater district on Broadway in Times Square, even at the MGM Grand Hotel at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut (the first restaurant outside of New York)!

 I guess it’s a guy thing. Dear Hubby loves going to Costco (as reference, so does my friend Paz’s hubby). For a time, it was something DH wanted to do every weekend, even if we didn’t have any reason to go there. I guess it’s those tool sets and big macho sizes that appeal to him. Then again, he enjoys browsing through the books section…

We’ve realized though that books are still way cheaper over at Amazon. But still, it’s always fun to browse. In fact, I found some Hello Kitty books while we were there. Check these out:

A 400 page Hello Kitty coloring and activity book for a whopping $4.59! That’s about $0.11 cents a page for a couple minutes of coloring fun or solving puzzles and mazes or playing games! Not bad.

For $6.99, you can bring home a Hello Kitty story book  with “stories of fun and friends.” It says it includes “7 books for early readers” although honestly, this was the only Hello Kitty story book around. Maybe it really meant 7 stories in this book?

Quite confusing no? But for a hardbound Hello Kitty book, still a steal! Good job Costco!

Ok, these aren’t exactly “fashion” but undies are still related to clothing, and well, don’t we need to wear underwear underneath all our pretty dresses or skinny jeans?

This is a boxed set of 3 different prints, all boyleg style, and guess what! I did not find these in the kids section! My sisters-in-law and I saw these in the ladies underwear section of Century21! Proof that Hello Kitty underwear isn’t solely for little girls!

Of course, my sister-in-law Leslie could not resist and bought for herself! Heeheehee! Retails for about $10 for a set.

How about you? Would you wear Hello Kitty undies too?

Here’s another mock layered top from Hello Kitty!

This one’s more girly, with the delicate puff sleeve detail. I like the raglan style and color blocking on the shoulders too!

It retails for less than $15 at Target. Isn’t Target such an amazing place?  Loads of Hello Kitty items at such wallet friendly prices!

What a cute oversized sweater for layering no? Can be worn over a button down shirt like above, or just over a tank top on warmer days.

It comes in white, green and gray, and I think if I were to buy, I’d get the gray!

Found these in H&M on Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street. These were less than $25 a piece. Adorable, affordable and a great Hello Kitty collector’s piece!

I can imagine this will look so cute with tights and booties, skinny jeans and ballet flats or leggings and sandals!

Address:

505 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017
+1-212 661 7012

Well, well, well! Guess what I found in Costco two days ago!

Three loaves of Butter pound cake!!! Remember how I said this was my favorite along with the banana bread? This was actually my top favorite and look what we have here!

Last weekend, Shizuka and I were just talking about how nice it would be to have a box set of butter pound cake, because that was her favorite as well! I said, that would be such a dream come true if Costco would sell a box of just that!

I suppose our fairy godmothers over at Costco heard our tummies’ desires! Hahaha! Look at how tempting this is!

Now imagine going through this box loaf by loaf by loaf!

My sister and brother-in-law decided to try all of the bakeries in Chelsea Market. A former Nabisco factory, it’s where the Food Network holds office now too! Their product of choice for a face-off? Brownies:

From top left: Fat Witch, Sarabeth’s, Eleni’s, and Ruthy’s at Chelsea Market

Admittedly, each bakery has it’s own specialties (brownies, cakes, pies, cookies) but for purposes of comparing apples to apples, let’s stick to brownies first!

Description from Website:

Fat Witch’s The Original Brownie: “Moist, intense chocolate taste. 3.5 oz, $2.85 a piece”

Sarabeth’s No Nut Brownie: ” Serious brownie lovers take note! These chocolatey creations are the ultimate in pure brownie experience. Absolutely no nuts and absolutely delicious. 1 Dozen, Boxed$30″

Eleni’s Love Brownie: “Heart shaped brownies made with lots of chocolate chips and love. No nuts. 1 Dozen, $35″

Ruthy’s: No description from site. A frosted brownie with chopped nuts.

The Lowdown:

Fat Witch: Moist and very chocolate-y. No frills, just darn good taste!

Sarabeth’s: Good, but I’ve had better.

Eleni’s: Cute shape. Not so moist brownie.

Ruthy’s: The largest of the lot, winner when it comes to price per pound. Taste wise, not so nuts about it!

The Winner:

The Original Brownie from Fat Witch! It really is a must try!

Chelsea Market is located at: 75 9th Avenue (Between 15th and 16th Streets), New York, NY 10011

Currently craving for…

See what I mean?

The image of freshly grilled corn, lightly brushed with mayonnaise (no wonder this is sinfully good, I just discovered this was an integral ingredient while Googling the recipe) and sprinkled with grated cotija cheese, chili powder and a spray of puckeringly sour lime makes me want to go out into the freezing cold just to indulge my deprived taste buds. Sigh!

Can I just say, the La Esquina plastic bag is a major hoot too! Nacho Libre! Hahaha!

All that food talk is making me drool for dessert of the cupcake variety, especially if it’s from…

These beat Magnolia Bakery and maybe even Billy’s Bakery hands down! Red Velvet on the left, Brownie cupcake to the right.

Both are extremely good and both to me are winners! Yum!