downtown bloggers heart 'gina

killing two birds...

Group 'gina was a really good idea. I had a really good time, it was chill, a good amount of people attended, and we were able to actually have substantive conversations over 'gina. We even had an out-of-downtown blogger making the trek downtown, just for group 'gina. Funniest moment? For me, when they brought out the first order of pasta and offered grated parmesan cheese. I wasn't really paying attention, but then I heard this really familiar buzzing sound, like from a vibrator. I turned and saw that the server had a small, battery-operated cheese grater. A hush came over our crowd and then, bawdy laughter. It's the little things, you know, those small touches that make such a huge difference with 'gina.

It was Rico's first experience with 'gina, so I wasn't really sure he'd be able to eat enough 'gina for two, but he seemed to be enjoying it. Don said that he hadn't had 'gina in a long while, but overall he had a good 'gina experience. Jim had spaghetti and meatballs and practically licked his bowl of 'gina clean, it was that yummy. For whatever reason my 'gina was taking a long time. Everybody else already had their 'gina and mine was nowhere to be found. Turns out there was a mixup because Shannon and I had ordered similar 'gina dishes. So at first Shannon was eating my 'gina. I was about to take a big bite out of my 'gina when Shannon exclaimed, "Hey wait a minute, I think that's my 'gina." Upon closer inspection of both 'ginas, we realized they put my chicken carbonara over penne (instead of the fusilli I ordered) and her whatever she ordered on fusilli. So rather than chow down on Shannon's 'gina, we switched 'ginas and resumed eating. And the eating was good. Afterwards, the owner treated us all to a free gelato. Jim had the dulce de leche, which was yummy, and I had the white chocolate raspberry, also yummy.

Basically, it was good, cheap and filling. I'm giving this 'gina two thumbs up.

nose squashing suggestions, anyone?

I don't know why it cracks me up rather than creep me out, but two weeks ago, my husband Jim noticed a comment on a picture his flickr account. He was at his desk and I was sitting about eight feet away in my chair, reading.

"Celia, do you remember that picture that I took of you on Kauai, at your cousin's rehearsal dinner?"

"Which one?"

"The one of you clowning around, making faces."

I made a gesture, the universal sign for making things smaller, "Could you narrow the field a little more?"

Jim laughs, "The one where you push up your nose with your finger while your other hand pulls the corners of your eyes down."

I laugh too, "Yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"Some guy made a creepy comment, I think you should read it."

I point my browser towards flickr and see this:

Comments
sha in LA says:
that's bootyful
Posted 4 months ago.

petebullen says:
hi there, loving the picture, can you email me some of your nose getting squashed in different ways, thanx, pete
Posted 2 weeks ago.

Is it bad that I want to take a picture of me with Hello Kitty squashing my nose? Or that the thought of doing that just sends me into paroxysms of laughter? How about one with Wonton squashing my nose? Maybe I should take suggestions from my blog readers. What else should I squash my nose with? Just remember, I can't squash my nose with 'gina yet.

it's not dolores, but it rhymes with another female body part

I recently read on Ed's blog that Pastagina will be opening up in the retail space at the Hikari Apartments in Little Tokyo. Are you kidding me? Pastagina? Mama mia, that's hilarious. Yeah, that just puts me in the mood to eat pasta. How's the putanesca? I hear the marinara is so good, you want to be ears deep in it. Jeez, that's even better than going to Angelique and ordering an Orangina (especially since they switched to Arranciata), or eating at the Pink Taco.

I know, I'm a child.

Pastagina opens in Little Tokyo in May 2007, with both their Third & Grand and Hope and 9th stores opening Summer 2007.