Friday, July 18, 2025

Free or Cheap Things to do in Pasadena area Summer 2025

So this is mostly just a list for me to keep organized but I thought I would share it in case someone else is interested in these kind of things. 



Free

-Free Movies movies under the stars. 

-Music at noon concerts

-Norton Simon first Friday free 4pm-7pm

-LACMA free second Tuesday of each month and weekdays after 3pm for La county residents w/id. 

-Natural History Museum free after 3 for La residents w/id m-f

-La Brea tar pits free after 3pm for La residents w/id m-f

-Pacific Asia museum second Sunday of each month free

-Arboretum free third Tuesday of the month but you need to get reservation tickets

-The Huntington Gardens  Free Admission 1st Thursday of the month. Must reserve tickets in advance on the last   Thursday of every month starting at 9am until sold out, for admission the following week. Limit 5 ticket per household

-La county parks after darks Saturday concerts (check their Instagram for details)

-The T-mobile app has one free slurpees every month during the summer


Cheap

Regal Summer Movie Express  1$+

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

About The Old Coffee Shop- A Rambling

In 1996, there used to be the best little coffee shop by my house, I can’t even remember it’s name now,  but I would drive over there, and they made the best vegetarian sandwich. It was lettuce, and avocado, and sprouts, and I don't know what else. And it was so good, and if I could afford it, I would get the sandwich. And if not, I would just get a coffee, and I would go upstairs in that old wooden building, and I would write poetry upstairs while I drank my coffee. I can't remember what I would get, but it was strong. I think it was espresso. They just had regular coffee and espresso. And I would sip my espresso or my coffee and just write poetry upstairs in that old cafe. It used to be one of my favorite spots in the whole world, and i just stopped going. I don't know what happened to that cafe, and wonder if it’s somehow still there or if it closed down decades ago. I’ve driven by it several times since and thought about dropping in, but I like the way the memories of that shop are preserved in my mind and I want to remember it just the way it was. 

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Beverly Hills 90210 and Cafe Au Lait

 


        
     I’ve been going through quite a nostalgic period of my life right now, and because of that I’m revisiting movies and music from my childhood. One of the shows I was totally committed to in the early nineties was Beverly Hills 90210. I watched it from the beginning all the way up to season 6. I was a big fan back then and I’m really enjoying the rewatch.

     On one of the episodes, Kelly, Donna, and Brenda are in a coffee house on a comedy night- or it’s a coffee house/comedyclub I’m not completely sure- and Donna orders a cafe au lait. I was surprised that’s not something I see being ordered at coffee shops in current times, and I was interested in what exactly it was. I’ve worked in cafes and I’ve been a coffee drinker for a really long time and I think I’ve heard of it but I didn’t know what went into it or how to actually make one. So…I went online and I was researching it and I made one because I was very curious. 

     The cafe au lait has become a new morning routine with me, I really enjoy the creaminess and balance of the flavor. It Reminds me of cappuccino yet it’s so much simpler to make and that works well for me since I don’t have an espresso machine. 

     It’s just so easy, just coffee and milk. It’s a half a cup of coffee and the rest is warmed milk. I’ve heard that you could steam the milk but it seems pretty controversial on whether or not you can steam the milk in a cafe au lait or if that makes it something else,  but I’ll tell you the way I make it at home.

     First, I use a big gigantic coffee mug so I can still get a good amount of coffee in this drink. Next, I microwave milk for about a minute so I’m careful not to scald it … just to get it warm. While the milk is warming up I pour half a cup of strong coffee and add a teaspoon of sweetener to this. Then I add the warm warm milk on top of it and I give it a stir and I put a little tiny bit of cinnamon on top more for the aroma more than the flavor of it. 

     This has become just the coziest little morning ritual for me and I just it kind of feels like I’m spoiling myself with something really simple and affordable and accessible to me so this is my new thing and has replaced my morning iced coffees… at least for now. 
     
     Anyways, That’s how I do so I thought I would share with you guys. It’s just a little something interesting and I haven’t really been sharing a lot lately and it’s just been a really busy year. We had a graduation we had a wildfire. I don’t really know what I’ve been doing with my time, but I feel like I’ve just been playing catch up all year. But here I am now, stopping in, and hopefully I will be adding more soon. 

Aurora: What Happened To The Earth Tour

I saw Aurora with a friend on Thursday Nov 21 at the shrine theater in Los Angeles. The driving around the theater was hectic. However oncev...