Haute Chix Fashion Truck

Last weekend at the Saturday Night Truck Stop I finally got the chance to check out the newest truck concept the Haute Chix Fashion Truck. I had really been looking forward to this. The truck is soo cute and they have really cute merchandise.

Haute Chix has two store locations, one in Boca Park and the other in Southern Highlands. Everything on the truck was reasonably priced. Once I have a lil bit more spending cash I will definitely be checking out the stores!

This is the logo on their bags, so cute.

The front of the truck was a lil shorter than the back, so I had to slightly bend over to fit. They really fit a lot of merchandise into a small space without it being overwhelming. In the back they even have a dressing room to try stuff on.

I did end up purchasing a couple things, but everything was so affordable it fit into the food truck budget I set for myself.

They even give a free tank top with purchase. I really love this concept. It’s a great way for a local boutique to find new customers and get their name out there. I have seen one of their stores before but didn’t know much about it so I never went in. Now I know how reasonably priced they are and how cute the merchandise is, so I’ll definitely be checking them out in the future.

For more info on Haute Chix you can check out their twitter or their website.

Food Truck Friday

This week I don’t have any new food trucks to feature, but I think that will change after this weekend. I only made it to Vegas StrEats last saturday night and didn’t take any pics (bad blogger, I know). But there are a couple food truck events this weekend that should be a good time, and if you’re in Vegas you should check out.

Today (August 19) there is a great event going on to get donations for school supplies for children in clark county that can’t afford to get them. It is located at Powder n Sun (a ski and skateboard shop) on Fort Apache, just north of Tropicana. It goes from 5 to 9. Some of my favorite food trucks will be there!

Def go and support this good cause if you can!! I know I’ll be checking it out!

On Saturday night I am finally getting to go to the Saturday Night Truck Stop that is put on by Sloppi Jo’s. I’ve wanted to go the past two weekends but haven’t convinced anyone to go with me. Fortunately I’ve had a couple friends agree to go! There will be some trucks I haven’t tried yet there (yes there are trucks in Vegas I haven’t tried). I’m pretty excited!

I’ve heard great things about Saturday Night Truck Stop and I really just can’t wait to check it out. Jo has 6 food trucks coming out, plus the Cosmopolitan promo truck and Haute Chix Clothing Truck (I’m soooo sooo stoked to check out this new concept). The food trucks there will be Sloppi Jo’s, Haulin’ Balls (who I had a GREAT lunch from yesterday), Fukuburger, Food Slingers, Top Notch BBQ and Sin City Wings.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I’ve got a LOT of eating to do 🙂

What are your plans for the weekend? Have you ever tried a food truck before?

I’m a Graduate! (Again)

Well today is the day I officially “graduate” from UNLV. Since I’m finishing up in the summer there is no graduation ceremony (thankfully, they’re so painfully long). It has a been a full two years including both summers to finish my dual Master in Business Administration and Master of Science in Hotel Administration. When I first started the program I was only taking classes part time, I decided to play a lil catch up, and ended up finishing a semester early for the dual program. Overachiever? YEP!

Man I make that hat look goooood!

Grad school has been an interesting experience. I’ve always been good with school, subjects usually come naturally to me and studying hard was a rarity, until grad school. I learned everyone is an overachiever (for the most part) and I may have to put in a lil more work than undergrad. I did what I could, probably should have tried harder in a couple classes, and learned a lot about myself. I decided to go to grad school because I was burnt out in the job I was in. The recession hit and the chances for advancement slowed to a halt. I decided to do what was best for me, leave a career and educate myself further. I wrote a paper that I never thought I would be able write. Almost 50 pages long, with data collection and all. I’ll even be presenting it at a conference in January! Grad school has pushed my limits and boundaries and I’ve become a better person because of it.

I’m so thankful for my parents, who support me in whatever I do. My parents never forget to tell me how proud they are of me and to go for what I want. They also support me monetarily and without them I would be swimming in students loans. I can’t thank them enough for helping me and ensuring that I won’t be spending the next 25 years paying off the last two years.

My parents and I when I graduated from undergrad (Go Gamecocks!). It was really bright that day, hence the squinty eyes.

Next up for me is finding a job, which I hope happens soon, I’m pretty sure my parents are ready to kick me off the payroll. I’m going through the interview process now and trying to find something I truly enjoy doing. I don’t want to be burnt out and miserable again (it gives you gray hairs, its not fun!).

I’ve had a great time at UNLV the last few years, minus a few professors who should not be teaching, and I’m so thankful for the friends I have made. I’ve also been able to travel and leave the country for the first two times for school credit. My trips to Egypt and Peru were all because of this program and I’m not sure I would of had the opportunity to go there without this.

 Yeah I rode a camel in Egypt

At the most beautiful place in the world, Machu Picchu

I guess this means I officially have become a part of the unemployed statistic in America.

Food Truck Fridays Presents: LBS Patty Wagon

So I’ve been a lil slack in my food truck eating in the past week, but don’t worry I will make up that tomorrow night when I go to two different food truck events. Seriously I have a food truck problem, BUT I strongly support local businesses and these people work so hard I can’t help myself!

Over a month ago I checked out LBS Patty Wagon when I saw on twitter they were near my apartment. I had heard really good things about their turkey burger from the lovely Sno Ono Shave Ice ladies and I can’t turn down a good turkey burger!

So I got the California Turkey Burger with their shoe string fries. The fries came with their special fries sauce. I love sauce for fries, especially when it’s delicious like theirs is! I’m also a big fan of shoe string fries and thoroughly enjoyed theirs.

The California Turkey burger, is a turkey patty, with brie cheese, bacon, avocado and garlic herb mayo. I asked for no lettuce and tomato (no extra healthy on this girl’s burgers). The brie cheese was very interesting. I’ve never had that and it was a nice touch!

Overall I really loved this burger and def want to try them again. They came back to the place by my apartment and even tweeted to me to tell me, but my family was in town and I was on the strip with them. Hopefully I’ll get another one of these turkey burgers again soon!

If you want to learn more about LBS Patty Wagon, check out their website, twitter, or facebook.

My Parents’ Last Day in Vegas

Well my parents last day in Vegas was upon us and I was sad. I didn’t want them to leave! I was enjoying spending time with them and exploring parts of Vegas I hadn’t taken the time to visit before. They were also a nice distraction from my recent break up and them leaving meant I actually had to deal with that.

For my parents last day I actually got up a lil earlier than I had been, we were dropping off my car for an oil change while we took their rental car up to Mount Charleston. Mount Charleston is about 30 or so minutes outside of Vegas and offers hiking trails, skiing (in the winter), and just a huge change from being on the strip.

 

The drive in is spectacular. The views were unbelievable! I almost forgot to take pictures but then managed to snap a few. Its crazy how the vegetation changes as you go up in elevation and that there’s a desert 20 minutes back down the mountain.

Our first stop on the mountain was at the visitor center just to check things out. The view is so pretty! I got some information on hiking trails and I def plan on coming back and doing some of the easier hikes.

Just helping Smokey the bear protect against forest fires.

We were pretty much in the clouds, it was awesome! The weather was perfect up there, easily 20 degrees cooler than being on the strip, which was over 100 degrees that day.

After driving around and checking things out we decided to stop at the Mt. Charleston Lodge for lunch. They had a nice outdoor dining area with a deck.

This was my view from lunch, not too shabby. I just love how peaceful it is up here. The food was also good, but a lil expensive for me. I guess you can charge more being the only restaurant on this side of the mountain!

After lunch we decided to go down the back side of the mountain (which is the ski resort side) since there was a cool view point along the way.

We were still up in the clouds, and had to climb up the mountain a lil more to get back down.

The view point was awesome, you had the vegetation from the mountain, but could see down in the valley area outside of Vegas. It was such a contrast. I had my digital slr, but the coloring was giving me trouble with my settings, so they didn’t turn out as well as I would of liked.

The sky was so pretty that day and we made it back down to cactus territory. The trees were fun while they lasted!

After our trip up to Mount Charleston we went back to the hotel to freshen up before going to see the show…

Hitzville at the V Theater in Planet Hollywood. It was a Motown Review type show. The singers were really talented and my parents really seemed to like the show! We were in the VIP section up front which was interesting, I actually think I would of preferred the general admission seats.

Hitzville was an early show, so we had dinner afterwards. My parents wanted to go somewhere off the strip so we went to Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza. They do pizzas and some healthier options. For their pizzas they offer regular crust, thin crust, whole wheat crust and gluten free crust. I was pretty impressed by that.

My Mom had the oak roasted chicken breast. She’s quick and I only managed to get a picture of her last bite. She really really really liked this meal, and she knows chicken (she only has it a pretty much every meal). The chicken is cooked with fresh herbs, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts and asparagus. I think I’m gonna try it the next time I go there.

I can’t resist pizza (especially if it doesn’t have red sauce) so I had the five cheese pizza. It was delicious and I saved the last two slices for lunch the next day.

My dad got a pepperoni pizza with their special artisan thin crust. He saved me a piece to take home for lunch the next day 🙂

I was so sad to say good bye to my parents! Their visit was just what I needed. Luckily I will see them next month for my cousin’s wedding on the east coast.

Do you live near your parents? If not how often do you get to see them?

Food Truck Friday Featuring Ben’s BBQ

During my parents visit to Vegas there was a food truck event going on at the Nevada Cancer Institute called the Food Truck Roundup. Four food trucks were there and a percentage of their sales went to the NVCI. The event is put on by own of my favorite Food Trucks, Ben’s BBQ. I haven’t had a chance to feature them yet, since my work schedule over the summer never matched up with their schedule. Luckily I was able to bring my parents to try out my fav BBQ in Vegas!

Ben’s BBQ is newer to the food truck world in Vegas but they make amazing bbq! Since living in the south I really love bbq and hadn’t found any I was totally in love with until I tried Ben’s for the first time. But I won’t just tell you how good it is, I’ll show you!

Ben’s Menu for the day

My Dad and I ordering, they had a nice crowd, which I always love seeing!

My dad got the pulled pork sandwich (so did I) and the smothered greens. My dad grew up eating greens so he knows his stuff and he really really liked these! We both really enjoyed their pulled pork sandwiches. The meat was really good and the hoagie roll was soft and perfect for the sandwich. They offer two BBQ sauces, we tried their milder one (hot doesn’t really go well for my family) and it was perfect!

My mom got the BBQ chicken sandwich (my mom is the healthy one in the family, she’s doing a sprint triathlon tomorrow) and the bleu cheese coleslaw. She ate all of it and loved it!

I think I could live off of mac n cheese, it’s one of my favorite things, and Ben’s mac n cheese with smoked bacon is AMAZING! Bacon is also one of my fav things so the combo of the two was great. I was pretty stuffed from my sandwich so my dad and I shared the mac n cheese.

After that filling meal, we had to try to dessert and Sno Ono Shave Ice just happened to be parked nearby as well.

Always up for some shave ice!

My dad really enjoyed his! And while not pictured, my mom thoroughly enjoyed hers as well!

My parents really loved their first food truck experience! Please check out Ben’s BBQ if you see them around town! The owners are the nicest people and their food is AMAZING! You can check out their website, twitter and facebook for more info and where they’ll be!

Also if you’re going to be in Vegas tomorrow night, you should check out the Saturday Night Truck Stop, 5 food trucks in one place from 10 pm – 4 am! It’s at Tommy Rockers off of Flamingo across from the Rio.

Fancy Smancy Dinner

So two nights after Phil made the November 9, his backer , Erick took Phil and his friends (me included) to Jean Georges Steakhouse in Aria (a new beautiful hotel on the strip located in CityCenter). I was so honored that Phil invited me to this dinner, and i was EXCITED, cause this girl LOVES steak!

My friends have gotten used to the idea that I blog, but they had yet to experience my “wait don’t eat that yet I need a picture for my blog”. So pretty much every course that came out I was snapping pics as soon as I could.

Let me just say, this meal was AMAZING! We tried every appetizer (twice) and there were lots of cocktails, wine and beer flowing (this girl had a job interview the next day, so only one cocktail was had).

Now on to the good part, the FOOD:

The bread basket (after I grabbed one of the pretzel pieces and Katie grabbed one of the regular pieces). It was so yummmyyyy. I love bread soo soo much and the pretzel was a nice start to the dinner.

This is what was left of the crispy shrimp by the time I got a picture of it. Katie and I split one since we had a large group and large entrees coming. So delicious and that sauce was great.

The last bacon wrapped shrimp, I may have had 1.5, since I shared one with Katie. 

These were the only apps I was able to get pictures of. The sweetbreads were soo soo good, I’d never tried them before and still don’t know what was in it, but I enjoyed them. We also had fried calamari (delicious), crab cakes (which never made it to me, so they must of been good) and huge cold seafood platters (which had crab legs, lobster, oysters and shrimp). 

Ashley is ducking out of this picture of her sea bass. It looked delicious, but I forgot to ask her how it was.

Brent (and most of the guys) had the tomahawk chop, bone in rib eye, with a poached lobster tail (that piece of meat was HUGE). Brent also wanted to make sure his blue moon was in this picture (I obliged since he waited to eat for me to take this pic, although I did chop his head off).

My filet mignon and lobster tail. OMG SOOO SOOO GOOD! The filet was perfectly cooked. I love when it has the beautiful center with a lil crunch on the outside. The lobster was cooked perfectly and the butter provided on the side was the only thing I added to the lobster. I ate as much as I could and ate the whole steak and half of the lobster (I’m more of a turf girl, than surf).

These are the sauces that came with the steak. The bright yellow sauce was a hot habanero sauce ( I didn’t try it), the caramel color sauce was a soy miso butter (OMG yummy!), the cream colored sauce is a béarnaise sauce (Katie said she could of eaten all the bearnaise sauce in the whole restaurant, and I agreed, it was very very good!), and the brown sauce is their house steak sauce (I didn’t try it). 

They gave Phil and Erick congrats dessert played (it bother Katie and I that there wasn’t a S on the end). I tried the chocolate cake, it was pretty good.

Me out front after dinner. Trying to cover my food baby with my purse. 

It was a great meal, if you’re ever in Vegas you should check out Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria.

Food Truck Friday Featuring: Fuku Burger

Fuku Burger is one of more popular trucks in Las Vegas. Somehow I hadn’t tried them until last weekend. For some reason their menu never seemed to have anything I wanted, but then I wised up and went for it.

I had been working night shift and some of the media at the World Series of Poker (yes Eric, you got a shout out on my blog) said they were going to Fuku Burger. I obviously instantly invited myself to go along! Fuku parks in China Town on Friday and Saturday nights from 8 to late night.

 Fuku Burger does asian style burgers and they do them very well!

The Fuku Truck (sorry it’s dark, the iphone is not good at night photos)

I got the Tamago burger. It has their burger patty, a fried egg, crispy onions, teriyaki sauce and another sauce that was awesome and I don’t know the name of.

I got their fries, which come with a sauce similar to a sushi roll sauce and it was YUMMY!

One of my friends got the ButaBurger which also looked awesome (yes I made him let me take a pic of his food).

When you leave a tip, they give you tip jelly. I didn’t try it, maybe one day I’ll muster up the courage.

I loved my first experience at Fuku Burger, I went back the next night. Yes I have a food truck obsession, but really the food was JUST THAT GOOD!

This time I changed it up a lil bit, but only just a lil bit.

I got the Tamago Burger again, buttttt I added cheese and bacon to it! OMG AMAZING! This burger is a must eat.  It was unbelievable good. I also had the fries again and their homemade (i think) strawberry lemonade, which is sooo sooo good!

Fuku Burger is a must try! If you see them around Vegas, definitely stop. And you can check out their website here to get their weekly schedule.

Food Truck Friday:Vegas StrEats Edition

Last Saturday I attended Vegas StrEats Festival. It has Food Trucks, Art and Music. The festival has 9 food trucks serving food and a variety of local artists and vendors set up selling merchandise. There is a stage where different musical acts perform for an hour a piece.

The weather in Vegas was really strange last week, and it actually rained every day for at least 5 days in a row. So of course it rained during StrEats. It kept the temperature a little bit cooler which was nice and this girl brought an umbrella to try to stay dry. I had food from 3 different trucks while I was there, but my pictures are lacking because of the weather, trying to eat, drinking a beer or two, and just not enough hands to do it all.

Vegas StrEats is held in downtown Las Vegas, in a lot across the street from the El Cortez Casino. Downtown has a hipster vibe to it, as long as you stay away from the casinos (lots of older folks hang out in those) and there are some fun bars on Fremont Street, just around the corner from the El Cortez.

Going for a hipster look (and to protect my hair from the rain) I rocked a fedora

Engine 1 Pizza was our first stop. FF5 and I shared pizza and garlic fries. Both pretty good and gone quickly, we were hungry!

I forgot to snap a pic of my Sno Ono shave ice before I started eating, but this is towards the bottom. I tried adding mochi bits for the first time, they were DELICIOUS! I waited an hour and 30 min from line time to pick up time and it was worth EVERY minute! I love these ladies!

While I waited in line for Shave Ice, Katie and Melissa waiting in line for BBQ Boy LV. He does Filipino BBQ. I’ve tried him once before and his food is amazing. His pork and shrimp shanghai rolls are sooo yummy!! I also had one of his pork skewers, also awesome!

After StrEats we ventured over to a new bar on Fremont Street called Insert Coin(s). It has old school arcade games and its bottle service offers tables with a playstation console and big tvs to play video games.

Food Truck Friday: Lulu’s on the Move

This week’s Food Truck Friday edition focuses on Lulu’s on the Move. They offer a variety of items, mainly breakfast and lunch type items, as well as AWESOME desserts!

My first experience with Lulu’s on the Move was on 4 square day. I actually didn’t order from them that day my BFF, Katie, and FF5 both ordered sandwiches. Katie got a muffaletta and FF5 got a cuban sandwich. When they got their food, they threw in a free order of their dirty chips. Since Katie and FF5 had their hands full I started on the dirty chips, they’re chips covered with pulled pork, black beans, wasabi sauce and cheese. THEY ARE AMAZING! I seriously get them every time I go to lulu’s on the move, even though everything else on their menu look awesome, I can’t stop myself from getting the dirty chips every time.

source

I’ve been to Lulu’s a few more times as they’ve been around town. My other favorite item from them is their beignets. They offer them with different flavors and my favorite has been the strawberry shortcake. You could cover anything with powdered sugar and I would eat it, cause that’s how much I love powdered sugar, but these things are AWESOME! They sometimes have a key lime flavor, but I’ve yet to try it, it’s definitely next on my list. I’m looking forward to getting off the night shift so I can get back on my food truck diet.

 

The last time I had lulu’s on the move they threw in a free whoopie pie. I had been wanting to try one of their whoopie pies for a while now, but I’ve never been hungry enough to get one, and look at those beignets, I could never pass them up! I was really excited to try it. It was a red velvet with cream cheese flavor and it was SOO SOO GOOD! I may have inhaled in under a minute, or 30 seconds. 

Everything I’ve tried from Lulu’s on the move has been awesome and I’m looking forward to trying more things. You can check out their website, twitter or facebook for more info!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is Vegas StEats, if you live in Vegas you need to come down to the El Cortez from 6 pm to 2 am and check it out!

And if you’re interested in any of my past Food Truck Friday Posts you can check them out here:

• Sloppi Jos
• Haulin’ Balls
• Sno Ono Shave Ice

TGIF! Looking forward to my day off and finally getting to go to Vegas StEats for the first time since April! Next week’s Food Truck Friday will be highlight of all the great food I will eat tomorrow!