Spring has sprung over at DownEast Basics and their new spring collection for 2013 is in full bloom. Last week a few of us headed over to check out the latest and greatest spring fashions that they have to offer. Splashes of beautiful colors welcome you into the store. Bright yellows, pastels, greens, coral, oranges, teals, and pinks are in this season.
By Erin
Earlier this month, my friend Jamie from Minnesota Girl In LA invited me out with her to go check out the Dole Floats that were in the making for the 2013 Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade. The Rose Parade has always been something I have looked forward to watching every January 1st, so of course I had to jump at this amazing opportunity. The theme of this years parade is “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Being a Dr. Seuss fan, I LOVE the theme they have going on for this year!! Here was the schedule of events for the day:
The floats are located at Fiesta Floats in Irwindale and while there we also were able to meet the designer Raul Rodriguez, have some delicious food, and just relax and enjoy the festive environment while trying out some Dole products. The theme of this years float is “Dreaming of Paradise.” That sure is a place I’d love to go! 😉
As the two-time reigning Sweepstakes award winner, DOLE is vying to become the only company to win the Sweepstakes award every year they have entered. They are striving for a three-peat! I have every faith that they will be able to accomplish this. The float is breath-taking to say the least!
The Queen and her Royal court were also present, and of course, us SoCal Lady Bloggers had to get a picture together! (Jen from Toddler Trails, Jill from Sandy Toes and Popsicles, Myself, Jamie from Minnesota Girl In LA and Mary from Lets Play OC!)
We also just had to get a picture with the designer:
Jamie, Raul, and Myself
Here’s a little more information about Dole’s float for the parade! The float will feature a 26-foot massive volcano which will erupt with smoke, steam and fire shooting 20 feet into the sky over a vibrant and lush tropical rain forest of Latin America teaming with prowling tigers, fluttering butterflies, chimpanzees, parrots, and dragonflies. Incredible parrots are going to be fashioned in floral feathers of blue iris, red poinsettia, carnations and Pee Wee anthuriums accented with Kermit button mums. Lava of 8,000 vivid fluorescent orange roses majestically will flow over the volcano surface decorated in black lichen moss. Three waterfalls feature over 1,000 gallons of cascading recycled water as well as a misting system to add to the tropical mood. Throughout the float are fresh and healthy fruits, including bananas, pineapples, mangoes, papayas, peaches, strawberries and blueberries that were grown by DOLE just for this use on the float. Traditional Costa Rican folk music will be played with performers dancing on the street on both sides of the float. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a marvelous tropical paradise!
The playful chimpanzees have fur fashioned in dehydrated cranberry foliage with highlights of pampas and pharmitas grass.
Just look at the amazing detail of the butterflies on this float! Orange marigold and yellow strawflower petals are detailed with black onion seed and white sweet rice.
Let me show you some of the oh so delectable treats that DOLE has available now. We had a little taste of paradise with these yummy (and healthy) treats! The new frozen DOLE Smoothie Shaker is a paradise for your taste buds (I tried the Peach-Mango flavor). No blender required!! You can create a perfect frozen smoothie with real yogurt and fruit just by shaking the DOLE Peach Mango Smoothie Shaker with juice for 30 seconds and enjoy! Made with all natural fruit and real yogurt, DOLE Shakers are a good source of calcium and are nutritionally fortified with an extra boost of protein, each 11 oz serving is under 200 calories.
Another treat that you and especially those with kids will think is a little bit of snacking paradise is the new Squish‘ems! A squeezable fruit snack that kids will love to squish! Squish’ems! is real fruit sauce in a great squeezable pouch with a fun resealable cap. No need for a spoon, just pop the cap, squeeze and enjoy! Each Squish’ems! pouch contains 1 full serving of fruit that is made locally in the US with all natural fruit, has only 70 calories and contains 100% daily value of vitamin C.
We also sampled Trio Granola Bars filled with tasty and nutritious fruits and nuts. My absolute favorite though, was the Dole Dippers!! Small bites of frozen bananas covered in dark chocolate, a true taste of paradise for your senses. At only 100 calories a serving, that truly is paradise! I was enjoying these snacks so much, they were demolished before I was able to get a picture of them! Oppps!! 😉
I just had to include a couple of pictures of the yummy food that we graciously were able to indulge in for lunch! They had a food truck that featured Central American Inspired Tapas called VCHOS. It tasted just as good as it looks! I will definitely be coming back for more. The fried plantains and tacos were a piece of heaven, very fresh and flavorful.
Of course you can never go wrong with In-N-Out!! I just had to have a burger as well, even though I was stuffed from the VCHOS truck and the DOLE samples!
Decorating of the Dole float has resumed this weekend and will be adorned with fresh roses for us to enjoy. I cannot wait until Tuesday morning to see the finished product, and will be looking forward to heading up to Pasadena after the parade to view the floats (another New Year’s tradition that I have enjoyed ever since I was a little girl). Enjoy and Happy New Year 2013!!!
Growing up in Southern California, I have gotten to go to many ball games since I was a young girl. The food, the sounds, the excitement. I love it all. The moving battle of nerves. When it comes down to three balls and two strikes, the guy at bat has the world on his shoulders. If he takes another strike, his head hangs low. If he knocks it out of the park, he stands among the gods. The rules are simple in baseball and any confusion is easily cleared up with more beer.
Earlier this week I was invited to Dodger Stadium for the Dodgers’ Digital Series for a night tailored to Los Angeles’ bloggers and influencers. We received a behind-the-scenes and VIP United Club Suites experience at Dodger Stadium that was like no other. The Dodgers’ Digital series is a social media experience that aims to engage fans online, in-stadium and at home. Fans can apply for the Dodgers’ Digital Series by visiting http://bitly.com/dodgerds. In this series they take the time to create a social media experience that will not be soon forgotten as they connect you with like-minded individuals in the social media world. You are taken right to where all the action is; right behind home plate where you can watch batting practice, get your picture taken with a team member of the Dodgers if you so desire or at least chat with them, see who’s singing the national anthem, who’s throwing the opening pitch as well as other guests/professional teams in the Southern California area that are being featured that night, and talk with local fox sports newscasters. You may even get taken into the Vin Scully press box if you’re lucky like we were. 😉
Here’s the Play by Play of our night:
Photo Credit: Jamie Gall
Upon first entering the walkway to our seats there was a ton of Dodger’s memorabilia to look at and admire.
How cute is this LA Dodgers Baseball cart? Later, Mary from Along Comes Mary & I took a picture in this cart!
Photo Credit: Jamie Gall
Walking past the Dodger’s Locker Room…
Our tickets to get on the field and in the suite!
Our final destination until game time was to a little section behind home plate in which we could stand and watch the batting practice happen around us. That evening they were playing against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Shown below is Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis.
The classic LA logo. 🙂 We also were able to get pics with this famous icon.
Jamie, from Minnesota Girl in LA, Myself, & Mary.
LA Dodger “Andre Ethier” came over to talk with all of us LA Bloggers. We talked a bit with him about the time he ran his own food blog, and that one of his favorite places to eat at in LA is Mozza. When one of the other bloggers, Mona, asked if he ever cooked for his wife, he joking replied ;”No, that’s why I got married!”
That evening happened to be the inaugural LA Galaxy Night at Dodger Stadium celebrating the reigning MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy. 13 of the players were there with their championship trophy including: Sean Franklin, A.J. De La Garza, Bryan Jordan, Hector Jimenez, David Junior Lopes, Rafael Garcia, Dan Keat, Juninho, Marcelo Sarvas, Mike Stephens and Kenny Walker. We even got a picture surrounding the trophy and one lucky LA Blogger got to hold it.
Here we are holding the LA Galaxy MLS Championship Cup.
Photo Credit: Ben Platt
Jim Hill then came over and gave us some sound advice about work: “Go to bed late, get up early, and work like H-E-double L.” Work hard, it will be noticed. It is your reputation that is the most important.
Nickelodeon star Max Schneider sang the national anthem and “God Bless America.” Here he is practicing before the game. They did an amazing job.
Curt Menefee was throwing the first pitch that night. He took this job very seriously and was practicing to get ready for his big pitch to get the game started.
Sadly, it was time to leave the field and head toward our suite, but not without getting a close up view of the Dodger’s dugout first. 😉
To our great surprise though, we had a detour on the way to our suite to the Vin Scully Press Box!! 🙂
And look who was there…. of course, none other than Vin Scully himself.
Ok, NOW we were taken up to our suite…. 😉
Photo Credit: Jamie Gall
Their suites are pretty incredible.
Our view for the game. A pretty nice upgrade from the usual nose bleed seats, I’d have to say! 😀
Of course then you have the food! I was sooo excited about the game, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of my crazy nachos or dodger dog! Oh well… I’m sure you all know what baseball stadium food looks like for the most part… .but what you might not know about are the DESSERT CARTS that go by the United Club Suites. They offer delights from caramel apples to amazing cakes to candy filled popcorn; you have a lot of options. You’d NEVER guess who we met out by the dessert cart since we missed it when it right by our suite, so we had to go next door to the next suite…. it was Reese Witherspoon! She is just as beautiful and sweet in person as she is on TV.
Photo Credit: Jamie Gall
Mary and I got this HUGE Carmel M&M Candied Apple to share for dessert. Kerry, who was manning the dessert cart said our apple “was a little brown inside” when she cut it up for us and Mary had mentioned that this was her first game. So she offered to just give us the apple! How nice of her! Thanks Kerry, it tasted just fine! 🙂
Reese Witherspoon with her friends and family in the next suite over from us! She’s the one in the lower left with the blue shirt & blonde hair…
A heartfelt THANK YOU goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers and their Social Media guy Josh Tucker that showed us around, for a wonderful evening of baseball. It was great to see all the hard work that goes on behind the game from the social media aspect of it, to planning out the evening’s entertainment to the press room. Thanks to one and all for everything that you do, to make these games and opportunites happen for fans like myself. If any fans out there are thinking of going to a game, it is well worth it! Especially if you get an opportunity like this, GO FOR IT!! Don’t be afraid to apply. You just never know what might happen. 😉
Ummmm wait a minute you must be asking yourself?? So WHO won the game? Well my friends, that was the only bummer of the night. The Arizona Diamondbacks won that evening a big 7 to 2 with a 3 run homer and a grand slam. >:-/
Disclosure: The LA Dodgers provided me with a VIP experience at the Dodgers Game from behind home plate to meeting a few of the players to a ticket in a suite at Dodger Stadium. This story is my view of this experience.