Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

A Tale of Two Pies

This year we didn’t want the chaos of baking pies while cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Plus we wanted to support a friend who opened up a new Bakery in Sunland (The Back Door Bakery).

Hubby ordered a pecan pie from them at $20 for us to pick up Thursday morning.

Of course, I didn’t want to spend $20 on another pie, so I walk into my local Marie Calenders and ordered one Apple pie.

Left Coast Wine Bar & Gallery

Eating in all the time has it’s rewards. Family time, new recipes, money savings and so on. Enjoying an evening glass of wine on my front porch also is cool. But too much of the same old thing dictates a change. I just had to get out this last weekend. Problem was I had already eaten and we didn’t want to drop $80 on a night out. So we went shopping for a local Wine Bar.

Back Door Bakery

Once Upon a Time, the Back Door Bakery in Silver Lake packed ‘em in every morning with their incredibly delicious, home made bakery goods. This spot was a mainstay neighborhood meeting place and served up delectable bakery goods and breakfast items that were unsurpassed anywhere.

Then a short-sighted landlord forced them out and they disappeared for awhile. We’ve been left to standing in line at Portos to get anything nearly as good.

Well, happily they’re back…. In Sunland.

Fathers Day Fun

When hubby said he wanted to do something different for Fathers Day. I jumped on it. Honestly how many brunches can you go to? How many wallets, electric tools, BBQ, clothes or electronic gadgets to you really need? I was looking for something a bit different.

So I started looking around… Fishing? Theater tickets? Movie? Hmmm. Then, it hit me.
We went to El Cid for both a meal and some Flamenco dancing

Welsh Cake Delight!

Normally I don’t review food, but this last weekend I tried something called a Welsh Cake at the Montrose Arts and Crafts Walk. The owner/ baker/ guy in charge was freely giving away samples at his booth with most people buying after tasting these delectable little cakes.

I tried the walnut with maple syrup cakes. Simple incredible!

Country Antique Fair Mall

This last weekend, our kid had some tickets to Magic Mountain. Wrangling a couple other kids & parents together only left us with the responsibility of pick up at the end of the day.

Out in Saugus is one of our favorite antique/ bric a brac haunts, Country Antique Fair Mall. We’ve been haunting this place for the last 15 years

Our quest for bottle of wine and learning the costs involved:

We recently went to one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner and a glass of wine. When it comes to wine, we are no gourmands. We’re just “give us a glass of your house Merlot” type of cats.

Eating Out

We love to eat out… really. For years we didn’t eat out at all. We were struggling new parents. Then for a while we could afford it and went out a lot. But now we ‘re tightening up our spending again. We have become spoiled and it’s been harder now to cut back this time on something we really love to do

Cheap & Healthy Lunches on the Go

When I need meal deal, unless it’s a social situation, I’m looking for good quick reasonably healthy meal at a bargain.

Usually I packed a lunch, but if I haven’t, I have some favorites spots to eat well for less.  Since I always have water on me, I’ll normally don’t purchase a drink. If you look around at all the different and diverse choices we have here, you’ll realize you can eat right for less

The Big Bash!

Sometimes I go for the easy fix & a bargain price at the same time. This weekend was one of those occasions.

We gave “the kid” a big birthday bash at the house, inviting a mix of 25, 12-14 year old boys and girls. Yikes -these are middle schoolers. We offered no big plans for amusement or games, just music and access to our new Beatles Rock Band… OY! Here’s where we spent our money.