Happy Monday you guys! Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend! 🙂 I know I sure did! And the only thing I need and want to be happy is food! Just keep Cookie fed haha 🙂 Despite the forecasted gloomy weather yesterday, we ventured out to Venice and Santa Monica to enjoy some food and possibly the beach-y weather! Also.. It was our first adventure out with our camera and go-pro gear to test it all out! Hehe. We didn’t have any destinations planned in mind.. it was kind of a go-with-the-flow kind of day..

First restaurant we stumbled upon was C&O Cucina, Venice, CA. This restaurant was a pleasant surprise and had the perfect italian ambience to practice our footage capturing skills. The interior of the restaurant was red with a lot of italian paintings and pictures on the walls. There IS one special aspect about this restaurant! They prepare you with a plate and nice kitchen tongs on your table. EVERY 10-15 minutes, a server will stop by with a big serving of fresh, hot, baked garlic bread balls to fill your plate up.. and oh boy, were they delicious! There was a soft, smooth glaze of garlic and olive oil dressed on the outside and the warm, soft, fluffy bread on the inside when you bite. IT WASN’T SOGGY AT ALL! Fresh, fresh, hot from the oven.. yumm 🙂

killer garlic rolls with chopped italian black olive spread

rigatoni al forno – baked rigatoni with a rich meat sauce, pureed spinach and ricotta cheese topped with melted mozzarella cheese (contains pork)

So all of their pasta and entree dishes come in two sizes: individual sizes or the gargantuan sizes. Believe it or not, the pasta above was just the individual size.. which was perfectly enough to feed both of us! Boy, were we stuffed! And don’t forget, we even had the garlic rolls that came every 10-15 minutes! This is the perfect restaurant recommendation for a family to come celebrate or just to enjoy good, ole’ italian food in huge, heaping servings!

And what better way to end our meal here than with a complimentary postcard after they took a picture for us! So glamorous and unique! I mean, this is JUST a restaurant.. not like a special cruise travel package.. but what a great way for them to stand out and make our lunch such a memorial experience <3

Me and my bae photographer. This postcard is definately over the top! Yummy food and great service 🙂 What a delicious surprising find!

And then..

You know what I like to do after I stuff my tummy with yummy food? Take a walk and walk it off a bit.. And Santa Monica is JUST RIGHT THERE LITERALLY! 3rd Street Promenade is always a great place to walk, relax, enjoy the music, enjoy the entertainment, the beach-y air, and the cool breezes. Not to mention, the window shopping.. you get my drift.. Hehe..

But even when I was so full still, I SAW BRUXIE!! Since when did they open one on 3rd Street?! And so I ordered the classic..

buttermilk fried chicken & waffle (all natural hormone-free chicken breast, marinated in buttermilk brine, served with chili honey, cole slaw), Bruxie, Santa Monica, CA.

I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO EAT THIS! Like where my first bite would be… it looked cool and artistic and all, but how do you eat it… haha.. You’ll see.. 😉
And you know what else? Have you ever eaten chicken and waffles together?! If you have then you know what I mean when I drizzled syrup on top of it.. that extra gooey sweetness just hits the spot and compliments the saltiness of the chicken.. with the waffles. It’s just perfect!

Too much calories for today!! Below is a video re-cap of cookie eating. I hope you enjoy it! It’s my first one! Props to my photographer and video editor, the bae <3