Good times, great pork.

Saturday was pretty exciting for me. In the afternoon, after a foray to get some coffee, my brother, Kristine, Michael (my boyfriend) and I went to Wurstkuche again, to wreak havoc upon beer and tasty food.

The happy couple, and an array of mustard...

And the boyfriend and I, complete with my hefeweizen.

I decided on the duck and bacon sausage again, it was so good the last time that I just had to have another. The fattiness of the duck really works well against the smoky-salty pork. Yum!

To work off lunch, we took a stroll down to the beach, puppies in tow, on their very first walk ever!

Aside from attempting to eat every stray bit of seaweed and the occasional mouth-full of sand, they were very well-behaved. We eventually got kicked off the beach because of the pups, (apparently, dogs aren't allowed) but it was grand while it lasted. Having such adorable dogs around also garners a lot of attention from passerby; people love puppies, and nearly everyone on the beach that day came over to coo over Hilo and Kona.

They were tuckered out from all of the excitement.

So was my brother, so we bid him farewell as he laid down to nap, and Michael and I hopped into the Hyundai and drove to Orange County to meet up with some friends I met on my study abroad trip to Italy earlier this year.

They chose a cute, hip little Cuban spot called Habana. The sangria flowed freely as we all caught up on life sans Italy. Above are some crunchy pulled pork and cojito cheese croquettes.

I had a roasted pork shank on collard greens, mashed potatoes, and fried plantains. The pork was crispy outside and tender within, the plantains were awesome, but the collards could have used a little salt. It was all pretty satisfying, though.

It was great catching up with everyone and remembering the fun times we had in Orvieto. (From left: Felipe, Edo, me, Stephanie, Chris)

After dinner we drove back to Vegas, and I pretty much fell asleep the second I got home.

This coming week is going to be pretty average, aside from another stage or two I've set up. I'll be sure to find something food-centric to blog about for you though, never fear!

Adios!