I Met A Boy!

Yogurtland:  A yummy treat that I couldn't resist
(San Diego, CA)

I chose 3 flavors of yogurt: pineapple, strawberry, tiramisu

Then I added 2 fruit toppings: kiwis, mangos

And topped it with what I call "mochi-mellows"

Asian-fusion! Ohhhh yea!

Where are all the yogurt stores in Oregon? What I mean to say is, where are they near me? Perhaps I should just buy a franchise and start my own. I love ice-cream, yogurt, smoothies--cold things with fruit is the theme.

I discovered a recently opened store called Yogurtland after walking what seemed like miles in my thin flip flops, while in San Diego on a business trip. Just outside the Little Italy arch sign, I was eating my real Italian dins in the lovely cool yet sunny outdoors. I was taking my time and just enjoying the casualness of it all. My favorite part, besides the good food, was getting to know a boy named Michael. He was 22...months old that is. And you thought I actually met a boy. Boy oh boy. He was the cutest and sweetest little thing with curly brown hair, Black and Italian roots--walking around and around the corner sidewalk talking to concrete, rocks, and me. Hopefully he wasn't grouping us all into inanimate objects, but having some conversation, although in Italian, was wonderful.

I needed him. This little boy with his cubby legs and cheeks just looked at me with interest then began our friendship. He was God's little reminder of unconditional love. Of innocence. Of precious gifts. His grandfather sat in a chair a few feet away and let his grandson clammer up to a chair right beside me under my umbrella table. Most parents would scurry over to not have their child bother strangers...but this is Little Italy. And I liked it. I needed a friend. I needed to see God in human form...a child.

A child gives me the sense of belonging. It doesn't matter my issues at the moment, they were washed away.

And then over and over I'm spotting these people with yogurt containers...I thought it was Pinkberry, which is good, but it's not. It's Yogurtland--a sample haven with 8 or 9 self-serve stations. Each station has two flavors or a twist of both in the center. The best part was the sample cups to try before you buy. It was just another couple and I as we sampled and sampled and sampled till I finally picked a tart pineapple, tangy strawberry, and smooth tiramisu. Then I couldn't believe my eyes to see baby mochi. Mochi is pounded rice made into a flour consistency and tends to have a sweet red bean inside for a yummy dessert, yet these were plain mochi.

I nicknamed the babies "mochi-mellows" because they have the look of little marshmellows you'd put into hot cocoa, yet isn't sugary. Anyone had mochi ice-cream before? The ice-cream balls are wrapped in mochi...a treat for sure. Where can I get mochi-mellows? I've never ever seen them so small...