The Book of Mormon and Adventures in Hollywood

Hey, Adventurers! With The Book of Mormon leaving LA this weekend, I thought it'd be fitting to blog about my adventure watching this hilarious musical and exploring Hollywood.

Pantages Theater

My friends and I booked tickets on a whim when we found out that the musical was extending their stay in LA so we saw The Book of Mormon back at the end of March. (Heh, I know that was awhile ago. >.<)

The Book of Mormon Stage

Since The Book of Mormons was created by the makers of South Park, there was a certain level of comedy and offensiveness that was expected. No doubt, this musical made fun of Mormons, Christians, homosexuals, black people, Chinese people, white people, and threw in some nerdy references (like Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc...) just for good measure! There was no shortage of explicit language and sexual references so definitely not a place to bring children. However, what really got me was that Elder Cunningham was the spitting image of one of my friends, personality-wise - right down to the dorky, misguided, trouble-making loveableness. Pretty uncanny!

The Book of Mormon

If you get a chance, definitely go check it out! It's one of those... you-have-to-see-this-at-least-once-in-your-lifetime type of events.

Just a sidenote about parking: If you're going to the Pantages Theater, don't buy a parking pass through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster charged us $12 for parking, but when we got to the parking lot, the sign said it cost $10 so we felt gypped!

JUICY BURGER
6340 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Juicy Burger - California Cheeseburger

After the musical, we went to eat at Juicy Burger, a few blocks down from the Pantages Theater. I ordered the California Cheeseburger, which came with guacamole, bacon and thousand island dressing. I really liked how they browned the bun so that there was a crunch, but the burger was so big that it was hard to bite. By the time I reached the end, the bun and bacon were soggy, but the first half of it was delicious!

SWEET! HOLLYWOOD
6801 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA, 90028

Sweet! Hollywood

About a mile down from the Pantages is the Dolby Theater, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the Hollywood & Highland Center for shopping. Inside the shopping plaza is Sweet!, every kid's dream candy shop. They really do carry just about every type of candy you can imagine... from regular Hershey's to custom-made chocolate bars and lollipops to foreign imported candy to high-end chocolates and Wonka and Harry Potter and other nerdom sweets.

Ferrari Gumball Machine

 They even had the world's fastest gumball machine powered by Ferrari!

Eminem Portrait in M&Ms

I got a kick out of the Eminem portrait made out of M&M's. There was a wall of different colored M&M's and another section with a variety of Jelly Belly flavors.

Jelly Belly - Draft Beer Flavor

To my surprise, I found they carried the new Draft Beer Jelly Bellies! Sweet! apparently just got them in stock when I was there because one of the sales guys didn't even know they had them. They're up by the register instead of with the other Jelly Belly dispensers (in case you're looking for them). And yes, they DO take like beer but with a sweet aftertaste.

CRUMBS BAKE SHOP
6801 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA, 90028

Crumbs Bake Shop

Also in the same plaza is a small Crumbs Bake Shop. I love Sprinkles Cupcakes so I was eager to try their rival.

Girl Scout Caramel Coconut (Samoa) Cupcake ($4.50)

I saw signs for their new Girl Scout cookie-inspired cupcakes and decided to bring home a Girl Scout Caramel Coconut Cupcake. (I really wanted to try their Thin Mint cupcake, but they were sold out. :[ ) I must say, I love how they package their cupcakes! The container holds the cupcake upright so there's no fear of them tipping over even if they get tilted in the bag. (Definitely better than how Sprinkles packages their cupcakes!)

Girl Scout Caramel Coconut (Samoa) Cupcake Cross-section

The Caramel Coconut Cupcake is a vanilla cupcake filled with caramel and topped with chocolate cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut, and a Samoa. Overall, this cupcake was too sweet for me, but I liked it in small doses. Although Crumbs' cupcakes are a lot bigger than Sprinkles' cupcakes, I'll have to try other Crumbs cupcake flavors before deciding which one I like more.

PINKBERRY
Various Locations

Sugarpova Toppings at Pinkberry

On our way home, we stopped to get sushi and Pinkberry for dinner. Sushi wasn't all that exciting so I won't blog about that, but I was surprised to find Sugarpova candies offered as toppings at Pinkberry. I had read about Sugarpova, a premium candy line created by the tennis star Maria Sharapova, but didn't see them in person until I stepped into Sweet! in Hollywood. I thought they were way overpriced at Sweet! so I didn't think anything of them.

Pinkberry with Smitten Sour Mini

But when I saw I could add them to my froyo at a fraction of the cost, I decided to splurge. I added both the Smitten Sour Mini belt candies...

Pinkberry with Flirty

... and the Flirty lip gummies. I'm not sure if the candies were sitting in the window for too long or if the frozen yogurt just froze them, but I found the Sugarpova candies tough and hard to chew. (I did save them to the end though because I didn't want the sweet candies to overpower the taste of the fresh fruit so it's entirely possible the candies just froze.) I wouldn't mind trying Sugarpova again just to be certain, but from what I gathered, the candy isn't worth the premium price tag in candy stores.

Overall, I had a wonderful time in Hollywood! An excellent musical with good company, lots of laughs, and delicious food? No better way to spend a day!