I love visiting Pasadena. Usually for the Rose Bowl flea market (the second Sunday of every month), which is so massive and overwhelming, you have to come with a game plan. My sister and I set up a rendezvous point (usually the beef jerky booth) and separate, knowing that going in a pair would merely slow us down. I always search for the same things: paper products (post cards, posters, images, books, whatever), glassware, and cool trinkets (like a vase shaped like a deer, or my
Piggy Jigger). Amanda usually heads straight for the clothes, which is in it's own separate parking lot. Afterword we go to Old Town to window shop and grab some lunch.
My other favorite Pasadena excursion is Huntington Gardens. In the summer the scent of roses is thick in the air, and the rose garden is usually my first destination. The cacti garden follows, mostly because they just look so cool and abstract. After a trip to the gardens, I celebrate the good weather with a burger and slice of the best pecan pie ever from Pie n' Burger on Lake Ave, just down the street from the gardens.
The burger is like a dressed up version of an In n' Out animal style burger: fluffy bun, delicious meat, topped with grilled onions, pickles, and thousand island dressing. It's perfectly satiating, hitting that burger spot. The fries are just as straightforward, crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle. But the pecan pie. Oh Lord that pie! We got a slice fresh from the oven, with vanilla ice cream melting down the sides, and it was beyond the beyond. Crunchy, sweet, nutty, caramally, gooey, oozy...all of my favorite words that end in "y." Make sure you ask for it heated up, because it makes a difference. So if any guys are reading this post, you have your perfect Pasadena date: a stroll around Huntington gardens, lunch at Pie n' Burger, and maybe an afternoon at the Norton Simon Museum. Enjoy!
The burger, with cheese and grilled onions.
Just look at this pie! 
The carnage!
In the summer, they have fresh fruit pies too. I can't wait to come back and try the ollallieberry (which is like a cross between a blackberry, raspberry, and dewberry)!
:.