day 282: that's a nice rack you have

"That's a nice rack you have," the gentleman coyly said at the gas station. I was a bit startled, but quickly realized the double entendre in his statement. I imagine that he's had this statement in his arsenal for quite a while; waiting for the perfect moment when a girl would have a ski rack on her car.

I needed to clear out the junk in my trunk (haha) to make way for moving boxes. It's been four years since I've put the rack on my car. I hope it stays on through the ski season and is generously used. With the recent snowfall in NM and CO, it won't look as crazy driving across the desert with skis on my car. For now, it is quite hilarious to drive around SoCal.

day 281: Cafe Stella

Rod and Chadonna are a couple to admire. They are so comfortable in their relationship, it's a pleasure to see.

For me, Rod will always be that perfect junior high dance partner who grabs my hand, leads me out to the dance floor and slowly sways back and forth. :) He will be my conscience: the one tugging me away from the Pig and the Whistle on New Year's Eve.

Chadonna will always be my fellow Pisces cohort. Although she's a Snake, so she's a little more cunning than the Rabbit, but as a pair we're not to be reckoned with. She will be my fellow vampire book reader and first showing of a movie watcher. She will be my eternal wing man.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cafe Stella in Silverlake/Sunset Junction. It's like a little bit of Paris in LA. With dim lighting, bottles of wine on the sills and comfy benches, this little cafe is a gem. The Bordeaux we ordered was nice on the palate and not too dry. Rod and Chad had a variation on the steak. I don't think you can go wrong with any dish. I ordered the short ribs that fell apart as soon as my fork touched it. It was so tender, it must have been made in heaven.

day 280: American Girls

Jamie, Angela and I went to the Grove today. Gawd, the weather has been so nice lately. I kinda wish it would get cold so it would be easier to leave, but that's not going to happen. We had lunch at the Whisper Lounge where we once had a GNO (Girls' Night Out). After a nice conversation among close friends we walked the loop and it was my idea to go into American Girl. It's crazy in all of it's spectacular oddity. We enjoyed coffee (tea for me) at the Coffee Bean and sat in the warm sun. It's always lovely at the Grove, but this time it felt like a moment stolen from the dawn of time. Even though it was filled with people I felt like it was just the three of us hanging out.

I was accustomed to wearing heels for work, now you can see the tan line from my flip flops. Walking around all day in these little heels was a pain.

Only in LA are pooches pushed around in strollers.

day 279: Paradise Cove

For my job I would drive out to Malibu twice a week. I'm familiar with many restaurants along the PCH, so I was surprised to hear that I had never been to Paradise Cove Cafe. It's nestled in the Paradise Cove trailer park right on the beach just before Point Dume and Zuma Beach. This cafe is not pretentious, not touristy and not over priced. The food was delicious. We shared two appetizers and each had a drink. This was more than enough food for the three of us. The location felt like Mexico, because literally the tables and chairs are in the sand. It was a nice getaway from Los Angeles. Malibu is definitely a mental break from the craziness of LA.

Today I spent the afternoon with Fish and Amery. Fish and I met in Architecture 101 in undergrad.  We had to introduce each other to the class, and ever since we've been friends. We've live in the same city for about the same amount of time. There was one year when I lived in Santa Fe and she lived in Los Angeles. This next phase of our lives will be interesting. I know that she's a friend for life, but it will be strange not to have her a few blocks away.

day 278: a letter in the alphabet

 

Joanna and Bianca hosted a slumber party for Fish, Carla and myself. I haven't been to a slumber party in a long time (like since I was a little girl)
Joanna and I started with a marathon viewing party for Project Runway at 4:30pm. Earlier in the day we exchanged email about bringing food and Bianca assured us that she had enough food. I don't think she knew what she was in for. Joanna and I proceeded to eat a whole tray of snacks, just the two of us. We had to turn up the volume on the TV, because our crunching was so loud.  What can we say Bianca makes delicious food, so how could we not devour it? We enjoyed pizza from Mozza, and stove-top popped popcorn. mmm, mmm, mmmm
The night was filled with games. As a result, I'm gonna buy Catch Phrase. This game is hilarious. The best descriptions were "it starts with a letter in the alphabet" and "it's a word in a book" Awesome. I have not laughed so hard. It was definitely what I needed.  Sooooo much fun!
It was a bummer that my allergies started to affect me. As soon as I took an antihistamine I was out, both at night and the next morning. I had to cut out early the next morning, because I couldn't breathe. Thank you to Joanna and Bianca for hosting such a wonderful party. Thank you to Carla, Fish and Jeannie for providing all of the laughs.

This photo was provided by Bianca, I didn't take out my camera once. :O I've been so bad lately.

day 277: venison

Nowadays, it's rare that I go to west LA by car, but I made the exception for Brian and Kara. They invited me for dinner. I met Brian in graduate school. At 6'11" (just kidding, I don't know exactly how tall Brian is, but he's freaking tall) he feels like an older brother, and he sure does treat me like a little sister.

Kara prepared a delicious and tender venison. It was a wonderful evening among friends. Of course, I forgot to take out my camera, so here is a photo of Century City, the portal to west LA.

day 276: apart once before

I spent the night at Tim and Mark’s and had my first night of seven hours of sleep. It is so relaxing at their house. I’m able to mentally escape my situation when I’m there. It’s so nice. I was up before the sun rose and was able to cross paths with Mark before he left for work. I made breakfast and one-by-one all of the Jordan-Cohens came crawling up the steps. Tim took Steven to school, so Kristy and I had one-on-one time. We danced to the Wiggles, played with Playdoh and started the laundry. We enjoyed the beginning of lunch and just like that it was time to pick up Steven from school. After lunch and “because Auntie Prue was visiting” they didn’t have their nap and we finished Toy Story 2. After TS2, they took a nap and this was by far my most difficult good-bye. Filled with the non-stop questions of “Why? Why? Why?” I was bawling. I will miss these two little darlings, and I hope that they remember me. It’s always gets me in the heart when I hear them say, “Auntie Prue!”

 

After kissing them goodnight and saying good-bye to Tim, I took off for downtown. I met with Henry. My outings with friends have turned into a theme of trying new places. I figure that I know the places I’ll go to when I return for a visit, but the option I won’t have at home is trying new restaurants. We went to the Broadway bar, which amazingly I’ve never been to. It’s an historic staple in LA and nope, never been. Well that’s checked off the list. It’s a nice loung-y bar and would be great for a group. Henry remembered a recommendation of a Brazilian restaurant not too far from the bar called The Wooden Spoon. Wow! I hope this little restaurant survives these crazy economic times. The food was super fresh. We ordered a appetizer sampler and sangria. As our waiter described the sangria, we both said, “you had us at Sangria” It was a fusion of clover, cinnamon, raspberries, strawberries and red wine: very delicious. We picked two entrees: a chicken pot pie with the flakiest crust I’ve ever had and bacon wrapped chicken. Of course it was accompanied with morro, collared greens and plantains. It was a delicious comfort meal.

Henry and I have endured a few years of living in different cities before and I know that we will continue to be friends through this time. I’m so happy I was brave enough to send out the email searching for a roommate, oh so many years ago, and that he responded. I love these! I was wondering when I would be able to post them, and now seems appropriate.