New Year's Eve

Phew!  Can you believe 2011 is almost over?!  What a year . . . but before I wrap things up for the year, I'll leave you with this lovely little duet . . .

Wedding #2 - Beachside Bash

D and I went to our second wedding this fall at the Catamaran Hotel in the Mission Beach neighborhood of San Diego. The wedding was of a good buddy of D's from college and we had a lot of fun catching up with old friends and I loved hearing a bunch of stories about D's "wild and crazy kids" days in college.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a ton of time in San Diego, as that was the same weekend as the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco. D and I don't have a lot of weekends off together, but the ones we do have, we sure push 'em to the max!

"If you're cool, than I'm cool, than we're cool"

I'm floating on cloud nine. D and I went to a super rad concert last night for one of my favorite R&B singers, Anthony Hamiliton.  I hadn't listened to his music in a long time, but while browsing upcoming concerts, I saw that he was going to perform at Club Nokia in downtown LA. I quickly emailed a link to the concert and asked if D would want to go with me. D said he hadn't heard of Anthony before, but would be down to go. I explained that Anthony was amazing and that he even performed on one of the early episodes of the Dave Chappelle show, that sealed the deal for D and I jumped online to get us tickets.

The days leading up to the concert, I listened to all of my old favorite songs by Anthony and listened to his more recent stuff too.  It was fun listening to my classic college jams, as it swooped my right back to being 20 and in full-swing college mode. I grew more and more excited, but was worried about us being out on a "school night" being too much strain on our busy work schedules. Plus, the last concert I had suggested, ended up in mixed results (ie - the Neon Trees fiasco at OC Fair). Finally, the night of the concert came and D and I headed to downtown.  We grabbed a couple drinks at the JW Marriott and then left for the concert venue. It was a really cool intimate club and the crowd was very lively and excited for Anthony to take the stage.  Once the music started, Anthony's voice was just as lovely and buttery as it is on record. The muscians were amazing and I felt like we were in the middle of gospel church with people all around us clapping and dancing and occassionally yelling out, "Sing It Anthony!!"  I heard all of my favorite songs and some of his new ones too.  Music is such a wonderful thing. I'm so happy we went to see him and feel lucky to be able to take advantage of the music scene here in LA.

If you would like to hear a sampling of Anthony's music, here's a link to a lot of his songs:

http://myplay.com/audio_player/myplay/56/443719/443736?allowBrowsing=1

My favorites are "Cool," "The Day We Met," "Her Hear," "Can't Let Go," "Mama Knew Love," "Charlene," "Since I Seen't You," "Comin Where I Come From" (The song he performed on Dave Chappelle) and "Lucille."  Looks like I've covered most of the list! 

Wedding #1 - Armenian Delight

Its been a busy wedding year for us!  Went to one in the summer, two in the fall, and have one last one to go to early December. D and I both enjoy going to weddings; who doesn't enjoy a festive atmosphere?! The first wedding we went to this fall, was in mid-September on a beautiful warm evening in Pasadena. The wedding was for D's medical school friend, who happened to grow up in a close-knit Armenian community in the LA area. The ceremony was at a lovely Armenian church, which was followed by an elegant outdoor reception at a mansion in Pasadena. I had never been inside an Armenian church before, but was interesting to note the difference between the interior of the church to the American Catholic churches that I had grown up with. The ceremony was split equally between Armenian and English, so we definitely go the gist of what was going on.  There was a really sweet part in the ceremony where the bride and groom rested their foreheads against each other and looked into each other's eyes and "breathed in each other's souls." After the ceremony, we headed to the outdoor gardens of a nearby mansion and were greeted with refreshing glasses of hibiscus lemonade. The food was outstanding and the bride and groom looked so utterly happy. My favorite part of the food was the gelato bar for dessert! A perfectly sweet ending to a lovely evening. Congrats M & A!

 

Half the Sky

Just saw an ad for this exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in LA and can't wait to go see it!

Women Hold Up Half the Sky

The exhibit is based on the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, including pictures, stories, and the beginning of a documentary! I've talked before about how this book really opened my eyes about the treatment of women and young girls in other parts of the world.  Highly recommend it if you're looking for a good non-fiction book.  A little heavy at times, but very inspiring.

I'll let you know how the exhibit turns out!

Wineos

D and I did an overnight trip to Santa Barbara wine country in July.  I recognize that it is now October (where the heck did all the time go?!), but I think it’s still fun to revisit our trip. I heart Santa Barbara and could definitely commit to living there. Its go beaches, mountains, and wine!  A fabulous combination with only occasional spouts of bad weather (June Gloom is pretty oppressive . . . but I guess that’s merely by Socal standards). Anyway, back to our trip . . .

We drove up from LA and went straight to the Santa Ynez Valley. D used to live in a small town outside of Napa, and since we hadn't made it to any wineries since we moved to SoCal, we were pretty over due for this trip. In fact, one of our first dates was an outing to some wineries in Napa! Without a particular route in mind, we kind of followed the same  trail that the wineos used in the movie "Sideways,” but luckily we avoided all of the kerfuffles that the movie's two main characters got into. My favorite part of visiting wineries, other than the wine tasting, is talking with the tasting room attendants. D and I are educated wine drinkers, but definitely not snobs about it. We really enjoy learning about the whole process of making wine and also all of the vineyard dramas that go along with it. My Alma Matter, Washington State University, began offering a Wine Business Management degree right after I graduated from grad school. Since leaving WSU, I’ve wondered if that major had been available while I was in undergrad, if I would have pursued it rather than my Hospitality Business Management degree. Hmmmm  . . .we shall never know! After our winery tour and checking into our little hotel in Solvang, we went to dinner at the Hitching Post (which was also in the movie and is a local favorite). Dinner was delicious and the Pinot was even better! The next morning we packed our car up with an array of clinking wine glasses and bottled concoctions, and made on last stop before heading home. We stopped in Solvang to sample their delicious butter cookies. Although we resisted buying the 5 lb. drum of cookies, we definitely snagged a few for the road, ending our trip on a wonderfully sweet note.

Bridlewood Estate Winery - just bought by Gallo Wines

Firestone Vineyard - Owned by the same family who started Firestone tires

Foxen Vineyard - They tried to sell us a Pinot that they called the "Watermelon Jolly Rancher"

Curtis Vineyards

Hitching Post in Buellton

 

 

Downtown Solvang

iSad

I'm not a Mac gal by any means, but I find myself deeply saddened by the loss of Steve Jobs, one of Apple's original founders.  I always admired him and enjoyed how he always strove to be a creative entrepreneur. While mourning his loss, I found the Internet and Facebook to be peppered with quotes, images, and remembrances in his honor. I found a video of a commencement speech he gave to Stanford University graduation in 2005. Although I can't remember who gave my commencement speech in my undergrad graduation, I did graduate in 2005, so I'd like to pretend that Steve Jobs was giving this speech to my graduating class. At the end of the video, he begins to talk about death and living every day like its your last, and I found myself getting choked up.  If I died tomorrow, would I be satisfied with what I've done so far? Am I really living my life to its fullest? Is my fear of taking risks, holding me back from finding my true passion in life? Am I happy with my career?  His message truly continues to be a wonderful inspiration and the world will miss his calm encouraging nature. I'm sure in Heaven he's stirring things up and continuing to encourage people to look at things outside the box.  In case you need a little inspiration or pick me up, here's the video that I was referring to:

Strawberries Galore

At the beginning of the Summer, when D and I magically had a day off together we decided to make a trek up north to Oxnard for the California Strawberry Festival.  We love those kitschy fairs and I think its a great way to celebrate the change in seasons too.  We drove up the scenic coast route and had a fun time taking in the sights along the way. The festival itself wasn't that big, but they had lots of booths with various themed items and snack. Of course, we felt obligated to try at least one of the strawberry flavored alcoholic beverages. So D opted for the Strawberry Beer and I tried the Strawberry Wine. I thought I was going to drink something similar to the "Strawberry Wine" Deana Carter style, but alas it ended up being more like cheap chardonnay with some "strawberry notes." D felt 'eh about his drink too, so instead we moved on to a make-your-own strawberry shortcake bar.  Pretty soon D and I reached our strawberry max and decided to head home before traffic got to insane. I got some great schwag before we left though!  Plus my dear friend Ckim is a strawberry fanatic and I picked up a few things for her too.

 

 

On a side note, we thought it was hilarious how the port-a-potties were marked . . . with a giant lift that said "TOILET" on both sides.  Guess, they didn't want people panicking while looking for a restroom.  Great job California Strawberry Festival!! Way to stay ahead of the game.

Getty

When D's dad was in town a couple weeks ago, we took him out for a full-day at the Getty Art Museum. But before we could head out to the museum, we decided to grab breakfast at Randy's Donuts.

Donuts were very good and fairly cheap too. After we had our breakfast and coffee, D and his Dad were talking about their Super Lotto tickets. As a joke, we decided to make a pact that if either of them won, then we would all split the winnings.  Not sure how I managed to sneak into that arrangement, but I happily agreed.  We took this photo to officially seal the deal. Oh and by the way . . . neither of them won.  Probably figured that one out by now.

Off to the Getty we went!  D and I went there once before with a friend, but got there pretty late to really soak everything in.  They have a great set of year-round art pieces and an interesting array of traveling shows. My favorite year-round pieces that they have are several pieces by Monet. I feel like its cliche to say that you like Monet, but I absolutely love his Haystack series.  They really speak to me for whatever reason.  I always like trying to guess what time of day it was, before reading the inscription.  Usually I'm off, but that's the fun in art, right?!

After looking around the exhibits and even going on a teensy tour, we walked the museum grounds and grabbed some fun photos. Oh and their was a traveling exhibit about trees in photographic art. While we were walking around the exhibit, I was explaining to D and J how one of my favorite books as a little kid was Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree."  We left the exhibit and were on our way to grab lunch, when J tapped me on the shoulder.  I turned around and saw that he was holding out a museum gift shop bag. As I looked inside, he said "I got the last one."  It was a brand spanking new copy of "The Giving Tree"!  I was so touched and started to get a little choked up, I gave J a big hug and said a quiet "Thank you."  (Side note: as soon as we got home from our excursions I ran straight upstairs to read it.  Still amazing as ever, but now that I'm older, it has a different resonating sound for me.  Its still sitting on my bedside table.  I don't have the heart to put it away)

Silly D and J

 

J's hero

I HEART BOUGAINVILLEAS!! I want these sculptures in my backyard

 

Fun day at the museum!  Can't wait to go back.

Truck Truck Truck

D's Mama was in town this weekend and while our weekend wasn't jam packed with events as previous visits, we had a fun time being mellow around town.  We tried a couple new restaurants in Redondo Beach and Santa Monica, I even dragged her to see "The Help" with me.  Verdict: good movie, better book.  Isn't that usually the case? 

Anyhoo, on Sunday we were watching the Food Network and the most recent season of The Great Food Truck Race.  I know that food trucks have a growing presence throughout the US, but there sure seems to be a lot of them here in LA. A couple weekends back, D and I went to the Long Beach Food Truck Festival and got to sample scrumptious snacks from several different trucks. There were over 30 trucks there, so D and I decided to strategize and eat only at trucks with offerings that we wouldn't be able to find elsewhere. We saw a couple of the food trucks from the first season of the Great Food Truck Race, including Nom Nom and Crepes Bonaparte, but we decided to try some of the other trucks. On a side note the longest line, of at least 100 people, was for the Grilled Cheese Truck. Believe me, I love a grilled cheese sandwich probably more than the average person, but for some reason sitting in that line didn't appeal to either of us. After much debate, D and I decided to eat at the following trucks:

• Auntie's Frybread (Native American Fusion) - mini fry bread sliders
• Lardon (Everything Bacon) - brownie bacon and mini bacon breakfast tacos
• Great Balls (variety of international food in "ball" form) - Ballywood Balls - Garam Masal Chicken balls with coconut curry and tomato and cilantro chutney
• Chunk-n-Chip (fresh cookies and ice cream sandwiches) - Ice Cream sandwich with White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookies and Pistachio Ice Cream filling

Run don't walk to your closest food tuck . . . oh and bring cash.  The truck folk greatly appreciate that.

 

 

Bacon Brownie and Bacon Breakfast Tacos

 

 

 

We didn't get to eat at the truck above, Brats Berlin, but I thought the truck looked really cool!  Beautiful weather, live music, beer tents, and yummy food.  After the festival, D and I promptly went home for a mid-afternoon nap.  Fabulous day!

Pioneer Woman

I can't remember if I've talked about her before or not, but D, myself, and his Mama were watching TV last night and I literally squealed when I saw this preview of a new show on food network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/the-pioneer-woman/video/index.html

She is a wonderful blogger and writes about her family, life, and cooking on an Oklahoma ranch. Thanks to my time in Pullman at WSU and also to the summer I spent in Northern Colorado, I have a country-side that I need to indulge now and again. Although LA isn't exactly the spot where a semi- sort-of country girl can get her fix, I have absolutely fallen in love with the Pioneer Woman's blog. She's a wonderful photographer and her writing makes you feel like your a girlfriend giggling about what's happened recently on the ranch.  I bought her cookbook and loved it too. Haven't tried too many recipes yet, as most of them aren't exactly low carb/fat friendly, but I'm hoping to use a family get together as an excuse to whip up one of her recipes.

I've got my DVR set!  Can't wait for her new show!!

Medieval Times = Awesome Times

A couple weeks ago, D and I went to Medieval Times in Anaheim.  It was my first time there and I loved it!  We went on a Sunday evening and it was completely packed. We got there a little early and sipped on some cocktails before the main event. Upon entering the "hall," we were crowned with green cardboard crowns and dubbed supporters of the Green Knight.  At the beginning of the show, we found out the Green Knight was the bad guy in the show and unfortunately ended up losing the final battle at the end of the dinner/show. On a side note, D ran into James Van der Beek in the bathroom.  D said he even sported his blue cardboard crown too!  Would we go to this show again?  Absolutely!  Especially since you can get discounted tickets on Goldstar.com