two cuties

Yep, a reminder that Olive is so pretty, so adorable.  And so is Conrad!!😉 

burgers and Bordeaux

Summer means a return to the Thursday night burger dinners at Julienne.  Hooray!  Last night was the first of a few opportunities we have planned this summer, and it was a nice evening for it.  A hot day turned into a comfortable evening sitting in shorts and a short sleeve polo-style perforated shirt.  Despite a service hiccup (a nice kid taking care of our table, but having to ask after the wine we ordered and not getting it until after the first course was not the best service), we had a good evening of it.  Conrad and I regaled Van with tales of recent viewings of condos, catching him up on our slow process of trying to find a new place to live.  We enjoyed the three courses,

headed back to his house, watched an episode of Stanley Tucci in Italy, went to bed early.  Nice evening.

Ah, photos!  Gazpacho as my starter, and that was a welcome starter indeed on a summer day. 

I opted for the salmon cake burger instead of a beef burger (we're grilling at Van's on Sunday, after all), and I liked it. 

A wee but dry, but the aioli served with the fries did nicely slathered on the salmon.

Oh, I should add that neither Van nor I opted for the Bordeaux.  Conrad did, though! 

And now on to the weekend!! 

flowers on the morning walks

I go through phases with my walking.  Sometimes I take photos of everything that catches my eye.  Sometimes I'm just out walking for the sake of walking.  Sometimes I listen to music.  Sometimes I listen to CBC Radio programs.  It varies.

Lately it's been more walking for the sake of walking and not so much admiring the things on the walk.  And that's OK.  But I have noticed a few things at least.  A couple of days ago it was this fantastic Cereus cactus bloom in a yard. 

Yesterday it was this glorious perfumed passionflower (and a bunch more of them). 

Lovely.

The step count is going well this month, too, happily! 

Jeni's

It was weekly television date night last night, and for part of it we once again got out of the house.  Dinner in our bellies, and before we watched what turned out to be a really not good movie, Van and I hopped in his car and headed over to the Highland Park neighbourhood of LA to a storefront location for Jeni's ice cream.  It's a cool, funky neighbourhood, sort of hipster, some great old buildings along and just off Figueroa.

I like ice cream, believe me.  It's a nice treat.  It's also not something I seek out a lot.  For one thing, my teeth can be a little sensitive to the cold.  For another, I find so many flavours a little boring, to be honest.  The cold dulls the intensity of flavours, and that doesn't help.  Van, however, LOVES ice cream (and, you know, Conrad really likes it a lot as well), and I was happy to tag along.  Besides which, I've enjoyed some of the Jeni's flavours found in the grocery store.  They're a little different without being too out there, and I appreciate that.

A cup for me, a cone for Van. 

He ended up with a super dark brownie batter ice cream and a honey vanilla.  I didn't mind the chocolate one - I usually don't care for dark chocolate ice cream (and I find chocolate flakes or chips to be a distraction from a good ice cream, by and large).  I went with two seasonal flavours:  the watermelon taffy and the strawberry pretzel pie. 

Not what I might normally get - I like caramels and similar flavours, especially if there is a little salt in it.  But the watermelon was like an intense sweet and sour candy, and the strawberry pretzel pie was reminiscent of a cheesecake.  Not a bad combo.

After we finished our treats, Van picked up four pints of assorted flavours, and it was home to Olive.  Nice little excursion on a warm summer night, though! 

third weekend in July

Hey, it's the weekend update!  Lucky y'all, right?  Here we go!

Friday started out with me doing a mighty mighty long morning walk:  just shy of ten miles.  I was understandably a little worn out the rest of the day, but I rallied for dinner at Maestro.  No Van this time - he was a little under the weather - but we did have a nice time with Stephen. 

Ah, Stephen, someone we didn't see often enough despite him living just over in Glendale.  And now he is all packed up and moving to Texas.  This week.  We wish him well there, what with the new job and being much closer to his daughters and grandson.

Anyway, it was a nice evening outside. 

I stuck with the Maestro margarita, a hibiscus-flavoured drink, and we shared some good food:  guacamole with plantain chips, oysters, the roasted beet salad, and the cochinita pibil.  

I really love that last dish.  Yum!

Conrad and I came home from dinner, poured a little wine, watched some television.  An easy Friday done.

Saturday started out with less walking than the day before.  And, of course, we ended up at Amara.  Rather than having my usual arepa, I split a breakfast burrito

with Conrad. 

Have no fear:  there was a decaf latte for me.

Saturday then unspooled through a day of groceries, some laundry, and tackling some of the accumulation in the one storage room.  That felt good to get done.  Eventually I took up residence in my kitchen where I cobbled up from dim memory a lentil and bacon tart

to serve at room temperature for dinner and served that along with a salad platter (no lettuce - we are being wary of that like many other people) of burrata with crispy prosciutto, tomatoes, nectarines, basil, and mint. 

We had barely finished when Erik from next door showed up at the door to say hello.  That turned into a longer evening with him and his friend, Barry, joining us.  And then, because the dishwasher is on the fritz, I was up until after 11 washing and drying all the dishes by hand.  A lot of time on my feet despite a shorter walk that day, and man oh man, was I exhausted by the time I went to bed.

I let myself stay in bed longer yesterday, and our morning walk was meager.  It was nice to get a morning with some oatmeal and decaf and writing a few notecards to friends.  I made some dinner for Conrad to reheat tonight while I'm at Van's, then set to work on the happy hour cocktails.  That was fun.  Van stuck around for sushi after drinks, and then he headed home while Conrad and I finished up with some travel planning we'd been doing earlier in the day.  To bed after that.

Just a rather ordinary, easy weekend for us.  Nice to have! 

July online happy hour: early 80s

It's later on Sunday night, and I should go to bed soon.  Dishes are done - and bloody heck, why did the dishwasher have to go on the fritz? - Conrad is upstairs.  I'm checking in before bedtime myself.  I'll summarize the weekend in another post tomorrow, but for tonight, let's just focus on the July online happy hour.

The theme today:  early 80s music. I took liberties with that.  We all did.  And there were good drinks to enjoy.  I ended up making five for us to try. 

Ranking them from least favourite to most...

The Thirsty Like the Wolf.  Cranberry juice (not cocktail) and lime juice made for a tart, even bitter drink.  Add some sweetener for balance, and this might be good.

The Dead or Alive.  Conrad liked this one most, but he didn't finish all of it.  A weird combo on paper that worked.  Kind of chocolate-y.

The Hungry Like the Wolf.  A bourbon drink made lighter in part by the healthy amount of ginger beer.  Surprisingly refreshing, and maybe more of a drink for another day.

The New Moon.  Because Duran Duran, right?  New Moon on Monday!  A gussied up G&T.  I think Allison made this one as well and liked it.

The Sweet Dreams Are Made of This.  A vodka sour that used a lychee liqueur and had club soda to lighten it up.

It was a lively, enjoyable online happy hour, and I managed to find a good variety of drinks.  I might not do the Thirsty again, but otherwise, they were good.  We shall see! 

persimmons

Happy Saturday!  Just wanted to share a photo I took on my morning walk yesterday.  Good walk, too!  I was out the door a minute or two before 5AM and managed 9.82 miles.  It's nice walking around where Van lives - a prettier, mostly residential area and (sorry, but true) less chance of running into and being accosted (or assaulted - it's happened!) by an unhoused person.  Maybe a greater chance of seeing a coyote, though.

Anyway, good walk, and as I ambled along, I caught sight of branches hanging almost over the sidewalk, laden with fruit.  Green fruit, not yet ripe.  But a handsome crop of persimmons coming along on the tree. 

I love how there are fruit trees like that and pomegranates and citrus fruits and loquats in so many yards.  Gives me real estate envy even more than I already have.