pop-up at Maestro

Monday night is not a usual night for going out for us, and especially not to Maestro, which isn't open on a Monday (but did allow us a private patio booking when I turned 50 on a Monday in the middle of the pandemic).  But it was a special event, and I'm traveling again the next two weekends, and most importantly, Van was back behind the bar for one night only.

Ah, Van.  No, not Van, our Van.  Van from Maestro, pronounced as Von.  Super guy, great bartender, and you can tell the love for him both by the fact that the owners welcomed him back for an event and by the people who came in to enjoy drinks, light bites, and seeing Van again.

But I did come with our Van. 

Conrad, sadly, is out of town.  The cocktails were tasty - my first was the refreshing Rigo's Breakfast,

while Van enjoyed two rounds of the From the Mangroves and I made my second the Tostado.  There were live musicians,

and we enjoyed some tacos and a bit of guacamole.

And then it was home for an early evening and feeding the girl.  Tonight will be a quiet, early night as I've got a plane to catch at 7AM tomorrow!

paloma

Just a short entry, a photo of a refreshing paloma from yesterday afternoon when we got on FaceTime with Courtney and Robert to plan our time seeing them this coming weekend.  Yes, that's a blood orange slice, not a grapefruit slice or wedge.  In life, we make do with what we have! 

Sunday morning walks

Yes, walks.  It's always good when I get a chance to walk the little girl, for sure, but she's not the most vigourous of walkers, and a walk with her means lots of stop for her sniffing and doing her business.  So, this morning, I got myself out the door around about 7AM

and had my own walk of a couple of miles,

enjoying the quiet morning and admiring Halloween decorations before coming back to the house to pick up Olive and take her out.

Not as long a walk in total as yesterday (3 miles today versus 5.35 yesterday), but not too bad for an easy Sunday, right?

It's travel ahead this week, and I shall blog that when I'm able.  In the meantime, have a great week ahead, everyone, and a fine transition from October into November!

wrapped around her paw

Offered without much other comment:  Olive.

I love this little girl.  She has all three of us wrapped around her paw.

morning walk alone

Yes, alone, woe is me.  Conrad just landed in Boston shortly before I started this post, and Van would not be out of bed that early.  Nor would he walk that far, I think (nor Conrad, for that matter, not without grumbling).  So there I was, roaming the streets of Pasadena on a Saturday morning, setting out a little after 7:00.  The sun was coming up when I set out, and I loved the light as I passed through the loops of 134 and 210. 

And then it was on to the rest of the walk, a total of 5.35 miles that took me past the Rose Bowl and across the lovely bridge on Colorado and then to pick up breakfast to bring home and devour before I settled into a day of getting rid of accumulation!

Happy Saturday!

catching up with Stephen

Conrad and I have joked a number of times about the proliferation of Stevens and Stephens in our life.  Steven and Steven in Vancouver.  Steven in CT.  Steven in AL.  Glendale Stephen.  There are more.

We hadn't seen Glendale Stephen (and one of the only ones we know with that spelling to his name) in far too long.  I mean, Glendale is only one city over, it's not as if it's far.  But life is life and people are busy and such.  So it had been a while.

I pinned down Stephen to a midweek dinner last night.  Given our travel, midweek is the best time to meet up lately.  We met at Maestro, which I've been missing in recent weeks as well.  Before Stephen arrived, Conrad, Van, and I grabbed a round of drinks from Rigo at the bar,

then we got our table outside.  A mariachi band set up and played, the outside seating was busy.  I took no food photos, just enjoyed catching up.  A nice evening for the four of us.

Now then, Stephen, let's not let so many months go by again!

so, that happened

I really am down on myself about my swimming, I know.  Being a bit of a drama queen, for sure, but also, the swimming has been so few and far between, so inconsistent.  So it was that I made it to the pool today for the first time in (checks back...) two or more weeks.  It was ok.  It wasn't awful.  It was barely a mile.

Sigh.

Better than zero, right?  I'll try to be less hard on myself.

quiet week at home

Now isn't that a weird thing lately?  A quiet week at home, and fewer posts as a result.  Some modest, unphotogenic meals, watching The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise with Van the one night,

catching up on the shows that Conrad and I watch the other nights, reading.

Travel starts again in several days (and Conrad heads to the east coast on Saturday), so I will enjoy this lull.

as seen from the plane whilst flying home

A short post, as happens.  Just a few photos from the plane ride home this past Saturday, from Tampa to Los Angeles.  I had a window seat, and I checked out the scenery from time to time.

Starting with the "current view" post that I do sometimes on FB to be a little braggy about my travel.  Sorry.

So then, we crossed a section of the Gulf of Mexico, and I feel pretty certain that that is the Mississippi River delta there. 

If not, it's a bloody major river with those channels, and I can't think of another that it would be.

We flew in over the Texas coast, then it clouded over below us, and when I glanced out again, I thought, huh.  That's a city in the desert down there.  Phoenix?  As it came into view, I recognized Tempe.  Hey, ASU! 

My alma mater.  For my doctorate, that is.

And then downtown Phoenix came into view.

I went back to reading until we were coming up parallel to the 210 as we approached LAX.  I picked out a few things I knew, including Pasadena, but took no photos.  By that point, honestly?  I just wanted to be home.

conference recap-ish

I'm not going to do a full conference recap.  By that I mean, there's no point in talking about sessions (though it was nice to see posters

- I love poster sessions - 

and I thought John did an especially good session on AI in education. 

On the other hand, whoever the moderator of the one panel I went to was, she needs to stop being so awestruck about her conception of the weather in Canada - that really put me off the whole session, so annoying).  Instead, let me feature the great folks I connected with.

There was Kathy. 

And there was Steven. 

Two past presidents of AASL, two current members of the ALA Executive Board.  Yep, bigwigs.  I run in rarefied company, apparently.  Or something like that.  I got a good bit of time with Kathy this past weekend, including one dinner, which was nice.

Emily was there, our ALA president. 

Great to see her, and big cheers for her in a year when she's been unfortunately embattled.

Jenn! 

One of my grad school classmates.  I saw her in Louisville back in 2019, and I hope to see her again in St Louis in 2025.

Carl. 

Diane. 

A past AASL president, and a past Executive Board member who has been prominent in the division.  Lovely people.  Big wigs again!

Terri,

another former Executive Board member.  She took me under her wing to go for lunch, and that was a treat.  I love catching up with her.

Sara! 

Sara is a delight.  I've worked with her a bunch over the years, and it was good to see her.  She invited me to her book launch party,

complete with a big cake

(and yes, Kathy was there, too). 

What a nice evening that was, and congratulations to her.

I saw others, too:  Barb, Sylvia, Kathryn, Jennison, and more.  Apparently I know more people in the school library world than I had realized.

All in all, a good conference.  Some great content, but very important overall to go in a support colleagues in a state where they have been under fire from the governing regime.  Two years until the next one.  I worry about how school libraries will continue to be attacked in the interim.

birthday/anniversary

The end of October is a special time of year.  No, not Halloween.  I don't give the slightest care about that day.  I won't rain on others' enjoyment on it (and that means a hearty FU to anyone who does that to my enjoyment of Christmas - let each of us enjoy what we enjoy), but I won't join in.  No.

Instead, late October means anniversaries - of the first date that Conrad and I had and then of our wedding - and Conrad's birthday.

And this year, I was out of town for two of those three events.

Conrad did go out for dinner to Perle with Natasha on his birthday and while I was in Tampa.  I was happy to see the photos from that. 

It's not a milestone year, but I am sorry I missed celebrating that one.  He had a good time, though.

Today is our wedding anniversary.  Twelve years.  And we took it easy.  Some housework, a nap.  A breakfast at Amara. 

And then I made us dinner.  Some scallops on a really good, savoury carrot puree and thoughts of how I could have done that differently to make it a better meal. 

Dessert was nice:  olive oil cake with a citrus and rosemary creme anglaise, blood orange sorbet, and a bit of an almond praline. 

We had cocktails before dinner and some Pinot to follow.

A nice Sunday night for the two of us, a nice little loving celebration.  I can edit the food in my head but appreciate that we had the day together so nicely.

Tampa

Sigh.

Look, I'm not going to editorialize.  If you know me, you know me.  And you should know that Florida, in general, is really not a place for me for many reasons.  Sorry.  There are fine people here, nice places to dine, lovely parks, all kinds of things.  But it's not for me.

However, I don't care to make this blog a place for negative reviews and experiences.  My life has those, for sure, but no, I'm not sharing them here.  So yes, I'll put a positive spin on things, and yes, I'll say nice things.

I flew in on Wednesday, circling out over past St Petersburg and then on into Tampa. 

40 years since I first and last flew in here, on a vacation with my Dad and sister.  Things have probably changes since then - I only have dim recollection of St Petersburg Beach and none of Tampa airport at all.  From the airport into the downtown of the city where I had a view of, well, a parking garage and a little of the Hillsborough River beyond. 

After check in, I walked a little nearby, checking out the immediate surroundings.

Last night - Thursday night - I walked across the river to a restaurant not far from the University of Tampa campus,

I took a few more shots. 

The downtown is a little indistinct, perhaps, but that may also be unfamiliarity on my part.  Not unappealing, however, and it does have a real city feel to it.

I went a little farther afield this morning, heading north on the river walk past more buildings and parks. 

All cities should have such features.  It was a very nice walk, indeed - I'll follow it south tomorrow morning, I think.  I took bridge photos for Conrad as well - I thought he might geek out on them a bit.

And then tonight it was a reception at the Florida Aquarium, from which we had a fine view around sunset.

I won't see much more of Tampa, barring greater adventures on tomorrow morning's walk.  There is some interesting history here.  There is a thriving city.  I don't know if and when I will visit again.  I still am ambivalent about Florida, but it was good to see Tampa all these later.