third weekend in June

Hello!  Several days away from the blog for no particular reason.  But I'm back with the past weekend update to share before heading off to conference this coming weekend.  I was originally scheduled to fly out on Wednesday, but I had to move things back a couple of days.  Tonight it will be a red-eye cross-country for me.  Ugh.  My Saturday at conference will be painful, I am sure!

So, back to a week ago....

Friday night was very casual and easy.  Normally we would go to Maestro, but we had a lot of leftover food in the fridge to deal with, so we stayed in.  No photos of the leftovers, and I'm not sorry about that, but here's me with a can of pink wine!

Saturday morning was a long walk. 

Over 8 miles, I think.  I've had a lot of long walks lately (I made it past ten miles yesterday).  I met Conrad

at Amara for a light breakfast

and my usual decaf latte. 

Saturday evening was over at Van's for dinner, sitting outside with cocktails, enjoying each other's company. 

He had an early flight the next morning, and it won't be until Sunday that I see him in Philadelphia.  Conrad will join us there on Monday.

We took Van to the airport and then came back to the house to take Olive out for a walk. 

I spent time on the Sunday in the kitchen, making up a strata

for the week's lunches then later cooking us up steak for dinner. 

Olive was very interested in that! 

It was a cocktail before dinner, then a delicious Italian red with the steak. 

We sat outside again and had a nice evening of it.

Not much to report since then.  Evenings over at Van's, basic dinners, long morning walks.  And now it's tidy up things at the condo before I head out late this afternoon! 

June reminder

Never forget:  Olive is a beautiful girl.  That is all.🐶😀❤️

another Thursday dinner at Julienne

I really am delighted that Julienne has been doing some summer dinners.  Two weeks ago it was burgers and Bordeaux.  Last night was their Elegante dinner, and what a lovely evening it was.  No rush to it again.  A mild evening that cooled off as we went along.  These lovely men. 

And good food!  I liked my salad,

I liked my lemon tart

(though I think Van's peach dumpling was the dessert winner last night), and I LOVED my swordfish. 

It's not an easy fish to get right, and my gosh, did they ever!  A parmesan crust kept the fish tender, so nicely cooked, and the rest of the plate complemented it well.  Oh, kudos to them for the rolls as well

even if the currant and rosemary combo put me in mind of Christmas, not the day before the start of summer.

I'm looking forward to our next time there, in July, for another burger night.  If this is our Summer 2025 tradition, then... great!! 

recent walks

If you go back, you'll see that several weeks ago, in early May, I was "enjoying" my second time round with COVID.  It was annoying in part because I had just come back from several days in Chicago where I was getting in some really wonderful morning walks, increasing my activity.  So, early May was a setback.

But I have come roaring back!  I've upped my mileage in June, and after a restful, lazy day off this past Sunday, it's been on the go again.  7.19 miles on Monday, 8.07 on Tuesday, 8.19 yesterday (and a clumsy trip and fall - I hate when that happens), and then this morning (wonderful June Gloom returned, making for a cooler walk, plus it's a holiday) a whopping 11.35 miles.  I won't be doing that every day, and I rather think tomorrow will be a lot less as a recovery day - I'm old, you know!

But it's been good to do.  I've been mostly walking without music, saying good morning to people as I cross their paths.  I haven't been taking photos of every plant or other thing that catches my eye most days, though I caught a shot of the aftermath of last weekend's chalk art festival when I was passing through the Paseo Colorado yesterday. 

This morning, though, I did pause to snap a few photos as I wandered through the Caltech campus

and then past Pasadena City College. 

I haven't been past the latter in ages, so that was nice to do.

Oh, I will be so stiff and sore later, I am sure! 

bachelor party cocktails

That time of the month again, when the happy hour gang gathers online, drinks (at least somewhat) thematic cocktails and other beverages, and catches up.  Because Chris and Allister are a little more than two months away from their wedding, we chose Bachelor Party as our theme and drank accordingly.

I actually liked what Rachel did, quaffing a beer.  I seldom drink beer, though, so cocktails it was.  Round one took some mental leaps:  the distaff equivalent to the bachelor party is the bachelorette party, which in the UK would be called a hen party or a hen do.  So I present the Sage Hen, a nice little gin sour that I'll go back to again some time. 

Conrad liked it, too (Van couldn't join us).  Round two:  the Best Man. 

A variation on a Boulevardier that added some chocolate liqueur and bitters.  I'll make that one again some time as well.

July will be spritzes!  That should be fun. 

second weekend in June

After a week apart because of his travels and mine, Conrad and I were reunited.  I picked him up at Burbank Airport, got him home, got changed, and we headed over to Maestro for what felt once again like a horribly overdue dinner at our favourite local place.  Seated at the bar, some queso

and then some octopus

and then the cochinita pibil all to share,

we caught up.  It was a happy thing to do.  I have had such lovely days last week with Van, but I did miss Conrad.

Alas, it was a weekend to miss Van.  He ended up not feeling well, and stayed in.  I hope we see him soon.  I had planned a dinner for Saturday that I ended up moving to Sunday:  some fish served with a tomatillo and pumpkin seed sauce,

homemade bluecorn tortillas. 

Tasty.  Saturday, though, I tossed together a pretty basic pasta for dinner, and we sipped Vespers

and watched Top Chef.

I'll add that Saturday morning was a walk for us, not a long one, and then Amara for breakfast. 

Good to be back there as well! 

I do enjoy their decaf oatmilk lattes.  :-) 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

It wasn't our original plan, no.  Conrad, Van, and I are trying to give each other experiences for Christmas rather than things, an since Van is a national parks enthusiast, I thought it would be great to take him to one that he hadn't visited before.  So I booked us flights and a car and a hotel room, and we were going to go to Crater Lake in May.

And then we all went to the Grand Canyon in January, and Van once again had a bad experience dealing with the altitude.  Poor man.

Crater Lake sits at about the same (or perhaps higher) elevation as the Grand Canyon (and higher than Boulder, where he's had problems before).  That wasn't going to work, alas.  I had to pivot.  And pivot I did.  All the way to Ohio.

It was funny and a little sad and, frankly, kind of shitty how people would react when we told them we were going to Cleveland, to Ohio.  It's as if we had picked not just a weirdly random place, but one that is associated with Rust Belt decay and too little going for it.  Which is a shame, and I wonder how many of those people have ever been to Cleveland anyway.  And you know what else Ohio has going for it?  A national park, one of only three in the Midwest (I've not been to the other two).  And a national park at about or even below the elevation that Pasadena is at.  A national park that Van had never visited (nor had he been to Cleveland - he had, curiously - been to Dayton, however!).  And that lovely national park, Cuyahoga Valley,

was our destination for a two-night stay.

We rolled up to the historic Inn at Brandywine Falls late in the afternoon. 

See all that green?  We don't get that here, not outside of well-watered neighbourhoods, and even then, it's not the same.  The old inn was charming, ramshackle in a delightful way. 

Our suite was one half of the restored barn building, and it was similarly cozy and a hodge podge of things. 

We had some light left in the evening, and time enough before a dinner reservation in nearby Hudson, so we walked over to view the falls from the top,

then came back to freshen up for dinner.

Vicky from the Inn had suggested Rosewood Grill in Hudson as a good dinner option, and she was right.  In fact, we went both nights we were at the Inn though I didn't take photos from the second dinner.  But that first night we shared deviled eggs

and each had Boulevardiers,

and I made a meal of a pork chop with peach glaze and some roasted asparagus. 

Satisfying!

If you know me by now, you will guess that I left Van to sleep in (and boy, did he ever!) and headed out on a walk. 

There was the threat of rain later in the day, so I made a circuit down one side of the creek gorge and back up the other side,

crossing back over above the falls. 

Again, so green. 

 

Wow!  No blue skies like the day before, but it was still lovely.  I came back, joined the other guests (save for Van) for breakfast, then came back to the room to relax until he got up.  That?  Was after noon.  He needed the sleep, I guess, and besides, it was pouring rain at that point.  Eventually we got out the door and over to a Starbucks before heading to a few points in the park to get photos, see the sights, and appreciate it all.

Another nice dinner that evening, and then back to the Inn.  Oh, look:  deer!

I got up early the next day,

looked at how much time I had, and decided I would be ambitious, mix in a little jogging, and head to the Boston Mills

visitor centre

and back.  A little over five miles round trip, and not a soul to be seen for almost all of it.  Tranquil, and calming, at least until I came upon the half-consumed fawn.  Then I thought, hmmmm.  Anyway, I got some shots there and on the way back (including from near the bottom of the falls)

and made it back with minutes to spare before dinner, sweating profusely as I made small talk with a different group of guests than the day before.  As for Van, I got him up about an hour or so before check out.  Rain had again come through while we were in the room.  Starbucks, and then back to Cleveland for us to relax in a lounge at the airport

and eventually fly back to LAX.

I'm already thinking on where to take him next year....