third weekend in November

Herb Alpert aside, how was the weekend?

Well, wet. 

This was Friday morning, before the rains really came.  I don't know the official amount for Pasadena, but I believe that over the course of late Thursday to early Tuesday, downtown LA got about 3.5 inches.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but it's an extraordinary amount for November even if November is part of our rainy season.  Yep, we got soaked.

Saturday was a quiet day, and I was showing Conrad my ideas for doing some redecorating around the condo in the new year when I got a call from the massage place.  Late for my appointment!  Yikes.  I had completely forgotten it, I blush to admit.  I headed over their as quickly as I could, had at least part of the appointment, then stopped in at TJ's for groceries and - hooray! - picked up the first poinsettia of the season. 

That brightens things nicely.

Van came by that evening, and the three of us braved a lull in the rain to head for an overdue dinner at Maestro.  Good to be back!  A Mezcal Campfire

to start my evening (and a Sancho Barrel Aged to end it). 

The three of us shared the roasted beet salad,

birria tacos,

and the tamal poblano

before finishing with the Oaxacan chocolate tart. 

And it was all so good and welcome.  We said hello to familiar faces, we had our own conversation flowing, and we ignored the brisk temperatures rushing in every time the door opened - we had the table closest to it!

The evening ended early, and then it was on to a rainy Sunday.

Actually, it wasn't super rainy when we got up on Sunday.  In fact, it was fine enough for a bit of a walk, ending with breakfast at Amara. 

Another welcome thing!  Conrad had packing to do, and I ended up making some banana bread loaves.  And then it was 2:00 and time for an online happy hour to catch up with Rick and Dave in Kentucky.  I was making South Side Royale cocktails,

the classic gin sour with mint recipe dolled up with some champagne.  They went down nicely.  After a leisurely couple of hours with the guys online, I worked to get dinner on the table, a chicken I had been roasting for some slow while. 

It will be leftovers of that for me this evening!

I looked at some travel arrangements for the new year after dinner, and that was that.  Sunday wound down, and the third weekend in November was over.