playing hooky on a Wednesday

Ah, Friday night.  We've been to Maestro, we've come home and done some shopping online (thank you, gift cards!), and now, before I head to bed, I should get a blog entry posted.  Why not?  Should be fun!

The reduction in my workload to 90% has meant a lower salary, yes, but it also means more time off.  Given how summer is so so so so so very quiet at work, it was an easy thing to play hooky on an August Wednesday because Van had nothing planned.  Hooray!  A chance to go out and see the city somewhere and do something fun.  Conrad, by the way, was in Chicago, else we would have included him.  Anyway, even after 13 (13!!!!) years in SoCal, there is still so much I haven't seen, and one major attraction on that list was Griffith Park and the observatory.

So it was that very late on Wednesday morning, this handsome chap

and I

were in a car heading into LA and up into the hills separating the coastal bowl from the San Fernando Valley.  Past the Greek Theatre

(I'd love to get to a show there) and climbing up.  Parking was a small trek from our destination, but think of the step count!

Anyway, we enjoyed the observatory itself,

the fine structure inside and out, the Art Deco aspects of it,

the landscaping around it. 

We admired the views of the city on a hazy (not smoggy) day

and even of the Hollywood sign. 

I thought it was pretty cool to see.  We were struck by the variety of languages heard around us, which we took as a healthy sign of not just the diversity of LA but also of the tourism to the city.  I'd like to get back up there, especially now that I know that Conrad hasn't been.  One day!

We drove back down the backside, the north side, and found ourselves in the Toluca Lake neighbourhood for lunch, sitting in a corner booth at Paty's. 

A classic feel to the place, and if the food wasn't anything new or exciting, it certainly was satisfying.  The Trousdale sandwich for me,

turkey and Swiss with cole slaw on it, grilled.  Yum!

I still have some time unaccounted for this year, and that's good.  I'd like another hooky day or two, with Van or with Conrad or with both.  We shall see.  But what a nice summer midweek that was!

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! 

coming home from vacation

I could have rolled this entry in with the Tuesday of vacation entry, I concede.  But I think it's worth a separate reflection.

On the Wednesday, we flew home.  And it's that last word that's the interesting one here.  Home is where I live and where Conrad and Van and Olive are.  That makes home Pasadena.  But boy oh boy, do I have conflicted feelings about home and what it really means.  This bubbles up any time I come back from a trip to Canada, especially to BC.  Because that is what feels like home to me.

Because look, here was my morning walk.

And here's what I flew home to.

And while I have been at home in both, one of these speaks more to me than the other 

This is not a dump-on-the-US or on LA kind of post, no.  Just the admission that every trip to Canada takes an emotional toll that I often need at least a few days to recover from.  I posted earlier this week that it's been 25 years down here.  If I am still here in five years (very likely), then I will have lived half my life in the US.  I have already lived in California longer than I did in Chicago, and Pasadena is now the place I have lived second-longest in my life (and I haven't done the math, but I think that come September or some time then, it will be the place I will have lived the longest uninterrupted).  I have a great life here.

But I miss my country.  Simple as that. 

what's been going on?

How go things, Peter, you ask?  Oh, not badly.  Conrad is in Kentucky until later today.  Next week is spring break.  Things tick along.  I spent most of Wednesday over on the west side,

or so it felt, taking Van to an appointment, waiting for things to be done, then bringing him home an making sure he had food before coming back home.  I swam yesterday, which was good

- I'll miss that next week but try to be diligent the following week.  It rained a little here,

and there was a huge peal of thunder that had folks on Reddit wondering if there was an explosion somewhere (look at the dark skies, folks, that should be a clue).  Van and I have been watching a bunch of the current season of White Lotus (binge-worthy this season, far better than season 2, which I gave up on).

The usual?  Maybe not, but there you go, caught up!  Onward with April!

midweek jaunt to Eataly

The good thing about the library being closed is that I had the time on a Thursday to head over to the west side and go to Eataly with Conrad and Van.  Yay!  I've always loved that place in Chicago and NYC, and now I love it here, too.  Tarallini!  We needed it!

We got to Eataly in time for lunch, and rather than a counter, we went for full sit down service.  A good idea, as it turned out - customers in their seated dining areas received 20% off everything but alcohol.  And goodness knows we shopped today!  Van got some new Nick and Nora glasses.  We all picked up mortadella and tarallini.  Wine for Christmas dinner.  Van picked up a gin and some other spirits.  Cheese!  Chocolate!  Panettone!  We shopped very well indeed.

Lunch was good, though.  Some calamari and zucchini to share to start with,

and then I ordered a pizza with an artichoke cream, smoked mozzarella, crispy pancetta, and ricotta. 

Tasty!  I've badly needed decent pizza since U Street closed in September.

Shopping done, we had a loooooong slog home.  Weirdly long.  Ah well.  Rainbows - a double set - showed us the way.

Bullocks Wilshire

And now for something a little different:  an architectural tour!

A couple of weekends ago, the three of us

headed into Los Angeles before lunch time.  No, not into downtown, but out along Wilshire Boulevard to the Southwestern Law School campus.  One of the main school buildings is what used to be the Bullocks Wilshire department store, a revered LA icon for shoppers for decades.  Once a year they building is opened to tours (though there are private tours otherwise available), and Van jumped on the chance to buy tickets this year.  A guided tour by a librarian at the school,

a lunch up in the dining room, and an opportunity to see a building that is getting some reverential re-use - hooray!

And my gosh, is it any wonder why folks want to tour it?  What a glorious building. 

What beautiful details. 

I didn't take too many photos because I was drinking it all in.  It was a terrific tour (lunch was, well, lunch, and that was fine - we don't go to law schools for the fine dining!), and one I would recommend to other aficionados of such period pieces.

First we went for dinner...

What a fun Friday night.  Getting to a part of the metro that I had never been to before.  Dinner.  A show.  And making it home to the little girl well before the rain set in.  Thumbs up all around.

I guess that the area where we went was sort of Koreatown, but very edge of it or adjacent maybe.  Wilshire and Western area, which I know the Metro goes to.  The dinner?  In a sort of greenhouse structure on the pool deck of a hipster hotel on Wilshire. 

A place to return to:  Openaire. 

I will add this caveat before I dive into the food:  it was loud.  And it wasn't even that full or busy as early as we went.  Conrad and Van sat on the banquette with windows behind them. 

I had my back to the dining room and bar.  Normally Conrad cannot hear things well, but the number of times I had to lean across the table and ask Van especially to repeat things was a little ridiculous.  Ah well.  Different seats next time.

Drinks first, and I opted for the Heart of Gold. 

It was good.  The others enjoyed their drinks as well.  And then we all ordered our dear friend, The Last Word, for round two.

Our server, Frank (really excellent), recommended a family style approach, but I think each of the three of us is a little tired of not having a plate to ourselves.  So, other than the milk buns with nori butter

and the chocolate cake (which I didn't photograph), we each had our own thing.  Pigs ears for my starter,

something a little unusual and surprisingly rich.  It was a big portion, and even with Van and Conrad helping me, I didn't eat it all.  It was tasty, I promise.  My main was a small meal, a plate of sand dabs and not much more. 

Van had a fish dish as well, and we agreed that they cooked fish well there.

And then it was out into the street

and down Wilshire for the show.

I would go back, for sure, especially if there is an event at The Wiltern to attend.  I might sit in a different seat, but yes, worth a return.  A good dinner for us!