Thursday night sushi

Remember when Conrad and I used to regularly do Thursday night sushi?  Our habit hasn't been much in place lately.  Weird spring!  Ah well.  Anyway, this past Thursday, Conrad flew home from Chicago and then had to contend with World Cup traffic on the way home from LAX.  That ride took 1.75 hours.  Yikes.  A lot.  Because of that, I wanted him to have an easier evening of it (and the same for me).  We took ourselves to visit our friends at Mama M Sushi for dinner sitting outside there, watching the world go by.   And, as ever, it was good.  Agedashi tofu,

shishito peppers,

a sashimi assortment. 

Tasty!

It had been an odd week.  Van was ill most of the week, so we spent little time together.  I was at home alone more than I might usually be, eating simply, going to bed early.  Getting back to Mama M again was a nice little way to bring a short week to a close and welcome Conrad home. 

sushi night!

Another short entry in a series of short entries.  Blogging, what a life!

Anyway, Thursday night was sushi night out with Conrad. 

We actually haven't got sushi in a few weeks, so it was nice to do so, and even better to not do takeaway but go sit at the restaurant and have things come out at the right temperatures and freshly made.  We wandered over a while after I got home from work, sat outside to watch the world go by, and had a good meal at Mama M.

No shishito peppers to start with tonight.  Sitting at the restaurant meant we could have agedashi tofu fresh from the kitchen. 

Yum!  From there, we proceeded to some premium sashimi, and they delivered. 

It was especially good, which makes it seem as if there are times when it isn't, but no.  Maybe we were just in a mood and spirit to really enjoy slowly and appreciate.  Maybe the fish was better.  It was excellent, though.

And we had an avocado roll. 

It's not dessert, but the unctuous filling makes it feel that way.

A nice Thursday evening.  What a weird week - I was on campus every day this week.  Pre-pandemic, that was my life:  five days a week at work.  But nowadays?  Ah well.  Onward with the weekend!

Amara/Mama M

I'll soon have to grab a small suitcase from the storage locker and get to packing for a couple of nights away.  Conrad and I have been for a short (2-mile) walk, and have had coffee, and it's still a while before Van picks us up to head to the desert, though.  So, let me post quickly from yesterday.  Warning:  it was a very mild day.

What did we do?  In no particular order, then.... A little laundry and dishes.  Some things online.  Fixed the blinds in the front room.  Read and listened to music.  Watched Rental Family during and after dinner.  Went for a walk and then another with Conrad.  Takeaway sushi from Mama M. 

Breakfast at Amara.

  

I'm delighted that Amara and her husband have said they'll come to our party in May.  Yay!  Meanwhile, I look forward to the next time I see Chef Jack and his wife, Joy, at Mama M so that we can share more of our Thailand planning with them.

Alright, Van has messaged.  He is awake!  Now to get things organized to head out of town until Tuesday. 

long weekend in January

And how did the past long weekend go otherwise, Peter?

Not too bad!

Friday night was at Maestro with Van.  I took just the one photo (queso fundido)

before deciding I wanted to simply eat my dinner.  We came back to the condo after that to watch some Drag Race.  A nice easy evening.

Saturday morning I got up for a walk, and the early light was tinting the buildings with pinks. 

Lovely.  Conrad eventually joined me, and we ended up at Amara (shocking, I know).  Nice start to the weekend. 

We actually got some things done at home in terms of sorting and discarding papers.  The mail had a nice little surprise from Courtney and Robert's recent trip to the UK. 

That was a delight to find in the mail.

Sunday!  Online drinks on Sunday, and really, there isn't much more to report.  After we finished the drinks we had a dinner of pasta and salad, and that's that!

Yesterday (because yesterday was the holiday), I set out in the morning for a short walk,

feeling a little lazy.  Most of the day I enjoyed doing some reading, but we went over to Maestro for a little while in the evening to pay our respects to a recently-passed staff member there before popping into Mama M for a very fast meal at the sushi bar,

chatting with Chef Jack about travel plans to Thailand later this year.  It was a quick dinner because we were expecting our friend and former neighbour Violet

and her two sisters

to come by for desserts and drinks.  They showed up shortly after 8, and we got caught up over Last Words and lovely little cakes. 

Violet's sister Nancy was celebrating her birthday, so we celebrated that as well.

Really terrific to see them.

A bit of a late night because of our visitors, but that's ok.  I'll go to bed earlier tonight if I can!

And now on with the week ahead, which should be relatively quiet again. 

and… we are done!

Well, mostly.  There are knickknacks to go back on book shelves, and I want to think about those more.  But we are done.  We looked at everything (or so we thought - we later discovered we had forgotten an inconsequential box, weeded out a lot, packed the rest up.  

It was after 6 when we were done.  We finally showered and headed over to Mama M f

or a thoroughly satisfying dinner there.  Tofu!  

Shishito peppers!  

Sashimi!  

It was good.

But ahhhhhhh…. I love and miss Christmas, but I am so glad to be done!

Mama M on a Friday

I know, I know.  Usually Friday is for Maestro.  But we had a gift card burning a hole in our pocket, so we decided to switch things up and go enjoy Mama M.  And not takeaway either!  We actually went over and sat outside, shared a bottle of wine, and had ourselves a lovely time of it. 

Agedashi tofu,

shishito peppers,

avocado roll,

and an amazing platter of premium sashimi. 

Jack and Joy, the owners, each came along to chat with us, which was lovely.  And then we came home where Conrad read and I did a few more last-minute Christmas things.  I ended the night by lying on the couch, falling asleep in the glow from the tree. 

sushi with Conrad

How about this to ease into a few days ahead of weekend but also of blogging:  sushi with Conrad when he got home on Tuesday evening.  He had been in Michigan, visiting his family, and he managed to get home without overall delays, happily.  So, by 7:00 or so, we were over at Mama M, sitting in for a dinner rather than taking away.  Amaebi, for sure - those shrimp heads were hot and crispy from the fryer. 

But we also opted for an oyster and sashimi platter for a change, and that was a great choice. 

The good people at Mama M gave us some shishito peppers, which we loved. 

Alas, I found the hot ones - a few in a row!  That left my mouth burning for a while.

Conrad and I shared a bottle of wine and caught up,

and all was good in the world for one night.  A lovely time of it. 

first weekend in August

I'll be getting to the BC trip blogging throughout the week, but I'm chiming in quickly with the weekend update for this past weekend first.  Some of the usual suspects, you will be SHOCKED to read, I am sure.  

Friday night, as you might guess, was at Maestro.  Our friends there kindly and belatedly celebrated my birthday with a shot for each of us

and then a candle with the tres leches carrot cake. 

That was lovely of them.  The mezcal negronis were delicious,

and the quesadillas and the burritas were satisfying. 

The three of us came back to the condo after that to watch another episode of the most recent Stanley Tucci in Italy season, and then Van headed home to take care of the LG.

Saturday morning I did a moderate walk without Conrad, then had him join me for a short walk together.  Which means a block or two extra before getting to Amara for breakfast.  As is the case recently, I ate lighter, just the chicken empanada for me while Conrad had his favourite, the breakfast croissant,

and then it was home with us so he could get packed.

Ah, yes, Conrad is out of town.  In NZ.  For work.  For almost two weeks.  Darn him.  It was a slog to get to and from the airport on a Saturday afternoon, but he's worth it.  I fixed myself an Industry Sour cocktail

when I got home to sip while I did some stuff online, then I grabbed some sushi to go

from Mama M and had a night to myself, digging in to the new season of Project Runway before heading to bed.

I have no Sunday photos, alas.  A walk, some oatmeal, a bunch of decaf, some writing done, a chicken slow roasted in the oven, then over to Van's for the rest of the day.  It was a nice Sunday, though.  I felt accomplished, I felt relaxed.  That's a nice balance I feel I so seldom achieve.

Alright, on to the BC blogging....