first weekend in August

How about I check in on things from a week ago?  Sounds about right for the way this blog goes most of the time lately, right?  It's been a very easy, lazy Saturday, and even then, I've only just found the wherewithal to get some things written and posted.  Nicely done, Peter!

Alright then, a week ago yesterday.  Starting out with a good long walk since I didn't have a morning commute to be mindful of.  Over 11 miles that morning.  Yep, a great way to end my July step count.  I was pretty pleased with that.

The workday at home proved uneventful, and before we knew it, it was done.  We weren't at Maestro right at opening as we sometimes are, but we were seated at the bar not long afterward. 

I haven't been indulging in Mezcal Campfires much lately, but I did have one that evening. 

Calamari

and the chicken mole

for me and Conrad to share.  Nice, easy evening, and home after that to watch a little television and wind down.

Saturday was a little fuller.  The middle part of the day included housework and errands, but we also made time to go see a condo at an open house.  A really good and promising unit were we in a position to buy right away.  But we aren't.  Still, that was impetus for us to begin getting financial ducks in a row.

Framing the midday activities were the morning walk and breakfast at Amara (shared burrito for us)

to start the day, and then a jaunt down to San Pedro early in the evening.  We were invited over to Lessa and Christian's home for drinks

before heading to dinner with them at Trani's Dockside Station. 

It was nice to come down their way - they've come up this way a few times now, and it really is a drive.  Plus, how nice to see their home (I love to see what books people have on their shelves) and meet their chickens. 

Van is such an animal lover!

Dinner was a great recommendation.  I struggled with the menu because there was a lot I wanted to try.  Lessa, Conrad, and I shared oysters, and then I had a swordfish special. 

Lightly breaded, which was interesting, and I liked it.  Some greens on the side. 

The chocolate gelato dessert was fine

- I preferred the brown butter cake that landed at the other end of the table and that I couldn't readily finish.  The restaurant had a good bar as well, and the Saging Grace cocktail was refreshing. 

A nice night with local friends as the highlight of the weekend.

As is often the case, I have no Sunday photos.  I recall spending a very good deal of the day reading old XMen comics on my iPad, and what a delight that was.  Such an easy day.  I put together a board of easy nibbles for dinner so as not to cook on a hot day.  Television, to bed, and then... Monday. 

2 X 3 X 20

And... we're back home!  Earlier than expected as well, I have to say, and hooray for that.   Two nights down in Orange County, and now Conrad has to get himself ready to head to Chicago tomorrow morning before most people are up and at 'em.  So it's back to Pasadena, a load of laundry on the go, and I'll stay out of his way as he packs.

Orange County.  Say what you will about the place, but yeah, it really did feel like a different world down there.  In terms of being WASP (because I am, I cannot deny it), yep, it sure was.  If it wasn't for the fact that I felt like the fattest man on the beach, I might have felt at home a little.  Likely not, but maybe.

Anyway, I shan't slag Newport Beach, really.  We had a modest hotel that suited our purposes. 

It was easy to walk to the ocean or to the sheltered bay.  We didn't dine out beyond Starbucks, so I can't comment on the food, but we poked in some shops that were pleasant, and I ended up buying cards.  Because I am always looking to stock up on my cards.  I didn't really take photos around town, though.  By the ocean there, the marine layer (June Gloom) was prevalent throughout each morning, making for not great photos.  And there were a lot of people around.  Beachgoers, surfers, shoppers, tourists in general.  Accordingly, it was tough to get shots without people in them.  Ah well.

The point of the trip wasn't to see Newport Beach, though.  The point was the shared birthday celebration for two friends, Jennifer and Traci.  And having just typed those names I realize I didn't get photos of them at all.  What a funny weekend for photo-taking!  Anyway, here's what we did to celebrate:

Friday we met up at a house they were using for the weekend and walked nearby to a place that rents out these little boats called duffies.  Twelve-seaters, a table in the middle, a canopy for shade.  The party split between two boats and we spent about two hours riding around the inner harbour area.  There were refreshments - perhaps too many! - and good conversation.

After the boat ride we returned to the house where a dinner of pizza and meatballs and salad was laid out for us all.  Then it was time for the talent show.  Yes, the talent show. 

The thing we'd kind of been dreading.  And look, it was fun in the end, but please don't make people perform for you, I kindly ask you all.  Anyway, Van coordinated our talent (and really, this weekend we left a lot of organization to him since it is through him that we know Jennifer and Traci), and he was clever about it.  What do we do well?  Make cocktails!  So he organized all we need for demonstrating how to make Last Words.  And that is what we did.  Van narrated, Conrad passed me the ingredients, I made the cocktails.  We served one each to Jennifer and Traci, then sat back down, happy to be through that and happy to enjoy what the others did.  Honestly?  I think we kind of kicked butt.  ;-)

There weren't Saturday birthday activities until late in the afternoon when we reconvened at the house.  There we were asked to write letters on paper that would readily dissolve.  One letter was for Jennifer and/or Traci.  The other was for the ocean.  We would write then all head to the beach

where we would gather in a circle around the two women and read our letters to them aloud.  We would then put the letter to them and the ocean into the waves so that they could dissolve there.  Most of the party joined in, and it was lovely to do that activity.  Interestingly, Conrad and I wrote very similar things, and Van was touched that we drew him into what we wrote to Jennifer and Traci.  We were gathered high up the beach, and even so, there was a wave that came roaring far up the beach to not far from us.  That scattered folks lower down, sending them scrambling away, but it also scuttled our plans to walk down the surf and let the letters go there.  Conrad, every thinking, suggested we set them to float and dissolve in the water of the inner harbour just doors down from the house, and that is what some of us did.

After that came tacos made to order by a crew the hosts had hired.  We ate and drank, chatting to a few others (and here I will say shame on the people who withdrew to the living room to watch the basketball game - not my party, so not really my place to say that, but still).  Not long after we enjoyed a little homemade cake, we headed back to the hotel.  Most of the party reconvened this morning to head to brunch, but we passed on that.  I did a 4.33 mile walk,

part of it with Conrad.  Starbucks, packing, and then it was home.

So then, happy 60th (3 X 20, get it?)(that was their way of expressing it, not mine!) to Jennifer and Traci.  I hope they had a blast!  Now then, what shall I do when I get to that in a handful of years...? 

Hawaii, day five

Day five of the Hawaii trip was the transition day.  Vacation came to an end for Marie and was practically at an end for me.  But we had the better part of a day together, and we made of it what we could, even if that meant going back into the mall yet again for some last souvenirs.  And, to be totally upfront, I went back to the mall at least one more time (I think maybe twice) after Marie left.  The power of shopping!

Anyway, the day started out with Marie insisting to herself that she join me for a morning walk on her last morning, and so we did.  Awake with the sunrise

and shortly after out the door.  Into the nearby park where we mostly walked and talked, few photos, but I couldn't resist getting a couple of this opportunistic bird,

hanging out near a man fishing.  I hope he got something out of it!

After a light Starbucks breakfast and some hanging out, it was time for us to make.  Oh yes, for while Marie was leaving, I was checking out of our spacious suite and heading to a more modest room in the hotel, to be charged to the work that I was doing in Hawaii.  16 floors down, the other tower, a more modest view,

not a suite.  It was fine for the next three nights, and - happily - the hotel was able to move me right away, which meant that Marie and I didn't need to park our luggage elsewhere for a period of time.

The afternoon brought the shopping, but before we shopped, we lunched.  After a handful of days enjoying the various culinary influences on Hawaiian cuisine, we opted for the familiar:  California Pizza Kitchen.  And yes, we did it:  we ordered a Hawaiian pizza. 

The food of our people, for it was invented in Canada.  A cosmo for me

to fortify me for shopping, and then we were off.

It's all food all the time here, so no, no afternoon photos, just on to our early dinner.  Marie wanted to eat at 5:00 so as to allow enough time for her to make it to the airport.  For her flight.  Which was at 10:45.  Ah, Marie.  I'm not sure why she was so concerned.  No matter.  We ended up at Pint and Jigger, in a corner of the hotel.  Can I be honest?  It's a sports bar.  We thought our server was a delight, but the place had multiple screens showing games of various sorts, and the vibe was entirely sports bar.  No matter.  They have a remarkable bar,

and they mix a great cocktail.  A Last Word for me

- something was off by my palate, but kudos to them on having the green chartreuse - and another drink, called the Iris,

that I very much liked.  The food wasn't gourmet, but a fried chicken sandwich and some fries hot out of the fryer and properly salted were a treat. 

Oh, and Marie

caught for you a glimpse of how the magic happens. 

Make of that shot what you will.

I got Marie off to the airport in very good time, then settled in the room for a sip of wine, a glance at documents, and an evening with Buffy.  Two days of work lay ahead, and I was grateful that we two siblings could have some time before all of that. 

Hawaii, day two

Our first full day in Hawaii started off with a morning walk for the two of us. 

It was one of only two days when Marie came for a morning walk, though she did a long walk another day.  I'll be blunt:  we are both large people and out of shape, Marie arguably more so than I am.  The walk was more than her usual, and she might have stepped down wrong at some point, so by the end her back was bothering her and more.  I felt badly about that, and I'm sorry it prevented her from coming on other morning walks - I should have been glad of her company.  Ah well.

So we were up just before sunrise, as the skies were lightening,

and out the door to head to the nearby Ala Moana Park.  Not a long walk there, but we caught some views of boats,

beaches,

birds,

beasts (mongooses - cute but invasive),

and (sorry this isn't entirely alliterative) Waikiki. 

We crossed over to the mall, wandered it a little while we debated what sounded good for breakfast, and eventually parked ourselves at an Eggs 'n' Things.  It was fine enough.  I continued my quest for Spam, choosing that with eggs and rice

and a glass of POG

for a very filling breakfast.

I wish I could tell you about grand adventures throughout the day, but the truth is, after getting showered and changed, we spent a goodly while in the mile, poking in stores, buying some things, later grabbing a small lunch (and thank you to the woman at the one business in the food court who offered me the senior discount, telling me that with my white beard I look like Kenny Rogers!) there, eventually choosing a book in Barnes and Noble to bring to the pool deck that afternoon.

Nice pool, but I wish there was more shade available on the deck. 

It wasn't too busy at the hotel pool, though, and I know I dozed off a little at one point.  Yes, we did go in the water.  Once done with the pool, we headed to the room changed, and came down to the pool level to try the little bar there.  Lilikoi (passionfruit) drinks for us - a margarita for Marie, a spritzer for me. 

The bar was, sorry to say, underwhelming, but now we know!

Dinner that evening was at a place Van had found back in 2023 for him and me and Conrad.  Fête is downtown/Chinatown rather than Waikiki, and I think Marie appreciated that we saw a different part of the city.  I was glad to go back and enjoy it again.  The hostess greeted us and asked if Marie and I were on a date, thereby beginning a pattern of the two of us explicitly inserting into conversation with service staff in restaurants, bars, and stores that we were brother and sister.  I guess not many siblings like us travel together, or something.  Anyway, we had a table in a little side part of the restaurant, by the window and across from where the kitchen was doing its magic. 

Great views!  We started with much better cocktails than at the hotel bar:  the Grab 'Em by the Pineapple for me

and the Spicy Kitty for Marie. 

We shared an appetizer special, breadfruit with Indian spices and crispy shreds of okra atop,

then it was the Korean steak for me and the coconut prawns for Marie. 

The coconut cake was a special as well, and we went for it. 

She and I capped the evening with an amaro each, and I was delighted that Marie is into them. 

Something else we now share.  It was all very good, and we headed back to the hotel with full bellies, turning in fairly shortly after getting back.