third weekend in June

Weekend wrap-up time, my friends.  You've already had the Friday holiday report.  Now for the weekend proper.  Here we go!

Where did we start Saturday?  I mean, after the walk, that is (and a shorter walk than usual - it was on Saturday morning that we really noticed the smell of smoke from the warehouse fire in Los Angeles).  Amara Cafe, of course!  I wasn't very hungry thanks to the lamb dinner the night before, so I stuck with an empanada

and a decaf latte and that was entirely enough.

But gosh, we got a lot done on Saturday:  the walk, groceries, four loads of laundry, two open houses (we are kind of sort of not really looking at condos), more travel planning, running the dishwasher, a stop for ice cream at Afters,

dinner and some television, a nap.  It's nice to feel accomplished, and we did.

Yesterday was lower key.  Not because we were tired or anything, no.  The air quality was still not great, and we wanted a bit of a lazy morning, so we stayed in and had coffee and ate lightly.  I did some sorting of things in my drawers and Conrad did some paperwork at his computer.  I also made some dinners for him so that when I'm at Van's tonight, he won't go hungry!  All in all, low key.  Shall I confess that I was listening to Christmas music to take an afternoon nap?  Hardly a surprise to anyone who knows me, I think.

We did, however, venture out yesterday evening.  Van came by, and the three of us went over to Union for an early dinner reservation. 

I can't recall the last time we ate there.  I have enjoyed it in the past, but I was also a little startled to see that their menu hasn't changed much.  I know, I know:  the Maestro menu hasn't changed substantively in years, and we still go and enjoy that.  I will say that the carrots were nice

and that the olive oil cake was good (and quite a portion!)

and that the bread was crusty. 

The meatballs were fine if a little solid and might have included a little more sauce. 

The spaghetti was also fine, but I remember it being plated more tidily and just having a little something better about it that I can't quite put my finger on.  The restaurant has expanded as well, opening up a back dining area that a friend had told us she rather didn't like.  I agree.  The front has a cool Italian bistro feel, the back is like being in a side room at a brewpub restaurant.  A disconnect between the spaces.  I did like that it was a little quieter and more spacious, though.

After that we wandered to the movies.  27 fricking minutes of commercials and previews later, the show started.  Stop! That! Train!  It was light and amusing.  A fun diversion.  Nice to see various drag queens and other familiar faces.

We got home, and that was that.  Van headed back to Olive, Conrad and I headed to bed.  A three-day weekend had finished, and it wasn't half bad, I have to say! 

hanging out in Vancouver with Van and with the drinks gang

Let's wrap up the Vancouver trip.  No travel for me for two weeks, and it feels right to get this most recent bit of travel put to bed, so to speak.

Conrad, as I mentioned, didn't come with us on the trip, so it was just me and Van

grabbing a few quick minutes in the United Club

at LAX before boarding for Vancouver.  An upgrade for me, but not for Van, alas.  Ah well.  We made it there at the same time anyway!  

It was early/mid-afternoon when we got to our hotel, not a lot of time to unpack and freshen up before heading on down to catch the Aquabus

over to Granville Island to meet Marie,

Rachel,

Allison, and Catriona for dinner at Dockside Restaurant.  We sat outside and enjoyed a fine early evening, catching up.  Fish and chips for me and a few others. 

Then we wandered across the island to The Improv Centre for a show. 

That was fun.  It wasn't too mature for Catriona, and the troupe did a great job of it.  A nice night for us all to get together before the big wedding day the next day.  Van and I caught the Aquabus back across False Creek and headed back to the hotel on what was a truly lovely night out in the big city.

Friday morning, after my walk and our coffees, Van and I moseyed down to the club to meet Allison and Catriona for lunch on the patio.  No urgency to our time there - a leisurely lunch (soba noodles and shrimp for me)

with a glass of wine and a fine view.  After that, though, it was time to get ready for and then head to the wedding.  And that was Friday in the city.

Saturday morning I was up early and out for a walk on my own before meeting my friend, Bryan, for more of a walk. 

We headed to the West End to a coffee shop and grabbed a light breakfast.  A lot of gab, more walking back.  It was great to see a non-wedding friend on a weekend devoted to that event.  Van eventually got himself going,

and we headed to meet up with Chris and Allister and others at a bar-ish place set up in the Plaza of Nations.  It was nice enough, but there was a Brazilian Fest set up all around our venue, and the constant live music was hard to have conversation over.  Van and I stayed an hour, by which point other friends and family were arriving.  We ceded our table space, headed into Chinatown to a store that specializes in barware, then walked back to the hotel.

Saturday dinner was an early one - it was the only reservation I could get for what was supposed to be three of us - at Nightingale.  I've enjoyed the food there in the past and was happy to go back.  We walked over and were promptly seated upstairs. 

I ordered their special martini,

Van had his own cocktail, and we shared some plates.

Roasted cauliflower with turmeric vinaigrette.

Buttermilk fried chicken.

Japanese sweet potato with mushroom XO and chive creme fraiche. 

A pasta with peas and mint.

Meatballs.

Carrot cake.

I think I like the cauliflower the most, but all of it was quite good.  Van wanted dessert wine as a nice treat with the cake, so we ordered the 375mL bottle and enjoyed that together.  After that, it was back to the hotel and a relatively early night.

Sunday morning I did a nice walk, first stopping at the Starbucks across the street. 

Our flight was at noon, and before we knew it, we were packed, checked out, on the Canada Line to YVR, through customs and such, arguing with the lounge people about access (I was right, they were wrong, they let Van in in the end), and then upgraded and boarded. 

A comfortable flight home for us at the end of a very pleasant trip north. 

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....  

back in our corner

There's something to be said, isn't there, about that feeling of being back home.  Home, in this case, being Maestro.  And back in our regular corner of the bar at that!

We've either been lying low or going our somewhere these past few weeks.  Even out of town!  As a result, tonight was the first time we'd been there since the drag show night right before US Thanksgiving.  Far too long.

So good to see everyone there.  Rigo poured us cocktails, and we had a bit of a different dinner than usual.  No guacamole, for one thing.  No Mezcal Campfire for me.  We shared the octopus dish

and then a new dish, which was a curious mix of fideo, a sweet meat mixture, a roasted chile, and coconut milk sauce. 

It was tasty and comforting, though.  I will say that.  We opted to have dessert instead of anything else savoury, and so it was the pineapple upside down cake for us.

So good to be back.  We won't see them before Christmas next week, but we will head in with Marie on Boxing Day for dinner, I hope!

you know, that was a good weekend

A breakdown of a good weekend:

• Saturday morning walk followed by breakfast at Amara.
  
  
  
• A Saturday afternoon of getting things done at the condo - I made a lasagna for dinner, I tidied up a bit, I worked on Christmas cards (yes, Christmas cards), I ironed some napkins.
• Cocktails
  
  
  and dinner and then the recent Celine Dion documentary together with Van.
• Sunday morning walk for the four of us (Olive included!) to Starbucks.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sunday afternoon of getting things done at the condo - finishing work on getting Christmas cards ready for writing, more ironing.
• Sunday evening at Vibrato,
  
  
  
  
  
  Herb Alpert's jazz dinner club
  
  
  in Bel Air.  Spencer Day was performing
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  with a quartet of musicians
  
  
  and even pulling a friend, Ariana Savalas,
  
  
  up on stage for a song.  Good meal (I only photographed the carrot cake we shared, sorry),
  
  
  good martinis, great setting, terrific show.

How awesome to have a weekend where there is a good, healthy balance of fun and accomplishing things.  A rare commodity these days, I fear.  The next few weekends will be a little different - Conrad will be doing some travel, we'll have some entertaining.  Still, I am glad that we got to have the weekend that we did!