fourth weekend in August

Most of the week gone, almost the next weekend, the last weekend in August.  What better time to check in on the previous weekend, right?  And I know, I know.  Maestro and Amara again, right, Peter?  Well, yes.  Unapologetically.

So let's kick it off with the usual:  seats at an end of the bar late Friday afternoon/early Friday evening at Maestro. 

I did NOT, however, go with the usual drink.  A Guayabita for me this time to start with,

followed by a glass of rose. 

Sometimes it's good to switch things up!  We ate relatively light, given the heat.  Oysters to start,

some chicken mole to share. 

Did we have queso as well?  No photo, but I dimly recall we may have, which totally makes a lie of the eating light.  We came home and watched some television, winding down, having a mellow time of it.

Saturday morning there was a mild walk, but yep, Amara.  Lattes and a shared burrito (they're pretty filling for one). 

Back at home, there was the usual assortment of things to get done, and I added the baking of two banana bread loaves to that list. 

Check!  They'll make for nice slices some mornings with coffee.  By early evening, we were swinging by Bristol Farms and picking up fixings for dinner.  Van wanted shrimp cocktails, and we obliged. 

I also bought a nice piece of coho salmon and served it atop a warm okra salad and Israeli couscous.

After dinner the guys showed me the photos of their recent road trip, telling me more of the stories.  Nice to see.  No television after they were done - it was too late for that.  We headed to bed.

Sunday morning I didn't get up early for a solo walk despite best intentions.  I slept really well, but when I finally got up, I soon heard Conrad.  And if Conrad gets up, that means Olive is awake with him.  She really loves him.  A short walk for the three of us, then a further short walk for me to get some more steps. 

Conrad and I had coffee while Van slept in, then the four of us headed off to Starbucks because we weren't quite up for a big breakfast at home.  Conrad and I got home around noon, and then it was an afternoon devoted to online happy hour.  Sushi and television to finish the day.

That, friends, was a very regular, normal, no-frills weekend for us.  Nice one, I have to say.

Saturday evening with the LG

It's been a super easy day.  I did make the mistake of going back up to the condo this afternoon, and that got me caught in all the traffic for the Noah Kahan concert at the Rose Bowl (and I would have loved to have see that - I've been enjoying his most recent album so much),  But that was a blip in an otherwise easy day.

Time spent with Olive today, once again. 

She is such a good girl.  We had a good walk this morning. 

By the end, she was tuckered out.  And I confess:  we both had a late morning nap.  Just that kind of day!

I poured another Italicus martini while I made dinner. 

Tasty drink for summer, I have to say.  Dinner was a hodge-podge.  I had a pork tenderloin that needed cooking, so I seared then roasted it, slicing it to serve along with some sweet potato leftover from dinner with Denny and some green onions in a bowl of Trader Joe's noodles. 

Not a bad dinner.  I feel pretty satisfied here.  Leftover pork for tomorrow as well!

Olive is used to television in the evenings, so I shall hop offline and get to watching with her.  Happy weekend, folks! 

second weekend in August

You know, it was a nice weekend.  And an easy one.  Isn't that lovely when those two things coincide?

As I did the Friday before, I started out my day with a good and lengthy walk from Van's place. 

No, not nearly so long as the week before, but a respectable distance just the same.  It was a work from home day, and that allowed me to shift hours around and go pick up Conrad from LAX in the middle of the day before getting back to the laptop.  Come 5:00, or a few minutes thereafter, he and I were seated at the bar at Maestro for a regular Friday night.  A cherry-tomato cocktail for me,

some oysters to start,

followed by the roasted beet salad we've been enjoying a lot lately,

and then the shortrib burritas. 

We were home fairly early and settled down to a bit of television and then music and reading before bed.

Saturday was lazier.  A shorter walk that culminated in a satisfying breakfast at Amara. 

A bunch of laundry, some reading, and I'm pretty sure I recall there being a nap in there somewhere.  Van picked us up that evening,

and we headed to Little Beast

over in Eagle Rock for dinner with Mitch and Ted.  Nice evening, too.  The biscuits with ham were a good starter to share,

and I also enjoyed the salad that Van, Conrad, and I split. 

My salmon dish was good although I thought the salmon was a little overcooked. 

Still, the curry sauce and the chickpea cake were terrific accompaniments.  Oh, and the cocktail, the Dark Til Dawn, was a success. 

None of us were wowed by the dessert menu, alas, so we headed home, and I had a little Amaro Breva as we wound down.

If Saturday was lazy, well, Sunday outdid it.  An even shorter walk, no laundry, more reading, and again some napping.  The highlight was a nice FaceTime chat with Courtney and Robert.  We had plans for leftovers for dinner, so there really wasn't any cooking save for a bit of rice.  Conrad started making a little pre-dinner set-up for us, and he did get the food plated, but I shook up the cocktails, and that was a great little pre-dinner treat, sitting at the counter and chatting. 

We watched some television, then I hopped online to buy things I think will make nice little party favours/guest goody bag fillers for Conrad's big birthday party later this year.  That brought Sunday and the weekend to an end.

The days ahead may be a little mild for me in terms of posting.  Conrad and Van are heading on a road trip, and I will be taking care of Olive.  I have few plans during my week with her.  Still, if I throw together something halfway edible, it may just get posted here. 

out and about in Chicago

I have a couple more dinner posts from Chicago plus a final post to pull in other friends and dining, but I did want to post a shorter, easier entry before I dig into those longer ones.  A breather for me.

As I used to when I was on the Board and in Chicago for meetings or at conferences, I pulled together people for morning walks.  And because the conversation was so often so enjoyable, I didn't take a lot of photos.  I should have.  The Prairie Avenue neighbourhood between McCormick Place and Roosevelt Road is lovely.  There are some handsome older homes and structures in that area

complemented by newer builds that generally fit the scale along the streets shaded with leafy green canopy.  Industrial buildings have renewed or new lives. 

There is public art. 

Little things here and there catch the eye. 

The walks stuck mostly to that area, venturing to the lakefront nearby as well.

So I walked, and sweated,

and chatted, and admired.  What little I did capture, I'm happy to share.  Conrad and I had originally booked a hotel up along Wacker Drive, close to ALA headquarters and the bustle of the city there, but I'm actually quite glad we changed our minds and stayed near the convention center.  The Chicago resident I was years ago would be a little shocked to read that from me! 

a Friday off

Friday was a day off.  A holiday, Juneteenth, it meant not needing to go into work and not needing to pay attention to work stuff.  So what did I do most of the day?  Work with Conrad on a professional development related trip to come in October.  He'll be tagging along, and then we'll build a vacation on to the end of it.  We spent much of the day doing some registration things and finally settling on some airline tickets.  That ate much of the day for us, and that was fine.

But before that, a walk.  I actually got out the door into the June Gloom and had a little stroll in the neighbourhood without Conrad, then came back for him.  We drove down into the Arroyo and parked by the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center, then more or less did the loop around the stadium and through the golf course. 

Nice walk on a cool, overcast day.

Van was feeling better, he said, and he asked if he and Olive could come over.  Of course, I told him.  Conrad and I dashed out to pick up a few things, and that resulted in a large, rich dinner of braised lamb shanks with a parsnip puree. 

Very tasty, but I couldn't finish it all.  Leftovers for Conrad, perhaps, or lunches.  Nice meal, though, and good to see them.  Before dinner, as we sat and got caught up, I made myself a blood orange negroni, a nice pre-dinner sipper.

Friday felt like Saturday, I tell you.  I was confused all day about what day it actually was.  But it was a good day.  The trip planning is exciting!  Wait until October to read about that one.

Onward with the rest of the weekend.... 

ah... the best laid plans

It's the weekend that was post, but with a bit of  difference.  You see, I sit here at Van's place not having done much of anything since late yesterday morning.  Why, you ask?

That's why.  There are two steps down from Van's home's entrance to the living room.  And when I took that second step yesterday, I rolled my left ankle hard.  Cursing, crying, icing.  I've run the gamut.  And now I'll baby it for the week ahead so that it's (I hope!) at least a little ok by the time we head to Nashville on Friday.

Sigh.

What's frustrating is that I'd been ramping up the morning walks, going harder and faster and longer.  7+ miles on Friday morning,

with Conrad joining me about four miles in,

9 miles on Saturday

with Olive and Conrad joining me for the last 3/4 mile. 

Good step counts through the week.  Feeling good about it.  And now this.

Alright, enough moaning and gurning on about such things.  Let it heal, Peter, and tell your gentle readers how the rest of the weekend was.

There was that good walk on Friday morning.  Conrad and I eventually made our way to Amara Cafe for a little breakfast

before I had to get home for an online meeting (that, it turned out, I didn't need to attend, and so I didn't).  I worked from home the rest of the day while Conrad spent the day with Olive, then he and I met up back at the condo to head for a light, quick dinner at Maestro.

I love when Rigo and Marco try out new cocktails.  It's always fun to see what they've come up with.  We only had one cocktail each at the bar there, but it was a terrific new one, a clarified pineapple daiquiri with a whipped matcha topping. 

Sweet, not too sweet, a little fresh.  I could have had more easily. 

Instead, we kept ourselves to the one round along with some guacamole

and plantain chips as well as the grilled octopus with fideo and nopales. 

Then it was back to Van's to rescue Olive

and feed her.  We had an easy time of it the rest of the evening.

Conrad has been taking care of me since Saturday morning, and thank goodness.  His cooking is rudimentary at best, but it's care, and I appreciate it a lot.  It's mid-afternoon on Sunday as I write this, and I think I may soon go back to sitting on the bed with my ankle propped up.  I'll avoid going in to work the next couple of days so as not to have to aggravate things.  Van comes home tomorrow, and the three of us have some travel ahead.

Onward with Sunday!