songs of the year (21-30)

We're reaching higher and higher up the list here.  Let's start to top half....

21.  Ithaca - Tourist

22.  Training Season - Dua Lipa

23.  BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish

24.  JOYRIDE - Kesha

25.  Let's Go Dancing - Shed Seven

26.  APT. - ROSÉ & Bruno Mars

27.  For Some Reason - Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors & Donovan Woods

28.  Home (Single Version) - Bat for Lashes

29.  Nighter (feat. TUANA) - Mahmut Orhan

30.  Finally - Swedish House Mafia & Alicia Keys

Downtown City Park

A bit of a photodump post while I am in my phone.  The Blogger interface works better on laptop, and I did not bring my laptop with me, sorry to say.  Or maybe not that sorry.

We arrived in Paso Robles yesterday late in the afternoon.  Dinner, which I’ll post another day, meant a little walk down to the old train station, and the route took us through Downtown City Park.  That is what Google Maps tells me the park is named.  Not a fantastic name, but I love that the name is exactly what it is.  It is a park, it is a city park, it is downtown.

And it’s lit up for the holidays.  I took some shots last night,

and then more again on a short stroll around this morning.  

Our hotel is not at all far from the park, so we can enjoy passing through it a few more times.

It’s not long past seven here.  I wonder when the others will get up.

and we are headed north

I am in the backseat today, sharing space with this beautiful girl….

First stop:  Los Olivos!  

Lunch is done, and we are on our way to Paso Robles soon.

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.

I think we're ready

The tree is up, and I am enjoying the changing glow of it beside me. 

Cards are sent.  There are few presents to wrap, and it won't take long to do that.  I have stockings hung,

and I do believe that Santa has lots of stuffers for folks.

In short, I think we're ready.  13 days to go.  I can't wait.  I love Christmas.

dinner and a show

I told you that there would be more to come this week, and here we are!  A report out on a nice evening.  Ready?  Let's go!

A while back I saw an ad pop up on my Instagram feed for a production of La Cage aux Folles at the Pasadena Playhouse.  Now, I should explain:  I'm not much for live theatre.  Never gotten into it.  Oh, we saw Ron earlier this year.  And I have been to the Playhouse before.  Twice.  Twice only in a dozen years, and the first time was a musical production of Sleepless in Seattle that was pretty terrible.  I did enjoy seeing Fun Home a handful of years ago at the Ahmanson, but we're still at fewer than one time a year going to see a play or musical.  It's just the way we're wired, perhaps.

Anyway, I suggested to Conrad and Van that we go to the play for a change of pace, and the response was ambivalent at best.  So I set it aside and didn't think about it again.  And then Van and I went to Bar Chelou one night last month, and that visit coincided with the opening of La Cage, and boy, was it a big hoopla.  Actual celebrities there.  A big, gay crowd.  That set me to thinking maybe we should reconsider, and the guys were amenable.  I bought us tickets.

A show at the playhouse meant a dinner opportunity for the three of us at the restaurant that shares the complex:  Bar Chelou.  Conrad had not been there before, so it was a great opportunity to bring him there.  Van booked us early seats at the bar,

and we were able to have a leisurely meal.  Cocktails to start

- a Gibson for me that I vacillated between enjoying and finding too sweet. 

And then on to an array of food that we all shared:

• Crispy potatoes - so soft inside, they were like fried gnocchi
  
  
  
• Breakfast radishes with fromage blanc - these came with some toasted bread and made a nice, light bite
  
  
  
• Carrots - a dish they have become known for, a little peanut-y, the best carrot salad I have had because it goes savoury rather than embrace the sweet
  
  
  
• Sprouting cauliflower - served with a sauce that I still want atop a nice steak
  
  
  
• Pork chop with cabbage - simple and good, but perhaps my least favourite of the night, which sounds critical but isn't meant to be
  
  
  

Conrad was still a bit hungry, and we agreed, so we ordered a bit more

• Burrata toast with ham - the pickled peppers were piquant, he says, alliteratively
  
  
  
• Duck leg with couscous - so glad we tried this, and one I want to have again
  
  
  

And, of course, we had to have dessert!  We shared the caramelized banana bar and enjoyed it a great deal.

From there it was across the courtyard to the theatre

and our seats. 

No, no photos of the performance, of course not.  Not allowed.  And that's fine!  It's good to enjoy something.  We did enjoy it, for sure.  It's funny, I've been reading the reviews of La Cage aux Folles this morning, and they are decidedly mixed.  The LA Times gave it a generally good review, including praise for Cheyenne Jackson, one of the leads.  Another online publication said that Jackson (who is 49) is too young to play a papa and too beefcake-y.  Jeff Kahoon, who played the other lead, comes in for some praise but more criticism for not nailing the roll and the singing as previous actors have.  The young couple whose engagement sets off the conflict are praised for their performances.  And the drag queen troupe gets mixed reviews.

Not our experience.  We loved Jackson and Kahoon, we thought that the young couple were the weak spot in the production, and we delighted in the drag queens.  But I will concede a point a read, that the production is more fun than emotionally relatable.  And that's fine!  Conrad asked me this morning how much tickets were ($44 each), and we agreed that we very much got a lot for that.  A show we all enjoyed, one we left the theatre feeling great about.

A Wednesday night dinner and show, not our usual midweek night.  And a long night, too!  Totally worth it.

Tuesday night at home

Two guys watching a holiday romcom.  Not shown:  the blubbering from the one guy.  I'll let you guess which one.

A few quiet evenings behind us.  We have plans tonight, though, and then it's out of town for the weekend.  Plenty going on in the days ahead to blog about!

all is calm

Not a silent night, just a silent library.  With classes not in session, the doors are closed.  No students in here, and so far as I can tell, only three of us working here today.

I do like it when the library has these closed periods through the year, though.  I plan to be here a few days next week as well, and I hope to get a lot done!

the Alpine Manhattan

A cocktail before dinner last night while I was over at Van's, and it was a new one to me.  We have online drinks last night, and we were looking through recipes for winter-themed or related drinks (many of them a dubious connection, in my opinion).  Van shared one called an Alpine Manhattan that used pine syrup (a commercial product) and bitters produced by the same company.  It sounded interesting, so he made it for me.

Thoughts:

• I would cut the pine syrup in half.  The drink was very sweet, like drinking a boozy bonbon.
• I would add more bitters.  Even cutting the syrup portion in half, I think it would benefit from something to cut through it all.
• I would potentially keep the pine syrup at its full amount but add lemon juice and turn it into a sour.
• I would not call it a Manhattan - there is no vermouth, and the pine syrup really takes this into being an Old Fashioned.

Verdict?  Likely not one to return to.  I'll press on with trying to find something for next week!

songs of the year (31-40)

And onward we go with the list!

31.  Build A Man - Låpsley

32.  Goddess - Laufey

33.  Young Lion - Sade

34.  Dafodil (feat. Kelsey Lu, John Glacier & Panda Bear) - Jamie xx

35.  Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande - Charli xcx & Ariana Grande

36.  May Ninth - Khruangbin

37.  The Bell - Ty Segall

38.  Too Sweet - Hozier

39.  Beat Fantasy - Purple Disco Machine

40.  Why Why Why - Shawn Mendes