a bit of a dull week

Well, howdy!  It's been a mild week, somewhat.  A little dull, perhaps.  Hmmm....  Well, a nice dinner on Tuesday at Mama M. 

But mostly mild.

I am in Chicago, I am off to dinner soon.  I promise to post more later or tomorrow and beyond!

Meanwhile, enjoy the sushi shots!

weekend update

It's a long weekend, so it's a little premature to do a weekend update.  On the other hand, it's a quiet, easy Sunday, so let me chime in here before I go do something utterly unproductive....

Friday!  I didn't get photos from most of the evening, but it was a nice one.  Our friend Richard was doing some work in Pasadena, so he came by late afternoon, had a cocktail with Conrad, then Van joined us in time to head to Maestro for dinner at the bar.  After dinner and Richard and Van had gone home, I sipped a bit more wine and read before bed. 

I love that it's getting to be cozy sweater weather!

Saturday morning I headed out on foot, past where the Rose Parade stands are going up at the corner of Orange Grove and Colorado,

past the Ambassador Auditorium. 

I eventually met up with Conrad, who has been dealing with a foot injury, and we had a short remaining walk together.  Then, as you might guess, we ended up at Amara for a satisfying breakfast and lattes.

Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen pretty much all day.  I made a brown butter blueberry tart

and put together a spinach and caramelized onion

lasagna for dinner at Van's last night.  I also roasted some chunks of delicata squash for a salad of burrata, the squash, and some autumn fruits. 

And I put focaccia dough together.  Busy afternoon.  We enjoyed an aperitivo together - martinis for me and Conrad

- and then Jennifer and Sanders came over to Van's for dinner (along with their dog, Daisy),

and the lasagna made for a satisfying meal.

But boy, was I pooped by the time dinner was done and they had gone home!

I was out the door by 6:30 this morning, having already caught the sunrise from the deck. 

Another lovely morning, another nice walk. 

Just shy of 3.5 miles for me, and I took some photos as I went along.  Random things that caught my eye,

nothing in particular.  Buildings,

plants. 

The guys (and Olive) eventually got up after I got back, and Van made us all breakfast (thank you, Van!).

And now it's back at the condo, most of the afternoon stretching before us with little we need to do.  Natasha will come for dinner, and the leftovers from yesterday will make a fine enough meal.  A day off tomorrow, and an easy day at that.

Happy weekend, friends!

like bathwater

A not super swim yesterday.  That pool was revoltingly warm.  Blech.  I mean, credit to how old, fat, and tired I am.  But no, that was not an enjoyable swim, making my way through such warm water.

Ah well.  A swim done!

getting through

I'm still deeply unhappy about Tuesday.  It is a disaster that will mark our lives in this country for decades to come, and I cannot think how it will at all be positive.  No, it just won't be.

Sigh.

We're in the acceptance phase, I think.  And so it was that Van and I gave ourselves (well, he gave me) a nice dinner date at home last night.  Cocktails to start (Fallen Angels),

a little wine (an Epoch white blend)

with dinner,

some pleasant music, some good and rich conversation.

And then this morning, a true jewel of a morning, I got out the door at about 6AM and got in a little over 4 miles on foot.

It's not going to solve the world, but it is taking care of us.  Conrad comes home tonight from Philadelphia, and the three of us - plus Olive! - can have some time together.

no words

Just pastries brought in for my staff because we all need some care today.

quiet mornings

Perfect times for walks.  I've been loving having the sun rise earlier thanks to moving our clocks back, and I've been able to catch the sunrise or near to it a couple of times this week. 

Having a morning to myself to listen to music and walk alone with my thoughts is a little gift at a time where so much seems so fraught with anxiety.

let us not forget...

... that Olive is the sweetest, prettiest girl.

She'll be even fluffier after her salon appointment tomorrow, but I can't resist sharing her now.

liver!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but I am very much a fan of liver.  Love it.  LOVE LOVE LOVE.  I mean, sure, if it's cooked poorly, then no, but isn't that true of pretty much anything?

Van and I had another date night yesterday. 

Well, date afternoon and night.  We took in Conclave (not as good a movie as I wanted it to be) and then headed to Smitty's where they serve up liver as a special the first weekend of the month.  Unlike the movie, the liver was as good as I wanted it to be, and so we were happy.

It's election week, Conrad is out of town, there won't be a lot of amazing adventures to document on here.  I shall try to get at least a few short ones posted, though.  Onward with November!

Rossoblu

Conrad left for Philadelphia yesterday morning, and Van and I decided to have ourselves a date night in DTLA.  

Or the Arts District or somewhere adjacent to that.  Rossoblu was his pick of places, and I was glad of it - I’d heard about it for some time, and it had made the LA Times top 101 list in the past.  Better still, as Van informed me, its specialty was Italian food from Bologna.  Hooray!

I’m not an expert on Bologna after all of four nights there in September, but I’m not sure I saw how the menu was especially Bolognese.  Yes, there were recognizably Bologna things - the tortellini en brodo

that Van and I shared was one such dish.  But otherwise, maybe?  No matter.  It was good food.  A cocktail to start

with different wines to follow for me, and then we shared a series of four dishes:  stracciatella with apple, pear, and squash;

the tortellini; a breaded pork chop with prosciutto and Parmesan;

and a marvel of a buttermilk panna cotta.

Verdict:  great food and worth going back.  The service was nice enough but not as attentive as it should have been, but ah well.  A cool space, likely too loud for Conrad.  But yes, I would enjoy it again, given the opportunity, and explore other items on their menu.

green gold

If you look at our history of cocktails on here, a particular cocktail shows up time and again:  the Last Word.  Our house cocktail, so to speak.  And an essential ingredient is green chartreuse.

There was once a time when we could wander into Everson Royce and grab a bottle easily any time, or so it seemed.  Over time it became less likely we would find a bottle, and then it seemed that other stores we tried no longer had it.  A worldwide shortage, articles proclaimed, and we were left to wonder what to drink if we had none.

I’ve been hunting it down online regularly, keeping a stock on hand.  It’s a little ridiculous, I know.  But here we go, green gold on our bar.  This should keep us in cocktails for some time to come!

Swimming. Again.

First post of November, and it's a short swimming one.  2500 yards today, so an increase from previous swims.  I won't say improvement.

I weighed myself this morning for the first time in ages, and, well, hmmm.  Not good.  So, expect more swimming posts!

before and after

Last post of the month, and it's another bloody swimming one.  Sigh.

Before the swim, and despite the smile/smirk (you decide), I really wasn't in the mood.  You know, some days you want to make your decaf and relax into the work day.  But I knew it would be good for me.  So I went.

2000 yards.  Better than zero, better than recently, so far below what I should be capable of.  Ah well.

Happy October that was, everyone.  May November bring new adventures and better swims!

a little longer

30 minutes today.  Wow.  He says, rolling his eyes.

But that's 30 minutes more than not swimming, so, lemonade or something, right?

October happy hour

Halloween was the theme for our online gang this month, and if you know me, you know I’m not a Halloween person.  I’m already looking to Christmas, after all.  But others love it, and it was the theme chosen, and so I duly searched for drinks that might be spooky or scary or something.

Let me say this:  a lot of the recipes I most readily came upon were appallingly sweet.  Blech.  It took some doing to find things I likely had ingredients for and that didn’t sound like sugar bombs.

Round one was just me and Van - Conrad had a work function to be at.  

The green cocktail was his, the Mystery Machine.  Muddled dill gave it that colour.  I tasted it, and it was a little off to me.  Van enjoyed it, however.  The tall cocktail was mine, the Skeleton Key.  A variation on a mule using bourbon but also St Germain.  Tasty enough!

Conrad made it home for round two, and I made us all the same thing, the El Diablo,

which was a cross between a margarita and a mule.  I think I liked this one most.  It was a pretty drink, too.  Olive said hello to the folks on the call.

Next month will be birthdays, so a wide open theme that celebrates the three among our number who will be marking new ages!