The Week that Was

This week seemed like it was not ever going to end. It was rather full in addition.

On Sunday, I went to the Crabfest at the Hungry Cat, and oh man, was it ever worth it! They made some great drinks up, to complement the crab, and I’m hopeful they won’t completely discontinue them. Bring back the Bali Hoo and the Southern Tea. MMMMM, good stuff. I forgot my camera, so I fail on that one, but I felt overwhelmed for several hours on the amount of food I took in. I drank a ton of water afterwards, and tried to just lay low. But, I did garden on Sunday, as well as eat. My most up to date pictures of my garden are on my flickr page. I have my first real tomato sitting here on my desk. It’s a cute one that is in the set. And no, you cannot have it.
Session at church was on Tuesday and it went late. It was also after a work event I “got” to organize for my boss, who then asked me to stay to make sure everything went okay. I stayed for as long as I could, and after a frustrating start to the evening, it turned out okay. Our room was set with one long table, which was NOT conducive to chatting – which was what the whole goal of the evening was. So, that had to be changed. All in all, it sounded like it all went well – tick another “well-done” box!

The next day, I sent my boss off on a trip, and while it’s great to not have him here, it’s also more stressful trying to get him out of the office in one piece, with all his pieces – oh, and on time. So, now that he’s gone, I’m super happy! I’m about to leave the office on a Friday to go to a new product launch with colleagues. Good times.

On Wednesday evening, work held an event at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood (they do some red carpet shizzle for the Oscars there) to celebrate that the Hollywood store now has alcohol. Good thing they do – in Hollywood there are loads of alcoholics. But we all know that! It was super cool, and I got to meet some people I’d only met on the interwebs, so that was cool. And, on top of that, they are part of the bloggerprom committee. This will be the first prom I’ve ever gone to! Tara‘s husband decided that I should get lucky that night… we’ll see what happens. ;) It’s at the Riot Hyatt in West Hollywood, which has been renamed the Andaz. I like Riot Hyatt bettah! So, I’ll use that. Anyway, I’m completely off track from the true reason behind the blog post. Back to it. It was fun to meet people who I am “friends with” on tvitter and facebook, but then again, who amongst my like two readers, thinks that I’m not a people person? Right. None of y’all.

Thursday was a social at Ammo Restaurant on Highland in Hollywood (I did a lot of driving to Hollywood this week – yeeks! I’ll go back for a $35 prifixe dinner from Mozza, I’ll tell you THAT!). It was their “Juniper in June” Gin Social. My friend Ronak went with me, and we tried the three gins, and the three drinks they made with the gins. I think none of them compare to my favorite of the moment: Voyager. Y’all need to try that one. Find it how ever you can. And if you live in Washington State, go to your local liquor store. Deelish. I can smell the licorice root now! Anyway, here’s Ammo’s blurb from their website:

Bluecoat American Dry Gin – This classic American gin made in Philadelphia thumbs its nose at the London-style gins—hence the name “Bluecoat”—using organic juniper berry and organic American citrus peels to craft its flavor profile, resulting in a smooth, complex gin that needs no mixers.

Right Gin – Made in Malmo, Sweden, this gin was created for people who normally dislike gin. The spices sourced from around the world—Austrian juniper, Indian coriander leaf, Russian cardamom, Sicilian lemon and vergamont—blend together seamlessly to create a crisp, clean gin that is perfect for blending yet stands its ground solo.

Blu Zephyr Gin – Imported from London, this modern gin takes the classic London-style gin and refreshes it with a cornucopia of botanicals, most prevalently the elderflower and elderberry. Its fragrant sweetness is perfect for mixing creative cocktails, or for sipping on its own.

They’re all supposed to be small batch distilleries, so with unique flavors. My favorite was the Right Gin. None of them were as complex as I think Voyager is, but hey, not everyone can be as cool as Washingtonians! The Bluecoat was probably the most like rubbing alcohol that was there, but I imagine that if you put it with a citrus drink like I’ve liked of late, it would be fine. But, I would always prefer a drink made by Murray at Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle, with whatever kind of gin he chose, over a traditional gin martini with a twist. It’s a little less than rubbing alcohol ingested, but not that much. Ammo made a good cucumber martini – it seemed REALLY dark green, but it was good and refreshing. It had mint in it too. I just wonder if it had “enough” gin in it. Ha. Does any drink have “enough” gin in it, if you’re a hard drinker? Hmm. The other question we had was, “Is there a proper name for a gino-phile?” Like maybe “alcoholic?” Thoughts?

After the drinking, where I got Ronak soused, we hit up Westwood Blvd with her dad, and some delicious Persian food. About half of which I still have at home in the fridge. Oh yay! We went to Flame on Westwood Blvd, which has been reviewed in the New York Times, and was very good. I think that Ronak’s mother makes better food, but then again, I might be biased. Parental food is always better, I think, for the most part!

Now it’s the weekend, and now that my boss’ plane has taken off, I’m outtie! I was going to drive to Santa Barbara to hang with the ever fabulous Kristi, but she got sick and hasn’t gotten better. So, I’m staying here. Or driving to State Line to sit in the sun with B Money. Not sure which. But you’ll get the story, I tell ya, you will. All two or three of you who read this here blog. Maybe I need a counter.

inComplete desperation

I posted a very long post last week, and it was lost on the interwebs. I don’t know where it went! But it detailed the fabulous weekend I had before I went to Hotlanta, so I’ll recreate parts of it. Not all of it, but parts.

I saw Drag Me To Hell, partially due to my boss’ recommendation, and partially due to a blogger I read, CarolineOnCrack, having seen it and enjoying it. So, I chose to see it at the ArcLight in Hollywood, mostly because I feel that the quality of viewers is better than at some other theatres. This time, though, it was not the case. A woman who sat on the other side of me and my friend was walking through the people and didn’t care. And when she sat down she was talking, so my friend and I looked at her. Her response was “REALLY? Really? Really?!?” Oh, people, c’mon! Get a clue and don’t be RUDE! But, the move was quality horror – and I can’t completely even call it horror, I don’t think! The music buildup to each jumpy moment was great. And made it a little less of a horror movie. But, apparently, if you’ve seen Evil Dead, you’re all set for this new Sam Raimi. Now I have to see it! I thoroughly the movie, and have recommended it to a few people – most of whom say that there is no way in hell they’re going to see it. But, I tried!

The following Saturday I had to drop my car off at the mechanic, where he let me pay 1/3 of the ultimate cost and now I’ll have to pay the rest tomorrow. Boo. But, it’s better than on that day! So, if you have a Honda or an Acura, please go see Stacey at Affordable Care of Hollywood. Good stuff. My friend Jessica walked to Intelligentsia from Los Feliz (even though no one walks in LA), which is apparently close to 3 miles RT. But, it was a great morning walk to take, and I even ran into an old friend from high school. I do wish there were an Intelligentsia closer to me in the South Bay. Oh well. Venice will have to do for now. The South Bay isn’t hipster-enough!

I had dinner at a friend’s house, where she set a pig to cookin’ at 6am – yay BBQ!!! And then two friends and I went over for dinner. Good times – apparently it was dry rub BBQ. It’s all good to me! On Sunday it was a typical church day, but it ended with gardening (pictures coming soon, promise!) and an amazing sustainable supper club dinner hosted by ChicksWithKnives. It was absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend you find a dinner and attend one. They’re all over SoCal, and soon will have one in San Diego. GO! They even had a vegan one recently. Just do it, and go!

I had to go to Hotlanta for church, the national craziness, and I started that trip after my first harvesting of Swiss Chard. It was great, with pasta and sausage and mucho garlic! It’s strange to me that now I can sleep very easily on planes. I was asleep within 10 minutes, maybe even 5, of pushback from the gate at LAX. And I woke up when we were taxiing to the gate at ATL. Good skill to have. I got to see my friends in the Presbyterian Health, Education & Wellness Association, along with my step-mom, and it was great. Doing the work of justice is always a balm to anything I’ve got going on!

But, as with any conference, there had to be SOME time to getting away from the convention – there were 1500 Presbyterians doing stuff at this one hotel! So, I called an old friend of mine who now lives in Atlanta and he and his girlfriend came to get me and whisk me away. I had asked several beverage mavens and the twitterverse about fun drink places in Hotlanta, and one of them, Natalie (aka the Liquid Muse) has a friend who saw my plea for beverage houses in ATL and took pity on me. He asked some friends and came up with the following list: (BTW, how flippin’ COOL IS THAT?!?!?)
Drinkshop (W Downtown)
Room at 12 (Centennial Park) or Lobby at 12
Beleza
Trois (on Peachtree)
AJA (inside the Alliance Ctr)
Market (inside the W Buckhead)
Craft
Whiskey Blue (on top of the W)
Nicolai’s Roof (on top of the Hilton)
Leon’s Full Service (Decatur)
BLT Steak
Ritz Carlton bar – Buckhead
Leopard Lounge
Mood Lounge
Serpas

Some of these will depend on the bartender working that night (like mine), but all are top of the top.
There is one “dive/neighborhood bar I wanted to add as well that is a staple of Atlanta, which is Manuel’s Tavern. Nothing spectacular other thatn it is a great old long standing neighborhood hangout. The atmosphere is grand. Tell her to have a great trip.

I tried out Trois, and wow, YUMMY drinks! The bar is downstairs, and we got drenched on the way into the restaurant (one of those apparently typical Southern downpours, that happen briefly with thunder and awesome lightning, and then they go away – and leave the mugginess there). Now I have a list of places to visit when I go back.

I convinced my friend Richard to get a gin drink, after he protested thusly: “I hate G&T’s.” I apparently was able to sway him with the fact that all the awesome drinks that are out there now, with gin, are pretty well just awesome. If you mix gin with fresh fruit (mostly citrus), how can you go wrong? So, that was a coup. It was great to get away from the conference and to just kick back. On Saturday night my friend Leah and I both went out with Richard, as there is only so much of a conference, perhaps, that one can take. We went to a really cool part of Atlanta, called the Highlands, and had tapas and mojitos. Oh yes, good times. And Saturday I was elected to the Board of Directors for PHEWA – so now I am apparently important. To someone. Is it important to you?

When I came home, my friend who was going to water my plants FORGOT. So, my tomato plant looked so, so, so, so very sad. After drenching the pot with water on Sunday and Monday, I am happy to report that she looks beautiful again. So, HAPPY DAY! I think my friend might have been taken out back and hung out to dry if they’d died after all the work I’ve put in. I have had to prop up one of the branches of the tomato plant, due to the fact that it has 6, I think, rather large green tomatoes on it. So, it’s not standing up very well. I tied it, but it needed a prop. My beans have turned out not to need the trellis my dad and I built, so I took some of the bamboo from that, and propped up the end of the tomato branch. Here’s to hopin’ it works! I will post pictures, PROMISE!
Everything that’s coming up and either bearing fruit, or flowers is:
Peas, beans, cosmos, four o’clocks, marigolds, bachelor buttons and morning glories.
The ones that have been flowering since the beginning are flourishing, as they came out of ponies, but they are pansies, petunias (they’re LOVING the sun!!), alyssum. It’s great. I love my garden!!

I went to Beacon in Culver City for their 5th anniversary menu – a bunch of things for 5 bucks – with some friends on Tuesday and it was well worth the $40! Two glasses of wine and 4 small plates – oh yes. Good times. I may just have to go back there for “real” plates sometime. It made me hungry for a Father’s Office burger, though, due to the fact that Beacon is across the street from the Culver City Father’s Office location. Dang. I’ll have to go back there and get a cider and a burger soon! After I go to the gym every day for a week!

I have cheered a friend on, with her workout / get healthy regimen, and now I need to stay on it! Anyone interested in working out “with” me? Even if you’re far away, we can keep in sync with one another. Let me know if you’re interested!

This weekend is shaping up to be more inexpensive – except for a bridal shower on Saturday and the Hungry Cat‘s Crabfest on Sunday. I am very much excited for crab fest!!!

Just because I can, I give a shout-out to my friend Becci’s daughter, and my fake niece, Molly. She graduates today! Congrats, lil one!