In 4 weeks and one day I’ll be on the plane to Bangkok.
In 5 weeks I’ll be starting my DiveMaster training.
I expect to eat things like this.
And see views like this.
The countdown has begun.
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Author Archives: No-L
Church Shopping in Today’s Day & Age
*When I say “today’s day & age,” man do I feel like I’m dating myself!
Back to the topic at hand. I admit it: I thought this would be much easier than it’s been so far.
Kind of. See, I have this track record with churches in Seattle that isn’t so great.
I started out, at a young age, going to church and also protesting the first Gulf War in 1990. When I was asked, in school, how I could justify going to church and protesting the Gulf War, I wasn’t really able to answer. I just knew in my heart that church + protesting war = the right thing to do. But, I didn’t know how to answer. So, I cut the thing out of the equation that was easiest to do – I cut out church. I didn’t spend close to 40 hours per week with the church folks, whereas I did with my schoolmates. Cutting out church was easier. I felt, from that time till I left Seattle in 2000, that you couldn’t be a progressive AND go to church, in Seattle. There was a dichotomy at work that was interesting and I wasn’t able to figure it out.
Fast forward to after my move to LA and there you have Noelle, wondering about going to church, and then eventually finding Immanuel Presbyterian Church, in Koreatown, close to Downtown LA. A church that really called to me. Where I felt at home. Immanuel did all the things that churches “weren’t supposed to do”: ordained LGBT folks, spoke out about the wrongs happening in our world, encouraged members to ask questions about things and to get involved in the church – both locally and internationally. In the past few years, I’ve felt a little distant from Immanuel, but at the same time, each time I went back on a Sunday, I felt completely HOME.
I always said I wasn’t ever going to move back to Seattle, but in the past few years I knew that things were different. I felt that Seattle had grown up into a city that I could live in. Never mind the closeness to the GodFamily, and my mom. I figured that since the city had grown into a place where I could see myself, perhaps the strangeness of a progressive going to church had changed too. That and the fact that I am now a member of the Board of the PC(USA) led me to vow to find a Presbyterian church in Seattle where I could feel at home too…
So, this is where I found myself on August 21: vowing to visit different Covenant Network and / or More Light Presbyterian Churches. This is where Seattle is a bit strange – the presbytery is pretty conservative, even though the city really is not. I wrote down a list of churches to try, and the list isn’t very long. It includes perhaps 5 churches, I think, in the local area of Seattle. There are some others that are in Western Washington, but not many.
Starting church shopping at the end of summer meant that I probably was going to attend when a pastor wasn’t at church. In that case, perhaps that would be when a congregation would really be welcoming. Or, I could be doing some wishful thinking. So far I’ve met some very nice people, who haven’t really interacted with me at all, past saying “hi” as I left, with one exception. I have tried 4 of the 5 that I wanted to try, and one of those was recommended to me by a dear friend from Immanuel. I was hoping that there would be others people recommended, but nope. None yet.
I am coming to the conclusion that we, as churchgoers, need to be much more welcoming to those that are outside “the fold,” as it were. From the church I went to last Sunday, I got an email that had “FWD:” at the beginning of the subject line (FWD: Welcome to our Church!). Way to be precise with those emails! I just remember at Immanuel, that when there was the welcoming of new people, the visitors were encouraged to stand up and say their name, and where they were from. Then there was some drumming and applause to welcome each person who was brave enough to stand up. When the passing of the peace happened, I know I made a beeline for the visitors to welcome and say hi – and I know others did too. During the passing of the peace at most of the churches, no one really said anything, no real welcome. So, I’ve listened to sermons, and haven’t been inspired by any of them (there is one that I still think on), and left, briefly saying hi to pastors on the way out. When only the regular attendees know where to go for a fellowship hour after the service, perhaps the pastors should stand on the route from the sanctuary to the fellowship hour, instead of funneling people (especially visitors) through the outside doors. I did enjoy the fellowship hour at one of the churches – but the guy I chatted with and I had a connection through a friend. That felt kind of like cheating.
It is hard, while you’re doing a stewardship pitch, to make visitors feel welcome, but there are definitely some ways to make others feel more welcomed. The church where I felt the most welcomed was definitely NOT the biggest. At the same time, that church isn’t necessarily where I want to attend worship. Let’s be honest – I want to go to a church where there are potentially “young adult” men who are single. (I say young adult in quotes, because I don’t view myself as that any longer, but in the eyes of the PC(USA), I sure as heck AM!)
I also feel like that last paragraph is an unspoken truth. No one wants to talk about that, so no one really does.
So far, no physical church community has taken place of the “virtual” church community I have created online. I call on those people regularly for their words, daily in fact. I feel more connected to this group around the country than I do to a church community in one building. It feels strange to say that, but so far, I’m still more connected online than I am in person.
A long while ago, I did speak with my pastor at Immanuel about this, and it seemed like an unusual situation for her to hear about.
If you’re a Teaching Elder reading this, or a Ruling Elder reading this, what do you wish you could know about visitors to your church? How would you reach out to them more? I honestly didn’t think I’d feel like this, as much as I do. But, I do.
So, now I’m here. What happens next?
So, on August 19 I returned to Seattle. I got to drive through Seattle’s summer rush hour traffic to get to my mom’s house and then promptly went to my godfamily’s house. Kimberly & Erik are the ones who decided, a few years ago, to ask me to be one of the two godmothers to their kids. I know, what are they getting themselves into? Regardless, they’re part of the whole “reasons I moved home” list. And their two kids. Those are some good reasons, I promise.
Now that it’s over a month after I moved home, I have had some time to think on the merits of moving home, without a job. It was good to have some time off, but does anyone really need two months off? Wait, don’t answer that. I will be taking another few months off shortly. But that will be in another country, and I will be scuba diving. Or learning to lead you scuba diving. Anyway, it has been a while now, and I’m still trying to find some work that will allow me to travel, but could also still bring in money (so if you have any leads, I’ll take them – I’m not talking ponzi schemes, or random emails from Nigerian princes here!). I’m also relying on what I learned a few years ago when I was just back from Thailand and not working. As hard as that time was, it was VERY valuable. I was forced to accept help (yes, I don’t do it easily – so I say forced!) and it taught me a lesson about my friends. So, all in all it was really rough, and really good. I know it was hard, but I dug deep and learned things. Crazy, I know.
I have gotten to see parts of my family, spend time with friends and also spend time with my mom. I need to bike more, but that’ll happen. I’ll get over the idea of getting damp while cycling. Really, I will.
Since I’ve been back in Seattle, I’ve gone to LA for the Best Buddies Hearst Castle Challenge (flew to LAX, drove to Carmel, ate amazing food, rode 63 of the toughest miles in my life – photo along the route above, drove back to LA, flew home), went to Louisville for a meeting (flew to Louisville, went on two bourbon tours, had a few days of meetings, had amazing food with awesome friends, flew home) and then drove to Leavenworth to spend time with my dad & stepmom. Then I got to take the train back to Seattle (picture below).
So, I’ve been busy, albeit a slacker. I’ve been church-shopping (that’s a whole different blog post!) and getting to know some (more) of my local bars in Seattle.
And now I am going about the business of moving storage items to Spokane to a dear friend’s garage-loft. I’m again grateful for the kindness of friends. I will drive to Spokane tomorrow and see Anna and her family, and then drive to Kennewick to spend time with my grandmother. The pre-3-month-trip preparation starts now.
This involves the mental preparation too. And, the preparation of leaving my godfamily for a few months. That is hard.
Wait, I just did what?
Oh, that’s right, I quit my job and moved home to Seattle.
In the past 6 weeks, I’ve done some crazy things. As in, I quit my job on August 12, drove to SF, then to Arcata, then to Portland, and finally I arrived in Seattle on August 19.
I said goodbye to my awesome social media friends and also non-work friends at Drago Centro, then goodbye to my work family near to work, then goodbye to my South Bay BFF’s at The Tasting Kitchen in Venice. Let me tell you, driving 8 hours while hungover isn’t the easiest thing to do. I was very glad to have had The Tasting Kitchen be my last big meal in LA – and man, did Devon and Justin get me sloshed. I would post some pictures of drinks, but I was too focused on my friends. It’s a loss for everyone, promise.
I got to see some friends in San Francisco, my little brother and some other family outside Arcata and then some other friends in Portland in my week of travel up the coast. It was a great way to think on my drive up. I don’t think that I actually felt the completeness of the move due to the fact that I was scheduled to return to LA for a big bike ride only 4 weeks later. I guess the move in stages part was good.
All in all, my trip from being a Californian to being a Washingtonian was completely awesome. I got to meet several twitter friends that I’d never met before (@themayorpete, @thedapperdiner and @fox_zilla) in San Francisco – all on the same night, in fact. I wandered around the Ferry Building with two friends, and just was mostly mobile, on foot – which is easy to do in SF, whereas not too easy in LA. The sun came out just for me, supposedly. I enjoyed spending a few days with my youngest brother, my virtual sister-in-law and also my niece. I was bummed that the 2nd youngest brother wasn’t around. I spent some good time at the river, reminiscing about when I used to spend time at the river, when I was much younger. The main difference were the rocks. We didn’t have a ton of rocks in Curlew.
After being in the country, I was ready to get back to The City, so I drove for 8 hours to Portland. There I got to see friends who are bartenders, professors and filmmakers. If Seattle doesn’t work out, I can always move to Portland! In Portland I got to meet even more people I’d never met, except for online, along with seeing friends from 7th grade and also 1997. You know, like yesterday. It was lovely to spend time in Portland and I got to meet an amazingly inspiring cyclist, Heidi Swift. Heidi and I have talked on twitter for a while, and I finally got to meet her and go for a ride with her. I knew she’d kick my ass on the ride, so it was all I could do to NOT fall down on the ride. Being hungover definitely did NOT help. Regardless, I survived a trip up Mount Tabor and around Portland. If you want to go biking in Portland – get out there and do it! The bike paths are lovely and the network of paths seems very complete. The only problem was getting back up the hill to where my car was. Huge thanks to Heidi for my cup of coffee and not leaving me in your dust!
Finally it was off to cross the bridge into Washington. It felt good. It felt right. I knew that coming home was going to be a huge deal, but I didn’t know how good it would feel. I had this giddy grin on my face from when I crossed the Columbia River till I saw the Space Needle while stuck in traffic South of Downtown Seattle. When it is right, you know. Just like it was right to leave Seattle 11 years ago, it was right to return on August 19.
(This is just part 1 of my move story. More to come soon.)
Goodbyes are Hard. And now I pout.
While I’ve made the decision to leave LA, and I know it’s the RIGHT decision, having MADE the decision does not make saying goodbye any easier.
I had my first goodbye party, okay, it could be considered my 2nd, in San Diego on Friday. I am extremely honored that my friends Alex & Jessica and their new baby Ellie were able to make a trip out of the house to come, and that Cathy, Mike & Christopher were all able to come. But, after all the kids left (or went to bed, in the case of one resident of the house), it was down to fun and interesting conversation with the adults left: me, Cheryl & Ben and Eric. We always have great conversations – and Friday was definitely no exception. We discussed bourbon and bourbon making and also women and the bible. Yes, strange topics, but then again, I AM Presbyterian! We like bourbon AND the bible.
I will miss these people in the strange (and beautiful) city of San Diego, and I am sad to admit that I didn’t take ANY photos with them. Guess I’ll just have to come back to SD soon. Or, they can come to Seattle!
Saying goodbye is difficult, but I’m definitely glad to have the facespace to keep up on life. I wish the miles were as easy to traverse as the interwebs!
Crab Fest. And NOT Crab with a K.
The Hungry Cat’s 7th Annual Crab Fest.
Before the Carnage.
When I was looking at the website for all of The Hungry Cat locations, I happened upon the notification for the upcoming Crab Fest. It wasn’t really a notification even – just the notice that it was coming up. I immediately called and made my reservation. Almost 2 months in advance. They hadn’t even sent out the email to notify everyone!
Regardless, I’ve been to Crab Fest for the past 4 years, and every one of them has been amazing. I needed to make this year no exception to that rule.
My reservation was made for 10, and the call went out to friends who might have been interested. I quickly filled up my table, knowing that I’d lose some to other plans being made in the intervening 2 months.
Sunday dawned and I decided to fast for a few hours prior to the gorging that would take place – I knew there would be course after course. I chose to finish some veggies I needed to eat that were in the fridge. So, runner beans and carrots + tea became my breakfast. So nutritious and delicious!
Upon arrival, my friend Kimberly and I decided to start the insanity with oysters.
We started with 6 and quickly ordered 6 more. The accoutrements are 2 house-made mignonettes, lemons and house-made cocktail sauce. I am addicted to the Hungry Cat’s raspberry mignonette.
The drinks started with the Anne Arundel, and then alternated between a Howlin’ Wolf and the Midnight Run. The latter two drinks were spicy and you could both taste the spicy and smell it on the nose. Apologies for not being able to produce the ingredient listing.
In the meantime, I realized that two friends were sitting at a different table. One of them suggested I get a wine glass and that I would get some wine from her tables. The tables she was a part of were all sommeliers – or their significant others. So the wines were amazing and complex and I would very much like to try them again. All were white, except the first one was a bubbly rose, which was very dry and light on the bubbles. Zahra kept telling me to come over at each course to get the wine that would go well with that course. Until they left, that’s what I did! I realized, after a while, that one of the sommeliers at the table was someone I knew. I didn’t remember WHERE I had met the somm, and then it came to me when I returned the 2nd time. It was a guy named Jared, who I knew from my days at Anthony’s back in college. Insane. But I remembered!
The first course was a crab cake, followed by a crab soup and then a fried softshell crab po’ boy. The table had the mind that they were filling us all up on bread products. So, we did away with the bread and just had the crabs. It was all about the crab, wasn’t it anyway?!?
The sides were heirloom tomatoes with provolone and red onions – simple and delicious, along with grilled squash. There was an interesting flavor that went with the squash, fairly spicy too, but at this point the table was filled with 7 crazy crab-obsessed people. So, the steamed blue crabs showed up, ceremoniously dropped on the table. At this point I should probably mention that the tables were covered in saran wrap, followed by butcher paper and then topped with newspaper.
Because, as we all know, this sort of business is dirty. And delicious.
The table got quiet and everyone started handling their business, and the crabs.
See those forks up top? Yeah, we didn’t use them to save our lives. The mallets and the hands that we were born with – that’s what we used. I have the stab wounds to prove it.
The final course was a stone fruit crisp, and it was a perfect end. In the middle of everything, shots were had around the table – some were Fernet, some were Jameson. The later it got, the more ridiculous it got.
But, fun was had by all, and the girls ate more crabs than the boys. To be fair, there were 2 boys, and 5 girls. We ate our weight, though, in crab. And, Mr. Trickett, the last batch was definitely the best.
Who knew that spicy drinks went well with steamed blue crabs? I do now! I learned one thing in the crab fest insanity. So, it was worth it.
Chicks and Knives… OH MY!
On a recent Sunday I went to a Chicks with Knives dinner that was just amazing. Not that the other two I have been to haven’t been amazing, but this time the group was a fantastic size and I just so loved it. There were only 18 of us, and the tables were close enough that you could heard some of what the peeps at the other table were saying, but you could also have a nice conversation with the people at your own table.
I first found out about Chicks with Knives because of the fabulously halfway useless Daily Candy emails. But this one… this email was fabulous. I learned of something that I really wanted to take part in: a dinner club of people who enjoy good food that follows the SOLE principle. Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical food. I first met Rachael at an event downtown, where she and her bizness partner, Suzanne, were providing the apps for a loft shindig – I’m not sure what to call it. But it was great, and I vowed to go to a dinner. The first one was at a home in Silverlake that was amazing. The second one was mid-city and had yummy padron peppers (something I started after reading a tweet – weird). The most recent one was in Hancock Park and was I think the best. The entree was lamb, and I don’t generally order lamb, but I decided that it had been a long enough time that I needed to go to another dinner! Apparently this year is about expanding my food horizons.
I gave a friend at work the list of all the food, and she recommended some F&E wines – so, I brought four bottles of wine, obviously to share. The first course was an Autumn Chowder that consisted of butternut squash, clams and homemade chorizo. I could have been happy eating only that all night. But, knowing what I knew, I couldn’t fill up on only that. It was creamy to a good degree, and not overly heavy. The combination of flavors was just sublime. The salad was a persimmon, celery, red onion & fennel salad with La Tienda Spanish – amazingly light, but now I need to know what the dressing is! I’ve never had persimmons before this year, and now I’ve had them all the time in the last month. Rachael cut hers up very thinly, perhaps using mandolin (and now I know what a mandolin for food is!), along with the fennel. And the chorizo – wow – it added a great kick. In my spicy world, it could have been hotter, but mellow spiciness has it place! Crunch-tastic and full of flavor. Now I need to try to make it. But (hint, hint), I need the dressing recipe.
Oh, and now comes the piece de resistance: the lamb chop. It was gorgeous looking and this is when I wish I had taken a picture. But, I didn’t, so, you get to imagine along with me. It was on top of a puree of beans & eggplants, served with sauteed sweet peppers and I asked Rachael how to make it, because it was amazing. It took her days and days and I just don’t see that happening for me. If I do decide to make it, I’ll let y’all know. And then eat it all myself. For reals! I think with all the agony of making it, I would NOT share, nosiree bob. The flavor of the lamb chop combined with the delicious bean and eggplant yumminess was perfect. I’m not sure how to get all the complementary flavors together, but if I figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you know. I think in one sense, it’s better that only a few peeps have that talent, but I’ve gotten better. The buttermilk onion rings not JUST onion rings, but they were buttermilk battered Sweet Sierra onion rings. They were on top of the lamb chops and the flavor of those buttermilk rings may make me never again want any sort of onion ring that isn’t a CWK ring. It’s the principle, damnit. I was able to procure a picture, so you’ll get to see that too. Long blog post!
The desert was an amazing apple tart that was served with house-made vanilla ice cream – the apples were so flavorful and the whole shebang made me want more. That was the simple description, the complete description is this (again with the amount of time put into these meals – just no for me, but I will reap the rewards): the apple tart was a 24-hour apple tart with vanilla ice cream as above; candied walnuts with rosemary & dried apple sugar. I really enjoyed the apple dessert, mostly because it was delicious, but also because I wanted to go to Julian this year to get pie. Mass-produced pie from Julian. Instead, I got homemade apple tart by CWK. Yeah, that works better.
How could I forget the appetizer & drink? Amazing – me being a cocktail fanatic. So, here it is: the appetizer was house-made (HOUSE-MADE!) bacon jam served on a blitz puff. How does one even MAKE bacon jam? I will leave it to the pros. There were amazing picked candy striped beets (which I’ve recently made, and which I hope the beets in my fridge are, as opposed to yellow) and breakfast radishes with house-made butter. Yes, CWK makes butter. And then used the buttermilk for the onion rings. It was so sweet and delicious it makes me want to learn how to do it. And then I clear my head and come to my senses. The cocktail was called a 15 Cocktail. It had quince, clove, fresh lemon juice and 360 Organic Vodka with a lemon twist. The lemons were from a tree outside, so they certainly were local! It was tart enough to make this lemon girl happy and the cloves were just nice and spicy. Not hot, but full of spice, y’know? I’m game for trying it again. Only I’m adding my Voyager gin – therefore would have to change the spices, but the gist is there, right?
I got to share F&E wines with newbies and I got to share dinner with a fabulous crew! I took my friend Nastassia, who writes her own blog at LetMeEatCake, and she then took a class from Rachael & LA Food Works. Y’all know that I’m a networker, so here I am, happy to have brought Nastassia & LA Food Works together. I only wish I could have gone to the Great Pumpkin cooking class – but my lovely god daughter Caroline needed to get baptized in Seattle, so I went there instead. 
Now everyone who reads this blog (which is like 2 people right now) needs to get tickets to the next Chicks With Knives dinner. Or take a class, or just general join in the awesomeness that is CWK. Rachael tweets recipes at times, or her favorite find at the market – you can always find her on twitter: http://twitter.com/chickswknives
Maybe next time I’ll get to take pictures and then you can see the amazing food. For now, use your imagination.
Cooking at home! (By Noelle & Others)
I’ve been doing loads of cooking at home, but I’ve found myself in a rut. I was only really cooking zucchini at home, with home grown basil and farmers’ mkt squash and garlic. But, after a while, it didn’t seem very good any longer. Just this week I branched out, on my own, to other (yowza) stuff. My friend ML is staying with me for a little while, and I like to cook more for more than one, so it’s been good.
Monday night I cooked spaghetti squash (which is so damn easy: cut it open, pull out seeds and put it upside down in a pan in the oven) with a doctored up pasta sauce from work. I cooked 93/7 Angus Beef from F&E and then added a bunch of garlic and basil and then an eggplant marinara. I put that all over the spaghetti squash (once it had been shredded out with a fork) and tossed a little cheese in. And wow, it was good. And pretty darn good for us! So, I’ll have to duplicate that again. And that time take a picture. Because it was just too good lookin’ for me to pause. I even had some for lunch today. A friend thought I had added a TON of cheese. I said, “Nope, pasketti squash!”
Tonight, which is Tuesday, I made chicken escalopes (I’m still unsure of what that is) from F&E which were breaded, peewee potatoes roasted with s&p and olive oil and then I steamed Rainbow Chard and put balsamic vinegar and olive oil on it. It was simple and amazing. And I did take a picture of the plate all put together (and will try to post it soon). ML asked how much it all cost, and today we counted. It was $10 for the entire meal, from F&E and the Hollywood Farmers Market. For two people. So that is pretty good. Just about the same price as Pho! Anyway, wine was involved, so that increased the price. But not by much! I have some chicken and potatoes left over too. LUNCH! Rainbow Chard is such a great thing that I can’t get enough of it, so darn it, I don’t have any left. Not sure how steamed chard would be the day after, though. ML had never had it, and kept asking me what it was. Oh, how I love fresh chard. And I love to introduce it to people!
My friend Rachael of Chicks with Knives suggested a book to me, after I mentioned that I got caught in cooking ruts. It’s called The Flavor Bible and I got it in the mail last week. I haven’t even used it yet, but I’m feeling better about my cooking. Rachael came over recently and started my thinking outside the box by cooking a butternut squash + kale + mussels all over pasta dish. She taught me how to roast butternut squash, and I think I’ll be eternally grateful for that. Rachael also taught me that it’s okay to just toss things together and that chances are, it’ll be okay. Well, maybe for that I’ll be eternally grateful. But, whatever the case is, Rachael is rad. For those of you in the LA area, you MUST go to a dinner that Chicks with Knives throws. Or at least take a class that Rachael teaches. Here is the list of cooking classes, so do yourself a favor and go take a class.
Dirt is Dirt is Dirt… right?
WRONG.
As you know, or now will, I have been gardening all summer. Now I am a little concerned about my garden at this point in the summer, mostly due to the fact that SoCal is super warm now, and I’m not there. I’ve sent emails off to several people, in the hopes that my babies (my plants) will get watered. I just planted two different kinds of basil too! Here’s to hoping!
Anyway, my garden is all in pots, on my deck, and there are some veggies and some flowers. I want to do more veggies next year, including squash and more herbs, string beans (versus the bush beans I have now), and heirloom tomatoes. And I will take all I’ve learned this year, obviously, and hopefully grow more and better plants next year! When I started my deck garden, I got pots and boxes from OSH, along with dirt. When I went to OSH, I got all confused, because where I grew up, dirt is dirt is dirt. There’s no difference! But at OSH, there are so many kinds. And mulch. And compost. And this potting soil and that potting soil. Yeah, I was all kinds of confused. Some potting soil is for short pots, some for tall pots. The tallest pot I purchased is like 2 feet, maybe? So, I bought the dirt for 12”+ pots, and I bought some compost-type dirt, to mix in. That was my first round of planting. I thought most things were going okay, until my dad came for a visit in May. We re-potted everything. We used potting soil from Lowe’s for this, though. It was closer than OSH, and that’s where we went. Let me tell you, dirt is not dirt is not dirt. No, the Lowe’s potting soil and compost are NOTHING compared to the OSH potting soil and compost. The OSH soil holds water much better, and the plants respond better to it. I was over watering my peas, and because the soil is so much better in that box, they molded (yes, that part sucks). I removed the plants, but also dropped a few peas into the soil. They sprouted! On their own! I have now planted three kinds of basil in that box too. Again, I hope they’re all okay in the heat in SoCal!! The difference in dirt is pronounced enough that I have pictures of it.
In addition, I think that the compost from Lowe’s sprouts mushrooms. Weird. Not sure if I like them or not. I’m not going to eat them, though, that’s for sure! I do know that there are some of the horned worms in probably both kinds of dirt, and they like to gnaw on tomatoes. I probably incurred some bad karma when I chucked them out of the pots during repotting onto the street. (I’ll say Hail Mary’s later.)
All in all, if you have a choice of soils to use, don’t use Lowe’s. I think that dirt from my aunt & uncle’s house is probably the best, but since it’s not feasible for me to get a dump truck of their dirt delivered to LA, I’ll go with OSH. I will post pictures upon my return regarding the dirt. Lowe’s Dirt vs OSH Dirt.
For more pictures, my Garden Collection on my flickr page has the garden at different stages. I’ll update that with pictures of the garden after my return to Cali… hopefully not everything will be dead. Those pictures, I just realized, are very old. I will update them soon.
Playing Catch Up
I have been a pretty big failure as a blogger in the last month and then some. I was scared of my blog for a little while. Mostly because I hadn’t updated it. I finally was able to update the blog, well, actually, my friend Rex updated it for me, a few weeks ago, or less, and now I’m back. So, I have to play catch up. Loads to discuss. And in the meantime, I’m without internet on the train to Seattle right now, so I am entering the blog in word and then I’ll transfer it later. The only person who’ll know anything is different is me. And I just admitted it to the internets. Oops.
Anyway, shortly after the last entry, (not counting the teeny one recently) I went to the Blogger Prom. It was a prom for bloggers, as the name implies. It was fun to see people whose blogs I read and whose tweets I respond to, in real life. I know the interwebs are real, but not real life. I tripped on the sidewalk the weekend before, coming back from my friend Mei-Lon’s house, and had a fun cast on my right hand. And my face looked awesome with the three scrapes and the giant horseshoe bruise on my chin. I looked like someone had beaten me up! Not super awesome, at all. I had a hard time wandering around and mingling and eating and drinking. I was super non-social for a time, as there was food to be had. It was comedy, though, watching a bunch of food bloggers see the food and then take pictures of it. They wouldn’t let anyone touch the cupcakes till peeps had all photographed it. I do admit, I have some of those pictures. The mini-cupcakes were so darling, though. Had to do it. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Sarah of TheDeliciousLife, Diana of DianaTakesaBite, Maya of ShopEatSleep, Sam Kim of LAist, HC of LAOCFoodventures and of course Caroline On Crack, Esther of E*StarLA, Lindsay of LAist, Tara of When Tara Met Blog and Natalie TheLiquidMuse. I had met Caroline, Esther, Lindsay, Tara and Natalie before, so it was definitely nice to see them again. The setting was the Andaz in West Hollywood, formerly the Riot Hyatt, and the view from the roof is beautiful. The event was in the event space + pool area on the roof. The pool has been beautifully redone, but the event space seemed to be just the same as it was in the past. I almost did an event for Jacob there, a few years back, but it seems to me that there isn’t much they updated in the room. Regardless, I would like to live in a corner of the pool area, that would be fantastic. Thanks.
I was invited to a party that Jo from MyLastBite was having, and it seemed that I knew quite a few of the peeps present – it’s an annual party, and her husband used to work at the DreamWorks, where my old work was based. So, I knew some of the people there. Made me laugh. And then I ran into someone who a friend used to date… um, it’s still a small world!! But, it was fantastic and jovial and just fabulous.
The next day I started something that I’ve done every Sunday after that, till this coming Sunday, when I’ll be in Seattle: make a trip to The Hollywood Farmers’ Market. Fabulous produce and food and coffee! I make the trip before church, or in place of it, depending on how I feel. Because I’ve made the decision to continue with The Bar Method (Oops, dropping a name where I haven’t told you anything about it yet. Bar Method is an exercise method similar-ish to Pilates. I love it, and my posture has gotten so much better since I started at the beginning of July. Oh, and my back hurts a lot less.), I will continue to get fresh veggies and fruit at the Farmers’ Market in Hollywood and cook at home. I know it’s shocking! At Jo’s request, I took some pictures of some squash dishes I’ve made. I’m getting more and more adventurous too! Very exciting.
I’ve spent more time at home in the months of June, July & August than I have in years, so I’ve been able to take more full advantage of all that LA has to offer in the summertime, and to keep the miles down on my car. Insane, I know. It’s been fun.
Due to a few peoples’ pictures and posts, I had started following a chef in LA, Ludo Lefebvre, who has a guerilla style pop-up restaurant that has since ended (tears). A few Sundays ago I was driving back to the South Bay from church and hanging out with friends when Ludo tweets his evening meal, and then that he has too much food for him and his wife alone. They invited anyone who was in the area to come over, if someone desired. I was a little shocked, so I said, “For real? I’m on my way to Hermosa.” And lo and behold, he invited me over. It was pretty funny, in that I was tweeting that I was heading to an unknown person’s house, and he was inviting an unknown person to his house. I got endorsements from two friends, Jo & Lindsay, so maybe Ludo & his wife Krissy felt better, but it was still a risk on both of our parts. It was fun, though! Sometimes in life you have to take risks… otherwise life is boring. At least by my way of thinking. They are lovely people and it was a fantastic evening.
The following weekend I went to LudoBites the pop-up restaurant with Jo, her husband Peter and a couple friend of theirs, who I had previously met at Jo’s Garden Jam party, Phil and his wife Katrina, and along with my friend Mei-Lon. LudoBites was at BreadBar near Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, that Ludo had up until 8/22. Ludo and his crew came in after that and made it into a highly sought after restaurant. Add a limited timeline/availability to the fact that it was AMAZING food, and you have a packed house. I was lucky to have gone once! I was planning on taking my friend Lisa with me to crash the last night of LudoBites, but the request was made via twitterverse to not have any walk-ins. I didn’t want to get onto a blacklist, so I went to AOC with Lisa instead. It was a great time, so nothing lost. In the meantime, Ludo has said that he submitted a proposal for a “real” restaurant, so I will wait to hear about that. And hope, and pray… and look over the pictures from my journey to LudoBites.
After LudoBites, we went to Comme Ca for cocktails, and my were they delicious. We had cheese too, and again, delicious. The cheese man (cheese sommelier?) went around the plate telling us about the cheeses, and when he got to one he just said, “This one is just a hot smelly mess.” Um, yeah, that is the one I loved. The cocktails were delicious, and I will go back and try more. I know I was supposed to write down what they were, and I forgot. I have to get back in the habit of bringing my notebook with me! Thanks to the Comme Ca website, here are the drinks I tried: Guadalupe’s Cup (tequila, cucumber, cilantro, black Hawaiian sea salt), Aviation No. 1, a Basil Gimlet and a Blooming Daisy. All except for Guadalupe’s Cup were gin based. You’re shocked, I know.
I was supposed to leave on the 27th of August for Australia, but instead I decided to head to Seattle but to first have a mini-staycation in LA. My friend Lisa flew from Austin to hang with me, and that was super fantastic. I enjoyed just being able to wander and hang.
We went to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, made dinners at home, enjoyed happy hours, wandered through the neighborhood. And caught up ALL the way on True Blood on HBO. I was way behind, so much so that I had 8 episodes to watch! In addition, I got my bike all tuned up. So now I can ride it, knowing it’s all fixed and running. I do need a new seat, though.
Pictures to come… promise.