Happy Spring!

I braved the ridonk downpour in LA yesterday for just long enough to grab these daffodils at Trader Joe's for $1.29!  The perfect spring accessory, yes?

Don't they look pretty on my new orange (or "persimmon" in retail speak) side table?

(I wish someone would make a laptop with smell-transmission skillz already because these smell too good not to share.)

And now back to my studently duties (and coffee)...

Representin' the maiden name.  Via coffee mug.

P.S. stay tuned for pics from Palm Springs later today!

An L.A. Sunset for Your Friday

One of the good things about being a student is getting to watch the sun go down on Fridays, a privilege that most working people would envy.  As my days of studenthood grow fewer, I am more and more aware of the fact that my Friday sunsets are numbered.  So in honor of the freedom of student life, I bring you a very L.A. sunset, taken last Friday on the Ocean Park overpass.  I'll try to post a sunset photo every Friday if I can so that you can have a little bit of prettiness at the end of your week (and so that I can have a seemingly legit excuse to find a sunset every Friday ha).

Another Thursday Flight

The only bad thing about daylight savings time is that I won't be seeing this sunset when I fly down to L.A. anymore. 

Anyway, happy St. Patrick's day everyone!  I love that we all get to celebrate today, Irish or not :)

Tasting Kitchen

I went to the Tasting Kitchen with Brian a few weeks ago (before I started this blog), but this place definitely deserves a post. It's seriously good. So seriously good that you should seriously go make a reservation like now.

First of all, it's in Venice on Abbot Kinney, and we all know how I feel about Venice.

Second of all, it was on Joanna's list of places she went when she visited L.A.  And I love Joanna, whether or not she knows it.

Third of all, it's got that whole trendy-but-not-stuffy vibe to it - my favorite of all restaurant vibes - complete with simple decor, dim candle lighting, and of course, trees growing inside.  Also a favorite of mine.

And most importantly, the food is damn good.  Since Brian and I eat everything (and eagerly), and we were feeling especially celebratory, we decided to let the waiter choose for us.  So we asked him to bring us what he thought was the best appetizer, the best pasta, the best entree, and the best dessert.  Best.  Decision.  Ever.

We started out with an appetizer of prosciutto and mozz (burrata if you prefer).  Now, Brian and I are experienced in the worlds of both prosciuttos and mozzes, having spent a few months living in Florence (in Brian's case, right next to the Mercato Centrale), and having consumed countless prosciutto panini while there.  We even had a cheese guy and a meat guy.  Our meat guy one time gave us bowls as a present.  That happened. 

Either way, this mozz and prosciutto was the best we'd had in the States.  So good that we asked where it came from, and our (awesome) server came back with the sources scribbled on a scrap of paper.  Not like I would actually order my prosciutto from Iowa, but it was a nice gesture anyway. 

Then we had the bucatini alla amatriciana.  Long tubes of pasta with a sauce and panchetta.  Hefty, salty, savory.  Just how I like my pasta.  Then the heavier start was perfectly balanced by the whole Branzino we had as our entree. Soft, mild and buttery.  Our server's choices were spot on.

Bottom line: Take your date here.  Now.  It's not going to blow your mind with crazy flavor combinations, but it will serve up solid Italian cuisine in a trendy/romantic California atmosphere.  And the servers are knowledgable and helpful.  This is a damn good date place.

Desert Style

Brian's grandparents lived in Palm Desert for a long time, and when they moved to Santa Barbara, they brought their (awesome) desert style with them to this amazing southwest-inspired home. 

His grandmother collects the most beautiful American Indian antiques and artwork, and the whole place walks that perfect line between comfort and design. 

  

As her husband says, "she's a buyer and keeper of knick-knacks, but not a seller."  Gotta love grandparent humor.

And they have puppies :)

What could be cuter than grandparents and puppies?

Veeps

There's nothing like being within photographing distance of a celebrity to make you feel like a veep (veep being, of course, the Italian pronounciation of the American acronym V.I.P.).  Last summer while working in L.A., I spotted a few celebrities, the most notable being Jessica Simpson in a tragic red romper in the parking lot of Hamasaku.  I was probably cropped out of that picture.  Just sayin.

This weekend I added to the celebrity sighting list when Brian and I happened upon free tickets to a sit down chat sesh with the cast of Eastbound and Down as part of the Paley Center's TV Festival.  It was at the Saban Theater, where they have a bar and even let you bring your drink to your seat!  Just try not to spill your wine all over the seat next to you...not that that happened to me or anything...

{inside the theater}

Now.  I don't watch the show, and if you know me and you know the show, you probably have no qualms about that.  But (surprisingly) I think I could enjoy the show.  Maybe this is Brian's lack of filter for his TV watching preferences rubbing off on me, but no joke, I thought Kenny was hilarious.  Plus, Danny McBride and Jody Hill (the creators/writers) are both from NC (and I still claim that state even though I only know what exists within the confines of Duke's fake-old stone walls).  So basically, they're my peeps.

And no, of course I didn't take any pics of the actual celebs.  What do you take me for, a tourist?

P.S. have you seen this yet?  You will laugh.

A Bumper Sticker I Can Get Behind (...literally)

{P.S. don't drive and photograph...}

Two Nights in Venice

Have I ever told you about the first night I spent in L.A. when I arrived here last summer? No?! Well. It was me, Brian, one of Brian's friends from college who lives in the area and his girlfriend. It started innocently enough with dinner at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica, but then we decided to go out in Venice.  So we were driving, in what is probably the only white pick up truck (or any pick up truck) registered in L.A. county, and who should we come by but Tree Man.  Yes, the Tree Man of Venice folkloric fame.  So of course, we stopped the car in the middle of the road, jumped out, and ran after him; and of course, we invited him to get in the back of our truck.  And of course he did.  So off we drove with Tree Man's 10-foot stilts happily dangling over the edge of the truck bed.  We chilled with Tree Man for a while (his real name is Lantis), scaring people and having some drinks (he doesn't drink, though, so it was just us), and ended up back in Santa Monica at the bar in the lobby of the Shangri-la, a fancy establishment where we were supposedly waiting for our chance to go up to the rooftop bar (but let's face it, they were never gonna let us up there with a twing-covered giant in tow).  So.  Drinking with Tree Man at the Shangri-la, and then who should we come upon but another giant -- Brian Zoubek.  Yes, Brian Zoubek of Cameron Indoor fame.  Three of us in attendance being Duke graduates, you can imagine the starstruck excitement that ensued.  I think I told him I loved him...I think he waived back.  Probably the strangest night of my life.

{Tree Man via L.A. Magazine}


Last night I went back to Venice, but this time was a little more normal, yet no less exceptional.  While there were no giants involved, there was wine, and maybe a bacon-wrapped-bleu-cheese-stuffed date or two, at Venice Beach Wines.  We had driven past this place a few times, but it's unmarked (which only makes you want to go more, right?!) and we had no idea if it was a restaurant, bar, gallery, whorehouse?  So of course we wanted to go.  When we walked over there last night (yes, you can walk places in LA), we were surprised to find a gem of a wine shop/bar.  The lighting was trendily dim, it had warm and cozy screened-in outdoor seating, a lively atmosphere (it was packed!), and there was a table made out of a tree stump.  If you know me, you know how much I love tree stump tables.  So we played it cool of course - "did I say dinner?  I meant wine" - and ordered some drinks (I had a really good glass of gruner) and small plates (I wasn't joking about the bacon-wrapped-bleu-cheese-stuffed dates).  Delish.  So, basically, it was my perfect hang out spot and I'm going to go there always until I get sick of it.

After that, things got a little weird, in true Venice fashion.  We were hungry and the Mexican place on Rose that looked just sketchy enough was closed (it was only 9:30! Geez.), so we somehow ended up at The Firehouse.  This is a sushi/burger joint in an old firehouse.  For reals.  It was ok, but mostly I was just confused and wished I had some more bacon-wrapped goodies.  So then we decided to head home but not before a detour at the World Cafe for a predictably overly-sweet mojito and a predictably drunker-than-us crowd.  The perfect amount of comfortable familiarity to balance out the Venice.

My point: Venice never ceases to surprise me.  Which means I'm kind of addicted to it.

374 Miles South

Yesterday I did the drive from SF to LA for the first time by myself! I was dreading this drive because (a) anyone who knows me knows that I shouldn't be allowed to be behind the wheel, and (b) all I remembered from previous cross-state trips was the awful smell of the cattle farms on hwy 5. For the record, it still smelled bad. But this time, I was so surprised by how beautiful it was. Yes, I just said hwy 5 is beautiful. But I mean, check out these pics -

(these flowers were up to my shoulders!)

Right?

So if you're thinking about taking a road trip, do it now while everything is blooming! [And get a good book on tape from your local library (I listened to Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen and it was perfectly, though morbidly, amusing)].

Earthquakes and Tsunamis

I was going to post pictures from the SF --> LA drive I did yesterday, but right now, I can't stop watching the footage on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Can you believe there is a tsunami warning all the way here in LA?

I might be a little paranoid (I am the daughter of two structural engineers after all), but watching this footage, I can't escape the ominous feeling that California is next. So what to do? The city of San Francisco publishes earthquake preparedness tips here, but the real preparedness comes long before the earthquake in how we build our homes, offices, bridges and highways. So hire an engineer, k?

My heart goes out to our neighbors in Japan who are going through that terrifying event. As Obama just said in a press conference (politics aside, please): "Ultimately, humanity is one."

Newness

You know that feeling you get when you start something new and then realize that you have no idea what you're getting yourself into? That kind of dizzying, adrenalizing feeling of anticipation, terror, giddiness, and hope?  , I live for that feeling. I'm pretty much addicted to it, considering that I never seem to be able to stay in one place or do one thing at a time....But really, I absolutely love the uncertainty of change, and the surprise of discovery.

Right now, my life is full of a lot of different kinds of newness. I’m newly 25, newly married, and newly an LA resident. I’m also on the cusp of a new career (or at least I will be when I – hopefully – graduate from law school in May), and working on my new hobby of the moment (photography!).

So it probably won't surprise you that I'm also new at this blogging thing. I'm hoping to use this space to tell the stories and share the pictures of my new adventures as a NorCal girl in L.A. I hope you stick around and share all of your own adventures with me :)

{photo by me, taken on Hill Street in Santa Monica}