enjoyed this FANTASTIC wine and cheese place called bld in los angeles with my sister and bro-in-law. you pick the wine and the cheese and the cured meats and they all arrive beautifully arranged on this plate complete with apple slices and different breads. will definitely return for more the next time i'm back in town!
more wine plus chocolate cake! while catching up with rashmi at her new compound in SJC. got to see amrey as well. both girls were looking happy and gorgeous.
we decided to stay in and make dinner. so we went to the market and bought a bunch of stuff to make veggie pasta bake, stuffed mushrooms, and cheesecake for dessert. we wanted to try a few different flavors so we make mini cheesecakes instead. here's a chocolate bailey's with one of her dainty little coffee cups.
rashmi takes the virgin plunge on her coffee press:
Sanj does coffee pinky very well! he even helped with the whole cheesecake making process after he got back from work. it was one of the first real in depth conversations i had with him and i gots to say, he is one of the most interesting and genuinely sweet people i've ever met.
SOOOOOOO cute!
the girls:
the next morning, we were off to Phoenix, AZ. it's been a while since i took a road trip and even longer since i took one with the folks. but we packed up the van and headed out to the desert. here are a few scenes from the road:
with a massive hispanic population out there in AZ, we were able to get our hands on some rockin' mexican grub. this restaurant was called Las Cazuelas (which translates to The Cassaroles) .
leave your weapons at the door at this restaurant!
the first day was super busy (no lunch break even!) so didn't take many photos. we went to Uno's Pizza to chow down after an exhausting day. cheers! nothing beats $2 pints when you're this tired.
dad thought it was hysterical when i told him that his bread stick needed some viagra.
here's a gorgeous Arizona sunrise. thanks for the photos dad!
Day 2 at the festival. dad and i took turns taking a few photos. Phoenix is not the place i would think of when i think hmmm, japanese festival. but this was a really BIG festival. loads of people came and they did their fair share of shopping. and the trend seemed to be, whatever they bought, they wanted to wear NOW. so all three of us were busy selling and dressing people.
the level of self confidence is astonishing out here. both of these two were like "i look GOOOOD." and you know what, with that attitude, fuck yeah, you do!
the next day, after a denny's breakfast, we were back on the road with a lighter car. it was a busy but fun weekend. now i know what my folks are talking about every year. and since dad has already reserved my services for next year, i guess i'll be doing this again.
i love the desert. i think it's one of the most beautiful and unique landscapes out there. i got some cool shots of cacti on the way home. the land is so vast and barren; mom and i were fantasizing about how long it would take for someone to find a dead body if we dumped one out there.
the next morning at ass o'clock i was on a plane to DC. the B-I-L was supposed to be shooting a movie out there with my future fantasy husband but with the writer's strike, the project got pushed back and my future husband dropped out. poo. so i missed out on all that biznass but i got to spend time with the train. plus mir came up from the carolinas and i haven't seen her for ages. this trip made me realize how much i miss my nearest and dearest.
after some rockin' mediterranean falafel action, we went to meet her friends at pub nite. lemme tell ya, i am ready to be 30. these kids (and they WERE kids) were knocking back shot after shot and screaming their fucking heads off. perhaps the train is trying to recapture her youth ( she did seem a bit stressed about turning the big 3-0 next year) but this was not so much fun for me and mir. i think we just felt old. i was ready to get into my jammys and sit and talk and hang out. they wanted to go clubbing. ummmm, noooooooo.
the next day after much waffling around in the morning, we finally gots some yumminess at Vince and Dominics. the pizza was huge and we also got tiramisu for dessert (needless to say, we had to take half of it home but it turned into breakfast the next day which was great for us).
my girls!
come on ride the train! come and ride it! wooohoooo! a train station in DC:
on our way to a tranny show that didn't happen. we ended up going to 1223 instead.
and then it was back to LA! my B-I-L was going to DC the day after i got back so me and ma headed up to have brunch with R and C. it was a bummer that i didn't get to see my B-I-L much on this trip but i guess that's life. hopefully next time!
crashed at my sister's that nite (we went and had rockin greek food at Sofi's and we ate too much and i drank too much and we watched a bunch of movies) and the next morning we took the dogs out for a morning walk and ended up in the midst of the LA marathon! look at all the healthy people!
they were literally running on her street and we couldn't get across to go home. we had to park our asses on the driveway of the dude who lives across the street. we eventually braved the salmon stream and made it home.
my sister has this brilliant culinary idea of making mini icecream cakes. we decided to make some prototypes before heading down to LB for dinner with the folks.
we had an original tanaka family member dinner at Kasen in the OC. they have awesome sushi there!
a whrilwind visit but a very productive one. i already miss it! i certainly wish i got to spend more time with everyone but dad always says short visits are the key to keep people from getting sick of you. i wonder if he's trying to give me a hint . . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment