a labor day weekend.

beer tasting at sunset.

ah, who doesn't love three-day weekends?

after work on friday we stopped by the wine expo in santa monica to pick up some aperol and prosecco to make spritzes throughout the weekend. i'd never had one before, but man they are mighty tasty and refreshing. we also picked up a dolcetto d'alba there before munching at california roll factory.

saturday morning we biked to amandine and had our usual croque madame and strawberry french toast - it never gets old! that evening was a silverlake wine hosted beer tasting at barnsdall art park, followed by a screening of swingers on the lawn. we picked up a couple speck, pineapple & jalapeno pizzas from mozza2go (what an amazing idea) beforehand and had a good time hanging with nigel, benG and laura. afterwards, dan and i skipped over to ye rustic inn for some booze and wings with jasper and deron. we stayed until closing - i don't think i've been out that late, or had that much to drink, in quite a long time. it was lots of fun though.

slept in on sunday, and lunched at the new blue plate oysterette on ocean. we had the raw bar combo (2 oysters, 2 clams, 2 grilled shrimp and their daily ceviche - local sea bass that day), an order of mussels and the lobster roll. the food is great and the place is very cozy and cool - definitely going to be a new regular spot for us on the weekends, especially when i'm craving some tasty seafood. hit the beach in the afternoon with jasper and his buddies eddie and aaron. it was absolutely perfect beach weather. then we all hit up taiko in brentwood for some udon then gypsy cafe in westwood for hookah.

normally, the weekend would be over at this point, but thank goodness for labor day weekend. we decided to take it easy on monday and didn't do anything that would involve driving. we stayed in and made raspberry pancakes, eggs & turkey bacon for brunch (man, do i suck at making american breakfast), biked to cynergy to get sweet new kick stands for our bikes, watched some baseball, watched the dog whisperer marathon, and made steaks and asparagus for dinner (we are obsessed with jamie oliver's asparagus recipe - dry grill asparagus in grill pan until cooked, toss with lemon juice, olive oil, salt&pepper to taste, with some freshly grated parm on top - so easy and yet soooo freaking good).

it was a damn good weekend, but now i'm exhausted. luckily, i've a short week ahead of me.

ps, i forgot how good the hush sound's goodbye blues album was. takes me back to college...