i went to the doctor today for my first physical since before i went to college. all went well, except for the fact that i didn't know they were going to draw some blood, and while i sucked it up and put on my big girl face they took FOUR FREAKING VIALS (what the hell do they need 4 whole vials for?!?!) and the insertion site of the needle hurt all day and is now slightly bruised. ugh.
today was also the last day at dreamworks for someone i've come to regard as a good friend. he's off to bigger better and more exciting things (on the other side of the world) but it's still kind of a bummer and he will definitely be missed.
monday night, mike, dan and i went and had dinner at the bazaar, a new restaurant by jose andres (mario batali's drunken self-proclaimed favorite chef in the world) at the SLS hotel. we had the dineLA special, which means for $44 we each got: _1 appetizer (between the following 2): philly cheesesteak - white cheddar cheese backed into a little airy pastry with wagyu beef slices on top. hilly cheesesteak - same as the philly but with mushrooms instead of beef. _any 3 tapas on their menu (except the jamon and queso) _any 1 dessert on their menu
here is what we ordered (obviously we all got the philly cheesesteak for our appetizer) off the traditional menu {rojo} gazpacho sea scallopswith tomato-almand sweet pepper sauce lobster medallionswith olive oil, potatoes and paprika hangar steakwith piquillo pepper confit lamb loinwith mushrooms and potato foam/puree braised veal cheekswith orange slices paella-style pastawith shrimp
off the contemporary menu {blanca} capresewith liquid mozzarella balls and pesto tuna torowith watermelon and jalepeno sea urchinwith avocado on steamed buns
everything before the desserts was absolutely delicious and spot on. i had that oh-my-goodness moment everytime the next dish came to our table. dessert was just so-so, but i don't tend to be a big fan of desserts. and going with three people was perfect, since most dishes were just big enough for each of us to have a couple bites. my personal favorites of the night were the gazpacho and the lamb. my oh my i can not wait to go back again.
dinnered at rustic canyon on friday. dan had the burrata panzanella and grilled fennel sausages. i had the mussels and goat cheese tortellini. we split an orange cranberry cake (which comes from their huckleberry cafe) with vanilla bean ice cream. it was all very delicious, and being a wine bar, it had quite the wine selection. the burrata and goat cheese were both melt-in-your-mouth. the fennel sausage, which was paired with braised cavalo nero and polenta, was freaking awesome. and the mussels were the most flavorful i'd ever had. mm!
eli was in town for the weekend so we met him for bruch at king's road cafe in beverly hills. the coffee is STRONG, and the eggs benedict is served on a toasted croissant instead of the usual english muffin. that night we went to the daily pint in santa monica, our favorite local dive bar, for a rematch at shuffleboard. i was beaten miserably, but had lots of fun despite the place being a little uncomfortably packed with douchebags.
sunday afternoon we drove up to canyon country for the baptism of baby owen (allen&jisun's new boy). i had no idea what to expect because i've never been to a catholic baptism before but it turned out to be a nice little ceremony. afterwards, the 'reception' (really just an afternoon meal/snack) was at a nearby mexican restaurant.
orange cauliflower. comes in purple and green, too. who knew?
oy, i'm so bad at updating this sometimes. here's a quick run down of what i can remember of recent days..
friday _dinner at bangkok west in santa monica. their rote curry appetizer is just so damn tasty. _saw taken afterwards - it's a really good solid action movie that is straightforward and doesn't try to be something it's not.
saturday _red velvet cupcakes from susiecakes. yummy! _swedish vampire movie let the right one in - haunting and beautiful, not horror at all.
sunday _the usual french toast at amandine. _walked around the shops on melrose; got myself a new pair of rainbows. _got my first thai massage - was hoping it'd be more painful, but all in all a good experience.
monday _no work! morning yoga. _spent the afternoon at allen&jisun's. played with the kids, watched night at the museum, played pirateer - a super simple but fun and really works your strategy and statistic skills.
thursday (today) _received our signed the art of monsters vs. aliens books at work! yay! and i've started to see the first billboards for it which is crazy. _went to a panel discussion with the directors of the 3 oscar nominated animated features this year at the academy.
friday night we had dinner with mike, zai, emily and her friend vanda at the foundry on melrose. they had a $45 3-course prix fixe menu as part of dineLA week and it was quite wonderful. we'd been once before for drinks, but it is definitely a place worth going for the food.
afterwards, we hit up a midnight showing of coraline at the arclight (i mention the theatre because unlike most theatres that have the plastic 3d glasses that darken the image, arclight has the legit high tech ones). the movie is AWESOME. the story is great, the stop-motion animation blew my mind, and for the first time i really felt like the stereo really aided the storytelling. to clarify, i praised the stero in bolt, but it was a movie that would have been just as good without it whereas i feel coraline really benefited from it. also, i simply love that it's a horror movie for children. if you like nightmare before christmas, you will love this. and if you didn't like nightmare before christmas, this is completely different and really freaking amazing. but enough of my geeky rant, here's a trailer! go watch it!!
saturday was asher's second birthday so we trucked it up to santa clarita for the party. it was a lot of fun and i really can't complain about being around so many cute little kiddies for several hours. asher is at the point where he's very talkative but doesn't quite have the english language down yet so you get a lot of excited gibberish and it's quite funny. and baby owen is just so darn cute.
man, work has been kicking my butt this week. i haven't been anywhere near this busy in about two months (or perhaps ever) and it's like the floodgates suddenly opened. i have a feeling it will get a little better, then much much worse. nice thing is that my department moved back to lakeside, a building that has been under renovations for the past few months. i really like my new digs - especially my new desk which raises and lowers at the touch of a button. i've been standing this entire week so far and i really like it.
been listening to two new albums: franz ferdinand's tonight : franz ferdinand and fleet foxes' debut self-titled album. they're very different from each other, but i adore both.
ominous.
