a san francisco treat.

AT&T park in san francisco.

we woke up bright & early saturday morning to catch a flight to san francisco. after checking into the prescott hotel in union square, we mosied on over to chinatown and had dim sum at city view restaurant. afterwards we headed to AT&T park and met up with david and robyn for the cubs vs. giants game. i'd never been before, and as much as i abhor the giants, they have a really amazing ballpark. [on a side note: after all the parks i've visited this season, i have to say that dodger stadium is pretty shitty in the sense of amenities - if you're just going to watch the game (which is what we usually do) it's great, but the food sucks, the parking sucks, etc.] after the game, robyn took us to the mission where we had some really yummy ice cream at bi-rite creamery (i had the creme fraiche flavor - so good!) and we met up with amy, eli and tony for drinks (at various bars) and dinner at the monk's kettle.

sunday morning we did a bit of shopping around union square - i bought a grey plaid hooded jacket from H&M - and then joined eli&megan for brunch at just for you, a bakery/cafe in potrero hill (i think). it was my first time having beignets, and they also have really great turkey apple sausage patties! as it turns out, the folsom street fair was happening that weekend so eli dropped us off there and we walked through it - i have never seen so many.. strange / naked / fascinating / leather-bound / leashed people in my life. oh, san francisco. after walking through the length of the fair, we continued walking towards golden gate park. once there we checked out the tutankhamun exhibit at the de young museum - it was very cool but disappointing since we were expecting to see his coffins in the end, but alas they were not part of the exhibit - their marketing imagery is extremely misleading. before heading back to the airport we grabbed dinner at king of thai noodle house which brought back memories of being hugely hungover back in october..

all in all, a great weekend. however, after having been out of town for the past three weekends, i'm really looking forward to not traveling this weekend.

this is my family.

the pan clan at coast guard beach in cape cod.

not really sure what's happening in this photo, but i found it amusing.

a little tripsy to cape cod.

my niece at a beach in cape cod.

took the red-eye friday night / saturday morning back to boston. from there the whole entire family packed into two cars and made our way over to cape cod. my niece and nephew are so big now! and cuter than ever. we arrived at the ocean edge resort in brewsterMA a little after ten in the morning. while the rest of the fam did some recuperation time, i did my very first five-mile run! afterwards we had lunch then headed to provincetown for the afternoon, then dinnered at a restaurant called abba.

sunday, we did some more exploration of the cape, including chatham, where we had lunch, several beaches just north of the elbow, and wellfleet. i put my feet in the atlantic ocean for the first time in several years! we dinnered at mac's shack in wellfleet - massive massive amounts of seafood. as a family, we devoured three dozen wellfleet oysters, two dozen littleneck clams, four ordered 2lb lobsters, i had a lobster linguini. we ended both nights at the resort playing mahjong - just me and my three brothers, which was quite fun.

after checking out monday morning, we headed to woodshole to check out the marine biology lab's aquarium. it was small, and help mostly local stuff, but it was pretty cool. from there we headed back to boston. monday was our parents' actual 35th anniversary (the purpose of the whole trip) so we dinnered at grill23 - the best steakhouse in boston (from what i've heard). and it was pretty freaking amazing. they have truffled tater tots!! and kobe cap steak, which most of my family ordered, but i got the lamb. for dessert i had their bread pudding, which completely put me over the top, i was absolutely stuffered.

flew back to LA this morning. it's good to be back, and i'm definitely looking forward to going back to work.

[cape cod photoset]

i like me some wine. and tacos.

silverlake wine business cards.

went to silverlake wine after work yesterday for their weekly thursday tastings. the white flight was all austrian gruner veltliners, and the red flight was all primitivos (two italian, one californian). and of course, the let's be frank truck was outside offering up their tasty dogs. dan and i each had one of the spicy dogs, and then i had the white tasting while he did the red. on the way out i purchased a juris pinot noir (austrian, mike's belated birthday present) and a verdad rose (90/10 grenache/tempranillo rose - they were all out of the malbec rose that we tried a few weeks back that i loved, so giving this one a shot). ALSO! they had koshihikari echigo beer - our drink of choice whenever we go to the alibi room for some kogi. didn't buy any since i was already spending a pretty penny, but will definitely be going back to stock up on those bad boys.

speaking of kogi, we met up with robyn and his girlfriend amy at the alibi room on tuesday night. they were on the last leg of a three week road trip, and with their last stop in LA, they wanted to try the famous korean/mexican delights. we had the blackjack quesadilla of course, and short rib tacos, but we also tried the tofu tacos for the first time. they recently changed the recipe and it is really freaking good - i'll definitely be getting it regularly now.

off to boston / cape cod tonight for the peas' 35th anniversary. it'll be nice to have the whole fam together.. or painful & disatrous....

HTTYDteaser.

teaser trailer for dreamworks animation's how to train your dragon, the movie i've been working on!



yeaaa! it's just a teaser, but no worries, much better trailers to come in the near future i'm sure.

black&gold

a clip from the upcoming movie fame, with SYTYCD alumna kherington payne.



it may seem silly, but i can't wait to see it!

BOS-to-the-TON.

koalas @ the san diego zoo.

took a red-eye flight to boston thursday night. it was my first time on virgin america, which is really great, except i stupidly booked the row in front of the exit row, so our seats were non-reclining, which meant no sleep. arrived at 6am, and got dunkin donuts coffee before even leaving the airport - mmm. we stayed at harv&cindy's place in allston for the weekend, and got to their place just around 8a. after a quick run, harv took us to breakfast at zaftigs in coolidge corner. dan showed me around BU before i headed to the four seasons to have afternoon tea with lily and maddy for lily's birthday. i can't believe they're both in boston now and how much i miss them. but i'm also glad to be blessed with such amazing friends, even if most of them are on the other side of the country. that night we dinnered with john, harv and their families at shabu zen. so good! and natalie and dylan are getting so big now, yet adorable as always.

while friday was overcast and a bit drizzly, saturday was just lots and lots of rain. despite the weather, dan took me on a tour of the city, starting with an amazing breakfast at the paramount in beacon hill - seriously, best turkey sausage ever. the real bummer about the rain was that i couldn't bring my nice camera out with me so i had to settle for my little point&shoot. after walking around all morning, we met with some of dan's college buddies for lunch at stephanie's on newbury. that night, we went to the tampa bay rays vs. red sox game - it was my first time at fenway so i was so excited - which was supposed to start at seven. even though it was no longer raining, the game was rain delayed because they were expecting rain. it 8.30p it drizzled for 5 minutes, and the game started 2 hours late. at 10.30p or so, after only five innings, it actually did start raining and we go into another rain delay. the game would have been over if they'd started on time!! we stayed until midnight, when they decided to call the game, and spent our last half our there watching the dodgers vs. giants game on the jumbotron. oh, the irony.

sunday morning we got up early again to explore a bit more of boston, this time the area around government center, quincy market and the north end (split a cannoli from mike's pastries - yummmmm). the clouds were big and fluffy and the sun came out, so at least our last day in boston was nice. met up with family for chinese breakfast (but for lunch) and then headed over to harvard square to meet with a couple of dan's hometown friends before finally heading to the aiport and flying back to LA.

also, finished the lovely bones on the flight back to LA.. guess i need another book for next weekend.

fat obsessions.

our TOMS.

every once in awhile i like to make a list of my latest and greatest obsessions. it's been exactly nine months since my last list. all in no particular order:

past 9 months.
TOMS shoes.
french bulldogs (& boston terriers & huskies & pitbulls, oh my!).
phoenix's wolfgang amadeus phoenix.
aperol & prosecco spritzes.
biking (and running, somewhat).
brunch!
wine tastings.

long standing.
old man sweaters (aka cardigans).
skinny jeans.
hot apple cider.
bottles.
hoodies, jackets, coats.
cameras.
stationery.
kitchenware, food, restaurants, cooking.
tattoos.
bread pudding.

ponyo movie clip

yea i'm on a total video binge. (=

anyway, this is from hayao miyazaki's latest, and it's a clip from one of the best parts of the movie. go see it if you haven't!

the lovely bones.

so i saw a trailer for the lovely bones the other day that looked pretty amazing. i'd heard about the book a couple years ago when it was super popular, but never got around to reading it. i wasn't particularly keen on reading it until i found out that peter jackson was directing, which really peaked my interest, so i purchased it tonight. i figure it will be good to read during all the hours i'll be on a plane this month - though i'll probably honestly need a couple more books for that.

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...

JDRphotos.

the jasper dickson revue.

finished with the photos finally. went from 100+ photos down to about twenty. they're not great, but for it being my first time taking non-candid / outdoor / nighttime / flash photos, i think they came out pretty good. the above is what i've deemed the "money shot" from the whole thing.

[ theJDR photoshoot ] 

another kind of frenchie to love.

this is absolutely hilarious. poor puppy.



mind-blowingly cute, don't you think?

wolfgang amadeus PHOENIX.

i can't freaking get enough of these guys. plus frenchies are funny (=