just another sunday night.

there's something nice about sunday nights. usually i've slept in, didn't have to work, but do have to work the next day, so i like the evening to be as lazy and relaxing as possible, while still being interesting. does that make sense? anyway, i also like to prep a good dinner for sunday nights since i have some more prep time from being at home doing chores, including grocery shopping! this past sunday, i decided to try making a rack of lamb. i don't know why i never did it before, it is SUPER easy. i rubbed it with olive oil, salt, pepper and finely chopped garlic. browned in a pan for a few minutes. then twelve minutes in a 400 degree oven. done! and it was AWESOME. super easy. super tasty. this may need to become a regular menu item in my kitchen.

little kai at the travel town museum.

the new dodgers and four pregnant women.

i've wanted to do a group outing to a dodger game for awhile now, and a couple months ago settled on a saturday night game against the marlins and started inviting people. somehow, someway, it ended up be me and james, jack and suzy, justin and sarah, katie, and david and leah. and guess what - all of the women are pregnant. so yea, i went to a baseball game with four pregnant women. it was weird. but kind of amazing.

introducing baby ethan!

this is ethan, my new baby nephew. he's less than a week old and already looks very alert and aware! isn't he freaking adorable? he's the main reason for our trip to the east coast next month. i can't wait to meet him!

woolgrowers : basque in bakersfield.

so, supposedly there is really good basque food in bakersfield, so obviously we had to try out what i was told "the best" when we went to see james's parents on their last weekend in bakersfield. they're so sweet and made a reservation at woolgrowers when we told them we would be able to make it up for the weekend.

murray family farms.

another fun place we stopped in while in bakersfield was murray family farms. it's a giant farm with bounce "pillow" and petting zoo, etc, etc, but we really just went into their big red barn which serves as a market selling their produce. there is lots of fresh fruits and veggies grown on the farm, but they also had tons of different kinds of honey, spiced nuts and corn, dried fruit, fruit and vegetable chips, pickled things, hot sauces, and various prepared hot foods and desserts. it's quite the operation.

tile heaven in bakersfield.

james's parents wanted to look at tile while we were up there to visit them, and who are we to say no? i love tile, and bill ray tile in bakersfield is everything you could ever hope and dream for in a tile store. it's a total DIYer dream.

sanford vs. the red ball.

sanford made a new friend this weekend in bakersfield! just kidding, he was actually really scared of this red bouncy ball, and i slowly got him accustomed to it by forcing it on him. clearly, he was not happy with this idea, but i wasn't trying to be cruel or anything! just show him that it can't hurt him or anything. he ended up attacking it like any one of his other toys a few times.

gorilla bread, or monkey bread on steroids.

while visiting james's parents in bakersfield this weekend, his mom and i made "gorilla bread" a very fancy version of monkey bread from a paula deen recipe. it's super easy to make.. layers of sugar and butter, crushed nuts, cinnamon and sugar, and refrigerated biscuits wrapped around cubes of cream cheese. the cream cheese is really the kicker here - it was awesomely delicious. and we had plenty of leftovers to bring back to LA with us.

upcoming eats and travels.

work has been a bit of a drag lately - sunday overtime, long days, lots of meetings. i'm not complaining; i love my job. but i have been more stressed out and tired lately. though that may also have to do with getting up before 6am three days a week to work out, which i've been doing for about a month now.

anyway, the point is, i've been more tired lately, but that's okay because i have some very exciting trips (and eats, of course!) coming up, and planning these things is always fun.

first, rather unexpectedly, is a trip to bakersfield this weekend. i know, i know - bakersfield? well, we're going up to see james's parents before they leave for alabama. normally, i wouldn't be that excited except i recently found out that bakersfield has some amazing basque food, and we have reservations to woolgrowers - one of the best, supposedly - on saturday night!

another southern breakfast at auntie em's.

we went back to auntie em's while james's parents were in town for the weekend. such great food! their sausage and cheddar grits have so much black pepper in them, i love it. plus with the sweet cherry tomatoes on top to balance it all out.. it's definitely the best grits i've ever had. the biscuits and gravy and fried egg sandwich are just solid dishes.

the hot hot heat of los angeles.

there's been quite a heat wave in effect in the southland for nearly a week now. it's finally cooling off today, but it was really quite hot over the weekend. which is why it wasn't the smartest idea to head up to the griffith observatory in the hundred degree heat, but we did it anyway. the hardest part was really having to park downhill from the observatory itself and hiking up the rest of the way. however, we got there about 5 minutes before one of their planetarium shows started, so we got tickets and sat down in the nicely air-conditioned dome for nearly an hour before exploring more and checking out the amazing views of the city.

sanford goes back to daycare.

sanford went back to doggy day care for the first time since he was put on crate rest nearly three months ago. this is all he did when he got home. he was a tired, happy puppy. which is the point. (=

ink.sack one year later.

someone suggested ink.sack for lunch one day, particularly their one year anniversary, and i jumped on the chance to go! especially since everyone who ordered a sandwich that day got a free cold fried chicken sandwich. despite having to drive all the way to west hollywood, we made really good time, and mr. voltaggio himself was actually serving (you can see him above on the right).

GRB lunch special.

the pub at golden road has weekly lunch specials that are served mondays through thursdays. this week, i saw them tweet that the special was a blue cheese turkey burger so we had to go! all the lunch specials come with a side, so i got the vegan chili. it was all oh-so-delicious.

the porch of death returns?

my plants are actually growing surprisingly well. the cucumbers (above) are getting tall and sending out "feelers" to latch onto the chicken wire that is up around the porch (to keep sanford from killing himself as a puppy). some of the bok choy are also getting quite large, and starting to resemble bok choy in how new leaves are growing in!

however, something is burrowing INSIDE the leaves. not on top or underneath, literally inside. i don' t know what it is, but i was able to find a little orange worm-like bug still in a leaf and "pop" it out like a pimple. not sure what to do, other than continue to spray insecticidal soap on them every week or so and hope the plants are healthy enough to beat whatever is feeding on them..

SJCS - did we find a new favorite brunch spot?

we brunched at sunset junction coffee shop for the second time, and i have to say, i really like the place. it's super simple - but it's just good quality, comforting breakfast food in a really nice laid-back environment. this time i got the salmon and eggs, and james got the joe's scramble. also, the bread! the sourdough toast i got was sort of out-of-this-world. i think they get it from susina bakery (same owner too, i believe). i don't know if the bread is inherently that good, or if they somehow toast and butter it with crack or something, but it was delicious! i rarely freak out over sourdough, but this was kind of amazing. also, their tater tots are perfect - not a single one was mushy or soggy. i don't know how they do it, but i can't stop eating them (even though james was the one that ordered them, oops!).

another trip to izakaya honda-ya.

not much to say other than "I LOVE THIS PLACE!" we ordered: agedashi tofu, grilled squid legs, seaweed salad, grilled chicken gizzards, grilled spicy shrimp, tuna sushi, uni sushi, grilled fatty pork, broiled yellowtail collar, grilled lamb chops, and fried oysters (not pictured). oh, and a pitcher of kirin, of course. it was all so good!

mole and tacos at la cabanita.

someone at work recommended that i try la cabanita in the montrose area for good mexico-city-style mexican food, including good mole! i must say, i was really quite happy with it. i had the enchiladas de mole (above) and a taco arrachero and taco placero (below). i really like their mole sauce! i never liked mole sauce, then i had amazing mole in mexico a couple years back, and the thought that went through my head was "IS THIS WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE? IT'S AMAZING?!" so, this wasn't quite that mind-blowing, but it was really quite good. maybe i should go on a search for good mole in this city, i've definitely heard there are a couple places worth trying.. then again, i know next to nothing about mole.

james ordered a combination that came with chicken soup - odd choice, but surprisingly delicious! - an enchilada with mole, rice, beans, and a taco. he also ordered a second taco de cochinita. everything was super tasty, and we're both very glad to have been introduced to a great new mexican place (though, it is not new at all, and has been around for a long time, and even has quite a reputation we found out, so shame on us for not knowing about it sooner).

88 beef noodle in arcadia.

a new beef noodle soup place, 88 beef noodle, opened up in arcadia. it used to be a burger or mexican  strip-mall-corner joint, then a vietnamese place, and now a little mom-and-pop "taiwanese" noodle shop. i put that in quotes because their menu is really all over the board. cantonese wantons, taiwanese niu rou mien, taiwanese sauteed noodles, vietnamese pho, and even a pasta with tomato sauce and cheese. the niu rou mien is pretty good, though i still prefer sinbala (which is where we were going, but they're closed on vacay right now). also, their cold pickled and braised appetizers are pretty tasty.

spicy deliciousness @ jitlada.

took james to jitlada for the first time the other weekend. as usual, there was a pretty long wait, and the service is slow as ever, but the food is also as good as ever. we had the steamed mussels, which are still to die for, the wok-style catfish, and lamb ranong noodle. the last was definitely the spiciest and i had trouble with it.

not sure what it is, but there is a chili or something used in some thai dishes that isn't that hot at first, but keeps building, even after you've stopped eating. i think that freaks me out, even if it's not really that spicy, because you don't know when it will stop. and that was what they used in the noodle.

found: baby squirrel.

my landlords found this baby squirrel that fell out of a tree and was potentially abandoned! they left it out for awhile hoping the mom would come get it, but she never came, so they brought him in and are attempting to take care of it until it can take care of itself, or if they can find someone to do it for them. animal control doesn't take squirrels, i guess. poor thing, it's so small, it's eyes eyes aren't even open yet!

sunset nursery and new succulents.

 after driving past it for nearly two nears, we finally stopped in at sunset nursery in silverlake. i really don't know why we didn't do it sooner, and after seeing how awesome they are, i really regret it too. especially since they have such a great selection of succulents! i couldn't resist again, i bought more.