dry creek valley with wine country journeys.

i am so behind in posting more about our sonoma trip. work has just been super busy, and then i'm too tired when i get home.

 anyway, on sunday of our trip up to sonoma, we drove up to healdsburg where jerry of wine country journeys picked us up for a wine tour. we picked them because they do tours with a maximum of eight people, and we wanted something small. we were exactly eight that day, and it ended up being a gorgeous day.

sanford was a RED puppy.

image taken by breeder.

james found the photo of sanford i sent him way back when when i was looking for a red-fawn-black-mask frenchie to bring home. he pretty much fit the bill!

he was sooo tiny. and so red! i can't believe how much of his red he's lost.

maddie on things.

thanks to joshspear for pointing out this lovely little blog called maddieonthings, a "super serious project about dogs and physics" - i think it's amazingly cute! clearly, maddy is much smarter, and well behaved, than ittle sanford.

la cena di famiglia @ estate, sonoma.

our first night in sonoma, we made reservations at estate, as recommended by the bungalows we were staying at. the restaurant itself is in an old house that has been updated to be a restaurant, so it has a very cozy feel to it.

bungalows313 in sonoma.

we stayed at bungalows 313 in sonoma; only a half block north of the main plaza in town. we stayed in the bella suite, which was a standalone bungalow with a private outdoor seating area, soaking tub, and kitchenette. none of which we really got to use since we weren't there long enough. the bed was super comfy, and their down comforter was to die for. i was very tempted to steal it.

global fare @ pomelo SF.

whew! we are back from another whirlwind mini weekend vacation - this time to sonoma. unlike past vacation posts, i'll be breaking this one up into much smaller posts. this first one is for a brunch spot in noe valley, san francisco. after we landed at SFO, we met up with our friends jon and jason, and headed to pomelo.

we're off to sonoma!

taking a few days, and advantage of the three-day weekend, to head up to sonoma for some wining and dining and relaxation. it's particularly exciting as we'll be meeting up with my good friend and foodie soulmate jon for lunch when we land in san francisco before we continue on our way.

we have lots planned, including a wine tour and reservations at a michelin two-star restaurant (jon's recommendation), so i'll have plenty to blog about when i get back. in the meantime, you can always check my twitter for fun updates.

madagascar three in motion.

a motion poster for this summer's dreamworks animation release:

 see the actual poster in motion after the jump!

oriental dreamworks.

we've known about this for some time within the company, and got the official announcement at work yesterday. today, dreamworks animation released the news of oriental dreamworks, an unprecedented partnership with china media capital.

GLENDALE, Calif., Feb. 17, 2012 PRNewswire -- DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) today announced that it has agreed to form a joint venture with China Media Capital (CMC), with plans to include Shanghai Media Group (SMG) and Shanghai Alliance Investment, Ltd. (SAIL), to establish the leading China-focused family entertainment company.

Oriental DreamWorks will engage in the development and production of high-quality original Chinese animated and live action content for distribution both within China and to other territories around the globe. In addition to content creation, the joint venture will pursue business opportunities in the areas of live entertainment, theme parks, mobile, online, interactive games and consumer products. 

i would love to go work in shanghai, but unfortunately for me, doesn't seem like those plans are in my future (don't get me wrong though, i'm absolutely loving working on my current project, me & my shadow). maybe one day?

mort says..

but just for today.

guardians & croods : bleedingcool's first looks.

not sure how official these are, but the bleedingcool released poster-like images for the croods and the rise of the guardians, or next two releases after madagascar three this summer. i'm not working on either, but they look pretty cool.

images via bleedingcool.

dim sum @ sea harbour seafood.

i've been eating dim sum ever since i was a kid, and i go to sea harbour in rosemead all the time (only a relatively recent discovery though) - it's definitely my current favorite place to go in LA. i figured i don't have to only post about new places i go, but that some of my regular haunts would be worth documenting too.

spicy cucmbers.

comfort food @ baco mercat.

i've been wanting to go to chef josef centeno's baco mercat since it opened late last year. stellar reviews from two of LAs most prolific food critics showed up on the same day last week and i knew i had to get a reservation and visit in before it got too insanely busy and overcrowded for my tastes.

ricky's fish tacos.

ricky's fish tacos serves out of a parking lot on virgil not too far from where i live. they serve ensenada-style fish and shrimp tacos thursday through sunday from noon-ish to four-ish, tweeting daily exactly what their hours are and what they are serving. they also do lobster on sundays, and while i was there, i heard you could order a combination shrimp/fish taco (though it was after i had already eaten, but i'll definitely have to give that a try next time).

sanford the french asian bunnypig.

so, my mom just got back from a trip to taiwan and she brought me this (no, not the dog, but the outfit).

L&E : an eastside oyster bar.

the owners of bar covell opened up an oyster bar in silverlake! how exciting is that. i couldn't wait to try it.

shaved brussel sprouts! who knew? @ canele.

stopped by canele in atwater village for dinner all by myself on friday. they had a venetian spritz on the menu (aperol, prosecco, pellegrino) - so i had to have one. or two. anyway, for the meal, i settled with the autumn salad (shaved brussel sprouts, apples, pomegranate, walnuts, and fourme d'ambert). it was so good; my only issue was with how small it was. and shaved brussel sprouts is a revelation - i need a mandoline slicer just for that!

fred62 : los feliz village diner goodness.

james and i brunched at fred 62 the other day. oh, i do love good diners.

who doesn't love a good tito's taco?

played catch-up with my good childhood friend katrina the other day. we both grew up in the LA burbs, and have actually lived in LA the past few years, but neither of us had been to the famous tito's tacos in culver city before - so we decided to give it a shot.

the line wasn't too bad, maybe just 20-30 minutes. they only sell one taco, tito's taco. it's a hard shell beef taco with lettuce and salsa on the side, but you can get it with cheese too.

golden deli.. express! (and open wednesdays!!)

my favorite place to get pho in LA is golden deli, they're open every day but wednesday. they recently opened up an "express" restaurant, that is open every day but monday! now i can get golden deli seven days a week. AWESOME.

anyway, the premise of this place is like a lot of small LA places.. where you order at the counter, then find a seat and they bring the food to you. you even go get your own drinks, silverware, napkins, sauces, etc. express, it is.

fried chicken goodness @ house of pies.

ah, house of pies. an LA establishment. it's just around the corner from james's new place in los feliz, so we stopped in for dinner the other night after he had finished a round of packing.

TOMS b-flats are here!

i was so excited for the TOMS release of ballet flats and mine came already! i love them. the sole has a much better construction than your standards.. several layers of foam, and an extra heel cushion. super cute. super comfy. i'm in love!

these are (los angeles neighborhoods print) things.

i've mentioned before that i love typographic maps, and i finally bought one of the los angeles neighborhoods from these are things. i got it on sale over at the daily design deals site fab.com (use my invite code if you're interested in joining!)

february is for (TOMS) lovers and ballet flats.

happy february!

want to know what february brings that i'm super duper stoked about this year? TOMS ballet flats. yup, you read that correctly, TOMS has finally released a line of ballet flats.