We got decked!

I have complete confidence that Sergio could have built it just as beautifully as he finished the other patios. However, he just doesn't have enough free time right now. I prefer that he spend the bits of free time he does have with me. Since we wanted to enjoy the deck THIS Summer, we took the plunge and hired someone based on a friend's recommendation. It turned out amazing. Thanks Diana and Mike for the tip!



Sergio designed it using Google Sketch-up. There was a slight design revision once construction started, but on the whole, I felt the end product was quite faithful to the original idea.



I loooove all the sexy angles and lines.



The back of the house has come a long way since 2009 when we first moved in. There was no sliding glass door at the time as you can see from this old post. Installing that was a huge leap. And now...wow. You would not believe how dramatic the difference is in terms of how we are relating to the backyard. We go outside more often now that we don't have to balance our way down a wonky plastic step stool. You can sorta see the corner of the wretched stool in this picture. The original door opened on the other side where the brick steps are in that photo.

My new favorite luxury is sipping coffee on the bench while watching all the different birds zoom in and out of the trees foraging for their breakfast. It's the most serene way to start a Sunday.





You can see a few more photos here on my flickr account.

HPK - Highland Park Kitchen

A new restaurant, HPK (Highland Park Kitchen) in walking distance to our house, soft opened last week. We were patrons at their first brunch service on Saturday. It was entirely empty except for us, the coffee vendor setting up the espresso machine, the sweet waitress, the chef, and the friendly owner, Rudy Martinez. He sat with us for quite a bit and we chatted about the restaurant and the neighborhood. He got us pretty excited about some of the things that are slated to happen on York, like a WINE BAR. Maybe even two! Ahh! But back to HPK (formerly Los Lobos, formerly Marty's).

First, they have classic brunch cocktails: your choice of Red or White Sangria, a Mimosa, or a Bloody Mary. And for $15 your glass is bottomless! yowsa! I ordered the White Sangria. Sergio didn't order anything but after chatting for bit....out came another glass and the entire pitcher! Probably because we were the only ones in the place. The Sangria was pretty nice and went down real easy. It was sweet and perhaps a bit more fruit floating around would have been more lovely, if only for effect. But I'm not complaining. It totally hit the spot.



As for food, I ordered the very fluffy Lemon Blueberry pancakes. I really liked this dish because it wasn't super sweet. It was tarty and tasty, and the juicy blueberries were inside the pancakes! Not just on top. I think maybe the dish could have been benefited from a little extra syrup on the side in case I did want to kick up the sugar levels, but I was happy. Sergio ordered the HPK breakfast which was two eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns. Sorry I didn't get a photo. He said the hash browns were pretty special.



We sat in the coveted window spot inside...but just think of all the leisurely brunches that are going to be had out in the dog friendly patio! We're intrigued by some of the other items on the menu for lunch and dinner, and prices seem good. We're just so happy to have another good restaurant on the block.



HPK officially launches with a party on Wednesday, February 29. Sergio and I will be there to show our support and mingle with our neighbors. Will you?

Dinner with the Gotches

Judging by the fact that nearly all of the few photos I took have Jen in them, I'm obvs obsessed with the girl. We bonded over our mutual favorite brand of pasta - gluten free! I think I prefer it over normal pasta. Instead of tossing everything together, Jen put all the accouterments on the side: toasted pine nuts, prosciutto, shaved pecorino, sea salt flakes. This allowed guests full control over the flavor to fit exactly what their tastebuds wanted. I rather liked this concept and may try it myself!





We ended the meal with a Date with a Unicorn - basically a boozy date shake. The dreamiest drink I've had in ages. In fact, methinks I need to recreate this heaven in a sea salt rimmed glass A to the S-A-P!


P.S. I LOVE that first photo of Jen and Phil.

Hello there 2012. Big hugs.

We stopped at my parents' place for a quick hello+happy new year to the family.
Then we came back to our neighborhood for an almost impromptu NYE party.


THE PARTY & etc.
Jen+Andrew invited us to celebrate at their new home. First, the house is super duper cool. Second, the party was FUN! But I didn't take pictures. (Boo.) Thank goodness the hostess with the mostess Jen and the uber-adorable Bri seemed to be embroiled in an instagram throw down.

From Bri Emery's (@designlovefest) instagram/twitter feed:


From Jen Gotch's (@jengotch) instagram/twitter feed:


THE AFTERNOON AFTER

We returned the next afternoon for Andrew's sausage rolls+bloody marys+the pledge of allegiance led by a particularly precocious (& stylish) 7-year-old. This day, lovely Bonnie was present and doing her own iphone photo documentation.

From Bonnie Tsang's (@bonnietsang) instagram/twitter feed:


Yeah, it was this fun. Trust.

I love meeting new people and growing existing relationships. It's especially awesome when the peeps are as nice and crazily talented as this bunch. Oh, and getting to hang with the cute pup didn't hurt.

Here's a photo I did take on new year's day. Nothing fancy. A straight-up old-fashioned snapshot. Just my red shoes+fading sunlight+front yard.


Well, I'm gonna say that 2012 has been kicked off with p to the izzazz.

Iberico Tapas, a pop-up restaurant

Last Sunday, after our ritual weekend coffee from Cafe de Leche, we came across a pop-up restaurant happening in El Chapin, our local Guatemalan restaurant and cafe. As of this posting, the Yelp listing says El Chapin is closed, which is not true. It was for a second but now it's open again.

The chef for Iberico Tapas hails from Spain and his wife told us they were hoping to open a permanent storefront someday. The menu featured an interesting and diverse mix of tapas dishes, and a smattering of entrees. We choose one entree and two tapas to share.






I'm sorry I didn't steal a menu so I could describe the dishes we ordered properly. They all had beautiful Spanish names that I could not pronounce.

Terrine of truffle potato mousse topped with poached egg and American caviar.
Braised pork with potato and egg
Cod puree spread

Regardless of what they were called, each dish was SO delicious. Yummmy. We liked it so much that we want to call all our friends down for a brunch there next Sunday! The pop-up will be running every Sunday, 11AM - 3PM, until the end of the month (I think).

Hope Tree

A lot has happened in my life since this day 10 years ago. At the time, I was working my second job out of college at yet another failing dot com, living with an old but distancing friend in a West L.A. apartment, Sergio was living 3000 miles away in Boston. Priorities shifted soon after that terrible day. Sergio made the decision to move to where I was...and it was like my life bloomed.

Case in point, yesterday. A good friend came to my house in the morning and we strolled down to our favorite coffee shop (where I said hello to neighbors) and we sat and chatted and took our time. We took in some art and perused local wares. After lunch in Eagle Rock, we strolled some more, visiting shops with friendly shopkeepers, and just enjoyed being leisurely and our company.

On the way home, we came across this special tree on the grounds of a small neighborhood church. Droplets of hope sprouted and suspended from the branches.



Some clung and swayed, braving the breezes together.



Some were silly. Some were beautifully simple.



When we got home, Sergio was there and we listened to him tell stories of his own inspiring day.

It was quiet, ordinary and wonderful.

I hope the next 10 years are just as perfect as this day.

Swapping gray for yellow

Took the day off work to get a face tune-up and then to enjoy lunch down by the sea. Raindrops threaten to dampen the day, but you know what? It doesn't matter. I'll be celebrating the birthday of a good friend and honestly, this is how it feels to take a random day off work:







grin.

These were taken on a spring like day in the dead of winter this past January. The skies are all mixed up!

A Productive Sunday

Today was a good day. We stopped in at Cafe de Leche for a spot o'caffeine + pastry, where we ran into Andrew+Phil (formerly Yermo). Then onwards to Atwater Farmer's Market where we picked up amazing organic veggie goodness and a gaggle of plants for the yard. We started right in on the yard work, er, landscaping when we got home. Security light was replaced, front and back lawn+parkway+ribbon driveway was mowed, and armfuls of weeds pulled. Plants were potted+planted+re-potted. Most importantly, we swept up heaps and heaps of leaves and old lawn cuttings laying in browning mounds around the property. We filled up that green bin to the very tippy top!

Our arms+back+legs ache. ouch. But, we're satisfied with the hard work we managed to squeeze into the final moments of the weekend. Our front yard is finally getting some love and countless yard project debates nearing (semi)conclusions. The key is to pick a single project and focus. We have a tendency towards the shotgun effect when it comes to targeting a project. This year, we're gonna switch on our sniper skillz and finish projects, one at a time.

Here's Sergio, laser scope on.



It was a nice weekend on Almaden Drive overall. The atmosphere was especially convivial with everyone out in their yards, readying for warm weather living. That's Andrew's mower Sergio is running around with and Andrew and Jen gifted us three iris plants we put right into the ground out front. Sergio helped Scott move a BBQ grill and Craig helped mow Saul's parkway. It's downright suburbia in Highland Park.

P.S. I just realized that my knuckles ache. While weeding, I twisted the especially stubborn clumps around my fingers for more leverage. Boy. My knuckles are such babies. Shush! There's no crying in landscaping.

Me and Zack

So, last weekend, I discovered that I've got a couple things in common with this guy:


photo via

1. We go to the same favorite neighborhood cafe.
2. His dad paints in a little studio in said neighborhood.

Well. I'm not sure if it's his favorite, but I saw him there both days last weekend. He must sorta like it, right? More likely though, he was there on Saturday for this. Sunday though, he was just chillin' by himself with a book, so I don't know. We go to the cafe nearly every weekend so we'll see!

He's in a new band these days called One Day as a Lion.

John Hill Jr. & Eric Garcetti sightings - both in one night!

Hey, so I haven't been keeping up with my blogging. I blame it on the heat. It makes doing anything seem really, well, challenging.

Anyway, this post is like 2 in 1 so it sorta makes up for it.

We met artist John Hill Jr. on Friday evening. It was opening night of his exhibit, DRAWN, at THIS: los angeles on Fig. You need to go here and see his work. Go. Today.



The long multi-panel piece behind me and John was my and Sergio's favorite. A tad out of our price range but totally worth it. I wonder if the gallery would consider layaway? Is that lame? Layaway art? God. We want that piece. I think we're gonna steal it.

Click to open this image bigger to appreciate the detail.



Increíble. Period.

We bought one of the small cash and carry pieces instead. Paid a little extra for the framing. Hopefully we'll get to pick up next week and I'll share a photo.



We got there in time to get one of the gift bags! Yes please and thank you!




Later that night:

Follierio's - Pizza Romano. They have a fancy new sign but the pie is still kick-ass.


Alcove Cafe & Bakery


So, on the way to Alcove, I tweeted that I spied City Council President Eric Garcetti right behind us in his EV-1. I was mistaken. He drives a RAV4 EV. Oh yeah...that's right, GM murdered all the EV-1's. (How could I forget that sobering documentary?) Not only was I mega excited to see him, I was ecstatic to see him IN his famous (at least to me) EV. (I am such a nerd.) And then, we saw his car parked outside of FroyoLife on Hillhurst, right across the street from Alcove. I peered through the windows as we walked by, hoping to see him digging into a cup of yogurt or picking out toppings. Alas, I couldn't ID him for sure.

Hey, remember when his mouthwatering Echo Park home was featured in Dwell Mag? mmm.... excuse me while I take a moment to drool.


via

Confession: Seeing those solar panels sped my heartbeat a little. (Yes, end of post and I'm still a nerd.)