Greetings! Today I made a farmers market run…
Radish, only $1.00 a bunch!
And because they were only $2.00 a bunch…
I love hydrangeas! I got busy today baking these cookies, running errands, and picking up my number for tomorrows race! I am excited for my first race. After than I am going to plan out my 1/2 marathon training schedule. Off to a BBQ & happy weekend!
Greetings! Today I made a farmers market run…
Radish, only $1.00 a bunch!
And because they were only $2.00 a bunch…
I love hydrangeas! I got busy today baking these cookies, running errands, and picking up my number for tomorrows race! I am excited for my first race. After than I am going to plan out my 1/2 marathon training schedule. Off to a BBQ & happy weekend!
Sorry for the blog break. The holiday weekend was calling me and I neglected my camera. However, before I put the camera down my friends and I went to The Thirsty Crow in Silver Lake for drinks to celebrate Emily’s birthday.
The Thirsty Crow is a whiskey bar, of course Catie and I ordered champagne cocktails!
Catie got a champagne and lavender and I had St. Germaine and prosseco. They were delicious!
Thirsty Crow was awesome! Great small bar which awesome drinks and a good vibe. All my friends really liked it and we will be back in the future.
Before we had birthday dessert. Catie made a delicious creation. It was malanos, chocolate pudding and raspberries!
Yumm! This was a great dessert and a great start to the long weekend! It was fun to go out with Catie, a lot like college, but I’m single now which is exciting. We were basically holding court while at the bar so expect more Katherine and Catie bar hopping in the near future!
Happy Long weekend!
My long weekend started with another LA initiation, my first fender bender. Don’t worry “Ryan” and I are fine. A little shaken but were OK. What was your first fender bender like?
I was lucky enough to get to leave work today at 12 pm. After I figured I deserved a treat so I decided to try Bite Bar & Bakery in Santa Monica.
I decided to try Bite after I got a discount code from Blackboard Eats. Blackboard Eats is a great website that provides discounts for various restaurants in LA, New York and San Francisco. They send emails out that allow you to access a promo code which is good for a month. Lots of the restaurants are more expensive so the 30% discount makes it easier to afford. Thanks to Rachel for tipping me off to it several months ago!
I really love the vibe here! All the sandwiches are $10 and under but you still get to sit down and be served which is just what I needed today. I had no problem getting a table, but the restaurant wasn’t empty. This is a great place to dine alone with a book. The service was excellent and right after I sat down I got some olives and the iced tea that I ordered.
Can I just say that I love this? Luxe extras and simple touches are kinda my favorite. I asked the waitress what in her opinion was the best sandwich because there were 4 that looked amazing (all under $10!!). I settled on the grilled asparagus and sun dried tomato pesto sandwich.
This sandwich was so yummy. I love a pressed sandwich, the asparagus was perfectly roasted and the sun dried tomato pesto gave a great, but not overwhelming flavor. The bread was perfectly toasted and the service was fast!
I was having such a great time just sitting and reading that I decided I had to have dessert. Plus, I figured after the kind of day I had, that I deserved it. There were a lot of delicious goodies to choose from but I had no problem settling on a chocolate ganache and cocoa nibs.
Mmmmmm. This was well deserved and so delicious! The chocolate was the perfect consistency, moist and rich. It totally hit the spot after a stressful day.
Overall, I loved my experience at Bite and I will be going back for sure! I got a nice, sit down meal and before the discount my meal was only $12, and after the discount it was less. It’s so great to be able to go to a nice, relaxed sit down restaurant to be waited on and not have to pay tons of cash for the experience.
After lunch I hit the Santa Monica Library and Coffee Bean. I got an awesome combo of chick lit and books about education, race, and housing issues. Cannot wait to dig into them tonight. Also, my knee is feeling much better and my arms are super sore from power yoga so I’m taking it easy on my knee for one more day with the hope that my knee problems will be resolved for my race a week from Sunday.
Happy long weekend everyone!
Greetings! Today, as I mentioned earlier, I had the day off! I spent the day at yoga, watching a movie, and enjoying treats.
But first…
Hey Iz.
As mentioned in my last post, I started my day off with a vinyasa yoga class. I had an OK yoga class. The stretch was great but there was something off about the class. I think the teachers voice was too soft. I couldn’t really hear her despite there only being three people in the class. One person was clearly an expert yogi but I couldn’t see her so I was trying to follow this guy on the other side of me who was kinda doing his own thing and, also, singing along to the music. I mean, it was the Beatles, so I can’t really blame him but it was a little bit odd. Overall it was a good class. I can already feel my abs!
Anyways, I soldiered on with a coconut Larabar.
Afterward I went home and then embarked on a walk in my neighborhood. I got a small treat from Paris Bakery. I have heard about the Paris Bakery before but had never tried it.
How could you not go in?
I picked up some macaroons.
I ate the chocolate immediately, obviously. I saved the other two for when I was watching a movie at the Majestic Crest. I have never really had this type of macaroon but I was a big fan! The chocolate especially was chewy on the inside and the outside was thin and presented a nice contrast to the chewiness of the inside of the macaroon. The fruit flavors were good too:
I got an email earlier this week from the Majestic Crest Theater in Westwood about their financial struggles so I decided to go to a movie there today and do my part to help them. The Majestic Crest is a single screen theater in Westwood that is privately owned. They’ve been struggling to stay open recently with all the other theaters in LA. I love the Crest. When I first moved to LA, before school started, I was feeling really home sick. One day I felt really down and I went to the Crest to see “Julie/Julia”. Going into the theater totally put a smile on my face.
The theater has a curtain, a beautiful mural and decent prices. I really love this theater so if you are in LA please try to go to the Crest! I went today and saw “Grown Ups”. It wasn’t my first choice movie to see but its escapism and I wanted to support the Crest so I can’t really complain too much. It wasn’t the worst $8.50 I’ve ever spent.
Today I am blogging at 9:15 from my living room because I have an unexpected day off. Thanks law clerks for all taking today off! My plans for today include yoga, reading, and just all around doing nothing. Right now I am enjoying peanut butter Ezekiel bread with a small amount of strawberry jam. Plus, French Press coffee. Love lazy Friday.
Yesterday I went to an event hosted by the National Lawyering Guild. It didn’t start til 6 so I had some time to kill after work. Molly suggested that I hang out in Los Feliz on Vermont, so I did. I spent most of my time in Skyline Books.
Look what I found:
I want it!
Then I made my way to the Echo Country Outpost for the event.
The event was at this great little store/gallery in Echo Park. I really liked the space, except so many people showed up it was a little hot. There was Fat Tire, Pinot Noir and good eats…
This potato thing was delicious! It had hoisen sauce which was so good.
I also sampled these:
The spring roll was pretty good. The bean cake on the right was ok but a bit heavy and cakey.
The best thing I had at the event I didn’t actually get a picture of… it was a carrot cake cupcake with a ginger icing. So good! The cake was moist and the frosting was really good. Sadly, I was networking and didn’t want to be “that girl” with the camera out. I knowwww I have to man up and just take the pics. It was good though.
Now I have another Big Announcement!
Yesterday I signed up for the Malibu 1/2 marathon in Malibu on November 14th! My friend had invited me to run with her in April and I was unsure about whether I could do it. I knew that while David was in town, when I was in Boston and home and I wouldn’t be running as much. I also wasn’t sure what I would be like training this summer. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to commit to it like I wanted to. But, I’ve been feeling good about my runs and after reading tons of race recaps on various blogs I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for my first half marathon! I’m actually feeling really excited and energized about it!
Off to the water room for a long stretch!
Tonight I met up with Jill for dinner happy hour at Hudson in West Hollywood. Hudson has some great happy hour specials and Jill’s co worker recommended it so I was pretty excited to try it. I love a good happy hour special.
So, I drove to the address and I was kinda confused. See, its off of Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood which is a pretty commercial area, but you turn on Crescent Heights and its all residential. I didn’t see a sign or anything so I double checked the address in my phone and I was correct. I finally found it. Guess this, it didn’t have a sign. How LA, right?
Finally something with name of the restaurant on it…
And that tree on the cover? Actually growing in the middle of the restaurant. Who says you can’t see nature in this city?
I love the jar of water that we were served. Jill and I quickly settled on having red wine. At happy hour the daily wine special is only $3, today the selection was a Cabernet. Happy hour vino Wednesdays for the win! Classy, delicious, and full bodied. I am a fan.
We ordered a total of three appetizers which we split including:
Ahi Tuna Tar Tar. The sweet sauce was really good and the combo of that and the tuna was well balanced out by the avocado. Very good.
Short Rib Tacos. I know, I’ve had a ton of tacos this week. These were good. Short rib is delicious. Seasoned but not too seasoned. The cool dressing was also good.
Heirloom Tomato Caprese. Love the heirlooms and balsamic vinegar. This salad was fresh and summer like. The tomato was perfectly ripe which made the salad even better.
Overall, I really liked Hudson. The prices on the dinner menu were a bit steep for me but the happy hour is a great deal. We both ate for $15 and had wine with our meal which normally makes a meal more expensive. Plus, the decor is really trendy and chic. They had the windows open making Hudson a great place to enjoy an after work drink in the summer. Definitely highly recommended!
Today was Taco Tuesday, and by taco Tuesday I mean that its Tuesday and the clerks sat through a long training which was basically discrimination on parade. After we treated ourselves to The Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada!
So you will notice in the picture below that the menu hangs above the register and only contains 3 items: fish, shrimp, and drink. I enjoyed all 3!
Although, this was a bit of a picture fail. Although if it weren’t for the other clerks I would have totally forgotten. So basically, you get plain tacos and then can add a variety of toppings including cabbage, sour cream AND salsas. The salsa are mild, two kinds of mango, pineapple, and radish. Obviously, I tried all of them.
The one on the left has radish and I can’t remember what was on the one on the right, but they were GOOD! Lightly fried and well spiced. Delicious.
Guys, seriously, I had 4 of these. Not kidding. I was really hungry because it was almost 1:30 when we finally got lunch. I knew 3 was going to be enough but I got 4 anyways. Impulse control… I don’t have it.
But how can you say no to a little shrimp taco all alone??
This one has spicy guac!
Yummy! So are they really the Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada? Well, I’ve never been to Ensenada, but these were damn good! Hands down, best fish tacos I’ve had in LA thus far. What do you think Angelinos… Are they the best??
of Saturday!
After brunch I hit the Santa Monica Farmers Market.
The farmers market was awesome! I got all my veggies and fruits for $19! This included: potatoes, kale, avocado, 2 tomatoes, asparagus, broccoli, pepper, green beans, and cherries. Yum!
When I got home I had a salad with some chicken curry salad from Coral Tree Cafe. I gave some to Catie as a house warming present and she said it was really good so I decided to try it for myself! I put the chicken salad on top of an arugula salad, purple carrots, and green pepper (all FM buys!)
I LOVE the contrast of the purple carrots and the curry chicken salad. It was a delicious late lunch.
I went to Whole Foods earlier today (where they have 17 flavors of Larabars!) and stocked up. Before my run I had 1/2 of a Gingersnap flavored larabar.
Then I went on a 4.1 mile run which was good.
I haven’t gone to yoga this week and my hip is angry with me. I should have stretched more. I probably only ran just short of 4 miles. Today I read Runners World and they were talking about the importance of hills. My run is already very hilly so I felt good about that. RW said that you should push to run faster on the downhills and I incorporated that into my run. After my run I finished the larabar.
Then I relaxed until dinner. Dinner was roasted veggies with a multigrain pilaf.
I love Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pilaf because there are only a few ingredients and I know what all of them are and its well spiced. How can you argue with that? While cooking I snacked on this…
Cook the pilaf and combine with veggies.
Dinner! Tons of fiber in this meal so its super filling and everyone knows how I love a roasted veggie.
After dinner I noshed on a Z Bar. These were recommended to me by Carolyn, my fitness foodie friend, who said they tasted just like a cookie and were only 130 calories. Clearly I had to check this out. First, I checked the label to make sure that it was made of ingredients that I knew what they are and the calorie and sugar count. I figured if Carolyn likes them then there probably good for me.I decided to dig in.
It DOES taste just like a cookie! This was wonderful and I will be buying again. It was kinda like raw cookie dough with oats. I love oats, cookies and chocolate. All together was pretty much amazing.
Night readers!
Today was a lazy Saturday and boy did I need it. My apartment was beginning to resemble Grey Gardens and I had a book to finish.
First I went to Coral Tree Cafe for brunch. I have been to Coral Tree Cafe before but have never blogged about it before. As usual it was a wonderful experience.
I ordered at the counter and sat down with my book “Commencement”, which I just finished and was excellent. It comes highly recommended from me, especially if you went to a woman’s college, in which case it is a MUST READ!
I ordered frittata for my breakfast. I am not a huge egg fan normally but I always have loved frittata. It’s the exception to my rule. This one had veggies, cheddar, and a side of potatoes.
Deliciousness. Unfortch, I was unable to finish this because it was a big portion. I did manage to choke down about 2/3 of it. I love frittata. There was a good amount of cheese but it wasn’t over powering and the veg was super fresh. Nice and not too eggey, because I’m not a huge fan of eggs. Plus, I love breakfast potatoes all the time. No issues there.
Naturally, it was an iced tea to drink.
Love a lazy brunch with an amazing book. There is nothing like it.
Left Coast Contessa 