Goodnight Moon

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Shareen Vintage

A few years ago, a stylist friend raved about a great vintage dress store she had found. "Amazing selection," she said. "Brilliant discovery," she said. "Hidden gem," she said.

How hidden?

Let's just say I got a little nervous while trying to find this place. I drove from the freeway to a large street, to a smaller street, to a semi-paved road with lots of sketchy loiterers walking down the trolley tracks in the center. I had to stop myself from doing that obnoxious yuppie lock-the-car-doors-while-looking-casual thing.
I actually missed it the first time around. I was on the correct street, trying to find numbers on the warehouses, and came to a dead end. I gambled that the vintage store wasn't housed in someone's RV, and turned around.
Success! A true sign that I found the right place.
They weren't kidding about no boys allowed. The selection is wonderfully, exuberantly feminine, with lots of frothy party dresses. Most of the merchandise is vintage, but the owner designed her own clothing line for awhile, so there are some new pieces as well. There are also monster bargains: most dresses were priced between $25-65, and many of them were gorgeous.
Another reason no men are allowed: no dressing rooms! Lots of half-nekkid ladies running around, stripping down in front of the mirrors to change. I made like a prude and changed behind some curtains...I guess I'm not as bohemian as I used to be.
The space is a large warehouse, with oversized comfy furniture juxtaposed with racks of clothes and artwork on the huge walls.
This store also offered two of my favorite things: orange accessories......and free food! A veritable smorgasborg for the taking. Power shoppers need to keep up our strength, you know.
I sadly didn't find a dress for my brother's wedding (although I finally found one today at another store, yesss) but I fell in love with this charming place and will definitely be back. Mwa!

Shareen Vintage
350 North Avenue 21
Los Angeles, Ca. 90031
(323) 276-6226
Open Wednesdays & Saturdays, 10-5
Sundays 12-6

The Duce

The scene: LA Fitness on Hollywood, Friday morning. I've just finished my workout, and I'm sweaty, hungry, and feeling like someone just pounded me with a baseball bat. I'm stumbling down the stairs, bone-tired and not looking where I'm going. Who do I quite literally run into?

Yes, the creepy man-child himself, Danny Bonaduce. He was sans bow tie but plus a shirt, which is the kind of math I endorse. He was also about five-five, which perhaps explains his life of tragic overcompensation/underperformance.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

The Original White Meat

A few months ago I decided to start eating chicken again. I've been doing a fantastic workout program called Turbulence Training* and, among many other benefits, it's made me pay more attention to my diet and to the macronutrient ratios I eat each day. In an effort to seriously up my protein intake, I've been eating chicken breast on a regular basis for the first time in over a decade.

Ethical quibbles aside, we've been enjoying culinary experimentation and the greater variety and meal flexibility. Since these pictures would be out of place on the dessert blog (debatably--they don't contain cake, but they DO contain death) they get featured here. First up: blurry Easter dinner. Chicken roulade, roasted balsamic veggies, and garlic-rosemary roasted (purple!) baby potatoes.

The chicken was stuffed with a mixture of chevre (soft goat cheese), sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions and garlic, and other spices. I had to pound it flat with a rolling pin, which is NOT easy due to the rolling nature of said pin. Since then I have procured a meat mallet. Who would have thought?
This is from two days ago. Pesto grilled chicken on a salad containing heirloom tomatoes and grilled orange bell peppers, with shaved parmesan on top.
Since I'm now a chickenphile, feel free to pass along your favorite (healthyish) chicken breast recipes!

*Yes, the website looks terrible and no, it is not an "as seen on TV" scam, all appearance to the contrary.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

I can handle the truth

Update: Internet, you are awesome! Thanks to your straight talk I can see the green purse for the mediocre accessory that it is. I think I'll let the Internet determine my spending habits every day.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Tagged

First, I was tagged by Carrie with this relationship meme. Then Jason, unbidden, brought me some gorgeous tulips. Subconsciously buttering me up to get good answers? Perhaps. I'll take it!

Where did you go on your first date? Lunch and a lecture at Pomona. This is what happens when nerds date.
How long have you been together? Married almost 4 years, together almost 6 (yow)
Who eats more? Jason can eat more at one sitting, but I probably eat more throughout the day--he forgets to eat and I'm ALWAYS hungry
Who said I love you first? He did--the second day we were dating! I figured he was either psycho or psychic.
Who is taller? Jason, fo sho
Who sings better? He definitely sings a lot MORE. I can't take him grocery shopping because he'll sing down the aisles
Who does the laundry? Jason (That's man's work)
Who pays the bills? Jason (man's work)
Who mows the lawn? no lawn, but I tend the potted plants
Who cooks dinner? I cook, Jason does the dishes. (Man's work for the hat trick!)
Who drives when you are together? I do, probably 90% of the time
Who is more stubborn? Me. I'm also more competitive and more spiteful. I don't know why he married me...
Whose parents do you see the most? I think I see mine more, and he sees his more
Who kissed who first? I dove in!
Who proposed? He proposed and completely surprised me
Who is more sensitive? Sensitive like thoughtful? Jason. Sensitive like touchy? Me.
Who has more friends? We are both exceedingly popular people
Who has more siblings? He beats me by one
Who wears the pants in the family? Yeah, that's me

Now I tag...Amber, Chadlee, and Meaghan

Saturday, March 29, 2008

LA Confidential

A trip downtown yielded great sights and adventurous eats.

Jason and I must have had about eight burgers each. I have seen the error of my vegetarian ways!

Give us a little smooch...

"So am I to understand, Professor Pooch, that you are arguing for a neo-realist analysis of the making of the Constitution? Why, the implications of that historical reinterpretation are preposterous!"

Bastion of book learnin' and inscrutable public artwork:

This door display is really only funny if you can read the two posters.

Exhibit A: Obesity is bad!

Exhibit B: Maximizing your fat for fun and profit.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

We decided to take advantage of the absolutely gorgeous weather and go to Santa Cruz on Monday. Skies were sunny, weather was mild, wind was low, keys were locked in the car...

After we bid farewell to our friend from AAA, we explored a lagoon/wildlife refuge we found. It was about 40 acres of wetlands with wooden footpaths winding through the trees and over the lagoon itself.

Lots of rare birds nested there. We mostly just saw the nests.

We also saw the world's most aggressive carp. I think they're used to being fed by humans, because big schools of them would follow us as we walked the footbridge and jostle the surface of the water. We nicknamed this one Hot Lips:

Then it was on to Natural Bridges, a state park with beautiful arches and bridges the ocean carved from rock outcroppings. In the winter thousands of monarch butterflies rest there, but we'd mostly missed butterfly season. Instead we contented ourselves with exploring tide pools and harassing the inhabitants. We saw starfish:

And sea anemones, which I realized I have spelled (and pronounced!) wrong my entire life:

These were either more anemones or crumb donuts, I'm not sure which:

Mussels on the beach:

And of course, muscles on the beach:

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

In Soviet Russia, playgrounds play on YOU

Other chumps go to playgrounds to play. We go to playgrounds to pump iron.

But sometimes, the iron ends up pumping us instead.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Goodbye, Los Angeles...

I once again Megabussed my way up to the Bay Area. Can't argue with $30 round-trip, and I love being able to read and work on the way up. I also love the smug feeling of superiority watching all the polluters clogging the roadways.

Small wonder our bus driver chose this restaurant to stop at on the journey.

Gorgeous views on the drive up. I missed my greenery!

Little known fact: the Bat Cave is actually located in San Jose.

I saw some great wildlife on my run yesterday. Apparently deer, like leprechauns, cannot be photographed successfully. I took about 20 pictures and all of them turned out blurry. I also saw a flock of wild turkeys-- those things are scary! They came up to my waist and were seriously huge.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Mark Your Calendars

Apparently April 12th is National Licorice Day. (What gave it away?)

Sorry, Red Vines, but you can’t quite compete with the 15 varieties of gourmet chocolate Green & Black’s sent me, or the 25 lbs of sugar candy from Topps:

The life of a food writer is...wait for it...sweet.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

My life in numbers

ONE mini-Claremont reunion. Tim was in town and we got to hang out with him Sunday night. We counted and figured it's probably been about four years since we've seen him. We're old! It was great to see him again--somehow blog posts aren't the same as in-person conversations. I tried to get Jason and Tim to give me the Sagehen Sign, but they claimed there was no such thing.

TWO things that made me laugh recently. And for some reason, both reminded me of Karl...

FIVE new additions to the balcony. Yes, spring has sprung and with it comes my ever-optimistic attempt at an herb garden. Back row: two basil plants and the grizzled old veteran rosemary that's been with us for 3 years. Front row: pineapple sage, spearmint, lemon balm. (FYI: pineapple sage is amazing. No lie, it smells exactly like fresh-cut pineapple. Yum!)

Saturday, March 08, 2008

My Kingdom for My Camera

This story actually starts on Thursday. I'm innocently driving to my haircutting appointment, listening to the end of Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW. I hear my boy Nic Harcourt announce that they're giving away free tickets to the Blind Boys of Alabama concert Friday night, and since my favorite hobby involves driving while decoding the weensy numbers on my cell phone pad and endangering the lives of my fellow drivers, it seemed like a fine time to try to call and score tickets. Karma, which usually laughs at my face, smiled on me and I actually won tickets to the concert! Sweet! I tried to parlay my luck into getting a free haircut as well, but the salon wasn't having any of that.

So Friday night rolls around, and we make our way to the Knitting Factory, taking the metro as all cool eco-conscious city kids are wont to do. The concert was on the main stage, which is still a really small, intimate venue. The Blind Boys of Alabama are a rollicking gospel-based group who've been around forever, and are thus getting on in years a bit:

Nevertheless, they put on a GREAT show. Lots of passion, great harmonies, and those soaring gospel notes that send a shiver down the spine. Toward the end, they were rocking out and the lead singer decided he wanted to come down into the audience. Since they are literally blind, his bodyguard carried him down into the crowd as he meandered around, the song still pounding, and the rest of the band singing and playing from the stage. He walked by us several times (and wound his mic cord around our legs) and we were able to touch his hand. Many of the audience members were hugging him and clasping his shoulders, but that seemed a bit too intimate.

He stayed down in the crowd for probably 10 minutes as the song went on and on, growing in intensity. With all of the craziness, their lead guitarist was helping the other blind members navigate the stage, so he couldn't concentrate on playing properly. So who comes out to help on guitar but...

PRINCE. PRINCE! On stage, not 15 feet from where we were standing! (The wee little elf was looking pretty hot, too.) We couldn't BELIEVE that the one time we didn't bring our camera to a show, we could have gotten pictures with the lead singer of the band and gotten front-row pictures of Prince jamming on guitar. It was incredible. After the song was over, he gave a modest little bow and left without saying a word. We were hoping he'd come out and play for an encore, but the absence of any encore at all pretty much prevented that. Still, the whole show was amazing and so much fun and...Prince! Can't stop saying it!

UPDATE: I got a nice link from the KCRW blog! I surely do love that station. Also, fellow concert-goer Glenn was there with a camera and got a picture of the elusive Prince. I like the blurriness, it makes him seem more rock-n-roll.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Rock the Vote

Now that I have some free time, I'm thinking of starting my own candy/pastry company. I don't know if I'll really do anything with it now, but I want to start getting organized--get a logo, a webpage, stuff like that while I actually have time to do it all. The actual business of producing sweets will come later.

First, though, I need a name. I've been toying with options revolving around a play on my last name. Since it means "the beautiful" in French, there are a lot of dessert-related possibilities. I like the rhyming of "LaBau Gateau" or its properly spelled cousin, "Le Beau Gateau"--meaning "beautiful cake." I also like the sound of "La Belle & Le Beau," which simply means "the beautiful (girl) & (boy)" but has a nice ring to it. And of course, I can't decide whether I should use the proper spelling or the way my name is spelled.

So internets, I turn to you. There's a poll on the right where you can vote for which one you like, or if you have any brilliant ideas of your own (or even moderately smart ideas, I'm not that picky) leave me a comment.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

I am adding this to my March to-do list

Today I spied matador practice in the park. Complete with red capes and bull horns, but absent any apparent gorging. Truth be told, the 'bulls' all moved rather slowly and didn't seem to challenge the matadors too much.

They also used this awesome wooden cart to stand in for a bull, which moved much faster. Add a motor to this thing and I think you'd really be in business.

Purple Haze

Nine months after the big fire, the burned areas of Griffith Park are recovering nicely. [These pictures are dedicated to Jason, lover of all things purple].

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