notable quotable: nora ephron

"I can't understand why anyone would write fiction when what actually happens is so amazing."

-- Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad About My Neck and other thoughts on being a woman

sunday funday: descanso gardens

Spring is here and to celebrate (and also get a hiking workout in) I visited Descanso Gardens for a Sunday Funday with three of my friends, two of whom are Descanso members. (This is an important factoid because it meant that we got to avoid the reeeeaaaaaaaallllly loooooooooong line of non-members winding around the parking lot and go straight inside via the members-only entrance. Hint, hint. Membership has its privileges. You're welcome :) 

The gardens are huge and actually include orchards, streams and ponds, making the area a real escape into nature from the cities and suburbia that surround it. There are thousands of plants in the botanical collection, that is accredited by the American Association of Museums. And you could walk around for hours and still not see everything.

But what you will definitely see are camellias... lots and lots of camellias! Descanso has North America's largest camellia collection, which used to supply the florist industry with all the flowers they needed for 1950s-era corsages ;) However, those thousands of camellias were just about the only flowers I did NOT take a photo of because I just have to look out my back door to see them. Yep, this trip helped me finally figure out something I've been wondering about for four years and five months: the big red flowers constantly falling into my rose garden from my neighbor's yard are... camellias.

Here are all of the flowers (and streams and houses and lizards... oh my!) that I DID take photos of. 

Enjoy and Happy Spring! 

Tulips of just about every color are in bloom as you first walk into the gardens. 

I, of course, was drawn to the purple section of the tulip garden :)

A lovely stream and mini-waterfall is also near the front of the gardens as you walk in. The gardens also have multiple ponds with giant koi fish, ducks and geese. There is even a "bird observation" area with info on all the local birds provided and posted by a local Girl Scout troop.

 Cherry blossom trees were in beautiful bloom and smelled amazing!

Different colors and breeds of lilacs, each with a distinctly different smell, are in the Lilac Garden.

This "LIZARD!" was just hanging out in the sun outside the Boddy House near the top of the hill. He was one of the chubbier lizards I've seen on my nature hikes and sat there posing for photos for like five minutes ;)

The historic Boddy House lies at the top of the steepest part of your trek around the gardens and orchards. It has a beautiful view and a fabulous catering kitchen. And the garage of the house has been converted into an art gallery featuring mostly floral pieces.

A lone poppy in the California Garden section, which also featured cactus and other heat-tolerant vegetation.

Loved this poem on a plaque near the Rose Pavilion, which explains why I love my garden. 

It's great therapy :) 

lunching at laurel hardware

Had a lot of lunches out last week, networking with friends and former colleagues. All were fun, but just one was at a place "on my list" -- Thursday's lunch at Laurel Hardware with a friend who has just launched a great new web production shop called We Love Butterfly. (So if you need a website built, especially one for kids, call them!)



But back to food... Laurel Hardware is a neighborhood eatery/bar in West Hollywood near the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Crescent Heights (Laurel is the actual cross street). It is housed in what used to be a real hardware store, but other than the name and the sign outside, all remnants of tools and building materials are gone. (Although, you could probably get hammered on screwdrivers at the bar. Ha. I crack myself up!)

The menu is American with a twist (organic salads, pretty pizzas, fancy sandwiches, meat) and is made to be shared. So that's just what we did -- picked out an interesting salad and pizza and split it all down the middle :)

Before ordering food though, I was intrigued by the drink menu. Laurel Hardware is a place after my own coffee-hating heart.

They have a variety of loose leaf teas to choose from, plus fun and funky cold drinks like mexican coke, bundaberg ginger beer and "house" sodas.

I decided to be different and, instead of tea, ordered the elderflower and mint house soda. I love any drink with mint, and elderflower reminded me of Harry Potter and the elderwand -- LOL -- so I ordered it. It was fizzy and very refreshing ... and looked pretty too :)

For our starter, we ordered the quinoa salad with chicken breast, baby kale and a fennel vinaigrette. Unfortunately for our small-sized table, they brought it out at the same time as the pizza, but we still ate it first.

I'm not a big fan of kale, as previously documented here and here, but this salad was really delish! The chicken was warm and moist and the vinaigrette and quinoa were added to the leafy greens in perfect proportions to add flavor, not overwhelm. Definitely recommend this salad.

But my favorite part of the meal was the prosciutto pizza with artichokes, radicchio and asiago. The crust was super thin and crispy with great seasoning. And again, the toppings added flavor in the perfect proportions but were not overwleming. It was light, there was no grease (a pizza pet peeve of mine) and it was the perfect size for two people to share and not be super-stuffed. 

things that make me smile

... Reliving the LA Kings' Road to the 2012 Stanley Cup.

This is a great retrospective video series they've been showing during intermissions at games this season. I'm mostly posting it here for me so I can watch them all in one place whenever I want to, but hopefully the hockey fans amongst you will enjoy it too :)

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 1: Stoll's OT Winner

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 2: Penner's OT Winner

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 3: Scuderi Hit

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 4: Daryl Sutter Hired

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 5: The Trade Deadline

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 6: Brown Hits Sedin

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 7: Kings Sweeps St. Louis

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 8: LAX Arrival

Added 3/30/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 9: Kopitar's OT Winner

Added 4/5/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 10: Carter's OT Winner

Added 4/8/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 11: The 5-Minute Major

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 12: The Final Minutes

Added 4/12/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 13: The Stanley Cup

Added 4/16/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 14: Looking Back

Added 4/20/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 15: The 16-4 Playoff Record

Stanley Cup Moments Episode 16: Quick Wins the Conn Smythe

Added 4/23/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 17: Champagne Shower

Added 4/26/13
Stanley Cup Moments Episode 18: Championship Parade

happy spring!

Today is the official first day of spring (even though last week felt much more spring-like than overcast today does). And, right on schedule, my rose garden is getting ready for a beautiful spring and summer.

Each of my 20+ rose bushes are now full of pretty red-turning-green leaves, and two of them even have flower buds at the top getting ready to bloom in a week or two. Yay!

bumble bee central

The massive lavender plant near my front steps has been blooming like crazy the last week or so. And with the pretty purple blooms has come a not-so-welcome buzzing sound, as what must be every bumble bee in the neighborhood has decided to come chow down on the flowers' nectar. I'd really like to cut some sprigs to bring inside and dry out, but I'm afraid of ticking the bees off... although I did survive watering them all the other day ;)

Just in case I -- or any house guests -- need it later, here's what to do if stung by a bee. I've only been stung once in my life, long ago at my grandma's house, where I was also bitten by a goose, which I am still literally scarred from. But that's another story for another day...

lunching around historic downtown la

I'm determined to knock things off my "Adventures in My Own Backyard" list this year. So last week, I went downtown to have lunch with my friend Cwennen, who works in the historic Bradbury Building, and was able to knock two items off my list in one lovely lunch hour. 

The Bradbury Building is amazing! Built in 1893, it's a National Historic Landmark and LA's oldest commercial building. I'd never been inside before, but have seen it on TV and in movies like Blade Runner and 500 Days of Summer. Like most things you see on film, it's much smaller in person, but incredibly beautiful. It's basically a huge atrium with gorgeous tile floors, and wood and wrought iron staircases, railings and old-time elevators, which I even got to ride in since Cwennen works on the 4th floor and I'm lazy ;)

After seeing her office and snapping a bunch of photos, we headed out on foot (the best way to travel in Downtown LA) to go grab a healthy lunch at Mixt Greens in California Plaza. However, California Plaza is up a BIG hill from the Bradbury Building. What to do.... 

Oh yeah, Angels Flight is on my "Things To Do in Downtown LA" list too. Yay! And it just so happens that "the shortest railway in the world" will drop you off right next to the amphitheater and fountains at California Plaza for a mere 50 cent fare up its very rickety tracks. 

Following our lunch (I had the vegan "Be Well" salad, Cwennen had the "Cowboy" salad), we took a long walk around the Bunker Hill 'hood, passing by the currently-under-construction Broad Museum, and walking through the newly revamped Grand Park LA between the Music Center and City Hall. 

The park is supposedly a very big deal downtown, showing that the city (without the help of AEG) could start and actually finish something. I was very happy to see they didn't remove the Starbucks that is there (since with my luck, I will be back there at some point for jury duty). However, I was kinda shocked, and slightly blinded, by the bright pinkness of the place. It's a park, so you'd expect calming, natural colors like green, blue and brown. But Grand Park has bright neon pink furniture... lots and lots of it. Cwennen thinks the city must have gotten a great deal from some patio furniture company with a lot of surplus. I hope she's right because if someone in charge of designing things for our sad city thinks that furniture looks good, we are in serious trouble. 

comida, sealed with a beso

I've been eating out a lot lately... probably because that's the only way I see anyone anymore thanks to my current sabbatical from being stressed out and ticked off all the time (aka working). Last week, I reunited with three-fifths of the amazingly awesome Soapnet.com team, circa 2005, to catch up and chow down at a restaurant one of us has always wanted to try, Beso Hollywood. 

Owned by former Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria and celeb chef Todd English, the restaurant is located in the heart of Hollywood on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Ivar. The menu is described as a fusion of classic steakhouse and authentic Latin dishes. And its decor is dark ... with dark wood and leather furniture, candles and gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. It would've been very romantic had I been there with a guy instead of two gal pals. ;) But we still had a great time exploring the menu and left in a very happy food coma. It is on the pricey side though, so be warned. Luckily, the friend who wanted to eat here had also purchased a Living Social deal for $60 of food for $30, so we saved a bit there. 

Here's the pictorial of my menu for the evening:

The menu, and the candle I needed to read it (I said it was dark!)

For my cocktail, I ordered the "Pretty Girl" because it had vodka and strawberries -- two of my most favorite things -- in it (plus basil, lemon and sparkling wine).

I was hoping it would be as awesome as the Basil Berry cocktail I had at Yamashiro recently. But apparently, changing lemon juice to lemon and soda to sparkling wine totally changes the drink from sweet (the Basil Berry at Yamashiro) to kinda sour (the Pretty Girl at Beso).

It was okay, but wasn't what my palate was in the mood for that night.

For our appetizer, we were torn between Eva's Guacamole and the Beso Guacamole (which I will assume means it's Todd's?). We went with the Beso Guac because it sounded less salsa-esque and had corn in it, which sounded like an interesting twist. It came served in the avocado shells and was good, but not the best guac I've ever had by any means. What WAS really great, was the complimentary flatbread they brought us with it (sort of in the top of the photo). Next time, I'll save $9 and just eat that :)

For my entree' I ordered the Chili-Rubbed Skirt Steak. (Note: This photo sucks, so please don't judge the food by it.) Served on a wooden cutting board, the medium-cooked meat was spicy, but not too spicy and very tender with a great sauce. But what I liked best about the dish was the side -- Tortilla Fattoush. I had no clue what that was when I ordered, but was very pleasantly surprised. It was a corn/salsa salad with fried tortilla strips in it. Its crispy freshness totally complemented the steak.

Ohhh, and we also ordered a side to share -- truffled mac and cheese -- and it was one of the most heavenly yummy things I've had in a long time! Highly recommend that... even though I have no idea how mac and cheese qualifies as steakhouse or Latin fare.