Weekending in Los Angeles

As my previous post indicated, my youngest sister Katherine is in town. The day before her birthday we drove to Beverly Hills for the ultimate 17th birthday weekend. Our trip started with a long drive from USD to the heart of Beverly Hills, with only one pit stop along the way somewhere off the 405 I hope to never visit again.


We checked in (relived to be out of the car and away from Los Angeles traffic for the time being) and hopped right into the pool. A martini, a Shirley Temple and an ice water sipped poolside, we realized this weekend was going to be one of the best of the summer.

Our first evening in Los Angeles we decided to walk down the street to Sprinkles, then wandered around Rodeo Drive and the surrounding streets. After trying several cupcake shops around the country, I think Sprinkles is still my favorite. There is a different taste to a Sprinkles cupcake. Maybe it's the "all natural" ingredients they use, or the fact that it was the first famous cupcake I tasted. Every time I have one, no matter what flavor, I simply love it. Friday night's flavor was milk chocolate, but of course on Sunday I picked up a lemon and chocolate coconut to bring home and share with Glenn. Yum.


Friday evening we decided to head to another famous LA establishment - Pink's Hot Dog Stand. Waiting in line for an hour was part of the experience, and we were only happy to do it. Left to right we had the guacamole dog (Katherine), the Rosie (me), and the 10 inch stretch chili cheese dog (Corrie).




Saturday we woke up moderately early to spend Katherine's birthday at Disneyland! Of course we had to stop by her favorite place - Starbucks - before we went into the park. Seeing as we were celebrating, chocolate croissants and cheese danishes were definitely the way to go.




Once inside the park, we rode our favorite rides, enjoyed a fabulous lunch (see below for pictures!) and ended the day with the new fireworks show. A perfect birthday, if I do say so myself.

Filet Mignon with a tempura onion ring and polenta, served in a simple red wine reduction sauce.

Grilled monk fish in lobster sherry bisque.

Roast chicken with vegetables and truffle macaroni and cheese.


On our last morning in LA we had the driver at the hotel drop us off at a local breakfast spot - Panini Cafe. Corrie and I shared a veggie omelet, Katherine had a breakfast panini with egg and brie and sipped on a latte. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

She's On Her Way

My crazy little sister (well, they're all crazy, but she's the littlest) Katherine is coming to visit! She flies in tonight and the first thing she requested was... JV's. Here are the other foods we have planned for the next few days:

1. Sprinkles Cupcakes
2. Pink's Hot Dogs
3. Breaking in the new BBQ at my in-law's
4. Late night California Burritos in our 'hood
5. In N Out
6. Fair food (which includes a cinnamon roll, hot dog on a stick, and those delicious freshly fried chips!)

Fly safe, Katherine, can't wait to see you!

A Story About Saturday Night

Inspired by our good friends Kim and James Buckley, Glenn and I have tried to take turns planning fun things to do together for the past few months. When it's my turn itusually looks something like this:

K's brain: It's Saturday, I have the day off and am feeling super successful because I went on a long run. I'm going to plan something elaborately extraordinary for Glenn and I to do tonight!

G's brain: Wow, I'm sure glad tomorrow is Sunday. It was fun to see Kristin when she stopped by after her run (side note - this post-run Chick-fil-A stop is almost weekly), and I'm excited for whatever she's planning tonight. I hope she realizes how little money is in our bank account and just how tired I am from working x amount of hours this week.

K's brain: Yes, Glenn will definitely be ok with us going to this swanky new restaurant and then driving to Los Angeles for cupcakes. It's going to be so fun!

You get the idea. He slaves away all week so we can live this awesome life; I plan elaborate date nights and vacations for us. Needless to say, occasionally my "brilliant" ideas need some taming before they actually happen, especially on Saturday nights.

One particular Saturday night, however, I was determined to plan something we were both equally thrilled with, and something that would not cost half my paycheck. I was also wanting to experience a restaurant I either had not been to, or had only been to once, for blog research, of course. (A business expense! I could write it off!) And so, I decided we would make the trek up to a small town north of us called Encinitas.

For dinner, I made a reservation at Vigilucci's Trattoria Italiana. I did a tiny bit of research on the Vigilucci family, as I noticed they have several restaurants around town. The Trattoria was the first place they opened, and has won several awards for outstanding cuisine and a great wine list. I should interject here and say that I was never a huge Italian food fan until I spent a semester in Lugano, which is part of Ticino, the Italian section of Switzerland. My roommate was a sweet girl from Milano who had a way of saying Dolce Gabbana that would put Giada's "mozzarella" to shame. She, along with the rest of my friends there, introduced me to the lovely food and wines of Northern Italy, which has since become one of my favorite regions.

Vigilucci's Trattoria Italiana put me right back into the streets of Milan where I sipped an aperitif and snacked on house cured meats, fresh foccacia, and grilled vegetables. We sat outside on the patio (is there any other way to sit when San Diego is your home?) where twinkling white lights surrounded us, local surfers drove by, and our waiter entertained us with stories of all the foods and wines he loved.



Finally, a picture. This was our appetizer - the 'sampler' platter, for lack of a less American phrase. Everything on the plate was delicious, but my favorites were the mozzarella di bufala, the salami, and the olives. For dinner, I had the veal cutlets with a light mushroom and caper sauce, served alongside linguini. I honestly don't remember what Glenn ordered, but I do know it was delicious, just maybe not as delicious as mine. We shared a lovely bottle of crisp Italian white wine our waiter recommended, and at the end of the night the server handed Glenn the bill and me a long-stemmed rose! If that isn't the perfect end to a Saturday night, I don't know what is. Oh, maybe this... my plate at the end of the night.

A Trip to Costco

This has been either my entire breakfast or a large portion of my breakfast for 3 of the past 5 days. A box of raspberries. Why? A trip to Costco.

I LOVE Costco. I have loved it since it was The Price Club and I would go there with my Mom and look at the Cabbage Patch Kids that were stacked from the floor to the ceiling. They have high quality products in huge volume for way less than you could get at any grocery or specialty store. The problem: there are only 3 of us living under one roof. Three people would not consume 8 boxes of raspberries in a week's time under normal circumstances. So I have to eat raspberries almost daily. I have not grown tired of them just yet, but I also probably won't buy another 8 boxes next time I go. Even though they are a mere $6.99.

"I have heard him compare his store to a price club, and the books in it to olive oil." - Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail