Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Nine
'The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day...'
(The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho)

I am actually writing this from Bergerac in France, although the majority of my week was spent back in LA revelling in the last five days of guaranteed sunshine. On Monday I went back to Beverly Hills to sample the celebrity favourite Urth Caffe for lunch, where I had a chicken and broccoli quiche and a Spanish coffee that had a cute dove created in the foam. I started reading The Alchemist whilst there, and finished it within 2 days, such an interesting book - I would recommend for anyone who feels a bit stagnant or is questioning direction in their life, it has a real positive message. I had a bit of a splurge in Sephora before heading back to collect Aum, and that evening we stayed in for tea as the hectic weekend had caught up with us.

On Tuesday I visited the Hollywood Forever cemetery, where legends such as Judy Garland, Johnny Ramone and Chris Cornell are buried. It was a beautiful, peaceful place with fountains and landscaped gardens, and I was the only person there which made it an incredibly serene experience. Afterwards I felt completely the opposite after going down the Walk of Fame, which was noisy, rammed with tourists and pretty tacky to be honest; I am glad I can tick it off the list of sights but wouldn't rush back. That evening Aum's dad arrived so we took him to Santa Monica to a seafood restaurant called Water Grill, where I had orecchiette pasta with Ecuadorian shrimp and wilted spinach. The place had a trendy brasserie kind of vibe with great views of the beach so was fun to sample it.

On Wednesday we went for my final American breakfast experience of the trip, at Headlines Diner again as I was leaving early on Thurs. I spent my last day sunbathing in the garden, packing my suitcase and buying a few last minute presents for people, and then we went back to Rize in Venice for tea where I shared some belly pork for starter, then had a coconut milk Thai curry and noodles washed down with a passion fruit mojito. I waved goodbye and embarked on the epic trip home on Thursday, and landed back in rainy Manchester on Friday morning. Being incredibly jetlagged I cancelled plans for drinks with my friends that evening in favour of tea and a sleepover at my parent's, but it was bliss!

Unfortunately upon arrival back in the UK I learnt the awful news that Chester Bennington from Linkin Park had taken his life, which not only upset me, but being a huge fan of the band and having loved their music since I was first introduced to their Hybrid Theory album by my cousin as a little mosher in high school, it brought back lots of memories and made me very nostalgic. Therefore it only seems right that my track for this week is a favourite by them, as it is impossible for me to choose just one.

Yesterday I went into the city centre to meet Laura and Abi for brunch at Pot Kettle Black in Barton Arcade, where I had a gorgeous dish called N'duja which was a tomato, smoked mozzarella and pecorino stew with poached eggs in the middle, served with sourdough toast - it is making my mouth water thinking about it! We had a wander around town and then I headed back to mine to pack a suitcase (again) ready for my flight to Bergerac today, before scoffing an Indian takeaway at my parents last night.

My flight today was at 12.20pm but from Liverpool, so I drove and left my car, although I walked in the completely opposite direction so ended up having to order an Uber to save missing my flight - blonde moment! It was slightly delayed but I arrived before 4pm and met my friend Claire at the airport; I am staying at her family home so her mum collected us both as she had just landed from London where she now lives. Our uni friend Laura arrived a few hours later with her husband Dickon and their little boy Ernest who is two and a half, and we had some dinner and a few glasses of wine whilst catching up on each others' lives. Looking forward to exploring a bit tomorrow.   

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Eight
'Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality'
(Lewis Carroll)

Week two started with the latest addition to my tattoo collection - a little key that is an amalgamation of the ones inside Anberlin's Lost Songs album cover. Jasmine and I have always loved the band since I took her to watch them as her first ever gig back in 2007, and we saw them again in 2012, and also their final tour before they broke up in 2014 (still not over it!). I would never get an obvious band tattoo, but this has meaning to us both whilst still looking unrelated. I had it done at High Seas Tattoo Parlour on Melrose by a sound young guy called Joey, who works with a single needle for really dainty designs. 

That evening Aum and I went to a Persian restaurant called Flame for tea, that is around the corner from our house. We shared some houmous and pitta bread, and then he had lamb kebab whilst I opted for a layered chicken and saffron rice dish with barberries in called Zereshk. The service was great and the food amazing, and there was plenty leftover for lunch the next day. 

I heard my track for this week in a taxi and asked the driver what he was playing - to which he told me this. It took me back to my emo days,  so thought I'd throw it into today's post as a bit of a curveball.

On Tuesday I took a trip to Beverly Hills to do some shopping. It is all very lavish so I didn't quite have the budget for any spending, but it was fun wandering around Rodeo Drive people watching, and I stopped for lunch outside in the sun at the original Cheesecake Factory. I had mushrooms in a cheesy pesto sauce followed by a slice of their chocolate turtle cheesecake: a brownie base with hazelnut and praline mousse and topped with a swirl of ganache (the 'turtle'), a huge slab so it lasted me two sittings!

On Wednesday I went back to Santa Monica to Bloomingdale's where I got a lovely '50s style halter dress and a dusky rose lace skirt for $20 each, and that evening we went to The Grove, an outdoor shopping area with a stage for live music, a farmer's market selling food from all over the world (I had a Turkish pizza), and a number of quirky shops. I couldn't resist getting Ferryn some funky doggy treats from The Dog Bakery, they were shaped like cream cakes but made with animal friendly ingredients like cream cheese, peanut butter and mashed carrots!

On Thursday we went for breakfast at Mary & Robb's Westwood Cafe, a five minute walk away from our house, and then during the day I headed to the Abbot Kinney area of Venice to check it out. It is super trendy around there (and very Instagrammable); loads of incredible bright coloured graffiti, hipster bars, bohemian clothes boutiques, and a short walk from the canal system, which feels very European. I managed to snap my sandals so had to walk around on the boiling concrete barefoot looking like an idiot for about half an hour, but I eventually made it to the boardwalk where I got hold of some flip flops, albeit two sizes too small. I bought a pretzel for lunch and sauntered along the ocean's edge until school pickup.

That evening we ventured a bit further afield to the Pacific Palisades to a seafood restaurant called Gladstone's which was definitely worth the extra distance. We all shared the macadamia shrimp and then I had a lobster roll for main, washed down with some much deserved prosecco after my shoe ordeal. The waiter (who looked and sounded just like Samuel L. Jackson!) wrapped the boys' leftovers up in gold foil to look like giant animals which was a friendly gesture that they were thrilled with.

Yesterday we all had a much needed lie in, and then went to Venice beach for a couple of hours. Jen and I sat chatting in the sun whilst the boys expelled some energy playing in the sea, and then after having a mosey along the boardwalk we went to 26 Beach for lunch, which was hands down one of the best meals I have ever had. For main I ordered the Crab Royale - a scramble of eggs, snowcrab, bacon, spring onions, avocado and cheese served 'Hawaiian style' on top of brown rice, and then Aum and I shared the S'mores french toast, stuffed with Nutella and marshmallow fluff coated with biscuits and topped with cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce. Out of this world!!

That evening just Aum and I headed up into the hills to check out the Hollywood sign and take some photos. The view of the city from there is beautiful, and it was all the more impressive as we were there for the sunset. A lack of wifi meant it was a struggle getting home, I eventually had to steal someone else's Uber, but we made it in the end!

Today has been another busy one, cramming in as many sights as possible with it being the last full day the boys have. We started in Beverly Hills at Walter's Cafe for breakfast, and then caught a cab to Downtown LA to The Last Bookstore. Anyone who knows me will confirm that I am an absolute sucker for books and libraries, and TLB is California's biggest new and used book and record store, so basically heaven for me. It has a vault full of first editions, sofas dotted everywhere, a huge poetry section and cute little independent art and knick knack shops on a gallery upstairs, totally worth a gander if ever in the area.

After dragging the boys around we then took them for a treat at The Ice Cream Lab, a 'molecular creamery' which uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the cream and flavour ingredients to order, apparently making it the freshest and best tasting ice cream around! I had 'Salt Lick Crunch' - pretzels, caramel and sea salt - and the boys had 'Blue Velvet' literally a blue velvet cupcake including cream cheese frosting, both of which had vanilla ice cream as their base. 

We then caught a cab to the Griffith Observatory, a science institute with the best views of LA as it is high up in the hills, and the boys got to watch a Tesla demonstration and do some interactive experiments. We went home after a tiring day, and ordered $160 of sushi and gorged ourselves for tea!!