santee alley

I woke up early this morning to head over to downtown L.A. My friends and I made our usual stop at the flower mart to pick up some lovely calla lilies, narcissus, gladiolas, poinsettias, and other plants. We dropped them off in the car and then walked three blocks to the Fashion District to do our purse shopping. What a crazy place! Where else can you get a velour jogging suit for $17 or hear Korean shop owners speak flawless Spanish? Santee Alley is the place for knockoff designer purses. Today was my first time there. It was buzzing with all the last-minute shoppers looking for presents. There were times when, at first glance, I could not distinguish the mannequins from the vendors standing on milk crates. If you ever go there, be sure to bargain. The first price offered is rarely final. I got a pretty red Ferragamo knockoff for $15 :).

The only downside of the day was the terrible service we received at a restaurant called Sushi Fujiyoshi located at 333 E 2nd St. in Little Tokyo. Our server didn't write down our order and promptly forgot it, as we had to flag her down to remind her of the dishes we were still expecting. Other tables ordered after us and finished their meals before all of our dishes had arrived. Even to-go orders were processed before ours. I don't think we ordered a lot of food or anything complicated, but who knows. The food was decent, nothing to rave about. They did offer a unique garden roll, which my friend said I had to try. "You may never taste anything like this ever again." "Why? 'Cause we're never coming back?" "That's right."


picture, as requested

indulging

Today at work we closed up shop half an hour early to go to our Christmas lunch at Claim Jumper. I've been there before, but had forgotten just how huge the portions are. I had rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes and garlic cheese toast. Part of the chicken was underdone, but I simply put that aside. There was still enough to fill me up and take home as leftovers. After our meal, everyone was too stuffed for dessert, so we ended up ordering something we could bring back to the office. Enter the Chocolate Motherlode Cake. They aren't kidding. It comes in a sturdy cardboard carrying case with the name printed on two sides and the restaurant's logo on the others. We got the 3 layer cake. It also comes in 6 layers. Scary.

When we opened the box, we found a brick of a cake the size of two of our normal birthday cakes. The office manager cut the cake and we both giggled as each piece made a loud plop sound on the paper plate. If you're not a fan of chocolate, stay away from this cake. It is chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. Three layers of chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked into the bottom of each, then smothered with chocolate frosting in between and on the sides and topped with coarsely chopped walnuts. I only ate about half of my piece. I was afraid of overdosing. That really says something about this cake, as I have no self-control.


chocolate motherlode cake


cake and box

exchanging gifts

Last night was my friends' annual Holiday Gift Exchange Party. What a party! The apartment was beautifully decorated with red and gold ornaments hung from the ceiling with red curly ribbon, white lights strung up all around the room, and tealights providing soft illumination. The table was overtaken with food--French bread with eggplant dip, pita bread with tomato and basil hummus, beer bread with bacon dip, cheese (Brie, cheddar, jack) and crackers, crudites and potato chips with ranch dressing, tortilla chips with homemade salsa, jalapeno Poppers, mini quiches, spinach and cheese spanakopitas, bacon-wrapped prunes (delicious--who woulda thought?), edamame, and green olives. Libations consisted of plum brandy, Martinelli 2002 Pinot Noir, Babcock 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon (Babcock's first attempt at a cab--yummy!), and imported beers (Heineken & Corona). Dessert was served at the end of the evening--cream puffs, caramel Kiss chocolate cookies, and a fruit tart.

Each year, we play a game to exchange gifts. Everyone brings a wrapped $20 gift. We draw numbers to determine the order. The first person unwraps a gift and then the next person can either choose a gift to unwrap or steal the gift from the person before him. It's better to get a higher number so you can see all the gifts that are unwrapped. The game is ruthless, with friends stealing from friends and roommates stealing from roommates (you live in the same house!). However, a gift can only exchange hands two times. After that, the gift is "dead" and stays with that person. Two of my friends were especially creative with their packaging and wrapped their gift cards in feminine hygiene boxes. One unsuspecting guest unwrapped her gift to find a box of pantyliners. The crowd burst into laughter! Someone snatched the gift card that was inside, forcing her to pick another gift to unwrap--a box of tampons! Some people have all the luck. Inside was another Starbucks gift card, but someone grabbed that one as well. It was the most coveted gift of the evening. Other gifts were a spa set, a sushi plate set, The Bourne Supremacy DVD and popcorn, a video game, and assorted gift cards. I walked away with a dessert fondue set, some Hershey Kisses, and a bag of tealights (all one gift). Yay!!!

Everyone liked their gifts and left with a full belly. At the end of the night, one hostess told me how to make cost-effective trivets at home. She got the tip from Home and Garden Television (HGTV). First you buy some tile from Home Depot (about 30 cents a piece) and then buy a roll of self-adhesive cork. You can find that at Target. Cut the cork to the size of your tile and stick it on. Then voila! you have a place to set your hot dishes/cups/vases.

working for tips

Last Saturday I started chatting with a very talkative patient about sports. I asked if he played golf or tennis and he said that he used to be a scratch golfer, hitting in the low 80s. Now a bad game for him is an 88. I said, "Wow, I don't score anywhere near that." "No?" he asked, all surprised. Haha, yeah right. He said he used to play with a lot of older guys and even won a few Best Ball tournaments. Sounds like fun. There are three players on each team and the strongest long hitter tees off, the best chipper chips, and the best putter putts. He used to hit the long shots. Still, if he golfed in the low 80s, he must have been a decent putter as well. He asked me if, after I marked my ball, I replaced it with the brand name pointing towards the hole. (if you think there's a chance someone might hit your ball, you pick up your ball and put a marker in its place until it's your turn again) He said the pros like to mark their balls because then they can put it back with the words serving as a guide to the hole, taking into account factors such as slope and wind. Once you do that, you line up your putter so that it's perpendicular to the line and hit the ball straight on. Sounds kinda sneaky, but I will surely try it :P. I'm hoping to find a tip that will improve my game and dramatically lower my score. You can even draw a line on your ball. I've seen some ads for golf devices that allow you to draw a straight line on your ball, but I thought that was just for practice. Cool patients and golf tips certainly make working Saturdays more bearable.

making a list, checking it twice

Yesterday, one of the girls at work asked me what kind of stuff I like. Unsure, I said, "What do you mean? like food?" She said, "Anything. We (the other staff and I) were wondering what to get each other for Christmas." I couldn't come up with anything on the spot, so I asked them what they all liked. They shared with me their interests and also their gift ideas for the office manager, who was out of the office. My first thought was Oh, they're really into gifts (and I'm not). Great. I started a Holiday Wish List, to make everyone's life a little easier.

Two of the girls wrote stuff like body sprays, perfumes. Ewwww. I Hate getting that kinda stuff! I'm still attempting to use up lotions from years past. Am I that anti-girl? No, I think it's because I try not to use anything scented when dealing with the public. They also listed purses and jewelry, which I like. I wrote that I try not to accumulate "stuff." I like consumables, e.g. FOOD, tennis balls, golf balls. Last year I made a vow to live a more minimalist life, inspired by my move from northern to southern CA. I've been pretty good too, replacing things here and there and only buying things I felt were necessary. Consequently, holiday gift exchanges are a struggle for me. I hate feeling obligated to buy presents and, even worse, accepting things I don't want or need is a burden on the vow I've tried so hard to keep. So, I got very specific, listing snacks that will not last long in my drawer.

I'm not a total Grinch. I do enjoy buying presents when I think the intended receiver will truly appreciate it. This season, I look forward to fulfilling some holiday wishes and doing some guilt-free shopping :).

grubbin'

Tonight I had fried turkey for the first time. It was delicious! This guy fried 5 turkeys at his house, 2 in an electric frier and 3 in a gas frier outdoors. He said frying a turkey is so much faster than baking and it retains the moisture. I'll say! It takes about an hour to heat the oil and then an hour to fry each turkey. That's why it's more efficient to fry more than one at a time. Each use about 3 gallons of oil. He said the minimum weight for each turkey is 14.8 lbs. I don't know what the max is. The electric frier gets up to 350 degrees and the gas 400. The best turkey I had tonight was the smoked one. He had bought hickory wood chips (they also come in mesquite), soaked them in water, threw them on charcoal, and lit the charcoal with a fried turkey on top. The smokey flavor penetrated through each piece. He said you could smoke the turkey for the entire time instead of pre-cooking it, but it takes longer than baking, something like 8 hours. I don't think that would be worth it. The pre-fried turkey had as much hickory flavor as I would like. The spread included traditional Thanksgiving foods like mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, but I was pre-occupied with the turkey.

Our host was the epitome of hospitality. Friendly, organized, and open to answering all my questions. I think this was the longest conversation I've ever had with him, and it was all food-related. My friend said he was probably thinking, "What's wrong with this chick? She never says two words to me and tonight she's grilling me on the turkey?" Well, I share this new knowledge with you. I highly recommend sampling fried turkey, but don't try this at home. The process is highly combustible. Leave it to the pros.

pasadena

Last night I joined over 80,000 others at the Billy Graham Crusade at the Rose Bowl. Though I've been a Christian most of my life, I've never been to one of these huge gatherings. I never had any interest. I guess I viewed it as a bunch of fanatics experiencing a spiritual high and then returning to their lives unchanged once they came down. This year, the Crusade caught my attention. I saw the billboard off the freeway and was excited to see that it was a local event, on My home field. I got more interested when they played a clip at church and my pastor said this may be the last year Billy Graham actually presents, as he is getting up there in age and his health is declining. Then I made the conscious decision to attend when my friend said we could carpool with people from my old church.

Saturday's program was "A Concert for Our Generation" with musical performances by Kutless, The Tait Band, and Third Day. Billy Graham spoke for about 30 minutes. His direct, simple message reached out to the youth. He then invited people to walk onto the field where there were counselors ready to pray and distribute books about how to live a life with God. Some of us were disappointed not to hear Billy Graham say the word literature with his No. Carolinan accent :). Thousands of people went down to the field. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't the phenominal religious experience I thought it would be. Maybe because there were just so many people! Still, I liked being a part of something greater than myself, a people hungry for God.

Afterwards, I joined my friends at one of our favorite Pasadena haunts, Holly Street Bar & Grill. They've really spruced the place up since we last visited. They put in new carpeting, curtains and chairs and opened up the bar area to put in a full stage. They have live music there four nights a week. We met up for dessert in celebration of my friend passing the CA State Bar. She got the results this week and has been floating ever since. We had chocolate torte (how appropriate), tiramisu, creme brulee, and New York cheesecake, a great ending to my dinner of popcorn and cotton candy.

reuniting

Tonight I reunited with my first love. Brief as it was, this encounter made my heart race, just like old times. Can you guess? It's tennis. In high school, during tennis season, my friends and I would go to practice 5 days a week and then play at 6:30AM on Saturday morning. We were young. We didn't have money, but we had each other. There were like 6-8 of us who would play on Saturday. That's commitment. Lately I've been preoccupied with golf. It's a lot of fun, but there's something about a sport that leaves your body sweaty and pumped with endorphins. C'mon, you gotta make it worth my while to shower twice in one day.

I had a great time tonight. I played with 2 of my friends from high school/jr. high. We haven't seen each other in over a month (an eternity!), so the majority of our time was spent in conversation. My friend told us about how this guy tried to pick her up at the local coffee shop earlier in the evening. He asked her if she wanted a piece of chocolate cake. He was holding one on a plate and offered to get her another piece. No joke, this has got to be the best line I've ever heard. He even offered to get her a piece in a to-go container. Undoubtedly, the way to my heart is through my stomach. She declined, but oh, she wanted that cake. She watched that cake down to the last bite. "It was the good kind, with chocolate shavings on the side. And it was so moist! When he put his fork into it to remove a bite, the cake bounced back." It's no mystery why she and I get along so well.

golfing

Mark Twain said, "Golf is a good walk spoiled." Mark Twain didn't have a golf cart. Yesterday I played 18 holes at Monarch Beach in Dana Point with Mike. Despite the forecast, we experienced perfect weather. It is southern CA, after all. Sunny, even hot at times, with very little wind.

In the parking lot, one of the caddies rode up in a golf cart and asked if I was playing golf today. I said yes and he loaded my golf bag onto the cart. I told him my golf buddy had just pulled up down the row and he went to get his bag too. When we went down, everything was ready for us. The cart had tees, a cooler, towels, and was equipped with GPS that told you your yardage from the pin and kept score for you. Mike asked if the towels were scented. I said nope, just bleach. He said he had been to a course where the towels are mango scented. Mmmm.

The course was pretty. Lots of hills and more bunkers than I've ever seen. It was a good challenge. I played terribly. Perhaps I should have practiced beforehand. I thought 18 holes would be enough practice. Maybe I'm not getting the whole scoring concept. There were a couple of holes overlooking the ocean, but the majority of the course is not by the water. Unless you count the water hazards. I lost 4 balls to the water, though I consider the first one (my tee shot on the first hole) a sacrifice to the golf gods.

The service there could not be beat. Friendly staff, always ready to help. One gentleman even retrieved my pitching wedge (P-wizzy) after I had left it at the 9th hole. When we were done, a caddy went with us to our cars and unloaded our clubs.

So, that's the good life. I enjoyed it immensely, but am still looking forward to returning to "the country club" (Alhambra Golf Course). I still haven't played the last 5 holes there.


monarch beach, photo courtesy of mcnugget