The Weekend

Friday
Since I had to go up to Pasadena to oversee some stuff at a client's place, I dropped by Dots Cupcakes in anticipation of meeting with my friend and bridesmaid A to treat her to dinner for her birthday. I got hungry, so I tried the pumpkin cupcake. So.good. The frosting was frothy, rather like Leda's [ooh! The website's been updated and is cute!] buttercream and dusted with a bit of nutmeg. The cake was fluffy, just the right about of moist, a touch spicy, and not too sweet.

[flavors shown from top: red velvet, vanilla, chocolate cheesecake, pumpkin, chocolate vanilla, apple pie]

Once the bear got home from work, we drove up to my old 'hood of Beverly Hills adjacent to sell his bike to a cool chick with the cutest Shiba Inu ever. Bye bye bike. HellO new flat screen LCD TV! I must admit that Food Network in HD makes me even hungrier than Food Network in standard definition and that everything else look pretty dang crisp + clear.

We then headed to Larchmont, where much udon, sushi, rolls, tempura, and complimentary deep fried green tea ice cream were had at Kiku Sushi for A's birthday. The bear, A, and her sister/my other bridesmaid K [together they are AK, a deadly combination, and you will rarely find them apart] provided some good conversation and good company. It was such a good time of catching up over [decent] food. Unfortunately, we were too stuffed afterward to share the cupcakes or indulge in our collectively favorite dessert, pinkberry, just a few doors away from the restaurant.

Saturday
I woke up and indulged (?) in some frenzied straightening up in anticipation of guests later in the day while the bear ran the Nike 5 mile run. Apparently, Naughty by Nature and MC Hammer were in great form, and the bear and his friend ran decent times. If I'd known that Cee was going to run it, I too would have signed up to crawl 5 miles alongside her.

A handful of the bear's friends came down for dinner + drinks to celebrate his birthday, but the pre-party at our place ended up lasting pretty long due to some laggers. My old roomies and I caught up and the boys played video games on the new TV over some beers [still left over from the wedding]. By that time, we realized it would be too late for dinner with everyone, so we ordered MVP's. As soon as the guys returned with the food, one of the other guys showed up. Luckily, the portions are HUGE (a half order of the delicious Cajun fries can feed 2-3 easily). Afterward, we cabbed it to Mai Tai Bar, skipped out after a round of drinks and finding all the tables were sold already making it impossible for Mr. Muscles [the last guest for the evening] to eat, and walked over to Yard House, which we had been trying to avoid doing, for more food and a few more rounds. I got my Lindeman's Lambic Framboise on tap, so I was a happy girl despite the crowds.

[walking through shoreline village]

Sunday
We slept in, I made a frittata [the bear: "Tastes just like an omelet." me: "It is, it's just not flipped. You know you don't want to clean up the mess I make after flipping something in a pan."], and I worked on yet another post-wedding wedding-related project. We're off in a few to celebrate the bear's birthday with a dinner with the in-laws. We'll go to his hockey game
afterward, and then it will be time for yet another week.