putting the knit in shizknitz

One co-worker just returned from her honeymoon in Hawaii, all nice and tan. One of my guys just returned from research and hiking in Switzerland. Another one of my guys just returned from honeymooning in Jamaica. The last guy just came back from a 3 week tour of asia. One of my old guys is now in NY.

WTF am I doing wrong?

Oh well, at least I’m in LA, it could be worse…..

Another co-worker’s wedding! If one more person decides to get married, or have a child, I am going broke! This was an outdoor wedding last weekend (same day as Britney Spears) held out in beautiful Somis, California. It was held at Hartley Botanica’s which was a gorgeous and cozy setting.

I got to sit with some friends and see some old friends, one of which has the cutest baby boy, named Caleb. At the age of 17 months, he has the art of flirting mastered. I would hate to see him at 17!!

It was held in an outside garden, complete with parrots and other animals and there was a gorgeous walkway with lights intertwined with the branches all the way up to the “altar”. Tammy had on a beautiful ivory dress, with a criss-cross ribbon that tied up the back in place of a more traditional button-up dress. With the world’s smallest waistline, only she could pull this dress off so beautifully. The tables were decorated very elegantly - but do you notice my placecard? This ambiguously confused gender issue continues to surround me…….

I’ve been a little under the weather the last few days. Okay, so that is an understatement. When you’re a food lover like I am, the worst punishment in life is when your mind is thinking of all the wonderful things you *could* eat, but your stomach is churning, reminding you of the fact that it *can’t* eat anything…..

So this evening, I’m feeling better than I have in the last 3 days - thus Tienshiao and I decide to try Via Panero (not in citysearch yet) a new sandwich and soup place reminiscent of Corner Bakery, but located closer to LAX. Food was good, they had my favorite french onion soup and of course, the salty butter to go with the bread (I would die if I went on atkins). As I sat there, I realized that there was a point to these last few days of hopelessness and sickliness - to remind me of the good things in life. Being able to enjoy good food and having a great conversation with my best friend - this isn’t possible without the blessings of good health. I know that I haven’t been in the best of moods lately, but I think this was exactly what I needed to get me back on track.

Life can be so good sometimes…

For one reason or another, I have a backlog of photos… Labor Day was supposed to be our Jewelry Mart day as we had confirmed with our favorite shop on their availability on Labor Day. Lo and behold, this is what awaited us that horrible Monday morning…

Yes, the photo on the right is of me giving the angry Mashimaro face. Not to totally throw off our schedule, we decided to visit the Garment District instead. It was my first time and I had never seen so many fake purses, lizards and turtles in little cages. Alas, it was a beautiful day in downtown LA…

At the end of the week, we visited Sakura House, a place that specializes in Japanese kushiyaki. Everything comes in skewers and are wrapped in thinly sliced pork (and you readers wonder why I go to Weight Watchers). The place looks like a converted sushi house, so there are tables as well as a bar, but instead of the kitchen area, there is a huge area where the chef grills all the food. The food ranges from vegetables (you see okra and asparagus on the photo below) to chicken gizzard, to yaki onigiri (rice shaped into a triangle and grilled until the rice is crunchy). Yummm…..

So now, I am all caught up

One of my two favorite places for Sushi, especially if you are in the mood for some great albacore, is Yoshida’s in San Marino. Another specialty which you see our friend Wes eating is the spicy tuna roll, with quail egg. You get to specify how spicy you want your hand roll to be. Yummm….

And no great sushi dinner is complete until you’ve had warm boba out of a bowl (yeah, it was wierd for me too)….

Just when you thought the best part of Hawaii were the beaches….

PS This is a backlog entry. Not all bags exist in my kitchen at this time.

At work, there is a random man we call snaggletooth. He doesn’t work here, but he hangs out here everyday, like a fixture to the building. He reads, doesn’t have much teeth (thus snaggletooth) and frizzy hair and depending on whether he took any meds that day, varies from benign to completely pissy.

But he’s probably the happiest man in the building. He doesn’t work, he fulfills his ambitions as a voracious reader, and isn’t a captive to the slavemaster named work.

BTW I have a backlog of entries I must post, with pictures. I’ve been working on a project lately that has sucked up much of my time. Hrmmm this is similar to a bloodsucker, in a sense. Bloodsuckers take and take and doesn’t give a damn thing back. I am in a cynical mood today. Good thing I’m going to Paco’s for dinner.