broadcasting from the san gabriel valley

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Chihuahua in a Basket....An IKEA Basket.....

When I first saw these funny agave inspired baskets at IKEA a few years back, I grabbed a couple to purchase. After seeing how nicely they meshed with my things, I went back to snag some more. Unfortunately, that decision to do so was made well after the product was no longer being sold in the store. Over the years, another storage system was derived in my place and the agave baskets developed new uses....one is currently holding play balls in my office at work and the other.... well as evidenced by the picture below, has morphed into a catch-all for Frito. It initially just started off holding his toys and leash and what not. However, one day I could not find him and after hunting high and low and calling his name, I looked behind the yellow chair to see him sitting atop all his goodies obviously ignoring my frantic calls. Ever since then, he has adopted that basket as a bed/nest of sorts despite having a genuine dog bed across the room.



Sunday, June 26, 2011

Farewell to you, Echo Park.......


Today David and I signed the lease for our new place in Eagle Rock. Not only is the home incredibly amazing, it will be doubling the space we currently have. And we will have this adorable fireplace to boot. We will be moving in August 1st. That gives us some time to figure the best plan for packing up and moving out. The home is off of Eagle Rock Blvd and Ave 42 in the hills. And the coolest thing? We know our next door neighbors.....Nicki and Sonia! We owe it to you guys for hooking us up with such a gem before it hit Craigslist. Nicki gave us some serious inside information on the place as well as a glowing recommendation to the landlord, whom by the way, is very sweet. It will be sad in someways to be leaving Echo Park, but Eagle Rock will be a fantastic place for us to be!




Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Mystic Arts of Erasing all Signs of Death

This past Thursday marks an 18 day hiatus from work. Wednesday was the last day of the 2010-2011 school year. While most students get the summer off, due to the nature of our school, we have a summer school that roughly 75% of the students will attend. However, that program will not begin until July 11th, leaving me with an immense amount of time and a severely limited cash flow.

Knowing that I would be doing some tighter-than-usual-budgeting, I headed to the library yesterday to select a couple books. At home I have 'Tattoos on the Heart', a book by Homeboy Industries Father Greg Boyle and a copy of 'Freedom' by Jonathan Franzen. Realizing that the books may be completed sooner rather than later, I felt it necessary to get some extras on deck. I found a copy of 'The Mystic Arts of Erasing all Signs of Death' on the new book shelf at the Edendale Branch. Sure, this isn't like 2011 new, but new enough (and available without requiring a request and hold) to instill inside me a fond feeling of right-time-right-place. In fact, I started in immediately yesterday and now at just about page 100, am really jazzed about the selection. In a nutshell, the book follows Web, a slacker of sorts who after being threatened of being cut off financially from his buddy (with whom he has been mooching off of), gets roped into the business of cleaning up death scenes. Kind of a Sunshine Cleaning feel, but edgier. I'll keep you posted. It is a bit more dialogue heavy than I prefer, but the dialogue is pretty catchy and yes...it has sucked me in.



Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

My parents came to Los Angeles for a quick weekend trip that just happened to coincide with Father's Day. While we had an amazing Father's Day brunch at Russells in Pasadena, that was just the end to a culinary tour. Saturday found us at the Farmer's Market and then at Loteria Grill in Hollywood for dinner. Friday's arrival dinner was at Palermo in Los Feliz. And yes....with all the eating, we did find time for a 2.5 mile hike through Elysian Park on Saturday afternoon.

I sent my dad back to Phoenix with a tin filled with a pound of whole bean coffee from LaMill (best mocha in Los Angeles...hands down). The coffee, when purchased, comes in a stylish black tin that has somewhat of a vacuum sealed lid and can be reused. I had come home this past Christmas with a tin of the coffee and noticed that my dad, while loving the coffee, was pleasantly surprised with the storage tin (as he often buys whole bean coffee). Each time I have been home since the holiday, I noticed that the tin is still actively being used. Now he can store two flavors of beans. ;)


Parking lot photo op in Hollywood

Some shoe based installation art

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

All Grown Up

Joe Jonas has been in my head literally for the past few days as David has been working on the edit of his new video. Seeing the footage, I was shocked to see that Joe has transformed from this:

To this:

And he is singing alongside superstar Chris Brown. Nuts.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Horchata con Espresso


There has been a lot going on with me in the past couple of weeks despite the complete lack of posts. Let me assure you, the lack is not due to a lull in activity, but can be attributed more to a lack of energy post-activities. I will start this afternoon by sharing about a delicious coffee drink I had at Cafe De Leche in Highland Park. From what I had read about this place, the word out there was to get the Horchata con Espresso. This drink can be served either hot or iced but considering the chilly damp morning we had, there was no question. The drink is exactly what it claims to be but the horchata is steamed akin to a latte. Delicious. Even as the sun decided to finally grace us with its warm presence later in the day, I would gladly drink another right now.

But Highland Park you ask? Why not one of the fine Echo Park establishments for a cup of morning coffee? Let me back track and bring you to the next update. David and I have been toying not too seriously with the idea of moving. That vague idea manifested into must-do after a Memorial Day BBQ at Nicki and Sonia's new place last week. Over grilled sausages, Nicki mentioned that we should look at the house directly next door the owner was looking for some renters. Not taking the suggestion too seriously, David and I peeped over the wall to find a tree filled yard, two story home complete with a free standing metal danish fireplace. Yes please! To make a long series of events more readable, Nicki hooked us up with a meeting with the landlady and subsequent tour of the home. While things are not one hundred percent set in stone, it looks as if we will be moving to the Eagle Rock area on August 1st. Hence the exploration of surrounding neighborhoods this morning. I will keep you posted as things pan out.

And on a final note for this post, I have 7 weeks left to finish training for the SF Half Marathon. I had a killer run yesterday after being off my game for a few days and am resting up today to get ready for an 8 miler tomorrow morning. I'll update again then.