Entering The 30's

This year I turn 30. How crazy is that? It felt like just yesterday I was graduating college and living it up in NYC. Now I'm married with a son! Who'd have thunk...

Although my birthday isn't until the 24th, Badge decided to whisk me away on a surprise celebratory trip last Wed. I had no idea what he had in mind, other than we would be gone for 24 hours. So, on Wed morning, we packed our bags, kissed the baby goodbye (my mom and aunt were on baby duty), and then hit the road. Turns out, we were going to LA - West Hollywood to be precise. Mystery #1 revealed! On the drive up, we listened to a recent David Cross cd to pass the time. As expected, hilarious.

As we entered the area, Badge revealed Mystery #2: for lunch, we were going to a highly rated Peruvian restaurant called Los Balcones. I was super excited to hear this as I love Peruvian food. Of course, we ordered our usual favorites.

Saltado de camarones:


Picante de mariscos:


For starters, they gave us a veggie soup:


And as a side, we had the usual green sauce which I have yet to figure out how to make:


We usual get these same dishes at our favorite Peruvian restaurant chain, El Pollo Inka. Here, the dishes tasted similar, although elevated to a higher level of dining. Both entrees were exceptionally good. Next time I'd go with the Saltado since by the time I finished my Picante (and believe me, I finished the whole thing), I felt like I had drank a quart of cream. Mmmm cream. The soup was tasty although I think I like the chicken and rice soup at El Pollo Inka better and the green sauce was incredibly garlicky. A bit too intense for me. For dessert, we had ice cream made from some exotic fruit of which I forget the name. All I know is it was scrumptious.


After lunch, Badge revealed Mystery #3...we were going shopping! He took me to American Rag (cool store with lots of vintage clothes) and Fred Segal. I ended up getting a comfy tshirt, cozy big sweater cardigan, and two lovely necklaces. I tried on fancier stuff but since I felt like a post pregnancy hippo, decided to skip buying anything tight. Maybe in another few months :).

After shopping, we drove over to the Hotel Roosevelt where we were spending the night. The hotel looked old from the outside but super chic inside. The rooms were quite modern. I especially liked the light bulb fixtures.




After we settled and I was able to pump (pretty engorged by this point), we headed out to Osteria Mozza, a Mario Batali and Michelin rated restaurant, for an early dinner. Since the restaurant was only 1.4 miles away, we decided to walk and enjoy the night air. Once there, we went to town on the food.

First, we started with a very very good bottle of Montepulciano wine. I haven't been this impressed with a wine in a while. Will have to see if we can buy it online or something.


Next, we were given a starter of cheese on bread with olive thingy and basil. Honestly, I don't remember too well what this was, other than a tasty bite that left me hungrier for more.


For our antipasto, we ordered from the mozzarella bar. I got burricotta with radicchio, spiced walnuts, honey and fried rosemary. Amazing.


Badge got bufala mozzarella with iceberg, salame, pepperoncino and green olive tapanade. Also very good, although I thought my burricotta was more flavorful.


For primi, we shared orecchiette with sausage and breadcrumbs. This was my favorite dish. The sausage was to die for. Rich, savory, and spicy. I could have eaten a big plate of this for my entree.


But I didn't. Instead, I got grilled beef tagliata with rucola & Parmigiano with aceto balsamico. Translation: hanger steak cooked with aged balsamic vinaigrette. The tangy flavor of the balsamic paired perfectly with the meat. I usually find hanger steak a bit tough but most of the pieces were quite tender. Very happy with my dish.


Badge got pan roasted sea trout with umbrian lentils & red cabbage sottaceto. Very delicately flavored dish. Quite good if you're looking for a lighter meal.


Here's a dorky picture of me clutching my wine.


Unfortunately, just as we were about to order dessert we realized we were late for Mystery #4 - an 8pm showing of Cirque de Soleil's IRIS. Doh! We quickly paid for dinner and hopped in a cab back to the Kodak Theatre which was right across from our hotel. Luckily we got there just in time.

Mystery #4.5 - Badge got us box seats! I've never been in a box seat before. It's pretty badass. It was just us and another couple. We were right next to the drummer with his crazy setup of a thousand drum heads. All the acrobats flew right by us which was pretty amazing. The show itself was great. The stage setup was very intricate and impressive. The performers, as always, were unreal. My favorites were the contortionists (of course), the double mint twins (two blond German looking acrobats), and the crew of Asian tumbler/acrobats.

After the show, we found a Beard Papa next door and had a late night cream puff. At this point we considered going to hear The Sounds play but after Badge called, it turned out they had gone on earlier than expected. Instead, we went to the hotel bar for a night cap and stumbled upon some charity or social event being held at the hotel. Badge told me we walked right by the lead singer of Radiohead (I have no idea what he looks like) and he claims he saw Ross from Friends but I had my back to him. I claimed to have spotted Philip Seymour Hoffman although I'm only 75% sure it was in since his back was to us and I only saw a profile when he turned, BUT I did hear his voice and it sounded exactly like him. We agreed that Lloyd from Entourage also walked right by us while we were nursing our beers. That concluded our jam packed day.

The next morning, we went to breakfast at Blu Jam cafe. I had vanilla french toast while Badge had blueberry pancakes. In our tradition of grossly overeating during brunch, we split a bagel with lox dish as well.




Stuffed, we drove home, listening to another comedian Louis C.K. (very funny).

Thanks to Badge a wonderful get away and for being the best hujband ever!!