It's struggle city today. I'm drinking a mocha pondering my life choices while doing the finishing touches on three trials briefs on issues I neither care about nor fully understand. My saving grace today is an illuminating call this morning re: service provision for trauma survivors and a networking event tonight at Impact Hub.
Anywho, here's some new/old/random music I'm into today including my favorite Beatle, George Harrison, new Grimes and El Vy, some embarrassing Beibs and the Editors.
Abundant is really the right word for the last few days. And perhaps the next few weeks. Aside from work and yoga and cuddling Sophie, I have a networking event on Wed., Jacy is coming to town, flight to Portland on Friday, then SF (for El Vy!), Art Garfunkel, Ellie(!) comes to town, a Gloria Steinam talk and then the UCLA football game, plus Interview with a Bruin and Thanksgiving. Geez. Imma have to up my B12 and Maca doses.
front row glam
This past week was amazing, partly bc I put some of my wandering thoughts to rest. I'm just chillin right now and feeling great about it.
I'm way too excited about chicken
Last Thursday, I made a dinner menu straight from Saveur. Now I don't usually do this, because why would I ever need to follow a recipe? But I've been a bit bored of food lately (and lost the weight to prove it, with the exception of triple cream brie). So I made a sage roasted chicken, roasted radishes with thyme, roasted garlic cheddar mashed potatoes, and an autumnal butternut squash, arugula salad. Michael, Evan, Jamie and Jeff came over and gave it pretty good reviews. It was a lovely, light fall meal. But a bit boring. I'm still on the hunt for another crown jewel meal to add to my repertoire (banh mi tacos, sweet potato gnocchi, dutch oven ribs, white wine poached salmon).
The Gorgeous Rahia
Friday, I had an awful conference at LAX, only made worth it for an impromptu happy hour with my beautiful friend Rahia. We had so much to catch up on, it was rapid-fire question and answer sesh. We met in Manhattan Beach at the Rockefeller, which is a few blocks from the beach and has a pretty decent wine selection.
Cotton Jones at the Satellite
Later, G$ (Grant) headed up for a backyard happy hour with me before we headed to the Satellite for the Cotton Jones show. My other Michael had told me years ago to see them live, and quite randomly I realized they were playing in LA and coerced Grant into coming with me. They did not disappoint - genuine, earnest and traditional folk. I was alllll about it. Then of course we finished the night off by taking an Uber to Taco Zone for mulitas de suaderos. Lake walk and Blue Bottle in the AM was the best way to start the weekend. [And also, just a note, I am soooooo lucky to have Mr. Hartwell in my life. He always cheers me up, grounds me and inspires me. Love that dude].
grant waiting for mulitas
I had the conference again Saturday morning. Which wiped me out. But my old friend Kelsey hit me up randomly to go to the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Awards and Gala. Totally amazing red carpet event, which honored, among others, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristin Davis, and Don Henley (of the Eagles) for their work. Very rarely do I have a chance to glam out AND also talk to influential people about my work in social justice, but this was the event to do so. I had such an amazing time and hope that I get to do more things like that in the future.
Sunday I was meant to go to Joshua Tree with Jamie and Jeff. But we had a bit of a late start, so I ran a few errands, met Aline for a quick breakfast and hung out with an old friend for the afternoon. Later, Jamie and Jeff prepared an authentic, light and heartfelt tapas meal and I fell into bed satiated and exhausted.
I wish I was talking about Tom Hiddleston, because I wouldn't mind him wandering around in my vicinity. But I'm referring to the proper Loki, the god of mischief. The last 24 hours have been a comedy of errors and malfeasances.
1. My boss and I got in a blowout fight over a miscommunication, that culminated in an additional three squabbles and an "I love you dearly" before I took for a baked good and dart-throwing.
2. I broke my wine opener in the cork. The second one this week. Apparently I've lost the Midas touch. (Um, how many mythology references can I use today?)
3. Cut my hand open using a knife to open the wine.
4. Walked Sophie down the drugstore for bandaids. Left with biotin (to make my hair grow faster #regret) and a new wine opener. No bandaids.
Trying to look put-together. #fail
5. Left for yoga twenty minutes early. Couldn't find parking bc of a Back to the Future screening. Turned around.
6. Sophie then spilled the hard-fought red wine onto the white carpet. Note to everyone ever: the Honest Stain Remover is effing magic.
7. Woke up this morning. Only decaf coffee beans and some bad milk.
*Special thanks to Annie Wilkes for bringing over brie, fried chicken, and ice cream last night in an attempt to mend my broken spirit. I love you.
So anywho, I'm feeling a bit like Sisyphus pushing a goddamn boulder up a mountain. lol jk. I just wanted to make another reference.
Overall, life is good. Moving in quirky directions, but entertaining.
However, I just bought tickets to Cotton Jones, the Peach Kings and the LACMA Rain Room. So boom.
Making a Saveur-inspired Roast Chicken dinner tonight for Michael and Evan and looking forward to picking up some fresh flowers. Bc it's the little things, like making a beautiful meal and inhaling pumpkin cheesecake.
Yeah. So the last couple of weeks have been bittersweet. Bffl comes to visit, bffl moves to Montreal. Last minute trips planned. Last minute trips cancelled. Trial prepped for. Trial cancelled. Food poisoning. Sangria induced self-haircut. Blah blah blah. Champagne problems.
Cutting off your own braid? Bad idea?
I have to say despite the last few rocky days, life is pretty stable. With the chill in the air, I'm feeling more domestic and introspective right now. The Ted Hughes poetry, the Feist on repeat and lavender hot chocolate are probably helping.
Listen:
Gwen Stefani's heartbreaking new song, "Used to Love You", about her ex-husband. It's enough to just refrain from relationships altogether.
The National and Laura Mayberry (Chvrches) did "I Need My Girl" together at Treasure Island this weekend. Then I cried. And played it again.
One Down Dog, Silverlake - Yoga Flow. So sweaty, so good. Really intense vinyasa that leaves me "glowing" (read: dead tired, sweaty AF, and read to conquer the world/anger prevention).
Post-yoga basic-ness
Pilates Plus, Silverlake - SPX Extreme with Angie: I fainted the first time I did her class. It still makes me want to vomit, but in the best way possible. Also her playlists are 90s hiphop amazingness - Dre, Destiny's Child, JLo, Ja Rule and everything in between. We also talk about poutine in the middle of doing planks, so Angie is basically my soulmate.
Taco Zone lines
Brew your own beer: I just ordered stuff online from Urban Brewery. This could be an epic failure, or I could end up opening my own brewing company a la the Three Weavers. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Eat:
Mulitas ("Little Mule") de Sauderos from Taco Zone: OMG - an oasis in the Vons parking lot off of Montana and Alvarado. Jaimie and Jeff had to wrangle Cassi and I over there Saturday night. But OMG. Two fried corn tortillas smothered in delicious jack(?) cheese, brisket and salsas made from god himself. My appetite has been non existent for the last few days, but this $2 piece of heaven makes me want to sell my soul.
Sunday at home
L and E Oyster Bar - The Daily Dozen ($30) - Basically the best deal in town. They offer an affordable Sancerre (my only white wine) and delicious, well prepared oysters. It's a great date night/girls night/taking my dog on the town place.
My mom's house: We had Lauren over for a farewell brunch. Though she is coming back at Christmas, I love excuses to make my mom day drink. We had sangria and Ceasars (tequila, clamato juice, worchester, jalapeños, and other delicious things) plus a salad nicoise and tiramisu. Then I decided to cut my braid off - just braided it, grabbed some child safe scissors and lopped it off. Only about 8 inches. It was a little cray.
This weekend felt full of fresh starts, though I didn't really start anything new. Strange, isn't it? That you just wake up one day and you're like yeah, yeah, this is the day. Day for what? I don't know, but I woke up Friday feeling so happy. Mostly because my best friend of 20 years got her ass back to California for a few days before moving to Montreal.
cocktails at Lola Gaspar
Lauren came up Friday night and we had grand plans to get our dance on at my favorite gritty dive bar, Short Stop. But after Evan's request of sorbet mimosas and with Brandon, Mark, Jamie, Jeff, Carey and Paras joining us, we ended up blasting South African dance music and talking politics until 3am. Yes. All the yes.
Lauren and I managed to crawl out of bed at an ungodly hour and head to Sqirl for sustenance. Brioche toast with fresh ricotta and blackberry lemon verbena preserves - I die.
Toast and my best friend -> hangover cure
A couple of weeks ago, my boss and I did a hit and run at the Taschen Gallery for the Mick Ross/Bowie exhibit and I had been wanting to go back and do it properly, since the previous trip had been rushed and slightly marred by my boss' rendition of Space Oddity. Mick Ross followed Bowie around on tour during 1972/3 and took some amazing photos. Lauren and I perused and also discovered Taschen's other half of the gallery housed photos of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles as well as some other iconic artists. Super legit. It's free. They have beer. Everyone should check it out.
I spent the next two days being pampered by my mom (crepes and samosas - I am rather spoiled), and prepping for my future - whatever that means.
all the ice cream
Yesterday, I finally showered and got dressed and Jeff picked me up for cocktails at Lola Gaspar, ice cream at Chunk-N-Chip, and then Aziz and Amy Schumer at the Oddball Comedy Fest.
Lola Gaspar - I had been on a date here that ended badly, but I had wanted to go back and reclaim it. It's a cute Spanish tapas bar with a charming little patio. Cocktails were pretty good, wine list was short, and the food was fine, if not a bit salty. I don't know if I'd go back for anything more than drinks, but it was pleasant enough. #jeffwasnotimpressed
#jeffwasnotimpressed
Chunk-N-Chip: Super cute little booth in the high-brow cafeteria known as EastEnd Kitchen in Santa Ana, which is very much like the Anaheim Packing House, but less packed (lol). A half-scoop of fruity pebble ice cream and half-scoop orange blossom honey ice cream. Since it was a bajllion degrees last night, the ice cream was a reprieve from feeling like I was traipsing through an inferno.
Bowie and Jagger = <3 td="">
The comedy show was amazing. But I wasn't expecting anything else. The comedy erred on the side of crass, outrageous, and hilarious, and Amy Schumer delivered despite being hungover/still drunk from hosting SNL. She did throw out a heckler in a very obvious and badass way, so props to her. And I love Aziz. So much.
Got home at 1am. Had a 7am meeting. Now eking out survival on Bhakti chai and trial briefs.
This will be quickie. (I know you're disappointed, but it'll have to do.) I suffered from some awful stomach bug/food poisoning thing this week - might have been karma, but probably bad thai. Lots of quasi-dramatic episodes requiring pulling over in traffic and vomiting into lavender scented dog poop bags. I can now say, after a lunch of beers and burgers, that I am back to fighting form. (Minus some residual heartburn).
The light at the end of this week? My bestest bestie, Lauren, is coming up tonight for homemade sorbet mimosas and dancinggggg with Carey, Evan, Mark and Brandon and anyone else who wants to see get down to 90s hiphop. #myfavorite.
I'm also seeing Aziz Ansari and Amy Schumer on Sunday with Jeff and maybe doing a Brazilian dance party tomorrow night with Grant.
In the meantime, things you should be reading/eating/doing/listening to:
1. Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between the World and Me. [Stolen from my over eager FB status:] I want everyone I ever speak to again to read it and breathe it and love it as much as I have. It is simultaneously pure poetry and incisive and heart-breaking truth, tackling racism, family, and class lines. If there is only one book you read this year, please make it this book. It gave me incredible insight and inspiration.
2. Fools, Wild Child - my favorite folk artists back with a lil mo' modern stuff, but equally catchy and satisfying.
3. This video - I want to be a teacher like this and I want to be able to learn like this: Encouraging Students to Persist Through Challenges. (I may have teared up watching this.)
4. This house - I'm dead.
6. Machiko got me a signed copy of Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist Journal. The journal asks you to take 10-15 minutes to go through creative exercises to keep you focused on your goal, while encouraging creativity and innovation. I've added to my daily writing exercises and it's been inspirational and a conversation started. For instance, I just did the "Ten things you want to learn exercise." I surprised myself with the fact that many of the things I want to learn, I've already been attempting. I just need a little extra push. PS have I said today how lucky I am to have Mach as a roomie?
7. Just signed up for the online Beginning Watercolor class through CreativeBug. Obviously I need some guidance - here's a portrait of Sophie I did a minute ago. As a friend said, "It looks like a giant mouse with eyebrows."
9. New podcast addiction: StartUp. Perfect for a nerd like me or someone wanting to start their own business or just wondering how the hell it happens.
*This blog post is a little long and boring, but I've not had coffee, and no has pissed me off enough today to inject sass, so here's the breakdown for your LA weekend hit list:
Work last week was insane, in between two court days, three depositions, two settlement negotiations, and you know, like Pinterest. It got to the point where I was grateful to find clean underwear and have enough fuel in my car to make it to work and back without having to stop in rush hour traffic to fill up.
That's not to say I didn't have a great week, where I was busy and fulfilled and so happy. But dude, bed feels so good after those types of days.
Anyway, to the weekend, which happened to be one of the best weekends I've had in LA in a minute. One of my best friends from college, and also a fellow lawyer, Katie, hit me up this past week for a girl's weekend. I haven't seen Katie for over a year, basically since she moved to San Diego. We're both in similar job situations and needed a break, so Katie coming up was a welcome distraction from our daily annoyances.
Dinner at Night + Market
So after recovering from a delicious dinner at Jaimie and Jeff's on Friday night, I woke up at the CRACK of dawn for laundry, cleaning, coffee with Mach (complete with book recommendations and the daily political catch-up), a skype call with my twin, and making out with my dog.
Katie arrived around 11 and we hit up Mohawk Bend for breakfast cocktails (an horchata coffee vodka drink for her, the Early Bird), and a ghost pepper bloody Mary for me (jesus, lord christ, my throat is still burning), before doing a quick walking tour of Echo Park, and then hitting up the Hermosillo for a beer flight and banh mi sliders and a catch up sesh with the owner/old friend, Ross.
Cahill at the gallery
We then headed over to the new Broad, courtesy of my friend Jeff, who was so on reserving tickets. Admission is free, but you have to reserve tickets online and they are already booked through January. I don't know how Jeff does it, but he always manages the best parking spots and ticket purchases. Ridiculous. The new museum is gorgeous, with a few old pieces from LACMA, and also some new stuff from Warhol, Lichtenstein, Murakami, etc.
My favorite piece was a woolen tapestry, titled "Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite" by Goshka Macuga. The level of detail, the 3d element with almost archaic medium, blew me away.
Some of Cahill's Art
The museum itself is amazingly constructed, although I want to go during the day to see how the natural light is. The central stairs through the floors, the oculus hallway, and exhibition separators were all stunning and thoughtful.
My only regret is that we didn't get to go in the Infinity Mirror Room, where each person gets 45 seconds alone in the mirrored, starlit cube (for lack of a better word). You have to reserve tickets as soon as you enter, but the exhibit comes with much hype (and insta-potential).
After the Broad, we headed over to Alvarado, to see my friend Cahill's art at the Carlo Queso Gallery. Cahill is a friend from Santa Cruz, whose surreal, intensely detailed pieces critique consumerism, one's place in society and pop culture. It was great to catch up with him and see what he has been up to over the last half decade. (Shit, we're getting so old.) Also check out this great timelapse of Cahill in action:
Katie, Jeff, and I then met up with Jaimie, Jeff and Grant for a Northern Thai street food extravaganza at Night + Market Song. (Get the startled pig, the wild thai baby octopus, the dessert Roti, and basically everything else on the menu.)
Echo Park after the Rain
Katie and I were satiated and exhausted, so we only managed to just collapse into bed before falling asleep. We did the Woodcat + Echo Park Lake walk in the morning (i.e. lattes and rosemary fig scones), before meeting my mom and aunt for a brunch at Ostrich Farm, the farm-to-table, industrial chic restaurant down the street - cheese plates and croque monsieurs commenced before my mom and I went to the LA Philharmonic for Beethoven's 9th.
I cried. It was amazing. Just. Amazing. Go see the LA Phil. Just do it. It's so worth it.
Then in true Raji style, my mom demanded fish and chips and beer the newest local pub, the Lost Knight, where she befriended the oddest individuals and critiqued the owner for failing to have a Sunday roast.
Then Sophie and I a walk, I watercolored and watched SVU. #standard.
The whole weekend was relaxed, low pressure, yet incredibly comforting, exciting, and novel. It reminded me of the best things of LA and for that, I am happy.
To preface this, I owe my entire beer evolution to my Santa Cruz boys. Back in the day of Maloneys and BrewCo, I was a Blue Moon and AMF girl, with a love for sugar and boys with a penchant for playstation. Unfortunately, I haven't grown out of most of those things, with the exception of LITERS and LITERS of Blue Moon. I remember my attempt at ordering Blue Moon in Santa Cruz, surrounded by my experienced drinking buddies and being quickly chastised for my taste in beer. Sort of like when Rob and Scott refused to walk next to me while I traipsed down Sunset Blvd in obscenely high stilettos. From that point on (circa 2009), I was primed in the best beers and developed a palette for IPAs. Moving to London, I expanded to lighter beers and living in Belgium changed my life forever. (Delirium for everyone!) Now I drink beer like I drink wine - less beer pong, more tastings; less Tecate, more glassware. Despite the fact that my beer knowledge is better than the average Joe, I still get looks from male bartenders: "Are you sure you're going to like that? It's HOPPY." Yes, my darling boy; that's why I bloody well ordered it. #icanteven.
Anywho, gendered drinking aside, Machiko invited me and I invited Annie to the Eagle Rock Brewery's Monthly Women's Forum. The theme? Coffee + Beer. The forum took place in the brewing room, where the founder Ting, led us through a five-beer tasting, ranging from the Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm (a cream ale) to the Alesmith Speedway Stout (a whopping 12%). All the beers were brewed with coffee, sometimes cold-steeped, sometimes not; other times green unroasted beans, sometimes fine ground; in cream ales, stouts, porters, amber ales. The variety was outstanding and so well picked.
The best part aside from imbibing were the presentations by the female beer brewers. These craft beers are family ventures, with a baby on the hip and barley in hand. The women described the scientific brewing process but also told funny and serious anecdotes of being women in the business.
Also I learned that prior to Prohibition, craft beers were the norm. It wasn't until after that big distribution companies stomped out little breweries - ugh Anhueser Busch, RIP Golden Road (though there was the whole living wage issue, so I'm feeling even more meh about it).
I also learned about the terrifying SHE Beer brewed in Indian Wells. It stands for Sexy, Hot, Erotic Beer and is designed for women with beers named Dirty Blonde and taglines like "which makes the set of legs on Exquisite Black Lager one you want to pop open." Like I just barfed. I want to do a close reading of their whole website, but I might throw my computer, so um no.
It will suffice to say that I will drink my beer in peace, without hoping it makes me "sexy, hot and erotic." Because beer is supposed to be tasted and enjoyed, not to attract the nearest bro in a trucker hat with a taste for Coors (sorry Cass).
However, I will be back again to Eagle Rock Brewery and the amazing staff (i.e. the really hot tatted up bartender who I forced to card me) and the malted amber ale.
