Labor Day bits

Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend! I know I sure did, even if it did make going back to work today a tad more difficult. (Isn't that always the way?)

This three-day weekend was perhaps more needed than usual. Last week was, in a word, miserable at times as I felt my emotions buckling under stress (and nature's hormonal "gift"). But the light at the end of the dismal tunnel was the long weekend ahead. So once those 72 hours of freedom began, I wanted to squeeze every last drop of fun and sunshine out of them.

Here's the rundown:

Saturday was spent lazily at first, catching up on sleep and relaxing in pajamas while watching TV. But soon enough we (the boy, Hazel and I) busted out of the house and into the outdoors, taking a quick drive up to Santa Barbara. Well, the drive wasn't quick thanks to some slow-moving holiday traffic but we still got there in time to walk Hazel along the boardwalk, get some pecan praline ice cream on the pier and watch the sun set over the water (see photos above). On the way home, we stopped for pepperoni pizza. After polishing off 2 1/2 slices, I got a call from my bestie, Marielle, that the gang was going out for drinks and dancing at Cisco's, a popular hangout in Westlake Village. I hurried back to my house, got gussied up in record time and joined my friends for what turned out to be a fabulous night out. One that ended at about 3 p.m. with me watching "Law & Order: SVU" and another slice of pizza. (DiGiorno this time, if you must know. So bad, but so good!)

On Sunday, Marielle and I attended the inaugural Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine. I'll share more on this later but for now let's just say it was a highly caloric day. Copious amounts of wine were consumed, with a bit of food sampling mixed in for good measure. The fest finished with a concert and a crepe-- sweet for me, savory for Marielle. Fun times all around. But it didn't end there-- afterward we headed to a friend's house where a group of us chatted about life and played Catch Phrase! Yep, fun times, indeed.

Monday was just as eventful but still laid back. It was Labor Day, after all! I celebrated at a barbecue with friends. We munched on chips and dip, drank ice cold beers (as well as a couple margarita-flavored wine coolers for me) and played several tournament-style rounds of Cornhole. After a few tries, I became surprisingly good at tossing the little bean bags onto the board and into the hole, shocking most everyone at the party since it's safe to say I have no skills whatsoever at Beer Pong-- usually the game of choice at gatherings like these.

All around, it was a fantastic weekend spent with good friends, good food and good drink. Which always equals a good time in my book.

How did you spend your Labor Day weekend? I'd love to hear.

Montecito shores

This past weekend, Hazel experienced the ocean for the first time. She's been on the beach before and smelly the salty air, she's even walked on a pier and been to a lake, but she's never actually put her paws in the Pacific Ocean.

The boy is house- and dog-sitting for an old friend who has an apartment just blocks from the beach in Montecito-- a small town on the outskirts of Santa Barbara-- so Hazel and I decided to take advantage. On Saturday afternoon we piled into the car and made the hour or so drive to Montecito.

Once we got there, the boy and I had a quick late lunch of turkey sandwiches and Cheetos-- so bad but I just had to have some!-- before hitting the beach. Hazel was a flurry of excitement the moment she saw the waves. I didn't necessarily intend for my freshly-groomed pup to dive into the water but I abandoned all hope of keeping her clean and said what the heck. Go for it! Have fun! And she did.

Hazel was fascinated by the water but a bit hesitant, too. When the foamy waves first hit her paws she looked at it, puzzled, and sniffed. But soon enough she took charge of that beach, running in circles, making friends with other beach-goers-- both people and dogs alike-- and playing games with the waves, even biting at the sand!

Her games went something like this:
Go get 'em! Run run run. 
Oh, no! It's coming! Run back, fast fast fast.

By the end of our time at the beach, Hazel was decidedly dirty, drenched in sea water and covered in sand. These pictures say it all:

Don't worry, today she is back to her cute, fluffy and surprisingly clean self. Like with a kid, we took a hose to her, soaking her from head to toe, and then told her to give a good shake. A quick rub with a towel later and she was good as new.

Here's a few more shots from our day at the beach: (warning, gratuitous picture post ahead!)

This shot is my favorite. Look at her little paw prints in the sand!

It was so nice to put on some shorts and get out into the sunshine. Summer is definitely here! What did you do this weekend? Did you spend some quality time with dear ol' dad? (Father's Day around here was celebrated with a home-cooked breakfast of Belgian waffles and sausage. Yum!)

Oh, and, happy Monday!

Spoiled in SB

So four days later and I am finally telling you how I spent my birthday! Such a slacker. Anyway, I ended up playing hooky from work and going to Santa Barbara for the afternoon. The boy always has Mondays off and he wanted to take me somewhere to celebrate. I always enjoy going to SB so we did, though we didn't make it out there until about 2 p.m.

Once we got there we were starving, so we made a beeline to our favorite by-the-beach restaurant: Brophy Bros. This clam bar and seafood restaurant is always busy, even on a late Monday afternoon! But we didn't have to wait too long to get a seat outside on the second-story deck overlooking the harbor. But even better than the views, I think, is the food. I literally dream about it sometimes and I had even mentioned it the week before my birthday, secretly hoping that's where we would go. I got my usual, the pan-blackened Mahi Mahi. Dusted with Cajun spices and served with drawn butter, it is melt-in-your-mouth fantastic. It is a bit pricey at $22, but it comes with a hunk of chewy sourdough bread, a garlicky starter salad and two sides-- I got rice pilaf and cole slaw, which I happen to think is the best slaw out there. Can you tell I like Brophy's? So good! The boy got fish 'n' chips, which is also delish so I stole a few bites off his plate. This is our routine: get the dishes we both love so we can share!

After our late lunch, we walked off our full stomachs on State Street. While I only planned to window shop, I did pick up a few things. First we stopped in at Sur La Table where I saw (for the second time) these adorable waffle cone ice cream bowls and I decided I just had to have them. It's my birthday after all, right?

Unfortunately-- or fortunately, however you want to look at it-- my shopping didn't end there. We later walked into a Coach store that must be a factory store because everything was on sale! It was crazy and much too tempting. I fell for the markdowns. RR bought me this adorable bright pink bag that was simply too good a deal to pass up at $40. While I was checking out another equally adorable, colorful and springy bag, the boy said, "Babe, I'll get you the pink one for your birthday and you should get that one for yourself." So I did. It was not as cheap, but it was still on sale. Oh, I got a flowery keychain, too.

Yep, definitely threw out the ol' budget that day. But it was nice to get out and do something and be spoiled a bit. Though, I did feel it the next day with tons of interviews to do and stories to write. But I pulled it off and hey, my birthday--which is not always my favorite day of the year--didn't turn out all the bad. And it ended on a sweet note once I got home: a scoop of vanilla-strawberry ice cream in my new "waffle" bowl. Yum.

Here's a look at my day by the beach, in pictures: