Tirp to LA (part 2)

After eating at the Griddle we drove down Santa Monica Blvd to the Santa Monica Pier. Parking in Santa Monica is a bitch! So we bent over at the waist and paid the 20 bucks for underground parking.

Along the coast was much cooler than a few miles inland. It was probably 65 degrees on the pier as opposed 85 in Hollywood. Also, there was quite a bit of cloud cover. This being Labor Day weekend, and it being Santa Monica, the beach and pier were packed! It was interesting to walk along the pier and see all the people selling paintings and other various dust collectors. If we weren't so full I might have insisted we ate at one of the best local joints in Santa Monica, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Fo REAL!


The crowded pier.


The crowded beach. It was cold, so I'm not sure how people could really get in the water.


Me before my haircut looking like a jerk, with Laura.


If you look to the left, those condos were exactly like the one Donna, Kelly and Jason stayed in in the latter years of 90210. I was so excited!


People performing some stupid human tricks most likely to be followed by some frisbee and pot smoking.

After strolling along the beach we walked down 3rd street which is a dedicated pedestrian street. There were a bunch of people singing, doing flips, playing guitars, and whatnot. Along either side of the road were numerous shops that you would find in your local mall. Laura showed remarkable restraint by resisting the temptation to go in and shop.

While we were walking back to the car we spotted this gem along the main drag by the coast. We are certain it's Jay Leno's car because embroidered on the headrests of the back seats were the initials "JL". I was able to snap a few pictures (as you would expect).











From Santa Monica Laura instructed James to drive toward Rodeo Drive because she was on a mission. A mission for cupcakes. Laura had spent a good couple months researching the best places to get cupcakes in LA and she wasn't going to come back to Atlanta without her craving being satiated. So we stopped in at Crumbs (for the second time this trip). We heard about Crumbs when were were in New York last year. They had some amazing treats. However, in LA the Crumbs cupcakes were sub par and to be honest, a bit disappointing. But we got the Crumbs cupcake and were going to head to dinner, but Laura said, "Not so fast! I want to see something down the road." So we walked a few blocks and found ourselves in a line of people. What the hell were we doing? Well, we were waiting in line for more cupcakes. This time from the Oprah endorsed, Sprinkles.

After 20 minutes we made it into the store, and with a plastic bag of Crumbs cupcakes, Laura ordered a couple Sprinkles cupcakes. This might signal, to the 3rd party observer, an addiction. However, I as someone who respects the scientific method, recognize this as a poorly conducted, but extremely gratifying experiment.


The cupcake selection at Crumbs


Inside at Sprinkles.

Before doing the taste test we had to get some protein. So we hit up Umami Burger. This is a local (I think) LA establishment that has some terrific burgers. They aren't very big, but are very tasty. Also they had some pretty good onion rings.



Finally, after dinner we retreated to James's apartment to conduct some delicious science. It didn't take long for us to determine that the LA version of Crumbs is NOT as good as the New York version. So it was an easy victory for Sprinkles in the cupcake battle of Los Angeles. We probably could have guessed this because the wait for Crumbs was about 5 minutes, while the wait for Sprinkles was 20 minutes. So there you have it, Sprinkles is 4 times better than Crumbs.

Now that we had completed our whirlwind tour of LA and most likely developed some form of diabeetus, we got on the plane for the red eye flight to Atlanta. The trip was very successful and we had a wonderful time. We appreciate James being our safari guide through the jungle of Los Angeles.

Trip to LA (part 1)

Over Labor Day weekend, Laura and I flew out to Los Angeles to visit her brother, James. While we were there we did a ton of stuff. There was very little time to relax because every second was packed with funtivities. Our first stop after getting picked up from the airport was the local food trucks near James's apartment. We got sliders at "The Greasy Wiener", korean BBQ tacos, and delicious lamb pitas. We were three for three on the food trucks. It would be nice if there was an army of food trucks around atlanta, or even better, North Fulton.

After lunch we zipped over to Burbank to get in line to see the live taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We waited about an hour and half to get in, but get in we did. The guests on the show were Louis CK, Bristol Palin, and Sarah Bourelis (not sure on the spelling, and not sure I care). The Tonight Show band was spectacular. Also, Jay came out before hand to talk to the crowd and was surprisingly funny. He, by himself without queue cards, is much funnier than what you see on TV. Once the show started, it was like you were watching it on TV. It took the same amount of time because it was live to tape. Overall, a great experience.

After Jay Leno we dropped our stuff off at the Intercontinental Hotel and got ready for dinner at Lawry's. Lawry's is well known for their delicious primerib, so when it came to ordering we didnt mess around and just ordered the primerib....medium rare of course. There we celebrated James's graduation (a year and some months late, but hey, it got us a free piece of cake).


Delicious primeribs ripe for the cutting




James with his cake, of which I ate most of.


Laura and I in the lobby of the hotel.

The next day we roamed around Disneyland and California Adventure (equivalent of MGM studios in disneyworld). We followed the typical protocol of doing as many rides as fast as possible with no regard for human life. We bounced all over the parks getting fast passes and waiting in short lines and riding rides. It was crazy! We were lucky that the crowd was very light so we accomplished everything by 4 o'clock. After that I was exhausted.

That evening we went to see one of James's improv shows at IO West, a comedy club in LA. It was very funny and enjoyable. Following James's group was a more seasoned crew that was assisted by Tim Meadows. He's the Lady's Man from Saturday Night Live. So we stayed for that show and really enjoyed it. It was nice to peek into James's world because it's so much different than mine. My work involves keyboards, whiteboards, and being bored. His involves funny jokes, comedy clubs, and the Lady's man.

The next day (sunday) we met my buddy Craig for breakfast at "The Griddle". This place was named by Yahoo (authoritative body on most subjects) as one of the best pancakes places in the country. They weren't kidding! I got banana carmel pancakes, Laura got french toast with cheesecake stuff on top, and James got Red Velvet pancakes. I think Laura and I could have split one order because I could barely eat half of my stack.




Craig and I at breakfast.


This is how I felt afterwards


The aftermath

Im gunna go watch the Tech football game now, so I'll finish the trip summary up later.

Trip to Oregon

Last weekend I made a trip up to Oregon to visit my grandparents and the many other relatives living in the Hillsboro area. My parents were also in the area so they joined the weekend festivities.

The weather was great all weekend. Sunny but not too hot. Just perfect. Here are some pictures from the weekend.


Flowers at the famers market




My grandfather talking the watermelon man. My grandparents know everybody in Hillsboro.




Shot some cans with a .22. I'm glad that I haven't lost my touch.


Uncle Paul doing some farm work among the blueberry bushes.


Some blueberries my Uncle Paul grew. These are small ones used for blueberry muffin mixes and flavoring. Very sweet and delicious.










7000 horsepower on a tractor may seem like a little much to most people, but not the residents of Banks, Oregon.


My mom's cousin Mitch's combine to be used in the combine demolition derby. It was pretty exciting to see these hunks of metal run into one another.



Here's a link to the entire album.

Trip to Oregon

Relaxing Weekend

This weekend is the first in a while, and the last for a while, with no big plans. It's crazy to think that we are already a good ways through August. So, for the weekend we decided to actually get some sleep. Its been a while since I slept in, but I made it til 9:30 this morning. Since we got the whole weekend to ourselves we thought it a good idea to get some painting projects started. These are the same projects we've been putting off for a year. There are two bedrooms on the upper floor that need a good painting. It took us about 45 minutes to put the first coat of primer on one of the bedrooms, but we got it done. I think the hardest part about doing projects around the house is starting. We will do the second coat of primer later today or tomorrow. I'll post some pictures when the project is done because right now, honestly, it looks like shit.


Happy weekend!!!

Random pictures

Not a whole lot has gone on in the past couple weeks, but I was able to snap a few pictures. Two weeks ago while Laura was out of town I made some fat burgers that were super juicy and delicious. I used ground chuck (good fat content) and mixed in some salt, pepper, and fresh garlic. I topped them with thick provolone cheese, chili, and sauteed onions. These burgers were fantastic.








Last night Laura and I went to downtown Roswell to get some dinner. This place is great because there are several very good restaurants. We tried a Cajun place called Roux last night and it was delicious. The shrimp and grits were great and the shrimp poboy also terrific. We got fried gator bites that were nice, but they needed to be larger chunks. Afterwards we walked around the area then headed into our new favorite bakery (Alpine Bakery is currently closed due to relocation), Kelly Cakes. There Laura got her favorite strawberry cupcake and I couldn't decide between lemon and peanut butter/chocolate, so I got both. All of them were, as usual, fantastic!

Last weekend I took a photography class that focused (pun intended) on using available light to get great pictures. The emphasis of the class was talking good pictures of people. I learned a lot and also got the courage to start shooting in all manual mode. Kind of scary, I know, but I'm quickly getting the hang of it.




Simply reducing the saturation of the image gives a cool feeling to the picture. Laura told me how to edit this one. It came out very nice.






Delicious strawberry cupcake. If anybody wants to visit Laura and me, we'll take you here. I promise!

Last days in Hawaii

So this is the last post of pictures from our Hawaiian vacation, unless I find more that I want to post. On our last day we were lucky to get a late checkout so we could spend the morning on the beach. Since our flight wasn't until 8:30, it was like a whole extra day of vacation.

The weather was beautiful again which to me was a sign from God telling us to come back. Ok, God. We'll come back. After a thoroughly relaxing morning we cleaned up and packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. Then we grabbed some lunch at Frederico's. This little mexican place was awesome! They had GREAT tacos! Wish there was a Frederico's in atlanta.

After lunch we went on a timeshare tour so we could start building up our starwood points for the next vacation! I had never been on a tour before so I was kind of curious as to how it all works. Before we went in, I was assigned the role of "Bad Cop". Basically my job was to piss on the timeshare parade. My kind of job!

The tour was very little about the actual facility and more about how you can use the points that you are actually buying to go anywhere you want. You see, you are not buying a week at a hawaiian villa, you are actually buying enough points each year to go to a hawaiian villa for a week. Get it? It's not too complicated I assure you. Once we had been there for 90 minutes I quickly put the kabash on the tour. I mean we had to go! We were not buying anything. The salesman then asked me, "If money weren't a consideration. Take money out of it. Would you be interested in the package??" I emphatically answered, "Yes! This is a wonderful package. Especially if we could get it for no money." That was his last ditch effort on the emotional sell. He gave up quickly.

On our way out we grabbed a couple complimentary cokes and hit the road for the south side of Kauai. Along the way we stopped at a nice beach to check out some people surfing on larger waves. They were much better than Laura and I. After that we ate dinner at the Olympic Cafe (not that great). At first I ordered a burger, but had to sent it back because there was mold on the bun. Nice. Instead I got fish and chips. Word of warning. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT eat an entire plate of fried fish and french fries dipped in vinegar and tartar sauce before you board an airplane for 11 hours.

just sayin.

Then we made it home! Here are some final pictures from our last day in Hawaii.


This is from Day 10, but I forgot to post it.


A paddle boarded goes out in Hanalei Bay


Frederico's tacos. So damn good.


Laura in front of the mountains of Kauai.