Beach
Showing posts with label Beach. Show all posts
Back in business
I know it's been some time since I've posted anything. It's still taking some time to get into a routine. I had a day off yesterday, and expected to get back into the groove of blogging, but just didn't feel in the mood...so I read the book that I've been a little addicted to for the past few weeks. The play for the book is going on here in LA, so if I can afford it (yeah right), I'm going to try to get tickets for it...or maybe I'll add that to my birthday wish list. ;)
So, anyway, I started my 4-week training at The Beverly Center in downtown LA on Monday. It's been great so far, and I'm finding that working in that area definitely has its perks. Apparently, tons of celebs frequent the mall, and many celebs (mostly b-listers, but still) even shop at our store! From what I've heard, all the Road-Rulers, Real-Worlders, Ryan Cabrera, CW actors, etc. come in on a frequent basis, so maybe Irisa has a chance to see her celeb crush, afterall. Besides the high-profile clientele, the mall has a great food court and some of my fave restaurants on the first floor (i.e. PF Chang's & CPK)! I've also had the pleasure to meet a lot of really cool people who are from the area and have generously offered me tons of advice on where to go and what to see around LA and in Long Beach. In fact, 2 of the people I'm working with daily either live in Long Beach or have lived here before, which is really awesome, since they know the ins and outs of the area. I'm most excited about checking out Beauty Bar in LA, to compare it to the one in Austin. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'll be sure to provide an update when I do get around to visiting it.
Besides work, Gui and I have just been hanging out. We're both trying to spend conservatively right now, so it's mostly been dinners at home and not much else. We did get a chance to check out the Grand Prix in Long Beach when it was here; we didn't have tickets, but we hung out outside the gates and got a pretty good view of the events.We also managed to time our walk to the beach and discovered that from door to sand, we live a 12 minute walk to the beach. Niiice. It's not the best beach ever, but, hey, it's a beach!! Oh, and I almost forgot. As a little treat for our "one-year anniversary" (can you believe that we've been dating eachother for ONE YEAR?!!! I can't!!), Guillaume and I checked out this bar called The Yard House, that has the World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer. It was defnitely a treat, but we each only had one beer: I, of course, opted for my "usual" Strongbow (hey, it's NEVER on draft in the states...I couldn't resist!), and Gui tried something he'd never tried, but not something all that authentic - NOLA's Abita Purple Haze. We were both satisfied and definitely happy about the selection (check out those taps!!).
So, on that note....here's to beer and getting more of it! ;)
So, anyway, I started my 4-week training at The Beverly Center in downtown LA on Monday. It's been great so far, and I'm finding that working in that area definitely has its perks. Apparently, tons of celebs frequent the mall, and many celebs (mostly b-listers, but still) even shop at our store! From what I've heard, all the Road-Rulers, Real-Worlders, Ryan Cabrera, CW actors, etc. come in on a frequent basis, so maybe Irisa has a chance to see her celeb crush, afterall. Besides the high-profile clientele, the mall has a great food court and some of my fave restaurants on the first floor (i.e. PF Chang's & CPK)! I've also had the pleasure to meet a lot of really cool people who are from the area and have generously offered me tons of advice on where to go and what to see around LA and in Long Beach. In fact, 2 of the people I'm working with daily either live in Long Beach or have lived here before, which is really awesome, since they know the ins and outs of the area. I'm most excited about checking out Beauty Bar in LA, to compare it to the one in Austin. I've heard mixed reviews, so I'll be sure to provide an update when I do get around to visiting it.
Besides work, Gui and I have just been hanging out. We're both trying to spend conservatively right now, so it's mostly been dinners at home and not much else. We did get a chance to check out the Grand Prix in Long Beach when it was here; we didn't have tickets, but we hung out outside the gates and got a pretty good view of the events.We also managed to time our walk to the beach and discovered that from door to sand, we live a 12 minute walk to the beach. Niiice. It's not the best beach ever, but, hey, it's a beach!! Oh, and I almost forgot. As a little treat for our "one-year anniversary" (can you believe that we've been dating eachother for ONE YEAR?!!! I can't!!), Guillaume and I checked out this bar called The Yard House, that has the World's Largest Selection of Draft Beer. It was defnitely a treat, but we each only had one beer: I, of course, opted for my "usual" Strongbow (hey, it's NEVER on draft in the states...I couldn't resist!), and Gui tried something he'd never tried, but not something all that authentic - NOLA's Abita Purple Haze. We were both satisfied and definitely happy about the selection (check out those taps!!).
So, on that note....here's to beer and getting more of it! ;)
Long Beach, La Creperie & Mexican Food
Guillaume and I have really started to explore our new city. We really got lucky with the apartment we found so close to the beach and an amazing little area called Belmont Shore, which is very reminiscent of the new areas around 1st & 2nd streets in downtown Austin. There are tons of coffee shops, hole-in-the-wall and gourmet eateries of every genre and clothing & shoe boutiques galore! With a side-order of sand and ocean. It's really wonderful. We've decided to take advantage of our coveted location and explore a little bit each day after work. I got home early from work on Tuesday, so as soon as Guillaume made it home, we decided to do some exploring. I had noticed a bar a couple of blocks away called "Brit Bar," so we thought we start with a drink. The place was pretty dark inside, and the bar was expectedly empty at 6:00, with the exception of a few regulars. We sat at the bar and ordered a couple of beers, telling the bartender that we'd just moved to the area and were checking out some local places. He welcomed us and served our very cheap happy-hour drinks. It took me a few minutes, and I didn't really make the connection in my brain until Guillaume whispered in my ear, "this is a gay bar." Looking up at the neon signs with rainbows, the rainbow colored backsplash of the bar and the two guys sitting cozily beside us, I finally made the connection. Ah ha! But it was cool, and so was the bartender. We just sat there, had our drink and told him we'd be back...at least I would be! ;) I keep forgetting that Long Beach has a very large gay & lesbian demographic, but I guess it's not something I regularly think about.
So, after our drink, we decided to check out the beach at sunset. It really is a lovely city. Too bad Guillaume's camera is broken, otherwise the pictures might have been much nicer. That is on my wish list, though! ;) It was really very cold this evening...maybe somewhere around 50 or 60 with the wind blowing, but it was nice nonetheless. After our little trip to the beach, we headed to 2nd street, which boasts all the fun little eateries and shops in Belmont Shore. I've made a list of all the good places to eat that I've read about on Yelp, and La Creperie was pretty high on the list. This is for good reason, since both Gui and I really enjoyed our crepes (I had the chicken curry crepe, he had the carbonara crepe and we split the nutella & banana crepe for dessert). We both decided that the dishes were very very good, but the crepe was more of an addition than a main focus of the dish (am I sounding a bit like an Iron Chef judge?...because that's what I'm going for). We were both surprised to see kir on the menu, too, but it turned out to be our only disappointment of the meal when it came out as a huge wine glass with chardonnay and a splash of cassis. But, it was still an overall 5-star experience. Can't you see the content in Guillaume's eyes?
Today was my day off, so Gui and I met up for lunch. Trying to appease my craving for tex-mex, we decided give good ol' mexican food another try after my very dissatisfied experience with chicken tacos at El Torito. I'm glad I did. Although the food wasn't EXACTLY what I'd hoped to get at this hole-in-the-wall mexican joint in Cerritos, the beans were yum and the cheese in the enchiladas masked any unfamiliar ingredients. It definitely ain't mom's home-cooked goodness, but it'll have to do for now. I really need to get those family recipes down, by the way!! So, now I'm at my favorite little coffee joint around the corner, enjoying my hazelnut coffee, waiting for Guillaume to get home from work. I think we might try sushi tonight, but a guy just walked in with a Hooter's shirt on and we've both been pretty excited about checking that out! (Hey, the wings are good and the girls are funny!) We'll see...I know my little honey is tired, so maybe after a little nap. I must say that we have also been enjoying meals at home...like frozen CPK pizza, tomato salad and creamy brie with toast (that's all what we had last night). We'll have to balance out our dining out with dining in more, but it's just so hard with so many wonderful places to try only footsteps away!
So, after our drink, we decided to check out the beach at sunset. It really is a lovely city. Too bad Guillaume's camera is broken, otherwise the pictures might have been much nicer. That is on my wish list, though! ;) It was really very cold this evening...maybe somewhere around 50 or 60 with the wind blowing, but it was nice nonetheless. After our little trip to the beach, we headed to 2nd street, which boasts all the fun little eateries and shops in Belmont Shore. I've made a list of all the good places to eat that I've read about on Yelp, and La Creperie was pretty high on the list. This is for good reason, since both Gui and I really enjoyed our crepes (I had the chicken curry crepe, he had the carbonara crepe and we split the nutella & banana crepe for dessert). We both decided that the dishes were very very good, but the crepe was more of an addition than a main focus of the dish (am I sounding a bit like an Iron Chef judge?...because that's what I'm going for). We were both surprised to see kir on the menu, too, but it turned out to be our only disappointment of the meal when it came out as a huge wine glass with chardonnay and a splash of cassis. But, it was still an overall 5-star experience. Can't you see the content in Guillaume's eyes?
Today was my day off, so Gui and I met up for lunch. Trying to appease my craving for tex-mex, we decided give good ol' mexican food another try after my very dissatisfied experience with chicken tacos at El Torito. I'm glad I did. Although the food wasn't EXACTLY what I'd hoped to get at this hole-in-the-wall mexican joint in Cerritos, the beans were yum and the cheese in the enchiladas masked any unfamiliar ingredients. It definitely ain't mom's home-cooked goodness, but it'll have to do for now. I really need to get those family recipes down, by the way!! So, now I'm at my favorite little coffee joint around the corner, enjoying my hazelnut coffee, waiting for Guillaume to get home from work. I think we might try sushi tonight, but a guy just walked in with a Hooter's shirt on and we've both been pretty excited about checking that out! (Hey, the wings are good and the girls are funny!) We'll see...I know my little honey is tired, so maybe after a little nap. I must say that we have also been enjoying meals at home...like frozen CPK pizza, tomato salad and creamy brie with toast (that's all what we had last night). We'll have to balance out our dining out with dining in more, but it's just so hard with so many wonderful places to try only footsteps away!
Long Beach
So, Albert and I took a trip to the beach close to our apartment today. We didn't stay for it, but we wanted to see if it really was within walking distance and if it was worth a visit. We found exactly what we'd hoped for: beautiful sand and sun only a stone's throw away. The beach isn't the best beach in California, but it's definitely good enough for a Texas girl used to the dark, often dreary gulf beaches of South Padre and Corpus Christi. We came back to the apartment to meet Guillaume and took him down to see what we discovered. He took a few shots of the beach while we drove by, on our way to Trader Joe's (By the way, Trader Joe's is THE shizNIT! Guillaume found some of the best French wine - according to him - for only $10 a bottle, and they have all kinds of good, organic cheeses, syrups and sodas...even San Pelligrino Aranciata that I had everyday while I was in Italy...for super-duper cheap!!!!! Totally going to be my new hang-out). So, here are the pics...not too great, but just a 2 min. drive from our place.
You can't really see the sand in the pictures, but there's tons of it...I'll be sure to post more after we go to to beach this weekend! : ) Can't wait!
You can't really see the sand in the pictures, but there's tons of it...I'll be sure to post more after we go to to beach this weekend! : ) Can't wait!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)