Feels like Summer

What a terrific Holiday this has been! Sunny and 75 degrees for the week before New Years and after. The sunsets have been spectacular on the coast. I drove down to Newport last night for dinner along PCH admiring the sunset over Catalina.

No Christmas is complete without a visit to the Farmers Market during the Holidays. I had to stop and pick up some toffee as xmas gifts and got this shot.

I went to the Getty with Karen with the best of intentions the day after New Years. Word of advice, NEVER do that. Karen and I decided that visiting the Getty the day after New Years is right up there with visiting New York City in the middle of the summer. Great in theory but in reality, awful.

Met Jim to take photos and a movie during this past week. On my way back to the 10, I saw this truck at Olympic and La Brea. Had to stop and get the shot ( and a great al pastor taco).

Po'Boy Fest

It seems like I have spent the back half of this year driving and working. I needed a break so three weeks ago, Chris, Tami, Susanne and I went to New Orleans for the Po'Boy fest on Oak Street.

I love New Orleans, the buildings, the food, the people, the whole different than California vibe.

The Po'Boy fest was packed, almost claustrophobically so with people, bands and vendors. We got there early and had a chance to walk around and eat before it got too packed.

And the sandwiches, so many sandwiches. my personal favorite was the oysters rockafeller po'boy. THAT was good

Art in the Streets

Interesting day. I made plans with Karen to see the newest show at the Geffin Contemporary at MOCA in downtown today. The show is called "Art in the Streets" and is an exhibition of of the history of graffiti and street art from the 70's to today.
I was pretty psyched to see the show and have say that it was a major letdown. I was expecting something different I guess.

This as the first weekend so it was crowded. Everyone was armed with a camera and where ever one turned, you were in some one's shot.
I thought the show would be a more linear exhibition of the history of street art and graffiti. Instead it was more abstract art by "street artists" and some performance art like the guy playing drums in the photo above. There were a few interesting exhibits, some of Shepard Fairey,Banksy, Keith Haring and JR. Others made Karen and I wince.
I met Karen at 3 pm but drove up early to spend time in the Toy district taking shots of the changing grafitti in the area.

I should have saved the $10 and just shown Karen my favorite walls.

The area I like to shot is east of Alhambra Street in the Toy district. Around Garey and 3rd Street are constantly changing walls.

This was part of a larger wall but I loved the colors and the Impala coming out of the tunnel. A lot of the graffiti in this area is about LA and the East LA scene.

This is part of a larger mural by Dabs/Myla/How/Nosm in LA.

We bagged the show and went to Bottega Louie for a late lunch.

http://www.bottegalouie.com/

At 7th and Grand in the old Brooks Brothers building. Good food that isn't overpriced. The only thing I don't like is that the bare walls and floor make having a conversation extremely difficult. We were sat by the pizza ovens and ordered one to share. Hit the spot. Usually mid morning is the best time here. Not a ton of people and a good breakfast.

Got some earl grey macaroons for the ride home

Chicago

In Chicago for a few days for the refranchising of the market. Caught a great hotel deal off of Travelzoo for the weekend. I stayed at the Sax Hotel on the river for only $99 and free valet! Flew in on Saturday afternoon and got to walk around the area with my camera. The weather was spectacular for this time of year.

Only 75 degrees on Saturday. Sunday was a humid 85 degrees that I did not pack for. The wool sweater was not working although I think I lost some water weight.

Took this with my IPhone and used the effects features on one of my new apps. I like the way it turned out.

Thank you sir! May I have another?

Haven't posted for awhile, been busy moving and with work. I spent all last week with Safeway in Seattle doing operational meetings with the kiosk managers and field merchandisers. Karen was on Spring Break so we went up for the weekend. Unbelievable eating. I am a huge fan of Tom Douglas and no visit to Seattle is complete without a stop at Serious Pie. The special pizza on Friday was a panchetta, apples, caramelized onions and sheep's milk pizza. It tasted even better then it looked.

While we are there, the waitress told us about the Dahlia workshop on Westlake. The second Serious Pie is located there as well as a breakfast shop called the Dahlia workshop. The workshop serves biscuits in several alliterations. All fantastic. Karen and I decided to have breakfast there the next morning.

We had a brisk walk down Westlake along with some window shopping and made it to the biscuit mecca. I had the biscuits and gravy with fried chicken. It was sublime.

We spent the day walking off our breakfast. The weather was great. sunny and not a rain drop to be seen or felt. The sunset was beautiful. I caught the public market at twilight and was well pleased with the results.

On of the kiosks managers told me about a great sandwich shop on capital hill that is always named "the best of Seattle", Baguette Box. The shop is known for their "drunken chicken sandwich", Chinese food on bread. It was awesome. The rest of the menu looked great as well : but I was exceeding the calorie count for the year on this trip so I refrained. Here's the website: http://www.baguettebox.com/

Took these shots the last night from the pier facing the public market. Really a beautiful city.

King of Fling

Busy week and I am coasting on fumes right now. Spent most of the week doing divisional meetings with Vons to align everyone on the priorities and operational expectation. I stayed at the Roosevelt this week for the meetings in Burbank. we started at 7 am each day and I didn't want to fight traffic from Long Beach to be on time. Had a fantastic dinner with the Damianos and Tami's brother as well in the Roosevelt's new dinner house.

Yesterday, I had to meet with the Long Beach Convention Center for their upcoming opening. I had to check out the site in the convention center during the visit. Much to my delight, the bass fishing and boat show was in the house. I was walking back from the potential site when I passed this sign:



WHAT??!!
knife throwing show!!!
Jack Dagger?!! THE KING OF FLING?!!
how awesome would it have been to stay and see the show. I love the fact that someone can make a living touring the country throwing knives at someone else.

highs and lows

Just got back from Denver tonight. I had meetings with Safeway and with the traditional franchise operator the past few days.
I forgot what I hated about Denver until the plane was about to land on Tuesday. The pilot announced that "it will be a little bumpy coming into Denver".
Really?
What he should have said was " the plane will shudder like God has it in his firm grip and is shaking the plane like a baby's rattle". THAT would be closer to the actual landing.

Once on the ground, I had a pretty good visit. Charles and I had breakfast at Little Anita's on Broadway. Potato and bacon burritos with green chili. That was good! I was gulping water for an hour after to control the burn in my gut.

Saw this driving through Littleton on our way to the Highland's Ranch store. I wonder if Idiot lane is close by. Jackass Hill could you imagine that as your address?