We got up early on Day 2 of our California vacation to explore the Venice Canals that are located in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles. If you would like to read about our first day in California, you can click Here.
I saw this sign as we entered the Venice Canals. I will let you look at the photos I took as we walked along the beautiful canals.
After we walked around the canals, we decided to head into Marina Del Rey for lunch.
I was so surprised when this ad popped up for a restaurant in Marina Del Rey on my Instagram feed. This restaurant Brizo was just perfect for sitting by the marina for lunch.
We enjoyed looking at the boats docked in the marina as we ate our delicious lunch.
We shared delicious tasting oysters.
I enjoyed a lobster roll sandwich with potato chips.
My husband had fish and chips which he enjoyed.
Once we finished lunch we decided to head to the beach.
Below you can see tents that are set up on the beach that homeless people live in.
I thought the colorful house below looked so cool.
Along the strip, there are many shops selling beach items, and t-shirts, etc.
As we left the beach we came across this house that I thought looked so interesting and cool. Look at the statues and the angels on top of the house.
We had dinner that night at The Butcher's Daughter which has amazing food. The Butcher's Daughter is a plant-based restaurant with five locations that serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch. The one we dined in is located in Venice Beach, CA. They also have restaurants located in Manhattan and Brooklyn, NY.
We decided to have cocktails with our dinner. I had a Mezcalita that was delicious tasting.
My husband liked his Blackberry Mule.
We decided to share all three dishes. The White Bean Hummus was delicious tasting with flatbread.
We liked the Eggplant Steak Au Poivre dish.
The Pad Thai was also a great choice that we enjoyed. I can't wait to visit this restaurant again in Brooklyn or Manhattan.
We enjoyed another day in California and stay tuned for Day 3 of our trip.
California Trip 2021 - Day 1 Here.
My husband and I took a trip to California the last week in July for a week. I didn't realize it but the last time I was in California was in 2015. It was too long since our last vacation to California.
It is a tradition that we go to In-N-Out Burger every time we are in California. We stopped for our burger fix after a five-hour flight and arrived just in time for lunch. They have the best burgers and we shared the fries and a diet soda.
Our friend has a beautiful house in Los Angeles located in Venice Beach. We stayed and visited our friend for three days.
We planned on visiting the Griffith Observatory once we settled in at our friend's house. We rented a car for our stay in California. We drove through some nice neighborhoods with beautiful houses. The Griffith Observatory is only opened Friday through Sunday each week with free admission. The Griffith Observatory is the perfect place to learn about the sky and is a national leader in public astronomy.
You can see scenes from the movie La La Land starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and John Legend in the Griffith Observatory. I saw the movie and loved it. Did you see La La Land?
We could see the famous Hollywood sign on the mountain.
We enjoyed dinner that evening at an Italian restaurant called Piccolo Restaurante in Venice Beach.
We had Peroni Italian beer and for the appetizer, we shared grilled octopus. You can see the menu here.
Below on the left, my husband had Orecchiette pasta sauteed with Italian sausage, rapini, and ricotta cheese.
On the right, I had the Tagliatelle with Duck Ragu.
We both decided to share our food. To end the meal we both had decaf espresso drinks.
It was the perfect first day of our vacation. Stay tuned for more of our California vacation.
California Trip 2021 - Part 1
Hello blog friends.
I can't believe that it's already the beginning of September. Summer is one of my favorite seasons because of the warm sunny days. I will miss summer but I'm still going to enjoy it until fall arrives in another two weeks.
My daughter who is on the left started her first day of senior year at college on August 30, 2021. I'm amazed at how fast time has gone by and we look forward to visiting her on campus this year.
I'm amazed that I managed to read two books for the month of August. I usually read a book a month since I'm a slow reader.
I enjoyed reading Beach Read by Emily Henry. My daughter recommended this book to me after she read it and I'm glad I did.
August Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a Happily Ever After, he kills off his entire cast. They're polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke and bogged down with writer's block. Then one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.
I just finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. This is another book that was recommended to me by my daughter. This book is a totally different book from what I usually read but I still liked it.
Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful-irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins in their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
My husband and I watched this series The Kominsky Method on Netflix together. We had a lot of laughs and enjoyed Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin. Acting coach Sandy Kominsky and best friend Norman Newlander keep each other laughing as they navigate the ups and downs of getting older.
Kim's Convenience - This is another Netflix series my husband and I enjoyed watching together. While running a convenience store in Toronto, members of a Korean-Canadian family that deal with customers, each other, and an evolving world around them.
The White Lotus - This is another series on HBO Max that my husband and I watched together and liked. The White Lotus is a sharp social satire following the exploits of the employees and guests at an exclusive Hawaiian resort over a span of one week.
My husband and I decided to dine at a local Italian restaurant that we haven't been to in a long time.
We both enjoyed our Peroni Italian beer and Italian bread with hummus.
We enjoyed sharing baked clams for an appetizer.
I had braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and carrots.
My husband liked his steak, roasted potatoes, and broccoli rabe. We both look forward to eating there again in the future.
I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood taking photos of the water and pretty flowers.
On Labor Day we decided to go to the beach at Coney Island. Coney Island is a city beach located in Brooklyn, New York. The weather was beautiful and we got to the beach early in the morning. This beach attracts a lot of people and when we left in the afternoon the beach was very crowded.
It's a tradition that we like to go to Nathan's for their hotdogs. We enjoyed our hotdogs and shared the french fries while sitting on the beach.
Poor Bosco had a urine infection when I took him for his check-up a few weeks ago. He had to be on antibiotics for three weeks and he is now feeling better. He spent most of the summer laying on the couch or in his dog bed.
We sat outside in the yard one evening last weekend. I found some stale bread that the birds must have dropped in the yard and Bosco is seen trying to get at it. Bosco looked so funny trying to go under the small table and the plant stand. When I shared these photos with my daughter, she said that he looked old and depressed in these photos! Bosco will be turning 14 in October.
Tomorrow marks the 20th Anniversary of 9/11. I will never forget what I was doing on that day...
Our thoughts and prayers are with those families who lost loved ones.
Julie
Hello blog friends.
I wanted to share with you an easy recipe for Pesto Sauce before the summer ends.
I love to grow fresh herbs each spring. I planted two basil plants this year and the plants grew so big.
I picked basil and rinsed off the leaves with water.
PESTO SAUCE
What You'll Need:
basil
grated cheese
olive oil
garlic cloves
salt & pepper
I added all of the ingredients to the Nutri Bullet.
I pulsed the Nutri Bullet a few times.
PESTO SAUCE
Serving size: 1 cup
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times. Stop and scrape down the sides with a plastic spatula.
* Serve over cooked pasta.
NOTES: I made a large batch of pesto sauce and doubled the recipe.
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| Yummy Pesto Sauce! |
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