My Weekend: LA Style

Alas, the weekend is over. It was a good one, too. It was my first time in LA for something other than driving through to San Diego or stopping in Carson for a soccer game. We still spent most of our time at the beaches instead of in the city, and watching the Timbers lose. Again.

I didn’t get into LAX until almost 9pm. Andrew picked me up, took me to the hotel so I could drop my stuff off, and then back out to indulge in the obligatory first-night-in-town dinner. Double-double animal style.

Breakfast was a T.C.A [egg, ground turkey, cheddar, avocado] breakfast burrito from Brother’s Burritos. Simple. Really simple. The kind of burrito you could totally make on your own but you don’t in a fit of laziness. That’s what this place is all about. The spicy salsa made the burrito.

We headed into the city to drive through all the touristy spots—-Santa Monica Blvd., Rodeo Dr., Hollywood Blvd., etc. The beauty of going so early on a Saturday morning is you don’t have to sit in the notoriously awful LA traffic. Everyone must still be asleep from partying Friday night.

We hit up Mickey’s Deli back in Hermosa Beach once we escaped the impending traffic. I had half of a Pastrami Deluxe and half of an Italian combo. Both were awesome. Both were inhaled. If I had to pick, I’d choose the pastrami again. Sitting inside a convenience store and watching soccer while eating made it even better.

Obligatory Timbers game shot.

I’ll spare you the photo of another burger from In-N-Out. This time I only had a regular one. I promise.

Breakfast on Sunday morning might have definitely been my favorite meal of the trip. Martha’s on 22nd. Hummus omelet [hummus, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes], side of fresh fruit, two huge slices of cinnamon raisin bread. It didn’t hurt that we were sitting on a patio. In the sun. We followed it up with a walk along the beach. It was seriously perfect. By the time we got to San Francisco for our layover, I was already sporting a sweet sunburn. The joys of being a pasty pale girl.

Dinner was a turkey avocado sandwich on sourdough from Boudin San Francisco. Their sourdough really is awesome. Light and fluffy interior surrounded by a chewy crust. Something about sitting in an airport for the next few hours made me restless [and hungry]. I immediately went for a scoop of coffee almond fudge ice cream and the largest [and best ever] chocolate dipped coconut macaroon I’ve ever had. It was from Just Desserts, and it was seriously the size of a tennis ball. It was moist, chewy, and dense. It was a burst of coconut in your mouth. The ice cream was way too rich for me [I’m a wuss when it comes to chocolate], but I definitely ate it all. By the time we were boarding the plane, I was already regretting my gorge session. Ah well.

We didn’t get back to the house until nearly 12am. The joys of waiting for public transportation late into the night. Between my sunburn and Andrew’s hoarse voice, I’d say the less-than-48-hour-trip was a success [I’ll spare you the part where we actually stayed in the same hotel as the soccer team, unknowingly, and a lot of really cool interaction stemmed from that. Food is far more fun anyway]. Today, I wanted nothing more than to get back into my workout routine this morning and some semblance of normalcy in the food dept. It’s so funny how your body craves something mildly less insane when you do nothing but feed it large portions and sodium. It’s hard not to go on pure indulge mode when you’re on vacation. I like to pretend it’s training for Italy.

Tonight’s dinner: Grilled tandoori chicken thighs, kale and carrot salad, roasted garlic and romano baguette, two kinds of cheese that I can’t remember for the life of me. We ate on the patio, too. Bring on spring!