take this and eat this
What a fucking W-E-E-K!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t tell y’all because it was a surprise for my mom, but we did a very quick Friday to Monday trip to California last weekend to see Joanna Newsom in LA. The weekends before I think it was either rainy or we spent it at the cabin so I promise you didn’t miss much. Since we got back from California, I’ve been sleeping for 12 hours straight every night. What have you been up to? Are you doing anything for MDW this weekend? We were planning on going to the cabin today, but someone ended up booking the cabin for the weekend. Yay! We had our first official booking last weekend, and we’re still waiting on the review (I’ll vomit regardless of what they rate it).
I’m kinda over the summer already. Is that bad? It’s just been so hot here all week. Idk maybe I take that back I kinda live for the summertime. I never feel more in my element than when I’m sipping an iced coffee with sweat stains on my back. Walking through a farmers market. Dinner plans in the street in Dimes. The worst tan lines on my feet from all of the gay shoes I wear. Anyway, enough yappin’ let’s go to it.
✨⚾ Surprising my mom on Saturday at Nolan’s baseball game - We flew to LA on Friday night, stayed with my sister, and on Saturday morning, surprised my mom at Nolan’s last baseball game (where his team went undefeated!!!)(his last game of the regular season but he made ALL-STARS and that starts next week)(yay!). Luckily, my mom only slightly reacted, so it wasn’t one of those moments where strangers felt the need to pull out their phones to record (she’s also coming here in two weeks). It was really entertaining to see 5-year-olds scream, run, and slide to get on base, and it was funny how much better Nolan and his team were than the other team. I think the final score was like 25-3??
And here they all are with their trophies:
After the game we drove to the desert to a ranch to have dinner with the rest of the fam. It was all slightly awkward because not all of my family gets along with eachother. Yay!! But I got the octopus with nopales and it saved my life. Here’s a pic of my plate:
And here’s me the minute my drink kicked in:
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The ranch was fun. There was live music and goats and good views but I forgot to take pictures. Here are a couple my mom and sister took though:
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Wish we coulda stayed longer and spent more time with everyone but c'est la vie! Next time!!! :)
🦚 Joanna Newsom at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California - The reason for the trip to California was to see Joanna Newsom during her residency at the Hollywood Forever (seeing family was just the added bonus). I’ve been listening to her forever, and one of my favorite stories, which I’m sure I’ve talked about before, was when my parents let me and one of my friends fly to San Francisco when I was 16 to see her play. After the show, we went back to the airport and slept on the floor before flying back to LA the following morning. Over the years since, we’ve seen her play a handful of times (I even went to every night of her residency when she did one in Chicago a few years ago, which like, I’M ANNOYING, I KNOW!!!!).
Her music blends elements of folk, classical, and avant-garde styles with complex narratives that require you to go back to read and often reread her lyrics to understand what she’s talking about, and I think that’s what got me so into music when I was a teenager.
Another tangent about her is that I left one of her CDs in my aunt’s car when I was in high school, and I remembered her telling me she played it and liked it at the time. So, when I saw the tickets go on sale, I bought one for her, my mom (who was forced to listen to her whenever we were in the car together), Alex, and myself. I’m glad they both could come because it all made for an unforgettable night. The venue also couldn’t have been more perfect. While we were waiting on the grass to get inside the room the show was in, you could hear and see all of the tropical birds and peacocks cooing and cawing around the cemetery grounds.
What was the cherry on top of it all was Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes, and who we’re actually seeing in a couple of weeks Upstate with Karina and Miles), came out and harmonized on a couple of my favorite songs!!! They also played a handful of new songs that, when they’re officially released, will cause me to be in shambles and wither away.
Here’s a selfie my mom and aunt took at the show:
🦪 Found Oyster in East Hollywood, California - Before the show on Sunday, we drove to my grandma’s house because she wasn’t able to make the dinner because of back pain. Here’s a pic:
After that, we drove to pick up my aunt and got to see her new space/shop where she and my uncle have started selling vintage home decor stuff. Sanchez sisters stay winning!!!! It was all very inspiring and I promised to put together a presentation of business ideas I think could maybe help.
After running around all morning, we made the drive to LA and ate at Found Oyster. It felt like a New York restaurant and I was instantly obsessed when I saw there were anchovies available to add on the side with the bread basket. We got that, the Baywatch Platter (which included oysters, crab dip, a salmon, tuna, and scallop crudo, and prawns), a wedge salad, a fried fish sandwich, and a couple of desserts.
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We all got VERY lit off of wine, and I’m kinda surprised we were able to sober up in time for the show.
🌿 Stinging Nettles - On Wednesday morning, I walked to the Union farmers market and bought a few things I’d never tried to cook before.
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I feel like I’ve seen nettle on a lot of menus recently, so I got a bundle of nettle leaves, and damn, what a treat. I made an arroz con pollo with the addition of fish sauce, sauteed scapes, ginger and shiitakes, blanched and blitzed nettle leaves, and topped with the crispy chicken skins.
My secret weapon for umami in all of the Asian-inspired meals I like to cook is the Healthy Boy brand Mushroom Soy Sauce. Anyway, what’s fun about stinging nettle is that it can sting your hands and they’ll go numb if you don’t wear gloves when handling them. Also, if you don’t prepare them the right way, you can get really sick. Which I think makes how good dinner was that much more rewarding that I didn’t kill us. Yay! It’s also funny because they taste like a mix between spinach and cucumber (aka basically nothing) so all of the other Spring veg helped make it more special and flavorful.
🤡 Hacks season 3 on MAX - I’m thrilled that Hacks is back for a third season. If you haven’t watched, it’s about an aging comedian played by Jean Smart (playing a Joan Rivers type), and her comedy writer as they try and revitalize her career. I think the best part of the show is Meg Stalter, though (if you don’t already follow her on Instagram, you should). I also really appreciate that the episodes are only 30 minutes. Bring back 30-minute TV!!!!!
🏙 After Hours (1985) directed by Martin Scorsese - I can’t believe we only just watched this for the first time. We just signed up for a Criterion account, and I feel like a kid at a candy store with everything that’s on there. After Hours is one of those movies, similar to a Safdie movie, where everything that can go wrong does. It’s also one of those “the story all takes place over the course of one cRaZy night” types of movies, which I obviously love. There were a few fun surprise appearances, and the day after we watched it, we walked around SoHo and saw a couple of the filming locations. It also has this great movie poster:
👖 Bloomer pants from Salter House - I’ve added these bloomer pants to my arsenal of ridiculous pants. They’ve also added to my collection of French clown apparel. They have a silly little synch and flair at the bottom and are easy to dress up and down. I got the corduroy, but the plain cotton ones are also great. They also have an elastic waist and saved me as my airport fit after eating so goodt in California all weekend.
🥭 Mangos - Alright, I can’t be the only person who’s dumb enough to have never bought a mango before!!! YES, I’ve obviously eaten mangos before, but I’ve always been too nervous to buy them whole because I didn’t know how to choose a ripe one and how to cut it properly. DUMB, I KNOW!!!!! I saw a Tiktok that showed that you can just cut them in half like an avocado (but hamburger style instead of hotdog), and eat the flesh with a spoon…. If these are things you already knew, just skip past this, but after eating one, I immediately went and ate another two in one sitting. Idk what Trader Joe’s is putting in their mangos but y’all need to go and get you summa deez!!!!!
And finally, this -
I’m in the middle of a bad luck bender right now. The latest annoyance is that we had a gardener come out and mow what was supposed to be just a path around the house and ended up mowing down all of the wildflowers I planted.
D-E-V-A-S-T-I-N-G!!!!!!!!!!
What are you eating this weekend? What are you drinking? Do you have a favorite summer cocktail? Are we over Aperol spritz’s or are we doing them again this summer?
Alright, let me know if I missed anything.
Here’s a bonus pic of me n’ the kids:
Thank you for reading and have a good weekend! :)