Hello and ciao and bon jour and all that jazz!
So if you aren't following me on any social media than you don't know that I went to back to California this past weekend for my favorite Aunt's wedding!
But I did! And it was so much fun! And I'm obviously going to blog about it! Yay!
So here it goes. Enjoy!
Last Thursday I got up super early after a restless night (because I was too excited to sleep! and was still packing) and went to see Kaylee at the rec to say good bye and to get a quick last work out in. I know I'm becoming a gym junkie, one of those guys, I basically live there between work and working out. But after a day of shoulders and bi's and skipping the elliptical, I ran home, jumped in the shower and headed off to the airport.
The flight was fine, I hate the process of traveling but I was so excited to go back to Cali. And SoCal at that, as my aunt and her new husband work at Occidental College near Pasadena, part of the greater Los Angeles area.
My dad, mom, SeaStar and the Nana were also going (the baby bro was going to football camp so he wasn't around) and would meet me at the hotel. We would meet up and then go to dinner with the two families. How cute.
At LAX airport I had a personal driver since time was limited and LA traffic is gross and then add airport shuttles it's just nauseating. It was so cool, I walked out of the baggage claim area and found my little driver named Steve in a suit holding a sign that said "M. Allen".
Oooh that's me! I'm so LA! Just like the celebs! No pictures please!
But that glamour went away real quick when I sat in that town car for over an hour stuck in LA traffic. Gross. And to top it off, I get to the hotel say hi to the fam and then right as I lay down on the hotel bed we get a call from my aunt "So the dinner reservations are for 6:30 not 7 like we said before."
Dude, it's 5:59! So I didn't even have time to shower, just jump into a dress, than a different dress, back into the original dress (sorry I'm a girl and indecisive. sue me.) put some make up on, and too much perfume and we were on our way.
The thing with LA and I'm pretty sure most cities is that you could be at 5 star restaurant and next door is a dive bar that no one would ever eat the peanuts at the bar at it's that gross. But you can't judge a book by it's cover or this case the bars on the windows or the chipped paint on the doors.
So we end up at this restaurant called 'The Black Hogg' and it's not the fanciest on the outside. But we meet the groom's side of the family, his mother, his sister and two nephews. They're from New York originally but now the sis lives in SF with her 1 son while the mom and other son live back in New York.
The Black Hogg from the much prettier inside.
Just because it kinda helps with the rest of this tale, let me preface that my new uncle, we're going to call him Angus, and his family are Jewish. But not at all orthodox, we're eating at a place called 'The Back Hogg' and he loves bacon so there's that. It makes sense later but I digress.
So we meet, give kisses and hugs, everyone is so happy, ok let's eat. We go inside and it's uber hipster. Super modern and super hipster. Fine china and glass ware and all. Totally caught me off guard as the interior totally juxtaposes with the shotty paint job and bars on the window on the establishment next door. But I'm ok with it. Angus is sort of a foodie, ok a big foodie, and he says that he's pretty much ordered a bunch of courses for us already. Alrighty than, guess we'll just be surprised.
And boy, were we ever. We had gourmet dishes coming dish after dish. Fried bacon with delish sauce, pork belly tacos that are legit mexican tacos and not the crap they call 'mexican' out here in illinois, roast bone marrow (yes that bone marrow) and corn salsa, and lamb and kale salad, and spicy green beans, and prosciutto and melon and jerk chicken and coconut rice and bacon brussle sprouts and pancotta and oh my lanta. It was so tasty. But such different cuisine that we never would have tried ever because all those dishes had some sort of veggie or sauce or something that made it oh so much more than just a slab of meat.
If you go to LA, go to that place. Pricey but you get what you pay for. So. Damn. Good.
It's so good I'd go and eat there alone. Who am I kidding, I'd eat anywhere by myself. #noshame
My new cousins(?) are pretty cool. The one who lives in New York works in a restaurant and the food thing obviously runs in the family. Angus loves to find awesome new foods and is a total foodie, his mom is an amazing chef and cooks at a restaurant too. So it's in the genes. But he's my age, we just graduated college a year ago and we're just kinda in that weird stage of well now what but kinda have it together sorta kinda meh it's a work in progress. And the little brother is in high school and a sports fanatic, loves to play football and is a huge Giants fan (gah love him like a brother already!) and is super sassy. So full of that 16 year old the world revolves around me I'm so cool and my mom totally embarrasses me and all I want to do is watch sports and I'm so over this scene and when is this over sass it's just great.
This is him in a nutshell. I love it. I want to be his best friend just so we can be sassy together.
With full stomachs and even fuller hearts we left the Black Hogg. Gag. did I really just write that? Yeah well we did, cliched and all but I was so ready to sleep. But me and the SeaStar were sharing a bed so ensue giggling like little girls with a few punches and kicks thrown in there and shut up's and go to bed and it's hot's move over's until Nana got mad and said 'Good Night GIRLS' in a tone that meant be quiet and be quiet now or die. Lights out!
The next day was rehearsal dinner which was super fun but I'll get to that next time.
To Be Continued!
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