bye, jimmy kimmel!

when mr. lilcee e-mailed me a link to a fun-looking 10K run hosted by nike, i wasn't really all about it since it was only a week after the hollywood half.  but as i thought about it more and more, it sounded like a blast - an 80s-themed race aimed towards women with a cute bracelet as the finisher's medal?  plus, it was in the same area as the restaurant i was meeting a group of fun friends at for brunch.

alas, it was not to be.  i'd been counting on the run starting early like all the others i've done - 7, maybe 8, even 9:00.  so when i saw on the website that it wasn't even scheduled to start until 10:00, i was super bummed.  with brunch at 11, there was no way i could do both after all.  sad.

instead, i headed out to the rose bowl to try out the famous loop that is a favorite of local runners, walkers, and bicyclists.  after the STORM!WATCH! 20!12! that we'd survived through the day before, it was a beautiful day.

as i always do, i ran using my C25K app on my phone.  so even though mr. lilcee had told me the loop was equivalent to a 5K, i was still amazed at how accurate that statement was.  the app told me i'd reached my goal at the very moment i arrived directly in front of where i'd parked my car.  so awesome.

i'd brought stuff to freshen up in the car, and despite the fact that i was parked on the street in a busy-ish area, i arranged my sun shades and did my thing.  i'd warned the girls that i was coming straight after a run, but i still didn't want to roll up and be all huggybear and stuff all stanky.  that's not how i roll.  heh.

there wasn't a whole lot of traffic on the freeway, thankfully, and i managed to get to the restaurant right on time.  i circled the block a few times looking for parking, and thought i'd totally scored when i found a great spot just around the corner.  except that upon closer inspection, the street signs told me that unless it was monday-friday or i had a permit, it wasn't gonna work.  poop.  so i sucked it up and pulled up to the valet instead.

the monkey and insom were already there, so we went ahead and grabbed a table when it became available for our party of seven.

i'd perused the menu online, but still had no idea what i wanted to eat.

i knew i wanted something delicious to drink though, and i was excited when this bowl of caramel latte arrived.

delicious french food!  my parisian omelette - ham, wild mushrooms, gruyere.

AMP got a wild mushroom benedict.  isn't it pretty?

our friend auberge went with my second choice - baguette french toast.

but the winner at this table was insom, who decided not to pick between her top favorites on the menu and simply ordered both - fig and brie on a baguette, and the french ham & butter sandwich.  look at how cute the presentation was:

outings with my friends is always a blast, and this was no exception.  we cackled and clapped and "yay!"'d right through two hours without even realizing it.  we'd probably have stayed even longer if not for the hostess, who i'd noticed circling us with a meaningful stare.  she finally stopped and told us that there was a long wait for tables, and could we please move into the bar area?  i suppose it was better than simply asking us to get the hell outta there unless we were gonna order more grub.

but the single best moment of the entire gathering came courtesy of the monkey.  "i'm surprised we haven't seen any celebrities.  WAIT, that's jimmy kimmel!"  and sure enough, it was.  i practically laid my head down in her lap to peer around the corner and see for myself.  and then our friend jtx decided she had to go to the bathroom (you can see the air quotes i just used there, right?), oh-so-casually glanced in his direction, and then turned around and gave us a look that basically said "yup. that's him, all right."

when he got up to leave, both the monkey and i snatched up our phones to get photographic evidence of our sighting.  and when i looked at the photo i managed to get, i thought i was gonna piss myself.

poor insom.  she's always subjected to our crazy shenanigans.  good thing we're so lovable in lots of other ways.  totally makes up for the embarrassment we cause her.  ha!

although i'm sure she was slightly mortified when as if on cue, the monkey and i both waved at the departing celeb and called out "bye, jimmy kimmel!"

i love my friends.

la grande brunch for three generations

day two of teen birthday princess weekend began with a super fabulous brunch with my mom. since she's lucky enough to live down by the beach and we're...slightly inland [heh], we usually try to find something that's about halfway in between. this time, it was pasadena.

i'd heard good things about la grande orange cafe from a few different people, and since we haven't been doing a whole lot of eating out these days, i figured this was the perfect time to give it a shot. moms is always game to try something new, and so i sent her a link to the restaurant's site. once i got the green light, i hopped onto open table to make a reservation for 11:30.

for the second day in a row, the shitty navigation on my iPhone failed me. i ended up making one wrong turn, but luckily i knew the restaurant was located at the train station. it didn't take too long before i swung a u-turn and found myself right in front of the valet. and for the second day in a row, we'd arrived right on time and i found myself with no time to hunt for cheap/free parking. we hopped out, i took the stupid ticket, and we headed inside.

mom was already sitting at a table, and after exchanging hello hugs and kisses, i got to snappin'. it was a cute little place, homey and cozy.

after we placed our order, i sent the teen out to scope out the train station and take some pics.

i was super excited to finally bust out the tory burch sandals i'd picked up months ago. they've been kickin' it in a box, waiting for just the right day to come out and play. i figured that lovely birthday brunch-slash-day-after-pedicure was the perfect occasion.

her iced tea and my lemonade. refreshing!

we could see the trains coming and going out the door, just off to the side.

service here is very good - attentive and speedy. the eats arrived quickly, which was good considering it was almost noon and i hadn't eaten a thing yet. horrors!

mom's lemon ricotta pancakes, topped with blueberries and served with maple syrup. she shared with the teen and was nice enough not to poke me as i stuck my greedy little fork into a bite. they were really yummy and it was hard not to keep eating, despite the fact that my own entree was sitting right in front of me.

the teen went with the vegetarian nut burger, which she split with her lola. she offered me a bite of this, too, and it was pretty yummy. she decided that from now on, she'd always eat her gardenburger with some thousand island dressing and pickles.

i ordered the "del mar" salad - chilled shrimp and lump crabmeat (and they were no slouch with the goods - there were some really good-sized chunks of crab in there) with olives, pico de gallo and sliced avocado (which i gave to mom), atop shredded iceberg lettuce, garnished with tortilla strips, and dressed with an herb aioli. so. freaking. good.

i asked for some bread to go with my salad, and got a full loaf of this soft, hearty bread that came with a really tasty sweet orange spread.

as we plowed through brunch, i noticed a new-looking sparkly suh'in-suh'in on my mom's finger. i asked her about it and she held it up proudly and said "yeah, i got my stone reset. i bought the new setting on ebay!"

the story gets better. turns out she'd taken the stone and new setting to a jeweler at the mall and was quoted $100. not wanting to leave the goods behind, she opted not to have it done and stuck it back in her purse.

some time later, she was perusing the meat counter at mike's food in duarte during a visit to my grandma (this was pre-vegetarianism, obvs). and over the ground round, she locked eyes with some dude in the back of the store - a jeweler.

folks, my mother managed to find a jeweler at the grocery store, complete with equipment and while-you-wait service. and when she told him what she wanted, his quote for the work was one measly andrew jackson. holy shit. i thought i was gonna pee my pants as she told the story. and apparently, she's decided that geovany (yup, pronounced just like "giovanni") is her jeweler por vida. oh, man. only my mom!

we took these and then we bounced outta there.

when the valet brought the hoopdie, mom hopped in the back to take a quick spin in the new ride. she'd parked up the street a couple blocks away, so we gave her a ride to her car. she took in that fabulous new car smell, i showed off the backup camera, and then we dropped her off.

it was quite a lovely way to start our day. and the fun wasn't over yet! we still had the rest of the day to look forward to.

and the lakers won game seven! could the day get any better? oh, yes. yes, it could. and it did. stay tuned.