two if by ocean
During the day, we walked by a house covered in mosaics with fruit trees on front,
almost as big a contrast to the houses surrounding it as the sun was to the clouds on the pier,
as the Trapeze Schoolers attempted derring-do, and we flew back to the Viceroy Hotel to change for Laura’s big birthday party.
LJ joined us for dinner,
where we led with protein,
and then the staff emerged with our box, boldly labeled and destined for our next destination.
As Laura’s guests arrived, our dedicated server whisked the cake away to the kitchen to cut and return the Fleur de Sel chocolate slices with Laura’s requested hot pink icing from Vanilla Bake Shop,
and toward the end of the night, we sang to our very favorite vagabond news junkie.
The next morning (the evening ran until early with much more toasting, a red convertible, and a yoga mat), I set off for the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market, where Ben met me, after I found an interesting potato mix,
a sausage vendor intent upon the scramble,
a wonderful mix of chorizo, spinach, eggs, potatoes, and cheese.
Market finds included bundles of slender asparagus stalks,
raw pistachios for David and roasted corn for our picnic,
at Cielo Wine Bar in Malibu that followed a drive along the PCH with birthday boy Ben in the driver’s seat.
LJ met us there, as Ben dispensed wisdom, smartly analyzing situations, as only he can,
Jessica considered broccoli after picking Rosé,
the perfect choice for a celebrity sighting of Pink and her husband,
and with s’mores bars from Vanilla Bake Shop.
Inside the rustic wood cabin where the wine flows from, LJ modeled the garb on offer,
perhaps an omen of the strangeness ahead as Laura and I met David at Encounter, a retro restaurant of the future (the lava lamps are still) hidden somewhere in LAX—fresh from travel to Austria and Portugal, David ordered a “Cosmos” (to complement his shirt?) and together, we all examined the “Halo” Caesar salad that arrived with a crouton ring.
Flying back into a wintry New York, I smiled at the fun of the occasion, the reclamation of Rosé, and how nice it is to still feel close to good friends on the opposite coast, marking important days with wine and fancy dress, and casually, other important days with memories of a road trip and long, winding conversations to continue…
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Posted by Kristen Taylor on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010, 10:50 pm * Filed in Food, Market, Travel. * Tags: angeles, kristen, kthread, los, taylor. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 10th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Beautiful pictures of an amazing weekend, Kthread!!!! Thanks again for being here. Miss you already, the sunshine suits you well.
xoxo
February 10th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Laura, happy, happy birthday month :) Wonderful to celebrate with you and looking forward to Austin very soon—
February 11th, 2010 at 12:10 am
I can’t believe you actually went to Encounter.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:57 am
I love your jet-setting, food-tasting adventures! Happiest Birthday to Ben and to Laura!!
Ooh, now I’m coveting a chocolate cake with pink icing for my birthday…
February 12th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Eric, I can’t believe you haven’t. The menu was incredible from a grammatical standpoint.
Mica, I love your mind-of-Bodger posts :) Hot pink icing is a nice birthday touch.