weekend recap, sans photos

sad, ain't it? what's a blog post without visual aids? boo. i'll make it short.

oh, and by the way, i just wanted to say that although we were annoyed by our experience at katsuya, we do dig the americana. i know a lot of folks don't - it's a grove 2.0, the traffic sucks, parking for $$ blows, it's an architectural eyesore, etc. - but hey, you know what? it's a lot closer to home for us than the grove is. although the americana lacks the fabulous farmer's market, so we'll still drive out to 3rd and fairfax for it now and then.

somehow, we've fallen off the wagon in regards to regular church attendance. seriously, i can't even remember the last time we went. bad churchgoers! bad! i'm sure we'll be forgiven, though.

we were invited to a bbq at one of the hub's co-workers' homes that afternoon. the hub and i got our wires crossed and we ended up arriving in the area about half an hour too early - which was good, because we needed to find something to bring anyway. i don't like to arrive at gatherings empty-handed, and luckily, the hub knows the area fairly well.

he got off the freeway and we found ourselves at riverside plaza, a fairly new retail center with fun shops like trader joe's, active ride shop, and a cute little boutique run by one of the hub's buddies' wives called reggie & luca. since the bean was asleep, he dropped me off there to browse while they went to trader joe's for flowers and something sweet to bring to the party.

but since the bean woke up as i got out of the car, they joined me in the shop as i drooled over the shop's selection of clothing and accessories - jeans by citizens, hudson, rock & republic, dresses and tops by trina turk, ella moss, theory. everything was so cute and summery! i managed to score a cute pair of straight-leg citizens jeans for less than half price and left happy.

at trader joe's, we picked out a lemon tart, a berry pie, some cookies, and a pretty, colorful bouquet of flowers. and when we arrived at the CW's house, we found that we were the first ones to arrive. boo. i try to be really punctual for things, but i hate being the first one there. oh, well. we toured their lovely home, in an older area of riverside, and ooh'd and aah'd at their huge back yard, which featured a pool and spa, built-in bbq, basketball hoop, lawn areas, plus a small sitting area with patio furniture and outdoor heater.

we giggled at their artificial grass, but came to embrace the idea. no maintenance! no gardener! when we finally buy a house, i'm going to see if i can talk the hub into this. since mollydog doesn't go outside anyway, we don't have to worry about dog poop to hose off. so great.

it was a nice evening, with yummy food - bbq'd steak and chicken, served with garlic bread, grilled veggies, and a really delicious, rich potato side that had sour cream, cheese, and other gooey goodness and topped with crunchy corn flakes. i debated asking for the recipe and then decided i'd probably just find it online. ha!

and then yesterday we ended up hosting a bbq of our own here at the house for the hub's family. it was nice, and we grilled up some steaks, salmon kebabs, and veggies. i made some of that yummy clearman's cheese bread, as well as a few skewers of that delicious bacon-wrapped asparagus from last weekend. the grandmas brought a freshly baked berry pie and ice cream, and i'd picked up some cookies and brownies at the grocery store.

the funniest part of the evening was watching the hub's dad and grandfather playing the boxing game on the wii. hi-lar-ious. and after they left, i got hooked on playing tennis while the bean slept in her carrier. ha!

and that is all. it was SO nice to have a low-key weekend, after the craziness of the last 3! and i have several fun get-togethers with friends coming up over the next few weekends. it'll be nice to get back to normal life. not to mention, the school year's almost over, so i'll get some time to hang out with the teen.

the year is going by all too fast. slow down, 2008!