I am now a 22 year old. Exciting right? But this extremely insignificant transition was made into a spectacular memory by the arrival of my Mom and Mrs. Peggy Baumer on July 30th in anticipation of a wonderful time in Los Angeles, California. I spent that Friday morning in a Marina del Rey Starbucks waiting for their plane (direct flight!) to land in LAX and for my Mom to hopefully navigate the treacherous roads of LA to the hotel across the street. Finally they arrived around one and settled into the Courtyard Marriot (after huge hugs of course). I couldn’t believe how good it was to see my Mom, she was the best taste of home I could ask for.

Despite the taste of home though, our stomachs were still ready to devour whatever lunch we could find. We walked over to The Counter, a custom burger place about 10 minutes from the hotel in a cute shopping center off the Marina. Let me just explain how awesome this place is…you’re handed a clipboard with an ordering sheet containing all of your biggest burger dreams on it…choose what meat, how much, what bun, what toppings, what cheese, what sauce…and it’s not just normal stuff here. No way. It’s brie, roasted peppers, onion straws, guacamole, cranberries, carrot strings, olives, pepper jack, green chilies, peanut sauce… whatever you can imagine sitting on a burger is typed there in front of you waiting to be checked and loaded onto your order. Granted if you keep checking boxes you could end up with a 30$ burger…but that’s your problem. Anyway, I got green chiles, guac, chipotle aioli, onion straws and gruyere cheese on an english muffin…a little mixed up but it must have been good because before I knew it I had eaten the ENTIRE burger. hahaha it was so worth the feeling of a baby in my tummy.

After this we waddled 2 miles to Venice beach. Who knows why we thought it would be a good idea to walk so far, but we did it and before long we had trekked around the Marina and landed ourselves on the Venice Pier. We people-watched a bit, saw some surfers, sipped on the best peppermint white mocha frappuccino of my life, and then walked the 2 miles back to the hotel where we crashed down into some lounge chairs by the pool. The sun beat down but the air was cool. Mom and Peggy could not get over how cool the weather was and many times this weekend I got to say “told you so” when they had goosebumps out in the summery night air of southern California.

Anyway, we relaxed and then, believe it or not…we were too tired after that 4 mile excursion to bother driving out anywhere so we ordered some drinks at the hotel bar. I had a White Russian in honor of “The Big Lebowski” which I had never seen until this past week and which made me crave that particular drink that Dude never seems to be without. Anyway after some extremely tired slap happy banter between all of us our pizza was delivered from Abbot’s, a local place that specializes in bagel crust! We had the typical pepperoni with a dense, fluffy crust rimmed with spicy red peppers. IT WAS GOOD, especially while sitting on the bed in front of a TV (TV?!?!). The way pizza fills your mouth with hot grease, slimy cheese, and doughy delight is the ultimate comfort for any taste bud.

Even though I was full, I ventured to try some of the cupcakes we had picked up earlier that day. We had stopped at Hotcakes, the bakery that won the Food Network “Cupcake Wars” show which also featured a cupcakery in Cincinnati (kinda neat huh?). They pretty much lived up to their award, but alas, not as good a sprinkles. The flavors weren’t quite as powerful, but the icing…mmm, was it creamy and smooth. Can’t complain about good icing, that’s for sure.

I fell asleep in a food coma (as I did every night of this past weekend) and awoke early the next day in preparation for a trip up to Malibu. After a quick Starbuckian breakfast, we drove along the Pacific Highway up the coast to high-class Malibu with its packs of intimidating bicyclers and stately houses. It’s really unexpected how everything in California has an old 50′s vintage feel to it – sort of grungily aged yet nostalgic of its glory days when its architecture was actually clean and new. It was the same up the coast, old stucco buildings, mod buildings, and beachy houses swept by waves and Pacific winds. There were these types of dwellings and then there were also those gated, monstrously golden, tiered balcony houses hidden by palms and flowers for those uber rich people that have remained elusive to my mid-western eye. Anyway, we stopped along the coast to watch a pack of dolphins and some kayakers then we randomly saw a sign for a yard sale. I nearly bought some boots! but alas, my feet were too big.

After this we headed to Malibu Wines up in the hills, far above the coast, and out of the misty fog. We were early, 11:30, but they let us in to find a seat amongst the bumble bees, vines, umbrella tables,  green grasses, flowers, blue sky, wooden seats…this was bliss even before we uncorked our first bottle.  The people-watching at this little grove was superb. We witnessed the set up of some baby and wedding showers, the picnics of couples, the meeting of friends…and all the while we were sipping 3 bottles and chatting away about everything and anything from lovesick at 21 to marriage to how LaRosas smells like feet. Tipsy, warm, feeding off gourmet cheese, grapes, turkey pepper panini and coconut brownie from the nearby foodtruck – all of this led to seven hours at the vineyard. SEVEN?!?! It passed by like nothing as we watched the weird Ozzy Osbourne/ Gene Simmons Asian guitarist and young and old people enjoy the same indulgences as us – wonderful atmosphere, 2008 Semler Rose, 2008 Saddlerock Rose, and best of all, incredible friendships.

After my Mom had sobered enough for driving, we wheeled back down the coast to Santa Monica, parked, and waltzed into a little Mexican place whose menu was way too full of variety. We ordered some grub, something with cheese, tortilla, salsa and guac and had a good dinner before winding our way back to the hotel. Oh and did I mention I picked up some cheesecake? The new Reeses flavor from the Factory? No? Well let me just say calories never tasted so good. That denseness drugged me into sleep where I dreamed about a huge crown, a palace that redecorated itself, a swimming pool, an old teacher…

I woke up the next morning to my birthday, as if the past two days hadn’t been celebration enough already, and pancakes. The Griddle Cafe. Just look at that menu, holy horses. I made the mistake of ordering a coconut mocha, which I could barely sip for the heavenly sweetness of it, but enjoyed, nonetheless. Then came the stack. Mom and I split what’s called “Scotch on the Rocks” : Our intoxicating coconut, pecan, oat, and butterscotch chip-filled flap jackes topped with real whipped cream and powdered sugar. Um. I. Can. Not. Even. Explain. How fluffy, sweet, crunchy, textured, warm, whipped, salty, sugary and delicious these were. It in fact makes me sick to my stomach thinking about how rich they were, but my stars, every bite was like being transported into a forest of glorified maple doused morning luxury. Needless to say, we barely finished half this stack. The cute waiter scolded us for our failure, but we had no choice but to surrender if we wanted to survive the day.

The rest of the morning we took a driving tour past my work and down Hollywood Blvd. We also stopped by Greystone Mansion before going to the Grove and the Farmer’s market where I was lucky enough to get a birthday present at Vicky’s on top of all of this wonderfulness.

After touring it was still only noon but we were looking for somewhere to relax and recover while enjoying the ocean. This led us to crazy Santa Monica Pier where the driving and the pedestrian traffic was congested as ever. We made it through though and snacked at the Mexican restaurant over the ocean at the end of the pier. Yum for Amaretto frozen margarita, cheese quesadilla, and free flan due to my birth date ;)

We chatted and relaxed on the ocean breeze for a while then walked back through the crowded pier to the crowded 3rd street promenade where we witnessed crazy street performers, singers, dancers…and more…like people painted silver and Michael Jackson look-a-likes. We kept wandering, kept walking and eventually decided to go see Inception. Second time around for me and still just as good!

After the movie it was time for my birthday dinner (note that I had been treated to enough food already, but we were now starving again) at a little Italian place right next to the theater on the promenade. My Pasta Carbonara was salted creaminess, divine loveliness, the best Italian pasta I’ve had in a while. This as well as a glass of red wine and yet another free dessert (tiramisu) was the perfect end to the most perfect weekend! I should devote an entire paragraph to thanking Peggy and my Mom for flying out to visit me. I know they love seeing new cities, but I don’t think they realize how much I LOVE seeing them and having someone to tour and vacation with in these cities that I’m stuck in for months at a time. I couldn’t think of a better pair to share the weekend with…so much wisdom and love between them…THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

After this week, I only have 3 more weeks of work left before I get to come back home to the Midwest where I get to see everyone and everything I’ve been missing. Who wants to go eat at Skyline then walk to Graeter’s with me when I get back? 3-way and two dips of mint chip please? Make sure you get a big chunk of chocolate in that scoop. Thanks very much. <3

One last thing – thanks Mom for the Fruit Loops.

AND okay, I shouldn’t do this…but I’m lazy and I didn’t post last weekend so here is a brief update on what I did/ate…

First of all…I’ve been walking around at work a lot and this past week I came across the Winnie the Pooh star on the Hollywood sidewalk…made me think of my little brother (not so little, really). As did the homemade Oreo that I picked up from a bakery near the CNN building…oh was it better than Nabisco. Remember Tony, don’t eat those Oreos and play video games…or else you know what.

Next comes my revisit to Stan’s Donuts in Westwood. I love these coconut bites and BUTTERMILK MAPLE BARS?!?! omg. This was the best donut, maybe, that I have ever had in my life (though the sour creme donut at Servati is still better, I have loyalty!!!)

Finally, Brett and I have been obsessing with frozen yogurt. Yea we’ve been to Pinkberry but my new favorite is Yogurtland. In this little cup here is Cookies n’ Cream yogurt, Peanut Butter yogurt and Chocolate Coconut Truffle yogurt with cookie dough and more…um and it was all only $2.60. You serve yourself (over 10 flavors to pick from at this location) and pay by the ounce…and it’s not healthy, but it surely isn’t bad like ice cream!!! SO GOOD. Cincinnati, get your act together, Yagoot does not compare.

So there’s the brief. I’ll be back next week with news of Vegas!! (If I survive).