A Journal of Urban Living

We all went along on Peter’s biz trip to SF in early Oct.  P went to work, R took care of S (work), so I guess Simon is the only one who got a proper vacation. And he doesn’t know the difference!

But we did have a yummy dinner at the Fifth Floor.

Peter ordered the Sazerac as usual

And our hotel room had a deep spa tub so we all piled in and gave Simon a bath. (No photos of naked people on this blog. Only naked babies.)

We visited P’s office, which has a view of the ferry building and the Bay Bridge. More importantly, Salesforce.com has a lactation room. How enlightened. That’s how you get on those best companies to work for lists. (No photos of boobs on this blog.)

Peter's under-utilized cubicle at the SF HQ

More after the jump.

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Bob and Madeline came West for Simon’s baptism and big party. Here they are at Descanso Gardens on a hot afternoon.

redwood/eucalyptus/camellia grove

Simon and his grandfather

After the jump is a diaper change photo of our little Nature Boy.

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But we’re back!

Let’s start with the latest. Then we’ll try to get caught up with grandparents, baptism parties, chicken drama, cat karma and Halloween.

We’ve had a couple of stormy days.  Nothing compared to what R’s parents in NJ had to deal with after some unseasonably early October snow, of course. They had no power for three days and a major cleanup!

But we love the way the rain clears out the air and dusts the peaks of the San Gabriels with snow.

just a 15-minute walk from our front door, uphill

This afternoon, we hiked up the hill above the Oxy campus to take in the clouds.

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After a successful dim sum excursion with his grandmother we took Simon out for Sushi with his Aunt Sasa.

If these books are to be believed I see a deli in our future.

Then on Thursday night we took Simon to his first wine tasting.  I called ahead and asked if we could bring the whole family.

Me: Hi, I was wondering about the tasting.  My kid is twenty-two…….days old.  Can I bring him?
K&L guy: <laughs> sure.

When we got there however we heard a different story.  Poor Simon wasn’t allowed in the tasting area as that would have been a violation of the local liquor laws, having a kid in the tasting room and all.  So we left him in the tequila isle.  Much more family friendly.

But I'm twenty-two

Babies love tequila

And then, the highlight of Simon’s evening, some fancy changing after we left the store.

Another first - offsite diaper change

We decided on an outing to the Atwater Market yesterday.  (We can’t grow everything.  Our corn and watermelons need more time, our raspberries are done for the season and our chickens aren’t quite plucked and dressed.)   Simon spent the morning asleep in the stroller, or so we thought.  It was only after getting him back into his car seat that we realized he was shopping under protest:

Fighting the power, since 2011

In yet another example of our cutting-edge sensibilities, we attended the LA Urban Rangers‘ excellent tour of Malibu’s public beaches on the very same day that the LA Times profiled the Rangers. Thanks, local paper, for saving me the effort of explaining the concept.

Besides the lovely scenery and temperate morning, the highlight of the tour was watching the legendary Huell Howser at work:

He was definitely a hands-on TV producer, steering and positioning his interview subjects. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me – he’s old school! He even made us gather ’round and wave at the camera. I sorta wonder what the tour was like without his direction and presence.

The Rangers were way fun and the tour was super-educational. A couple of execs from the state Coastal Conservancy were also there, so we peppered them with questions about the property owners’ legal maneuverings, which they answered diplomatically.

Here’s another shot of Peter, the group and Huell looking on:

They were perfect this year. Plump and sweet and tart.

I was expecting to get scratched and overheated like last year, when we struggled to fill three boxes because the canes were so picked over by birds and people. But once again the cool June favors the garden and the bushes were full of with fruit.

Underwood Family Farms charges $5 admission. Berries were $3/lb. We picked just under 10 lbs. Figure a pint of berries costs $3-4 at the farmers market or in a grocery store — we got a good deal.

Still, I hate paying someone else for the privilege of picking. But raspberries don’t do well in the wild here and we missed blackberry (evil invasive staining weed) season.

Here’s what 10 lbs. of raspberries and 3 lbs. of strawberries looks like.

Tomato tasting at Loteria Grill

Today we went to a tomato tasting at Loteria Grill in Hollywood.It was hosted by Tomatomania! who sold us all those interesting seedlings last March, a food blog I’ve never heard of called SippitySup and Loteria. Admission was one homegrown, correctly identified tomato — which for us means FREE! because we are swimming in tomatoes.

We decided to pick the tomatoes just a couple hours before, but the plants have slowed down a bit. There was only one ripe Black from Tula. I forgot to pick the adorable little Red Currants who live in a container out back unfortunately. That’s ok tho, b/c I got to show them off at a party a couple weeks back — I brought a small salad bowl full, and people ate them like candy.

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