I had 12 miles on the schedule for last weekend for my marathon training plan, but an early morning dentist appointment would force me to miss my weekly long run with the LA Leggers, so I swapped that run for a half instead! My friend from my law school class, Blake, was running it too, so I knew I’d have a running buddy for at least the first few miles.

I got to the Rose Bowl early – a little before 7 for an 8 am start. I checked in and grabbed my swag bag (an awesome tech running T and a few samples), my wristband for a post-race beer, and my chip and bib. I wanted to do a few extra miles, so I did a 2.60 mile warm-up before heading over to the start. The warm-up was a great call – normally I go out WAY too fast, so instead I took the warm-up at a comfortably fast clip just to get those jitters out.

By 7:50 I met up with Blake and we decided to start together. This was his first half marathon which was pretty cool. We did the first 2.5 or so together which was great – it kept my pace under control and it was fun to have a buddy for a bit! The course was intense – it pretty immediately went to trails, and some were single-track and muddy.

7 am, race day.

I was treating this as a training run and wasn’t really concerned with time – but I wanted to keep my pace between 8 and 8:30 for the most part, and slow down if I needed to. There was an INSANE hill around mile 7 (people walked up it…barely) so my split for that mile was 9:19. Going down the same hill was also sort of intense – it was scary steep.

look at that stellar pronation.

I finished in a time of 1:48:44, essentially tying my time from my last half – but this felt way more relaxed, easy, and fun. 98th finisher overall, and winner of my division. #humblebrag. It was pretty cool to finish on the 50 yard line! I wish they’d had a clock running on the big screen. Details, people.

i went for the jewel-tones look.

I hung around until Blake finished and then we listened to the awards (I got a 2nd medal and a $25 gift certificate to TYR…weird) and sipped on some beer (so good at that time of day). We hobbled back to the car and were both disgustingly sore for the following two days.

Overall, I liked this race. The major pros? Getting to run on dirt, awesome shirt and medal, free beer, finishing in the Rose Bowl, mile markers at every mile, lots of water, gatorade, gels, etc., on-time start, and decent swag. Cons? Hilly, not spectator friendly, inefficient registration/bag pick-up, no clocks on the course or chip check-ins on the course, and pricey. I’d do it again, though!

Later that day, I had lunch with my old friend Chanel at LPQ on Melrose. It was great catching up with Chanel (I hadn’t seen her in 2.5 years!) but the food was sort of mediocre and the service was noticeably lacking. For the price and the area, I expected a little more!

quinoa taboulé salad at LPQ.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Is anyone training for a race right now?

Here’s the fun things I did the last week or so of winter break…

My roommate Jenn and I hit up the popular WeHo lunch spot Tender Greens to see what all the fuss was about.

bbq chicken sandwich with baby spinach salad.

I liked the sandwich – a decent deal for the area at $10.50 for a big sandwich and side salad – but the sandwich needed something. BBQ sauce would have been perfect.

jenn loving some tender greens.

After our lunch last week, we passed by a place called Sno Bar – which bills itself as a cross between ice cream and shaved ice. Jenn and I split a small Peanut Butter flavor with chocolate chips.

peanut butter.

It was refreshing but I’m not sure I would seek it out. I did love the art on the walls (at the Santa Monica Blvd. location).

i'd go back just for the art.

Last Tuesday, I went over to Whitney’s where she whipped up a delicious pasta dish for us and we sipped on some wine. Later, I hung out with one of my law school buds, Aviva (and Jenn) at El Carmen for some margaritas to celebrate my summer job plans coming into fruition. We sat two tables away from Jeremy Piven. Soooo LA.

whitney's pasta.

On Wednesday, Jenn invited me to a screening of “My Week with Marilyn” at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

the egyptian.

I really liked the film – I learned more about Marilyn Monroe and both Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh were fabulous. The best part about the night was hearing Michelle and Kenneth answer a few questions after the show! They were both funny and well-spoken, and Michelle seemed to still be channelling Marilyn.

On Thursday, Aviva and I did some school-related errands and hit up The Bungalow in Larchmont for a snack and some coffee. It was such a quaint little place and the blueberry muffin we split was pretty bomb. On our way out we also spotted – wait for it, wait for it – Jeremy Piven! Small world slash it’s a good thing we’re going over stalking in Torts on Tuesday.

Later we met our friend Armita from our section at Bossa Nova for happy hour (plantains and sangria were the highlights).

My last weekend of freedom was a great one – one of my best friends from college, Kathleen, flew in from SF for the holiday weekend! I hadn’t seen her since before I left for Madrid in September 2010, so we were way overdue for some catch-up time.

us back in the sorority days. raging, obvi.

We picked her up Friday night, grabbed dinner and hit up The Churchill for a beer. Saturday morning featured a long run for me (a little over 10 – pain free!) with my running group. We did some intense hills and made it to Inspiration Point in the Palisades. I wish I’d brought my camera because it *may* be in the running for my absolute favorite spot in LA. Boom.

Later that afternoon, we had lunch with our friend Kate (also visiting from SF) for an AXO reunion at Short Order – Nancy Silverton’s new burger bar at 3rd and Fairfax, right next to the Farmer’s Market near The Grove. Kate gives a great review of the meal on her blog, but I thought I’d share some highlights.

better than umami, not as good as Father's Office. #imho

krisse, me, kathleen, and jenn. i don't know about them but i was SO HUNGRY.

my friends next to some sandbags?

Later that night Jenn, Kathleen, and I headed out to Santa Monica to check out the pier and stroll 3rd street – since Kathleen had never been! We caught the sunset (epic) and Kathleen treated us to a delicious dinner at Border Grill .

i <3 sm.

That night, we added some more members to the gang (Matt and Whitney) and headed out to some WeHo bars – Winston’s (my fav) and Bar Lubitsch.

we've been told we look alike. the funny thing? she has an actual identical twin.

The highlight of Sunday? A hike to the Hollywood Sign with Jenn, Kathleen, and my buddy Bryan. No, we didn’t see a severed head in a bag (thank god) but we did take some sweet pics! The trail was a total of about 6 miles and was relatively easy!

Other highlights include: cooking homemade pizza, an SVU marathon and fro-yo, checking out Beverly Hills and Hollywood and Highland, and catching up with an old friend! Now I’m itching to get up to SF…

That about rounds up my winter break! It was easily my favorite “break” from school, ever – maybe because it was so necessary. I’m excited for this semester: new classes, checking out more cool places in LA, and getting to know more of my classmates! I’m also excited to get back into my marathon training – first up? The Rose Bowl Half this weekend!

Anyway – now that I’m all caught up on blogging I’m going to relax with some TV (it is Jersday, after all!)

How do you adjust to a new schedule after a break in from your routine?

Monday involved a sweet sunset hike in Griffith Park…

loving LA.

On Tuesday, I had lunch at ink.sack and later hung out with Whitney and our friend Matt and his cute dog Penny (that’s huge for me – I’m not the biggest animal lover). I also had happy hour and taco tuesday with my mom and my aunt Cheri and her new wife (my new aunt!) Janet who are visiting from Brooklyn after their wedding last week! We hit up The Spanish Kitchen on La Cienega and loved the margaritas, tacos, and papaya and avocado salad .

Wednesday was equally epic – my law school friend Aviva and I went to dinner at Vintage Enoteca, a cute wine bar on Sunset before heading over to The Comedy Store to watch her friend Kyle perform stand-up. The show was hit-or-miss – some of the comedians had me doubled over in laughter (Kyle) and others were sort of gross and not funny at all. It was SO fun seeing live comedy though, something I definitely want to make part of my LA nightlife routine.

my wine at vintage enoteca. it was from catalonia so i ordered it. #typical.

bruschetta trio: crab, white bean, and asparagus.

flatbread. boom.

sign at the entrance to The Comedy Store. they let me stay.

On Thursday I went on a hike with my roommate Jenn and our friend Bryan at Fryman Canyon in Studio City. This was more of a “local’s hike” than a touristy one like Runyon or Griffith, but it was a good little workout! That evening, I re-connected with my old friend Taylor at Caffe Primo on Sunset. We were super tight in 8th grade, went to separate high schools but raced against each other in XC and track, and then she went to UCLA when I went to that other UC school in B-town. We stayed in touch a little over the years and realized we live about 5 min. from each other (walking!) in WeHo. #win!

Friday was also lots of fun – a work out, shopping with my roommate (I scored some hot pink jeans at Nordstrom rack) and bar-hopping at night at Roger Room, The Churchill (my new fav bar near me), and the good ol’ dive bar, St. Nick’s. I tried a new-to-me IPA: the Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. The Beer Trials says: “The dominant nose is pine, with some sweetness. There’s good mouthfeel, with nice carbonation, moderate flavor hops, and pronounced but still soft bitterness.” I loved it.

Saturday involved a minor accomplishment in the morning – my first long run post knee-injury! I didn’t make it to my hella early run with the LA Leggers (see Friday night’s activities) so I decided to run 10-12 miles on my own (my group was going to do 22 and I’m not quite back up to that yet). I did 4 miles with Jenn, then 7 on my own. No knee pain, felt great. Such a great Saturday morning! I ended the night hanging out with Whitney – we made homemade shrimp enchiladas and delicious pineapple and tequila cocktails. 

We decided not to make the brownies we’d contemplated and instead went on a walk. I snapped this awesome pic of the Pacific Design Center. It’s so pretty at night!

I was back to being active on Sunday – Yoga in Santa Monica at the Fred Segal Yoga Poser studio with Amber (we scored a Groupon for 20 classes for $20) – it was a great class and nice to do something other than cardio for once! We went on a hike after in Mandeville Canyon with two of her friends – it was awesome to see views of both downtown LA and the Pacific Ocean at the same time.

And then today…Aviva and I went to a delicious lunch at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica. 29 beers on tap? Music to my ears! There was even a Ladyface Ale (my fav restaurant in Agoura Hills) on tap, but I opted for one of their IPAs instead (Blind Pig IPA, Russian River Brewing Company, Santa Rosa). I liked it a lot! The Beer Trials book my aunt and uncle gave me for Christmas says it has a “huge explosion of hops in the nose – resinous and citrusy- and it smells sweet and full-bodied.” I’d get it again for sure.

Aviva went with a Mexican Coke…

I enjoyed the fresh chips and salsa and a steak and arugula salad (loved the pickled onions) and Aviva got the quesadilla (I stole a bite and it was delicious). Definitely want to come back here/spend more time in SM/move there ASAP.

Love you, Library Alehouse, and your outdoor seating, cute literary inspired menu, and beer options. Aviva and I also walked around Abbot Kinney and Main St. in SM and stopped at Urth Caffe for  coffe + boba before heading back to the non-westside. Such a fun afternoon!

That basically sums up what I like to call the #bestweekever…but here’s two other reasons why:

I finally started watching comic genius Chris Lilley’s latest show, Angry Boys, and it is hysterical. It’s SUPER dark humor, politically incorrect, but just as funny as Summer Heights High.

Also, we got our 1st semester grades and I didn’t fail, so I’ll be actually completing my first year of law school. #yayyyy

I hope everyone had equally fun weeks! I’ll be indulging in The Bachelor tonight. #rage

One thing that makes ink.sack awesome is that it is really affordable – the sandwiches are small but not tiny (larger than the 100 Montaditos fare I was obsessed with in Spain last year). The sandwiches are high-end and range in price from $4-$6 – and they have a whole slew of interesting sides, sodas, and desserts.

I went with the José Andres aka the “Spanish Godfather” consisting of jamón serrano, chorizo, and manchego cheese. Just like being back in Spain. The bread was also perfectly crusty and sweet. I went with a side of BBQ Pork Rinds – not something I would usually order, but delicious and a very large portion.

the spanish godfather.

pork rinds and crab chips.

I stole a couple of Matt’s crab chips – they were good…salty and crab-y? I’d get them again. He also got the Reuben and said it was delicious.

chalk graffiti walls.

The place was small but we found some standing room next to this wall to eat at, people watch, and check out the place. I am kicking myself for not having been here 100 times so far – it was that good! I’m definitely re-joining the Michael Voltaggio fan club, that’s for sure.

yah buddy

Who’s your favorite “Top Chef” contestant?

I want to go to Atlanta solely to visit Richard Blais’ restaurant. But I am pretty partial to Mickey V.

January – What’s My Name Rihanna f/ Drake

This is the song for January because the first time I heard it was when I was in Bilbao with my mom at a coffee shop the beginning of the month. We also went to San Sebastian and Granada and had a great time together in all three (we both loved Granada the most, though). My mom wrote a guest post or two, I re-dedicated myself to long distance running in Madrid, and celebrated my 23rd birthday in Madrid with a night at Kapital (a 7 story club).

with my mom in front of the legendary Guggenheim in Bilbao.

February – Grenade by Bruno Mars 

I am pretty sure that song was popular in the states long before I ever heard in Madrid, but that song reminds me of last February which was a short but memorable month. I bonded with the kids at my school and at my private lessons, immersed myself in Madrid and went to a Real Madrid game (despite being a Barça fan) and got in some long runs. I also went on two fun trips: Marrakesch, Morocco, which remains one of my favorite excursions, and Tenerife, in the Canary Islands which was fun and beautiful.

morocco.

sunset in tenerife.

March – Loca People by Sak Noel

March was a very “Spain” month – I blogged a lot about the kids’ antics, and I also went to Valencia for the Las Fallas festival, showed my sorority friend Amy around Madrid, and dealt with Spanish banking inefficiency my own idiocy. I chose this song for Madrid because it basically pokes fun at how the party scene in Spain is just so “loca.” 

burn, fallas, burn.

April - Jennifer Lopez On The Floor 

April was a fabulous month – I kicked it off by setting a PR in the half marathon in Madrid (my friend Hannes also ran it!) I also developed my intense love affair with 100 Montaditos, went to a typically Spanish capea and tried to fight a bull, and traveled to Mallorca and Barcelona with my roommates and friend Krisse who was visiting. I specifically loved spending one of my favorite holidays, Dia de San Jordi, in my favorite city in the world, Barcelona, with my friends Krisse and Lily. I also became more involved with the blogging world in April and signed up for the SF Nike Women’s Half Marathon!

at the capea.

dia de san jordi with krisse and lily.

May - Hello by Martin Solveig and Dragonette

I picked this song because I heard it at Pacha Ibiza when I was there for a few days at the beginning of the month. Ibiza had been on my list fora  few years and it was awesome – gorgeous views and insane nightlife. I need to go back sometime during busy season (late May – September). I also went to the first communion of a girl I tutor, Gracia, which was fun, experienced the pre-cursor to the Occupy Wall Street movement, 15-M in the center of Madrid, and I did a 10k with my roommate, Kerren. I also hit up the Madrid Open with my 1st and 2nd graders and hung out with my friend Michelle in Madrid.

Gracia's communion.

raging ibiza.

June – Sufre Marmón by Hombres G

June was bittersweet – I went to Munich with my friend Laura, but then said goodbye to my school (tears were shed). This song reminds me of all the kids – one of them, Alejandro, serenaded the whole class on one of the last days. I also hung out with my uncle Casey and my aunt Melinda - and my aunt and I went to Barcelona and took the AVE! I also headed home to LA at the end of the month (but not before finishing my self-imposed 100 Montaditos challenge!) and I finally entered 2011 and got an iPhone.

my uncle and me in madrid.

loving 100 montaditos.

July – Don’t Wanna Go Home by Jason Derulo

This song was all over the radio when I first got home, and it was sort of fitting (even though I was happy to be home). July started with a 4th of July 10k (and PR) with Hannes, got my first “real” apartment in WEst Hollywood, went art museum hopping in Santa Barbara and in Pasadena, checked out the street art in Venice and at the Banksy exhibit in LA, went to Santa Cruz with the family, and visited the famous Watts Towers,  and most importantly, went to Vegas! What a fun summer month

Venice, CA

August – Drake Headlines 

The big “headline” for my August was starting law school! August 22 began a 4-month long-grind but I can honestly say I have loved it so far. Beyond that, I also explored my new neighborhood a little bit with visits to Cuvee, Jack n Jills too and Real Food Daily, Father’s Office, Taste, Toast, and more. I also began marathon training with the LA Leggers in Santa Monica! This is when the blog officially went from a travel and running blog to a food/beer/running blog.

pretty cafes at urth.

September – Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West

In reality, this song could be August-December because it is that huge an obsession (really I love the whole Watch the Throne album). September involved a lot of school, running, various libraries, lunch at Lemonade and dinner at Gaby’s, and celebrated my Dad’s birthday at home. Other highlights include lots of dorky 1L jokes and a ton of case reading. #win!

oh hey, september.

October – Avicii Levels

I had to pick this song because it made it onto my half-marathon playlist and is a great running jam (school and running would dominate 10/11). I took my first midterm (Property), celebrated my mom’s birthday with a BOMB dinner at Red O, hiked Runyon Canyon, checked out the WeHo library, and ran the SF Nike Women’s Half (poor race strategy and over-eagerness early on would prevent me from PR-ing #sad).

at the race expo. not the most flattering pic but what can you do.

November – Chris Brown Beautiful People

And yet again, I picked a song to symbolize the month based on that month’s race playlist. I was the 2nd female overall in the WeSPARK 10k at Universal Studios which was pretty awesome, and I also got a PR by about two seconds. November was largely consumed by school and finals prep, but I managed to see Bill Maher perform, enjoy dinner at Tart, and have Thanksgiving at home and run a fun 5k locally with some old high school friends and teammates (no PR this time, I will never again see my 5k PR – hah).

universal studios.

December – Take Care Drake f/ Rihanna

It wasn’t even intentional that my boy Drizzy Drake bookended my year…this song is epic and I blared it on repeat while I was studying (as much as you can blare a song while wearing headphones in the library, but whatever). In December I studied for 3 weeks straight and had multiple law school dreams, and injured my knee early in the month forcing me to pull back from my marathon training and cozy up to my local PT. The knee is stronger and finals are over, allowing me some time to fit in Christmas with my family, a trip to Vegas, and of course plenty of time to explore new LA eateries. It feels great to be back off blogging hiatus!

umami burger. another obsession.

Hope everyone has a fun night tonight! Here’s to a fabulous 2012

Thank you to all of my readers and commenters – this year I really got into blogging and am excited to leap ahead into 2012 with you all!

First up was a hike in Griffith Park (Mt. Hollywood) trail with my roommate and her friend/classmate, Alex.

at the top!

half-way up.

Griffith Observatory.

The hike was a little bit challenging but pretty comfortable, it took us just under 2 hours from the parking lot off Fern Dell to the top. One site I read dubbed Griffith Park the “Central Park” of Los Angeles. While it isn’t similar in style or lay-out to NYC’s epic park, it is pretty central. The views of Los Angeles are pretty breath-taking, even if there was a ton of smog.

Next up on the LA-filled day was a late lunch at Umami Burger. Jenn and I had never been and we worked up an appetite while hiking, so we wound up at the La Brea location of what is rumored to be LA’s best burger joint. The interior was uber-trendy – it was a really small location. So small that they were unable to serve beer. Overall, I loved the burger – it had a rich, delicious, and unique flavor and the addition of the parmesan crips was incredible.

menu.

mexican coke (me) and orange crush (jenn).

the holy grail of Los Angeles hamburgers.

onion rings (incredible) and thick-cut fries (also great).

house pickles.

Overall I loved Umami Burger. I thought it was a little bit pretentious (luckily though we went at an odd time and didn’t have to wait), but the burger itself was really tasty. I want to try and check off all of the burgers on this list to find the truly best burger in Los Angeles. (One of my best friends, Kate, is tackling a similar quest in SF on her blog).

Finally, the LA-filled night ended when my friend Aviva asked if I wanted to go out with some of her friends in Hollywood at Playhouse.The music was really great and I liked the venue – probably my favorite nightlife spot thus far in LA.

open-air roof at Playhouse.

cruddy quality but an awesome space.

What a great, extremely sunny, active December day in Los Angeles

What else should I add to the LA bucket-list?

I’m not totally sure where my Vegas (or as I pronounce it, Vaygussss) obsession began, but ever since I went with my family when I was 11 or 12 I have angled to go back as many times as possible. (Most recently was when I went in July). This time around, I went with my two friends from my law school section – Aviva and Amber – and we stayed (insanely cheaply) at the Treasure Island Casino (TI for short).

We started out the trip on Wednesday, December 21 – Aviva drove and we zipped from LA to Vaygusss in just about 4 hours!

We got to Vegas and pretty quickly grabbed food. TI doesn’t have the most amazing food options, so we hopped across the street to the Palazzo and ate at the Grand Lux Cafe. It’s basically a glorified Cheesecake Factory, but the Chipotle Burger and margarita combo I went with hit the spot.

aviva and amber (doing her best kardashian impression).

margs.

view from our room.

That night, we went out at the Encore’s club called Surrender and we ran into one of our section-mates on the dance floor which was was fun!

surrender. more than just a mediocre ashlee simpson song.

We spent Thursday sleeping in, shopping, walking the strip, and of course, going out again. This time we hit up The Venetian’s club, TAO. I’d never been and I’m not sure I’d go back. The music didn’t get decent until 12:45, and although they hooked us up with an open bar, the dance floor was insanely packed we didn’t really have fun until we moved to one of the side rooms, where thankfully they played this song twice.

amber and i on our way to TAO

Other Vegas snapshots:

Paris.

view from the cab.

the bellagio ceiling.

We left Las Vegas Friday morning and made our way back to Los Angeles just in time for Christmas Eve. We made sure to stop at In-n-Out on the way back, I of course went Protein style. Boom.

Vegas was terrific – it was nice to go with a small group and I’d definitely recommend staying at TI!

What’s your favorite place – club/casino/restaurant/whatever – in Las Vegas?

the beer samples our server brought me: tripel, red, and the IPA. Guess which one I picked?

I specifically told the waitress I wanted to try a Lab-brewed beer, none of that guest ale garbage. I went with the IPA and liked it (although Whitney nearly gagged upon tasting it). It was extra hoppy and satisfying, although I didn’t fall out of love with the nearby rival, Ladyface Alehouse’s Cheseboro IPA. 

so hoppy.

water in a beaker! love how the theme was woven throughout.

Whitney and I often decide to share two entrees when we eat togheter (glad we have this whole restaurant thing down). We went with the Mediterranean Salad and the Harvest Pizza. The portions were HUGE and delicious – the pizza had carmelized onions, blue cheese, sqush, and pecans. So good.

Overall, I liked The Lab and would go back, but if you’re ever in the neighborhood I’d still send you to Ladyface first. I’m pretty anti-chain though and pro gastropub, so I’m happy there’s another place that fits my elitest restaurant standards in my parents’ hood. The restaurant also had some pretty impressive murals inside, but I forgot to snap pics.

Here’s one I nabbed from The Lab’s website:

I got home to my parents’ house on the evening of the 23rd after an epic trip to Vegas (post to follow) and have spent the last couple of days unwinding and relaxing. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamales last night (yum) and cinnamon rolls this morning, after we checked out what Santa had left us in our stockings (I got an awesome Starbucks Las Vegas mug, some great gift cards…helloooo In N Out and the App Store – which apps should I get??) and a bunch of other fun little odds and ends.

We also opened our presents this morning – some highlights include Sonicare, this iPhone Case which I am beyond obsessed with (remember the 2008 Olympic Games’ Bird Nest?) I got some great useful things(   fun dishware, towels, sheets) and some other great stuff including a guide to 250 beers from my aunt and uncle, and a Santa Cruz sweatshirt from my little bro. All in all it was a great morning

After presents we drove down to Decker Canyon for a hike. After spending Christmas in freezing Madrid last year, it was so nice to spend Christmas in sunny so-cal this year. Here are some pics from our hike…

Hope everyone is enjoying the day!

Now I’m serious, what are a few must-have iPhone apps!?

Joan’s on Third. In my quest to become Lauren Conrad, my roommate Jenn and I had a lovely Sunday breakfast post-Thanksgiving, pre-Finals at Joan’s on Third, a trendy LA brunch joint. I felt accomplished having checked this off the list before spending the rest of the day surrounded by mens rea terminology and sketch murder cases. It was so nice to see Meredith and Cody, two friends from my sorority, and so nice of them to trek out to WeHo to see us

Jenn and my first trip to Joan's on Third. And yes, I wore a tank top in December. #ILoveLA

Cody and her parfait.

you can LITERALLY never go wrong with oatmeal.

Meredith!

Whitney’s 24th at Hostaria del Piccolo. My best friend’s birthday fell conveniently just before finals, and a big group of her girlfriends went to dinner in Santa Monica (love) at my new favorite (authentic yet modern and innovative) Italian place, Hostaria del Piccolo. The birthday girl and I shared two dishes – a pizza with an egg on top (check that off the life “must” list) and a decadent fig ravioli. It was delicious and such a fun night! I am dying to go back.

new fav italian place

yes, this is as incredible as it looks.

incredibly rich fig-stuffed rav.

My BFF Whitney and me celebrating her 24th! (i try to avoid terms like "biffel" or "bestie")

I cleaned my plate, with the caveat that I’d run 18 miles the next am, only to have to cut it short due to knee pain (I’ll save that for another post). Guess I have to come up with another excuse now, dang.

That same weekend, Whitney and Caroline cooked a delicious meal of potato leek soup and grilled cheese, and invited me over! It was beyond delicious – and now I am realizing that I can never repay them for all of this (unless sarcastic self-deprecating comments count as any form of valid payment?) Maybe over break I can learn to cook half as well as C + W. I’m not holding my breath though, let’s face it.

potato leek soup and grilled cheese.

gingerbread ice cream sandwich.

Jenn’s sister, Christine, is home for winter break from U of Oregon, and she spent a night with us – we put up our Christmas tree, watched the guilty pleasure girl-fest of a movie Something Borrowed, and hit up Urth Caffe in the morning (featured prominently on Season 1 of the Hills, if you wanna know). I went with the granola, excellent call.

Jenn (right) with her sister, Christine at Urth.

granola with everything in it - including pumpkin seeds. Great job, Urth.

I took a break from the dungeon of the LLS library and met my parents for dinner one night downtown at the DTLA Border Grill. I’m a big fan of anything Top Chef, and love Susan Feniger, and I’ve been to the Santa Monica Border Grill before, so I knew we couldn’t go wrong here.

Loved the food and the decor. I am a big fan of Mexican food, especially done in a new, refreshing, and eclectic way. It was also nice to unwind with my parentals (and watch my mom enjoy her margarita while I sipped on water, rough life).

Border Grill DTLA.

my Dad.

my mom and my empanada duo and watercress, jicama, and orange salad with bacon wrapped dates.

Finally, last weekend Amber and I took a break from school for a bit to meet up with our friend Aviva at Los Feliz’s delightful “There’s No Place Like Home.” I don’t spend nearly enough time in Los Feliz – it’s spunky and totally different from where I live and where I go to school – parts of it reminded me of Oakland and the East Bay. So nice to take a break from implied reciprocal negative easements for some grub.

Amber and Aviva at There's No Place Like Home.

spinach dipppp.

warm spinach salad.

That about sums up my eatery adventures for the last few weeks