mmmm? - eh.

So there is a new(ish) restaurant in town with a fancy name and bright colors. I want to like it SO BAD. It's got outdoor seating (bring your dogs!), dark wood interior, sangria (!!), takes online reservations (cuz, y'know I am afraid of talking on the phone), there are lots of friendly servers, and it has a well designed website and menu. In my quest to force it into being my new favorite restaurant I've gone there 4 times in the last month.

La Grande Orange. A failed love story.

First visit:
breakfast: hash browns, huevos rancheros, latte.
The foam on the latte was beautiful and decent. The hash browns were greasy and delicious. And the huevos rancheros needed salt.

Second visit:
breakfast: egg salad sandwich, hash browns, orange juice.
The OJ was fresh squeezed and yum!
Hash browns were a little greasier this time. Still didn't stop me from plowing through them. The egg salad needed a lot of salt.

Third visit:
dinner: Sweet potato roll, Seared Ahi Tuna Tacos, red sangria.
The roll - omg. Soooo good. The "seared" ahi tacos were completely cooked and flavorless. The person I was with also ordered them and hers came with a side of mayo instead whatever more appropriate but completely forgettable condiment mine came with. It was just a mistake but it was kind of nasty for her to dunk it in the mayo. (unless you like mayo. then you would have been happy.)

The red sangria, along with the LGO cocktail she had were both really really good. They also have white sangria during the summer.

Fourth visit:
dinner: Sweet potato roll, miso-glazed salmon roll, crunchy tuna roll, red sangria and my friend had turkey meatloaf and a decaf coffee (uh? What?) and warm cookie with ice cream.

Again, the sweet potato roll was really good, altho not as good as the first time. The salmon roll is their "signature" roll and it was just ok. The crunchy tuna roll was equally meh. Her turkey meatloaf looked just like very thin lunch meat style slices of turkey COVERED in gravy (this is bad, unless of course you like your food to be drowned. you probably also like mayo. whatever drowns your boat.). She thought her coffee was bitter. And for desert she didn't think the teeny scoop of ice cream was worth an extra buck.

They say it's all seasonal and organic. And I am pretty sure they shop at the local farmer's markets - all of these things are a yay. Their food is just really underwhelming.

I think it is a fine place. Food is very average and very bland - so keep the salt close! I like the atmosphere and will continue to go back and try new things. It's a great place if you want to take visitors who are used to bland chain restaurants (I'm talking to you Cheesecake Factory) but want to try something in Santa Monica before you stroll them down Main St.

La Grande Orange
2000 Main St
SM CA 90405

not news

So I have a rare couple of minutes before I have to leave for work - let's check the news and see what is going on in the world!

Pop stars are still dead

A woman was frightened by cricket like 50 years ago

A dermatologist has probably seen an increase in business

Drug use is on the rise - oh wait, that's just in our house - husband has a pinched nerve and was given a pharmacy to heal it.

People are still stupid enough to think Red Bulls are good for them

I don't read the news for many reasons - it's sensationalized, it's gossipy. it's not "news" - I mean the fact that CNN's top headline story is also the top story in their entertainment section should tell you something.

ok, so CNN sucks for news... let's try Reuters

Christie's has an iPhone app.

BBC?

Sometimes older people die.

NPR??
wow - NPR actually has a lot of news news... holy shit, it's depressing.

I'm sticking with blogs and Twitter. If something is important it will find me.

BookClub!

I am in a bookclub. This should be obvious because A) I am a woman in my mid-30s, B) I like to drink* and C) I have friends who are also A & B. and d) we all at one point either read a lot or thought it would be good for us to read (that got a little "d" because it was very minor in the decision to form a bookclub, oh the irony.).

ANYWAY - With very few exceptions we have met every month for 6 years (seriously, 6 years is impressive!!) We don't ALL always go every month and the cast members have changed a bit and we have probably all thought about dropping out at one time but it is a really great time to see our friends, eat some foods, drink some wines and relax. The thing is. We really don't read. This makes us probably A LOT like most other bookclubs who are A, B and Cs. We don't read so much that we actually started alternating bookclub and gamenight every other month. Except that we don't play games either.

So, this month we read a book. And. I actually read it. GET THE FUCK OUT! I swear. I finished it even. And I didn't even like it. Since we probably won't talk about the book tonight at our monthly meeting I thought I would give you my 20 words or less review:

Repetitive
Melodramatic
Cliché
Obvious
Buy it used if you must read it

meh.

*- I shit you not, while I was writing this someone said to me: "You OBviously like beer and wine…"

PB&B

Things that make me go: meh - Pat Benatar, Blondie and The Donnas are playing

At first I was like: "wow, who the fuck cares..." And then I remembered that I am (still) trying to be more positive and less judgmental and thought "I am sure LOTS of people care, and I probably even know some of them. However, I personally do not care and would not spend a nickel on that show.(except I probably actually thought SHIT and not SHOW)" Ok, I MIGHT spend a nickel - but only if the beers were free. And then I thought - "oh, it's probably part of the Fair tour" except I was thinking it in a really judgy way because fair concerts suck ass (and then I replayed the whole positive, know people who like that shit, conversation with myself)... and I was right. Fair tour. OC Fair - I've been thinking that I need to go to the OC Fair instead of the LA County Fair for a change of pace (even though they are all, literally, the same)... maybe we'll go. and you know what, we would probably have a really good time... we will never know.

Oh and that date on the link is wrong but I don't care.