Weekend in LA

Jason and I spent this past weekend in LA. Jason is a huge Dodger's fan (I know...), and he goes to a home Dodger's game every summer. This year he insisted that I come along and experience my first game at Dodger's stadium...

We left early Saturday morning (6am) and made a quick stop at Anderson's Pea Soup. Jason got a cup of split pea soup for the road at 7:45am. Gross.

Split pea soup at 7:45am.

We first headed down to Santa Monica. We were planning on spending the afternoon at the beach, but it was pretty overcast and a bit chilly. Instead we had lunch down by the pier and then walked around 3rd St. Promenade and got some Coffee Bean (Jason's first experience). If anyone knows me well, you know I LOVE Coffee Bean! On Saturday night we went to Downtown Disney, which was so cool. I had never been there before, and I loved the ambiance. It is so fun. We ate at this amazing restaurant called Ralph Brennan Jazz Kitchen. It is designed with New Orlean's architecture and ambiance - with an open-air courtyard in the middle of the restaurant (which is where we sat). They also have a jazz club, which you can hear in the background while you eat. Sometimes you sacrifice good food for the sake of good ambiance, but the food here was amazing! We had coconut golf shrimp with a pineapple-mango salsa as an appetizer, and for dinner I had blackened salmon with blue crab, and Jason had the seafood jambalaya. We were both blown away by the food.

The fountain that was next to our table at RB Jazz Kitchen

Downtown Disney

On Sunday we went to John MacArthur's church (one of Jason's favorite pastors). Unfortunately he wasn't preaching, but the guy who was, Steve Lawson, was amazing, so it ended up being a win-win situation. After church, Jason took me to his all-time favorite Mexican food restaurant called El Tepeyac. I was served the biggest burrito I have ever attempted to eat! I ate about a fourth of mine; Jason polished his off. No surprise there.

My burrito at El Tepeyac - huge!

Jason's finished product next to my finished product.

Jason and his cleared plate.

We spent Sunday afternoon in the Venice Beach area before heading to the Dodger game. We had great seats at the game (lower level in the outfield by the first baseline) and sat next to such a fun crowd. While I'm no Dodger's fan, I must say that my first experience at a Dodger's game was a blast (and I did wear Dodger blue...but NOT a Dodger's shirt. I figured that since they were playing the Cubs, I was technically neutral since the Cubs are also the same shade of blue). The Dodger's beat the Cubs 7-0, so of course Jason was a happy camper.

My first Dodger Dog - When in Rome...?

We tried to go see the Hollywood sign on Sunday night after the game, but didn't really have directions, so after roaming around the Hollywood Hills for a while, we finally gave up and settled for some Diddy Riese. So good!

We left on Monday morning, and made a stop in Hanford on the way home to see my grandma and my mom's whole side of the family. Jason hadn't meet Grammy yet, so I wanted to make sure that happened sooner than later (especially since Grammy is turning 99 in a few months). We had a great time visiting with family (plus, my mom, sisters, and nieces came down too, so it was quite a full house). Jason and I had a great first trip together and are looking forward to many more!