Weekend Recap: Keys & Hiking

Maybe it was because the stress of house-hunting was over, or because we had already had an impromptu date night at the Clippers Game, but by Thursday night I was exhausted. So instead of our plan of dinner and a movie, we had dinner and then went home to watch TV and relax.

Green Street: Salads, Zucchini Bread, & Chips

Friday night called for more relaxing. Saturday was exciting though, because we got the keys to our new place:

Our First Box in the New Place!

As you can see, we still have a lot more packing and moving to do. Thankfully, we have our "old" place until the end of the month, so we can do a slow move and just drop stuff off on our lunch break, or after work.

After signing some papers and picking up our keys, it was off to lunch with Joe's mom:

We tried two different restaurants, both of which were packed, before we wound up at Buca di Beppo's for some mashed potatoes and eggplant parmesan. As you can see from the picture above, there were no mashed potatoes. Apparently Buca replaced them with roasted red potatoes, which I'm sure are healthier, but they're not really a substitute for mashed potatoes. Joe's mom told the server we didn't like them, so instead they brought out green beans, which are definitely healthier, but no where near the mashed potatoes we originally wanted. We're still puzzling over why they would get rid of mashed potatoes? They're simple to make, the ingredients are cheap, everyone liked them...It just doesn't make sense. Oh well, the eggplant parm was delicious.

Sunday really should have been spent packing, but we wanted to start off with a hike. This week we chose the old Marx Brothers' estate in Alta Dena. This was by far the hardest hike we have done recently. It's not the first time I've hiked that trail, but it's the first time since I've been pregnant. It felt like we were climbing straight up for miles. When we reached the first mile marker, I was convinced that a "0" had fallen off, and it meant to say: Mile 10. But no. I checked my pedometer and we really had only gone a mile. I didn't make it much further than that before we turned around. 2+ miles was good enough for this 7-months pregnant lady.

Pre-Hike Breakfast: Veggie Omelets, Hash Browns, Fruit, & Fruit Pastries

Me, right before I tripped over a rock

 

Taking a breather

tree tunnel

Post-hike we redeemed a Groupon we had bought for Amy's Patio Cafe. The food was pretty good, but the service was a little slow. Also, they could benefit from some fans or a/c. I got a summer berry and walnut salad and Joe got the savory omelet. He wasn't a huge fan because his omelet had goat cheese. He's tried goat cheese in the past and didn't like it, but he decided to give it another chance. Turns out, he still isn't a fan. Kudos to him for being adventurous though. We split the pancakes. And the highlight of Amy's is their zucchini bread, which comes free with the meal. Sooo yummy.

After that, our plan was to pack. In reality, we were exhausted and wound up vegging out for the rest of the day.