Takami

I planned a date night for Al and I.  We had dinner at Takami in downtown LA.  The sushi was pretty good and the views were amazing.

Cheers.  Love me a mojito, but I feel like no one ever gets it right when you ask for a virgin.

Yellowtail sashimi.

It's rare these days when we get to have time to ourselves.   It makes me miss those days when we were dating and first married.  The older we get the more complicated and committed our lives become.

We found a yummy dessert place a few blocks away.  They had delicious crepes and Italian sodas.

I'm thankful that I have such a great husband who I couldn't imagine my life without.

LACMA

3 Sundays without Al is pretty boring especially when 1 is general conference and the 2nd is stake conference.  I was proud that Alex and I made it through an hour of stake conference.  That afternoon we met my friend Joanna at the LACMA in Los Angeles.  Sunday's are the best days to drive in LA because the traffic isn't as bad.

The famous Chris Burden light sculptures.  There is 202 to be exact.  Alex thought it was pretty cool to run through them.

After all the pictures I've taken of him you think he would  be a pro, but he fights me every time.

Teaching Alex about Picasso while he snacks on some chips.

They had some cool kid exhibits, but I wasn't letting him out of his stroller until I knew I had to.  Crouching down like this for a picture is so uncomfortable when you're pregnant.

One of the coolest exhibits was the Metropolis II where miniature cars speed through the city.

This picture makes me laugh.

Snack time with Joanna.

and dinner.  I hope Alex is always sweet like this.  

The Conga

Doctors appointments are a little tricky with Alex.  Lots of snacks and my phone is the key, but I'm constantly moving around until the Dr comes in.  I could be in trouble in a few weeks when I start having weekly appointments and have to sit there with no pants on and a piece of paper over me.

Grocery shopping is getting tricker by the week with Alex.  We found these at Vons and I might have to do all our shopping there even if it's more expensive than everywhere else.  I felt like a mother of 10 pushing this thing down the aisle.  I had to start turning to right as I walked down an aisle if I wanted to make it out of that aisle.

I've been trying to take Alex to the park a lot, but I've noticed he gets bored if I take him to the same one.  We went to Lacy Park last week and he was loving it.  He went down this big slide at least 20 times.  

We finally made it to the El Paseo fountains and he was in heaven. 

I've never heard him babble so loud.  It was hilarious

On Saturday we had tickets to the UCLA game.  It has been sooooo hot in LA so we decided to wait until Alex was done with his nap to go.  We walked down to the game and I was already about to pass out.  Look at poor Alex's cheeks in this picture.

We were melting in this picture

Learning about football.  I still don't get it.

That night we went out with a bunch of friends.  Our friend Wyatt has ChondroSarcoma in his left foot and was scheduled to get a below the knee amputation a few days later.  His last request was to go dancing so we had a yummy dinner at Petes Cafe in LA and then went dancing at the Conga room.

Dancing was a blast even if I only lasted a few songs.  I felt like I was shaking the baby up in there...lol

We love the Dannels family and give our love, support and prayers to them at this difficult time.  They are an amazing family and we are thankful to have them in our lives.  

Cinco

On Cinco De Mayo 16 days ago, late again we took Alex to a carnival.  He enjoyed his first piece of Cotton Candy and Cascarone cracked on his head.

One of the more expensive carnivals I've been too....$6 for a hamburger and the cheese wasn't even melted.   I did score some used books for $1 a piece so it worked out.

Alex was so worn out he passed out on the way home.

 That week was one of the worst craving weeks ever.  Commercials and any food people would bring up instantly brought on a craving. I think I had KFC, Greek, pizza, and that day it was Chinese, so we went to the best Chinese restaurant we know in LA called Yang Chow.  I always wanted Mexican with Alex, ALWAYS, but I'm all over the map with this pregnancy.  I had spicy chicken with vegetables.

and Al had their speciality, slippery chicken.

We love you Yang Chow

Yang Chow is in the heart of China Town and the first time we ate there we stumbled upon The Garage.  2 1/2 years later it's still in business.

 I made Al walk through their for some Saturday night excitement.  

It was a pretty eventful Cinco De Mayo.

Flower Market

Last weekend Jenny and I went to the Los Angeles Flower Market.  I've always heard how great their flowers are, but haven't ever gone to look in the 3 years we've lived in LA.  I might make it a weekly trip so I constantly have fresh flowers at our house:)

The prices are amazing.  For example 15 long stem roses for $7.75 and they all look fabulous.

Every kind of flower and plant you can imagine.

Jenny found some hydrangeas and I bought Al some roses, such a good wife.

That night we went to dinner at Firefly in Studio City.  We had the most amazing food.  I feel like I haven't talked about food in awhile so here I go.  We had Mussels on a skillet with lemon and butter for our appetizer.

 I had some delicious steak with Shitake Potatoes, and for dessert Al had his own and the rest of us shared the warm chocolate soup.  I have never had chocolate soup, but this is definitely something that should be pinned.

It was a fun night and something we need to do at least once a month.

Splendid

On Friday Jenny and I went to the sample sale in Downtown LA. We just happened to stumble onto the Ella Moss and Splendid Sample Sale that only happens twice a year. I've never seen anything like this. It was madness!!

The sale was on the top floor of a business building and the entire room was full of racks of clothes. When we walked into the room there were hundreds of women grabbing items off the racks. They had club music blasting so, the only natural thing to do was join them and start grabbing clothes with them. Poor Alex had no choice, but to join me and Jenny in what turned out to be a 3 hour adventure....lol Notice in the next picture how Jenny is showing me a shirt, the kids clothes were the best!!

There were signs posted everywhere that said you couldn't try on the clothes, but of course no one was listening.

Here is the pile of clothes we tried on. Since there aren't dressing rooms or mirrors we had to take pictures of each other and trust each others opinions :)

Alex had a blast.....he also had a nap, feeding, and 2 diaper changes while we were there. So glad he loves shopping like his mom.

Our final choices

Randomly my cousin Jess was in LA and just happened to be in the Fashion District too, so we met up for a bit and said hi.

Alex in his new Splendid shirt. He's all about touching fabrics and textures right now. He loves how soft his new Splendid shirts are.