Small Town Life In Big L.A.

Enjoying The Pier At Avila Beach

When on a Cali central coast getaway one of our favorite places to visit is the pier at Avila Beach. It's only a short drive from our inn in San Luis Obispo.

The sounds of seagulls, the amazing turquoise waters, and the ocean breeze all combine to heighten the experience of being there.

Just below the pier there are steps that lead down to the sea lions that hang out there. Look at how close I am!

Just me and them and boy did they put on a show!!!

Being out in all that fresh air helps you work up an appetite, especially when you smell the aroma of fresh fried seafood. This table called out to us.

What a great time we had at Mersea's! We wanted to try everything but ended up sharing a seafood platter.

Here's a closer look at our perfect lunch in a fabulous setting. Can't wait to go back!

Lot's of fishing going on in these waters. We watched as this guy unloaded his fresh catch of dungeness crab.

Next time we will bring a cooler as all of the seafood is sold fresh at the pier.

Below us the support beams are covered in mussels.

I found Dale enjoying this slice of the Pacific. So relaxing!

Avila reminds me of a cross between the Mediterranean, a European ocean village, and Amity, the town where Jaws was filmed, yet it's Cali all the way. A great place to visit!

 

From Where I Sit...GIFT SHOW Adventures

It's that wonderful time of year again! Shopping & Gift Shows! Thankful to fly out of Burbank airport this time. So close to home!

Here is the view as you approach Las Vegas from the West Coast.

Love the chandeliers at the Paris Hotel. They are huge and sparkly and even more amazing when you are standing under one.

We scored a fabulous patio table for two at Mon Ami Gabi. This French steakhouse is one of our faves! Imagine having Profiteroles for dessert as you watch...

the famous Bellagio fountains! Heavenly!

Back at the room we could enjoy them from afar.

Days were spent shopping at the world class Las Vegas Market. Three high-rise buildings full of state of the art showrooms!

Of course we found LOTS of stuff for our store MOUNTAIN ROSE GIFTS I also watch for trends. The GRAY trend continues across all channels in home decor and apparel.

After a long day shopping we stopped by the courtyard to roast some marshmallows. It was in the low 40's so the fire pits and heat-lamps were most welcome.

Going to Las Vegas is a working vacation for us. Many go to gamble. Not us. We enjoy the restaurants. I think we were given the best table in the house at Jasmine. Located in the Bellagio, it's elegant and has a close up view of the fountains.

Just beautiful!

A fitting end to a delicious Chinese meal.

Walking back to our hotel we realized something was going on. Where were the throngs of people and all the buses and cars??? Turns out Matt Damon was there and they were shooting the new Bourne Identity movie!

We have never seen the strip totally shut down! Amazing!

Shopping the show means you are standing and walking all day. It helps to take a break to get your feet up.

Most of the time we grab a bite in the showrooms on the run but this day we stopped for lunch at a trendy restaurant on the premises.

This is how you feel at the end of a shop 'til you drop day.

Las Vegas has a HUGE new airport that receives people from all over the world.

Bye Vegas! What a great time! What a great show! Thank you Lord for answering our prayers and letting us be able to do this.

 

 

Zip Lining In Kauai

 Well here we go into the backwoods of Kauai's lush North Shore for a 3 hour zip line hike.

 This is our first time Zip Lining and we are at the first zip of nine.

 The idea is to get a running start off the ramp and get into a cannonball position for the ride.

 

 The zips get increasingly longer as they progress.

 

On this one we were encouraged to zip backwards....brave girl that I am here!

Here's one of our group demonstrating how to make a graceful landing. 

The 9th zip was KING KONG and we got to go in tandem. It was long, high, and fast. Thrilling!

Yes! We stepped out of our comfort zones, survived, and learned something new. We hope to do it again!

 

 

The Atlanta Restaurant Scene

When we go on buying trips to Atlanta we shop all day and into the night. At the end of the day we enjoy going out to eat. Atlanta has lots of special, independantly owned restaurants. This is a pic of one of our faves in Virginia Highlands called LA TIVOLA. It's a well run, cozy Italian Bistro with low lighting, excellent service, and "right on" food. This is the view from our booth across the room. It reminds me of those French cafe paintings.

We started with Warmed Olives, simple and delicious. What a variety!

Then we shared this healthy Beet Salad with pistachios and shaved Parmesan. Another winner!

These Roasted Brussel Sprouts were so good. You won't find this at the chains.

Now on to another fave, SOUTH CITY KITCHEN. This is a contemporary restaurant that serves Southern classics with a gourmet twist. Make sure you have a reservation or you won't get in, even in a snow storm. I LOVE starting with their breads: Homemade Bisquits and Corn Bread.

The Fried Chicken is one of their signature dishes. It's piled on top of their impossibly good Mashed Potatoes, covered in gravy, and served with collard greens. YUM!

WISTERIA is another place we don't miss. It's only five minutes from our B&B. How I wish we had this bistro close to our house. I would go every week.

This is one of my all time favorite dinners... anywhere... ever. Believe it or not it's their Vegetable Plate. It has samplings of all the gourmet veggies on the menu that night: mashed potatoes, corn pudding, amazing stone ground grits, purees, and roasted veggies. Who needs meat?

But then again, how can you pass this up?

At Wisteria you must save room for dessert. They are all house made and you can pick 3 for $10 and share. We had the Coconut Cream Pie, Watermelon Gelato, and Apple Crisp with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Why don't more restaurants do this??? Maybe if they did they would be PACKED, late, on a weeknight, during an ice storm like Wisteria was.

Each trip we like to try someplace new. MISO just opened in "the hood" where we stay. I took this pic so you can see what we observed during many of our dining excursions. All the restaurants are trendy, low lights, playing "restaurant style" retro music from decades gone by. There are some serious foodies in this city. Another trend we saw was how young everybody seemed to be everywhere we went. Look at who is sitting here. Where were all the people our age? Where were all the people from the Gift Show?... Actually we finally did see some, but now I'm watching this trend. Maybe they are all in the suburbs?

MISO was great. We started with lightly battered Tofu.

These Fried Oysters were so good we ordered a 2nd batch.

And then on to the good stuff! Hope you enjoyed this blog. I have wanted to write about this for a long time. Can you imagine getting PAID to review restaurants??? Sign me up!

The Atlanta Gift Show 2011

 
This is what I picture when I think of Atlanta...looks like Tara!

Here is what we call "home" on this trip, a peaceful, sunny, B&B close to the Gift Mart.

The ride into Downtown Atlanta. Thankfully all the major roads were clear and traffic was amazingly light. I think a lot of people were scared by the weather reports.

Bundled up and ready to SHOP!!! I'll get rid of all my layers at the coat check.

We stopped to say "hi" to Andrew Young. He sure is tall!

It's shop 'til you drop time!

The Atlanta Mart has 3 high rise buildings that are all connected with tunnels.

It was so nice to meet world renowned artist, author, and designer MARY ENGELBREIT. I liked her right away and hope she comes to visit Montrose on her next L.A. trip.

Got to sip Georgia Peach tea with BETHANY LOWE.

You never know who you might run into! We just happened upon Iron Chef CAT CORA in the hallway. She was there to promote her new cookware line.

We caught a little of Ace of Cakes DUFF GOLDMAN's presentation in the demonstation kitchen.

Duff and I are both from Charm City, aka, Baltimore.

I almost caught Dale sampling candy! I bet it's in his mouth. LOL!

AHH! Do I have to get up? This was such a comfy chair and the builder is right behind me.

A view from inside the Mart. It looks COLD out there!

LOVE the sights, sounds, and peace on the "Garden" floor.

One of our favorite showroom stops is Katherine's Collection. They sure know how to throw a party. Here we are pictured with owners Katherine & Wayne. The end to a fabulous trip! We found so much great stuff for our store, MOUNTAIN ROSE GIFTS.

Dinner At MALA...Lahaina, Maui

Patio with torches right on the ocean

Dale and I had the pleasure of having dinner on this patio during our recent trip to Maui. I have to say this was one of our favorite restaurants and we would definitely go again. I don't think I have ever had dinner this close to the ocean before. The lit torches added a magical touch and the food was healthy and fabulous. We had a whole wok fried fish in black bean sauce, a first for us.

Homemade chips & edamame dip in a volcanic bowl

Appetizer platter with hummus, house olives, & dips

This pic says it all

LOVE the torches

Love the sound of the waves

The Atlanta Gift Show

The Atlanta Mart

This blog is for those of you who always wondered what it would be like to go to a wholesale gift show. As soon as Christmas is over we hop a plane to start buying for the next one. Atlanta has 3 hi-rise buildings full of wholesale gifts and home decor. Here is the inside of just one of the buildings. There is floor after floor, showroom after showroom.

Inside Bldg. 3

Some showrooms are small. Others are so large you can get lost inside. Quite often Dale and I have to use our cell phones to find each other in a showroom.

A Showroom Display

I love getting ideas from the showroom displays. It is like painting with merchandise.

Shopping

Usually, next to a display, all of the items used are presented on boards for ordering.

Alton Brown Doing A Demo

There are always celebrities at this show. They are promoting their new books, lines, etc. This year included Alton Brown and Tyler Florence from The Food Network. It was fun to see Alton up close.

Alton Up Close

You can also count on meeting the artists and designers of well known lines.

An Artist Signing

This trip we had a surprise. SNOW!

It's SNOWING!

A Snowball!

While Dale was out collecting snowballs from our veranda I was busy working.

Working Away

Here is a view of Downtown Atlanta. Most buyers stay in hotels within walking distance of the Mart. We like to rent a car and stay in a B&B. It's so much more relaxing.

Downtown Atlanta

Almost There

Every trip is always memorable. This time I took pics from our favorite restaurants for a food blog (coming soon). In the meantime I'll leave you with this laugh.

Hey! That's MY Pants!