Measure D - The Skateboard Park Issue

I see a lot of musings going on one way and the other.
All I can say is:
1. you say that you don't want to pay for a special interest issue. Well, what do you say when you have to fix my road and my sidewalk. Am I a special interest?
2. that they should feel badly for wanting what they want instead of a band-aid and then ask for what they really want. Sorry, but go for what's going to solve the problem long term.
3. that they'll take parking away from people. Let's not forget that used to be a filling station for the police (yeah, I parked there as a teen and found out the hard way). It wasn't there's for long, and the police are going to be moving near Rite-Aid soon anyway. So what's the big deal.
Kids need something to do...I grew up here when there was a gaming place (back when that meant pool, air hockey and space invaders) but it didn't last long..let me repeat "KID'S NEED SOMETHING TO DO"
so i'm pro measure D.

California Cafe Rises from the ashes

The other evening, I was able to have a special holiday dinner with my daughter while my husband had drinks at C.B. Hannigans.
We decided to try California Cafe. It had gotten stale, if not contrived.
It was everything BUT this time around. We had a delightful and sparkly time!

The menu was similar in that it had a variety of types of entrees and appetizers. You don't go here unless you intend upon spending money. Everything is a la carte.

They're very family friendly and had a cool Manga style kids menu with crayons. They have a bento box meal for kids, or they can order the items separately. All my princess wanted was spaghetti and chocolate milk. The glass they brought had a cool LED in the bottom that flashed red, green and blue. It was spectacular in the dimmed light and brought much delight to the people sitting around us. Her dessert was "milk and cookies" which would be any child's delight. There were two sugar based cookies that tasted homemade.

I had a green leaf salad which had candied walnuts on it and a delightful vinaigrette dressing.

Imagine my surprise when I saw coq au vin the menu. It takes forever to cook. I know! I've made it a few times. Of course I ordered it, and was so happy with the results. Thrilled, actually. The meat was so tender and fell off the bone. The sauce was marvelously seasoned. And the potatoes and onions. I only wish there were a few more. And that was OK leaving me wanting more. The portion size was perfect to sate my appetite and not feel stuffed to the gills.

The service was delightful even though there were a lot of large parties (it is near the holidays). Our server was knowledgeable on wine pairings. I had said I wanted a Pinot to go with my meal, and she recommended the one that I'd been leaning towards! Whoohoo, validation!!

The pacing was relaxed, the water glass stayed full, and the check was promptly brought and processed once I was all finished.

But what really tickled my fancy? I sent my compliments to the chef about the coq au vin, and he came out to thank me for enjoying it. Huzzah! Did I feel special.

We'll be back, no doubt about it.

iPhone rocks!

Yes, I did get an iPhone and I hope you did too. They are so much fun!

I'm sure you've noticed the new stores in the main drag...Napa Style is pretty cool. Kind of funny that it's so close to Smith & Hawkin. I do miss the antique store that used to be there with the lions out front. The owners were a very cool gay couple who were so amazingly nice. I hope they were able to retire somewhere and have a relaxing life.

And where the fire was? They removed the plywood and you can see the facade. I like the smooth look of the new buildings.

I'm heading to walk down there in a little while. I need to buy my best friend a Borders' gift card for her birthday. Don't tell her! I'd hate to ruin the surprise tonight when we go to Kyoto Palace.

And finally, congratulations to Manresa for getting another 2 stars in the Michelin guide! Well done, folks!

Apple Store and the iPhone

I was walking downtown this past Friday headed to Petroglyph to fetch my daughter. She, of course, conned my husband & me into taking her into Powells for some candy. I still had a vanilla Charleston Chew in the freezer, so I'm good.

We walked past this big grey wall, and my husband said "Oh, that must be where they're putting in the Apple Store" (I won't say that the large Apple and 'Apple Store Coming Soon' was right there too.). I'm excited about it.

My dad actually bought the iPhone on the day it came out. I went to see Ratatouille at the Los Gatos Theater at the same time. I saw Ratatouille again, and he bought an iPhone for his wife. He's bought the Blue tooth headsets for them and everything. I haven't seen him this excited over a toy in YEARS. They are beautiful, and they're great for texting, email, photos, and calls. I can hear him more clearly then I could with his old cell phone provider. Two thumbs up, go and get yourself an iPhone. I'll get one when my current Razr breaks...it shouldn't take long knowing me. Then I'll put all my audio books and podcasts on that, and can fill up my red Nano with music. Ah, the joys of listening to various things while walking.

Been busy

Hey, I've been busy. Crummy excuse, but it happens. My job went away because I wouldn't relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina. When "They" came out to woo me, I had them take me to Viva. I drove. I made sure I pointed out where Woz lives and Peggy Flemming. And the lovely downtown with the free shuttle.

Which isn't so free anymore. Check out this link: http://losgatosobserver.com/los-gatos/Article.php?article_id=0394&PHPSESSID=48456f5c766010c0d2eb18cbbc3bdb15

They're going to start charging for the free shuttle service starting July 1st. I will grant you that a buck isn't going to break my piggy bank...oh wait, I'm unemployed, so it just might. Darn, I'll have to start walking more.

And after dinner and dessert at Viva, they never asked me again if I'd consider relocating. I mean, shoot, where else can you eat al fresco without heat lamps in March?

Walkin' Girl

I've been doing a lot of walking these days. I walked the Jones Road to Lexington hike three times in about 9 days. It's glorious in March. I keep having these flashes about how it used to be & how it is now. It's funny...I'd get part way to Lexington as a child & then come back...now, 1.2 miles is nothing.
I led my Girl Scout troop there, and we saw two banana slugs (yes, I picked one up & tried to get them to kiss it, but to no avail), one lizard & one furry thing that looked REALLY big (they came running screaming about it).

Sure, there's probably mountain lions & bobcats there. But I can't see that they'd care for us in the middle of the day. There's enough water to keep the deer up near the top pof the hills.

And I've been walking around town when my daughter takes her class at the rec center. I walk down to Los Gatos Meats and buy beef jerkey & chow down as I walk back. That is truly some of the FINEST beef jerkey ever.

In fact, I'm going to get some now :-D

Nice evening for a walk

Ok, back to the weather. My goodness, was yesterday just perfect or what? Only in California can we truly say "Yup, another crummy day in paradise." My daughter and I rode our bicycles to the Safeway on Union and Los Gatos-Almaden since I got a little too earnest in cleaning and threw out her toothbrush. Oops.

We bicycled back home up Los Gatos-Almaden and stopped to look in the Los Gatos Memorial cemetary. One day, I'll cycle in there with her and look at some of the gorgeous gravestones. There are some really intricate ones, and it looks like there's one crypt. I won't take her around Halloween or a full moon, though.

She didn't have school today, and once my husband came home, I grabbed the ipod and said I had to go to the store to get stuff to make dinner. Which was true. So I reached the light at Los Gatos-Almaden and Los Gatos Blvd when Big Log by Robert Plant came on. The sky was the most beautiful liquid gold with white puffy clouds drifting, and a small plane was slowly moving away and over the mountains. It was the perfect soundtrack for such a glorious site. I was reminded why it's important to get out and find the beauty and happiness in the mundane.

Christmas Day

I'd meant to post this on Christmas Day but was having too much fun to remember to write anything.

Christmas Eve, my father and stepmom and brother-in-law came over and we drank and ate. I'd made my late mother's "world famous" manicotti recipe. She'd made it for years and years, and we make it at special times. It takes time to make. If you're interested, let me know and I'll post it.

I'd bought the ingredients at Lundardi's. What a GREAT place. Salvatore is my favorite checker. He teased me to no end at my bad Italian accent. It's "manicotti" not "manicatti." I said it was because my mother was from "joisey" that my accent was so bad.

I'd bought 2001 Mount Edan Vinyards Merlot, and it was perfect. It had the UMPH required for the strong flavor of the slow cooked tomato base. My brother in law brought a bottle of Sterling Cabernet & it was nice, but it would have been better with a roasted chicken. It was a calmer wine.

But why did I bring up Christmas? Oh, for memories of course. I remember how much fun I had marching in the Christmas parade when I was a Girl Scout. And once I became a teen, all the joy went out of my life :-) I had to take the SAT the same day as the parade, and I forgot, and was trying to get back home after the SAT (and you remember how DRAINED you felt???) and couldn't get back because E. Main Street was still closed. Now mind you, back then, not many Los Gatos Teens had cars (I was borrowing my Dad's '78 Buick station wagon) and no one had credit cards & few had cash. So I had maybe a few bucks. Maybe. And I can't go home, and so I went to Oak Meadow & walked around until I knew I could go back home. Boy was I pissed :-)

My favorite memory was when my brother & I would go for a walk in the afternoon. We'd go down to the 7-11, get junk food, and then toss a football around on the lawn of the library. One year, we walked all the way down to the 7-11 where Blossom Hill hits N. Santa Cruz! We could walk forever and talk about anything and everything. 7-11 was the only thing open on Christmas Day, I should mention.

My brother hasn't been home for Christmas in about 10 years. When he'd come home, we'd go to Mervyn's and I'd buy him a new wardrobe. I miss him so much. I'm glad he's happy and doing what he wants to do, and I'm so proud of him. Doesn't make me miss him any less.

Main Street Burgers

So the other month, we met my parents at Main Street Burgers in Lyndon Plaza. They'd fetched our daughter from school, and so my husband & I went "whoohoo, we get a date hour!!" We parked behind Mountain Charleys (so we obviously got there early), and walked down to C. B. Hannigans where my husband tried two single malt scotches. Good thing we were walking since he hadn't eaten anything in 5 hours and they both went to his head. It was cute & endearing since he rarely does anything like that. We promised ourselves that we'd find a date time to go there & let him try the cask strength. He read somewhere that this one guy drank cask strength and woke up 2 days later face down in the backyard. We might be able to do that today since our daughter is going over to her grandparents to make cookies.

So, Main Street Burgers got two big thumbs up. My daughter got a hot dog and ate it all up which is unusual. I got the regular burger & it was fabulous, perfectly cooked, etc. The fries and onion rings weren't greasy. Husband got the blue cheese burger & swore we're going back since he couldn't get enough of it.

It was a nice evening and we sat outside watching cars & letting our daughter run around while we finished up. My parents had been there before a few weeks prior & were hesitant...the food was good, but they hadn't had the outdoor seating, and there was no one else there, and the staff all sat there staring at them to see if they wanted or needed anything. I can't see that as happening any more since every time I walk past, I see people in there.

So give it a try!

Bridge to lunch memories

My daughter was taking tap/ballet classes through the recreation department and since it was only an hour, I'd go for a walk around. Earlier this summer, I was surprised to see that the bridge between Forbes Mill and Old Town was locked off. So when I went down to poke around, I was delighted that the bridge is open again. There were a lot of lovely paintings done by the local Girl Scout troops.

During high school, my friends & I would run to Old Town using that bridge because of B. J. Bull pasties. My favorite was the beef and mushroom. I can't remember what Sean and Brent got. But we'd grab them and run back and eat lunch in some classroom before having to get to the next class.

I was so bummed when B. J. Bull's closed down. I imagine the rent at Old Town was outrageous even then. So, when I worked at Adobe in the mid 90s, I was tickled pink to see them at the San Jose Farmer's Market, and the beef and mushroom pasty tasted just as good as I'd remembered, which doesn't happen very often!

Kuletto's is Gone

I was down at the rec building waiting for my daughter's beginning tap/ballet class to end when I realized that Kulettos is no longer at the new hotel. I forgot to write down the name of the new one.

Still, how does this bode? I wonder why Kuletto's didn't make it. There's a wedding at the hotel every weekend. They wouldn't be hurting for clientele. I had one friend go there for her husband's 40th and they spent $200 for 4 people including wine, which isn't unreasonable considering that they did a full meal.

I never went there because, well, you know me. I love Viva.

It's August Already in Los Gatos

Well, it's finally the dog days of summer. I hope you all snuck out last Friday the 9th to see the Perseids as it was the best day for it. We walked over to the school around 9pm so it wasn't the best viewing, and we saw 4 in 15 minutes. By then, my daughter was "bored beyond belief" and insisted it was time to go home and put her to bed.
So, we did and she had the nerve to protest that she was no longer tired. Can you imagine.

Domus is a Happy Place

My daughter wanted to make vegetable soup yesterday. We don't really have any small soup cups, and dear hubby likes to have a small amount of soup before dinner, and frankly it looks silly have a small amount in our regular sized cereal bowls.

So, to Domus we go. Their tagline is that they're "Your Lifestyle Shop" and I'd have to agree. Considering I've been buying stuff there since it was called Habitat, it's grown with my lifestyle.

So, we ended up buying some beautiful Japanese style tea cups with a blue glaze to use as our soup bowls. And it was just the right size.

An Anniversary Made in Viva and C.B. Hannigans

Ok, so that's virtually heaven.

For our 12 year anniversary, we had dinner at Viva. We started with clam chowder, and were really impressed at how "clammy" it tasted. They used real salt pork instead of cheating with bacon. And it was served HOT. I love my soup hot. I have viognier and hubby had an 18 year maccallan. I had the most delicious spit roasted lamb with red potatoes and green beans. I had a glass of Syrah with this and it matched perfectly.

Hubby had a delightful beef chop that was served over prime rib hash, mixed veggies (they called it a ragout), and blue cheese mashed potoates. The special was with garlic, but he requested the blue cheese ones, and they're always happy to accomodate.

We skipped dessert, and found a parking spot behind Sur La Table. I was shocked. It was like 630pm. There were PARKING SPOTS. It was a Saturday!! And Smith & Hawken was even closed. Very odd.

So we walked up one side window shopping & then crossed & popped into C.B. Hannigans where hubby could try expensive single malt scotches with impunity. We tried Oban and Bruichladdich 10 year which was clear as a bell. I confess, I'm not that hot on hard alcohol, and I'm really particular about what I kiss on his breath, and I loved both of these. The next day we went to BevMo and bought the Oban 14 year.

The weather was warm, and the evening was delightful.

Gotta love the Los Gatos Library

So, I took a mini-vacation and went ... to Los Gatos! Wait, I am already in Los Gatos. It's true, sometimes there is no place like home.

I went to the Los Gatos Public Library website to see about some events since it's fun to go hang out there. And there's going to be a local author on the 18th.

The book is called The Bad Man from Bodie: The Life and Violent Death of John Franklin Showers. I went to Borders to find out if they had any, being a local author and all, and they didn't. However, they snagged the flyer from me, and intend upon ordering them. Hoorah!

So if you're interested in meeting the author and getting a book and getting it signed, go to the Los Gatos Council Lobby on the 18th at 7pm. The flyer is here but be warned, it's a pdf doc.

Diving the strip and what do i see?

So, I had to go into downtown to Sur La Table and get a Lodge Chicken Fryer....yes, I have been watching too much foodnetwork thanks for asking...and so I'm parked behind in that center parking area.
And I flash back when there used to be a rug shop on the bottom and a French restaurant on the top. I can't remember the names for the life of me, but you accessed them through the parking lot. Anyway, the French restaurant used to have a Sunday buffet. When Ma was out of town once, Daddy took us there for brunch. I flirted with the matre d and he brought me a special dessert. Fresh strawberries with brown sugar and triple sec. To this DAY that's my absolute favorite dessert.

Ok, so after I get out of Sur La Table (you don't want to know the final bill...I needed a meat tenderizer too, and my daughter needed a treat), I'm driving down N. Santa Cruz and where Ford's Cleaners & Crown Books used to be is GUTTED. They're remodeling or something. I hope there wasn't a fire or anything.

Ford's Cleaners was there forever and a day. I remember walking past that day after day seeing their advertisments for preserving your wedding gown, and it filled my head with flowers and dreams.

Of course, I eloped so that's another story.

Are the clouds usual

Well, yes, actually the cloudy weather is usual. When it gets really hot inland, it sucks the marine layer in from the coast and keeps us at moderate temperatures.
I'm honestly not complaining because my last PG&E bill was over $300.

Remember what Samuel Clemens once said...about the coldest summer of his life was spent in San Francisco....darn, I wish I could find the exactly quote. If you know it, post it in the comments.

Town Counsel or Console Me

Ok, I'm an idiot, I admit it. I really don't know who is on the Town Council let alone mayor of Los Gatos. Sure I voted, and at the time, I read all the biographies. But the truth is, my head is in the sand about all of this. I really don't know what the issues are, what their goals are, or even who they are.
And I consider myself politically active.
I'm so ashamed. Time to start acting locally and get my head up & looking again.

What's with all the type A personalities?

So, I was complaining about trying to ride my bicycle with all the insane drivers. And of course, I had nothing but good experiences the rest of the week. People were giving me wide berth. I do appreciate that.

It got me to thinking, though. What are we all in such a hurry for?

Think about this for a second. You're in a rush to get ahead. But who are you getting ahead of, and why? Where are you going? Some of the best times are spent in the moment. The ability to look at someone & genuinely understand them. The moment when the rollercoaster is just about to go down that first drop.

The end of the race is death, and I'm not in any hurry to get there.

Hot hot hot hot hot...ouch

Ok, so I made the mistake of walking around outside barefoot the other evening. Well, my daughter had learned to ride wtihout training wheels as I may have mentioned (is it obvious that I'm a proud parent?) and every night after dinner without fail for the last 4 weeks, we have gone outside so she could ride her bike around. Ok, so it's 98, and I go outside and I'm running around with her until such a point as I realize "Ok, this was not one of my brighter moments." I had her do her loop around the school while I watched, and then we went back home so I could put on my Tevas.
Then the three of us bicycled around the school in the oppressive heat and by the time I got home, my brain was more melted then a soft serve cone in direct sunlight.
It's cooling down a bit...I think we were only 93 instead of 98.
The corn isn't doing well not because I don't water it daily (sometimes twice a day) but because when I let my cat out (15 years old and a spitfire), she goes over & chews on it. Today, she pulled one of the better ones out entirely & it's sitting there with its little roots exposed. Oh I was not happy. She got no table scraps tonight.