the review: vacation from my problems

World’s worst blogger coming at you live from the kitchen table. No posts in almost two weeks? Don’t you know that is a lifetime in the world of social media? Are you trying to commit blog suicide? Perhaps I am but, as it happens, I’ve had too much living going on to actually sit down and write about it. First was my week away - the previously mentioned staycation in which the road was calling and I ended up in Southern California. Then was the return, which included at least 15 loads of laundry, a major (kids’) bedroom clean out and rearrange, the finding of my underwear in my girls’ laundry (are you kidding me?), a toy closet clean out, a birthday party, vacuuming every twenty minutes as my husband finished sanding the stairs, and the beginning of (the parent involvement portion of) fall sports. It’s been a doozy of a couple of two weeks.

I’m working on it. Let’s all just be clear about the reality. I don’t think I will be able to get organized until my kids are back in school. Somewhat backwards, I know, but it is the truth. I was able to get away for almost a week and my head was mostly clear for at least three days. Three out of 365 isn’t bad, right?

If there was one thing that I did well on vacation, it was eat. And shop. And sit on the beach. I’m pretty sure that’s all I did. If you’ve already seen these photos on Instagram, bummer for you because it is time to drool again.

On Tuesday, I ate a salad and nachos from Lotería Grill in the Farmer’s Market followed by a donut from Bob’s Donuts.

On Wednesday, I ate a coconut cupcake from Cake Bakeshop for lunch. For dinner, I made myself cacio e pepe on a two burner stove in my sweet temporary home. 

(Thank you, Jill, if you are reading this. Your home is lovely.) If you find yourself in Manhattan Beach, Cake Bakeshop is fantastic. The scones, cookies, and cupcakes are all amazing. Jill’s house is also fantastic. I’m definitely an airbnb convert.

On Thursday, I had butternut squash and bacon pizza and a delicious gorgonzola salad at 800° for lunch, followed by the most amazing dinner. Now I’m not one to go out to eat by myself. This is probably because I am a member of a slightly large family. But I’m a bit shy and a bit old school about solo dining out. I might have gotten over it after my dinner at Fishing with Dynamite. I do have to apologize for the awful cell phone photos. I know everyone takes photos of their food but I still feel very weird taking photos of my food in public. This is probably because everyone takes photos of their food. I was (sadly) taunting my husband with my meal via text which is why I have photos of the meal at all.

I started with the grilled swordfish.

Those are peaches on top. And fennel. And capers and mint. Whoa.  

I wasn’t ready to pull the plug on eating because the flavors of the fish were so amazing. Enter the bartender. He recommended the crab cake, which was made with blue crab (my favorite). The selling point for him were the homemade pickles and the mustard remoulade. Curiously, I tried the crab cake despite the pickles and the mustard, both of which I typically avoid. Must have been the margarita.

I am not a crab cake person. I am a boil those crabs up and pour them on the table covered with newspaper person. This was without a doubt the best crab cake I have EVER had.

Full to the rim now with tasty morsels, I had to have dessert. The choice? Key lime pie or chocolate pretzel bread pudding. Seriously. Toughest choice of my vacation. Next time I eat at this restaurant, I’m going with a crowd so that I can taste everything. The bartender had steered me so well on the crab cake that I went with his favorite – the key lime.

Not to sound like a broken record, but best key lime pie I have ever had. See those lovely, toasty poufs of meringue? They tasted exactly like toasted marshmallows and were the perfect balance to the tartness of the key lime curd. Yum.

On Friday, I had pretzels in my car.

I feel a little bit like the Very Hungry Caterpillar except that where I should have had one nice green leaf, I had pretzels. Do I still get to be a butterfly?