I have been wanting to eat here for the past 10 years and no one wants to go with me or spend the money. i went here with my ex-co worker, S. it looks like a small sushi bar in the front by very spacious in the back. it is rare to have yummy sushi bars in the "valley" i have been at a least dozen sushi bars. only 3 is rated the best and this is one of them. i ordered my yellow tail, albacore, and toro. i don't normally order hawaiian poke but i was in the mood for it. S ordered spicy tuna, lobster, and spicy shrimp hand rolls and spicy halibut sashimi. OMG just is the best yellow tail i have ever had. it was soooo fresh and generous size. it was rated FOOD-GASMIC!!!! all the sushi was fresh. that toro was like butter. it better be for $16!!!! S's hand rolls was yummy looking. i took a bite of her lobster hand roll. WOW so fresh. no frozen or imitation here. OMG i would def come back. idid not ask if they had "chef choice". i would do that next time. the parking is in front or you can valet.

I slept late this morning and it felt oh so good.  Unfortunately my sister said my snoring kept her awake for a long time.  She should have kicked me or something.  She did that enough when we were kids!  Don't all kids do that?

We left the house at about 1.30 or 2 to visit our nephew-in-law's "Spooky House" - a Halloween tradition.  What started as a neighborhood joke on October 31st has grown into a business.  Bob now has three or four haunted houses running in the Los Angeles area.  It was so much fun and Leslee, Alanna and Devin were also there.  Bob took Jag and me through the scary house and it was great fun.  During the day he will have kids working as ghouls and bloodied bodies.  They have a ball, running from place to place within the complex.  They take their jobs very seriously.  That is what makes it so cool.

We could not stay long, however.  My grand-niece, Montana, was going to be performing during the 100th anniversary celebration of the school district where she attends Highland School.  My niece, Hayley, Montana's little sister, Tess, and her dad, Todd were all there.  It was delightful to see all of the children so enthusiastic, singing and dancing.  Unfortunately the sun was furnace hot and Viv, Hayley and I were beginning to really feel somewhat ill.  We found some shade, then left for the Westfield Town Center Mall in Santa Clarita, not far from where  Hayley and the family lives.  It was so nice to be in that air-conditioned building.  The mall is huge and very beautiful.  It is very child-friendly.  The kids rode on a double-decked carousel a few times, enjoying it thoroughly.  It was a lovely merry-go-round.  I took pix with my cell phone, but I do not have the cables to download the photos yet.  After the carousel, we went to another part of the mall where they had a children's play area.  Montana loved looking at the puppies at the pet store while Tess found a little friend and the two of them played for about an hour.

We next went to a wonderful restaurant, South Point Bar and Grill within the mall complex.  It features Argentine cuisine and it was relaxing and the food was terrific.  I had Dijon chicken and found it to be really tasty.  Instead of the usual rolls and butter, they served crusty French rolls with chimmichurri, an Argentine "sauce" with parsley and garlic (a lot of garlic) in olive oil.  Yummy.  With fully stomachs, we said goodbye to our family and returned to my sister's house.  We leave for home tomorrow morning.

I feel pretty!  Oh, so pretty!  I feel ...  Enough of that.  I finally was able to get my hair done after almost two months.  It looks so much better than having to wear a hat!  It is so nice to have someone else massage your head.  My sister made an appointment for me with her hairdresser, so we went together this morning ... early. 

Viv and I are so different.  She is an early riser.  I have to pulled from the bed before 9 o'clock.  She eats a small breakfast and has a good lunch.  I like a big breakfast and almost no lunch.  Our political opinions are somewhat different.  Although, like me, she is a Democrat, she is far less liberal than I am.  She has lived in the Los Angeles area pretty much her whole life (we were both born in Chicago) and I have moved around because of my husband's work.  I like to be outside with nature.  She is a city gal.  Viv likes the ocean and beach.  I like mountains and, in some cases, the desert (not in the summer!).  The list goes on and on. 

We went to visit Viv's best friend since childhood, Adele Malter.  Adele lives in a beautiful area between Moorpark and Camarillo, CA; a place called the Santa Rosa Valley.  Her home is huge and very beautiful.  It sits on about 1 1/2 acres with a full-sized tennis court and wonderful fruit trees - especially avocados.  Adele is a marvelous person.  Her husband passed away about two years ago and she now lives alone in that gigantic house.  She wants to downsize, but it is a daunting task.  Now is not the time to sell a house, given the volatile economy.  The drive to her home is through a small canyon and the feel of the area is almost one of isolation.  She has neighbors up and down the street, so she is definitely not alone.  As a matter of fact I was surprised at the number of homes in the area.  Beautiful as it is, it is very inconvenient to shopping.  There is no corner grocery store here.  I am kicking myself because I did not bring the camera.  There were some lovely shots I might have taken.

This evening our long-time friend, Kamal Mane, came to visit.  It is always so great to see her.  Kamal was the matron of honor at our wedding, so you can well imagine how special to us.  We don't often have the chance to visit, so this was a good opportunity to catch up on all of her news.  We had been worried because Kamal lives in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley.  There had been some very bad brush fires in that area a couple of weeks ago and people had to be evacuated from their homes.  Luckily, Kamal was not one of them.  Her house was far enough away from the path of the fire.  She did have to put up with the smoke, of course, but was told to close all windows and turn on the air conditioning to help filter the air.

We went out for dinner to a Jewish deli-style restaurant called Weiler's.  I ordered sweet-and-sour cabbage soup, hoping it would taste just like my mother used to make.  Alas, it was too sweet and did not have enough meat in it.  Still, it brought back warm and wonderful memories.  I would try to prepare this dish, but I am so afraid it would not live up to Mom's.   Childhood memories of special foods are so powerful.  It was nice to pig out on corned beef.  I mainly ate the beef and left the bread.  It was just too much food.

I really felt sad leaving Clara this morning.  She is doing her best to cope with the difficult task of rehabilitation after cancer.  The fact that she seems to have beat it does not make it any easier.  She seems to be very upbeat and she cracks jokes with her incredible dry wit.  She really makes me laugh.  I do not want to lose her as my friend, even though she is a Republican and I am a liberal Democrat.  She is not a rabid Republican; rather, she believes in many liberal causes.  I think she may even vote for Barack Obama! 

We left only 15 minutes late.  That is a new record for us when it is time to leave friends or family.  We stopped at a Smith's supermarket to pick up lunch salads.  We found a real Kosher deli in the store and I was thrilled to be able to buy good, lean corned beef.  I cannot get that at home.  We filled the gas tank and noticed that the cost is steadily rising.  We have been paying $2.99.9 per gallon during our visits to both Arizona and Nevada.  When we reached California we noticed that some of the stations are selling gas at that same price.

The drive to SoCal can be so boring.  However, because of the clear and, for once, comfortable weather, the desert was far more beautiful than I have seen it in quite some time.  The spring time, however, is utterly gorgeous with wildflowers of all different hues softening the harsh landscape.  I took a photo of the off-ramp to Zzyzx Road so that you will know I was not kidding when I mentioned it in yesterday's entry.  I tried to photograph the area the road leads to, but the light was not good and the distance shot became too washed out.   In the town of Baker is the so-called "World's Tallest Thermometer".  I'll take their word for it.

We reached my niece, Leslee's, home in Monrovia about 2:30 PM and it was wonderful to see her and her terrific kids, Alanna and Devin.  I was hoping we could spend more time together, but young people today have amazing schedules.  We continued on to my sister's home in Woodland Hills.  Jag cooked dinner once again!  Everybody gets to enjoy his great talent.  With simple ingredients he managed to turn plain chicken into a gourmet treat. 

An ok motel located at Ventura Blvd. I was actually taken here by some helpfull guys that I asked for directions after being kicked out from my so-called friends place. It was so good to get a place to stay and relax, and figure out what I was gonna do. The room I got was on the second floor. Good size, with a queen sized bed, counter and a tv. The motel has one swimming pool, and if I remember correctly a smaller pool. But being as stressed as I was, my memory can be playing tricks with me. The lady who worked there, were so nice and helpful. And that's something I find extremely important. So even though I'll never set foot in Woodland Hills again, I'll remember the motel and the guys who helped me with a smile. :o)

It's strange to think that an oddly named Japanese restaurant in the outskirts of suburbia could be the best sushi bar in Los Angeles, and yet that's exactly what everyone who eats here comes away convinced of. To make things even stranger, the location is clearly a former residential bungalow, which makes you wonder what its previous tenants think about its current use. Regardless of what their opinion is, the consensus opinion is that Brother Sushi always has the freshest possible fish, and among the most talented sushi chefs. It's also a good place for celebrity sightings. The first time I came here, Pam Anderson & Tommy Lee were nonchalantly sitting at one table with some friends, while Beau Bridges was sitting two tables away with his family. Order the spicy tuna handroll, yellowtail, and my favorite - eel (unagi). Also, they have some great specialty rolls. You cannot go wrong with Brother Sushi.

Small, decent, family owned Italian restaurant in the valley. I was craving good Italian after Buona Sera, and this place certainly helped to ease my taste buds. I ordered the Rigatoni alla Carbonara, which is rigatoni served in a pancetta and egg sauce. In Rome, Spaghetti alla Carbonara is a speciality, and usually served such that the spaghetti is coated in chunks of pecorino romano, parmesan, egg, and pancetta, but the dish at Adagio was a bit different. There was still pancetta (more like bacon), but it was more of a liquid sauce. Despite the differences, the dish was quite good and flavorful and I enjoyed it. Seems to be an older, family oriented crowd here.

Clean, fun, friendly place to go with a group of friends. They have a great selection of brews on tap, including my favorite, Newcastle. There is also a dart board in the back. I suck at darts, but it was fun to play anyway, and a bit of a different experience. The food could have used some improvement. The beer battered mushrooms were soaked in grease (what else could we have been expecting?) and the onion rings were too salty. Only went here in the afternoon and not sure how it is at night. Wasn't too crowded, but was perfect for a group of friends to hang out in for a bit.