Saturday morning I made my "famous" buttermilk biscuits for my hosts and slathered on lots of homemade strawberry jam.
Afterwards, we headed out to a yarn store - the Knitter's Studio (not pictured). I had found a place on Friday, but that store was full of discontinued, acrylic and novelty yarns, so I was sadly disappointed and will not review them. The Knitter's Studio, however, was just what I was looking for. They had cubbies wrapped around the perimeter of the store, nicely organized by color, style and maker. It was a joy to fondle the cashmere and silk yarns. I ended up with four skeins of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed in a beautiful aubergine color. I have to say aubergine instead of eggplant since Debbie Bliss is an English company. After feeding the parking meter three times (!) I managed to make my purchases so we could move on. If I lived in LA, they would be one of my favorite yarn stores. They were setting up for a beginning knitting class around the work table, complete with cupcakes & coffee.
We then headed to an extra large art & craft supply store called Pearl. They had a great selection of goodies for all your creative needs. However, I had to say no for purchases since I didn't really have a project in the works that I could legitimately buy for. I even passed on the sketch & notebooks! Can you believe it? Mostly because I couldn't find them when we were ready to check out.
By this time we were starting to feel a bit of a hunger clench in our bellies, so we headed in the direction of the ocean and ended up on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. I had suggested sushi since I don't get many takers in my family, and ended up at this interesting Balinese looking place called Monsoon. I ended up with a Rainbow Roll and a beef noodle bowl. I flustered the poor waiter by asking what he would have to eat for lunch. I wasn't picky about what to eat, just wanted something good. My friend had the Saikyo Yaki Black Cod, which is marinated in Miso Paste before it's cooked. My goodness, that was yummy. If I ever see it on another menu, I'll be having that for sure. The decor was pure Asian tongue-in-cheek, complete with brass dragon lanterns from the palm leaf ceiling and a stone "happy" fertility god in the ladies room. Fun!
Afterwards, we headed out to a yarn store - the Knitter's Studio (not pictured). I had found a place on Friday, but that store was full of discontinued, acrylic and novelty yarns, so I was sadly disappointed and will not review them. The Knitter's Studio, however, was just what I was looking for. They had cubbies wrapped around the perimeter of the store, nicely organized by color, style and maker. It was a joy to fondle the cashmere and silk yarns. I ended up with four skeins of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed in a beautiful aubergine color. I have to say aubergine instead of eggplant since Debbie Bliss is an English company. After feeding the parking meter three times (!) I managed to make my purchases so we could move on. If I lived in LA, they would be one of my favorite yarn stores. They were setting up for a beginning knitting class around the work table, complete with cupcakes & coffee.We then headed to an extra large art & craft supply store called Pearl. They had a great selection of goodies for all your creative needs. However, I had to say no for purchases since I didn't really have a project in the works that I could legitimately buy for. I even passed on the sketch & notebooks! Can you believe it? Mostly because I couldn't find them when we were ready to check out.
By this time we were starting to feel a bit of a hunger clench in our bellies, so we headed in the direction of the ocean and ended up on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. I had suggested sushi since I don't get many takers in my family, and ended up at this interesting Balinese looking place called Monsoon. I ended up with a Rainbow Roll and a beef noodle bowl. I flustered the poor waiter by asking what he would have to eat for lunch. I wasn't picky about what to eat, just wanted something good. My friend had the Saikyo Yaki Black Cod, which is marinated in Miso Paste before it's cooked. My goodness, that was yummy. If I ever see it on another menu, I'll be having that for sure. The decor was pure Asian tongue-in-cheek, complete with brass dragon lanterns from the palm leaf ceiling and a stone "happy" fertility god in the ladies room. Fun!
The architecture in Downtown Santa Monica is unique. They are trying to infuse the city with a sense of community, so all new & remodel work is going with three tiers. The bottom floor is retail space, the second floor office space, and the third floor housing. Evidently, it's being snapped up, because there is no where to turn without seeing some new construction. But, for the older buildings, you have to look up to see the more interesting parts. We were parked on an upper level of a garage, so I got to take pictures looking down on some 
So what do we do then? Head to another bead store, called Ritual Adornments. We wandered around, running our fingers through the lovely pieces of stone, glass, wood, and other fabulousness. I wish I had taken out my camera - a bowl of skull beads would have been a perfect Halloween photo op. Ah well. I still managed not to snag any beads on my shopping trip.
The sun was past the mid-day point, way past by this time, and we
had an hour or so left on the parking meter, so we hit the beach for a walk in the waves. We hiked up our pants, took our shoes off and headed up the coast line, with no destination in mind, just enjoying the last of the sun and the waves splashing. Just enough time to get a little bit of sun and exercise.Headed back to the apartment for some homemade guacamole and chips and watching Phelps win yet another race. All in all a good day.
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