Friday's Review: Croissants, Cupcakes and Chloe!

Friday morning, my body decided that it was wide awake at 3:15.  That was a little earlier than I had intended to get up, but it was no big deal.  I stayed in bed for another 4 hours and pondered.  You know I like a good ponder!  When Chloe finally got up, we got ready and waited for Uncle Tim to meet us at 9:00.  Of all things, the hotel has a Foosball table, and Chloe completely destroyed me.

 

For all Chloe's amazing traits, remembering to brush her teeth is not one of them, so I had to take this picture to prove to her Daddy that she did get them brushed.

 

After Uncle Tim arrived, we headed back to the Farmers Market for my favorite Los Angeles breakfast- almond croissants!- and then we went back to the Grove for some focused shopping.

 

For reasons unexplainable to me, Chloe doesn't like croissants.  She settled on one of Bob's favorite donuts.  (Bob's is the name of a restaurant.  Not an homage to my Dad.)

Ah- the almond croissants!

Yummy!!

Chloe and me at the Grove.

 

We finished breakfast and headed to the Grove for some shopping.  We wanted to go to American Girl to get something for Camilla, and then, it was time for Chloe to spend some of the money that was burning a hole in her pocket.  About 45 minutes after we got to the Grove, Chloe discovered that there isn't a Justice there.  For those of you who aren't familiar, Justice is the tween clothing store, and she had to go there (which we worked into the Saturday plan).  She did manage to keep herself busy while I shopped...

In Crate and Barrel, she discovered a chair named after her.

And, at Nordstoms, she tried on hats and found clothing named after her.

The Farmers Market clock tower.

The Grove's trolley.

View from the Trolley.

 

 

After we finished shopping, we headed to Uncle Tim's place so he could get ready for work, a movie showing, and we could get ready for dinner with Aunt Susan!  This was the first time for either Chloe or me to see their place, and I couldn't get over how gorgeous it is.  Looked like a page from a magazine.  Aunt Susan is definitely going to be on our no-mortgage-new-home design team!

There is also a weird cutout in the wall which Chloe decided to decorate with herself.

 

 

After Aunt Susan got home, we discussed the meal game plan.  Chloe desperately wanted to visit Sprinkles' cupcakes so we decided to have dinner in Beverly Hills to make sure we didn't miss the cupcakes!  I'm a huge fan of Mediterranean food- ok, I'm a fan of food, but that's beside the point- so we headed to Momed for dinner.

I started with Vegan Lentil Stew.  It was all kinds of yummy.

Aunt Susan suggested these super yummy"Momo" chips. 

And, I had falafel.  I LOVE falafel.  LOVE it.  I have a falafel obsession.  I probably need a 12-step program.   I really like falafel.  And, it's just awfully fun to say "falafel."  (Get it?  awfully fun to say falafel?)

 

 

After we finished dinner and had discussed everything from divorce to successfully committing a crime (seriously, this is what we talk about when Uncle Tim isn't with us!), we headed to the Promised Land- Sprinkles Cupcakes!  It lived up to Chloe's every expectation.

We had to get the souvenir t-shirt.  I'm not going to comment on the $43 price tag that accompanied the t-shirt.  Beside, that smile is worth every penny!

The treasure box!

The treasure:

Chloe's caramel apple ghost cupcake, Aunt Susan's dark chocolate cupcake, the sad empty space, and my vegan red velvet cupcake.

I love LA.  I could easily be vegan in LA.  Anywhere that has vegan red velvet cupcakes this good could be my home.  Wonder if CAT has any operations in LA???

My artsy photo- see the "Sprinkles" in the glass?

(You might not be an artist if you have to point it out!)

My sweet girl with some sweet treats!

 

After we finished up our cupcakes, we decided to drive around to see some of the sights.  We drove Rodeo Drive and then we headed towards LACMA- the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  We knew we were going there on Saturday, but they have an amazing display of street lamps that is illuminated at night.  It. Was. Gorgeous.

 

 

We got back to Tim and Susan's place shortly after Tim arrived home from work.  We spent the rest of the night laughing and chatting.  I'm fairly confident that Chloe's never been up until midnight talking to grown-ups, but we all had a great time!