A random Saturday morning

Yes, yes, I know that it's Sunday, but I'm talking about YESTERDAY morning. Which was one of those low-key, random Saturday mornings that offer lazy poking about a neighborhood or two. We debated going to the west side, hanging out in Venice and stopping by the Santa Monica Farmers' Market ("Is this my life?" I sometimes pause and wonder) or just hanging out more east - Silverlake, Los Feliz and Eagle Rock. We opted for the latter, taking off at the reasonable hour of 9:30-ish, checking out the Farmer's Market and a random thrift flea market in Silverlake, stopping by a few stores with some success (getting 'epazote', a random spice, for our black beans and more polenta from a natural food stores that was NOT Whole Foods). At the spice store, we enjoyed the conversation that a hipster couple was having with the proprietor, how they were new to the area (they just moved from Venice; WTF - that isn't REALLY "new" to an area) and wanted to meet cool people. They were writers associated with "the industry". Eye-roll on our part.

After such uber-coolness, we hit up a Thai grocery store on Hollywood, in the heart of Thai town, and managed to make a killing. The last time we bought curry paste, we picked it up at Whole Foods (that's embarrassing, I know, we live in LA!) and paid something like $5 for a container. I am happy to say that we

found it for $1.99. That is more than 50% off! Awesomeness. We also bought other 'key' items as we explore Thai cooking - galanga, keffir lime leaves and lemongrass. And we bought a container of "coconut chips" which we snacked on as we drove back to Silverlake. They were oddly addictive, kind of sweet and salty at the same time with a nice crunch. I felt that we had to buy something random, and that was probably the 'safest' random item in the store. I'm used to going into Hispanic markets and having a good idea of what products are, but I definitely felt a bit at sea at the Thai market. Still, it was a fun and good experience. Michael actually found the market a few weeks ago and had been raving about it since.

The last stop in Silverlake was to one of my favorite stores: Yolk. I bought a card for a friend, and I found a pair of earrings that were amazing (hint hint - Michael, if you read this...). They were sparkly and kind of dressy, but they also had sort of a rock-and-roll edge. I'm obsessed with them now.

By that time, we realized that we were a bit hungry. Sometimes, Michael can figure out what I want even when I don't say anything. A big, fat burrito was on my mind, and we stopped off at the Taco Spot in Eagle Rock, my old stomping grounds. We split a burrito, which was pretty standard, but we did order it "mojado" which means wet, literally, but when it comes to a burrito, it means that it's covered with sauce. This one also had melted cheese on top. While it wasn't the best burrito ever, I was pretty content. The chips were great, the guacamole fresh, and they had a nice salsa bar. Yum!

As we were eating the burrito, I told Michael that I could never live where Mexican food was seriously lacking. I mean, that burrito wasn't even that great, but it sure as hell beat anything coming out of Chipotle. So, yeah, there are times that I think my stomach keeps me more tied to LA than work or personal connections. Are my priorities completely out of whack?! Just maybe.

But who wouldn't be happy at a place like this on a random Saturday morning?!