Twenty-eight may not seem like a significant year in the grand scheme of things, but this year's birthday (back in July!) was definitely one of the more memorable ones. Patrick and I spent the weekend in LA with Mikala, whose birthday just so happens to be the same day as mine :)
Thanks to Mikala's boyfriend, Kyle, we had a lovely blueberry cake from Paris Baguette (yes, there's one in LA!) to celebrate.
We had a difficult time picking out a cake since all of their cakes tend to look irresistible, but we decided on blueberry since we'd never had a blueberry cake before and were curious to try it.
It had a light, whipped frosting and a pretty purple hue in the center. Amazing.
For my birthday present this year, Patrick surprised me with tickets to see Josh Groban - one of my favorite singers of all times - at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Mikala, also a huge fan, accompanied us.
The event was a benefit concert for the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, which is where Josh Groban attended high school.
Since it was a benefit concert, I wasn't sure if I would know any of the songs, but it turns out I knew them all but two. For any fellow Josh Groban fans who might be curious, I found the set list somewhere online. There was a good mix of new and old songs.
Changing Colors
February Song
Alejate
Vincent
Alla Luce Del Sole
Galileo
Live and Let Die (acoustic)
Voce Existe Em Mim
Wandering Kind
Broken Vow
Lullaby
Weeping
Not While I'm Around
Machine
You Raise Me Up
Play May (Encore)
Smile (Encore)
I also found this video someone must have secretly taken during the concert. It's one of my favorite songs he sang that night - Lullaby.
(The song starts 1:00 in)
I could go on and on, but long story short, the concert was fantastic. The music was beautiful and Josh's singing was absolutely flawless. I can't wait to see him perform again sometime!
The next day, we met up with my friend Dennis at La Grande Orange Cafe in Pasadena.
For an appetizer, we ordered the deviled eggs, which are a crowd favorite there.
Dennis ordered the grilled Ahi tuna taco platter which was served with a kale and quinoa salad.
Patrick decided on the grilled salmon, which was the special that day...
while I opted for the Del Mar Salad, which featured jumbo lump crab meat, shrimp, iceberg lettuce, and avocado with a Russian dressing. I was half-expecting it to be mostly lettuce with a little seafood and avocado thrown in but it actually turned out to be the opposite.
Afterwards, we headed a few blocks down to a macaron bakery. You may recall from an earlier post my prediction that macarons would become the "next cupcake."
This was my first time going to a bakery that sold only macarons. There was quite a colorful selection to choose from...
We ordered two each - I don't remember the exact flavors, but they were all delicious - crackly on the outside and chewy on the inside.
We spent the rest of the weekend swimming at Mikala's house, grilling pizza, shopping, and hanging out at Venice beach.
For our birthday dinner, the guys took us to Jose Andres' The Bazaar - a Spanish tapas restaurant.
We knew this place wasn't your average restaurant when we saw the water section of the menu took up an entire page.
And the restroom spoke for itself. I couldn't resist snapping a picture (although it pales in comparison to a restroom we went to in Korea, which I will mention in my next post).
For cocktails, they wheeled out a cart and did some science experiment things to Kyle's drink involving dry ice and foam.
Throughout the night, we shared a number of tapas, starting with the brussel sprouts, which came with a nice dollop of lemon air on top.
We also ordered the smoked yellowtail with crispy rice,
Jicama wrapped guacamole,
"Philly cheesesteak," which was made with air bread (aka hollow bread), cheddar, and wagyu beef,
cauliflower couscous,
wild mushroom risotto,
Grilled Wagyu Flank Steak with Piquillo Pepper Spheres,
and Rossejat, which is paella-style pasta with shrimp.
Since it was our birthday, they also brought out some mini-desserts for us (emphasis on mini).
For second dessert, we headed to Milk in Beverly Hills.
Everything on their menu was tempting, but Dennis had recommended the Macaron ice cream sandwiches which I ultimately couldn't resist trying.
I ordered the salty caramel... YUM.
I can't imagine a better way to spend my 28th birthday - with good food, good friends, and Josh Groban :) I leave you with one of my favorite Josh Groban songs, Per Te.
oo,
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