A very late update on the weekend

I actually had a really good weekend. One of the best I've had in a while. It helped that it didn't drizzle/rain this weekend. Not that I can complain because it's like 50 degrees here.

So on Saturday, I found a tailor and dropped off some blinged out sweatpants to be hemmed and a tweed-ish dress to be adjusted. It was really nice to find a tailor in LA finally -- and one within walking distance. I'm hopeful that he does a good job, and considering all the designer stuff he had in his store, I'm sure if other people can trust him with designer dresses, I can trust him with a $10 pair of sweatpants (and ironically the hemming charge was more than the cost of the pants). Also, I finally cleaned the kitchen and swept the floors and cleaned all my clothes off the floor so I didn't feel so constrained by the clutter.

And then we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica. The food was really really good. They had some garlicky basil olive oil dipping sauce that I was considering just drinking. I refrained. But then at some point after a few sips of champagne, a plate of salad, and 3 pieces of bread with oil, I started to feel nauseous. I don't know what it was, but something disagreed with me, and I had to throw up -- for the first time in 2 years (the last time was on the day I defended my masters thesis and I gave into peer pressure and had way too much to drink). Not fun. But I came back and attacked my truffle-y, mushroom-y papardelle with gusto. I don't ever use the word "gusto" but it seemed oddly appropriate in this case. Anyway, even with my "issues", I plan to go back to the restaurant and keep all 3 courses in my stomach.

On Sunday, the husband and I got Indian food with some of my coworkers. It was really nice to hang out with a big group of people and just laugh and have fun. And then the best part of Sunday -- I found an Indian store within sane driving distance. I got guavas, mangos, custard apples/cherimoyas, frozen okra, frozen Indian snacks, and Indian yogurt/dahi/thayir/perugu. My husband is obsessed with Indian yogurt, and for the last 6 months has really been craving rice and yogurt, but we hadn't found a good Indian store that stocked it. So finally, we have one.

The best part of Sunday though really was making spicy caramel popcorn (see above) (recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brian-boitano/sweet-and-spicy-kettle-corn-recipe/index.html). I'd never made caramel before, and it had been one of those things I wanted to learn to do. It wasn't a chewy caramel, but it gave a nice sweet flavor to the popcorn, and the spices were really good. There was a little too much salt though, so if you make the recipe, I'd recommend putting about half the recommended amount.

And then after a dinner of yummy Indian food, the husband and I watched the end of the final season of Dollhouse. Totally awesome.