Rode the Angel Flight trolley on its 100th birthday for a penny.

A rather tame Coen Brothers movie, but good nonetheless.

Went for a hike in the hills with Britt.

Sonia and I tried to keep it humble this year, so on Christmas morning I announced that this year’s theme was disappointment. However, the kids disagreed and were happy with their hauls.  Speaking of hauls, I gained five pounds over the last couple of days.

#54 done. Although I wasn’t as involved as I wanted to be, we provided gifts for a family through Children’s Hospital. Hopefully next year we will be a bit more hands on.

#15 done. “Shit My Dad Says” makes five non fiction books (Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw, London & Super Freakonomics) for the year.

If you aren’t familiar with “Shit My Dad Says”, it’s chalk full of all kinds of wisdom. Here’s one for the holidays. 

““Everybody’s broke, so here’s the rule for Christmas this year; if you still shit your pants, you get a present. Otherwise tough shit.”

Just taken from my backyard. I guess this means the worst of the storm is over. 

I hate to quote, Alanis Morissette, but “isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?”. I never learned how to tie a tie as a kid, teenager or young adult. I may have worn a tie a hand full of times before I graduated college, but each time I had my mom, dad, uncle or competent adult male tie it for me. When I graduated college and got a job that required a tie, I would leave an untied tie on my buddy Matt’s door knob for him to tie and leave for me to slip on in the morning. It would have been a lot easier to learn how to tie a tie, but my philosophy at the time was to try to get through life without ever having to learn how to. I was a rebel and tie tying was my cause. Fast forward to today and look who’s the jerk. I talked to Matt the other day and he asked me, “so, are you the tie guy now? You never take a picture without one on.” It’s true, but in casual L.A., I still feel like the rebel. Most nights, I’m the only guy at the bar with a tie on. 

Nothing to do on this very rainy weekend except work, nap, watch TV, read and sit by the fire.

Had our company Christmas dinner last night.  I think it was the moment that the bill came that I realized this was actually a company. We’re up to seven employees, not including Sonia and I. Payroll sucks.

#36 Done. I have more than explored and will begin to experiment with some samples. This is my label.

Damn lucky to be home.

Nightcap at the Palmer House.

Despite the fact that there were no reservations available for two months, we decided to walk in on Chicago’s hottest new restaurant, The Girl and the Goat.  The chef was the latest winner of Top Chef.  One of Sonia’s greatest talents is scoring impossible to get seats, and that is exactly what she did tonight. The food was awesome.

On the river.

A walk down Michigan Ave.

At the Palmer House with Brit.

After dinner. Wine helps dealing with the cold.

Brittany finally got the chance to dress in layers. 

It’s cold.

The only good thing about my dad traveling so much is the possibility I might run into him whenever I travel. Fortunately, we just so happened to be staying in the same hotel, so he treated Sonia, Brittany, me and my buddy, Packy to dinner at an excellent new steakhouse.

On the streets

#44 Done

First Stop.

It’s going to be a cold weekend in Chicago.

Giving up an 80 degree weekend for this.

We may not have a date, but here are our rings.  

And we’re back. Since Tumblr has been down I’ve seen 20% of the Clippers’ wins.

Perfect end to a leisurely day

There are some things I just can’t teach her.

Eating cupcakes on Rodeo Drive.

A new Parisian-esque cafe opened down the block and makes a helluva croque madame.

I hate high school soccer. Brit lead her team to the win, but will probably miss the next couple games with a bad hamstring.

Here’s Auburn’s coach’s wife wearing a Judith March dress we produced.

We sent out our first shipment of Basically Me to stores today. A humble start to our own line.  

Brit had her first high school soccer game of the season today. 2-2 tie. It brought me back to 6 year old AYSO. Im not sure which one of us will fold first.