Posted on January 20, 2013
Nearly 80 degrees today meant lunch alfresco at Spagos in Beverly Hills. We sat next to Kelsey Grammer and Martin Lawrence which is about the oddest celebrity pairing we have seen thus far. But the coolest part was when Wolfgang Puck was seated for lunch at his own restaurant.
#71 in Progress
Posted on January 19, 2013
Too long and not enough of a story, but just enough funny to be entertaining.
Posted on January 17, 2013
I have clearly forgotten what it was like walking to class at Marquette or work in Chicago during the winter because this cold streak has been hard to handle. Jimmy Kimmel sums up the ridiculousness of our plight.
On a positive note, the week ahead is looking up.
![Screen Shot 2013-01-16 at [Jan 16] 6.29.02 PM](https://ouryearlyplaylist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/screen-shot-2013-01-16-at-jan-16-6-29-02-pm.png?w=1000)
Posted on January 13, 2013
Hanging with the Hipsters and Hippies on Abbot Kinney in Venice. Was looking for the Luda Bites food truck, but it never showed up.
Photo Shoot Friday
Posted on January 11, 2013
It’s been a painfully slow six weeks. Hoping to kick off the buying season for Basically Me.
Posted on January 11, 2013
Sonia thought inviting 44 of Brittany’s teammates over for a team dinner was a good idea.
Posted on January 10, 2013
Brit scored two goals in the first five minutes to help her team beat Pasadena 4-0 and start the league season 3-0.
#50 Done
Posted on January 7, 2013
Lechon. This will be the name of my future hole in the wall if I have one. I’ve been thinking of making this sandwich for some time now. The heart and soul of it is Sonia’s Lechon. It’s a family recipe. But it wasn’t until we went to Spain and ate suckling pig at the world’s oldest restaurant did I start to thing about creating this sandwich. Rome was the final inspiration. The porchetta sandwich is Rome’s street food. So, with Puerto Rico, Spain and Rome as my inspiration, I present to you my perfect sandwich. Lechon. Sweet Pepper Relish. Crispy Onion. Cilantro. Crispy skin on top. Soft roll.
#71 in Progress
Posted on January 6, 2013
Like Titanic, you know the ending, but it was an enjoyable ride getting there.
Posted on January 5, 2013
Back in the routine. Brit helped her team win their first league game of the year with a hat trick and two assists.
Dinner and a Movie
Posted on January 4, 2013
Big fan of Air France. On my third Movie. Looper and Trouble with the Curve are both solid flicks.
Naples (Napoli) in Black in White
Posted on January 2, 2013
Naples is a port city. It’s gritty, dense and Italian in a mafioso kind of way. Fitting that we visited on the only dreary day of our trip. This is Napoli in black and white.
Neapolitan Pizza
Posted on January 2, 2013
After being disappointed by the pizza in Rome, we took the train to Naples, the birthplace of pizza. In the extremely dense hillside neighborhoods of Napoli, we found a family pizzeria (they’re all family pizzerias in Napoli) and thoroughly enjoyed the Neapolitan style pizza.
The Grandparents who opened the place.
Trevi Fountain
Posted on January 1, 2013
Ensuring our trip back by adhering to local legend and tossing a coin in the fountain.
#1 Done. Happy New Year
Posted on January 1, 2013
Happy 2013! We decided to skip the official Colosseum New Year’s Eve Celebration and brave the “People’s” celebration in Piazza del Popolo. Although mostly unregulated and chaotic, it felt right. Everyone was throwing MD-80s and firecrackers into the center of the square, but it never felt overly dangerous. Everyone drinking champaign. No fights. No explosions in the crowd. No way you experience anything like this in the States. And all of it centered around an Egyptian obelisk, known as the obelisco Flaminio or the Popolo Obelisk. It’s the second oldest and one of the tallest obelisks in Rome. And yet, I didn’t see one policeman.
2012 List
Posted on December 31, 2012
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Visit my sister in her own home -
Host a Summer Party -
Grow LA Fashion Insider -
See 10 new movies -
Create a wall of frames in my office -
No car wrecks or fender benders -
Convince Brittany to Drive -
Watch a Sunrise -
Weigh 180 lbs -
Weigh 175lbs -
Weigh 170lbs -
Weigh 165lbs -
Weigh 160lbs -
Detox Clense -
Take a Picture of a Large Wild Animal -
Read Ten New Books -
Visit Something Ancient -
Set up an Aggressive Retirement Plan -
Discover 5 Neighborhoods We Want to Move to in 5 years -
Land a Whale with Basically Me -
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Walk across a bridge -
More Photography -
Make more than we spend for once -
Elope -
Visit a civil war battlefield -
Watch a sunset -
Eat at least 5 of 25 best burgers according to Food and Wine -
Remodel the guest bedroom -
Buy a few of my favorite things at Grand Central Station -
Bet on the longshot -
Grow something -
See a Classic Movie on the Big Screen -
See someone on the streets wearing our Basically Me -
Eat at Son of a Gun -
Keep Writing -
Learn more Spanish -
Lounge by five hotel pools -
120/80 or die -
Ship 20,000 pieces of Basically Me in 2012 -
Learn a new dance -
Eat at Animal -
Shoot a gun -
Organize and protect important documents -
Train Ride -
Boat Ride -
Find a doctor -
Passport for Brittany -
Eat a hot dog at a stadium I’ve never been to -
Attend a Marquette Game -
Drink Wine at a Napa Winery -
New Desk -
Road Trip -
Fly First Class -
Attend a Bears Game -
Take a Class -
Start a new line -
Eat Seafood with an Atlantic Ocean view -
Stay at one of Conde Naste’d 2012 Gold List hotels -
College Applications -
Hike 5 New Trails -
Family vacation -
Swim in a Lake -
Drive a $100,000 car -
Take Devin to a Giants Game -
Don’t forget to send out X-Mas cards again -
See Basically Me in a Magazine -
Play in the snow -
Find an animal charity to regularly support -
Camp Fire -
Have a drink in one of Hemingway’s haunts -
Set my watch to six time zones -
See a major live concert -
Catch a Cubs Game at Wrigley -
Couples Massage -
Tour some colleges with Brit -
Find a piece of art for the dining room wall -
Be ready for Tax Season in December -
Have a picnic -
Eat at a top 100 worldwide restaurant -
Visit the Redwoods -
Enter a Poker Tournament -
Take a nap in a hammock -
Draft our Wills, Etc. -
Go Somewhere I never would’ve gone if if not for this blog -
Attend a sport other than the big 3 -
Star Gaze -
Reroof the garage -
Play a round of golf with my dad -
More Business Insurance -
Eat at Ink -
Breathe some life into Cheeseheads -
Make Christmas great for someone we don’t know -
Revisit the scene of a lasting childhood memory -
Eat at Pizzeria Mozza -
Eat at Asanebo -
Attend a small town festival -
Take Brit to a pro soccer game -
No TV for a week -
Visit a Museum
Fixed
Posted on December 31, 2012
Spent the morning in bed fixing what I had so royally screwed up last night. Goal #21 is all that I’m missing. Anyone?
Posted on December 31, 2012
Putting my Slingbox Christmas present to use. Watching Sunday morning football on Sunday night. It’s like having a time machine.
End of the Year Housekeeping
Posted on December 30, 2012
Love locks placed at the gates of Piazzale Michelangelo. With the new year upon us, I figured I’d clean house and unlock a goal or two.
P.S. Best completion rate ever.
#6 Done. I’ve had two wrecks or fender benders in two years. This year?… Nothing.
#8. Had plenty of opportunities, but the pillow always wins.
#10-#14. I love excess. I will try to love it less this year.
#21. Don’t need it.
#24. As hard as it is to believe. We did it.
#25. Piss off.
#26. Nope.
#33. Keep missing this one.
#36. Done. I may not be writing scripts, but I write every day.
#41. My back hurts.
#44. Neglecting this one.
#50. Some great opportunities missed.
#51. Sad to have missed this one. Haven’t been North of San Fran in over ten years.
#52. Pathetic
#55. Nope. Will they make a run in the playoffs?
#56. Need to.
#58. Surprised to fail at this three years running.
#63. A simple pleasure not realized.
#64. Who Cares.
#68. Ski vacation will happen in 2013.
#70. Should’ve been easy
#82. I can’t give up craps to play such a boring game.
#84. The fact that Devin and Brittany are already entitled to everything takes away from the urgency.
#87. We so hoped for a clear night in Alaska, but never got one.
#88. Next year.
#97. Maybe a chili cook off in the South.
#19 Done
Posted on December 30, 2012
Where will we be five years from now? If not bankrupt, we’ll definitely be out of Burbank. With that said, we’ve identified five places (neighborhoods, schmeighborhoods) we’d like to move to.
#1. Florence. We’ve fallen in love. I can only hope I’m not tied to the US in five years as I pretty much demand I live abroad in this lifetime.
#2. Studio City. We loved the Valley. We’d love it even more if we could live in the hills close enough to the freeway.
#3. Silver Lake. Close to work. Plenty of restaurants and bars. In the hills.
#4. Nashville or Charleston. Work plus lifestyle.
#5 Anywhere else in Europe
Posted on December 30, 2012
If you didn’t know us, you’d think we were only mildly impressed, but Brit and I show our true joy with barely there smiles. We are on cloud nine.
Posted on December 30, 2012
I’m not sure how it happened, but I have challenged Sonia’s shoe collection in recent years. My buddy Matt would call me half a fruit, but it is what it is. The majority of my collection is made up of Gucci. So, it’s only fitting that I’d buy a pair in Firenze where the brand was founded in 1921. But it couldn’t be any shoe. Instead we visited the Gucci Museum where I chose a one of a kind, museum edition shoe.
Posted on December 30, 2012
Today we learned that hot chocolate in Italy is actually hot melted chocolate.
Nightcap at the Four Seasons
Posted on December 30, 2012
The Four Seasons in Florence is hands down the best hotel we have ever stayed at.
Posted on December 30, 2012
My favorite tie was one bought for me by my Aunt Ona that depicted Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. Today we went to the Uffizi Museum in Florence where we viewed the original.
Churches Of Florence
Posted on December 29, 2012
Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore
Basilica di Santa Croce
Galileo’s Tomb
Michelangelo’s Tomb
#16 Done
Posted on December 29, 2012
Finished up, A Bitter Brew, the rise and fall of Anheuser Busch.
Dinner at Antico Arco
Posted on December 28, 2012
17 and champagne at dinner. When in Rome.
The three of us enjoyed the tasting menu at Anico Arco on one of the seven hills overlooking Rome. Delicioso.
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- Amber jack fish tartare, ginger, julienne of fennel and citrus flavour
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- Pork belly caramelized with honey and apple crumble
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- Spello chick pea soup, porcini mushrooms, crispy breadcrumbs and rosemary
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- Rigatoni Verrigni, carbonara sauce and black truffle
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- Crispy duck leg, sautéed artichokes and foie gras
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- Aged parmigiano cheese ice cream
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- Warm puff pastry with custard and small strawberries
More Rome. Day 2.
Posted on December 28, 2012
Santa Maria della Vittoria
Bridge over the Tiber River
The Capitol
The Pantheon
Piazza Navona
Trastevere
Rome Day One.
Posted on December 27, 2012
We visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain before the Jet Lag set it. We’ll hit the ground running in the morning.
#85 Done
Posted on December 27, 2012
Hawaii is the natural choice for our Christmas vacation, but #85 made me think outside of the box. Just being out here in the crisp air made me realize there is no “best time” to travel abroad.
#78 Done
Posted on December 26, 2012
Being prepared is no less painful, so this goal will not return in 2013.
Our Yearly Playlist 