A Stand Out Day

There are days in our lives that stand above most others. A recent Thursday was one such day for Ron and me. It started with an uneventful drive from Carlsbad to Los Angeles. Ron had a business appointment, so he dropped me and Pepper off at my Mom's where we had a nice visit. The plan was that Ron would come back from his meeting and join us for lunch at a new little sandwich shop in Westwood. That, however, did not materialize, as the man he was meeting with in the morning asked him to join he and his fiancée for lunch. He did (they ate at a vegan restaurant!), and my Mom and I went to Simplethings for lunch. It's a tiny little restaurant, with just 4 tables inside and about 6 tables outside. They must do a huge catering business. I had the sweet potato sandwich, with apples, jammy onions, chevre spread, avocado, cumin coleslaw, on a pretzel roll. It was delicious. Mom had the avocado melt, with roasted peppers, fontina, apricot chutney, on brioche. Also wonderful. In all, they have about 15 interesting sandwiches to choose from. The salads looked great, too. A chopped salad, a kale salad, and a cobb salad were just a few of the choices. They are also a pie shop, and have several different offerings everyday. They sell cutie pies (small), simple pies (one good serving of pie) and big pies. They looked delicious, but we refrained. Westwood is their second location. Their first location is on 3rd Street in West Hollywood, but I look for them to be expanding quickly. Maybe even to San Diego.

Back to my stand out day. After lunch, Ron came to the house to pick me up and we went to Tarzana to visit with our 3 1/2 year old grandchildren (twin boys). It was a wonderful afternoon with Beth (our daughter-in-law), Ryan and Spencer. We really enjoyed the time with the kids. We left there to go back to Mom's for a little rest and conversation with her, before meeting all the kids for dinner. Unfortunately we had a slight fender bender while getting on the freeway in Encino. I tapped the back of the car in front of me, and my car crumbled! I couldn't believe that at 3 miles an hour so much damage could be done. Fortunately no one was hurt, and we arrived at my Mom's fine, but a bit shaken.

We had time to enjoy a nice visit with Mom before we met David and Tracy, Brian and Beth for dinner. We all had a wonderful time together, and by 8pm Ron, myself and Pepper were back on the road. A full day, but one full of highs and lows. The only low was crashing the car, but it did contribute to making this a stand out day. The only thing missing was our Colorado family, and I will be seeing them soon.

P.S. The repair on my new Ford C-Max, just three weeks old, was $4,100.00. Thank goodness for insurance.