Fun & Delectables in L.A.

My friend Michele came to Cali for work and invited me to visit with her in Anaheim. I drove up on Saturday and we decided to head to L.A. that afternoon and do a little walking/talking/shopping/eating. Went to Kitson - fun, young, colorful, and crazily expensive for what it was. $145 tee shirts. Nah, but thanks anyway. They also had wonderful candles and potions, but nothing I couldn't live without. No one really seemed to be buying. Further down Robertson Blvd. we walked past Les Habitudes and their window display was so beautiful. Of course, this more shows what was happening across the street v. the window, but you can kinda see the dresses. The web site unfortunately doesn't have the unique styles that were in the window. These almost looked antique-y.






Parched from having my mouth hang open at the loveliness of these dresses...we decided to get a little refreshment. I noticed some umbrellas farther down the block, so we headed that way. The place looked darling, very French, and there were plenty of tables...and when I turned to look at the menu outside I saw we were at The Ivy. Fun! This is the room we sat in:
































The interior was incredible, service was great, food was extremely good. I had a Pimm's No. 1 cup - which is made with gin. With every sip, you get a huge sniff of mint. As you can see, the sprig in this glass was nice and healthy and full. Truly delicious, if you've never had one, have one! Michele was Twittering our location as I pondered my drink. :o)






The Ivy is fairly unassuming from the outside with the white picket fence, but once you get inside it's decorated so beautifully in that perfect country French way with fabrics and flowers and linen and worn wood tables and hand-painted pottery dishes. The fireplace mantles were all laden with flowers in pretty vases.

This row of lovely pillows was next to me on the bench I was sitting on, and the beautiful garden bouquet was on our table:
























I had a shrimp, mango, and avocado salad, and Michele had chicken meatloaf! I have never seen that on a menu. It was the lightest consistency, more like a souffle. She loved it! And for dessert -- coffee and just one chocolate chip cookie each. They had an assortment of cookies, etc. that you could order for a cajillion dollars, but I asked if I could just have ONE and they were happy to accommodate.




































Sunday's antique excursion will be my next post. Need to get something other than blog updates done today!!!