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Much of a muchness
Things that make you go 'hmm'…
Shop ’til you drop in LA…
Posted by on October 4, 2007
We had a shopping day yesterday and went to the Grove shopping mall in Hollywood – a huge extravagant collection of shops, eating places and an area called the Farmers Market, all complete with dancing fountains and an antique trolley bus and I have to say, best of all, an Apple store. As a total Mac fan, I was in heaven and once I had held an iPod Touch in my hands and played with its touch screen, I knew I could never let it go. It was the easiest sales job in the world. I adore it.
We had lunch in a gigantic restaurant called the ‘Cheesecake Factory’ (no prizes for guessing what the speciality of the house was) and as I have been eating rather a lot lately, I opted for an Asian Chicken salad but was presented with the most gigantic plate of food I have ever encountered. I ate as much as I could and they put the rest in a container to take home. (Claire, Colin and I all had some with our supper – and there was still some left over, whereupon we admitted defeat and guiltily binned it.) Of course we had to sample the cheesecake too but Claire and I wisely shared a portion of banana cheesecake, which was delicious but did defeat us. I noticed the quantity of food being left on people’s plates and returned to the kitchens and it was obscene. I can’t understand how they can justify the size of portions they serve or the amount of food they must throw away. Unreal.
I also managed a trip to the Mecca for bookbinding/paper/stationery afficionados – a Paper Source store. I could have spent all day in there quite happily and I was overwhelmed by the selection of delectable papers on offer – far more than even shown on their web site. I was in paper heaven and I want Paper Source to open a branch in the UK, preferably in my hometown so I can go there every day.
We ended the day with a stroll down to the beach and we watched the most beautiful sunset. The weather since I have been here has been so perfect, cloudless blue skies and warm but not too hot sunshine. Perfect tennis weather. I have been told that it is grey and drizzly in the UK – so that’s something to look forward to on my return – not.
Much of a muchness 
Paper Source Store……. I’m sooooo jealous!
Nice pics. I would have like getting lost in the Paper Store too. :)
I’m glad you’re having fun. I wish I had one of those Paper Source stores near me. I also think portion sizes are out of control and contribute to people being overweight (some feel they HAVE to eat everything on their plate). We are also a wasteful society, I guess.
they do eat whopper meals over there ….that salad looks scrumptious and banana cheesecake……yum !!!!
you look very snazzy in your summer outfit….I suppose the weather in the UK won’t get any better….in fact it must be quite cold over there now..
we are getting the hottest spring days ever and raging bushfires…
looking forward to see some exciting books with your new paper collection…..Diane…….keep on having fun :D
I can’t say enough how fab Paper Source was! At least they do have a very good web site though.
I have had some delicious food here and the variety on offer is amazing but this lack of portion control is scary – and I thought that Californians were very health conscious. Certainly, you don’t see vast numbers of overweight people but you do see lots of people jogging, roller blading, cycling and generally keeping fit. So I suppose lots of this food must get wasted.
Oh dear Kim, that doesn’t sound like a good omen for the summer does it? The water shortages were bad last year weren’t they? I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms as far as making books is concerned but I am not missing the British weather!
Oh, my favorites!
Feasting in Cheesecake Factory + browsing Paper Source.
Doing both in one day is uncommonly good fortune, even for an American shopper.
I have been so knocked out by the shopping opportunities in LA in particular and the US in general. Just fabulous.
You can see some of the results of my Paper Source expedition in my next post!