Happy birthday to me!

I had a pretty good birthday yesterday (well, and today).

It started shittily enough, with yet another grinding battle against an over-burdened health care bureaucracy, but picked up with a trip to Mom's Tamales — not to be confused with Mama's Tamales, our previous favorite tamales. (Still good, just Mom's were fluffier and spicier.)

Stopped by the CSA; going to their potluck tomorrow.

Amy and I met Amanda and Isaac at City Sip, had some tempernillo and rioja, along with some tasty cheeses. Not too bad for happy hour — $4 tempernillo is worthwhile even if it's a bit one-note.

Then Amy and I headed off to Sage Bistro, a vegan half-raw bistro. Service was great, food was three stars, with every dish having sauce problems. Too much dressing on the salads, too many sauces on the spring rolls, too sweet marina sauce on amazing little ravioli.

We took a quick detour by Seth Lower's show at the Weekend Gallery, right across the street from Wacko. It was a really small space, but it's worth seeing.

We ended up back at home with fresh berries and cream. Fantastic.

Today, had a picnic up at Barnsdall Park (an official webpage that's unfortunately ranked lower than the spam farm it replaced) with a passel of folks I haven't seen in a while. It was nice overeating in a park. We swung by the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery on our way out — strong LA County show there, though the photographers again beat everybody else.