We had planned to go over to the mall, primarily to go to Lulu for groceries. We also needed to stop at Starbucks because Craig brought whole bean coffee with him instead of ground coffee. Our goal had been to go over as early as possible because we know that the mall, and Lulu in particular, tends to get busier in the afternoons.
But we got a very slow start. We discovered that the coffee maker had not made the transfer from the office to our apartment, so I made instant coffee for Craig. I got a little distracted digging through boxes and unpacking. Generally, I think the jet lag was setting in.
We discussed getting a late breakfast or lunch at the mall, but the options weren't very appealing. Craig decided to walk over to Texas Chicken and get fried chicken for us. Meanwhile, I managed a shower and got dressed to go to the mall. After we ate, we gathered up the coffee and called the valet to bring up the car.
We had gotten a parking garage key when we checked in, but we'd already left the car with the valet. Craig has figured out the parking here and is, I think, happier with self-park than the valet. But we had checked in at the hotel, because the apartment doesn't have front desk staff at that time of day, and they don't allow self-park at the hotel.
When we got to the front desk of the apartments, the man on duty there said, "Mr. Craig, is this your car?" Craig and I both stared at the car outside, trying to figure out if it was, indeed, our car. We rented from the same company, but the car was predictably different. Craig gave him the valet ticket to confirm that it was our car before we got in. But we did remark that the front desk man had recognized Craig, even though we hadn't checked in there.
From the entrance where valet brings the car, we could see the mall. We'd left it too late; the mall was packed. Craig pulled out into the street and got in the left turn lane. As we made the turn, some cars next to us made left turns from the straight-only lanes (this is an ongoing source of frustration for Craig, for various reasons, in a number of situations). Craig managed to avoid being hit by people making illegal turns.
We avoided the taxi lane - taxis going into the mall cause an enormous crush on weekend afternoons. But even the lanes for the parking garage were hardly moving. We got into one of those and marveled at the crowds for a few minutes.
Suddenly, I looked at Craig and said, "Why are we here? You said we were going to JW Steakhouse for dinner! And we don't even have a coffee maker yet, so there's no point in getting this coffee ground! We should do this tomorrow, in the morning!"
Craig considered for a moment, but we were still making no progress toward the mall. He pulled out of the lane and back onto the street. We turned around and made our way back to the hotel. "Well, thanks for coming with me to move the car from valet to self park," he said as we parked the car in the garage.
We headed back to our apartment where we continued to unpack. We are making use of the closet in the second bedroom to store our luggage and the storage bins. I also made some small adjustments with the furniture and extras, moving things into the "spare bedroom" so that we have more room in ours. This apartment is just enough different from the last that I haven't found the perfect spot for everything yet.
I called for more hangers and for a water dispenser. Craig had some work to do, so I answered the door when the hangers arrived. Perhaps two minutes later, there was another knock. A housekeeper I recognized was standing there with the water dispenser. He smiled at me and said, "Welcome back!" (I think this is the same man who recognized that I had disappeared for the road trip with Court and the girls; one of them asked Craig where his wife had gone when I was away.)
After setting up the water dispenser in the corner, we chatted briefly about our return. During check in, I had been struck by the fact that we were checking in for 51 days. Our last trip was undoubtably longer, but that number jumped out at me. He left and I returned to unpacking.
With most of the unpacking finished, I had to interrupt Craig to get help moving the larger furniture. I wanted to sectional closer to the television. And I decided on a new location for the water dispenser. Then I wanted to move the table in the living room, so we would be able to both sit and view the television (as we like to do on occasion).
Another small change for this trip - I brought along a roll of non-slip shelf lining. I put this everywhere at home because I like how it cushions things and keeps them from sliding around. I had meant to bring some back after the road trip, but it wasn't where I thought it would be. I did find it for this trip and tucked it into the suitcase, much to Craig's confusion. But when I rolled it out in the bathroom drawers, he immediately understood. One of our frustrations on the previous trip was that the bathroom drawers were so difficult to open that everything inside slammed to the back every time you managed to open them. Now, if you organize the drawer, everything stays were you put it. It really is the little things...
Craig called down to make reservations at the JW Steakhouse. This is one of the restaurants in the hotel and it probably is our favorite place to eat that does not require a taxi ride. (Butcher & Still, at the Four Seasons Hotel, is probably our favorite, but that requires a taxi.) As an added bonus, the hotel is attached to the apartments, so we don't even have to step outside to get there.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were recognized by nearly all the wait staff. The hostess knew we wanted the "it takes two" special, though she described the other current special to tempt us. (We've actually gotten this special on a day it wasn't offered, because it is such a regular order for us.) The waitress knew we wanted "it takes two," she knew we wanted the 500 g tenderloin divided as a 300 g steak for Craig and a 200 g steak for me, after a moment's thought she remembered that we both like our steak medium, she knew that Craig wanted a large bottle of sparkling water and that I wanted still water. Craig had only to remind her that I only wanted a small bottle. And we had to pick out our starters and sides, because we get different things each time.
It is unusual for us to be "regulars" anywhere. When we moved to Eagle Rock, one of Craig's stated goals was to become regulars someplace. But there are too many interesting places to try and Craig loves the variety. And at home, our schedule is too varied and Craig travels too much for us to go someplace even once a week. We are recognized at our favorite sushi place - but only by the owner, not the waitstaff; so there's never anyone to ask if we want "our usual" or anything like that.
But here, where we joke that even the best staff can only be 80% correct with anything, we have become regulars in just a few months. We are recognized by the staff at the hotel. We are recognized by everyone at the JW Steakhouse - all the way to remembering our food and drink preferences.
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