I… have been misleading you all.

I started blogging with every intention of sticking to it. I mean, I love to write! It’s validating, soothing, exciting, and above all, a profound act of faith. But… then, life happened. And school happened. And there was this boy…

In any case. I feel like I’m slinking back, guiltily, to a project that I neglected for the life that had seemed more imperative.

slink. slink.

Maybe because that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

But now, I’m camped out at the Downbeat (a link to come! Once I figure out how to write links…) Cafe, nestled between two cute, vintage-y shops – you know, the type of place that sells clothes for $200 that you would wear only to cultivate the appearance that you might have made them yourself  – right off of Sunset Blvd and Alvarado St in Echo Park.

I love this neighborhood.

I come here to work, usually. With free WIFI, a fairly diverse (although pricey) menu, and a frequent stream of writers, screenwriters, and artists in their client base, it’s a good place to write. Especially if being in the apartment only makes me want to bake everything in Kirstine’s new bread book or watch the entire second season of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD.

Today I got a small cup of Earl Grey tea and a salmon salad. While I think, for the most part, that $2 for a cup of tea is scandalizing, I have to admit that it was remarkably good. To make the tea, the barista scooped a tablespoon or so of loose tea leaves into an open tea bag that she then expertly tied and placed in the cup. (Maybe “expertly” was too generous an adverb, but I was impressed.) And the cup actually looked like a tea cup. Open faced, short, stout, and white porcelain sitting on a matching saucer, using it felt… proper.

The salmon salad. I’ve been really into smoked salmon, lately, ever since I had the salmon salad at Full of Life – a salad & sandwich shop in Claremont – a few days ago. I love the marriage of taste – salty, smokey – and texture – soft, yielding – in smoked salmon. It feels decadent. The meal includes two slices of smoked salmon on a bed of field greens, garnished with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, and capers. Balsamic vinaigrette on the side. With half of a warm Italian baguette and a few pats of cold butter. All in all, fairly standard. What it really needed was a piece of fresh whole-milk mozzarella and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper. But now I’m just nit-picking.

Mmm. Not spectacular, but it scratched my smoked salmon itch.