59th & Lex

Earlier this week I accompanied one of my friends to Fashion Valley Mall. She had to get a few things for Christmas shopping and wanted to know if I wanted to come along. I was only too glad to get out of my house! So off we went on a "Morrissey type day":
I'm pretty much done with all of my Christmas shopping. Let's put it this way...GIFTCARDS BABY. Yeah. Makes life a whole lot easier. And also, shopping for less people. That really helps too. We browsed around a few stores like Nordstrom's and Neiman-Marcus (OMFG - so expensive there!) and because she had a giftcard or something, went also went to Bloomingdales. We were originally going to have lunch at the cafe in Nordstrom's but since we were in Bloomingdale's, didn't want to walk all the way back to Nordie's. Instead, we ate here - 59th & Lex, the Cafe in Bloomie's. These photos are courtesy of her camera since I forgot to bring mine that day. A rarity.
It's actually rather small. The decor is black and white and there are large framed poster prints of cartoons (mostly about shopping). We had our choice of seats since it wasn't really crowded. Ha, when we left, it was full. Of LADIES WHO LUNCH. Literally. I didn't see one man in there. Not even a server. Anyways...
More of the stark decor:
I couldn't work her camera that well, hence the blurry photo. Yes. I. Take. Crappy. Pictures.

Our server was fairly attentive. She wasn't "hovery". After placing our orders, she served us a roll of sliced bread with butter. Nothing spectacular.

My friend ordered the Tuna Melt which is the house tuna salad served on marble rye bread and cheddar cheese. It comes with either a side of fries or salad. Unfortunately this entree was a "miss". The fries were cold and she wasn't thrilled with the sandwich either.

I ordered the Ham and Brie Cheese Melt on a french baguette roll. The sandwich also had lettuce and tomato inside and came with a side salad (mango dressing on the side) and a pickle, which I didn't eat because I don't like pickles. Actually I like relish but only on hot dogs. I pick my pickles out of hamburgers too. This sandwich, while not a "miss", wasn't entirely a "hit" either. It was all right. The cheese was slightly melted so I liked the contrast of the warm brie with the crusty bread. The salad was my attempt at eating something healthy that day. I was pretty hungry so I ate most of it. But I could've had a better deal at K Sandwiches - $2.75 for the BBQ Beef there!

It was fun window shopping and checking out shit I'll never be able to afford. Well, I could afford it but there my mortgagewould be fkd! I'm not the type to spend $495 on a pair of Jimmy Choos.

In other news...

Movies I want to watch:

Let the Right One In (a Swedish vampire flick, which unfortunately is no longer is limited release...I'll have to wait for the DVD)

Slumdog Millionaire - Bert and I are going to try to catch this next week in Hillcrest's Landmark Theatres.

Books that I want to read:

The rest of the Sookie Stackhouse series (aka "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" by Charlaine Harris), upon which the HBO Series True Blood is based. Sookie Stackhouse is played by Anna Paquin (yes, the little girl in "the Piano"). I haven't seen an episode yet, but I read the first novel, "Dead Until Dark" and now I'm hooked. I need to find out what happens to Sookie and her vampire, Bill Compton!!