monday.

My uncle Tim is visiting from Minnesota this week. We met for lunch today, and he asked me to blog about it. So, here goes.

I felt so relieved to have today off. It was a hectic weekend, and I really needed that extra day to catch up on things. Plus, I think I'm getting that nasty bug that's going around, and it was nice to have a day to sleep in. Also? I think we should just have a three-day weekend the last week of every month. And by "we," I mean everyone on Planet Earth.

It's been 30 years since my uncle's last visit to L.A., so I had to take him some place good. I decided on Bacö Mercat. Josef Ceneno's signature flatbread sandwiches always satisfy, and I even treated myself to one of their homemade sweet-and-sour sodas (the Raspberry Tarragon for reference).

After assuring me that all I was missing in Minnesota was winter, we said our goodbyes, and I walked over to Grand Central Market.

Man, has this place changed. I've watched it gentrify over the past couple of years, and I've decided it's not such a bad thing. There are hip, new places like Eggslut and Sticky Rice along with plenty of the old-school stalls and markets...

...and it was packed! The most crowded I've ever seen it. That has to be good for everyone.

I grabbed a delicious cuppa joe from G&B Coffee. I've noticed there's a new trend in coffee bars--they are like actual bars, which I is better than waiting in a single-file line. See also: Go Get 'Em Tiger.

A couple more things I'd like to share with you: my lovely sister-in-law Joy sent me a poster with the words "Courage, dear heart," by C.S. Lewis as I embarked on my cancer journey. It's from Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Here is the passage in full:

“But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast 

it had whispered to her, 'Courage, dear heart,' and the voice, 

she felt sure, was Aslan's, and with the voice a delicious 

smell breathed in her face.”

The words stayed with me, and when my friend Anna offered to make me a signature bracelet for my birthday, I requested that it be inscribed with them.

One more thing...anyone interested in adopting a delightful, two-year-old min pin named Rocket? Then I have the dog for you. He's fresh off the streets of South Gate, crate- but not potty-trained, and he loves to be outside as much as he loves to be curled up in your lap. If interested, please contact Dogs Without Borders, ask for Rocket...

...and tell them Lexa sent you. See you soon.