Hey there!  How are you?  What’s been going on?

The Tuesday Tune-Up is where we can have a weekly virtual coffee date and catch up a bit.

It was a busy week last week with a family friend in town.  This week I’m traveling for work and another friend is coming to town this weekend.  It’s not bad to be this kind of busy but it does cut into the ability to find the time to write so bear with me, please!

Last week, while Ms. O was visiting, Jay and I went out to belatedly celebrate my birthday.  We went to Hinoki and the Bird.

One of my favorite things about living in LA is getting the chance to not only explore the array of fabulous food but I love seeing the many cool areas of this spread out city.  LA has so many beautiful and funky parts but Century City, where Hinoki and The Bird is located, is in the middle of an office park.  The area is strangely sterile and the restaurant doesn’t quite fit in with it’s surroundings.

The restaurant is beautiful and delicate (I really couldn’t take pictures because it was a little too dark) and the food – delicious hamachi with lime, cucumber and apple, chili crab toasts and hinoki (a type of wood) scented black cod were all delicious.  My favorite dish at Hinoki and The Bird was the miso donuts with honey caramel sauce.

Los Angeles might have a reputation for being the mecca of healthy eating but I’m here to tell you that this town reveres donuts in a way I’ve never seen before.  I don’t even really like donuts but HatB made interesting ones.  I still think The Church Key’s brioche donuts win though.

I went back to the orthopedist last week and he, like the groundhog, didn’t give such great news – looks like 4 more weeks of PT are in my future.

3 weeks after my QL spasm, I know I’m walking better and I thought I was standing up straighter but my doctor walked in and instantly said, “You’re not a mess like you were when you came in (see here for the Xray) but you’re still standing titled to the right”.

I didn’t think I’d get clearance to go back to full normal activity but it was disappointing to find out that my perception of progress wasn’t as far as I thought.  It’s hard not to feel like every ounce of strength and muscle acquired through active living is quickly disappearing with all of this non-activity.

Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit but…

It’s hard not to be frustrated but I’m grateful not to be in so much pain.  I’m looking into a local water spine rehab program to attempt to ensure better core engagement and posture in the future in all aspects of movement – athletic or otherwise.

Even though I couldn’t workout, I did attend the Drenched Fitness event sponsored by Women’s Health Magazine.

It was great to see fellow Duranie and Britney cover story writer, Lori Majewski on the West Coast and to watch blogger friends David@KeepItUpDavid, Keke@FreeandForMe, Christiana@SpillingCoffeeandDroppingThings and my girl Josie@JosiesOrdinaryWorld, all produce some serious sweat using the Drenched Fitness technology called Flexline!

It was also nice to have the opportunity to meet Jordan@TheBalancedBlonde (formerly The Blonde Vegan who wrote the brave piece about her orthorexia and transitioning from a fully vegan lifestyle) and Sophie@ThePhilosophie in person.

I’m looking forward to getting the chance to try out this boutique fitness studio for myself once I’m cleared to workout hard.  I can even bring Wild Boy with me because Drenched offers free childcare from infants to pre-teens (which is all kinds of awesome)!

Since Ms. O was visiting and had never been to LA, we wanted to show her some of our favorite spots like Abbot Kinney and the Venice Beach area.  I knew that the Venice area was modeled after Venice, Italy and had canals but I had never seen them until this particular trip.  They’re really pretty and the fact that they’re in Los Angeles is a bit mind blowing.

Wild Boy was even brought into a performance by a large group of street performers near Muscle Beach.  Normally, I don’t pay these type of performers any mind but their crowd was huge and the sun was setting so it was fun.  Who knew that the group would give each of the 3 kids that participated in the performance $20?!  Jay and I did donate the same amount back to the large group but I was floored that these performers actually gave these kids money!

The Burton-Fleischman family also attended at Brooklyn Nets vs. the Los Angeles Lakers game at the Staples Center.  We might not have been the most popular people in the stadium given our visible Brooklyn pride.

It was fun to watch the Nets win and to see former NY Knick, Jeremy Lin, be the high scorer for LA (our family did spend part of Memorial Day weekend watching the Jeremy Lin documentary; the things we do for our children!).

The Duran Duran War Child concert sounded like it was pretty fabulous.  Sure, the set list was a bit tired but I’d still kill to have seen them perform in a venue that holds less than 300 people!

Did you notice clean shaven (and creeper wearing) Simon?!  Maybe he heard my plea to shave the ‘stache?

Image: Joseph Okpako

Duran Duran aside, I’m currently in Del Mar San Diego for work and it was announced today that the KAABOO Del Mar concert will be taking place a stone’s throw from the hotel where I am currently staying.

This 3 day Coachella-type of festival will be featuring some big names like No Doubt, The Killers, Foster The People, Counting Crows, The Roots, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals as well as a bunch of comedians like Joel McHale and Lewis Black.  It sounds like a lot of fun but with tickets starting at $290, no thanks!

 So that’s a summary of what’s been going on in my world this week.

What’s something cool that you’ve discovered in your city? 

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Disclosure:  I was invited to the Women’s Health Drenched Fitness Event and did receive a gift bag but I was under no obligation to write about the event.  I have no professional affiliation with the KAABOO Del Mar Festival but just thought it was interesting.  As always, all opinions expressed here are clearly my own and any professional or financial affiliations will be disclosed.