Friday Night with Cio-Cio San.

Ahhhh, the weekend again. This week was a little slower, which was a nice change. Monday, Bug and I met up with some friends for dinner at the Spring Street Smokehouse. The original plan had been french dips at Phillipe's, but the crowds were insane. (Awesome Monkey recap here.)

The rest of the week was just work and home. Josh had Yom Kippur off on Thursday, so he was a total angel and whipped our house in order. Such a nice surprise to come home to!

Friday, Josh met me downtown and we headed to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. We have season tickets to the L.A. Opera, and we had tickets last night to see Madama Butterfly.


Josh is actually a pretty big opera fan. Fun fact about Josh: He has an absolutely gorgeous voice. He was classically trained, and for awhile, sang in operas. However, he got bored with that, and now would rather start a 90s grunge cover band. I kind of wish he would have stuck with opera, because how many people can sing like that? I mean, if I opened my mouth and all those incredible sounds came out, you would not be able to pull me off stage. A side note to this side note: Josh is fantastically fun at karaoke.

(One more digression: This week, I dug out my old point and shoot camera, so I actually have pictures (I am often too lazy to tote around my big 'ole SLR), although they are a little fuzzy.)

Okay, back on track.

We arrived at the Music Center an hour before the show. I was hoping to have dinner at Pinot Grill, but it was completely packed. Josh and I decided to grab a quick bite at the Spotlight Cafe, a small cafe run by the Patina Group that has sandwiches and snacks.


We got a couple little bottles of wine, and I ordered the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich with arugula, which was quite tasty! (Extremely fuzzy pic below.)


We sat by the fountain, ate our food, sipped our wine, and enjoyed the water show.


After a quick bite to eat, it was time for the show.


Of course, no pictures were allowed or taken during the show. The music was gorgeous, and the set design was very modern and minimalist. It was beautiful -- the stage looked like a moving painting, and the singers would freeze and slowly walk it looked like they were gliding. The stage was a moving, breathing painting. (That said, the theater was quite warm and we had just had a delicious dinner. Some of the slower arias set against the minimal background seemed to drag a little.)

After the show, we trekked home. After the food, wine, and beautiful music, I made a beeline for bed and slept like a baby.