Los Angeles

WDP — Costly Meal

Fandango4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?
View all responses

For those of you who have been blogging on WordPress for less than two years or whose memory banks expire within 24 months, I am repeating my August 9, 2023 response to this question.

The honest answer to both questions is “I don’t remember.”

What I do remember is that when we lived in Southern California in the mid-80s, we would drive into Los Angeles and treat ourselves to dinner once or twice a year at the Ivy Restaurant. 

I remeber that it was a fairly expensive restaurant and I think the food was good, but I can’t specifically remember how much the meals actually cost or how good the meals tasted. 

I do remember that every time we had dinner at the Ivy, we always saw some celebrity dining there, too. TV personalities, movie stars, musicians. Every time we ate there.

Please don’t ask me to tick off the names of the celebrities we saw there. It was almost forty years ago since we last dined at the Ivy in Los Angeles. I do recall the one time we ate at the Ivy Restaurant in Santa Monica, one of the other guests dining there was singer/songwriter Jackson Browne.

WDP — Most Expensive Meal

Fandango4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?
View all responses

The honest answer to both questions is “I don’t remember.”

What I do remember is that when we lived in Southern California in the mid-80s, we would drive into Los Angeles and treat ourselves to dinner once or twice a year at the Ivy Restaurant.

I think it was a fairly expensive restaurant and I think the food was good, but I can’t specifically remember how much the meals actually cost or how good the meals tasted.

But I do remember that every time we had dinner at the Ivy, we always saw some celebrity dining there, too. TV personalities, movie stars, musicians. Every time we ate there.

Please don’t ask me to tick off the names of the celebrities we saw there. It was almost forty years ago since we last dined at the Ivy in Los Angeles. I do recall the one time we ate at the Ivy Restaurant in Santa Monica, one of the other guests dining there was singer/songwriter Jackson Browne.

Loose Change

Fandango13 Comments

For yesterday’s Scott’s Daily Prompt, Scott asked us to “Dig through your couch cushions, your purse, or the floor of your car, and look at the year printed on the first coin you find. What were you doing that year?”

Upon seeing Scott’s prompt, I immediately went to a jar on my chest of drawers in my bedroom in which I keep loose change. I opened up the lid of my loose change jar and pulled out one of the coins sitting on top. It was a 1984 quarter.

Before I begin, let me point out that I live a rather unremarkable life, so looking back to a particular year, I’d say there’s not much that is either particularly interesting or exciting. If you choose to read on, be prepared to be bored.

In 1984 I was 37 and living in a northern New Jersey suburb with my wife and two young children. I was working in Midtown Manhattan for a small software development firm where I designed health benefits administration software solutions. I commuted to my job each day by driving to, and parking my car at, a staging area for a commuter bus that took me to New York City’s Port Authority bus terminal. Then I would take the D-train (subway) to the office building at 57th and Broadway. I liked my job, but I hated the commute. And that pretty much sums up what I was doing in 1984.

In early 1985, I was recruited by a Los Angeles-based company that made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. So I didn’t. I moved my family completely across the country, where we bought a house, got the kids enrolled in new schools, and I started my new job. Hence, 1985 was a much more interesting year for all of us than was 1984. But, as they say, you play with the cards you’re dealt. Or in the case, the date on the coin I selected.