John Leonard is credited with saying, “It takes a long time to grow an old friend.” And I’ve got the plaque to prove it.
This beautiful piece was a gift from Elaine, my best friend from childhood—and my oldest friend. I’ve always loved the sentiment, but after our housewarming party this weekend, those words felt especially meaningful.
During the party, I kept looking around the room thinking:
“Wow. They actually came.”
Thirty friends from Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas made the two-to-four-hour drive just to celebrate our new home with us. Many of them I’ve known for 25, 30, even 40 years.
After being away for eight years, having so many people I care about gathered together under one roof meant more to me than I can adequately put into words.
Friendships need time. They need history. True friendships can survive moves, busy lives, long stretches when you don’t see each other nearly enough, and all the changes that happen along the way.
But this weekend reminded me of something else:
Every old friend was once a new friend.
Some of the people celebrating with us are people I’m only beginning to know here in the desert. Maybe years from now, they’ll be the old friends making a long drive to show up for me, too.
I’m incredibly grateful for both.
Here are a few photos from a fun-filled weekend, and one of the happiest I’ve had in a very long time.
FRIDAY: GLASS, FRIENDS & FOOD
The weekend kicked off Friday night with a private glass-fusion workshop. Five of us had taken the class before, and I invited five of my local friends to join us.
Here’s my piece before firing:
Here’s Lissa’s:
And here’s the piece I made in my regular class—my favorite one so far:
I’ve learned that glass fusion is a lot like life.
You can carefully choose all the pieces, arrange everything exactly the way you want it, and be absolutely certain you know how it’s going to turn out.
Then somebody puts it in a 1,400-degree kiln and you don’t always get exactly what you planned.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t still turn out beautifully.
SATURDAY: THE HOUSEWARMING
We picked up sandwiches from the desert’s premier vegan restaurant, Chef Tanya’s Kitchen. These are the Pastrami Mami and El Cubano:
For the gluten-free and SOS-free crowd, I made my new Caesar salad, a pasta salad and Cinnamon Vanilla Bliss Balls. And, of course, no party at my house would be complete without chips, guacamole and salsa.
Nan Simonsen of Aging Powerfully brought this beautiful fruit platter:
And I am now officially obsessed with dragon fruit.
Nate and Lissa of Raw Food Romance taught everyone how to roll their famous wraps. And Nate also showed us a fancy way to cut a watermelon:
Here are some of my friends who used to volunteer at Healthy Taste of LA:
For those of you who have been with me since the beginning of Weight Loss Wednesday 10 years ago, you may recognize Kenny!
The party was supposed to be from noon to 3:00 PM. People started arriving at 11:00 AM. The last two guests left at 10:00 PM.
Apparently none of us is very good at telling time.
But I loved that nobody seemed to want the day to end. These times together are precious, and I don’t take them for granted.
SUNDAY: AND THEN WE IMPROVISED
The next day, 10 of us experienced the joy – and occasional terror – of a three-hour, in-person improv workshop with Patrick Bristow, who will be directing the improv comedy show in Las Vegas next week.
Patrick has an incredibly impressive list of acting and directing credits, so the fact that he came to my house and taught a private Improvapalooza for us still feels a little surreal.
And after three straight days of glass fusion, a house full of friends and three hours of improv, I learned one more important lesson about friendship:
Old friends are wonderful.
Old friends who eventually go home so you can take a nap are wonderful, too. 😂
Until next week,
Love & Friendship,
Chef AJ
🐾🦴🐶From The Puppy Files🐾🦴🐶
Here are this week’s PUPdates.
Shiloh continues his lifelong quest to find the softest possible place to rest in any room, while Trixie prefers using people as her personal blanket, but most of the time, they decide the best option is each other.
