Milk, Necromance + Pizza

(This post isn't going to be nearly as weird as the title implies.)

   After breakfast, Kelley took me to see the Handmade Galleries store in Sherman Oaks. It was set up kind of like an antique mall, with individual booths and cases rented by different artists and craftsman, selling everything from toys to clothes, jewelry to framed art. I found a fabric art character book that I LOVE, as well as a mounted and preserved exotic butterfly.

Next door was a Three Dog Bakery... temporarily closed! (Sorry, Nelly!)

Sean had a little snack...

Magnolia blooms abounded

gorgeous neighborhood: Sherman Oaks

We stopped at Sweet Butter Kitchen/Cafe/Market for some refreshments:

   Sean had some milk, and we had a banana dulce de leche almond ice cream bar made by Milk (yeah, WOW!) If you had any doubt that it was delicious, it didn't last long enough to start melting:

And in case you have any doubt that

Sean was hungry, get a load of this:

   After we were temporarily satiated, we headed home, and Dave came over to pick me up for Round Two of fun. When he saw the butterfly I had purchased, he asked if I had ever been to Necromance on Melrose, the exquisite store for dead things. I hadn't, so we were off!

I spotted this sign on Melrose, and Dave graciously stood in the busy street to
snap this photo of me and my ridiculous boot. The humor was worth the risk, no?

   Turns out that a visit to this store is like a visit to a natural history museum... except that these artifacts were for sale! I walked away with another box of butterflies, and a piece of fan coral and large white starfish for Kelley & Eric. The owner (?), Nancy, was friendly and happy to share her wealth of information about the deceased creatures in the store. It was all very fascinating (if a little sad, because I will always prefer live animals over dead ones!)

They look very lifelike... but they're not.  :(

   Then Dave took us on a drive up Mulholland Drive, to see the spectacular, sprawling city view from the hills. Unfortunately, we didn't enjoy it for long, as the park had closed for the night—unbeknownst to us—and the park rangers watching on camera took our photos and warned us to leave immediately. Oops. At least we weren't arrested... yet.

    A quick stop at Pitfire yielded a pile of perfect pizza pies, so we went home to share, and feasted!