I have finally recovered!

I meant to blog as soon as I got back from Vegas but I was pooped. I wasn't hung over, just tired. I am just not used to that much activity on top of not taking a nap!

The trip started out so fun. The guy sitting in the seat next to Nancy took off his jacket and pulled out guns that don't need bullets! Of course we started chatting him up. Turns out he's a back up dancer for Cher! Nancy said as soon as she saw his arms she knew he was a dancer. I was too busy drooling to figure that out, LOL. He's not really much of a gossiper but he would answer any questions we had. We grilled him the entire flight, LOL. He was also a dancer for Madonna and has met Oprah and Whoopie. He's totally not a name dropper we were the ones asking all of the questions. Jamal worked on Cher's farewell tour also and blogged all about it. Here is his blog. He says you need to search the archives for it. It has been a few years. Like me, he's not a big updater. It was interesting learning the behind the scenes stuff about a world we don't know about. He was in the original broadway production of The Color Purple and is now working on putting together a production of The Harlem Nutcracker. I knew I was going to pay the price for not napping but it was too much fun talking to Jamal. I also told him he must check out Yogurtland while he's in town.

Nancy and I felt like we hit the ground running in Vegas. Well, our version of running, LOL. We decided to try a rental car this year since I didn't really want to drink and we were split between two hotels. I think it worked out nice. Of course they didn't tell us it would cost $10 a day for an extra driver. We'll need to read the fine print next time. Getting the rental car took longer then I thought it would so then we were rushing to Red Rock Hotel and Casino to meet up with the girls and to make our spa appointments. We almost had a heart attack because my gps wasn't getting a signal and I didn't mapquest the drive since I had a gps. Luckily we were able to get it working, after a panicked call to Rosie, LOL. We were so tight on time we couldn't go to Yogurtland, darn it!

We got to the spa with minutes to spare before our treatment. We had time to say hi to some of the ladies who were lounging by the pool and that was pretty much it. My masseuse was wonderful. Linda T has been telling me for years about the hot stone massage and I loved it but I think I prefer the swedish more. I like more contact, LOL. Nancy has the body scrub and I assume she loved it, I didn't ask, LOL. After our treatments we went out to gather with the girls at the pool for a few before it was time to rush off to the hotel since we were all ravenous beasts by then. I had downed an apple after my massage but it wasn't cutting it. Everyone was starving. Unfortunately we were driving during rush hour and we had to stop and pick up Bo so it took us a little while to get to the hotel. We had to forget checking in and go directly to the burger place where Lina was meeting us. Unfortunately the fries were not as fantastic as I remembered them. They go light on the ranch flavoring now. I was sad. The burgers were great though. Hmmm, I didn't take a pic of our first meal together. That's a bummer. They have 2 for 1 happy hour at the burger place, that was taken advantage of many times during our time there, LOL.

Then it was off to check in and then change and get ready to go back out. Like I said, we hit the ground running. We decided on Cleopatra's Barge. It's tradition after all, LOL. I don't have any pics of us on the dance floor, maybe because we were too sober, or at least I was, LOL but here are some of the pics of the gals and I.


For some reason Nancy didn't like the self portraits because I was centered. I thought they looked great, LOL.Nancy has fond memories of the Seahorse saloon in Daytona so we had to stop and have a drink at the Seahorse bar in Caesar's. And while walking to breakfast I saw this Budha and wanted my pic taken. Breakfast is a wonderful was to end the night, especially when a ribeye breakfast is $5.50! It was cheaper then the bacon and eggs. The meat was really thinly cut but it was fabulous as you can see by the after plate.

I'm back!

Did you miss me? Of course you did! The plan was to check in while I was traveling. Did I even tell you I was leaving? I figured I would have plenty of time at the airport to blog but that is not what happened as you can see. I flew out Sat afternoon, got there as they were getting ready to board. I factored in picking up my sister so she could have my car, I didn't factor her deciding to take her car and then stopping to get gas and coffee. Since my trip was so last minute I didn't have time to buy a book so I popped in to one of the airport shops to see what they had. Nothing in the romance department so I bought a Vanity Fair instead. It's always great for flights because they actually have articles. Course, that means I now know more about Bernie Madoff then I ever wanted to, LOL.

I had an aisle seat which is good because I sat next to 2 very large ladies. They were very sweet though. I didn't really talk to them until the last hour of the flight since I slept most of the way. We were flying during my normal nap time, not that the time of day really affects my sleeping on a plane. The layover in Chicago was the perfect amount of time, just a little over an hour. I had time to get a Chicago style hot dog and only had 20 minutes to wait before we loaded. I don't like it less then an hour because if the previous flight is running late, it's too stressful. I read for the quick jaunt to Atlanta and Dao picked me up, yay! It was midnight so we went straight to the hotel. She had a Vietnamese sub waiting for me, woo hoo!

We chit chatted in the room, I wouldn't say we caught up since we try to talk at least every other week but it's fun to talk in person! There was a vent in our room that wouldn't shut off so it was cold and of course, no extra blankets. Most people who room with me know I always turn off the A/C or at least turn the thermostat off. The room was cold. Good thing I packed my flannels. So Dao went to sleep but I was still wide awake. I tried to go to sleep after surfing the web but my body wasn't co-operating. I normally go to bed around 1am. That would be 4am in ATL. Guess who was up til after 4am? Then of course due to the cold and worry about over sleeping I didn't sleep too well.

Dao and I wandered down after I woke up to check out the continental breakfast. Not too impressive. Then it was time to get ready for lunch. I needed to run some errands before hand so no time to lolly gag. The lunch with Karen was scheduled for 12:30pm and we got there a little after noon and I would say over half of the 70 people who were going to show were already there, LOL. So much for getting there early.

The lunch was wonderful! Unfortunately Dao couldn't stay too long since she couldn't get Monday off and had to drive home but she did get a chance to see Brenda, Brian and Charlie again who came back from FL early to be at the lunch. How wonderful is that? I love them! Karen was also tickled to meet Brian since Brenda had posted a pic awhile back of him reading one of Karen's books. There were so many people to meet that I didn't have a chance to be tired. I barely had a chance to take a drink of water. As soon as I walked in there were friends to meet. Just because we hadn't met in person doesn't mean they're not friends as most of you know since most of my friends were met online first.

Karen and I hadn't done anything like this before and considering this was pulled together in a little over a week it was a tremendous success. People flew in as well as drove for hours to meet with Karen. That's a lot of pressure. It was pretty exciting and exhilarating. I thought the lunch would be 2 or 3 hours, it lasted 5 hours! Karen took her time talking to everyone and of course I was running around talking to everyone. One of the gals brought her daughter and niece along. She was so excited about the lunch that she forgot it was her daughter's birthday, LOL. So I picked her up a pink cake and we sang happy birthday to her and told her that she could dig right in to the cake with her fork. Who wouldn't love that? Of course I then went and got myself a fork so I could have a bite of the cake also, LOL. There are so many wonderful moments. The hardest part is there are so many people I want to talk to that you don't get a chance to have long conversations with anyone.

Karen and I are usually too busy talking to get pics taken so I was determined to get a Thelma and Louise shot. The group shot was taken after few people left which is a bummer but this will give you an idea about the crowd. Some people brought husbands, mothers, sisters, daughters and children. It was fun for everyone.
Brenda's teenage daughter Charlie even said, it wasn't as boring as she thought it was going to be. There you go!

Once the event was over is when I realized how exhausted I was. Back to the hotel and a nap for me. I honestly would have been happy staying in all night but I couldn't. I had plans to meet up with Franklin and go see dancing boys, I couldn't cancel those plans! So after my much needed nap I dragged myself up to get ready to meet my #1 gay. We went to BJ's. Our friendly neighborhood gay bar with dancing boys. What more could a girl ask for? Excellent company and men in their undies. Perfect! Franklin and I had a wonderful time catching up with each other with wonderful scenery around. His friend Scott was with us and he's a chef! He says the next time I come to town to give him warning and he'll make a meal for me. How fab would that be?

Franklin says hi to the gals. He misses you. We also spent time together on Monday before I flew out. We were originally going to do lunch but we changed that to lunch in the morning, LOL. I wanted to go to the Collonade Room for fried chicken but they don't open for lunch, gasp! So we ended up going to a local fast food joint. Their chicken was ok but no Collonade room, LOL. Then we wandered over to Borders and spent some time wandering around there. The nice day of the day before was gone. When we went from the car to the bookstore it was like running thru a tornado it was so windy. It was hilarious the look on his face when I stepped out of the car and my hair started flying everywhere. He did not want to get out of that car. There went my plan for us to get ice cream. Instead we went to the cafe and had a hot chocolate. Did you know SBC had a triple chocolate drink which means hot chocolate with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, white chocolate shavings and a chocolate stick? How decadent!

And with that my whirlwind trip to Atlanta was over. It was great to see Brenda, Franklin and Dao with one week's notice and two of them out of town. I have wonderful friends and it was a wonderful trip.

Happy Birthday to me...

Well happy fake birthday to me! I almost missed it. This working from home stuff makes it more difficult for me to keep track of dates but I had birthday greetings in my inbox which confused me for a sec, LOL. I need to remind Nancy so she can get me a present. Hey, just because I almost forgot doesn't mean she should. Especially where a present is concerned.

I really should make this day work for me since it's what's on my driver's license. You know there are places you can eat free on your birthday or I can get me some drinks. I might need to do some research. OK I just did. This link has a bunch of places you can sign up to get freebies on your bday. I signed up for Duke's Chowder House. I'm excited! Now I just have to make it to Seattle, LOL.

I will make it to Atlanta this weekend though. Karen is doing a lunch there and you know how I hate missing out on the fun. Dao is going to try to make it to town and I already let Franklin know I was coming. Its a quickie trip. I emailed Brenda but she's out of town this week and is going to try and make the signing. I told her when Karen was going but haven't heard from her since I added the bonus of me being there! If Dao and I hang out we will go eat. If Brenda and I hang out we will go eat. If Franklin and I hang out we will go look at boys. I hope I get to hang out with my friends, LOL.

chili spiced mangoes

Did I mention Rachael was a foodie (her birthday is today so wish her a happy birthday, happy birhday Rachael!). So while I was staying with her it was fun to see all the different little goodies she would pull out. One night when our friend Desiree came over she put out little bowls of snack foods and one of the things she put out was chili flavored mango. I loved it! I was a total pig and couldn't stop eating them. It's the sweet and spicy combo. Oh, I should mention the mangoes are dried (but I know Mexicans and Filipinos love to throw hot spices on their fresh mango).

For me most fruit doesn't need anything else. I'll throw some salt on a watermelon if it's not sweet enough but if it's a great watermelon it doesn't need anything else. The same with mango (although with a green mango it's different, it's not sweet, we use shrimp sauce on it, a bit much for my white friends, LOL). But dried sweet mango is a whole nother story. Now I've had dried mango before and really enjoyed it. You can find it in most asian stores. My filipino friend turned me on to it, it's like eating candy. But Rachael is the one who turned me on to chili spiced mango.

She says she bought it at Whole Foods which sucks because the closest Whole Foods is in Seattle and I rarely ever go to Seattle. So today I was in Trader Joe's and lo and behold they had a huge display featuring their chili spiced mangoes and for less then $2 a bag! I bought 2! I should have bought more but I was practicing restraint, LOL. Apparently they've had them for years but since I hadn't tried them til a couple of months ago I never noticed them.

I opened a pack in the car and it was as wonderful as I remember. You really do have to take a couple of bites to fully enjoy the yumminess of it. Nancy couldn't get past her first bite. Oh well, that just means more for me, LOL. I am so happy to have found these. I think I may have mentioned a time or two how much I love Trader Joe's but really, I can never stress it enough, LOL.

Back to the gym I go

I couldn't really make a New Year's resolution to go to the gym considering I was heading to California for 5 weeks soon after but I was determined to get my butt back to the gym once I go back and so far I've been doing pretty good. I need to start incorporating classes in my workout because I always do better in a class environment. I will push myself more. Mostly I've been doing interval training on the elliptical, which consists of going as fast as you can for 30 seconds and at a normal speed for 90 seconds. I've read that because of the intensity you don't have to work out as long so that works for me. I've also been doing crunches and light weights. I wanted to go 5 times a week but it's been averaging about 3.

I did make it to a couple of kickboxing classes. It's more of a cardio kickboxing which isn't really my style because I prefer to work on form but the instructor seems to be trying to work more kickboxing into the class. I definitely don't have the speed to keep up with all of the reps as fast as he goes but I do have the form. The good news is the second class I went to I felt better already. It totally fired me up and invigorated me and if I didn't have dinner plans with my sister I would have stayed and worked out a little longer after class. It's been awhile since I've been that motivated.

The first class I wanted to check out before I brought my gear. I didn't want to walk in trying to look like a badass with my IKEA bag full of kickboxing toys but I decided I wanted to wear my wraps in class and my kickboxing shoes so I was going to start bringing my stuff. Plus, there's some other chick who goes in there and she wears bag gloves and during the class will go over and punch on the one bag that is in the class. If she can do that I can most certainly bring my stuff but I won't wear my muay thai shorts, that might be pushing it a bit, LOL.

So on Tuesday I drag my suitcase that has been in the laundry room out to the shed. I need to dig to get to my kickboxing stuff, I know where it is, I just have to shift things around to get to it. Did I mention that Nancy's shed door doesn't shut all the way? So as I walk in I hear a noise but I think it's because I had the suitcase so I go still and I still hear a noise. I look inside and am face to face with a raccoon! Now raccoons are mean SOBs so I take off running to get into the house. The funny thing is for some reason I brought the suitcase back in with me even though we were in the shed and I could have left it. Jake, Nancy's cat also went sprinting inside when I did and yes, it was a funny picture me lugging the suitcase and running because you all know I don't run! I text my brother who was on his way over. His car was in the shop so I let him use mine and we were going to go pick up my car. He was already on his way when he got my text so I sent him into the shed armed with a shovel to scare out the raccoon. Turns out the raccoon is injured so he's not moving. He's hissing like crazy (Adam told me this while my head peaked out the door. He finally told me to shut the door because I was terrified and no help, LOL). Adam tried for 20 minutes to get the raccoon out even trying to lure him out with food but his legs look broken. We gave up and decided to pass the problem along to Nancy since I had to be back in time for my kb class.

Adam, the great white hunter said he couldn't hurt an injured animal and I totally understood. I wanted the raccoon gone but not dead. By the time Nancy got home, about an hour later the raccoon had left. Apparently they have a strong sense of survival and there have been many times where animal control has been called and the raccoon has been gone before they get there. My dad thinks it went off to die somewhere else which is fine with me, I don't want it dying in the shed, ewwww.

I was not brave enough to go into the shed to get my stuff when it looked like the raccoon was gone. I think I need to get someone to come over and check out the shed one more time before I go in there and get my stuff. I can barely handle tame animals, let alone wild ones, LOL.

Some funny videos...

I love Flight of the Conchords which is about a folk band from New Zealand trying to make it in the states. Unfortunately it's on HBO so I only get to watch it when I'm at a friends and they have on demand. This is one of my favorite songs by them.

I just saw this video today. It stars Nathan Fillion who I love and just starred on a new show called Castles which I really enjoyed. I loved the deliberately bad acting. And here is my favorite song from Dr Horrible's Singalong Blog, just for the line where they say they do the weird stuff LOL. You can watch the entire musical online. I downloaded the soundtrack and now have a musical in my head that's constantly playing, LOL.

Chicks with Knives

Now there is one specific meal I wanted to talk about. You know my friend and fellow blogger Rachael. She's been linked to my blog for years, Fresh Approach Cooking. Well she has started another venture called Chicks with Knives (love the name), which is a sustainable supper club. What exactly is that you ask?

7 principles of sustainable food based on a website link Rachael has posted:
In our opinion, people and businesses adopting a sustainable approach to food should:
1. Use local, seasonally available ingredients as standard, to minimise energy used in food production, transport and storage.
2. Specify food from farming systems that minimise harm to the environment, such as certified organic produce.
3. Limit foods of animal origin (meat, dairy products and eggs) served, as livestock farming is one of the most significant contributors to climate change, and promote meals rich in fruit, vegetables, pulses, wholegrains and nuts. Ensure that meat, dairy products and eggs are produced to high environmental and animal welfare standards.
4. Exclude fish species identified as most 'at risk' by the Marine Conservation Society, and choose fish only from sustainable sources - such as those accredited by the Marine Stewardship Council.
5. Choose Fairtrade-certified products for foods and drinks imported from poorer countries, to ensure a fair deal for disadvantaged producers.
6. Avoid bottled water and instead serve plain or filtered tap water in reusable jugs or bottles, to minimise transport and packaging waste.
7. Promote health and well-being by cooking with generous portions of vegetables, fruit and starchy staples like wholegrains, cutting down on salt, fats and oils, and cutting out artificial additives.

But the chicks take it a step further and practice S.O.L.E. food. Sustainable, Organic, Local and Ethical.

Remember the grapefruits Rachael and I picked? Someone had emailed her offering them up for one of her dinners of which I got to participate in while I was there. Normally their suppers are hosted in homes and average about 20 or 25 people. They were doing a special dinner in a gallery for 75 people, keep in mind, the chicks are 2 women and there was no kitchen there! Needless to say, Rachael was crazy busy that week. They used the grapefruit to make a grapefruit gelet (sp?) with flecks of gold to go on top of the raw oysters that were their first course. I wish I could tell you all of the love and ingredients that went into this dinner. They had so many ingredients and the process was amazing and yes, Rachael has her own garden that she also gets ingredients from. They also made their sausage by hand as well as 2 kinds of mustards, someone said the tart cherry mustard was smack your mother good, LOL. I'll have to get Rachael to tell you the menu because it was super fantastic and super impressive.

Unfortunately I was not sitting at a table enjoying the meal. I was in the back helping with the meal. They also had 2 volunteers and the cool thing was, we had people coming in to help serve each course because they saw that there were so few people serving. How cool was that? It was pretty exhausting work and Rachael and Suzie had been there longer then I was and left after I did.

It was so cool to see her in action. This is something she's talked to me about but I didn't really grasp it. It was wonderful to see all of Rachael's hard work come to fruition and I was so proud of her and proud to be a part of it. If you are ever in LA and lucky enough to be there when she has a dinner planned I really hope you check it out.