Friday, September 24. 2010
Traveling, and Shopping
I want everyone to stand up and do the HAPPY DANCE with me. You probably want to know why you have to do the happy dance with me, well, it is because after a long few months I am childless (or adultless, if you want to put it like that) again.
Not that I don't love them but....
We made a very fast, trip up to Edmonton Monday afternoon. We were back in LA within 3 days. In that time up there we found him a place to live, a car and did all the licensing etc, cel phone, etc etc and spent a bit of time with my other two boys. It was very busy, very stressful and I did not even make it to a grocery store to bring back Becel with me!!!!!! That is how Busy I was...
These are just some random images from the trip....and as dark and as dismal as these pictures were, Edmonton matched it. Gray, muddy, dismal, cold, and reminded me why I don't like there any longer!
We stopped by to see my middle son Chris when we arrived....
And stayed at the boys place. Chad EVEN gave up his bed to us! And cooked us dinners...I guess they do grow up eventually after all....
My brother hung out with us each evening, I had even carried this case of 12 beer bottles of International beer around the world up in my suitcase for him...
Kevin and his new car (or is it his new stereo with a car attached?)
We had only rented a tiny Hyundai......
Found Kevin a nice basement suite just on the south side....
We introduced Bazza to another Canadian Delicacy this trip. He had never had a crab apple before! Who knew...I figure that Kevin will never starve anyways with apples in the back yard...
Although apparently in a basement suite he will have to learn to keep his playstation games quieter then he ever did in his mothers house!
We settled for the obligatory Value Village couch that will double as a bed, entertainment center, dining room table and I was also kind enough to buy him a bunch of mixmatched dinner items and a 25 lb bag of rice to start off with so he does not starve...
I am not sure whether he flew, or we drop kicked him out of the nest.....but the nest is happily empty at the moment...
Found this cute little Building next to Chad's Treasury Bar, from 1910. It looked little and small sitting there...It is certainly showing a lot of old and poorer areas throughout the city from when I lived there.
Went over to The Treasury to see how Chad's place is coming along there and things are coming along...Inevitable mix ups and scrambles with a new first time operation including a nice flood in the women's bathroom that made its way to the basement, but the menu is expanding as they pick up steam and the nightclub is very busy on the weekends.
Went for lunch and I had a Turkey Burger which was very good...
Others had a flank steak sandwich....
And a chicken pot pie.....
They received a nice review from the Edmonton Journal this week on the food (original link here)
The spicy fried oyster po' boy is made with breaded Fanny Bay oysters in a bed of tomato brandy aioli, topped with pickled diakon, cucumber and carrot slaw.
Photographed by:
Shaughn Butts, The Journal, Edmonton Journal
THE TREASURY VODKA BAR & EATERY
10004 Jasper Ave.
780-990-1255, thetreasury.ca
Lunch for two, excluding tax, tip and liquor: $50
---
Watch for Dining Out reviews every second Wednesday in Food. Find them all online and add your comments at edmontonjournal.com/diningout.
- - -
Fifty years ago, the streets around the present-day location of The Treasury Vodka Bar & Eatery were lined with armoured cars waiting to carry cash to city banks. The building at 10004 Jasper Ave., kitty corner from the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, was a cash warehouse with a massive two-storey vault flush with millions of dollars to fuel commerce and industry in boom town Edmonton.
Well, the lineups are back, but instead of armoured vehicles, couples now queue up around the block on weekends for an evening of fun and frolic at one of the newest downtown restaurants and dance clubs.
"We've got a very unique concept," boasts The Treasury's spokesman Sean Farmer. "It's a hybrid between a restaurant and nightclub."
It's a restaurant by day that turns into a nightclub on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, a place where one can dine and dance and order $200 bottles of quality vodka presented by personal servers.
Farmer says it has been a smash hit since it opened Aug. 19. Young Edmontonians are packing the versatile room where modular furniture is pushed back at night to make way for dancers.
"They come in at 5 p.m. for dinner and before they know it, they're dancing on the dance floor at midnight."
The 14,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to add an oyster bar on its lower level next year, also aims to cater to the business lunch crowd with a 20-minute lunch menu.
We gave it a look shortly after the club opened. Owner Austin Tran and his partners have spent more than $2.5 million on renovations of the former Toronto-Dominion Bank, and it's evident in the marble bars, chandeliers, dark wood and floor-to-ceiling vodka and champagne rack. But the dazzling golden pillars that really set off the place were apparently original decor before the TD crowd covered them with drywall.
The place was empty when we arrived, with only a few suits at a couple of tables. Pop music blared from a speaker above our heads, but shortly after our arrival was abruptly turned down to a comfortable level.
Executive chef Paul Greene, previously of Lux Steakhouse & Bar, Madison's Grill and Dante's Bistro, was using the "soft opening" to refine a limited menu that features four salads, four sandwiches and three entrees. The dinner menu, which we glimpsed when we ordered dessert, featured only three entrees -- beef tenderloin medallions, rack of lamb and grilled ahi tuna -- but it has since been expanded significantly.
We were planning to order a salad or soup with a sandwich, but discovered the sandwiches come with soup or salad sides, so I backed off the Mediterranean grilled baby squid salad I had been eyeing.
My dining companion chose the mushroom soup to accompany her turkey burger ($16), while I selected the lavender honey green apple spring salad with my fried oyster po' boy sandwich ($16).
We didn't sample the entrees, but the chicken pot pie, Bombay butter chicken and frittata a la carte were all very tempting. Fortunately, my salad and my companion's soup arrived promptly.
Both drew raves. The pungent goat cheese set off the lavender honey apple dressing on the salad and made fine friends with the candied walnuts and paper-thin slices of green apple. It was served with a fresh-baked blueberry scone which was still warm when it arrived at the table.
Since we had requested the soup and salad be served separately as starters, the sandwiches seemed a little lonely when they arrived on small, square plates. The hoagie-shaped po' boy bun had been cut into three manageable sections, the layers held together with Tmonogrammed silver picks. The flavour of the crunchy, breaded Fanny Bay oysters was dominant, but not overpowering, in a bed of tomato brandy aioli topped with pickled radish, cucumber and carrot slaw.
The turkey burger, a blend of aged cheddar cheese and lean ground turkey, was moist and juicy, and it wasn't long before the sage mayo and marinated beefsteak tomatoes were soaking through the warm kaiser bun. My companion ended up finishing it off with a fork and knife.
While the 20-minute lunch had arrived promptly, our desserts, prepared on request in the kitchen, likely took just as long. The frozen raspberry creme brulee martini ($9) was definitely worth the wait. The marvel was served in a large martini glass with a fresh, sweet rice soft biscotti and whipped cream.
My rum tempura vanilla bean gelato split ($12) no doubt took time to prepare, particularly since it was served with freshly peeled pistachio-rolled bananas. The vanilla bean gelato was drizzled with a heavenly dark chocolate sauce, strawberry coulis and rum caramel sauce and topped with fresh whipped cream and gooseberries. I couldn't finish it, knowing I still had to waddle back to the office for an afternoon of work. I might have tried if it had been a weekend dinner meal and I had the chance to dance it off.
dhenton@edmontonjournal.com
I am proud of him, he is working hard between his two jobs Chad is and now he has two younger brothers to keep an eye on too.....We went out to the Keg for Prime Rib just before we got on another plane ride...Which the meat was quite tasteless so I was disappointed in, but the rest was quite good....
*******
Funny story (now, it was not at the time...)
We got up at 330 in the AM to go back to LA. In the car I could feel my stomach cramping up...UH OH, I knew what was coming. I barely made it on the plane, spending my time in the airport going between the washroom, outside where it was cool or lying on the floor of the bathroom where it was cool...you get the picture. BUT I really wanted to get home, and since we were connecting through Seattle, I thought "if I can just get to Seattle there are many more flight options to LA, as opposed to Edmonton, where they were lacking a little" I have had this before, so I know the course it runs. Sometimes mild, sometimes not. This was not a mild one, in fact it was 4-5 hours of wishing I would die. Sitting on the plane waiting to take off, I really did not think I was going to make it and was going to have to be put off the plane...
Then they mentioned there was only one washroom on the flight, in the back. I was in the second row of the front. Even before the plane took off I was heading to the back with the steward telling me I could not get up from my seat yet (i ignored him...) so here I am sitting in the one washroom (did I mention it was tiny?) throwing up in the sink (and they are not made for that, but i had no choice!) when the door opens and pushes me back as I had NOT LOCKED IT PROPERLY.
You can stop laughing now.
I retreated and took a strong ativan hoping to knock myself out the rest of the way. It worked...
******
While we were in COLD EDMONTON my parents enjoyed shopping, casinoing and even keeping my swimming pool used! (this is my dad!)
I was happy to see a lot of boxes waiting for me when I arrived home though!
I have not mentioned our little grand daughter Ella for awhile, but apparently she goes to day care now one day a week to play with other kids! HOLD ON! She looks about 5 here, getting ready to go to school! Wasn't this kid just born???
Chris and Tom, our guests and friends, passed around this pic of Tom looking very CHEF LIKE from his culinary course....
Although in some ways this picture of Tom is just as nice!
Anyways, congratulations Tom......
You can follow Tom's Blog here...
It is time to move onto the next items on my TO DO list, which is apparently very long at the moment!
Not that I don't love them but....
We made a very fast, trip up to Edmonton Monday afternoon. We were back in LA within 3 days. In that time up there we found him a place to live, a car and did all the licensing etc, cel phone, etc etc and spent a bit of time with my other two boys. It was very busy, very stressful and I did not even make it to a grocery store to bring back Becel with me!!!!!! That is how Busy I was...
These are just some random images from the trip....and as dark and as dismal as these pictures were, Edmonton matched it. Gray, muddy, dismal, cold, and reminded me why I don't like there any longer!
We stopped by to see my middle son Chris when we arrived....
And stayed at the boys place. Chad EVEN gave up his bed to us! And cooked us dinners...I guess they do grow up eventually after all....
My brother hung out with us each evening, I had even carried this case of 12 beer bottles of International beer around the world up in my suitcase for him...
Kevin and his new car (or is it his new stereo with a car attached?)
We had only rented a tiny Hyundai......
Found Kevin a nice basement suite just on the south side....
We introduced Bazza to another Canadian Delicacy this trip. He had never had a crab apple before! Who knew...I figure that Kevin will never starve anyways with apples in the back yard...
Although apparently in a basement suite he will have to learn to keep his playstation games quieter then he ever did in his mothers house!
We settled for the obligatory Value Village couch that will double as a bed, entertainment center, dining room table and I was also kind enough to buy him a bunch of mixmatched dinner items and a 25 lb bag of rice to start off with so he does not starve...
I am not sure whether he flew, or we drop kicked him out of the nest.....but the nest is happily empty at the moment...
Found this cute little Building next to Chad's Treasury Bar, from 1910. It looked little and small sitting there...It is certainly showing a lot of old and poorer areas throughout the city from when I lived there.
Went over to The Treasury to see how Chad's place is coming along there and things are coming along...Inevitable mix ups and scrambles with a new first time operation including a nice flood in the women's bathroom that made its way to the basement, but the menu is expanding as they pick up steam and the nightclub is very busy on the weekends.
Went for lunch and I had a Turkey Burger which was very good...
Others had a flank steak sandwich....
And a chicken pot pie.....
They received a nice review from the Edmonton Journal this week on the food (original link here)
The spicy fried oyster po' boy is made with breaded Fanny Bay oysters in a bed of tomato brandy aioli, topped with pickled diakon, cucumber and carrot slaw.
Photographed by:
Shaughn Butts, The Journal, Edmonton Journal
THE TREASURY VODKA BAR & EATERY
10004 Jasper Ave.
780-990-1255, thetreasury.ca
Lunch for two, excluding tax, tip and liquor: $50
---
Watch for Dining Out reviews every second Wednesday in Food. Find them all online and add your comments at edmontonjournal.com/diningout.
- - -
Fifty years ago, the streets around the present-day location of The Treasury Vodka Bar & Eatery were lined with armoured cars waiting to carry cash to city banks. The building at 10004 Jasper Ave., kitty corner from the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, was a cash warehouse with a massive two-storey vault flush with millions of dollars to fuel commerce and industry in boom town Edmonton.
Well, the lineups are back, but instead of armoured vehicles, couples now queue up around the block on weekends for an evening of fun and frolic at one of the newest downtown restaurants and dance clubs.
"We've got a very unique concept," boasts The Treasury's spokesman Sean Farmer. "It's a hybrid between a restaurant and nightclub."
It's a restaurant by day that turns into a nightclub on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, a place where one can dine and dance and order $200 bottles of quality vodka presented by personal servers.
Farmer says it has been a smash hit since it opened Aug. 19. Young Edmontonians are packing the versatile room where modular furniture is pushed back at night to make way for dancers.
"They come in at 5 p.m. for dinner and before they know it, they're dancing on the dance floor at midnight."
The 14,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to add an oyster bar on its lower level next year, also aims to cater to the business lunch crowd with a 20-minute lunch menu.
We gave it a look shortly after the club opened. Owner Austin Tran and his partners have spent more than $2.5 million on renovations of the former Toronto-Dominion Bank, and it's evident in the marble bars, chandeliers, dark wood and floor-to-ceiling vodka and champagne rack. But the dazzling golden pillars that really set off the place were apparently original decor before the TD crowd covered them with drywall.
The place was empty when we arrived, with only a few suits at a couple of tables. Pop music blared from a speaker above our heads, but shortly after our arrival was abruptly turned down to a comfortable level.
Executive chef Paul Greene, previously of Lux Steakhouse & Bar, Madison's Grill and Dante's Bistro, was using the "soft opening" to refine a limited menu that features four salads, four sandwiches and three entrees. The dinner menu, which we glimpsed when we ordered dessert, featured only three entrees -- beef tenderloin medallions, rack of lamb and grilled ahi tuna -- but it has since been expanded significantly.
We were planning to order a salad or soup with a sandwich, but discovered the sandwiches come with soup or salad sides, so I backed off the Mediterranean grilled baby squid salad I had been eyeing.
My dining companion chose the mushroom soup to accompany her turkey burger ($16), while I selected the lavender honey green apple spring salad with my fried oyster po' boy sandwich ($16).
We didn't sample the entrees, but the chicken pot pie, Bombay butter chicken and frittata a la carte were all very tempting. Fortunately, my salad and my companion's soup arrived promptly.
Both drew raves. The pungent goat cheese set off the lavender honey apple dressing on the salad and made fine friends with the candied walnuts and paper-thin slices of green apple. It was served with a fresh-baked blueberry scone which was still warm when it arrived at the table.
Since we had requested the soup and salad be served separately as starters, the sandwiches seemed a little lonely when they arrived on small, square plates. The hoagie-shaped po' boy bun had been cut into three manageable sections, the layers held together with Tmonogrammed silver picks. The flavour of the crunchy, breaded Fanny Bay oysters was dominant, but not overpowering, in a bed of tomato brandy aioli topped with pickled radish, cucumber and carrot slaw.
The turkey burger, a blend of aged cheddar cheese and lean ground turkey, was moist and juicy, and it wasn't long before the sage mayo and marinated beefsteak tomatoes were soaking through the warm kaiser bun. My companion ended up finishing it off with a fork and knife.
While the 20-minute lunch had arrived promptly, our desserts, prepared on request in the kitchen, likely took just as long. The frozen raspberry creme brulee martini ($9) was definitely worth the wait. The marvel was served in a large martini glass with a fresh, sweet rice soft biscotti and whipped cream.
My rum tempura vanilla bean gelato split ($12) no doubt took time to prepare, particularly since it was served with freshly peeled pistachio-rolled bananas. The vanilla bean gelato was drizzled with a heavenly dark chocolate sauce, strawberry coulis and rum caramel sauce and topped with fresh whipped cream and gooseberries. I couldn't finish it, knowing I still had to waddle back to the office for an afternoon of work. I might have tried if it had been a weekend dinner meal and I had the chance to dance it off.
dhenton@edmontonjournal.com
I am proud of him, he is working hard between his two jobs Chad is and now he has two younger brothers to keep an eye on too.....We went out to the Keg for Prime Rib just before we got on another plane ride...Which the meat was quite tasteless so I was disappointed in, but the rest was quite good....
*******
Funny story (now, it was not at the time...)
We got up at 330 in the AM to go back to LA. In the car I could feel my stomach cramping up...UH OH, I knew what was coming. I barely made it on the plane, spending my time in the airport going between the washroom, outside where it was cool or lying on the floor of the bathroom where it was cool...you get the picture. BUT I really wanted to get home, and since we were connecting through Seattle, I thought "if I can just get to Seattle there are many more flight options to LA, as opposed to Edmonton, where they were lacking a little" I have had this before, so I know the course it runs. Sometimes mild, sometimes not. This was not a mild one, in fact it was 4-5 hours of wishing I would die. Sitting on the plane waiting to take off, I really did not think I was going to make it and was going to have to be put off the plane...
Then they mentioned there was only one washroom on the flight, in the back. I was in the second row of the front. Even before the plane took off I was heading to the back with the steward telling me I could not get up from my seat yet (i ignored him...) so here I am sitting in the one washroom (did I mention it was tiny?) throwing up in the sink (and they are not made for that, but i had no choice!) when the door opens and pushes me back as I had NOT LOCKED IT PROPERLY.
You can stop laughing now.
I retreated and took a strong ativan hoping to knock myself out the rest of the way. It worked...
******
While we were in COLD EDMONTON my parents enjoyed shopping, casinoing and even keeping my swimming pool used! (this is my dad!)
I was happy to see a lot of boxes waiting for me when I arrived home though!
I have not mentioned our little grand daughter Ella for awhile, but apparently she goes to day care now one day a week to play with other kids! HOLD ON! She looks about 5 here, getting ready to go to school! Wasn't this kid just born???
Chris and Tom, our guests and friends, passed around this pic of Tom looking very CHEF LIKE from his culinary course....
Although in some ways this picture of Tom is just as nice!
Anyways, congratulations Tom......
You can follow Tom's Blog here...
It is time to move onto the next items on my TO DO list, which is apparently very long at the moment!
Monday, September 20. 2010
FInally a blog!
I have been reminded from more then one person that I have not blogged for awhile...It has been a busy week ! What with company and birthday parties and furniture deliveries and a few other things tossed in the mix. I have about a gazillion pictures to catch up on, and will try and get a few out of the way here.
I don't think I will ever stop thrilling to having deliveries pull up to our door! So unlike the islands..The UPS driver is about my favorite company to come. Even better when the UPS and Ashley Furniture pull up at the same time, that means a lot of goodies are showing up.
We have more seating then we ever need now in the living room and I do not believe I can fit anything else in there. We had fun trying to make everything fit!
Mom finally after two weeks received the mattress to go with the very hard boxspring they had ordered. This was a pillowtop and quite comfortable....
She was busy buying new sheets and quilts for it, as after all, it is "her" room now! It does look pretty. She found some fantastic sheets and I asked her to go out the next day and get some for the boat and for my bed as well...
Ordered (remember I have lived in the islands for a long time) a new fangled coffee table that lifts up so you can eat, and my son was happy to try out anything that had to do with food and drink for us. He is good that way.
******
A meal out at Marie Callenders and then we dispatched Kevin to pick my sister, Syd and Chris up at the airport....
Syd makde herself right at home!
Friday (the actual day of my birthday) was the obligatory family trip in the car to sightsee. ALMOST a family trip, Bazza looked very relieved that he could stay home and work in his workshop, and Kevin ran a mile a minute at the thought of a packed car family driving day...I think he has bad memories from when he was a child and I drag him around continents in the back seat....
We wandered a bit as "lost" the back road to go over to Palm Springs and did not want to go the freeway....
This is looking over down into Palm Dessert by the time we finally were on the right area. We left Temecula at before 1. We arrived at Palm Springs at 4. It is only an hour drive, if that tells you how much of a smart boy Kevin was to actually stay home!
I had decided that we were going to a Belgian Restaurant called Pomme Frites for my bday....
We had all the usual suspects, Moules, Coq au Vin, Escargot, Frites, etc...Although good, not QUITE as good as we have had in Belgium....
A stop on the way back at one of the casino's on Interstate 10 (where I proudly won a $1.50 for my birthday and figured I better not push my luck!)
My sister and I had stared out the day looking neat and presentable....
Almost like Bobbsey twins...
As soon as the door to the house was hit we quickly found even more comfortable clothes....
******
Presents and Cards came...Some of my favorite presents are food. We had steaks, Burgers and Franks (thanks Janice)
From my son. The inside was cute, saying, on second thought don't look at the bright side, you probably don't want to go toward that light yet!
The one from Lu Lu and Richie was a BIT naught but very cute too!
Mom always puts a lot of thought and time into her cards and they always turn out nice....
It is Bazza's 50th birthday in November so we celebrated his now too. Mom made him a nice card too! I think actually he forgets what the ROV looks like, but he is certainly working hard in the shop to get a few parts for it ready to take with him to the islands next month....
And my sister found some noisy not very nice cards either!!
Mom had also put together a nice slide show of pictures of ME all the way from birth up to now. It was well done, themed to music and I think my son thought the baby pictures of me were never going to end...and if there were 200 pictures per year and I had been alive 50 years he was in trouble.
******
The next day my sister and I were dressed and ready for Birthday pool parties... While they went shopping for the numerous things on my list that I needed to make BUshwackers and Blue Drinks, I took the opportunity to swim an hour of lengths trying to work off some of the food and drink I knew I was going to eat today.
From being a southern California girl now and swimming a lot, my hair is even getting lighter I think then it is in the islands...I quite like it the length and color it is now....
Sydney took the opportunity to marinate all those nice little meat items we received....
and of course, we had the obligatory family pictures.....
Either I don't have many friends, or I picked a very bad day to have my party, as we only had a few show up, but that was just fine with me. I prefer small and intimate where I have less people to share the Bushwackers with...!
Mary Sue, Nancy and Charlie drove down from Orange County. They were on the yacht in May, and the lure of bushwackers was quite strong....
Chris was the only one who made it in the pool that afternoon, I was not getting my hair wet, and besides, I had already did my exercise....
By this time I was on my " not sure what number" bushwacker, so Chris happily did the grilling....
And we had a marvelous spread outside. I am not sure we can call it a pool party as we all stayed in the house in the A/C most of the afternoon and then huddled under the shade to eat as it was quite warm out with not a cloud in the sky....
The few of us managed to eat all the meat and the homemade potato salad, along with two large mixer jugs of Bushwackers and Blue Drinks if that tells you anything....
Then it was cake time. For some odd reason my husband delights that he is 58 days younger then me and reminds me that he is a boy toy for 58 days EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. Apparently my family has picked up on this theme as well!
Whatever. He is just lucky to get a mature woman....
I was good following my diet though, no cake for me. After all I had already ate three times my daily allowance in liquor, steak, potatoes, cheese and bread! For one brief second when I stepped on the scale before the party started I found out that I had hit the 30 lb loss mark and gone over it...I had lost 30.2 lbs. Which was fairly exciting!
Until 8 hours later when in a food and liquor come the scale read 5.4 lbs heavier!!!! Every one else thinks this is a cute picture, and I truly do not think so. None the less, I will put it up to PROVE that I also put up mean pictures of me, not just everyone else.....
Yep, the first thing I did in the AM was get in the pool, figured it was good for curing headaches and all.... Bazza tried to color Kevin's face with marker while sleeping but he slept too lightly...
And that end the birthday festivities, thank you to my guests for coming, and my family for being there and doing most of the work. It was perfect!
******
My sister made the mistake of downloading pictures on my computer and she had a couple nice pictures of my NIECES. My youngest niece Melissa, is in Grade 12 and this year, to the shock of us all, went out for the cheerleading team! Could have knocked us over with a feather...Where is her shyness????
Apparently that cheerleading business is hard work though as she is almost cuter wrapped up in her little girl blanket....
My older niece Cassie, is very outgoing and has a great smile, this is from the Highland Games in Pleasanton...
So, with great effort I believe i have bored you long enough here with way too many pictures. This took me well over and hour to do and I suppose I have no excuse now but to go and answer the billion emails in my in box!
Only a few more weeks until we go back to the islands, gee I hope all the things i ordered for the boat come first!
I don't think I will ever stop thrilling to having deliveries pull up to our door! So unlike the islands..The UPS driver is about my favorite company to come. Even better when the UPS and Ashley Furniture pull up at the same time, that means a lot of goodies are showing up.
We have more seating then we ever need now in the living room and I do not believe I can fit anything else in there. We had fun trying to make everything fit!
Mom finally after two weeks received the mattress to go with the very hard boxspring they had ordered. This was a pillowtop and quite comfortable....
She was busy buying new sheets and quilts for it, as after all, it is "her" room now! It does look pretty. She found some fantastic sheets and I asked her to go out the next day and get some for the boat and for my bed as well...
Ordered (remember I have lived in the islands for a long time) a new fangled coffee table that lifts up so you can eat, and my son was happy to try out anything that had to do with food and drink for us. He is good that way.
******
A meal out at Marie Callenders and then we dispatched Kevin to pick my sister, Syd and Chris up at the airport....
Syd makde herself right at home!
Friday (the actual day of my birthday) was the obligatory family trip in the car to sightsee. ALMOST a family trip, Bazza looked very relieved that he could stay home and work in his workshop, and Kevin ran a mile a minute at the thought of a packed car family driving day...I think he has bad memories from when he was a child and I drag him around continents in the back seat....
We wandered a bit as "lost" the back road to go over to Palm Springs and did not want to go the freeway....
This is looking over down into Palm Dessert by the time we finally were on the right area. We left Temecula at before 1. We arrived at Palm Springs at 4. It is only an hour drive, if that tells you how much of a smart boy Kevin was to actually stay home!
I had decided that we were going to a Belgian Restaurant called Pomme Frites for my bday....
We had all the usual suspects, Moules, Coq au Vin, Escargot, Frites, etc...Although good, not QUITE as good as we have had in Belgium....
A stop on the way back at one of the casino's on Interstate 10 (where I proudly won a $1.50 for my birthday and figured I better not push my luck!)
My sister and I had stared out the day looking neat and presentable....
Almost like Bobbsey twins...
As soon as the door to the house was hit we quickly found even more comfortable clothes....
******
Presents and Cards came...Some of my favorite presents are food. We had steaks, Burgers and Franks (thanks Janice)
From my son. The inside was cute, saying, on second thought don't look at the bright side, you probably don't want to go toward that light yet!
The one from Lu Lu and Richie was a BIT naught but very cute too!
Mom always puts a lot of thought and time into her cards and they always turn out nice....
It is Bazza's 50th birthday in November so we celebrated his now too. Mom made him a nice card too! I think actually he forgets what the ROV looks like, but he is certainly working hard in the shop to get a few parts for it ready to take with him to the islands next month....
And my sister found some noisy not very nice cards either!!
Mom had also put together a nice slide show of pictures of ME all the way from birth up to now. It was well done, themed to music and I think my son thought the baby pictures of me were never going to end...and if there were 200 pictures per year and I had been alive 50 years he was in trouble.
******
The next day my sister and I were dressed and ready for Birthday pool parties... While they went shopping for the numerous things on my list that I needed to make BUshwackers and Blue Drinks, I took the opportunity to swim an hour of lengths trying to work off some of the food and drink I knew I was going to eat today.
From being a southern California girl now and swimming a lot, my hair is even getting lighter I think then it is in the islands...I quite like it the length and color it is now....
Sydney took the opportunity to marinate all those nice little meat items we received....
and of course, we had the obligatory family pictures.....
Either I don't have many friends, or I picked a very bad day to have my party, as we only had a few show up, but that was just fine with me. I prefer small and intimate where I have less people to share the Bushwackers with...!
Mary Sue, Nancy and Charlie drove down from Orange County. They were on the yacht in May, and the lure of bushwackers was quite strong....
Chris was the only one who made it in the pool that afternoon, I was not getting my hair wet, and besides, I had already did my exercise....
By this time I was on my " not sure what number" bushwacker, so Chris happily did the grilling....
And we had a marvelous spread outside. I am not sure we can call it a pool party as we all stayed in the house in the A/C most of the afternoon and then huddled under the shade to eat as it was quite warm out with not a cloud in the sky....
The few of us managed to eat all the meat and the homemade potato salad, along with two large mixer jugs of Bushwackers and Blue Drinks if that tells you anything....
Then it was cake time. For some odd reason my husband delights that he is 58 days younger then me and reminds me that he is a boy toy for 58 days EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. Apparently my family has picked up on this theme as well!
Whatever. He is just lucky to get a mature woman....
I was good following my diet though, no cake for me. After all I had already ate three times my daily allowance in liquor, steak, potatoes, cheese and bread! For one brief second when I stepped on the scale before the party started I found out that I had hit the 30 lb loss mark and gone over it...I had lost 30.2 lbs. Which was fairly exciting!
Until 8 hours later when in a food and liquor come the scale read 5.4 lbs heavier!!!! Every one else thinks this is a cute picture, and I truly do not think so. None the less, I will put it up to PROVE that I also put up mean pictures of me, not just everyone else.....
Yep, the first thing I did in the AM was get in the pool, figured it was good for curing headaches and all.... Bazza tried to color Kevin's face with marker while sleeping but he slept too lightly...
And that end the birthday festivities, thank you to my guests for coming, and my family for being there and doing most of the work. It was perfect!
******
My sister made the mistake of downloading pictures on my computer and she had a couple nice pictures of my NIECES. My youngest niece Melissa, is in Grade 12 and this year, to the shock of us all, went out for the cheerleading team! Could have knocked us over with a feather...Where is her shyness????
Apparently that cheerleading business is hard work though as she is almost cuter wrapped up in her little girl blanket....
My older niece Cassie, is very outgoing and has a great smile, this is from the Highland Games in Pleasanton...
So, with great effort I believe i have bored you long enough here with way too many pictures. This took me well over and hour to do and I suppose I have no excuse now but to go and answer the billion emails in my in box!
Only a few more weeks until we go back to the islands, gee I hope all the things i ordered for the boat come first!
Wednesday, September 15. 2010
A shopping we will (still) go!
On Sunday the parents and I took a drive over to Santa Monica Place on the coast. AN outdoor /indoor mall that has just been redone and overlooks the ocean. I will say that going over the mountain to the coast means it is MUCH cooler over there then Inland.
We were wishing we brought jackets...
Pretty place, not that large, with high end stores....
We went to LaSandria for lunch, which for some reason I thought was DIM SUM but it turns out it is really Mexican...Not my favorite! We asked to sit inside, where it was warmer, but the "inside" was not really "inside" so we were cold.....
We all ordered soup. I am not too sure the parents looked too impressed with theirs...Dad had the corn soup which was fairly sweet.
Mom and I had the tortilla soup with chicken. I quite enjoyed it! and it warmed me up a bit...(NEWSFLASH!! ASHLEY Furniture just pulled up with our new living room suite!! YIPPEE!!)
I had left my Nikon D200 camera on the boat, meaning to buy one for up here instead of carting back and forth...I have really missed having A D SLR and finally got a NIkon D90. Not as good as my 200 but it will do! I took pictures left and right..
Apparently Bazza showed me my first Black Widow Spider as well, playing on the pool water heater...You don't want to touch these!
I have a honest real to god Pool Boy!!
And a pool boy supervisor! What a lucky girl I am...
I bought this beautiful caribbean sea stained glass window when we were up in Canada and it now has pride of place in my office here...Along with a rotating photo blog of guest pictures from Promenade...
Then I went shopping for a cooktop. I needed one for the yacht. I, of course, thought I wanted something like this...with no ucky gas burners. Bazza thought I did NOT need something like that, as he said I would have to run the generator 24/7 whenever I wanted to cook anything. Not a problem in my world, although I certainly thought running around turning off other things to run the cooktop was not a great idea....
I thought if I could not have a Jenn Air, that maybe I could have something like this. It has spots for steam vegetables, a deep fryer and a grill. He added it up for me and said it was over $5000.00 I may get it for the house yet one day!!!!
This is about what i ended up with whether I wanted it or not, fairly boring run of the mill gas grill. Sigh. Oh well, at least I will have more then 2 working burners!
The laundry room is starting to fill up with boat stuff...The George Foreman Grill I bought for the boat as there are many times during the winter that grilling on the barbecue on the back deck is just a pain in the ass. Too much wind and too many seas. Bazza says he can live with it needing electricity for the times I need it!
This absolutely BEAUTIFUL piece of machinery is an ice machine that HOLDS 60 lbs of ice!! A true commercial one! None of this namby pamby 13 lbs storage like the one they bought on the boat this winter. Even for me with my blended drinks this should work well. AND it is no wider then the old one, although a lot higher..I am doing a happy dance over this....
Continuing on with boat shopping, these are the new lights for reading lights on the beds on the yacht.....
This is the new cockpit coffee table....
And these are the lights to replace all the flat lights that are on the celings...
These are the new sinks! Yes, I have done a bit of shopping. I think I really need to go back to work now to pay for it all...
Now, don't take this to mean that when you show up for YOUR charter in November that this stuff will all be installed! I have found out over the years that BUYING all the replacements and actually having them in place and working are two different things!
We were wishing we brought jackets...
Pretty place, not that large, with high end stores....
We went to LaSandria for lunch, which for some reason I thought was DIM SUM but it turns out it is really Mexican...Not my favorite! We asked to sit inside, where it was warmer, but the "inside" was not really "inside" so we were cold.....
We all ordered soup. I am not too sure the parents looked too impressed with theirs...Dad had the corn soup which was fairly sweet.
Mom and I had the tortilla soup with chicken. I quite enjoyed it! and it warmed me up a bit...(NEWSFLASH!! ASHLEY Furniture just pulled up with our new living room suite!! YIPPEE!!)
I had left my Nikon D200 camera on the boat, meaning to buy one for up here instead of carting back and forth...I have really missed having A D SLR and finally got a NIkon D90. Not as good as my 200 but it will do! I took pictures left and right..
Apparently Bazza showed me my first Black Widow Spider as well, playing on the pool water heater...You don't want to touch these!
I have a honest real to god Pool Boy!!
And a pool boy supervisor! What a lucky girl I am...
I bought this beautiful caribbean sea stained glass window when we were up in Canada and it now has pride of place in my office here...Along with a rotating photo blog of guest pictures from Promenade...
Then I went shopping for a cooktop. I needed one for the yacht. I, of course, thought I wanted something like this...with no ucky gas burners. Bazza thought I did NOT need something like that, as he said I would have to run the generator 24/7 whenever I wanted to cook anything. Not a problem in my world, although I certainly thought running around turning off other things to run the cooktop was not a great idea....
I thought if I could not have a Jenn Air, that maybe I could have something like this. It has spots for steam vegetables, a deep fryer and a grill. He added it up for me and said it was over $5000.00 I may get it for the house yet one day!!!!
This is about what i ended up with whether I wanted it or not, fairly boring run of the mill gas grill. Sigh. Oh well, at least I will have more then 2 working burners!
The laundry room is starting to fill up with boat stuff...The George Foreman Grill I bought for the boat as there are many times during the winter that grilling on the barbecue on the back deck is just a pain in the ass. Too much wind and too many seas. Bazza says he can live with it needing electricity for the times I need it!
This absolutely BEAUTIFUL piece of machinery is an ice machine that HOLDS 60 lbs of ice!! A true commercial one! None of this namby pamby 13 lbs storage like the one they bought on the boat this winter. Even for me with my blended drinks this should work well. AND it is no wider then the old one, although a lot higher..I am doing a happy dance over this....
Continuing on with boat shopping, these are the new lights for reading lights on the beds on the yacht.....
This is the new cockpit coffee table....
And these are the lights to replace all the flat lights that are on the celings...
These are the new sinks! Yes, I have done a bit of shopping. I think I really need to go back to work now to pay for it all...
Now, don't take this to mean that when you show up for YOUR charter in November that this stuff will all be installed! I have found out over the years that BUYING all the replacements and actually having them in place and working are two different things!
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