June 19, 2010



drove down to austin thursday after work to do a bit of wedding planning. dear friend’s sister recommended the chili relleno at manuel’s and so we shared one that night. I really liked it. it was smoky, and the shredded pork, raisins and almonds made it really good. we shared a mashed potato pancake filled with corn served with tomatillo sauce which i would also order again. the relleno came with a plate of watermelon, pineapple and banana sliced really thin and came with a lime. i squirted the lime over it all and was reminded again how good that is. i really must remember to keep limes in the frig for fruit. it really makes it taste good.



had a great day in austin on friday. met with the on the day of wedding planner. i am soooooo happy with this choice. i have nights of absolutely no sleep, trying to figure out how to get all the stuff done on the morning before the wedding and still have time to… you know…shower and dress. afterwards, we went to the rental company to reserve tables (a gazillion of them according to michelle), flatware, china, etc. it is amazing how $2 for that and $7 for this add up!!! we had lunch at frank which is pretty cool place. daughter michelle and i shared a frank and poutine. canada has something there. melty cheese curds and brown gravy on fries is really good.


we shopped for a little while then stopped at jo’s for an iced coffee and there was a not bad for their age band. we guessed that they were either 8th or 9th grade. it was a lot of fun and very serendipitous. then, i saw the famous leslie for the first time, ever. i didn’t take a front photograph of him because michelle says that he will come over if you do and i don’t know what i would do.


all in all? a pretty good time. soooooo….for the wedding? venue - check. catering - check. rentals - check. dj - check. wedding dress - check. band - check. maid of honor - check. best man - check. officiant - check.


yay! the list of things done is getting longer and therefore the list of things to do…shorter.



went to la condesa. daughter michelle’s friend’s mom treated us to a light supper. the margaritas were really good…i over indulged. i also tried an appetizer with huitlacoche which the waiter called corn truffle and wikipedia calls corn smut. hmmmmmm…which sounds yummier? it was tasty and interesting. will i eat again? probably not. since i had already eaten all white food that day, i had a really good and refreshing watermelon salad. THAT was really good.



here is my version of ray milland’s lost weekend: a couple of newly bought books, a large chocolate bar with raisins and nuts and a large latte. all sitting on the hotel bed  to indulge and forget about everything else….oh….wait the original die hard just came on tv….books have to wait.

June 13, 2010



best part of summer? the summer fruit and vegetables. I know that you can get cucumbers and blueberries practically all year around, but they always taste better in the summer. I love to mix the sweet with not sweet: watermelon w/onion & feta, strawberries w/arugula and my new combination: blueberries w/cucumber green onions & mint AND just a splash of vinegar and salt. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…yummy!



I had so much fun in Dallas yesterday. We started out seeing Mid August Lunch. It was so good. Then tapas at Jaleos. And lastly and bestly, we went to see and hear Ira Glass. He is so good and the time went by so quickly. I really didn’t want it to end. It was perfect.


I tried out my Enid Collins box purse yesterday, too. Did women carry less back then? I always loved her box purses when I was growing up and made one myself when I was in junior high. Anyway, do you notice that my wallet was the same size as the purse. I had to cull WAY down the normal amount of stuff I carry AND I had to arrange the items each time I got my wallet out so it would close. Next time I use it, I will have to down size my wallet, too.


I still love the purse and am looking out for the basket purses with the wooden lids. I am sure Kate Spade has one, but I will look for an EC, first…way less expensive.

June 11, 2010

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...pie

i don’t have any photos…got distracted by the circle of 6 different flavors of pie. they were just sitting there looking perfect and perfectly delicious. i couldn’t wait to taste them. cathleen did a beautiful job and each pie was so good! i wanted to eat all of them - not just taste them. daughter michelle and i tasted 6: berry pie, sweet potato pie, apple cranberry pie, chocolate meringue, buttermilk pie and mixed nut pie. we had to narrow it down to 4 - so hard!!!


can’t wait to have them at the wedding!!!


(which did we choose? you will just have to wait & see)



yesterday, i was working on our vacation plans and THIS is the new thing that zoe wants to do. really? it can’t be comfortable, right?

June 05, 2010



enough posting for today…back to reality…



and yes, i am doing 3 (three!) loads of whites! i guess it’s summer time.



people are always stereotyping new yorkers and new jersians as not very nice people. i made the comment that next time i am there, i am going to take photos of all the nice people who helped us out. from the girl in the coffee shop telling me that the vegan muffin is so good for me, to the girl in marlow & sons giving us written instructions to a street with nice shops and a where to reach the subway back to new york, to the guy waiting outside of a shop who used the internet on his phone to help us find an address! seriously…i really am going to do that!


and here’s to sister Laura, showing a such a fun time there.


cheers!!



brooklyn. it would have been so much more fun if it hadn’t been raining so hard. we started out with coffee (natch) and i had a vegan muffin which i was told is so very healthy for me (i am sure it offset the sundae from the night before. oh…and the chocolate croissant from another breakfast;). sister Laura is figuring out where we are going to go and what was the easiest way to get there…on my iPad!!! yep! i got an iPad for my birthday from my family. i love it!!! like my brain, i am probably using only 10% of its capabilities. that reminds me, remember that movie “Defending Your Life” with Meryl Streep and what’s his face? i am going to have to rent that again. so funny.


anyways…brooklyn…we were trying to find a place that sister Laura wanted to go to for lunch. there was an article in the NY times about it and we thought it was the place we went to…possibly. it wasn’t, but it had the best soup and sandwiches. it was called marlow and sons. i had a muffuletta and sister Laura had a sandwich and great fresh soup. i wanna’ say it was romaine lettuce? but now i can’t remember…boy! today is NOT a good day to post. i can’t remember anything today. i do remember the delicious peanut butter cookie and chocolate cookie i bought to go. the chocolate chip cookie had coarse fleur de sel sprinkled on it. so good. i’m thinking i need to do that. i am going to have to buy some sel. it would really be good on toast with nutella, right? i have already discovered that sourdough toast is fantastic with nutella.


we walked for awhile afterwards and got lost. it’s hard to see in the rain. it was also cold that day and we bought some socks at Banana Republic to keep our feet warm. i saw a skinny little thing wearing a parka the day before and made fun of her a leetle bit, so either she knew something i didn’t or it was karma striking down on me.


we ended up in a private cartier cadillac cab. can you believe it? so much fun!



here is where sister Laura took me for a belated birthday dinner. i forgot the name…maybe it is in the dark photo? yep…there it is…something BGB? anyway, the food was extra delicious and the dessert was great! especially with the candle and the happy birthday. so very special. thank you, Laura. i think we should always get together for our birthdays, don’t you?



last photos of the plaza. i really really like how pretty it was. the stairs and the seating area are above the lobby. this was part of the champagne room. very very cool. we didn’t partake.


speaking of cool. look how great sister Laura looks. she doesn’t like to have her photo taken. i don’t know why.



we had dinner in the oak room at the plaza and breakfast the next morning in the palm court at the plaza. it was hard to get a good photo of the oak room because it was all dark and cozy with table lights. really good food and i think that sister Laura and i were there for 3 hours! it was so much fun to relax and talk and talk and talk…


breakfast was simple but really good with a pastry basket and coffee. the room was so very pretty. can you believe that the glass ceiling was once sealed off and a plain ceiling with chandeliers covered it up!!!! yes it was expensive to restore, but why would one do that?!!!



p s do you see Eloise?



new york & staying at the plaza. aaaaaaaaah…the plaza. what a nice, nice treat. i felt extra special. and yes, this was just our room! sister Laura and i had such a fabulous time. it can’t get any better than this (thank you so much, Rolf).



finally some photos of the trip to new jersey/new york to visit sister Laura and family. first day - watching Ita ride. she had a very green horse and manipulated him very well. she is so gorgeous!!! i always thought that this is what Penelope Cruz looked like as a young girl, but i have changed my mind. Ita is way more beautiful than Penelope Cruz.

June 01, 2010



mmmmmm……i made myself a summer sandwich: heirloom tomatoes, a leetle bit of butter, sunflower sprouts (they are really really good) and salt from Salzburg. yummy. my niece just came back from spending a year in school at the University of Salzburg. thank you so very much, Ileana for the salz from Salzburg!