Red, White, and Bluezz

Saturday night Heather was on a hall pass to go have fun with me (the kids were at home with David). She got all dolled up and David's parents lent her the Boxster for the girl's night out. It was really awesome- we were fancied up, with a cool car, and the top down driving through old town! How come we forgot to get a picture of this???

We stopped at the Vertical Bar first, but they have changed chef's and some of the fun things that were there before are gone (blue cheese grilled cheese, polenta, etc.) We made do with some crab cakes and a plate of cheese that was more like slivers of flavors of cheese.







At least the Chardonnay was nice:




We caught the second show at Red White and Bluezz, which was a group of very young looking guys. We enjoyed some dessert (the flourless cake more than the mundane truffles- we left most of those behind) with a flight of red wines.

On the eve of divorce

There are people out there that have had a bad relationship and are happy to exit what was along and arduous battle. There are people out there who have hate towards each other over what has happened. I know some of them and I understand why, but it isn't me. That isn't what happened here.

I have been struggling for a long time to figure out how to put into words what happened, how to convey my thoughts and feelings, and how to determine where I am headed. None of those answers are easy and 8 months after I came home to an empty house, I am not much closer to those answers, if there are any. And I am no farther away from the hurt and pain I feel at the ongoing loss of our relationship.

I had a friend describe a separation as a death in the family, but it falls short of encompassing the ongoing pains- a daily death with a person who is still tangible and within reach. One you may have to interact with again and again. Separation lacks the finality and structure to put the process to rest that death and destruction have.

Although I have thoughts and theories on why it didn't work, concerns about how I could have changed that, and regret on not being able to halt the spiral, it doesn't really matter why it didn't work; it just didn't. I don't regret a moment of my time with my husband. I still, even 8 months after he left, feel like I married the right man and would do it again in a heartbeat. We had rough times, but I think we worked well together and all the things I love about him, I still love about him. I am just angry he left and sad that I don't know how to make things better.

However at this point we are beyond that. Now I am trying to take the step from where I was to where we are going. I need to be released from my hope that something will change and move on. I still love my husband and doubt that will ever go away. One day we may even be friends again, but not for now.

Oysters and Muscadet

In a fantastic night of food and wine pairings and good friends, I was introduced to new wines and some superb cooking styles!

Serena and I had gone to the a fish monger in Glendale called Fish King Seafood earlier that day. We were excited about having some oysters and Halibut on the menu for the evening and wanted to make sure we got the best!

We picked up oysters and Serena made a fun red wine, shallot, pepper, smoked salt dressing for them while Torey shucked them with a variety of knives we were praying didn't break in the process. We paired that with this wine:



Second course was a mushroom risotto (super yummy!), which we paired with the Chablis. This wine also went fantastically with the white truffle balsamic vinegar and olive oil on bread!



Next came some more seafood... halibut! I almost just sliced off a piece to eat it raw... sashimi! We marinated it in a lemon rosemary sauce. My aunt make a fantastic halibut marinated in a sauce you can only get in the upper NW area- Jaipur by Black Swan. So instead of that marinade, we improvised. It came out light and fantastic! Thank goodness ADD girl (me) wasn't in charge of the grilling or keeping track of the time it was on! (Thanks Jay!)

Our third wine was an example of a wine with some minerality:



We followed by a spinach salad with goat cheese, cranraisins, candied walnuts and balsamic vinegar. It is my favorite salad, but I was so full! I could only manage a few raspberries for dessert. :-)

What fun; we must do it again soon!

And the mayhem continues...

I woke up this morning to walk downstairs and make some breakfast, only to discover, I was unclear how many things I needed to clean to make a bowl of oatmeal- I opted for a piece of pizza from the refrigerator instead.

While I was in the kitchen, I looked out my kitchen window and saw my neighbor working in her garage. It took me a moment to realize that was my 30lb cat food bag sitting in her garage. I recognized it because Woton had chewed the corner open when he got stuck in the garage one night. We had throw it out Saturday in the moth debacle and de-mothing process. The Indian Meal Moths were in any open foods and had made cocoons.

I went outside to explain this to the lady and she acted all "yes yes thanks for telling me" like she really didn't understand the problem all the while putting it away into her shelves. Didn't she wonder why I had thrown it out? EWWWWW! She had grabbed a bunch of food items from the dumpster! Isn't that behavior reserved for hobos and crazies?

I highly recommend that no one accepts any invitations for dinner at her house... or breakfast or lunch for that matter as well.

Birthday in LauraLand

The Plan: Have a lot of fun - girl's night out!
The Place: Melting Pot
The Time: My birthday!

First on the agenda- meet at my house for the preparty. Carpool (cheaper for parking and better to have one DD-- thanks Erin, you rock!!!-- at the end of the night). We arrived fashionably late for our reservation, so we had to sit at the bar and start with a drink!

Our plan for the evening was to order some cheese fondue and see how full that got us. But there are so MANY choices, just of cheeses!! We finally decided on a sharp and a mild version- the Alp, and then also the Swiss gruyere version.



Sarah talked the manager into giving her some blackberries since she saw them in the drink menu, but didn't want the frufru drink, just the berries!



I cannot be serious in a photo... ever:





Erin and Heather, self-portrait:



Our awesome hot waiter:











We were so excited that the Melting pot added to the dipping items for the chesse entree: they originally had bread, apples, veggies, and NOW sausage and cornicorns!














Back at the house, enjoying a stogie or two (but actually, they were not cheap cigars, one was an Acid, my fav!):







Close-up of my hot party dress:

At DCA and DL after the exclusive tour...

Segway through DCA