That would be me.
I haven’t forgotten about my blog.
I’ve just been so dang busy the past couple weeks and most likely will be busy into the next month or two.
There’s so much to talk about, but when everything is fine and done and at the end of the evening, the only thing I want to do is veg out and watch Gossip Girl.
There wasn’t a Little Miss Lazy.
(image borrowed from here)
Before I emptied out my spam folder, I thought I’d share my favorite spam subjects (punctuation cleaned up slightly):
“this night your bedroom will be jungles and you? wild tiger!”
“protect your head against morning after syndrome”
“have you ever tried Superman’s costume on?”
“get healthier life – it’s better life”
“magnesium oxide replenishment to your organism.”
“don’t bury your intimate life before time.”
“do the favourite woman of happy! Purchase itself medicine!”
“how many are you ready to give for the health? we will help you to economize!”
Honestly, who do these spammers think they’re kidding? With grammar like this you’d be nuts to actually click thru.
image borrowed from here.
Well, Arlington, Virginia really.
The time for my business trip that was planned months ago finally arrived! This was the first time I was going to be away from home for a few days since Mads was born!
I arrived at Reagan airport moments before a nasty snow storm settled in – thankfully I did pack my winter coat, gloves and hat!
My home for the next few days would be the Westin – known for marketing their “heavenly” beds. I can attest, the beds are indeed heavenly and I slept so well the next few nights.
I definitely made the most of my time away – the first evening I went to see a movie. (It had stopped snowing by then, but it was still quite cold.)
an evening at the millennium stage
The second evening took me to The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. (The Westin was situated near a metro station, so I was only 10 minutes away from the District.) I hopped on the metro, took the free shuttle from the Foggy Bottom station to the Kennedy Center. The Millennium Stage offers daily, free performing arts events – they were in the midst of their Arab arts festival, ARABesque. So, that evening was a piano duet by Rami Khalife & Francesco Tristano. It wasn’t quite classical piano, but it was very interesting how they got their pianos to sound like a bass. After the hour long performance, I was able to walk around, check out the JFK bust, the arabic clothing on display, etc.
My last evening, the seminar ended early (thank goodness!) and under the advice of an FDA employee, I made it to the National Museum of American History. Recently renovated, the museum was great and I was able to adequately explore in a hour and a half! I especially enjoyed seeing Julia Child’s kitchen, the First Lady exhibit – complete with inaugural gowns, portraits, accessories, and the 1814 flag flown at Fort McHenry.
julia's kitchen
washington monument at sunset
All in all it was a great few days away from home…but as always, coming home to smiling faces and a wagging tail was even better!
Alice Waters And Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
A fabulous insight to one of the most celebrated restaurants in the nation and the woman who is responsible for bringing Laura Chenel goat cheese to the masses!
As a somewhat foodie, I appreciated very much the history/beginnings of some of the Bay Area’s food stars: Jeremiah Tower (Stars), Steve Sullivan (Acme Bread) and Judy Rogers (Zuni Cafe) to name a few.
It does not get into the business side of things – which would have been an entirely separate book on its own – but rather details the slow food movement and the growth of the “buy local, buy organic” movement. The success/popularity of farmer’s markets today is all thanks to Ms. Waters.
This book will leave you craving a lovely french snack of crusty baguette and artisanal brie as well as a meal at the famous Chez Panisse.
Lucky for me, I arrived just before the storm hit.
It's a snow day in Arlington