2005-09-02, 2:48 p.m.
During lunch, we headed up to SF to check out the ski jump they'd installed on Fillmore St.
Funny they picked the hottest day of the year to put snow on our streets. It was kind of lame, because it was kind of hot, I was sweating in my work clothes, and all I could see was the back of peoples' heads. So after (partially/barely) seeing three jumps, we left in search of lunch.
Unrelated, I'm kind of tired of my music. Someone send me something new! In exchange, I'll send you a CD containing the stuff I've been listening to. On the drive home yesterday, I was thinking about mixtapes. I used to make them all the time for my friends...now, I just email them songs that I'm digging. I'd like to bring back the mixtape...on CD.
Just a word of warning, this will probably be a materialistic post:
Over the weekend, J gave me one of these, which I absolutely love! It fits perfectly on my middle finger, and I can�t stop staring at its elegant sparkliness as I type. He also got me a dri-fit running singlet which I wore for my 11-mile training run Saturday morning and will also wear for my half marathon next month. It is super comfortable and perfect�-no more soaking wet cotton tanks. I�ll need to pick up some more. Thanks J!!!
Saturday was killed by my run and a last minute pack/move. J�s mom is staging her house, preparing to put it on the market, so we had to hurriedly save all of our belongings (which we never fully moved out 2 years ago), pack them up, and cart them from the East Bay to my Mom�s house on the Peninsula. There�s more to sort through (most of it can be given away), but we saved the important stuff. By Saturday night, I was exhausted.
Sunday, we ran a bunch of errands and then headed up to Napa and hit the outlets. And I got exactly what I came for: a bunch of JCrew Favorite Tanks (I wear them under everything), some CK Jeans (they fit me the best and only run $20-50), and pants for work from BR (I wear jeans almost every day, but needed to add to my non-denim repertoire).
To do:
- Grocery shopping for salad fixins & ingredients to make curry
- 12k run next Sunday (Bridge to Bridge)
- Clean out my closet and under the table in the living room to determine what can be donated and cleared out
- Clear out my belongings at J�s mom�s house
- Reorganize my room at my mom�s house. Determine what should be kept, what needs to be tossed/donated/sold.
- Make eye appointment. I�m almost out of contact lenses.
- We want a pot-bellied pig. Abby is doing the research.
- Clean/organize my bathroom supplies.
- I'm also thinking about changing this page's format to accommodate comments. That would require some effort on my part, though...and I've got my hands full with work, training, and reorganizing everything I own.
J sent me flowers yesterday!
I've been listening to 4 albums (with the songs in alphabetical order) from The Cure that I have loaded onto iTunes...it reminds me of being in high school, listening to these albums while lying on my carpet and staring at the ceiling. We didn't have cable or Internet back then, and I lived in the suburbs, so there wasn't much for me to do aside from read, listen to music, and stare at the ceiling. Sometimes, I'd get so isolated in my room, I'd forget how to talk.
Similarly, I'm losing my small talk skills because of my reluctance to socialize with people I don't know. I can be pretty good at it...if I have to. I'm so out of practice that I find myself saying really odd things in social situations, becoming embarassed immediately after, and then finding a way to extract myself from the situation so I can be silent again.
I really like pupusas.
Saturday night, J & I went to Fleur De Lys to celebrate our anniversary. And because I don�t want to forget this meal, I thought I would detail it before the memory of the food trailed away.
We decided to get the four course tasting menu with wine pairing: appetizer, seafood course, meat course, and dessert. We each ordered something different, and ate half of everything�enabling us to taste 8 different dishes!
Appetizers:
Crispy veal sweetbreads with lemon flavored asparagus tips and cauliflower coulis accented with uni cream
Untraditional ahi tartare with oxtail consomm� en gelee served with golden brown panisses
I was torn between ordering the sweetbreads, which I always love, and the duo of Hudson Valley foie gras Bartholdi (comes with mini duckburger!) but I�ll just have to come back again to try the foie gras. The sweetbreads were delicious, with the unexpected uni cream. There was also a tiny dollop of uni accented with some kind of special salt. The tartare was awesome�J didn�t like the oxtail gelee but I liked it�it added a �pho� flavor to the tartare�and those golden brown panisses, whatever they were, they were perfectly crispy on the outside, squishy on the inside, and made a nice satisfying CRUNCH when you bit into it. We both got the same white wine (can�t remember what it was) that J didn�t like, but I did.
Seafood Course:
Sea Bass, Spanish Chorizo, Black Mussels, and Fennel Confit
Day Boat Sea Scallops, Pumpkin Seed Dust, Black Truffle Bread Pudding
The seabass was good, but what made it amazing was the Matanzas Creek 2002 Sauvignon Blanc that it was paired with�crisp and grapefruity! But the big winner was the scallop. It made both J & I close our eyes, smile, and just savor the taste. WOW. I had a white wine, but can�t remember what it was anymore, but it was also well-paired.
Meat Course:
Boneless quail stuffed with ris de veau presented with roasted parsnips, young leeks, and foie gras
Traditional Filet Mignon �Rossini� topped with foie gras, served with black truffles, and black truffle sauce
YUM! Sorry little ducks and geese, but foie gras never fails to blow me away with its rich flavor. The quail was paired with an amazing pinot noir, and in one of the major blunders of the night, mine was paired with a glass of red wine with lots of cork bits floating in it. I rarely send things back, but this one I did�and then it took them a while to replace. However, once I got it, that was also tasty, though I don�t remember what it was.
Dessert:
Chocolate Souffle
An array of homemade sorbets served on crispy popcorn and fresh fruit
The chocolate souffl� was the most AMAZING souffl� I�ve ever had�like chocolate flavored air. When it was served, they stabbed a hole in the top (deflating it) and then poured some chocolate cr�me anglaise in the hole (reinflating it). The sorbet was ordered in a rush�the server was sitting there when I wasn�t ready to order yet and kinda just threw something out there. However, those were also good, although I was not a fan of the popcorn cakes. The dessert wines and coffee (which were served with tiny truffles and madeleines) were quite tasty.
Service was a little bit uneven, but that is in comparison with the extraordinary service at French Laundry (it is like a well-orchestrated ballet there). The sommelier never stopped by, we had to pause for a few minutes when the amuse bouche wasn�t described to us, there were crumbs on J�s breadplate when we sat down, and the staff rushed me a bit on dessert�however, all of this is forgiven by Hubert Keller�s amazing concoctions. At the end of dinner, we were quite drunk (the kind of drunk where you wake up in the middle of the night still drunk...and hoping you don't wake up in the morning still drunk). It was an expensive meal, but a special occasion which warranted a celebratory splurge. It was well worth it�I would love to go back!
I've been a little bit obsessed with the Katrina coverage--last night, I watched Oprah's Katrina special. It made me cry...and feel even worse...and reflect on the similar struggles my parents went through (twice--in 1954 and 1975...of not knowing what tomorrow will bring, whether your family is alive, or where you will sleep tonight)...and all of the subsequent assistance they received when they first arrived here.
Hopefully, I can convince my parents to open their home to some of the Flood Victims...they too stayed with generous people when they first arrived here. Grandma Collins, the matriarch who took in my family when they first arrived, died a few years ago. I remember going to their house on holidays when I was a kid. I went to school with her grandchildren.
So I've done my thing and donated to the Red Cross (if anyone wants to donate and your company does not match 1-to-1, let me know because my company does). I've signed up to donate blood, something I've never done before because I HATE having blood drawn. AND my friend has both passed out and peed her pants while donating blood...don't want that! But, beyond what I've done, what else can I do? I don't have an extra room to house anyone and I think St. Mary's Cathedral is already swamped. I drove by there last night (it is on my way to the gym), and the place was swarming with news vans trying to capture the 300 refugees (contrary to Oprah's opinion, I think one can be both a survivor and refugee--you don't have to be foreign to be a refugee) that SF is sponsoring.
I guess I should get my earthquake kit ready. And find a new place to volunteer since the soup kitchen thing with my mom conflicts with my training/swimming lesson schedule. I suppose I can just donate my time to another effort since Katrina is getting all of the attention.
Church has got to be the most BORING activity I can think of--especially the parish I grew up in. AGH. The only thing that saved me was arriving late and the new priest (from Africa) who has very exaggerated gestures...not unlike a stage actor.
My mom has won AGAIN. She called me on Tuesday to let me know that there would be a memorial mass for my aunt on Saturday afternoon. However, we just went to mass two weeks ago for the same thing, so I told my mom I was busy. "I already have plans! You need to give me more advanced notice!", I'd told her (In addition to loathing church attendance, I am desperately trying to train the adults that in order to get a proper attendance from the 2nd generation, we need at least two weeks advance notice--not the customary 2 days). Well, my mom responded with "Your aunt took care of all your needs when you were a child. All you need to do is go to church for one hour to take care of her soul, and you can't do that? Okay. But make sure to pray for her soul to enter heaven."
Well, the guilt ate at me for two days. Even though I don't believe that my attendance at mass will have anything to do with the expedition of my aunt's soul into heaven (if there is a heaven, she's been there for a long time now, because the woman was godly), my mom's words successfully guilted me into calling her this morning and notifying her that I'd rearranged my schedule so that I could attend mass on Saturday afternoon. Mom: 7,652, Me: 8 (for the last few years of boycotting Christmas and Easter mass). Even if I'm not a practicing Catholic, I still suffer from massive amounts of guilt.
Point of the story? None, really, except that I can stand up to anyone but my mom.
Yesterday, I stood my ground against an infamously unpleasant woman in the office. No tears, no sweats (but a little shaking). I was right and I would not bend. She wanted an apology, but I had nothing to apologize for, so after exchanging words, she waited expectantly for an apology and concession. Instead, she was met with my indifferent stare.
One year ago on Sunday, my aunt passed away, marking the 4th and final death in my family in less than one year.
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