...less exciting than others. I had big plans for February 18-20. BIG plans. (Men in skirts BIG!) But then Captain America and I both had to work on Saturday, and something was happening on Sunday morning. Maybe sleeping. I don't even remember any more, and somehow about all that happened is that we went to Ethan Allen and picked out a sleeper chair.
Which is about as different from a sleeper cell as things can get. This is what I call a cuddle chair. Y'know, you and your sweetie can cuddle just fine, but your sweetie and his buddy won't go near it. Ethan Allen sells these cool ones that are like sofa beds, except they are twin-sized, and you can order them with an air mattress on top, which decidedly makes a sofa bed more comfortable.
So instead of having an exciting weekend, we had a domestic one. These things happen sometimes.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A weekend off
Captain America and I both had the weekend before my surgery off. This shouldn't be surprising because we both work Monday-Friday, but between my work being crazy and the way he can re-arrange his weekends, somehow it hasn't felt like we've had a weekend to be together in a while.
So what did we do? He went to a bar to watch the Aztecs game with some friends and I went to the gym with Barbie. Hey, at least we had the option of spending time together. On the other hand, I would have hated watching the game (I don't even know which sport it was), and going to the gym with Barbie killed two birds. We got to spend time together, and we both have to fit into bikinis in about 10 minutes because Easter is the official start to summer here in San Diego.
In other news, I had a week off from work to recover from my surgery, and Mom can't sit still, so we did a number of slow-moving activities. But you'll have to check back to read about them because I'm supposed to be drinking champagne with my husband in celebration of paying off my car, a successful surgery, and buying art for the living room!
So what did we do? He went to a bar to watch the Aztecs game with some friends and I went to the gym with Barbie. Hey, at least we had the option of spending time together. On the other hand, I would have hated watching the game (I don't even know which sport it was), and going to the gym with Barbie killed two birds. We got to spend time together, and we both have to fit into bikinis in about 10 minutes because Easter is the official start to summer here in San Diego.
In other news, I had a week off from work to recover from my surgery, and Mom can't sit still, so we did a number of slow-moving activities. But you'll have to check back to read about them because I'm supposed to be drinking champagne with my husband in celebration of paying off my car, a successful surgery, and buying art for the living room!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Dinner at The Merk
On Monday, Captain America and I had dinner with my cousin, two of his friends, my sister, and one of her friends at The Merk. I had the most glorious plate of fettuccine alfredo. The sauce was nice and thick with none of those gross pools of oil that cheap alfredo sauces have. When I figure out how to get all savvy with this whole technology thing, I'll illustrate the word "glorious" with halos an angel wings. Because it was that good.
My sister and cousin had the scallops, which they said was also wonderful. Captain America had the chicken parmigiana, which he tried to say with a Spanish accent, so that was special, but he ate all of it so I can only assume that he was either nearly dead from lack of sustenance, or that it was fabulous. (Although he probably wouldn't have used the word "fabulous".) I was too absorbed by my alfredo, that by the time I thought of asking to taste his dish, it was all gone.
I don't think any of us ordered any wine, but we did try a number of their speciality drinks. I, of course, ordered a lemon drop martini and it was good, but not quite as good as the ones at Jayne's Gastropub, but I also didn't have to wait 20 minutes for it. In fact, my second one came so quickly that I didn't even realize it had been placed in front of me.
For dessert, I ordered the cannolis. Sister commented that they were small, but in fact, they were the perfect size. I also tried the espresso martini (don't worry, Mom, Captain America was driving!), and it was very coffee-y without being bitter.
As for the conversation and company, it was all delightful (and yes, AC, I did tell your son to wear a bike helmet, but I don't think he's going to listen to me any more than he listens to you).
This is a restaurant I would definitely go back to!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Pubcakes and Charisma!!
Oh man, I've become way behind on this blog!
Last Saturday, Captain America, some of my girlfriends, and I went to the grand opening of Pubcakes, a new cupcake shop that uses beer in their recipes. The grand opening included a beer garden, but that is not a permanent fixture. I ordered the "beer for breakfast" which has maple cream cheese frosting and bacon bits in the cupcake. The frosting was better than the cake, but the cake was pretty good, too. It wasn't too beer-y. Captain America ordered the "Irish car bomb", which was very good and very chocolaty.
I've already pre-ordered a dozen of the minis for Valentine's day (I ordered two of each variety). Also, there was a coffee shop. The special was a mango iced tea, which was pretty good. I had a hot chocolate, which was very good. The only downside to Pubcakes is that it is located waaayy east on El Cajon Blvd., which is not a part of town that I frequent that often.
For dinner, we joined another set of our friends and headed to Hillcrest for Italian. Coming from the east coast, I have very definite opinions on Italian food. We went to Charisma Cucina Italiana. One of our friends had the green linguine special, which was very good, another friend had the eggplant Parmesan, Captain America had a black spaghetti with shrimp, and I had the clams and white wine sauce. I found my meal to be very salty, which sometimes happens with clam dishes.
We also had all four desserts, including a tiramisu, cannolis, a custard dish (the waiter was off-the-boat-from-Italy, and we couldn't figure out what he called it, but it was very good), and a peach tart. The desserts were very good, but the tiramisu was different. If I thought I was ordering a cake, I would say it was moist and lemony, which is a strange description for tiramisu. The service, atmosphere, and prices were great, and some of the food was fantastic, but not everything.
I am definitely going to go back to Pubcakes, I can't say the same of Charisma, but it won't be off the list, either.
Last Saturday, Captain America, some of my girlfriends, and I went to the grand opening of Pubcakes, a new cupcake shop that uses beer in their recipes. The grand opening included a beer garden, but that is not a permanent fixture. I ordered the "beer for breakfast" which has maple cream cheese frosting and bacon bits in the cupcake. The frosting was better than the cake, but the cake was pretty good, too. It wasn't too beer-y. Captain America ordered the "Irish car bomb", which was very good and very chocolaty.
I've already pre-ordered a dozen of the minis for Valentine's day (I ordered two of each variety). Also, there was a coffee shop. The special was a mango iced tea, which was pretty good. I had a hot chocolate, which was very good. The only downside to Pubcakes is that it is located waaayy east on El Cajon Blvd., which is not a part of town that I frequent that often.
For dinner, we joined another set of our friends and headed to Hillcrest for Italian. Coming from the east coast, I have very definite opinions on Italian food. We went to Charisma Cucina Italiana. One of our friends had the green linguine special, which was very good, another friend had the eggplant Parmesan, Captain America had a black spaghetti with shrimp, and I had the clams and white wine sauce. I found my meal to be very salty, which sometimes happens with clam dishes.
We also had all four desserts, including a tiramisu, cannolis, a custard dish (the waiter was off-the-boat-from-Italy, and we couldn't figure out what he called it, but it was very good), and a peach tart. The desserts were very good, but the tiramisu was different. If I thought I was ordering a cake, I would say it was moist and lemony, which is a strange description for tiramisu. The service, atmosphere, and prices were great, and some of the food was fantastic, but not everything.
I am definitely going to go back to Pubcakes, I can't say the same of Charisma, but it won't be off the list, either.
Monday, January 31, 2011
A British Pub
This weekend, Captain America and I went to Jayne's Gastropub with Barbie and Ken, Hispanic Barbie and Ken, and some friends of Hispanic Barbie and Ken.
Captain America had read about how Jayne's was supposed to be an authentic British Pub, and we were excited to try it with our friends. We were seated at a large wooden picnic table on the back patio, which was adorned with lights, and potted plants, and was really quite a lovely setting. And then we gave our drink orders and waited. And waited. And waited.
We got our drinks and our other friends showed up. And they ordered their drinks and waited. And then we ordered dinner and waited.
There was a lot of waiting. The food was very good; the drinks were fantastic. Hands down, they made the best lemon drop martinis I've ever had, but I would have been just as happy if they were 80% as good and served faster.
The one other problem was that because we were at a large table we couldn't really chat with the people at the other end of the table. That sort of defeats the purpose of going out with friends.
So, sadly this post is short. Because there is no way for me to convey that the food was good, the beverages were wonderful, our friends are even better, without getting bogged down with how slow the service was. If everything had happened about 5 minutes faster it would have been perfect, but, alas, this was not the case.
In a nut shell, don't bother going.
Captain America had read about how Jayne's was supposed to be an authentic British Pub, and we were excited to try it with our friends. We were seated at a large wooden picnic table on the back patio, which was adorned with lights, and potted plants, and was really quite a lovely setting. And then we gave our drink orders and waited. And waited. And waited.
We got our drinks and our other friends showed up. And they ordered their drinks and waited. And then we ordered dinner and waited.
There was a lot of waiting. The food was very good; the drinks were fantastic. Hands down, they made the best lemon drop martinis I've ever had, but I would have been just as happy if they were 80% as good and served faster.
The one other problem was that because we were at a large table we couldn't really chat with the people at the other end of the table. That sort of defeats the purpose of going out with friends.
So, sadly this post is short. Because there is no way for me to convey that the food was good, the beverages were wonderful, our friends are even better, without getting bogged down with how slow the service was. If everything had happened about 5 minutes faster it would have been perfect, but, alas, this was not the case.
In a nut shell, don't bother going.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A busy Sunday
Today I ran the Carlsbad half marathon with my running buddy. By her watch, we finished in 1:56, but I haven't been able to confirm the official results on the website yet. The peak elevation of this race is 75', but that's deceptive--it's very hilly. Obviously no BIG hills, but an ongoing series of rolling hills. The flip side is, the course is along the coast, so it is very scenic and the views are excellent enough that you may even forget how far you're running for a minute or two.
My running buddy and I were well prepared for this race, having already run 12 and 13 miles as part of our training. We didn't even stop to walk through the aid stations, except once, where I got in her way and there was some general confusion going on. There is nearly always general confusion going on at aid stations, between the volunteers yelling out what's in their cups, the runners yelling what they'd like to drink, and people throwing the cups on the ground, along with their GU packets, etc. (not to worry, this is expected behavior and there are clean up crews at the aid stations as well), and the cheerleaders, and bands, and random men in hula-girl aprons and grass skirts.
I'm listing this as "Things to do in San Diego," although technically the race was north of San Diego, in Carlsbad (in case you missed that in the race title), home to Lego Land. (As an aside, I've never been to Lego Land because it is ridiculously expensive, especially if you're not bringing along a kid to get the full experience of the place).
If you are a runner, or a walker, and want a good reason to escape the winter, come to San Diego, complete this race, and then vacation for the next few days. The race started out cool, in the 50s, but by the time we made it to brunch, it was in the 70s. Not bad for January. And because the race is in January, you'll have to train through the holidays, which is helpful if you're not looking to gain 10 pounds in November and December.
And the race was well organized. I've run races where aid stations have been un-staffed, races started late, there was no food at the finish line, and there were moose on the course (okay, that was actually pretty cool). I would like to take a moment to offer a big e-shout out to all of the volunteers who were instrumental in making my race a success. Seriously, there was an aid station at mile 1. There were first aid volunteers cycling on the course. There were lots of local bands and people playing music. At one point there was a stream of surfers running across the course. It was fantastic. Oh, and did I mention that because it's an out-and-back, you'll see the Kenyans zoom past you on thier way in?
One risk I will warn you of, just to present a balanced perspective, is that if you don't normally run in the 70s, or haven't had time to acclimate, it will feel hot. So dress appropriately, shed layers, and don't feel bad about stopping to walk and admire the view.
Then we went to brunch at The Ocean House Restaurant, which is housed in a building from the 1880s. I love buffet brunch. There was an omelet bar, where my aunt actually just ordered scrambled eggs, but I ordered an omelet with tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, and cheddar cheese. They also had meat and shrimp, but I'm weird about putting meat in eggs, unless it's a quiche. I guess, more accurately, I'm inconsistent about putting meat in eggs. There were many other breakfast items, including waffles, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, sausages, bacon, and fruit, along with a salad bar, a soup bar, a seafood bar (which my uncle took full advantage of, but something about shrimp and crab legs after running 13.1 miles was totally unappetizing to me), a meat station, and a variety of potatoes and vegetables. And did I mention bottomless mimosas?
Sold!
My running buddy and I were well prepared for this race, having already run 12 and 13 miles as part of our training. We didn't even stop to walk through the aid stations, except once, where I got in her way and there was some general confusion going on. There is nearly always general confusion going on at aid stations, between the volunteers yelling out what's in their cups, the runners yelling what they'd like to drink, and people throwing the cups on the ground, along with their GU packets, etc. (not to worry, this is expected behavior and there are clean up crews at the aid stations as well), and the cheerleaders, and bands, and random men in hula-girl aprons and grass skirts.
I'm listing this as "Things to do in San Diego," although technically the race was north of San Diego, in Carlsbad (in case you missed that in the race title), home to Lego Land. (As an aside, I've never been to Lego Land because it is ridiculously expensive, especially if you're not bringing along a kid to get the full experience of the place).
If you are a runner, or a walker, and want a good reason to escape the winter, come to San Diego, complete this race, and then vacation for the next few days. The race started out cool, in the 50s, but by the time we made it to brunch, it was in the 70s. Not bad for January. And because the race is in January, you'll have to train through the holidays, which is helpful if you're not looking to gain 10 pounds in November and December.
And the race was well organized. I've run races where aid stations have been un-staffed, races started late, there was no food at the finish line, and there were moose on the course (okay, that was actually pretty cool). I would like to take a moment to offer a big e-shout out to all of the volunteers who were instrumental in making my race a success. Seriously, there was an aid station at mile 1. There were first aid volunteers cycling on the course. There were lots of local bands and people playing music. At one point there was a stream of surfers running across the course. It was fantastic. Oh, and did I mention that because it's an out-and-back, you'll see the Kenyans zoom past you on thier way in?
One risk I will warn you of, just to present a balanced perspective, is that if you don't normally run in the 70s, or haven't had time to acclimate, it will feel hot. So dress appropriately, shed layers, and don't feel bad about stopping to walk and admire the view.
Then we went to brunch at The Ocean House Restaurant, which is housed in a building from the 1880s. I love buffet brunch. There was an omelet bar, where my aunt actually just ordered scrambled eggs, but I ordered an omelet with tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, and cheddar cheese. They also had meat and shrimp, but I'm weird about putting meat in eggs, unless it's a quiche. I guess, more accurately, I'm inconsistent about putting meat in eggs. There were many other breakfast items, including waffles, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, sausages, bacon, and fruit, along with a salad bar, a soup bar, a seafood bar (which my uncle took full advantage of, but something about shrimp and crab legs after running 13.1 miles was totally unappetizing to me), a meat station, and a variety of potatoes and vegetables. And did I mention bottomless mimosas?
Sold!
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Marble Room
On Wednesday, a girlfriend (who as of yet does not have a character profile) and I went to The Marble Room for Restaurant Week. I have eaten there several times already, because it is my go-to place when I want to take guests someplace for a nice meal, good drinks, live music, in an atmosphere that isn't a club or a lounge where everyone else is about 70 years our senior. And they have really good tapas, which I love. And the prices are reasonable (okay, for everyone who doesn't live in SoCal, you have to interpret "reasonable" here to mean "not exorbitant considering you're in a trendy area of San Diego").
And I realize that Wednesday does not equal Saturday (is there a way to type that sign in blogger?). But Sunday I'm running the Carlsbad half marathon (there will be more on that later), and so my Saturday is going to consist of going to work (don't get me started on this), picking up my race packet and bib, and resting. Not exactly riveting reading material.
I used to really love restaurant week because I felt like I could try out places I don't normally go. And then Captain America started this schedule where he is at work until 10pm, and so any time we're both home at night seems like a good reason to go out and celebrate. And I have enough friends. I'm going to put a full stop there. But what I really mean is that I have enough friends who like going out that I could probably suggest something new every weekend and at least one person would like to join me. So, while the gimmick of restaurant week is losing its charm for me, dining out is not.
The Marble Room did what many restaurants do, which is they kept their regular menu for restaurant week and basically told you that you could have any appetizer, any entree, and a choice of a signature cocktail or a dessert.
My girlfriend ordered the calamari, which was wonderful. It is perfectly battered and fried, not too chewy and not too crispy, and it comes with three dipping sauces. I had the Caprese salad, which I love, to begin with, and to which The Marble Room adds avocado, making it even better. I have read that something magical happens when tomatoes and avocados are eaten together. Somehow they compliment each other and some chemistry goes on and your body actually absorbs more nutrients than it would if you had eaten avocado and tomato at separate times in the day. Not that I need an excuse to eat avocado.
My girlfriend had the steak as her entree. She ordered it medium-well, and it came out more like medium-rare. I guess she didn't mind too much, since she didn't send it back. She wasn't sure she'd like the sauce it came with, and our waitress told her she could have a different sauce, and so she ordered a side of all three. One was spicy and I didn't try it. One was a blue cheese reduction, and was very good, but was the least blue-cheesy looking sauce I have ever seen. The third sauce was our favorite and was a brandy mushroom sauce.
I ordered the wild mushroom ravioli, which I have also had before. They are fantastic. They come in almost a teriyaki sauce. It has a little of that sweet/sour flavor but is thicker and darker. Yum!
For dessert, we ordered the whoopie pies and the chocolate peanut butter decadence. The desserts were also very good, but I have to say, the more time I spend baking, the pickier I become about restaurant desserts. I don't know if I could have made the exact same thing, and my presentation skills still leave something to be desired, but I definitely could have made something that tasted as good as the chocolate peanut butter decadence (although I couldn't have made the hazelnut gelato that accompanied it. Which is fine because I don't like hazelnut anyway), and my whoopie pies were a little dry, although to be fair, I've never had a whoopie pie before and so maybe they were supposed to be that way. I wanted to try them because I've been thinking about making some. Depending on the size, they look just like the macarons we had in Switzerland, but absolutely are not. So, I might not be making them.
The singer they had on Wednesday had a very Cheryl Crow-like sound, which was nice.
In conclusion I'd still recommend The Marble Room for tapas, dinner, drinks, and live music, but for dessert, come to my house!
And I realize that Wednesday does not equal Saturday (is there a way to type that sign in blogger?). But Sunday I'm running the Carlsbad half marathon (there will be more on that later), and so my Saturday is going to consist of going to work (don't get me started on this), picking up my race packet and bib, and resting. Not exactly riveting reading material.
I used to really love restaurant week because I felt like I could try out places I don't normally go. And then Captain America started this schedule where he is at work until 10pm, and so any time we're both home at night seems like a good reason to go out and celebrate. And I have enough friends. I'm going to put a full stop there. But what I really mean is that I have enough friends who like going out that I could probably suggest something new every weekend and at least one person would like to join me. So, while the gimmick of restaurant week is losing its charm for me, dining out is not.
The Marble Room did what many restaurants do, which is they kept their regular menu for restaurant week and basically told you that you could have any appetizer, any entree, and a choice of a signature cocktail or a dessert.
My girlfriend ordered the calamari, which was wonderful. It is perfectly battered and fried, not too chewy and not too crispy, and it comes with three dipping sauces. I had the Caprese salad, which I love, to begin with, and to which The Marble Room adds avocado, making it even better. I have read that something magical happens when tomatoes and avocados are eaten together. Somehow they compliment each other and some chemistry goes on and your body actually absorbs more nutrients than it would if you had eaten avocado and tomato at separate times in the day. Not that I need an excuse to eat avocado.
My girlfriend had the steak as her entree. She ordered it medium-well, and it came out more like medium-rare. I guess she didn't mind too much, since she didn't send it back. She wasn't sure she'd like the sauce it came with, and our waitress told her she could have a different sauce, and so she ordered a side of all three. One was spicy and I didn't try it. One was a blue cheese reduction, and was very good, but was the least blue-cheesy looking sauce I have ever seen. The third sauce was our favorite and was a brandy mushroom sauce.
I ordered the wild mushroom ravioli, which I have also had before. They are fantastic. They come in almost a teriyaki sauce. It has a little of that sweet/sour flavor but is thicker and darker. Yum!
(These cookies are NOT whoopie pies)
The singer they had on Wednesday had a very Cheryl Crow-like sound, which was nice.
In conclusion I'd still recommend The Marble Room for tapas, dinner, drinks, and live music, but for dessert, come to my house!
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