Shiny

Did you all have a good Christmas? What did you do? Mr. Moc and I had a busy Christmas. For the past week Rocketdog, Pigpen, the Shongsters and the parental units were here in town staying with us. I feel like all we did was eat, sleep and shop! Although occasionally, we stayed up late to talk and play board games! It was a lot of fun and crazy to have everyone over but I'm exhausted right now.

So, did you all get what you wanted from Santa? I got some cool stuff but my faves are the diamond earrings, my mocs from Ugg (well, when they arrive), and a beautiful white tablecloth and matching napkins from Syria*. Well, I won't be blogging again until the new year so I hope you all have a wonderful new year. Happy New Year!

*edit* Oh yeah, and a subscription to Cooking Light (which is arriving later)

Merry Christmas

A bit belated but Merry Christmas!

This is for Rocketdog...where is Kitty? --MM

Mocmoc's Travel Profile

	Your travel type: Jet Set A visit to a museum or an art gallery in the morning, an afternoon of shopping, dining out in a good restaurant and some drinks and a little party to end the day, the Jet Set traveller likes a full day. Although he is quite active he is not the type to do any outdoor sports. When he has to walk a few blocks, he takes a cab. The Jet Set traveler is not much of a nature lover. "You mean the green stuff my parents have in their backyard?"
	top destinations: New York Paris Tokyo	stay away from: Hampi Ciudad Perdida Darien Gap

get your own travel profile


I think they have nailed my travel profile! What do you think?

arizona

they put out giant chess/checkers at the resort


The past couple days I spent it in Arizona. It was a lot colder than I thought. But we stayed at the Arizona Biltmore, it's a beautiful resort that was built in the 1920s and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. All these movie stars (Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gables) and every president since Hoover have stayed there. We also got to go to Sedona and see the Red Rocks, very pretttty =)

ill meet you in milan

	Your travel type: Jet Set A visit to a museum or an art gallery in the morning, an afternoon of shopping, dining out in a good restaurant and some drinks and a little party to end the day, the Jet Set traveller likes a full day. Although he is quite active he is not the type to do any outdoor sports. When he has to walk a few blocks, he takes a cab. The Jet Set traveler is not much of a nature lover. "You mean the green stuff my parents have in their backyard?"
	top destinations: Amsterdam New York Venice	stay away from: Kashmir Ciudad Perdida Darien Gap

get your own travel profile

so um, i think this is so wrong - "he is not the type to do any outdoor sports" and the answer is NO! What other kind of sports are there?! that thing doesnt know me at all! and the part about the nature lover? i am one i just can't keep plants. i admire but dont handle cause ill kill it.

--RD

RD's countries

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide


Ok, so once again not as impressive as MocMoc's, but she does have 10 years on me. But I bet I have her beat on both states and countries lived in!!!!

--RD

RD's states

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide


not quite as impressive as MM

U.S. States that Mocmoc has visited

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide


39 (76%) States Visited

Countries Mocmoc has visited

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Make your own at www.world66.com.

Still SOOO many countries to visit!

--MM

Chronicles of Narnia

Chronicles of Narnia
This post is for rocketDOG...look who I saw at the movies tonight!?! Shong!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, rocketDOG thinks that our family dog, Shong, looks like the Lion in the new movie "The Chronicles of Narnia". What do you think? --MM

Shong

no name?

I have a very hard time finding those souvenirs with my name. Take a look..they even have Guadalupe and Graciela...

toure de LA

This past weekend a couple of my friends came in from North Carolina to visit. They've never been to LA before, or at least not in a long time, so of course they wanted to see everything. We did the Grove, Venice Beach, Malibu, Hollywood, USC/UCLA Football game, Lakers/Bobcats game, and Disneyland.

We had to sit in the UCLA section but it's ok, we creamed them! All the UCLA fans were very angry at me for wearing my USC Girls ROck t-shirt. Several of them heckled me and some wouldn't even let me get past them (jokingly of course). That was my first USC football game besides the Rose Bowl two years ago!

At the Lakers game we had seats at center court, 9 rows back on the camera side. We got on TV a couple times. I saw some old friends but from far away, I didn't get to go down to say hi. But we saw Jack Nicholson, Penny Marshall, the judge lady from Ally McBeal, and Jessica Alba. Plus from across the way I think we saw one of the Olson twins. Oh and Shaq was at the game!

Disneyland was awesome, they had everything set up for Christmas and for their 50th anniversary! Space Mountain was so fun, I don't ever remember it being that dark or fast or COLD! brrr... Of course I had junkfood, but i only had a cheeseburger, fries and a churro. It just wasn't the same without Mocmoc my eating buddy. I am still craving a corndog...mmm...

Mexico

So pictures from our trip to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico have been posted to my website. If you're familiar with my website, go check out the pictures when you have time. If you don't now my website, email me and I'll send you a link.

We had a wonderful time on our trip and I wish I could be there now! It's 8 degrees outside. No, that is not a typo - there is only a single digit! It is only 8 degrees outside and with the wind chill factor, it feels like -1 degree outside. :(

In addition, there is snow on the ground - only about 6-8 inches or so but the forecast for tonight is more snow - possibly a foot or more. I can't wait until my trip to SF next week! Woohoo, the 50 degree weather there is going to feel like a heatwave to me!
--MM

Winter is really here!

I took this picture from my balcony about 2 hours ago. It's been snowing non-stop since and now there's about an additional 2 inches of snow on top of what you see. It's still coming down pretty quickly...maybe I should go outside and make a snow angel in the front yard. Anyway, there's no denying it now...winter is definitely here! Time to head south!

OJ

I like visiting new places but I’m really disliking the act of traveling more and more. Maybe it’s because I’ve been spending more and more of my time in planes. On my 2-hour flight from Chicago down to Jackson today, my seat-mate spilled his entire cup of ice-cold orange juice onto my lap! B*st*rd! He kept apologizing and even offered to give me money to pay for my dry-cleaning. I don’t care about the money! I had to sit for nearly 2 hours in my wet, sticky wool pants that smelled like orange juice (for those of you who know me, you know that I don’t even DRINK oj) and then I had to go to my client meeting wearing the same pants.

Why didn’t I change, you ask?! Because it was just a one-day trip…I was supposed to just fly in for the 1-hour meeting and then be home before it was time for the late news. I didn’t bring any change of clothing because I wasn’t anticipating sitting in a pool of cold orange juice!! ACKKKKK! I hate flying!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's the pink care bear that rocketDOG talks about in the previous post. I can't remember...is the Christmas Hello Kitty yours too, rocketDOG?

Anyway, Mr. Moc and I are off for our vacation and won't be back home until after Thanksgiving. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey!! --MM

care bears

Since MocMoc took a picture of an old care bear piggy bank of mine, I am now inspired to write about care bears. I used to LOVE care bears, but I never had a REAL one. I remember I had a small plastic one that moved at the limbs and mom bought me a like cloudly playland for it, but we ended up returning it I think.

Anyways, I remember mocmoc made me one when I was little. It was funshine bear or maybe a friendship bear. Or maybe it was a yellow friendship bear. Anyways, she never finished it so it had no face. And THEN the arms fell off. It was the faceless, armless care bear. Quite scary, but it was a nice thought =)

I think my favorite one growin up was Grumpy Bear cause he wasn't so damn peppy all the time. Plus I always wanted to cheer him up. Which one is your favorite care bear?

tear...

OMG did you watch tonight's Gilmore Girls?! It was so good! I ALMOST shed a tear, mind you I don't cry in movies/tv/books whatever. Ok MM if you watched it comment, if you didn't WATCH IT!
--RD

winter is here

Ok winter's not exactly here in southern california, because its always sunny and warm but obviously according to mocmoc its winter in cleveland! Anyways, I went to starbucks today and ordered a peppermint mocha! It was so fun ordering winter drinks. Tommorow I shall try a winter drink from coffe bean. oh wait, no I won't its going to be 77 tomorrow and 79 the following day. It's kind of fnuny how they promote winter drinks here. I miss Caribou - they have fire places in their stores! Ooh I want a turtle mocha.

p.s. I am a English Toffee Bar - Toffee commands respect. Stalwart and unapologetic, toffee shows a determined and rugged face. Toffee can't be devoured, but those jagged shards insist that we approach carefully, take small, tentative, and respectful bites. And toffee rewards that respect with rich, buttery flavor, satisfying crunch, and a[n, starbucks needs someone to proof read their website] indulgent and smooth chocolate and cookie finish.
www.therecup.com nov 3 quiz

I have come to realize I like winter, but only in small doses. I like drinking coffee, tea or hot cocoa on a cold day. I like curling up in bed under my comforter not wanting to get out of bed in the morning because it is too cold. I like sweaters. But I don't like winter to stay around so damn long - good luck in cleveland this winter mr moc and mocmoc. i don't envy you.

--RD

Birds

Do you know Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "The Birds"? If not, let me refresh your memory. Taken from www.imdb.com, "Birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people, in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness." To read more about "Birds", click the link in the title of this blog.

While waiting for Mr. Moc to pick me up from the airport after my trip last week, I heard all this "cawing" and looked up to see thousands and thousands of birds. Do you see all the black spots in the picture - each one is a friggin' bird! Yikes! Take cover! --MM

Sleet?

This stuff came down on us on Thursday morning. I call it little ice balls. The locals call it sleet and then they laugh and tell me, "you haven't seen anything yet! Just wait til the snow comes...then you'll be in for a real treat...a real COLD treat. Muahahahaha."

We went to our first HOA meeting on Thursday night and it turns out that one of our neighbors is from California too - San Diego (I'm calling her "Brandy"). So Mr. Moc, Brandy and I have been labeled as "the Californians". Everyone has been told to keep an eye out for us when it gets really cold and snows. The Sales Director, Bebe, from the model home told me she would give me "snow lessons" and that she'd come by occasionally with hot chocolate to warm me up and to make I hadn't frozen to death or gotten stuck under a snowbank. Of course, everyone thinks it's hilarious that we're from California. Hardy har har. --MM

Josh Kelley

So none of you played the guessing game but in case you're wondering. The singer in the picture below is of Josh Kelley. Maybe you've heard of his song, "Amazing"? It's been played a lot on the radios and some of his other songs have been played on various WB shows. Also, a bit of Hollywood gossip for you - his girlfriend is the beautiful Katherine Heigl who plays Izzy on Grey's Anatomy.

Mr. Moc, Island Girl, Social Butterfly and I saw Josh Kelley and his band perform at this local music venue called the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern. Pretty small place so there weren't a lot of people which was fine by me. We were able to get pretty close to the stage. Afterwards, we got to meet Josh Kelley and the other band members. In addition, I got their autographs (as you can see) and I got my picture taken with each of the band members. If you know my website URL then you can see those pictures there.

Pretty cool, huh? Like I've been saying, this never would have happened in LA. Guess that's one benefit of being in Cleveland! --MM

FAT

This is going to sound rude and very politically incorrect but I just have to vent. Extremely overweight or obese people should not be allowed to fly. Wait - let me rephrase. Extremely overweight or obese people who cannot fit into a single plane seat should not be allowed to fly or should pay for 2 seats and be allowed to use the 2 seats!

On my flight home last night, I sat next to a obese woman. She didn't fit in her seat...in otherwords, the armrest was raised so that she could sit down in her seat and spill her excess into my seat. So instead of getting the whole seat that I paid for, I got about 2/3 of it. I'm sorry for all you obese people who read my blog but don't you think you'd be more comfortable and less embarrassed if you didn't have to impose yourself on a complete stranger?

In addition to taking up 1/3 of my seat (the seat for which I paid!), she also had her left foot/cankle in my half of the space under the seats in front of us. This means that I got a tiny sliver of space to stow my carry-on and no where for me to stretch my legs. As it turns out, part of the reason she needed part of my leg space was because of all her carry-ons and bags. This included one big paper bag which contained her snacks! Before we'd even pulled away from the gate, she'd already had 6 Oreo's and a soda. Then she starts dipping into her snack bag for chips as we pulled away from the gate. We were in a holding pattern on the tarmack for an additional 20 minutes before taking off so that gave the woman extra time to scarf down some more oreos and chips.

Get a clue, Lady! You're already spilling into MY seat and now you're stuffing yourself with more fat and crap that is only going to make you expand even more?!?! Unfortunately, I've been squished next to these big people many times before and usually on a fully-booked flight so that there's no possibility to switch to another seat. Raise your hand if this has happened to you!

Thanks for letting me vent. --MM

venice beach

One of my favorite places to go in LA is Venice Beach. There's always so much to look at and its right by the water. Here are some pics from when roomie, mr.clean and i took a walk there on saturday. its literally down the street from us =)

things we haven't blogged about in a while

So..... since we seem to have blogged a lot about random things, i thought i would bring it back to two basic staples of mocmoc and rocketdog.

#1. gilmore girls. I am still unbelievable shocked that Jess is going to make an appearance on the show. I don't know what it means! It's funny how the real life Rory and the real life Jess are dating, in real life. haha. I still think my favorite match for Rory was Dean. But Dean left and is in that scary show - Supernatural. Speaking of which, a lot of people who use to be on the show are now big time.. let's see... the bully kid in high school (can't remember his name) is now on One Tree Hill and we know him as Chad Michael Murray. And then there's David, Laine's boyfriend from high school who conveniently went to California (of all places) for college is now in the O.C.

Anyways, I also really dig Rory's pool house, it looks like such a nice crib. It doesn't even look like the same place that grandma and grandpa gilmore used to have. I wish my place could look like that with a nice pool to go with it. oh yah and maid service would be nice too. i mean do you remember that episode where the maid was putting away rory's summer clothes for her?! wow. Oh and what's going on with Laine? Her and Rory don't really hang out anymore but yet, she's still in the story line. Slightly strange. Anyways, I hope that Rory and Lorelai patch up soon. I can't take this much longer..it's gilmore girls..plural!!

#2. Coffee. I don't think i can live without coffee. I am becoming dependent on it and its not healthy. Every day I have coffee. In college I never drank it except to keep warm in those Michigan winters while walking around campus. Even then a lot of the times it was either hot chocolate or tea. And then i started working, while I was working in my first office I never drank it because there was no coffee place by our office. Then when we moved downtown there was a Showmars right across the street, so I started to have some because my boss would drink like 2 giant cups in the morning and it just smelled so good. Plus he always offered to buy me a cup. Then later on he provided us with a "change cup" where we were free to grab change for drinks and snacks. Yup.... thats when the coffee addiction started.

Now I just go every day whether its to study or what. Actually last week I was at Starbucks and guess who I saw...Superman, yup dean cain. Anywhoooo.... i'm finding i like starbucks' plain coffee and CoffeeBeans specialty drinks. Oh and today I went to coffee bean and they are coming out with the winter drinks. I'm so addicted I no longer notice that my pee smells like coffee.. man, i need help

--RD

Do you know what this is?

Mr. Moc and I went to the Westside Market and stocked up on some great produce and meats: chorizo sausage, oxtail and pancetta. Hmmm, what should I make? Anyway, we saw this litte piggie at the market today and I couldn't resist taking a picture. Can I get an "oink oink"??!

Amazing Singer

Do you know who this guy is?! Sorry - RocketDog, Mr. Moc, Social Butterfly and Island Girl are not allowed to play this guessing game.

The Holiday Drinks are here!

YAY! Starbucks' Holiday drinks have arrived! Gingerbread Latte, Peppermint Mocha, and Eggnog Latte...which one is your favorite?! -MM

cookie moster?

I also made peanut butter cookies per the request of Mr Clean. I am taking cookie requests so get them in while you can! They even have the fork marks =) Now that we bought a cake pan (for the meatloaf) i can start baking breads and cakes and stuff. yum!
--RD

wednesday night dinner

So Roomie, MR. Clean and I decided that Wednesdays we would try to have "dinners" together. Since wednesday is my day off I have time to cook. So after we picked up roomie from work, we all stopped by the supermarket. With Roomie as my sou chef I made meatloaf. It was a very easy recipe but it takes a long time to cook. It was my first time ever making meatloaf, in fact I hardly ever eat meatloaf, but it was damn good. Then Mr Clean made roasted garlic mashed potatoes and I made lemon butter asparagus. It was so yum!! I think Mr Clean made a lot of mashed potatoes I thikn we still have like 3 pounds left. haha. What else goes with mashed potatoes?
--RD

Pork chop and fried egg with rice

As I mentioned in my previous post, I like to mix it up when I go to Pho#1. Since it's the only Vietnamese restaurant in town that we go to, I don't want to burn myself out on chicken pho. Last night, Island Girl and I both got this dish while Social Butterfly and Mr. Moc both got the pho. The boys never veer off their pho path. Except for last night, we usually always order appetizers too - like spring rolls, meatball/grilled shrimp rolls, crispy crepe, etc. I'll have to remember to take pictures of the appetizers and the coffee with condensed milk next time we go. --MM

Pho anyone?

There's one Vietnamese restaurant in town...called Pho #1. Actually, there's another Vietnamese restaurant but the broth from their pho just tastes like water (no flavor). So anyway, back to Pho#1...they have various pho flavors (i.e. different cuts of beef, tendons, etc and chicken). Mr. Moc always gets the one in the picture (beef & tripe) while Social Butterfly always gets cooked beef. If I get pho, I always get chicken pho however I like to mix it up when I go there. See above picture of pork chop and rice.

Orange & Black

Apparently, people here really get into Halloween. This was taken in front of a house about 1/2 mile from our house in one of the older neighborhoods. Check it out - they even have a grim reaper! I can't wait to see what everyone does for Christmas. --MM

yum?

think you would ever try this stuff? i would just cause it has the michigan logo on the outside. talk about marketing. im not so sure how the contents inside would be though. GO BLUE!

Osso Bucco w/Risotto

Of course, I didn't make the guinea pigs just eat tiramisu at the experimental dinner! Before the tiramisu, we started off with some appetizers: various flavored nuts, brie cheese w/french bread and rosemary crackers and a red bell pepper spread. The red bell pepper spread was the only appetizer that I made.

For dinner, I made osso bucco (veal shanks) and risotto (see picture above). The risotto is a dish that I make often but the osso bucco was a new recipe. Another dish that was easier to make than I thought. The hardest part about the osso bucco was finding a place that sold the veal shanks. Luckily, Mr. Moc found some at Sebastian's at the West Side Market. Good job, Mr. Moc! --MM

Tiramisu

We had some guinea pigs over for an experimental dinner this past weekend. The deal was they could come for dinner but I was going to try out new recipes on them. This was the first time I made tiramisu - surprisingly, it's very easy to make and yummy to eat. Sadly, there were no leftovers. --MM

Happy Halloween!

Driving home yesterday, we passed this scene from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!".

If you're wearing a costume today or wore one to a party over the weekend, leave us a comment and tell us what your costume is. Happy Halloween!

skeerrred

So last night, I was laying in bed reading. I had my candles going and my night stand lamp so it was slightly dark in my room, I was reading "The Lovely Bones" courtesy of Mocmoc. Anyways for those of you who don't know the book is about a girl who gets murdered and basically its told from her point of view when she is dead. Seeing as it's almost halloween I thought this would be appropriate. But this is what I was reading....
"..a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek and continue on the way to heaven. The dead are never exactly seen by the living, but many people seem acutely aware of something changed around them." -- AND THEN!! The smoke detector went off and scared the crap out of me!!! Talk about timing!

It's almost like the time in AP US History in high school when we were watching a video on nuclear bombs. Right when the video said "Nuclear bombs feel like earthquakes" the classroom shook. It was an earthquake. Our teacher yelled for us to get under the desk. So we did. Duck and cover, you know the drill. The teacher next door came over to us and was like "was that an earthquake"? And there we were trembling under our desks. I asked my friends later who weren't in my class if they felt the earthquake, they had no idea it happened.

But speaking of ghosts and how it is halloween...about 3 years ago I was sleeping in Alhambra and I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to move and it felt like someone was pressing down on me. I opened my eyes and there hovering directly above me, face to face, was the pale, hallowed in face of an old man who was wearing a top hat and bow tie..... I quickly closed me eyes.

--RD

mmm cookies

I made cookies tonight. For some reason when the weather gets colder I like to bake. It's a good thing I don't live in Michigan anymore. But I made like 3 dozen cookies and that's quite a lot for me, roomie and mr clean to eat, believe it or not. so I have to find someone else to eat them. Anyways, they are a swirl of dark and white chocolate morsels and walnut cookies. It was tiring to make because I don't have my mixer, my arm got a work out. So much for those 2 miles I ran today. Oh yah a little trick that Mr Clean taught me... put a piece of bread in the tupperware with your cookies and it will keep them softer!
--RD

my lil pony

So Mr. Clean and I are watching Gilmore Girls, recorded from earlier tonight. Anyways, so they are having this fancy party for Rory and they have a signature drink for Rory. It's basically a really girly drink that's pink. Luke had a "rory" and while he was drinking it he said "I feel like i'm turning pink from this drink. I feel like I'm drinking a My Little Pony". HAHAHA.
Paris: "I was sleeping with the editor" Doyle: "Now I'm sleeping with the editor"
Richard Gilmore: "Rory is having sex under my roof. I paid $40,000 to renovate the pool house so she could have a sex house."
Mr Clean and I can't stop laughing, this episode is so funny. Haha i have Mr Clean hooked on my girlie show! OMG JESS IS COMING BACK!!!

--RD

Happy Anniversary!

Did I forget to mention that Mr. Moc and I went to Niagara Falls, Canada this past weekend to celebrate our 1-yr anniversary? Yeah, can you believe it?!

This is Horseshoe Falls (aka Canadian Falls since it is on the Canadian side) at Niagara Falls. Luckily, we got there Friday evening while there was still some light out because it rained the rest of the time we were there. In any case, Mr. Moc and I had a great time in Niagara Falls...freezing our butts off. I guess we could say we were in training for what's to come in the next couple of months in Cleveland.

Mr. Moc

Here he is - Mr. Moc... wearing his blue poncho. Everyone gets one of these blue ponchos to go on the Maid of the Mist boatride at Niagara Falls. Not only did we get soaked on the ride but then we had to "squish" our way back to the hotel in the rain. I'm still trying to dry out my poor Pumas.

What?!

Okay, this image is a bit blurry but I think you'll get the point. I've been to MANY Korean restaurants and NEVER, EVER have I seen a waiter in a Korean restaurant...only waitresses. You know what I mean?! I think it goes with the Korean culture that women usually handle kitchen-related chores (I'll just leave it at kitchen-related chores)...i.e. food prep, cooking, serving, clearing the table and dish-washing. Now, if you're Korean, please feel free to correct me. So, it makes sense that you don't see Korean men as wait staff in Korean restaurants. However, this past weekend, I saw a Korean man busing tables. Correction: I saw 2 Korean men busing tables but I only got a shot of one of the men. I just had to take a picture as proof for you doubters out there. ;P --MM

Starbucks

Can you guess what kind of Starbucks beverage this is?

lakers

Last night i went to my first Lakers game, well, my first Lakers home game. Roomie, Mr. Clean, Betty Green and I went to the Lakers/Bobcats pre-season game. My old boss, El Jefe, got me tickets through his equivalent at the Lakers. It was fun. The Staples Center is so pretty! So much better than that barn we played in last year, called the Charlotte Coliseum. (Actually yesterday was the grand opening of the New Charlotte Arena with the Rolling Stones. The New Arena is the most modern arena in the nation. So if you get a chance, check it out!)

Anyways, back to the game, I was rooting for the Bobcats, although I always imagined I would be rooting for the Lakers when I went to a Lakers game. Believe it or not I didn't have any arena food. We had in seat service but I resisted, probably because Betty Green picked up some California Chicken Cafe for dinner prior to the game. But the in-seat menu had sushi, edamame and of course hot dogs and hamburgers (priced at a gazillion million dollars). Yah, and of course, the Bobcats lost. I can't wait till they come back agian in December.

Today I we had our first earthquake in our place. It was a 3.1 (or something like that) centered in Santa Monica. It was Roomie and Mr Clean's first cali earthquake. And then when I was taking a shower, my poor puka shell necklace broke all over the tub floor =( Now I am trying to piece it back together again.

Oh yah and Michigan football won today YAY GO BLUE!

--RD

the pig skin

Quite possibly one of my favorite past times. Drinking beer and watching sports. Well, the drinking beer thing probably isnt my favorite past time, but watching sports definitely is. Right now I just got home from class, last class of the week and I got out early today. yay! So I'm kicking back, having some pumpkin beer and watching Sportscenter. Ohh, I walked by the SC QB today at school. Extra bonus points if you can name who he is.

Speaking of football, did anyone watch the USC/Notre Dame game last week? Whew! One of my classmates actually got to watch the game from the sidlines, he went from no ticket to sidelines. no fair. Plus, did you watch the Michigan/Penn State game? We beat the Nittany Lions with 0 seconds left with a touchdown pass (which by the way they just showed the play on the Sportscenter top 10, making it at nmber 3). WOO HOO! And then the Chargers went on to beat the hated Raiders in Raider nation.

This weekend, the Wolverines take on Iowa, and the Chargers take on the Eagles. YAY!

gumbo yaya

Today I went to the grove with roomie and her fiance aka Mr Clean, and roomie's friend from NY. We decided to go to the farmer's market to eat. MMM... Mr Clean and Roomie's friend had bbq. Roomie and I had cajun food. And yes, I had GUMBO YAYA! Ooh was it good! I wish I had a picture of it. But I got the chicken and adouille sausage. I have to say that out of all the gumbo I've ever had this place might possible be the best. Of course I haven't been to New Orleans so I don't know how they do it down there. One day I will make it down to the Big Easy. Then afterwards Roomie, Mr Clean and I shared some funnel cake. YUM! And we bought fresh fruit - rasberries, mangos, apples, and grapes. Now I'm hungry.
--RD

Penne with Vodka Marinara

We had a simple dinner before the concert - penne vodka marinara with chunks of fresh mozzarella and fresh herbs. Not bad for a quick 10 minute dinner. --MM

Severance Hall

Since RocketDog seems to have disappeared from her blogging duties, I am blogging again. Mr. Moc and I went to Severance Hall to watch a concert by the Cleveland Orchestra. They performed 2 pieces: the first one was written by a Chinese composer named Chen Yi entitled Si Ji ("Four Seasons") and lasted about 20 minutes. The 2nd piece was Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 with 4 movements. There is no intermission between the 4 movements so we couldn't move for 1 1/2 hours. Usually I can't sit for such long periods of time...I doze off...but this time I didn't. I think that means I liked the concert! ;)

You can't really tell from this picture but Severance Hall is gorgeous. The lighting was really soft and pretty. Mr. Moc and I both agreed that if we could bring books to read, it would have been a perfect concert! Hehehe. --MM

Echigo

Day 4 Continued - Crab Handroll

RocketDog and I had dinner at Echigo along with my good friend, Scooby. Echigo is a sushi restaurant that offers the option of "omakase" style eating. This means that you don't place orders...the sushi chef will serve you whatever he wants - usually what's fresh for that day. We ended the meal with a second crab handroll. Although I can't complain about Echigo's sushi since it's great compared to what I get in Cleveland, I like Sushi Wasabi better. The sushi seems to be fresher and the dishes more inventive. There is no other option but "omakase" here. Unfortunately Sushi Wasabi was not an option on this trip. :( I heart sushi! --MM

Hodori Restaurant

Day 4 - Dol Sot Bibimbap

RocketDog and I needed sustenance before we headed over to the King Tut exhibit at LA's Musuem of Art. The sustenance was great but the King Tut exhibit was a disappointment - way TOO many people for such a small space. And both RocketDog and I thought we'd at least see a mummy at the exhibit but we didn't. Lately I've been really interested in Egyptian history - ancient history - and specifically mummies and pharoahs so I was really excited to go to the King Tut exhibit but realized that my expectations for the exhibit were just too high.

Anyway, back to the Dol Sot Bibimbap - it was delicious and very satisfying. For those of you who don't know what bibimbap is, it's a korean dish of rice, tender beef, vegetables, strips of seaweed, and raw egg. The stone bowl is very hot so the egg gets cooked and the rice at the bottom gets crispy. I like spicy so I add the spicy Korean sauce until the rice is practically red. If you look closely, you can see RocketDog in the background furiously mixing her own bowl of bibimbap with the korean red sauce. Yum! I heart red crispy rice! --MM