Sad

Rain, rain go away
Come again some other day.

It's been raining non-stop here since yesterday morning. 24 hours of rain...I guess it's better than 24 hours of snow! It's not even winter yet and I feel like I have SAD (seasonal affect disorder). I guess it's good we're going to Southern California this weekend! --MM

baby boy

So little "Ralphie" as I like to call him is so funny. I'm staying with Cora Bubbles and his family. Well, little Ralphie is such a boy. He stands there sucking his thumb with his other hand down his diaper like Al Bundy. Although of course right now he has a silver beaded necklace around his neck and is pulling along Boogers' pink Dora suitcase.

Anyways, earlier I was listening to some Common and Ralphie was totally bopping his head just like a lil thug. haha.

I need some coffee bean.....

--RD

blackout

Pigpen and I went to Mama Santa's in Little Italy for lunch yesterday. I ordered a dish of fresh fettucine with meatballs which was quite yummy but the portions were huge. Pigpen was nice enough to help me eat half my dish on top of his veal parmigana with spaghetti.

Funny thing is about a minute after our waitress placed our food down in front of us, the lights in the restaurant went out...a complete blackout! Of course Pigpen had a lighter and we ate our lunch by his Bic lighter until the waitress brought us a candle.

Sitting near us was 2 brothers who each ordered a large pizza to eat! The chubby brother (bears a very close resemblance to Jerry O'Connell's character in Stand By Me) who said "I told you, we shoulda ordered smalls instead" dumped salt into his brother's water glass while he was in the restroom. The brother came back and took a swig of his water and immediately spewed a mouthful of water at his younger brother. It was an ideal time to pull that prank since the restaurant had no windows and the lights were out. It was really dark in there. Sorry but Pigpen and I couldn't stop laughing - I thought I was going to snort fettucine up my nasal passages. Hee hee hee. --MM

The List

Last night I had dinner at Bella Trattoria with my good friend, BokChoyBoy. Bella's is one of my favorite places to eat in San Francisco but BCB doesn't really care for the place - I think it has something to do with the nasty gnocchi he ate the last time he was there. In my opinion, gnocchi is nasty regardless of where you eat it so I convinced BCB to go to Bella's and told him not to order the gnocchi. Luckily I'm visiting from a town that is not known for its good eats so I could play that card and eat at Bella's! :)

We started off sharing a Caesar salad - they make a great caesar there. Crisp romaine lettuce leaves in bite-size pieces with slivers of fresh parmesan cheese and a lemony caesar dressing...I really like that the dressing isn't too creamy or too tart and that it's not drowning the lettuce. Although his name may state otherwise, BCB is not a vegetable person at all but he ate all his salad - practically licked his plate clean. :)

Our next course was a very simple and clean bruschetta with fresh mozzarella. I normally don't care for bruschetta but something about seeing the fresh mozzarella in the description on the menu erased my memory of all my previously bad experiences with bruschetta. I don't like how the grilled bread is usually very hard and cuts the roof of my mouth but Bella's bruschetta was perfectly grilled, the tomatoes were sweet, the basil was fragrant and the balance of olive oil and vinaigrette dressing was perfect. Both BCB and I licked that plate clean!

For my pasta course, I ordered something "light" since I knew we would have a lot to eat. The chicken ravioli was made with fresh pasta and served with a tomato and basil sauce. Of course, I had the waiter grate fresh parmesan cheese over the top. BCB had a sampler plate that consisted of a penne with pink sauce, chicken ravioli with a cream sauce and GNOCCHI with a tomato sauce! First thing BCB did after the dish was placed in front of him was to try the gnocchi. He didn't like it so he made me try it. Of course, I didn't like it - and we both agreed that he should never order gnocchi again - regardless of where he is. Gnocchi is just not made for consumption unless you like soggy dough. Luckily, BCB enjoyed the 2 other pasta dishes on his plate.

Our dessert course consisted of 2 different desserts. Mais bien sur! We ordered the chicken profiteroles and zabaglione with strawberries. We definitely licked both plates clean! Needless to say, I was stuffed after that meal...my jeans are fitting a bit snug today but it was well worth it! And the best part is that Bella's is back on BCB's "list". For those of you who aren't into eating out, The List is each person's list of favorite dining places. Bella's has always been on my list since I first ate there years ago and now it's back on BCB's list.

*edit* *We had CHOCOLATE profiteroles not chicken profiteroles. I guess no one is really paying attention to what they're reading except for BokChoyBoy! --MM *

I can't wait - Mr. Moc arrives tonight and our first meal together will be lunch at Sam's tomorrow before the wedding. They're expecting us and as usual, we won't have to wait for seats at the sushi bar. All I can say is Omakase, please! --MM

Road Trip!

Rocketdog and I are on a roadtrip. It started out with Rocketdog and Pigpen driving up from Charlotte, NC to Cleveland, OH. Rocketdog dropped off Pigpen who is now hanging out with Mr. Moc while Rocketdog and I drive to San Francisco.

We started out yesterday and drove through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and stayed overnight in Omaha, Nebraska. After yesterday's 12 hour drive, today felt like an easy day - only 8 hours and we're now chilling in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner since we're both sick of fast food. I'm so ready for sushi when I arrive in San Francisco!

Will upload pictures from the roadtrip after I'm back in Cleveland. --MM

Jack Johnson concert in the OC --RD 

the end of the road

So, i only have two more days here in Charlotte and only two more nights in my own bed in my own condo. I am very sad. On Monday when I got back from L.A. I found myself hugging the walls of my condo. My pretty condo with my pretty painted walls. I am going to miss you. Anyways, I am pretty much packed I am just figuring out how I am going to fit everything into my tiny little volvo! aiya!

--RD

Heh

For those of you who want to know what we did this past weekend, read Mr. Moc's blog. He actually blogged so I'll let him tell you about our Def Leppard musical weekend. Heh hehe. --MM

PS- I'll blog more later.

about to throw out my first strike 

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

So yesterday my friends from work threw me a going away party. My party was at the Charlotte Knights baseball game (the AAA affiliate of the Chicago White Sox) where I got to throw out the first pitch. We got two suites at the game and they even made me shirts that said "Grace is going going gone - august 2, 2005". It was so much fun!

For my first pitch the girls in my department who set this whole thing up walked me down the tunnel to the field. It was funny because prior to the game everyone kept asking me if i was going to make it across the plate. Anyways, they even had a camera guy who works with us take video of me. When it was time for me to step up to the mound, the girl who worked for the knights asked me "do you want to stand at the grass or the mound?" I said "give me the mound!" So I threw the pitch and it landed right down the middle over the plate and into the catchers mit,which he didn't even have to move =) STTEEEE---RIKE! They clocked my pitch at 55 (i definitely could have thrown faster than that). The guy who was catching the ball (the pitcher) walked up to me to give the ball back to me and said "great pitch". hee hee. Anyways, I think i did pretty well considering i was so nervous.

Anyways, the rest of the night was a blast. I don't think I paid any attention to the game, but oh well. I could do this all the time.

--RD

Snack!

I baked banana muffins with mascarpone cream cheese frosting on Monday. So for snack yesterday, I had a cup of tea (silk empress oolong tea from www.teality.com) with a banana muffin. The scent of the tea leaves lingered in the air and acted as a pleasant air freshener. I'm sure the guys of teality.com didn't think their gourmet tea leaves would be used as air freshener. (I'll blog more about teality.com after the site is officially launched). --MM

mmmmmm.....caffeine!

My new favorite drink is coffee with nutmeg. Before brewing my coffee, I sprinkle a bit of nutmeg into the coffee grounds and the end result is subtle but delicious. Give it a try and let me know what you think. --MM