Remove the curtain please

Alright team, it's time. Time to unveil what it was I ate thanks to my dad's adventures. Unfortunately none of you got it right but some of you came pretty close.

So my dad LOVES sushi. I don't think "love" is a strong enough word. He eats it every weekend and he's very much a purist, he only likes sashimi or sushi with the nagiri, he'll rarely eat rolls. According to my favorite food podcast, you should go to the same restaurant time and time again and eat at the sushi bar because that way the chefs get to know you and save the best stuff for you. Eventually you work your way up to saying, "omakase" which means, "I trust you chef, serve me what you think is best." My dad is pretty much there, the chefs at the bar recognize him and know his favorites.

A type of omakase is how we got to drink the aforementioned stuff. We were sitting at the bar with my dad enjoying a wonderful variety of stuff (Brandon by the way has really expanded his sushi eating, I'm way proud). My dad had had all his favorites and asked the chef, "What haven't I had before?" The chefs smiled and impish smile (not always a good thing) and served up the dark goopy stuff and said, "We like this."
"Really?" said my dad.
"Just try it," said one of the chefs.
"You did ask..." I reminded him, "I'll have some too."

He tried it and made a face I couldn't decipher, then passed it to me and I took a gulp, then I passed it to Brandon who paled just a little.

"Do it, do it," we all chanted. He gulped some down and made the same face my dad and I had already made.
"It's not bad..." he said.
"I know, but... it's just so..." I squinted my right eye and moved my lips to the left.
"Yeah..." said my dad and Brandon. To this day we have yet to find words that describe that taste. And the reason is that what we had was:

Raw tiny squid...


marinated their own ink and...


...also marinated in sake.

I know... I don't know whose idea that was, but whoever it was that thought that up deserves props. What I like about food is that it gives you such a great glimpse into other cultures with just one slurp, or gulp, or crunchy bite. It's a way to connect, much like visiting a different country or trying to learn a different language. Refusal of different ethnics foods is like denying yourself a quick travel to a place you might have never been able to go. Yes, some places you don't need to see twice, and some things go against your moral standards but hey, as long as you keep an open mind... Keep eating everyone!

A few of my favorite things...

I'm surrounded by very talented people. It's enough to make a girl feel jealous.

My friend Heidi, style guru and maker of fabulous things, recently went live with her headband company that she co-owns with her twin sister. She made this headband for me a little while ago:

I can't go anywhere with this thing on where everyone that walks by me doesn't ask where I got it. It's incredibly cute and more importantly, super comfortable. Please check out her website and buy stuff from it. If you type in HOLIDAY in the promotion code thingie you'll get 40% off. So go to www.truebirds.com. Right now. Go.

And while we're on the gifted note, check these out:

I've yet to meet a cuter dog.


The entire fam, just kickin' back. It's kind of our thing.


I love this one of Brandon. Seeing him smile like that makes my existence worth it. Also, this pic makes Brandon look like a Cullen... kinda, right?

Our most talented photographer was Mariah Baddas. We went to Old Town and just kind of walked around and had a great time. She made us feel so comfortable and the finished products were awesome. Obviously there are more pics than this and they were all great. If you need pictures for whatever reason or you're just a narcissist please call Mariah. And look at her website at www.mariahbaddasphotography.com.

So, now you know. Go out and employ the services of these talented women.

10 bucks

Ok, maybe not ten bucks, but I'll make dinner for whoever can guess what this is (Veils don't count):



I'd like to think of myself of an adventurous eater. I was thinking about it today when Brandon was carefully mentioning that while he mostly enjoys my experiments he doesn't enjoy cleaning after them. And I thought that I started eating adventurously at an early age, not because I was born with a sporting spirit but because I was born with a lot of pride. Unfortunately for me, my crowd yelling "Chug!" was my parents. It's them with the sporting spirit and me with the consequences. Still, my pride has allowed me to develop my pallet into something if not, sophisticated, then at least sturdy. There aren't many things I won't eat. I thought I had tasted a lot of things until I tasted the above. I had no frame of reference for what the above tasted like. I can only break down the texture as slimy and the tastes as: a little sweet, a little salty and very strong. And of course I was with my dad so I had to eat it and then smile - except this time I wasn't faking it. I guess pride sometimes pays off.

Cast your votes. I'll reveal the answer and winner if a few days...

Grievance Treatises

If I had a giant church door, I would stick these on there - a la Luther.

1. I'm not loving Christmas this year.
2. I don't know if Newton's discovery of gravity was so much a discovery as it was a lack of things to do.
3. You know the world is going downhill when your 57-year-old coworker says, "TTFN!"
4. Why is Rosie allowed on network TV again?
5. Please, let's just all back down from the exclamation marks. Let's have them rest, perhaps we can rediscover our friend the period. Hell, I'll take a question mark. Semicolon?
6. Don't heart clerks who yell at you. And I'd like to think that this is the physical manifestation of the over-use of the exclamation point. Observe.

Saturday I saunter into Charlotte Russe searching for a handbag for my mom. La, la, la, sauntering...
"HI!!! WELCOME TO CHARLOTTE!!!"
Holy cow... I'm like, right here...
"CAN I HELP YOU!?!"
Yes, back off.
"No, thanks, just lookin'"
"OK!!! LET ME KNOW IF I CAN!!!"
Seriously? I'm RIGHT here...

See? I'm innocent. It's the store's fault I'm bitter about Christmas.

Culprit?

Some has signed me up for a Bon Apettit subscription. I want to know who it is so I can thank them, unless the Food Fairy Godmother really does exist...

Shout out to James Dean

Love James Franco, but my favorite here is his brother.

See more James Franco videos at Funny or Die

This one goes out to my cousin Dave - who is an actor.

The Greatest Gift of All

Seeing how it’s the giving season I thought I’d share a story about the gift of giving.

Sitting in the front at work has its advantages and disadvantages. Mainly that I have to meet people I wouldn’t usually meet on the street. Advantage and disadvantage. Recently a guy came in from one of our messenger services (ask me how many messenger services a law firm employs…) donning a tweed jacket, a sweater-vest and a retro tie. Very sharp. While I summoned the person he had come to talk to, we got to talking and as it turns out we both share a deep passion for bacon.

“Have you heard of the bacon of the month club?” he inquired.
“Shut up! There’s a bacon of the month club?” I responded, with surprise and delight.
“Yeah, I heard about it somewhere, I wonder how much it costs.”
“Here, let me look it up,” I said.

By then the person he had come to speak with came, gave him her order and he had to depart.

“We’ll reconvene when I come back tomorrow.” He said.
“Yes, I’ll be ready with bacon info for ya.”

The sun set and rose again and Kyle, as it turns out his name is, came back to the office.

“The Grateful Palate has a bacon of the month club for $150 per year. That’s a whole case of bacon every month for only $150!” I spit out before he could greet me.
“I know! That’s not bad at all!” he responded matching my enthusiasm
“Although I don’t know what I would do with all that bacon…”
“Give some to me!” he said.
“What? Get your own case!” I responded playfully.

When he had finished his business he departed with polite and enthusiastic bacon good-bye.

About 45 minutes later Kyle came back with a big smile on his face.

“Hi!” I said, “Did you forget something?”
“No, we just went to breakfast and I wanted to give you this.”

Out from his pocket came a perfectly crisped piece of bacon in a plastic baggie.

“Just thought you’d like it.”
“Oh my gosh! This is the sweetest present anyone has thought to give me! Thank you so much!!!”
“No problem,” he said nonchalantly, “just thought you’d enjoy it.”
“I do! I will! Thank you!” I gushed.

When Kyle departed I carefully opened my baggie containing my bacon and considered that he is a better person than I. I would NEVER share bacon from my plate with anyone I was sitting with. Much less drive with it without attacking it at the first stop light. It’s not like I don’t like sharing, or the thought of sharing bacon displeases me, I just can’t think of a situation where I could realistically bring myself to do it. During this Holiday season we could learn a lot from Kyle’s giving example.



(Someone buy me Bacon of the Month club – www.gratefulpalate.com)

Insecurities

Being an only child infused me with what some might think as an undeservedly high self-esteem. I'm the first to admit it. I rarely think twice about what people think about me because I've brain-washed myself into thinking that my way is always right. Has its pros and cons.
One area I am not entirely secure in, is food. I can always do better and I can always do more. However, my insecurities are never so strongly manifested as when I have to custom order something (like a sandwich or a pizza). This is a little bit of a Catch-22 as I only custom order things because I feel like whatever I can put together is much better than what I'm being offered. Yet, when I order it, I always worry about what the person putting together my order will deduce from my sandwich/pizza, thus my personality. See? Pros and cons.
It's always the same flurry of emotions. Like a food grieving process.
1. Disgust. "Bleh, no pre-thought sandwich here looks flavorful enough."
2. Doubt. "Will MY sandwich be any better? After all these are professionals."
3. Determination. "Yes, yes it will."
4. Indecision. "Can the roof of my mouth handle a crusty bread, say... baguette?"
5. Acceptance. "Hmm... that's going to be good."

I went through such a process recently at Whole Foods. The whole time I saw the lady making my sandwich I worried about what she could see of my personality. "Red onions...must be impatient. Tapenade... must be adventurous. Sprouts... must be a yuppy. Provolone...must be insecure."
The wait was excruciating.

In the end, I survived another sandwich order. The person who made my sandwich looked at me like I was normal and there would be no need for security. Here's what I ended up with.


It was: baguette, black olive tapenade, roast beef, provolone, sprouts, red onion, tomato, lettuce and cucumber. It was SSOOO... good.

COLDPLAY

I'm not going to brag, but I am.

On Tuesday November 25, 2008 Brandon and I had the great honor to see my favorite living band in concert and it ROCKED. Disclaimer: These are mostly from my phone, so sorry about the quality.


Pre-show were were really hungry but also stoked. We left way early and got there way early which was fine with me. We ate at Pedro's in San Clemente.


The color explosion during Violet Hill. It was awesome! I had a hard time sitting down the whole time.


Guitarist Johnny Buckland rocking out during Fix You. They were so sharp the whole time, it was like listening to their record but better. AND they reworked a lot of their older songs to sound even better. Just more grown up. Also I've never been at concert where audience participation has been so much fun. After Viva la Vida, the audience kept singing the chorus and eventually Chris Martin had to cut us off.


This is Death Will Never Conquer, a free download not on their CD. Will Champion (the drummer) sang it. Sorry about my voice. I sang and screamed so much that I was hoarse the next day.

Tag

Mel is right, talking about yourself is fun. I’d be a great talk-show guest.

8 Things

8 shows I enjoy watching:
1) Chuck
2) 30 Rock
3) Arrested Development
4) The Office
5) The Simpsons
6) That 70’s Show
7) Ugly Betty
8) Antiques Roadshow

8 things that happened yesterday:
1) I made butter
2) Went to Yoga night at Heidi’s
3) Took a shower
4) Cleaned the kitchen (post-butter)
5) Made a dent in Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.
6) Took Maggie to the groomers – that was a little bit of a fiasco
7) Ate at Chipotle
8) Christmas shopped a little

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1) COLDPLAY!!!
2) Half Blood Prince movie.
3) Dinner.
4) This weekend.
5) Thanksgiving.
6) A decision from Brandon.
7) Our next vacation alone.
8) 5 pm.

8 things I love about fall:
1) Stuffing.
2) Wearing jeans and cozy sweaters.
3) The Holidays.
4) Not worrying that Maggie is too hot.
5) Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies.
6) Winter squash ravioli
7) All the time off.
8) Seeing family.

8 things on my wish/dream/goal list:
1) To draw properly.
2) Make a tomato soufflé.
3) Make Hokey-Pokey for those I’m too cheap to buy presents for.
4) Have kids.
5) Teach Brandon Spanish
6) Be conversational in French
7) Make a millefouille
8) Travel up and down the California coast to write our coffee table book.

8 people I'm tagging:
1) Jose
2) Annie
3) Kelly
4) Kimmie
5) Sarah
6) Mirella
7) Tiffany
8) I’m tired of this…

Please go here

This blog made my day (sorry, I haven't figured out how to hyperlink): http://wongazai.blogspot.com/

Especially as a lover of all things with fur.

Sigh...

I love Daniel Craig. Not just because he's Bond, but because he can do stuff like this an pull it off. I just about peed my pants at his sad faces.

War of the Milks

Things at the Jacobsen house have been tense - to say the least.

Let’s start at the beginning: I’ve always been lactose-weary so milk and I have been distant acquaintances. Recently however, milk and I had a reconnection and we’d been getting along quite nicely, or so I thought, until milk stabbed me in the back. Oh, you read right, it stabbed me in the back. And after I bought organic! The pain from milk was just too much. I was suffering for free. Actually no, I was paying like 10 bucks for a gallon and a half to suffer. Finally I said, “Enough is enough, this relationship is destructive and I can’t live this way anymore.” So I cut ties with milk. Now soymilk and I have had a healthy relationship ever since.

That is until Brandon wedged his selfish foot in our clearly shut-don’t-come-aknockin’-if-the-fridge-door-is-arockin’-door. He too has fallen for soymilk. He’s unabashedly playing the milk field. He’s a milk playa’, and yes, I’m a milk playa’ hater. If he wanted soymilk, I could have bought him his own soymilk, but instead he just steals from me. I don’t think he gets that drinking milk for me is physically painful, but it’s not as physically painful as it is to go to Costco to pick up some more. He has perfectly yummy regular organic milk. I don't know why he can't just drink that.

Anyway, this blew up a couple nights ago when Brandon went so far as to offer my milk to guests. My precious, expensive, soymilk. He didn't offer them the regular milk, of which we have a ton, just the soy. Witness the audacity:
Scene: The G's had come over for the dinner on Sunday night and we were all sitting down to a perfectly civilized meal when I noticed, as I was sitting down, my carton of soymilk sitting on the table.
N: What. Is. This?
B: What? I just put stuff out for people to drink.
N: This is MY soymilk.
B: Nat, relax, we have more.
N: Why didn't you put out regular milk for people to drink? Everyone else can drink regular milk, I'm the only one that HAS to drink soy. And it's expensive!
B: Nat, relax, it's OUR milk.
R: It's true, his money too.
J: Shut up.
N: I WILL NOT RELAX! You relax! You relax when I offer something that you bought specially for yourself! You relax when your have to live with a stomach ache!
B: Nat, calm down.
This is the part where I snatch up the carton of soymilk and hug it to my body. Then I walk over to the fridge door and safely shut my soymilk in there.
N: I will calm down when you stop being such an ass! Just pray so we can eat.
B: Nat..
N: PRAY!

Ok, I may have overreacted (and if the G's weren't such good friends, I wouldn't have exploded the way I did) but I hope you can see my point. That soymilk is my only source of calcium-enriched goodness. Without it, I can't eat cereal, oatmeal, or have shakes. As I told Brandon, "When you go to Costco and Henry's to get all we need for groceries and then lug them up the apartment without help, then you can drink my milk. I'm not asking for sympathy, I'm just asking for justice."

Healthy Eating part 3 – Playing with your fat.

VS



I love fat. I love fat more than candy, ask Brandon, I’ll take a fry any day over any sort of sugary sweet. I’ll take more chips before I head (if ever) for cake. I’m that person that eats the skin off the chicken and whose favorite part of said fowl is the drumstick because of all its juicy, fatty goodness. That’s exactly why donuts are the perfect snack, because even though sugar seldom tempts me, deep fried sugar always lures me in.

That being said, I recognize that I can’t eat like that everyday if I ever want to make it to 30. So that’s why I cook mostly from scratch, because I control exactly what’s going into what I eat AND (this is the important one), it gives me room to experiment – especially with fats. I don’t like to brag, but I’ve made it a point of studying cooking fats because I like to eat them so much.

The nice thing about fats is that not all are bad for you – if you know how to use them.
Let’s look at a few fats:

Omega 3 and Omega 6 – The holy grails. We all know that these are good for us. What some of us may not know is where to get them. And even scarier, some of us may not know that these two essential fatty acids don’t always get along. Allow me to explain.

They’re called “essential” because we need them, but can’t produce them ourselves, thus we have to get them through foods. They can be found in oily fish, mono and polyunsaturated oils, and anything flax or egg. The thing is that we need a lot more Omega 3 than 6 but Omega 6 is easier to get AND it tends to suppress Omega 3 (a battle for the ages). So we need to learn how to balance our good fats so they actually are good for us and not in vain. So stay away from these oils: palm, soybean, rapeseed and sunflower. And instead use: canola and olive oil. There are more, but those two are the easiest to find and they’ll suit all your needs.

Butter, Lard, Margarine – I think that a good rule of thumb is that if the fat is solid at room temperature, please use sparingly. I personally am a butter fan because I feel good about understanding all the ingredients on the label which are: cream, salt. Plain and simple. Margarine may be made out of mono or polyunsaturated oils, but once they are hydrogenated they get scary and trans-fatty and saturated – so make up your own mind on that. And lard is… as bad as it can get, so only use that on special occasions or if you want to stealthily kill your dinner guests.

To Hate or not to Hate?

Aye, there's the rub.

I've been recently thinking a lot about the word hate. I think we throw it around too casually and it really can be hurtful, so I'm trying not to use it. Instead I will use dislike.

I dislike myself for going to the below-pictured's website because I dislike her so profoundly. But what I dislike the most is that she had good ideas on that said website. Nay, what I dislike the most is that I took an idea and used in real life. I dislike myself.

Argh!! She drives me nuts. She's probably the worst interviewer I have ever seen only due to the fact that she has to cut off her guest because she already knows how to do whatever it is they're explaining. And! She's got tips on how to make it easier. Dislike is bubbling in me just thinking about it.

Anyway I had to bring a spooky dessert to work for our Halloween Party and I couldn't think of anything because I'm not a great dessert maker. So I gave in and went to the afore-pictured's website because I knew she would have ideas. And she did so I made these cuz they seemed simple. I bought mix to make the cupcakes, and I bought pre-made frosting, both strawberry. I didn't even dare taste the frosting because I can't think of anything looking less appetizing. Bleh.

They're supposed to be little brains. I was told by my coworkers that they were good. I dislike that I've been defeated.

Silver lining = funny story. The only good thing that came out of this was something I thought was a funny comparison.

Having been my first attempt at making and decorating cupcakes, I had no idea how to transport them. So I kind of finagled them all on a plate and took them to work uncovered, hoping I wouldn't get rear-ended again (remind me I'll have to blog about the car accident). Anyway, this is for those devoted Arrested fans. Remember when Tobias wanted to become a Blue Man so he wore the Blue Man paint all the time? And remember how the house suffered because there were vestiges of a blue Tobias all over the place. That's kind of what happened except substitute house for new car and blue paint with pink frosting. There was proof of my ineptitude at transporting cupcakes all over the place. Needless to say Brandon, the neat-car freak, was not excited. He disliked it.

The Only Solace

The world is insane right now. The only thing that makes sense any more is food. The only thing that ever made sense was food. Why did I stray? Why, oh, why?

In any case, I'm back to my comfort zone. My salty, crunchy, perfectly browned comfort zone. Truth be told, I've been reading a lot of food literature (alright fine, that's pretty much all I read), so I've been inspired. But before we get to the food, I think this blog has been a little devoid of personal photos. So - to the shenanigans!!!

Not too long ago we went to Utah for two friends wedding (not getting marred to each other).

We went four-wheeling at Snowbird. Notice what I'm wearing, this was a total, whim thing, which is not uncommon for us, but it was windy and cold and as a bonus, rainy.


Then we got stuck on the backside of the mountain in the storm in a tiny shack. This was us leaving the shack to flee to safety (there was lighting). And because we were fleeing we got to drive really fast.


I fed a cute horse on the way.


Then we came back only to be love-mauled by dogs.


Then we carved a pumpkin. It's supposed to be a guy looking in a mirror, freaking out because he sees a skull. We won the contest by the way.


Here's me in Joselyn's outfit that I borrowed for Halloween. I would post a picture of Brandon but he went as a surf bum. And let's face it, that's not a stretch. At all.

While we're at it....

Since we're polliticking, I also have strong feelings towards Prop 2.



I just can't fathom the mistreatment on innocent, defenseless animals. I don't care about price. I don't care that some farmers might be put out of business (by the way they have 7 years to comply) because there is no excuse for such inhumane treatment of animals. And I'm not so worried about safety because the new law isn't going to force all animals outside, they are just going to have more humane living conditions.

Ok that's it. Let's just get this election over. Please!!!

Childhood, revisited

There were few things as a child that I loved more than Thundercats. I went through a Power Rangers stage as well, in fact I remember when Power Rangers first came out and all I wanted to do was watch episode after episode. Thankfully I’m over that. But I also loved Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Tin-Tin. Ooh, I also miss Hysteria (a show about history, even as I child… man…), Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. I still rue the day that I didn’t buy the Pinky and the Brain complete season set when it came out because it cost too much money. What was I thinking? I was thinking I wanted to save Brandon and I some money and he just let me walk out of Target without my childhood some part of my adolescence. Argh!!

Ok, so let’s prioritize:
1. Pinky and the Brain (The writing is just amazing on this show)
2. Thundercats (Funny story, read ahead)
3. Hysteria (Who doesn’t love learning about Lizzie Borden through cartoons)
4. Tin-Tin (007 trapped in the body of a kid, and a doggie sidekick)
5. Animaniacs (burping all 50 states in song, honestly, need I say more?)
6. Sabrina the Teenage Witch (fine, mostly I liked Harvey)

Let me just say that Pinky and the Brain was easily second to none in writing for a kid’s show. Now that I think about it, it was probably geared toward teenagers. The Simpsons’ are great, but that’s geared more toward adults so duh, the writing has to be smart. But Pinky and the Brain really raised the bar and made us kids think about the context in which Pinky and the Brain found themselves. For example, the time that Brain was Don Cerebro and Pinky was Sancho Pinky. An allusion to a great classical work, I mean, c’mon! That’s genius!

This clip shows my favorite combination of mice and history. My favorite lab mice and my favorite band:


Before my Pinky and the Brain infatuation matured into the love that you can marry, there was Thundercats and only Thundercats. This started early. I must have been 4 or 5 when the attraction became strong and I wanted nothing in the world but to be Cheetara. She’s the really fast girl with Cheetah spots and her weapon is a big stick. I forget what those ninja big sticks are called. Anyway, when I was five my grandpa and I were watching Thundercats together at the foot of someone’s bed. Quietly I disappeared and came back with a broomstick, much in the style of Cheetara’s giant stick. I quietly climbed on the bed behind my grandpa, then I quietly stood up behind Grandpa, while quietly raising my giant stick in the air I shouted, “I am CHEETARA!!!” that proclamation was followed by swift blow to my grandpa’s head. Needless to say, my grandpa was not excited about being hit on the head with a broomstick, but he bore it well and let me off the hook.

Here’s a little clip to jar all of our memories:

Friends?

I feel as if my previous post is going to cost me some friends, which makes me sad, and I hope I'm wrong.

I've been thinking a lot about what I've written and I have to say that I'm sticking to my guns. There comes a time when you have to pick a side. I have picked mine. You may think me archaic, old-fashioned, and a right-wing nut-job. I hardly consider myself all these things, but there you go. I respect if people have picked the side opposing mine.

It's hard to be religious in a world where religion just seems so old-fashioned. And sometimes it's hard for people to accept that the rest of us don't have to automatically love everything others do. Sometimes things just don't jive, blame my religion, blame my gut, whatever, I'm not going to apologize for what I believe.

In essence, I just hope that we can continue living in a country where both points of view are accepted. If my side loses, then I'll move on with my life, and if my side wins, then I'll be happy and I'll move on with my life.

Yes on Prop 8

When I first began to think about this issue I admit I had my doubts. I'm not one to judge on race or status or sexual orientation or anything else for that matter. And it made me uncomfortable to deny anyone rights. I've always considered myself a reasonable person. However, I cannot stand by and let the world in which my children will live be one where they are forced to think as other's do. This is why we're voting Yes on Prop 8.

Voting yes merely protects everyone's right to teach their children as they please without interference from gay activists groups as they shove their ideals down our throats. I can love and be friends with any homosexual person or couple and not support them at a gay parade. I can be friends with a Jew and not share their religious views. I can be friends with an anarchist but that doesn't mean I'm going to join in their latest coup. If Prop 8 does not pass, same-sex marriage will open up the doors for people to be forced into beliefs they don't share. Case in point, the fertility expert that was sued by a lesbian couple because he didn't feel comfortable with treating them. Or check out this video.




That video is true story. Weird, right? Why would a child in kindergarten need to know about same-sex marriage? To five-year-olds people are people. I'd like to think that as a parent, my right to monitor what my children will see at the age of 5 is still valid. It is my duty as a parent to teach my children tolerance, equality and love, but it is also my right to do so a time that I think will be appropriate for their age and level of understanding.

Passing Prop 8 will not lose anyone their rights (except distraught parents), homosexual couples will still have legal rights to do as they wish as mature adults, as they should. They will still have benefits, they will still be able to live together, to sue in case of persecution, to love each other and to live in the pursuit of happiness.

Furthermore, I don't want my church (which does not condone homosexuality, but does condone love and tolerance of everyone regardless of sexual orientation), whose beliefs I support and follow to be sued because we don't feel it in line with our beliefs to perform temple same-sex marriages.

Please vote yes. Voting Yes merely means everyone's right are tolerated, not just theirs or ours..

New Favorite Quote

Whilst in England, Brandon and I mourned over the fact that the BBC has funnier shows than we in America do. True, their censorship laws are a little looser but still funny.
It was one late Angloafternoon when we discovered the Peep Show.

It's kind of like a British "Odd Couple" but with a slightly different dynamic. Also, these guys are the UK versions of Mac and PC. I'll leave you to guess who's who.

It was the Peep Show that has provided me with my new favourite quote. And let me preface it by saying that when you work in an office it just sits in the back of your head. Picture you walking down the hall desperately trying to find something clever and witty to say to your oncoming coworker, but coming up short and finding that your only way of acknowledging them is a polite nod. So here's the quote:
"Ah, the nod. The mark of the human. You're a human, I'm a human, what more is left to say?"

Attempt at Healthy Eating Part 2: Slurping your Vitamins

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a boiled vegetable must be in want of vitamins.

I know, sad but true. When vegetables are boiled a lot of their nutrients stay and in the water and when that is drained, the nutrients go too.

Thankfully someone long ago had a wonderful brain wave and invented soup. So now we can also eat nutritious water. Here is my recipe for "Clean out the fridge soup."

3 stalks of celery, diced
half an eggplant, diced
zucchini, diced,
yellow crookneck squash, diced
1 med. white onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
5 strips of bacon, diced
1 chipotle pepper, diced
2 bay leaves
28 oz. chicken stock
1 tbsp. herbes de provance
1 can northern white beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes or fresh (optional)

1. Put all veggies in a bowl and add a little sugar and about 1 tsp of salt. This draws out water and makes them soft.
2. Meanwhile cook the bacon in a heavy-bottom skillet or pot until nice and crispy and the fat is rendered. Add onions, herbe de provance, bay leavess, chipotle and garlic. Cook until onions are limp and the whole thing is fragrant.
3. Add veggies and sautee for a bit. Then add chicken stock and if needed more water.
Boil for a little then add tomoatoes and beans. Simmer covered for about 20 min.

Voila!

This is a great cool-weather-fall-supper-thing. Serve with crusty bread and pretend you're in a green misty European village.

September 11, 2001

I love being Mexican, it runs in my blood and I am proud of my heritage. However, I am also very much American. The US has adopted me and I it, and I like it, it's cozy here.

For that very reason today is a hard day. When I get to work I usually listen to NPR but I just couldn't make myself choose to hear the stories about 9/11. It's still hard to think about that day and the aftermath. It's hard to think about what the people on the plane were feeling, what they said to their families on those phone calls. It's hard to think about thousands lost. Fire fighters and policemen and women that answered the call with no thought of self. Friends and family (including ours) accross the country paralyzed with fear for our loved ones as we saw those towers fall.

The days to follow were also hard. A whole country confuzed about how this could happen and what we were supposed to do with our grief. Struggling to make sense of such atrocities. This was not the first horrific thing the world had seen, but it had certainly been a long time for the US.

But as with everything there is a silver lining. Courage sprang up where it had been laying dormant. The new battle cry of the republic became, "Let's roll," as said by a group of passengers that refused to let the plane they were on do any harm and diverted it to a Pennsylvania field. An outpouring of love and support for victims and families and renewed patriotism showed the terrorists that they had not succeded, America would simply rebuild. There was unification. After the tears dried, there was hope. Their plans had failed, America rallied together with chins up and flags waving high collectively saying, "Screw you terrorists."

Really?

Recently there has been an influx of people in TV shows saying, "Really?" In a sarcastic tone denoting, "I can't believe you really believe that." Here is my "Really?" moment of the week:

"The only thing keeping you from your dreams, is yourself," says the recent ITT Tech graduate about having a career in public administration.

"Ryan, Mercaldo & Worthington, good afternoon!"

For those of you who care, my job is going quite well. Wednesday the firm closed early and took all of us, including the Vegas office, to the Del Mar Race Track. We had lunch and were in the middle of the track, watching the horses run around us. It was pretty cool. I bet 4 dollars and only lost 1.60. So good.
Then we come back to work on Thursday and I go get the mail from the mailbox, since I didn't get to it before we had left on Thursday and I get stuck in the stairwell of the building. Here is an account of those harrowing 7 minutes.

Me thinking: I think I'll stretch my legs and take the fire stairs instead of the elevator.
I go into the stairwell and start going down the stairs, then get to the door that opens onto the rest of the first floor and it's locked.
CRAP. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Holy crap. Ok, maybe if I go up the stairs our door might not be locked...CRAP! I cannot be literally stuck in the stairwell...

1 minute...Crappity crap. Holy crap. $#!$&#(@#@$&@)#@#$)((@*#&$@)#($... now what?

2 minutes...Ok, still in the stairwell, cussing does not unlock doors...what to do... I'll yell."HELLO! CAN SOMEONE HEAR ME! I'M STUCK IN THE STAIRWELL!"Oh, c'mon!

3 minutes...Up to the third floor. Make some noise... C'mon! Does no one work here? Back to the first floor, I bet that's the most common floor..."HELLO! I'M STUCK IN HERE!

4 minutes...Why do I not have my cell phone on me? What if I were kidnapped and stuffed into a the trunk of a seedy car? New rule: Always carry phone on person...addendum to new rule: never take the stairs...

5 minutes...This cannot be happening, I am not in the stairwell. The one day I get to work early, I'm actually going to be late. Ok, look for tools in the crawl space to let yourself out...please don't let there be a giant spider...BLURG! Just paint cans, I guess I could use them like how people use fire extinguishers in the movies and bust the lock open...that seems kind of excessive ...wait, what if I take up all the oxygen? What if I die and they find my bones in a few years? Ok, more noise"HELLO! SOMEONE!"

6 minutes..."something, something seems to whisper I love you, dream a little dream of me..." Focus. Let's just sit here until we hear someone pass by. I really don't want a spider to show up...dream a little dream of me...I guess it could be worse. I could: a. be dead. b. have been attacked by a spider. c.have been attacked by wolves. Do wolves eat humans?

7 minutes...This has to be some sort of a lesson. Ok, let's pray. Dear Lord, please let me not die in here, please Heavenly Father, help me figure out a way to get out of here so I can do my job. Help me to stay calm. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Aha! The fourth floor! Maybe that's unlocked... please, please, please...haha! Thank you Heavenly Father! VICTORY!

It wasn't that long. It was just weird, a feeling of restrained helplessness. I wasn't above using any of those paint cans, but I just didn't want to resort to that if I didn't have to. When I told my boss about it he was really angry because those stairs are the emergency exit in case of a fire, what if this had been a fire? Then I told my supervisor and she said that at least I didn't run into that homeless guy that had decided to set up camp in the third floor of the building before Jeff, an associate at our firm, ran into him after hours and had him kicked out.

Then a guy from the fourth floor comes down and asked, "Is this the firm where the two cars were stolen from the parking lot?"
"I hope not..."
"Let me know if it is."
As I get ready to write the email to everyone asking whether they still have their cars he comes back and says,
"Sorry, false alarm no cars were stolen.."
"Oh, good!"
"...their windows were just bashed in."
::Blink::

To add insult to injury, the front doors at the firm wouldn't lock that night.
All in a weird day's night.

NPR - My new BFF

NPR and I have recently become BFF's. We stay up late at night, we work together, drive to the grocery store together, we even cook together.

NPR likes to talk. It likes to talk about everything and anything. Sometimes it's religion, sometimes it's politics, recently there's been a lot of discussion about the Olympics. Even though NPR talks and talks, I don't really get bored. We're a great pair - NPR talks, I listen.

Not surprisingly NPR and I share a love for the Beatles so I always listen to its musical suggestions. We also like a lot of the same books. It's NPR that introduced me to Harold McGee and On Cooking. I will forever be in NPR's debt for that. In fact, I'll forever be in debt with NPR for introducing me to :Prairie Home Companion, Kitchen Window, Splendid Table, Fresh Air, and the Unger Report.

Futhermore NPR makes me laugh, a quality I look for in any friend. Listen to this:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91066188

Yes.

Pear Pasta

Weird, right? Wrong. So very very deliciously wrong.

I made this at Brandon's request since he loved the pear ravioli he had at Barolo's a while back.
Italians have been paring gorgonzola and pears for a long time, it's a shame that the US is barely catching on because pear is one of my favorite fruits. As an added bonus this is one of the easiest things I've ever made. The recipe I got didn't call for bacon, but let's be honest, there isn't a whole lot that bacon doesn't improve.



Pear Pasta
1 lb pasta
1/2 cup Italian parsley, thinly chopped
1 lb. pears (about 3), chopped
3-4 oz gorgonzola, or any other blue cheese
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp. corn starch
4 strips of bacon, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
salt, pepper

1. Cook pasta in salted water. Meanwhile, put pears, lemon juice, gorgonzola and parsley together in a bowl. Stir and let sit.
2. Put broth and corn starch in a pot together and let them boil, while stirring. Let boil for about 2-3 minutes.
3. Cook bacon and toast walnuts.
4. Mix cooked pasta with pear mixture and broth mixture then add bacon and walnuts on top. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served this with fresh spinach on the side, but I'm sure a caprese would go over quite nicely.

Want

I can't think of a band I want to see more than Colplay in concert. Such a breath of fresh air from the punk crap. This is, to me, in competition for the best song of the album. Sorry about the bad word.

VIOLET HILL


Their new album is amazing. Every song has something to offer. They have grown up as a band. I was listening to Parachutes the other day and even though I still like it, it sounds different to me. I realized I have grown up too.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have a great band to grow alongside. They're my band. Not everyone has "that band". That band that when you hear in a store somewhere you can't help but smile. That band that has seen you through your awkward years. That band whose CD is one of the three things you would take to a deserted island (my other two things would be Brandon and the White Album - you didn't think I had abandoned the Beatles...).

Healthy Stuff, Part Un

I've been trying to cook very healthy and have found it rewarding and yummy. Through my adventures I've found that all it takes is to make everything yourself. Easier said than done, you say? Well, true, but with a little planning ahead it's not that hard.

The trick I've found is to not buy anything that is pre-pepared. When things are already made for you the sodium and MSG contents are through the roof becuase it's how the flavor is kept. You just have to be disciplined enough to be your own sous chef in the morning. Sometimes it's really tiring but sometimes you have an accident that turns out real nice.

DipSoup
This was a total accident, and like an idiot I forgot to take a picture. What happened was I made garlicky white bean dip, which goes like this:
1. Get northern white beans, stick them in a food processor and and a little olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt/pepper and a ton of garlic.

The problem here origniated with my happy pouring of the olive oil and lemon which made the dip way too runny so then I added more beans and it didn't help at all, it just made more dip. So I was left with runny dip. And hating to waste anything I turned it into soup.

I added yellow crook neck squash, chicken stock and let it cook down and added more chicken stock and it was great. We ate it with vegetarian paninis.

Vegetarian Paninis
1. Grill a bunch of your favorite grill-able vegetables, spread some pesto (I made chimichurri)on some bread.
2. Put vegetables in said bread.
3. Eat.

Retch

In my youth - and even into my adulthood - I've always imagined I was different cool objects and things. For example, if I were an animal I'd probably be a cat. If I were a car, I'd be a Cougar (a good year, like '67), which incidentally is a cat. Brandon says that if I were a piece of clothing I'd be a clean sock. But never in my most horrid nightmares did I think I would be this shoe.

Oh, the humanity.


This may be the ugliest shoe I have ever seen. No wonder it's on sale.

Sabado Gigante

So....
Where to start?
A couple of Saturdays ago we went to visit my cousin Art and his wife Amanda at their apartment Downtown.

It looked like it was going to be a standard hang-out. A little small talk, some good food. Some Wii. Or so we thought. Here is a list of events we thought were odd. It was one of those Saturdays where everything goes suspiciously sour, through no fault of your own.

1. Broken table leg. It all went downhill when Art's patio table broke and fell on my foot. There was no warning, one second I'm eating delicious chips and salsa and the next a table leg falls on my foot causing mild pain. Actually, I misrepresented. There should have been a warning because Amanda has been asking Art to fix that table since they moved here and the lummox hasn't done it.

2. A butt situation. After dinner we went to get gelato at our favorite place since we were so close. The gelato was great. Then we walked around Little Italy, just for fun when we stopped at a Red Mango. Having heard good things Art walks in to get himself a smoothie and the rest of us stay outside because Maggie was with us. As soon as we sat down we noticed through the window of Red Mango, that the man in line in front of Art was going to town on his significant other's butt. Under her jeans. Yes, it was unnerving but like bad weather at a sporting event, you just don't get up and walk away. I mean, after all, you've paid for the tickets.

So we sat there witnessing this in disgust and admiration for this guy's bravado.

3. A worse butt situation. I like to think of this as the piece de resistance of the evening.
Soon after Butt Situation #1 dissolved #2 started. Art had gotten his smoothie, which to add to the evening was gross, and had joined us outside of Red Mango as we sat in chairs people watching. We had just finished discussing the first butt situation when the second arose. With a vengeance.
A strange slapping sound rushed by Red Mango, produced by a man running bare-foot into a parking lot.

Brandon: "Holy cow, was that guy in his underwear?"
Nat: "No, he just had shorts on"
B: "I'm pretty sure it was a dude in his underwear."
N: "Why would a guy be running around in his...."
Slapping sound rushes by once more.
N: "Oh, my gosh, that guy was in his underwear! Weird!"
Art: "What is he doing?"
N: "I think he's just hanging out in his underwear."

The man was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a green and yellow motif with grey/blue bikini underwear. That seemed a little too big for him. He was running because a group of waiters from different restaurants were chasing him around so as to stop him from disturbing patrons, since there is a lot of outside eating in Little Italy. Whatever his reason for being in his underwear, it did not disturb Underwear Man half as much as the wedgie that he seemed to be concentrating on.

N: "Let's get out of here, I don't necessarily want to see how this turns out."
Amanda: "Yeah, let's go"

Just our luck, Underwear Man was going the same way we were going only across the street. And he was looking behind him to see if the waiters we still chasing him. I'd like to point out that the real victims here were the people eating their dinner because seated, they were at eye-level to the worse part of this adventure. And he was walking by unabashedly proudly strutting.

Art: "Geez, he's really going to town on that wedgie."
B: "Yeah, no kidding."
Art: " He's like Ren and Stimpying it."

It's true, the man was trying to undo his wedgie from the inside out. I could go into more detail but it would be cruel.

Eventually he took a turn and we lost Underwear Man. So that was it. An equally eventful and disturbing Saturday. Oh, and I forgot to mention that on our way to gelato Brandon went the wrong way on a one-way street and we almost hit an oncoming car.

Great Expectations

Great expectations indeed.

This is it - after 3 check-outs, 2 renewals, and 1 failed start, I have resolved to read the great work by Charles Dickens. I'll let you know how it goes.

Love and Donuts in Cardiff

This is something that happened a few Saturdays ago.

Brandon was coming home on the train from Balboa Island (Newport Beach) where he spent his Saturday because I needed to work. That day after I picked him up from the train station we went to eat an early dinner of fish 'n' chips and then went to VG's with Maggie. I was really tired ad decided to stay in the car with Maggie while Brandon went in to get the donuts.
"I want the fluffy kind with chocolate glaze," I said, "or yellow cake with with chocolate glaze. No chocolate on chocolate."
"Ok," he replied as he was stepping out of the car.
"And a little thing of milk!" I called after him.
Five minutes later Brandon came back with a box of three donuts. One old-fashioned with regular glaze, one yellow-cake with chocolate and rainbow sprinkles, and one old-fashioned with chocolate glaze - no sprinkles.
"But I don't want sprinkles," I whined.
"The old fashioned is a version of yellow-cake, has chocolate but isn't chocolate on chocolate and it has no sprinkles," he replied.
"Ok," I said, placated.
We were sitting in the parking lot of VG's. The crashing of the waves across the street, in the not too distant distance. Maggie was in the back. Relaxing into the back seat, fighting the urge to shut her eyes and sink into the seat. We sat in silence methodically eating our donuts, drinking our milk, trying not to spill crumbs. The sound of people laughing twinkled behind us. I turned to look at Brandon chugging his tiny carton of 2% and then as I turned to look out towards the Toyota Tacoma parked in front of us, I smiled.
"Whatcha thinking?" he asked. Our favorite question to ask each other.
"Not much," I shrugged, "Just that this moment right here is perfect."
He leaned back contentedly and said, "Yeah, it is."

A to Z

So I would say I hate tags but I really don't. I love talking about myself and these are the kinds of things I think about when I don't have anything to think about.

Attached or Single? Attached. With a dog. So now we'll have to split custody if anything were to happen.
Best Friend? Ever, Citlalli. We've been friends since we were nine. And Brandon of course.
Cake or Pie? Pie all the way, with lots of whipped cream. And a great crust, no graham cracker crap (but I'll eat those too).
Day of Choice? Friday, it just has so much promise.
Essential item? Scrunchy. Or hair band. I always have 3 around my wrist.
Favorite Color? Gray. Is that weird?
Gummy Bears of worms? THE Bears.
Home-town? Hacienda Heights. Party in the Heights!
Ideal vacation? Right now there's talk of Costa Rica and it sounds real nice.
January or July? January in California any day.
Kids? Dog.
Life isn't complete without: Brandon, good food, Maggie.
Marriage date? 06-02-06. 4 more days and we'd be destined for hell.
Number of siblings? 0. And I'd appreciate it if people stopped feeling sorry for me, cuz I like it.
Oranges or apples? Oranges, blood or valencia.
Phobias? Arachnophobia.
Quote? "My gut is telling me no, but gut my gut is also very hungry."
Reasons to smile? Remembering how blessed my life is.
Season of choice? I actually like all the seasons in California. In Utah I liked Fall.
Tag 3 people: Anne, Heidi, Joselyn
Unknow fact about me: There isn't a whole lot I keep to myself... I used to folk dance and I'm thinking about getting back into it.
Vegetable? Onion.
Worst habit? ripping my nails and popping my joints.
X-ray or Ultrasounds? Ultrasound (no I'm not pregnant), radiation makes me think of Mr. Burns.
Your favorite food? The best thing ever is Carne en su jugo. I made it a couple of weeks ago and had five servings. And then I had left-overs for lunch.
Zodiac Sign? Gemini

Amen.

Creepy? I choose not to think so

I like that saying things in a song makes it so that inappropriate things are ok. Maybe I'll become a songwriter.

Mawige.

Today commemorates our two years of marriage. Everyone always says how the first year is so hard and blah, blah, blah, but I'd like to think we came out of it fairly unscathed. Then our second year wasn't any different... so there you go.
Looking back at it I see that it was a good day. The kind of wedding you can hope for. Everything went smoothly, there was no stress (at least for me), and I even got to take a cat-nap in between the Temple and the Reception.
I don't really remember much, come to think of it. I do remember having a terrible breakfast at Whole Foods, before I got my hair done. I was really pissed, we totally should have gone to McDonald's. I also remember that I forgot shoes so I had to show up to the Temple in flip-flops and I forgot my Temple slippers so I had to rent them, which luckily was the exact amount of money I had floating in my purse. Then I remember feeling very good about the whole thing until the sealer said something about man and wife and that's when I started to panic.

All I could think was," Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.... I'm actually getting married...just breathe, just breathe...wait when is it my turn to say something? La, la, la, I'm totally ok with this...why is Craig laughing? Ok, ok, here it is my turn...ha-ha! I didn't ruin anything! I think it's official now...I'm going to puke."

Thankfully I held in my breakfast. Now that the worst part was over I could relax and look pretty and have fun. Brandon looked really calm and collected about the whole thing. My only regret is that I didn't dance with Brandon enough.

Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!

As most of you know, our well publicized trip to England is over and yes, we had a blast. At first I didn't know how to approach this post, but this is after all a blog about food, and food we did eat.

Our trip began in the Cotswolds. A gorgeous part of England that takes your breath away. We loved it. I totally forgot to take pictures of our English breakfasts, but every day at our B&B's we would get a fabulous breakfast of fried egg, sauteed mushrooms, tomato, bacon (which looks like ham and it's so yummy), and a banger (sausage). And for some reason that wasn't enough for me so I also ate yogurt, fruit, cereal and tea. Hmm... tea.

This is Brandon in Bourton-on-the-Water (name of the city) among the Cotswolds. We did not need a coat after this day. Which you would think is a good thing but it wasn't. More than a few people decided to skip the deodorant.


Bacon Butties! This is a sandwich consisting of bread, bacon and sauce. You can have red or brown and if you ask me they're both good. We found a little gourmet shop that sold all sorts of fun things. We also bought olives to eat with lunch and Italian Lemon Soda. The Cotswolds had the best food. The freshest and least pretentious.


While in the country we went to Oxfordshire to Blenheim Palace. This is incidentally where Winston Churchill was born. Blenheim was constructed for the 1st Duke of Marlborough, England is on its 9th and the family still lives there. Churchill was the current Duke's god-father. And we saw some jousting so that was fun.


Lunch at Blenheim. Pea soup, mineral water from the Blenheim springs, and bread. And really great cake.


This place is huge. Probably the size of Versailles but it actually looks like someone can live there. Not so much gold all over the place.


On to Bath! It was about 2 hours from Chipping Campden to Bath. We of course got lost a ton (here we are in Chippenham), but that was really half the fun because we made discoveries like this one! Lidl was the store Brandon did his shopping at during his mission and was so stoked to find it. So we stopped and grabbed lunch here. Groceries are very inexpensive in England, which was really surprising.


These are Mexicanos. We have yet to find out what they are. I suspect they are chicken tenders and they came with dipping sauce. I asked a lady what they were but she didn't know either. "We're going to risk it and see," she said. People in England were really really sweet.


Roman baths! Which is where Bath got its name. This is such a beautiful city. It looks like the same architect designed it all and it's all built with a stone native to the Cotswolds. It makes brick look really ugly.


Best fish and chips ever. I mean ever. The fish was fresh and flaky, the chips were crisp. It was so good. We got the tip from a kid in Starbucks.


Our B&B told us to try this one pub down the lane, which ended up being more hazardous than we had anticipated because it was pitch black when we were walking home we realized this town didn't believe in street lamps. Anyway, the food had a lot of promise but it didn't deliver. Sad. However, what you are seeing is called Eaton's Mess. It's strawberries, meringue, and whipped cream. It was so good. Light and sweet and fluffy.

On to London!


On our way to London we decided to stop at Stonehenge. At first I was skeptical, but I'm really glad we went, it was totally worth it. The audio guide was great and I loved every minute of it. This is one of many pictures I took. It's just so amazing.


Our second stop in London was Harrod's (our first was the Victoria & Albert Museum). Harrod's was... extreme. I felt guilty just being there, but I bore it well. Harrod's had an annex across the street that served food and this is where Yo Sushi! was. It's a conveyor belt sushi place which was fun. The food wasn't very good, but it was fun. I felt chic.

While in London we did a ton of stuff. Museums included: Victoria and Albert, British Museum, National Gallery, Museum of Natural History, Tate Modern. Then: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey (we actually went for a type of choir service and it was amazing), Parliament, Buckingham, Speaker's Corner (where Pres. Hinckley would preach as a missionary), St. Paul's (where Diana was married). Hype Park, Kensington Gardens, West End and other stuff I can't remember. For full picture details we'll email you an Ofoto thing. We also happened on a few political demonstrations and a PG Wodehouse picnic on our way to the British Museum, which is lucky because I LOVE PG Wodehouse. Love him. Everyone was dressed in period costume.


This was one of my favorite afternoons. To the left there is live 1930's music and everything. There were even newt drawings.


Spam is food, right? Sort of? Anyway, this was great. It was so hot in that theater, it made me think of Phoenix, it was still a really funny show. The real comedy however, was when we were buying the tickets and Brandon, without knowing it, slipped into an English accent. When he saw I was looking at him with a, "What the crap?" kind of look, he goes, "What?" It was embarrassing.


I don't often order salads because I don't get full on them, but enough was enough. I had had so much grease that by this day I just wanted some grass. So we went to a nice-ish place and I got a Ceasar and it was quite good and welcome. Brandon got ham that came with super spicy mustard, it was almost like wasabi. All in all a good meal. And later...


Cheese platter!!! Brandon and I can't ever resist the cheese plate on a menu. These were quite nice, the stars were: English cheddar (why can't all cheddar be this good?_ Stilton (i think my new favorite blue), and something like Brie but a little stiffer, native to England, whose name I can't remember, curses! Life was so good right then.


I had one purpose and one purpose only for going to the Tower of London. The crown jewels. They were amazing, we saw a diamond the size of a golf ball. There is even a royal salt shaker that is insane. I thought this one big tub was the coronation bath, but it turned out to be the royal punch bowl.


To me there are three levels of restaurants. From top to bottom they are: 1. Amazing 2. Alright, I'll eat there again. 3. "I want to burn this place." This was an "I want to burn this place," type of place. Just thinking about it makes me angry. Everything was awful. When we were done we walked across the street and had dinner again.


Thankfully our last meal in London was a good one. For breakfast we had ham (with mini gherkins!) great sourdough, fruit, and I had a soft-boiled egg (my favorite kind). Then we went to the Tate Modern.

All in all, England was amazing. At first glance it seems stuffy and boring, but you cannot meet nicer people surrounded by such amazing history. On the way to the V&A Museum we saw holes on the wall and then read a plaque that informed us that those were from German airplanes during WWII. Then while we were lost looking for the British Museum, we happened upon one of Charles Dickens' homes, we got lost amongst the most beautiful villages. Everywhere you turned was a more interesting surprise. Yes, the food wasn't mind-blowing, but the country and its people more than made up for it.