Browse Author: beakatude

Fancy Dinner with Friends

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On Saturday night, I had dinner with Holly, Patti, and Patty. We went to Turner New Zealand in Costa Mesa. They specialize in all-natural, hormone-free, antibiotic-free meat and seafood. That was perfect for our two expectant mothers (Patti AND Patty – yay!). We started with mussels and calamari appetizers, which were very tasty – especially the lemongrass/cononut soup that came in one of the mussels dishes. I then had the lobster bisque that was sweeter than I expected but still very good. Later, Patty and I shared a 12 oz ribeye with a side of mashed potatoes. The meat was very tender and seasoned perfectly. For dessert, we had the chocolate souffle and trio of ice cream.

The food was great but the company was even better. I always enjoy having a night out with my girls. In fact, our reservation was at 6:30 and we stayed until the lights were turned off in the rest of the restaurant and the remaining staff were hanging out at the bar waiting for us to leave. We had no idea since we were in the back room chatting-it-up until 11. The staff were kind enough to leave us alone and didn’t even give us a hint of shoo-ing us out. That was very nice of them.

Overall, it was a very pleasant dining experience. The restaurant delivered good food, good service, and the decor was pretty fancy but it felt cozy at the same time. Just be prepared to spend a grip of cash on this fine meal. Without ordering any wine, we still ended up paying $75 per person.

Question of the Day #2

Question of the Day #2
If you could have any animal in the world as a pet, what would it be?

My Answer:
I’d have an elephant and his name would be Peanut.

Question of the Day #1

Happy February, Everyone! 

In the spirit of entering a new month, I thought I’d try something new.  I will post a question or two each day (at least I’ll try) and you can all chime in within the “Comments” section.  Wanna give it a try?!  OK.  Here we go!

Question of the Day #1
Name two of your favorite inventions

My Answer:
ziploc bags and pop-up Post-its

 

I shall call him Scrappy.

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This is one of the goldfish in our pond in the patio.  I found him floating upside-down and spinning around with the flow of the filter’s current.  Around and around he went.  I thought, “Hm…I guess it’s time to flush him.”  Then suddenly, he wiggled, turned himself over, and swam away from the current.  So I guess he was OK.

Later in the evening, I told Jes about this morning’s incident and we searched for him with the flashlight.  At first we couldn’t find him but then later found him upside-down and stuck inside the container that holds our plants.  Oh no…he croaked.  So we poked him with the net to dislodge him from the container and he floated to the top.  Just a moment later, he flipped himself over, and wiggled away. So, we scooped him up and plopped him into our empty fishbowl (AKA Farshie’s old studio).  He’s now comfortably resting in his new home without a current to fight.

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I looked up his quirky little problem and apparently it’s common with these ornamental goldfish.  His air bladder is malfunctioning and he may or may not recover.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  Until then, I shall call him Scrappy and maybe I’ll take him to work as our clinic mascot.  He’s a “special” just like the little kids I treat!

I’m published!

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I was online this afternoon and did a random Google search on my name. It turns out that I was given photo credit for a photo that was found in istockphoto! My “Road to Mammoth” photo made it into a freakin’ Chemistry book! Awesome!

Here is the photo credit page. My name is on the bottom right corner under Chapter 13. My photo can be found in Chapter 13 on page 521. It’s used to illustrate one of the study questions:

Use the relationships between properties of gases to answer the following questions:
…(there’s an “a.” and “b.” and mine is question “c.”)
c. Why do your ears pop when you drive up a mountain?

And there’s my picture to the right of it!! I’m sure I only received 40 cents for the photo but now I can say that I’ve had a photo published. Too bad I didn’t get a free book like Johnny did.

Burgers and Noodles

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I finally got to eat at Father’s Office.  It’s this tiny hole-in-the-wall in Santa Monica that looks like nothing from the outside but has a very modern look inside.  They serve burgers, some specialty items, and a variety of micro-brews.  It opens only for dinner and apparently makes enough to do that.  On Sunday, we got there around 3:30 in the afternoon (30 mins after open) and it was PACKED.  They’ve managed to create enough of a buzz that people are willing to stand around for about 30 mins trying to grab the next open table.  The restaurant is so small that you literally have to hover over the people who already have a table.  Fortunately, we got a table rather easily and boy was the food yummy!  We each had The Office Burger with a side of fries.  It’s made with dry-aged beef with carmelized onions, arugula, gruyere, and bacon.

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On our way home from Mammoth last night, we stopped at The Magical House to pick up the dog.  My mom also packed up some red curry for us to take back home and that’s what we ate for dinner tonight.  To go along with it, I decided to give Thai cooking another try.  This time I made an old favorite of mine.  It’s called “Pad Woon Sen” in Thai and made with glass noodles, egg, and some other stuff.  I must say that I did a pretty good job.  Jes was a little skeptical but actually liked it.  I couldn’t help thinking, “my mommy would be so proud”.