Gwen

Quick Catch-up

Just popping in with a quick catch-up post. Lots going on! It's been busy and fun. Where to start... how about food!

I was trying to come up with something for dinner the other night and scrounged in my fridge. I had whole wheat pizza dough, tzatziki sauce, lots of tomatoes, fresh spinach, feta cheese, a few kalamata olives and some leftover kofte that I had made the week before (yummy spiced Turkish beef kebab). So I made pizza! Just little ones, but it was delicious.

What else... I had the final project for my Business Judgment class to finish and turn in last week. We had to incorporate frameworks and learnings from the course to use on an important upcoming decision. However this time, instead of writing a paper, 25% of the grade was on creativity and presentation and we were encouraged to go out of the box and do things that fit with our learning style. So I did an art journal-y collage thing as a frame for a scenario analysis and then did some more analysis and next steps that I typed up and stuck to the back. I'm not sure if I'm getting it back, so I took lots of pictures. I had fun with this. Things are still up in the air on this particular decision, so I'm keeping the cat in the bag for now. lol. Besides... keeping a few secrets makes me more mysterious, right? (I'm rolling my eyes as I type that.)

The base is a big piece of cardboard and I covered it with old maps, washi tape and bakers twine. Then I collaged stuff on top of it. Part is heavily inspired by Teesha Moore, part is just me. Close-ups...

And here's a shot after I added the parts for the scenario analysis (which I've blurred out, of course. Can't go spilling the beans by accident!)

We'll see how I did. I hope the professor liked it...

Next up... this last weekend was Rae's birthday, so we had a girl's night. Steph picked me up but we didn't make it to meet them at Bombay house for dinner - the traffic was a disaster. So we stopped for a quick bite at Cafe Rio and then met up with them at the mall for pedicures. My feet were in desperate need! Too much time cooped up in running shoes doesn't make for pretty feet. After that, we went to see the new X-Men movie which I really liked. Fun night out! Just a few pics from the nail salon:

And back to school again, our Capstone team has been working hard to try and make progress on our project for our client. This has been kind of rough - we don't have a lot of time for a pretty big deliverable, and we're working with some assumptions that make it hard. But you do what you can, right? So we have the first of two big presentations coming up this week and we needed to work on it so the team came over to my house tonight. Naturally, I made dinner. I did some bruschetta - a baguette toasted with a little parmigiano reggiano and then topped with edamame hummus, watercress and chopped walnuts. It was fabulous. I made a salad of arugula and baby spinach, fresh strawberries and blueberries, candied pecans (I whipped up a quick caramel from butter and brown sugar in a skillet, threw in the pecans and stirred until they were coated. Then just spread them on wax paper to cool. Yum.) and poppy seed dressing. Super yummy. For the main course I had pulled pork with mango BBQ sauce served on ciabatta rolls with bread and butter pickles and coleslaw (to put on top of the pork, of course). Dessert was a strawberry / peach crostata with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry / peach coulis. Of course, I have no pictures because I forgot before they came and then the guys chowed on it. lol. Maybe I'll get some when I eat leftovers later this week. But when all five guys go back for seconds, it's probably a good bet that it turned out pretty well.

So, I had brought my camera down to try and get pictures of the food and although I forgot that part, it was handy later on when Matt started using my sword as a thinking tool. And then decided that he wanted Darren to use it to deputize him (not sure how knighting and deputizing both use a sword, but whatever.) It was fairly funny.

And then since I had the camera, I grabbed a few shots of everyone. Nate and Matt:

Chris and Chad...

And me. We keep joking that the product we're working on is like snake oil because it does everything, so Matt made himself a cover for his Capstone notebook. We're thinking of making t-shirts.

(I'm totally digging this headband lately. You probably can't tell by the fact that I'm wearing it in two sets of pictures in this blog post, but whatever.)

So that's it. I'm supposed to be pulling out pictures from the trip to send to Todd for our documentary, but I just can't get to it tonight. I'm exhausted... I think for the first little while after school is over, my spare time is going to be spent sleeping. After I get caught up, then I'll worry about what to do with myself. lol.

Dubai Day 4 - Part 2

Last photos from Dubai...

Dubai Day 4 - Part 1

Last day of the trip. Sigh. All good things must come to an end, but I really wasn't ready to go. Given a continuing itinerary and money in my account, I could have gone on doing this indefinitely. Hopping around from country to country, city to city and just seeing what was there, experiencing the culture and tasting the food. I absolutely live for things like this so this trip was amazing for me. Definitely an experience of a lifetime and something I'll never forget. Worth all of the blood, sweat and tears of the classes the came before and the work that went into getting to this point. (I hope I still feel the same when my student loans come due. lol.)

We stared the day with a trip to the world's tallest building, the Burj Kalifa. It's one half mile tall and holds all kinds of world records. We had tickets to the observation deck on the 124th floor, with an elevator that gets to that point in less than a minute. It was really cool, and once I mastered my fear of heights enough to look out and enjoy the view, it was even more amazing. The only downside was that there had been a sand storm that morning so the visibility was limited. I had really been looking forward to seeing the Palms from above, but we couldn't see that far out into the water. Oh well. Guess I'll have to go back some day!

After that, I had a few minutes to wander in the Mall of Dubai (biggest in the world, of course... the size of 50 football pitches) and was again amazed at how much they have that's western. They had Pottery Barn, Bloomingdales, and Mrs. Fields! They also had Nandos which made me wish it was lunchtime... I loved that when we had it in South Africa. Once the group gathered, we went through the mall to see the world's largest aquarium with a huge tank you could see without going inside that was full of fish, rays and sharks, and the largest candy store which was right across from it. I'm not much of a candy person so I walked through it and then wandered. The Gold Souk was around the corner so I went in there instead. I hate to think what the prices were, but it was fun to browse the displays of gorgeous jewelry through the window.

The group met up again where we were getting back on the bus for a few drop-off points. First stop was my personal request, a place to shop. Shirley took us to the Al Karama market. Mostly really good quality knock-offs like watches and handbags, but also a few souvenir type shops that were much cheaper than the mall prices (which were actually reasonable - I took a look to get an anchor point for my negotiations at the market. lol.) We went into one tiny store that had almost everything I was looking for - walls of textiles, Arabian perfumes and other fun things. I got a lantern, a full bedspread with matching pillow cases, a gorgeous wall hanging, table runners, perfume and fancy little bottles, and a few gifts as well. It was so much fun and the prices were really great. My fellow shoppers nominated me customer of the year for that particular shop keeper. lol. I'm sure I made his day. When we went back for a second visit so Nicole could get some perfume, they were more than happy to make me a VERY good deal on some additional perfume and bottles for me. So much fun.

After that, we met up with the Radebaughs again and wandered a few more shops before we went to find the restauant Shirley had recommended for lunch. We sat down and ordered the mixed grill for 5, a salad plate (dips and spreads) and an appetizer they recommended. It was all so delicious. We need a good kebab place in Utah. lol. Several others from the group wandered in at some point and our table got quite full as we ate and showed off our purchases from the day. Then we got a taxi to the light rail station where we rode back to the stop near the hotel (Joe and Nicole got back off at the mall) and then took another taxi to the hotel. Way too far to walk in that heat! There I had time to get everything packed and ready to go and then change into my suit for a last hour on the beach. I went out and joined Andrew and Natalie until Natalie went up and the Radebaughs came down to join us. We laid on the lounges in the setting sun and soaked in the warmth and light. There was a lovely breeze and since it was sunset, it was starting to get cool (meaning it was only about 90 degrees. lol.) Tanny and I went in for a brief dip - one last venture into that perfect water, and then we laid down again to enjoy a few last moments of perfection and dry off before taking showers and loading the bus to the airport.

I absolutely loved Dubai... I loved the whole trip. Like I said, it was an amazing experience, and an opportunity of a lifetime. I'll be forever glad that I had this chance and that I saw and experienced so much and was able to build great friendships along the way. Sadly, now that I'm back it's time to get back to the grind of work and homework... there's no break in getting back to reality! I'm not too jetlagged, but I'm definitely tired. It was all worth it, though. I can't wait to have time to go through all my photos and get them edited and pulled into a photo book. So much to remember and cherish :)

Dubai Day 3 - Part 3

Still more from the desert safari...

Dubai Day 3 - Part 2

More from the desert safari...

Istanbul Day 4 - Part 2

A few more photos from our dinner cruise...

Istanbul Day 4 - Part 1

Our last full day in Istanbul...

We started the day with a drive out to the Ford Otosan plant about an hour or so outside of Istanbul. It was a pretty drive, going along the sea of Marmara with a beautiful countryside. I was once again totally and completely exhausted and dozed a bit on the bus. We got into the plant and they took us to a board room where they briefly energized us with a table of cookies, pastries and juice. I tried a few things and it was all good, but the sugar rush didn't last long enough, sadly. But their presentation was interesting - we learned a lot about the history of the auto industry in Turkey, how they came to be owned by Ford and what they had been doing and where they wanted to go in the future. Then they took us on a plant tour - we got into a little tram thing that took us through the plant. The guy narrating for us was sitting right next to me, which was good for helping to keep me awake. lol. The tour was pretty cool - I loved the die stamping area. It was awesome to see the robots moving big pieces of sheet metal into position and then the slamming sound of the machine stamping it into the proper form. The robots in general were cool - it was a pretty highly automated plant so there was more than usual. And when we went into the body shop, there were showers of sparks from the welding. I didn't get hit, but I think Todd woke up from a brief nap to a shower of sparks. lol. After the plant tour they took us back to the main building and treated us to a very nice lunch in their restaurant. We had a hot starter of mushrooms and peppers in cream sauce with cheese, a green salad, and then chicken with orzo as the main entree. It was all really delicious. They finished with a scoop of yummy vanilla ice cream and a rice pudding with a bit of a brulee on top. It was all delicious - some of the group voted it as the best meal of the trip... it was up there, but probably not my absolute favorite.

We drove back to the hotel and got there about 3:30pm. I changed clothes and went downstairs to see what was going on, but most everyone was going to the spice market or back to the grand bazaar. Since I had been there and didn't need to spend more money, I elected to spend a leisurely two hours in the gym. It was fabulous. Quite a few others came in and out while I was in there... great minds and all.

We were all ready to go just before 7pm for our last dinner in Istanbul - we were doing a dinner cruise on the Bosphorous. I did a Bosphorous cruise the last time, but not one as long or at sunset with a dinner, so this was really fun for me. We had our own boat for our group and really just had a great time. We congregated below for a while because it was pretty cold up top, and just hung out and chatted. I went up once or twice to take in the view and get photos, and then they served dinner. We had a huge variety of mezze - appetizers. Lots of salads and spreads. It was really delicious. Then we sat and chatted more, up and back from the top... and then they served dinner which was chicken shish and beef kebap. It was really nicely seasoned and just delicious. Then, most of us ended up on top where we got someone's iPod hooked up to the speakers and were singing, dancing and just playing around to the music as we cruised between Asia and Europe at sunset. How fun is that? We were entertained with a short demonstration of Chad's clogging skills. I may have joined Scott in doing the running man during a Bobby Brown song. And then the guys (led by Matt, who showed up for the evening in a jacket, sunglasses and an "ascot" made from a scarf he bought for his wife - his persona for the evening was Thurston), put on sunglasses and ascots and posed for silly pictures while the ship workers brought up plates of fruit for us to nibble for dessert. It was a trip. The whole cruise was a lot of fun, the company was great, the food was delicious and the scenery was incredible. I was sad that we were leaving Istanbul the next day... I really love Istanbul and I hope I get to go back and visit again. But, at the same time, I was super excited to get ready to head off to a new adventure in Dubai and that's never a bad thing :)

Istanbul Day 3 - Part 1

Sunday in Istanbul, we started out with a trip to the Dolmabahce palace. It was stunning. It's from the 19th century and is all done in baroque and rococo style. I wish pictures could do it justice. This was also fun since I hadn't been there before. It sits right on the edge of the Bosphorous so we had lots of great views in the gardens.

After that, we went back to the hotel and then wen tot for lunch. I went with Todd and Lori in search of what we call "turko-bell." basically a Turkish fast food burrito. I got one along with fresh pressed pomegranate juice and it was yummy. Then on the way home, we did a Magnum run to get ice cream bars. These are so good - I used to get them all the time on my internship in belgium. We can get them now in the states, but not all flavors. I got a pistachio one that I really loved.

After lunch we went back to relax and get ready for church, then we walked to the meeting place for the nearby branch and had sacrament meeting with them. It was a really great meeting and we all enjoyed talking to the members afterward.

After church, we walked back and changed go go out. Jen, Chad and I hopped in a cab and went to the spice market. I definitely needed to go there to load up on spices and turkish delight, and the only thing chad really wanted to buy on the entire trip was saffron, so off we went. We found out the hotel had been wrong about closing time and we only had a few minutes. We found a guy who was really helpful and demoed the saffron for us so we could see the potency of the top quality Iranian saffron. We both got some and other grades of saffron as well. I also picked up several other spices, a second grinder so I'll have one for pepper and one for other seeds and spices, and a few gifts and of course, some Turkish delight.

After we raided the spice shop, we went up to meet the others where they were shopping and headed back to the hotel to go to dinner. We went and had a good dinner with these stuffed tortillas and I also had some beef and eggplant. Then we went to this place that's over 100 years old that's famous for their chocolate pudding. It's based on puff pastry and creme and then they scoop that out and put chocolate pudding on top. It was fabulous. And that was our night since we had an early morning Monday for a business visit to the ford plant. More on that later.

Istanbul Day 3 - Part 2

A few more... With the travel and uncertain Internet in Dubai, I'll post again when I can.

Istanbul Day 2 - Part 3

That's right, three parts. I'm getting crazy here. More photos, including karaoke.

Istanbul Day 2 - Part 1

It's our last night in Istanbul and I'm beyond exhausted, but we're not sure if wireless in Dubai is going to be crazy expensive or not, so I thought i'd try to get a few posts, or at least pictures posted tonight.

Our second day in Istanbul was doing the typical tourist stuff, most of which I did last time I was here so I won't really wax poetic about the beauty of it all, but it was cool. And I enjoyed coming back with a different group, different guide and at a different time of year to see things I'd missed before and to get a slightly different perspective.

We started at the Topkapi palace which is always fun. I still didn't get to tour the harem, but I guess that means I'll just have to come back a third time. I still adore the colors and patterns of the tiles and the motifs used in decorating the palace.

After that we went to hagia Sophia, which was really cool since when we were there two years ago they were doing some restoration work and we couldn't see everything. It was really gorgeous bow that it was all open, although I was disappointed that we didn't go upstairs since that's where you can see all the best mosaics. I've seen them, but it s too ba the rest of the class missed out.

After that, we tried to go to the blue mosque, but the crowds were just insane and getting worse so we decided to leave it for another day and head straight to the grand bazaar instead. We ended up being able to stop for a carpet demonstration at Orient 101 first. It was like my 4th or 5th demonstration, but I always enjoy seeing how they spin the sales pitch and the free apple tea is a definite bonus.

From there we went to the grand bazaar. I may or may not have purchased a professional belly dancing costume. And the proprietor of the shop may or may not have begged me to go out with him after we closed the sale. It was kind of cute, actually. He gave me his card so I'd have his number. Normally I'd say it was a sales tactic of flattery to get me to purchase from him, but since he already had my money I think it might have been genuine. Good for the ego, right? I didn't really get much else... Just bargained pert hard for a few small gifty things that I didn't need enough to make it worth overpaying. I've found that acting like you don't care and actually walking out was my best weapon on this trip. But it was fun.

Then I joined up with a group heading out to dinner. We walked to the other side of Taksim Square and found a place that looked good and I got some lentil soup and kofte. It was pretty good.

Saturday night after dinner, I freshened up and met the group to go out. Ed had been dying to go to a karaoke bar and he had found a good one nearby and he, matt and andrew had already scoped it out. We went in and it was old, smokey, dingy and a bit of a hole in the wall. We paid our ten lira cover and jumped into the song books. Matt and Dave started us off strong and then ben, Joe and Chad did "ice, ice baby" from vanilla ice and it was hysterical and actually really good. All of our stuff was pert good- we had a talented group. The owner said we we the best group he'd eve have and we could come back for free any time. It's also possible he was drunk at the time. Then jen and I did Joan Jett's "I love rock and roll" and I kind of took the lead. I channeled my inner Joan. It was actually kind of awesome. If someone had told me three years ago that I would be spending a Saturday night in Istanbul singing karaoke, I would have laughed. But like I figured, if you can't cut loose in a situation like that, when can you?

Pictures from Saturday...

Istanbul Day 1

Today was another travel day. We got up early to get ready and have breakfast before heading down to meet the bus to go to the airport for our flight to Istanbul. I managed to get my suitcase to the correct weight, but my carry-on was 13.7 kilos. The guy checking me in was like, oh my goodness. You all have such huge carry-ons! So I said, well we're traveling all over the world and it's hard to do that without carrying a bunch of stuff. To which he replied, but the planes between here and the US are bigger than this one. So I gave him my best innocent expression, smiled big and told him that we we're buying lots of souvenirs and stimulating the economy. He just looked at me helplessly, rolled his eyes and waved his hand and, in defeat, said "fair enough." and passed me through. I'm not going to be so lucky trying to get my stuff on Emirates when we fly to Dubai, but I'm working a deal with Eric for some suitcase space on that flight. Once we get there I'm good.

But we're here... I'm so glad I got a chance to come back to Istanbul. There was a lot I really loved about this place the first time I was here, and that includes more than just the food and the shopping. Lol. I'm looking forward to getting to share it with all my friends from class.

Today, we got to the hotel around 1:30 and got checked into our rooms. We went up to clean up a bit, and then came down to exchange money and see who we could find to go out with during our free time until dinner at 7:30. While we were waiting for everyone, I was admiring, for like the twentieth time, a necklace in a case in the lobby that was on sale. They were all gorgeous pieces, but this one just screamed my name from the moment I saw it. I walked away, but I kept worrying that someone else would buy it if I decided I wanted it later. So I asked the front desk if I could see the price and it was within the range I was willing to pay so I forked over the cash on the spot. I only have a polaroid so far, but it's gorgeous and has real turquoise and coral beads (and I know from my last trip here about the Turkish turquoise and how much I should expect to pay for it, so I was pleased.) I put it away to wear to dinner later on.

We were going to go to the basilica cistern since it isn't on any of our tours, but it was closing before we would get there so we've planned to combine that with the spice market on another free afternoon. Instead, a bunch of us went out to wander around the square and surrounding areas. I ended up with a smaller group roaming around the park across the street where we had great views of the hotel as well as the bosphorous strait and the Asian part of the city on the other side. It was supposed to rain today and ended up being beautiful so we were excited. Hopefully the same happens again tomorrow. The group decided to head over to the shops close to five and I split from them to go back to the hotel for a good workout in the gym... They have a really nice gym here and the view from the pool is insane! I ran into a couple of the other guys during my workout and then, feeling great, went to get ready for our dinner. I wore my new necklace and got tons of compliments from the other ladies and even a few of the guys.

Dinner was at a place called the Ikinci Restaurant in the flower passage off of Istiklal Street (big shopping... Much exploration needed.) it was so much fun. We sat at two long tables in a crowded and tiny restaurant where they already had the mezze waiting for us. A few aubergine dishes, a yogurt dip, a hummus and garlic like paste in slices, a fava bean salad and more, along with a big slice of feta cheese and lots of soft bread. Then they brought the hot starters - a fried cheese roll, a potato croquette and fried muscles (which I gave to Paul. I toyed with the idea of trying one, but Joe did it first and said they were even more fishy than the paella in Spain so I couldn't bring myself to do it. Then they brought salad and then our main dish. I ordered the sautéed meat, which was actually lamb in a kind of tomato stew. It was a little spicy and quite delicious. While we were etibg a group of musicians came in and played several songs for another table - all traditional turkish music and so fun. We were all into it and clapping along and applauding, so I think they sensed an opportunity for tips and they came and played for us. I loved it - it was just fun and made you want to dance. Obviously Andrew agreed since he got up and danced with them. We have it on video and it's probably on YouTube by now. Lol. Finally, dessert was a big plate of fresh seasonal fruit to share. It was all delicious and left me feeling glad I had skipped lunch and gotten in a good workout.

After dinner, it was almost ten so we wandered along Istiklal street for a bit, popping our heads into shops before getting back to the hotel. Now it's time to hit the sack and get ready for a big day of touring the city in the morning. Even though I've been to all of these places before, I still can't wait. It's going to be fun to do them when it isn't freezing cold and raining and with such a fun group.

A few pictures from the day...

Greece Day 4 - Part 2

And the last photos from Greece.

Greece Day 4 - Part 1

Our last day in greece...

I got up early again to go for a run in the park, but about 25 minutes in, a light rain turned to a heavy one so I headed back to the hotel, soaked to the skin. But it was still nice to get out there and the scent of jasmine that permeates the park was only stronger in the rain. Just beautiful.

After another fabulous breakfast at the hotel's breakfast buffet, we boarded the bus to head out on our final excursion... Ancient Corinth. It took about an hour and a half from athens, but the views along the way were worth it. The highway hugged the Aegean sea and it was stunning - all that shimmering, deep blue water with the white sandy coasts and the rugged mountains rising in the background... Green everywhere else. We got to Corinth and spent about an hour touring the ruins and the small museum they have there. It was fabulous to see where Paul taught the Corinthians as well as to see the old temple to Apollo and the fountains and remains of what was once a market. There were wild poppies and yellow daisies everywhere that made it all the lovelier. The museum was cool too... Lots of statues and mosaics recovered from the site along with several cases full of everyday items used by inhabitants in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. It's so beyond comprehension what that actually means. At least for me. But trying to picture the significance of more than two thousand years of human history helped me at least try and appreciate how amazing it as to be looking at some of these pieces. And at the same time, it was fascinating to see how little some things have changed like cups, plates and pitchers. We still user some of the same designs in modern form after a few millennia! Anyway, it was cool.

After that, we drove another hour to Ancient Epidaurus where we saw the odeon. That was pretty cool and again, amazing to consider that this was in use thousands of years ago in plays honoring Dionysus. We didn't have much time there before the rain started up again so we ran for the bus to head to the next destination, Naphtali. Here we got out to see the harbor and the 17th century castle on the hill. However, it was also after 3pm and we hadn't had lunch yet, so when we ran across a small grocery store on the way into town, we raided it. I think there were more than 15 of us in the chocolate aisle all at once and it was hysterical. We were all going through Ion bars (some yummy. Greek chocolate we found) to get snacks, souvenirs or gifts, depending on who was looking for us. But we were all passing around some of our findings back at the harbor while we waited to get back on the bus. I found some banana cream sandwich cookies that were pretty good... Chad had digestive biscuits, also good, and we all had a little chocolate.

Finally, we made it to Mycenae where we were scheduled to have lunch at the Ifigenea restaurant, which looked like a reception center. It was a buffet and I actually managed, for once, to not let my eyes get bigger than my stomach. I tried little bits of a few things and my favorites were the moussaka and some little lamb meatballs. Yum. From there, it was another hour and a half ride back to Athens. During some of our rides today we played games and even had a singalong to different songs on people's iPods. We had a little Abba, Weezer, Lady Gaga and the hit of the afternoon, "sweet Caroline." of course, we only really knew the chorus. Mary got a video of it and it's pretty hysterical. So the rides were long, but we had fun and great views and fabulous stops.

For our last evening in Athens, we headed back out to the Plaka. There
Were a few who wanted more yogurt and the rest of us got gelato. Since lunch had been so late, we made that our dinner. I was on the lookout for baklava since believe it or not I couldn't find it and no one had served it to us! But alas, no luck. I might have to use up the last of my euros finding some at the airport tomorrow. From there we wandered up toward the acropolis and then back down one of the streets lined with shops. We wandered in and out of some of them while a few of us were buying last minute souvenirs and gifts. I picked up a set of worry beads with the eye of Athena, but that was it for me. I did enough damage earlier in our stay here.

So that's it from Greece! Next we're off to Istanbul. Should be fun!

A few photos from the day...

Greece Day 3 - Part 2

And a few more photos from day two...

Greece Day 2 - Part 2

And a few more photos from the second day in Greece...

Greece Day 1

On to Greece! Monday was mainly a travel day... We left the hotel just before nine am for our flight at 11:40. The flight was about three hours and with the time change, we didn't get to the hotel until 6ish... So we checked in and got into our rooms and then came down to gather for the evening.

We went down the street to the TI to get maps and guide books and the woman at the count looked just like the mother in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Stereotypical but true... Lol. Then we headed to the square near our hotel but as soon as we got there we saw a big demonstration coming down the street. Given recent events we figured it might not be the safest place for a group of people who were obviously American so we decided to head the opposite direction in the search for food. We stopped back in the hotel to drop off stuff in our rooms and ran into our trip director and guide in the lobby. Kosta said that they could be protesting anything, including blondes vs brunettes. Lol. He gave us directions for how to get to the entrance to the Plaka and we went that way.

The entrance to the Plaka is also the way to get to the acropolis so we were excited. It was also cool to be walking down the street and look over and just randomly see ancient Greek ruins right in the middle of everything. How cool is that? Then we got our first glimpse of the acropolis and it was awesome to see.

As we walked into the pedestrian area, I knew this was going to be an place I wanted to come back and explore. Lots of food and shopping! we walked up to a cross street where it looked like shopping to the right and food to the left so we headed down toward all of the restaurants. They were all catering to tourists, of course... So they were all trying to get us to sit down. But we found a place where all eight of us could sit together outside where they didn't pester us or offer us free drinks but just directed us to take a look at their menu. They had good stuff and decent prices so we stayed. I ordered moussaka and jen got chicken souvlaki. Chad had a mixed kebabs and Mary ordered tarama salata (fish roe salad) that wasn't what she was expecting... It was pink and they were joking about the pink jello. I didn't taste it, but apparently it wasn't good. But everything else was delicious - the moussaka was really nice and I tasted the kebab and they were really good too. The food here in Greece is going to kill me. Too bad the hotel gym is under construction! But we're going to be doing lots of walking so hopefully that will be enough.

After dinner we went over and started browsing the shops and I got a few ideas for gifts and then found a fabulous silver plated forearm cuff in a swirl pattern (symbolizing prosperity). Then we headed back out to go to a Greek yogurt bar Chad found on the way in so we could get that for dessert. The guy in there was a trip... He was giving us samples of his favorite toppings and making suggestions when we ordered for what he thought would be a better topping combination. I ended up with a light Greek yogurt topped with fir honey and hazelnuts. It was really good. I tasted some of the others too and loved the one with orange honey. I'm really enjoying all the honey here... Super yummy! Especially with the yogurt.

After dessert we started wandering back down the street toward the hotel and went over to see the ruins we passed before that were now all lit up (we found out today that they're the remains of a temple of Zeus). Then we kept walking and came across the ruins of an old roman bath that were found when they were excavating a ventilation shaft for the metro. It must be super hard to try and build anything underground here. But how cool is it to just stumble across ancient ruins walking back to the hotel?

And thus ends the first evening in athens. Pictures following... Our view of the acropolis and Parthenon while walking to dinner... A few pictures of Melinda, Jen, Chad and I at dinner and some of the ruins we stopped at on the way back after dessert.

Madrid day three - part 2

These posts are all out of order but they're finally going through. A few more from the last day in Spain.

Madrid day two - part 2

And a few more photos... Hasta mañana!

Madrid day three, part 1

Day three, yesterday, was Segovia. It was such a beautiful city - like what you picture you would find in Spain from seeing a postcard or a travel poster. Out first glimpse from the road had us all excited and then after driving through town, they took us out to a place where we had an incredible view of the Alcazar (castle). We got out to take pictures and then went back into the town and hiked from the bus parking into the plaza where you could see the tallest part of their famous aqueduct. It was amazing. We were all in our church clothes since we were going to the local branch for sacrament meeting, so most of us were carrying our change of clothes and shoes all day and were standing out a bit in our Sunday dress. I got a giggle when I glanced over and saw Tad, Mike, Chad and Chris all standing together in their suits and looking a little serious and intimidating. The locals were giving them wide berth. Lol.

After taking a few pictures, we walked up to the local branch's building but we were still a half hour early. As we stood there, the bells of the big church across the street rang out to announce mass, so a bunch of us decided to head over and pop in for the first part of it. We sat in the back few rows and just listened and admired the church while we stood in the right places. I could understand enough to know the sermon was about god's peace, but then it was time for us to go to our own meeting. The branch was tiny and we outnumbered them about four to one. But it was a great meeting and we were all moved and will remember it for a long time. We took pictures with the branch members outside the building, changed clothes and headed back to the main part of town to sight-see.

We spent more time near the aqueduct and then walked up to the main square to see the gorgeous cathedral. We had some free time so we split up to shop and wander. I popped my head into the cathedral and joined Ed to browse the shops heading down one side street. I also saw a Spanish shawl I fell in love with at the stand of an old gypsy woman at the edge of the square. I knew how much I could get them for in Madrid, so I put my bargaining skills and my knowledge from my global negotiations class to work. She started high, I anchored low and I got it for five euro less than I would in madrid. Of course, I had to laugh because we started bargaining in Spanish and at one point I wondered why I had switched to an italian accent and only later realized it was because we had somehow switched to Italian too funny (and yes steph, definitely pretentious!)

When our free time was up, we met to go for our lunch at a restaurant on the square. It was definitely a different experience to be going on Spanish meal schedules... Lunch wasn't until 1:30 or 2:00pm and lasted a few hours. This place seated us at an enormous banquet table in a former wine cellar with fascinating acoustics. I had a delicious bean soup with dumplings and then the local specialty, suckling pig. They just chop it up. And cook the parts of the animal and serve them up. I think I got a shoulder. Fatty but good. Joe and Chad got legs, complete with hoofs (and in chad's case, a little hair left too. Eew! Definitely authentic...) Eric was saying that a piece of organ meat he found in his section of pig tasted like cat brain. He later tried to recant and say he'd said calf's brain. We all voted... Everyone heard cat. He's not living this down. we finished with a traditional Segovian cake with vanilla custard filling and marzipan topping and it was yummy.

After lunch we took more pictures and headed back to the bus. When we got back to Madrid, we dumped our stuff, freshened up and went to get on the metro to go back to the park we found earlier. There were 18 on this little adventure and it was a blast. In the park we built human pyramids. I don't know why other than the group doing the pre-trip presentation on Spain found some odd fact that said that visiting groups of students would often build human pyramids in the plaza in front of the palace as a show of strength. So we had to do it. We're going to take the same pyramids and photoshop different backgrounds behind them... Lol. It was a lot of fun and we drew quite a crowd! I just documented and helped give a boost when needed.

We wandered more and did more funny pictures before getting on the metro to go get food. We went back to Puerta del sol where we split into groups for shopping and eating. I went with Chad, Melinda, jen, mike and chris and grabbed a slice of pizza before we went back to Valor for more hot chocolate and churros. That stuff was amazingly good. And that was day three! Here are a few photos, more in another post.

Madrid day two - part 1

Tried to post this yesterday but the wireless was too slow and it was too late to wait for it. Madrid day three coming soon!

What an amazing day. We headed off to Toledo bright and early. Beautiful drive and an amazing city. We stopped on a hill to get views of the city and it was just gorgeous. The city itself was so fun to explore. We walked up and down (mostly up... I think everything in Toledo is uphill and Rick Steves concurs) and explored alleys, tiny streets and squares and took tons of pictures of all the little nooks and crannies and tantalizing views of towers peeking between buildings. I took lots of pictures of doors. They were amazing... Plus, I'm kind of weird that way. Loved them. We saw El Greco's masterpiece in the Iglesia S. tome, wandered more tiny streets, ate a delicious local lunch, toured the fabulous cathedral and then learned about how the local blacksmiths would traditionally work the famous Toledo steel. And then, in the exhibition room, that's where I bought my sword. I saw it on one of the racks and it instantly called to me. I noted the price (pricey but not too unreasonable) but was thinking I'd be good and put it back. Then Eric picked it up to admire it and a voice in my head screamed, "put down my sword!" it was a sign. That sword and I were meant to be together. So I reclaimed it and bought it. I love it. And I'm sure I'll continue to love it even when faced with getting it on the plane. The next four planes, actually. But it will work out. Remember how packing is my super power? So not a problem.
After that, we headed back to Madrid, dropped stuff in our rooms and freshened up and then a group of us met in the lobby to do some exploring: me, Mary, jen, Melinda, Chad, Todd, Laurie, and chris. First stop, gelato. It's really big here - helado Italiano. Yum. Then we stopped in to browse in Zara and Lefties and then got on the metro to go to il retiro - a fabulous park. We wandered, posed for pictures and decided that we want to try and go back tomorrow when it isn't raining and rent rowboats. Then we found our way to the plaza de espagne and took more pictures before getting back on the metro to go to the hotel and get ready for Saturday night on the town.

First, we went to a flamenco dinner. They served seafood paella. Super traditional, of course, and as a sufferer of a mental allergy for all things seafood, not what I wanted to see (and smell!) in front of me. I pushed aside the seafood and tried a few bites, but the fishiness was overwhelming. But I tried it, and I wasn't the only one that didn't get much dinner. But the show was absolutely fantastic. The dancers were so passionate and commanding and it was so fun to watch and listen as they were accompanied by Spanish guitar and singing. There was also a guy that danced who was very good, and knew it. But it was so fun to watch.

After that, we broke into groups. I headed off with dave, Ed, Edgar, Chad, Joe h. Ben, and Scott in search of hot chocolate and churros. Joe r. And professor R. had been to a good place earlier and showed us the way to Valor. We got tables outside near heaters and ordered. We all got the hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles and it. Was. Heavenly. So good. We sat there chatting, joking and savoring every bite and sip until about midnight. Then we decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for tomorrow, so here I am. Tomorrow we're going to Segovia to tour and go to church before coming back to Madrid. Should be awesome.

Here's the first batch of today's pictures.

More photos from Madrid

Guess the typepad app only allows five photos in a post so here are five more. Enjoy!

Hello from Madrid!

I can't even believe that we just got here this morning... We've already done so much here in Madrid! Nothing like hitting the ground running, I guess. We landed around 10:30 this morning and loaded our bus to the hotel, getting the history of everything we passed right off the bat. Got to our hotel and waited a bit to check all of us in, then had just enough time to shower and change clothes before we met in the lobby to go out and wander and get lunch before our official first tour at 3pm. We started up the street but the group split pretty quickly when part of the group headed into a buffet. We felt like we could find something we liked better. We kept going, stopping here and there and ended up in Puerte del Sol where we went into a sandwich shop where we didn't see other tourists. My university Spanish came in handy while we ordered. I'm not fluent, but I'm good enough to get by. We got everything to go and then went out and found spaces around the fountain to eat. We just sat back and enjoyed the sun, the breeze and the food. The clock struck two and the bells rang out as we ate. It was beautiful. We need big squares with fountains and good food and bells so we can sit, eat and get nothing done as we just relax. But we decided to head on before we fell asleep where we sat. We met our guide at three and walked to the royal palace for a tour. It was interesting and the rooms were incredible but it was hard on all of us to stand there and listen while we were so tired. But it was cool. Then we did a walking tour through the old city and ended up in the Plaza Mayor. At that point we split up so that some of us could go to the colegiata de S. Isador. The local lore supposedly says that single women go there on may 15th and prick their fingers and put a drop of blood in a bucket so they can meet someone. We won't be there that day, but felt a symbolic visit was in order. We posed outside after. It was kind of fun. The guys humored us. After that we went looking for tapas (what else do you do on a Friday night in madrid?) and found this Mercato that the locals recommended that was a ton of fun. We split into groups again but those of us that stayed had a great time. The croquetas and dessert were delicious. Then we walked back to the hotel. I'm just trying to wind down enough to sleep so I can get up for our trip to Toledo tomorrow. More fun on the way! Pictures below... The group in the SLC airport before leaving... Lunch in the Puerta del sol, pricking our fingers, tapas... Lots of fun to share. Enjoy!

Last supper

Last dinner before our trips, that is. Tonight we got together at a total dive in Provo that I used to go to in grad school... A central American place called El Salvador. They have yummy pupusas and tamales and really good yucca frita. We had a lot of fun despite a little initial skepticism over my choice of venue. But everyone was game and we all loved it. I know I ate more than I should have! In the first photo we have Mindy and Darren perusing what I think were the same menus they were using 12 years ago.

Brent was in top form posing, as usual... Then we have Laura, Chad and I. And of course, a shot of the yummy pupusas.

After dinner (as if we hadn't already done enough damage), we went over to the movie theater and got our tickets and then ran across the street to get ice cream at Farr's. We all ran around with little taster cups trying just about every kind of ice cream they had before we picked what we wanted. The white chocolate custard was probably my favorite. Yum. Then we went back to the theater where we saw Source Code which we all really liked. And then we all said goodbye to those going on different trips (Mindy, Darren, Brent, Sherilyn and Laura are all going to Asia and India and Chad will be on my trip.) We're looking forward to emailing during the trips and hearing all about them when we get back. I can't wait! The countdown is on.

(FYI... Blogging from my iPad to make sure I've figured out the photos and blog apps. This is fun!)

Long catch-up post

Okay, I promised I would post, so here it is :) Just a not so quick catch-up of what I've been working on.

So last week was crazy. We had the final project from our last 12-week class due last Tuesday (Strategic Implementation and the GM's Role). We had to do a 7S analysis for a company and it included a lot of research, compiling stuff, analysis and writing and the six of us spent many an hour on conference calls or working in tiny study rooms to finish this off. It was hard and a total pain but we finished it, that class ended last week, and it was the last assignment with our assigned core teams - kind of bittersweet, really. But we were so ready to be done! Anyway, we got our projects back in class last night and had a very pleasant surprise.

Mindy is showing off the grade sheet we got back. What's hard to see is that the circle at the top is around "A" and the arrow just goes all the way down. We ROCKED that sucker. I think there might have been only one other team that did as well so we were psyched.

So after that class ended last Tuesday, my group for Brand Management stayed late to *start* working on our final project / presentation. The presentation was due in class on Thursday. We got a decent start and then quit for the night. The next night, I cooked for the team and they came to my house for dinner and then we were there until 1am working on the project and deciding how to get it all finished before class the next day.

First up, food. I got to braise something! I was dying to do this... I made braised short ribs in my dutch oven. The recipe is way too complicated to post (sorry Melissa!) but it was from Dorie Greenspan's "Around My French Table" and it was delicious.

Because you can't have beef without a good starch, I whipped up a batch of potato gnocchi. I've been hit and miss with these - it's hard to get them perfect. But this time I tried the instructions from Cooks Illustrated and then made a brown butter gorgonzola sauce to go with them and they were pretty fabulous.

Basically, you bake 2 pounds of potatoes for about an hour and then peel them while they're still hot (a silicon holder helps a lot). Put them through a ricer into a bowl and let them sit about 15 minutes to cool down. Throw in a teaspoon of kosher salt and about 1 1/4C of flour and knead it together. You want to keep adding flour a little at a time until the dough isn't sticky. Then you just roll it out in about 3/4" ropes and chop them into pieces about 1" long (I just use a pastry scraper to chop mine.) Cook them in *near* boiling water until they float (a rolling boil can make them float before they're ready - good tip!) and then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and finish them in the sauce. The sauce... melt about 2 tbsp of butter in your pan and let it brown - make sure you don't burn it. Then crumble in about 5 oz of a good gorgonzola. I used an Oregonzola that had nice flavor. Stir until the cheese is melted and mixed with the butter. Then I just added enough milk to give it the right consistency. Yum.

I also did one of my favorite things - I usually do some variation of this a few times a week. Just slice up some veggies (parsnips, carrots and asparagus here) and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray it w/ 0 calorie olive oil spray and spread the veggies in a single layer (try to get them about the same thickness). Then spray again with the oil and add a very light sprinkling of kosher salt. Cook on 425 about 25 minutes or so.

And for dessert, I was in the mood for eclairs so I whipped up a batch. This time I used the recipe from the "Flour" bakery cookbook and they were yummy. Again - the recipe is too long to post, but it's a great book if you like baking.

Whew! So that was the food. Then later that night, Brent grabbed my camera off of the counter and caught this very lovely photo of me. I was talking and glanced up and he took the picture. Nice. I think it was around midnight and we were all about to crash. Chad is on the couch and you can see the back of Laura's head. lol.

We managed to get everything pulled together just before class on Thursday and gave a great presentation. The final paper was due yesterday and we finished it up in the morning and then turned it in after class last night. Whew! Two more classes down! We started Global Management last night (which is a tie-in class with our trip) and some of us are starting a Business Judgment elective tomorrow. Laura, Chad and I are all in that one together - should be fun! I'm looking forward to Global Management - last night we formed up teams with people going on our trips and signed up for a country to do a report both before and then after the trip. I'm on a great team with fun people - Chad and three other friends I haven't had a chance to work with yet - Jen, Scott, & Dave. We're doing Greece :)

And that leads me to...

I realized that I never mentioned what had happened with the scheduling on our trip. We were going to Morocco and Egypt before heading to the UAE, but obviously that's out. So instead, we're going to Spain and Greece. I know. Such poor substitutes. lol. I'm super excited! We'll be visiting Madrid and Athens. (And Mel - I promise to have as little fun in possible in Spain without you. I wish you could come!)

So as I mentioned the other day, I signed up for Ali Edwards' Scrapbook on the Road online class. I just finished up assembling the album I'll take with me along with a small tool kit. I'm also going to be taking my Fuji Instax camera and film to get some little instant photos to stick in the book (but my big camera is coming too, of course! I already ordered extra memory cards and another battery. I plan to take a LOT of photos.) So here's an overview of the album. I made mine a lot more colorful and it has a lot of pages in it. Because I'm going for more than 2 weeks and we're visiting 5 countries (and because I know myself... lol), I put in a lot of space for me to write and for photos and memorabilia. I figure I can always take out anything I don't use.

Some pictures of the outside of the book. I made the covers from book board and then painted them. I added the decorations and then sealed the outsides with gel medium for a little protection.

And the inside - part one. I made all of the country dividers from cut down tabbed manilla folders. There are some extra pages and elements between the sections. I can use those for travel details between countries or just move them where I need them. I also did quite a bit of stamping considering how much of this is going to be covered up. But hey. It was fun and I was excited to be doing it!

And part 2... lots and lots of journaling space. I cut down a bunch of plain notebook paper to fit in the book - I did this for my travel journal in China and filled every page and then some and I loved having it. I figure I can also grab hotel stationary on the road and mix it in if I need it. Or even if I don't!

You can see where I just added a bunch of blank pages at the back that I can intersperse or just remove depending on what I need. I also tried all of the different techniques from the class videos and had a blast with this - I'm really glad I decided to take it because I think it helped me make a better album and do it pretty quickly too.

For most of the elements that I stuck in, I adhered them lightly so I can pull them off or move them. I anticipate that this will look nothing like what I'm starting with by the time I come back. But that's the point, I guess! Plus, the trip is 6 credits and we have to do an individual report plus a trip journal for the entire group (we'll take turns writing it) so I figure I'll have a leg up by doing this :)

It was super fun to put this together... now I'm all ready to go! Too bad it's still a month away. Maybe I got working on this too soon? lol. I'm glad to have it done and ready, though. When I get ready I'll pull my little tool kit together and just stick it in my carry-on.  Plus, it just feels good to do some scrapbooking again. :)

Time is flying by!

I can't believe how quickly time is moving. I'm still shocked that we're almost half-way through March! Things have been busy as usual... school, work, cooking, watching Colorado lose a lot of hockey games... keeping up with kickboxing on the weekends. It's mostly lots of fun, although work has been busy and stressful lately so the kickboxing has been coming in handy - it's like a session of Saturday morning therapy :)

Last weekend, I had been having a rough week so I planned a cooking & baking weekend to kick back and relax. First up: Friday night I made up a new cookie recipe. I need to get the recipe out and post it, but I'm calling them "kitchen sink cookies" since I just threw a bunch of stuff I liked in them. They turned out so good that I'm definitely going to make them again.

These are made with bread and cake flour instead of regular and I subbed in quick cook oats for part of the flour. Then I threw in a bunch of coconut, a big handful of rough chopped pretzels, a smashed up graham cracker, and a handful each of cherry, white chocolate, milk chocolate and butterscotch chips. You could just kick back with a bowl of dough and a spoon and be perfectly happy, and the cookies were so good... keeping myself from eating more than one at a time was almost impossible.

Next, I decided that I wanted to make bolognese from scratch so I settled in to do that on Saturday afternoon. I found a bunch of different recipes that had things I liked about them, but the one I liked best was Anne Burrell's - plus it had a 5 star review with over 400 reviewers. How could it be bad? I'll admit I made a few changes... I cut back on the oil, used an alcholol free Merlot (quite nice, actually) and also added some mushrooms, fresh rosemary and parsley and for a little extra depth of flavor, cinnamon. I babied the sauce for about 5 hours and I have to say, it was divine.

While I was waiting for the sauce to cook, I made a quick batch of homemade baguettes (recipe from my Modern Mediterranean cookbook, which I'm really enjoying). They were perfect... golden and crispy on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle. I sliced off a few pieces and added a little goat cheese and some fig spread and just munched and savored while I stirred my sauce. It made for such a lovely, relaxing and delicious afternoon.

After the sauce had finally simmered and reduced long enough, I put it in the fridge for the night. The next day after church, I pulled out the extruder attachment for my Kitchen Aid (which I absolutely LOVE - it's super fun to use) and made a good sized batch of homemade rigatoni. I think pasta is actually really easy to make, and using the extruder is even easier and faster than rolling it out.

Then, like a good little cook, I pulled out the bolognese and got it heated back up and then finished my pasta in the sauce. One more round of adding liquid and reducing and then I finished it with a little good olive oil and some fresh parmiggiano reggiano. Yum, yum, yum.

Served with some roasted asparagus and fresh bread...

It made a lot and it's fantastic. I'm loving the leftovers, and I have some in the freezer too. A serving of the pasta and sauce is about 9 points+ on Weight Watchers. Not too shabby!

Then the week went by in a blur. Lots going on with school and work, super busy all the time and it was Friday again before I had even blinked, it seemed! So last night I went to the EMBA Honored Alumni Banquet over at the Marriott School. There were some people from previous classes, a few from our class and professors, deans, even a few students from the upcoming class. We also honored one of our professors, Burke Jackson, and that was really sweet - he's such an awesome teacher. I hung out and mingled for a while before dinner and then ended up at a table near the front with Chad, Steve and Joe from our class plus Steve's friend and Joe's wife, with another couple from a previous class. We had Todd Budge speak to us about ethics and he tied it in with the 23rd Psalm which was really quite enjoyable - fantastic message. Then they had the awards and acceptance speeches - Professor Jackson's was really touching and funny all at once; I'm lucky to have had the chance to take classes from him. The food was pretty good too... all in all a great night!

Tonight we had another dinner planned with friends - we were going up to a restaurant I had read about in downtown Salt Lake - Bambara Restaurant in the Hotel Monaco. It was shaping up to be one of our biggest groups to date and then in the end, there were only 4 of us! Darren and Mindy's daughter was in a cheer competition and advanced to finals that night so they ended up having to stay for that... then four other people dropped out as well, so it was just me, Chad, Brent and his wife Maggie. But we still had a great time and the rest of them totally missed out. The food was fantastic and we just chatted and joked around all evening. I got a few pictures during dessert.

Brent and Maggie:

One of Chad and I where you can see the gorgeous desserts (I had a pear tartelette with honey ice cream and a caramel sauce, Chad had a really fantastic walnut cheesecake):

And another one after I told Chad I needed a picture where he looked like he was actually having a good time. lol.

Sigh. Good enough.

The food was definitely worth the drive so I'm glad we still went. I had the roasted chicken with brussel sprouts and camembert bread pudding (can you say yum?) in a really fantastic sauce. Chad got a pork porterhouse on cheddar polenta that was really delicious, and Maggie got some really tender, falling off the bone lamb. Brent got diver scallops and I refrained from tasting. lol.

Whew. Now I still have a headache from all the laughing tonight and I still need to get to work on my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. Nothing like procrastination! Off to grab some Excedrin and get to work.

A little Linkin Park love

I love me some Linkin Park... they always put on such a fantastic show!  I met Steph and Rae on Friday night for a little yummy food at the Gateway before the show.  We went to Happy Sumo where I ordered a salad and watched Steph and Rae enjoy sushi... lol.  But after dinner, we went to Kodiak Cakes Bear Country Cookies which I noticed on the way in because of the big "warm cookies" sign in their window.  Sigh. I really could have done without knowing that place was there because wow were those some delicious cookies.  I actually still have some of what I bought tucked away in my kitchen but it's taking all my self-restraint to keep from eating them all at once.  After cookies, Rae headed home and Steph and I walked over to Energy Solutions Arena for the show. 

Prodigy opened and the music itself was pretty good - nice sound which is unusual for an opening act - at least in the shows I've been to.  The stage show... well, they didn't quite understand how to adapt to their Utah audience and as I mentioned to Steph after they got off, I'm pretty sure I saw some of their dance moves in the Breakin' movies back in the early 80's.  Linkin Park, on the other hand, was completely awesome, as usual.  We both texted in our code to get a free download of the concert (waiting for it to be available) and really enjoyed it - the live version of "When They Come for Me" was ridiculous.  I was a bit bummed that they didn't do "Wretches and Kings," but they did my other favorites from the new album and most of the best songs from their other albums. 

A few pics from my phone (hoping Steph got better ones on her little camera.)

Whew!  Anyway, it was a blast, and thanks to Steph for coming with me!  I had tons of fun.

And to follow that, what better than great food?  I was recently chided for not posting recipes with all of my food pictures, so I'm including the recipe here.  lol.  (The exact quote was that it's "criminal" that I don't post recipes to go with the yummy pictures.  lol. too funny.) This weekend I tried my first recipe from my Modern Mediterranean Cooking cookbook and it was fabulous... my first attempt at a risotto.

This is a Pumpkin, lemon and parmesan risotto (although the lemon is subtle).  You take 4 cups of chicken broth and bring it to a boil and then throw in a good pinch of saffron and reduce the heat to keep the broth warm.  Then, in a nice big pan (I use a 6 qt chef's pan), saute one finely chopped onion and 1-2 cloves of minced garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil plus 1 tbsp butter.  Make sure you don't burn it, but you want a nice golden color.  Once you get that, add in 2 pounds of diced fresh pumpkin and 2 cups of arborio rice (I used a combination of fairytale squash or cinderella pumpkin and acorn squash because that's what I had on hand.  You can also use butternut - it's all good).  You want to cook this and stir constantly for about 3 minutes and then add 3/4C white wine (or in my case, 1/2 cup chicken stock + 1/4c vinegar - no wine on hand) and stir until it's been absorbed.  Then, you stir in 1/2C at a time of your stock that you're keeping warm over about 15-20 minutes.  You want to make sure each 1/2C is totally absorbed before you add the next.  I started tasting and seasoning with S/P at this point.  Once you've added all the stock and the rice is nice and tender, season again with S/P as needed, remove from heat and stir in the zest plus juice of one lemon.  I also added in about 1/2 tsp of fresh chopped rosemary and about 1 1/2oz of fresh grated parmesan (the recipe calls for those as garnish - I prefer them mixed in).  Then serve it up hot with more parm and fresh rosemary on top.  The recipe says it serves 4-6, but I'd say 6-8.  4 gives you ENORMOUS servings.  6 is good sized and works out to 9 points+ on WW.  Dividing it into 8 would give you a nice side dish.

So there you go!  I've got a few more recipes marked in this book to try soon.  I'm thinking of doing a homemade pasta with bolognese sauce and some homemade baguettes this weekend.  We'll see :)

Believe it or not...

I finished Steph's wedding album!  I know, it's a miracle.  I got a lot done this week so I'll actually be able to give it to her tonight.  Now how to figure out how to get it into the concert... lol.

Here are the rest of the layouts:

Whew!  I can't believe I made it.  I was feeling like I had my scrap mojo back this week, but we'll see if I burned myself out again.  lol.  Anyway, off to grab a snack and then get back to work so I can be ready to head off to the concert tonight.  I *heart* Linkin Park!  :D

Two days in a row!

I know... that's just getting crazy.  But don't worry, I'll be back to my usual lackidasical posting in the very near future.  lol.  I was actually able to get a few more layouts done tonight, which was great since I ended up on a conference call with one of my school teams to work on our big project for the semester. (Said project is the current bain of my existance.  I'd much rather work on stuff for my other class!  But c'est la vie, right?)

 

 

Only 9 more to go... think I'll make it by Friday night?  We'll see!

Just a few more random things... I've been really into these funky, cute necklaces on Etsy lately.  Here's one I got recently that I just adore.  Yes, I could easily have made it myself, but I figured I'd support someone else and let her buy all the cabuchons and vintage bits and put the whole thing together.  lol.  This one was from Tamar.

And this one I just found today and splurged on.  I can't wait to get it... (from caughtredhanded).  She hand makes all of the beads - it looks so cool!

I also ordered a new messenger bag / purse to take on my school trip.  My last travel bag bit the dust.  I loved this one - it's durable, has lots of pockets and space and looks awesome with the added bonus that she made it to the dimensions I wanted so I can easily put my camera in it.  She's putting the finishing touches on it tomorrow and then dropping it in the mail.  (From KuhlBags.)

I *heart* Etsy.  I try to stay away unless there's something specific I need, like that bag.  I think you can see why.  lol.  But I like supporting local and/or handmade where I can and it has the added bonus of getting me really unique stuff that no one else has. 

K.  That's it... time to call it quits for the night.

P.S.  Go Avs!  Way to break that 10 game losing streak tonight and actually win one.  lol.  It's all good... I don't have time to watch the playoffs this year anyway :D

P.P.S. My March issue of Cooking Light came today, along with my new Light & Healthy cookbook from America's Test Kitchen (I picked up 2010 at the lower price to see how I like it).  More yummies ahead!  I've already marked several new recipes.  Can't wait to pick the next one to test out.

What happens at Communal...

...stays at Communal.  Except for all the pictures I'm going to share, of course :)  Tonight I met up with a bunch of friends for another of our dinners which we love.  It was so. much. fun.  Seriously.  And the food?  Incredibly delicious.  All in all, a fantastic way to spend the evening.  We went to a fairly new restaurant in Provo that we'd all heard good things about and really wanted to try - Communal (sister restaurant to Pizzaria 712 where I went a few weeks ago).  It definitely doesn't disappoint!  We were thinking we'd love to go back for Saturday brunch sometime.

We had a reservation for their private room (it's a small restaurant) but the party before us was really slow finishing up so we were all hanging out together in the waiting area for like 45 minutes just having a blast (and starving.  lol.)  Then we finally got seated and they brought us out a few platters of their homemade bread and butter.  We told them we'd probably need a few more and they thought we were joking.  We weren't.  lol.  A few photos of the gang before the food:

Darren and Mindy (with Darren refusing to smile because of the new oral hardware.  Whatever.)

Brandon and his friend Shana:

Laura and Maggie:

Maggie and Brent:

Chad and I:

And the whole gang (I especially love Brandon and Shana's pose in the back.  Too funny.):

After this they brought us some fantastic artisan bread that they make in-house.  A little food was all it took for us to start to get a bit punchy.

First, me showing off the Kangen water they serve (they tell you on the menu to ask about it, so we did.  It's a special Japanese filtration system.  It still tasted like water, though.)

(Seeing "freezer" written on my hand, which I did when they brought the bread to remind me to take the bread of of the freezer when I got home, reminds me that I still haven't done it.  lol.)

Exhibit B. 

We were having such a great time and just laughed all night.  There were stories, joking, and some jokes that came out of stories that had us near tears. We didn't take pictures through most of dinner, but I did get these gems before they brought the food.

And then, the food started to arrive.  Laura showing off one of the beautiful salads.

Then the sides and entrees came.  I had a fabulous pork chop with saffron quince sauce.  I also ordered a side of gnocchi with a lemon thyme sauce to share with the table that was simply divine. Everyone ordered different sides and we passed them around to taste:  buttered barley with sweet potatoes, caramalized cauliflower with ham, spaghetti squash with hazelnuts... also a fennel and endive salad with feta and pomegranate arils.  It was all fantastic - I liked the gnocchi best, of course, with the barley coming in second.  I also got to try Chad's pot roast and it was delicious too.  Going back again I think I'd go for the chicken in mole.  Yum.

Then, of course, we all got dessert.  There was a lot of chocolate bread pudding delivered to the table along with a few apple and apricot crisps.  Chad and I both ordered the lemon custard with poppy seed almond cookies which you can see in the nicely modeled photo below:

It was even better than it looks... the little strawberry sauce mixed with the custard (which was like the filling of a really fantastic lemon bar) and those delicious little cookies was fabulous.  And it was nice and light which was a perfect finish.

After we ate, we hung out for a while and just chatted and laughed.  I can't give details (because what happens at Communal really does stay there), but the Cougar Fight Song will never be the same for me again.  lol.  I'm already looking forward to our next dinner!  We'll have to get together soon and pick a date and another awesome restaurant.

I added all the photos from tonight (and as many as I put in the post, there are still more!) in an album with pictures of my EMBA buddies here.

And now, I'm exhausted... and I still need to go take stuff out of the freezer.  lol.  Busy day tomorrow so I'm off to defrost and get ready for bed!

A little bit of yummy.

Just popping in for a quick update... now that I'm back at school, things are super busy again!  Lots of reading, case studies and projects.  Work has been super busy too so all in all, I'm exhausted.  lol.  But I did manage to get out with some friends last night.  The BYU EMBA singles had a monthly dinner at a nearby restaurant; Pizzaria 712.  I'd never been but had heard fantastic things and they were definitely well deserved!  There were just a few of us from our program, plus about 6 people from the daytime MBA program and a few of Brandon's friends and roommates.  It was fun to meet new people and the food was wonderful!

I took a few crappy phone pictures... Brandon (from my program), his friend Christine and Mallory (from the daytime MBA).

Mary (from my program) and her friend Eric (from daytime)

And Melinda and I (Melinda is in my class):

And yes, the food was fantastic.  I didn't order the braised short ribs w/ polenta, but I got to taste a bite and it was heaven on a plate!  I also had a little nibble of Margharita pizza and it was yummy.  I ordered farro with roasted root veggies, escarole and maple vinaigrette and it was really delicious.  I also had some chili spiced brussel sprouts that were fantastic.

That's it... back to your regularly scheduled Thursday!