I spent Thanksgiving in Seattle with friends rather than in New York with family, but it was nice none the less. I made a couple ducks instead of a turkey, which went over well, and there was plenty of food to go ’round. Thanks to Andy & Ying for hosting.
I played in a frisbee tournament yesterday and had a blast. It was a hat tourney – you sign up on your own and they put together somewhat random teams. I ended up on a team with a guy from the champion US men’s team, a woman from the champion US women’s team, and a guy who’d represented the US at Junior World’s. Though we won in the finals, it was only by a point, and we had stiff competition the whole day – says a lot about the ultimate scene in Seattle!
posted November 28, 2005 – 9:27 pm
I’m heading back to Seattle tomorrow morning, having really enjoyed my time in the Bay Area.
Highlights include cooking a feast with Laura (the fusilli carbonara with fresh herbs and bay leaf creme brulee from The Herb Farm Cookbook were excellent), the fourth Harry Potter movie, a great bike ride into the Oakland hills, dinner at Kirala, and a visit to the San Francisco MoMA.
posted November 21, 2005 – 10:44 pm
I’m off to San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley today for the weekend – a last-minute mini-vacation before I start work after Thanksgiving. Thanks to Alaska Air for the $120 round-trip ticket.
posted November 17, 2005 – 9:09 am
A friend and I ate at Crave this week. In contrast to some reports I’d read, we found the service to be excellent, and agreed with other reviewers that the food was spot on. We enjoyed a dish of mussels cooked in coconut milk & spices to start, and I had a braised lamb shank for dinner. They claimed it was in some sort of molé sauce, and though I couldn’t taste the chocolate or chiles, I found it very tasty none the less. It came with a great polenta cake – soft on the inside and fried crispy on the outside. Yum. The atmosphere is relatively casual for such upscale food, but I think that it’s successful – it doesn’t feel pretentious, but they don’t hurry you out, either. They’re often busy, but they do take reservations.
I also made it out to the ballet this week, and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The few modern dance pieces they snuck in didn’t do much for me, but I really liked the more classical ballet choreography. Not sure if I’m ready for a full-length ballet (this was a bunch of different pieces rather than a story like the Nutcracker or Sleeping Beauty), but I’d like to go back sometime.
Frisbee finished up this weekend, but unlike past winters, I’ve still got a sport to keep me in shape during the off-season: I’ve been playing a lot of soccer recently. There’s an architecture crowd that has a pickup game twice a week and it’s just about perfect for me – it’s a reasonably athletic crew, but it’s not too serious a game. It’s been about 15 years since I played even semi-organized soccer, and I’m glad to say I’ve gotten a bit better since then.
posted November 13, 2005 – 11:47 am
I had a good trip back to Boston this weekend, albeit a brief one. I flew in Friday, left Saturday morning for the wedding in Western Mass., and flew back on Monday afternoon. Unexpectedly, it was 65 and sunny on Saturday afternoon, so they had the ceremony outdoors. In November! In the Berkshires! With the leaves turned and the sun setting in the background, it was spectacular. Also impressive was the band at the reception – Booty Vortex. They’re a twelve person disco/funk/soul band and they could wail. Check ’em out if they’re playing near you.
I tend not to write much about work, but since it definitely falls under the heading of “What’s new and exciting in my life,” I’ll share the news: I got an excellent job recently in Seattle, working for a product development company. I’m starting after Thanksgiving and taking a little time off between that and the construction work I’ve been doing. Hooray for being (mostly) settled and not being outside framing houses during the rainy season in the Northwest!
I spent the afternoon checking boxes and choosing colors to customize my new bag from r.e.load. I’ll be sure to post pics in three to four weeks when I pick it up.
posted November 10, 2005 – 5:19 pm