Tag: dining

Black Friday

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I was up at 6 AM this morning after falling asleep almost instantly last night, and sleeping soundly through the night. Doug had to go into work this morning and he left around 6:30 AM. People finally started getting up around 7:30 AM. We had some bagels for breakfast and spent most of the morning just lazing around.

I upgraded my return flights home tomorrow night. I am wait-listed on the flight from Seattle to San Francisco, even though it looks as though there are plenty of first class seats. I am confirmed in first class on the flight from San Francisco to Baltimore. I have a 4 hour layover in San Francisco, and I plan on having a good dinner somewhere in the airport there to kill some of the time. (You know what would be a good idea: movie theaters in airports. I could go and see the new James Bond movie or something to kill the time while I am waiting for my flight.)

Doug is going to try and get off work at 2 PM. Mom and Rachel just went out to get some lunch for us. We are having dinner tonight at about 8 PM at Daniel’s Broiler in Seattle. I am very much looking forward to that meal. For some reason, I’ve felt hungry day.

Mom wants to go shopping and Rachel may want to go too, but I’ve been trying to convince them not to. It would be insane to be at a mall today. You’re liable to end up crying.

Thanksgiving dinner

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We had a great Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, courtesy of Doug and Rachel. Rachel’s sister Theresa and her son Alex were over to have dinner with us as well. We had a turkey, some delicious mashed potatoes, gravy, salad, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, new potatoes and onions. It was all delicious. After dinner, we had a birthday celebration for Ruby, who will turn 3 years old on December 1. We had pumpkin pie and birthday cake, and Ruby got to open some presents.

We also had an iChat video chat with jen_ashlock and jkashlock since they were in New York and couldn’t be here for Thanksgiving.

I am both stuffed and exhausted. I was ready to go to bed at 7 PM (after having gotten up at 1 AM PST this morning)! But it looks like I’ll be off to bed in the next hour or so.

Friday dinner

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I head to Seattle tomorrow to spend the Thanksgiving weekend at Doug and Rachel’s. Doug said we are having Turkey for dinner tomorrow, it being Thanksgiving and all. That isn’t always a given in our family, as we sometimes have non-traditional dinners. Since I head home Saturday evening, that leaves Friday evening for going out to a nice dinner. I suggested Ruth’s Chris in Bellevue.

The last time I was in Seattle, I had one of the best meals I’ve ever had at that Ruth’s Chris. Since then, I’ve been to Ruth’s Chris in Crystal City (recently) and had an outstanding steak. After that steak, I’ve been craving a really good steak, but I haven’t yet found a place that can compare with Ruth’s Chris. So I figured Friday would be a good time to go.

Well, I’m probably the only one who felt that way. Dad isn’t a big Ruth’s Chris fan. And Friday isn’t just Friday, it’s Black Friday and the Malls will be crowded with completely insane shoppers duking it out for bargains. And since the Ruth’s Chris in Bellevue happens to be in a busy mall, parking would be a disaster waiting to happen. Of course, we could always valet park. The fates are conspiring against me so that it looks like I won’t be able to have my Ruth’s Chris steak after all.

As a backup, I’m begin to drum up a craving for spicy Indian food.

Games people play

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I was up at about 7 AM and sat around for about an hour and a half until Norm and Vicky finally got up. Norm made breakfast for all of us, ham, eggs, and toast. The early part of the day was pretty lazy. We did take a ride up to Stony Point to check out the hole in the ground that is Norm and Vicky’s new house. As it turned out, the basement had been poured, something that Norm and Vicky were very excited about. We spend a few minutes wandering around the basement, admiring the handiwork, and taking pictures. It was a little bit muddy, but Norm and Vicky seemed very excited by the whole thing.

Eric and Ryane arrived around 4 PM and a little while later, we all headed out to the Cheesecake Factory at the Palisades Mall for dinner. There, we met some of Norm and Vicky’s friends, Annie and Tom and the seven of us had dinner together. Then it was back to Norm and Vicky’s for game night.

We played three different games at “game night” and Eric bartended (with Norm acting as a backup bartender). First, we played and amusing game called “Apples to Apples”. After several rounds of that game, we played a few hands of “Phase 10”. Finally, after Annie and Tom left, we played “Scattergories”. All three were fun and by the time we were finished playing, both Eric and Norm were pretty drunk. In fact, Norm called Andy and left a hilarious message. He then immediately called Lisa and left a different, but still hilarious, message.

It was after 1 AM when we all finally headed off to bed.

[Posted on 11/13/2006]

Good morning, Riverdale!

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I met AJ and Denisse for dinner last night and we had a nice meal at Ruby Tuesday’s. As it turns out, Karen was meeting her mom there for dinner last night, so AJ and Denisse got to meet her as well. By the time dinner was over, I was pretty tired. AJ and Denisse were heading over to Costco and I headed home. I got home shortly before 10 PM and I went straight to bed.

Which explains why I am wide awake at 7:30 AM on a Saturday.

It’s been cooler out these last several days, but today it’s supposed to get back up into the mid-80s. The plan for today is to try and finish up The Demon-Haunted World. I’d like to start on Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors tomorrow if I can. Maybe a little writing, too, and perhaps a little work on the book database. I also have to do at least one Critters critique by Wednesday.

Tomorrow is my last Orioles game of the 2006 season. It should actually be a good one: O’s vs.the Twins, who are only 1-1/2 games back from the division lead. I invited AJ to go to the game with me.

Tired!

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It’s exactly 8 PM and I’ve been in bed for 10 minutes already. It’s been a long day. Lots of programming at work today. And a related story which I am too tired to relate now but which I will tell you about tomorrow.

After work, I went to dinner with Karen. We went to Crystal City. Can you believe I work one Metro stop from Crystal City and I’ve never been there? We ate at a ribs joint and the food and conversation was really good.

But it meant a very long day. I got home from work at about 7:30 PM and I am beat. I took care of the usual chores, and then climbed into bed. I’m planning on reading more of The Demon-Haunted World, but I’m not sure if I will make it very far. We’ll see.

Free salad!

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I finally had the opportunity to use my “free salad” card at Salad Creations today. It’s like the old Subway Club cards, you get it punched each time you order something and when you have 8 punches you get a free salad. I got the “Hail to Caesar!” salad, as always. Factoring in the Sprite, lunch cost me $1.95 today (which is $1.95 more than usual because usually I pack my lunch).

I’m skipping my workout with Bernard today for the first time. I walked over to the gym at lunch and told him I wanted to rescheduled. At first it was work-related. I thought I was going to work late. Then I decided against that. I just need a day off. I’m still scheduled for 6 AM Thursday morning.

And thanks to Pam for reminding me about House tonight:

I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.
I will not forget to watch House tonight.

The button that used to say “Update” in LJ now reads, “Update Captain’s Log”. Or is it just me?

An afternoon with AJ

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I headed downtown around 1 PM and was out on the Mall by 1:30 PM. It was warmer than I expected out and I had worn jeans instead of shorts, but I survived. I found a bench and sat for an hour reading more of A Canticle for Leibowitz, which I expect to finish tonight or early tomorrow. At 2:30, I headed to the museum to meet AJ.

I met AJ at the Museum of American History, after some confusion about exactly where we were going to meet. By the time we found each other, we were both pretty hungry so we left the museum and headed to Old Ebbitt Grill, which I had heard about but had never managed to get to in the four years that I have been here. It was a cool place, an old style elegance, and the food was good too.

After lunch (which was AJ’s treat), we headed back to the museum to lurk around until closing. In a kind of stark contrast at one point, AJ and I stood in front of a display showcasing Washington, D.C. in 1900, while talking about the benefits of LCD vs. plasma flat panel televisions. We also spent time in front of a huge map of New York city in the 1920s with AJ asking all kinds of questions about the city, and me providing the answers

AJ: Where does the name “the Bronx” come from?

Me: From Jonas Bronck, who has a farm up in that part of the region back when New York City was still a Dutch colony. People would go and visit, “the Broncks”, which evolved into the Bronx.

AJ: Why do they call New York City “Gotham”?

Me: Gotham is derived from a Dutch word meaning “Goat Town”

Before we knew it, the museum was closing. It’s doors will now be closed until the summer of 2008, which seems like a long way off, but with the speed with which time seems to pass, it also right around the corner.

We walked into Georgetown and headed for Haagen Daas, where AJ obtained for us Belgian chocolate shakes (again, his treat!) and where we sat for quite some time talking about all manner of things. It wasn’t until 9 PM that we left and made our way back to Foggy Bottom so that I could catch a train home.

I was back home at 10 PM.

Blues, Booze, & BBQ (not quite in that order)

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The day was supposed to start out with Jason and I going for a run in Central Park, but that didn’t happen. We were up a little late, and I had to meet strausmouse and rmstraus and their friends at 11:30 AM. So instead, we ran out for some bagels and cream cheese. While walking to the bagel place, I showed Jason how to use the handheld GPS which he and Jen and my Mom will be using next week when they drive from Boston to New Hampshire.

I met Eric and Ryane, and their friends Lena and Anthony outside their place on 95th. We then hopped on the 4 train to Yankee stadium. We had bleacher seats; I’d never sat in the bleachers at Yankee stadium before and I was surprised that the view was still good. I made the mistake of wearing a black shirt, however, and it was hot out there! We were in left-center and had a good view of the game. The bleachers are alcohol-free at Yankee stadium, but that didn’t prevent the people who sat around us from passing around bottles of this and that to pour into their drinks. (They had all come down to the stadium on a bus and at least one of their members was very drunk and in a pissy mood.) On the otherhand, they were all Yankees fans. And as it turned out, the Yankees won the game 5-2. All 5 of their runs were scored off 2 home runs in the second inning. We headed back after the game and decided to meet up later for dinner.

In the meantime, Jason and I headed to Central Park to get some exercise. We tossed around a baseball for a while, and were asked to play in a pickup game of softball that was forming, but we didn’t have enough time to commit to the game. We did manage to get in a good workout, however.

We all met for dinner at Brother Jimmy’s on 92nd and 3rd at around 7 PM. For the second night in a row, we ate at a place where everyone was ordering big hunks of beef (I had the ribs!). When it came Jason’s turn to order, I believe he got the catfish. But he held his ground and survived the peer-pressure of those (myself included) encouraging him to eat meat.

After dinner, we walked over to Mustang and somehow, Anthony managed to get us into the back room, where we had comfortable chairs and couches mostly to ourselves. We Eric and Anthony each ordered a flight of tequila for themselves. Jason and I shared a flight. They were sipping theirs but I couldn’t seem to get the hang of sipping. It all just seemed to go down, no matter how small a sip I tried to take. Once again, however, I limited myself to 2 shots. We spent a relaxing evening in that back room and finally headed back home sometime around midnight.

A near perfect weather day

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Sunday turned out to be a nearly perfect weather day in NYC. It was overcast for much of the day, but the humidity was gone and the high temperature did not make it out of the 70s, so that the air had a pleasant coolness to it.

We started our day at a nearby breakfast place, where Jason tried the Irish breakfast, which we later found out contained, among other things, pigs blood. (I went for the Lumberjack, which had eggs, potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, and three really well-done [in the coooking-sense] pancakes. I also had freshly squeezed apple juice, which is quite a bit different from what you get in the store.)

After breakfast, we walked over to Central Park and took a leisurely walk around the reservoir. The weather was perfect and the walk was great! It was just what I needed after 2 days of having a cold. (I felt much better this morning.) I took a couple of pictures while at the reservoir and will post them as soon as I get home. They show a pleasant contrast between the city and the park.

We spent the early part of the afternoon lazing around, and finally, at about 3 PM, we headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to meet my Aunt Judy and Uncle Joey, and a friend of theirs. We spent about an hour at the Met, and the most interesting things I saw were some Egyptian artifacts that I recall from my recent reading of the Egyptian civilization in Our Oriental Heritage. After the museum, we moseyed on over to 3rd Avenue where we found bar, sat outside, and listened to Aunt Judy tell us stories about Dad growing up.

For dinner, Jen, Jason and I went to Jackson Hole, around the corner from them on 2nd Avenue. I got the traditional grilled cheese, fries and chocolate shake. For dessert, I got a banana split. Yes, I was feeling much, much better. While, there, we entertained ourselves by picking out the most embarassing songs on the jukebox at our table and playing them for the entire restaurant to hear. (“Puff the Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul and Mary, etc.)

All-in-all, I think we had a really nice day.

Saturday afternoon in Georgetown

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I headed down to Foggy Bottom to meet AJ and Denisse at their place. Their A/C is not working so we did not stay there long. We headed to News Cafe for a late lunch. Somehow, we managed to wrangle the private room in the back. The food was good and so was the company. In addition to AJ and Denisse, a couple of their friends joined us, one from England, the other from Germany.

After lunch, we got some ice cream and then headed down to the waterfront, where we relaxed in the shade for an hour or two. Everyone wanted to go out for a drink, and we walked around Georgetown trying to find a suitable place. When we finally found a place, it was already 10 PM and I was done for the evening. I excused myself and headed back to the metro station and then back home. I was home by about 11:30 PM.

It was good seeing AJ and Denisse. AJ is going to go to the Oriole’s game with me tomorrow, so I’ll see him again soon.

Pizzahut online

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I was feeling lazy tonight. I figured I’d order a pizza and I went to Pizzahut’s website to look up the phone number. I noticed that they now allow you to order online. You don’t even have to call. I figured I’d give it a shot. I placed my order. I got a confirmation saying the pizza would be delivered at 6:08 PM. At 6:10 PM, the pizza was here. And everything on the order was correct. I was even able to use a coupon. Pretty cool!