Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 8

As I started my 12 Days of Random Thoughts, I believed I had lots of bizarre ideas and opinions, but as I struggle with the last 6 days, I realize I might not think enough. So I guess one of my resolutions for 2010 will be to think more. But in the mean time, I am hungry. I just ate my Fruit Loops and yogurt, but I really want a waffle. Too bad, no one at work has one for me! So anyways that got me thinking about my favorite restaurants so here is My Top 10 List (like David Letterman):

10) Chimaya (Huntington Beach) - Wendy, Mike and I spent a good part of a year there drinking mango martinis, sitting around the fire pit on the beach and eating chips and guacamole. I recently came across a picture of me there as I was loading our new Digital Frame Christmas present and while I had bad hair, I looked skinny, had good skin and seemed happy.

9) Luna Park (L.A.) - Dr. Pepper martinis with Dr. Pepper jelly bellies, need I say more? Fay and I were full of candy when we were done but it kicked off a fun weekend adventure in California that included San Juan Capistrano!

8) Chop House (Ann Arbor) - Wendy, Tom S, Trudi and I spent a very fun-filled evening here discussing the publication and marketing of Tom's book Managed Murders. I felt very grown-up and smart as we discussed book signings, interviews, launch parties and such. To this day, the only book that I know of where I am in the acknowledgement section.

7) L.A. Farm and Whist (Santa Monica)- Again more Michelle and Wendy adventures where we made friends with the chef, were late to our reservations yet again because of traffic but had the best salmon and steak of our lives!

6) Spice Kitchen (NYC) - Besides being a celebrity hot spot, it represented a fun weekend of sightseeing and the Fancy Food Show with Tom. After a yummy dinner with Tom, Liz and The Jose, it was off to see the Broadway play "Curtains" and then champagne at the Marriott Millennium. A true New York experience!

5) The Stinking Rose (San Francisco) - A whole restaurant where every entree (and desserts) include garlic! A stinky but yummo dining experience during a fun trip to a great city that included a Ghost Walking Tour!

4) Auberge du Soleil (Napa Valley) and Yavapi Restaurant (Sedona) - The views were spectacular - vineyards at the first place and the red rock mountains at the second one. It doesn't matter who you are with, if you are a nature lover or not, you can not help but be impressed with these restaurants. Just don't eat my jicama like the waiter at Yavapi did. I don't care that I think it is gross, don't touch my plate! French Laundry, here I come!

3) Palio (Ann Arbor) - our favorite Italian restaurant in town. The mushroom crostini (or as Scott calls it, the fungi) is to die for, the pesto is delicious and they have the great birthday special that I love so much. They make me feel like I am in Naples (I'll let you know if my feeling is accurate once I actually visit Naples).

2) Rosa Mexicano (Washington D.C.) and some hole in the wall Mexican restaurant (Albuquerque) - both adventures with Helen. The first involved 2 extra subway rides and about 2 miles of walking in 95 degree heat because we were in the wrong quadrant of the blasted city. The second involved a strip mall restaurant recommended my a friend that had mouth watering quesadillas, crazy patrons that were sharing their dinners with us at the bar and way too much sangria!

1) Real Seafood (Ann Arb0r) - the best crab legs on the planet and Tom and my engagement dinner (only I did not know it - I thought it was just a birthday dinner!) Over the years, I have been there with so many friends and family, it seems like an extension of our dining room (though a much better one). My mouth is watering now!

This blog did not help with me being hungry but it did bring back memories of good times, good friends and fun travels. OK, off to find some toast!

Craziness in Cali

Wendy and I spent the majority of 2002 and 2003 in California (if you could not tell from previous posts). While there, we developed a routine -- we got coffee every day from It's a Grind, we ate fish tacos and grilled zucchini at California Fish Grill. We got our beauty treatments at Lucky Nails, drank martini's at Mike's house and Chimayo's and ate Thai at Sweetee Thai. We were locals -- we gave people directions, we were on a first name basis with the hotel staff and we had frequent shopper cards for Albertson's. We also became really good friends with some of our clients, specifically Bernadette and her family.

Bernadette is a force to be reckoned with. She is awesome and Wendy and I spent hours curled up on her couch watching TV, hanging out with her, her 2 daughters and her husband. One of our first times over at their house, we decided to play pool. All was fine until Wendy launched a ball off the table, it hit the newly painted wall and dropped to the floor. We are lucky that we were invited back to their incredibly nice Orange County house.

Bernadette was also so sweet when we were away from our families on our birthdays and such. For my 30th birthday, we off to Fashion Island in Newport Beach for dinner at Cheesecake Factory. In addition, Bernadette took me to the Build-A-Bear Workshop where the 3 of us made Fifi, a pink posh poodle that sings "Happy Birthday Bear, Happy Birthday." From there, Fifi went everywhere with us that week and pictures were taken of Fifi in the car, flying on the airplane, drinking a soda at Del Taco and Wendy carried her onto the plane in her back back. Who else can say that 3 adults made this crazy bear and they have such good memories of that birthday?

In addition, we drank sake martinis at a yummy Asian restaurant, we drank bottles of wine at family BBQs and we got food poisoning together at Rock Bottom Brewery. Doesn't everyone wish they had clients (and friends) like these?

Spiders!

Wendy and I were in California for work (we spent a lot of time in California if you can not tell) and we were ready start our work week. We spent Sunday night at our hotel and went into the office first thing Monday morning. When I showered Monday morning, I had a bump on my leg about the size of a time. Thinking I had a mosquito bite, I thought nothing of it. As work continued, I started feeling feverish, sick and my leg was throbbing. As the day progressed the bump on my leg grew to the size of a saucer and I was having trouble walking. Houston, we have a problem. We marked the edges of the bump and checked it every hour to see if it was growing. I was the circus attraction of the day for both Wendy and the client!

After hoping it would stop getting bigger, I realized at about 11 pm that night that I had better go to the hospital. Let me tell you, Long Beach ER waiting rooms are scary. After waiting about 3 hours and being bumped down the queue for the gun shot and stab victims, it was finally my turn. I had been bit my a brown recluse spider at the hotel. Are you kidding????????? These are hard core spiders. So then it was off to a 24-hour pharmacy (again in Long Beach) to try to get my 10 days of antibiotics while trying to understand the pharmacist that did not speak English. Returning to our hotel at about 3:30 a.m., now came the task of moving to another room ASAP!

After approaching the front desk manager, looking pathetic with my hospital bracelet on, I demanded a new room. Wendy, 2 hotel workers and I packed up my stuff and moved it to a different floor! The rest of the week passed in a drug-induced blur - fever, nausea, and sickness that even Mike's apple martinis could not fix. I was so out of it, I actually did not go out that week - that proves that I was truly sick! As I returned home to deal with the medical bills, HR told me this was the strangest case of workman's comp that they had ever seen!