VACATION COUNTDOWN (as opposed to the final)

Sunday, May 11th, 2008 | General

Ah, sweet and glorious freedom!

I must admit my new abundance of free time has found me escaping into the world of guilty pleasures -yes, watching probably a little too much T.V.

Although, one thing I have been good at is implementing a new workout regime. to lose all the extra Kelly and what is known as the “muffin top”. I gotta shimmy extra creatively to get into my jeans, and everything fits far more snuggly than I’d like. It sucks.
So, in talking about guilty pleasures -my favorite guilty pleasures, indulgences are:

Top Chef - on Bravo. Yes it’s a reality show and yes it has everything to do with food and yes I am a sucker.. but I love, love , love it. My favorite chefs of this season are Stephanie and Richard.

Last Restaurant Standing - on BBC. Yes it’s another reality show and it has everything to do with the restaurant business. I love it. It’s awesome. Couples get an opportunity to operate a restaurant even with no prior restaurant knowledge and compete to win the opportunity to own and operate a restaurant with Raymond Blanc. Here’s the skinny - Nine couples from around the UK are competing for the unique opportunity to go into business with legendary chef and restaurateur, Raymond Blanc. From brothers to husband-and-wife teams, most have only ever cooked at home before. To test their skills, all couples will have to open and run their own restaurants for the very first time.

The violin has had an unfortunate hiatus as my teacher was advised by her doctor to remain on bedrest for the rest of her pregnancy and so now I’m on a break until probably June/ July, which has only enabled my even more laziness in practicing.

I have enjoyed a few fun times with friends. One memorable event was last Thursday I joined a friend and attended a “Portland Wine Meet up Group” gathering at Blackstone American Grill where the event was “Name that Wine”. All the wines were covered and we had to guess the grape, year and even region. So we got to taste 8 wines. 4 white and 4 red. Each paired with food. I enjoyed some amazing grilled asparagus, ahi tuna, cheese, fruit and pizza. It was a lot of fun and would do that again for sure. I learned that this restaurant has a “Frank Sinatra” impersonator that sings the classics every first Wed. of the month. Next month.. I”m dragging Ryan. It sounds like a lot of fun.

After that we swung over to Grolla where I enjoyed a nice Port and we split a creme brulee- divine.

So this week has lots and lots going on.
For work: My colleague and I have to staff a vignette during the Gourmet Wine Cellar event in Chicago at the Field Air Museum. Our flight leaves at 6am Thurs. morning and we need to be ready at the event by 3pm. So, I’ll be catching a cab at 4:30am that morning. We then return Friday late afternoon and I’ll be able to come home and get all ready for our adventure. So it’s going to be a busy 2 days, but it’ll be great.

Then vacation - glorious vacation! YAY. I’m sure Ry will be blogging as allows.