Happy Birthday to Me!

at Lombardino's

For my birthday, I went out for Indian at the Taj with Crystal and Jason, had dinner at Lombardino's with Jim and Mike, and had a swanky deluxe pedicare at AniU Salon and Spa (thanks, Laura!). I completely indulged myself at the Taj, and ordered the orechiette with Fraboni's sausage and rapini, and I must say that the pedicure has been the longest lasting one I've ever had.

My pedicure

Laura's pedicure

Partying like it's 2012

Just a few shots from my 35th birthday extravaganza in September, which included a picnic by the lake, dinner at Umami, shopping at reThreads west and dinner at Eno Vino, and dinner and La Brioche cake at A. + H.'s house. Oh, and the boy bought me my very own bocce ball set. I can't wait to try them out. Woot!

B.'s tutu transformed me into a birthday nymph

Delicious cake from La Brioche

Crazy Birthday Hats

On the Friday of my birthday (in late September), Jason and I went to the Blue Marlin for dinner. He started with the Thai curried crab soup with lemongrass, which he thought had the perfect balance of rich coconut milk and spicy kick. The rockfish special was buttery and yummy.

Dinner at the Blue Marlin

I started with a salad and had the eponymous blue marlin with roasted red pepper risotto, anchovy croutons, and braised chard. The marlin was a bit too dense and somewhat lacking in flavor, but it was moist. It might be that marlin just isn't my favorite fish. I'd love to go back and try something else.They do need to improve their coffee, though; it was pretty bad.

The waitress was attentive and friendly, but not to the point where she was constantly hovering. And I like the intimate atmosphere with low lighting. It made for a special dinner.

Opening presents! The sexy red dress loses something when paired with an afghan, a shawl, and slippers. :)

On Saturday, a group of us went to Nick's for dinner and then onto the Ivory Room for some piano bar wackiness.

I love JD's eyes in this pic. He looks very surprised.

The next week, Abby, Heath, Brenna, Jim, Mike, and I had pizza and salad, followed by a decadent apricot cake with hazelnut buttercream frosting from La Brioche. That cake was so massive that it was shared multiple times with several different people. We had slivers before the Richard Thompson concert at the Stoughton Opera House, and I took it to work, too.

Canning Tomatoes

Several weeks ago, Jason and Crystal kindly invite me to their house to can tomatoes. I am now the proud owner of seven quarts of tomatoes. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to make dill pickles, but Jason generously shared six pints that he made later. (They were also sweet enough to bestow kale, potatoes, pears, and peppers on me; for awhile, I was absolutely swimming in produce.) We ended the evening with a marvelous eggplant Parmesan for dinner. Thanks to the Daleys for re-introducing me to canning--I hadn't done it since childhood--and recommending Ball's Blue Book Guide to Preserving. (Jason L. got me a copy for my birthday, so now I'm ready to preserve at the least provocation. ;))

Heating the tomatoes to loosen the skins

 

The tomatoes are plunged into an ice bath after being heated to faciliate removing the skins

Mr. Daley preventing air bubbles

The ebot monitoring the processing

The finished tomatoes put up in my cupboards

A couch! A couch! My kingdom for a couch!

Just a quick note before I go to bed. I need to get back into the groove of writing regularly here. This week has been a bit of a whirlwind. Last Saturday morning, Mike was nice enough to help me pick up and move a Crate and Barrel couch that I was purchasing from a couple through Craigslist. When we tried to move it into the apartment, we discovered that my stature put us at a unique disadvantage for maneuvering the piece into the house (it entailed either lifting the whole thing about a foot over my head to hoist it over a balcony or creative twisting and turning to accommodate narrow doorways). Luckily for me, other tallish friends left the football game early because they were broiling in the hot sun, so they finished the job. So now when y'all come over, you won't have to feel like you're perching on uncomfortable parlor chairs circa 1902.

Work is v. busy as we prepare for an upcoming conference. And I subbed for three different yoga classes this past week, so on Monday and Tuesday, I didn't get home until 8pm. Dexter says he's beginning to forget what I look like. (He's sitting next to me, silently pleading for a lick from my ramekin of java chip ice cream.)

However, I did manage to go to dinner with Jim and Jason at the Weary on Wednesday. As usual, I had the west of the Andes sandwich on tuna (http://bit.ly/9bbmpD). Mmm. Pico de gallo and chipotle mayonnaise on a marvelous tuna steak with a generous swathe of avocado: It just doesn't get any better than that. Jim and Jason both had the Hungarian goulash

Last month, a bunch of us saw Wicked at the Overture. I enjoyed it, although the experience was somewhat tempered by a major case of vertigo. Also, I wish I could've been closer to really see the costumes and appreciate the choreography.

Beforehand, we went to Fresco, the rooftop restaurant about the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, for dinner. And that was phenomenal. I had the chicken Fresco, which was yummy. But I think my favorite part of the meal was dessert. Abby B. suggested (well, it was more of a directive ;)) we order the buttermilk beignets. Masquerading as simple round donuts, they are equipped with a milk chocolate center and vanilla creme anglaise. Thanks, Ms. A., for introducing me to the beignet!  

Last month was also my birthday, and my favorite birthday wish came from Ms. Lisa. With music from Bizet's Carmen playing in the background, her electronic card read: "Celebrate like a gypsy slut." Hilarious. Cracked me up. (Yeah, yeah. I know: The correct term is Roma, but it was still pretty damn funny.)