The Olympic Games is a time when the world can come together despite most of what’s going on between all the countries. It’s a chance to focus on human accomplishment and the motivational stories behind the athletes. It’s a time when we connect, whether we understand the languages, the sports, or the cultures of others. People from all around the world unite to support their nations and marvel at the capabilities of the participants. I personally love to see what buildings each city designed specifically for the event. I’m pretty sure there’s something for everyone with these games, whether you like exciting races or beautiful performances. Hopefully this year’s games go smoothly and everyone stays safe. I can’t wait to see the opening ceremony! Those are always great. 🙂
Posts Tagged ‘events’
365great Day 329: Olympics
Festa di Carrabba First Tastes
Woo hoo, it’s time for another Carrabbas First Tastes event! This time they’re celebrating the new year with this tasting menu. It’s offered as a three-course meal with appetizer, entree, and dessert. We got to try all six possible entrees!!
This time I showed up a little late and found Panda sitting with a mother and daughter pair. They were super friendly and we had a grand old time chatting it up as we enjoyed course after course and drink after drink.
First up was the arancini appetizer, breaded and fried balls of risotto, sausage, bell peppers, and romano cheese with marinara sauce. I like the crispy shell and soft interior of this one, with a blend of savory flavors. It kind of reminded me of a small (Italian) version of the fried balls from Seoul Sausage.
The first of the entrees was the parmesan-crusted chicken, sauteed and covered in breadcrumbs. A grilled lemon offered a wonderful zest to the taste and I enjoyed the rich flavor of this one. The meat was not super succulent but it wasn’t too dry either.
Then we tried the potato-crusted haddock, which looked like hash browns at first. It was topped with a creamy mustard sauce and fresh diced tomatoes (mine happened to be missing that bit). I can’t say I’ve ever had fish and potatoes together, so this was an interesting combo. I liked the texture, but it didn’t have much flavor and I’m not sure the mustard sauce was fitting. I still gobbled it up though! I like how it feels lighter than a pasta dish.
I was looking forward to trying the champagne shrimp & scallop linguine because I love shrimp, scallops, and mushrooms. It’s a solid dish that I would try if I ever felt like a creamy pasta. I kind of like how the cream gathered at the bottom so you could get as much or as little as you like, to taste. Don’t know if that was intentional.
The grilled tuscan skewers came a little out of order, but that’s ok! A normal skewer would have six of these, I believe. I liked the combination of the tomato, red onion, and grilled sirloin. Great complement of flavors!
Mmmm, probably my favorite dish of the night (not counting dessert). The “forever braised” beef brasato was wonderfully tender and worked really well with the risotto. It’s rich and filling. I loved it even though I usually don’t care for beef!
The last entree of the night was the lobster mac & cheese. I thought the corkscrew pasta was perfect and they were quite generous with the lobster portions. You won’t need to dig around wondering where/if the lobster is there! I’m not a lobster person and this one was creamier than I’m used to, so it was decent for me. Perfect for lobster lovers though.
Throughout the meal, Panda took notes as feedback for the restaurant. At the end, the proprietor collected the feedback to review. I guess I should have written something down!
Finally, we ended the meal with a wooonderful sogno di cioccolata dessert. The brownie portion was amazingly dense in just the right way and the chocolate mousse and sauce added to the rich taste. We all devoured our pieces. What a meal!
365great Day 289: reunions
Ok, I’m going to break a cardinal rule of mine and post a picture of others (I usually choose ones where you can’t tell who they are or I don’t post them at all – sorry PBs! Hope you don’t mind). I just got back from a mini reunion with my pledge bros for AKPsi and I wanted to share that. While it was only about a third of our class getting together, it was nice to at least see some familiar faces again after all this time. It’s been years since I’ve caught up with many of them and I feel so out of touch with their lives! Here we are 7 years later and so much has changed, yet they pretty much all look the same to me. That’s good, right? It’s nice to be able to reconnect with them briefly and revisit old memories. Oddly enough, we ended up eating at a place with great meaning for us completely unintentionally. What an appropriate setting for us to get together again. It’s great to see how they’re doing in their lives now and I hope to have more reunions for all those friends I’ve lost touch with.
Fun festivities!
Today was a chill day, with a couple of wonderful moments. Panda and I ran some errands and got a chance to swing by the condo so I could take some pictures while it’s still relatively empty. It’s still so weird to think this brand new place is ours. We then went off to the gift-wrapping event that the rental office was throwing at the clubhouse. Turned out to be quite a nice event! And I spent the day reading Fifty Shades Darker, which I just finished. I finally caved into the whole Fifty Shades of Grey hype and it’s been a nice distraction from real life. More on my thoughts when I finish the last of the trilogy. For now, here’s a peek at my surprisingly amusing day.
We arrive at the event and check in. They have a nice tree set up!
It’s nice and festive everywhere you look.
All sorts of gift-wrapping items were strewn all over the place and catering from Carrabbas kept us full as holiday shows like Elf played on TV.
Panda wrapped up a gift for my cousin and I found the boy in the back to be hilarious.
On our way out, we helped them clear some of the Carrabbas. I laughed hysterically as one of the guys looked at our dashboard inquisitively. Oh what fun!
The dash, my lap, and the passenger floor were taken up by all our plates and stuff so Panda had to drive with my newly delivered packages on his lap!
Canvas Christmas
It was holiday party time at our office today! We did a white elephant and then hung out at a place with pool, shuffleboard, foosball, darts, and other such games.
White elephant time!
The most creative gift of the bunch.
I ended up getting a Lez Zeppelin t-shirt… apparently some women sing Led Zeppelin songs.
And the rest of the night was spent drinking, eating, gaming, and chatting.
365great Day 245: photography
My photo-taking has mostly been about documenting things going on in life, but I really admire those who get really cool shots. There’s so much you can fiddle around with when it comes to taking a picture – brightness, focus, coloring… and then of course is your subject matter, ranging from people to landscapes. It’s so cool how creative you can get with this stuff and I wish I had a better eye for the more artistic shots. I love perusing event photography because you’ll usually find a nice variety of content. There’s the shots that focus on a random detail, like someone’s shoes. There’s the shots that capture a funky angle or perspective. There’s the sweeping view shots and the macro shots and (my favorite) the ones capturing a moment. Each tells their own story and together they share the beauty of time spent together enjoying the company of others. Sometimes the content is compelling, sometimes it’s silly, but always there is a story to be shared. Photography is a great way to capture memories that can be shared and relived indefinitely.
Carrabbas Fire Finished First Tastes
Tonight, Panda and I went to Carrabbas for a special event they were holding. They’ve got their Fire Finished dishes available seasonally and they were offering samplers for free at their Fire Finished First Tastes event for those who signed up. We arrived around 6 and took up spots at the reserved tables set up near the bar. After sipping on drinks for a bit, the food started coming out. First up was the Fire-Roasted Mushrooms with sausage, peppers, fennel, onion, breadcrumbs, artichoke, and cheese:
I enjoyed this dish a lot because I’m a huge fan of stuffed mushrooms. The taste was fabulous and the tomato-y sauce was a great touch. Panda loved it so much he cleared the plate. I’d definitely order this next time we’re here! Then we got the bread to share:
There was something a little bitter about it, but I did like how soft it was. After we chowed down on that, we got the Bistecca Ardente, a USDA sirloin with roasted tomatoes, blue cheese, and basil:
I’m not really into steaks but I did enjoy this taste. It might be the first time I’ve eaten a pinkish sirloin. I like that they topped it with tomatoes. I wouldn’t normally get this, but it was enjoyable. Up next was the Rigatoni Al Forno pasta with sausage and various cheeses:
This was a solid pasta dish, though the cheese was a bit strong for me. I like the sausage and pasta – a pretty classic dish. After that came the Cedar Plank-Fired Salmon with jumbo lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce:
I loved the concept of this dish, though I would have liked to taste the crab a bit more. I think it got a bit overcooked since the pieces are smaller than you’d usually get when you order the dish. I’ve eaten a lot of salmon lately so I need a bit of a break, but this was good and I’d try it again. The last savory dish to come out was the Nonna Testa’s Baked Pasta with penne in pesto cream sauce and pine nuts, spinach, zucchini, and cheese:
By this time I was so full I could hardly eat any of this. I liked the flavor and I would love to try this again another day when I can start with an empty stomach. Panda loves the pine nuts and I like their use of spinach and zucchini. And then to round it all off, we had creme brulee for dessert!
Yum!! This is a fantastic dessert with amazing crispy bits and a rich creaminess that is oh so smooth. It was almost too rich for me to finish, but I did anyway. 🙂 I wish there was more of the caramelized part! After all this, two glasses of Coke and a glass and a half of water, I was stuffed. We stuck around to thank the manager, chef, and waiters and I left a tip for the both of us before heading out.
Furloughed fiancé
Panda sent me a funny article about the spouses of furloughed employees and how they’ve had to adjust to different behavior from their partner. It highlighted one woman whose husband is at home now and is cooing with the cat, organizing their CDs, and otherwise staying active with random stuff. She works from home so she really notices the difference. For me, there was quite a change too (I say was because Panda got called back as of yesterday, so now he’s deemed “essential” and they’ve put him back to work). We actually got to enjoy the furlough a bit since we don’t live paycheck to paycheck and I believe Congress agreed to give backpay so we can definitely hold out until the government shutdown finally ends.
One night, I came home to this!
So what was it like for the 9 days that he was home? Well, for one thing the chores got done – floors were vacuumed, clothes were laundered, dishes were washed, and meals were cooked. I got to come home to a hot meal waiting for me quite a few times AND he even got up to cook me breakfast a few mornings. Twice, we were able to eat lunch together. He got to sleep in and get some reading and exercise in. He was able to help me pick up packages from the rental office (I never get home before they close on weekdays). He even had time to help me play a game on my iPad so I can advance faster. 😛 Not too shabby.
Did I enjoy it? You know, it really was nice. I like having a house spouse. I’m not a chores kind of gal so I loved having all that being taken care of. However…
Packages like these could be opened pronto instead of waiting til the weekend!
Once Panda went back to work, I found that I really enjoyed having him look all professional and important as he headed out the door. I liked knowing that he was spending his days interacting with plenty of smart people, working toward a goal. I was comforted that he had that social interaction since sometimes his communication skills need work. 😛 And of course, since he’s the breadwinner of the family, I certainly like knowing he’ll be bringing home a paycheck. After all, our new condo purchase is riding on it! Definitely couldn’t afford the mortgage on my income alone. Still, sometime down the line I’d be totally open to a lifestyle change where he stayed home and took care of the household, if he wanted it. For now, we’re enjoying our DINK (dual income, no kids) status. It’s a nice life. 🙂
Anniversary time
This year our anniversary coincides with Google’s, as I learned today. I’ve mentioned before that our anniversary is always the Friday of Zero Week at UCLA and going forth we have a new anniversary to celebrate: the engagement one! So now in June and September, we get to eat dinner together and enjoy each others’ company. I like having our anniversary on a Friday, so we can really spend the entire weekend together.
Tonight we went to Benihana’s after work and tomorrow we’ll be stopping by Barktoberfest so I can play with some cats and check out the shelter that puts on the event. I’m planning on volunteering with cats and I’m looking at the shelter hosting the event and a local county shelter. I might end up going for both, but I want to get a feel for their vibes and see their facilities first. On Sunday, we’ll do some grocery shopping and then Panda will spend the afternoon volunteering with the Smithsonian. We both have our differing passions! It should be a nice quiet weekend and hopefully I can get some blog drafts ready for the week. It’s tiring trying to write them after work every night! All too soon it’ll be another week – my 4th week on the job, eeks! I can’t believe I’m already approaching one month. It’s gone by so fast…
What are your plans for the weekend? This Don Jon movie I keep hearing about?
Mini golf time
Back in 2nd grade, I went mini golfing (or putt putt golfing as I called it) and my only recollection was when somehow I found myself on the ground, screaming and crying as blood gushed from my knee. I don’t know how it happened, but it sure hurt and I still have a scar. I’m pretty sure I managed to do it to myself in just about the least dangerous activity there is, but who knows, maybe some kid accidentally whacked me. Whatever the case, I kind of never got around to playing again until a few years ago with Panda and friends and I sucked. Thankfully this time I fared better than expected! I even got a few 2s. 🙂 Good times.
Of course that left me with little time to blog, so you get to enjoy some images from the night. It was a fun jungle theme and I’d never really attempted this kind of thing in the dark so the shadows provided a unique challenge. I nearly lost my ball at one point! Too bad we got kicked out right at closing and couldn’t finish the holes. Fun time though! I’m glad we got to hang out a bit outside of work and the timing was perfect since I didn’t have plans. Now Thursday and Friday are completely different stories… it’s our anniversary coming up!
