outta here – Page 34

I’m hungry.

By beakatude
on Jul 24, 2009
in dog, life, outta here

Jes has been in NYC all week for work and it was like a throw back to our old Charlotte days.Â I think I managed everything on my own just fine but I noticed a few things while I had the house to myself.

1. I haven’t had to pick up any clothes off the floor.

2. I was still glued to the Tour de France.Â I guess I really am a fan.

3. I didn’t sleep any better than usual.

4. I was still motivated to go for my regular runs.

5. I turned the stove on only once to boil an egg.

6. Cereal still makes an awesome dinner.

7. I’m too lazy to make anything else for dinner so I’m always hungry.

8. I had a craving for McDonald’s every night but refused to give in.

9. I felt like a mute this week.

10. I missed my best friend.

So, now it’s Friday evening and I’m currently packing up Koa’s belongings ‘cuz he’s going to sleep over at the Bangs’ this weekend.Â I still have to pack my suitcase and will be leaving for Vegas tomorrow morning.Â Jes will be meeting us there and it should be a nice long weekend for me to get some sun, relax in a nice hotel, and eat some tasty food.

Buon giorno…buon giorno…

By beakatude
on Jun 25, 2009
in outta here, random, work

italy_rail_map

Italy Rail Map

It’s been a crazy few months at work and I’ve accrued enough PTO for a 10-day vacation. So, as soon as I got the days approved I started planning and have decided to go to Italy in early September!!! Yay!! I’ve never been to Europe before so I’ve had to do a lot of research. With some tracking over that past few weeks, I decided to book our flights tonight. We will be flying from SF to Rome, travel up the coast through different cities by train (Can we say EUROTRIP?!) and fly home through Milan. Woowoo!! Once we figure out our itinerary, I will be sure to share. I’m hoping to visit Rome, Florence, Pisa, Turin, and Milan in 10 days. Can I do it?! Can I do it?! If any of you out there have any suggestions, I’m totally open.

Oh and Rest in Peace, MJ.

ManKamp 09

By beakatude
on Jun 07, 2009
in friends, outta here, photos

ManKamp09

The boys returned home this afternoon alive and uninjured but a little stinky. They actually backpacked all their stuff 3 miles up a mountain and hung out in the middle of the woods with no running water or toilets…just a lake and shovel.

rain

Round Lake

backpacking

They also gathered wood for a raging fire, shared booze, ate hot dogs, and made lots of noise without any neighbors around to complain. It sounded like they had a fun time despite all the cold rain and sometimes snow that was falling on them the whole time. Actually, the sun only decided to come out this morning as they hiked back to the cars.

ethiopian dinner

roebling

Once the boys returned and showered, we all went out for Ethiopian food in Berkeley so I got to catch up with G and Tob before they flew back to their respective homes. It sounds like the next ManKamp will be in 2011. Maybe Jack will be old enough to tag along by then. Then again…maybe he shouldn’t go.

Jes took the waterproof camera and actually took a bunch of photos.

Photos from NYC

By beakatude
on May 16, 2009
in outta here, photos

Well, after going through the hundreds of photos that I took on our 5-day NYC trip, I finally got them post-processed and uploaded for your viewing pleasure. As expected, I had a great time there hanging out with Jason and Jia and exploring the city. Here are some of my favorites:

NYC Public Library

This is the inside of the New York City Library. It’s very museum-like inside with marble and archways everywhere you look.

Central Park

This is Central Park and Upper West Side from the Top of Rockefeller Center. I love the contrast of trees and buildings.

Trees Over Bryant Park

These are the trees over Bryant Park where Fashion Week occurs every year.

Brooklyn Bridge

I’ve always wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge and it didn’t disappoint.

Here are the rest of the photos. I ended up uploading over 200 so it might take a while to get through them all. Enjoy!

Final Day in NY

By beakatude
on May 03, 2009
in outta here, yum

panini

OK…I’m running a little behind on my New York posts. I’m still not finished sifting through all the photos either. Anyway, here is my final installment of our 5-day New York trip.

On Tuesday, I went back into Manhattan for a little extra shopping while the boys slept in. For lunch, I headed back to Astoria and we went to Il Bambino. It’s a small cafe that serves some of the best paninis I’ve ever had. Mine had fresh mozzerella, tomato, and basil pesto.

cupcake

For dessert, I picked out one of their many Crumbs cupcakes and saved half for Jia. Actually, I saved half of my panini for her too and had them both packed up. Jason was saying “suuure…I’ll take care of it for you…” with a mischieveous grin on his face.

bag

He was certainly not trustworthy so I wrote all over the bag and emailed Jia (who was at work) that she had some treats waiting for her at home.

Our flight home was smooth and I managed to catch a short nap. I was exhausted but had a wonderful time. I can’t wait to go back again!

Noodley Day

By beakatude
on Apr 30, 2009
in outta here, yum

sharing

On Monday, we spent lunchtime in Flushing and had the spiciest noodle soup ever. Jason and Jia took us into a swap meet-looking basement that was stuffy and hot. Luckily, the Chinese lady was nice enough to send us to the back dining area where it was air-conditioned and cleaner-looking. The noodles were really tasty and I got some crazy chili coughs and sniffs that cleared up the stuffy nose that I had all morning.

next stop

Immediately afterward, we went to a dumpling house that we found two years ago on our last trip. It was like a savory dessert to our noodle lunch. We then took the subway back to Astoria for a quick hour and a half break before heading out to Manhattan for dinner.

fatties

This is a fatty pose in front of the restaurant. It had only been 3.5 hours since our last meal.

j&j

j&n

The only reservation that I could get at Babbo was at 5:30 so we were in store for a continuation of our feasting marathon. This is one of Mario Batali’s restaurants and was highly recommended by numerous people I talked to prior to our trip. The space was beautiful on the second floor with a vaulted ceiling and natural light pouring into the room. I want my next house to look like this. 🙂

tasting menu

We got the Pasta Tasting Menu that included 5 pasta courses, 1 cheese course, and 2 dessert courses. On top of that, for our last dessert course, instead of bring 4 of the same, we got 4 different desserts!!

Here are the photos of the dishes and my lame translation of the menu items:

pasta_01