What I'm wearing

I noticed as I left the office this afternoon that I am rather brand-happy today. Here's what I'm wearing:

• pants - Calvin Klein
• long-sleeve tee-shirt - Lacoste
• hoodie - Ralph Lauren
• socks - Champion
• shoes - Merrell
• bra and panties - Victoria Secret
• gloves - J. Crew
• jacket - North Face
• scarf - Uniqlo
  

Willamette Valley wine extravaganza

Thanksgiving weekend is a fantastic time to go wine tasting if you don't mind the crowds, the traffic, and the overpriced tasting fees. It also helps if you have a designated driver (i.e., anyone who can hold his/her liquor better than I). Darr and I met our friends, Ann and Raymond, for a day of tasting the local grape juice. Let me begin by saying it was farctic* up there in the Dundee hills and down in the cellar was no tropical paradise either. Even with the wine drinking, which you would assume would heat you up a little, Raymond still had to go back to the car for his jacket (the rest of us were already donning ours). We started our wine adventure at Sokol Blosser, one of my favorites because it produces a great pinot noir and the ice wine I so love to consume. Ann and Raymond mentioned stopping off beforehand to get some food in their stomachs in preparation for the drinking but Darr and I had skipped breakfast. Luckily there was an assortment of Kettle chips, breads, pretzels dipped in chocolate sauce, etc. to keep the alcohol from traveling directly into our bloodstream. A mere hour and a half after our arrival, Darr and I signed up to become club members, a move which saved us 20% off the wine we purchased and reimbursed us for the cost of our tasting fee ($35). Two things that may prevent us from returning to Sokol Blosser - the extremely high tasting fee and the punch-card system. Yes, you choose and pay for one of three tasting options. Each option has its own tasting punch-card. Get some wine in your glass and your card is punched. No more wine for you. (Think Seinfeld and the soup kitchen guy.)

Our next stop, Chehalem. On one of our El Gaucho nights we had a fabulous pinot from Chehalem so when it came time to review the nearby wineries to figure out where to go, this place easily made the list. Much more reasonably priced, we only had to pay a $10 tasting fee to get in. We didn't get to keep the glass but that's okay because we didn't want to anyway. The one oddity at Chehalem I couldn't quite reconcile, the first wine-pouring guy we encountered on our way in was dressed up like a wizard. Halloween was last month, sir. It's Thanksgiving. I mean, if anything the dude should have been dressed like a turkey, eh? A quick lunch at Ixtapa in Newberg and we were ready to go forth and drink.

Our wine excursion ended at August Cellars. We had planned on a fourth stop but as one of the two designated drivers (a.k.a. husbands) cut himself off from further drinking we figured it was time to head home. But not before we whipped through that place and drank from four or five different wineries - Et Fille (French for "and daughter", I highly recommended their Willamette pinot), Barking Frog (they have a very interesting dessert wine, I described it as Kool-Aid on crack, not that I've had crack but that seems an apt description for this wine), August Cellars (had a very tasty Gewurtraminer and something called Maréchal Foch that was fantastic when paired with the cinnamon chocolate truffles from Majestic Chocolates), and Toluca Lane (at this point I don't remember what any of the wine from this producer tasted like).

It was a good day for us. We drank some good wine, hung out with friends, and managed to get some Christmas shopping done. Oh, and it didn't rain - woohoo!

*fucking arctic, a.k.a. damn cold

Cute baby alert

Gavin celebrated his first Thanksgiving yesterday and I could not resist grabbing the camera to take a couple of shots to capture the event. I was tempted to post all of the pictures, even the super blurry one I got when Gavin made the unexpected grab for the camera but it seemed a little excessive. I picked one of my favorites that has all the elements of a cute baby pic, which I've labeled for the baby uninitiated.
*cuteitude [cute-i-tood]
-noun
1. state of being cute

Etymology
From Latin cute-itudo signifying a noun of state of cuteness.

Google is fawesome

So I'm sitting on the couch, downloading pics (all of baby Gavin) of our holiday over at the Gilroy's house, trying to decide which cute baby pic I'm going to upload to the blog when I hear this song playing in the background of a Geico commercial. I catch one phrase which I immediately start replaying in my head over and over again as I open up Firefox. I type the phrase into the Google search field - "there's always something to remind me of another place and time" - hit [Enter] and voilà! Google kicks out the name of the band and the title of the song in seconds. Google is fucking awesome.

Countdown to turkey time

It's my first year making lemon meringue pie from scratch and, unfortunately, the first try at pre-baking the piecrust ended in a miniature disaster. Whilst in the oven, my piecrust slid down the side of the pie plate and formed into a pool of butter and flour and salt and sugar. We're on attempt number two with a different piecrust recipe and the use of a magical kitchen gadget otherwise known as pie-beads, which will hopefully prevent the shrinkage in the oven when the pie is going through the pre-bake phase of the process.

On a more happy note, the pumpkin pie looks fantastic. Thanks to our friends Sara and Josh, who introduced us to the joys of being farm sharecroppers, we signed up for community supported agriculture at Luscher Farms and recently picked up our first harvest of the season. Included in the bounty was, you guessed it, pumpkins! So, this morning I got up and after a quick call to my mom set to work preparing the pumpkin for the pumpkin pie.

Oh crap.

I woke up this morning and to my horror and dismay found cat crap by the sliding glass doors in our living room. Not the dingleberry kind that you can chalk up to accident, but a deliberate, prepared attack on our carpet. Why would our cats disrespect us in this manner after nearly five years of comfortable living? Because I am a bad parent and completely forgot to purchase new cat litter. I kept scooping and scooping and scooping the box while the level of litter fell to an alarmingly thin layer. Well, my little bundles of feline joy, message received. First, of course, I cleaned up the crap, and then I immediately drove to the store and purchased not one but two boxes of cat litter. Your toilet is now squeaky clean and filled to a satisfying inch-plus thickness.

Project web site renovation

Earlier this year I hired an artist, who is totally and amazingly awesome - Kevin has wicked talent, and we were able to connect yesterday and resume talks on the icon artwork needed for our web site renovation. I "borrowed" the icons that are currently up there. This was done to save you all from having to look at crap I attempted to sketch, the display of which would have assuredly caused you to gag reflexively and look away silently screaming "The horror! The horror!"*. So, he sent over some concept art for my review. I have my favorites but am certainly open to comments, suggestions, etc. Just be nice because if you say something derogatory about my artist I might have to break out the can of whup-ass. And you don't want that.
*Be the first person to e-mail me or comment on the blog with the book source for this phrase and win a $10 gift certificate to iTunes.

Away

Darren left on a trip for work yesterday morning, destination Japan.We have already discovered that his cell phone does not receive service over there so we're figuring out our options on how we can connect with each other during the week. Most likely it'll be via e-mail and by using regular old phone service to call his hotel when we're both on normal awake hours. Beauty the wonder dog is clearly depressed. Dang dog likes Darr better. What's up with that?

A culinary weekend

I ate a lot this weekend. A lot. The feasting began Friday night when I met my friend Tanya after work and we headed over to Carlyle for dinner. Although I had been there before and remembered the food to be quite good, I forgot how scary the menu was to navigate. Strange food pairings, unknown sauces, it's a little overwhelming. I'm happy to report all ended well despite our menu misgivings. First stop - drinks, a raspberry and lemon cocktail that was tart and zesty. We then ordered tasty housemade chips with a four-cheese dip - yum. For dinner - Tan got halibut with some chorizo, sausage concoction and saffron risotto, I got scallops with a potato and bacon hash. It was fantastic. We were too full for dessert so we agreed to return at a later date as their desserts are, dare I say it, much better than Papa Haydn's. Carlyle, however, recognizes that for many patrons there is a strong desire to satisfy their sweet tooths at the end of a meal and they don't let you leave without presenting you an opportunity to take care of this need. A little plate was delivered to our table shortly after the dessert menus were whisked away. It included four tiny sweet offerings made by the pastry chef at the restaurant - a macadamia and white chocolate morsel, a miniature smores made with smooth dark chocolate and a smashed graham cracker and nut coating, a macaroon, and a truffle. Delicious! Our waiter was supremely bored and tended to us with expediency and care in a semi-silly way that I couldn't figure out if I was happy or annoyed with. It was clear he was bored as we arrived early in the evening before the restaurant filled up with the normal Friday night dinner traffic so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Carlyle has a great atmosphere. Dark, but not too dark with a sound level that is negotiable. The wait staff is attentive and knowledgeable. If you haven't already given this place a try, I recommend you do so.

On Saturday Darr and I met Sara, Josh, and the Noodle (Jesus, what an adorable kid!) for brunch at Gravy on NE Mississippi. This place was packed and while the staff is adept at moving people in and out of the jam-packed dining room, we still had an almost hour long wait before we were seated. The portions are tremendously large and it is clear from the get-go that the chef has a fondness for all things that harden the arteries. Butter, oil, bacon grease - pick your fat. The boys ordered biscuits and gravy, a house specialty. Two huge biscuits covered in gravy loaded with sausage. (For a pic of these babies, click here.) As someone who had never tried biscuits and gravy before, I had to have a bite. It was good. Sweet, which was unexpected, but good. And they got sides of potatoes, bacon, eggs, etc. to split between them, effectively leaving them with two breakfasts per person. We were pretty fungry* after the long wait. Us ladies ordered omelets. Since Sara is on a no-cheese diet, as she is still breast-feeding and pumping and little Alexandra's system is not happy with dairy products, I felt compelled to order an omelet loaded with cheese and bacon to make up for her lack of cheese intake. Don't think because I didn't order the biscuits and gravy I was choosing the non fat-laden option. The omelets came with a side of potatoes, either hashbrowns or house potatoes, and Sara and I ordered opposites so we could split and share as well. The wait staff was efficient with a no nonsense approach to serving. The sound level was close to deafening but nothing that a slightly-raised voice and a little speechreading couldn't conquer. The most disturbing aspect of our experience at Gravy, our waiter had a rat-tail. I kid you not.

And later that evening Darr and I prepared a meal for our guests (i.e., Leah, Dan, Trina, and Ron) who came over for what was supposed to be poker night but ended up being an eat and gab night. Dinner began with a watercress, fennel and orange salad - weird but I figure it must be good as I would eat it again - and was followed with a main course of pork tenderloin with a garlic lemon sauce, smashed potatoes with cream cheese and chives, and pan roasted brussel sprout with pecans and red pepper flakes. There was a concern we were going to kill our guests when Darr cut into the pork and it was bloody but this problem (Darr dubbed as the "near tragedy") was adeptly solved by throwing the meat into a 400-degree oven for several minutes. The meat was tender and not death-inducing, a nice combination if ever there was one. And for dessert, pots de creme, a new recipe I will be posting shortly as it was surprisingly easy to make and tasted great. (Hear that? It's me patting myself on the back for a job well done.) This is a chocolate dessert for die-hard chocoholics for sure, just be sure to take the pots out of the fridge about a half an hour before you want to serve them so they can come to room temperature, and use lots of whipped cream.

*fucking hungry

Dems win the Senate - Conversations with Jesus continued

Dear Jesus,

Thank you.

Take care,
Christie

Ha hahahhaha Ha HA!

Breaking News: Rumsfeld resigning.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! It feels like fucking Christmas!

Visual representations of the election

Senate

House

Note the red that represents the gains by the Repubs. Can't see it? That's 'cuz it ain't there. They held seats or lost seats. Woohoo! Maps courtesy of The NY Times.

Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo!

Okay, so I'm feeling pretty good about what we've done this year. We still have two races which have yet to be called and I suppose if they haven't been called by now it'll be a couple of weeks before we know. I checked the NY Times and Fox News (I know, I know) and both (yes both!) report the Democratic challenger narrowly ahead in each of these races. Narrowly.

Here's hoping we can hang on and win those two. We need get both of these babies to have a legislative majority. If we get one we'll have a tie, and then Mr. Dick Cheney will need to peform his President of the Senate duties a bunch. That sure would suck.

The numbers: Democrats are +26 in the House, +4 in the Senate, and +6 in Governors.

I'm still trying to absorb, but dig on this: not a single Democratic incumbent lost this season. Not a single Congressman, not a single Senator, not a single Governor. Wow.

Dems vs. Repubs Smackdown!

Democratic site - All about getting out the vote. Helping people find where they can vote, how to help with campaigning, info on the 2006 race. No obvious negativity here.

Republican site - All about attacking the Democrats. Note the "America Weakly: The Facts" top story on the main page. Fear driven a--holes. In answer to their question What would a Democrat congress look like? Sanity. It would look like sanity.

Trying anything to help the Democrats win

Are you there God? It's me, Christie.

I know we haven't spoken in awhile, Lord, but I am hopeful you will hear my pleas for help and offer whatever assistance you can. You see, far right-wing conservative Republicans have taken control of the country. And they aren't being good stewards. Not at all, your supreme deityness.

There are bad, evil Democrats, too, Lord. I know this. But it seems that arguably having power of all three branches of government has caused the already bulbous heads of the Republicans to inflate to such a size that the synapses upstairs are no longer able to fire correctly. Case in point - for these guys creationism is science, human activities do not have a significant impact on global warming, and Michael J. Fox was "exaggerating the effects of the disease" when speaking on behalf of Maryland Democrat Ben Cardin in a series of political ads supporting the candidate. Um, what? Faking? Seriously? You're going to make fun of a person with Parkinson's?

This administration and its supporters have forgotten your messages of love and forgiveness, Jesus. And it makes me sad. Because I am 65% sure they are good people or sure that 65% are good people, take your pick. But Jesus Howard Christ, enough is enough. We need the House and Senate to be on the opposite side of the dude reading Shakespeares in the White House. It's the only way to reign that fucker in. That, or we need Clinton to be a dictator. If you can swing that, rock on Jesus, you've got yourself a new follower.

In conclusion, your holiness, the right-wing nut jobs are misguided in their efforts. I don't know if a flood is in order but something...perhaps locusts at the next Republican National Convention?

Love,
Christie

No self-respecting southerner uses instant grits

When our friends canceled brunch this morning Darr and I decided to give grits a try. Yeah. Grits. While I got the coffee and tea situation under control, Darr cooked us some grits with a side of bacon and fried eggs. Grits look scary but familiar - think soft polenta. Ours were made with yellow corn grits so they were a bright yellow color, use the hominy grits and you end up with the pasty colored grits that look less appealing. In honor of our grit-eating experience, we put Cousin Vinny in the dvd. We recommend you do the same if you ever work up the guts to try these tasty morsels of corn.

First reference to anal sex

It took 301 entries but we did it - our first mention of anal sex on the blog (see the last paragraph of the previous entry). Man, feels like we reached a milestone, doesn't it?

On another note, drunk blogging* can occur if you intake copious amounts of wine and beer and have a laptop within reach.

*Drunk blogging should not be confused with drunk dialing. With drunk dialing a phone is involved, with drunk blogging you're using a computer.

Not trying yet

Darr and I made the mistake of mentioning that we might at some point in the future start possibly trying to attempt to have a kid. Jesus H. was that ever a mistake. Now, friends on all sides are starting to question if we are indeed trying, how the trying is going, is the trying over because the conception has already taken place? It's all a bit overwhelming. Partially my fault, I realize, as I actually mentioned the end of our trip to Europe as a perfect start date. Perfect because it would be after a holiday I planned to spend in a state of total inebriation. The answer to all baby creation questions is "No, not yet."

Our last friend to give birth was secretive about the process but there were clues, in hindsight these are glaringly obvious, that we would have picked up on if we had been paying attention - ordering but not consuming beer, claiming to be on medication for a mysterious ailment to deflect offerings of wine at a party, not wanting to try my home cooked meth*, these kinds of things. Us girls have apparently learned our lesson, though, as the last e-mail I sent out to another friend - an innocuous e-mail filled with my usual ramblings on life - was immediately deconstructed and returned with a "Are you trying to tell me something?" reply. The phrases that caught her attention are as follows, verbatim:

I can cry buckets just watching commercials but that's me and I can blame that partially on the hormones.

and later in the e-mail...

I'm signing up for benefits through Darr's company so I don't have to worry about not having health insurance.

From this, a mathematical equation can be derived which your girlfriends can use to calculate your pregnancy status. It looks like this:

A(B + C) = X

Given:
A = mention of
B = hormones
C = health insurance
X = outcome

Plug in the given values and you get this:

mention of (hormones + health insurance) = you're pregnant

Yeah, okay, make fun. I'm a frickin' English Lit. major. Jerks.

What this means, of course, is that when I do become pregnant I'll have to be über clever to keep the word from getting out (i.e., I'll have to drink and accept meth offers). Probably starting a two-cigarette-packs-a-day habit would further throw the Scooby gang off the track, eh?

*This is a joke. I have never cooked meth, tried meth, snorted meth, strapped a belt around my arm while boiling meth in a spoon that was transferred to a needle and shot meth. I didn't buy meth like that evangelical fucker Haggard who was "tempted but...never used." Yeah right, he didn't use. And these yahoos make fun of Clinton's "I didn't inhale" comment. Has anyone asked that guy what kind of massage he received from the gay escort fella that showed up at his doorstep? Or is he like some of the college kids I remember from the Christian college of my hometown who defined sex as penis-vagina penetration, leaving wide open as an option, excuse the semi-pun, the oh-so-unholy act of anal loving?

Diebold voting machines not secure

For more information, click here to see the report. It is scary to think our votes are being manipulated to rig elections. And even scarier when the CEO of Diebold Inc., makers of voting machines currently used throughout the country, writes letters to Republicans where he states he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." (2003)