Jill turned 30, and to celebrate, Lori brought a few bushels of cupcakes from New York Cupcakes. Ok, maybe not a few bushels, but plenty of cupcakes to properly celebrate another year of Jill.
I would have never guess that the cupcakery is sandwiched between a Baskin Robbins and a McDonald's at the Bellevue Shopping Center. Despite the seemingly odd location, the cupcakes were excellent, far better than those provided a few days earlier at a big company party (although the cupcake sporting the pic of SteveS was hysterical). The cake was moist, the frosting a thick and creamy layer of goodness. Multiple flavors were available - mocha, vanilla bean, chocolate mint, lime margarita, orangesicle, gummy bear. And I'm not making up that last flavor.
Eating the cupcake was not easy. I twisted off the stump, careful to leave enough cake to complement the frosting. Gavin licked off the frosting, savoring just the cake. Others plowed in. And Alan ate his with a fork and a knife. Keeping in mind that I've only worked with the group for about 6 weeks, I did wonder what kinds of interesting personality traits I could draw from how one chose to eat their cupcake. Things to think about...
Monday, May 15, 2006
Tales of Moving
The move to Seattle marked my fifth move in about 7 years, a fact duly noted to the movers, current/former co-workers (especially those around for any number of my previous moves), my "I've moved again" list of family/friends and anyone else that could possibly or not care to know that little factoid. I thought my count was on the high end, although Robby noted that he and his family have had five addresses in two years, Rudy replied with a sarcastic "sheesh, novice" and of course, Aimee, married to a military man, has built her entire adult life (even pre-military) around moving.
Despite best intentions and plans, moving is always painful. While I enjoyed letting others pack my apartment, there were a few unintended consequences. All belongings were packed with the maximum amount of paper - nine packing boxes of varying sizes stuffed with paper were returned to the movers, and that was after I'd kept two large boxes for the next move (and yes, I kept almost all of my packing boxes). While the paper provided protection (including non-breakables such as books and DVDs), the sheer volume of paper was a bit difficult - what to do with the paper while unpacking?
The movers also made a few stupid mistakes, such as packing heavy items on top of lighter items; a few rolls of wrapping paper bit the dust and the pristine Star Wars Lego Collectors Edition set box is no longer so pristine. Because the move happened so quickly, I didn't have much time to sort through stuff, and as I unpacked, Goodwill boxes were filled. (This situation is also helped by the fact that my bedroom closet is smaller and I decided to move my desk into the living room closet, thus limiting clothes/storage space). While unpacking, I didn't really know what I was going to find, an experience that was a combination of frustration and Christmas.
Almost everything I own left my home in San Francisco, reappearing six weeks later at my new home in Seattle. Effectively, this meant that I had no control, and without eyes to watch, my possessions were not always treated with the best of care. Both very nice living room lamps have been damaged beyond repair. The newly refinished top of my Grandma's cedar chest is scratched; although the movers promised that it would remain wrapped in blankets until delivery, I suspect the blankets were removed along the way. A bed castor was broken off (and if you know what a castor is, you are way ahead of me). The formerly pristine feet on chair/couch/ottoman are scuffed. A Riedel glass broke (funny, same thing happened the previous move, but that was because while carrying a bag containing two Reidels out of the house, I tripped and fell. In front of the movers. One of my more spectacular falls in my long history of falling in front of others. New friends and colleagues, keep an eye out - someday, I'm going to step on an errant tator tot and take a little tumble). A cheap champagne glass broke. My cute fish platter from Hawaii split in half.
After two weeks, my apartment is no longer in the "just moved in stage", but rather, "a bit messy "hat always precedes the "finally settled stage". It's nice to be in my own home again, surrounded by my own belongings. I can finally cook again - already, I've made vegetable stir-fry (from the latest issues of Cooks, yum!) and pizza.
Jill got it right OoOhm the last time I moved, she sent a bouquet of flowers with a note saying OoOhmI hope the next time you move itOoOhms to little olOoOhm Seattle.OoOhm And here I am!
Despite best intentions and plans, moving is always painful. While I enjoyed letting others pack my apartment, there were a few unintended consequences. All belongings were packed with the maximum amount of paper - nine packing boxes of varying sizes stuffed with paper were returned to the movers, and that was after I'd kept two large boxes for the next move (and yes, I kept almost all of my packing boxes). While the paper provided protection (including non-breakables such as books and DVDs), the sheer volume of paper was a bit difficult - what to do with the paper while unpacking?
The movers also made a few stupid mistakes, such as packing heavy items on top of lighter items; a few rolls of wrapping paper bit the dust and the pristine Star Wars Lego Collectors Edition set box is no longer so pristine. Because the move happened so quickly, I didn't have much time to sort through stuff, and as I unpacked, Goodwill boxes were filled. (This situation is also helped by the fact that my bedroom closet is smaller and I decided to move my desk into the living room closet, thus limiting clothes/storage space). While unpacking, I didn't really know what I was going to find, an experience that was a combination of frustration and Christmas.
Almost everything I own left my home in San Francisco, reappearing six weeks later at my new home in Seattle. Effectively, this meant that I had no control, and without eyes to watch, my possessions were not always treated with the best of care. Both very nice living room lamps have been damaged beyond repair. The newly refinished top of my Grandma's cedar chest is scratched; although the movers promised that it would remain wrapped in blankets until delivery, I suspect the blankets were removed along the way. A bed castor was broken off (and if you know what a castor is, you are way ahead of me). The formerly pristine feet on chair/couch/ottoman are scuffed. A Riedel glass broke (funny, same thing happened the previous move, but that was because while carrying a bag containing two Reidels out of the house, I tripped and fell. In front of the movers. One of my more spectacular falls in my long history of falling in front of others. New friends and colleagues, keep an eye out - someday, I'm going to step on an errant tator tot and take a little tumble). A cheap champagne glass broke. My cute fish platter from Hawaii split in half.
After two weeks, my apartment is no longer in the "just moved in stage", but rather, "a bit messy "hat always precedes the "finally settled stage". It's nice to be in my own home again, surrounded by my own belongings. I can finally cook again - already, I've made vegetable stir-fry (from the latest issues of Cooks, yum!) and pizza.
Jill got it right OoOhm the last time I moved, she sent a bouquet of flowers with a note saying OoOhmI hope the next time you move itOoOhms to little olOoOhm Seattle.OoOhm And here I am!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Rachel in India
Rachel recently returned from a week in India - fully experiencing the sights, sounds and culture of the far off land. Her holiday was amazing, and with her permission, I'm cutting and pasting her thoughts about the food.
From Rachel:
It takes forever to get stuff done in India too, even grocery shopping isn't that easy - no supermarkets so it's all done at local markets which were filthy - stinky and full of flies - live chickens and other animals too... saying that I had some great food! Melissa had her maid/nanny cook curry for us one night - it was amazing!! The best curry I have ever eaten - she did butter chicken, a paneer curry, a baby aubergine curry, lady fingers in another kind of curry sauce, raita and homemade chapati's too! All followed with an indian dessert - don't know what it was called but it was very fine noodles in a very sweet creamy sauce - yum! The maid cooked for us most nights - she's learnt to make Japanese style food too for them, so I was very well fed! The food at the hotel was ok - more spicy than the home made stuff. Oh, I also confess... I ate at McDonalds a couple of times (was safer than eating street food)... but even that was good! The Mc Aloo Tikki burger was heaven - A spicy potatoe/spinach burger with a tikka sauce. Far better than the beef burgers you get over here.
From Rachel:
It takes forever to get stuff done in India too, even grocery shopping isn't that easy - no supermarkets so it's all done at local markets which were filthy - stinky and full of flies - live chickens and other animals too... saying that I had some great food! Melissa had her maid/nanny cook curry for us one night - it was amazing!! The best curry I have ever eaten - she did butter chicken, a paneer curry, a baby aubergine curry, lady fingers in another kind of curry sauce, raita and homemade chapati's too! All followed with an indian dessert - don't know what it was called but it was very fine noodles in a very sweet creamy sauce - yum! The maid cooked for us most nights - she's learnt to make Japanese style food too for them, so I was very well fed! The food at the hotel was ok - more spicy than the home made stuff. Oh, I also confess... I ate at McDonalds a couple of times (was safer than eating street food)... but even that was good! The Mc Aloo Tikki burger was heaven - A spicy potatoe/spinach burger with a tikka sauce. Far better than the beef burgers you get over here.
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