Andrea's Blog

A Foodie Lover's Week

2007-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

I was greeted at the airport by a smiling Ben, even though it was at the awful hour of 2am (or since I was still on Eastern time - 5am), after arriving on a flight that was much better then the previous one. I, along with Sal, was in Toronto attending the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting. The conference included seminars as well as a poster presentation for a co-worker. Here's the highlights of Toronto (outside of the conference):

Cheese Boutique - On the second day, Sal and I tried out the subway system which took us out to the Old Bloor Street Neighborhood. We were in search of the famous Cheese Boutique he had read about in a magazine. After 2 hours of wondering we found it and walked away with $20 worth of AMAZING cheese that we snacked on as we hiked back to the subway.
Art Gallery of Ontario - It was FREE on Wednesday night, which is good as it is undergoing major construction until 2008 and so there were only two exhibits.
Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art - It is FREE on Friday night but at regular price it is worth it. It was a very different museum which I enjoyed.
Royal Ontario Museum - It is reduced cost on Friday night and I recommend that. I honestly thought the museum was highly overrated and not worth the cost (many of the exhibits seemed artificial). The highlight was their special exhibit - Treasures of Peru - which I felt was interesting. They also have a large Asian exhibit, though I wasn't that impressed as I saw a majority of the items at the Gardiner Museum and in China.
Bata Shoe Museum - It is FREE on Thursday night but it was closed for a private event so we couldn't get in. I am disappointed as it looked like a very interesting and unique museum.
Niagara Falls - We were here for about two hours, just enough time to grab some pictures and enjoy lunch with a great view. If we had more time we would have tried a boat ride into the mist - it looked like fun!

I know you are not supposed to talk about where you ate on your blog (it's even a title of a book!), but the week did center around hitting the top restaurants:

Il Fornello - This restaurant was on the Harborfront and was within walking distance of the conference. The food wasn't anything special but it wasn't expensive and the view of the Islands was good.
Canoe - This very elegant restaurant was on the 54th floor of the Toronto Bank Tower and gave a wonderful view of the financial district at night.
360 (CN Tower) - The restaurant is at the top of the CN Tower (the world's tallest building) which was next to our conference location. The food was good but very expensive for lunch (everything reminded me of the Space Needle in Seattle). A benefit was that we were able to go out onto the observation deck and glass floor for free.
Lobby - A very cool lounge/bar and here is where I had the best drink (Lemon Meringue Martini)!
Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner - A very nice cafe that is great for lunch.
The Boiler House - Sal and I took a taxi over to the Distillery District which is considered Old Toronto. The area isn't very big, so we just walked around as we were a little early for our reservation. It was Jazz Night at the restaurant and the atmosphere was wonderful. I would also vote this as the place where I had the best dessert (raspberry, mango, and lemon sorbets).

To summarize - What a week!

Beer Fest 2007

2007-05-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

It was our first time at the Avila Beer Festival yesterday and we had a great time enjoying the sunshine, friends, and beer (for Ben - I being a minimal beer drinker enjoyed my usual water and soda)!

On the road again....

2007-05-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

This week has gone by so fast! It is hard to get back into a good routine when you have just returned from a trip and are leaving for another one shortly (heading out today to a week-long conference in Toronto). Ben laughs at my whining as this is what he does on a consistent basis. A big positive note is that I did get back into my gym routine (yay for me!) that was majorly thrown off due to all of the traveling. Also, Ben and I for the first time took a very nice evening walk instead of driving to downtown Paso to see the Spiderman 3 movie on Friday night. This healthy activity (and Jesse's great results at Wildflower) had me pack my gym clothes as well (look at me go - working out on the road)! Thinking back on my week, I also did squeeze in some good social time (Tuesday Night Bunko, lunches, and parties) so it was a fast but great week!

Update - Well I made it to Toronto after the 5-hour flight from hell. I was sitting in front of a mother with two very ill-behaved children and was subjected to (along with everyone else in the area) screaming, squealing, and kicking. Luckily the situation became much better due to earplugs, a seat change immediately after takeoff, and the first 3.5 episodes of Footballer's Wives - Season 2 on Sal's portable DVD player!

Spring Cleaning

2007-04-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! I scrubbed the house, got through all of the laundry, and I even had time to work on some organization throughout the house. A couple of weeks ago Ben's Dad came down to help with moving the water heater outside so we could have the closet storage space (which I am very excited about). So, Ben was busy this weekend with the final stages of enclosing the water heater. He also found time to clean up the yard and put together our new dining room table! We even squeezed in seeing Blades of Glory on Friday night and going out to A Touch of Paso for Sunday brunch. I love the productivity but I am completely exhausted right now!

Viva Las Vegas

2007-05-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Emily's 21st birthday weekend in Vegas and it was absolutely fabulous! It was just the three of us as Heather decided not to go because she is not yet 21 (hmmm I am thinking a trip in December 2009!). We spent the hot days laying by the Monte Carlo pool and the nice evenings hitting the restaurants, casinos, and bars until 4am! The best time was had catching up with everything while enjoying drinks and appetizers in the quiet atmosphere of the Eiffel Tower Restaurant before our flight home.

Happy 21st Emily ~ here she is winning the most of all of us - $12!

Something Happened...

2007-05-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

...on April 23rd in Brugge, Belgium!

Destination: Europe & The Middle East

2007-04-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

The confirmation came a couple of days ago, so Ben and I scrambled to get work, the house, the kitty, and the trip planned for us to be in Europe and the Middle East for the next two weeks. He has some meetings to attend and I have decided to tag along and enjoy the tulips in Holland and the great beaches & sites of Qatar and the UAE. This is a short-notice trip so I have been working like crazy the last three days to finish a project at work before we go. I shouldn't complain too much as the last time I traveled with him overseas (Norway) we had to leave the day of!

So...Goed tot ziens and وَدَاع!

One Band!

2007-04-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

Both sets of new PCR primers I tried out yesterday worked! Now I just have to collect and process all of the samples I need and this part of my thesis research is done!

I Heart Threadless

2007-04-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

My sister Emily surprised me yesterday by giving me a belated birthday present that I love (she knows me so well!) and am proudly wearing today. I can't wait to buy a bright orange or green tank top to wear underneath!

Spring Shopping

2007-04-03T11:37:00.000-07:00

My impulse buy of the week was this cute notecard set from Papyrus and I think it represents me very well. I just love cute, high-quality stationary and hopefully this will give me incentive to keep up the old-fashioned communication I vowed to do in 2007. I was looking at the Crane & Co. website and LOVE the cute daisy prints for spring, but I think I need to limit myself to one notecard set a year. I do think I will be making a purchase as I see the perfect birthday present for a certain sister...

Singing in the rain...

2007-03-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you wish for!

Usually I would be singing as I do LOVE the pouring rain (and especially since we need it so badly right now), but sadly I am not as I did not read the weather report last night and therefore am ill prepared in my light sweater, capris and flip flops. Normally I would just stay inside and go straight home after work, but work requires me to attend a wine & cheese reception and I have plans with a friend to attend the Fremont Classic Movie Night - both events are VERY far from parking, so I'll be chanting "please don't fall" silently to myself as I dodge puddles! On the bright side, I always keep an umbrella in the car!

Spring is Here?

2007-03-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

I had lunch with Sal at Novo today and enjoyed their very good Salmon Bisque on the patio by the creek. I love the wonderful weather we are having, but I don't want to give up winter quite yet.

Random Things About Me

2007-03-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

Since I am now a year older, here are some random things about myself you might not have known!

I strongly dislike poultry and fruit in all forms, so I avoid eating them if possible.
I also dislike running, but do enjoy walking and hiking.
I’m a HUGE history fan and can remember having fun dinner table discussions with my dad (another history fan). When I hated animal nutrition my freshman year, history almost became my new college major. I wonder what I would be doing now if I did switch…?
I had a very bad habit in college of accepting stray pets (rat, guinea pig, rabbit, and a cat) and giving them to my parents. Luckily for them, stray pets no longer seem to find me.
I have a HUGE fear of spiders, sharks, and flying, though I have mostly gotten over the latter…

Whistler!

2007-03-05T16:08:00.000-08:00

What else can I say but a very, VERY fun weekend! The town was very cute and the resort was amazing! Our hotel was right at the base of the mountain so we just woke up in the morning and got on the gondola. There was so much to do that we never got bored. The runs were much tougher then either of us expected - usually I can do some easy blues but here I felt the advanced greens were pretty tough. After a day of ski school, I am starting to perfect my parallel turns and Ben looks like such a pro! I must say that Ben is so wonderful to give me such a perfect birthday present!

Now I need to start thinking - what should I do for his birthday in October....?

Birthday Surprise!

2007-03-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

After traveling over 2000 miles via car in the last two weeks, I am quite happy to get on a plane...especially when it is taking me to a surprise birthday ski weekend in Whistler courtesy of Ben!

Pizza. French Fry. Pizza. French Fry...FRENCH FRIES!

2007-02-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

I, being slightly crazy, decided that the day in between me returning from Davis (at midnight) and leaving for San Francisco should be spent at Sierra Summit since they had received 2 feet of snow from the storm on Thursday. Since I was only functioning on a couple of hours of sleep, I followed the Asspen episode of South Park (hence the title of the post) and choose to ski casually down the green runs, while Ben practiced his parallel turns, and Jesse hit the advanced runs with all the powder. It was a wonderful day and I really enjoyed the opportunity to ski this season.

Now I'm off to San Francisco for the week!

Two Bands!

2007-02-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Dolly's birth (showing the success of cloning using adult somatic cells), the molecular biology gods were being nice to me and allowed the RNA extraction I have been struggling with to be successful today - woohoo!

Clutch In...

2007-02-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

...Shift...Clutch Out/Push Gas...Repeat!

After a weekend of practicing with Ben, the truck is no longer crying and I am getting pretty good at driving a manual transmission...just don't get too close to me on a steep hill!

Off to Cow Town

2007-02-21T08:03:00.000-08:00

Not Vacaville, but Davis - the land of Aggies and bikes!

My great friends Sal and Charles introduced me a while back to Virtual NES, and it has come in quite handy when I have to kill time in the lab. I haven't really gotten use to having the controller backwards, but it is still a lot of fun. I think the UC Davis lab I will be working in for a week has strict rules on computer use, so I'll have to figure something else to do to kill time.

With me out-of-town, Ben is going to be left all by himself with the kitty. Hope the two of them survive without me!

Made it to a Year!

2007-02-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday to the blog! It's fun to look back to last February and remember the Lab Olympics, being tagged with the cat lover sticker, first Valentine's Day with Ben out-of-town, and Frakenbath.

Also, the crazy month of February 2006 had me complaining about a TRF project, which ironically has started up again and I am looking forward to working on it this year (eliminating the contamination last summer made a HUGE difference on my outlook). I am also surprised that I am excited and interested in attending the Dry Dairy Ingredients conference this year (maybe that has something to do with this years' location...SF)! It is amazing that a year can change your outlook so much.

Oh, and I watched The Bachelor!?!? What was I thinking!?!?

Remembering China - Adaptation

2007-02-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

I thought I would share the story behind this picture, as it it does seem a little random, but there was a purpose for us to take it.

Ben and I found ourselves wondering through the Summer Palace in Beijing and needed to meet up with our friend (who was also our ride back to the hotel) as it was getting dark. Our friend had written in Chinese the gate location he would be at for us to give to a taxi driver should we exit a different gate. We knew we were in the middle of the park (equal distance from all 4 gates), so we stopped at this map and figured we could skip the taxi driver and match characters from the note to one of the paths and find our own way to the correct gate. We matched the characters, followed the bottom path, exited the park, and found our friend waiting...Success!

You know you're ghetto when...

2007-02-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

...you are too lazy to actually sew the hole in the pocket shut and instead hold it closed with tape. Atleast I was "classy" enough to use white tape!

Beta No More

2007-01-29T23:41:00.000-08:00

Well Google finally forced me to switch from the old Blogger to the new Blogger. I do admit that so far the new Blogger seems nicer and easier to use, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything switches without any problems!

New Year, New Goals

2007-01-24T14:35:00.000-08:00

I never make New Year’s Resolutions, but I don’t think it hurts to reflect on the past year and make a few new goals for the new year.
Health:
	2006 –	I did succeed in eating out less and cooking more low-fat meals from the Healthy Families Cookbook.
	2007 –	I want to exercise on a more consistent basis.
Communication:
	2006 –	I was successful at maintaining this blog!
	2007 –	Who doesn’t love to get real mail (not bills or junk), so I plan on trying to be a little old-fashioned by sending letters and cards to all family and friends via the US Postal Service.
Financial:
	2006 –	I have been slowly saving for 4 years to pay off my student loan when I finished school so I wouldn’t accrue any interest, and I was able to write a check for the complete amount when the first payment was due!
	2007 –	The unfortunate side of paying off all debt is that my savings account isn’t quite where I want it to be, so I plan to save as I have in the past to allow myself a nice full savings account again. Plus I want to roughly follow the 60% Solution where I will be starting a Roth IRA as my current retirement savings.
House:
	2006 –	The living room was completely re-done.
	2007 –	My personal goal for the house is to paint the dining room and kitchen as well as find nice, inexpensive furniture for the living and dining rooms.
Check back with me in 2008!

Ice Skating Anyone?

2007-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

With all of this freezing weather, our pool has frozen over with 3-inch thick ice! I'm disappointed I forgot my ice skates when I was home for Christmas, it would have been great to practice my figure eights on my own private rink.