Top Chef Party: Nuts for Nuts

My friends (including Milan and Domineau) host Top Chef parties every so often, and Emily and I were excited to be able to make it to this one.

Each Top Chef party has a theme ingredient, which you're supposed to have in the food you bring.
This time the ingredient was pretty general: nuts.

Since I'm not a great chef, and I'm crazy about pistachio pudding, I whipped up a quick batch of instant Jello pistachio pudding. No way I was going to win the competition, but at least I knew I'd like our dish.

The event doubled as a farewell to Melissa, who is heading back west in early August (like me).
Will be good to hopefully see you out there, too!

We got to eat a little of each dish while chatting with and catching up with friends.

I was very torn between 3 dishes for my favorite:

1. Hazelnut chocolate cake
2. Bacon, caramel, and cashew popcorn
3. Nut-covered sweet potatoes (or were they yams? I always get confused on that)

Beyond the food, spending time with friends is an awesome part of the Top Chef parties.

I especially like spending time with this little lady

Emily and I had to leave before they determined who the winner was, but maybe Milan can let us know in the comments. Pretty please, Milan...

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Fruit Picking and a Peach Brunch

We should probably all eat more fruit than we currently do, right?
Well buying it from the grocery store is good, but picking your own from the bush or tree is even better.

Emily and I headed up to Larriland Farm for a little fruit picking, and then we met up with Seth and Becky at Homestead Farm to finish our picking with a bunch of peaches.

I'm glad this one picked me

Meet giganto-berry

You say tomato; I say tomatoe

Hard to decide which one is sweeter

Looking for the best ones

Yes, I'll gladly wheel this one to my car

"In open fields of wild flowers..."

And what is the point of picking a bunch of delicious fruits, if you can't eat them while conversing with a bunch of friends? For that reason, we invited some friends over for a Sunday peach brunch.

Peach muffins

Peach french toast

After all the picking fun and subsequent delicious eating, I just have one question:

When can we go again?!

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The Corner House Hosts an Olympic Opening Ceremonies Party

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

I love the Olympics.

So when the ladies of the Corner House invited a bunch of us over for a party to watch and celebrate the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics, they didn't have to ask twice.

Emily and I dressed in our most American-y clothes, and we brought a red (strawberries), white (cream cheese), and blue (sprinkles) snack to contribute to the event's edibles.

While we may not have been blown away by the host country's performance, we enjoyed socializing.

Guess we'll have to wait until 2016 to see if Rio de Janeiro can match Beijing's ceremonies, eh?

Let the Games begin!

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A Hospital for Sinners

This quote strikes me right now.

"The church is a hospital for sinners, not just a museum for saints."
                                                       -Vance Havner (1901-1986)

All too often, we feel like we have to be 100% perfect, and, while that's a worthy goal, it just isn't realistic.

We strive daily to be better than the day before, but there will be bumps and bruises along the way.

I'm okay with that.

I am working on not getting down on myself for having flaws and weaknesses, and also on accepting others as they are and loving them for who they are, not for the perfect vision of them that I imagine.

Perfection is the goal, not a state of current being that we're trying to maintain.

I hope this makes a little bit of sense. Maybe I'm just rambling.

In short, I'm striving to be better today than I was yesterday, and we've all got a long way to go, right?

And the journey is a lot more enjoyable with someone by your side.

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A "Boy" Band with No Boy Members

My friend Jen asked what bands her readers are into at the moment; here's my blog response.

My big new one right now is called Boy.
No, there aren't any boys in the band.
Which means they get bonus points for being cool like that.

I don't recall how I came across their tunes, but I'm really digging this Swiss-German duo's songs.

Boy - "Skin"

This one is pretty melancholy, but I really like it. Sad topic, but the simplicity and vocals are great.

Boy - "Little Numbers"

Much more upbeat and fun. And how cool is it to use that tiny little piano?

I just wish they'd put their album on Spotify, so I can listen to them there and they'd get some pennies.
And if they ever do a US tour, I'd definitely find a way to catch one of their shows.

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The Return of Four-Eyes Aaron

Remember how I got contacts just a few weeks ago?

Well I love them and being able to see so clearly again.

However, the eyes get a little tired of wearing contacts, especially on long days.

So Emily and I met up at LensCrafters last night in Pentagon City Mall, and she helped me pick out some new frames. I knew she'd protect me from too-nerdy or grandma-y ones. The girl's got style.

Turns out the first pair Emily picked up were the winners.

What do you think? Which pair would you have recommended?
I promise I won't be offended if you like a different pair than what I chose.

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Have You Seen 'Bohemian Rhapsody' as a Short Film?

Maybe I don't watch the right channels to have caught this commercial earlier, but I really like how cleverly they put the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody into a short story at a poolside bar.

Well done, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

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A New Job in My Old City

Yes, my DC time is almost up.

It's been quite the experience living right next to our nation's capital for the past (nearly) 5 years, as those of you who have followed my blog from the start know.

My Marriott experience has been great, but I'm ready for a new challenge and a new work environment, and the position I've accepted just happens to be back in my native Salt Lake City, Utah.

I'll be the newest Client Service Consultant at Lecorpio, which does intellectual property management software. That's a big change of career for me, as I won't be doing accounting anymore!

To celebrate the big news, Emily took me out for a steak dinner at Ray's the Steaks.
We both got hanger steaks; she chose the au poivre and I went with the original.

If you haven't eaten there, you need to go. So tasty.

This promises to be an exciting next chapter in my life, and I'm ready and excited to take it on!

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Happy Birthday to My Sweet Emily!

Today we're celebrating Emily's birthday (I won't put the number, because I don't think she'd like that).

I'm so lucky to have her in my life, and she's got so many wonderful talents and characteristics.

Here are a few of those abilities, shared through pictures of our adventures:

She has a lovely French accent, even when just reading a crepe menu.

She can write poems and lyrics.

She loves history and historical sites.

She speaks her mind and doesn't pull her punches.

She's so nice; definitely right at the top of Santa's list.

She's tough enough to go paintballing in the morning...

... and then classy enough for a holiday work party that night.
And clearly she cleans up real nice, too.
[Note: we were definitely the stars of that holiday party.]

She doesn't mind getting wacky with me and donning an ugly sweater.

She can slow dance...

...and then make Michael Jackson jealous with her skills.

She's a good aim with silly string?
I dunno, but I just really like this picture.

She enjoys watching sports with me.

She's very cosmopolitan, and even happy to help me make my first short film.

She is graceful and indulges my love of photo ops.

And you have to admit that we just look dang good together.

You're the yin to my yang.

Happy birthday, Emily! Thank you for letting me share it with you, and I hope it's unforgettable!

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