Finally.....

Kittens:

It was pouring rain yesterday, all day.. so this dusty, smoggy f'ing town got a nice soaking... and I seriously couldn’t be happier. I quite honestly don’t know the last time it rained here? Thank God I tell you.... When I lived on the east coast it seemed like it was an every other day occurrence. The moisture in the air was so nice.... I miss my hair curling up after walking out the door, wearing my ultra coolio rain coat, and using an umbrella. I swear, I never thought I would say this but I miss the humidity of our nation's capitol. Ah, the good life, when I didn’t need lotion and conditioner by the gallons.. It's an issue now kittens.

from inside the gallery.

This desert has made me dry to the bone, in one toooooo many ways. It’s amazing how freaky everyone gets, as it so scarcely rains that usually you run into the same conversation all day.

Me: I’m so happy it’s raining.

Next door neighbor: Yes, we really, really need it.

Me: It’s great it’s raining.

Colleague at work: Yes, we need it.

Me: Can you believe all this rain?

Out of town client: Looks like this town needs it.

The only thing bad about this are the roads --- another issue. I so wasn't looking forward to the drive home last tonight. Apparently oil builds up on the road something awful, because we have little to no rain, so when it rains the roads get seriously slick, on top of that these hillbillies for some reason can't figure out how to drive in rain, so everyone either drives super slow or like a bat out of hell.

So, last night I met some friends prior to my long trek back to my suburban house which by highway takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get home.. With the rain, I figured that it was going to take me as long waiting in traffic as it would to get a drink and relax.. At 7 pm, I ventured back to the house.. apparently I wasn't the only one who had this great idea.. so, again I was stuck in traffic with all the people who had a drink before heading home after work.. It was just as packed but no weird edge to the driving.. A little slow, but confident, and a little red in the face.

Thanksgiving

Goodness, it's been a long time since I last posted. I hope all you kittens out there had a wonderful thanksgiving. To give you an idea of my condition today.. yesterday I started off the day with a delicious bloody mary and bagel....things only got blurrier as the day went on.

Ours was a lovely and awe inspiring dinner. Some of the in-laws were in town and it was great fun. It was so nice here in our suburban southwest town that we ate our dinner outside by the pool.

Thanksgiving was a huge success, a 21 pound turkey, two bottles of a great pinot that the husband picked out....steamed red swiss chard with bacon, mashed and sweet taters, stuffing, gravy, a million porter house rolls, peas, fresh cranberry relish, two pumpkin and one pecan pie. We also have this awesome jello mold my mother has made into a tradition. I seriously look forward to it every year. Since the jello mold has never been officially named, I asked everyone to think of a name for it. The mold itself has two layers, canned cranberry, ginger ale and jello.. the second, a mixture of pineapple/orange jello mixed with cream cheese, miracle whip and pecans.. I thought perhaps it should be called something along the lines of the "orange lady" but my sister in law came up with the best name.. "the cranberry QUEEN" which I think is an awesome name. We finished it off by watching our southwest college alumni football team get beat by some snotty boys from California.

Lots and lots to be thankful for..

Favorite Places to eat...

Kittens: One of my favorite pets has asked me to name some of my all time fav places to eat. She also memed me. So, here goes. I know I should limit it to Arizona but just couldn't do it.

Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Include the state and country you live in.
• List top five favorite local restaurants.
• Tag five other people and let them know they've been tagged.

Blake's Lotaburger
This is a local New Mexico chain that opened in Albuquerque around 1952. It has the best green chili cheese burgers I have ever tasted. Seriously good. If you haven't had one, ya need to have one. Everything about it is beautiful. It's one of the first things this Navajo gal does when she visits capitol of the Navajo Nation or New Mexico. The french fries are real, and for some reason the cokes even taste better there.

Kelly and Ping's

A small beautifully busy noodle shop in Soho NYC, my favorites are the bangkok curry with eggplant, the Malaysian curried noodles, and this great salad that has some sort of yummy crisp slivers of something onion like and a lovely sesame, ginger, soy dressing that is like no other I have ever tasted. It's super loud and so New Yorkie. I recognized it in a movie called "Great Expectations" with Ethan Hawke and Robert DeNiro....so, I know that someone else likes the looks of the place as much as I do.

Cowboy Ciao

A great resturant in Scottsdale. I have been told that this is the place that George Clooney likes to go when in Scottsdale, Darling. My favorite is a dish which consists of an ancho-cream pan-fry with cremini, button and oyster mushrooms over double-cooked polenta with grilled portabellini, avocado, tomato and cotija cheese. Yikes.. Kittens, this is a serious dish. The wine list is one of the largest I have ever seen. You can get flights of different types of wine and champagne.. Oh! They have a great martini which they serve with olives stuffed with blue cheese. one word kittens - yum.

Eos Wine bar, San Francisco

This place was awesome. Everytime I am in San Francisco, I try to head over.. I have only had a couple of things on the menu but the green curry Prince Edward Island Mussels and grilled bread were soooo good, and even though I haven't had this dish in about 4 years, I still think about the deep fried Salmon and Mango egg Rolls with wasabi-mustard dipping sauce. This is also the place I had the best glass of wine I have ever literally had. Kittens, I like my wine dusty almost muddy. The bartender asked what I liked, and handed over this perfect and amazing wine. I swear, it was the best wine drunk I have ever had.. You know the one.. where you are red faced, happy, almost sleepy, giggly, and having the best time ever! Of course, I didn't get the name of the wine when I floated out of there and so I have spent years trying to find it. Kittens, I guess it was just one of those things you can't replicate because believe me I have tried.

Norman's Arizona.. So, this was my all time favorite place in Phoenix, Arizona. Chef Norman Fierros was around a good two decades, creating a hand full of fab places to eat. I first met him when he owned a place called Fina Cocina in downtown phoenix. I worked at the art gallery next door way back in 1989. His lunches were awesome, and sometimes so busy he scream through the door that connected his place and the gallery and asked me to help serve. "Hey cabrona, get in here." Is all I would hear. All of his restaurants were the places to be seen. Norman also won the James Beard Award soon after we met.

Kittens, I even got engaged there! He is an original, flamboyant, naughty doll. His food was the best at showing the cutting edge in new and innovative approaches to Mexican food. He was also a lover of art and always had the best of the best of Arizona artists on his walls. As many of you kittens know, I lived and worked in Washington D.C. for a good ten years. Norman would sometimes federal express me 50 - 60 tamales for my parties. Those tamale parties were such a huge hit, they were famous. People would actually ask to be invited. I also loved that Norman paired his lobster enchiladas with champagne. As well, I loved his Green chili mash.. A seared chili cut in two, mashed potatoes piled on top, and then smothered with green chili chicken stew. I crave this dish a lot. I believe my love for good food, was taught in part by this wonderful chef.

So there you have it.

Here the five that I have tagged.

Hunter and Buzzard

Benjamen Walker's Theory of everything

Happy Chicken Swingset

Digital Pawnee Warefare

Whole Earth Community Supported Agriculture

Me and the Mister..

Kittens:

I think we (me, hubby, and dog) have to be the first American Indians in Springfield.