Garden Court in San Francisco

While in SF, we had breakfast at the Garden Court located in the Palace Hotel. It's really beautiful and quite opulent.

It wasn't crowded as we went on a weekday...late breakfast...I think around 10:30, so most people were either at work or had already started their day.

While there, we saw a National Geographic team taking photographs of the place for one of its issues.

And below is my Eggs Benedict - delic!

Conservatory of Flowers in San Fran

While in San Fran, we visited the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. They had beautiful plants and flowers. And they even had a "butterfly zone" where butterflies fly around and sometimes land on you. You just have to be careful not to step on them! Here are some of the photos I took while there:

I'm back from San Francisco

I got back last week from SF, but have been pretty busy...so my blog has suffered!

We had an awesome time in SF. Dick and I loved the energy and vibe of SF. It reminded us of Boston in a way...small, walking city. I'll post pics of SF, but first I'll post photos looking out of the plane.

The pic above is of another plane that was pretty close to ours. I don't remember what we were flying above...maybe mid-west?

Here we are flying into SF as you can see by the Golden Gate Bridge.

Flying over SF. If you're familiar with the area, you'll recognize Golden Gate Park on the right which is a 3 mile strip of park - it reminded me of Central Park - gardens, aboretum, lake, museums, etc. On the left (where it's pointy) is the Presidio.

More of the Golden Gate Park.

And more SF from above.

More non-plane photos of SF to come...

CR Sparks and Bedford Village Inn

Last month was Dick's b-day and we celebrated by going out with his parents and his son to CR Sparks in Bedford, NH. Instead of cake, we had the "dessert collection". As you can see it was quite tempting and had a nice variety. I had the chocolate molten cake - very delicious. We each had at least one dessert.

Last week was "restaurant week" at one of our favorite restaurants - Bedford Village Inn. It is something that many restaurants in Boston participate in - you get prix fix menu where you usually get an appetizer, entree and dessert for one price - generally lower than if you purchased the items separately. It's a great way to try places that are generally pricier. Well, not to be outdone, the Bedford Village Inn decided to also celebrate restaurant week - here in little NH. I had the mussels for the appetizer, steak for the entree and the chocolate fondant cake below for the dessert. It was all very good - especially the cake. I wish I had taken a picture of the steak - it was a beautiful presentation.

Dick had the cheesecake for dessert. (Dick had the mussels and salmon before dessert.)

And this is what I had for brunch last Sunday at CR Sparks - "Eggs Monterey" which consists of poached eggs on crab cakes with sliced tomato, hollandaise sauce and home fries. It was the first time I had gone to CR Sparks for brunch (usually we would go there for dinner) and I really enjoyed the food. Oh yeah...nice Mimosa, too! :)

BTW, you may remember that my camera broke. Well, I got an interim camera - an Olympus that only cost $79!! I couldn't believe how cheap. I actually want to get on of the new Sony Cyber-Shots - but the one that I want to buy will come out in April or May and I'm going on vacation before then (plus, it felt weird to be without a camera) - so I decided to get an inexpensive camera that takes the same memory cards as my old camera. This way, I didn't have to spend money on accessories. The photos above were taken with my new Olympus - not too bad, but I can't wait for the Sony.

Sunset in Bar Harbor, ME

Here are some sunset pictures I took while on a Schooner in Bar Harbor, ME in 2006.

Oysters and Afternoon Tea in NYC

When we were in NYC in November, we dined at one of our favorite places in NYC - Thalia on 8th Ave at 50th St. It's a cool, casual place to hang out, the prices are reasonable and the food is great...and they are open for dinner until midnight - (gotta love NY). We had oysters at our wedding, but since I was afraid of eating a "bad" oyster and becoming sick during the "special" night, I didn't have any. So I told Dick that we are having oysters as soon as we get to NYC - and we did. Thalia has an oyster appetizer that includes 8 different types of oysters - 2 each. It even comes out with a paper with the names of the types of oysters - but I have no clue as to the different kinds and wouldn't be able to tell you the difference by tasting them or looking at them. All I know is that they were great!

Here are more of the oysters we had...

While in NY, we had afternoon tea at the St. Regis Hotel . It is an absolutely beautiful hotel. The pastries were as good as they looked. There was even real edible gold foil on the chocolate tart - very fancy shmanzy :) It was all yummy.

We also had finger sandwiches and champagne with our tea. You can see Dick reaching for the champagne here...he couldn't wait :) We spent a couple of hours there...just enjoying the afternoon, the food and the ambiance. We had been walking all day, so it was nice to just "chill". And we saw lots of "shoppers" coming in. The hotel is off 5th Ave, so you had the "can't-be-too-tall-or-too-thin-or-too-fashionable" crowd having afternoon tea. So, of course, all 4'11" of me...from NH...with my comfortable shoes...fit in perfectly!! :) At least I was wearing my black jeans :)

And here is the lobby of the St. Regis - quite ornate and lots of marble.

Savion Glover at BB King House of Blues

When Dick and I were in NYC a couple of months ago, Broadway was virtually shut down because of the stagehands strike. Usually, when we go to NY, we like to see at least a couple of Broadway shows, so we were disappointed by the shut down, but, it meant that we attended other shows that we might not have seen otherwise.

One of those shows was seeing Savion Glover at BB King House of Blues on 42nd Street. What a treat!! It's a perfect venue to see SG as it was small and the view was good no matter where you sat.

This photo above is the bar.

SG is such a phenomenal tap dancer. What energy!! What talent!! He just commanded the stage. Everyone's eyes were glued to him and his feet. It was such a pleasure to see such a top performer. Both Dick and I couldn't get over how fast he can move his feet - just amazing! As you might be able to see, he wore a shirt with Gregory Hine's pic on it.

SG had 2 other tap dancers that would sometimes share the stage with him.

And this is the marquis for BB King's.

We Went to a Celtics Game This Week

Dick and I went to the Celtics game on Monday night. It was against Washington Wizards. I haven’t been to a game for a few years…there really wasn’t a reason to watch the Celtics in recent history since they really weren’t relevant…losing lots of games. And frankly, it’s kind of boring to see a team not play well – at least that’s how I felt the time I saw them 3 or 4 years ago.

But, even though they lost Monday night – it was a good game. They were actually winning pretty much the entire time except for the last minute when Washington led – and then the score went back and forth…but, the Celtics couldn’t hold on to the lead and lost. Well, they’re doing really great this year and are bound to lose a game here and there.

The place was packed – very different from years past when tickets were easy to come by. Now, most games are sold out since they have the best standings in the NBA. It would be great if they could win a championship…I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

BTW, Curt Schilling (Red Sox pitcher) was there with his wife. When they put him up on the jumbotron, everyone went wild – clapping and giving him a standing ovation.

I wish I could post pictures, but my camera crapped out on me. I have to get a new one soon – I feel funny going into a restaurant without a working camera. Which reminds me…we ate at The Ruby Room at the Onyx Hotel on Portland St (in front of TD Banknorth Garden). It was nice – not an extensive menu – mostly bar food – but it was good. Dick had the chicken and I had the burger. It’s small – about 45 seats – so it was packed as it got closer to game time.

I'm Definitely from Massachusetts

Dude! You're 95% from Massachusetts!

Dude! Me and Sully and Fitzie and Sean are gonna hit Landsdowne tonight after the game, hang out at the Beerworks. I'll pick you up at the Coop at 6.

How Massachusetts are you?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I just took this quiz for fun. It tells you how "Massachusetts" you are. I was born in MA and grew up there. I was 23 when I moved to NH and have been in NH ever since (18 years), but according to this test, I'm a true "Bay Stater".

The test only takes a couple of minutes - so take it and let me know how you did. Maybe you're from MA and "wicked smaaaaahhht", too! :-) As you can see, I have "room for improvement" - just 5 more percentage points for a perfect score!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons

Dick and I were in NYC for a few days in November - the week of Thanksgiving. And yes, we were there for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. All the balloons are inflated the day before on 77th and 81st Streets (either side of the Natural History Museum). So we decided to see this and it was so much fun. It's quite a project - the balloons are huge and the inflation takes a long time and a lot of people.

For most of the balloons, they have a netting over them while blowing them up to make sure they don't fly away. They are also anchored with sandbags.

There were a lot of people viewing the inflation and LOTS of news/TV cameras and trucks. It was a lot of fun and quite surreal to see these massive balloons surrounded by skyscrapers in the middle of Manhattan. Enjoy the photos. They were all taken the day before the parade. I'll try to post some photos of the actual parade within the next several days.