New photos

Haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to let you all know that there are a lot of new photos up on my Picasa site, including photos of Matt's and my new apartment. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/MsJoannaShaw

Short night, long day

Tuesday I did some work in the morning, then went to actual work in the evening. Didn't get home until 11:30, then spent too long figuring out travel plans. The good news is I'll be in Minnesota from the evening of the 22nd through the early morning of the 27th. The bad news is I didn't sleep nearly long enough Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning I had to open, which was hard on not enough sleep. Then, I had to serve Laura Cunningham, who is the Service Maven of TKRG (and also Chef Keller's significant other). Luckily she was really nice and everything went well, I think. I was pretty beat after work, though. Went home, had soup, then went back into the city to meet Matt. We went to see Ben's band, Station 23, play a show, which was fun, but I started to feel the affects of my cold and not enough sleep and by the time I got home I felt pretty awful. Blech.

(A note: I feel better now)

I identify too much with this character

Monday I slept in, and it helped me to feel better (still fighting this cold). Hung around the house a while, went into the city to do errands and get an immunity boost Jamba Juice, then back home. I brought veggies over to Matt's to contribute to fajitas for dinner, and we watched "Election." Now I realize the Reese Witherspoon character is supposed to be really "out there," but I identified with her, and she's definitely a composite of some people I went to high school with.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Sunday we did something many of you will not believe I did: we went to the zoo. Now, I know I have a reputation for not liking zoos, but Ethan works at the Bronx Zoo and assured us we would have a good time, so we took the hour plus subway ride up to the Bronx and saw the zoo! He got us in for free and immediately took us on the monorail, which is where you get to see elephants (they have two!), rhinoceri, and some other crazy stuff. Then we went to the Congo exhibit and saw gorillas. Ethan had to go back to teaching zoo patrons, so Matt and I wandered around and saw lots of other cool animals, like a grizzly bear, a polar bear, a red panda (THE CUTEST EVER), snow leopards, and tigers. We met back up with Ethan at the Butterfly house and then headed home. He had told us to pack a lunch, so all in all it was a very fun, cheap day for us. Matt and I came home to the brisket I'd been cooking in the crock pot and had a delicious Sunday dinner.

A really good day

Saturday was a really good day, despite my burgeoning cold. I went to work in the morning and we had a really great shift. Everyone did what they were supposed to do and I didn't have to stress out about anything. Amazing. Hannah and I met up after I was done and we went downtown to get coffee, but on our way to coffee we passed a Red Mango frozen yogurt place that was giving out free frozen yogurt, so we got some! We still ended up getting coffee at Grey Dog and chatting for a while, which was really nice. Matt arrived and Hannah left, and Matt and I checked out Halloween costumes. We got some tea while we killed time until Ben was ready to meet us for dinner at Zaytoon's. This was a really good day, except that by the end I was worn out because I definitely have that cold. Boo.

Comfort Food

Friday I went to work, and we started our pre-service meeting as usual. Then, all of a sudden, Chef Keller appeared, and the pressure level went WAY UP. I had to lead a meeting in front of one of the most famous chefs in the U.S., who also happens to be my boss. Luckily, everything went well, but I'm sure I was pretty red in the face. The rest of the shift was easy compared to that. Did some shopping, then met up with Matt to head home and make corn chowder and biscuits. He's getting over a cold, which I am now coming down with, so we had an easy night and watched "3:10 to Yuma," which I would recommend to anyone who likes Westerns and doesn't mind violence.

Debates and Apple Crisp (new debate, new dessert)

Thursday I worked again in the morning, but I was at the bar so it was a really nice relaxing change. The shift flew by with minimal stress, which was a great break. Picked up my CSA share on the way home, and I got:

-Corn
-Leeks
-Bok choy
-Fennel
-Apples
-Carrots
-Turnips
-Peppers
-Eggs
-Garlic
-Salad mix

I also picked up local honey and a grass-fed beef brisket, which I purchased separately through a program associated with the CSA. The honey is for Matt, who has heard that eating local honey can help with allergies, and the brisket is for the crock pot tomorrow. The approximate cost this week was $33, not including the brisket and honey.

Put away my veggies, then worked on the show with Ethan. We did our first full run-through, which was really exciting. Still more work to do, but so cool to see it coming together. He went home, then Matt came over and he, Randy, and I watched the VP debate, which was as good as I'd hoped. Made apple crisp with CSA apples and finished up a good day.