Art + Pizza

Posted on October 31st, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Party Girl by Mrs. Hall


Art + Pizza by you.

Our friend Craig Schumacher had a showing of his paintings at ARTability last night.  That is his Buddha at the upper left.  And Pursuit, that’s the Buddha WITH hair, just FYI.    You can also see a bit of Craig’s nun, as well as Faggot and Bitch at the upper right.  Howard and Lisa went with us, and we headed over to Arcodoro Pomodoro for dinner afterward.  I had the Margherita Pizza, while a giant tomato loomed over the restaurant.

We have a mellow weekend planned, but we’ll be gearing up for our big Election Night party on Tuesday.  I hope that all goes well for Obama.  I may need to hide all the guns, just in case.

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Harvest

Posted on October 25th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Living in Paradise by Mrs. Hall


Harvest by you.

So, a tiny basil plant that peeked up between our flagstones this Spring turned into a giant basil bush by October.  It was starting to look a little leggy, and it would be dead in a month or two, so I decided to harvest all the leaves I could and make a giant vat of pesto.  Ten packed cups of basil!  Unfortunately, I ruined the recipe by adding too much salt, and the pine nuts were a bit rancid, so I ended up tossing it all.  Oh well, I didn’t need to eat more pasta anyway!  But Les made a wonderful melange of vegetables on the grill with some nice chicken.

It was a beautiful day, 70 and sunny.  We went shopping for more holiday decorations and assorted geegaws.  We got some sheepskin to use as a Christmas tree skirt.  Unfortunately, Izzy seems to think that the sheepskin is either her mother, or her dinner.  Les is betting it lasts a week at best.  But I am a Christmas optimist!!


izzy by you.

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On the Road Again

Posted on October 21st, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Motel Matches by Mrs. Hall

Wreath by you.

Actually, in a plane again.  But this time for holiday vacation!  I’ve already begun my annual holiday excel spreadsheet of gifts and decor.  Plus, we have booked our now-traditional week in Santa Fe.  We’ll head out right after Christmas Day and come back after New Year’s.  We are staying at El Farolito, which is the most wonderful Bed and Breakfast in town.  We’ve booked lots of fabulous dinners at restaurants like Geronimo, The Compound and El Meson.  And of course, we will make our usual trek to Ten Thousand Waves for outdoor hot tub and massages.  Or maybe a bird-poop facial.

And of course, we’re already planning next year’s travel.  Looks like we might head to Tuscany at the end of May.  We laugh in the face of the exchange rate! 

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A Neighborhood Shindig

Posted on October 18th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Party Girl by Mrs. Hall

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We went to Zen Sushi tonight with Lisa before going to the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group’s Silent Auction and Wine Tasting, held at Jack’s Backyard. I forgot to take pictures, but it looks like an interesting spot. It has a large open-air area where you can hang out. as well as a couple of indoor spaces where they’ll serve dinners. Yet another Oak Cliff restaurant!

Devil Dog

Posted on October 18th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Love Field by Mrs. Hall


Izzy's first Halloween costume by you.

Wait until you see her Santa suit!

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Dallas Farmer's Market

Posted on October 18th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Living in Paradise by Mrs. Hall


Dallas Farmer's Market by you.

We went to buy more mums on a perfect early Fall day.  After buying Christmas lights at Costco, I’m really feeling the season already.  Thursday night I bought Christmas stockings, ornaments and a holiday doormat.  And Izzy has her Santa suit, as well as her Halloween costume.  I love the holidays!

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Hurry Home!

Posted on October 13th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Girls Talk by Mrs. Hall


Nonna 2 by you.

Les and I decided that we would have a big send off dinner for his motorbike trip this week.  We couldn’t find anywhere that was open on a Monday night, so we settled on Nonna.  Wow!  What a great choice.  We had a phenomenal meal.  We had the cockles with incredible garlic toast for an appetizer, with a little Prosecco.  Then Les had the Beef Shortribs on Polenta while I had the Tajarin with Prosciutto, Sage and Parmesan.  It was finger licking good.  We finished with Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Everything was really excellent.  Eat at Nonna!

So, tomorrow Les heads off for his adventure.  I plan on exercising, working a lot, and getting a bunch of little things done in his absence.  It’s the longest we’ve been apart since we met.  Well, except for all of my trips.  But that’s different.  That’s when Les is home alone and I’m traveling!!  But Les has left me a nice handgun and three dogs for protection.  Hurry home honey, we’ll miss you!

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San Francisco Saturday

Posted on October 11th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Motel Matches,Welcome to the Working Week by Mrs. Hall

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I got to walk around San Francisco’s Union Square area a bit this afternoon, before departing for home tomorrow. I stopped at Westfield Center first. The dome that tops the shopping area is apparently a tourist landmark. The stores were totally packed. No economic crisis for these shoppers. Mainly because they weren’t American for the most part. Tiny German Grandmothers. Petite Asian yuppies. Why is it that it’s just the Americans that are fat? At any rate, it seems that the European and Asian travelers are taking advantage of the favorable exchange rate.

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The streets were crowded too. There were lots of panhandlers, as well as musicians.

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The legendary trolleys rolled by, one loaded with a wedding party. I waddled around Zara, H&M and Banana Republic before heading back to the Hotel Palomar for dinner.

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The Fifth Floor restaurant is quite exceptional.

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I had the Poulpe avec Crevette to start, which is a grilled octopus and black tiger shrimp salad, sunchoke confit, black olive and berber spice vinaigrette. I had the Poulet et Homard for my entree: a poached chicken breast and roasted thigh with carmelized canteloupe, butter poached lobster, yuba noodles, shellfish bouillon and “gros sel” sauce. The sommelier recommended a Schloss Govelsburg Gruner to accompany. Altogether a wonderful meal. Unfortunately rather too dark to photograph.

Now… homeward bound.

Road Warrior

Posted on October 7th, 2008 in All This Useless Beauty,Motel Matches,Welcome to the Working Week by Mrs. Hall

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So, today was a pretty typical travel day for me. I got to the airport about 7 hours before my flight. Just kidding. That was for my husband. Actually, it was two hours, as usual. Airport Valet meets me at my gate and takes my car away, so I don’t have to worry about parking. I made my way to the Admiral’s Club and worked until boarding time. With the new Priority AAccess, I can board anytime, but I walked up right as they called First Class. My upgrade went through. I sat next to a woman who is on the board of Levi Strauss and Co. I wanted to talk business with her, but she didn’t seem very friendly. The flight attendant fussed over her for the entire flight. He said that there are only a couple of women who are Executive Platinum and he always likes to find out what they do for a living. No matter how much she gave him the old stink-eye, he kept hovering over her. Bizarre.

I drove out to Marin and checked into the Acqua Hotel. I love the rooms. Dig the cool bed above. You can see the bottle of white wine that they give me for being an extra-special blah-blah-blah member. You can also see my sexy retainer sitting in it’s case. Hawt!

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It also has a great little view of the Bay. I sat and worked in front of my balcony.

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The birds swooped and splashed at the water’s edge.

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People often jog or walk their dogs along the path. I intended to do the same, but maybe tomorrow.

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Eventually, my Thai food got delivered. Yum. Fresh vegetable rolls.

Now… time to make night-night. I’ve said that since I was a kid. Yeah, I know. Weird.

I’ll get to visit Walnut Creek and then a couple of day in downtown San Francisco before coming home on Sunday. Then… several weeks at home. Hooray!

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