Good Things

"Good things come to those who wait," said a certain someone to me at the jazz lounge on Friday.  This saying is true on many levels.

Those of you on Facebook know the rest, but anyway...I swore to myself I wasn't going to get into this on my blog, but really, it's even more exciting than my museum visits.

Upon finding out on Saturday that I was unwell, this same someone (who probably deserves a nickname at some point) promised to bring me get well treats.  And so on Sunday I received a call while he was at a rather nice gourmet store, gauging my interest in items, reading ingredients, deciding on things, and then asked my permission to come see me.

He came bearing good things:  chicken noodle soup, tomato basil parmesan soup, a chocolate tartlet, a fruit tartlet, organic OJ with pulp, and a bunch of PINK TULIPS!

(I thought this only happened in movies.)

I was so cheered up that I felt good enough to go out, so we went for a ramble round the neighborhood in the sunshine before he left to visit his folks.

(Girls are not supposed to admit this, and I didn't, but no guy apart from my father has given me flowers before.)

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In other news, I had a pre-interview phone screening with a company in Arlington, and it looks like I will be getting an interview later this week.

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Oh, nearly forgot - if you want to see pics of us at the Indonesian Embassy, then go to ThingstodoDC, click on the Photo Gallery link on the Right hand side menu, choose the Embassy link, and take a peek at the pics.  

Happy Surpriseday

Today was like my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one.

A surprise parcel arrived today from the lovely Nikkipolani!  I found it inside the front door when I went downstairs for breakfast, and ended up running upstairs to open it and ooh and aah over each item as I pulled them out of the box!

She had filled it with samples from a trade show and Trader Joe's.  I love smorgasbords.

Looks as though I was too excited to focus properly, but there are tasty snacks, teabags, chocolate bars, chocolate covered blueberries and pumpkin seeds, all sorts of natural lotion and soap samples, and lip balms...goodness me!

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Today as it was drizzly out (spring got cold feet), I stayed home cleaning up my poor overworked hard drive, downloading software for a printer that my landlady has given me, AND I may soon (hopefully tomorrow) receive a phone call to discuss a job with a translation company.  *holding breath*

Tomorrow evening, somebody is taking me to a swanky do at the Indonesian Embassy including traditional food, music and dance, and a tour of the mansion, so stay tuned for a review.

EYE LIKE

Have I just invented a new Tag? If so, YOU are tagged! :)

Christopher, thank you for the inspiration.

TASK - You have to post items in colours you find yourself instinctively attracted to. Items you would touch in a shop, things you'd want to take home with you, so they have to appeal aesthetically too.

These pics were originally seen in my blog nearly 2 years ago: Oh no no no
My penchant for these colours were pointed out years ago by Vanessa when we were living at university. So my taste is constant, but I wish I had time to add some fluffier things.

My favourite colours include mint, sage, robin's egg blue, seafoam green, heliotrope, mauve, lavender, turquoise, jade...Behold:

Week in Limbo

OK, I am bored. I have hit one of those weeks when I ... am ... waiting ... waiting ... for ... all ... sorts ... of ... things ... to ... happen ...
I can't stand weeks like this. There is a lot of clock watching, email checking, phone holding...Ugh.

However, the fact that it is spring and beautiful, and not winter and not hibernation-inducing is a great help. I don't want to curl up under the duvet, I want to walk in the park.

So this afternoon I put on a skirt, no tights, and went out. I watched the little blossom petals sliding over each other on the pavement beneath the trees on my street. I noted how the trees in the gardens and the trees on the verge were old enough to arch over the pavement the way they usually do over the road. I took a big sniff as I passed the hedge being trimmed outside the portered mansions. I listened to the blackbirds singing at all hours, not just in the evening.

I spoke to my mother in New York last weekend and she said it was freezing. At that moment, I was about to break into a sweat because it was 24C (75F). That day in London was even warmer than Houston, which was only 20C (68F).

Now, however, she is in Guyana for the first time since she left in 1971, and she will be there for 5, yes five, weeks (!). Some of you may remember the cousin I mentioned who moved back there because of her husband's business. This was my mum's very cute email to me today:

Hey Ba, I am so happy here with Andrea and the children and Ray. The
wind is so fresh and cool most times and the rain comes and wash away the dust and we get so sleepy after an hour sitting on the balcony. So we eat, sit out, sleep and go bathe. The fruits are so fresh and so is all the food. I am taking some pics of the pomegranate, pineapple, mango, psydium and everything else. I will send them in Picasa when I get back.

I am going to the market now and I want to see if I can do some fruit shopping. Andrea's maid is so sweet and so are her watchmen, they are like family. I wish you could see here for a week or so. When I go to the UK we can come to NY then come here for a while, it takes 6 1/2 hrs to fly from NY. I love you and think of you all the time I'm eating or enjoying something.

Ah bless her. I know I told her to take photos of everything but I didn't mean the things I already know, although I have never heard of psydium before...


Mum is in Skeldon, near Corriverton on the eastern coast - they grew up here on a sugar estate, but are originally from Port Mourant, near New Amsterdam further west.

Skeldon is a 4-hour drive from the capital Georgetown, the Garden City of the Caribbean.


Georgetown city hall, in front of St George's cathedral, the tallest wooden structure in the world

Foodie yum yum

MMMMMMmmmmmm the fish n chips yesterday in Richmond was poifect!

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This morning I have been watching New York City (Les Halles) chef Anthony Bourdain. He is right out of a page from the beatnik biker 1960s. Tall, tanned, lanky, weathered, curly grey hair, an earring, black leather jacket, and he smokes.

He's on this gastronomic world tour. This weekend I saw him in St Petersburg, Russia, eating smoked dried fish, coulibiac, caviar, lots of vodka with radishes, washed down with cucumber juice...

Then Oaxaca, MEXICO. I wanted to EAT ALL THE FOOD (except for the toasted crickets, ant eggs and fried worms). All sorts of mole' sauces, fresh pico de gallo, chorizo, soups, ices, enchiladas...OK, all these things in this list don't look outsdanding, but with Mexican food, it's the preparation and the resulting flavour explosion that matters. When I tell you what they put in the mole sauce: charred avocado leaf, roasted chipotle peppers, chocolate, salt, other spices...cooked up with turkey or goat...to see these things being prepared in the outdoor kitchens, everything with fresh hot tortillas...I just can't convey it here.

Last weekend I saw him in Thailand and Vietnam. I've already raved about the Hairy Bikers cooking in SE Asia, so I won't repeat myself here. Yes, of course, they all ran into unwelcome surprises, such as the Bikers eating dog when they thought it was duck, and Bourdain feeling a bit off after eating the busiest birds' nest soup you ever saw (not as basic as the Chinese one)


And right now he is in a red 1968 Mustang convertible, leather jacket, sunshades, cigarette - saying that is the car he wants to die in, let it be his funeral pyre...

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Speaking of food, I have a few recipes that it would be fun to share with you. First up, if I can find the crinkled piece of paper I wrote it on, I will give you a Butter Tart recipe from Canada.

BUTTER TARTS - very addictive.



For 12 Tarts:

1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup golden corn syrup (or in UK, golden syrup)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

Heat oven to 450 degrees F (~ 230 degrees C). Pour boiling water on raisins to cover completely. Let stand about 5 minutes. Drain but do not dry. Mix raisins (still warm) with butter, sugar, salt and syrup. Stir to dissolve sugar and melt butter. Add slightly beaten egg and vanilla. Fill tarts. (Add a pecan on top of each tart?)

Bake in very hot oven for 15-20 minutes - filling should still be bubbling, but lightly browned on top. Don't overbake or filling will be too thick.

Remove tarts from oven. Loosen edges of pastry with the point of a knife. Let tarts remain in pans for about 10 minutes to give them a chance to set, then remove them from pans to cool completely on cake rack.

(Olivia adds: Enjoy eating them, then put them away so you don't eat them all in one go! Seriously, my aunt baked them for my cousin's baby shower, and I just kept coming back for "another one...and another one....oh, and one more....ok, this is the last one...")




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Special Stuff

This weekend I went off to Diva and Nags to celebrate her birthday with Amy and Sunshine (and the Man). Pandy couldn't be there, and we missed her, but we will see her again soon.

As usual, we laughed more than anyone in a 5-mile radius. Laughter IS the best medicine :) It is impossible to hang out with that lot and keep a straight face. I love 'em to bits.

I didn't take any pictures because I didn't take my camera, and I didn't take my camera because I knew Diva would want to exercise her brand new camera, but once she puts up one of her outstanding photo shows, I will link to it.

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And then this morning I woke up to this:

A box of exciting goodies from Nikki all the way on the other side of the world!

It was a bright spot in my rainy day. I got:

Some dainty green earrings which make me feel thirsty because they look like grapes. A maze puzzle on a valentine heart. A smooth bar of the very excellent Dove orange spice dark chocolate. A pouch of 3 delicious Burt's Bees tinted/shimmering lip balms. Mmmmm, mintyyyyyy.

Oh, and a card entitled: Red Rover, Red Rover, send cute, financially stable, emotionally mature men right over!

(Ain't that the truth.)