This weekend Beans, Hope, and Kristian are coming to visit, and I am INSANELY excited. Beans arrives this morning and we are heading out to visit one of the local organic farms in the area. Hope and Kristian arrive later this evening. Actually there is one word that will describe my excitement…SQUEEEEEEEEEE!
Apparently the Today show is doing prank segments and this morning it was Matt’s turn to punk Al, Anne, and Meredith. He decided to set up a photo shoot gone horribly wrong. The director of the punk, Brian Williams; who was probably the best part of the prank, especially when he came out dressed as a Storm Trooper to inform them that oops you’ve totally been punked.
My acne is out of freaking control. My dermatologist told me that it would be a crap shoot as to how my face would react to no medicine and more hormones. Apparently it decided to go the “freak the fuck out” path. I think that if I do it right I could make a pretty connect the dots picture ON MY FACE.
The Mudflats has an excellent post on the Teabag’s latest creative endeavor, namely a documentary film, can you guess the title…Tea Party. I know, you so didn’t see THAT one coming. I couldn’t stop laughing at the D-R-A-M-A of the voice over. It screamed soap opera politics.
My weekly “Holy Shit” moment: Damn the Winter Olympics really are around the corner…kinda-ish.
Finally, I leave you with this picture, which really sums up my week:
Today the White House hosted the Tribal Nations Conference & Interactive Discussion with Tribal Leaders. Rather apropos for the start of November which is Native American Heritage Month.
Here are pieces of President Obama’s remarks that struck a chord for me:
We know the history that we share. It’s a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep. And that’s a history that we’ve got to acknowledge if we are to move forward…
…And I want to be clear about this: Today’s summit is not lip service. We’re not going to go through the motions and pay tribute to one another, and then furl up the flags and go our separate ways. Today’s sessions are part of a lasting conversation that’s crucial to our shared future…
…In the final years of his administration, President Clinton issued an executive order establishing regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration between your nations and the federal government. But over the past nine years, only a few agencies have made an effort to implement that executive order — and it’s time for that to change…
…The memorandum I’ll sign directs every Cabinet agency to give me a detailed plan within 90 days of how — the full implementation of that executive order and how we’re going to improve tribal consultation. (Applause.) After all, there are challenges we can only solve by working together, and we face a serious set of issues right now…
You can read the full transcript of the President’s speech here. I am interested to see where this collaboration leads. The signing of the memorandum above is a great first step, but stronger legislation needs to be put into effect so that after 4 or 8 years agreements must be kept and not broken.
So this month (Nov. 10th to be exact) Sesame Street turns 40. And I feel old.
First of all, how awesome is it that this show is still on television. Who knew that the combination of animation, muppets, and live actors would strike the hearts of generations around the world!!!!
My favorite Sesame Street character hands down is Mr. Snuffleupagus, followed closely by Grover. I even remember when Big Bird was the only one who could see Snuffy. It used to piss off my 3 year-old self to no end that the adults wouldn’t believe him. My least favorite would have to be Elmo, which means that of course that will end up being my kid’s favorite…karma works like that.
Watching Big Bird and Snuffy’s friendship the beginning of my own imaginary friend stage. Of course I had a whole imaginary family, complete with a twin sister that I used to try and use when I got in trouble. For some reason my mother never believed me…
I leave you with a classic Sesame Street clip, one that is after my own heart…
It’s been a while since I blogged about Top Chef, mainly because this season’s the winner seems very clear…ahem Kevin.
My initial reaction to the elimination challenge was….woah dude that is MEAN. First you take the chef’s to Craftsteak, let them drool over the various cuts of meat, and then march out Natalie Portman and make it a meatless challenge. Mean, mean, mean.
But then all of the shots of Robin waxing poetic about her love for all things fresh veggie, lifted my hopes that maybe this would be the one where she would be eliminated. Alas. Not so.
And what gives Michael I?!!? I was expecting a fiery exit, especially since you got eliminated BEFORE Robin. All things considered you had some serious duds, you are clearly the better chef. I was surprised when Robin stayed, because let’s be honest, she hasn’t had a winning dish–except for that dessert thing, which really two words could describe it: NOT INSPIRING or maybe three letters WTF.
Someone take that woman to a Casino to play the craps table, because her luck is UNREAL.
Yeah, this episode left me asking, “Meh, have we made it to the final three yet?”
So this is the first November since I joined NaBloPoMo community that I’ll actually be able to participate. YAY!
November is strangely one of my favorite months. It’s the month I got married in, it’s my husbands’ birthday month, and there is of course the day that sanctions the inhaling of turkey and mashed potatoes. In this area November tends to be the peak time for fall foliage, and FINALLY the weather starts to turn cooler. I am a winter baby and a cold weather nut.
Speaking of that first item on the list my wedding, yesterday was officially our 1-year wedding anniversary. It was nice to spend it in a relaxing manner. The day started off with homemade pancakes with a cherry sauce and whipped cream. We then headed off to Mass, and then a short visit with Damian’s parents. The day ended with a lovely dinner for two at local restaurant Tallula. It was the first time that either of us had been there, but we drive by it almost every single day, so it was high time we went in and ate there.
Damian started the evening off with their rabbit pate, and Thumper must have been tasty because it disappeared in about two bites. I chose the frito misto of prawn, squid, and fried zucchini with a preserved lemon aioli. For our entrees Damian had the venison with a pear rosemary puree, golden beets, celery, sunchokes, and juniper sauce; while I had the pan roasted duck breast with brussel sprouts, salsfiy figs, lardon, and vin cotto. Both were excellent. We were slight fludges and decided to forgo dessert there, for the homemade pumpkin pie sitting in my fridge.
The dinning room was quite spacious and it was clear that they had a very broad selection of wine (something that I’ll have to go back and try sometime next year along with the homemade chacutarie.)
My one complaint would be the lighting. It was dimmed to add to the atmosphere, but unfortunately also gave everything golden hue. I love the different colors that food has, and presentation is an important aspect of the dinning experience for me; so having everything on my plate appear as different shades of brown was annoying. Thankfully, the food still tasted wonderful.
We’ll definitely go back, besides I also need to eat at the attached gastropub EatBar.
Tallula & EatBar
2761 Washington Blvd. Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: 703.778.5051
