Yesterday, Primo Jefe had his mad culinary skills on display at Le Cordon Bleu's Grand Buffet. At the end of each session/class they put these skills to the test and invite their families and friends out to showcase what they've learned.
Wow...that was quite a long-winded aside, huh? ANYWAY...the only downside (yeah, I know, we get invited to enjoy deliciously amazing fancy food and I'm the one who has to be the downer, my bad!) is that it was at 10PM. Normally, before Mari, that wouldn't have been quite an issue. See, before Mari, I normally went to bed somewhere between midnight and two. Before Mari, I didn't have fantasies of running for hours on end in a strange city in the middle of Autumn. Before Mari, I hadn't quite committed myself to many things (yes, yes, I know some of you readers out there...ahem, Trish...are shaking your heads thinking, "No way, Bianca! You're always on the go and you're always hella busy." But I would have to disagree because I'm actually about 3.3 times as busy as I was before Mari.) Soooo...with that said, I was giddy with excitement that I couldn't pause for a nap like I was supposed to. I couldn't even focus long enough on Big Love to finish the episode and it was a good one too! I just sat there bouncing around (probably had something to do with that espresso shot I had in the Vivanno from SBUX earlier). Don was out in the yard doing his man-chores [man-chore: any chore done by Don that I don't do, more specifically, anything having to do with the outdoors b/c I'm incredibly allergic to all things outdoor, as well as anything involving heights or sharp objects.], so I opted to go take Guapo for a walk. Yes, it was as hot outside! Mari was on the brink of a nap and I didn't want to have to balance the stroller and the leash, so I busted out my Moby. I've been doing the hip hold for the past week and so far no complaints. I put her in the sling and grabbed the leash and Guapo eagerly headed straight to the door for his walk. Mid-way in our 1 mile walk, Guapo turned his cute little head, tongue nearly dragging on the pavement, willing me to turn the corner to go home. I just shrugged my shoulders at him and said, "It's up to you, buddy. You're the one who hasn't pooped. If you want to turn the corner, you can." Seriously, he looked like he was going to roll his eyes at me, but snobbishly turned his head back and kept walking. Meanwhile, Mari just hung out in the Moby, petting my ribbed tank top. Poor baby was sweating, but I could see the droopy eyes starting to get heavier with each step. By the 3/4 mile mark, she was fast asleep and Guapo was in full on walk mode, focused to get home and rest on the cool concrete. He seemed happy enough, though. I was happy too. I really enjoy walking in the neighborhood, waving at neighbors, admiring their gardens as I tell myself, someday...someday.
When I got home, I snapped some pics of sleeping Mari in the Moby. I was using my fancy-schmancy, yeah, not really...ok, ok, my handy-dandy remote for my camera. It was fun! No more running to get in position for the timer! Woohoo! Don walked in and we set Mari in her crib to take a few shots of us. Ooooh! I LOVED how those shots came out. Very artistic and I just may blow one up to frame it in our bedroom. Anyway, we gingerly lazied around yapping about our day. I must say, I look forward to this time of day every day. I love waking up next to my Beloved. I love kissing Mari goodbye, especially when she's fast asleep and no telling what position I'll find her in. I love massaging Guapo in the morning as he stares back at me with those adorable brown eyes. I love coming home and being greeted by a huge kool-aid Mari smile when she sees me. But I really appreciate the dialogue that Don and I share day-in and day-out. I love that I can chat with him about everything and nothing. I rush to get everything out to him lest I forget any important details. But seriously, it is so very special to me that we make that time for one another.
Anyway, time flew by and off we were prepping to go to the Grand Buffet. When we arrived, I couldn't find Primo anywhere. So we inadvertently gave ourselves the grand tour of Le Cordon Bleu. It was an educating experience. Never before had I considered that a cooking school would be set up much like a traditional school. Duh, Bianca. School is school is school. Anyway, we just followed our noses, and the other people not in chef's jackets and hats, and found the proper room. In the room adjacent to that one, Simon was fast and furiously putting on the final touches to his vichyssoise and tabouli. He gave us a couple of samples and it was delicious. A bit on the heavy cream side, but then again, isn't that the way it was supposed to be?
The thing about his cooking is that he always adds that one special touch that you wouldn't expect from a dish and it makes it BETTER! His canape was on a regular piece of bread, with prosciutto and melon, but the marscapone had a hint of tobasco sauce and WOW!!! No really, wow was all I could say. One of his classmates had made these fabulous Rueben sandwiches. Those of you that know me well, know that I HEART Rueben sandwiches. The bar was set high on this for me and when I tasted his, I was in heaven. So much so that I not only went back for seconds, but I also had thirds. (yeah, yeah, that's gonna hurt the next time I run, but it was worth it!)
So as we were weaving through the buffet line, Mari was in total visual sensation overload. Baby must've been hungry, because she kept reaching out for everything I put on my plate. She successfully took hold of the vichyssoise and tabouli and immediately shoved the bits into her mouth. No funny faces, nope. She actually reached out for more. I had to quickly put my plate out of sight for her. Instead, I gathered up some avocados, mashed them, and finger fed them to her. She was totally into it! I gave her more and if there was a lapse in my timing of feeding her, she vocally showed her displeasure in a series of I-want-it-now-Mommy grunts, only to be satisfied with another serving of the green fruit. She was wearing her little black dress bib which was made to look like she was wearing a black dress with pearls on it. I thought it was cute! Oh, and there was dessert too! My favorite was this orange fruit tart. Mmm...the oranges were so plump and fresh and the crust was an absolute perfectly sweet compliment to the citrus.
It was knocking on 11PM and I knew I was riding on "E" as far as energy level. I hugged Simon goodbye and we headed home. I kept chatting to stay awake and as soon as we got home, I hit the crash button. I stayed up long enough to notice that Mari was up and at 'em wanting to wrestle and play. So I humored her and played for five minutes. She was covering me with sloppy, drooly baby kisses and I loved it. I fell asleep with a fabulous smile on my face. Ahhh...midnight already. What a great start to Friday.
(forewarning: I'm a dope and forgot the memory card to my camera, so not the first time that's happened...sorry Brother for missing the graduation shot! Anyway, the card was at home in the computer's memory slot from the photo session earlier in day of me and my Beloved...and if you are lucky, I just might post my favorite photo here.)
Wow...that was quite a long-winded aside, huh? ANYWAY...the only downside (yeah, I know, we get invited to enjoy deliciously amazing fancy food and I'm the one who has to be the downer, my bad!) is that it was at 10PM. Normally, before Mari, that wouldn't have been quite an issue. See, before Mari, I normally went to bed somewhere between midnight and two. Before Mari, I didn't have fantasies of running for hours on end in a strange city in the middle of Autumn. Before Mari, I hadn't quite committed myself to many things (yes, yes, I know some of you readers out there...ahem, Trish...are shaking your heads thinking, "No way, Bianca! You're always on the go and you're always hella busy." But I would have to disagree because I'm actually about 3.3 times as busy as I was before Mari.) Soooo...with that said, I was giddy with excitement that I couldn't pause for a nap like I was supposed to. I couldn't even focus long enough on Big Love to finish the episode and it was a good one too! I just sat there bouncing around (probably had something to do with that espresso shot I had in the Vivanno from SBUX earlier). Don was out in the yard doing his man-chores [man-chore: any chore done by Don that I don't do, more specifically, anything having to do with the outdoors b/c I'm incredibly allergic to all things outdoor, as well as anything involving heights or sharp objects.], so I opted to go take Guapo for a walk. Yes, it was as hot outside! Mari was on the brink of a nap and I didn't want to have to balance the stroller and the leash, so I busted out my Moby. I've been doing the hip hold for the past week and so far no complaints. I put her in the sling and grabbed the leash and Guapo eagerly headed straight to the door for his walk. Mid-way in our 1 mile walk, Guapo turned his cute little head, tongue nearly dragging on the pavement, willing me to turn the corner to go home. I just shrugged my shoulders at him and said, "It's up to you, buddy. You're the one who hasn't pooped. If you want to turn the corner, you can." Seriously, he looked like he was going to roll his eyes at me, but snobbishly turned his head back and kept walking. Meanwhile, Mari just hung out in the Moby, petting my ribbed tank top. Poor baby was sweating, but I could see the droopy eyes starting to get heavier with each step. By the 3/4 mile mark, she was fast asleep and Guapo was in full on walk mode, focused to get home and rest on the cool concrete. He seemed happy enough, though. I was happy too. I really enjoy walking in the neighborhood, waving at neighbors, admiring their gardens as I tell myself, someday...someday.
When I got home, I snapped some pics of sleeping Mari in the Moby. I was using my fancy-schmancy, yeah, not really...ok, ok, my handy-dandy remote for my camera. It was fun! No more running to get in position for the timer! Woohoo! Don walked in and we set Mari in her crib to take a few shots of us. Ooooh! I LOVED how those shots came out. Very artistic and I just may blow one up to frame it in our bedroom. Anyway, we gingerly lazied around yapping about our day. I must say, I look forward to this time of day every day. I love waking up next to my Beloved. I love kissing Mari goodbye, especially when she's fast asleep and no telling what position I'll find her in. I love massaging Guapo in the morning as he stares back at me with those adorable brown eyes. I love coming home and being greeted by a huge kool-aid Mari smile when she sees me. But I really appreciate the dialogue that Don and I share day-in and day-out. I love that I can chat with him about everything and nothing. I rush to get everything out to him lest I forget any important details. But seriously, it is so very special to me that we make that time for one another. Anyway, time flew by and off we were prepping to go to the Grand Buffet. When we arrived, I couldn't find Primo anywhere. So we inadvertently gave ourselves the grand tour of Le Cordon Bleu. It was an educating experience. Never before had I considered that a cooking school would be set up much like a traditional school. Duh, Bianca. School is school is school. Anyway, we just followed our noses, and the other people not in chef's jackets and hats, and found the proper room. In the room adjacent to that one, Simon was fast and furiously putting on the final touches to his vichyssoise and tabouli. He gave us a couple of samples and it was delicious. A bit on the heavy cream side, but then again, isn't that the way it was supposed to be?
The thing about his cooking is that he always adds that one special touch that you wouldn't expect from a dish and it makes it BETTER! His canape was on a regular piece of bread, with prosciutto and melon, but the marscapone had a hint of tobasco sauce and WOW!!! No really, wow was all I could say. One of his classmates had made these fabulous Rueben sandwiches. Those of you that know me well, know that I HEART Rueben sandwiches. The bar was set high on this for me and when I tasted his, I was in heaven. So much so that I not only went back for seconds, but I also had thirds. (yeah, yeah, that's gonna hurt the next time I run, but it was worth it!)
So as we were weaving through the buffet line, Mari was in total visual sensation overload. Baby must've been hungry, because she kept reaching out for everything I put on my plate. She successfully took hold of the vichyssoise and tabouli and immediately shoved the bits into her mouth. No funny faces, nope. She actually reached out for more. I had to quickly put my plate out of sight for her. Instead, I gathered up some avocados, mashed them, and finger fed them to her. She was totally into it! I gave her more and if there was a lapse in my timing of feeding her, she vocally showed her displeasure in a series of I-want-it-now-Mommy grunts, only to be satisfied with another serving of the green fruit. She was wearing her little black dress bib which was made to look like she was wearing a black dress with pearls on it. I thought it was cute! Oh, and there was dessert too! My favorite was this orange fruit tart. Mmm...the oranges were so plump and fresh and the crust was an absolute perfectly sweet compliment to the citrus.
It was knocking on 11PM and I knew I was riding on "E" as far as energy level. I hugged Simon goodbye and we headed home. I kept chatting to stay awake and as soon as we got home, I hit the crash button. I stayed up long enough to notice that Mari was up and at 'em wanting to wrestle and play. So I humored her and played for five minutes. She was covering me with sloppy, drooly baby kisses and I loved it. I fell asleep with a fabulous smile on my face. Ahhh...midnight already. What a great start to Friday.
2 comments:
I was affirmed to read that you give Guapo massages in the morning. I do this with Henry and thought I was probably the only half-crazed dog mommy to give her baby a massage in the morning (and in the afternoon, and at night...) but now that I know you do it I see that I'm not crazy.
AWESOME picture!
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