And So It Begins... Again

Sunday, and my second hotel week began today. I'm feeling pretty good about this one. The group seems nice and I'm in a jolly mood these days. I went to Whole Foods this evening to stock up on stuff for the week, and what is staring me in the face at the check out? A fluffy, yellow little chick, sitting on top of a no. 2 Noi & Sirius chocolate easter egg!!! Needless to say, that found its way into my basket. Yum... a little taste of home.

Speaking of which, I made fishballs this week. I didn't have any Icelandic haddock, sadly, so I made do with New Zealand orange roughy. It was decent, but nowhere near as delicious as the real thing. Sean, however, dazzled with last night's dinner. Italian mashed potatoes (made with olive oil, two kinds of cheese, and lots of pepper), grilled chicken, and homemade spinach pesto. Heaven! I went into a serious food coma that last through all of Saturday Night Live. Ahhh... Sean acquired two new kitchen gadgets this week, so he felt like cooking. One was a potato ricer (all the better to ake creamy mashed potatoes with) and the other was a Wusthof Cordon Bleu paring knife, which is his favorite new toy. He should get together with Ingo - they can geek out over kitchen tools.

We saw Fast Food Nation this weekend. It's based on Eric Schlosser's non-fiction expose of the fast food industry, mainly focused on meat plants and just how cow poop makes its way into one's hamburger. Yuck. I haven't eaten at McDonald's in over four years, and let's just say I'm never eating at any of those places EVER AGAIN! I don't think they really needed to show how a cow gets from being alive to being a hamburger patty (moment of death included), but damn if it didn't do the job. Gross!

I'm sitting in my eighth floor hotel room, looking southeast over Washington. I don't see it from this vanage point often, and it looks beautiful. I wish I could include a pic of it here. There's not a cloud in the sky and the weather is gorgeous, and seeing the lights of the city, the Washington monument, the Capitol dome, the Kennedy Center, all the way down the Potomac and over to Maryland... it makes me think how beautiful this country must have been in its native stage about 400 years ago. Too bad someone had to find it and fuck it up...

My dad's visit is imminent - he'll be here on April 5. I hope he's looking forward to it... I have a long shopping list for him!!! :-)

Alright... good night, folks. Catch you later.