Meet Me At the Altar With With Your White Dress . . .

Throughout most of my adult life, I have been allergic to weddings. Allergic might be an overstatement. Perhaps "have not always enjoyed" is a better term. I have always thought that they were a waste of money and just overdone. Plus the whole afraid of commitment thing. So, when I found out that my bff Anne and my buddy Marie were getting married, I was scared. I was scared that everything would be wedding centric and that it would be suffocating. I even got anxious when I bought Marie a subscription to Modern Bride. The thought that we'd be getting bridal magazines freaked me out.

But . . . it really isn't bad. Maybe it's because I'm growing up or what. Or maybe it's because the word "commitment" doesn't scare me as much. I actually enjoy talking about wedding planning. As long as I am not planning my own, it's fun. I have always enjoyed event planning. I love planning dinners and other fun events. (See, Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza 2006 and 2007). Perhaps it's residual from my sorority days. What sorority girl can resist a themed party? I know I can't. Even my dinner nights were themed. (Mexican, Chinese, Moroccan)

Perhaps this change has to do with the fact that I really do care about the people who are getting married. Not to say that I haven't cared about other people but Marie and Anne mean a lot to me. I want them to be happy and I know that having the wedding they envisioned will make them happy. With that in mind, I don't mind looking at venues, dresses, or other fun wedding stuff. I think I have a special knack for wedding favors. Who knew?

Challenge?

I love it when tennis players challenge line calls. It adds so much more to the game. First, I like how unlike football challenges, you find out the result right then and there. Second, I like how the ball tracker thing is so clear with the calls. There isn't much wiggle room. It's either in and out. Touches the line or not. Lastly and my favorite part is the crowd's reaction when they show the ball on the monitor. I LOVE how the crowd goes: "oooooooooo" when the ball is slowly in the air and then the "ahhhhhhhhh" when it bounces. It's my favorite part... "oooooooooooooo" "ahhhhhhhhhh" (cheer!)

I take that back

I think what scares me more is the fact that there is another Natasha Ng who is admitted to practice law in California. I thought I was the only Natasha Ng lawyer. Sadsies.

I don't know what scares me most. Either the fact that my name comes up when I search the Calbar website or the fact that it says: "This person is active and may practice law."

Ragnar Relay Race

My buddy Keith got me to commit to running the Ragnar Relay Race in April. I started out super excited because I have never run a race like this. It's a 177 mile relay race from Santa Barbara to Dana Point. Luckily I don't have to run 177 miles. I only have to run three legs, each leg being about 5 miles or so because each team will have 12 runners. However, I just realized that there is a good chance that I will have to run in the middle of the night. I have no idea when this thing starts at but with 177 miles I think we're going to be running for a while. That makes me nervous. Luckily Keithers tells me that there are a lot of good runners on my team and maybe they can pick up my slow ass.

Either way, I am excited. If you are on the route and want to cheer me on, here's the info on the race:

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/losangeles/coursemaps/

My team name is: Ask Me About My B.R.

Paley's Place

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of eating at Paley's Place in Portland, Oregon. I'm on a little vacation up here and the biggest highlight (besides seeing my old friends) is trying out this restaurant. What started out as a joke ended up being one of the best meals I have had.

The restaurant design and atmosphere was awesome. Paley's Place is my idea of the perfect restaurant in terms of the look and feel. First, the restaurant isn't all that big. When I made my original reservation for 10, they told me that was the maximum they could accomodate at the location. According to their website, it can only seat about 50 people. Second, the atmoshphere was not stuffy and the tables weren't that close together. That means you can have a conversation without shouting over people and that you don't feel so rushed with your meal.

I ended ordering the Lamb Shank braised in a red wine sauce. I would rank the lamb at Paley's in the top 3 lamb dishes I have ever had. Perhaps behind the old Clementine but not by much. For dessert, I shared the the penna cotta with quince and a warm chocolate puddy cake that was steamed baked and some sort of cream. It was delicious. The really enjoyed the consistency of the chocolate cake. It had enough structure to hold but was also mushy and soft enough to melt in your mouth. I loved them both but I think I was most impressed by the chocolate cake.

The service was wonderful and very attentive. They were very attentive and I was impressed by the server's preparation and attention to Marie's dietary restriction.

In the end, I was so very much satisfied. Maybe it's because I'm growing up but nothing makes me more happy than eating a 2 1/2 hour meal with great food, friends, and conversation.

p.s. I miss Miso

XOXO

Food

I love food. You know this. My body know this. I got some personal training lessons at my gym and I specifically cut of the personal trainer when we started talking about dieting. I said: "I will deny myself nothing." So, following that blurb. Here are some places I went this weekend:

On New Year's Day, I had no idea where to take my parents for lunch. Not knowing what was open, I went on Opentable.com and typed in a table for three fro 12:00 to see what came up. I randomly selected Sam's Chowder House and basically chose it based on this picture:


Beautiful isn't it? Well, apparently, they have really good chowder and seafood as well. So we went there. The view and atmosphere was perfect. We (even the dog!) sat outside on the patio where it wasn't too hot, too cold, too windy or too sunny. Perfect day. We had the chowder to start out with. I have to say that the chowder was pretty good. It wasn't as thick as I am used to but still very very good. After chowder, we all shared an order of fried calamari (a little bland but fried well), the salmon burger and the lobster roll. The lobster roll was rated one of the best sandwiches in America. I think it's a little overrated. The bun was probably better than the lobster that was in side. The lobster was a little cold and just didn't stick out. Blah. Esp for 20 bucks. Blah. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the Salmon Burger. Now that was good. It wasn't in the normal tight burger patty form. It was a little mushier but definitely packing in flavor. Along with the perfectly toasted bun, it was definitely worth the 14.95.

In the end, I think I give this place a 3.5 with an additional .5 stars (for the view) out of 5. It was so pretty and mellow, it totally added to the experience.

Here's the link if you are interested: http://www.samschowderhouse.com/



Last night was date night with Anne and we went to Dosa on Fillmore. I've been wanting to try Dosa for ages. Dosa on Valencia is the original location and that place is always packed, even on the weekday night. And they don't take reservations. However, Dosa on Fillmore had an open reservation last night at 8:15 so I snagged it.

First of all, the Dosa on Fillmore is a bit different from the one on Valencia. The one of Fillmore is much bigger and it is a lot more trendier in terms of atmosphere and interior design. The design was very crisp and clean and the scene was pretty young. I dig.

When we got there, we ended up having to wait for a little more than 1/2 hour for out table. A little annoying but we ended up with a big table. I didn't mind sitting next to the fire extinguisher either. Anne and I decided to try the four course tasting menu for $39 per person. I think that price is fair since you will likely end up spending that amount if you order separately. Anywho, we ended getting the following (each person got to select a dish):

Starters:
Mung Sprouts (very good, very different)
Cochin Calamari (spicy and very good)

Mini Dosa: (Our dosa was huge. I wonder what the regular dosas look like)
Chutney Masala Dosa (yummy and huge)
Paneer and Peas Dosa (I loved this dish. But it might just be because paneer is my favorite)

Curry:
Mango Jumbo Prawns (yummy. However, I wish they would take off the tails. I am lazy)
Tamil Lamb Curry (my favorite of the night. The lamb was perfectly cooked. Not too dry and the curry was spicy)

Dessert:
Rasmalai (I really really loved this dessert. The cheese patty had this wonderful consistency that was chewly yet soft. It was even better slathered with the cream.)
Indian Ice Cream (Cream flavored and went well with the Rasmalai)

I really really enjoyed my time at Dosa. Our table was perfect and the service was great. The food was excellent and lived up to its hype. I would definately go there again. No hesitatation. I give this place a 4.5 out of 5. The .5 because we had to wait for our table.

I love food.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year people! I was looking at my list of "Things to Do in 2008" and I am sorta satisfied.

1. Pass the Bar.
2. Get a job.
3. Run the Eugene Marathon
4. Go to NY.
5. Exercise at least 4 times a week
6. Save Money
7. Find stability and balance.


So let's see. I did #1 (yay). Not quite there on #2 (boo). Ummm. didn't do #3 (boo) or #4 (b00) and at some points this year did #5 (yay?). Definitely did not do #6 (b00) and for most of the year did NOT do #7 (b00). Let's see. That means I am about 1 out of 7. Okay, maybe I'm not so satisfied anymore. But I tried. Here is this years list of Things to Do.

1. Get a job.
2. Save money.
3. Run the Napa or Big Sur Marathon
4. Be more positive.
5. Visit a city I have never been before.
6. Read a new book every two weeks.
7. Have more patience.
8. Teach Miso a new trick.

See, I'm just a simple girl who wants simple things.