So Gong Dong Tofu House

Dear Friends and Family,

We wanted to take Trixie for soon tofu, but our usual place is closed on Sundays. So, Mr. mouse looked for a recommended place on lthforum.com.

So Gong Dong is short on style and long on taste. The exterior is nondescript and the interior clearly hasn't been updated in the past 15 years. But, the food is good. We ordered the mandoo (dumplings) to share and a bowl of soon tofu for each of us. The dumplings were a mix of beef dumplings and kim chee dumplings. Both were good. The filling was a mix of meat, tofu, kim chee and noodles. The dumplings were steamed so the skin was soft and translucent. Mmm. I love dumplings.

Mr. mouse ordered the pork soon tofu, Trixie ordered the vegetable soon tofu and I ordered the beef soon tofu. The broth was spicy with a hint of fermented bean paste in the soup base. The tofu was creamy and mild. The soup contained a good mix of tofu and vegetables. And, they did an excellent job with the rice. It was cooked in a hot stone bowl. The rice was cooked for exactly the right amount of time with the right amount of water. The "crust" came off in one giant piece and I munched on both Mr. mouse's and mine.

Overall rating: 8/10

So Gong Dong Tofu House
3307 West Bryn Mawr Avenue
Chicago, IL 60659 map it
(773) 539-8377


Cheers!
mouse

No Post Today

Dear Friends and Family,

Broadband down this morning. Just got home from work. No change in weight. See you in four hours.


Cheers!
mouse

07.16.07: Trixie and Me

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend got off to a shaky start. I had a conference call from work that started at 3:30 and was supposed to go for an hour. Instead, it ran over by a mile. I was starving half way through and snuck in a snack to tide me over until dinner. We ended the call in all-hands-on-deck mode, and me the only one without a blackberry. A follow up call to my boss confirmed that he didn't expect me to hang out by my computer all weekend doing email which is a good thing since my password decided to expire and I couldn't access email anyway. Fun. Fun. I love when work intrudes on the weekend.

After the call, Mr. mouse and I had dinner and did some quick pick up because Trixie was on her way over after she had dinner with her Dad. We hung out on the deck even if it was a little chilly out until she got here. Then had wine and chatted for a bit before turning in for the night.

Don't ask why, but we all got up super early on Saturday. Well, not super early. Just super early for the weekend. We had breakfast on the deck before heading out for a haircut appointment for Trixie with my beautician. While at the salon, we got a recommendation for a tattoo parlor from one of the women, and headed there next. We improvised on the walk route so that it would take us past the place, and found it without a problem. Trixie got her butterfly installed and we were on our way for our walk. We ended up doing about half of the walk I had originally scoped out, but it worked out perfectly for the day. We walked downtown and then through downtown, ending with sushi and a pit stop at the Whole Foods for picnic fare.

Our end destination was Millennium Park for a free concert by the Grant Park Orchestra. We spread out a blanket on the lawn, broke out our rotisserie chicken and fruit and just enjoyed the scene. It was a sea of people at the concert (Beethoven to Gershwin) and it varied from a person sans blanket reading a copy of the Economist to a family with several small kids and a bag of nachos to a group of older couples with hampers, fold out tables, flowers, champagne and the works. I love the diversity. The concert was a perfect ending to the day. And, Mr. mouse offered pick up service afterwards. So, after a quick walk through the park, we met him in front of the Cultural Center for a quick ride home. We sat on the deck and enjoyed recapping our day before turning in for the night.

Sunday, we got a later start and made it to Milk & Honey for breakfast/lunch. Trixie got the huevos rancheros. Mr. mouse got a caprese salad, chicken sausage, and a blueberry plum cobbler. I got a BLT sandwich and a side of fruit salad. Afterwards, we stopped off to pick up some doggy treats before piling into the car for a trip to the Field. We walked through the Darwin exhibit which was spectacular and the Dinosaurs exhibit which was okay. I picked up the funnest book on Hot Chocolate. I might have to make a weekly treat for myself once I'm on maintenance. We booked it up to Korea Town for some soon tofu before coming back downtown for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I won't say anything about the movie in case you haven't seen it yet, except to say I really liked it and, WOW, they don't look like kids anymore. We crashed when we got home.

And, it's now Monday morning. Mr. mouse is dropping Trixie off at the airport and I need to go catch up on work before I get into the office. All in all, a most excellent and relaxing weekend. And, now, I just need to make it through this week, which promises to be a heavy one, before HP7 comes out this weekend. I can't wait!


Cheers!
mouse

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

Dear Friends and Family,

This one is always a crowd pleaser. Just remember to open a window and turn the fan on high before you start.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

• 4 slices jalapeño pepper
• 1 slice ginger
  
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• pinch white pepper
• 1 tbs corn starch
• 4 tbs canola oil
• 1 lb shrimp (no smaller than 36#)

1. Slice the jalapeño into rings/ovals with the seeds. Slice a slice of ginger. Crush the garlic.
2. Mix the salt, black pepper and white pepper in a bowl.
3. Peel and devein the shrimp. Mix the cornstarch with a cup of water. Add shrimp to the cornstarch mixture.
4. Heat oil over a high flame until shimmery. Drain shrimp and pat dry. Fry shrimp in batches until they JUST start to turn pink.
5. Remove most of the oil from the pan/wok, leaving about 1 tbs in the pan. Reheat oil over high flame. Add jalapeño slices, ginger and garlic to oil. Bloom for ~30 seconds. Add salt mixture to the oil, saving a couple of pinches for later. Cook for ~15 seconds. Add shrimp and cook for ~30 more seconds.
6. Plate and sprinkle with remaining salt mixture.

Cheers!
mouse & Mr. mouse

The Gap: Why Sales Have been Down

Dear Friends and Family,

It's been a running joke of mine recently, so I figured I'd share it with you. The Gap. I've been very disappointed in the Gap recently. They WERE my go to store for the basics: khakis, polo shirts, t shirts, etc. But, not anymore. I just don't get them any more.

In the era of vanity sizing, where I am now either a 2P, a 2, or a 4P in 90% of the stores I shop in, at the Gap, for some reason the L and the XL fit me just fine, thank you. Okay, point #1: When 66% of America is either overweight or obese who can fit into the M, the S and the XS?!?! Who?!?! That's half your inventory that's not turning productively.

Now, when I find something that physically fits, in the L or the XL, it's just not flattering. It makes me look like the Michelin man with little rolls of fat in all the wrong places. If it wasn't for the fact that I can find clothes elsewhere that fit just fine, I would think, maybe, I was the issue. The clothes are fine. I'm just fat and ugly. But, I can find clothes elsewhere. So, I know I'm not the problem. So... Point #2: Don't make your customers look ugly, it tends to reduce sales. Find styles that flatter people. That effectively kills the turns on the half the inventory that made it through the first cut.

What amazes me is that they're owned by the same parent company as Banana Republic. Now, that's a store I love. And, where stuff fits and flatters. Do they not talk to each other? Speaking of which, I need to check out their sales racks. The dry cleaner lost two of my summer blouses, so my stock is dangerously low.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: I love the Michelin Man. I just don't think I can carry the look as well as he does.

More Progress on the Mouse Pad

Dear Friends and Family,

We continue to power through organizing the mouse pad. I've been spending the week working on the kitchen and Mr. mouse has been emptying out the garage so that we can fit both cars into it.

The progress on the kitchen hasn't been as dramatic as the progress on the living room and the dining room. This is probably because we spent some time working on it before I began my structured 15 minutes a day thing so the counters were already clear. This past week, I've spent some time sorting through the pantry, emptying out old food from the fridge, clearing off all of the magnets from one of our fridges, sorting through our vases and moving the keepers into the living room where they belong, and organizing the scary area under the sink. I guess it's still progress. It's just not the big splash progress we were making in the first two rooms. Three more days on the kitchen before we move on to the next room in the house.

The progress on the garage has been amazing. Mr. mouse really outdid himself. I think part of it was prompted by the two parking tickets we got in June - one for leaving the car parked on the street during street cleaning and one for being too close to a hydrant. Or, maybe he just got the bug. Either way, he posted an ad for our moving boxes online and sold all of them for $244 and a bottle of champagne. Now, with a bit of moving things around, we should be able to fit both cars into the garage. We'll see.

And, last, but not least, we sold our Toronto Police tickets. This frees up that weekend for either visiting some friends in Texas, curling up with the new Harry Potter at home, or more working on the house. All four options sound fun to me, so I guess we couldn't really lose on this one.


Cheers!
mouse

Bon Soiree Underground Restaurant

Dear Friends and Family,

A friend at work told me about Bon Soiree. They're a catering company that decided to open an "underground" restaurant. You go to their website and sign up for a seating. Every week, people get "invited" to join for dinner, up to 30 people per evening. It's a five course prix fixe dinner for $55 a person. It's BYOB, no corkage fee.

Our menu

1. sweet diver scallop, summer plum chutney, and pepper-lime drizzle
2. chilled velvety zucchini & roasted garlic soup, toasted coriander
3. salad of haricot vert & fresh artichokes, macadamias and pink peppercorn vinaigrette
4. sliced flank steak, heirloom tomato salsa, wasabi whipped potatoes, charred red onion sauce & chive coulis
5. chef's assorted selection

We had a surprisingly easy time getting "invited" to dinner. I think it's because they've added a weeknight dinner and a second seating on Saturday. The pressure's eased quite a bit on demand for the prime Saturday seating. We brought a bottle of South African red and a bottle of port and (don't ask) the remnants of a bottle of rum.

Seating is split between inside the restaurant and a cozy backyard patio. We opted for the patio since we have had a love affair with courtyard patio style dining dating back to our first trip to New Orleans. I wasn't sure what to expect food-wise so I judiciously saved up ALL of my flex points, just in case. But, no worries, between the portion sizing and the ingredients, it worked out fine. All of the dishes, with the exception of the mashed potatoes, were light and summery. None of them were overly creamy or saucy. And, since most of it was vegetable based, it wasn't a heavy hit to the Weight Watchers points bank in the end.

The food? It was excellent! Mr. mouse and I both enjoyed each and every dish. I especially liked the scallop with chutney. I forgot how good scallops are. And, we resolved to have them at home more often. Will add the food porn pictures once Mr. mouse uploads them to flickr.

Overall rating: 8/10

Bon Soiree Underground Restaurant
2728 West Armitage Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647 map it
(773) 486-7511
http://www.bon-soiree.com/underground


Cheers!
mouse

The Phoenix Restaurant

Dear Friends and Family,

We drove out to Chinatown Sunday morning for Shanghai dumplings (aka soupy dumplings), but the restaurant we were going to try was closed. And, since fate had fortuitously offered us a parking spot in front of Phoenix, we decided to give it a try.

Chicago has a disappointing track record for dim sum. So, we both had the bar set pretty low walking into the place. The food was, surprisingly, pretty good. We only had a couple of dishes, but they were all fresh, hot, and well flavored. I knocked the rating a point because the service is slow, the carts don't come out frequently and when they do they don't follow an efficient pattern and if you don't get to them quickly, they run out. So you have to work to get food. You expect some degree of that in a dim sum restaurant, but this was more work than usual. They have a "last mile" issue, or technically, a last 100 feet issue.

Still, I'd be willing to go back. Since, so far, it's the best dim sum, quality wise, we've had in the Chicagoland area. Unfortunately, given the sad shape of dim sum in the Chicagoland area, that's not a ringing endorsement.

Overall rating: 7/10

The Phoenix Restaurant
2131 South Archer Avenue
Chicago, IL 60618 map it
(312) 328-0850
http://www.chinatownphoenix.com


Cheers!
mouse

3 Pounds and Counting

Dear Friends and Family,

Another week, another weigh in. I had the joy of seeing an über low number on the scale mid-week last week. But, alas, I couldn't make it stick. I would have been giddy if I could. Still, I'm down a pound and I'll take that for the week.

What makes this weigh in special is a silly little star you get on the Weight Watchers progress chart. You get one for every five pounds you lose. And, by focusing on the next five pounds, you focus on smaller, more manageable goals instead of getting frustrated or overwhelmed by the bigger, long term goal. Well, I just earned my last pink star. My next goal is goal. I'm working towards the big yellow star. There's nothing standing between me and goal. Well, there is three pounds. But, still. No more pink stars. I'll kinda miss them. But, I'm too excited about Big Yellow to miss them too much right now.


Cheers!
mouse

Dining Room - Phase I Accomplished

Dear Friends and Family,

I didn't think it could be done, but we finished the dining room this weekend! There's a tiny pile of paper that I need to move to my glove box when I drive the car home this week. And, besides that, the room is basically de-cluttered. There's still random stuff to do like pack the wine glasses for donation, figure out how to make my work vpn work from my home computer, donate some food to the food bank, finish the window treatments, fix Mr. mouse's watch and read through a magazine. But, it's better than I thought is was going to be when I surveyed the room on Thursday.

On to this week's room: the kitchen.


Cheers!
mouse

07.09.07: Weekend at Home

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a quiet, productive weekend at home.

Saturday, I woke up early to get my haircut. My beautician had to reschedule my haircut because his close friend died unexpectedly and he needed to attend a wake. How horrible is that? Well, it turns out, his friend was murdered, in Minneapolis, and the investigation is still under way. Stuff like that doesn't happen in Minneapolis. It's a quiet, beautiful place that time and crime forgot. I'm stunned. No new information yet on who or why or anything.

Well, because he opened early to squeeze in my haircut, we had the whole shop to ourselves. The light was filtering in and he chose some really mellow music. And, it was like a private appointment. What a peaceful way to start a Saturday morning. It's just unfortunate the reason he needed to reschedule in the first place.

After breakfast, we headed out for a bike ride. Mr. mouse found a trail so I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time and energy focused on cars and pedestrians and such and could just focus on the bike thing. We did the first leg of it which is about 12 miles in about 2 hours. Frankly, I can run at that pace, so it was more for the getting out and trying it factor than anything else. I was really sore on Sunday - my rear end from the seat and my back, shoulders and hands from figuring out the balance thing. And, I'm still getting my groove on, figuring out things like how to get my foot in the holder thing and figuring out things like how to use the big gear on the left hand side of the bike and lots of other things. But, all in all, I had a lot of fun and look forward to our next excursion. Hopefully, once I figure out all the basics, we can go for longer and faster rides. It'll be fun.

After the bike ride, we stopped by Whole Foods for lunch. I bought a hodge podge of stuff, but ended up eating only half of it. I had shrimp cocktail for a starter and stuffed cabbage for lunch with a flavored iced tea that was 70% organic. What the #$@$! is 70% organic?!?! Whatever. Mr. mouse had a couple of bites of pizza before diving into his chicken panini and lemonade. Guess we were both craving the semi-sweetened drink.

Home. We spent some time cleaning and paying bills before showering and getting ready for dinner. We had reservations for a new place (not new, just new to us) so I'll do a write-up, probably this Wednesday. And, after dinner, we slept on the roof top until Sunday morning when the sun woke us.

Sunday, we went out for Shanghai dumplings (aka soupy dumplings) but the shop we researched wasn't opened when we arrived. We went for dim sum instead, which turned out to be just as good. Then, we spent the afternoon watching another leg of the F1 race. I have to say, it was an exciting race. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow, but, in the end, my guy, Kimi Räikkönen, won! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking dinner (curry chicken with potatoes). Then, we returned a set of lanterns to Target and set up the umbrella on the deck before turning in for the night.

We missed a fun weekend with the neighbors at the cabin, but given how full flight were, I'm glad we weren't cooling our heels this weekend at the airport.


Cheers!
mouse

Curry Chicken and Potatoes

Dear Friends and Family,

Not sure how this will go over or how diligent I'll be about it, but I might start posting Mr. mouse's recipes for his fans.

Curry Chicken and Potatoes

• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 large onion
  
• 6 slices ginger
• 8 cloves garlic
  
• 2 tbs curry powder
• 1 chicken or 3 lbs of legs, thighs, or breasts with bone
  
• 20 baby potatoes
• 1 can chicken broth
• salt

1. Slice the onion (longitudinally, not rings) and ginger. Crush the garlic.
   
2. Cut up the chicken and potatoes into pieces about 2 inches x 2 inches. (If you're not comfortable chopping up the bone, then just cut the meat off the bone and use the whole bone.)
3. Mix curry powder with water to make a thin paste.
4. Heat oil over a medium flame. Saute onions, ginger and garlic for about 3 minutes until they are soft.
   
5. Add the curry powder/paste to onions, ginger and garlic. Bloom spices in the pot for a couple of minutes.
6. Add chicken and potatoes. Add chicken broth to cover. Simmer 30 minutes.

Cheers!
mouse & Mr. mouse

The Police at Wrigley Field - Set List

Dear Friends and Family,

We went to the concert last night and Mr. mouse had an absolute blast. I had fun as well, more fun than I thought I would, truth be told. The weather was perfect - high seventies, no humidity, with a slight breeze. The sun was setting over Wrigley Field and we had some killer seats on the field. I'm a firm believer in yoga, now, seeing how amazing Sting looks compared to the rest of the band. We go again in two weeks. It'll be fun.

Here's the set list:

1. Message in a Bottle
2. Synchronicity ][
3. Walking on the Moon
4. Voices inside My Head, When the World is Coming Down
5. Don't Stand So Close to Me
6. Driven to Tears
7. Truth Hits Everybody
8. The Bed's Too Big without You
9. Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
10. Wrapped around Your Finger
11. Do Do Do Do De Da Da Da
12. Invisible Sun
13. Walking in Your Footsteps
14. Can't Stand Losing You
15. Roxanne

The encore:

1. King of Pain
2. So Lonely
3. Every Breath You Take

And, second encore:

1. Next to You

Cheers!
mouse

Clutter Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Don't ask me how I got into the non-morning posting mode. Cause I don't know. Last night I wanted to write, so I did, and this morning, I didn't have anything new to write about, so I didn't. Now, I do. And, I've got a reserved topic for tomorrow morning to get me back on track. Phew. Now we can all go back to worrying about bigger issues at hand, like global warming.

I've been studiously doing my 15 minutes of clean up a day. And, it has, amazingly enough, begun to make a big difference in the house. The living room has maintained itself from last week. And, this week I've been working on the "dining room" or rather that area of our house that is in between the living room and the kitchen. This is an area where clutter knows no bounds. It accumulates and grows and stockpiles and truth-be-told, I believe it breeds upon itself and creates yet more clutter. So, it's been a slow go.

Day 1: I made a small clean area on the coffee table by clearing a pile of papers from it. Day 2: I cleared off the top of a kitchen island/bar we have (with the exception of 5 IKEA wine glasses we're donating, some hardware pieces we need to finish hanging the window treatments, and Mr. mouse's watch which is drying in the sun). Day 3: I cleared off my study table which had become a dumping ground for all sorts of random pieces of paper. Day 4 (today): I sorted through all of those papers from my study table dump yesterday. I only have two more days to dedicate to this area before I need to move on to the kitchen. Clearly, it's work in progress.

What amazes me is that fifteen minutes a day is enough to make visible progress. And, it's just short enough of a period of time that I know I have fifteen minutes to take care of stuff like this. Woot!


Cheers!
mouse

Bombs Bursting in Air

Dear Friends and Family,

Mr. mouse is napping on the roof.

We had an All American July 4th. We slept in. Had lunch. Then, went shopping. First we hit Target where we purchased more deck furniture, on clearance. It's still sitting in the trunk. We didn't have the time nor the energy to carry it upstairs tonight.

umbrella

umbrella base

We also picked up some lanterns for the roof. They're outdoor rated and solar powered. So, we can leave them on the table and they'll turn on automatically every night. We picked up two different styles. Not sure which we'll end up keeping and which we'll end up returning. Mr. mouse likes option #1 more. I like option #2 more.

lantern, option 1

lantern, option 2

After Target, we headed to the mall. We picked up a swimsuit for me for vacation in August. And, two more pairs of jeans, one for Mr. mouse and one for me. Then, we went to the supermarket and picked up some food for the week. We had a hodge podge of stuff for dinner, hot dogs, corn on the cob, olives, chips, guacamole, and fruit salad. Don't ask me how, but I made it all fit into my 18 point daily allocation.

The fireworks started as soon as it got dark. And, continued at a brisk pace until about an hour ago. They're still going off, but not nearly as many as earlier in the evening. It was pretty stunning, the different fireworks going off. Next year, we're going to have to have a party and share the wealth. July 4th will be on a Friday so it'll be perfect timing!

And, while looking forward, I also snuck a peek backward to last year. We didn't remember seeing all the fireworks last year, but I do recall an entry in my blog called Rockets Red Glare... And once I read it, all of it came rushing back. We spent Friday night and Saturday at the mouse pad. Then, we drove down to Indianapolis for the race. Then, flew back to the mouse house for the Fourth. But, we were so busy working on the house, we passed on dinner with our neighbors. It seems like forever ago that we were working every weekend on the house. Boy, it's good to have that done. And, I know we're booked through Labor Day. But, we're going to have to find a weekend to fly back and visit with everyone. Fall will be good for that. While it's still warm enough to grill.

Off to bed. I've got to catch up on work tomorrow after sloughing off for three days now.


Cheers!
mouse

Happy Independence Day

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday started out as a very unproductive day. I didn't get as much work done as I wanted. Then, I ended up napping in the afternoon. Talk about being bump on a log, that was me.

I was able to get my act together when Mr. mouse got home. He spent some time changing the tires on his bike and adjusting the tire pressure on my bike so we can go bicycling this weekend. Then, we ate dinner and headed out to meet up with a friend from work and her husband to see the fireworks. Mr. mouse got some awesome shots of it. He impresses me sometimes. He's so handy.





Cheers!
mouse

J. Christopher's

Dear Friends and Family,

We went to J. Christopher's for brunch on Saturday. Disclaimer: I've gotten totally spoiled with the multiple brunch options within shouting distance of the mouse pad. So, the bar is set pretty high.

Mr. mouse ordered a typical Southern breakfast - biscuits and gravy with a side of country ham, fried eggs and potatoes. I got the smoked turkey avocado skillet with pico de gallo hold the cheese. The skillets come with roasted potatoes and two eggs.

I hate to say it, but there wasn't a lot about the meal to make it stand out as a destination place. It was fine. But, I'm not salivating writing about the place. Now, the croissants from Premiere Moisson... That was a memorable breakfast...

Overall rating: 6/10

J. Christopher's
1205 Johnson Ferry Road
Marietta, GA 30068 map it
(770) 579-6800
http://www.jchristophers.com


Cheers!
mouse

Chosun Ok

Dear Friends and Family,

Got the recommendation for Chosun Ok from The Blissful Glutton. We passed a bunch of newer restaurants on the way. Koreans love to eat out.

We ordered the kalbi (marinated short ribs), the sam gyup sal (uncured pork belly), the mandoo (steamed dumplings) and the pajun (seafood scallion pancake). The kalbi was tender with a good marinade. We grilled it over the live coals which adds to the flavor considerably. The sam gyup sal was cut thicker than we usually have it making is a little harder to appreciate the pork flavor and texture. The dumplings were excellent. We should have ordered two batches of those. I could have finished one all by myself. And, the pajun, well constructed, but needed more seafood.

In summary, the kalbi and the dumplings were winners. The pork belly and the pajun were standard dishes.

Overall rating: 7/10

Chosun Ok
5865 Buford Highway Northeast
Atlanta, Georgia 30340 map it
(770) 452-1821


Cheers!
mouse

Ted's Montana Grill

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm writing about a chain restaurant and I'm giving it an 8. Wow. What has the world come to? We went to Ted's Montana Grill for lunch on Sunday. Mr. mouse ordered the naked bison burger with onion rings. And, I ordered the skinny dip (adds avocado) bison burger with jalapeños on a whole wheat bun and a baked sweet potato. The sweet potato was way over-baked. It was mushy, not firm. But, the burger had good texture, a little crumbly, not overly dense and good flavor, which must mean it's higher in fat. Fortunately, they do a decent job of keeping the portions in check. We estimated the burger was about 10 oz. uncooked weight, which is large but not gross.

Overall rating: 8/10

Ted's Montana Grill
640 Johnson Ferry Road
Marietta, GA 30068 map it
(770) 578-8337
http://www.tedsmontanagrill.com


Cheers!
mouse

07.02.07: Hotlanta

Dear Friends and Family,

We flew out Friday evening to visit our friends in Atlanta. I'm always surprised at how short the flight is. I only got about a third of my work done on the flight. It was hot and muggy when we landed Friday night and I was bracing for an entire weekend of heat, but it cooled down and dried up for Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday morning, I got up early to try and finish my work. Then, we headed out to brunch and a trip to the mall. Mr. mouse picked up an 8GB iphone and I got a new pair of Lucky jeans. I'm keeping the jeans. Mr. mouse might return the iphone. It requires a 2 year contract. And, an OS upgrade with another OS upgrade this fall. And, we've just read too much negative press on the speed of the network. Hmmm... We stopped by a grocery store Mr. mouse wanted to see and picked up some food. And, then changed into our swimsuits for a dip in the community pool. Dinner? Korean barbecue. Grilled meats. Yum.

Sunday, I got up early again to try and finish my work. We took the dogs for a walk before it got too hot. And, then, somehow ended up spending the morning watching a Food Network special on Haagen Dazs ice cream. They had a contest to let consumers develop the next flavor. Then they followed their story through marketing, production, consumer research, etc. until a new flavor was launched: Sticky Toffee Pudding. It inspired us to stop by the mall after lunch to share a scoop. It was a winner. And, looking on their website, looks like they have the 2007 contest running now and it's down to three new flavors: blueberry belgian waffle, coco y cacao, and caramelized pear and toasted pecan. Also looks like one of the 2006 runner ups made it into production too... toasted coconut sesame brittle... I'll have to try it one weekend. Okay, enough about ice cream. For lunch, we headed out for burgers and I tried a bison burger and it was good. We came back to the house to watch the F1 race together. And, then, unfortunately, it was time to head back to the airport for our flight home.

Got home in time to spend 15 more minutes on the living room. And turn in early for the night.


Cheers!
mouse