Brady where are you??

Hey, I need an invite for Oinks pink palace please!!! I went online to see if I could find one on my own, but people are offering dirty pics of their wives as an exchange and how can I compete with that!!! ROFL

Turkey Trot 2005

Okay, Dave and I both successfully completed the 8k (5 mile) Turkey Trot, without stopping or walking! Let's hear it, HOOOORAY!!! Yay us!

It was last Thursday. Late Friday, my right foot started aching. By Monday, I couldn't put full pressure on it. I called up Athletico and claimed a free consultation. Figured I'd ask about my right foot, and about a teeny little pain I've been having in my left foot for the past couple months. Turns out, I can fix the right foot on my own. Essentially I over-pronate and need to strengthen some random muscles. As for the teeny little problem, looks like it could be more serious and I have to go find a real doctor. *sigh*

But it was WORTH it, especially considering that out of 4800 runners, THIS is the number I'm assigned!

Sounds like Brady!

"My mother and I had some history with regard to eating. To hear her tell it, I refused all nourishment for several years. In desperation, she would tell me that the spoonful of baby food was an airplane coming in to land. My lips remained sealed. As I reached the toddling stage, she would go so far as to cut a boxwood switch and lay it next to my plate. I would eat what was put before me, or else. The threat of corporal punishment didn't work, either. In some ways, I was a tough kid."

LOL, full article.

One of A Kind Show

Anyone want to go Friday around lunch time? Plus, here's a coupon for $2 off admission!

One of A Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart
No less than 350 booths of handmade clothing, jewelry, handbags, hats, neckties, cufflinks, home accessories, sculpture, paintings and gourmet foods make this sale an unmatched treasury of holiday gifts...

http://www.merchandisemart.com/oneofakindshow/

Welcome back Manish and Neha!!!

Hope you had a wonderful time on your cruise!!! We want to see pictures!!! (although you can hold the ones of Manish in speedo!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope you guys have a happy turkey day!! And let's see...it's time to be thankful for stuff, right? So let me start by saying I'm thankful for a day where I'm allowed to eat like a pig and not feel guilty!!! Oh, I'm also thankful for Brady's frequent trips to Asia so he can get us DVD's and I'm thankful for Carolyn training to be a ski instructor so that someday I can get free lift tickets...and I'm grateful Manish is....mmmm....I'm grateful that Manish is Manish??? ROFL....How about you guys???

Ski ski ski!

Okay, so every Tuesday I drive up to Lake Geneva to train to be a ski instructor...tonight we went through various techniques on how to teach beginners, as the majority of people skiing at the resort are rich people looking to be amused. I can do this! :)

Anyway, the resort opens on December 9th, and I wanted to see if any of you were interested in spending the second weekend of December up in Lake Geneva? I'm willing to take a Monday off, Michelle, :) Dave, I'm also willing to go up there Friday night!

I won't be a ski instructor yet, as I need to go through a series of clinics before I qualify, so no discounts yet. The room itself is $149 ($75pp) plus a lift ticket for $38. Or, you can get a package that includes a room, two lift tickets and lunch for $239.

Dining in Puebla!

Gotta go home with Michelle one of these days, and get the grand tour!

"Puebla is the Lyon of Mexico, the city that the locals invariably bring up when a conversation turns to their country's cuisine. If you were to identify the quintessential Mexican plate, you would probably winnow the choice down to two finalists: mole poblano, a preparation of chicken or turkey in a rich, dark blend of chocolate, spices, nuts and chiles; and chiles en nogada, another festive recipe, in which large poblano chiles are stuffed with a picadillo of ground meat and diced fruit, then topped with a walnut-and-sour-cream sauce. But however much they applaud these complicated dishes, most foreign aficionados of Mexican food fail to register the fact that the word "poblano" in both dishes derives from the name of the country's fourth-largest city."

From NYT article

Back to Chicago!

Hi! I returned this morning, rented a car, and drove to work. Just had yummy lunch with Eva and am doing a bit more email catch up before heading to the airport for SF. The rest of the trip was good - I visited Sha Tin, where Eva grew up. I also ate twice with Olivia, Wilson's wife. We checked out two swank places, Hutung and Wasabisabi. Both places had decor that was vastly superior to the food, but still lots of fun. My laptop is completly dead - our tech guy after looking at it felt that 1) video card has problems, 2) hard drive seems to also have problems, and 3) motherboard may have issues too. I will have limited internet access until the laptop is fixed.

Thanksgiving in the Big Apple!

Ok, ok, more like the big apple's suburbs, but anyway, point is I leave tomorrow and will be back Friday afternoon. Hope to see you guys over the weekend to catch up!!! Have a wonderful holiday! :-)

hi from hong kong!

A Lot of Sausages 3
Originally uploaded by brady frequent traveler and eater.

Nice flight to hong kong. arrived last night. hotel sits on top of an ikea! now in TST - found an internet cafe but had to buy a bowl of noodles to use computer!

see you soon!

Were outta here

One more night and were outta here!!! This is one trip that we both desparately need~!!!!!

Tree Trimming Party!!!

So I'm thinking December 2, if that's good for you guys....and just to add an extra incentive, there'll be Latkes!!! YUMMY!!!!

email to cell phone

Was doing some market research for Dad and came across this...it's awesome. Open your gmail account, outlook, or whatever email client you use.

Send a message to ((yourcellnumber))@teleflip.com

How cool is that?

www.teleflip.com

Electrical service?

Okay, apologies to all -- work's making me do this. It's part of a customer service initiative -- everyone in our department has to reach out to the public and inquire about the customer service they've received from their electricity provider (i.e., us).

Anyone had any problems with their electrical service this year? If so, let me know what so I can forward that info to our Customer Service folks.

Y'all rock.

Darth Tater

Great story on the perfect McDonald's fry and how Darth Tater now has to evaluate grapes and apples.

"The sensory evaluation lab, a sterile room outfitted like any McDonald's kitchen, is used to test everything McDonald's sells, from chicken to pickles. Most items are evaluated quarterly, but fries get the treatment every other month. Using charts showing color variations — from pale yellow to dark brown — the suppliers and Mr. Smith enter scores for the fries in front of them into a laptop. A perfect 5 indicates the ideal golden-yellow hue; anything lighter is assigned a lower number, while darker fries get a 6 or higher."

Speechless

This is just wrong!!!!

Test

Just want to see if this animated gif really works

FOUR DAYS TO HARRY POTTER!!!!!!

And you all are going to miss it!!! LOSERS!!!!!!!

Btw, brady, are you going to pick up your ticket and give it to me? maybe i can find someone to buy it??

Ring ring ring ring

Bananaphone!

Work-safe, but definitely an earworm!

Countdown Begun!

5 days and counting!!!!

Yoda yoda yoda

The Move

Carolyn, Michelle, Manish, and Eva in the Elevator
Originally uploaded by brady frequent traveler and eater.

Hi - more pictures at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17554153@N00/tags/michelle2005move/

THANK YOU!!!

Guys, I just want to say thank you for everything last night. I've been a bit of a mess the last couple of days and you have no idea how much it helped me to have you all to get me through this ordeal....I love you and I promise a wonderful housewarming/tree trimming party sometime after Thanksgiving!! :-)

Moving Party!!!

Well, maybe not exactly party, but at the very least I'll be providing pizza to all you brave souls who show up!! Again, thank you soooo much for this! If you all want to come around 6pm that would be perfect.

My Dearest Sushi

My Dearest Sushi
Originally uploaded by doc18.

Wow - guess what is each one! Click on the photo to see the annotations on the photo. Bizzaro.

Ephemeral Art

Brady will probably own this one day...

***

As stunning as an installation like Damien Hirst's "Love Lost" might look in your living room, and as reasonable as the Phillips estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million might seem for a gynecologist's office submerged in a tank swarming with rainbow-colored koi, "Love Lost" weighs 20,000 pounds when assembled. It also requires that the fish be fed every three days, and that a diver - or an owner with goggles - plunge into the tank at least once a month to scrub away algae and fish muck.
Ephemeral Art, Eternal Maintenance

Look at these CAKES

I want one of these for my 35th bday...how gorgeous is this?

Boxed Wine for Yuppies

Even shoppers who distance themselves from the boxed-wine aisle have probably wondered: can they package the good stuff that way?
They can, and Daniel Johnnes - a Renaissance man in the wine world - has. He had some help from his friends and partners, the chef Daniel Boulud and the vintner Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Burgundy.

It's like $34 a "tube" and is equivalent to 4 bottles of wine. We gotta find some!

Oldest Noodles in the World

Gotta love the BBC...

***

The remains of the world's oldest noodles have been unearthed in China.
The 50cm-long, yellow strands were found in a pot that had probably been buried during a catastrophic flood.
Radiocarbon dating of the material taken from the Lajia archaeological site on the Yellow River indicates the food was about 4,000 years old.

Google Talk Hack

There is a hidden game in Google Talk! In the about screen you can see 'play 23 21 13 16 21 19 . 7 1 13 5'. Each number represents a letter. a=1, b=2, c=3 .... When you translate this message it says: 'play wumpus.game'. To play this game invite wumpus.game@gmail.com as a friend. You can also play Hunt the Wumpus here.

Heeeee....

By accident, I noticed that if you type a word between two hash marks in googtalk, i.e. //smartass//, it turns it into a link that doesn't seem to go anywhere.

**

POOP.
A version of Hunt the Wumpus appeared in Google Talk August 2005, as a bot found by a clue in an easter egg. However, during the day of August 24th it was online sporadically. Since then, the game has been offline - where it is under the "invited" status. This may be due to a large number of queries to the bot causing it to crash.

It Hath Arrived

Picked up Dave's Christmas present from the mailroom this morning. They're smaller than I expected, but still..mmm...very enticing. ;)

Help

SuperDave I need your help!!! Email me please nahani79@yahoo.com.

Thank you :)

Best Movies of all time

So here's a list of what are supposed to be the 250 top films of all time. I'm not sure I agree with Godfather as #1 or Toy Story as #198!! What's your take on it? Which is the best film of all time in your book??? I vote for Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy, not for storyline (that credit goes to Tolkien), but for sheer impressiveness.....

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Pumpkin Stuffed Brioche French Toast at Lula Cafe in Chicago

Pumpkin Stuffed Brioche French Toast at Lula Cafe in Chicago
Originally uploaded by brady frequent traveler and eater.

This place was AWESOME! Hats off to Eva for finding this gem in Logan Square.

lula cafe
2537 N. Kedzie Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60647
773.489.9554

It's Gone!

M-O-P-T-O-P. But I love it. :) Feel like a raggy hipster.

Manish Toasting Us

Manish Toasting Us
Originally uploaded by brady frequent traveler and eater.

Happy Birthday, Manish! You look awesome in your favorite going-out shirt!

For more pictures, click on the picture or check out the tag:

Manish Birthday Pictures

Where's my mithai?

Mithai are integral to many ceremonial occasions - the first gift of an Indian bride to the family of her betrothed is often 50 pounds of top-quality mithai - but none more so than Diwali, which is observed by sending elaborate gift boxes of sweets, dried fruit and nuts to family and friends.

Candy Corn Soda??

Candy Corn Soda??
Originally uploaded by brady frequent traveler and eater.

Yikes!!! Who would be brave/foolish enough to try this??

I'm a Fan of Cats

But not a cat fan.

Dave's Christmas Present

Hmmm...I wonder what it could be? I don't know, but it's en route...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANISH!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!!!
How much you ask? ......(drumroll).......

....
...
...

FROM HERE TO SCHAUMBURG!!!

Brady's Boxers

What happened to Brady's comment about sitting on my new couch in nothing but his boxers?? Dave's response was that he was going to come over in his boxers... :( Neha, will you come over in boxers? Manish? Michelle?

The new Adsense ads

I see we got an account with google again to put up ads..i just dont understand what kind these are. Is it the same concept as last time???

Have some Smack!

Have some Smack!
Originally uploaded by cicatrix.

Uh, is this Manish-friendly food?

To make us feel slightly better...

So I've still only been to 35% of the country, but I guess it's better than 5% of the world. I wish they would do the map including Canadian provinces and Mexican states, then I could get my percentages up even further! Then again I may be missing a couple of New England states which I just can't remember crossing on way to Canada many many eons ago!!! LOL

http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedstates

Chicken Little, Starting Nov. 4th!!

So they're showing Chicken little in 3D!!! One of the selected theatres is Loews Woodfield! What do you say, tribal excursion??

4:50 I 5:50 I 7:05 I 8:05 I 9:05 I 10:05

Is Manish having secret double affair with Dave AND Carolyn???

msbuzzgirl: WTF
msbuzzgirl: maybe i can just wear my boxers and sit on carolyn's sofa.
mgallardo1972: xcuse me? who the hell are you?
mgallardo1972: using C's messenger???
msbuzzgirl: I am Speedy Gonzalez
msbuzzgirl: arriba arriba
mgallardo1972: MANISH!!!
msbuzzgirl: Yes indeed, I am certainly manish.
mgallardo1972: rofl, why are you in C's office?
msbuzzgirl: because I AM C!
msbuzzgirl: Me = Carolyn
msbuzzgirl: princess carolyn to be precise
msbuzzgirl: hm, interesting conundrum. either I continue screwing with you and let you think that I am Manish, or I try to convince you otherwise
mgallardo1972: oh god!! you all suck!!
msbuzzgirl: what? why the hell would manish be at my office???
mgallardo1972: i have no idea
mgallardo1972: you tell me?
msbuzzgirl: are he and I having a torrid affair that I don't know about?
mgallardo1972: ugh
msbuzzgirl: that sexy, sexy indian boy, hubba hubba
msbuzzgirl: ROFL
mgallardo1972: that i can't picture
msbuzzgirl: meowrrrr!
mgallardo1972: i'm going to tell him you said that
msbuzzgirl: lol, go ahead!
mgallardo1972: he'll be flattered
msbuzzgirl: lol, from now on, we should call him hubba hubba

Cauliflower Soup

This soup is amazing. I made it without the carrot and i substituted the heavy cream with half-and half. With that and skim milk it's great. I did put in the cheese, but no salt, not really necessary!! Neha, you can use veggie stock!!



Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 leek, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (optional)

Directions:1. Steam cauliflower.
2. Melt the butter or margarine in a stockpot over medium high heat. Add leek, onion, and carrot; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the tarragon and thyme; cook 1 minute longer. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium, and gradually stir in the wine and chicken stock. Season the soup with salt and white pepper. Add the steamed cauliflower flowerets. Simmer the soup, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.
3. Puree the soup in batches in a blender, and return to the pot. Stir in the milk and cream. Gently heat just until heated through.
4. If you decide to use the Swiss cheese, stir it in and heat until melted.

Prada Jeans

From November InStyle magazine:

For the first time, Prada offers its fans jeans. Made in Italy, they're available in 20 variations. Price: $495

Brady, you could've gotten three pairs of Prada jeans instead of the entertainment stand! I could've gotten three pairs instead of my couch!

Happy Diwali

May this year bring you many good wishes and a prosperous healthy life and well being. Happy Diwali and Happy New Year