Per Se!!!

(and anniversary number 5)

For our 5th (that's right FIVE, can you believe it) anniversary we wanted to have the ultimate dinning experience. I have been dreaming about chef Thomas Keller and his amazing food for years now and this anniversary was the perfect chance to splurge (and boy, it was a splurge).

We went to New York's famed Per Se. We arrived at the iconic blue door, but thanks to my diligent internet research, we knew that you have to go in the glass doors to the side.
So we entered our Mecca. We were a bit early (surprise, surprise) and were seated in the salon for a glass of wine until our table was ready. We were one of the last reservations for the evening and towards the end of our meal we were the only people there. Here is the picture we took from our table, it's blurry because i didn't want to turn the flash on but the view behind the fire place is of Columbus Circle.
We sat down and opened our menu and this is what we saw:
Cheesy? Yes, but so cool. They let us take the menu home with us. The Sommelier even prepared a list of the wine pairings that we had with each course as well. We're both thankful for this otherwise we wouldn't be able to remember half of what we ate. The service there is unparalleled.
The first thing we had was the salmon cornet and gougere. Think of a deliciously cured salmon in a cone with a pop of cheese.
Now that our appetizer was whet we moved on to the first course: Oysters and Pearls. It's a sabayon of pearl tapioca with oysters and white sturgeon caviar. It's the iconic dish of Per Se. And it was unbelievable. However, we forgot to take a picture so I borrowed one from the internets, hence the much better quality of the picture.
The next course was caramelized big island hearts of palm. Heirloom cauliflower, scarlett grapes, toasted almonds, mizuna leaves and brown butter gastrique. The brown butter was too die for.
Next came the seasame crusted stripped bass, which we promptly forgot to take a picture of. but the next course was a butter poached nova scotia lobster with applewood bacon, caramelized salsify root, watercress and sherry vinnagrette. I remembered the camera on this one!

After this absolutely amazing course we feasted on pork belly, foie gras, and lamb saddle. We were so engrossed in our meal that I forgot to get the camera out to take pictures. We just finished the pineapple sorbet course when I remembered the camera...just in time for dessert.

I had the "tropical tea" which consisted of passionfruit-chocolate cremeux, Earl Grey Genoise, Passionfruit Mousee and Earl Grey Ice Cream.
Chad had the "toffee apple" Apple "creme Patissiere", Caramel jelly, Poached Snow Apples, Root Beer Soda and Caramel Ice Cream.

For some reason they thought we needed more dessert so, in honor of our anniversary they gave us a chocolate torte with vanilla bean ice cream.
And for MORE dessert goodness they brought out a container full of truffels, macaroons, and butterscotch, all made in house and all terrific. They also sent us home with some homemade shortbread and a couple of boxes of chocolates.
To top off the evening we got a tour of the kitchen (which by this time had closed down but still super cool to see) plus I got to meet the pastry chefs. =)

I like to kick, stretch, and kick....I'm Thirty....thirty years old.

Well, eventually it had to happen. I had to leave my 20's behind. For the previous three years my birthday had always coincided with the beginning of finals. This year, without that hanging over our heads, we decided that a tropical local was the only appropriate place to mark this milestone.

So off to Provo we flew.

We booked an oceanfront room with a balcony.
The view was unreal.
The beach was amazing.
But the water was choppy the first couple of days.
But that didn't stop us from putting on our ever-stylish snorkel gear.
And we hit the reef that was 20 yards from our room...and took our first of many underwater pictures.
The reef off the beach was amazing. Yup this is just steps away from our hotel room:
And then there was my birthday. We celebrated with a Delicious Amaretto Cake....did I mention it was delicious?

The next day the wind died down.
And we hopped aboard on all day snorkel tour. I'm on a boat:
We went to a great reef first, where we saw....A REEF SHARK! (photo not found; the shark was too quick for us). Next we to the Salt Cays to do some diving for Conch. The Salt Cays are a really shallow area (1-8ft) that encompasses about 20 sq. miles of the Turks and Caicos.
The Conch shells we (well, not us, we kind of struck out) found. These made up a portion of our delicious beach side lunch.
Next, we went to a deserted island and our Captain made us a fabulous lunch of roast fish, grilled chicken and conch salad, which we ate here:
Next on the trip, we went combing for sea shells here:
Then, after a quick stop at an island to look at some iguanas we went to one more reef for our last snorkel of the day. And guess who showed up? JoJo, the local dolphin.
This wasn't an enclosed "swim with dolphins" kind of encounter. This was Jo Jo, right next to our boat. See, JoJo next to our boat. JoJo swam with us for about 15 minutes until he got bored and swam away.
The next day was Scuba Diving. This is the boat that took us out.
But no pictures were taking of the actual Scuba Diving. We were going too deep for our camera, we went about 40-50 feet. We saw the wall drop off to 7,000 feet and swam over the drop off. (Well, Chad did, I just peered over it). We also saw sea turtles, octupus, eels, and baracuda. It was incredible and Chad and I are hooked. We are now looking for Scuba certification courses.

After Scuba we went back to our beach and spent the rest of the day in the water. The water was clearing up nicely by the end of our trip and we were able to get some really great photos.

Eagle Ray:
Turtle:
If you want to see the rest of our pictures (they are mostly underwater pics). Go Here:
http://turkscaico.shutterfly.com/

Snow Day 2

This has been a strange winter for us, marked by brutal cold and very little snow. That is...until yesterday. One of the few big snows we've had this winter.... Plessy loved it. Watch with the sound on....in my next life I'm going to compose soundtracks. =)

From Eastern Europe To Esquire: Our 2009 Holiday Card.

Chances are if you found this blog you are in receipt of our magical holiday card and interested in learning about the pictures on it.... or your bored, whatever, we don't discriminate. Our 2009 was an eventful year and we didn't think that one picture on a holiday card would do it justice. We may have overdone the pictures but, hey, that's just who we are. Without further ado, here is our year in pictures (let's call this a quick review):

Our Trip to Cabo
My brother and sister-in-law tied the knot in Cabo San Lucas last March and, as it fell over our spring break, Chad and I decided to turn their wedding into a great vacation.

This picture was taken in Cabo Pulmo, a great, if not waaaaay out of the way village and marine sanctuary. We spent the better part of a couple of days in those chairs drinking the best margaritas I've ever had. (And we've spent the better part of the rest of this year trying to duplicate them).

This was the view from the palapa (a thatched-roofed umbrella) that we spent 2 days under in La Paz, Mexico. Chad managed to walk across to the other side (which is really, really far and, as it turns out, home to a number of stingrays). I managed to get through two books.

Aaaahhh, El Cascada. Somehow Chad and I managed to find this gorgeous waterfall in the middle of the Baja desert despite a limited map and an even more limited grasp of the Spanish language. While we were enjoying the serenity of the area we met a young lady named Wolf, who was a fire eating hippy touring Cabo. Yeah, that was interesting.

This was the quaint town of Todos Santos. The town is famous for its Hotel California but has kind of been overrun with yuppies from SoCal. We did however find the best fish tacos of the trip at a little dive on the main street. (Main street shown above).

And the whole reason for our Baja vacation: Forrest and Misty's GORGEOUS wedding.

Plessy, the Wonder Pup.
Chad and I were determined to get a puppy as soon as law school was over (including the bar exam). We found Plessy who was slated to be sent home in mid August which was perfect for us. She keeps us smiling, yelling, and busy picking up after her.
This is a picture of Chad and Plessy on her first hike in the Wetland Preserves behind our apartment. Pretty sure that's a smile on her face.

Central Europe for the 2008-2009 Holidays
Chad and I spent Christmas Eve in the quaint Czech town of Cesky Krumlov. We spent the day drinking hot chocolate (which was literally melted chocolate), feeding the bears, and enjoying the ridiculously cheap beer in the Czech Republic (including the local favorite Budweiser, which is so much better than the Bud we all know and love, and cheaper to boot).

When we first got to this town it was in the evening and we had a long hike from the train station to our hotel. We ended up walking through the town square and catching the town's Christmas pageant. We watched for a few minutes but had to get to our hotel. The only problem was the only way to get to our hotel was a back alley off the square that was being used as the staging area for the pageant. We had to pick our way through donkeys, horses, angels and a lot of things lit on fire while walking on icy cobblestone streets with heavy backpacks. Chad was just hoping not to pull a Clark Griswald and knock a fire twirler into the nativity scene with his giant backpack.

After figuring out Christmas Day transportation in a foreign language with more accents than actual letters, we traveled to Prague where we feasted on the traditional Christmas fare of boiled carbs and meats....and washed it down with delicious cheap beer. When we first got to Prague it was late and the first thing we saw was a huge, beautifully lit Christmas Tree in the Old Town Square in the middle of a HUGE Christmas market. It was a great place to be on Christmas. The picture above was taken the day after Christmas on the banks of the Vltava river at the base of the Charles Bridge.

New Years Eve was celebrated in Krakow, Poland. Our hostel was right on the square so how could we not join in the festivities. I was shot twice by two distinct champagne corks and hugged numerous times by people who were presumably saying "Happy New Year" in Polish. But, seeing as I know NO Polish it is very likely they were telling the crazy American to get out of there way.
Chad's birthday fell in Budapest...so here he is on his birthday, on the banks of the Danube River smoking a Cohiba. I think he owes me a good birthday this year!

Graduation, Parties, and Bar (exams), Oh My.
2009 was an exciting year in many ways but for us, the most defining part of the year came in May, when we graduated from Albany Law School.
This was Chad and I at our Law Review Formal. Chad and I have been on law review for 2 years and the best part of the experience, hands down, was this formal. Nothing like open bars, generous pours, and stressed out law students.
The next party was the Well Party. The Party is one of the few real traditions at Albany Law. The night before graduation the school puts on a fancy soiree for the graduating class and their families. Here I am with my mom.
The next day we graduated!!!!!!! And in such fashionable attire!
Me with my parents.
Chad with his parents, sister, and nephew.

Us with our good friends and fellow graduates, Sarah and Dan (who were smart enough to take the jedi-garb off AND who, coincidentally will be getting married in San Antonio in May, thus necessitating a long over-due trip for us to the lonestar state).

After graduation we headed north to Montreal and Quebec City with my parents. The picture above is of Quebec City which is a little slice of Europe in North America. The trip was fabulous, if not freezing, and the food was amazing.

The remainder of the summer was spent studying for, crying over, and ultimately taking the New York State Bar Exam. (Photo not found).

Either We Passed or We Failed...
but regardless we were heading to Key West for some fun in the sun relaxation with our good friends and absolutely, positively no legal talk.
One of the five pools at our amazing condo in Key West, Parrot Key Resort.
Our good friends, Tom and Heather Kramer who flew all the way out from Nebraska to help us forget about the bar exam. As you can see, hats played a very big role in our vacation.
Our first of many beautiful sunsets in Key West.

The New York Board of Bar Examiners Would Like to Congratulate You...
That sentence, buried in the midst of a paragraph, was all we needed to read; we both passed the New York Bar Exam. The celebration began about an hour later, and continued for several weeks. Actually, we're still celebrating. Here we are hours after the good news:

Chami, Esq.