Canyon Ranch 2008

Okay, so Mom and I spent the hottest weekend possible in Tucson this July - and loved every minute of it. For Mother's Day I got Mom a trip to Canyon Ranch Spa and I went along as her cheerleader. We spent a crazy 5 days sweating and exercising, loofa-ing and soaking in the tub. It was awesome.

The grounds were beautiful and our suite superb. We each had a bed in the big bedroom, and there were two separate bathrooms (one with a giant soaking tub and a big window), a washer and dryer, and a living room. I think the suite was larger than our house. Right around the corner was a pool and I spent several hours there reading and sitting in the hot tub.

Also nearby was the spa complex, where each of us spent many hours a day. All of the treatments were in there - from massages and facials to body work like salt scrubs, Ayurvedic treatments, and the sweat lodge. The exercise rooms were in the spa building too, as were the racquet courts, the gym, and...best of all...the women's locker room. I know this will sound bizarre, but hear me out.

When you arrive at the Ranch, you get a locker for your entire stay, as well as slippers to wear in the spa. Robes and towels are abundant and fresh, and I grabbed one anytime I went in. The locker room had huge showers, a steam room, sauna and inhalation room (tea tree and peppermint oils in steam), two whirlpools and a cold plunge, a naked sunbathing patio and a quiet room. I took at least one nap in the quiet room, snuggled in my robe under a chenille blanket with cool cucumber and mint water at my reach. Fresh squeezed orange juice every day at 4pm - in the locker room! Need a razor? No problem. Need an icy cold towel? No problem. Need anything? No problem.

I got ambitious my first full day at the Ranch and started with a World Dance class. It was only 45 minutes and I wasn't the oldest there (nearly the youngest, I think), but I was dead beat when that was over. I headed for the locker room and spent a couple of hours just chilling out inside. Actually, I found it to be the most relaxing place in the spa. No phones, no noise, just the sounds of water and quiet whispering. It was perfect.

I had a couple of spa treatments while I was there - the first was a North African hammam-type treatment, complete with a coffee ground and lime pit rub down, and a soak in a tub full of rose petals. The treatment was luxe, like nothing I can get in Seattle. It was a perfect start to the weekend, and made me realize that as long as a bathroom has high enough ceilings and appropriate lighting, you don't have to have windows. Sure, it feels subterranean, but peaceful.

The second spa treatment I had was the Shirodhara, an Ayurvedic treatment in which oil is dripped onto the forehead. I was led through the treatment carefully, and it was extremely meditative. I left exhausted but relaxed. This is something I can easily get in Seattle and will probably look into it more.

The third - and most challenging - treatment I had was a Native American sweat lodge-type treatment, made appropriate for Ranch visitors, but still very hard and very tiring. Kevin was my guide, part Lakota and part Navajo I think - superb. We had Miles Davis playing for the whole first hour - intense body work in the hydromassage tub, and then deep tissue work in the steamroom. It lasted almost 3 hours, and I drank about 10 containers of water, about 16 oz each. Afterwards I was drained and disoriented, and I went back to the locker room where I slept a bit and rested before dinner. I loved it.

As I said, it was beautiful being there and I'd go back again if I could save the money to do it again. I think Mom really enjoyed herself too - eating that well and playing racquetball our last two nights - we both slept well and felt great as we left. I'd totally encourage people to go, if you can get past some of the hokey stuff.

Here are some pictures from our trip. There were lots of animals on the property, although the one I really wanted to see (a javelina) never appeared. Boo.

Best Chinese Ever!

When we arrived in Waco for a visit with my family, we were greeted with a spread so unexpected that I had to write about it. My grandmother (mom's mom) had been prepping a Chinese meal for the previous few days, and she was pulling out all the stops for our arrival. Because it's so infrequent that we're in Texas for a visit, she made sure that plenty of people were there and all had something special to eat.
While she was cooking the last dish, we managed to get the entire episode on video and let me tell you, my grandmother would make a great cooking show host. I'm going to try to get more videos of her doing things like this.
Mom and Dad had gotten there a few minutes after we arrived, and Mark and Uncle showed up shortly thereafter too. Including Popo, there were 7 of us who sat down to the following meal:
Beef and broccoli (Mark's dish)
Chicken in lettuce cups (Uncle's dish)
Chicken in black bean sauce (Mom's dish)
Piccadillo (a Cuban alternative, just in case Mark didn't have enough to eat)
Chinese soup
Lobster Cantonese (sort of Dad's dish, sort of just special)

All of it was outstanding!

Tillman's Roadhouse

On a visit to Waco recently, we got to spend the night with Jessica and Jay, and they took us to a fun place in Dallas called Tillman’s Roadhouse. Imagine a fancified Shady Grove, if you know the place in Austin. It had a swanky bar with equally swanky cocktails (from the cocktail mistress Lucy Brennan), but it was really just an upscale hunting cabin, complete with animal heads hanging from the walls. The animal heads were wooden, and the room lighted with shabby-chic chandeliers, but you get the idea.
When we were seated, the waiter brought two different snacks – fresh roasted Spanish peanuts and truffle popcorn. I think it was kettle cooked with white truffle oil and then topped with a little shaved black truffle. It was the best popcorn I’d ever eaten and completely original.
For appetizers, we shared a round of deep-fried pickles – they were closer to sweet pickles, not dill pickles – and they were served with homemade ketchup and horseradish mayo. To continue the fried theme, we had a trio of French fries: Peruvian purple potato, sweet potato and Yukon golds topped with a chile spice, smoked salt, and a rosemary garlic mixture respectively. Dinner was equally creative - the guys had chicken fried hanger steaks, Jessica had a supreme hamburger (with foie gras) and I had Frito pie, made with venison chili.
But dessert was where it was at. We four shared a little sterno-hibachi grill and made fresh s'mores from homemade marshmallows, homemade graham crackers and a nice, dark chocolate. Yum!

Things I Did Between Jobs

I tried to keep track of everything I wanted to do (and managed to accomplish) while taking time off this summer.

Have lunch with Ernie - Cancelled!
Make Hoegaarden - DONE!
Make all-crust potato gratin
Make fried pies
Make Michel Richard's Apple Icebox Terrine
Make pate sucree
Re-pot the Napentheses - On HOLD until FALL
Learn some Javascript and make a cool timewaster
Pick up the Pig! - DONE!
Make fruit syrup bases for spritzers
Have lunch with Cam - DONE!
Fill out living will - DONE!
Beers with Sam at the Bierstube - DONE!
Go to the dentist - DONE!
Return to work plans - DONE!
Make plans to visit Texas - DONE!
Make plans for Tofino, BC - CANCELLED!
Go see Harry Potter - DONE (YAY!)
Make Rigatoni w/ tomatoes, eggplant & mozz - DONE!
Freeze Jamie Oliver's Tomato Mac & Cheese - DONE!
Pre-make & freeze mini pies - Change of plans!
Start Dog Obedience Classes for Lucy - DONE!
Call Nancy Hall - DONE!
Go to the spa - SAVED FOR LATER!
Practice Tart Dough (Carlo's Cookie dough) - DONE!
Kayak Lake Washington - DONE!
Make angel food cake in my new silicon pan - DONE!
Lunch with Dave & Amy - DONE!
Recycle scrap metal at Pacific Iron & Metal - DONE!
Lunch with Huy - DONE!
Lunch with Ev, Kim, Jacqueline & Summer - DONE!
Dinner plans with Andrea & Sean - DONE!
Have freezer hauled away - DONE!
Get Rx filled - DONE!
Make cookie dough to store in the freezer - DONE!
Voter registration in WA - DONE!
Renew my passport - DONE!
See Love in the Afternoon at the SAM - CANCELLED!
Renew my driver's license - DONE!
Wash the dog - DONE!
Make ice cream - DONE!
Go see Rion at Deep Roots - DONE!
Change Metro purchase properties - DONE!
Buy a Chest Freezer - DONE!
Buy books at Third Place - DONE!
Buy Mom's BD present - DONE!
Finalize 401(k) rollover - DONE!
Buy Star Wars stamps - DONE!
Buy Jeffrey's grad present - DONE!
Take stuff to storage - ALREADY DONE!
Put in more wine racks - ALREADY DONE!
Reorganize the Pantry - ALREADY DONE!

Day 9: A Restful Day

Simple day, lots of rain. The garden needs it badly. Today I made Carlo's Cookie Dough, a tart crust, as well as froze the cinnamon ice cream base that I made yesterday. I'm going to make a lemon meringue tart for Carl's BBQ on Saturday, and deviled eggs for Cat's BD party on Friday. Should be good.
The dogs are behaving today - the Gentle Leader head harness seems to be working pretty well. Lucy's chilled out a bit - she's sleeping on the floor of the orange room now while I'm working.
Grendel's snoring in his bed just outside the door. Whew.

Day 8: Exhausted, and here's why...

Still chugging through my list - I had lunch with Ev, Kim, Summer and Jacqueline yesterday (day 7) and made an Angel Food Cake with my new silicon pan - what a difference that made! Today I'm going to take it easy a little bit and make some curd from the leftover egg yolks, and maybe cinnamon ice cream from Rick Bayless' book.

But really, the reason things have slowed down a little is because of a little orange and white dog named Lucy. We've just brought her home (Sunday) and we're trying her out with Grendel - and if things go well, we hope to adopt her permanently.

Day 6: Easy On, Easy Off

It's Friday. Todd worked from home today, so we started the day with a game of tennis and wound up ending it with one too. I met Huy for lunch today, and we made plans for my eventual return to Redmond. This weekend, we're going to meet Lucy in Fall City, and we're going kayaking on Saturday on Lake Washington!

Happy Bastille Day tomorrow!

Day 5: Getting Back on Track

Now that it cooled off, I went back to checking things off the list:
- Finished making ice cream (wild Italian cherry ice cream today)
- Renewed my driver's license
- Mailed my passport renewal application
- Met a possible new dog to adopt!

It's time to review my list and see what else I've got planned - and what else I can squeeze in!

Day 4: Stay Cool

Today was supposed to be an errand and Harry Potter day - I purposefully didn't plan to do anything except go to the movies and get my driver's license renewed. But the weather has thwarted my plans, I believe. It's predicted to be 97 here today, and with no A/C and an elderly pooch to worry about, I'm staying home instead. We'll camp out in the basement later today - once it gets closer to the 90+ mark, and I'll read or write down there. It's about 15 - 20 degrees cooler in the basement, if not more.
In the meantime, I'm trickle-watering the trees (the heat killed the grass in a day) and washing the dog's bedding and toys. I am planning on giving him a bath in about an hour - at the high heat of the day - because it will cool him off a bit and I think he'll sleep better. This morning before breakfast I made blueberry buttermilk sherbet - a base I had started yesterday - and it froze up in about 15 minutes, nice and perfect. I'll probably make more base this afternoon for another kind, probably lychee lime sorbet or morello cherry ice cream. With 10+lbs of cookie dough in the freezer, I don't have to make more for the rest of the year - but sherbet, sorbet, and ice cream are always in short supply. Now that we have our new chest freezer, I'm busy working to fill it up! Piggie soon.

Day 3: Cookie Dough Day

It's sweltering outside. And crazy as this may sound, I made cookie dough all day. Mostly all day, after I dropped Todd at work and bought supplies. Well, I also got my passport photo taken too, and I'll mail that off in the next day or so.
Today I made 5 different kinds of cookie dough, and I baked off samples of each for tasting (and sharing with Lucy Bland). Of course there was the basic Toll House cookie dough, and also my very tasty oatmeal cookie (with golden raisins). I also made the White Dog Cafe's Kitchen Sink cookie, which amounts to a coconut/pecan/butterscotch/oat cookie with loads of butter. The two experimental cookies were a lemon ginger cookie (with a lot of ground almonds instead of flour) and a black walnut cookie (to use up the black walnuts before they go rancid). Both were really tasty - although I would put more sugar (or use the dark brown sugar as called for) in the black walnut cookie.

RIP American Airlines, You're Dead to Me

With the exception of flying American Airlines directly to Texas (I'd rather fly Continental anyway), I don't think I will ever fly with them again. Our visit to Missouri last week was marred with delays, incompetence, lame excuses, and bad equipment. Here's what happened.

Tuesday 7/3/07 7:58am Todd and I left home for the airport. We had a 9:30am flight from Seattle to DFW, and then a 3:50pm connection to Springfield. It would get us there in time for dinner and some preliminary fireworks. Our flight from Seattle to Springfield was fine, except for being seated at the very last row next to the lavatories (with seats that didn't recline because of the wall).

When we arrived in Dallas, found out the plan was 20 minutes delayed. We watched the horizon as big bruised storm clouds moved toward the airport. After 20 minutes, we still weren't boarding and the storm was pushing closer. Mind you, this is the same weather system that's had Texas in its grips for the last 6 weeks. Dallas looked like the Lake District. More time passed and the storm hit hard. The flight was cancelled. Rather than stand in line watching other flights board, I called AA (800-433-7300, a number I have now memorized) and was informed the rest of the flights for the night were full with long standby lists and we would have to go in the morning. The agent offered to put us on the standby list for the flight leaving at 6:30pm that night, getting into Springfield at 1pm the next day. When I asked how that was possible (it's a 55 minute flight to Springfield from DFW), she informed me it was a direct flight connecting through Chicago (direct does not = nonstop, you see. Just means you don't have to change planes).

We passed, and I called my dear friend Jessica who graciously took the imposition and put us up for the night (thanks, Jess! It was great meeting Jay too!). We were confirmed for seats on the 9:30am flight on 7/4/07 to Springfield. I checked with the Baggage Service Office to see if they could retrieve our luggage and they couldn't tell us where it was, but in 2 hours they might have an answer. Because Jessica couldn't get us for a few hours anyway, we went to dinner and sat around the airport - no luggage to be seen. In fact, we had heard different things from everyone. BSO told us the luggage was still in Dallas, but they didn't know where. The ticket guy said it was probably on its way. The gate agent said it left on the 630pm flight (which actually never left because they didn't have a crew to fly it, turned out). So we stopped at Walgreen's on the way home to get the essentials, minus clean clothes.

When we woke the next morning and checked the weather and flights, everything was a go. We got to the airport, but when we checked in they told us they'd cancelled the flight to Springfield for weather reasons. It was beautiful outside, but you know that doesn't mean anything. It's the loophole through which all excuses can be filed so they are not liable for anything. Weather = crew displacement = can't fly, so it can impact anything in the system and because it's a technical act of GAWD, they can't be held responsible for the fuck ups in the system. I know this, I used to have to deal with this all the time. He put us on the standby list for the 11:30am flight, but we were confirmed on a 2:30pm flight just in case.

As many of you know, standby flying can be great and it can suck. Especially when the airline decides to publish and regularly update the order of passengers on the standby list. When we got on the list, we were #s 10 & 11. By the time we reached the gate, we had fallen to 14 & 15. Before the flight took off, we had fallen further down on the list. American justifies this by saying that 'there are a number of things that impact your placement on the standby list, including AA Advantage status, disruption of schedule, etc.' This means musical chairs anxiety for everyone, and the families with 4 & 5 people (usually mostly children) are screwed every time.

Of course we didn't get on the flight. What were you thinking?

We did get on the 2:30pm flight. Well, when it became the 3pm and then 3:30pm and finally the 4:15pm flight. We arrived in Springfield nearly 32 hours after leaving home, and of course our luggage had been sitting there the whole time.

Our visit shortened, we made the best of it and turned around to leave on Saturday, 7/7/07 on a 6:30pm flight. The weather was good in Dallas and in Springfield and we felt good. I called at 2:30pm to confirm the flight was still on time (we had an 8:50 connection to Seattle), and the agent told me we didn't have a reservation. Apparently, we had never shown up to fly earlier that week, so they cancelled our itinerary. As you can imagine, I was furious. I explained that the flight was cancelled and we had graciously waited in the airport for 5 hours waiting for AA to get its shit together, and by no means had we mysteriously not shown up for the flight. The agent explained that when the flight was cancelled, they should have made adjustments to our initerary, but instead they merely cancelled it completely. She would do what she could to get us on a flight that night.

But it was 7/7/07, and we were lucky - there were a couple of seats on both the Springfield/DFW flight and DFW/Seattle flight. Be at the airport at the time you'd originally scheduled for the 6:30pm flight. Perfect. Well, maybe not. Because when we got there, we discovered the flight was delayed, now departing at 7:17pm. This was because of mechanical problems in Dallas and they had to swap out a plane and reboard all of the passengers and luggage. If the plane took off from Springfield at 7:17 and the flight was about an hour, we would have 10 lucky minutes to get to our flight to Seattle, the last of the night. I called to check the gate situation. We'd be going from terminal B to terminal C, and we'd have to take the Skylink, which came every 2 - 3 minutes. I made the call and we were going to try it - but just in case, they put us on the first flight out Sunday (7/8/07) to Seattle in case we missed our connection. As we waited for the plane to arrive, we saw the arrival time slip another 10 minutes and knew we just lost the only 10 minutes we had. We called Todd's parents to come get us. We sat at the soon-closing ticket counter (it closes at 7pm in Springfield, along with Security) and waited for our baggage and for rebooking the next day. Pam got us our luggage and put us on an 8:50am flight to Dallas, with an 11:45am departure to Seattle.

The next morning, we made the flight to Dallas, finally. We ate in the airport and got to the plane just in time - and got on board. So far, so good. Then it started raining and DFW closed the ramp, meaning that ramp folks couldn't service planes, either baggage, or pulling the planes with tugs, nothing. Lightening strikes were too frequent at that point and it was too dangerous. We sat on the plane at the gate for 45 minutes before we finally pushed back. And because the little things matter - note that I was in a middle seat that didn't recline and only played one channel of music (bad hip hop) and not the sound for the movie that I didn't give a damn about watching anyway.

Never again, American Airlines. And I'm pulling an Ana and I'm writing you a letter.

Day 2, after returning from Missouri

It's been a busy day already. At 10:45a this morning, the new chest freezer is scheduled to arrive and the old one hauled away. I completed voter registration forms and filled out all of the online paperwork for renewing my passport by mail - the only thing left to do there is get my photo taken and mail the whole thing back to some place in Virginia. I'm buying tickets for Wednesday's Harry Potter opening too, and getting a few more things done around the house today. It's nice to be home.

The Real Day One

Okay, okay - so weekend activities are cheating. I bought the freezer and scheduled to have the other one hauled away, called Metro and took care of that little stuff. Played tennis this morning, headed to Deep Roots before lunch, and foiled and cut my hair at VAIN this afternoon.

Accounting

Spring has arrived, and with it longer days and fewer posts. My weekends have been filled with plants, dirt, and the occasional dandelion, and I've been catching up on my reading too. The last couple of books have included Chang and Eng as well as The Great Pretenders (see the link to the right). Last weekend we made mortadella sausage and this weekend we had an unsuccessful attempt at a Hoegarden Belgian-style beer (ice baths + hot glass containers = 5 gallons of mess), but we'll try again until we're feasting on our own concoctions.

We're also about 6 weeks from a vacation - a much deserved one - and one that has seemed far away for a long time. We're spending 9 days in Hawaii, 6 on Kauai, 3 on Oahu and despite the rain and the sewage leaks and dam bursts, we're really looking forward to it. We have a little pink house on the sunny side of Kauai, right across the road from the beach. In Oahu we're blowing a little bit of change on a room in the Outrigger - but hell, it will be worth it.

For those interested, work is work is work just like it always has been, and nothing's new on that front save a few layoffs today and a few resignations. I don't expect anything to change for me, so I'll sit quietly and work hard and go on my happy vacation and that's about that. My parents are coming out for a visit next weekend - the same weekend Lucy Bland's playing on KEXP (woo-hoo!) - and they'll make a trip to Olympia to see the Mikado.

What, you came here today expecting some great thoughts? I've been gone for a few weeks and this is all I come back with?

Yes, for now.

Getting Away

For the first time in a long time, I'm taking a day off to play. This week brings the first real break I've had since returning to Seattle from New York, and it's much deserved and much needed. Not that things aren't what I'd hoped they'd be here - they're better than I could have ever imagined - but we all need time away from the everyday, even here. So starting Friday morning I'm getting away from it all. Away from the office and its politics, away from the budget and the relocation plans, away from the phone and the computer. We're packing the (new!) car Friday morning and driving to the Oregon coast for some storm watching, some good dinners with friends, and some quiet.

In some ways I have the tiniest bit of anxiety about this weekend, if only because I may be the lone person who doesn't know (and have a history with) the others. Am I worried about comparisons? No. Compatibility? Nah, not really. Privacy? Eh, perhaps a little, but it's a big empty beach and a big house and it's only 2 nights. So no. But it's there, like a squeak in the attic somewhere - faint but noticeable nonetheless.

So what are we going to do out there? Well, this time of year the coast is supposedly deserted - it's windy, chilly, and stormy - so we'll spend some time watching storms roll in, taking in long sunsets, and perhaps catch a glimpse of the Milky Way if we get a clear night. There's a fireplace and a hot tub and we're about 100 yards from the surf so I expect plenty of clam digging and shell collecting too.

And of course I've already got a cheesy weepy book picked out - Marley and Me, by John Grogan. It's about a guy and his unruly Laborador Retriever. Not like the one who ate the woman's face in France, but one that's as loveable as he is mischevious. And of course it's a memoir and it's about a dog, so of course the dog dies in the end...but not until after he's changed the guy forever. A classic easy read, described by my friends as a Barnes and Noble book: one you read only while lounging in the big armchairs while 'shopping' at B&N because you'd never actually buy a hard back for full price even though you're dying to read the book (and you can't wait for it in paperback).

But I digress. This weekend is about centering, cleaning house and settling down. So in good spirit, I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep before my workday Friday is here. And then I can leave it all behind.

And they're off...

Maddening. Vacations, that is. You know, how you expend so much energy trying to relax, or in my case, fixing to relax? Well tomorrow's the big day, so I thought I would write one more entry in my little notebook before packing it all up for nearly a month. The backpack's ready to go, all of my things here are packed up nice and tight and out of the way. In the short time I've been here I've started to get used to the rhythms of the place, and even though I'm happy to get away from it for a little while, I'm looking forward to the things to come.

The book...well, it's not writing itself. But I'm working on it slowly, and even though my grandmother put a ban on all information (that's another chapter), I managed to get a few juicy bits from her. Or just small pieces I guess, but they're part of the collage anyway. Maybe the week I get back I'll sit down and create a project plan for it, do the outline, and call it a day. At least it will feel like progress.

But why would I want to get stuck in the house when there's so much to do outside? Like when I...

Cheered on the runners in Central Park today (yes, including P. Diddy, although I didn't know he was running it until Bethany told me) in the middle of the New York marathon (I was in the right place at the right time).
Celebrated the 25th birthday of Hello Kitty at the Times Square Sanrio store (what a riot! Again, at the right place at the right time).
Walked home from 86th (down to Chinatown and back up to 8th St in the E. Village) to get some fresh air (for those of you who don't know, that's probably a little over half the length of the island of Manhattan).
Played with the alpacas and goats at the children's zoo in Central Park.
Taught myself to knit in one evening, just to understand the mechanics of it.
Called myself a 'consultant' rather than a 'temp' at the place I temped this week.
Practiced Moroccan bargaining techniques (thank you, Lonely Planet!) on the shopkeepers in Chinatown, and got what I wanted!
Discovered yet another good reason to be a girl (http://www.juvenexspa.com, a 24x7 spa for women, with the coolest treatments in the world!).
Bought another 256MB compact flash card for $50 (what a steal!) for the camera we're taking to Morocco...600 picture potential, and I promise not all of them will be like the NC-17 version of the castoff slide show.
Learned how to say 'peace be with you' in Arabic. A gigantic part of the world's population is celebrating Ramadan, and we're about to plop our hedonist little selves right in the thick of it. The least we could do is be respectful and polite. Or pretend to be French.

Well folks, this is it. Take care, do good. And for those of you watching my little kid, give him lots of love. I miss him terribly, and I know all of this moving around is stressful for him, so he might be a little cranky. But be patient, he's a very sweet and good natured boy. I'll be back to get him as soon as I can.