7/31/08

Driving with a German

S: "Watch Out!"
G: "What?"
S: "The left lane has the green light."
G: "I don't have to stop."
S: "But you have to slow down and wait."
G: "I did! I totally slew down!"
S: "Really? You slew down?"
G: "Yes! I slew down!"

7/29/08

Exotisches Essen

How was your weekend? Our weekend started with an oversized Mexican dinner at Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe with our friend, KT. Rio is known for their homemade tortilla chips and salsa.
They're served warm and every time you get down to the last chip, a server magically appears with a new basket of chips, over and over and over again, no matter how many baskets you devour. Obviously, this is one of G's favorite restaurants. After way too many frozen Margaritas and our huge entrees (orgasmic shrimp quesadillas), we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant for a very special meeting. We wanted to introduce Denzel to KT's baby, a Chihuahua, Miss VS. He's really cute and cuddly BUT....with the attitude of a tasmanian devil. Seriously. G and I think he's just pissed off that his name is MISS VS. Needless to say, the meeting didn't go as well as we'd hoped because every time KT put Miss VS down, he growled uncontrollably and his tiny little body shook with anger!

On Saturday, we went shopping at the international grocery store, Fresh World. We have been shopping at Fresh World every week because of the wide variety of fresh produce and ethnic specialty items. The store stocks its shelves with edibles from too many countries to name, with authentic and unique ingredients. I love browsing the aisles and trying new recipes. And they offer samples on Saturdays:) But no matter how many times we shop there, I am still shocked by some of the "exotic" items they offer.

beef blood

live eel

shark

beef knee cap

7/23/08

Wow.












They really take the crab thing seriously here.

7/22/08

Two in a Million!

BERLIN
Twin boys of radically differing skin color have been born in a one-in-a-million chance to a German father and Ghanaian mother in a Berlin hospital, doctors have announced. The twins, born by Caesarean section, came into the world on July 11. But details were kept from the public until the press were invited to the clinic to see the delighted parents - Florence, 35, and the father Stephan, 40, and photograph them with their twin boys. Hospital authorities said the non-identical, or biovular, twins were definitely full brothers, with the same father. The probability of a birth of this kind was one in a million. Ryan, who weighed 2.650 kilos, is distinctly lighter in skin color than Leo, who was born weighing 2.606 kilos.
-Berliner Kurier

*After a little research, I found two additional cases. Isn't God amazing?!


7/18/08

It Hurts So Good

Last night, we had dinner with our friend, KT, at Ariake. She's been telling us for a while now that Ariake is her favorite sushi restaurant in Virginia and considering the fact that KT is from Virginia and likes to eat out as much as we do, we had high expectations. Well, it did not disappoint. The sushi was excellent and the Chef's Specials were especially creative. My favorite was the Spicy Crab. Now, I love spicy food. So much that there have been occasions when G has broken out in a sweat while eating some of concoctions. My Mom hates it when I cook Greens because she says I ruin the entire pot by adding too many Jalapeño peppers. And with sushi, even when I order something labeled spicy, I have to add a little Wasabi to give it that extra kick. But the Spicy Crab at Ariake? It's on a another level. For the first time in my life, I woke up in the middle of the night with heartburn. Me? Heartburn? I told G about it this morning. But I did not complain. The Spicy Crab was so good, it was worth the burn!

7/16/08

Cherry Eye

The first time we heard of "cherry eye" was when we were living in Munich, when Denzel was about 4 months old. We took him out for his evening walk and on the way home, we noticed that the inside corner of his eye was swollen and bulging out of the socket. It was also bright pink. Of course, we totally freaked out. We ran home and I called the Vet on her emergency line, while G looked up all of the possible explanations online. Well, the Vet told us to calm down - we were more stressed out than Denzel - and to put a cool wet towel over his eye to help with the swelling. She also told us to get off the internet, trying to diagnose the problem on our own. We were 99% positive it was the "cherry eye", which is basically when the gland of a dog's third eyelid falls out of place and becomes extremely visible. It's like your tear duct being four times the normal size. Scary. And it requires surgery. So we put a cool towel over his eye, for as long as he would allow, and by the next morning, his eye was back to normal. Thank God! We took him to the Vet and she examined his eye. She said that he probably scratched his eye and irritated it or when he was roaming around in the bushes, he could have scratched his eye on a branch. She said it was definitely not the "cherry eye". We were so relieved that Denzel was back to normal with his eyesight and eyelid in tact. Fast forward to yesterday. We discovered a kick ass Doggy Park near our new house. Every dog must be legally licensed and vaccinated. Denzel has met so many cool dogs and to be honest, most of the parents we've met so far, seem very responsible and friendly. Well, last night, as Denzel wrestled with a Boston Terrier, I noticed the bulge in his eye again. This time, it wasn't bright pink but it was clearly swollen and protruding out from his eye socket. Can you tell in the photo? This time, we didn't freak out, we just scooped him up and drove home, put a cool wet towel over his eye and yup, just like the last time, his eye was back to normal in the morning. Thank God! But now we can't help wondering if this is going to be a recurring thing. I don't think our Vet in Munich was wrong because from my understanding of "cherry eye", when the bulge occurs, it doesn't go away. It has to be corrected with surgery to make it disappear. Denzel's eye issue went away twice, with only a cold compress. So what do we do? We decided to wait to see if it happens again and if it does, we are going to see a Vet in Virginia. Until then, the little fraggle is going to take a break from the kick ass Doggy Park, just to make sure his eyelid is back to normal.

7/15/08

New Twist on an Old Favorite

I knew that if I tried the
Lobster Mac & Cheese
at American Tap Room,
I would either love it or hate it.

I love it.

7/14/08

The Politics of Fear


On the cover of the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker, artist Barry
Blitt satirizes the use of scare tactics and misinformation in the presidential election to derail Barack Obama’s campaign.


Is this satire or tasteless and offensive?

7/13/08

Reston Festival

The city of Reston celebrated 44 years this weekend!

7/11/08

Eine kleine Pause

Yesterday, after unpacking for about 6 hours, we took a little break to watch the sunset.

7/10/08

Bubbles Suck


Every time I paint my nails, I get those annoying
tiny bubbles on the surface. What's the secret
to smooth nail polish - besides going to the salon!?

7/8/08

Ich bin so stolz!












Heute kam mein Zertifikat Deustch an!

Kidnapped

By my husband. Last week, I was instructed to pack a suitcase and surrender my cell phone because we were driving to an undisclosed location for the holiday. My duties for the weekend
were to first, "Shut up and ride." and second, "Celebrate." I was excited about the celebrating part because the 4th of July is our anniversary, the day we met. So I packed my suitcase, making sure to have an outfit for every possible situation, and I shut up and rode. Well, a couple of hours later, we were in Virginia Beach! Turns out, the only outfit I really needed was my bikini and jean cutoffs. We spent the afternoons on the beach and the evenings strolling down the boardwalk and eating fresh seafood for dinner. We even carried our seafood diet over to lunch. We found the strangest little Mexican restaurant called Baja Cantina. They serve the best fish tacos we have ever tasted. And they make their own hot sauce. Despite the super relaxed (Bob Marley) service, odd hours, and the cook who ate half of G's lunch by mistake...we ate there 4 days in a row. And G really surprised me when we drove to a doggie beach. Of course, we brought our little fraggle along:)