neither here nor there

It has been a while since I've written.. I've never claimed to be good at this. So, lets do some catching up. My birthday was an absolute blast. James took me out to a lovely dinner, we met friends for 'dressed up martinis' afterwards, went to the Phoenix for their infamous drag show (you may have seen the photos by now) and visited other various nightspots... It was great fun, and all that a girl could wish for.
Work has been crazytown lately. We sold over 2300 double dozens of roses in three days. (that's 55,300 roses WHEW!) All the roses came with complementary wrapping and lets just say that my fingers still ache from the thorns and it really bites to be a tall person working on a tiny table for nearly 13 hours (I'm sure my cohorts will agree). My first Valentine's as a married peep I worked at WF until almost 11p, waiting tables for our first Valentines couples price fixe dinner. And before dawn the following morning, I helped to cut fruit for the Mercedes Marathon and got to see my lovely hubby James ran the relay! (6.2 miles in less than an hour, go Bebe!!) It was a lot of fun. Since then, I've been crippled by a debilitating illness, okay okay, a sore throat, but that is neither here nor there.
More catching up, let's see....
Shortly after New Years, I found out that an old friend of mine had died. She and I had a falling out years and years ago. We were really close for quite a while. Our lives were as different as can be, and that fact eventually led to the dissolution of our friendship. I saw things through rose-colored glasses, and she saw things through shit. That might actually be a direct quote, but again, neither here nor there. It really makes my mind do backflips. I am shocked and saddened by the news of her death; the fact that she has been dead for three years already makes me nauseous. I am still in disbelief that it could have been that long and I had no idea she was dead. It makes me feel like things are hollow for some reason. It really shakes my tree.
But my life goes on.
I had the honor of being the chef at Local Dish last Monday. The ingredient was Chocolate. Local Dish is a little bit like Iron Chef, except you aren't competing against anyone. But there is a common ingredient, chocolate, three separate dishes, and three judges. Here's a quick run-down on the courses.
Mixed baby greens salad with ripe red d'anjou pears, walnuts and goat cheese with a chocolate-fig-balsamic vinaigrette
Spice-rubbed pork loin (rub included cocoa powder, chilies, etc) with red chocolate Mole (simmered 32 hours)
Triple chocolate butter bar topped with white chocolate ganache, 99% cacao shavings and coarse pink Andes Salt.
It was a lot of fun. The experience has also led me to create a new blog- I haven't worked on it much yet, but I will in the weeks to come, and frankly, I'm surprised I haven't done this yet. TheSavoryChef.blogspot.com
Well, here's to great plans.
(I think I've probably had a little too much cough syrup this morning.)
James bought me a sewing machine and I will attempt to sew something today. Wish me (and my fingertips) good luck.