Celine Dion in Vegas

I didn’t realize how much a concert could effect me. My girlfriends and I had a girl’s trip for my adult best friend’s early birthday celebration. Having started a new job and a young baby at home, I literally was only there for activities for 24 hours. The main event for this 24 hours was to see Celine Dion and it was worth the long traveling, short trip and no sleep. This is a concert after the loss of her beloved husband, and seeing her dedicate her show, and how much love they have basically made me cry uncontrollably for the first 2 two songs. She is amazing.

  

There were times where it would just be her voice and I just let it wrap around me like a warm hug. Though there were probably thousands of others there, it felt very intimate. It was a magical experience, and to know that I was breathing the same air as her and hearing her live was indescribable. The night was perfect…almost. 

You would think that the Celine Dion crowd would be full of classy older people, who would sip their drinks and applause when needed and enjoy the beauty of her performance respectively. BUT NOPE. We had 4 obnoxious women and their bestie gays when them. THEY WERE SOOO LOUD, SO OBNOXIOUS. SO ROWDY. This is Celine Dion, not fucking Chris Brown. Read the room assholes. One even spilled their skunky ass beer down my back and all over the floor which seeped down to wear my feet were. I was torn between telling them to shut up, and trying to fully embrace and experience the wonder that is Celine. Many people in their row shushed them and told them to be quiet, which resulted in them getting even MORE louder and hostile. Also, “YASSSS QUEEN” and “BAE” and off key singing and CONTINUOUS CHATTER during her whole show. Seriously, if you conversation is so important, why even bother coming. Everyone paid a good chunk of money to spend the night with the Queen. Don’t ruin it for us. 

Despite that, I was still able to focus on her and relish in this amazing experience. 

I don’t know if I would ever go to Vegas again, unless it was to see Celine Dion again, or just eat (more on that later). Definitely not my scene. But I had a great time with my girlies, even though I missed my little family at home. 

Girls Trip: Vegas!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a “girls trip”. So for my Ride or Die’s 30th we went to Vegas to see the Queen, Celine Dion. Being that I started a new job, and I’m a new mom, I couldn’t take as many days off, so we will no refer to my portion of the trip, #24hoursinvegas.

Friday started off with a lunch with the hubs, and a flight from DC which put me in Vegas at 10pm. Got on the shuttle, and got to the hotel at around 11. We stayed at the Venetian, and it was glorious. Though, to be honest, it reminded me a lot of Atlantis in the Bahamas. Except they have awesome ceilings and grand hallways here. Made my way to the girls, caught up on what they’ve done so far, showered and slept.

Saturday morning started off with a search for food. Ended up eating brunch at yardbird, then shopped a little. After that, GONDOLA rides…cuz Venetian. We had a singer name Rosalina, who refers to us as bellas with a (fake/real) Italian accent and tells us stories of her home. One of my friends told me that shes fake and is probably just an acting student. Fairytale crushed.

Somehow the day escaped us, and it was time to grab a coffee and get ready for dinner and Celine! Since our suite was full of mirrors everyone seemed to get ready at the same time without a hitch.

Dinner was at db Brasserie and was yummy.

We ran down the street to Caesars Palace to get in line for a highlight moment of our lives! She was magical, she was wonderful, she is a unicorn, so much so that the show will get it’s own post later.

Afterwards we took a ride on the High Roller Ferris Wheel.

We got our tickets on groupon, 2 for 1 PLUS there was a 50% off groupon code. So in the end we only paid $39 for two people for a ticket for the ferris wheel AND open bar (which was useless to me because I was on antibiotics and couldn’t drink). After we boarded this tiny pod loaded with a bar and tvs…we decided that maybe it was a good idea that we didn’t pay full price. The floor was sticky, which makes sense, it’s a bar. The people that were in there were random, and some were young and annoying (jeez I’m an angry grandma now). Though I did enjoy our little squad, the view was somewhat similar to what we saw in our room…but I’d say I wasn’t as impressed and hyped as I thought I would be. Maybe if the music wasn’t terrible. And we were on the parking lot side of the pod. I think next time, if we try to do this again, get a big enough group of people you want to hang out with and fill the pod!

Overall, I had a great time, and it was a brief break and a chance to sleep in that was welcomed. I was ecstatic to come home and see my dancing baby and my sweet husband.

Where to next?!

Yelp’s Jet Set Fete

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In the 3 years that I have started this blog, I’ve been invited to many, many great food events. From huge events filled with local restaurants, to private charity events, to soft openings of new restaurants this little blog has tasted a lot. And I am so thankful for the opportunities to eat, meet and engage with awesome food enthused people!

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Last night I attended Yelp’s Jet Set Fete, which was an event to benefit the DC Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger with recycled food, training unemployed adults for culinary careers, serving healthy school meals, and rebuilding urban food systems through social enterprise.

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The theme of the event was retro-chic vintage, exotic travel. It had cultural demonstrations from China, Japan and Indonesia to name a few. That combined with a plethora of food and drinks from local vendors, I forget that I am there for a good cause and just there for a good time!

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Aside from the food, music, and flowing drinks, there was something for everyone. If you wanted a more mellow night, the other side included, painting, manicures, massages, and tarot card readings.

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I definitely recommend any yelp events that YelpDC hosts. Its a guaranteed good time!

 

 

Dining away Duchenne

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Last week I attended a fundraiser for The Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne. The event had restaurants from the local area and raffles and silent auctions to raise money and awareness for the disease. I was there representing Chef Seng and Thip Khao.

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There was so much good food there. It was a really nice event, AND I got to meet Chef David Guas. WHAT. I love my life. He’s very friendly, and a lot shorter in person than I imagined.

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Highlight of the night? Bacon cotton candy. My life is awesome.

Chef Shadow

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Not too long ago, I was given the opportunity to work with Chef Seng on a private event. It was a meal for 20 people. It was an engagement party, and the bride used to teach English in Laos, and LOVES Chef Seng and her restaurant.

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It was a really great learning experience for me. Watching how a chef runs her kitchen with a staff, versus me cooking alone. I definitely learned a lot, and enjoyed myself, but it does reaffirm my idea of me NOT wanting to own my own restaurant. I would like to do private chef cooking, or catering, but there is a lot that goes into owning a restaurant that I don’t see myself doing anytime soon.

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You put a lot of yourself on the line, and on a time restraint. We are lucky that the Chef loves it so much, because she blesses our bellies with her culinary creations. I’ll stick to catering parties, making dinners, and cooking for my cookbook and blog!

Best of Washington

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I have a new favorite event. Its the Best of Washington, by Washingtonian magazine. The price per ticket is pricey. But well worth it. All you can eat from the best restaurants in DC? All you can drink? SWAG, photobooths, entertainment? Can I go every year? I was there working the event, but we took turns exploring. There are no more words to say, it was just magical. So here are pictures.

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tqXX9oJvu5tcHOKk.jpgThis year’s theme was Alice in Wonderland. Drink the magic potion…and shrink. At least that is what they hope you will think when you get drunk enough. I was working with Chef Seng, promoting both her current restaurant and her upcoming restaurant. I had a wonderful evening with the girl power team of the newly nicknamed, BK GOLDEN GIRLS. Kinda like the Bond girls for her restaurant. HA! I can’t wait to go back next year, either with the restaurant or on my own will!

 

Springfest 2014

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The first car show of the season! The honey and I headed off to Virginia Beach in two separate cars. He is part of the indoor showing of cars, so he has to park his car there early. Having the extra car is helpful for our weekend, while his car is tied up.

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Traffic on 95 south is always bad. But we made it at a decent time!

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We checked in our hotel, had some delicious cookies. I LOVE these cookies. I probably had 4 cookies a day. This is why I will never be able to get on a strict healthy diet. *shakes fist.

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We then took his car over to the convention center and got it ready for the show the next day.vzDWQSedJR9Iqi8T.png The event showed 50 cars indoors, and 750 cars in their outer lot. There were so many types of cars there, VIP styles, stanced, classics, brand new baller cars and fun cars with their own themes like…all pink, zombie apocalypse, and other crazy customizations.o13Mp1FSaDDM7KV1.jpgWLwXmbSpmzaGJQ0U.jpgSkALsPkFXDRPw1ZD.jpgUbxJA3KdTdaIXg0u.jpgRaXTcqOjHEOtQIy9.jpg
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Next big show, Boxerfest!

Life With Bawse: Spring Play date!

OZVnxYoFcb8CiAYR.jpgI know, I know it’s been such a long time since I had a Bawse update. He’s still a puppy in my eyes, but he is pretty much grown. There aren’t as many new developments. He does know how to bring his leash now to go outside, so in combination of ringing the bell and bringing the leash he gets to go outside faster (is he training us, or are we training him?).

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The weather was awesome this weekend, and we couldn’t stay cooped up inside so we decided to take him for a long walk. We’ve decided that dog parks aren’t a good idea anymore (with all the pitbull hating going on) so a nice walk with a buddy is much better. Though we are still planning to check out Shirlington dog park when it gets warmer, so he can splash around!

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We headed over to the W O&D trail with his buddy Isis, where they got to run, walk, play and love on each other.
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Surprise! Bahamas.

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Last year for my birthday, we went to Hawaii. I thought that couldn’t be topped. He did it big, and he did it better this year. And it was completely unexpected. In the weeks leading up to this trip, he mentioned that we were going to take a weekend getaway “south” about 3-4 hours away. Me thinking I am Sherlock, assumed that it would be a ROAD TRIP to North or South Carolina.

I was completely wrong.

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Friday morning, we loaded up the car, and I thought I was headed to work, but no. I soon realized we were headed to the airport. Freaking out, because I am type A and need to be prepared for all situations, I exclaim that I am not packed for the airport. He says he’s got it covered, and when we parked, he pulls out a bag of small empty containers. Time to dump my full sized goodies into tiny bottles.

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We walk into the terminal, and he hands me my passport. WAIT, WHAT. I’m not prepared to go out of the country!? We made it through security and sit down at our gate. I still have no idea where we are going. He hands me my boarding pass. WE ARE GOING TO THE BAHAMAS?!…I’m not packed for the Bahamas!!? I had jeans and sweaters in my luggage. Lucky me, he packed my flip flops, bathing suits and “summer” clothes.

It was a complete surprise, with much more in store. I was so happy to escape the snow!

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Anniversary Food Adventure

Okay, so I usually don’t write lovey gushy stuff. So I’ll try to refrain from that. But my honey and I celebrated another year together by eating! We started off at his favorite pizza place in Leesburg, Fireworks Pizza. We normally just go straight to the point here. Pizza, and dessert. At the Arlington location, I like to get their appetizers. But today we were so hungry, after a 45 minute wait, we got spinach dip to start.

Then the main event, PIZZA! Smokey Blue with shrimp. There’s bacon, bleu cheese, balsamic glaze, sauteed onions along with rosemary, which just ties everything together. Afterwards, we had the chocolate chip cookie sundae. It didn’t last long enough to take a picture. Picture cookie dough in a shallow ramekin, blasted in a wood fired oven, until its crisp on top and the chocolate is bubbling. Top it off with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream. Oh MY.

Afterwards we went to paper source to feed my stationary and paper goods addiction. And we found this gem.

I took too long staring at pens, stickers and stamps, so he went and got us starbucks!

We went to get pampered before going to our dinner date!

Bistro Cacao. I love this place. It’s so french, it makes me miss Paris more, but fills the void.

Lobster bisque with white truffle oil.

Pan seared duck with a blueberry reduction, braised endives and potato gratin

Mousse au chocolat with raspberry and mango sauce.

I love food. And my life. Le sigh.