Happy Birthday to Green Thumbs McGillicutty!

It's another beautiful day outside and it's time to celebrate Green Thumb McGillicutty's 22nd birthday!  I wish you good luck (it's finally your turn to have some!), great health (it's finally your turn to have some!), and infinite happiness (it's finally your turn to have some!).  In an attempt to include Starbucks in the birthday festivities, I asked the barista to write something special in place of Green Thumb's name on her cup of coffee.  You see it pictured at right.  But, true to Starbucks form, this is what I actually requested.  Happy Birthday, Green Thumbs!

Indian Giver of British Products

Less than three months ago, I was in London.  It feels like it has been ages since then, though.  I had so much fun.  I am working on a small, informational publication on the subject of London to be delivered, hopefully, as Christmas presents to my Friends.

On that trip, I met up with an old friend from yesteryear--Old Chap.  Back in the day, Old Chap, Cl. Panic, Green Thumbs McGillicutty, L. Woods, and I all worked in the same law firm.  Old Chap was in the London office.  One wintry day, we all flew to Washington, D.C., to participate in some training, and that's where we all met each other.  We have kept in touch since then!  It was one of only a handful of good things that came out of working in that firm.

Naturally, when I finally made my way to London, I called up Old Chap and off we went to have wonderful Pakistani food.  We went to Tayyabs.  O.  M.  G.  This was so good.  But Old Chap's food tips didn't end there.  He also directed me to Fortnum & Mason, described by Old Chap as "the quintessential supplier of English goodies."  Boy, he was not kidding.

On my last full day in London, I paid a visit to Fortnum & Mason and bought so many biscuits (cookies), teas, and jellies.  Most were slated for gifts to friends and family.  But I learned a valuable lesson:  Send food gifts as soon as possible because, the longer you hold on to them, the more likely they will end up in your own stomach.  There were two jellies (a hunter's marmalade and a rose jelly) that were slated for MonkeyPig and 3-Fish, respectively.  Those did not survive long enough in the US to reach their intended destinations.  So, I ordered replacements (plus other things) online.  I kept the dark lime jelly (detailed description).

Dutifully, I sent the goodies to their intended recipients.  In advance of their arrival, I tell 3-Fish that I'm sending her a rose jelly.  Well, guess who's too good for rose jellies and breakfast in general?  So, I tell 3-Fish to send the rose jelly back if she's not going to eat it because I would eat it.  The rose jelly was delivered back to my house yesterday.  What's wrong with this picture?  Yep, Mr. Nonny Nu had to pay the postman $1.55 because *somebody* didn't pay the full postage.  But here is the treasure trove, complete with polar bear greeting card to Mr. Nonny Nu conveying a hateful but accurate complaint about a most beloved rabbit:

Running Out of Room on the Fridge

As you know, I have a mini-fridge in my office.  It has magnets from Friends' and my travels from all around the world on it.  I noticed today that I'm quickly running out of room.  This could mean that I need a bigger fridge.  We'll see.

But, looking at the magnets really brought back a lot of good memories!  Memories of me going places with all of you, and memories of me thinking of you guys going places and all the wonderful things that you would see and experience!  It's like I was there with you.

I think that the first magnet that started it all was the one from Green Thumbs McGillicutty.  It could be one of two magnets.  The first candidate is the puffy Seattle one.  This one was from a short round-trip from California to Seattle for the express purpose of "keeping" her "status" on some airline.  The second candidate is the educational one from Philadelphia (she's a mom).  This one was obtained on her quest to defend the honor of certain gentlemen (i.e., work).  I honestly cannot remember which one was the first now, though the Seattle one looks older than the Philadelphia one.

But, let's play a game!  I have selected a few that are not so obvious where they're from.  Here are the trivia questions for each:

1.  Who bought these magnets for nonny nu?

2.  Which continent is this magnet from?
-Cl. Panic is conflicted out.

3.  Which state is this magnet from?
-Cl. Panic and A-Dog are conflicted out.

SUPER BONUS QUESTION:
4.  Which male model accompanied nonny nu on this trip?

I await your guesses!  Good luck.

Tourists in our Own Backyard

In honor of the return of Twinkies, I'm going to make a concerted effort to bring back The Nu Warren. I begin with a post about a rejuvenation...

Today, Green Thumbs McGillicutty, L. Woods, and I were tourists in our own backyard.  For L. Woods' and my birthdays, Ms. McGillicutty invited us to tea at Charles Chocolates in San Francisco.  Charles Chocolates is located in the Mission District.  This was the first time I'd been to that part of the city and I really liked it.  I felt like I was among the working folk, and not the fancy pants city folk.

When we got to Charles Chocolates, we were greeted with a menu that promised nothing less than scrumptiousness and wonder.  I chose the Yorkshire Gold Black Tea, L. Woods chose the Organic Maiden's Ecstasy Pu-Erh Tea, and Green Thumbs chose the Organic Blood Orange Pu-Erh Tea.  My Yorkshire tea and L. Woods' Maiden's Ecstasy tea were yummy.  I don't know whether the Blood Orange tea was good because Green Thumbs never offered me any.  Then, the food arrived, each item lined up to meet their fate in the Chamber of Horrors that is my stomach (my favorite victim was the Pulled BBQ Chicken Slider).  Most interesting item was the Fresh Bing Cherry Clafoutis, egg-y and light (for Cantonese speakers, the consistency is the same as lo bahk go).  We met Charles himself!  He's a great host!

After this delightful tea, the three of us strolled around the Mission District with endless possibilities before us.  We were open to anything!  Green Thumbs then suggested that we visit the mission and we did.

Just kidding.  That^ wasn't the mission.  That^ was the high school.

This is the Mission San Francisco.  It is also known as Mission Delores and is the oldest structure in San Francisco.  It was built before the Declaration of Independence (see right).

We met many saints there.  My favorite is San Juan Capistrano.  He was the only one with a sword (because he led a Crusade) (he's the one on the left).  Here is the altar where Pope John Paul II visited back in 1987.

Then, we visited the basilica that is part of the mission but the basilica was built in 1918.  I'm not Catholic so I'm not sure what is the difference between a basilica and a church, but the basilica was fancier than the church.  Here is its altar.

The mark of a basilica is the gold and red umbrella (shown at the right) and the crest of the church (it's on the left but blocked by a column in this view).  We saw many saints here, too.

Oh!  I take back my previous statement about San Juan Capistrano being my favorite saint.  He's only my second favorite because my first favorite is Saint Francis of Assisi, the saint for whom San Franciso and the Franciscan order are named.  Here's a picture of him (left).  Can you guess why he's my favorite saint?

At the basilica, we saw beautiful cupolas and stained glass windows.  The windows showed many saints, many after whom cities were named:
Santa Clara
San Juan Capistrano and San Luis Obispo (boo...long live Pomona!)
San Gabriel (*claps!!*) and San Antonio
San Carlos and San Diego
Santa Barbara and Junipero Serra

There was also an ancient cemetery ("goo mo"), which is something that So Ba Sing really loves to visit.  Because we are in the West, which is a younger part of the nation than the East, our goo mos aren't as goo.  The oldest one I found was from 1830, the grave of Don Luis Antonio Arguello, the governor of "Alta California," back when California was still a part of Mexico.  Interestingly, that  picture I took is almost exactly the shot that is on the Wikipedia entry for Senor Arguello (scroll down). There was a sundial in the cemetery that was off by only about 20 minutes, and that depicted Father Time (not the Grim Reaper) (so says L. Woods and Green Thumbs).

On the way back to our parking spot, we found a pair of shoes and its owner a few yards away.

All in all, we spent a relaxing day experiencing San Francisco and being tourists in our own backyard.  Here, again, are the ladies who lunched:

Welcome back, Friends!

Self-Portrait and Magnets

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

This morning, I rode the rails with Cl. Panic and dribbled tea all over my sweater because my beautiful Jane Austen inspired travel mug sprang a leak.  But all is well because someone at work gave me an enzyme stain remover wipe.  It works ok, but not as good as a Tide Pen.

Anywho, the moral of this story is:  I got a new magnet!!

Whenever I or one of my friends or sisters go on vacation, we bring back refrigerator magnets to share with the people who we left at home.  My very first refrigerator magnet was one from Seattle, but I will tell you how I got that later in this post.  Check out my office minifridge and my magnet collection (you can see a reflection of me taking the photo)!

I can't remember the order in which I received the magnets, but I know that the first one I got was from Green Thumbs McGillicutty.  It was from one day trip she took from San Jose to Seattle just to make the miles to keep her in some sort of airline "best customers" club or something like that.

I also have ones from San Antonio (from when I went to my niece's wedding), another one from Green Thumbs when she went to Philadelphia for a deposition, and another from myself when I went to visit MonkeyPig in Georgia (the little fish pictured was from Cl. Panic for our unfortunate but thankfully temporary stay at Drones 'R Us).

This one is from MonkeyPig when the sisters went to Georgia for a surprise visit.  And, this one is also from MonkeyPig from a few years ago when we had a sisters reunion in Washington, DC.  We ate at the Supreme Court's cafeteria and I saved my ticket stub!  The two Tinkerbell magnets holding the stub are from L. Woods when she visited Disneyworld in Florida.

Now, this one is an international magnet from Heidelberg, Germany, where L. Woods visited on business a year ago.  Note the giant gummy bears attached.

And, then, there is my most recently acquired one from Cl. Panic and A-Dog from when they flew to the Pacific Northwest recently.  It is from the actual Tillamook cheese factory and is 24K gold plated brass.  The magnetic bunnies are from Cl. Panic.  They got very hungry and attacked the cheese (they are not partial to giant gummies).

Finally, this one is not a magnet, but is nonetheless a sentiment from a dear friend who had gone afar and kept me in mind.  It is a keychain of a polar bear dressed in a UK t-shirt from when Mr. Nonny Nu went to London recently.  The bear has the Harrods' "H" stamp on the bottom of its foot.

So many little treasures!  I think my most prized items in my office might be my magnets and keychain.

June Birthdays

Hello, everyone! Just wanted to take this time to say a very special "Happy Birthday!" to my bestest kitty, Sushi Cat. You are the most special soul and I miss you so much. I know that you are up there having fun and making sure there is a comfy cloud for Momma and Daddy when we see you again. I love you very much. Here is a pepperoni pizza for you from Momma, kitty. Don't eat too much because you know you can't handle the spice so well.

Now, for my dear friend, Siddharta's girl. This has been a year of changes and progress. I am so happy that you are pursuing and finding your faith. I hope that you will find peace and happiness because you deserve it. For you, a zen cake...

Last, but not least, I had one of the best birthday celebrations ever. Not only was I taken to lunch, my awesome friends Green Thumbs McGillicutty, Mr. McGillicutty, Cl. Panic, A-Dog, and L. Woods threw an impromptu birthday celebration for me that night at the McGillicutty ranch. Even Mr. Nonny Nu was there! The McGillicuttys cooked delicious burgers on the grill, accompanied by a light orzo salad and homemade, slow cooked Boston baked beans. L. Woods provided yummy drinks to cool everyone down. And the meal ended with the Panic-Dogs' guava cake topped with Green Thumb's scrumptious homemade strawberry ice cream and TWO KINDS OF WHIPPED CREAM provided by L. Woods! These people know me so well.

But the things that touched me the most was the fact that these very busy people who routinely stay late to work had taken the day off early in order to make this impromptu party happen for me, that these people who highly value their precious and relatively scarce time with their families would give up that time to include me, and that a certain person who rarely ventured from the house got himself dressed and ready to go by the time I got home to participate in this celebration. That was the best gift of all and I will always cherish the memories in my heart.

Now, you all know how I normally like to keep my face off of the blog but I will break that rule and show you pics of me and the cake so that you can see my happiness and contentment. That fireball in the foreground is the cake with 36 candles on it.

Homemade McGillicutty S'mores by Cl. Panic, guest food critic

The pitter-patter of raindrops served as the perfect soundtrack for a batch of gourmet s'mores.

Gourmet because they were prepared under the broiler of a sleek stainless steel KitchenAid instead of a roaring campfire. And because these were no ordinary pick-up-the-pieces-at-Safeway s'mores.

At our annual gift exchange, GTMcG presented us with her homemade s'mores kits.

That's right, an IKEA jar filled with made from scratch marshmallows (chocolate and creme brulee flavored), an assortment of gourmet IKEA chocolates (dark, milk, and hazelnut), and a bag of homemade graham crackers. Although the kit didn't include instructions, we were able to figure it out.


After a few minutes ... success! A perfect holiday treat. And a chance to play with the new camera. Mowielicious, you better watch out (for GTMcG, that is)!

Well-Travelled Carbs

Drones 'R Us is an international firm.  One day, we will become an inter-galactic firm but don't be too surprised if we become an inter-dimensional firm first.  (Like when we roll back the pay scale to 1980s level.)  Anywhooooo...

One of the nice things about DRU is that we get to send packages to our other offices via pouches for free.  It's not really free because the firm pays for it, but it's free in the sense that, if I need to send something to someone in our Mars office, I just stick it in a pouch, write their name on it, and off it goes to Mars.  We also have pouches that go between the different desks within a single office.  For example, I have been known to send highly confidential, attorneys' eyes only documents (e.g., US Weekly magazines) to Green Thumbs McGillicutty, who sits two floors above me.

Every Monday morning, DRU feeds us bagels, donuts, yogurt, and other breakfasty items.  Even though our office has shrunk drastically since we first merged, we are still regaled with a mountain of food on Monday mornings.  The leftovers are stuffed into the refrigerator and people are free to have them throughout the week.  (Some people like cold donuts, but I won't say who.)

A couple weeks ago, I found out that our London DRU office does not get fed breakfast on Mondays.  We have always known that the offices are treated differently.  The Mothership always gets the best stuff.*  But one thing I did like about the London DRU office is that they get monthly birthday cake to celebrate each month's birthday girls and boys.  We used to have that at Nu, Nu, & Nu LLP before we merged.  Those were the days.

Oh, one thing I forgot to say is that we also get some nifty (but rare) training opportunities.  Back in January, we had a mock trial workshop in DC where associates from all over the DRUniverse went to learn about opening/closing statements and direct and cross examining witnesses.  It was a great training, but we also got a chance to meet associates from other offices.  We made friends with one associate from the London office, which is how we now know that London DRU doesn't get fed on Monday mornings.

So.  What to do, what to do??  The only thing to do, OF COURSE, is to pouch a bagel and donut to Our Friend in London!  And, that's exactly what we did this Monday.  The mailroom guy was grilled as to inter-Milky Way pouching procedures.  The following was discovered:

1)  there's no refrigeration on the plane;

2)  the pouches are declared in one fell swoop as "legal documents" to customs; and

3)  it would probably take two days to get to London from here.

Not wanting to cause an inter-solar system incident, the donut was put in its own small ziplock, and then put along with the bagel into a larger ziplock.  This larger ziplock was placed into yet another larger ziplock, and this United Nation of Ziplocks (along with a note) was put into a pouch labeled "LONDON."

We waited on pins and needles for "the package" to clear customs.  We didn't hear from it for TWO DAYS!!  Finally, today, we heard from Our Friend in London--the package had arrived safely.  The donut was eaten with coffee.  [OFL: "It was good.  A little stale but I've eaten worse.  :)"]  The bagel was saved for tomorrow's breakfast.

Goodbye, donut!!  Don't do anything I wouldn't do!

*I'm sure one of my sisters will pipe up and tell you how I used to get all sorts of stuff and they didn't.  And, they'd be telling the truth!

Mutant Onions Attack

(Nu Warren, Sept. 7, 2010)

In April of this year, an invasive strain of sugar snap peas appeared in The Nu Warren, triggering meth-like addiction throughout the land.  This Saturday, a pair of mutant onions were captured at the local SaveMart.

Nonny Nu, long-time resident of The Nu Warren, discovered the two militant onions during a grocery run.  "They were mixed in with the rest of the red onions.  I was wading through the pile, as is the rabbit custom for selecting produce."

It is believed that the mutant onions' anger stems from Friends' showering of support and praise for non-onion vegetables.  Under interrogation, one terrorist said, "It's just not fair!  You all talk loud and draw a crowd about how you just LOVE veggies, but you never give us any airtime!  What did you expect us to do?  We're gonna be in your face, like it or not!"

Seconds the second onion, "F_ck, yeah!"

Nonny Nu described the fear and indignation she felt upon discovering the onions: "You know, I wasn't expecting this.  I didn't come to SaveMart to be assaulted.  I was THIS CLOSE to being battered if not for my keen rabbit eyesight.  I was just rummaging through the pile to select the nicest, juiciest red onion.  Lo and behold, that one on the right just snapped at me!  If I didn't see him in time, he would've bit my paw clear off.  Then, who would be writing this post?"

Nonny immediately and gingerly scooped up the two onions, who have begun to refer to themselves a "freedom fighters," and brought them in for questioning.  They will be transported in a secure container to Dr. Green Thumbs McGillicutty for examination, etc.  (You can guess what the "etc." refers to.)

Tomato Bountycl. panic, lycopene wrangler and guest blogger

High tomato season is upon us at the Panic household. Just this weekend, a bounty of Iraqi and Turkish tomatoes graduated from the school of ripe. (And I remember when they were just seedlings, mere overage from GTMcG's exotic tomato sprouting endeavors).

The ones with the stripes are called Turkish Striped Monastery, and supposedly there

are some "Pinks" hidden in that bowl. The plants that sprouted these fine specimens now stand over six feet tall! We are happy to report that the Iraqi Al Kufa plants have also borne fruit, though they did end up requiring cages in spite of GTMcG's emphatic pleading to let them roam free.

The days of the seedlings are now the distant past. Ms. Panic is now faced with a bowl full of red tomatoes and vines still covered with more green juveniles. Greek salads and bruschetta await!

(We have been hit with some blossom end rot this season; not sure if the water softener is to blame. Next year, we'll supplement with calcium just in case.)

IKEA Lunch

A few weeks ago, Green Thumbs McGillicutty and I went to IKEA for lunch. Below is a picture of our trays. Can you tell which tray is GTM's and which tray is Nonny's?

Lobster Safari (and Wedding)

This weekend, I went on a lobster safari. The lobster's natural habitat is on the East Coast, and one of the best known lobster preserves is located in and around the town of Boston. Green Thumbs and L. Woods accompanied me on this quest, but L. Woods arrived a day early to scope out the place.

GTM and I flew from San Jose to Boston, careful to sit in non-adjacent seats so as not to tip off the lobsters. Lobsters are very sensitive creatures and often detect trouble with their long antennae. This was my first lobster safari but I did my homework in advance, mostly in the form of daydreaming about the moment when I would meet my first lobster face to face, antennae to ears, mano y mano.

The morning of the safari, GTM and I woke up at the crack of dawn (9-ish) and prepared ourselves physically to confront the feisty lobster. I ran on the treadmill, and GTM read a book about a girl who kicked the hornet's nest (presumably in case we encounter any hornets on the way to the lobster lair). L. Woods felt that the best way to prepare for the safari was to go back to sleep for another hour.

During that hour, GTM and I warmed up and each purchased a lobster roll next door at the James Hook Lobster Aquarium. Here's what it looked like:

Look at the chunks of lobster in that baby!

Then, it was time to go on the actual hunt. We took a 30 minute ferry to The Lobster Island, attended Cl. Panic's and A-dog's beautiful wedding ceremony, and were led to a table of lobster torture instruments. When our table was called, I shot up like a rocket and stealthily slithered over to the lobster lair. Upon reaching the lair, I pointed at an unsuspecting lobster and exclaimed, "I'll take that one!" He didn't know what hit him!

I slung the slain lobster over my shoulder and dragged it back to our table. There, I eschewed the instruction sheet and relied purely on my predatory instincts to take apart the beast, limb by limb.

Afterward, we all enjoyed a wonderfully timed sunset.

The Nus wish Cl. Panic and A-dog much happiness and contentment in their life together!

Tomatoes

Cl. Panic has started a trend. I am also imprisoning tomato plants! Courtesy of Green Thumbs McGillicutty, these plants were arrested and jailed at her home. After conviction, they were transferred to the world's most tranquil, welcoming, and comfy prison, located at The Nu Warren. Sure, the Nus tell the plants that the beehive shaped cages handcrafted from chicken wire are to protect them from the vicious squirrels, but we all know that these killer tomato plants have a very high recidivism rate for tomato production. Hopefully, they will put their time in prison to good use (the Nus offer workshops to teach prisoners a trade, like cream whipping or flower eating).

Pea Tasting

Wow, doesn't the title sound disgusting??  But, it was really such a wonderful experience.  Back in January, Cl. Panic gave me two pea plants.  Each of them yielded two peas.  One of the four peas grew very slowly and the other three peas just could not wait any longer to be eaten, so I invited Cl. Panic, Green Thumbs McGillicutty, and L. Woods for a pea tasting here at work.

As you can see, the pea pods were a pretty good size and the peas themselves were gigantic.  The problem was, there were four of us and only three of them.  So, Cl. Panic and I shared one.

The peas were delicious!  I'm glad that the original plan of bringing them to be cooked and eaten at hot pot was nixed.  We tasted these peas in their freshest, just-picked glory.  It was spectacular.

As an aside, I anticipated that, even with four pea pods, it would still be a pretty meager food offering for four grown people, let alone the actual situation where people outnumbered pods.  So, I brought some baby carrots and ranch dip to accompany the peas.  But, it was still slim pickings after that.  The whole situation where we had to slice one of the peas in half was totally hilarious because it reminded me of those old WB cartoons where they showed very poor families slicing a loaf of bread so thin that the bread slice would float down to the plate!