Top 10's for 2011

Should anyone care, here is a list of my top things in 2011.

Movies (in order)
1. Melancholia
2. Incendies
3. Contagion
4. Moneyball
5. Bridesmaids
6. The Interrupters
7. Terri
8. Weekend
8. The Skin I Live In
10. Sleeping Beauty

Album releases (in order)
1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
2. Phantogram - Nightlife
3. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
4. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2
5. TV On The Radio - 9 Types of Light
6.Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones
7.EMA - Past Lives Martyred Saints
8.Lana Del Ray - Born To Die
9. The Weekend - House Of Balloons
10.tUnE-yArDs - Whokill
11. Wildflag - Wildflag

Books
1. The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta
2. Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense - Joyce Carol Oates
3. A Widows Story - Joyce Carol Oates
4. A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness - Nassir Ghaemi
5. Colonel Roosevelt - Edmund Morris
6. It Looked Different On The Model - Laurie Notaro
7. No Bullshit Social Media - Jason Falls
8. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
9. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
10. A Game of Thrones: A Song of Fire and Ice Volume One - George R. R. Martin

Television (what I watched this year, not necessarily debuted this year)
1. Game of Thrones - Season 1 AMAZING show. Books are good also.
2. Boardwalk Empire - Seasons 1 & 2 Makes me want to go back in time to visit the era of Prohibition in NJ
3. The White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights. Yeah, I'm down for just about anything related to Jack White.
4. Downton Abbey - PBS Just another reason to support your public television provider
5. Homeland - Season 1 Love me some Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and homeland security
6. American Horror Story - Season 1 A one-hour spookfest each week. Count me in!
7. Prime Suspect - Season 1 (and only, as this phenomenally-written, acted and produced show has been cancelled)
8. Appropriate Adult - BBC...Great two-hour made-for-television movie featuring starring Emily Watson and Dominic West

Places to run outside
1. Tower Grove Park
2. Forest Park
3. Holly Hills neighborhood
4. The Hill
5. Castlewood
6. Queeny Park

Places to road bike
1. Weekend mornings downtown STL
2. Big Bend
3. Forest Park
4. Riverfront Trail
5. Castlewood (MTB)
6. Carondelet/Holly Hills trail
7. River Des Peres
8. Grant's Trail

Breakfast/brunch
1. Nadoz, Galleria - yummy crepes
2. Crepery - delicious crepes
3. Olivette Diner - tiny diner, big on taste
4. Soulard Coffee House - tasty fare, great Chai
5. Picasso's - best Chai in St. Louis
6. Meshuggah's - Chai, toast
7. Cafe Ventana - steeped Chai tea, begneits
8. 3 Monkeys - brunch
9. Grand diner - hashbrowns
10. Original Pancake House, Chesterfield - yup. Pancakes.

Lunch
1. Central Cafe - cheapest, most authentic Middle Eastern fare in St. Louis. Try the lentil soup, lebnah or shishtawook.
2. Little Saigon - try the Bo Luc Lac with vermicelli noodles
3. Llewelns - chips are the best.
4. Mangia - super tasty buffet
5. Tortillaria - super tasty and quick Mexican fare
6. Flavor of India (Olive & 270) - best buffet in town
7. Kampai Sushi - best in STL for lunch


Dinner
1. Bridge - best damn service, food and beer selection in STL. I dare you to beat it. Their cheese selection alone should make you bow to them.
2. Kampai Sushi - best damn sushi in STL. This hidden gem in the Coronado in the CWE is for serious sushi lovers. Vegas Roll.
3. Al Waha - Afgan food to die for.
4. Meskerem - Ethiopian deliciousness.
5. Deweys Pizza - cleanest pizza in town. By clean, I mean just the right amount of sauce, cheese, seasoning and toppings. Perfection on a pie.
6. Yummies - soul food with soul.
7. Bocci Bar - new and tasty
8. Vino Nadoz - best food/wine pairing in my book
9. DeMun Oyster Bar - Oysters. Yeah!
10. Sydney Street - an old, tried & true favorite

Music Venue
1. Off Broadway - non-smoking, get-close-to-the-band kinda goodness.
2. Old Rockhouse - non-smoking, two-story optional venue with amazing sound system and laid-back atmosphere
3. Firebird - good bands come here.
4. The Pageant - for those national shows.
5. Way Out - dirty, familiar, loud
6. Lemmons - small, dirty, loud
7. Sheldon Concert Hall - great national acts, classic
8. Cranky Yellow (RIP)

Concerts
1. Colin Hay
2. We Were Promised Jetpacks
3. Cults
4. TV On The Radio (and everyone else at LouFest)
5. Matt & Kim
6. Lucinda Williams/Over The Rhine
7. Mates Of State
8. Pains of Being Pure At Heart
9. Cold Cave
10. Ted Leo
11. Sebadoh
12. Ravonettes
13. New York Dolls/Motley Crue

Top 10 Friend Quotes of 2011

I surround myself with incredibly witty people. Like speaks to like. ;-)

Below are my Top 10 Quotes from my whip-smart friends - in no particular order:

10. "My uncle was eaten by pigs." - Maggie Samadi, in describing how her uncle was murdered by his loving wife. It's like the mafia, but on a farm.

9. "Dark is better." - Mary Lee, in response to the kind of chocolate that really gets her off...in a gastronomical sense, of course.

8. "He looks like he's got it going on. He makes fudge." - Maggie Samadi. Not sure of the origin of the quote, but you can bet it was inappropriate as hell.

7. "I'm wearing kinda stretchy pants." - Kathy Holleman, in describing her pre-holiday attire on casual-dress day at the office, 12/23. If you had seen the spread of goodies that adorned our workspace nooks and crannies, you would know how vital that statement is.

6. "Pedophiles appreciate midgets." - Maggie Samadi. 'Nuff said.

5. "Keyvan is orientally challenged." - Maggie Samadi, describing how her husband has a difficult time with directions. As in, orientating himself.

4. "Chew, dammit. Harder." - Anonymous, teasing me on my first attempt at eating artichoke leaves. Apparently, you suck the good stuff out, you don't chew the leaves. Dork moment supreme.

3. "Shake your Moroccans." - Maggie Samadi, with yet another culturally-challenged statement. Sometimes being married to a Persian gives you grace by association. Sometimes not.

2. "Back of the pants is better than pits." - My brother doling out keeping-you-hands-warm wisdom. Seeing as we come from North Dakota, you'd better believe it's truth.

1. "Probably geese abortions." - Maggie Samadi, commenting on all of the fowl excrement on the sidewalk in her neighborhood.

Little Deathies Donuts

So.

I have this medication that I need to take on a full stomach or I feel all throw-uppy. Like morning sickness w/o the bun in the oven.

I didn't get to have breakfast this morning because I got up late. And was lazy. And had to watch certain parts of "American Horror Story" again to get the full realization that this series might be ending, so there was a bit of pre-grieving happening on my comfy couch this dark, solstice morning.

What could I do but stop off at my hood gas station for a fill-up and some Little Debbies?

Done and done.

I get to work, settle in, and unwrap what I anticipate to be a mess of powdered-sugar goodness, as seen below:

It just wasn't meant to be.

I took a bite, and as I started chewing, I tasted what I can only compare to what might be lighter fluid. Or Drano. Or something just not right.

I immediately spit out what I had in my mouth, swished with water, spit some more, feeling the zombie effect coming on.

I felt like if I didn't get it all out, I might actually succumb to a formal digestive-system shut down, and that my next job might be as an extra on "The Walking Dead."

Seriously. That's how dangerous these Little Debbies donuts tasted.

I was the only one at the office, so I called my best friend to tell her my plight, and in case I died I wanted the proper action taken and the culprits prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Of course, she had a nice chuckle. My friends rock. Keep me grounded, they do.

As we were chatting, and I was describing the unholiness that was disguised as a morning snack, I checked out the expiration date.

These donuts are a full TWO WEEKS past their due date.

My friend suggested that the preservatives in the donuts have gone bad, and that's what I'm tasting.

This is plausible. And more than likely the case, and not what I'm thinking which is either a government experiment on hood rats or the nephew of the Tylenol killer attempting his own 15 minutes of fame with tiny donuts.

So, I'm going to take the donuts back to the gas station, demand a refund, and make them remove all the Little Deathies off the shelves while I watch.

Obviously, I don't expect a tiny, hood gas station to adhere to inventory control. Shit happens. But they will on my watch.

And just in case you're on the breakfast hunt, the gas station is on the corner of Grand and Chouteau. You've been warned.

Uffda

Busy weekend coming up. Since it's been a busy week, I'm feeling a bit rundown, but like my wise brother says, "I'll sleep when I'm dead." True enough.

Today is our MarCom office party. Woot. It's at Moulin, always a good time. Great food, a little drinking, prizes. Good stuff.

Tomorrow night my coworker and her husband are having a party. Great couple - she's in physician outreach and he's a very talented & personable brain surgeon. His blog is fantastic.

Saturday morning early run, and then I'm going to see "It's A Wonderful Life" at the Hi-Pointe. It's my favorite movie and I've never seen it on the big screen, so this will be a treat. I can pretty much recite the entire movie, but will refrain so that I don't bug anyone. Am I a dork? Yup. But a festive one, so look out now...

I've got two invites for festive outings that evening. Not sure if I want to do anything, may just veg...I feel like I need to catch up on 20 million hours of sleep.

Sunday is open, and I'm going to keep it that way because the best things come up last minute. This I've learned the hard way.

Movie Review & other stuff

Saw "Tree of Life", featuring Brad Pitt and very little of Sean Penn. Directed by Terrence Malick.

I really enjoyed Pitt's acting. And that's about all I enjoyed about the film.

I really liked Malick's "The New World" with Colin Ferrell. It was a very poetic film, moved me in all sorts of ways, and even though it was linear, that's not something I have to have in a film in order to like it. Same goes for "The Thin Red Line".

However, "Tree" was just a big 'ol mess of nothing special. Jumped all over. Sean Penn's part was useless. It was, in places, disturbing and not in a good way. And the family dynamic was probably true to many families back in the day, but they way in which it was portrayed felt forced.

NOT recommended by me. Watch at your own risk.

In other news, Ollie is sick. Under the weather. Being weird, not eating, listless, seemingly sad. Vet said it could be due to new treats, Busy Bones, I've recently given him, or his supposed melanoma. Since I refuse to let the doc cut him up, I will remove the treats and see.

Other other news, I am so ready for Xmas to be here. I love spending time at my aunt's house, just kicking back, eating, relaxing, and just being. No judgement, just good times. LOVE IT.

More news...you know how you see a movie trailer and it just PULLS YOU IN? Like, after you watch it you are setting a reminder in your phone that you HAVE to see this film on opening night? And then you see the film, and realize that many of the scenes that were in the trailer were NOT in the movie? Or that the trailer didn't accurately represent the actual movie, and you're sitting there wondering why you paid good money to see crap?

Well, check this link out. It has the Top 10 Biggest Movie Controversies in 2011, and it's grand. They have a short about how many times Natalie Portman was replaced in "Black Swan", and I remember thinking how cool it was for her to do most of her own dancing. HA! Not so, said the researcher...

In final news, I'm fighting off what could eventually turn into a huge addiction to Duncan Heinz Homestyle cream cheese frosting. I made cupcakes over the holidays, and discovered his fluffy, beigey heaven. I am really fighting the urge to go out and buy a can just for spooning...

Thanks for sharing, Modesto

Modesto is my most favorite restaurant in the Lou. Hands down.

The menu is ALWAYS diverse and delicious. Fare for carnivores and vegetarians alike.

Some of my favorite tapas are:

Bistec a la Cabrales - grilled hanger steak with Cabrales cheese and port reduction

Empanadillas de Chorizo - chorizo, potato and cheese pastries with ailoi

Pinchos Morunos - lamb skewers with yogurt and tomato-herb salsa

So I was just perusing my Facebook page, and I see a new post from Modesto.

Guess what? Chef Gracen Dinsmoor posted a recipe for.......wait for it.........wait for it........

GOAT CHEESE STUFFING!

Oh my goodness. Seriously?

Does it get any better than this?

Not only does the recipe revolve around goat cheese (which, in case you didn't know, is cheese made from angels on high) but it comes straight from the selective, creative and exquisite mind of Chef Grace.

This Monday just got a gold star.

I know what I'll be doing after work today - heading to the grocery store to get the ingredients to try out this fantastic fare.

But let's get to the bottom line here of why this is blog-worthy.

What makes this recipe unique is not that it contains goat cheese. Nor is it because it comes from the incredible mind of Chef Grace.

What makes this situation unique is that this culinary creation was shared by a renowned chef, who works at a renowned local eatery, via Facebook.

Restaurants don't have to share anything. Many share the photos of dishes they make, but not the recipes. Why? Because that might make potential patrons NOT visit the restaurant and just make the dishes at home.

They don't have to go the extra mile and make anyone's Monday a little bit less Mondayish. But they took the time out today to do just that, and I'm thankful.

Am I gushing? Perhaps. Is it warranted? Yup.

It's that sharing, that transparency, that willingness to reach out that will make me continue to go back to their restaurant for more.

Snow can suck it.

So, last winter I started hating snow. And pretty much all things related to cold.

And it got me worried.

Am I finally an adult? Have I lost that child-like wonderment that goes along with winter holidays, making snowmen and ice skating?

I really went all out & crabbed about the snow. Driving in it. Other people driving in it...poorly. Putting me in danger.

And all my crabbing made me feel old. Made me feel like a crotchety, old lady who has too many cats, is perpetually single, and never calls anyone by their correct names. And who shakes my old-lady fist at the snow, threatening it with my wizened, balled-up hand.

Today, after talking to a coworker, I now feel better.

I am not old. Or crotchety. I have a dog. And I always call people by their correct names.

I just don't take any pleasure in snow during the workweek.

I like snow in the following situations:

1. Skiing (on vacation)

2. Sledding (on the weekends)

3. For Oliver (he loves to play in it until his tiny baby paws get too cold and he starts walking like he's rusting like the Tin Man did in The Wizard Of OZ)

4. For how it makes Christmas Day feel

So, Mother Nature, feel free to bring on the snow. If you can start early Saturday morning, and make sure it melts by Monday morning commute time, we're all good.

Deal?

Deal.