"Thank You. Your Reservation has been Confirmed."

Miracles do happen, people.

Okay, so I'm not sure the word "Miracle" is quite accurate, but it certainly did feel like a "gift" was bestowed upon us this morning at 10:00am when Dave finally got THROUGH on OpenTable.com for our (soon-to-be) beloved French Laundry reservation and the words, "Thank You. Your Reservation has been Confirmed" appeared before us!


Ahhhhhhhhhh

As you may recall, French Laundry has been playing hard-to-get with us ever since we started attempting to get a reservation back in May. My first attempt involved hitting "redial" 162 times and not getting anywhere (May 19, 2008) and my next major push was in July with over 300 calls (July 28, 2008). Last week, in desperation, Dave even put his programming skills to work in order to develop an application that would alert all 4 of us (Dave, Chris, Valerie and me) when OpenTable opened up with a reservation (the system would check online, on that particular page of OpenTable, every 30 seconds and alert us via email and text). No, I am not even kidding.

So imagine our SURPRISE - as if we won the LOTTERY - when Dave scored a reservation on his own this morning via OpenTable! The date is of course exactly 2 months out to the date - January 24, 2009. It's a Saturday (at 5:30pm no less!) and we'll look forward to 9 courses of divine cuisine. Valerie has already vowed to start fasting now so that she is adequately prepared to devour the Thomas Keller dishes come January.

Thank you, Chrissy & Jon and Mom & Dad Bryand, for giving us this opportunity with our fantastic birthday gifts!

Economic Turmoil Explained by TAL

No, TAL is not a friend of mine. Well, they are MY friend, but they don't exactly know I exist. You see, "TAL" is actually an NPR show called "This American Life". I couldn't very well put the initials NPR into my headline as I know some of us were tortured as children, forced to listen to NPR on Sunday mornings while our parents read the paper and we scoured cartoons and coupons. Okay, maybe obsessively clipping coupons and reading the want ads for my dream job at McDonald's was just MY typical Sunday as a six-year-old, but I digress. Prior to this show, I considered NPR to be a curse word worse than the F-Bomb. Yep, it has changed my podcast life.

So, what is "This American Life"? As they describe it on their website, "There's a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It's mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always." I realize this isn't the best description, so you're just going to have to try it out for yourself.



For the two episodes that I am "pitching" today, you'll have to either listen from your computer (free) or pay the big bucks ($.99) and download them to iTunes so you can listen from your iPhone/iPod/iEverything later on. I love to run and listen...for example, today I got through 6 miles by listening to one episode (1 hour in length). In essence: perfection.

The show is not always about money...it covers a variety of topics from being switched at birth to winning the lottery to having a job so ridiculous that you go to a room in Chicago's school district to just WAIT all day...and get paid for it. For the purposes of this pitch (I swear I don't know anyone who works there - I am just a passionate listener), I suggest starting with Episode 355, "Giant Pool of Money", which describes in easy-to-understand, yet factually fascinating, terms of how we find ourselves in this financial crisis, specifically focusing on the Mortgage Industry and their contribution to getting us here.

Episode 355: Giant Pool of Money

I also HIGHLY recommend downloading/listening to this other episode which enlightens us on the Billion Dollar Bailout and the forces around it/what it means to us as individuals.

Episode 365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy

That's it - I am off my pulpit. BUT, I would love to hear your comments with what you think of TAL. I seriously love it (obviously) and look forward to automatically downloading (FREE) to my iPhone every single week. I hope you will too.

Subscribe to the free podcast here.

Skype: Best. Invention. Ever.

Although Dave uses Skype daily for phone calls and occasional video conferences, this was my first foray into attempting to video chat with my girls in Raleigh and all of their hubbies and BABIES!!!

It was fantastic. I felt like I was there! I loved seeing the expressions of each kiddie - so much different than me stalking their individual blogs and receiving still photos!

Dave captured a few moments of our fun, specifically when Natalie was showing off her daughter Caroline's undies....WOLFPACK! So cute.


Video Chat with Raleigh!

By the time Baby Ryno (Lindsay & Jon's baby) arrives in May, I am going to be installing a camera at that kid's crib so I can video chat whenever I want! Ha ha, just kidding, L&J!

I (Heart) Technology!

Gary Danko....I could live this life!

The NC Girls came to San Francisco back in August (you may recall "Welcome to Cougarville") and we had a FANTASTIC time. As if them being here wasn't a tremendous gift enough, they were kind enough to send us a gift certificate to the #1 restaurant in all of San Francisco - Gary Danko!

We made the reservation the requisite two months in advance...to the day...and still got a 9:00pm reservation for Saturday night! Not to worry, I napped that afternoon and didn't face any narcolepsy - even in finishing dinner at 12:15AM!!!

We brought a fantastic bottle of wine with us that we had been saving and saving ($35 corkage) and we were SO grateful to have had it! Not only was it worth the wait - absolutely delicious - but the GD wine list is not for the faint at heart. Starting "cheapo" price was $90 and went upwards of $1500 (Harlan Estate).


Ahhh, Wine and Gary Danko = Bliss

We started the evening with a little bubbly at home, then a fantastic (and generous!) Ketel One martini (up with one olive, one onion for me, thank you). Before we knew it, we had been at the table for 45 minutes and hadn't even glanced at the menu yet. The waitstaff was superb and didn't pressure us in the least to rush us into ordering. Alas, after an amuse bouche of some type of delicious soup, we decided to take the plunge.


Ketel One Pre-Appetizer

The menu is set up without a la carte pricing...they offer 3-course ($66), 4-course ($83) or 5-course ($98) options, where the guest can pick any combinations to make up those courses (i.e. you want 5 appetizer items in larger portions? no problem. you want 1 entree and 4 desserts? anything.). We opted to each order 4-courses and split them entirely, so we each got to try 8 items altogether which was amazing!

I can't do the exquisite cuisine justice, but here is a recap of the amazingly superb food we enjoyed:

1st Course:
-- Foie Gras (delicious)
-- Roast Maine Lobster with Potato Puree (amazing)

2nd Course:
-- Pancetta wrapped Frog Legs (our first time!)
-- Lobster Risotto

3rd Course:
-- Roasted Leg of Lamb
-- Stuffed Quail

4th Course:
-- Chocolate Souffle (need I say more?)
-- Roasted Pears with Gingerbread and Nutmeg Ice Cream


Are you KIDDING me??

Every dish was completely divine and I felt like a movie star every moment we were there (including our own version of paparazzi....even if it was us snapping the pics).


Cheesin' for the Camera


Pure Bliss

Want to know the ultimate kicker? When we (finally) left just after midnight, they magically had my personal coat (there is no coat check ticket - they just know), but also our mini cookie leftovers AND a pumpkin bread goodiebag that they send home with people "for breakfast the next day". What an amazing a final touch?!?!

Meg, Tanya, Nic, Eliz and Mary, THANK YOU so much for making this Cougar feel like a princess. A short video for you to share in the experience!!!


Thank You, Girls!


A Night to Remember!

IT'S A BOY!!!!

No, not MY Baby Boy, but Lindsay & Jon's!!!!

Yes, you read that right - they are PREGNANT!!! I am going to be an Auntie and couldn't be more excited!!!! The due date is currently May 6th, which makes her 14 weeks and 6 days pregnant as of today.

Lindsay shared the news with us the day before SHE RAN A MARATHON (!!!!) but we've been sworn to silence until the first ultrasound took place, which was yesterday!


Baby Rynearson, the size of a LEMON

I have, of course, been stalking WebMD and any other baby website I can find to figure out what is going on with the baby every week (can you tell we're just a wee bit excited??) and thought this one was the most interesting.

Jon says the baby can start to HEAR now and they are going to put Miles Davis at the top of their list. I am fully supportive of that, but don't you worry - Auntie Brooke will definitely be sneaking in some hip-hop when she comes to visit in a few weeks! Gotta make sure my nephew has RHYTHM!!!

Congratulations, Lindsay and Jon!!!