Richmond Shower

Britgirl outdid herself on the food!


It's a decoration and it's a gift!


He wanted to be in on the action!


MMH and SM


It's always fun to open a big gift!




J9 with 11 week old, MMH at 34 weeks and Meg at 25 weeks"

Richmond at the Center

Last night, MTH and I went out to dinner near Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). If any of you are political junkies, then you'll already know where this post is going. There was a huge fundraiser at the Seigel Center called the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Both Obama and Clinton attended. It was a madhouse in front of the building. There were people wearing masks, people carrying huge letters that spelled O-B-A-M-A and people shouting. Since it was Richmond, there was no traffic jam. I definitely wish I'd had my camera. But, I do have some funny pictures from my recruiting trip to Atlanta last Monday. If you're a Ron Paul fan, then maybe they won't be as funny.







Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the monkey that was in the van.

Phoebe The Cat: Her Favorite Word

It's 'Shower'. So, maybe I'm humanizing Phoebe by thinking that she can understand me when I say 'Shower'. But, she seems to understand as she starts running towrds the bathroom. Then, once I'm in the shower, she balances herself on the edge near the faucet so she can lick up the water that's dripping from the showerhead. Then, when I'm done, she continues to balance and licks the drops that come out. Sometimes, she even sits in the bathtub. For some reason, she loves this water. Here's some pictures to show how cute she is. In our new house, she's going to be very disappointed. The two bathrooms iwth showers do not have bathtubs that enable her to reach the faucet while we're taking a shower.



Here she's trying to catch a water drop with her paw! She sometimes almost falls into the bathtub trying for the waterdrops

Nice action shot - she's jumping into the tub

She's now sitting in the tub getting more of that fresh water

Our House (Almost)

We're almost residents of The Fan District in Richmond, VA. MTH and I did our walkthrough of the house on Friday morning. There were only a couple of things that the seller needs to do and they are all minor. We sign on the dotted line on Monday morning. Then, we will officially own a house again. The movers will show up on Wednesday along with our new furniture and Comcast. It's going to be a busy day. The movers will unpack all of our boxes. But, that only means that they will put our stuff onto a flat surface, not in its proper place. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up as they unpack and actually have the place somewhat organized by the end of the day. MTH and I leave for Atlanta on Friday evening so we'll have no time for unpacking the weekend after the movers come. Then, next week, we leave for Las Vegas on Thursday evening. Even so, I believe that we'll be fully into the place before that trip. We'll just have to buckle down and get some stuff done at night during the week.

Another Richmond Taxi Saga

MTH and I had another run in with trying to use the Richmond taxi service. We thought we had to wait the last time. We were wrong. On Saturday night, we met a friend at the Byrd Theatre to see Casino Royale. As an aside, I do not recommend seeing that movie. The story made no sense whatsoever. The best part of the movie was when they were in the Bahamas and it looked so awesome to be at the beach. Once the movie was over, we headed over to Avalon Restaurant on Main Street between Robinson and Mulberry. Another aside: since I had popcorn at the movies, I had the small maple roasted butternut squash risotto and the applewood smoked bacon lentils. I then had the chocolate cake with a coffee. Of course, MTH and I had forgotten that we needed to call the taxi ahead of time. We remembered when we were paying the check. MTH called Veteran Cabs to be told that one was around the corner. We thought, "Wow, how did we get so lucky". We hurried out the door so we wouldn't miss it. Then, we waited and waited and waited a little more. MTH called back to find out what was going on. The lady had a little breakdown and said there were no taxis available. MTH then tried calling other taxi services. The answer was the same. He then decided that we should walk to the Boulevard. A taxi was certain to drive by. We stood there for a few minutes and then realized that wasn't going to work. We then walked back to Avalon. During the entire time except when we went to the Boulevard, I stood in the front of Avalon watching MTH. It was so cold outside! Finally, I thought that MTH had hit pay dirt. A taxi stopped and he was talking to the driver. I ran outside. No, the taxi driver thought maybe he could get an extra fare on his way to picking someone else up. Unfortunately, he was going in the opposite direction that we needed. At least 2 other taxis drove by without even looking. I was starting to think that we were going to have to walk home. It's only 3-4 miles so it would have been doable (even in my high heeled boots). At some point, we got lucky and an empty taxi drove by with a driver headed nowhere. I asked him how we could get a taxi in the future. His answer? He laughed. At least, we got home.

We figured out that one of things that was working against us last weekend was that the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Basketball Tournament was going on that night. That had to be the cause of the dearth of taxis in Richmond!

The Lucky Buddha

MTH and I went to another restaurant in our neighborhood last Friday. The Lucky Buddha is an Asian fusion place. When we first got there, I was a little worried as the place was basically empty. It was around 8pm. I still haven't learned the schedule of the Richmond crowd but I had thought it was earlier than DC. So, MTH and I thought maybe we were the last ones. We were wrong. As we went through dinner, the place started filling up - especially around the bar. That makes sense as they have a very nice drink menu. Who knew there was such a thing as Chai liqueur? I didn't try it but plan to try it next time. We focused on the food. We started with the Salt and Pepper calamari and steamed spring rolls. We only needed the calamari as it was huge! We then each had a noodle bowl. I tried the BBQ Pork and MTH tried the shrimp and pork noodle. Again, they were huge. The next time we go, we've decided to get two smaller appetizers and just one noodle bowl to share. That will fill us up! And, then, maybe we'll have a little room to try the green tea creme brulee.

Furniture Fun

MTH and I spent yesterday afternoon looking at furniture. We went to La Difference in Shockoe Slip near our apartment. We bought a new bed frame, dresser, chest and nightstand. We also looked at a couch but need to figure out if it will fit in our living room. Then, we headed to a store 2 doors down called These Four Walls. I thought we were just going to walk around. Then MTH fell in love with a red item. It's definitely going to add character to our new home! It may go in our front living room or in the dining room. We have no idea yet but MTH decided he had to have it :)

We then went to Sine for a snack. It's an Irish pub that's just 1 block away. While there, we talked about a writing desk that we had seen at These Four Walls. We decided that it made sense to go ahead and get the desk. Then, it will be delivered with the special red thing.

So, now our house is going to be more ready than I expected when we move in. Now, we just need to order the blinds!

Day Trip Ideas

Since we're still trying to meet people here in Richmond, we don't have a ton of things to do on the weekends (except MTH's working out and working). I decided that I wanted to go on a day trip this weekend. We kind of did one last weekend when we went to Charlottesville to see GT play UVA and went out to dinner with friends after. We came back that night. It turned out to be a nice trip but we were then home for MTH to work out on Sunday.

I found one good resource at www.richmond.com. They called them One Tank Trips. Not sure if MTH and I will do one these tomorrow but we're thinking about it.

If you have any ideas for day trips, please let me know.

My Goal

I ran the same route as last week. I was able to shave off one minute and do it in 32 minutes. My goal is to do it in 30 minutes within 2 weekends. I'm going to do a different route tomorrow. Then, next weekend, hopefully I can do it in 31 minutes. Thus, by the following weekend, I'll be able to do it in 30 minutes.

Then, I'll need a new goal.

By the way, if anyone has any ideas for new routes, please let me know.

Wishing I Could Cook

I love to cook. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Of course, I knew this fact about myself before we moved into temporary housing without my necessary cookware but I didn't realize just how much I would miss it. For example, yesterday, I saw a post on Brandon Eats about French Onion soup and thought, I should make that. Then, I remembered that my oven proof bowls are in storage along with my mandoline for thinly slicing the onions. I may have to improvise this coming weekend. For now, I made another big pot of beef stew which has somewhat hit the spot during this really cold weather.

Phoebe: A Salute to a Spoiled Cat, Take 2

Phoebe stalking up on the "loft" walls



One of Phoebe's favorite place to hang out in the new place

She's such a photogenic cat

The Bottom

As I've mentioned in a previous post, we're living just east of Shockoe Bottom. Or as Richmonders like to say, "The Bottom". Well, today, I decided I would run outside instead of on a treadmill. It's been a long time since I ran outside. I now fully appreciate that we're at the "bottom" of a hill. It was quite a climb to the west towards the VCU campus. I was able to run 3 miles in 33 minutes. On flat land, I usually can do it in about 28 minutes or so. That's still slow compared to most of the runners I know but I was quite happy with that time as I actually walked a few times.

Valentine's Dinner

As promised, here's a description of our Valentine's Day dinner at Cafe Gutenberg.

Course 1:
Watercress Vichysoisse paired with Hazard Hill, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc Blend 2004
It was a nice dish to start the night out with. The wine was a clean flavor that went well with a creamy soup.

Course 2:
Confit Duck Spring Roll with apricot and ginger sauce paired with Dr. Fischer Riesling 2005
These were wonderful. Of course, as they say, everything tastes good fried. The duck confit had some spice to it so the Riesling was a nice choice that held up well to the dish.

Course 3:
Roasted Candy Striped Beets with danablu arborio crust paired with Araucano Carmenere 2005
In case you're not familiar, arborio rice is the one used to make risotto. Therefore, the crust was quite creamy while also have a crunchy texture. The wine is a red from Chile that was strong like the beets.

Course 4:
Miso Crusted Rainbow Trout with red chili aioli paired with Morgadio Albarino 2005
I remember liking this course but as you can imagine, we were starting to get drunk at this point (we also had 2 glasses of champagne before the dinner started).

Course 5:
Mussels Gratinee baked in salt paired with Domain Pabiot Sancerre 2005
The mussels were baked in their shells with Parmesan cheese. The shells must have been placed in a bed of salt that was then placed in the oven for cooking. For plating, the chef put a bed of the roasted salt (it was brown) and then put the mussels on top. It was quite nice to get a few grains of the salt along with the mussel as it added a good crunch.

Course 6:
Pan-Seared Diver Scallops on the half shell paired with Petit M Muscadet 2004
These were not the best scallops I've had but weren't the worst either. The wine was a bit sweet but probably made sense to pair with the sweet scallops.

Course 7:
Petit Salad with fennel, grapefruit and mache paired with Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc 2005
This course was unnecessary. Even so, the wine was a good pairing since it had hints of grapefruit.

Course 8:
Butter Poached Lobster Ravioli with fresh ricotta and sweet pea cream sauce paired with MacRostie Chardonnay 2005
As you can imagine, the lobster was quite nice. The chardonnay was a nice light one that added to the flavor of the dish.

Course 9:
Gianduja Chocolate Shadow Cake with dark chocolate lollipops paired with Paringa Sparkling Shiraz 2004
What can I say - it was chocolate, of course it was good!! The red champagne was a nice touch with the dark chocolate. I'm a big fan of champagne in general so it's nice to change it up a bit and have a dark one.

As I mentioned earlier, we were already drunk by about course 4. You can imagine how hard it was to get up on Thursday! I definitely had a hang over and I think that MTH was worse. It was well worth it though as the food and wine were so good. And, the best part was that this place is only 7 blocks from our apartment so there was no driving involved.

Shocking

Here's what was going through my head this morning:

Freak accident kills woman in Richmond, VA on Saturday. She was running on a treadmill as she has done many times. As she ran, she unknowingly was building up an electrical charge. As she always does at about minute 20, she pushed the button to increase her speed. But, instead of increasing her speed, it gave her such a powerful shock that she fell backwards off the treadmill which caused her to run into the wall.

Ok, so that's not exactly how it happened but the shock was so powerful, it caused all of my hair to stand up (even though it was in a ponytail) and my Ipod to short out!! I will never get back on that particular treadmill.

Richmond Blogs

I've found a site that lists bloggers from Richmond. I've added some of the interesting ones to my list of blogs that I read. Some are about food and others are about how bad the government is here in Richmond. That is, that things are run by a small group of people. Richmond does have a lot in common with Savannah. People can sometimes be more interested in who you're related to as well as what school you went to. But, I think that can happen in a lot of places. In DC, it's all about working on the Hill or being a lobbyist or being a lawyer.

In the end, I'm being stereotypical and there are lots of great people to meet and get to know in any of those places.

The House is Empty

The packers came yesterday to pack everything up and the movers came today to put all the boxes and furniture into the truck for storage. We hope to be in our new house by 3/19 or earlier.

It was definitely a little sad to leave our first house forever. It's so final. I'm certain I was never sad about leaving an apartment. And, I'm definitely certain that I will not be the least bit sad about leaving this apartment!!

Richmond's Premier Movie Palace

MTH and I had a fun night last night. We took a taxi over to Carytown. It's a street just west of the Fan that has lots of cute little shops and restaurants on it. It will be about 10 blocks from our new place so we should be able to at least walk there in the early evening. We went to see Flushed Away at the Byrd Theatre. The movie only costs $1.99 per person. With popcorn, Twizzlers and drinks, our total experience came to $9! When I went to see Dreamgirls, just my ticket cost $9! Plus, this theater has character. It was built in 1928. It is ornate down to the water fountain. I didn't check out the restrooms but I imagine they are as well. On Saturday nights, they have an organist perform before the show. It was very cool. He started out with "It's a Grand Old Flag" and they even had a flag that waved over in the left hand balcony. He also played "76 Trombones" and "Over the Rainbow". There were other songs as well. The best part is that when he starts playing he's below the stage and is lifted up. Then, at the end, he goes down back under the stage for the final song. The movie was cute.

The movie was over around 9pm which was perfect for going to dinner. We headed to a place two doors down, The New York Deli. The food tasted good and was cheap. Plus, they had some interesting beers. I think we'll take Pop there when he and Mom come to visit. He loves sandwiches (and beer)!

The only bad part of the evening was trying to get a taxi home. You have to call and then it took 20 minutes for them to show up. Now that we know that, next time we'll call ahead.

Tobacco Row versus The Fan

We are currently living in temporary housing in a neighborhood called Tobacco Row. As its name implies, the buildings here were originally built for the tobacco industry. Click here to learn more.

When we move in the near future, we'll be living in The Fan. It's historically been residential since its beginning. Our "new" house was built in 1910. The houses closer to downtown are even older. It's the original suburb of Richmond. It makes sense. Before there were cars, it took a lot longer to go from the city center to the "outskirts". It's amazing what cars have made possible. Now, more people live in the counties surrounding Richmond than in the city of Richmond. The great thing is that Richmond is starting to come back. But, all of the stores are still a drive to outside the city. My work is 21 miles from my current apartment and will be about 18 miles from my new place!

House Update

Old House Update:
We've sold the house! We listed on Wednesday of last week and accepted the offer on Monday of this week. We did not expect it to be so easy. We didn't even have an open house. We're moving our stuff out this coming Friday or Saturday. I'm hoping we can talk the moving company into only scheduling one day for the move. Our house is tiny. I really don't want to take Friday off when I really don't think that's necessary!

New House Update:
We're going on a walkthrough on Monday. We still don't have our closing date set. We still need to get an appraisal (I believe they went on Friday) in order to finalize the mortgage and homeowner's insurance. We really want to close by the end of February so that we can move in by the first weekend in March. That would give us more time to move in before we travel for MTH's half marathon and our friends' wedding in Las Vegas.

Cafe Gutenberg

As I've mentioned in previous posts, MTH and I are going through a little bit of withdrawal by moving back to Richmond. I don't want to sound too snobby but the restaurants here are just not as good as DC. The fish is not as fresh. The recipes are not as creative. The mojitos are just not as tasty. But, what I've found is that there are a lot of cute little places that in DC, would be mobbed but in Richmond are just "full". One of those is Cafe Gutenberg. I haven't spent a lot of time there yet but it's a cool place so far. It's a wine bar/coffee shop/restaurant/bookstore. They also have free wireless. Plus, it's in an old building that's has an interesting design. It's about 7 blocks from our current place. It's walkable - the reason I point that out is that there's no way I'd walk 7 blocks from our place in the other direction!!!! It would not be a good idea. That's definitely an issue with downtown Richmond as well.

Anyway, once I've hung out at Cafe Gutenberg more, I'll tell you more.