This week flew by with unnerving speed. Monday afternoon we drove back to Houston and had dinner out at Niko Niko, a famous local Greek joint, where you order at the counter and they call you up when your food is ready. I got a gyro and fries. The fries were the best I'd had in Texas; the gyro was probably a top 10 of gyros I've ever eaten.
Tuesday, I stayed home and worked on the housing situation all day while Neri and Tay went out grocery shopping. That night, she made a fantastic and incredibly rich osso bucco over risotto. We had tons of it left over.
The usual routine is that Tay rolls downstairs around 11, makes some coffee, and we plop down on the giant sofa to watch our old friend Alex Trebek and the three contestants. It was a simple pleasure which I was only able to enjoy for a few days.
Wednesday, Tay and I hit the town. Saori and I were invited to a wedding in Paris and frankly, it's a always a good idea to have a jacket handy to class things up. Tay drove us out to Katy Mills, an indoor outlet mall nearly identical to Arizona Mills. I tried on a good dozen jackets at the five or six outlet stores we visited. J Crew, Banana Republic, Sak's 5th, NeimanMarcus. Although a quick pass through the latter stores was futile- a $700 jacket 50% off is still $350.
Tay also tried on a bunch of stuff since he also really enjoys shopping and because the best clothing store in Bloomington is a Target. It was fun. Tay snapped photos of me in jackets in various angles and we talked about the fit, material, and color. In return, I helped him pick out a few new shirts. At one point, he stepped out of the dressing room in a very short sleeved Henley, and it was so different from what he normally wears, it kind of threw me for a moment. Tay never exposes his upper arms, so it was kind of shocking, but actually it looked petty good on him.
Anyway, we drove back into town to the Nordstrom Rack, and after searching through the racks and finding either wrong sizes or colors, I came across a jacket that had obviously been recently returned. The fit was perfect, I liked the color and the material, and Tay agreed it was the best fit of any of the jackets I'd tried on.
Sticking with the rule of due diligence, we left the jacket and hit the nearby J Crew and Banana Republic. Nothing, so we headed back to Nordstroms Rack. At this point, Saori called me with some urgent housing business and we talked and argued for over an hour while Tay twiddled his thumbs in front of the store. I bought the jacket and we cruised home in the early evening with the top down on Neri's convertible. At the house, Tay opened some wine while I got online and started reheating the osso bucco.
Thursday, Tay and I went to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel at Sundance, the upscale movie theater downtown. We parked in the theater district parking garage, which is apparently an underground parking labyrinth the actual size of the theater district. Nobody at the movies today, we nearly had the theater to ourselves.
The latest effort by Wes Anderson suffered from The Phantom Menaceeffect- a director so meticulously wrapped up in the staging and scene, that the actors become wooden puppets. Ralph Fienes did a great job, but in general, the expansive and talented cast were mostly an excuse to make them spout an droll line or two in elaborate costumes and eastern European facial hair. We saw Bill Murray for all of sixty seconds.
That night dad took us all out to Brenner's on the Bayou, a very expensive but lovely steakhouse with a lively deck bar overlooking the bayou. We ordered cocktails and enjoyed the scene I'm the late afternoon as we waited for our table. The food was excellent: the crab macaroni and cheese and the Brussels sprouts added new depth to the potential of each. For desert, we cleared a small hut of a Gran Marinier soufflé.
Back at the house, Tay came down to the guest bedroom and hung out while I finished the delicate art of packing and weighing. My idea skipping the second suitcase turned out to be absurd. I ended up filling both suitcases to within a pound of the fifty pound limit, plus a duffel more like a 30 pound sausage, and a small backpack.
Tay and I each inherited one of the giant black nylon Tumi suitcases our parents bought during our years living in Asia. They were some of the most expensive luggage outside of fashion labels, but they came with lifetime warranties. After a decade of repairs, replacing zippers, wheels, etc, the Tumi people finally caved and offered replacement bags if they would stop bringing in these old beasts for ever more extensive repair. I think they probably just stopped stocking the parts.
Saori borrowed mine, and took it Japan- it returned covered with the bright blue penguin duct tape which I have not yet removed. The other bag came from mom's husband. My backpack is one I purchased and finished. I travel with the support of everyone.
Tuesday, I stayed home and worked on the housing situation all day while Neri and Tay went out grocery shopping. That night, she made a fantastic and incredibly rich osso bucco over risotto. We had tons of it left over.
The usual routine is that Tay rolls downstairs around 11, makes some coffee, and we plop down on the giant sofa to watch our old friend Alex Trebek and the three contestants. It was a simple pleasure which I was only able to enjoy for a few days.
Wednesday, Tay and I hit the town. Saori and I were invited to a wedding in Paris and frankly, it's a always a good idea to have a jacket handy to class things up. Tay drove us out to Katy Mills, an indoor outlet mall nearly identical to Arizona Mills. I tried on a good dozen jackets at the five or six outlet stores we visited. J Crew, Banana Republic, Sak's 5th, NeimanMarcus. Although a quick pass through the latter stores was futile- a $700 jacket 50% off is still $350.
Tay also tried on a bunch of stuff since he also really enjoys shopping and because the best clothing store in Bloomington is a Target. It was fun. Tay snapped photos of me in jackets in various angles and we talked about the fit, material, and color. In return, I helped him pick out a few new shirts. At one point, he stepped out of the dressing room in a very short sleeved Henley, and it was so different from what he normally wears, it kind of threw me for a moment. Tay never exposes his upper arms, so it was kind of shocking, but actually it looked petty good on him.
Anyway, we drove back into town to the Nordstrom Rack, and after searching through the racks and finding either wrong sizes or colors, I came across a jacket that had obviously been recently returned. The fit was perfect, I liked the color and the material, and Tay agreed it was the best fit of any of the jackets I'd tried on.
Sticking with the rule of due diligence, we left the jacket and hit the nearby J Crew and Banana Republic. Nothing, so we headed back to Nordstroms Rack. At this point, Saori called me with some urgent housing business and we talked and argued for over an hour while Tay twiddled his thumbs in front of the store. I bought the jacket and we cruised home in the early evening with the top down on Neri's convertible. At the house, Tay opened some wine while I got online and started reheating the osso bucco.
Thursday, Tay and I went to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel at Sundance, the upscale movie theater downtown. We parked in the theater district parking garage, which is apparently an underground parking labyrinth the actual size of the theater district. Nobody at the movies today, we nearly had the theater to ourselves.
The latest effort by Wes Anderson suffered from The Phantom Menaceeffect- a director so meticulously wrapped up in the staging and scene, that the actors become wooden puppets. Ralph Fienes did a great job, but in general, the expansive and talented cast were mostly an excuse to make them spout an droll line or two in elaborate costumes and eastern European facial hair. We saw Bill Murray for all of sixty seconds.
That night dad took us all out to Brenner's on the Bayou, a very expensive but lovely steakhouse with a lively deck bar overlooking the bayou. We ordered cocktails and enjoyed the scene I'm the late afternoon as we waited for our table. The food was excellent: the crab macaroni and cheese and the Brussels sprouts added new depth to the potential of each. For desert, we cleared a small hut of a Gran Marinier soufflé.
Back at the house, Tay came down to the guest bedroom and hung out while I finished the delicate art of packing and weighing. My idea skipping the second suitcase turned out to be absurd. I ended up filling both suitcases to within a pound of the fifty pound limit, plus a duffel more like a 30 pound sausage, and a small backpack.
Tay and I each inherited one of the giant black nylon Tumi suitcases our parents bought during our years living in Asia. They were some of the most expensive luggage outside of fashion labels, but they came with lifetime warranties. After a decade of repairs, replacing zippers, wheels, etc, the Tumi people finally caved and offered replacement bags if they would stop bringing in these old beasts for ever more extensive repair. I think they probably just stopped stocking the parts.
Saori borrowed mine, and took it Japan- it returned covered with the bright blue penguin duct tape which I have not yet removed. The other bag came from mom's husband. My backpack is one I purchased and finished. I travel with the support of everyone.
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