NOLA, Palo Alto
The rehersal dinner was at a really fun restaurant in Palo Alto, NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) and the good times started rolling even before we left the hotel, as wedding invitees gathered to car pool and head down the highways to the dinner. We had instructions, but we were following the car in front of us, and so had a great adventure en route. Everyone finally got there just fine, the music was loud, the crowd was hoppin’ and the food was fabulous.
Hurricanes waiting on the table to greet the guests:
The appetizer plates (I couldn’t get to it fast enough to take a photo before some had disappeared!)
We started with soups and salads, but I forgot to take photos (there is a lot of visiting going on at these events!) so here is some fabulous jambalaya:
And what’s left of delicious king salmon:
I was honored to sit with the bride’s mother, originally from Tehran, and oh! what great conversations we had. The whole purpose of the rehearsal dinner is to give the families time to get to know one another a little, to provide a network for the young marrying couple, to give support. Our weddings are GREAT affairs – now I am going to brag a little. Our young generation of marrying age has chosen such fine mates. The bride in this wedding is a pistol; she and Earthling are so well matched, so good to each other and so good at supporting one another. And I love her mother! We had a great time visiting with each other.
And then – oh my – the desserts! Beignets and bread pudding:
People were scraping the sauces right off the serving plate, not wanting to waste a single tasty bite, they were that good!
This morning, the bride, my sister the groom’s mother, my mother and a host of attendants are off to the hairdressers to get hair and nails and make up done, the whole wedding ritual. I am thankful to be a minor character today – I have packing to do, and with the new packing regulations, I am in a world of hurt. I know if I need to I can buy another suitcase, but I am hoping I will not have to do that.
Last night was a truly great evening, (Thank you, Sparkle and MarinerMan!) and as good as it was, as delicious and fun filled as it was, it was just the prelude to the big event today. 🙂
UPDATE:
Hi there,
I noticed you wrote about our restaurant, Nola, on 5/25/2008 (https://intlxpatr.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/nola-palo-alto/). We really appreciate the mention! Recently, we created a new site that lets our customers order online with their desktop or smartphone. It’s an exciting addition to our restaurant, so we’re reaching out to you to ask for a small favor…
If you could help us by adding our new website (http://www.nolapaloalto.com) on your post about Nola, we’d really appreciate it! I know you wrote this post a while back so hopefully it’s not too much trouble!
Again, thanks so much for supporting our restaurant by mentioning us on your site. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thanks there!
Cheers,
Your fans at Nola
Whole Foods Market
EnviroGal and I have just finished exploring Cupertino-into-San-Jose and when Big Diamond calls:
“We’re heading to Whole Foods for lunch, then to the playground – want to join us?”
We passed Whole Foods earlier and we know right where it is.
“We’ll meet you there!” we reply, and are there within minutes.
Oh my heavens.
Whole Foods is a whole different food experience. It takes grocery buying – and lunch – to a whole new level.
About one third of the very very large store is devoted to take-out food. There are three different large buffet stations, one for global food, one for salad bars, one for main dishes, and then there is a whole separate one for freshly prepared Japanese food. There is another separate area for custom sandwiches, and another area for desserts.
Drinks are nearby – an unimaginable variety of drinks.
I had a spinach salad with dried cranberries and toasted pecans and roquefort cheese, with a balsamic dressing, and enari sushi.
Big Diamond had an Indian Curry, and also macaroni and cheese.
EnviroGirl and SportyDiamond had Indian foods – and Mexican foods.
And so it goes. Whole Foods specializes in organically grown foods, fresh fresh foods, the best vegetables in the world. They prepare meals for thousands of high-tech workers who don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about food, but want to enjoy eating it when they remember to eat.
You really have to see it to believe it. And no, Purg, they didn’t mind my taking photos, right out in the open:
It’s interesting to me – with all the computer people around here, I don’t see a lot of overweight people. I saw a group of grannies, they must have been near seventies, all in bright yellow biking outfits, helmuts and all, and they looked wiry and spry. I see families of all nationalities, people from all over the world, all gathered in the same coffee shops, groceries, etc. and I wonder how they all work together in peace?
Sunset in Cupertino
This one was too good to pass up. Since I am not getting sunrise photos, I can share this sunset over Cupertino photo with you:
I can see that it is 113° F / 45°C in Kuwait. :-O
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
When I left my room this morning, I could smell wood burning fires, and I love that smell. It reminds me of Africa, and camping, and being out in the wild. I love for my clothing to smell like smoke from a wood burning fire, it’s like my favorite perfume.
And then I realized – this is smoke from the fire burning out-of-control in the Santa Cruz mountains, a terrible thing, people are losing their homes and businesses, thousands of residents are fleeing the area. It is a tragedy for all involved.
We are hoping the fire is brought under control soon . . .
Armadillo Willies
i am really lucky. Even though my son and his wife really really wanted to find some good Chinese food, they indulged me, and we ate once again at Armadillo Willies. Everyone ended up back at Armadillo Willies for lunch – it’s pretty good chow.
Once again, however, when we finally got the food we all just dug in and . . . I forgot to take any photos!
Breakfast at Google
The groom, my favorite nephew, Earthling, invited us to tour Google and have breakfast there this morning. What a thrill. We are all such geeks; being in Cupertino is just so much fun. Even Mom raved at the good breakfast available at Google, and . . . at the HEATED toilet seats in the ladies room!
Cypress Hotel, Cupertino
Woooo Hoooooooo! The gang’s all here! When I arrived at the hotel (once again, my license was “declined” at the rental car agency. I showed them my brand new sparkling license and they said that it wasn’t in the system yet. Oh, I love bureaucracy! It just took more time.)
Here are a couple shots from my short two hour flight on Alaska airlines:
But oh, I am in heaven. No more rain, temperatures in the 70’s with a stiff breeze. The freeways aren’t crowded – at least not when I was driving in – I had the windows down, the wind blowing through my hair and I remember how much I LOVE California. Thanks to GoogleEarth, I have the exact directions to the hotel, including fractions of miles travelled, and I get here without any mishap. There is ample parking. The reception is cordial and efficient, and . . . there is a big plate of chocolate chip cookies waiting to greet the guests.
My room is a hoot. The only thing missing is . . . AdventureMan. Oh, AdventureMan, you would love this place.
At 5, there is wine in the lobby. This week, ironically, it is wines from Washington State, which are good, but I just came from there! As it turned out, the red wine I had was excellent. The gang gathered, laughing and exchanging family lore, welcoming the bride into our very geeky and kookie family.
Now I have to apologize. We all went out and ate barbeque. I was SO hungry, I forgot to take photos. My bad.
This is the view from my room at sunset:
Today, we are doing a tour of Google! Wooooo HOOOOOOO!
Teriyaki Time
On my own for dinner, I noticed a little storefront dine-in and take-out place near the gas station and thought I would give it a try.
Good guess! It took me 30 minutes to get my dinner (salmon teriyaki) because the place was so full of locals (always a good sign.) Not exactly fast food, but worth the wait.
I love the photos to show people what they can order – although most of the people already knew. This place turned out to be very popular.
A Day When Kuwait Looks Really Good
This day started off really early, because Mom and Sparkle are leaving on a two day road trip to the BIG EVENT in Silicon Valley. Yep, I noticed my hotel is just down the street from the Apple Headquarters for the entire world. This is going to be fun!
I wanted to get the documentary shots and I also wanted to get some laundry done before I head for the same wedding, but I am flying, so I have an extra day here. Mom and Sparkle needed to drive, they have significant clothes, clothes for every event, important clothes, important shoes, important make up and accessories, and then more clothes for the road trip drifting along the Pacific Coast all the way back, so they needed to have a wagon to haul all their clothes.
Besides – a road trip . . . road trips are always fun! Sparkle loves to drive, and Mom always loves a trip, especially a trip with a wedding in it.
Bye, Mom! Bye, Sparkle!
I don’t have a lot of laundry, it takes me maybe a couple hours, and then I leave, deciding to fill the tank today as I will drive straight to the airport tomorrow. This Jeep uses more gas than my normal car, even though it seems to be about the same size. When I get to the tank, however, the pump keeps going and going and going and my eyes get bigger and bigger and bigger.
For those of you who do not live in Kuwait, an oil producing country with world class cars, we pay about 80 cents a gallon for our gas. My little SUV, which I fill every now and then, takes about ten gallons when I fill it. So I normally pay around $10.00 max to fill my car, and that is when I drift in on fumes.
This is what I paid today:
And you know how in movies when they open a bank vault, you can hear all kinds of whirrs and levers and things falling into place?
You would have heard that today, as my brain whirred and clicked and chunks of information fell into place:
° The big grin when the car rental guy said he was doing me a big favor and upgrading me to an SUV at no additional cost to me.
° The huge herd of SUV’s waiting in the auto rental pick-up place; not a normal rental car in sight.
° My mother and sister driving to San Jose, overnighting along the way, and God only knows how often they will have to fill the tank – although they ARE driving a hybrid, and that should help a little. Still, it makes my flight a real bargain, especially since I booked and paid back in January before the huge increases hit.
Buying gas in Kuwait is a THRILL! Buying gas in Seattle is heart-stopping!
The second thing I noticed that makes Kuwait look really really good is you know how we have been talking about the beautiful cool weather and the rain?
I took one outfit out of the dryer still very damp; I do it all the time in Kuwait, take them out, shake them, hang them up and they dry beautifully, and I don’t have to iron very much. In Kuwait, things dry really Really REALLY fast. Like a cotton dress, even fresh out of the washer, will be dry in one hour.
Hours later, this little cotton outfit taken from the dryer in Seattle, is still cold and damp around the seams. I’ve even ironed and the seams are still damp. Maybe if I hang the outfit overnight in the warm bathroom it will be dry enough to pack tomorrow. Maybe I should microwave it? Or maybe I can pack it damp and then pull it out of the suitcase as soon as I get to San Jose and hope it will dry before my flight back to Kuwait?
Rain Boughs
I could hear the rain falling heavily when I awoke this morning, and as I looked out, the drops were gleaming heavily on the pine boughs just outside my window. They were so beautiful! Another photo-op:
As I got in the car to head over to my Mom’s, this is what I saw through the windshield:
These photos are for 3baid @ Anything Goes, who wants rain desperately. 3baid, tell your brother we are still waiting for the photo of you sleeping on the floor drooling! 😉
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