Belly Up to the Bar With Bendy and Her Friendies!!! Button Pics & New Thread Started!

[oybolshoi]

Where did I leave off with the 2007 Flower & Garden Festival ???

Oh, that's right ... we were on our way to China where they created Chinese Zodiac displays. Very cool! This is our last batch of pictures from that trip - I hope you've enjoyed seeing them.


Hair of the Dawg

Bendy's a Rooster-Baby

Hey Hey it's a Monkee!

You old Goat

Miniature Horse, anyone?

Year of the Snake ... Voldemort must have been born under this sign

Enter the Dragon ...

We interrupt this zodiac pictorial to bring you a purty snapshot ...

Jay is a dog? Chinese astrologers say that dogs and roosters don't mesh ... what do they know?!

The Fearsome Rabbit!

Year of the Ox

The Rat ... or as Ralph Wiggum calls it: A Pointy Kitty!

Tony the Tiger

You Swine!

In Norway it was the Year of the Troll!

This looks a lot like my cousin Earl ...

Just another flowerbed ... ain't they pretty?

One last shot of the Pirate ship at the front entrance to Epcot; if I do say so myself this one turned out nicely.

 

[oybolshoi]

Tomorrow (May 10) is Jay's birthday ... so I gave him his present early so that we can both enjoy it.

I got him two Riedel scotch glasses and a bottle of Glenmorangie Astar ... it's a new scotch that they just released and it's 112% proof!

We're gonna open it up and enjoy it with some chocolate. If you never hear from us again you'll know that the scotch overpowered us tonight.

 

[TigerKat]

Happy Birthday Jay!

 

[PNO4TE]

Happy Birthday to Jay! I hope you both enjoyed the Scotch!!

 

[PNO4TE]

Last weekend I was in beautiful downtown Paramus, NJ for a Yamaha National Concert. I had two students performing their original compositions. Now you know why I was there. Here is why I mention it.

I found a lovely little place for dinner; Napa Valley Grille. After the fact we discovered it is part of a very small chain. There are three branches in CA, 1 in RI, 1 in MN and one in NJ. Strange combination of locations....

They had a very inventive menu, including a decent cheese plate and their wine list was amazing. My older DD and I each did a red wine flight and there was nothing of the 6 wines we tasted that was a poor choice. I have no pictures nor a menu. But I did want to mention it in case anyone else has an opportunity to dine at one of the locations. We were pleasantly surprised.

 

[blissventure]

Last weekend I was in beautiful downtown Paramus, NJ for a Yamaha National Concert. I had two students performing their original compositions. Now you know why I was there. Here is why I mention it.

I found a lovely little place for dinner; Napa Valley Grille. After the fact we discovered it is part of a very small chain. There are three branches in CA, 1 in RI, 1 in MN and one in NJ. Strange combination of locations....

They had a very inventive menu, including a decent cheese plate and their wine list was amazing. My older DD and I each did a red wine flight and there was nothing of the 6 wines we tasted that was a poor choice. I have no pictures nor a menu. But I did want to mention it in case anyone else has an opportunity to dine at one of the locations. We were pleasantly surprised.

The restaurant sounds lovely.
And a very special congratulations to you!!
What an honor it must be to have students who are performing their original compositions at the Yamaha National Concert!!

 

[blissventure]

Happy birthday, Jay!

And Bendy, thanks for sharing the beautiful Flower and Garden pictures!

 

[Tink rules]

By October it will be too late.

Oh well ... I tried and I failed ... we all know what the lesson is.

Well, maybe we'll be surprised... If not I owe you a dog at Caseys...

We first were introduced to St. Germain at Epcot's F&W Festival in 2006 ... they were serving a mean cocktail at the Frenchie F&W booth that was made with this stuff and I was determined to find me a bottle. I had to order it from a store in New York because until recently (and by recently I mean the last month) no one in Stinktown was selling it and no one had even heard of it.

What can I say ... not only am I Bendy but I am also trendy. Trendy-Bendy!

Ahem.

The booze ...


Here's a link to the company's website and a description of the liquor:

St. Germain

It's made from Elderflowers and does smell rather perfumy in the bottle but seems to pair very well with a wide variety of other alcohols. And I love the bottle that it's sold in - a tall, beautiful glass bottle that reminds me of an old fashioned French perfume bottle.

I like it very much!

That bottle is SO Art Deco...

 

[Tink rules]

Tomorrow (May 10) is Jay's birthday ... so I gave him his present early so that we can both enjoy it.

I got him two Riedel scotch glasses and a bottle of Glenmorangie Astar ... it's a new scotch that they just released and it's 112% proof!

We're gonna open it up and enjoy it with some chocolate. If you never hear from us again you'll know that the scotch overpowered us tonight.

So... if we don't hear from you by Tuesday... we call 911?

Last weekend I was in beautiful downtown Paramus, NJ for a Yamaha National Concert. I had two students performing their original compositions. Now you know why I was there. Here is why I mention it.

I found a lovely little place for dinner; Napa Valley Grille. After the fact we discovered it is part of a very small chain. There are three branches in CA, 1 in RI, 1 in MN and one in NJ. Strange combination of locations....

They had a very inventive menu, including a decent cheese plate and their wine list was amazing. My older DD and I each did a red wine flight and there was nothing of the 6 wines we tasted that was a poor choice. I have no pictures nor a menu. But I did want to mention it in case anyone else has an opportunity to dine at one of the locations. We were pleasantly surprised.

Yay... Paramus... home to 5 malls... within 5 miles... (or so...)

I used to live in that area... how was the traffic?

I guess you made it to Garden State Plaza?

 

[PNO4TE]

The restaurant sounds lovely.
And a very special congratulations to you!!
What an honor it must be to have students who are performing their original compositions at the Yamaha National Concert!!

Thank you!

I am a very lucky teacher.

 

[PNO4TE]

Yay... Paramus... home to 5 malls... within 5 miles... (or so...)

I used to live in that area... how was the traffic?

I guess you made it to Garden State Plaza?

Traffic was a joke... and I live in the DC/Northern VA area, so I know traffic! The U-Turns drove me nuts. And we did make it to the Garden State Plaza. As well as Bergen Mall, since that is where the local Yamaha School is located and practice times were set up there. Somehow in 48 hours we managed NOT to get to the last few malls.

 

[ChelleinNC]

What sort of awards did your lovely daughter receive and belated congrats to her, by the way!

We've found that Outback is actually pretty good about things like that. The last time Jay and I dined there after a movie last year (it's been a while) my steak was delivered rare rather than medium rare. I asked the server to take it back and have it cooked a bit more. The manager showed up a few minutes later and offered to buy Jay and me another round of drinks to make up for it. I wasn't even upset ... they were busy and sometimes people make mistakes, but I'm not one to turn down a free margarita for the hubby or myself.

Glad to know that they took good care of you guys.

On Monday she received 2 awards at her high school: Outstanding Math Student for Algebra 2 (only freshman in Honors Alg 2) and Outstanding Student in World Languages, French 1 & 2. Then on Thurs she received the Academic Excellence award, which is for the top 2 students in the grade.

Sweet tea isn't something that's offered in Stinktown - we're not quite Southern enough. Seems like we don't come across it until we are in Kentucky, but that's OK since neither Jay nor I take our tea sweetened. Having said that, a sweet tea martini sounds like something that I could enjoy with no trouble at all.

I'll keep an eye on some of the trendier stores that I like to visit and see if that vodka shows up on the shelves at all.

I forgot to mention ... our grocery store was selling Rosa Regale for $15 per bottle because they are discontinuing it. Needless to say we picked up a bottle or three. At that price how could we not???

discontinuing Rosa? I haven't tried it yet

Where did I leave off with the 2007 Flower & Garden Festival ???

Oh, that's right ... we were on our way to China where they created Chinese Zodiac displays. Very cool! This is our last batch of pictures from that trip - I hope you've enjoyed seeing them.

Love the pics!

Tomorrow (May 10) is Jay's birthday

Happy Birthday Jay!

... so I gave him his present early so that we can both enjoy it.

I got him two Riedel scotch glasses and a bottle of Glenmorangie Astar ... it's a new scotch that they just released and it's 112% proof!

We're gonna open it up and enjoy it with some chocolate. If you never hear from us again you'll know that the scotch overpowered us tonight.

That's funny, I bought scotch for Jon for his birthday. I'm not a scotch a drinker, and all I could think while I was in the liquor store was I need Brenda's help

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mom's out there.

and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY!!!

I found a lovely little place for dinner; Napa Valley Grille. After the fact we discovered it is part of a very small chain. There are three branches in CA, 1 in RI, 1 in MN and one in NJ. Strange combination of locations....

Thanks for posting this! While we never go up to North Jersey, we go to Rhode Island each summer. I checked their website out and the menu looks yummy! Might have to go out of our way a bit and check it out.

 

[oybolshoi]

Jay thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

Chelle ... I didn't mean that Banfi was discontinuing Rosa Regale but that our grocery store is discontinuing it - they're no longer going to carry it ... probably because Jay and I were the only people buying it!

 

[TigerKat]

Jay thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

Chelle ... I didn't mean that Banfi was discontinuing Rosa Regale but that our grocery store is discontinuing it - they're no longer going to carry it ... probably because Jay and I were the only people buying it!

Oh thank God, I was heading to their website to have a case shipped.

 

[oybolshoi]

Oh thank God, I was heading to their website to have a case shipped.

And why wouldn't you order a case anyway?

Elin ... congrats to you and your students!

 

[D&R love Disney]

Happy Birthday Jay, I hope you enjoy your Scotch

Love the pictures Brenda, I'm wishing I was there right now!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Happy Birthday, Jay!

Chelle, congrats to your daughter! I bow to anyone getting an award in Algebra! (only thing that ever kept me off the honor roll in high school, Alg. I and II.)

Congrats to the piano students!

And condolences to Brenda and Jay on the crummy fish and chips.

Yesterday was dd's dance recital, and it was so sweet. She got recognized for five years at the dance studio (they recognize the students by name for five years and up and announce how many years). It is so hard to believe she's 8! and still can't do a dang cartwheel...

Ok, we're off to MIL's now....I will need that beer when we get to my parents... See y'all later!

 

[PNO4TE]

Thanks for posting this! While we never go up to North Jersey, we go to Rhode Island each summer. I checked their website out and the menu looks yummy! Might have to go out of our way a bit and check it out.

I would definitely go out of my way to eat at a Napa Valley Grille again. Let us know how you like it!

 

[PNO4TE]

Oh thank God, I was heading to their website to have a case shipped.