It Started with a Journal

It isn't often that I have a number of things to share that are all good, so yay!

1) Every year around bonus time, I splurge on one 'big ticket' item in order to reward myself (and a number of little things too, ahem). Since this year also came with a promotion, I was immediately at www.louisvuitton.com trying to decide if I wanted a Vernis or Damier Azur. Handbags -- one of my many frivolous weaknesses. On Friday, however, we had a work BBQ, and the coworker who hosted it had a Wii. And Rock Band. And I became totally hooked. Instead of adding to my modest LV collection, I decided I'd get a Wii instead, and all the games I really want. Thanks to jade_okelani I found a really good deal on eBay with a preowned console that came with 18 games, about 5 of which I actually really wanted. I think I'll probably sell the rest to recoup some of my cost and help fund the games I want that it didn't come with. I am super excited about this, and hope that the system/everything comes in working condition and it won't be a PITA eBay thing. ( Checklist of the games I want. )

I'm already planning a Wii/Lambrusco night with corianderstem, haha. Has anyone here had or has heard of Lambrusco? It's apparently a sweet red wine (I found it in the dessert section at the liquor store) that's popular in Wisconsin but I've never had it. I don't typically like alcohol as my body doesn't process it very well, but given that it is sweet it may be one of the few drinks that I'll like (like the ale I drank when I was in the UK -- haven't been able to find that kind of ale in the States).

2) There used to be a semi-decent Chinese place just down the street from me, but they went out of business and the space they occupied has been empty for awhile. Today I noticed that they're preparing for a new occupant: Mayuri! Nothing will ever compare to the Indian food I had in the UK so I'm not even using that as a bar, but Mayuri is my favorite Indian restaurant in this area, and I've been to many, so I am super excited. Their chicken makhani is sooooo good. Plus I love curries in general. The only problem is that delicious Indian buffet 2 minutes from me = not good for my diet.

3) My brother wrote the other day saying he was done with my computer! He put it together in less than a week; amazing. He's just waiting on an extra sata cable because I have 2 DVD writers and apparently the motherboard didn't come with enough cables. And then it will be on its way to me!!! As with the Wii, I can only hope that nothing gets damaged during shipping.

4) I have learned to make Vietnamese spring rolls. /cheer I think Vietnamese might be my favorite cuisine of all time. And I'm not just talking about pho. Pho is just a small sampling of Vietnamese cuisine. It's good, and it's prevalent, but it's not the best the cuisine has to offer. That is reserved, in my mind, for sugar cane shrimp and barbecued meats (preferably grilled yourself at the table) that you wrap in translucent rice/tapioca paper with your choice of veggies/herbs, rice noodles, crushed peanuts and/or hot sauce, then dipped in nuoc mam. Damn that is good stuff. That kind of Vietnamese food has been near impossible to find here (much easier in California), though just the other week I was finally recommended a place nearish me that served these kinds of dishes in addition to pho. After eating there for the first time I actually had the thought that if I died right then, I was glad that that had been my last meal. But I digress. Back to spring rolls, which are fairly common, but a bit frustrating for me because they always put cilantro in them and I can't stand cilantro. Plus sometimes they have pork and I like shrimp only, some places don't have basil and I like basil, etc. So after reading a post about it on another food blog, I decided to make my own. ( Results here. )