He's So Pretty, and Some Other Stuff

Stop the presses, bitches -- I saw Jake Gyllenhal at Delfina last night.

I read all the time about famous people popping into my second home, so you'd think we would have seen one by now. Nope. Never. I don't know how this is possible considering how much fucking time I spend there, but it's true.

Last night, however, I was rewarded for my infinite patience. As Jon and I sat at our table with the best dining companion ever, I glanced to the doorway and noticed JG, in all his hotness, with a nice looking older lady (seemed to be of the relative variety). I was a little startled, actually, because I had not expected him to be so much more delicious in person.

He and his companion seemed to be very nice to the staff and they ordered very well (I asked). I expected no less from the hunk of man love that pulled things out of the burning wreckage at my beloved Manka's. Plus, he's so pretty.

In other news, I went to Calistoga Ranch last week thanks to a well connected girlfriend with a fat ass discount. You can only eat at their restaurant if you are staying there, so I will say that if you can afford to stay there then you should eat at the restaurant. Not only did our darling server, Hilary, offer us a less prissy menu when we couldn't face more fancy after a sublime lunch at Redd, but she also had them deliver our dessert of warm cookies to our room. SO FUCKING AWESOME.

I also got to go to the press opening of the Charles Chocolates factory. Dudes, go. I adore their beautiful, playful chocolates and the factory is the only place you can get the entire collection. The new "cafe" that allows you to watch the candy making process from start to finish is so unique and fun that I could sit there stuffing my pie hole and watching the little CC elves at work all day.

I know, I know, El Bulli. I underestimated how much time writing a book requires. I haven't forgotten you.

We made our annual trek to Swanton yesterday to do berry picking. You are totally missing out if you don't do this. Berries are $2/lb when you pick yourself, and if you are like me and Jon you will relish the control picking your own berries gives you (fully ripe only! no white! no green! pick the little ones, bitch!). So far we've made ollalieberry muffins, and a strawberry pie is next on the docket.

Also: Roxie Food Center is way overrated. I mean, for fuck's sake, is there any place in this God forsaken city to get a *good* east coast style sub?

xoxo
Joy

No More Pencils, No More Books

Yep, school is out. For good for me, at least for a little while. Teaching has been my "day job" for six years, so it feels a little surreal at this point.

In any case, I have plenty to keep me busy. I can finally pay a little more attention to this here blog. And I'm doing some writing for a book (a book!) so there is never a dull moment here in Restaurant Whore Land.

I've got another exciting venture up my sleeve as well (no, not this one) but I'm hesitant to mention it until things are a little more solid. I'm really hoping it pans out, though, because the people behind the whole thing are really fucking cool.

For now, though, I'm going to finish my pain au chocolat from Petite Patisserie and take a nap.

Life is good.

xoxo
Joy

"To eat is a necessity. To eat intelligently is an art."
-- La Rochefoucauld

Eight Is Enough

Catherine tagged me with this meme, which seems suspiciously like this other one I did awhile back. Because I like her so much, I'll do this one too. The premise is that I tell you eight random facts about moi. Here they are:

1. I was the only white child in my nursery school class. I lived in inner city Boston, and my first utterance upon moving to the suburbs was "Mom, why is everyone here white?" I have a black and white (no pun intended) photo of my multi-culti class sitting on the dresser in our bedroom for proof.

2. I am completely obsessed with the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance." No, this is not "Dancing With the Stars," which I don't watch because, well, the dancers mostly suck. SYTYCD is like American Idol with dancers, but 5 trillion times better. It is only on in the summer so set your Tivo now. I spend most of the year waiting for it to come back on, and had I not been in Europe when last year's tour came through, you bet your ass I would have been there. I'm afraid I've now revealed myself as a complete fucking dork. In any case, when the show ends each week, Jon looks at me and says "Why is this show so much better than everything else? I can't figure out why, but it is."

3. I've been in 2 bus accidents. The first was in high school when my school's music department was headed to Virginia (from MA) to participate in a music competition. We had 3 buses. The first got so far ahead that they didn't know what had happened until hours later. The 2nd (the one I was on) hit a truck, and the 3rd hit us. No one was seriously hurt (a broken nose, some lost teeth and a lot of whiplash was the worst of it) but we had to turn around and go home. The other bus accident happened when I was on my way to NYC for spring break while in college. Our bus hit a car in the Lincoln tunnel, and they had to send another bus for us. I don't ride buses anymore.

4. My stage name is Joy Lian. Lian is my middle name. As a result, most people who see that as my name think I am Asian before they meet me. Lian is indeed a Chinese word/name, but I am not a Chinese person. My father spoke 8 languages, Chinese being one of them, which is where the name came from. Even though I had no contact with him growing up, I do still have the name (I shed his last name as soon as I could, though).

5. I hate crowds.

6. Our cat, Charlie, loves tortilla chips and popcorn. He will knock popcorn out of our hands and he climbs into the El Farolito bag to get to the tortilla chips. He's also a fan of cereal and ice cream, but that's a little more normal. Side note: Charlie fucking rocks.

7. Purple has been my favorite color since I was 11 years old.

8. I'd always rather be sweating in the summer than freezing in the winter. Although I suppose in SF, that logic doesn't work so well. Still, it is rare that I am bothered by extreme heat, but I despise being cold.

If you are still reading at this point, you win a prize.

xoxo
Joy

"To eat is a necessity. To eat intelligently is an art."
-- La Rochefoucauld