My Anniversary!

Hi Gang,

Today is my 2nd wedding anniversary, and so my hubby and I decided to celebrate with lunch at the Georges Brasserie at Piedmont Center near South Park Mall. As you'll be able to see by the website design, the restaurant is just getting started as of last month, I believe. But I thought I would play restaurant critic for a few moments and critique our shared meal and experience this afternoon. :)

First off, I appreciate the fact that this is a place that understands what the words "economic downturn" mean for regular middle class folks like ourselves who take opportunities such as anniversaries to dine out well. There was a time when I thought the Capital Grille was the "it" place to be. After the last three years, eating overly-priced food, however high quality, is no longer a concern for me. What does matter is presentation and experience and reasonable prices. Thankfully, GB hit most of these spot on.

Valet parking is complimentary on a daily basis, from what I could discern. That's a rarity, but it's a nice perk, given what you usually have to pay/tip elsewhere for such services. The prices were incredibly low for a restaurant in South Park, especially one that sits across the street from the infamous Del Friscos. The wait staff was attentive, if not a bit hovery, yet our waiter didn't seem to be able to communicate what portion sizes were, mistook my husband's request of a caesar salad and just stared mutely at us when he couldn't think of anything else to say. Rather annoying.

The meal itself lived up to its recent reputation by Helen Schwab. The onion soup was rich, with a hint of sweetness but lacked the immense canopy of gruyere cheese that usually tops off the tureen. Fish and chips was a pleasing surprise, with a light crust, not too greasy nor heavy and the hanger steak was described by my husband as "excellent", especially when topped with a very thick bleu cheese butter. We shared a chocolate mousse for dessert, which was as creamy and dense as they come, and yet was light enough to top off the meal nicely with a cup of tea and coffee.

My only complaints about all of this was the presentation of the meal and the general look of the interior dinning room. This space used to be occupied by the Oceanaire seafood place that was modeled to look like an ocean liner from the 1930's or 40's. Unfortunately, what we're left with looks as though the atmosphere was torn out and everything else left in. Ceilings and walls are painted dull beige or seagreen colors, which doesn't complement the curved red leather booths very well. The French influence only appears in random vintage wine ads and Brassai prints on the walls that might have been picked up at World Market. The Ladies bathroom was done up quite nicely, although the "Lemon Verbenna" hand soap was really anti-bacterial fragrance-less soap in a pretty bottle. The food came well prepared, but the mousse I mentioned was simply spooned into the bowl with a thin dollop of whipped cream on top. More could have been done to make this look more attractive.

For being "French", there was little to give the feeling of being in France, which is what a theme restaurant should generally do. Spanish guitar music floated through the air and my ears were yearning to hear Edith Piaf. These are very minor details, but details (coupled with low prices) are the things that make my husband and I come back again.

Over all, we enjoyed the meal. The food was quite wonderful and the experience didn't make us feel as if we were throwing away our pensions on a bit of fine dinning. ;) I should mention that this is the most affordable French cuisine I've tasted since Bistro 100 closed a few years ago. So I'm sure this may be a Francophile Godsend to many. 8)

Naked Lennon Selling Computers

Hilarious quote of the day, from the commentaries on the review of Lennon Naked at the Guardian: "Probably as well that [Lennon] died when he did. Were he still alive today he'd be even more irritating that Stephen Fry, although he would be promoting different Apple products."

Or Gap clothing.

But wait, he's already trying to sell laptops from beyond the grave! :-D
See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9R82vWw08

This is such fun.

Ladies, it doesn't get any better than this:
http://ping.fm/GNan2
Very pretty baubles! 8)

Yee-Ha! Finally, a release date...

http://www.anglotopia.net/british-entertainment/brit-tv/lennon-naked-starring-christopher-ecclestone-press-release-and-air-date-details/

Small budget indeed, but I'm hoping it will be worth it. Anything with Eccleston should be.

Yeeha, royal wedding coverage: what more could a girl want? :-) http://ping.fm/B1xyV

Just when I thought I had read everything on Dickinson: http://ping.fm/J3o8O

A worthy poem

Here is something I ran across quite by accident. It's perfect.

http://northstoke.blogspot.com/2007/10/welsh-landscape-by-rsthomas.html

Reads like something I could have written. :) Salutations to the author!

I love honest, forthright women

Favorite one of the night: "That man over there is my husband, he's a movie star and I get to sleep with him every night!" - Cathy-Zeta Jones @ the Tony's. That's my girl. ;)

Check out the gowns. Scarlett's green Marilyn-ish number is my fav so far, especially that familiar hair style. ;-P

Charlie Dickens was a milksop, self-absorbed bahstad. A pox on him. :-{
http://ping.fm/jhljX

Watching Eng vs US and reading Witherington's "The Paul Quest". It's a nice Saturday. :)

A lovely note about the "tea dance" through history. ;) http://ping.fm/Ja1wn

World Cup is coming up, folks! 8) Don't miss the Eng vs. USA match this Saturday at 2:30. :-x It should be brilliant!

I'm kind of sad I missed HeroCon in Charlotte, it would have been so smokingly wonderful.
8( /weep ... I'll go next year. ;)

Ellen L. Williams 1942-2010

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I've been absent for the last week or so.

My beautiful mother-in-law Ellen passed away unexpectedly on the afternoon of Wednesday the 26th. She was an avid gardener and had just finished planting a few blooms on her parent's and brother Paul's graves in a rural town in upstate New York, where my husband David hails from. She apparently had fallen asleep in her car after her gardening and had peacefully drifted away. David and I both feel, through our faith, that her parents and brother were calling her home to join them. Moreover, the examination left the coroner with little to surmise the cause of death, as there was really wasn't any sign of bodily distress. This has only confirmed what we feel.

So Dave and I have only recently returned from trip to NY for the memorial service. We really enjoyed seeing family, which is always a blessing. Although our family had lived through this sort of apprehension before, I don't think anyone expected this to come so soon...

Four years ago, Ellen had suffered through a case of encephalitis, which is an inflammation of brain tissue that can lead to neurological damage, but more often death, as the fatality rate is incredibly high. She remained hospitalized and in a coma for several months, and was not expected to live, but she miraculously pulled through (her neurologist later swore that no one believed him when we told his colleagues and physicians in the field that he had treated a patient who had actually survived the illness). Within those four years, I had the chance to know her and in that time she was able to see her oldest son marry, look after her grandchildren and simply enjoy life. She had been an RN for 30+ years and it showed, in all the little ways she cared for both people (her family) and things (her cats Sophie and Tasha, her garden and her home). Her love was always directed towards others and it shone like a firelight.

I remember how nervous I was the first time I met her. Being me, I spent days picking out the right bouquet to give her, what to wear and thinking of ways to introduce myself. ;) She seemed a little nervous at first, as I was, but we both loved talking about David, so that got us off to a good start! I thought she was much more...calm, collected or perhaps taciturn than the sort of people I was used to interacting with. My own family can be over-emotional at times and her Welsh stoicism hadn't really become apparent to me. I had yet to learn of this Williams/Lyndon family trait, but I eventually accepted it. :) As I grew to know her more and more over the months following my engagement to Dave, I could see how strong a lady she was and how she was truly a gal after my own heart: resilient, kind, thoughtful and intelligent.

At this time, my only true regret is that I didn't have enough time with her. We saw one another during the last summer and two Christmas gatherings, but I was expecting a much longer time frame. There were so many things I had on my mind to ask her and I realize that will have to wait a while. But I am grateful, more than I can express, that I was able to be a part of her life for the last few years. I will never have another mother-in-law - that's what hurts.

Sweet Dreams, Mom - and may you rest in peace with Our Lord Jesus, until we meet again. You will never know how much I'll miss you.