Mary loves the life

Just had my first dinner at Lucques last week. What a wonderful evening! Started off with a Pot O’Gold cocktail, which happened to taste exactly like an iced Hot Toddy. Next time I would try a different cocktail for that reason alone. SO had a Tanq and Tonic – fantastic!

I started with a lima bean salad – pretty presentation with nice flavors. Main course was stellar – Prosciutto wrapped Guinnea Hen. Heaven! Easy to tell the hen had been brined as its meat was so full of juicy flavor. Hen was served with a warm ricotta cake (kind of odd – I didn’t care for it much) as well as sausage stuffing. Thumbs up!

Dessert was nice… I’ll be honest… by the time our sweets came around I’d had a bit of wine and don’t remember them so well. One was a date cake that actually tasted like Tiramisu, and the other was something chocolate.

Great atmosphere, great service, good to great food – would definitely try again.

I have such wonderful memories of the Oregon Zoo. We would go frequently when I was a child and though I didn’t realize it at the time, I now see how thoroughly spoiled I was by it.

Unlike many zoos I’ve been to since, the Oregon Zoo has been designed to give the animals beautiful habitats. Not that the animals care, I’m sure, but it makes me feel better seeing the little penguins zip and slide around “glaciers”, or the lions lounging in their own little desert, chomping their steak dinners.

The surrounding Washington park is also lovely – green, fresh and potentially very romantic.

BBQ Chicken Pizza – Awesome. Love that cilantro!
FYI BYOB

Get the super seats or box seats. The rest of the seating consists of bum-numbing wooden benches. Bring a sweater too – it gets cold after dark.

The Guggenheim is on my list of Top Expressionist Modern Feats of Architecture to see before I die. Thankfully one of my awesome girlfriends is going to accompany me on a trip to see it in Spring of 08.

I’m thrilled beyond belief!

Went to a concert at the WDCH last night – the sound was truly unbelievable. The concert was Beethoven’s 2nd (3 movements) and John Adam’s Naive and Sentimental Music conducted by Essa-Pekka Salonen.
I own cd versions of both symphonies but liken the WDCH experience to seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. You know how it is – you’ve seen all the post cards and the posters but when you actually step up to the edge of that cliff the hugeness and significance of such a piece of earth takes your breath away. In a similar way I couldn’t get over the magnificence of the acoustics and sound. When the orchestra is playing piano you can still hear every single note from every single instrument, yet they are not separate pieces. it all comes together in a beautiful flow of music that swirls around your head with a softness and delicate touch that is not at all distant. Then the power and reverb you feel inside as the orchestra transitions into forte is simply stunning.
Maybe I am going overboard, but I was blown away by the whole experience. I can only imagine how rewarding it must be for you musicians who have posted about playing here. As for me, I can’t believe that I’ve been missing out on so much – now I can’t wait to buy season tickets!