June 15, 2008

And In Such Small Portions

Newsflash to those living under a rock (me): apparently there is an outbreak of salmonella in the world of tomatoes.

What did I bring to the Lakers-Celtics barbecue I attended this evening?

A platter full of red and yellow tomatoes, carefully sliced, alternating colors, interspersed with oh-so-thinly sliced red onions, sprinkled with balsamic and extra virgin olive oil, some kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, chiffonaded basil selected from my very own basil plant artfully scattered on the top, and apparently, oh, a splash of potential death for good measure.

Awesome.

People ate them anyway.

This doesn't exactly correlate, but for some reason it reminded me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies of all time, Annie Hall, a joke really, where Woody Allen/Alvy Singer is reciting the conversation of these two old women vacationing in the Catskills at some resort which in my mind always looks like the place in Dirty Dancing, and one woman says to the other, "The food is terrible," and the other says, "I know, and in such small portions!"

One of the reasons I haven't written in so long is that I was in Costa Rica, somehow right in the middle of off-season Tropical Storm Alma.

I loved it anyway.

Really, I could have been anywhere, doing anything, so long as I wasn't at work. So what if I spent two days in my hotel room in the rain? I read 4 books and did an insane number of word puzzles, man! So what if my legs were so bitten by bugs it was almost embarrassing to go out? I wore cute pants and ate some of the best meals of my life, dude! So what if I applied sunscreen so poorly that my feet are still peeling three weeks later? OK, for that I have no solution and am still leaving a breadcrumb trail of dead skin everywhere I go, but still, boo-yah! suck it, work!

Vacation (photos to follow eventually) was not quite what I expected, but definitely, it could have been longer.

Posted by jen at 11:01 PM | Comments (6)

April 06, 2008

Signs Costa Rica Is Going to ROCK

My summer vacation to Costa Rica is setting up great -- primarily because I am not having to plan it. Instead, I'm in the able hands of Amber and her friend Curt, who I have actually never met. Traveling with someone I don't know normally would make me nervous, but not with email exchanges like this (p.s. it's funnier if you know that Curt is gay):

Amber: Woohoo! We're all booked! Note that rates include a candlelit dinner.

Jen: I am sooo looking forward to romantic candlelit dinners with you two. You better bring your best game.

Curt: I'm already studying up...

Jen: I just snorted in my office laughing so hard. I hope no one heard me.

Curt: That response is in chapter 17. It's working!

I am so excited!

Posted by jen at 08:56 PM | Comments (1)