The husband and I are taking it easy this New Year's Eve. I made a beef stew for this chilly evening. The husband has fired up the hot tub outside and is chilling the bubbly.

Hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous 2007!

Very cold and rainy in Phoenix lately. I was not expecting to spend the majority of my holiday vacation cooped up in the house. Actually, I have been running around the city snatching up frames and having photos printed out, all in effort to get them hung in the master bedroom and guestroom before the weekend. And now that they're on the walls, I have to give myself tiny kudo's for a job well done (for some reason, I did not have a lot of confidence that I would have everything leveled and aligned properly).

Tomorrow, I am off to the West Side to help the siblings tear down wallpaper from my parent's house. The husband is staying behind because we are having four boulders delivered to the house -- one of which weighs over 3000 lbs. I cannot even fathom what 1½ tons of rock will look like in our front yard, not to mention the other three boulders that will be plopped next to it!

Very excited to learn of some new dining spots popping up in town, especially the casual Japanese restaurant ShellShock (cousin to SeaSaw -- of which I heart).

Two new spots (to me): Olive & Ivy at the Waterfront. I met some work colleagues there for a holiday lunch and I have to say that I really liked it. I describe the decor very modern Moroccan (not that I have ever been to Morocco...) and the food is very electic. I had an order of their Garlic Bread with Hummus (very nice) and the Haystack Noodles (very misleading description, they are actually Pappardelle) with Crushed Basil and Ricotta. I noticed they had an interesting Garlic Soup with Shrimp Fritters, but we did not order any (definitely on the list). And the best part? They have a small 'convenience area' where they sell fresh pastries, specialty drinks and gelato. Mmmmm, gelato!

The other night, the husband and I decided to try Noodles Ranch. We had been there before when it was called AZ Pho. The new owners splashed on a fresh coat of paint, added mood lighting and the requisite Asian decorations (bamboo, paper umbrellas hung from the ceilings, and black and white framed photos of old Vietnam). A pleasant bonus was authentic southeast Asian music in the background (instead of some poppy rock and roll music). The husband ordered their Mango Chicken and Jasmine Rice dish (good, but not fabulous) and I had their Pho Dac Biet (a generous helping of rare sirloin, brisket, tendon, tripe, and meat balls). Not as good as Maman's but pretty decent (it definitely hit the spot on a cold, rainy evening). Given the close distance to our neighborhood, it will be a good back up to Saigon Nites (when we're North Scottsdale) and Cyclo (when we're in Chandler).

Christmas 2006
Originally uploaded by ellessudotnet.

The husband and I had $130 worth of gift certificates to Honeybaked Ham, so we thought we would have Christmas 'linner' at our house and also watch the big Eagles/Cowboys game.

My sister, brother (the lone Cowboys fan), Dave, Marc, Kim and the two chihuahuas (plus short visits from Strummer's girlfriend and our next door neighbors) all came over for the festivities.

As always, photos can be found here.

From kottke.org, my list:

Phoenix, AZ* (includes Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, Tempe, etc)
Jerome, AZ
Sedona, AZ
Springfield, PA
Downingtown, PA
Ocean City, NJ
Paris, France

Sadly, not a lot of travel this year.

One or more nights spent in each place. Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

O Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by ellessudotnet.

Wishing all our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Tony, Payada & Strummer

It figures that the day Strummer goes in for his grooming, it would rain in the Valley.

Normally the husband drops off the pooch (since he works from home on Fridays), but since I took the day off I wanted to bring him myself. It is amazing that the 'doodle knew where he was headed. Once we turned onto the main road (which is still a good half mile from the resort), he was practically drooling with the anticipation.

Who can blame him? Tummy rubs. Puppy play time. Bribery biscuits. Total dog-votion. Strummer is literally in Puppy Heaven.

One day, I would love to hang out and watch all of the action. I am sure it would look something like this.

And what do we get out of it? A clean, white (as opposed to his current state of brown and grey) and yummy-smelling dog.

Well, at least for two or three more days until he gets the urge to roll around in pee and poop again. Oy vay.

I am officially on vacation through January 3, 2007 - wooooh!

Weekend getaway with Marc and Kim! And we were heading towards the Red Rocks, aka My Happy Place!

Our first stop was to the town of Jerome for lunch at The Asylum, located in Jerome's Grand Hotel. We had a great table by the window with wonderful views of the old mining town.

Kim and I had a few good chuckles at the boys' expense. They both came back from the men's room and it was very mysterious how the following statements had appeared on the paper tablecloth, written in blue and green crayon:

(Marc's seat): I like boyz.

(Tony's seat): I tip 4%.

Kim and I had no idea who, what or even how that happened!

After lunch, we walked back down towards Main Street and the different art galleries and shops. Our favorite was Raku Gallery where we also saw a glass blowing demonstration by the owner of the gallery. It was informative and enlightening. I want to have the kind of passion he has for his craft.

It was late afternoon by the time we got into Sedona and checked into the very lovely Canyon Villa Inn. This entire weekend was courtesy of Tony's parents (a third anniversary present to Tony and I and a wedding present to Marc and Kim). There are only eleven rooms and aside from the four of us, there was only one other couple on property.

Tony and I were in the Ocotillo Room and it had a beautiful view of Bell Rock from our balcony. We flipped on the fireplace and had such a blast hanging out with Marc and Kim in our room that we completely missed hors d'oeuvres downstairs. But, that was okay because we had dinner reservations at Cucina Rustica. Good pasta and wine is all you really need sometimes.

This morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of caramelized pears, cinnamon buns, orange pancakes and orange glazed sausages. Everything was fantastic and the innkeepers were just a wonderful host and hostess. It was a shame we were only there for one night.

And you would never believe but it was snowing outside! Okay, it was really more of a miniscule flurry that disintegrated in a blink of an eye, but it was definitely the white stuff! It was really beautiful to us desert dwellers.

After browsing through the shops of Hillside Sedona, we headed back home. The four of us did make a quick pit stop at Exit 242 and picked up a few World Famous Rock Springs Cafe pies. I bought a cherry pie for my brother (who was looking after the 'doodle) and a blackberry pie for ourselves. I cannot wait to sample them.

And always, photos from our trip are here.

Our tree is up!

Actually, it has been up for several days but I wanted to surprise the husband when he came home from the UK (which was late last night). Since I was not sure if he was checking the blog from across the pond, I thought it best to delay public photos of any and all holiday decorations.

I have to credit my brother for helping me pile the tree into the back of his SUV and haul it back to the house. Plus, he helped me with the lights and ornaments. Major kudos to him!

I thought for sure the 'doodle would freak out about the tree scent, think he was in the park and start whizzing all over the place, but he did not. Yay!

Three good things:

1. Christmas gifts have been bought, wrapped and shipped out.
2. Christmas cards are going out tomorrow!
3. My husband is home (actually, a GREAT thing)!

Overheard at Banana Republic:

Mild-mannered man in his 40's: Where can I find some heavy coats?

Young BR sales guy: Dude...this is PHOENIX.

p.s. You can also find me here too. I like the sharing features.

I am back home after dropping off the husband at the airport.

He is off to the UK for ten days. Meetings in Swindon through the week then three days in London.

He has a ticket to see the Tottenham Hotspurs (don't you just love saying that?) v Charlton on Saturday and on Sunday he has a ticket to see Chelsea v Arsenal -- imagine what the atmosphere will be like! I think I may be more excited for him than he is!

Given that we just came back from Philadelphia three days ago and he has to hop on another long flight (about ten hours), I know that he is not looking forward to it. But I am glad once he finishes up his meetings he will have two fabulous football matches to watch.

I really hate it when the husband travels. I miss him too much.

But, at least I have the pooch to keep me company.