I've been a bad blogger

it's been a week since I've posted anything (so fair warning that this will be kind of long). the only thing blog-worthy was Saturday night when we celebrated our friend Jeff's 30th birthday.

it started with a stretch Hummer limo picking us up at our house at 7:30pm. all of Jeff's nearest and dearest were inside, ready to start a night of partying. Jeff opened our gifts on the way to dinner. we got him a bottle of Tanqueray Ten (gin is his favorite), a bottle of Effen Vodka and *drumroll* a bottle of Zing Zang bloody mary mix!! if you are at all a fan of bloody marys, you MUST get this mix. and the reason I'm so excited is that we weren't able to buy it in our neck of the woods for the longest time. but we were at BevMo! on Friday buying Jeff's present and a bottle of champagne for the limo ride when Ray spotted it. I was in the checkout line and he held it up and I literally screamed across the store to get it. one bottle for us and one bottle for Jeff. and Jeffy was so happy when he opened his present to see the glorious bottle of Zing Zang staring back at him.

anyhoo, we got to our dinner destination. Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills. it was seriously one of the most delicious meals that I've ever had in my life. they do it kind of family style. and you don't order from a menu. they just bring food out. if you don't like it, they'll take it back and bring something else. if you really love something, they'll bring out more. I started my evening off with a lychee martini which was likely the best lychee martini I've ever had. simply yummy. then they brought out 5 different appetizers (chicken kebabs, lettuce wraps, prawns, seaweed salad, and dumplings). when we were done with our apps, they brought out the main course (filet mignon medallions, fried rice, prawns in some sort of green sauce that made them look like pasta, lobster and turbot fish). everything was amazing. there wasn't a single thing that anyone at the table didn't enjoy (and there were 10 of us). we were marveling at the fact that we loved everything they brought out when we didn't actually order a single thing. the food here is just that amazing.

and Mr. Chow is known around these parts as a pretty common celebrity hangout. tonight was no exception. we spotted Nicollete Sheridan having dinner as well.

after we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant (it was really a ton of food), we got back in the limo and headed for the Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. it's a swanky poolside bar behind the hotel. I love loungy bars, and this one certainly was nice. fabulous ambiance. Jeff had arranged for bottle service. so we had 4 tables reserved and they brought out 3 bottles of liquor (one vodka, one gin, one rum) and mixers (Red Bull, orange juice, cranberry juice, soda water, tonic water, Coke, and mojito mix). the waitress would come over and take orders periodically and make drinks for everyone. or you could make your own. it was fun. and it was a blast living like the other half for one night.

we ended up getting home around 3:30am and passing out. and of course I forgot my camera, again, so no pictures. boo.

the rest of the weekend was pretty quiet.

yesterday I had to go to the hospital for a post-offer health exam, drug screening and to fill out a bunch of new hire paperwork and take a medication dosage calculation exam. my health exam went well. looks like I'm pretty healthy. I also had to get a TB test (and I have to go back tomorrow to get it read) and a Hep B titer. this was the first time ever that I've had blood taken. and it wasn't so bad. I survived. afterwards I went to HR to fill out all of my paperwork and take the dosage calculation exam, which I aced. so, as long as my drug screen comes back fine (which it should), I'll be set to start my new job.

last night I met up with Jeff, his parents and a couple friends for dinner and drinks at the Bar Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood (another celebrity hangout... a lot of famous people are known for living in the Chateau here). we ended up doing a bunch of shared appetizers. we ordered a three cheese board with fig and date jam and buckwheat honey (my favorite plate), hot crab and artichoke dip (delicious), fried squid (not all that great - I wasn't a big fan of the batter they used) and marinated olives (didn't have any of these). we've been here before for drinks, but this is the first time we've had the food, and more than likely not the last. overall a fun night.

and I guess I had more to blog about than I thought.