UNO Concert Series- October 2018

The University of Nebraska's School of Music has an International Concert Series. As part of that series, they brought Mark Bernat, an amazing double bassist, to perform on campus. Kevin and I went to a delicious ramen dinner at Jinya Ramen Bar, the concert, and then dessert at Freezing Thai Rolled Ice Cream. Perfect date night!

Mark Bernat and his double bass

Old Skool Ramen was so good: chicken broth: fish oil, pork chashu, egg, bamboo shoots, green onion, thin noodles.

Pork chashu happiness

Ramen!

Green tea ice cream = "The Green Monster"

Shinjuku Night and Earthquake, Tokyo 2016

After the show on Monday, we went to dinner in Shinjuku. Kevin had looked up some ramen recommendations so we went to Fuunji. Probably we should have gotten the tsukemen (the dipping noodles) instead because that's what they're most known for, but we got the ramen. We ordered the special ramen from a vending machine by the entrance and then gave our tickets to the chef when we sat down at the bar. Everyone sits at the bar and we decided not to wait for three seats together so Andrew- who eats ramen like a Japanese man now- volunteered to sit by himself and was done in half the time it took us.

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Kevin and me in Shinjuku

Fuunji Restaurant

Vending machine choices

Eating my ramen at the bar

I also got extra seaweed and an egg

Kevin ordered different ingredients

After dinner, we coordinated with Chow via Line App to meet up with him and his wife Marci at a little hidden fancy bar called Ben Fiddich (ベンフィディック pronounced in Japanese Ben Fi-dick). It was a cool bar and it was really fun to chat with them for awhile. Everybody ordered delicious whiskeys.

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Chow and Marci on their honeymoon!

Discussing whiskey choices

Then the room started shaking. I asked tentatively if we were having an earthquake. No one seemed worried except me. I was very worried. Then everyone's cellphones started beeping with an earthquake alert. Um, too late. We were on the 9th floor and the buildings are built to bend and not break so it felt very real. It was a 5.6 on the Richter Scale. So that happened.

Cheers!

My 37th Birthday in Brookhaven 2016

I had a fun birthday this year!  We celebrated on the actual day of my birthday even though it was Wednesday, and it did not disappoint. Kevin got home a little early. We played with the kids and took some commemorative timer photos, as usual.

The Clouthers on a timer, Miranda has a lot of props

Also on a timer because it's fun

Running from the tickle monster!! Save yourself!!

The babysitter arrived, and Kevin and I went to dinner at a new ramen place in Port Jefferson, Slurp! I also had a little Japanese soda with the glass marbles you push in, just like on my 35th birthday. The ramen was pretty good though not quite up to Chuko (in Brooklyn) standards. Then even though it hadn't been part of my original plan, Port Jefferson Ice Cream Cafe opened for the season- on my birthday! Kismet! So I got some moose tracks on a cone.

Ramen at Slurp in Port Jefferson

Moose tracks ice cream at Port Jefferson Ice Cream Cafe

Then we went hiking on the Rocky Point Trail near our house. It was getting a little late but it seemed like a good idea. I was excited to bust out my Charlottesville hiking boots which hadn't gotten a lot of use while we were living in Brooklyn then Floral Park. So apparently rubber rots and the soles of my boots just came right off. Yes I hiking in shoes with no soles. Whatever. I'm flexible.

My old Charlottesville hiking boots- lasted exactly 0 minutes on this trail.

Rocky Point Trail

Kevin at the beginning of the trail

Happy-nature-face

Okay, here's a sad story about climate change. Because of warming temperatures, the Southern Pine Beetle has taken up residence in the Long Island Pine Barrens. If we could get a single day of the temperatures dropping below -6 degrees they'd freeze to death but alas, we haven't had any nights cold enough in ages. So the beetles are destroying the Pine Barrens.

Southern Pine Beetle destruction

Did I mention we started out on this hike a little late? And then it got dark and we had a little trouble seeing the trail markers. We went the wrong way for a little distance while I made joke about the Blair Witch just to make things a little more tense. Haha. Actually it was pretty fun having a little adventure together. Like the time during our honeymoon we went down that dark narrow hill road in Folegandros, Greece in the dark-- disaster. Haha.

On the right trail again...

We made it home before the kids bedtime, with four little mini-cupcakes to celebrate with them. Luckily, I'd already had the ice cream because the kids definitely weren't in a sharing mood!

She's only got eyes for the cupcakes

Blowing out my candle

Bird's eye view

Gobble gobble!

Mmm-mmmm.

Nothing left but crumbs.

Finally it was bedtime! Miranda tucked in James. She went to sleep in her crib to dream about cupcakes. And Kevin and I watched the end of the Netflix show Love. This year, I also had a lot of calls, cards, and even gifts from family and friends which doesn't always happen as you get older. A very good birthday!

Good night kiss

Watching Love

Fall for Dance with Sarah 2013

Last week, Sarah invited me to come to a night of Fall for Dance, a dance series at New York City Center. She reminded me that all the great performance art is one of the best parts of living in New York. So true! We had lots and lots of ramen at Menkui Tei, and then head over in time to take lots of failed selfies with the beautiful theater as our background.

Sarah and me at New York City Center

We saw Dorrance Dance's "SOUNDspace," which was a super fun tap dance performance. We also saw Doug Elkin's Choreography's “Mo(or)town/Redux,” The Royal Ballet's "Untitled New Work," and Martha Graham Dance Company's “Rite of Spring.” I thought the "Rite of Spring" was painfully over the top, but I enjoyed all the other performances, and I definitely enjoyed my night out with Sarah. I think that was a better date than Kevin and I have been on in a long time. Ha!

 

Dorrance Dance: Tap dancing! (nytimes photo- shh)

Doug Elkins Choreography

Prospect Heights and Sibling Code 2012

Another weekend, another Brooklyn bar crawl! Lately I've been going out in Brooklyn as much as I did when I lived there two years ago. After meeting Michele's brother Arthur last weekend, I was excited to meet her brother Matthew this weekend. (I'm pretty sure this mean Alejandro needs to come visit and meet me next weekend?) Matthew stopped to see Michele on his way back to college in Vermont.

Michele, Matthew, and I started with dinner at Chuko. It was my first time going out for dinner for real ramen (as opposed to having cheap gross ramen for dinner in my apartment when I was 22). It was delicious, as was my sake cocktail. We also had the most enthusiastic waitress in all of New York.

Ramen at Chuko

From there we walked over to Weather Up, which is a beautiful place that makes wonderful drinks. It reminds me of a smaller Clover Club. (Smaller in size and in drink selection.) In typical Brooklyn-style, we ran into at least two people wearing suspenders. Ironically? Non-ironically? I don't even know anymore.

Fancy drinks at Weather Up

Finally, we ran through the rain, as though in a sexy romantic comedy and went to Beast. I guess it's a bar, but I ordered two different drinks off their menu that they couldn't make because they were missing ingredients. So I gave up and ordered T & T, but they didn't have Tanqueray, so they gave me some other random gin. Not good. But we were having such a good time by then! By the end of the night I even thought I could understand Michele and Matthew's crazy sibling code. The code is informal, but they really only need to say every third word in a sentence to understand each other, or mumble entire phrases, or simply blink twice to indicate that this chardonnay from Chablis has very distinct notes of chalk. Or at least that is what I understood them to be saying as I sipped on my Random-Gin-and-Tonic.

Out of liquor at Beast- no wonder the lion is sad