Right way to eat sushi

Beto created several illustrations for a step by step guide on the proper way to eat sushi for Snippets.com.  See the entire page at the link below.

http://snippets.com/what-is-the-right-way-to-eat-sushi.htm

Pho

Beto and I took a bike ride down to South Philadelphia to get some Pho at Pho Hoa.  We had the usual: steak Pho for Beto, tofu-vegetable Pho for me, coconut juice and Vietnamese iced coffee.  Delicious!

Pho Hoa Philadelphia, PA - USA
1111 S. 11th Street 
Philadelphia, PA 19147 
Tel: (215) 755-4000
Store Hours: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm (Mon - Sun)

http://www.phohoa.com/locator.html

Blue eggs from the Bantams

The little hens have laid some pretty little eggs.

At home

We have taken on several large home improvement projects aimed at fixing repairs; improving the look and feel of the house as well as increasing the value of the home should we want to move and sell it or rent it out to others.

The project that I have embraced right now is the back yard patio area. As it was, the patio was crumbling in spots, with an undefined step down to the lower level/garden area. Beto and I have been working to give the patio a nice new look. We have created a clean and defined edge to the lower step and filled in cracks. I want to then paint the cement patio floor to give it a smooth clean look. We also painted the outside walls of the house outback an eggshell color and plan to hang a new lighting fixture outback as well as some wooden blinds, maybe even find a rug that we could put on the back porch. I love to spend time outside and am really excited about making the back yard a more inviting and clean place to be.

Beto has taken on the project of refinishing the basement. Currently the basement walls are made of crumbly, exposed rock, dusty concrete and deteriorating brick. He has been regrouting the spaces between bricks and patching up the concrete. Last night, we discovered what we refer to now as Pandora's Box; behind the washer, for no apparent reason, there was an old slab of wood nailed into the brick wall. He asked if he should take the board off and we decided that it was a good idea, although as the house is fairly old, we joked about what we might find: cash, bodies or bugs-all of which would need to come out. The board had been holding back a deluge of fill: dirt, trash, bricks, rocks and bottles. We wound up with quite a mess on our hands. We spent the remainder of the evening removing the debris so that we could do a quality job of filling the hole in the wall with stacked bricks and cement. Eventually, we will patch up and seal the entire basement, paint the ceiling and possibly install a second half bath down there.

Gildon Works CD release party at Johnny Brenda's

Saturday evening was the Gildon Works CD release party.  Beto missed the show as he was still on his way home from touring in Washington but he and Prince did make it home early in the morning.  Glad to have him back home!  

I have decided that I should start bringing my new professional camera to the music shows I go to.  I have been leaving it at home and bringing my tiny little Canon point and shoot but the reality is, it is not made for getting fast action low light shots.  However, my new Camera does  a great job and if I really want to get into photography I should start taking my camera with me on a regular basis.  (photo above taken with little point and shoot) 

Friday Night

This afternoon, Beto, Prince, Chris and Paul left for Arlington Virginia to play a show for at a house party as the opener for the band Himalaya.  They will be staying there tonight and return tomorrow night after their second show.  

I did take a nice bike ride down to Delaware Avenue to try and meet up with some friends for the Philebrity happy hour.  No one was there, I suppose it had been cancelled.  On my ride home, as the sun went down, I took this picture of the boats docked along the river in front of the Ben Franklin Bridge.

The Lost Bar has recently provided free wireless for patrons and I have been here for hours, sipping my wine catching up on a little business on my computer.  It is very rare that I watch television, but tonight I am hoping that I can find a nice movie to watch, maybe make some popcorn.  I miss my Beto.

Sunshine Recorder

Beto has bee filling in as the bass player for Sunshine recorder for a few shows including this one at Kung Foo Necktie.  I loved seeing Beto play, it is the first live show I've seen him play and they sounded fantastic.  Our housemate Prince is in the band as well.

Dave and Stacey's Wedding

Stacey and Dave's wedding was beautiful, simple and laid back not to mention fun. They had the wedding and reception on the grounds of a little bed and breakfast inn. There was a putting green, a photo booth with fun hats and a beautiful blue and white cake with little bobble head bunnies on it.

Filming at Union Trust

This past Thursday, I had the chance to sit in for the filming of a scene from the new Reese Witherspoon/Jack Nicholson/Paul Rudd/Owen Wilson movie, "How Do You Know".  I had the lovely Reese brush past me on her way down to the set.  She is incredibly tiny and beautiful. The scene was being filmed in Union Trust, a restaurant opened this past April by my boss (which is why I could be there).

Pets!

Our friend Marianne is giving us two young bantam hens.  They lay blue eggs and live in the backyard with a little dog hutch as their home.  Our first pets!

Potatoes!

Beto and I harvested our fingerling potatoes.  They were so small and cute.  It is fun to dig around in the dirt looking for potatoes.  We will most likely eat them this week.  We only had a couple with green on them.  A person should never eat the green portion of a potato, it contains solanine and is poisonous.  In fact, when reading up on potatoes tonight I learned that when storing potatoes, a person should avoid exposing them to light, that they should be stored in dark places to avoid the build up this toxin which can continue to develop even one they have hit the store shelves.