BDay Trip To Vegas

For my birthday Jim offered to take to me to Las Vegas for dinner at Delmonico Steakhouse at The Venetian Resort. It is our favorite place to eat IN THE WORLD. More on that later. We turned it into a weekend. We got a room at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort. The hotel is pictured above with the pool. The resort was beautiful. One of the nicest I have stayed at. The room was large, especially considering it was a standard resort room. There was a large tile entry way, a walkin closet, a HUGE bathroom with a jetted soaking tub and a separate shower with a rain head as well as the usual wall mounted shower head. The beds were extremely comfortable, and we had a balcony.

The spa at the hotel was great. We payed the $25 dollar fee and used the steam room for about an hour and a half. There was only one other man in there so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. He came in with shaving cream on his face. He was using the steam to prep for his daily shave. What a good idea. After using the steam room and the cool plunge pools, we went outside to the main pools. They were beautiful! We swam there for a while and then went back to our room to prepare to leave. We were planning on leaving Saturday but we were having such a great time at the resort that we decided to stay another night. Best decision of the year!

That night we saw the Lion King at Mandalay Bay. The show was great. For lunch we went to The Palm. I had a free lobster dinner waiting there for me and me and Jim decided to split it.

Now on to Delmonico. It is without a doubt the best place to eat in the world. It is the Las Vegas steakhouse of Emeril Lagasse. We always order the Chateaubriand carved table side for two. It is served with garlic smashed potatoes, asparagus, and we always order garlic sauteed mushrooms. The meal is served with the best hot rolls. I ordered an iceberg wedge. The meal was incredible in every way.

Happy Birthday

It was my birthday once

BNP Paribas Open 2011

Every March, me and my mom make a pilgrimage to Indian Wells, CA to the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. The trip has been a fun tradition for us for about seven years. We have the same love for tennis, good food, and traveling, and during this trip we are able to put them together into one.

The BNP Paribas Open is the largest and most important tennis tournament after the big four (US Open, Wimbledon, The French Open, and the Australian Open). The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is the second largest facility in the world that is dedicated to tennis. It seats about 16,000 tennis fans, has 3 stadiums, and a total of 8 tournament courts. Over the course of the tournament, more than 350,000 tickets are sold to 21 sessions of tennis. I was lucky enough to attend every session. I witnessed amazing tennis matches!

As I said before, food is a huge part of this trip. We watch tennis all day and enjoy fine meals every evening. The Palm Springs area of California has a very high concentration of amazing restaurants. Some of our favorites include:

• The Nest
• Pacifica
• Hog's Breath Inn
• Piero's Aqua Pazza
• Ruth's Chris
• Mikado

Thanks to someone special for introducing me to Almond Roca. It is the best! Also, it is 100% natural. It has a creamy, buttery, nutty flavor that all blends together well on the tongue.

Movie Night

I went to the movies last night. Seeing this was better than seeing "Unknown"

Fried Rice

Have I ever told you I love fried rice? I get the best fried rice at Benja's Thai Garden at Ancestor Square. Mmmmmmmm

1,000 Mile Boot

I was in Salt Lake City this weekend and had a chance to swing by D. Grant, Ltd. at The Gateway shopping center downtown. I have been following the Wolverine 1,000 Mile Boot since they started making them again in 2008. I have wanted to try them on and someday own a pair, so when I saw that D. Grant, Ltd. had them I couldn't resist.

The boots are made in Michigan using welt construction. The have a leather sole, rubber heel, and waxed canvas laces. They were originally made in the early 1900's and were called the 1,000 Mile Boot because of their durability and quality construction. The exact same design, molds, and construction techniques have been used again to re-create this classic American boot. It is quality you can feel!

http://www.wolverine.com/us/1000mile/

Last night I looked closely at my boots again. Although the moisture from the Mink Oil was still there, they looked pretty haggard again. I decided it was time to shine them again. Shoe shining is a manly ritual that is also therapeutic.

The process starts with having the proper tools: two horsehair brushes (a "clean" one for polishing and dusting and a "dirty" one for applying the shoe polish) and some Kiwi Shoe Polish. You use the "clean" brush to remove dust and clean the leather. Next, you use the "dirty" brush to apply a nice even coat of the Kiwi Shoe Polish. Let that dry for about 30 min and then buff it with the "clean" brush". This develops the shine by removing excess polish and only leaving a thin layer over the leather.

The before picture is above. The after picture is below. The after picture doesn't do my shine job justice. It looks much better on my foot right now!

The Chive Always Delivers

A day in the life of radio components

Saw this today in Denny's

I think they are on to something. . .

So last night I ended up at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Some say they make the best burger in town. They are known for having a large selection of toppings and fresh cut fries fried in peanut oil. I ordered a half pound burger with bacon (makes everything better), mushrooms, grilled onions, and mustard. The result is pictured above.

The burger was well built. It didn't fall apart in my hands even though it was such a large burger. I was impressed by that. The earthy note from the mushrooms complemented the savory bacon and onions but none of the toppings overpowered the flavor of the hamburger meat. The texture was consistent throughout. I ate a little too fast and burned my tongue when I got to the center. I give this burger 4.5 out of 5. I will eat here again.

Visitor

Drex decided to come visit me in my office this afternoon.

New Car!

So. . . I got a new car! The whole process started when my 2003 Dodge Durango R/T turned 70,000 miles. I have heard about transmission and engine trouble on those cars between 80,000 and 120,000 miles and I started to worry about it. I didn't want to have to put thousands of dollars into a car that wasn't hardly worth thousands anymore. So I decided to look for a more fuel efficient new car.

My search started with the 2011 Ford Fiesta. They are cool little cars, but they are REALLY little! The search ended when I bought the car pictured above, 2011 Mazda 3 hatchback. It has a lot of great features for a car in the $20,000 price range. My favorite feature on the interior is the bluetooth. Not only can you make handsfree calls in the car but my iPhone can also play music over bluetooth and the audio quality is actually really good!

Standby for more pictures of it later today. . . . .