omg, where to start about my weekend!!!! On Monday I had a blind date with a girl I met on the internet (my 3rd!) She just had IVF last week and will find out tomorrow if it worked. Needless to say she was a bit stressed and distracted but I had a great time. I really enjoy meeting other people that just get it.
I then met up with Simon (remember him from Jr. High??) well, he was kind enough to take the day off work. After asking if we were really planning on going up the Empire State Building (I assured him no, and told him what Katherine said... btw, he is in love with Katherine now!!! saved him from the Empire!) he was much more relaxed and we took the subway to the other end of the island (that was an adventure in itself!)
So here is where you click on the
picture link NYC and see the rest of the day.

The conference itself was much better than I expected. I learned a lot and met some great people as well. Last week I had received several invitations to dinner from various vendors. I decided to go with a vendor I was currently working with and knew a bit. Well, let me tell you!!! That was one of the best decisions I have ever made!!! OMG!!! We went to a place called Country at the Carlton hotel. We sat at the chef's table overlooking the kitchen and our "Captain" explained our meal.... Since the chef would be making our dishes specifically for us, he came around to get any dietary restrictions from us. He then told us we would get a personal menu at the end of the meal to keep :) Please note the following descriptions are my own as I have completely forgotten the fancy names our Captain used except for the menu items.
1st Course - A plate of three little bites (a tiny little quail egg king of like a deviled one with caviar on top, a candies plum tomato, a little mini sandwich with stuff and salmon on top
2nd Course - A little teacup with watermelon mousse and cucumber confetti with a little piece of jalepeno confetti on top
3rd Course - Some sort of fancy bread that looked kind of like monkey bread
4th Course - (From menu) White Gazpacho with verjus, smoked almonds, caviar **I did not get this, I got a white asparagus with a salsa , yummy!
5th Course - (From menu) Salmon with dill, meyer lemon and roe **I got a very fancy salad which was probably one of the best I have ever had. I definitely showed knife skills! Most of the veggies were paper thin
6th Course - (From Menu) Cepe Mushrooms, with risotto, Parmesan, olive oil
7th Course - (From Menu) Bison with basil, sauce charon, olives **At this point I took a bite and it had the most lovely peppercorn sauce, I thought to myself, wow I don't need to add any pepper to this. I looked around and noticed I couldn't if I wanted too, no salt and pepper on the table. Talk about insulting to the chef!
8th Course - (From Menu) Fresh Ricotta with sweet peppers, crushed herbs, olive oil
9th Course - 3 different desserts including- Strawberries over cream with a strawberry sorbet and strawberry sauce, some coconut thing, and a chocolate lava cake
10th Course - They rolled out a candy cart with petit fours on it. OMG, I almost died. We were all so full!!!
Needless to say, everything above was beyond impeccable. I think I will die in 70 years and still never have a meal that compares. They also served the most wonderful wine.... o h my. One more note about how perfect this was, I asked for chamomile tea and not only did they brew it perfectly but the temperature was perfect.
OK, I am done for now.... thinking about that dinner... can't remember anything else, oh yeah! I got an early flight and got home 2 hours earlier than expected!!!!