Alkaff Mansion

So it’s Restaurant Week and I had to restrain myself from making too many reservations. “Keep-to-2” was the rule and trust me, it wasn’t easy eliminating and finally settling on the two places I most wanted to check out – Alkafff Mansion and the new Bistro Du Vin on Zion Road.

I have not been to the “old” Alkaff Mansion but my oh my, the restored premises was simple lovely! So grand and chi-chi- I especially love the wood-paneled 1920s second level setting and the outdoor bar – I wanna hold an event here!

Service was fantastic the moment we stepped in. Warm and friendly, the service staff made us feel at home straight away. Maybe it was them, or more likely it was the romantic setting – B ordered a bottle of prosecco (*swoon*).

The restaurant week lunch was at $36++. We looked at the normal menu and noticed that the normal executive set lunch was similarly priced and had the same courses too. No matter, what a wonderful (and, can I repeat, romantic) lunch!

For starters, both B and I ordered the tuna tartar served with avocado and passion fruit dressing. Doesn't it look gorgeous? I really liked the freshness of the tuna and the tanginess from the passion fruit. This dish really opened up our tastebuds for the main courses.

First up, my lobster ravioli in its own bisque. I absolutely love (who doesn’t) lobsters so this dish really hit the spot for me. The ravioli was well made and the bisque was robust yet not too over-powering. I could have had a second serving of this haha.

B had the beef short ribs in porto wine sauce and it looked delish too. I thought the serving size was a bit small for him so it was very kind of him to offer me a sliver to try – yums! Very tasty and well-marinated. We saw some people ordering the cod fish and that looked good too.

For desserts, we both had the blueberry cheese cake. Although not mind-blowing, it was the perfect ending to an elegant (romantic!) lunch.

I’m glad I decided to check out Alkaff Mansion for restaurant week. Watch this space for my review on the new Bistro Du Vin!

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

A friend of mine has a theory that if a women starts having crazy wackydoo dreams, just seemingly out of the blue, it means she's pregnant, or very soon will be. She has applied this theory to me twice, and has only been right once ( back in December, when i would have only just conceived ). So, i guess, as theories go, it could use a bit of work. What i find interesting though, and no doubt can be scientifically proven somehow, is that once a lady is well and truely into a pregnancy - say 6 weeks along or more - she does start having more vivid dreams. Or, at the very least, this lady does.

I've been having completely wacked out, trippy dreams for at least 2 months now. Not every night, but at least once or twice a week, and i have to say that some of them have left me completely baffled.

The one where i was going the full pash with Joseph Gordon Levitt ( " 100 Days of Summer " Levitt, not " 3rd Rock From the Sun " Levitt ) in a school hallway wasnt too nutty, but the one where i was going the full.... lets say " Monty " .... with Red Foo from LMFAO was a head scratcher. And its not the sexual dreams either - i've been in an internment camp with the Muppets and escaping from a vaguley school-like prison with Chris Hemsworth from " Thor " ( also not too bad of a kisser, apparently ). And those are just the few i can actually remember!

So is it just me or are vivid, and somewhat crazy, dreams standard for most pregnant ladies? Or am i on my own with this?

Spring has sprung...so have the kids!

Whoa.  Seriously.  Whoa.  It's 75 degrees in Michigan today- not that I'm complaining, but we will probably get snow in a few weeks.  That's just how we roll around here.  My kiddos all seem to think that school is almost over.  Dude- I must have missed that memo!  It's been building over the last week, along with the temperatures.  They are getting slow and dare I say- lazy in our crisp little routine.  We actually practiced walking down the hall and lining up multiple times because they were so loud, I was embarressed.  One teacher even shut her door, smiling of course.  You know that it is as good as a slap in the face in a school.
I had to leave work at lunch on Friday (sick little guy had to be picked up from school).  They totally took advantage of the guest teacher and trashed the room on the way out the door.  She must have missed that part completely because I started out my early Monday cleaning for almost 45 minutes.  Grrrr......

Up until now, the students would read when they first came in in the morning, after making lunch choices and putting away their things.  Last week, they started milling around the room, not even pretending to read.  Like the books never left the bag!  Hey- who are these kids?  My class knows what to do in the morning and is responsible learners.  Not so much lately.  I did give them several reminders throughout the week about our morning routine and the expectations.  Apparently, the spring weather made their brains sprout a "whatever plant" (read with attitude).

This morning, they arrived to a smiling teacher (who was annoyed beyond belief on the inside) and an addition and subtraction review page.  You would have though I had stolen Christmas!  They were dejected (and completely silent) for 15 minutes.  Weird.  Creepy even.  They passed them in as they completed them, sheepishly.

They got the point, but still got multiple reminders about paying attention and being respectful while someone is speaking.  One kid got up to get a drink in the middle of my writer's workshop mini-lesson.  Wa-wa-what?  Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

Here's wishing you all a longer winter! :)

PKNA 1999 SPECIAL + PKNA #32http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Now THIS is awesome! Two newly translated issues, one of which has never been seen ANYWHERE outside of Italy. Excuse me while I drool at the idea of finally getting to read some PKNA that I've never read before.

Banker is great. It's true!

PKNA Special 1999 - The End of the World
PKNA #32 - Underground