March travels

I went to Cincinnati and NYC this past week for work. I squeezed in some peronal time with a visit with Barry & Trish in Cinci and my first visit to Mesa Grill in NYC. It is ALWAYS so fun to see Barry & Trish and they are one of the few things that I look forward to on my East Coast travels.

Mesa Grill. 102 5th Avenue in the cute neighborhood of Gramercy. I really enjoyed this restaurant. The room is gorgeous, but comfortable. I decided to break out of my shell and try something new - I wanted something flavorful and exciting so that I would have a good report back to Tony. We started with yellow and blue cornbread muffins. I don't know what made them so fantastic - but they were FANtastic. Buttery, slight crisp on the oustide and tender on the inside. I had the baby romaine salad - baby romaine is so much better than hearts of romaine. I really dislike the spine of romaine. The chorizo was finely chopped and cooked very crisp - the texture of crispy bacon. I love cojia cheese, so everything in this was so good. For dinner, I ordered the cornmeal crusted chile relleno with a side of roasted corn w/ smoked chiles, cojita cheese and lime. My dinner partner ordered the mashed potatoes with cilantro pesto and I tried some - both were excellent. The chile relleno was very flavorful - stuffed with a perfectly melty, oozy cheese, but I have to admit, it was too spicy for me. I could tell my stomach would rebel if I ate it all. Tony would for sure love this dish. The restaurant is known for their pork tenderloin, so I will be back in April to let you know how it tastes. Either way, 5 Zino's for Mesa Grill. Put it on your list and be sure to check it out if you're visiting. Lots of shopping in this neighborhood if you head down early.

Jimmy Fallon. I have never been that into Late Night talk shows. Paul took me to say David Letterman in person and it was very cool, but that was my first interest in any late night talk shows. My parent's didn't watch them, so I didn't know anyting about Johnny Carson or anything like that. Now that I'm older... much older... I love watching late night TV. My favorite by far is Craig Fergsuon (whom we saw in person last weekend in Hammond, IN at the Horseshoe Casino). I was excited to see Jimmy Fallon take over the Late Night b/c it was the first time that I was really going to be able to see someone from the beginning. Week 1 was funny - he was nervous, but honest and I love his little quirkiness. He had some great guests - JT singing as Michael McDonald doing a Bud Light Lime commercial was freaking hilarious, Drew Barrymore who was excited by the Lick it for 10 skit and I have to say, seeing The Roots every night is awesome. Does Quest Love always wear a pic in is his fro? Curious about that. I have many high hopes for Jimmy and I encourage you to check him out. It's the perfect thing to Tivo and just watch when there's guests that you like. And if you forget to record it, do what Berma does, and watch it online (although you don't have to do it at work like Berma does). If you're an Oprah fan, Jimmy Skyped in on today's Friday's Live and was so adorable. He said that he's a huge Facebook fan and updates his status at least twice a day.

To round out my week, I was highly disappointed when I skipped a chance to upgrade on my way home from NYC and discovered Mark Consuelos sitting in seat 3B on my flight. He's very cute :-)

Finally, I was thinking about all of my Alpha Phi sisters today. I know that many went to honor the life of Christie Williams, a very young Phi who passed away from Addison's Disease early last week. Christie was a member when I was very involved with HCB and her parent's both served on the board with me. It's a moment when we all take a step back and remember to be thankful for every moment that we have with one another. My heart and thoughts are with everyone. *AOE*