Chagrined

It seems that Coffee Betsy was sweet enough to bestow this post with a Perfect Post award. Thank you Betsy, I feel honored. You rock, hon! I also feel a bit silly, considering that I essentially was awarded a Perfect Post for a post in which I ranted (among other things) about not ever receiving a Perfect Post or any other kind of award.  (How many shoes can you get in that mouth, wg?) I don’t regret writing the post because I was being honest and I think I spoke to a lot of other mom bloggers who have felt the same frustration, but… I do acknowledge the mocking irony of the entire affair. Not that Betsy meant it that way! I know she was being heartfelt and I totally appreciate it.

I just can’t let myself escape scrutiny if I bestow it on other people, you know? Sometimes you gotta be prepared to call yourself a schmuck when the need arises.

 

On a completely different note the lovely Amber at mind-adrift tagged me with the following “local restaurant” meme a few days ago and I’ve been wracking my brains to finish. (I had to have Keen help me. Sometimes the Mommy Memory just doesn’t work as well as on other days. And we don’t get to eat out as often as we did pre-kid.) Here are the rules:

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the city/state and country you’re in.

Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, United States)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Lulu (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Chris (Boyne City, Michigan, United States)
AB (Cave Creek, Arizona, United States)
Johnny Yen (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Bubs (Mt Prospect, Illinois, United States)
Mob (Midland, Texas United States)
Yas (Ahwatukee, Arizona USA)
Alicia(Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA)
Tug (Hell, Colorado, USA)
Bond (Memphis, TN, USA)
TopChamp (Glasgow, UK)
Kailani (Honolulu, HI, USA)
Amber (Henderson, TN, USA)
the weirdgirl (San Francisco Bay Area, CA,  USA (I'm still pretending to be an anonymous blogger))

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.

Chelokababi’s, Sunnyvale, CA – Persian food. LOVE the Persian tea here and the saffron basmati rice!  I actually hunted down where to get the Persian tea so I could have it whenever.  I really like almost all food from the Mediterranean area - Italian, Persian, Ethiopian… OK, it’s a big area, but my point is they’re great flavors and these folks do it really well. The kicker is Chance, who does great in restaurants most of the time, seems to act up every single time we come here! You’re killing me, son, I want me some Persian.

Fiorello’s, Santa Clara, CA – Italian, ditto on the whole Mediterranean food love affair. It has a nice upscale atmosphere even while the prices are totally reasonable (i.e. not too expensive but still makes you feel like a grownup). They have a fabulous herb crusted shrimp! Oh, yum! (Damnit, I’m getting hungry.)

El Burro, Campbell, CA – Mexican. I’m Californian, OK? And half-Hispanic. I just can’t imagine life without Mexican food at least twice a week. Ironically, my dad (the Hispanic half), who did most of the cooking while I was growing up, is very heavily influenced by Asian cooking. And his Hispanic cooking tastes similar to Cuban (he grew up in Panama).  But besides all that, El Burro still reminds me of my dad; it’s like home-style Mexican. Very, very tasty!

Lisa’s Tea Treasures, San Jose/Campbell, CA – my guilty pleasure, blowing more than I should on tea-sandwich lunches when I’m stressed out or hanging with the girls. (Ironically, in real life Keen says I’m what is called a “guy’s girl”… I like cars and fixing mechanical things, sci-fi, comic books, and boxing. But here in this blog it seems all you get to hear about are shoes, and teacups, and flowers.  I haven’t even started sharing my jewelry projects with you (mainly ‘cause I can’t get the pictures to come out). This must be another secret escape… putting the girly in wg.)

Le Papillon, San Jose, CA – this is our fancy eating place for special occasions. It’s French cuisine and the closest place without making a trip into San Francisco (where there is a plethora of fine dining). I really, really, really love French food. High cuisine, bistro, it doesn’t matter, I just love it.  The flavors are so different from what I grew up with, which was almost every other type of cuisine except French (my dad doesn’t like French). French-influenced cuisine is pretty damn good. OK, I just like food.

And one additional…

Chili’s, anywhere – We’re parents, all right? We have to take the kid with us for at least some of our meals out and this is one of the best places with actual food that I enjoy where the environment, food, and service work with the kid, too. (There’s also Denny’s but we go there exclusively for the great kid’s menu, not because either Keen or I like the food.) And sometimes I just want Chili’s chili queso and a big ass milkshake for dinner. What?

I’m going to tag Peter, GGC (because I don’t think she’s gotten tagged in a while), Betsy (she just moved but I’m betting she already has some favorite places), JChevais, and fuzzbox. Where do you eat?             - wg