San Fran and NYC

A few weeks ago, I went down to San Francisco for my MBA class sessions. Jon and Stacy graciously hosted me for the few days I was there. I love hanging out with them because they're foodies, and I enjoy great food! I have really enjoyed my classmates - they have made my MBA experience amazing thus far. It's a great group of intelligent, energetic, and fun people. I always look forward to heading to San Fran to get together with them. After spending 3 days in San Fran, I took off to New York City for a work trip. When I travel for work now, it will mostly be up in the Northeastern part of the U.S. since that's where my territory is for work. I can't complain - I love that part of the U.S! On this trip, I got a good tour of New York driving through all the burroughs and neighboring large cities! We first went to Binghampton, then drove to Long Island, then spent some time in Manhattan, went up to White Plains, and then wrapped up the trip in the city. I enjoyed some amazing food and got to see some great sights and meet up with Thom, one of my oldest friends from Northwestern days.

Jon and Stacy took me to an amazing ramen restaurant - well worth the 1.5 hour wait. It was delicious!
While up in the Yonkers/White Plains area, we went to a fantastic restaurant called X2O Xaviars on the Hudson where the chef is a James Beard award winner. The captain at the restaurant took us on a private tour after our meal, which included getting my hands on a $4,000 bottle of wine and his trophy located in his wine cellar.
There, I shared his award winning dish - the aged and grilled cowboy ribeye with sauce bearaise. It was just as delicious as it looks!
Before we left NYC, we stopped at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I took in some Van Gogh and Monet.

All in all, New York and San Fran were a great time - I haven't been away from home for a week and half except on international trips, so it was nice to finally arrive home after all the traveling.

Girls' Weekend in Minneapolis

Wow, I'm way behind on posts. Thanks mom for reminding me! Memorial Day Weekend, I used some frequent flyer miles to head to Minneapolis, Minnesota where Christal and Matt live to have a mini (and Minni"eapolis") girls' weekend. Of all places for a girls' weekend, Minneapolis was a great choice with the Mall of America! There was also plenty of good food and good fun. It had been awhile since we had seen Christal and Matt, so it was good to finally catch up and re-live old times. Thanks Christal and Matt for hosting Pauline and me!
The girls pre-sushi dinner :) And Christal, showing off her chopstick skills!
Christal and Matt. We didn't want to leave him out of all of the fun we were having that weekend!
We did a long walk one afternoon around one of the lakes by Christal's house. Minnesota is known for its plethora of lakes throughout the state.
And finally...the infamous juicy lucy burger. I think this was featured on Man vs. Food. Essentially it's american cheese sandwiched between two hamburger patties. It was delicious! The picture doesn't do it justice!