It was! Please do come visit, some day. There is no snow here.

I am going either bowling, or to see Crystal Method. No idea which yet.

"Hoppy New Year"

Thought that was the microbrewer.

I know this is in Natter, but I'll say it here anyway...my instinct is that Phoebe Buffay would be the best female-Friend F. She's probably pretty unshockable, and she's a massage therapist. Rachel's very pretty, but they make those emery-board jokes for a reason, and Monica is a neat-freak.(Monica and I would get on best with our clothes on, though.) So F Phoebe C Rachel M Monica Wow, I used to be pretty straight before this board. Now, I'm all about Friendly femmeslash. Real life: I think F Perry C-Leblanc(hopefully we'd stay, well, Friends) M-Schwimmer(and this is a bit crass of me, but Schwimmer and Doug Ellin from Entourage are total BFFs, so maybe I'd end up with a husbandAND Networking too.) The womenfolk: F- Aniston C- Cox-Arquette- but only cause you gotta chuck somebody. I'd like to take her out and buy her pasta, cause she's prettier heavier. M- Kudrow. I think she is probably a good partner cause she stays out of the tabs.

erika, finally a FCM close to my heart!

OK, here's my August Reveillon menu:

After checking in, freshening up, and orienting ourselves, we went to the Absinthe Bar for a Sazerac before hitting Restaurant August for our 6pm reservation. We were a little early, and we had a couple of drinks at the bar there- I had a Sazerac followed by a great French 75. Tom had a couple bottles of the Abita seasonal pecan beer, which sounded weird but was actually pretty great.

On to the meal! Tom wanted the 4 course tasting menu and I wanted the 7 course Reveillon menu- we were informed that the entire table needed to order the 7 course meal, due to timing issues, but Tom was able to sub out as many courses as he wanted to, so he subbed out 3 courses. It worked out great! I had the wine pairings, which were very nice.

Here's how it broke down, I will refrain from commenting, because I don't want this to be too long, but everything was AWESOME, one of the 3 best meals of my life (The French Laundry being one of the others)

Amuse: truffle whipped seafood sabayon with fish fume custard served in an eggshell with a brioche crouton and caviar.

Course 1: Spiced pain perdu and roast fois gras with persimmon. Tom said that it was one of the best things he'd ever put in his mouth. (pairing: Champagne, Jean Claude Thevenet, Brut Blanc de Blanc.)

Course 2: Brouillade aux truffle- La Provence farmed eggs, Perigord truffle. so simple, so good. (pairing: Chardonnay, J.M. Boillot 1 er Cru Montagny, Burgundy, 2007.)

Course 3: I had the turtle soup "grand mere" finished off with Pedro Jimenez sherry. (pairing: Zinfendel Surh Luchtel Napa Valley 2006.)

• Tom had the acorn squash mezze luna with satsuma, local chestnuts, and fennel.

Course 4: I had the pocket roast of veal breast with P&G oyster dressing and glazed turnips. (pairing: Tempernillo Marques de Murrieta Reserva, Finca Ygay, Rioja, Spain. 2005.)

• Tom had the slow-cooked venison shoulder with spatzle, braised red cabbage, and stuffed lady apple (stuffed with a dried fruit compote).

Course 5: slow cooked Christmas goose with cranberry, "cracklin" and goose liver stuffed knoedel (potato). There were also braised leeks, and the goose was served both sliced and in a pate/terrine-esque fashion. (pairing: Bordeaux, Chateau de Crusveau, Pessac Leognan, France, 2005.)

Course 6: blue cheese semifreddo with quince, pomegranate and pecan brittle (pairing: Muscat de Beaume de Venise Reserve, Vidal-Fleury, France, 2007.)

• Tom: Crispy fried "berliners" with cranberries, meyer lemon, and rosemary.

Course 7: Warm fall fruit stuffed seckel pear with vanilla cinnamon mousse and candied chestnuts. (pairing: Madeira, Rare Wine Co., Historic Series, "Boston" Bual Reserve, Portugal)

Did you taste one another's selections?

mostly- but Tom hates veal and bleu cheese. I gave him sips of my wine though!

Blood pressure rising. We load in MONDO big show on Sunday. House folks are dragging feet letting me know what they have/don't have. Gave them the list two WEEKS ago. "we got a show happening right now, so stop with the attitude" Ya, fucker, but you had NOTHING all last week! Grr. Uggg. Why do I have to be a pacifist?

Really, Nora? Yeah, I bet Phoebe is a freak. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

yikes, o_a. Deep calming breaths headed your way.

Here are the fancy cocktails we had at Iris:

I had:

• Delilah (Aviation Gin, Pineapple-Balsamic, Thai Basil, and St. Germaine)
• Reba (Hendrick's Gin, Mulled Pinot Noir Syrup, Satsuma, Meyer Lemon, Kumquat Bitters)
• Fall Guy (40 Fuegos Pisco, Spiced Apple-Honey Syrup, Benedictine, Pecan Bitters)

Tom had:

• a fantastic off-menu orange concoction with satsuma and.... mini satsumas? Looked like a kumquat but wasn't?
• Genevieve (Patron Anejo Tequila, Louisiana Grapefruit Syrup, Galangal, Local Citrus Bitters, Nino Franco Prosecco)
• Twin Span (Green Chartreuse , Lillet Blanc, Rose syrup, Local Naval Orange, Lime.)

The mixology was INSANE.