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Amy's Brain is 47% Female, 53% Male
Amy's brain is a healthy mix of male and female
You are both sensitive and savvy.
Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed.
But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve.

What Gender Is Your Brain?





Feel free to email me your comments, suggestions, and/or random thoughts.





 

May 2007


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I know it's been a month since we were in Japan, but I've been so busy the past month that I've not had a chance to post all of the pictures I wanted to post.  So here are a few more strange and beautiful things we saw in Japan.  These pictures have no conherence or relationship to each other.  They are just random things I saw across various cities we visited. 

The picture to the right is a tiny little shrine at the end of one random street in Kyoto.  That's typical of an older city like Kyoto, little spiritual retreats are just around street corners.  The white stuff you see on the ground are Cherry Blossom petals that have fallen from the trees. 

And being a big Coke drinker, I of course had to try out the Coke formula in Japan.  Mr. BAW informed me that they use different Coke formulas around the world catering to the specific tastes of different cultures.  I don't know if that's true but I did notice a slight difference in the Cokes in Japan.  First of all, the Coke cans out of vending machines all have twist cap tops.  This I like, since it allows me to drink the soda at my pace without losing too much of the carbonation.  It also makes it easier to carry onto trains.  As for the Japanese formula, I did like it, it seemed less sweet. 

Besides being extremely clean, the manhole covers in Japan are also very pretty!  Every city has their own manhole design, just like our state quarters.  Some are even very colorful!  The one in Nara even has deer on the design...but I forgot to take a picture of it. :-(

I hope you'll like these random pictures from Japan!





Impressive railway system in Japan.

Japanese fast-food.  Bento boxes are convenient for travel.


An adorably curious cat decorates this pastry shop.
Gourds, gourds, everywhere!


Even their manhole covers are beautiful!
Every city has their own unique manhole cover design.

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As part of TNH's Bachelorette Party, we all got to go wine tasting in beautiful Napa Valley. But the real treat of the event was getting to eat at the Graystone Restaurant ran by the Culinary Institute of America, aka CIA.  The CIA in Nappa is housed in a gorgeous castle in the middle of wine country over looking a beautiful valley.   Graystone is also in the same building.  It was such a beautiful day that we opted to site on the patio.

Lunch started out with five different Hors D'oeuvres (see picture below) including a garlic cream soup (served in a tiny ceramic cup), shrimp (perfectly cooked) on cucumber, chips on a creamy cheese dip, a meaty bruschetta, and a variety of olives.  My favorite was the shrip and the garlic soup. 

Then I had the steak with blue cheese.  The steak was yummy tender and goes so well with blue cheese.  The side salad consists of fiddlehead fern leaves that have just started to uncurl.  These little critters are amazingly flavorful!  For dessert I had the tradition vanilla Creme Brulee.  It was the best Creme Brulee I've had in years. 

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and the food was great.  But the service was about a B in grade.  The drinks and food took a long time to arrive. But I still highly recommend a visit for anyone traveling to Napa. The castle itself is worth a look and the restaurant itself is very beautiful. 









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I attended my friend TNH's bridal shower this past weekend in San Francisco.  I must say that it was the most organized bridal shower I've ever been to.  Mainly because TNH has so many aunts and cousins who are extremely talented with cooking and crafting. Case in point, TNH has a little white doggy and her aunt made a flower puppy for her shower!!  Take a look at the picture to the right, which by the way really doesn't do it justice.  In person, the flowers look exactly like her little dog.  It was so lively that I swore it almost hopped off the table.

Other things I learned from TNH's shower I would like to share are:

1) Save all the ribbons from the presents to make a ribbon bouquet for the bride as keep-sake of the Shower.

2) Fun for the guests, carefully save the wrapping paper from all the presents and using tape, dress the bride-to-be in a wrapping paper "wedding dress."



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So sorry for the lack of blogging lately!  I have a very good excuse though.  My computer died two weeks ago.  Long story short, my hard drive died.  Luckily I backed up 90% of my files just days before.  But I did lose all of my emails from the past 7 years, all of my addresses, all of my software (including Microsoft Office and my Toby CAM software), and my latest operating system OS10.4.  I'm slowly functioning, trying to collect back my software, especially my beloved Photoshop.  My blogging will be sporatic the next couple of weeks until I get my laptop to full operating capacity.

I've also been extremely busy with my travels the past two weeks.  Mr. BAW's parents visited us all the way from Michigan and we've been taking them places all over Southern California.  Since we've been taking road trips, Toby has been able to tag along.  This rose picture was taken at the Huntington Library in Pasadena.  Once I get my computer up and running with my favorite software, I will post more travel pics. 

May 8 was Toby's 5th Birthday!  He got a home-made cake from Mr. BAW.  Happy Mother's Day to everyone!