Gratitude Day #12

#1. I a grateful for the weekend - it was a long time coming this week.

#2. I am grateful for a reason to get dressed up and slip on high heels on a Friday night. I had a hot date last night - with my friend Susan. Susan is smart, funny, loves good music and Vietnamese food. Too bad she is married . . . and a girl.

#3. I am grateful for the Minnesota Mormon Chorale Concert. It was really excellent and I am so glad we were able to go. They invited several other local community groups for a combined concert and food drive. The bluegrass ensemble was really fun and there was an 8 member acapella group that was excellent. The MMC sounded the best I have ever heard them and it made me really miss singing with them. For the last number they combined the choirs, surrounded the audience with the choirs, hand bells and cymbals and sang this. It brought me to tears - so beautiful.

#4. I am grateful for nice restaurants. After the concert we drove to St. Paul for dinner at Ngon Bistro. It is in a nasty part of town, but has the best food for very reasonable prices. Do you want to know what we shared? Prepare to be jealous. Sweet Potato Shrimp Croquettes: lightly breaded sweet potato and shrimp, fresh herbs and a spicy aioli, Gỏi Cuốn: spring rolls with shrimp, roasted Fischer Farms pork, organic spring greens, fresh herbs, & rice vermicelli, Seared scallops with curry parsnip puree, pea shoots, sautéed shiitake mushroom caps, & grilled asparagus with coconut curry sauce, Phở: beef broth hand crafted using oxtail & beef bones from all natural grass fed cattle & a special blend of spices imported directly from Vietnam with chicken breast and fresh ginger Crème Brûlée. It was sooooo good! I could not finish my Pho, so I warmed it up for a perfect breakfast on a cold snowy morning. Yum.

#5. I am grateful for book stores. After picking up the kids from kindergarten, I drove down to the book fair at Barnes and Noble. We spent a couple of hours playing in the children's section, picking out a book for each of their teachers and reading. I brought lunch for the 5 kids so we settled down in the cafe (I bought a vanilla ice smoothie thing so they would not give me the hairy eyeball) for lunch. I love bookstores and have a hard time leaving without buying a book or two. This time I left with books for the teachers, a book for me and the new Martha's Cookies holiday magazine. On second thought, bookstores are dangerous!