Southern California, April 2009

I've been back since Friday, and it's 40 degrees cooler here (and a lot less sunny). My vacation seems like it happened a long time ago. But I wanted to post a few pictures, so here are some highlights of the L.A. part of my trip.

Monday: Yukie and I hung out at Finn McCool's with Justin, Devin, and Bryan (the Mensa kids). We played trivia but were not smart enough to use our cell phones to search for the answers. For one round, we got a sheet of Grammy winners' photos and had to identify them. I was particularly upset about one that I missed: Christopher Cross. It should've been more familiar because I spent too much time last year watching his old videos on YouTube.

Wednesday: Julie and I had lunch at Marmalade Cafe in Sherman Oaks. (It's nice to be lunching ladies once in a while.) We also went to Beads of Paradise and she helped me pick out a strand of green rutilated quartz.

Later, I went mini golfing with Devin and Bryan at Sherman Oaks Castle Park. The weather was gorgeous and the competition fierce — well, as fierce as it gets in mini golf. None of us has been mini golfing in the last decade, but I hope to go again soon. It's fun like ping pong.

Thursday: Todd, Yukie, Cousin Kay, and I had dinner at Gyu-Kaku, where we grilled steak, shrimp, salmon, and veggies. I also ate a lot of crunchy rice. A lot.

Okay. It was a great trip, but it feels like I'm living in the past by blogging about it several days later. And, I've already moved on to being shocked at the surprise Papa left me yesterday.... more on that on Wednesday. Now it's time to sign off (it's almost time for the One Shining Moment montage I look forward to every year). See you Wednesday.

Cool Jewels in Indonesia

I'm so excited that my book appeared on a Mensa Indonesia blog, I don't even mind the "good luck in finding teen girls with the time to devote to such crafts." At least they liked the book!

The smartini, part two

Alina, mixmaster at The Social, is a genius at inventing cocktails. Here's yesterday's drink, an update of the first smartini. This one's a bit lighter. (It looks like Gatorade but tastes way better!)

This recipe makes a pitcher, so share with friends and fellow intellectuals. Also, try serving it on the rocks.

Alina's Smartini
4 oz. Zen green tea liqueur
4 oz. Midori
3 oz. Zygo
1 cup ginseng-infused tea
1 cup lemonade or lemon juice

Alina used fresh lemon juice for this batch and added three juniper berries to cut the tartness. Brilliant!

The smartini

Here's the recipe for the smartini, courtesy of Kevin Sloan at The Social. I think it might be slightly different from what we had at the first GenX SIG, so I'll have another one at our next Mensa happy hour, Thursday, June 5, to compare. Let me know if you put your own twist on the cocktail.

Smartini
2 oz. Zen green tea liqueur
1 oz. ginseng-infused tea
1 oz. Midori
2 oz. citron vodka
1 oz. bar sour

Shake with ice, strain, and serve.

Smartinis and shopping

Last night Addie and I hosted a GenX happy hour at the Social. We thought said happy hour would be a good kickoff event to attract other local members of Mensa. Smart and fun don't have to be mutually exclusive.

Kevin, the owner of the Social, created a signature smartini for us (in the photo, there's one in front of Cathy). The cocktail has green tea, Cointreau, Zygo, and sour, plus a few other things I can't remember — a fresh, summery drink for an overcast May day. Kevin's going to email me the recipe, so non-local Mensans (and even non-Mensans, natch) can enjoy it, too.

Continuing with the tropical theme, we also enjoyed food from the Social's new spring menu: jerk chicken with green beans, cilantro rice, and fried plantains, tuna and beef carpaccio, and sea scallops with curry-mango sauce. I especially loved my mini creme brulee; the small-dessert idea is a great one for those of us who can't quite forego dessert.

Speaking of great ideas, Steve, a friend from preschool, has an interesting blog post about navigating the grocery store. He makes his shopping lists according to the store's layout. Brilliant! Of course, he's a guy who buys healthy food for his family, as you can tell from the items at the perimeter of the box. Fig Newmans, anyone? My drawing would have stuff mostly on the inside. (Alas, baking supplies, chips, and pasta are usually on the inner shelves.) I suspect that Steve is not prone to impulse buys, either.

I hope your day is filled with good ideas. Happy Friday!

I want my MTV and my Mensa

On Friday, Yukie and I attended the Mensa RG (regional gathering) in Wauwatosa. We were there to drum up interest in a GenX SIG (special interest group). For Mensa purposes, that includes anyone born between 1961 and 1981. Alas, we did not hand out many flyers to the mostly over-50 crowd, but we did meet some friendly people and eat chicken gyros and baklava at the Greek-themed dinner.

Yukie and I joined Mensa a couple of months ago. She belongs to the L.A. chapter, where the GenX SIG hosts fun happy hours with a good group of thirtysomethings. (I am really bummed I couldn't go to Mensa karaoke.) Wisconsin Mensa has a relatively small membership — about 700 in the state, with about half in Milwaukee — so I expect a challenge in getting a group together.

That said, if you live in Milwaukee and are curious about Mensa, come have a smartini with Addie and me at the Social this Thursday, May 1.

If you're hesitant about joining, I get that. Sure, some intelligent people have esoteric interests. But who doesn't? And, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be around like-minded people. Being part of a group can be whatever you want it to be — we make our own experience. So why not start with a drink?

Drinks with GLAAM

My first vacation event: going to a Gen. X happy hour at Crown City Brewery in Pasadena, hosted by the L.A. Mensa chapter. The mostly thirtysomething group was welcoming — we laughed a lot with Bryan, who appreciates his rough-and-tumble job in corporate finance (his words, not mine), and Sam, an ER doc with a penchant for puns. One of the guys brought his home-brewed cider (made with apple cider, raisins, and brown sugar). Even though it was a little intimidating to go to drinks with people we didn't know, we had a good time and now Yukie's thinking about going to the regional gathering (the "RG," in Mensa-speak). I'm hoping to get some Milwaukee friends to join. Yup, I really want to do a game night. And create a signature drink. I think 2008 will be a year of trying new things, so this is a fine start.