French Cuisine and other parties...

Each year at the Hearth Show we are treated to some great treats, and some eye opening events by our suppliers. This year was no exception. The PFI lunch is always the first meeting/gathering. I was a little disappointed this year. It is the first time I walked out wondering why I had bothered all these years... The intros were fine, the usual report on how the manufacturers aren't working together was not a surprise. A half an hour selling the hotel that the next meeting is at-wtf! The industry group we belong to gave their usual negative reports on pellet. Then they wasted an inordinate amount of time talking about a wood stove changeout program that had absolutely nothing to do with biomass. The one manufacturer who did talk, said we didn't need to waste our time and energy on the consumer, we needed to give all of our money to lobbyists to promote commercial uses of pellet (to the crowd full of hearth retailers!), ending with some schmuck from the industry's magazine who ended his vomitous rendition of where pellet is with a quote and the meeting with the words of some senile old wood burner who said,"...pellet stoves aren't worth a shit!" Nice.
The NorthEast's Beer in the Bathtub was a great way to kick off the Show as always. The food was gone in a flash, but we caught up with our fellow dealers and had a good time all around. We even saw a few faces that had been absent last year.

We launched the show at the Harman booth. Very happy to see that very little if anything had changed. The one new face was the new operations manager VP. VP is his name, I didn't ask... They had a couple of new products which is more than I can say for most. There were a few European companies there with biomass product which was great to see. Also a fair number of pellet manufacturers had booths, and even a pellet mill company so that was good to see.
We did sneak out with one of our sales reps to go to the World's largest aquarium and out to lunch- a sushi place of course!





We spent the evening with our Canadian manufacturers. We went to the Canadian reception with them which made our little northeast party look like tea time. There was a rowdy crowd, hockey, and lots of food, and drink. Then we went to a real hockey game (my first ever) and had a great time. I was the only girl, but they didn't seem to mind too much. At eleven that night we hit the town to find food ending up at a great restaurant where most of the guys had lamb, or tenderloin. I had soup because it was way past my turn into a pumpkin hour. The final night we had so many options. One rep wanted to take us to a Brazilian place (did that in Vegas...), we had the pipe company's party, Lennox's big Coke party, and an invite to Harman's dinner. We opted for the last as we are always in for a treat when Karen picks a dining experience for us. So what do you get when you spend a weeks budget on your meal? (and another week's on your spouses?) A gastronomical delight.


I traded my oysters for Art's fois gras




Art and I had lamb for the main course. Glorias Seafood trio with champagne foam looked incredible as well!


The cheese course.

I had a grand marnier souffle for my dessert course.

Art had a chocolate tart for his dessert course.
The Harman crew du jour.

The meal ended with Roses for the ladies, and chocolates for the men.

World's Largest Aquarium

Huge Piranha tank! I could see their little needle like teeth! So Sharp!

Ray petting tank~

Japanese crabs that were over two feet, and can get up to four feet in size! A little creepy...

Three Belugas in a tank.

Cute little seadragons.

Me and the cichlid tank.

The tropical tanks were the first we looked at. Full of colorful fish and beautiful coral. Many unique fish and fabulous display tanks really made this section Pop!





They had the largest shark tank I have ever seen. With a water tunnel and many unique viewing areas as well as stadium like seating for a large screen view. The "glass" holding back the over 1.6 million gallons of water was a two foot thick polymer. The groupers were probably four to six feet long, sharks over ten feet, and even the rays were well over five or six feet!

Best hotel of the year.

Of all the hotel rooms we have stayed in over the last year this one was by far the best. The view was amazing. We stayed at the Westin Peachtree Center in Atlanta. A large cylindrical building just a couple of blocks from the convention center and Olympic Park. The floor to ceiling windows gave an impressive view, day and night, of the places we were visiting.

On your Mark...

Knowing that we had an early flight on Monday, coupled with our anniversary on Sunday we decided to spend the night in Boston before heading down to Atlanta. We spent the morning finalizing packing, last minute business, etc. We finally made our way down to Mass by 1:30 pm. An hour and a half behind, but pretty good. We stayed at the Embassy Suites at the airport. We usually just drive down to Fitchburg then take the hour and a half train ride in to Logan, but the hotel had a stay and park deal, that allowed us to park our car for a week for less than ten bucks a day if we stayed the night. We checked in to a great room with a beautiful view of a park and the airport/habor beyond. They divert all of the planes over the water so even though you are mere miles from the tarmac you cannot hear even one little prop.
We headed out toward the North End thinking we would have a nice lunch. We walked around looking for a casual lunch place for some good Italian food but found nothing. Not nothing, but nothing casual. We had gone to Silo's Steak House to celebrate our anniversary the night before and I didn't want to ruin it by going out for another decadent meal.
So we ended up going to Durgin Park, a dining hall restaurant "Established Before You Were Born" for a shared lunch before walking over to Boston Common for the afternoon. The weather has been so terrible here we really lucked out when it was in the upper 30's and sunny. We enjoyed walking around and people watching.
We ended the evening at Fanieul Hall and Quincy market for a late night snack before heading back to the hotel for a movie.
We woke to a wonderful surprise. Not only did ES have a complimentary breakfast, but it was more than coffee and a few stale doughnuts. I was treated to a freshly made omelet with my choice of toppings, and I made Art a Belgium waffle with strawberries on top. Fresh coffee, and juice topped off the meal. Then we headed down to Atlanta for the show.

To clean or not to clean...

Growing up I had a very tidy Mother to say the least. You had to be really quiet and sneaky if you wanted to sleep in but had to get up to go to the bathroom because if she heard you your bed would be made before you got back. If you left a glass on the coffee table and left the room it was forfeit. She would follow you around with a wash cloth if you were eating something sticky. The up side was that you always had clean clothes, and knew where to find your shoes. I remember a friend of mine taking a marble from one of her knick knacks and putting it in a potted plant. She found it within 24 hours and demanded to know how it got there!
I do not consider myself to be anywhere near this level of cleanliness or organization. However, there are times when she shines through in me. Like when I get the toothbrush out to clean the bathroom or I move everything on the countertop to get every little dust-bunny out of the corner and for some reason leaving the house on a trip.

I cannot leave a dirty house when we are leaving. I don't know why. I vacuuum all the pet fur from the floors, couches, and corners knowing full well that they will replenish it before I get home. Same with the slider window. I clean it knowing that Polar will have his nose pressed to it the whole time we are gone. I put all of their toys away, washed, folded, and put away all of our clothes(Lizzy helped of course!), and clean the bathrooms. Taking out the trash makes sense, but why did I have to organize the drawers in the bathroom? Well, now that I have mopped the floor, cleaned out the fridge, and bathed the cat (she was helping to clean the boiler) we can go...

Freudian slip??

from CNN:
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even though Mike Huckabee is still battling for the Republican presidential nomination despite long odds, he said Saturday he won't "overstay his welcome."
Then he did precisely that, lingering on the "Weekend Update" set of "Saturday Night Live" despite repeated cues to leave the stage.
The former Arkansas governor appeared in a "Weekend Update" segment in which he described his confusion over whether it is mathematically impossible for him to win the nomination over front-runner John McCain.
After anchorman Seth Meyers explained the numbers, Huckabee responded: "I'm not a math guy, I'm more of a miracle guy. So at this point I'm gonna focus on the miracle part."
However, he said: "Mike Huckabee does not overstay his welcome. When it's time for me to go, I'll know. And I'll exit out with class and grace."
Then he remained seated at the "Update" desk even though Meyers made it clear it was time for him to leave...

A day in town.

We spent the day at some friends here in town. On part of their property they have cleared trees and installed a rope tow. Art and our friend strapped on skate skis, and alternated zipping down the hill, drinking beer and talking. Their kids joined in the fun, too (uh- with the exception of the beer...of course) They are pretty good skiers. I guess having a ski hill in your backyard gets you a lot of practice :)


S and I stayed inside where it was toasty warm. She showed me the seeds she had started. Onions, leaks, and flowers at this point. I pass on that D who is using our greenhouse has started tomato and pepper seeds, but I have a slightly brown thumb so I buy the plants and plant them in June. I am planning a small garden this year. In the past three years we have had so much construction that it wasn't possible but I am hoping for tomatoes, beans, spinach, and onions this year.


We also talked about chickens. Her girls are getting a little older so she needs to freshen up her group. I think we are going to go in together as you need to buy a certain number of chicks. My vote was for the Aurocona chickens that lay the blue/green eggs. They are hardy chicks and I like those eggs better for some reason.
We ended off with a great meal and chocolate fondue. The kids liked the marshmallows the best. Anything dipped in chocolate is always a hit!