Queenkv’s Brainpickings

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Here’s Daisy checking out the dog park in Davis. It’s so big! She was a little shy with the other dogs

Getting ready for New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks in Old Sacramento. Then I go to work. This is my Friday. I’m happy I get to spend the last hours of 2007 and the first hour of 2008 with my hubby.

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The concept of a White Christmas is overrated. We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather for the holiday. I figured Napa would be a nice place to spend Christmas Eve. We drove around the valley and checked out a few spots still open for wine tasting. These are the wine barrels at Grgich.

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Several winery spots closed early for the holiday. We got lucky with Grgich and we saw that business was bumping on Christmas Eve. Folks at Grgich Hills say they’re known for organic and biodynamic wines. It’s suppose to be better for the environment and the vines. I suppose that translates to the flavor of their vintages.

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Our wine tasting was nice — some bottles about average. I also hated the sweet, syrupy flavor of the Rose. But I think that’s true with most Roses on my palate. However, our server decided to make this tasting a free…so we love Grgich!

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We also stopped by the Alpha Omega Winery. It’s been around for a year and they’re still building a bunch of stuff. Our server was fun and witty. He tried to pedal another Rose to me and I still didn’t dig the sweet, syrupy notes. Still, we also tasted a lot of potential in the other vintages offered by this new winery.

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Our last stop was at Peju. This is our second trip to this Napa winery. We had a blast at this place! We met a super-nice couple from Dallas who fell in love with Peju wine. In fact, they asked our server for the most expensive wine in the house. He brought out a Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 bottle — ringing in ’round $150. The couple bought it and insisted we help them drink it. It was like drinking liquid heaven. We finished up that bottle and opened up another Cab, 2002 vintage. Supposedly, that’s Peju’s best year. It was another tasty vintage.

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Here’s our beautiful tree, all decked out for the holidays! Right now, we’re cooking our Christmas dinner: Ham, pineapples, chorizo, pasta and good times. Then I head off to work. Sigh. My vampire schedule is painful but I’m getting used to it. I end up sleeping by day and then I spend time with my Vacaville family at night. As long as I have my black curtains in the bedroom, I manage to trick my body into thinking it’s nighttime. Still, it’s a pleasure to spend Christmas in beautiful, sunny California.

Merry Christmas!

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This is a cellar at Peju in Napa. We met a Texas couple who bought us a $100 wine bottle. A beautiful Xmas moment

I lucked out this year and I got Christmas Eve and Day off from work.
Woot!
Since I’m still on my vampire schedule, I woke before the crack of dawn. I squeezed in some tv news watching, e-mail and headlines.

Here’s one for the holidays: NPR : Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Address on YouTube

This Christmas will be another landmark for the 81-year-old monarch. Over the weekend, she launched her own video site on YouTube. It’s called the Royal Channel. Queen Elizabeth will use it to broadcast her Christmas message far beyond the borders of the realm.

I’m tickled by the idea of Britain’s monarch using youtube, but I’m sad they’re a little bashful when it comes to sharing the content. (there’s no place to embed the video on other web sites…)

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I’m so tickled by our new tree! Can’t wait to start decorating it. Hoping the puppy doesn’t push it down.

I called my dad about my first experience using the live chopper for a breaking news segment this morning. It was a crazy time. Thankfully, folks in the booth didn’t let me crash the segment (not the chopper…the actually show). My dad said I sounded happy. I am happy. I’m still training but I’m thrilled with everything I’ve gotten my hands on so far.

So far so good.

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My dad and mom checked out the outside of my new job a few weeks ago. We’re grateful they came up from So Cal to help us unpack our insane number of boxes. This is our first dinner inside our new house. We picked-up duck, sesame chicken, green beans and beef and chicken noodle soup from the Golden Palace.

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People from the California Wine Bar and work all recommended Tapa the World in Midtown. We had a fantastic spread of little Spanish dishes like these olives and paella. The light green ones had a buttery aftertaste. Yum!

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We also tried the grilled sardines. We tasted this incredible fresh fish meat after pulling it away from the bony spine. I also loved how it tasted with lime and chunky salt pieces. These sardines went nicely with the buttery olives.

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It took 45 minutes to prep the seafood paella and it was worth the wait. Our waiter warned us against filling up on tapas and bread….saying this dish will fill us up in no time. I fell in love with the saffron flavored rice. It was a yummy treasure hunt picking out the fresh shellfish, seafood and smoky chorizo pieces from the steaming hot pan.

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We also checked out a beer meet-up after church. We met at the Sacramento Brewing Company and they recommended the Novemberfest. They said it was actually a late brew made for Octoberfest…by a month or so. It had a nice smooth, hoppy-tinged flavor. I was also fascinated by their tales of home brewing and beer fests.

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During my weekend, we tried out the Thai Bistro in Davis. This was after a particularly grueling hatha flow yoga class. I’m still sore in my abs, shoulders and quads. Good times (and good exercise…totally needed after eating way too much good food). This is the young coconut meat soup with chicken. The coconut meat reminded me of chomping on those delicate bites back in Ixtapa. I also liked dipping in spoonfuls of rice into the soup. The broth reminded me of my favorite Japanese cafe next to Reuters in London. I thought both flavors worked wonderfully together.

I know this is only the tip of the iceberg for my eating adventures in this area. So far so good.

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I’m jiggy with Latin chanting and Communion rituals. I feel like I belong when I participate in a Catholic mass - no matter the state, language or country. So, Sunday mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was another initiation for me into the city of Sacramento.

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This week’s homily drew from the more theatrical Christian traditions. It sounded like our priest’s voice got louder and louder in a passionate attempt to reach the regulars plus visitors from outside of the state and country.

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After communion, I thanked the G-man for helping me make it through my first week of work. I’m the new kid on the block with a few impressive (hoity) degrees under my belt. My new co-workers have been so nice and eager to show me everything I need to know to get-up to speed with this news operation.

A few hours before, I had my headset on (every producer gets her own headset). I was boothing my first hour of the morning news. I told Mark I’m sure Hov would be down with me working on the Sabbath since it’s part of my newbie status.

At the Arden Mall, originally uploaded by queenkv.

This week, I had the chance to sit in on our Noon broadcast from the Arden Mall. Mall visitors can watch the anchors, meteorologists and guests do their thing on the other side of the glass. The field producer told me when the studio’s not being used for shows, anyone can pony up to the anchor desk and record their own newscast. I’d love to do that with my nephews and nieces….maybe even Daisy!

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I tagged along on a court story as part of my training. The reporter had a live report at noon. It was nice to be out of the office and watching the action in the field.

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Here’s our tower. I have a beautiful walk to food spots for my lunch hour. Sunny skies and fall colors. My work days are packed with new faces and training. So far so good