Asiatic Lillies

Here is a picture of Asiatic Lillies. They are my favorite red flower that I've seen so far - I think I would like these for the bouquet for my wedding. They are probably expensive, but we can mix them with filler flowers so there can just be like 1 or 2 in the actual bouquet.

Fort Worth Restaurant Review

Here are my reviews of the restaurants Tony and/or I have tried in Fort Worth:

P.F. Chang's
Cuisine: Chinese food
Atmosphere: nice, like Abuelo's but Asian
Unique feature: Asian condiment bar featuring 6 sauces to flavor your food
Location: downtown Fort Worth, on 3rd St & Throckmorton

Appetizer: lettuce wraps
(spicy chicken wrapped in lettuce)
leftovers: no

Tony's entree: Kung Pao Chicken & Brown Rice
(chicken spiced with red chilis & peanuts)
leftovers: yes

Lynn's entree: Kung Pao Chicken & White Rice
(same)
leftovers: yes

Dessert: Great Wall of Chocolate Cake
(big piece of chocolate cake with berries on the side)
leftovers: yes

Tony: "I liked the spicy mustard sauce that was part of the condiment bar and the lettuce wraps. I was glad to find an entre that contained NO vegetables. Overall it was a good experience."

Lynn: "I enjoyed the condiment bar, but I went a little crazy with the sweet chili sauce and ran out of diet coke. My mouth was on fire. I think it was just like Pei Wei - I don't recommend the chocolate cake. It's large, but not life-changing. I love the hip, down-town neighborhood called 'Sundance Square.'"









Morton's Steakhouse
Cuisine: Steak & other meats
Atmosphere: VERY FANCY, like the restaurants in Las Vegas
Unique feature: all menu items (raw meats & vegetables) are presented to guests by the waiter - even the lobster, which was alive and moving around on the table
Location: downtown Dallas, near West End on Commerce St about 100 ft from where Kennedy was shot

Appetizer: shrimp cocktail
(giant shrimp the size of your foot)
leftovers: no

Tony's entree: Cajun 12 oz Ribeye with Macaroni & Cheese
(medium rare)
leftovers: yes

Lynn's entree: Filet Mignon 8 oz with Potatoe Lyonnaise
(well done - potatoes sauted with onions & garlic)
leftovers: yes

Dessert: Molten Dark Chocolate Cake
(small chocolate cake with hot fudge on the inside and a scoop of ice cream)
leftovers: no

Tony: "MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm. Those were COLOSSAL sized shrimp. This is definitely my favorite restaurant in the world."

Lynn: "This restaurant was ridiculous!!! Way too nice for me!!! But the food was amazing...the steak didn't have any fat on it and it was very tender. Tony likes to take me to fancy places - I am so spoiled. I ordered a pineapple cocktail that had raspberry foam on top - prob would ask for no foam next time."















Hoff Brau
Cuisine: Country food & steak
Atmosphere: Very Casual, like Logan's Roadhouse but kind of German themed
Unique feature: the waiter flirted with Toni
Location: on the Denton HWY (377) a block south of 820 - about 5 min from where I live

Appetizer: fried pickles
(dill pickles slices deep fried & dipped in Ranch)
leftovers: no

Tony's entree: Chicken Fried Steak & Mashed Potatoes with a House Salad with Ranch
(self-explanatory)
leftovers: no

Lynn's entree: Chicken Fried Chicken & Mashed Potatoes with a House Salad with Ranch
(same, but chicken not beef)
leftovers: no, it wasn't good

Toni's entree: 12 oz Ribeye & Baked Potato with a House Salad with Vinagrette
(medium)
leftovers: yes

John's entree: 12 oz Ribeye & Mashed Potatoes with a House Salad with Ranch
(medium rare)
leftovers: no

Dessert: Turtle Cheesecake
(free because it was Toni's birthday - everyone took a bite)
leftovers: no

Tony: "I LOVE FRIED PICKLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Lynn: "The food wasn't that good. I hated the NASTY GROSS DISGUSTING fried pickles. But it was really fun talking to Toni & John. They were really fun. But I would probably never go to this place again."















Saltgrass

Cuisine: Texas food
Atmosphere: Very casual, also like Logan's Roadhouse
Unique feature: we got our own pitchers of water & tea for the table
Location: on North 35 about a block away from where I live

Appetizer: Fried Onion Blossom with Cactus Sauce
(skinny fried onions with spicy dressing)
leftovers: no

Tony's entree: Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes
(self-explanatory)
leftovers: yes

Lynn's entree: Chicken Fried Steak with Mashed Potatoes
(self-explanatory)
leftovers: yes

Dessert: none
leftovers: N/A

Tony: "When I worked at United, I came to Dallas for special Cashier Trainer Training. My manager and I ate at Saltgrass everyday and had chicken fried steaks. It was amazing. Unfortunately, this time as soon as I started eating the waitress took my food and boxed it up. So I ate it 20 min later when we got home. The waitress rushed us."

Lynn: "Good restaurant. VERY rich food - the chicken fried steak tasted amazing, but it was too rich for my stomach. I felt queasy afterwards. I was disappointed that there weren't peanuts there. If I went again, I would not get a meal and just get Key Lime Pie or something. Or I wouldn't get something fried."













Boston's Gourmet Pizza
Cuisine: Italian food
Atmosphere: Casual, like Chili's
Unique feature: Many many many pizzas to order!! Regular ones like pepperoni and strange ones like "Greek Venison Pizza"
Location: North Fort Worth, on Western Center Blvd

Appetizer: Ravioli Bites
(spicy little ravioli's)
leftovers: no

Tony's entree: Meat Lasagna
(regular lasagna, extra meaty)
leftovers: no

Lynn's entree: Philly Cheesesteak & fries
(Roast Beef sandwich with onions, peppers, & cheese)
leftovers: no

Dessert: none
leftovers: N/A

Tony: "Can we have more ravioli? I like fried ravioli."

Lynn: "If I were doing it over, I wouldn't get a sandwich. I would get pizza since that is the specialty. The sandwich wasn't that good....but I think I would like other stuff there. David would probably like this place."






Button's
Cuisine: Southern Food, like Louisiana/Alabama/Georgia food, not Texas food
Atmosphere: very casual, wear sweat pants casual
Unique feature: I went here with work people for an engineer's birthday party!!! We called in our orders and they had it ready for us!!!
Location: couple blocks south of the office, on 30 & Hulen St

Appetizer: none

Lynn's entree: Grilled Chicken Breast w/Potato Salad
Roy the engineer's entree: Fried Catfish & Collard Greens
KD the receptionist's entree: Lunch Steak & Gumbo
Nick the engineer's entree: Philly Cheesesteak & Fries
Sam the engineer's entree: Turkey Club & French Fries
Robert the intern's entree: Philly Cheesesteak & Gumbo
Suellen the finance analyst's entree: Turkey Club & Tomato Soup
Allen the engineer's entree: Fried Catfish & Double Corn Cakes
Lisa the contractor's entree: Vegetarian sandwich & Chicken & Rice Soup

Lynn: "I am intimidated by foods like: grits, collard greens, gumbo, etc."

Allen: "You've never had grits?" - No
"Have you ever had cream of wheat?" - No
"It's like Malt-o-meal." - I've never had that either
"So what do they eat for breakfast in Lubbock?" - Not this

Robert: "That wasn't a real Philly Cheesesteak. It had lettuce and tomatoes on it. Once I went to a concert in Philadelphia with my brother and we got sandwiches after. It was sooooooooo much better."

Los Molcajetes
Cuisine: Mexican food
Atmosphere: very casual, like Rosa's
Unique Feature: AMAZING QUACAMOLE - BIG bowls of amazing quacamole
Location: Beach Street, next to Albertsons

Appetizer: chips, hot sauce, & quacamole

Tony's entree: Fajita Enchiladas
(cheese enchiladas topped with fajita beef & chicken)
leftovers: yes

Lynn's entree: Cheese Enchiladas
(just regular cheese enchiladas)
leftovers: no

Dessert: none

Tony: "The hot sauce tasted like an onion. Hot sauce is the most important part of Mexican food. Because of the hot sauce, this was my least favorite dining experience."

Lynn: "I'm mad at Tony because he will never go here again just because of the hot sauce. Very cheap, amazing quacamole. Very picky, ridiculous man."

Movies!

Tony and I have rented lots of movies since he has been here. Here is a list of all the movies we have watched:

1. Gran Torino
2. The International
3. Defiance
4. He's Just Not That Into You
5. Last Chance Harvey
6. Meet Bill
7. Casino Royale & Quantum of Solace
8. Halloween by Rob Zombie

My favorite: Gran Torino
Tony's favorite: Meet Bill

My least favorite: Halloween
Tony's least favorite: Last Chance Harvey

Zoo of Death

Here are pictures of our favorite animals from the Fort Worth Zoo of Death

LOTS of flamingoes - this is one of many flamingo ponds

Baby giraffe's - these are my favorite. There was only one adult giraffe, so we think they got divorced

Elephants - one male elephant was inappropriate harassing all the female elephants. It was funny.

Zebra sisters:

Me at the zoo outside the monkey room:

There's the zoo! We also saw: penguins, lions, tigers, birds, & gazelles - We were disappointed in the lack of bears. Only one Asian black bear who was napping.

Holly's Wedding

Here are just a few pictures from my weekend in Santa Fe for Holly's Wedding -

Here are Haley & Mallory at Glorieta - we are outside waiting for Holly to arrive so she can give us instructions to start decorating.

Here is a picture of Holly at the Prayer Garden - this is where she walked up with her dad. That's a little waterfall with daisies planted all around. Holly wore white all weekend to get into the bridal mood.

Here's a picture of the three tallest girls (me, Haley, & Marie) putting up garland all over the gazebo where the ceremony was performend.

The rehearsal dinner was held here at the Santa Fe mansion - we ate on the porch. What a beautiful view!!

Here is a picture of Haley & Bretton at the rehearsal inside the gazebo - cute couple.

Wedding itinerary:

Friday afternoon - arrive and meet bridesmaids for lunch

Friday afternoon - go with the bridesmaids for pedicures

Friday night - attend the barbeque for out of town guests

Saturday morning - attend bridesmaids breakfast at the Lumley's house

Saturday afternoon - decorate the wedding site, gazebo, and reception site

Saturday evening - go to the Lumley's to get ready for rehearsal dinner

Saturday night - go to rehearsal - play a CD of music while people walk down the aisle

Saturday night - rehearsal dinner - Georgia themed with Georgia bbq and Georgia peach centerpieces

Sunday morning - wake up and pick up the stuff to set up at the wedding

Sunday morning - get ready with other House Party girls (Tara & Lacey)

Sunday afternoon - set up communion, Unity Sand, punch, program table, flower petals

Wedding ceremony- 3 PM welcome guests for the ceremony - one issue: we told people "the aisle with ribbons on the chairs are reserved for family." BUT the chairs were reserved for specific family members, and everyone who was somewhat related sat there. So Bretton had to re-seat a few people.

Reception - sent Lacey to go welcome people at the reception and take gifts while Tara, Bretton, and I cleaned up the wedding site

During the reception: had dinner, poured Apple Cider for a toast, cut the cake, passed out the bubbles, cleaned up

After party - there was a get-together for Haley and Bretton after the wedding at the Lumley's house - we tried to celebrate but we were too tired from the days activities!!

Here is a picture of the house party girls at the guest book table outside:

Computer is back!!!

Yay!!! I got a call from Best Buy that my computer is well again!!!

They replaced the whole Motherboard for free - SO GLAD it's still under warranty!!!

Yay!!! So now it's working great!!!!!

Back to blogging!

People Really Like Milk

Favorite things about today
* Doing real financial analysis at work
* Eating at Chili's after work by myself in the bar
* Not talking to Robert
* Getting good marks from my boss while the other intern got in trouble
* Talking to Holly about wedding plans
* Listening to the Song "People Really Like Milk" on the way home

Lease Favorite things about today
* Waking up late (6:30 AM)
* Meeting with a PM who was cranky
* Eating lunch at my desk - I got restless
* Accidentally getting on the south 820 instead of north 820 on the way home
* Getting a head ache after sitting at my desk too long

Favorite Quotes about Financing & Money

Originality exists in every individual
because each of us differs from the others
We are all primay numbers
divisble only by ourselves.
- Jean Guitton



Money and success don't change people:
they merely amplify what is already there.
-Will Smith

A wise man should have money in his head,
but not in his heart.
- Jonathan Swift

Best Day of Internship So Far

Weather: 75 degrees, rainy

Today:

1. Slept in until 6 AM because I showered and ironed my pants the night before

2. Got to work early and had fruit for breakfast

3. Got my project done at 11:59! (It was due at noon)

4. Met with my boss (Mike) and his boss (also named Mike) to work on my project - we discussed whether or not parents should allow kids to read vampire romance novels like Twilight. We also discussed how evil Hollywood celebrities are trying to teach the next generation that God doesn't exist.

5. Didn't speak to Robert all day

6. Re-worked my project a couple times

7. Over heard other workers talking about how they used my project!!!!

8. Met the real boss of the whole Fort Worth office (Carl)

9. Read an organizational structure manual

10. Drove home & listened to news

11. Watched the Fort Worth storm from the hotel


Robert's Fashion Tip of the Day: business casual = no more neck ties!!

Getting Back to FW

Temerature: 81 degrees right now (89 degrees when I got back at 6ish)

Here is what I did when I got back to FW:

1. Call home & Tony

2. Unpack, hang up clothes, iron pants

3. Clean up: wipe down everything, put up stuff, organize desk stuff, wash the dishes

4. Work out

5. Shower, shave legs, brush my hair for 30 minutes, put lotion all over my body

6. Watch TV: "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" (A reality show about a rich family)

7. Text Tony, pack purse for tomorrow

8. Lay in bed & blog

First Day of Work Outfit

1. Freshly ironed black pants

2. Khaki short sleeved sweater

3. Black sweater

4. Black patent leather flats

Morning Routine

This is what I do in the morning before work :

5:30 AM - get up and curse the morning, go to the bathroom

5:32 AM- put on clothes and go get coffee and a bagel with cream cheese from the lobby

5:35 AM - shower

6:00 AM- blow dry hair, put on make up, fix hair

6:30 AM - iron pants & eat breakfast

6:45 AM - put clothes on, deoderant, jewelry, etc

6: 55 AM - make a sandwich for lunch & pack up my purse

7:00 AM - listen to the radio to see if there are any wrecks on 35 or 820 yet

7:05 AM - leave for work

7:40 AM - arrive at work

7:45 AM - walk around and say hi to people at work, put lunch in the fridge, blow my nose, etc

7:50 AM - sit down and talk to Robert while he ignores me, check my to-do list, organize my desk, etc.

7:55 AM - start working on stuff

Day 2 of Internship

1. Wasted time talking with office person named Cody - he likes to ride bikes with his girlfriend, but he recently hurt his wrist so he has been taking it easy

2. Downloaded training programs onto my computer

3. Said "Hi" to Robert

4. Was informed by Mike (not the boss) that we are late for a meeting

5. Go to the meeting, which is training for all CAM's (Control Account Managers) - our boss Mike wanted us to sit in on it

6. Was introduces to CAM's, Project Managers, Software Engineers, and Program Engineers (all white males over age 50)

5. Listened to training on how to make budgets and schedules using different computer programs

6. Listen to a heated argument about who REALLY controls the schedule
Other arguments: why do we need approval for changes to the schedule? Why does corporate keep changing the schedules? Why can't we be more like Lockheed Martin? Why can't engineers control the world? Why does corporate always come down here and tell me how to do my job even though I'm the master of the universe?

7. Ate a chicken sandwich that I brought for lunch with an orange and 2 diet cokes

8. Listened to training on variances in budgets and actual numbers, critical manufacturing paths, and date constraints

9. Listened to more pointless arguments about how to categorize schedules and who is really the master of the schedule

10. Ate a cookie provided by the trainers

11. Set up direct deposit for my checks and recorded the hours I worked

Robert's fashion tip of the day: plaid pants with a vertical striped shirt and a horizontal striped tie

First Day

Here is what I did my first day on the job:

1. Had security orientation with Jessica
- Got a security badge to let me in the doors
- Got a security code to let me in the doors
- Instructions: if a stranger asks me questions about BAE I have to report it, if a stranger calls me at work and asks questions I have to report it
- I am not allowed to look at classified documents
- classified documents are not allowed to leave the building, be thrown away
- no cameras are allowed in the building

2. Terry the IT guy set up my computer (more on Terry later)

3. Met with the boss - Mike & talked about the business and stuff he wants us to do
- Mike wants Robert (other intern) to make graphs and wants me to make a calendar of birthdays and vacation time (so challenging)

4. Read manual on labor reporting policies

5. Ate horrible meat loaf lunch from the basement cafeteria - then when to the basement convenient store to buy a coke. I made friends with the sweet Asian woman who works there. She told me she would give me a good recipe for chicken salad, because we both love it. She just got out of the hospital. She went to the hospital because she stopped taking vitamins (or that's what she claimed). She has worked in the basement for 25 years and likes to go see movies in the afternoon because they are cheaper.

6. Read a manual on Ethics & Earned Value Management

7. Got forms signed by a different guy named Mike and overnighted them to HR in New Hampshire

8. Set up my office phone with voice mail

9. Visited with Mark (Amy's dad) - he recommended another manual to read called Operational Framework

10. Printed Operational Framework manual and began reading

Robert's Fastion tip of the Day: corduroy pants

Just Kidding - Friday's

Just kidding about Friday's....when I work on Friday I work until 4:30 PM...not half a day. Bummer.

List of Days Off

Here are the Fridays that I have off:
*May 29th
*June 12th
*June 26th
*July 3rd
*July 10th
*July 24th
*August 7th

Also, I have this Monday May 25th off for Memorial Day!

All other Fridays I just work half a day.

Exploring Beach Street

Wake up time: 7:15 AM

Weather: 64 degrees, raining all morning

Shopping day - Amy encouraged me to explore Beach Street today. Beach Street is the exit I took on the loop to get to my Extended Stay. From the loop, I journeyed north on Beach Street to explore. Amy said this would be a good place to start because this area has everything I need - and it's not too crazy as far as "city driving" goes. There wasn't any traffic this morning. Most of the restaurants are Thai or Mexican food.

Places I visited on Beach Street:

*Albertson's - for groceries

*Taco Cabana - for a breakfast taco & diet coke

Other places to visit on Beach Street:

*Zia's Pizza

*Subway

*Kroger grocery store

*Mercado Juarez - Mexican food

*Pancho's - Mexican food

*Various coffee shops

*Wal-Mart

*Blockbuster Video

*Debbie's Bagels & Breakfast

Extended Stay Deluxe Part 2 - More Pictures

Here are some additional pictures of my hotel/apartment.


Here is the "fitness center"



Here is the laundry room. I didn't think to bring a roll of quarters.

Close up picture of my room from the outside - I can park right outside my room.

Outdoor pictures of Extended Stay - looks pretty nice.

The loop just outside of extended stay.

Arrival

Upon arriving, Fort Worth looked just like Lubbock! The humidity was about the same as this morning in Lubbock and it was about 85 degrees. I made in exactly 5 hours - And the loop wasn't busy at all! Little did I know....

After checking in and moving in all my stuff from the car, I was famished. I didn't eat lunch on the road because I wanted to get here early. So I ventured out into the city around 4 PM to find some dinner. I ended up stuck in traffic for 45 minutes!!! AHH!!! In that time, I only traveled about 2 blocks from my hotel & through 1 stop light!!! Cities have so much traffic! As the evening progresses, I look out my window at the loop and see cars backed up for miles! So now I know, I will not travel anywhere between 3 pm & 8 pm during the week. But that will be fine since I will be working.

After eating some not very good Chinese food, I unpacked everything! The only thing I haven't unpacked are some clothes. I'm going to wait on hangers for those. I'll probably go to
bed really early tonight since I didn't really sleep last night. Plus then I will be able to get up early and battle the evil city traffic that will likely war against my soul while I am living here.

The places I'm staying is around a group of other long-term stay places (like Marriot Residence Inn). Behind our apartment/hotel buildings are a group of office buildings called Fossil Creek Business Plaza. Seems like a really quite nice neighborhood - the office buildings are small....not skyscapers.

Here are a few photos of the place I am staying!!!

The Bedroom: glad I brought my own comforter. The bed is semi-comfortable.

The living room: cozy

Desk: already messy and full of stuff - Also, I have a really good sized closet and chest of drawers - so unpacking was easy. I just have to pick up some hangers when I go to the store tomorrow.

Kitchen: larger than my one at home - haha! Dishes provided, that was a joke. There are 2 plates, 3 plastic glasses, and 2 forks. So I will get some paper stuff when I go to the store.


Kitchen: other side - full size fridge and little eating area.