Whiskey, Chinese, and Eno River

Where do I start? I'm feeling guilty that I haven't sat down to write a blog since Wednesday. Most of the time I am on the computer is spent hunting and applying for jobs. I'm not going to say I'm discouraged yet, but the process is wearing on me. Luckily I have Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooter series to keep my mind off of reality. Nothing like a series of romance novels featuring Navy SEALs to keep you entertained. So let's see, what was I planning on sharing with my loyal followers this evening? Well how about a brief recap of what we've been up to?

Friday night after Fuqua Friday (happy hour hosted by Fuqua at Fuqua's Fox Center), Cameron and I had date night. We shared a wonderful dinner at Thai Cafe and then headed downtown to Whiskey Bar. Dad, you will love this place! It reminded us of the old hotel bars in New York City with wood paneled walls, an old fashioned drink menu, lush velvet couches and chairs, and of course a huge selection of whiskey, bourbon and scotch. We headed home early since Cameron had a long week of classes and was looking at a weekend full of school work.

Saturday we hung around the house, Cameron studying and me domesticating. Since I'm not working yet, I take my domestic duties very seriously. Cleaning isn't so much fun, but cooking is a blast and I enjoy spending time with my cookbooks and online scouting recipes and planning for the week ahead. I need to get better about taking pictures and writing down recipes so that I can share them with you. I know you're curious, so I'll share this weeks menu with you as it unfolds.

Speaking of menus, Saturday night we attended an "Around the World" dinner which was organized by the MBAA at Fuqua. Students volunteered to team up and host dinners featuring foods from their respective countries. Shirley Lu, Yuchen, and Sa Adam cooked and hosted a Chinese dinner. The food was amazing and it was really nice to get to know new people in our Fuqua family. The dessert was the most memorable item we ate and not because of the taste, although it was delectable, but because of our hosts' thoughtfulness. Tāngyuán, a glutinous rice ball with sweet filling, is the traditional dessert served for the Chinese New Year (and/or winter solstice). Our hosts explained to us that family is very important in China and for holidays they make every effort to be together as a complete family. Great feasts are prepared and this dessert is served as a symbol of the unity and love that a family shares.  It was an honor for them to share their food and traditions with us and a memory that Cameron and I will take with us long after our two years here are up. 

We finished our weekend with a beautiful hike in the Eno River State Park this afternoon. The trails all run along the Eno River about 15 miles from where we live.  For some reason I didn't manage to get any pictures of the river, but I'm happy to have an excuse to go back and hike some more trails at Eno River.  We did take a few pictures for you to enjoy. 

Well that's it for now.  As always, thank you for reading my blog.