Sunday, November 1, 2009

U2 360°, Il Fornaio and Halloween Friends

What a week! It started off with a bang. Mad came home on Saturday evening (after working during the day) with big news ... somehow, don't ask me how, but somehow she was able to wrangle up two tickets to the U2 360° concert on Sunday night. This was their final stop on the US leg of their tour. The concert was 100% sold out with an expected turn out of 100,000 concert goers (at the legendary Rose Bowl)! I was completely blown away! Never saw it coming!

We immediately went online and came up with a game plan - where to eat, where to park, how to zig and zag through traffic and the endless waves of people. Much to our shock, pretty much all of our plans panned out. We managed to have a shockingly delicious LC dinner at an Italian restaurant called Il Fornaio - Mad had a grilled seafood platter. I had a sliced steak and sauteed garlic spinach. We shared a plate of tomatoes w/basil and burrata cheese. To drink - Mad had a spicy Bloody Mary and I had a glass of red wine. It couldn't have been tastier and the service was ultra-speedy, just what we needed.

The concert kicked keester. It was a sensory jackpot. The Black Eyed Peas were the opening act. We do have some photos but I'll have to post those down the line. They're on Mad's computer and she's working at the moment - that's right, on Sunday. :-(

Apart from that, we had a lovely Halloween night. We had the good fortune of sharing the evening with some friends (two couples). There was plenty of LC friendly food available (spinach dip, marinated chicken breast, burrata cheese topped with basil and prosciutto, grilled asparagus, grilled zucchini w/onions, red wine and coffee). Lots of lively conversation and some much need laughs.

A lot of this weeks columns on Healthy Fellow focused on the ill effects of stress and how to overcome them. I suspect that's no coincidence. I often struggle with managing stress in a productive way. I recently found a supplement that seems to be helping me with that. So, if you any of you need some support in that regard you might want to check out my review of Natural Factors' Serenity Formula.

The plan for tonight is to make some stuffed tomato pizza and have it ready for when Mad arrives. Hopefully we'll have a chance to watch a football game as well.

Weight-wise, I'm staying relatively stable. I've been cooking a little more than usual - especially side dishes such as creamed spinach and mashed Parmesan cauliflower. Mad's been sticking to her program very well and she's been seeing some progress. I'm extremely proud of her. There's at a lot of temptation in her line of work - dinners, parties, premieres, work lunches, etc. Since making her commitment to an LC lifestyle, she hasn't veered from her path even once. I think that's pretty awesome. :-)

I send you all my best. I'm excited to see all the cool things that are happening in your lives - Oct's b-day, Angie and Low Carber's continued weight loss, Nancy's anti-diabetes crusade, Anne's soul searching, Sadekat's new business venture, Vadim's determination, Fit's 100 day challenge, Jimmy's 3 year anniversary and much more ... I see it all and it makes me smile. Thank you for that.

12 comments:

SheZug said...

Great to read ya JP. I am going to have to check into burrata cheese, I've never heard of it.

Low Carber said...

heya

It is also good to hear that you are doing well! Even better to hear that Mad seems to be recovvered.

I look forward to the day that I can say my weight is relatively stable!!

Hang in there!

PS So jealous about the U2 concert. They were in Japan a while back and I really wanted to go but couldn't swing it...

Harry/JP said...

Burrata is awesome. They might sell it at Whole Foods. Around here, the only place we've found really good burrata is at ritzy market called Bristol Farms - they're a chain of stores.

Burrata and prosciutto is such a winning combo.

I wish you guys so much good luck in your new restaurant. It's so cool that you're going for it! I'm really excited for you!

Harry/JP said...

Thanks, LC. :-) Mad is recovering pretty well, I do believe. Either that or she's just too busy to notice anything different!

I'm positive that you'll reach your goal and maintain once there. Your determination and strength is so plain to see. You will make it! No doubt in my mind!

The concert was really something special. I think you can catch that very show on YouTube, if I'm not mistaken. They were filming for broadcast on YouTube on the night we were there. We've been to every U2 tour since we've met - this being our 3rd one. I guess it'll be a tradition and a happy one at that!

Here it is! The full concert! See if you can spot us! :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4QLFVrZ-fw

~Oct said...

How awesome! Mad is a wonder woman to have gotten you tickets to U2's last concert of the tour. I'm glad that you both had a great time and it was very cool to read about it!

Low Carb Daily said...

Wow! I'm so proud of Mad for not veering off, even once. That is incredible!!

Sounds like you had a fun and fabulous night at the concert... with a very lovely feast!

Thanks for the shout-out.. Made me grin!

I've really been loving your articles over at Healthy Fellow. I find them so interesting. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know... which is awesome.

Harry/JP said...

Thanks, Oct! She is indeed a wonder woman in more ways than one!

Not sure if you're a fan but if so ... you can see the very same concert by following this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4QLFVrZ-fw

Harry/JP said...

Thanks a lot, Angie! I really appreciate your comments and support on HF. It really feels great to get some positive feedback. :-)

I'm working on a couple of (hopefully) interesting topics as we speak. I'm also trying to snag an interview with a pretty high profile doc in the coming days as well. Fingers crossed!

Vadim said...

Glad you guysn had fun! U 2 is serious music indeed!

Harry/JP said...

Thanks, Vadim. It was a blast!

We're long time U2 fans. It's great to have things like this in common. :-)

I hope you're doing better today. I will check in with you later this evening!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time at the concert! Bloody Marys are my fave drink, thats what I would have ordered too!

Well I am having a really stressful time right now. Job loss, illnesses etc. Trying to be positive though and give people the benefit of the doubt. I probably should go read your healthy blogs because of all my stress currently.

Harry/JP said...

I am officially sending over plenty o' positive thoughts in your general direction, Nancy! :-)

I really hope that the coming days prove to be less stressful and more rewarding.

On this end, we're both dancing as fast as we can. Busy, busy, busy. There's plenty of stress but we try to incorporate some of what I write about into our own lives as well. It seems to help. ;-)