hi, i'm jenn

here are some photos from birthday celebrations, first with the girlies at Gio’s and the next day with lots of friends at brunch.

i’m fortunate to know some really amazing and selfless people, and am proud to say i’m related to a few of them…
after visiting ethiopia, my cousin, justin, started a project to build a school in a remote villages he visited called Gendaweha Gabriel. I’m really in awe of what he’s accomplished so far, and can’t wait to see how the love spreads.

Check out my little cuz and his amazing work at http://spreadtheloveproject.com.

This week I learned several new things:

1. A cardiac arrest is not the same thing as a heart attack.
2. The food at Mt. Sinai is excellent (note: this was second hand information as I did not taste the food myself)
3. If you have a pacemaker you can or cannot stand in front of the microwave (note: that one depends on whether you ask mom or dad).

While I do love learning, I think I’ll spend this week reading a text book or something. Less exciting, sure, but learning none-the-less.

well, that’s not entirely true. but this weekend my parents celebrated their 30 year anniversary and went to C5 @ the crystal. Mom’s friend, marla, is thinking of going, so mom sent her the following review. i think mom should consider writing professionally.

This is the link I found to the menu at C5 I thought this was a sampling, but in fact it is the complete menu. As I told you, it is
very short with not much selection. Not all the items on our menu were exactly the same, but the menu was similar

Joel had nothing in C1 I had a beet salad with goat cheese to be polite (I hate beets)

Neither of us had anything in C2 Bread was delicious

InC3 (main) I had the black cod which was very good. It was topped with lobster hollandaise that was so rich that Marla you would shoot yourself before youwould eat it. Joel had the strip loin that was so miniscule (as were all portions) that I would not even taste it for fear of deprving him.

I ordered dessert (desperate ) that was good. Lemon beignets. Mmmm Deep fried lemon filled tiny donuts. Again Marla… not for you. Actually not for me either. But I was ravenous, and devoured them Joel said it is because I have not had a donut in years but they were not unlike Tim Hortons lemon filled Can’t say for sure

Service was mediocre. Twice got up to pour my own San Pelligrino. Ended the nite with a take out pizza at midnite at the
Intercontinental cause we were starving…

This is my review I do not want to stop you from an experience you may enjoy. Now that you have the facts, it is up to you.. You may like it.

If only my parents were to take my suggestion and go to Foxley they would have had a much happier meal. I guess that’s what keeps me cool.

My parents get home later today, so this is the last email from Mom. I guess I’ll have to get my own life to blog about now..

Too busy in Shanghai to even stop and email. The city is incredible with buildings the likes of which we don’t see at home. And at night each building is illuminated with dancing, multicolored lights making the vista even more spectacular
Highlights included
– a four hour tour of what was the Jewish ghetto with in depth historical perspective of the history by our Israeli guide
_ a visit to the Jade temple where we witnessed a monk emptying the dollars from the collection box into a bag next to an armed security guard
-The Peoples Park where parents gather on Sunday morning with homemade signs detailing the attributes of their kids (pictures included) in an attempt to find them a match. The Chinese version of Jdate
-tea at a tradition tea house and dumplings at a local eatery where the line up for take out was 1 1/2 hours long. We ate in and yes I had 2
_ A chef in a casual restaurant who agreed to take instruction from me and put the broccoli into the chicken stir fry…as strange as he thought it was
_continued attempts for locals to speak English to us…Last nite on the way to dinner we visited a department store and at 8 at nite were greeted by each salesperson with “:Hello. Good morning” Remember this was 8 at nie
_a trip on the bullet train which travels at a speed of 437 km per hour and is incredibly smooth
_ bizarre signage. Yesterdays favorite noted that guests to the park were forbidden to  urinate or shit!  Honest

Lots more to share and a million pictures.  See you soon. Can’t wait

Today on Facebook I saw a friend’s Relationship Status switch to “Engaged”. Now, this is something we’re all waiting for so I immediately got excited and phoned his Mom to get the story. Her reaction was  “What are you talking about? He’s not engaged”

Several minutes later it was uncovered that this was the youngest brother’s idea of a practical joke.

Siblings are scary.

as you’ve realized, my parents are in China. so I’ve taken over their house.
there’s no food in the fridge, no annex fun in walking distance, nor are my super awesome parents around to talk to. so, you ask, why am i here? that’s easy! dad got a new TV.
yes, we’ve entered the 21st century now! an HDTV and PVR to boot! and life with a PVR is GREAT.
i mean, when someone called during Beauty and Geek, I was able to pause the prom scene and take the call. And now I get to watch the rest — commercial free! it’s like prime time, any time! ALL the time in fact! i get home from work and have an episode of 90210 to watch. if i ever get cable (and that’s a big if), i’m definitely going to get a PVR. or maybe i should move back home.

(and by the way, i’m not actually allowed to use the TV because my dad got mad i didn’t take him seriously during the “how to use the new TV” lesson. but who can blame me when his first instruction was “wash your hands before touching the remote”. i can only post this because my dad is more technically challenged than me and still doesn’t know what a blog is. hm, maybe the TC is genetic…)