Our Day with Joey in Newport

For those more interested in what we do when I try and forget I am sick....Which is often.....

I am sure a lot of you who have ever had serious illness's can relate to.... How do you balance your *real* life and enjoy as much of it as possible? How do you go about the day to day business of life, family, friends, jobs, etc?

I find it actually kind of funny. When I first found out how sick I was and my Dr's so *nicely* informed me that I might not make it out of the hospital alive and wasn't sure I would make it a few months....until now... Well, it kind of changes your perspective. Especially when you are supposed to be in the middle of your life and not near what you thought would be the end of it.

I decided to go on the 2 cruises I had booked at the end of the month I got out of the hospital....I took it slow but Joe and I decided it was time we spent some quiet time together, just the two of us, along with the rest of my company whose conference it was. So what if we got some Caribbean Sun and fresh air along the way!!!! Look here for a post on that. And here for a couple of pictures. If you click on the photos, you can see how yellow *jaundiced* I was.

Anyway, it is a year later and here are some photo's of our family at a doggy friendly shopping center where we took our bulldog and then at the Golden Truffle. We went to his apartment, viewed the lone jar of mayo in the fridge and one can of cream of mushroom soup in the cupboard (????) and went to Trader Joe's for some shopping, then went out to one of our favorite restaurants *The Golden Truffle*.

I worked for the Golden Truffle and Alan Greeley, Chef-Owner way back in the day when I was fresh out of Culinary School. (Didn't know THAT did you? lol) Before Joey was born. I will save my chef tales for another day.... But here is the story of The Golden Truffle and a couple of pics of dinner.

We had a beautiful 5 course meal that was specially prepared for us and were greeting and treated as VIP's as Alan had left instructions with his staff before he left that evening for a catering event. The tall thing is their *soup and sandwich* appetizer of a lovely vichyssoise with a zesty seafood, crunchy bite on top... I didn't take photos of the beautiful lobster appetizer, grilled scallop (which was HUGE) or the lovely little desert tray.... I should have...when will I learn?

Chef Owned, The Golden Truffle began as a caterer. The restaurant seems in appearance and atmosphere to be Bistro-esque, but those who have experienced the food realize that the Chef has taken a road-less traveled.

The Chef’s myriad influences, with France, Spain, the Caribbean and Asia leading the way, conspire to produce dishes that manage to combine simplicity and comfort with dazzling, complex flavors and colorful presentation.

The Golden Truffle achieves that perennial ambition of most restaurants and satisfies customers of all tastes, serving up adventures cuisine alongside nostalgic homage’s to home cooking.

The Golden Truffle is a favorite of restaurateurs, wine-makers and chefs. The abundant and interesting wine list offers many intriguing and unusual fairly priced wines.

The kitchen’s attention to texture allows each bite its own magical quality. The racy chef-proprietor has a bold approach to food so remarkable that all our senses simply merge with the spirit of the moment; a kind of stream of consciousness cooking that is like opening a storybook with the imagination of a child.

Here is a link to their menu and web-site. The Golden Truffle We had a very nice day together. It is so good to have our son so happy and moving on into adulthood. I hope I am around to see what his future holds.

All in all, a great day. Today is Tuesday and I am headed down to my LLU support group which I missed last week due to our appt's at Scripps so I am anxious to hear all the latest from my friends there. I have to get ready so I will leave you now. Tomorrow I am headed back to San Diego and Scripps for a mandatory transplant class which I am also looking forward to.