That Time I Cruised on the Carnival Inspiration...

I got to travel for business to Los Angeles which put me in a perfect position to go on a West Coast cruise. I wanted to use as little vacation time as possible so I picked a 3-day cruise on the Carnival Inspiration which has just one port stop in the Mexican Riviera: Ensenada.

We stayed in the nearby Residence Inn because I had Marriott points to get a free room, but had that not been the case, I hands-down would have stayed on the Queen Mary which has been turned into a hotel and is permanently docked right next to Carnival's cruise terminal...

I Mentioned the Bisque...

This is an awesome recipe for shrimp bisque which I tried and loved. This is saying a lot because I am excessively picky. Enjoy!

Shrimp Bisque:

Ingredients:
10-14 oz. raw shrimp (can be frozen)
7 scallions
1 onion
1 carrot
1/2 c. butter
4 c. vegetable stock
4 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
4 black peppercorns
2 1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
< 8oz. tomato paste
1/2 c. sherry
1/2 c. heavy cream
A pinch nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Directions...

That Time I Was on TV...

This was actually not the first time I was on TV, but it is the most recent. A couple weeks ago, when I was on the West Coast, I decided to take advantage of being in Los Angeles and decided to get tickets to see Conan's live taping of his show. 

But he wasn't recording shows when I was there (I missed it by two weeks!). So I got tickets to see James Cordon instead (the "Late Late Show").

I had attended the live taping of Conan's show back when he was in NYC a couple of times and had a good time so I knew it was a good way to spend an afternoon - plus it's free (except for transportation and/or parking)...

That Time I Watched Designated Survivor...

I had no idea what this show was about or that it even existed until I saw it on Netflix. I decided to watch it because I like Kiefer Sutherland. Basically what happened was that the campaign worked:

The world was tired of not watching Jack Bauer kick major ass, and ABC brought him back in Designated Survivor and made him president...