For Foodies: Asia in a Box @Palo Alto

Ever crave for fine authentic Asian street food? Hmm... "fine" and "street" usually don't go hand-in-hand but someone's pulled it off well.


Check out the brand new Asian Box that just opened in the heart of Silicon Valley at the Town & Country mall in Palo Alto. Hailing from the Slanted Door in SF, Executive Chef Grace Nguyen has whipped up a great menu that uses sustainably grown and raised ingredients. The system is quite simple: just choose from a variety of items on the menu to construct your own "Box" to go.  

Here's how it works:
1) Choose your starter from a few types of rice, salad, or noodle.
2) Pick your fave main dish from pork, shrimp, tofu,etc.
3) Pick your add-ons (veggies have a choice of wok steamed or wok spiced), add condiment toppers and choose your sauce.


And voilà, you have your own new Box!  
To see the full menu go here.

Address: 855 El Camino Real, #21, Palo Alto, CA (Inside Town & Country Mall)
Open: M-Sat. 11-7, Sun. 11-5


Follow them on @asianbox

Mingle!

My friends are so social, I luv em'. Last night I was introduced to a fun global "social" site where folks can register to various groups of interest and attend social meetups.

meetup.com is the name (duh!) and they've got tons of interest groups all over the world. I used to use socialdomain.com for local events, but this has some basic profiles, etc. and is kinda like Y! Groups with physical meetup events. I checked the event calendars of various groups and can say that a lot of them are quite active with many attendees. You can search for groups in your area based on keywords, or click on folks that are members of other groups to see what they've joined.

I joined the Palo Alto Wine Meetup and the Third Thursday: Social Media in Marketing & PR. Like I said, they're global so there are many groups in Tokyo, Europe, etc There's even a Vampire group (what the heck??) Go mingle!

Women Who Rock!

Pretty girl Anne Hathaway's (actress in Devil wears Prada) 29 yr. old financier beau made it on the front page of Wall Street Journal today. Only catch is, he's been charged with funding a lavish lifestyle by using $$$ from a fund that was supposed to redevelop surplus Catholic Church properties. Shame on you, Raffaello Follieri!!! We're really happy there is news that cute Anne has split and that your bail was set at $21 MM. Money can be better spent and here's one example.

I only knew a handful of people when I moved to the bay area and wanted more local gal pals. Where can I find them...? I learned about the Jr. League volunteer organization and there they were! The most intelligent, caring and warm hearted women who rock! Thanks to the experiences I've had and the great friends I've made, I can't endorse volunteering and social contribution enough. Hey I'm no socialite and can't throw $$$$$ fund raisers but there are many ways to show you care by contributing time and effort. Last year I was on a committee that teams up with the Bring-me-a-book Foundation and we taught lower income family parents how important it is to read to your child. I loved the efforts and learned alot so I am continuing on this same committee again this year.

The underlying criteria to be a member is that you're a positive-minded person and you care. Oh, and we can't forget... you have to be female ...sorry guys! We donate time, effort and money to various causes, just cuz because we can and it feels so good :-) Well, the League (more than a hundred years old) is soliciting new members for this year (the year starts in Aug.) If you're interested and want to make a difference, go click the link and apply! For our mid-Peninsula & Palo Alto org., we have several fun Open Houses from June-Aug. (6/25, 7/12, 8/14) for potential new members. Join us or donate and feel like Angelia Joilie!

Aside from our regular activities, in private we shop, dine, smile and hug.
Yes, it's that kind of quality organization full of women who rock!!!

http://www.thejuniorleague.org/paloalto/npo.jsp?pg=home