Okay . . . which one of you dorks took Yoda?
Category: Fun
-
Tidbits
It’s a snowy, cold day here in NYC. I barely made it back from a business trip to Rochester yesterday, so I’m taking advantage of the snow day and working from home this morning. Sometimes, there’s nothing better than working in your pajamas. While I’m waiting for the coffee to kick in, I thought I’d share a few posts that have caught my eye lately.
- Apparently, I’m a big nerd.
- Now that I no longer work in the area, it looks like some really good food has found its way to 6th Ave & 50th St.
- People other than yours truly have had challenges with cohabitation, a decision not to be taken lightly in NYC, where the ridiculous real estate situation often pushes otherwise intelligent people into making unwise choices
- If I ever am in a serious relationship again, I might consider getting a “taken” shirt, although I’m not sure how I feel about being viewed as chattel. Then again, let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?
- Looking for something to do on Valentine’s Day? New York Magazine has not one, but two bar crawls for singles. Not quite sure what makes these so singles-specific, however. As far as I’m concerned, bar crawls are an equal-opportunity sport for singles and couples alike. Someone’s got to help you home when you’re blitzed, right? It’s very handy if your boyfriend/husband/significant other can help you out. Otherwise, you may have to rely on the kindness of strangers . . . oy.
- If you have a snow day today, I just heard on NPR that the NYC parks department is setting up sledding stations in the parks in each borough. You don’t even need to own a sled — you can use theirs. Hooray!
- And if it’s cold enough (below freezing), you can pick up some free hot chocolate to warm yourself up.
-
The Ex-Files*
A certain ex of mine has been getting tons of press lately. He is one of a small group of national finalists in a competition to become one of Lego’s master builders — basically, someone who gets paid to build things with Lego all day. This has been one of his lifelong dreams — when we lived together, we had Lego all over our apartment, which I very often had to explain to visitors. But his persistence and enthusiasm has paid off. Please join me in wishing him best of luck as he heads to San Diego next week to compete against the other finalists. If you’re interested, you can view some of his Lego creations in his gallery.
It’s always hard to read about one’s exes, especially since the nationally syndicated article prominently mentions his current girlfriend. But I’m used to this — I had the lovely experience of reading about another ex’s wedding in the New York Times. I knew he was getting married, so this was no surprise to me, but I had to read, in excruciating detail, how he was “eager to propose” and exactly how he proposed to her. Made me want to barf. Sometimes I think it would be easiest if, once you stopped dating someone, he would just sort of vaporize, so you’d never have to hear about their current romantic relationships. But someday, I figure, they’ll have to read all about me and my boyfriend/husband. Granted, they will have to use bifocals or read it in the large print edition of the Times at the rate I’m going . . .oy.
* Not to be confused with the X-Files.
-
And Also in Today’s News
Guide to New York Jargon, from The Morning News. (Alright, so May 13, 2002 isn’t really “today’s news,” but who cares! Still just as relevant today.)
-
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun*
As you may recall from an earlier post, I went on a ski trip this weekend. Sadly, the weather didn’t cooperate, so there wasn’t as much skiing involved as we had originally hoped. Regardless, we had a great time on our girls’ weekend away.
For a long time, many of my closest friends were all male. Particularly in law school, the people I hung out with on a day-to-day basis were guys. Since then, I have met more and more smart, interesting, creative, and funny women, and many of them have become very good friends. I am learning to treasure “girls’ nights” and “girls’ weekends” more and more each day. Our ski weekend was no exception. Starting on the car ride up, the four of us talked about our two favorite things — boys and food. Since three out of the four of us are currently in dating mode, we swapped potential setup ideas, sort of like trading baseball cards — “oh yes, I saw that one, but you might like him better — let’s swap! What have you got in your pile?” Then on to food — what we should and shouldn’t be eating, craving sweets versus craving salty snacks — followed, logically, by exercise — yoga, tennis, hiking, biking. And this was all before we even got there.
Once we arrived, we were greeted by less-than-stellar accommodations. We all agreed (did I mention that we are extremely smart?) to upgrade to the nicer hotel a little further up the mountain. You get to a point in your life where money can, on a small scale at least, buy happiness. For a little extra, we had a much nicer room and much more space (also important for four women getting ready to go out to dazzle the boys at après-ski).
Despite the lack of snow, but since we were in skiing mode, I was craving fondue (which I’ll be getting this weekend, just as a side note — here’s the one I’m making). Couldn’t find it anywhere, so I modified my quest to French onion soup. Clearly what I really wanted was just melted cheese (I’m the salty-snack-chick mentioned above), so it definitely did the trick. Here’s the result of my quest.
Thanks, ladies, for a relaxing and fun-filled weekend! You can find the pictures here.* A tribute to Cyndi Lauper, and one of my all-time-favorite songs for karaoke.
-
We’ll Be Right Back After These Messages
Happy New Year, everyone! I ended 2003 and started 2004 with a bang, and got all dolled up for the big night in a 50’s retro pink satin dress with black polka dots and a crinoline. Why the hell not, right? I think it’s the first pink item of clothing I have owned since I was about three. Did a bunch of party-hopping, drank way too much champagne, and still feel rather hung over. I will admit, however, that lunch at Sammy’s Noodles and dinner at the Corner Bistro did help quite a bit. Nothin’ like a little grease to help a hangover. That, and a lot of Advil.
I’m off skiing for the weekend, so no new posts for the next few days. I know — I can almost feel the disappointment oozing through the internet. I am slowly realizing, though, that my readership is steadily increasing. I think we may be up to about 10! It helps to have a big family. See you next week!
-
We’ll Be Right Back After These Messages
Happy New Year, everyone! I ended 2003 and started 2004 with a bang, and got all dolled up for the big night in a 50’s retro pink satin dress with black polka dots and a crinoline. Why the hell not, right? I think it’s the first pink item of clothing I have owned since I was about three. Did a bunch of party-hopping, drank way too much champagne, and still feel rather hung over. I will admit, however, that lunch at Sammy’s Noodles and dinner at the Corner Bistro did help quite a bit. Nothin’ like a little grease to help a hangover. That, and a lot of Advil.
I’m off skiing for the weekend, so no new posts for the next few days. I know — I can almost feel the disappointment oozing through the internet. I am slowly realizing, though, that my readership is steadily increasing. I think we may be up to about 10! It helps to have a big family. See you next week!
-
She’s Crafty*
Well, I survived my birthday — what better way to celebrate than with a week off work!? This week will be spent seeing movies, socializing, and trying to get to some of those little projects that have fallen by the wayside during the past year. One such project is my knitting. In true urban hipster chick style, I started knitting what was supposed to be a scarf last year. but as you can see, it has become way too fat to be a scarf, and it’s made of very fat, squishy yarn, so even if I made it long enough to be a scarf, it would never fit around anyone’s neck.
I turned to the internet for help. I found three yarn stores in my neighborhood — Purl, in SoHo, Downtown Yarns, in the East Village, and Knit New York, a knitting store/coffee shop. I chose Downtown Yarns, since some of the reviews I had seen online spoke very highly of the place. I had already decided that I want to turn this thing into a purse, and I knew I would probably need supplies to do this. When I went to ask questions, one of the women there was somewhat nasty to me, saying that they don’t generally tend to help people who bring their own yarn and who don’t buy things there regularly. She also acted as if I were a complete and utter moron when I asked basic questions. I felt like saying, “look, lady, I haven’t made anything with yarn or a needle and thread since home ec in junior high — cut me some slack.” I got a little bit of guidance, two tapestry needles, and some big, fat needles with which to start my next scarf. It will be very narrow. Not sure I’ll be heading back to Downtown Yarns anytime soon. Luckily, I have a friend who knits who will not be so condescending when I ask moronic questions. Perhaps I should try another crafty hobby — suggestions are welcome!*A tribute to the Beastie Boys song of the same name.
-
She’s Crafty*
Well, I survived my birthday — what better way to celebrate than with a week off work!? This week will be spent seeing movies, socializing, and trying to get to some of those little projects that have fallen by the wayside during the past year. One such project is my knitting. In true urban hipster chick style, I started knitting what was supposed to be a scarf last year. but as you can see, it has become way too fat to be a scarf, and it’s made of very fat, squishy yarn, so even if I made it long enough to be a scarf, it would never fit around anyone’s neck.
I turned to the internet for help. I found three yarn stores in my neighborhood — Purl, in SoHo, Downtown Yarns, in the East Village, and Knit New York, a knitting store/coffee shop. I chose Downtown Yarns, since some of the reviews I had seen online spoke very highly of the place. I had already decided that I want to turn this thing into a purse, and I knew I would probably need supplies to do this. When I went to ask questions, one of the women there was somewhat nasty to me, saying that they don’t generally tend to help people who bring their own yarn and who don’t buy things there regularly. She also acted as if I were a complete and utter moron when I asked basic questions. I felt like saying, “look, lady, I haven’t made anything with yarn or a needle and thread since home ec in junior high — cut me some slack.” I got a little bit of guidance, two tapestry needles, and some big, fat needles with which to start my next scarf. It will be very narrow. Not sure I’ll be heading back to Downtown Yarns anytime soon. Luckily, I have a friend who knits who will not be so condescending when I ask moronic questions. Perhaps I should try another crafty hobby — suggestions are welcome!*A tribute to the Beastie Boys song of the same name.
-
Outed!
After Thanksgiving at my Mom’s, I traveled to Virginia to meet my Dad, stepmom, brother and sister at a farmhouse in the Shenandoah Valley. The farmhouse belongs to friends of the family from back in the day when we lived in Washington D.C. — they have a set of twins a month younger than my brother and sister, and a daughter a year older than the twins. We have kept in touch over the years, and decided to join them for a second Thanksgiving. We arrived late Friday night, after some flight delays and hideous weather, and proceeded to cook the first of the weekend feasts — the Maine contingent had brought lobsters (I brought NYC bagels for the next morning). When we finally got settled, we all sat down to our lobster dinner, with plenty of wine to go around. Somehow, during the course of the conversation, we started talking about the internet, discussing things like Friendster, and how it served as a way for people in our generation to meet new people (I am in the process of adding Stephanie, Josh, and Jon to my “friends” list). I mentioned, without really thinking, that I had just met someone through my weblog. “Your what?” Oops. So now they know — it’s really no big deal. There’s nothing here that’s particularly scandalous or embarrasing (at least I don’t think so). Yet.
So — to the family and friends of the family who are now reading my blog for the first time — Welcome! (Gulp.)
The weekend was centered around family (10 people in the two families), friends (who joined us for the feasts — I think there were 25-30 people for the second Thanksgiving), and, of course, food. One of the culinary highlights for the weekend, in my opinion, was Kim’s pumpkin cheesecake with bourbon whipped cream (from Cooks’ Illustrated). Kim subsituted crushed peanut butter cookies for the graham crackers in the crust. Yum. The other culinary highlight, or more accurately, fascination, for me was learning about something called “hotdish.” For those of you, like me, who were unfamiliar with the term “hotdish,” it seems to be a Midwestern (Minnesotan?) term for anything that you throw into a casserole and bake. A quick google search for hotdish led me to my favorite definition: Hotdish: 1) midwestern colloquialism for a hot entree that is similar to a French casserole except that it is often inedible; 2) the bastard offspring of canned Cream of Mushroom soup.
As those of you at the farm this weekend recall, I spent a great deal of time snapping photos. Here’s a quick preview, but you can find the rest of them here.
