Sweet Blog O'Mine

Category: Life

  • Weekend Wrapup

    Started off the weekend with a farewell party for Teddi, who’s moving off to Seattle for 6 months.  As much as we all want Teddi to be happy, we selfishly want her to hate Seattle so that she’ll come back to NYC.  I’m going to put her in touch with Geek and his family, who are living out there and can keep her company and show her around.  After that I went to see Neko Case with Doug.  I hadn’t seen her before and neither of the people who had promised me a CD came through, but despite that, I enjoyed the show (and still would love a CD).  Following the show, we went to Cafe Grey for a drink and a snack.  We got extravagant and ordered a foie gras crostini, which literally took 45 minutes to come out after we had placed our order.  The bartender comped it, which was generous, and really the best way to handle the ridiculous delay.  After that, off to Otto for a nightcap with Roopa.

    Saturday I spent some time purging papers and whatnot (the continuation of a process of purging paper, clothes, and other crap living in the back of my closets), had a great workout, and then headed to Rob’s for raclette (a.k.a. melted cheese-fest).  After a major cheese overdose, I slept like a baby.  Woke up Sunday to draft a post on Gothamist (only to be trashed by our lovely commenters, who seem to have nothing better to do), then read the paper, threw in a couple of loads of laundry and headed to the gym.  Met up with Jenn D. to catch up a bit, then met up with Augie, Lauren, Rob, Sara, and the little one (wearing the hat I knit for him), for dinner at Morandi.  Can’t say I loved it — the things I liked the most (fried artichokes, meatballs, gorgonzola crostini) I can get at Gusto (where Chef Jody Williams formerly worked), and it was more expensive than we expected for what we got.  I took pictures with my fancy new camera, but haven’t loaded up the software on my computer yet, so haven’t managed to get them off the camera yet.  Finished up the night watching the Oscars with Rob and Sara before heading off to bed.

  • I Fought the Couch

    . . . and the couch won.  I had all kinds of plans set for last night — Eliza’s post-Valentine’s party, then late drinks with some of the girls at the new wine bar above Punch.  But I was exhausted, so wanted to go home first, both to change out of my work clothes and to relax on the couch, just for a bit.  But the damn thing sucked me in and knocked me out.  So, here I am, well-rested and ready to hit the gym.  Sometimes I just need to slow down, and when I don’t remember to do that on my own, fortunately my body and my couch usually remember for me.

  • I Heart Swine

    Candyheart1

    What says Valentine’s Day more than The Big PIg Gig at Daisy May’s BBQ?  Not much, really.  Have a happy V-Day y’all — don’t forget to spread the love.

    "Sweet Heart" Necco Conversation Heart sculpture by Nathan Sawaya, who made me some of the best valentines (and flowers) I ever received, just for the record.

  • One for the Skeptic

    As Valentine’s Day approaches, I’m often asked about my dating life.  Do I have plans on V-Day this year?  Yes.  I always do, regardless of whether they’re with romantic interests or friends.  This year is no exception — we’ve got a great plan in the works (more on that later).  But back to dating.  I’ve always been a skeptic about online dating, as it has never really amounted to much for me.  I’ve seen it work for others around me, but for me, real life introductions seem to be better.  And some may argue that I’m too picky when it comes to suitors.  As you know, I disagree, but with online dating in particular, I’d argue that you should be picky — very picky.  Especially when people like this guy are part of the dating pool in which I’m wading.  Which brings us back to one of the main reasons why I prefer meeting people in person — fewer psychos.

  • Undercover(s)

    I’m sure it’s just the arctic temperatures and the sound of the wind whipping around the weird wind tunnel that exists outside my window, but I am finding it really hard to get out of bed these days, no matter what time I go to bed.  My bed is just so damn cozy, especially right now, when I’ve got my super high thread-count sheets on it (note to self: buy more of those).  And even now that I’m out and showered, the thought of pulling my laptop back into bed and working from home is extraordinarily appealing.  Sigh. 

  • Weekend Wrapup

    Still dealing with the number crunching, but managed to fit in some fun this weekend.  Friday night I had sushi with Gabe at Le Miu, a spot in the East Village.  Some of the chefs have Nobu pedigrees, and although they are trying to do some inventive things with the cooked dishes, I think we both enjoyed the sushi the most out of everything we tried.  I got a good night’s sleep on Friday and woke up Saturday for a great workout.  The rest of the day I did some work and cooked a carrot and potato soup out of this month’s CSA bounty.  At 5:30 I met up with members of my Gothamist Food team, including the three new writers who I hadn’t yet met in person — it was great meeting them all and getting a chance to chat over drinks.  Afterwards, I moved on to meet John B. for dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar — that place absolutely rocks.  It even got the John B. plate-licking seal of approval.  If you don’t know about it, check out this NY Mag piece on David Chang, and then hurry over there for the three terrine sandwich, the brussels sprouts, and the pork buns.  I’m going to try to gather a group for the whole pork butt that he does — who’s in?  Dinner was followed by drinks at various and sundry bars in the East Village, where we were joined by Matt, the Lovely Miss Katie, Meg, Jenn and others. 

    Today I met up with a gaggle of food writers/bloggers for dim sum:  Augie, David from Thrillist, Alaina and Ed from Serious Eats, Jen from Snack, Andrew from Gothamist, and Jennifer and Chris from Savory NY.  It was great fun, and I plan to organize a similar gathering in the not-too-distant future.  After some quality couch time, I cooked up some more CSA stuff — I roasted a half-chicken and more of the veggies.  I’ll have plenty of food for lunch this week!  And now, maybe a bit of work, but then early to bed — gotta hit the gym before work.

  • Pro Bono Happy Fun Time!

    Otherwise known as reporting season.  I’m up to my elbows in statistics, but did find time last night to hit the Smoke Joint in Ft. Greene.  I need to go back for some further research, but I really enjoyed both the beef ribs and the wings.  Okay, back to work.

  • Questions of the Day

    1) How is it possible that Grey’s Anatomy can make me flat out bawl uncontrollably, even when there’s no PMS involved?
    2) Who left a white, square ceramic plate with my doorman this morning?

    Any insight out there in cyber-ville is most welcome.

  • Law School Does Not Make You Smart

    Case in point:  I decided that a good time to take a swimming class is on Tuesday nights from January to March, as this involves a long walk to the subway with wet hair at 10 pm in 20 degree weather.  It will end just in time for it to get warm out.

  • Ah . . . A Long Weekend

    But filled with fun stuff, as usual!  Friday night I met up with the folks who handle the PR for the Modern Mexican restaurants and had some drinks and snacks at Pampano, then headed out to Brooklyn for dinner and catching up nwith the lovely Miss Katie, Kim, and Rachel.  Saturday morning I headed to Chinatown Brasserie to check out the fabled dim sum with my aunt Ellen, who was visiting from DC and my cousin Sara, who had recently returned from her Christmas break from college.  We then headed down to Soho for some shopping.  After some modest success, I returned home to relax for a while before hitting the gym.  Saturday night Roopa and I went to Ditch Plains for dinner, where we sat at the bar and were entertained by Rob, the bartender.  After dinner we headed to Otto for a glass of wine to finish off the evening.

    Ahh . . .

    Sunday I went to the gym first thing before making some brunch and then attempting to visit the Brooklyn Museum to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit with Rodez.  I say "attempting" because the line was ridiculous — after waiting for about 20 minutes, they made an announcement that the wait would be well over an hour.  We gave up and headed to the Botanical Garden instead.  Certainly not the best weather for it, but fun nonetheless.  I then met up with Jenn, Carolyn, and some others for salsa lessons on Smith Street — this woman gives lessons out of her father’s barber shop — it was a blast!  I managed to pick it up fairly quickly despite the fact that it was my first time.  When we were done shaking our groove thangs we met up with a crew on an Atlantic Avenue bar crawl.  We were so hungry from salsa-ing that we skipped some of the bars I really wanted to visit because I haven’t yet been (Floyd and Last Exit), but it was probably a good decision.  We met up with the crew at the Brazen Head.  At this point Jon had joined us — the Brazen Head was really loud (I swear, I’m turning into an old woman when it comes to noise level in bars — my voice just doesn’t carry in a loud bar, and it’s frustrating), so I was very relieved when we went to our next stop, the Brooklyn Inn.  It’s a gorgeous old bar on the corner of Hoyt and Bergen — Jon and I liked it so much there (and could actually hear each other talk), so we stayed even after the bar crawl team left for the next stop.  We ultimately met up with them for a bit of music at Hank’s to finish up the evening.

    Luckily, it was a three-day weekend for me.  I was determined to make a vat of chili for the week, so I did some grocery shopping, and ran into Augie, Lauren and Rob on the way home.  They were headed to Pearl Oyster Bar, so I joined them for some lunch (how could I resist, really?).  I had a very domestic afternoon — tidying up, making chili (I used a bit more chipotle than the recipe calls for), and doing laundry.  I wound up the weekend at a dinner party at my friend Matt’s, which was quite fun and delicious — Silvia, a business colleague of his, was visiting from Italy, so she cooked us an Italian feast of panzanella, risotto, and a roasted pork loin with dried fruit.  It was a great meal, but I got to bed a little later than I had planned. 

    On a side note, the Food Network show that contains footage of the 2005 Vendy Awards (for which I was a judge) finally aired last night.  Some of my family saw it, but I’m DVR’ing it tonight, so I haven’t seen it yet.  Be sure to tune in!