I have extended my stay in Phoenix by two whole weeks and I still haven't purchased my return flight yet. Does the word "bum" come to mind? Probably, but I truly don't care. Yes I have been a wee bit unproductive, but in my field of work-I can sort of get away with it. I have plans already for school in March and I have been submitting for breakdowns that I see. It may seem like I am justifying myself...because I shamelessly am!
Secondly, NYC IS FREAKING COLD. All my friends at first were saying things like "Oh I love the snow!" "I loooove our four seasons", but after 3 blizzards and a horrific rain/snow shower...their tunes have changed. Mwahahaha. I knew it. I called it out. Was I heard? Noooo. I'd rather be warm and happy back home in good ol' AZ, than miserable and not really working in NYC.
Thirdly, I am preparing for surgery. I know...I know, but don't fret. I'll be fine. It's really a simple procedure. I am having nose surgery. NO! Not plastic surgery...nose surgery. I have an extremely deviated septum and for the past two years have been wheezing and struggling to breathe through my nose. Now that I have insurance, I'm taking advantage of it. Plus, if I do it here rather than in NY, I can beckon my parents to do things for me i.e. "Baba (cough cough) can I please have chai?" or "Rahi (groan and moan), can I have a bowl of fresh fruit?" and they'll totally do it. Horrible or brilliant? I reckon brilliant. Not to mention John. John will do back flips for me if I tell him it'd make my nose hurt a bit less. He's such a good laddy.
So that's the dealio as to why I've postponed my flight back to the north pole.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
There's No Place Like Home: Ch.4
I don’t know about your family, but in my family we go all out with decorating our house for the holidays. When we were children for Halloween, I remember decorating our house entirely in “cobwebs” and sprinkled spiders, laying coffins in the front yard, jack ’o’ lanterns would run along the lawn, devices that would have ghosts or goblins pop out and of course the music sound tracking the whole spectacle.
Christmas was just the same. Thousands of bulbs would illuminate our house, Santa would be sleighing across our roof with the reindeer, mobile deer would be in the lawn, peppermint candy canes would seam the drive way, fake snow and icicles would blanket the roof and ground and yet again music would sound track the spectacle. The inside of the house wasn’t much different. A decadent tree would make its presence known in the living room, wreaths would decorate every door, a mistle toe was oddly hung in the house (I mean really…who were we going to kiss?) and random Santa and elves ornaments would be placed around the house.
This year, since we are adults now, things were toned down a bit. The front yard was now maturely decorated with poinsettia plants and a poinsettia and tinsel trim around the door with a proper and decadent wreath in the center. The inside of the house had again poinsettias descending down the stairs and a beautiful wreath like trim spun spiraling down the hand rail of the stairwell. Our tree, tall and proud, was decorated with the most beautiful ornaments I have seen. Delicate, intricate, regal they all were ranging from hand crafted glass blown ornaments to objects of drums, rustic leaves and pine cones and tinsel. Underneath the tree was a silk lay in to which synthetic presents and further ornaments decorated the real plethora of beautifully wrapped presents.
It was a real sight. This all may sound frou frou to you, but it’s like that image you always see in movies where one walks into the room and the room is illuminated, beautiful and bursting with presents. Yeah, it was like that. However, we: the family + John decorated the house and tree that way and it was a lot of fun. We ate a delicious Persian dinner, drank wine, decorated and then of course since we are our family, goofed around by taking silly pictures. It just wouldn’t be a typical family night if we didn’t.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
There's No Place Like Home: Ch.3
I like nature. I like trees and animals and bugs and rivers and hiking and biking and driving through scenic views, but I've never actually have officially camped. John on the other hand is a bonafide cowboy/mountaineer buccaneer. He's camped over several hundred times, car camping and back packing alike. Obviously, I was interested to go camping sometime in my life and why not with a pro? However, with John-if you throw a comment out and it's up his alley, he will be all over it like whip cream on ice cream. For months he was doing research to buy better gear and we decided that my first camping experience will be a backpacking one. I mean, why not? Go big or go home, right?
However, I've said this time and time again...sports (yes camping can be considered a sport...or a hobby) are a rich man's territory. Especially if you get the good stuff too. I don't know if you know how camping goes, but with car camping it obviously doesn't matter how much stuff weighs because it all goes in the trunk and then you pull to a designated camping area, unload and set up. However, backpacking is a different world. Weight matters because it is on your person. Every pound counts and people even get crazy to account for ounces. John got that crazy naturally. All the camping gear he has was not really backpacking quality. It would be too heavy for us to efficiently pack and obviously I can't carry weight. So John went all out. He bought a brand new tent, brand new sleeping bags, a stove, a cooker, a mattress pad, dehydrated food, utensils...I mean everything you can think of and everything was EXTREMELY light weight. Light weight like I could lift the whole tent, a 6 person tent, with my pinky. A three day camping excursion fit into two brand spanking new back packs and it was extremely lightweight and comfortable to transport around. Referring back to how expensive this sport is...John easily spent $3k on this 3 day trip. Of course it isn't only for 3 days...I'm stuck doing this for the rest of my life, but dang...$3k is expensivo! However, the stuff is amazing and it's compact and light weight and our sleeping bags are designed to go in 0° temperature and still be warm and toasty.
Anyway, so we get all the gear and we are gearing up to go. We were supposed to leave around 7am, which is still late by a backpackers' standards, but we didn't end up leaving until like 11am...so we were REALLY bad.
These could be the reason as to why we were delayed....
We load up our doggy Sasha whom immediately regretted her eagerness of hopping in the truck because she knew she had a lot of work ahead of her. We drive to a beautiful area close to West Clear Creek and park. We grab our back packs and strap up. Along our way we saw a big horn sheep...which is crazy rare to see. Even more crazy was that it was running towards us, which gave us the impression that there was either a hunter up yonder the mountain or some predator that spooked it. Either way, we enjoyed the rare sight.
We start walking into the wilderness for about 45 minutes in high grass and a rustic pathway. Eventually the pathway gives way from dirt, pebbles and grass to beautiful large red rocks that we must scale, hug and hop over.
We cross rocks like this for another 30-45 minutes before we decide to cross the river to get to the read wilderness. As you can see, Sasha is already pooped. Poor thing, she doesn't get much exercise apparently.
When we approach the river, we scout around to try to find a proper and safe area to cross, but for the most part there wasn't one spot that wasn't the best place to cross. So we buccaneer it. I am lucky to be able to cross by hopping from rock to rock. John "Daniel Boone'ed" it by crossing on a broken log.
You KNOW you can't do that!
However, Sasha was being a downright chicken. Coaxing nor taunting made her budge her butt from the bank. So John was forced to go back and carry her chicken butt THROUGH the freezing cold winter water.
That's just sad. A dog that afraid of water is just not a dog.
We walk along the other side of the river scouting a good area to set up camp and eventually came to a nice clearing where we decided to set up camp. The thing about backpacking is that you skimp weight by leaving behind tools such as a hammer...so we used a rock to hammer the pegs into the ground while setting up the tent.
Then we set up the inside
Then we ate :P
The thing about camping is that obviously you are outside so there is no electricity. When it gets dark, you are stuck with the darkness and all you have is conversation. So we sat and chatted, which is really easy for us to do anyway. However, after an hour or so we were so tired from our hike and carrying the weight (regardless of how light it is, it still is extra weight you are carrying around) and we went to bed early.
The next day, surprisingly we slept in. I figured we'd be awake at like 7am, but no! we didn't wake up until 11am! I don't know about you, but I am a coffee addict. I need my coffee in the morning or it just isn't a good morning-for me or for you. So I make "breakfast" and we eat.
Fact: Did you know instant coffee was invented by NASA? As my cousin says, "If it's good enough for astronauts, it's good enough for me". I agree and disagree...I love my freshly brewed coffee, but with instant coffee it's always "NASA fresh".
After breakfast we decide to go fishing because I personally love fishing. We decide to hike down to this large pool where we are hopping some fish are a-swimming. Unfortunately, we don't get any fish there because we are positive that's a popular spot to fish. It wasn't in vain, the view was gorgeous.
That's the first time John actually looks tiny. It's hard to be tiny when you are 6'4".
Afterwards we decided to move down the river closer to where our camp was, hoping to find a better fishing hole. No luck, but it was pretty fun nonetheless.
Later, about midday, we realized it'd be wise if we went and collected wood for the night. The night before it was chilly and we had just barely enough wood, so this time we decided to collect a large amount of wood to be safe.
I am a pioneer woman with a hatchet. Watch me hack.
And this is what we yielded. We might have over killed it a little bit.
But because of that we got this
We were very smart to collect wood when we did because it actually began to rain during the day. As the night crept above us, the rain worsened and it was hard core pouring the entire night. Thank goodness for his amazing quality tipi because it kept us dry the whole night and thank goodness we had all that wood because it would've been freezing our city tooshies off. We remembered we had a deck of cards we brought, but ironically we didn't know any easy going card games to the tee. We played Go Fish, but I'm pretty sure we made up some rules to fit our need. However, John did teach me how to play Texas Hold 'Em and let me tell you, that game is sick. Unfortunately, I am not too friendly of playing for money because I'm not a gambling gal, but I would like to watch the boys play.
Anyway, we did that for a while before deciding it'd be best to go to bed. However, poor sweet John stayed up most of the night because he kept feeding the fire.
The next morning we actually woke up "early" around 9am. In fact, I don't think we truly got a good night's sleep because the rain started pouring hardcore and a little bit was seeping in from the ground being wet all around us. With the weather being as crazy as it was, John thought it best to pack up and get out of there right away. We were worried about the river rising to a point where it'd be impossible to cross, which by the time we packed up and hiked our way over wasn't too far off. The water was too high for the log and rock crossing, so we had to take our shoes off and foot it across. Let me tell you, I've never felt a colder temperature on my body before this. Wet, freezing cold and rushing water is not so much fun. We carefully hike our way back to the car.
Sasha was very angry with us
The view...it doesn't look bad, but trust me-it was
The weather actually gradually became worse where it even began snowing! We were very smart to leave at the time we did, otherwise we would've most definitely been stuck!
To celebrate our safety and our camping trip as a whole, we went to PBC: Prescott Brewing Company.
I'm a sick and fat person...but I LOVE beer and chicken wings. Every time we come to PBC or to ANY bar, I must ALWAYS order beer with chicken wings...I can't help it. It's like a compulsion, but I crave it and must have it.
We decide to stay in Prescott since it'd be another 2 hours of a drive home and we were both exhausted and with the weather raining and snowing we figured it's better to be safe than sorry. When we woke up the next morning the whole valley was blanketed in a thick, crispy, cold fog. It was difficult to see the road way let alone the car in front of you! However, John is a skillful driver (that and he had to get back to Phoenix for work) and we made our way home.
See, I wasn't exaggerating!
Here are some beautiful views of our drive home after we beat the snow/fog/rain
John dropped me off at home before he had to go to work (poor guy) and I can honestly say that it felt SOOO good to take a nice hot shower in a sanitary environment. Camping is a super fun experience, I will definitely do it again. However, this time I want to go maybe for longer and I want to go in the spring time to see what it's like during a different season and also go in a different direction to see what it's like in a different terrain. :) This made John vvveeerrryyy happy (but honestly did I have a choice after he spent 3k?!) ;P
However, I've said this time and time again...sports (yes camping can be considered a sport...or a hobby) are a rich man's territory. Especially if you get the good stuff too. I don't know if you know how camping goes, but with car camping it obviously doesn't matter how much stuff weighs because it all goes in the trunk and then you pull to a designated camping area, unload and set up. However, backpacking is a different world. Weight matters because it is on your person. Every pound counts and people even get crazy to account for ounces. John got that crazy naturally. All the camping gear he has was not really backpacking quality. It would be too heavy for us to efficiently pack and obviously I can't carry weight. So John went all out. He bought a brand new tent, brand new sleeping bags, a stove, a cooker, a mattress pad, dehydrated food, utensils...I mean everything you can think of and everything was EXTREMELY light weight. Light weight like I could lift the whole tent, a 6 person tent, with my pinky. A three day camping excursion fit into two brand spanking new back packs and it was extremely lightweight and comfortable to transport around. Referring back to how expensive this sport is...John easily spent $3k on this 3 day trip. Of course it isn't only for 3 days...I'm stuck doing this for the rest of my life, but dang...$3k is expensivo! However, the stuff is amazing and it's compact and light weight and our sleeping bags are designed to go in 0° temperature and still be warm and toasty.
Anyway, so we get all the gear and we are gearing up to go. We were supposed to leave around 7am, which is still late by a backpackers' standards, but we didn't end up leaving until like 11am...so we were REALLY bad.
These could be the reason as to why we were delayed....
We load up our doggy Sasha whom immediately regretted her eagerness of hopping in the truck because she knew she had a lot of work ahead of her. We drive to a beautiful area close to West Clear Creek and park. We grab our back packs and strap up. Along our way we saw a big horn sheep...which is crazy rare to see. Even more crazy was that it was running towards us, which gave us the impression that there was either a hunter up yonder the mountain or some predator that spooked it. Either way, we enjoyed the rare sight.
We start walking into the wilderness for about 45 minutes in high grass and a rustic pathway. Eventually the pathway gives way from dirt, pebbles and grass to beautiful large red rocks that we must scale, hug and hop over.
We cross rocks like this for another 30-45 minutes before we decide to cross the river to get to the read wilderness. As you can see, Sasha is already pooped. Poor thing, she doesn't get much exercise apparently.
When we approach the river, we scout around to try to find a proper and safe area to cross, but for the most part there wasn't one spot that wasn't the best place to cross. So we buccaneer it. I am lucky to be able to cross by hopping from rock to rock. John "Daniel Boone'ed" it by crossing on a broken log.
You KNOW you can't do that!However, Sasha was being a downright chicken. Coaxing nor taunting made her budge her butt from the bank. So John was forced to go back and carry her chicken butt THROUGH the freezing cold winter water.
That's just sad. A dog that afraid of water is just not a dog.We walk along the other side of the river scouting a good area to set up camp and eventually came to a nice clearing where we decided to set up camp. The thing about backpacking is that you skimp weight by leaving behind tools such as a hammer...so we used a rock to hammer the pegs into the ground while setting up the tent.
Then we set up the inside
Then we ate :P
The thing about camping is that obviously you are outside so there is no electricity. When it gets dark, you are stuck with the darkness and all you have is conversation. So we sat and chatted, which is really easy for us to do anyway. However, after an hour or so we were so tired from our hike and carrying the weight (regardless of how light it is, it still is extra weight you are carrying around) and we went to bed early.
The next day, surprisingly we slept in. I figured we'd be awake at like 7am, but no! we didn't wake up until 11am! I don't know about you, but I am a coffee addict. I need my coffee in the morning or it just isn't a good morning-for me or for you. So I make "breakfast" and we eat.
Fact: Did you know instant coffee was invented by NASA? As my cousin says, "If it's good enough for astronauts, it's good enough for me". I agree and disagree...I love my freshly brewed coffee, but with instant coffee it's always "NASA fresh".
After breakfast we decide to go fishing because I personally love fishing. We decide to hike down to this large pool where we are hopping some fish are a-swimming. Unfortunately, we don't get any fish there because we are positive that's a popular spot to fish. It wasn't in vain, the view was gorgeous.
That's the first time John actually looks tiny. It's hard to be tiny when you are 6'4".
Afterwards we decided to move down the river closer to where our camp was, hoping to find a better fishing hole. No luck, but it was pretty fun nonetheless.
Later, about midday, we realized it'd be wise if we went and collected wood for the night. The night before it was chilly and we had just barely enough wood, so this time we decided to collect a large amount of wood to be safe.
I am a pioneer woman with a hatchet. Watch me hack.
And this is what we yielded. We might have over killed it a little bit.
But because of that we got this
We were very smart to collect wood when we did because it actually began to rain during the day. As the night crept above us, the rain worsened and it was hard core pouring the entire night. Thank goodness for his amazing quality tipi because it kept us dry the whole night and thank goodness we had all that wood because it would've been freezing our city tooshies off. We remembered we had a deck of cards we brought, but ironically we didn't know any easy going card games to the tee. We played Go Fish, but I'm pretty sure we made up some rules to fit our need. However, John did teach me how to play Texas Hold 'Em and let me tell you, that game is sick. Unfortunately, I am not too friendly of playing for money because I'm not a gambling gal, but I would like to watch the boys play.
Anyway, we did that for a while before deciding it'd be best to go to bed. However, poor sweet John stayed up most of the night because he kept feeding the fire.
The next morning we actually woke up "early" around 9am. In fact, I don't think we truly got a good night's sleep because the rain started pouring hardcore and a little bit was seeping in from the ground being wet all around us. With the weather being as crazy as it was, John thought it best to pack up and get out of there right away. We were worried about the river rising to a point where it'd be impossible to cross, which by the time we packed up and hiked our way over wasn't too far off. The water was too high for the log and rock crossing, so we had to take our shoes off and foot it across. Let me tell you, I've never felt a colder temperature on my body before this. Wet, freezing cold and rushing water is not so much fun. We carefully hike our way back to the car.
Sasha was very angry with us
The view...it doesn't look bad, but trust me-it was
The weather actually gradually became worse where it even began snowing! We were very smart to leave at the time we did, otherwise we would've most definitely been stuck!
To celebrate our safety and our camping trip as a whole, we went to PBC: Prescott Brewing Company.
I'm a sick and fat person...but I LOVE beer and chicken wings. Every time we come to PBC or to ANY bar, I must ALWAYS order beer with chicken wings...I can't help it. It's like a compulsion, but I crave it and must have it.
We decide to stay in Prescott since it'd be another 2 hours of a drive home and we were both exhausted and with the weather raining and snowing we figured it's better to be safe than sorry. When we woke up the next morning the whole valley was blanketed in a thick, crispy, cold fog. It was difficult to see the road way let alone the car in front of you! However, John is a skillful driver (that and he had to get back to Phoenix for work) and we made our way home.
See, I wasn't exaggerating!
Here are some beautiful views of our drive home after we beat the snow/fog/rain
John dropped me off at home before he had to go to work (poor guy) and I can honestly say that it felt SOOO good to take a nice hot shower in a sanitary environment. Camping is a super fun experience, I will definitely do it again. However, this time I want to go maybe for longer and I want to go in the spring time to see what it's like during a different season and also go in a different direction to see what it's like in a different terrain. :) This made John vvveeerrryyy happy (but honestly did I have a choice after he spent 3k?!) ;P
Friday, January 7, 2011
There's No Place Like Home: Ch.2
That following weekend is a birthday of a childhood friend of mine...we call her A.Ho because it's the acronym of her name.
If anyone of you know Annie...you know this girl is nuts. Certifiable nuts. Now all you single men out there going "hmm, I like crazy" to yourself step right up because she needs a man in her life to whip her into shape. Not that kind of whipping into shape either, you heathens, but set her on the right path. She's loud and wild (this is why I love her..but right now I'm peeved at her), dominating and everyone reveres her as a tornado. Ironic enough she's obsessed with tornadoes and hurricanes and all that chaotic crap.
So it's her 24th birthday and she's called me about 50 times every day to confirm I'm going, which I've told her 51 times that I am. I'm sure we all have a friend like this that y'all can relate to. So it's the day of and sure enough baba drops me off again so John doesn't have to drive aaaalllll the way up to my place (I like wwwwwwwaaaaayyyyyyyy up north and he lives centrally-so it's easily a 30 minute + drive each way for him). So naturally, as I blogged about before: once you step into Ajo's it's no in and out affair. So we're chilling and laughing and having a ball before I check my phone and see all the missed calls and all the texts inquiring as to where my presence is.
It's about elevenish and that's when John closes up the restaurant. We head on over and when we arrive we see smiles from the sober ones and glares from the drunk infamous A.Ho. However, I reveal the wine I brought and instantly, like a gold fish, all the memories of neglect are washed away.
We're laughing and I'm playing with the cute doggies. John is chatting it up with Chelsie and Andrew and we're jovial over the news that they are having another baby.
Eventually, John is tired because he had school all week and has worked doubles already for two straight days and has another double the next day (I swear he is Superman). I wanted to stay to catch up with my old friends, but eventually it was time to go. A.Ho got mad at me for some reason and took off with her friend. I got a ride to John's place because it isn't safe to drive around Phoenix/Scottsdale area anymore since they've implemented this new random stop policy checking for DUI (which I'm not entirely opposed to, but that meant it wasn't smart to drive 40 miles up and 40 miles back for my driver when John is basically right around the corner).
All in all it was a grand ol' time. Catching up with old buddies, cuddling with John, evading the wrath of A.Ho. Happy birthday A.Ho, happy birthday. Ironically enough, I didn't get any pictures of her that night.
Sir James aka Jamesicle
Robin, James in the background and myself
Jamie, random dude in background, Robin and Mike. Oh and James staring at a wall.
If anyone of you know Annie...you know this girl is nuts. Certifiable nuts. Now all you single men out there going "hmm, I like crazy" to yourself step right up because she needs a man in her life to whip her into shape. Not that kind of whipping into shape either, you heathens, but set her on the right path. She's loud and wild (this is why I love her..but right now I'm peeved at her), dominating and everyone reveres her as a tornado. Ironic enough she's obsessed with tornadoes and hurricanes and all that chaotic crap.
So it's her 24th birthday and she's called me about 50 times every day to confirm I'm going, which I've told her 51 times that I am. I'm sure we all have a friend like this that y'all can relate to. So it's the day of and sure enough baba drops me off again so John doesn't have to drive aaaalllll the way up to my place (I like wwwwwwwaaaaayyyyyyyy up north and he lives centrally-so it's easily a 30 minute + drive each way for him). So naturally, as I blogged about before: once you step into Ajo's it's no in and out affair. So we're chilling and laughing and having a ball before I check my phone and see all the missed calls and all the texts inquiring as to where my presence is.
It's about elevenish and that's when John closes up the restaurant. We head on over and when we arrive we see smiles from the sober ones and glares from the drunk infamous A.Ho. However, I reveal the wine I brought and instantly, like a gold fish, all the memories of neglect are washed away.
We're laughing and I'm playing with the cute doggies. John is chatting it up with Chelsie and Andrew and we're jovial over the news that they are having another baby.
Eventually, John is tired because he had school all week and has worked doubles already for two straight days and has another double the next day (I swear he is Superman). I wanted to stay to catch up with my old friends, but eventually it was time to go. A.Ho got mad at me for some reason and took off with her friend. I got a ride to John's place because it isn't safe to drive around Phoenix/Scottsdale area anymore since they've implemented this new random stop policy checking for DUI (which I'm not entirely opposed to, but that meant it wasn't smart to drive 40 miles up and 40 miles back for my driver when John is basically right around the corner).
All in all it was a grand ol' time. Catching up with old buddies, cuddling with John, evading the wrath of A.Ho. Happy birthday A.Ho, happy birthday. Ironically enough, I didn't get any pictures of her that night.
Sir James aka Jamesicle
Robin, James in the background and myself
Jamie, random dude in background, Robin and Mike. Oh and James staring at a wall.
There's No Place Like Home: Ch.1
So I arrived on a Saturday and it is now a beautiful sunny Sunday in gorgeous Arizona. Now if anyone knows me personally-I am not much of an avid gym go-er. When I first moved into my new place in Astoria for two weeks I worked out rather consistently, but then that puttered away. When I arrived here, since John was busy every day whether it was from work or his school finals, I decided to take advantage of my parents gym and I was a proud gym go-er all over again. And I'm not a pansy when I work out-I go the full monty! 30 mins on the elliptical (it doesn't hurt your joints) and then an hour + on the weight machines. I went for a full solid week every day. Then John's schedule laxed and I've become a fat cow over this time. Even my parents said I looked like I've gained weight. Anyway, after this blog I'm going to head to the gym and get my workout on because these buns need a tightenin'!
So, for the first few days I didn't go out at all. One reason was because of my face and two was because I didn't have a car and three was because as I mentioned before John's schedule was all booked up with proper adult stuff. Anywhoo, it's nearly the following weekend (I believe a Thursday to be exact) and I was ready to go out. I think I had baba drop me off at John's work since he was managing and couldn't pick me up. From there we were planning on going out somewhere nearby...our spot ended up being Talley's for basically this entire trip. Talley's is a good ol' place. My first impression upon Talley's wasn't the best...but I've made up for it profusely since then. No details will be leaked. However, before we went to Talley's we all hung out at Ajo's for some time. Anyone who knows about Ajo's knows that you don't just walk in and out. It's like cheers...you are amongst friends and family and you are there for easily an hour. So we're chilling there all drinking margs or beer before we eventually head out.
These are the lovely ladies :)
Danny the owner/manager
Pay heed to the object near his mouth. This object will be the affection of many tonight in "choo choo'ing" and graffiting.
So we finally all heard our way to Talley's. Many leave to change and regroup there.
From left to right: Tims (aka Eric), Angie, yours truly and Mark the Shark.
Now Danny and John are B.F.F.s to the n'th degree. I'm being serious. These guys go wwaaayyy back and sometimes I feel like the third wheel. Don't believe me? Ppiisshhh. Look at these series.
This is their "dddoooohhhhh" face
This is their "Oh der did yonder!" or "To infinity and beyond" or "It's a bird, it's a plane!"
I call this the "Three Stooges" because Tims is now apart of their boy clan.
See what I am saying? Where am I in any of these pictures? Why can't I be 'one of the guys', hm? I mean, I'm down. I'm hip. Bah-whatever. Boys will be boys...plus I really wouldn't want to be poked in the eyeball after all. :P
Then we all mosey on to the 16th Street bar, which is conveniently right down the block. Angie's boy works there, but I didn't get a shot of him unfortunately.
That's right, we're awesome. And Liz's face is darling!
Brothers from another mother.
Well, all in all the night ended rather well. We all laughed, drank and was merry. What more could a girl ask for?
So, for the first few days I didn't go out at all. One reason was because of my face and two was because I didn't have a car and three was because as I mentioned before John's schedule was all booked up with proper adult stuff. Anywhoo, it's nearly the following weekend (I believe a Thursday to be exact) and I was ready to go out. I think I had baba drop me off at John's work since he was managing and couldn't pick me up. From there we were planning on going out somewhere nearby...our spot ended up being Talley's for basically this entire trip. Talley's is a good ol' place. My first impression upon Talley's wasn't the best...but I've made up for it profusely since then. No details will be leaked. However, before we went to Talley's we all hung out at Ajo's for some time. Anyone who knows about Ajo's knows that you don't just walk in and out. It's like cheers...you are amongst friends and family and you are there for easily an hour. So we're chilling there all drinking margs or beer before we eventually head out.
These are the lovely ladies :)
Danny the owner/manager
Pay heed to the object near his mouth. This object will be the affection of many tonight in "choo choo'ing" and graffiting.
So we finally all heard our way to Talley's. Many leave to change and regroup there.
From left to right: Tims (aka Eric), Angie, yours truly and Mark the Shark.
Now Danny and John are B.F.F.s to the n'th degree. I'm being serious. These guys go wwaaayyy back and sometimes I feel like the third wheel. Don't believe me? Ppiisshhh. Look at these series.
This is their "dddoooohhhhh" face
This is their "Oh der did yonder!" or "To infinity and beyond" or "It's a bird, it's a plane!"
I call this the "Three Stooges" because Tims is now apart of their boy clan.
See what I am saying? Where am I in any of these pictures? Why can't I be 'one of the guys', hm? I mean, I'm down. I'm hip. Bah-whatever. Boys will be boys...plus I really wouldn't want to be poked in the eyeball after all. :P
Then we all mosey on to the 16th Street bar, which is conveniently right down the block. Angie's boy works there, but I didn't get a shot of him unfortunately.
That's right, we're awesome. And Liz's face is darling!
Brothers from another mother.
Well, all in all the night ended rather well. We all laughed, drank and was merry. What more could a girl ask for?
Thursday, January 6, 2011
There's No Place Like Home
So the amazing thing about John's flight out to NYC during Thanksgiving was that I booked my ticket to go back home on the 4th, which meant that we'd be separated for only a week. However, in my favour and not in John's...traffic heading to the Newark airport..not even the airport, just in general in NYC that day was horrendous and John was stuck for basically six hours on the bus. No JOKE, when it should only have taken him 45 minutes to get there. John was stuck for about 3 hours before they even moved passed 50 feet! To make matters worse is that the bus driver wouldn't even let him off the bus! Then they move a little bit further and closer to the Lincoln Tunnel...still not there yet. Finally, the bus driver attempts to pull over to the side to let people off the bus who wants to get off, but with Murphy's Law, the traffic eases up a bit and the bus driver changes his mind. He was SO close to getting off! Then through clenched fists and a tight jaw, they finally make it to Newark. Naturally, John has missed his flight by well over two hours and he is in NJ for no reason. He has to pay more money to get a bus ride back to NYC to my place and needless to say-he was a very frustrated boy. He left my place by three and didn't make it back until just before eleven. Poor baby. However, the perk was that he got to spend a few extra days with me! The next day's flights were all booked up and he couldn't get another flight til the third day...which I was perfectly fine with of course.
Now that week was shortened to only four days! Naturally, I was frantically trying to get myself prepared for my departure...in an aesthetic manner of course. I got a body massage to relax my muscles, then I got a body wrapping...where they say it's supposed to reduce your water weight and toxins thus resulting in about a one inch loss all around. I didn't see a difference. Then I made a mistake of getting my first facial ever the day before I leave. Well, I have noticed over the past few months that my skin is exceedingly becoming more sensitive and I explained it to the lady as well. However, I went through one hour of extreme pain. I thought facials were supposed to be relaxing! It's all lies ladies, all lies! I literally had tears in my eyes because she was beating my face up like she was trying to tenderize a slab of meat. Let me tell you, I walked out of there swollen, red, sensitive, blotchy and defeated. I looked like I had leprosy. I was so embarrassed and immediately regretted it. Why? I busted a Nancy Kerrigan and repeatedly asked "Why me, why me?!" in my head. Aliza got a facial and her skin looked radiant like a baby, but me...jeez I looked like I needed to be examined. Needless to say, I couldn't wear make up or anything because I was afraid it'd make matters worse.
I was so sad about it that I defied getting all dolled up for the plane ride. I knew I'd be seeing John later that day, but I just couldn't muster up the desire to get dressed because I knew I couldn't do anything about my face. Granted the swelling went down, but I did get a few break outs (contradictory to the whole facial reason!) and my face was red and dry in some areas. Luckily, baba picked me up and we did random errands so I had a few more hours for my face to "try" to heal further before John saw it.
Eventually, it was t-minus 0 hour and John was to arrive. However, he's such a good boy he said he didn't see anything and that I looked beautiful. He's a darling (but he better say that). We just chilled at the house and watched some T.V. before he left for home and I went to bed.
It was a good day because as the title says above...there's no place like home.
P.S. Sorry, but again there are no pics because I refused to take pics of my blotchy face. Call it vanity, call it shallow, call it safe.
Now that week was shortened to only four days! Naturally, I was frantically trying to get myself prepared for my departure...in an aesthetic manner of course. I got a body massage to relax my muscles, then I got a body wrapping...where they say it's supposed to reduce your water weight and toxins thus resulting in about a one inch loss all around. I didn't see a difference. Then I made a mistake of getting my first facial ever the day before I leave. Well, I have noticed over the past few months that my skin is exceedingly becoming more sensitive and I explained it to the lady as well. However, I went through one hour of extreme pain. I thought facials were supposed to be relaxing! It's all lies ladies, all lies! I literally had tears in my eyes because she was beating my face up like she was trying to tenderize a slab of meat. Let me tell you, I walked out of there swollen, red, sensitive, blotchy and defeated. I looked like I had leprosy. I was so embarrassed and immediately regretted it. Why? I busted a Nancy Kerrigan and repeatedly asked "Why me, why me?!" in my head. Aliza got a facial and her skin looked radiant like a baby, but me...jeez I looked like I needed to be examined. Needless to say, I couldn't wear make up or anything because I was afraid it'd make matters worse.
I was so sad about it that I defied getting all dolled up for the plane ride. I knew I'd be seeing John later that day, but I just couldn't muster up the desire to get dressed because I knew I couldn't do anything about my face. Granted the swelling went down, but I did get a few break outs (contradictory to the whole facial reason!) and my face was red and dry in some areas. Luckily, baba picked me up and we did random errands so I had a few more hours for my face to "try" to heal further before John saw it.
Eventually, it was t-minus 0 hour and John was to arrive. However, he's such a good boy he said he didn't see anything and that I looked beautiful. He's a darling (but he better say that). We just chilled at the house and watched some T.V. before he left for home and I went to bed.
It was a good day because as the title says above...there's no place like home.
P.S. Sorry, but again there are no pics because I refused to take pics of my blotchy face. Call it vanity, call it shallow, call it safe.
To new beginnings
Hello my friends and a very merry new year to you all. It has been quite the holiday to say the least!
So the last time I wrote on here was about Halloween. I've completely abandoned blogging since then and I am very bad indeed.
Most of November was boring until John came for Thanksgiving. Prior to his arrival, we had been Skyping about our menu and how we are going to go about it. Last year, John and I made Thanksgiving for the family (in NY, that is) and this year we were going to do it again, but with the addition of my awesome roomie AND we were going to be large and in charge this time.
So I am a list person, so I wrote a recipe list for our Thanksgiving starting with appetizers then going into the entrees and then finally the dessert. Luckily for me, Aliza, my roomie, controlled the appetizer and dessert category to help us out. I instructed Mandie, Graham and Gillian to bring booze-but unfortunately for us...they aren't big winos and they weren't in the boozing mood. As for the meal itself, it was the bomb dot com.
May I entertain you with the menu. Please be advised to have a tissue at hand for there will be the caution of drooling involved.
Ahem. Let's begin with the turkey.
Set that puppy aside and work on the stuffing.
The night before I made the cranberry sauce because the longer it's refrigerated the better it is in forming it's nice gelatinous like state.
However, back to the day of. John and I decided to get a little crazy and a little gluttonous and we also purchased a 10lb smoked ham. I wanted to glaze the ham in a delicious apricot honey glaze so I got fresh apricot ginger jam from my job, mixed in a little bit of syrup a little but of cloves, a little bit of nutmeg, a dash of orange juice, a dash of soy sauce and stir it all together. Baste that baby and pop it in the oven as well. Man...it was SO delicious I can't even help but drool at this moment. Literally, everyone devoured the ham and for good reason too.
John and I are wizards at mash potatoes. We have it so down that we could do it in our sleep and Graham loves it that we purposely make extra for him.
We also made these scallop potato salad, but John has the recipe. It's similar to the mash potatoes without the mashing. That's also amazing and once I get the recipe I'll post it. Truly a fattening ordeal, but it's SO SO worth the extra weight.
Near the end when the bird and ham were ready, I began to sautee asparagus in salt, cracked pepper and garlic in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).
We steamed fresh broccoli and cauliflower and melted some Velveeta cheese for my beloved sister. (Advisory: I nor John support nor condone the use of Velveeta-but personally I wouldn't.)
For our apps Aliza got prosciutto and wrapped it around fresh melon with a variety of cheese and crackers with fig jam and blackberry jam. Delicious sounding? That's because it was.
Aliza also made dessert from scratch. She made an amazing pumpkin pie. I have no idea what her genius was, but I'll tell you-it was fabulous.
There you have it folks. An amazingly delicious and relatively easy Thanksgiving filled with love in our hearts and food and wine in our bellies.
I wish I could say that I have pictures, but I don't. On Halloween weekend my camera was stolen :*( and I'm surrounded by people who don't take pictures....so use your imagination on this one peeps.
So the last time I wrote on here was about Halloween. I've completely abandoned blogging since then and I am very bad indeed.
Most of November was boring until John came for Thanksgiving. Prior to his arrival, we had been Skyping about our menu and how we are going to go about it. Last year, John and I made Thanksgiving for the family (in NY, that is) and this year we were going to do it again, but with the addition of my awesome roomie AND we were going to be large and in charge this time.
So I am a list person, so I wrote a recipe list for our Thanksgiving starting with appetizers then going into the entrees and then finally the dessert. Luckily for me, Aliza, my roomie, controlled the appetizer and dessert category to help us out. I instructed Mandie, Graham and Gillian to bring booze-but unfortunately for us...they aren't big winos and they weren't in the boozing mood. As for the meal itself, it was the bomb dot com.
May I entertain you with the menu. Please be advised to have a tissue at hand for there will be the caution of drooling involved.
Ahem. Let's begin with the turkey.
- 1/2 cup butter, cubed
- 2 apples, cored and halved
- 2/3 (750 milliliter) bottle champagne
- Tangerines
Set that puppy aside and work on the stuffing.
- 1 cup butter
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 12 to 13 cups slightly dry bread cubes
- 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried leaf sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon ground marjoram
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
The night before I made the cranberry sauce because the longer it's refrigerated the better it is in forming it's nice gelatinous like state.
2 (12-ounce) bags of fresh cranberries, washed and sorted
1 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cloves
However, back to the day of. John and I decided to get a little crazy and a little gluttonous and we also purchased a 10lb smoked ham. I wanted to glaze the ham in a delicious apricot honey glaze so I got fresh apricot ginger jam from my job, mixed in a little bit of syrup a little but of cloves, a little bit of nutmeg, a dash of orange juice, a dash of soy sauce and stir it all together. Baste that baby and pop it in the oven as well. Man...it was SO delicious I can't even help but drool at this moment. Literally, everyone devoured the ham and for good reason too.
John and I are wizards at mash potatoes. We have it so down that we could do it in our sleep and Graham loves it that we purposely make extra for him.
Mashed Potatoes:
- 5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
- ¾ cups Butter
- 1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
- ½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
- ½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
- ½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper
- Garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Chives
We also made these scallop potato salad, but John has the recipe. It's similar to the mash potatoes without the mashing. That's also amazing and once I get the recipe I'll post it. Truly a fattening ordeal, but it's SO SO worth the extra weight.
Near the end when the bird and ham were ready, I began to sautee asparagus in salt, cracked pepper and garlic in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).
We steamed fresh broccoli and cauliflower and melted some Velveeta cheese for my beloved sister. (Advisory: I nor John support nor condone the use of Velveeta-but personally I wouldn't.)
For our apps Aliza got prosciutto and wrapped it around fresh melon with a variety of cheese and crackers with fig jam and blackberry jam. Delicious sounding? That's because it was.
Aliza also made dessert from scratch. She made an amazing pumpkin pie. I have no idea what her genius was, but I'll tell you-it was fabulous.
There you have it folks. An amazingly delicious and relatively easy Thanksgiving filled with love in our hearts and food and wine in our bellies.
I wish I could say that I have pictures, but I don't. On Halloween weekend my camera was stolen :*( and I'm surrounded by people who don't take pictures....so use your imagination on this one peeps.
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