Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Last Stop, Llanview

Last week, after travelling for six hours in a car with food poisoning and feeling awful for roughly 80 percent of the time, a small tiny miracle happened. The nausea stopped. As soon as we hit Staten Island, I was able to sit up a bit and make conversation with Vince without feeling the crushing waves of queasiness. This was a big deal. Feeling sick sucks, but I had tickets for the Loving Llanview event that night! My mother & I had been looking forward to this since the Tribute to Pine Valley All My Children event and got tickets to this event for Christmas.  One Life to Live was our true favorite soap and this was the final event we were going to participate in since it's cancellation.

As soon as I got in the house, I asked Pete what HE would do. A random reprieve of sickness doesn't guarantee that I would feel well enough to drive out there and sit in a theater for two hours. He recommended I not go. ... Can you guess what I did?


I went!! LOL I hadn't eaten all day, and my Mom turned into my Mommy and brought crackers and all kinds of stomach meds. I had a cracker and was then full (love the food poisoning diet). We drove out there and got into our seats. I was feeling pretty good! But then, about 20 minutes into it, my sickness started creeping back. Luckily nothing...happened. I just felt the strongest urge to lie down.

The show itself was fun! Ten actors from the show were asked questions, trivia and told behind the scenes stories.  As much as I loved the television show, I have to admit... the All My Children show was actually much more organized and more entertaining than this one, and overall, a much better show. There was a clear person leading the show and moving things along when they needed to be, and that was sort of lacking at this one. I was about 20% disappointed. Can one be a percentage disappointed? I'm sure my slight sickness didn't help my tolerance for anything less than perfection. ;)




I'm still glad I got to spend some time with my mom and not have my Christmas present go to waste. My dad offered to go with her, but he said that would be like a major punishment for him and that if he went, she'd owe him a pot roast. LOL.

No pot roast for Dad!

So that's it on the soap front! I already miss my daily routine, or weekend catch up routine of seeing what's going on in Llanview

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Washington D.C. Part 2

I'm not gonna lie... the first D.C. post was getting a bit long but honestly, if I'm going to stick to my resolutions..... I needed to make a second post. HA! But it actually works out well as after 3p on that Friday, drinks were never not consumed again.

Vince & I really worked up an appetite after our mini tour of the monuments. Vince had planned to meet up for a drink with his friend Kaitlyn so we headed over to a place recommended by my brother actually (who love love loves D.C.... must be a family thing?), called Elephant & Castle.

What a fun English pub type of place! I was excited when I saw the beer menu and decided to try Fuller's London Pride. MmMmmmmmmmm! I also tried Fullers ESB which was also good but I went back for another London Pride. I also love that 1 drink turned into 5. Oh us!


Afterwards Vince & I headed over to Melissa's where her and Nat cooked us a lovely dinner! They made a whole chicken with cous cous, roasted tomatoes & a cesar salad. It was SO good! :)

When we left Melissa's apartment, poor Vince missed a step on the way out. He went down like a ton of bricks. Initially, the wonderful people Melissa & I are, started laughing, thinking he was joking..... until we saw his face. He sprained his ankle pretty badly!! :( He was a trooper though and we tried to make sure he had a place to sit, or did minimal dancing.

Once we all made it into the cab, we hit the town! We went to Nellie's Sports Bar which was just a gay bar with tvs playing sports LOL, and then a club called Town.

John Michael, another friend

Da club was interesting... there were 2 floors. The downstairs floor was obviously teen night or something & the upstairs was... I don't know..regular? There were go-go boys. It was fun! Although my warm warm sweater was a great choice for a steamy club ;)



the DC gang

I had such a blast in D.C. and really want to return soon! Next time I will be utilizing one of the bus options that leave from NYC. I highly recommend a visit!

Washington DC Part 1

Hello! Well, what a few weeks it has been! Vince & I bounced down to DC where Vince fell and nearly broke his ankle, and I picked up food poisoning! That certainly made the remainder of the trip fun! Also, if you have never had a stomach bug and then driven in a car for 6 hours, I highly recommend it. Think of all the rest stops you're missing out on when you drive on by. Think of how the Popeye's Chicken smell would make you feel when queasy, or the joy of buying overpriced medicine. Yes, fun times indeed.

The actually D.C. trip was really fun though! We drove down on Thursday (missing most of the rest stops) and met up with our friend Melissa. She has the cutest apartment in Capital Hill & the cutest little friend named Tuesday.

Melissa's boyfriend Nat was nice enough to let us stay at his place in Chinatown  (another awesome apartment!) We headed over, freshened up and went to dinner & drinks.

For dinner we went to District of Pi a great pizza place (cause you can never find good pizza in NY) and had yummy pizza & a ton of appetizers and craft beers. Afterwards we went to a bar called Lost Society. I was overwhelmed with desire to live in D.C. simply because of all the fun restaurants and bars. Again, I know I live in NYC but I think I feel a bit jaded about that. I really need to focus on finding fun, new places to dine and drink in my hometown.
Melissa & I!

Cool atmosphere of Lost Society

We headed back to the apartment pretty early since Friday was really our only full day to explore and Vince and I wanted to do some sightseeing during the day. We started our morning by heading to Melissa's office in the Capital Building. She took us around and we got a little behind the scenes tour of the place including getting to be ON the house of representatives floor! Where the president gives the State of the Union! That was pretty awesome...all the history and significance associated with that room. Cameras were banned. :(



Afterwards we had some lunch together. After our healthy road trip down, we were on a mission to put something green into our stomachs. We got salads at a cute place named Sweet Green. I'd never been so happy to have lettuce. ;)


Once we were fueled up, Melissa went back to work and Vince and I travelled over to the National Mall area where all the monuments were located. We both wanted to check out the new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. It is a bit of a walk from where the train station let us out, but I really enjoyed the brisk walk!

The FDR & Jefferson Memorials were also over that way, so we did a walking loop of those. They are so pretty & filled with history and reverence. I loved getting to see them! Pete and I missed them when we visited D.C. last June

me & my good friend FDR



Jefferson Memorial




We had such a blast walking around and being fit. :)

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Vincemantha Who?

Hey everyone! It feels like I've been super busy all year. jk only 2 weeks. I've been busy with work and also been prepping for my friend Vince's NY visit!  Vince and I met when we worked together for a few months... jeez, 8 years ago this year....and have been friends ever since!

A few years ago he moved back to his hometown of Reno, NV. He did this because he loved spending money on air travel to see me.

In addition to him flying here, I have actually been to Reno twice. Plus we've met up in both Vegas and San Francisco and are headed to DC this weekend.

San Fran

I don't know what is going on here

One of my bridesmaid! ... Manmaid? idk
Vince flew in late Saturday night to the hell hole called "Newark Airport." I dragged Pete with me for the trip to Jersey in the middle of the night and I was SO GLAD I DID. The second you come out of the tunnel, all you pass are gas stations, abandoned construction-y road ways, a prison (seriously) and lots of areas that look perfect for dumping a body. Pete sang the theme song to the Sopranos which really entertained me.

Sunday a bunch of us went to our people's favorite past time, Brunch! We went to a place called Arte Cafe on the Upper West Side. I had been to this place once before and had a good experience and thought it would be good for our large group.




Plenty of champagne was had! Well, I had champagne. But sangria, Bellinis, mimosas & screwdrivers also flowed! Overall I liked this place. The food was really tasty (I got a buffalo mozzarella, pesto, pine nut sandwich thing) and the drinks were good but it took a LONG time for it to start flowing. Basically you add $16 to your meal for unlimited drinks. We had one drink and then ate and we still hadn't received our second drink by the time most of us were done eating! That was irritating. But once the second round came, I immediately ordered the 3rd, and people kept doing that  until we got our moneys worth! haha :)

Afterwards we wandered around to different bars and had a blast!

stop playing with my hair

super turtleneck


I was so proud of myself because I stopped drinking in the early evening and switched to water. It's the little things! It really saved me the next day. :)



Friday, January 6, 2012

52 Breakfasts

On New Year's Day I made good use of my BJ's Wholesale Club membership and stocked up on a bunch of healthy items.
52 Oatmeals!!

I'm sort of torn about having a membership to this place. After paying the annual fee and using coupons, I feel like it is only *maybe* worth it. The prices aren't that great after you factor in the annual fee. Plus Pete and I can only eat so much. Maybe it is better if you have a family....I'm really on the fence though. I will most likely not be renewing my membership in November.

That's not to say I don't turn into a maniac in the store, putting jars of pickles, cases of soda or hunks of meat in my cart. I totally turn into Mitchel from Modern Family. However, I scan my cart before checking out and usually put 1/2 of it back! LOL.

That being said, I am still really excited about the new Chobani 12 pack! The original one had Strawberry,  Blueberry & Peach. I really enjoy the Peach but the other two I could take or leave.
Me?
This new pack has Pineapple, Blackberry (my 2 favorite flavors!) and Mango, which I've never tried. It was very exciting.

This week, I have alternated between oatmeal with chia seeds, or almond butter & banana on a sandwich thin. Breakfast is such an easy meal for me to be healthy with. Its the other two (mainly dinner) that I have issues with.



A little while back I tried regular almond butter and was disappointed with it. It tasted like... well.. almonds. Grainy almonds. However, the addition of chocolate really makes this something special & I fell in love with the flavor.

I was so excited when this lil guy popped up in my Christmas stocking from Santa Claus! :)

It's the little things :)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January Beach

How is everyones new year going so far?? Mine has been going lovely! I've been super motivated about things, and lord knows I need to take advantage of this mood while I can! Let's back track a little though. How was your New Years Eve?

My plan for 2011's NYE was to be home with my husband, to be in comfy pants, to just chill and not really spend any money and to have a good time! I feel like I've become such a homebody over the past year (which I kinda love) and think this was a great ending to 2011.


We made some snacks including pigs in a blanket, frozen clams & chips and dip, we played Monopoly (I lost :p), we danced in the living room and drank! It was a great night in.

Even the girls had a NYE shot!

The next day Pete & I wanted to get out of the house and decided to go to the beach! We both had a good laugh when we pulled into the parking lot and saw about 100 other cars. I said to Pete, "I thought I was being original by suggesting the beach!" .... Then we laughed again when some woman passed us and said THE SAME THING. LOL. We are as unique as everyone else! ;)


It was CHILLY out there! Somehow I forgot that it would be cold near the water since it was so warm by our house.

2012 resolution - look like a crazy.

Visiting the beach just made me long for summer and to sit on the sand with a drink! Can't wait for more beach times this summer!


Deserted!



unibomber love

Shadow love

We finished up the day by coming home to a crock pot meal and renting Our Idiot Brother from Redbox. The movie was better than I thought it would be! And I love Redbox because it's only $1.31 a night. Yay to cheap dates!