Fancy

Last night I made a fancy dinner for Rob and I. I pulled out the china and the crystal and the good serving dishes. There were even candles. Why use this stuff only when we have company, it's for us to enjoy too. There was no special occasion, just a because I love you dinner. And I didn't work yesterday and had lots of time.

I made Columbus's Pork Chops from Rachel Ray 365 no Repeats. Basically pork chops with with a strawberry, basil, balsamic topping. We also had a spring salad and some bread.

It was a ton of fun to sit down and enjoy a meal with French Cafe playing in the background.


P.S. for anyone who is wondering. The pictures of both Rob and I are taken with a timer on the camera.

Anniversary part 2

It's been over a week. The anniversary vacation was awesome. Saturday we went on a sailboat ride around lower Manhattan. After we got some Pommes Frites for lunch. A quick stop at the hotel to get cleaned up and a little wine and cheese (and bread and fruit) buffet. Then we went to Madame Tussauds (neither of us had ever been) followed by a stop at a chocolate bar where we had a 20 layer crepe cake with a creme brule topping with some chocolate martinis. Ahh.... delicious.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and reading the newspaper over breakfast. Then we just hung out in the hotel room until check-out. Monday was our actual anniversary. We went to the Guggenheim to see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. It was pretty cool. Then dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Astoria to take us back to our honeymoon.

Most of the good pictures from the sailboat are on Rob's camera...I have a few. And some from the wax museum. No pics from Sunday or Monday. Here's what I got - enjoy!

Anniversay Getaway

For our anniversary Rob and I planned a little vacation to Manhattan. (Actually it was all Rob's idea - he asked and I thought it sounded awsome - it was)
We spent two nights in the Library Hotel. At first it was just because I really like libraries and books, and have wanted to stay here since I read about it. But then I realized the first anniversary is "Paper" and what better way to spend an anniversary than in a place full of books.

We checked into the hotel on Friday afternoon and this is what awaited us.There is just something about that little bit of extra service that makes a nice hotel soooooo worth it.
Friday night we went to dinner at Nobu.
And on the way back to the hotel, the sky was really pretty so we did a little photo shoot.

A photo essay: Walking the Queensborough Bridge on Bastille Day

To start the day of right we made a stop at the Starbucks around the corner. Thank you to Cynde and Marty to keeping us caffeinated this summer!

Coming up on the bridge entrance, about two miles from home. It is also the NW7 subway stop.

Here we go!

Bikes and Peds only - in case you didn't read the sign.

Scenes from the bridge...

In case you want to join the traffic?

Roosevelt Island Tram

East River Rapids

The Manhattan side of the bridge.



Bastille Day! (a street fair with no tube socks)

Our only purchase: and now we need to learn to make our own wine sorbet. Delicious!

The End.

Day Date

Last Saturday Rob stepped up his game. Now that the music video is finished he is able to focus a little attention on me rather than the computer. So Saturday he packed a bag with some wine and picked up some hero sandwiches from Luigi's and took me to Central Park for a picnic. We sat on a rock and watched some Little League action while we ate. Our biggest mistake was forgetting what 80+ degrees really meant - we were both wearing jeans. After finishing our lunch (half of it anyhow, great leftovers) we walked through the park and over to Dylan's Candy Bar. A sugar overload that was giving away snow cones and had a chocolate fountain set up. We went upstairs to the ice cream bar. Where we shard the cookie explosion sundae (cookie mess ice cream, caramel topping, peanut butter chip cookie, candy, whipped cream, I'm sure I'm forgetting something) for $9. It was worth every bit of that, and it defeated us. We could not finish. I ate to much. Definitely ate to much of it, but oh man, it was heavenly. After we left the candy bar Rob took me shopping. Now this is why he is the best husband ever, not the only reason, but one of them, he takes me shopping and is good at helping me find things that look good and fit well.

There was this dress at Ann Taylor that I have been eying, and when we were in Boston, Rob saw the dress in a window and pointed it out. So we went to Ann Taylor, the only dress left in the whole store was the one in the window. So she looked up in the data base if any nearby stores had it. There was a store that had 3 left in my sizes. So Rob said let's do it, but if they don't have it we are going home. OK! I found a 4 and a 4 petite. I tried them on. Rob wasn't so impressed with the 4. He said it was too loose at the top. So I tried on the 4 petite. This one Rob liked, but wasn't so comfortable (as I'm not really petite) because the waist was a little too high. as I was in the fitting room contemplating, another woman in the fitting room wanted to know if I was getting the dress because if not she wanted to try it on. She really needed a 6P but the sales lady was explaining how the sizing worked, which is when I realized that I actually needed a size 2! I am back into a size 2! This is exciting for me. They had one left in the store, on the manican in the window. She got the dress, and it fits so nicely. Rob said I could buy it (there was no waiting for it to go on sale, there are like 3 left, it's sold out online) and I did. I now have the perfect dress for the summer weddings lined up this year.

Recap: Rob is awesome for his date planning and shopping.
I am a size 2 again, and that means there is a 90% chance all my summer clothes will fit this year.

Science and all that Jazz

Yesterday was a day date! I'm so glad it's warm and we're doing this again. We only went on one in the first three months of this year. Day dates are when we spend the whole day out together and not doing errands etc.

Bank of America has this great program of offering free admission to museums and attractions the first weekend of each month if you show your BoA card. (Thanks Sarah for this tip) So we finally made it to the New York Hall of Science. Rob has been wanting to check it out for ages, and the one time we tried to go last year, I didn't check online first and it was closed.

It's a fun museum, and it's not just for kids (there are two designated pre-school areas). Although except for a group of teens we may have been the only adults sans kids. It's a museum all about discovery. There is a ton of learning to be done when reading the panels. Our favorite area was the lights and vision part. There were all these lights and mirrors and prisms to play with. Here we are on the anti-gravity mirror.

Then there was the biology section. The amount of grossness of every surface is pretty disgusting. I will continue my current train of thought which is to wash my hands often and try not to think about it too much. But this was pretty cool.It's a heat sensory monitor. So you can see which areas of your body emit the most heat. I opened my mouth to get more contrast. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

The last section we went to was the about how we move. There was a batting cage where you could throw different types of balls and see how fast you went. I threw the baseball at 30 mph as my top speed. I didn't do so well with the tennis ball. There were dragsters where it tested your reaction time in hundredths of a second on how fast you hit the gas after go. I did it once at 1! Go me, but averaged around 9. Rob got down to 9, but averaged a little higher. This was one of the areas that were crawling with kids, but most were just having a good time. The kid in the dragster next to me was having a great time just pushing the pedal, he had no idea what the purpose was, and was therefore uninterested in who won. Despite an annoying parent - who I think thought we (as adults without kids) just really shouldn't be there - we had a fun time.

We then went to lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger in Forest Hills, and walked around this very suburban feeling neighborhood. When Rob said there were houses, he meant HOUSES. There is some great shopping here. I think exploring the neighborhoods of Queens is going on the summer to do list.

And now for the jazz. My friend Luke, from college had his masters jazz recital last night. So we went up to Broadway and 122nd street for that. Here is where I'm a little dumb. We got on the 2 train to go express and then transfer to the 1. But then I saw 116th street (our stop) on the 2 and thought that I had it wrong and we didn't need to transfer. So we stayed on the 2. What I didn't realize is that the 1 /2 split is at 96th street and the 116th we got off at was on the wrong side of the island. We had a very nice walk through Harlem, up the crazy stairs to Columbia, and through the campus to Broadway. Where the 1 train was, and then a quick walk up to the recital hall. It was all original composition. And reminded me how much I really do like jazz.

Day Date #2 of 2009 was a great success.

Still Got It!

The spark in our marriage that is. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch and Rob leaned down to give me a kiss, and he felt a little shock. And started laughing. You see we've been wearing a lot of fleece in the cold weather and it really kicks up the static electricity. So Rob rubbed his arm on the back of the couch and kissed me again. A bigger spark! One more time, and yep it happened again! So that's it, the secret to keeping the spark in your marriage: static electricity.

New Mexico, part 5

Date in Santa Fe:

On Friday Rob and I took the car and drove up to Santa Fe. It snowed the whole time. Wet but pretty. We saw the cathedral on the square, then went shopping! I bought a small nativity from Peru. The Mexican and South American nativities are very different from the ones I'm used to seeing. We went into a pottery gallery and bought a little pot made with black clay, and a decorative band of sparkly green clay (it's made that way because of the minerals in the clay) There is a history behind the pot and the artists who made it, I'll have to do some research to remember everything the gallery owner told us about it.

We walked to a different part of Santa Fe and went to eat at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame BBQ. The food was alright, we had the BBQ sampler and sweet potato fries. The decor though was awesome, tons of pictures of cowgirls on there horses with their lassos. I should have bought a t-shirt.

On the way back the the car we stopped at the Church of Our Lady Guadalupe and took some pictures of the statue there. Many people have left candles and flowers at her feet. Then headed out of town before the snow got worse.

Oh, and on the way back to Mary's we stopped at one of the casinos and gambled away $4.91.

And when we finally did get back we had some peppermint cake and pie a day early for Valerie's birthday.

Here are pictures from Santa Fe:

On the second day of advent

The plan for December is to post a picture a day leading up until Christmas.

Today's picture is from our date last night to see the Rockettes.And one of me.And now for those of you who like reading my ramblings: Some background on why we went to the show (paragraph 1), the great discount (paragraph 2), why I need to start a diet and exercise (paragraph 3), and a plea for help. If you read it all there is another picture.

The Rocketts are pretty awesome. When I used to dance, I always thought it would be the coolest job ever to be a Rockette. And I am tall enough to be the shortest Rockette. (Except I think they might have raised the height by half-an-in, so maybe not anymore) When the Rockettes are in thier kickline they line up by height giving the illusion that everyone is the same height (5'5.5" - 5'10.5" or 5'6" - 5'11") So much fun to watch. I saw the show for the first time a few years ago, and when I found out Rob had never been, it was really a given that we would end up at Radio City eventually. Last year is wasn't in the cards. But this year I was determined.

I found a $10 off per ticket coupon and went to the box office. I said I want the best seats in the second price range for any day the first two weeks of December. I got two tickets for December 1. And then the best present I could ask for, that I didn't even think of - I paid with my Capital One card. And because Capital One is sponsering the show this year, Capital One customers get 50% off. (I don't know this officially, but since I didn't ask why I got the discount it's all I can think of, if you have Capital One and live in NYC you should check it out) We got really good seats, five rows back, left section, and $36 EACH!

And now to why I need to diet. I know most people don't dress up for theater and shows and such, but I like to. Rob wore jeans with a blazer, and since it was warmish yesterday I planned to wear my spagetti strap Ann Taylor dress with the new H&M shrug I bought and heels instead of boots. So I started getting ready, I pulled out the dress and slipped it on and OH NO! I couldn't get the zipper up. At first I thought it was just that I couldn't quite reach the top of the zipper part. I debated put the sweater on and have Rob finish the zip when I get to the office to meet him. Or change. (This is when having a sister or husband at home when dressing is really really helpful) Unfortunatly it was just me. I looked at the zipper a few more minutes and came to the AWFUL and SAD conclusion that the 10 pounds I gained last winter / spring and have been trying so hard to avoid (I can still wear my casual clothes) have put me fully into a new fancy dress clothes size. The dress just didn't fit. So I went to option 2: my black skirt with a silk blouse and the shrug. This one fit, just a little to tight in the top, but too lowcut to work with the shrug. I was now bordering on running late due to wardrobe malfunction. I was left with three options: 1. wear a sweater and skirt and be hot, 2. wear my black strapless dress with a colored shrug sweater and hope for the best, 3. wear pants and just give up on fancy clothes. I went with option 2. The black strapless dress is all elastic, and doesn't fit as well as it once did in a time long ago, but it fit. With the sweater and boots I was good to go. I met Rob on time, we went to the show then out to dinner. A great night over all.

And now I am back to the delimma I and trying so had to ignore. Do I eat better and exercise (bearing in mind I am in one of those moods where I want to eat everything in sight, pizza and cheesburgers are the current cravings I don't have the food to fill in the apartment right now) or do I just accept it, donate all the old clothes and go on a shopping spree (bearing in mind I don't actually have a job at the moment) Any advice?

One more picture to reward anyone who actually read this far.A lameish picture - but we had awesome seats, and got to keep the 3D glasses.