Almost 2008!

It's crazy to think in a mere 13 hours, it'll be 2008! Where did 2007 go? I guess looking back, it's been quite an action packed year, but it sure seemed to go by at a lightning-quick pace. Tonight, Mark and I will join Patty and some other friends at Dylan's Steaks in Tribeca before possibly toasting the new year at a nearby bar. I say possibly, because we are definitely not forking over $60 just to get past the door, so if it seems like every place has a supersteep cover, we'll just head home--dinner should be enough of an entertainment factor for the night. Hopefully on the way home, we won't be inundated by any drunks on the PATH like I was last night when I came home on the 12:20 a.m. train! (We may just have to take the bus for that reason alone!)

On another note, we had a really great time at home over the past week; zig-zagging between University Towers and the Flynn's. I have lots of pictures from my brand new camera (courtesy of Mark!) that I will post shortly.

happy new year!

Just call me Santa...

...because I was ho ho ho'ing my way around Manhattan yesterday, picking up gifts for all of the good girls and boys in my life! But instead of a sleigh of reindeer to carry me around, I simply had my feet, barely supported by the 3" heels on my boots. After each store, I got more and more weighed down, and then the rain started to fall and I was just waiting for the overstuffed bags to split open with all of the gifts crashing to the dirty street.

Fortunately, the bags held up and I made it back home in one piece, albeit a bit stiff and sore from the heavy lifting. And I'm proud to say that my Christmas shopping is DONE!

I think that's a record for me!

Tonight, we're heading over to The Garden for a Duke/Pittsburgh game. Erin F. is on her way up on the bus, and she'll be going to the game then coming over as our first official house guest! I'm glad someone will be able to see our tree before it disintergrates (it's a bit dry...guess that's what you get with a Home Depot bargain!).

Cookie Time!

We had such a great time at Chez Bernardis on Saturday for our now-annual cookie making party! By the time Karl, Leezie, Sam, and I arrived around 1 (I'd spent a freezing morning in Central Park for a race), a few dozen were already on cooling racks, and more were baking in the oven! We unloaded our goods and proceeded to make at least 6 more kinds of cookies--everything from nutella-filled sandwich cookies to mint chocolate wafers. I chose the latter out of Everyday Foods, plus another Martha creation: coconut sandwich cookies with vanilla cream filling. Bec's gingerbread people were adorable, Karl's choco-chip crisps perfectly stackable, and Leezie's snickerdoodle's buttery and delicious. Even Mother's Russian Tea Snow Flakes (or whatever we're calling them) were okay--despite the thought that the butter may have been, er, turned, I tried one tonight and it wasn't half bad!

The puppy/baby theme from Thanksgiving continued as Bruno and Sam provided lots of entertainment by ways of adorable faces and overall cuteness. It was nice to see Daniel and Mario too--we missed Anna, though! Maybe next year!?

Visions of Sugar Plum Fairies...

...danced in my head last night as I watched New York City Ballet's beautiful production of The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. I loved every second of the performance--from the very realistic rats in the first act to the delectable second half full of dancing confectionaries. The tiny angels that opened up the second act literally floated on stage (their golden costumes were bell-like dresses that went all the way to the floor, shielding the audience from the little girl's feet and making them look like they were gliding on air), and when the snow fell onto the stage during the Waltz of the Snowflakes, I felt like I was looking out a window into an enchanted wintry forest.

Aftewards, I was laughing to myself thinking about my (probably distastrous) debut as one of the "Hot Chocolate" dancers back at Whestone, circa '89. I think Sissy was a flower in the Waltz of the Flowers, and I remember being really envious of her frilly pink costume. Mine wasn't so bad--a Spanish-insprired red and black get-up--but what little girl doesn't want to wear a pink and purple tutu?

Cook Shop

After a rather soggy Urban Run last night, I got a surprise visit from Keren, who had ditched a pricey ($25 at the door) holiday party across the street. Being cold and wet, I wasn't in the mood to do much partying either, so we opted to go to Cook Shop on 20th and 10th avenue for some bites.

Cook Shop is owned by the same folks who run Five Points near SoHo, another restaurant Keren and I frequented a while back. Both offer gourmet "American" fare, but Cook Shop seemed a bit more upscale. For example, instead of bread and olive oil (as we were presented with at Five Points), we received bread as well as long, skinny croutons that we were supposed to dip in the cream fraise spiced with a bit of horseradish. And instead of typical burgers and chicken, the entrees at Cook Shop are more elaborate: diver sea scallops, Hudson valley rabbit, suckling pig.

We opted to share the chicory, suncrisp apple, maytag blue cheese, and hazlenuts to start, followed by the mushroom pot pie. Both were great--I especially loved the maple-cider vinaigrette on the salad and the buttery warm pastry top on the pot pie. And this one you didn't have to wait an hour to let it cool off before you could actually take a bite, unlike most pot pies I've had in the past!

As always, it was great to have din with Keren...she's always full of crazy stories and keeps me very entertained!

Christmas Time is Here...

Got in a lot of spirited holiday fun over the weekend. Started off with a visit from Mark's aunt Elaine, in town from Herndon on a NYC tour. She had some free time, so we met her in Rockefellar Center (briefly caught a glimpse of the big tree between my gripes about how freaking crowded it was), then took her down to the Village. We had a great lunch by the fireplace at Dublin, then walked down to Jaques Torres (aka heaven for a chocolate lover like me), then to Washington Square Park. These pics were taken by the tree below the Arch.

After we parted ways with Elaine, who was on her way to see the Lion King, we swung by Leezie's to have a quick visit with our favorite nephew. Mark, the baby whisperer, held him the entire time, leaving me a bit jealous! Hah! I guess I have to get all of my Sam time in during the week while Mark is at work!

We then met up with Keren, got a burger at Stand, then saw the most disturbing movie: Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. It's one of about 100 movies Philip Seymour Hoffman is currently starring in. I had no clue that it was one of those films that has characters who start off in an awful way and just continue to spiral downward until the credits roll and you are so uncomfortable and sad and angry at them for being so stupid that you want to beat someone up. It's actually a fine movie, but just not the dramedy I was seeking, I guess.

We hoofed it back to Hoboken and I rose early this morning to make it to the Urban Run. I did my thing there and at Chelsea Piers, and then met Mark to go find a Christmas Tree! We wound up at Home Depot and got a bargain on a beautiful noble fir tree that's about 7' tall. Our biggest one yet. It smells great and is putting me in the Christmas spirit bigtime...let's just hope I can get my act together to do all of the various holiday projects I'm hoping to do before the 25th...

p.s. I realize I haven't posted any pics of our new digs, but you can at least see a partial view of the living room in the Christmas Tree shot...

Here are a few shots of Sophie and Lucy at their "photo shoot" at Montgomery Mall. Surprisingly, there weren't any decorated trees to be had in the entire mall, except the one near Santa, and it's probably verboten to take your own snaps (god forbid you get away without having to pay the $15 to buy the mall's pics!). So these pointsettias had to do. Lucy is on the right clutching my purse, they are in their Christmas finest, which one lady in the mall pointed out to me made them look "very Scotch." I think Sissy got some pics of them looking in the same direction--may be coming to a mailbox near you!

After all of my griping about the bus, it turned out to be just fine. Had a seat to myself and was delighted to hear that all Washington Deluxe busses are equipped with free wireless connections, so I played a little Scrabulous, watched some YouTube, etc.(didn't get much work done, though). Imagine--im'ing and emailing on the Jersey Turnpike! I've really been missing out toting around that old relic of a laptop with zero battery and the external (and tempermental) wireless card. Working on the new Sony Vaio I bought last week makes a world of difference and I feel so much more productive!

I've been having a great time at the O'Connells of Kentlands over the past couple of days. I accompanied Stella and Sissy to Montgomery Mall today where Sophie and Lucy met--and were subsequently freaked out by--a very real-looking Santa. The picture is priceless: Lucy just about to cry and Sophie already in hysterics. But they were quite adorable in their Christmas plaid dresses, and seem to be fashionistas-in-training (Lucy got hold of my purse, threw it over her arm, and carried it around all day).

Tonight, Sissy, Corinne and I ate dinner at Guapo's (where we were waited on by a woman who worked there back when we were hostesses....that's, uh, like ten years!) then saw American Gangster. Good ol' Rio has gotten a bit of a facelift but is still the same for the most part. Just a lot more built up. The movie was excellent.

Back on the bus tomorrow afternoon.

Bussin' It

Tomorrow morning I'm braving the bus for the first time in over a year. After being spoiled by a professional driver (Mark) for nearly every trip down to MD, I've lost my fondess for public transportation. But since I'd rather get some work done during the trip than stress over bad drivers and big trucks on the Jersey Turnpike, I just reserved a seat on Vamoose. (Let's hope they have a better movie than My Cousin Vinnie, which was played on both trips last time I took the bus. I know I just mentioned I have to get work done, but the only thing worse than a bad movie is a bad old movie, even if it is just playing in the background!)

I'll just be home for a few days, mostly to see Sissy, S&L, my 'rents, and to celebrate a belated birthday with Corinne. They all had a wild night on her actual birthday this past weekend, and I missed out. Although at the same time I was watching the spectacle that was the Woggle show at Maxwell's, I have a feeling that it just wasn't the same kind of fun.

Every time I get a little antsy about my job sitch (and what freelancer doesn't?), I gotta remember days like these where I can just pack up and go anywhere I wanna on a whim. No complaints here--even though I do have to go LB and take the bus once in a while.

Noisy Neighbors

For the most part, Hoboken living has brought us a quieter existence--gone are the days of the lovesick trannies, drunk teens, and feminine guys practing their dance moves underneath our bedroom window. At times, Christopher Street rivaled Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras, and my nerves had just about enough wooh hooing wake-up calls in the middle of the night.

Which brings me to our current apartment. Perched on the 4th Floor, we don't hear much. Or at least we weren't privy to any city noise until the other night when at 4 a.m. we were shocked out of bed by the sound of an extremely loud motorcycle. It was like Daytona Beach during spring break--Bike Week style throttle revs reverberating off the brownstones around our building. As I struggled to gain some semblance of where I was and what the noise was, I wondered why anyone would be riding a motorcycle at 4 a.m. in the dead of winter. A crazy person, do doubt.

Well apparently this crazy lives nearby or possibly frequents the tatoo place around the corner (a bit of an eyesore in the otherwise charming neighborhood). I heard him again, only today at 4 p.m. Just as I was scrambling to meet a deadline. Of course I got completly distracted and marched outside to see if I could catch a glimpse of him--or his license plate. All I saw was a 'cycle parked in front of the tatoo shop, but no driver. So I wrote down the plate number and went back in, too chicken to call and complain because I didn't actually see anyone on the bike.

And here we are again, 11 p.m. at night, and Mr. Harley is revving himself around the street once more. It's way too cold to go outside to see if it's the same motorcycle, so I'm hoping he gets in his kicks and puts away his motorcycle for the night--or for good.