Smack talking Hoboken

I am not Irish, but I do love wearing green. Like most holiday festivities this year, I will be missing St. Patty's Day because of drill. Yes, I am going to the parade Tuesday, but I will be missing all of the green beer drinking fun to be had Saturday. So, this past weekend I went to a friend's house in Hoboken, NJ for their extremely HUGE and festive St. Patty's Day parade and party. Did I see the parade? No. Wait, a little bit. I ran in front of it to cross the street.

I may not have fully partaken in the parade piece, but I did fully participate in the drunken-New-Jersey-spiky-haired Delta Bravo parade that was going on all around me. It was kind of like the unofficial NJ parade route. Has anyone seen "Growing Up Gotti", a 2004ish reality show featuring New York's Gotti family? Umm ya. Kind of like that. Spiky hair, fake tans, t-shirts two sizes too small and of course a lot of "Hey baby"s. Annoying.

Also along the NJ parade route were many houses that looked just like college houses packed with people. It was amazing! People on porches, people on top of roofs and porches and balconies, people making balconies out of things that weren't supposed to be balconies. In Ang's backyard her neighbors were all piling onto a fire escape, and we were screaming because the more they moved and added party goers to the mix, the lower and more slanted the escape leaned. It could have been bad.

Other highlights of the "parade" were a man in a green suit zipped all the way over his head taking pictures with onlookers, drunk girls in booty shorts getting sick between houses, a drunk guy eating a sandwich on the curb and a statue of the virgin mary. I am not kidding. It was an interesting day.

I don't want to smack talk Hoboken, even though I just did. It is a cute place, and it can be a lot of fun. Like I said, I have a friend that lives there, so I visit often. It just never ceases to amaze me how "New Jersey" that place can get though. Especially after dark. And if you don't know what "New Jersey" is, go to Hoboken. But be sure to bring your band-aids because if someone accidentally bumps you with their spiky-doo, you may get hurt. Those things are SHARP!!!

Bronze sculptures of my little friends

Aww how cute! I really enjoy getting off the subway at 14th St. As you walk through the station, you can see bronze statues of little guys with money bags, pennies etc peeking up at you through the station's surroundings.


After further investigation, I have discovered that these statues are by American artist Tom Otterness as a part of his "Life Underground" exhibit. What I love so much about these is that they blend into the scenery of the station, and if you didn't look for them, you might not even see them. For example, there is one statue of a little guy sitting on a bench. Well I definitely didn't see him, but a guy was sitting next to him on the bench, and it was really funny. They just look so natural in that setting.



I also like the little animals that are part of "Life Underground". There are giraffes and snakes and an alligator. Aww. Otterness also has other bronze art around the city in Battery Park and Brooklyn and a few other places.

However, like everything else, don't think that these aren't somewhat politically motivated. Otterness loves to poke fun of officials and society alike. But that's okay with me... these little guys are great to look at while waiting for the train!


Don't they just bring a smile to your face?

Girl scout cookies and karaoke...

I know you are probably thinking that Girl Scout cookies and karaoke could never relate.. WRONG! Here's how... When I was a young(er) lass I was a Girl Scout. Few things mean more to a Jr. Girl Scout than getting patches and selling cookies. Yes, my poor family. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa all did their duties as assistant Cookie salesmen, and hawked cookies at the office. But who really needs to "sell" cookies? They sell themselves. They are, dare I say, delicious! I guess you could say my fourth grade year was a lot like "Troop Beverly Hills" except we didn't stay in hotels, and we were in Columbus, Ohio NOT 90210. So my little friends and I came up with a truly ingenious way to sell cookies. We took our troop to Cub Foods in Dublin, and sat atop mountains of dog food in the lobby and sang our little hearts out about girl scout cookies and how frickin' delicious they were. Yes, we were 4 ft entrepreneurs. How could you pass up little girls with voices like angels, and boxes of cookie goodness? You can't. "Thin Mints are great, thin mints are fine..." I don't know what really rhymed with Samoas though... And that my friends is how we won the cookie competition for our troop.

O wait karaoke... So many years later, when I discovered the vodka soda, I am reminded of my days as a girl scout. See, for some reason I still think I'm that little girl sitting on piles of dog food in a supermarket lobby. I still that my voice sounds like an angel, but ummmm it's really too bad that it doesn't. It's more like a bad Cindy Lauper video that never stops.

Well it is that time of year. Girl Scouts don't come door to door in NYC, and no one in my office has little girl scouts at home to sell me delicious cookies. So alas, I will have to hope that a troop of young entrepreneurial Girl Scouts ends up in my supermarket, or it will be no Samoas and Thin Mints for me :(

BAM!

Yeah Emeril! Soldiers' Media Center has a piece called "Mission MRE", available at www.army.mil, that challenges chefs to make gourmet meals out of military MREs. Now for those of you that have never had or seen an MRE, you're lucky. Troops are given MREs when no other food is available. These bags of highly processed, nutritionally compact foods are anything but gourmet. They are an "essential evil" for troops everywhere. MREs may be a cutting edge way to deliver nutrients to a troop's body, but they are not something most would eat normally. (NOTE: There are some people who LOVE them... I don't get it.)

So Emeril chose the Chicken Breast and Beef Patty MREs for the challenge. It should be noted that the Beef Patty is by far the LEAST appetizing of ALL MREs... He did pretty well. Only using 5 extra ingredients and a bunch of spices, he made a delicious looking sandwich with toasted "wheat snack bread" and onions and peppers to boot. Very tasty looking. With the chicken he made a balsamic and provolone chicken dish that looked AWESOME! Dessert was a little sketchy looking I must admit. He used an apple ranger bar, nacho cheese combos and peanut m&m's. He drizzled them all with a reduced chocolate and cappuccino glaze. It was actually pretty good. I did get to try that one. I may start eating my combos with chocolate sauce. Ha!

Emeril was great with the troops. They really enjoyed his humor and great personality. He even suggested some restaurants that were good in the city. Actually he said Bobby Flay's was good, which was funny. Thanks Emeril!

Red Balloon Flower

This is one of my favorite sculptures here in New York. Outside the World Trade Center sight, it is truly beautiful. It was done by Jeff Koons, and is one of the most expensive sculptures by a live artist. Amazing...

Guggenheim blah!

This weekend I decided to do a little sight seeing around NYC. I walked around Central Park for HOURS, and I could have been there longer. I saw a castle, various performing artists, and so many dogs that I just wanted to take home, including a 16 month old French bulldog named Claude. He wanted to be my friend. I have to say, once again, that Central Park is my favorite place in New York City. The sad thing is that some "full time" New Yorkers think that Central Park is "the great outdoors". I'm not going hiking or mountain climbing there, let's be serious.

Okay. The Guggenheim. Ugh! Beautifully designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this masterpiece is best viewed from the outside. Seriously. As you walk your way up the twirly staircase of a gallery, the experience gets stranger and stranger. For the first few levels, we were looking at Van Gogh, Monet, Jackson Pollock etc. It was amazingly beautiful. Some have called some of these paintings life changing. Now, take into consideration that I am not an "art buff" by any means, but I was extremely disillusioned when I passed a steel coil draped onto the floor, and a guard was posted by it so no one would touch the "masterpiece". Hmm. So if I go to Home Depot, I too can be an artist. The most surprising was a strip of drywall that was missing, and people were gathered around looking at it. I started laughing. Are you serious? They are doing construction on that exhibit, and clearly ripped a bracket out of the wall to replace it, and these people think it is a piece of art. Hilarious. So I went up to one of the guards, and while laughing asked if he thought it was funny that people thought this exhibit under construction was a piece of art work. He then looked at me straight faced and said, "That is the exhibit." Wow. I was not ready for that. So after looking at a white box with a florescent light on top of it (another masterpiece), I went and stared at the drinking fountain for awhile. Beautiful.

I may not totally understand "modern" or new age art, but I do understand time management. How long does it take an artist to drape a steel coil onto the floor compared to how long it took Van Gogh to do Starry Night? I'm just saying.

However, I did appreciate a few of the modern pieces that were on display. The Hugo Boss Prize: Emily Jacir exhibit... fantastic. The photo of someone pressing their hands against glass was great. The piece where the artist drew the whole thing in pencil on the gallery wall was very interesting. One collection was done solely with sewing needles pricked through the paper. All in all, I will not be going back unless there is a specific exhibit I want to see. If I want to see beautiful art, I'll go to the Met or MoMa. If I want to see a video of a women saying random phrases with acupuncture needles stuck in her face, I'll go to the Guggenheim.

Random funny picture

Can you see the Soldier on this couch????

It's February Bits!

Hey guys! Sorry! I know I've been horrible about blogging for a minute. There really hasn't been a lot going on so you're not missing out... believe me. Its just hard because I've been extremely boring, and hibernating, and Grandma is in Florida, so she hasn't been reminding me. Ha!

A couple weeks ago we did a show with The Food Network. I met Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay. Yum! Let me tell you that that was a fun time. Anytime I can meet famous people and eat, I am a happy gal! lol. Guy was awesome. He was very into the Soldiers, and was all about taking pictures and hobnobbing with them. He was so outgoing, and at one point he even embarrassed me by saying he could take pictures all day with cute blond girls... yikes!



I also experienced my first Restaurant Week here in the city. There are a lot of restaurants that offer prixe fixe menus that week for a lower cost so everyone can try the "haute" restaurants around the city. We went to this place called The Post House, apparently it is owned by the same people that own Smith and Wollensky, but it has a smaller feel. I had Buffalo Shrimp, Filet and Chocolate cake. Let's just say that I was running awhile to work off that meal! Very good, but I'm not trying to go anywhere where the cheapest glass of wine is $13. I mean I am my grandma's granddaughter!!! I need wine!!!

And what is it with NYC and wine bars!!! I hate to say it but so far my favorite is still The Burgundy Room...in COLUMBUS, OHIO. I mean for a city that is so "right now", I can not find a decent place for wine flights and tapas. That's just sad.


At my favorite, The Burgundy Room in Cbus!


Tonight I am going to 123 Burger Shot Beer with the roomies for happy hour. $1 burgers, $2 shots and $3 beers. We won't be getting shots however because word on the street is they are glorified sugar water, which I totally believe.

I promise I'll be better about blogging! PROMISE! xoxo for now!

New Year's Eve with Carson

a bunch of crazy people who were in the cold for HOURS!!!!


That's a big Tree!


the Sgt and his wife being interviewed...

To begin let me say that this blog is for you Grandma. Because not every Grandma has an entourage that reads suggested blogs. Because not every Grandma reads blogs. Because not every Grandma will tell you off in an Applebee's for not name dropping enough in your blogs.

Apparently she DOES NOT like green tea as nearly as much as I do...

So New Year's Eve I went to Times Square. I know what you're thinking. Ahhh! You are a crazy person. How could you stand out there for HOURS and freeze to death? O no, people, I was VIP. Please! I had a media pass, and was outside for a total of maybe an hour and a half. The rest of the time I was hob-nobbing with celebrities and crew, and "working". NBC studios rented a part of the Marriot Marquee in Times Square, and had their show taped from there. The Army had a soldier who had just returned from Afghanistan and his wife on the show, so I went as PA support. He had two purple hearts and a bunch of other medals (I'm still learning). It was really interesting. They were great people. We sat in the green room all day, and waiting for our 1 minute segment to aire. I'm not going to lie parts of it were very boring. When it was time for our segment, we went outside,and through security, and surrounded by thousands, stood in a blocked off area right by the ball drop. It was amazing! I have never experienced that crowd. Especially from the outside. These people were crazy. Standing there for HOURS just to see the new Waterford crystal ball drop. It was beautiful. Every time we looked, it had changed colors. It is so interesting that something like that can captivate an audience of millions. Amazing.

And namedropping starts... now. Well We did get to meet Carson Daley at the after party at this little pub down the street. And his girlfriend (who is pregnant, and so nice.. and gorgeous!) And I met Luke Russert, who was also very nice. He was actually really funny. We had to sit in a trailer right in Times Square before our segment, and he was in there. Nice guy. When we were upstairs in the green room we met Melora Hardin, who plays Jan Levinson on "The Office" and Roxy in "Chicago" on Broadway. She was with her husband Gildart Jackson, who is also an actor. He was in the TV show "Charmed". They were both very nice people, and chatted with the Soldier we were accompanying. Well I think that's all the famous people I met.

What I was surprised about were the people I didn't meet. The musical performances were Elton John, Katy Perry (one of my faves) and Ludacris. When we got our media passes, the backs of them said "Ludacris guest". I was very excited. ( Grandma, Ludacris is a rapper...) However, I was disillusioned by live television. Not one of the acts were live! :( So I did not get to meet anyone! I kind of knew Elton was out, as he was in London, but the other two did perform, just not while I was there. It was hilarious all night though because our passes would get flipped around, and everyone would be like, "you're with Ludacris?" I always just said ya. haha.

At midnight we went out into the middle of Times Square and watched the ball drop. As the air was filled with confetti, and everyone started singing "New York, New York", I was filled with emotion. How lucky am I? How many people get to experience this like I am now? I am truly blessed, and I am loving every minute of it.

So it was a success. But I can tell you one thing. I am NEVER going back as "Joe Public". those people ARE crazy!

New year..

It seems like everyone's resolution is to "lose 10 lbs" or "go to the gym everyday". Well I think I'll generalize mine and say it is to be healthier. Here in the office we have taken a few mini steps to being healthier together. We have replaced the usual walk to the basement for coffee every morning with a HUGE box of green tea in the kitchen(Thanks Col Miller). Now I know what you're thinking. Green Tea eww. Well you can not tell me that the first time you drank coffee you said, "Man , this is great, I'm gonna drink this everyday for the rest of my life." It probably took some getting used to. So today is my third day without my beloved coffee, and I feel fine. It is even starting to taste good if not better than coffee. The Chinese have sworn on its health benefits using it for everything from depression to headaches. It has now been linking to help with and prevent certain cancers and obesity. Green tea by far has more benefits than coffee. It is a diuretic, contains vital antioxidants, helps with weight loss and it contains 1/2 to 2/3 the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. Although it doesn't have that caffeine "boost", it still gets you going without all the unnatural side effects. You know, the caffeine down, the discoloring of teeth etc.

We also have challenged everyone to drink more water. Drinking water also helps with weight loss and fuels your muscles and body. They say, if you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated. So now we all have a huge water bottle, and challenge ourselves to drink the whole thing at work. Some are better at this than others. They say that you should drink 64 ounces a day or eight 8 ounce glasses in order to get the benefits of increased metabolism and energy. If your hungry, sometime its because you're actually thirsty. The body sometimes mistakes hunger for thirst. I know for a fact I don't drink enough water. I wake up at night thirsty all the time. I know that's bad.

Another thing we are trying to do is bring Wii fit in on Fridays and do it at lunch or the end of the day. One, it would be hilarious to see some people I work with do the hula hoop, and you can burn some serious calories doing that. In the warmer months I hope we can take it outside. I printed off a Central Park runners map that has all kinds of different paths for you to walk/run/bike.

This also includes going to the doctor when you know you're supposed to and taking care of yourself. Certain MALES in my life (you know who you are) are ridiculous about going to the doctor and getting the proper care they need. If you know somethings wrong, get it checked. If you are of a certain age, get your tests done!!!!! No one knows your body like you do, and you have to listen.

The truth is being healthy is important to everyone, or it should be. Make it a point to be healthier this year. Do some kind of exercise. Stop drinking pop. That one little thing you change could benefit you tremendously. And bring your friends along with you. Being healthy doesn't mean cutting out all your carbs, or starving yourself, or even dieting. Eat because your hungry, not because its fun. Be active because its fun, not because you bought a dress 2 sizes too small and now you have to fit into it. If you make the little things habits in your life, it can be easy.
If you make get togethers active instead of eating or drinking, that can make a difference. For example, why don't you ask your friends to go for a run/walk/bike/skate instead of going to the bar and eating "bar food" ie fried crap and drinking empty calories. If I did that, I would probably lose a ton. Drinking kills me.



I love you all and wish you a blessed and happy, healthy new year! xoxox