Snow Day!

My company seriously believes in the safety of its employees. This is one of the perks to working for an insurance company. They are always on the lookout for ways to deter workers comp claims. The day it snowed approximately 4 inches, we got a snow day!

TVal and I enjoyed a day with the snow and the pups. We took the pups to the park and to top it off, we went sledding....TWICE! Turtle had a near miss experience with a ditch and mailbox shaped like a rooster. Oh yes, and there was studying, hot cocoa, and great wintertime outfits.

Gumbo Party

Charleston one weekend to Chicago two weeks later. I will add in here that I had to turbo-pack and move to Pennsylvania the weekend in between. Thanks to the help of some great friends, it was no problem at all and all done in about 3 hours!

So on to Chicago....Brenda, my diva friend from the WI Guard band, hosts a party every year at which she serves her famous Gumbo. It takes all day to prepare, and the last few years, I have gone to help cut vegetables, keep her company while she stirs the roux (takes at least an hour), and of course, drink some of her beer.
Scary Larry is enough of a reason to make this annual trek. To hear him say things like 'She out.' and 'If it don't make sense, it don't make change.' and watch him do push-ups after one too many gins.

Over the years and various gumbo parties, there have been many a story, most of which can't probably be posted on a public blog. This year was especially a good time with the added bonus of Guitar Hero. I don't take this game seriously, AT ALL, obviously.

We ate all night. Drank while we cooked, and laughed every other minute.

Madtown meets Cali in Charleston

The followers of the blog might remember that my good friend, Aaron came to visit me in Princeton last fall. So naturally, it was only fair that I paid him a visit to his current duty station in Charleston, South Carolina.

To make it better, I visited him in the winter time, when it was 65 and beautifully sunny in Charleston. We toured Charleston, did some shopping, and even had a rum tasting! yummmmy.

Another big reason for my adventure to South Carolina was to see my friend, Sam, from Army Advanced Individual Training. Before this trip, we hadn't seen each other from our treacherous summer in Norfolk, VA. She has recently been married and is living close to Charleston. It was great to explore the town and eat some good sea food with her! Sam, I hope it's not 5 years until the next time we get to catch up!

The trip, as spontaneous as it happened to be, was a great break from winter, work-stress, and just a good rendezvous to see my friends.

Happy Birthday Valerina Ballerina!!

Val and I celebrated New Years in style so why not celebrate her birthday in style too! Val flew out for an extended weekend to see Philly, Princeton, and New York City! She has two great friends in NY that we were able to crash with for the weekend and take in the great sites of New York.

We started the weekend off with a smashing dinner with all of my wonderful co-worker friends in Princeton. Of course, we had to end the night with milkshakes at Cheeburger Cheeburger. They are delish to say the least, and Val had to experience them.

Friday morning, we boarded a NY bound train from Princeton. It took us all the way to Penn Station where her friend, Rafi, picked us up and escorted us to Brooklyn where we would be crashing for two days. Rafi also took us to an amazing dinner at Zaytoons, Middle Eastern cuisine. I tried lamb for the first time! Lamb shish kabobs and baba ganouj (baba ganoosh)...so good; yummy! Dinner was followed by a comedy troupe in the city.

Saturday was a BIG day for us. We had brunch at Tom's Diner (yes, the one the song's named after Do Do Doo Dit Do Do Doo Dit Doot dit doo dit doot dit doo dit). Then it was time for Times Square. We started with Toy's R Us and rode the Ferris Wheel. From there, we grabbed a snacky snack at the M&M store. Dark chocolate peanut and almond M&M's; how can one resist? We spent some time gawking and drooling at the ritzy shops that we won't be able to afford...for awhile anyway. Look at how Daniel Craig looks longingly at Val (and vice versa, naturally).

FAO Schwarz was a disappointment. Both of us had high hopes and dreams of re-enacting the Big piano dance. First of all, the piano has been removed from the floor. Next, there is a line a mile long, and that line contains 3-year olds that don't even fathom the significance of that piano. So we said no-no.

On our way to dinner, we skipped passed Central Park and a kind gentleman asked if we would like a quick carriage ride through the park. Our guide had a warm Irish accent (go Val) and pointed out famous this and thats along the way. It was worth every penny and we can't wait to go back and take in all the summer beauty of the park.

Val was proud to see signage for 30 Rock and experience wintertime Rockefeller Center with the skating rink. No skating for us; we had more exciting things in store.

Dinner at Omido, with a pre-theater special, was stellar to say the least. The restaurant is located next door to The Letterman Show. For my first course, I finally got to try mouth-watering Kobe beef! I'm such a meat eater. mmmmm. My main entre was a sushi/sashimi combination platter, and dessert finished our fantastic meal with mango pecan sorbet parfait.

One thing I absolutely wanted Val to see was Times Square at night. It's a spectacle to behold! We grabbed a few touristy shots and then headed to the theater. We scored great tickets for Wicked! Having never seen it, I was enthralled. Broadway productions will always razzledazzle me.

The entire NY excursion was a fun reminder of the family trip to the city we took awhile ago (7 years ago...wow time flies!). The city was fun and I'm glad Val was able to experience all that we did. And look at us! Two small-town girls navigating all around the big city all on our ownsome. Yay!

Winter Wonderland

I know family and friends have been enjoying the wonders of winter in WI. This week, the east coast enjoyed a little of what Mother Nature has to offer. Wednesday morning, Tracy and I woke at 5 A. M. to about 3 inches of snow and raining sleet.

Because a nice layer of ice covered everything in site, my employer called a late start for everyone! Woohoo! So, it’s not quite a snow day, but we didn’t have to be in the office until 10:30, and this was A.O.K by me!!

Philly Restaurant Week YUM!

With the help of several key people, I continue to learn about the East Coast staples. This last week, Tracy invited to me join her for Restaurant Week in Philly. Restaurant Week gives average Joes, like myself, the opportunity to try upscale restaurants at a reduced price.

Several restaurants in the city offer a three-course menu for $35. Tracy’s brother and his girlfriend made reservations for us at Susanna Foo’s, a Chinese fusion restaurant. For a little bit of food and culture, Tracy and I braved the roads with a pending blizzard upon us.

Yummmm! For my starter course, I tasted Popcorn Pork Ravioli. For my main entre, I chose a salmon of sorts paired with squash potatoes and marinated grilled vegetables. Naturally, dessert is included in this feast of feasts. It may have been the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. It was a rich, fluffy chocolate cake cup and it happened to be filled with a fudgy molten lava. As if they could stop there…it was paired with vanilla bean ice cream.

Restaurant Week was a hit for this girl. I already anxiously await next year’s menu and hope to get a reservation at somewhere as tasty as Susanna Foo’s!

NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Most of you know that I’m a planner. I plan trips, workouts, to-do lists, study schedules. Planning is what I do. So, what I’m about to say could come as a shock for some; Val and I went to Chicago for New Years Eve sans plan.

We knew we were going to stay at our friend, Brenda’s condo, but that’s all we had. Where would we party? Would we go out for dinner first? How about shopping during the day? Drive, public transportation? Should we worry about getting tickets to a hip bar or party? None of these things really concerned us as we started out on our adventure, and an adventure is what we had.

The drive down was typical girl-talk. Sorry, Everybody, what is said in the car on girl-trip stays in the car on girl-trip. We managed to hug it out with Brenda before she headed to Florida to ring in the New Year. Then to Michigan Ave we went to spend hard earned cash on some much needed New Year’s necessities. I was in search for a head piece. Val was looking for the perfect purse. Lessons learned while shopping:
• You pay the parking fee on your way out of the mall, not on the way in, contrary to the sense of emergency the signs bestow.
• Eating is important; you need sustenance to shop.
• The perfect head piece can be made out of anything from Swarovsky crystals to Claire’s accessories.

Val and I decided to take advantage of order-in sushi while we dolled up. In a rush to get on with the festivities, we each took a bathroom and got to it. We managed to blow every fuse in the entire condo at once, with the exception of the flipping Christmas tree. We called everybody we knew to help us find the fuse box, and eventually had to beg a neighbor to help us scavenge for it. Game on!

Ok, so now we’re ready to hit the town. Where would we go? No idea… we got on the train and headed to a popular intersection in downtown Chitown. It’s 11pm. When we got off the train, within in five minutes, while enduring 5 degree weather, the decision was made to go into whatever place we came to next in order to feel our fingers and toes for the rest of the evening.

Luck be a lady! The Red Head Piano Bar was the next place we came to! The line wasn’t too bad and after about 10 minutes, a guy came out, took one look at us and said, “Get the ladies inside! Warm ‘em up!” Now mind you, we were ready to pay upwards of $150 cover in Chicago on New Years. From what we saw online, it would cost as much for a ticket. When we entered the bar, wouldn’t you know…NO COVER! Surely the drinks must be astronomical…$8 for a glass of champagne! Needless to say, Val and I drank the bubbly all night.

We met some extraordinary people along the way. The honorable mentions go to:
• The Bartender: you’d think he was paid to serve us all night.
• Anthony: who told me he would kill me if I put his pic on facebook…and he was serious.
• Brian: believed I studied Radio Science in school and was the up and coming Delilah…how can I help it if he misheard “Actuarial Science”
• James: all 4.5 feet of him
• Mr. Piano Man!: who played If I Had a Million Dollars, let Val and I sing at the top of our lungs and only ever chuckled kindly
• The bathroom attendant: $5 tip, hooah.

Arriving back at Brenda’s around 4, Val and I did everything in our power to find a pizza place to deliver; we settled for English muffins and peanut butter.

At an amazing diner, eating some stellar omelets on New Years Day, Val and I surveyed the wallet damage and wouldn’t you know, we managed to only spend $100 between the two of us on NYE, in downtown Chitown. Some of our events of the evening would have been worth much, much more.