Weekend Update: OCMS in NYC

In case you have read the title of this blog and have no idea what OCMS is...not to fret, it is not some kind of weird disease or rash (although the abbreviation does kinda sound like one). OCMS stands for Old Crow Medicine Show. They are an old-timey folk band and they rocked the house down at Webster Hall in NYC. I'll get to more about the show after I go through the weekend.

So Jeremy and I both took Friday off so that we could spend some time together in NYC before Phin's "surprise" party. Well, things just didn't quite seem to work out that well. First off, we had decided to go to the DMV to finally take care of this pesky registering our car in CT. I know, I know, we should have done this within the first 30 days of moving, but eh...what can I say...I did not want to part with my dear ole' California ID. So anyways, we got some bum directions and could never find the DMV in Bridgeport. Not to worry thought, I found out the other day we wouldn't have been able to register anyways since I had not gotten an emissions test yet. That is fate for you.

I also forgot to mention that Friday was pouring down rain, so much for our lovely day walking around New York and taking in new parts of the city. Anyways, we got into NY in the late afternoon and found out that so many people had flaked on the surprise party that it was no longer a surprise. It was still lots of fun complete with banjo playing and debate watching.

Saturday we woke up to another gloomy day and so we all decided that the day would be best spent at the Natural History Museum. Now, let me tell you...this is one cool museum!!! It is huge and we only saw a few exhibits, but we did see the giant whale and it was amazing.

After the museum we were a bit hungry and went to get some food at Uno's. I know this isn't amazing food, but it was drizzling and no one knew where else to go. The interesting thing about our late lunch at Uno's wasn't just the fact that Jeremy got a free meal because the waitress kept screwing up on his order, but the fact that they now post calories next to every menu item. This is enough for me never to want to eat out again. I mean, seriously, how can you still enjoy your food when it is 1200 calories!! Yikes!! Needless to say, I wasn't that hungry and I just had a side salad (the lowest calorie item on the menu, next to the veggie soup). I perssonally thing it's good that restaurants do this because I don't think enough people really think of the impact of the food they put in their bodies.

One side note here, since we are talking about food...I am going to be starting a new blog...scheduled to debue Oct 2nd about my journey into veganism. So far it's going good! The blog is going to be called "Tastes like Chicken?". I am going to put a link to it in this blog so you'll be sure not to miss it.

Ok back to the weekend...

So, then it was time to start taking off for OCMS. We toasted to the memory of Paul Newman, finished our drinky-poos and were on our way. We stopped at the Old Town bar before hand to get a drink and then it was off to Webster Hall. We got there just as the show was starting and it was packed!!! Now, if you haven't heard of these guys you should definitely look them up, they put on a fantastic show and who knew that so many people liked the folk music. They came back on for two encores and during one played 'Soul Rebel'. The cover was great!!!

After the show we went back to Old Town (phin had forgotten his credit card) and of course we all drank one too many. It's always that last one that gets ya!! It was a late night and we all felt really old the next morning and the morning after that.

Before we left some more banjo and guitar playing commenced and then it was back over the state line to Connecticut.

This weekend we are taking a second stab at the DMV. I passed the emissions test today. I was kind of nervous sitting there waiting for it, almost like for a pregnancy test, but of course not as intense or life-changing. So, hopefully we find it with the new directions. Please take a moment of silence on Saturday to recognize the loss of a California resident.

Thank you and goodnight.

Domestic Diva?

So, if you know me you may know that I am not much of a cook. It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s just that I am lazy and cooking takes planning and time. When I go grocery shopping I don’t make a list of ingredients I need to make a dinner, I just buy things I enjoy like stuff for salad, hummus, yogurt…..$80 and a week later there is no food in the house and Jeremy is ready to gnaw his arm off for fear of starving to death.

I have told Jeremy to look through my cookbooks and pick out a couple of recipes and I will be glad to make them. Has he done this? No. why? I assume it’s because he is lazy too!

Anyways, something new for me is that I have become a vegetarian. I stopped eating red meat my first year of college and just ate chicken and fish. Now I am allowing myself sushi once a month, but that is it. Since turning vegetarian, I have caught a lot of flack from people I hardly know, but that’s ok. The reason I decided to make the change was for health reasons, I don’t have a “save the animals” vendetta or anything like that. I mean, I like animals, but I sure do like the way chicken and fish taste. Actually I read a book called, The China Study. I highly recommend it to anyone who is in to health or has some health problems. It really did change my world and I plan on going vegan at some point. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go Level 5 Vegan and not eat anything that casts a shadow or anything like that. Right now my plan is to I am incorporate a vegan day into my week and then eventually eat vegan on the weekdays. One day I may be vegan 24/7.

This past week I bought a vegan cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, and last night I made my first recipe….white bean and roasted garlic soup. This recipe was fairly easy and chosen because I had most of the ingredients at home. This was my first venture roasting garlic and using my new Cuisinart hand mixer (thanks Lil Naf and Laura). That hand mixer is the best invention ever!!! I mean seriously, if you want to puree a soup you definitely need one of these babies!!!
Needless to say, my soup rocked and our tummies were happy and full. I will be in need for a good health food store, there is one close to us, but I’m not sure how good it is…I had to go to 3 stores yesterday to find Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s!!

Anyhoo, my first recipe tryout was a success and now I feel like Emril. Bam! Watch out for my cooking show!! I AM a domestic diva in training.

Other than my souptastic dinner last night, our weekend was pretty mellow. We got a dresser for our room and can see our wood floor once again. I know…exciting stuff!

Dear Blog, I've missed you

I know, I know...I have totally neglected my dear, ole blog!!! I am here to apologize and to get started again. I can't promise that some days will go by when I don't write, but I hopefully will not fall into a 5 month hiatus.

So, obviously things have been rockin' and rollin'. I have been super busy and that is the reason I have neglected my dear blog. I know, excuses...excuses!!!

Well then, lets get back into it...

We are now officially married!! The wedding was great and fabulous and everything we imagined. So many people worked so hard to make it so special for us and we will be forever indebted. I am still trying to convince Jeremy to change his name to Schacalieu, but he is still resisting. Here is one of my favorite pics from the big day... After the wedding, we were busy trying to find a new apartment so that I wouldn't have to battle traffic for over an hour in each direction to get to and from work. Let me just say, finding a new place to call home was no easy task. I don't know how people think that other people want to live in dirty places where fake wood is pealing off the walls or walk on floors that are severely slanted. Saying that most places we looked at were dumps, doesn't even give you an accurate description. It is highway robbery to charge people $1400 to live in a shoebox. This story did have a happy ending and we did find an awesome 2 bedroom in Fairfield. We are close to the train and the beach, which is super nice!

Now we are working on turning our piles of moving mess in to our home. The place is almost together--well every room except our bedroom. It looks like our bedroom threw up and spewed out clothes and hangars. We are searching for a dresser and hope to bring one home this weekend. I will try to post some pictures soon.

I have been busy with work and just got back from a program in LA. It went really good and I had a couple of D-list sightings. I saw Tanya from the Real World and Brooke Hogan. Actually, these are probably more like E or F list celebs, but oh well. One of our guys saw Lindsay Lohan when he was at the airport waiting for one of our VIPs. On my plane ride back, I did sit behind Trent who writes Pink is the new blog. I wasn't sure it was him until I got back home and went on his blog, now I wish I had said something, he could have posted a picture of us on his website. I could have been famous!!! Bummer!

On my flight from NYC to LA, there was some interesting conversation taking place before we took off. This older gentleman behind me (i'm not sure how much of a gentleman he actually was) was on his cell phone. Of course, I could hear him talking and I didn't try to stop myself from listening. His conversation was the typical, "we're getting ready to take off" and blah blah blah, but then it got a little...weird. He kept calling the person on the other end "Lover." It was like a skit on Saturday Night Live! "I can't wait to see you Lover" and "I will be in LA around 8pm Lover" and "I've missed you so much Lover". I seriously almost threw-up in my mouth a bit. Note to cell phone users in public places: we can all hear you and yes, we are listening. Please don't gross us out by calling someone Lover or if you must...please keep your voice down. The entire plane does not need to be filled in on your life.

Wow, I kinda just grossed myself out again.