Last day at LGA

Last day at LGA. I've heard that one before... and a little leary due to the fact I still don't have a flight for tomorrow! Looking forward to being home and kickin' around. It will be nice not to talk about work all the time too! Last night was nice though, a wonderful Italian meal of gnnochi in a vodka sauce with 2 different cheeses. Mmmm and my favorite...sangria; red not white.

The food has been amazing here. I have seen more of New York and the boroughs than ever! I think I will miss it greatly. I have seen JW and JC more in the past 2 months than in many years past! I have had amazing adventures in food, drink, subway, and friends with 'Dre exploring Queens, Brooklyn, Jackson Heights, Manhattan and all it's little nooks and crannies, Corona, Flushings and College Point. I have spent money on purses from trashbags, food, drink, metro passes, passes to the MOMA, street vendors, tshirts, shoes, but mostly food for 2 (me and 'Dre).

JC and I had a picnic in Central Park Monday night; brie, club crackers, wasabi almonds, diet pepsi, fresh chipotle mango slices and of course gummi bears. Frisbee in the park until I started sweating. Had the biggest dirty martini at the boathouse afterwards. So big I didn't finish it! WOW. It was dark out and we found ourselves in the middle of Central Park, so we paid an African dude to pedal us on his bike to the subway. He was little, we were not! I think we wore him out. He was chuggin' along! When we got to our stop, he walked his bike to his next destination, never a good sign! Dinner at Dos Caminos, mmm real mexican food with homemade guac and white sangria, that food has heat! man!

I worry I will be bored when I return to my happy home, or left wanting more; not NYC, but maybe Boston or somewhere a little larger than P town. Even from states away, I can still feel the grumpy vibes from work! It's a shame.

Last night in the big apple and I have to work late! Good thing this city never sleeps! Drinks with K dawg tonight, whenever I get out and hopefully chinese take out and a 6er with JW. Quite a lovely send off I think.

The boy is making me dinner tomorrow night, I hope! I can't handle another meal out for awhile! Maybe we should cook breakfast Friday, Little Bookworm? What thinks you?

I heart Queens

I feel like a resident of Queens now. Metro passes, home between 1:30 and 2:30 every night. THIS city truely never sleeps...and neither do i! Screw laundry, I'm enjoying my time outside of work. Dre and I have been living it up on the town each weekend and I've been practicing during the week too. Only a few more days left. YAY. I actually forgot my address the other day. Pretty sad.

Central park is nice, but I like Washington Square Park better. It seems more real. Dre and I went there the other night. IT was so hot and humid I was MELTING. It was late and still so hot. Dre told me I should jump in the fountain to cool off. At fist I was like "WHAT??!?!" and then I changed my mind and it was the best idea ever! So much fun; felt like I was 5 again. I even got him to stick his feet in. I don't care how silly I looked or how dirty that water probably was, but it was amazing. Went to some of Dre and Roosevelts stomping grounds that night too. Gotta love the village and the lower east side.

Ready to go home...

What a wonderful last weekend in NY. Dre and I spent his birthday at the MOMA, loaded sausages on the street, desserts from little italy for breakfast and an interesting Brooklyn experience.

Ever go to a concert that is BYOB? It was sort of an underground establishment. No running water, sinks ripped out, ice in the toilets, stolen electric, smoking allowed inside and for all this we paid $8. The band was cool though and someone almost was sent up into the crowd surfers; good thing his gf stepped in!

So much we have seen and done. The best burger ever at the Jackson Hole Diner and only a 2.5mile walk. Macys was like nothing I had ever seen before! 7 or 8 floors of amazingness. 2 floors just for womens shoes! I want to go back! I bought a pair of sporty sneakers with no backs; purple irriedencant. Who wears flip flops into the city. I mean really!

Can't wait to come home. Miss my baby, and bunny girl and the apartment, even though it is going to be hot in there! Home cooking and friends and Dewey's and Rosie's. cheaper prices and familiar things. gotten really good at the subway, finding new places, venturing out on my own and taking it all in. I will not miss how muggy and loud it is down there though!

Exhausted in NY!

Exhausted in NY! I don't know what's wrong with me, maybe trashbag shopper wore me out!? Going into the city tonight, it's been 3 days!!! Redhead and Spaz come tonight. YAY visitors :)

lost in ny...

lost in ny...
only someone not used to the subway would make plans to meet up in grand central. i thought it would be easy enough, when you get off the 7, wait for me there. apparently there are numerous sets of stairs and exits and NO CELL SERVICE. can you imagine? no texting, no talking, nothing! Eventually, I made it to ground level to receive my text and make my way along to our final destination.

Text from Trashbag shopper: "we lost our country mouse!"
Text from Dr. Love: "Nooooo! Bring our country mouse home! Find her!"
Text from Trashbag shopper: "Our country mouse is safe"
Text from Dr. Love: "Phew, we can all sleep tonight!"

Enjoying my group here. We all have earned nicknames. I am country mouse/dancing queen...don't ask! The ninja has been hanging out with us more, when he isn't dodging shuttles. G underpants doesn't know he has a nickname but he does. Sometimes he's grumpy but loveable. And Dallas has been a hoot to hang out with! Newbie joined us today. Trashbag shopper will be missed!

Pictures to come...maybe tonight if I am not sucked in by the city train!

NYC... er Queens

NYC/Queens. I survived my first week. I discovered the subway's not as scary as I remembered it; white people CAN be the minority, if you are in the right place; and a can of sardines is roomy compared o the 7 train on a Saturday night. You don't need to know a lot of spanish to know Americano means they are talking about you! I have never experienced so many people staring at me just because I was white! Found ourselves in Chinatown aka Flushing Queens and were trying to find an Italian restaurant. Sometimes it's easier to go with the flow than swim up stream! Chinese food it is. The best Chinese food I have EVER had! The kind of place where you order seafood and they grab it from a tank and slaughter it before they cook it up for you. That's fresh!

More later. sleep now. my heart hurts when it's pulling to Portland and upstate :(

Day 11

Excruciating pain! I have only felt pain worse than this once in my lifetime - when I got my tonsils out a few years ago. This leg pain is constant and keeps me up at night and bitching all day! Thank God for the pain meds, yet it's funny; they barely make a difference.

Big homesick day. 9 more days of this. they should be paying me more for this. i am missing my life at home, yet making strides in my career. i guess it's true...you can't have both successfully. remember that folks.

have had the best meals here. they are so delicious! i can feel my arteries clogging as i swallow. I've decided that i am going to take myself out for Easter brunch.

I've decided some people look better with their helmets on, like Tom Brady and ellsbury and ortiz and manny. it's true sometimes i like watching baseball for the cute butts. don't worry i still love my NYY. The Sox were playing Kansas City and it made me think of all those men in cute pants!

Louiville

Louisville, Kentucky; not very impressive yet. I've been here a week and my favorite things are the IMAX theatre where you can hit 2 shows for $12 and the free bar at the hotel; every week night from 6-8 FREE beer and wine (and dinner)! Who wouldn't like it!? Well, probably someone who doesn't drink. It's been exhausting. Only cried once I think. Surprisingly did not shed a tear today, even though I had t spend my day off at Urgent Care and then the ER; it's only 7.5 hours of my life, no biggie. no real improvement either. everyone kept trying to give me a doctor's note for work and I kept telling them that's why I'm in Kentucky! Apparently, some people choose to visit? Odd. I doubt I'll be back. There really isn't a lot to see here. I do want to cross the Ohio River; the bridge looks pretty cool. I loved the English Pub on Fourth Street, but sadly I have only found one of their local beers that I enjoy; Bluegrass Brewing Company Nut Brown. Bedtime soon. Miss my baby and Portland and all things comfortable and familiar and my friends and family. Next weekend will be harder given that it's Easter... Only the STRONG survive!

hello again

Well hello again. It's been a busy month. Maine to Florida to Maine and Kentucky is next. For months I couldn't wait to get deployed; everything is new and exciting. Now I have my papers and I don't want to go for that long. I gotta man up though because I am the lead evaluator. I will try and ost some photos of cool things I see out West. I don't think I can catch up on the last month, so I am not going to stress myself out and even try. Resting up today; hurt my leg some how. ice, heat, ice, heat.

Another birthday, another blizzard

So my birthday was perfect. Shopping with Mom and sometimes Dad - gotta love the President's Week Sales - what a great time for a birthday! Mom and I love the shopping and we even swung by the makeup counter ;) I love hanging out with my parents. No matter what we do we have fun, even if it's watching tv, having a snack, playing with the puppy or going to the gym/mall/happy hour! I couldn't ask for better parents, they are like my best friends and I only wish they lived closer or me to them. I think it's because I'm an OC (only child) that we get along so well. We were always the Three Musketeers!

We ventured someplace new for lunch on Friday the 20th, FYI lunch at DiMillo's Floating Restaurant, which was cheaper than a night out at $3 Deweys! It was amazing food and atmosphere, even at the ever-stately bar! They have quite a few stimulus price reductions; $5 lunch specials and $15 dinners along with free happy hour apps and drink specials! Ok now I sound like a commercial!

Speaking of commercials...my FAVORITE one right now is the McD's commercial for the fillet of fish sung my the wall trophy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bJOIqVAD-s Seriously, I might have a problem because I laugh out loud when I see this!

Birthday again...I got distracted, was awesome. A great dinner at RiRa's, a tradition now, with a not-so-great yet amusing waiter. Steve was his name and he took better photographs than he did orders. Everything was a mess but I was happily amused and the food we received was great! A Divine chocolate cake with pink frosting! The best frosting I've ever had. Go Shaws! I mentioned awhile ago to my mom that I wanted a pink cake for my birthday and she said I thought you wanted chocolate and I said I do and then realized that chocolate wasn't pink and said...Oh I don't know! and proceeded with a previous conversation. My parents have found a way for me to have my pink cake and eat it too! YAY

Mom, Dad and I went to J's Oyster, a great little dive! he best seafood in town, no-frills. Raw scallops, a huge plate of mussels, spicy mac and cheese, calm chowdah and some beverages to top it all off. Then mom and I got to check out the Art museum, but dad went for a long walk and it was too cold to be outside for over an hour; that ended our night early due to coldness to the bone!

Maggie and Trevor took Andre and I snowshoeing at Pineland Farms Saturday http://www.pinelandfarms.org/visitors/faqs.htm which was awesome and I hurt for three days afterwards! I kept having races and then falling over my snowshoes! Andre was always the fastest, I was number two, well until I fell and then I was the caboose and everyone had to run back and help pull me up from the one hole my un-snowshoed foot had made. One time the snow went up mid-thigh on my un-snowshoed foot! Wish we would have taken pictures during our 3mile trek.

On my actual birthday, Andre and Greg (Andre's dad), took me out to breakfast at the Bayou Kitchen....mmm...nothing like grits and crawfish in your omelet! Andre brought me shopping and we met up with Amy and continued to Margaritas! Did you know my birthday is National Margaritas Day, yet now Margarita Specials!? Weird! We played pool at the OPT billiards, which have a beautiful view of the street below and twinkle lights lining each cathedral arched window. Doe and Matt even ventured out to celebrate mi cumpleanos! Much fun and music was had by all, until Brookie got hungry and 'Dre and I went to Gritty's for some Bangers and Smash and a backgammon tournament! It was really quite sweet...I have this pocket magnetic backgammon game now and it was in my purse and we had a blast (He almost beat me, but I won by a hair)! One of the cutest things was when we had cake and everyone sang to me over speakerphone! Another birthday...another blizzard.