labor day

we're off to bar harbor tomorrow for the long weekend!  have a great labor day.

DNC

last night i was forced to watch the DNC. i didn't particularly like it. i thought it to be full of crazy people, but they were pretty entertaining i guess since many of them cried or were wearing funny hats. i saw a few people speak, i saw michelle obama's outfit, and i watched the video bio of obama which i quite enjoyed, and then watched his speech. yeah it was great, i was totally sucked in, but that really wasn't what i was thinking about the entire time. in all honesty, i got a little bored half way through his speech and started daydreaming. my first question is: where do 85,000 people stay??? sure they were bussed in but where do they stay over night before being bussed home? i bet they're forced to stay on volunteer's couches and in temporary housing just for the DNC. that's an insane amount of people. is joe biden color blind? everyone's outfits matched perfectly together except for him and his tie. i had a bunch of silly questions, but overall the DNC was very interesting and i hope that Anderson Cooper also is at the RNC because i will also be forced to watch that.

Ban.do

www.shopbando.com

i can't even express how much i love these headpieces. they're gorgeous. i would wear these every day if i could!! check them out.

Mice and Rats

i used to have two pets, and then they both died.  totally unrelated, they in fact did not like each other.  but i was just having a little flashback of a buffy moment.  we used to keep my dog's food in the basement in the giant bag that it came in, we'd just roll the top closed because it was so tall and we kept it in my dad's home improvement room - everyone has one of these right?  just tools and paint and like more power tools?  so anyways, we'd refill a bigger tupperware of her food and keep it in the kitchen.  one day my mom went downstairs to fill up buffy's tupperware when she screamed.  there was a dead rat in the dog food.  we only filled the tupperware once a month or like once every 3 weeks, so we just weren't sure how it got in there.  was the rat in there when we bought the bag of dog food or did he climb in, gorge himself on dog food and then trap himself?  we'd never had any rats in the house before, just one lonely mouse that met the wrath of my dad and a broom.  it was a spectacular stomp down that scarred my brother so that when he reenacts it, his eyes glaze over and he becomes a screaming larry for about 90 seconds of fury.  so anyways, my mom took that bag of Iams back to the dog food place with the rat in it and demanded a new bag.

i have a really bad long term memory.  i will remember every single thing that abe asks me to remind him, but for some reason i can't remember things from years back.

here's the real version of the dog food story after talking to my mom on the phone just now.  my parents had mice in the basement in the wall between the garage and my dad's home improvement center and one of those hungry little mice (not even a rat) climbed into buffy's dog food bag and got trapped.  my parents threw the whole bag out and then went and got a new bag.  this story makes much more sense.

here's the larry and the rat story.  good thing i asked my mom about it on the phone or i would have told you the wrong version.  my brother was in the laundry room, and he came out and said to my mom: there's something looking at me in the laundry room with yellow eyes.  my brother was around 18 or 19, and he was totally freaked out because he couldn't figure out what it was.  so my mom goes in there and can't handle it.  my dad gets sent in after that, and he went in armed with a broom.  what came out of the darkest corner of the laundry room was a gigantic rat that bolted and ran around the hallway and bathroom and laundry room in circles while my mom screamed, my brother hid behind her, and my dad chased this monster with a broom. well he finally got to it, and he stomped it repeatedly with the broom while screaming a at the top of his lungs "YEAH!!! YEAH!!! YEAH!!!" if you think that's weird, it is.  well he stomped the life out of the rat, there was blood and fur all over the place and my dad was panting and yelling YEAH until the others made him stop.  larry has never killed a person or a pet, but he killed the life out of that rat.

this was not a well organized post, it completely got away from me, but hopefully you got a laugh or two.

Revisting my venue

i went to Tea Time today at the Crane Estate, which is our wedding venue.  both good and bad news.  the good news is the outside is even more beautiful than it was the last time i was there, i've decided where on the property i want to do the ceremony, and the outside is just soooo gorgeous.  the green of the grass is technicolor!  the bad news.  my heart just sank when i walked inside.... the inside is even more dreary than i previously remembered, the two rooms are even further apart than originally thought which is going to make seating a big headache since we apparently are inviting more people than desired, and the inside is just not at all pretty.  i couldn't understand why it was so dark.  it was like looking through a sienna lens or something.  every single night i'm going to pray for no rain and we can do everything from the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner outdoors.  that would be so perfect.

The band debate

i have a non-traditional engagement ring, it has a real interesting shape to it that i don't want to alter with a band too much. i tried on a few traditional wedding bands and hated all of them. they just didn't fit right, or they actually fit too well so that the shape of my ring was lost and it just looked rectangle and that's totally defeating the purpose. so i instead i think it would be best if i took a very different approach and got a band that was totally it's own item to be placed next to my already unique item.

This one is by Me & Ro.

298!!

298 days until our wedding. omg.

Watch out!

I was walking to the T after work and there was this old man in front of me dressed in a full suit. He was carrying a briefcase and a snack from Au Bon Pain. I was thinking this little man is way too old to still be working when... He let out a gigantic fart right in my face. He was only two steps in front of me and I didn't know what to do. He either ignored it or has lost feeling in his ass. I started giggling really quietly and then sped away in front of him letting other girls be in his path of destruction. I would like that to never happen again!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

I'll be seeing you later

Guess who's going to Madonna in October? i got tickets today!! and i actually got good tickets. becca and i will be in full view of the stage, that's all i can ask for. i'm not a gay man, but i love madonna in that kind of way.

She came and Conquered

Megan was in town for a week or so from duluth.  i love that she's from The place that people most reference as being the most obscure place in the world.  i visited her there in college a few years ago, and it's really not that obscure at all, there's a lot going on there.  anyways, we went to kerri's house to lay by the pool last sunday and get some sun and then we had some baked stuffed lobsters prepared by the talented June.  then the girls went off to the vineyard for some relaxation during the week and i had to go to work.  when they got back we went out on the town in davis square.... which to me means Diva Lounge.  being out on a thursday night is really impressive for me.  my usual station is on the couch in my pjs.

at the end of the week all 4 of us got to meet up for Tresca in the north end, and then out for a few drinks.  i now have 2 more bridesmaids:  kerri and megan!  i waited all week to ask them while megan was in town, and at one point all hope had been lost and kerri's mom goes: maybe you guys aren't invited.  well they are, and so that's that.  how silly of june.  

after dinner and drinks megan and i had to practice our mario karting.  it was really important to everyone that they weren't the worst person the next day during a dinner party.  i look like an idiot.

us boxing at 11:30 on a saturday night.  it was Exhausting!  i actually have a video of this that i'm thinking about posting, but it's almost too embarrassing.  

Tresca - N. End

This is one of the really nice looking  restaurants on Hanover, the main strip in the italian section of boston.  apparently ray bourque is a partner in the ownership according to the website.  We went there for restaurant week so there were 3 small courses for $30.  i got a spicey shrimp green salad, an eggplant pasta, and baked chicken.  none of these items are on their regular menu, so i can't really ellaborate on them.  everything was good, but i just thought everyhing would be better.  my favorite was the eggplant pasta, the sauce was really sweet, but i only found one piece of eggplant so that was a little disappointing.  i would be raving about this dish if there was a few more pieces of my favorite eggplant.  the service here is really strange.  we had about 5 waiters.  but it was chaos, so that one person would ask how it was and then 2 seconds later another man would ask us how it was.  there were no waitresses in this place, just waiters.  that annoyed me.  i heard that this restaurant was really expensive, but it's not bad at all, $22 is the average price for an entree.  that's probably only $3 more than other places in the north end that aren't right on hanover which is more touristy.  i was really happy to leave here feeling perfectly full as opposed to my other restaurant week visits that didn't fare as well.  i wouldn't go back here because i've been to other places in this district that are both cheaper and better like Bacco, Taranta, and Bricco (not cheaper just better).  it was an experience though.  i've never had so many people wait on us at once!

Food:  B

Experience: B+

I need a buddy

i'm looking for a running buddy. but it's hard man. there's 2 different running clubs in cambridge, and both seem really great...but i don't want to go it alone. i'm feeling very shy and vulnerable lately. i feel like i need to be in decent shape before i even try to show up to either of these places and say "help me become a runner". i was thinking about posting an ad on craigslist to find myself a buddy who was my same ability. i might still do that....but i really don't even know what to say. first of all my ability varies a great deal. some nights i can run 8'30" miles for 4-5 miles. other nights i seem to just crawl along and can barely do 3 before wanting to die. i'm not quite sure how to tackle this problem. i guess one solution would be to make abe my running buddy. the only problem there is that abe doesn't run at all. the next solution is to just post something and figure i'll find someone (but what if they're weird?), and the last solution is just to suck it up and try a workout with the club. ugh. i'm in one of those "i don't feel like trying anything new right now" phases.

Capone's and Lasagna

i love comfort foods, people always think i'm sort of strange when i make things like lasagna and pot roast in the middle of the summer but what can i say...they just make me feel really good. last night i decided to make a quick stove top lasagna. i like the stove top because it can cook in about 30 minutes with less fuss. i was chopping green peppers and onions and everything and then i realized that i hadn't bought any cheese in who knows how long.... and i didn't have a car. i was about to get on my cute green bike and ride to the store, when i decided to check out the little italian specialty store a few blocks away from me by the Pemberton Market. i'll admit, this is only after i had tried 2 bodegas first. i was really amazed at this little store and the amount of specialty cheese, pasta, and freshly made foods they had. i think they sold about 30 kinds of olive oil and you could taste each one if you wanted at a testing station. they also had plenty of italian chocolates and italian sodas. i really wanted to buy more but since i knew i'd have to walk home i had to limit what i was carrying. i really recommend this place, it's adorable, and it's stocked with fun food items and it's not expensive.

Back to my stovetop lasagna. i make it differently every time, but this was last night's:

boil free lasagna noodles
3 cups of italian blended cheeses, low fat
2 bottles of sauce
cooked italian ground turkey cooked in onions and peppers
pesto

put a layer of sauce down on the pan, and then just start laying everything till you get about 1 inch from the top. bring it to a boil and then put it on low for about 30 minutes covered. let sit 5 min. or so to cool and then cut and eat. a lot of people like to use ricotta cheese and eggs, but i like to skip that part all together for both my thighs and because ricotta reminds me of cellulite.

Wedding Advice from an Amateur

i've been wedding planning all summer long. i thought it would be fun, but it's more complicated than that. the only fun part was.... finding my dress i guess. that was sort of fun because we got to lunch at Atlantic Fish.

- make your guest list before you choose your venue (i just got this advice last freakin night). who would have thought to do that seriously!! we're having a problem shaving down the guest list to be under 120 with the hopes that only 100 come so we can feed them all lobster tail (my dream entree). i hate this. i hate not being able to invite someone i'm close with so a great aunt can attend. i did not invite that many friends, and i come from a really small family, but the guest list still overflowed and it overflowed with some people i haven't seen in 10-20 years. i'm only 26.
- your first instinct is always the right one. women in the bridal shops thought i was nuts, but if you need to think for more than 5 seconds on whether you like something, then you don't. if you don't like tulips, you're not going to like them in flower arrangements no matter how "non-tulipy" they make them.
- you're never going to have the same taste as someone else, but if someone else knows you well enough and knows your taste, that's the only time their opinion should be asked upon. and you should probabaly put them in your wedding party. - i know i still don't have a full one yet!
- make sure everything is clear. who is paying for exactly what, who is making decisions, who is planning what, etc.
- more advice that i'd like to just throw out there: elope. sacrifice gifts, sacrifice family and friends and pets, just run away with 2 wedding bands and a photographer. what a dream. just ask someone to water your plants.

My Avatar

www.faceyourmanga.com

i don't think i look much like my avatar, but that's ok.  it's fun!  they don't have too many options for asians, so instead i look kind of like a caucasian alien.

Sibling Rivalry

abe, lauren and i tried sibling rivalry tonight in the trendy south end.  it's easy to get to, the parking is pretty good, the bar is nice, the people are stylish young professionals.  however, this is not why i go out for dinner.  i go out to dinner to get a great meal that i couldn't get in my own kitchen.  i expect presentation, deliciousness, and when i leave i want to feel satisfied and happy.  i started with shrimp that was prepared in a scampi sauce, my entree was duck with a watercress salad and some kind of sharp cheese wrapped in prosciutto (wasn't thrilled about the cheese), and for dessert i had a summer berry something with oatmeal sprinkled on top in a little cup.  it sounds good, but it was just alright.  i'm no newbie when it comes to restaurant week in boston, and i understand that generally the portions are smaller than when you order right off the regular menu, but this sized meal was for a dieting tween.  when i left i wasn't thrilled, happy, or full.  i was really disappointed because i had heard such great things about this place and had been dying to go for a long time.  i'm willing to give it another shot during a regular day instead of restaurant week, and i'm sure they could redeem themselves, but on this particular night i was let down.  and the service.... that was not good either.  it wasn't bad, but they seemed to not really care.  and if you don't care, then you don't want me to come back now do you?  i will say that this restaurant is Very clean.  the bathrooms are spotless, and it just looks pristine, and that's important and something i don't always take notice of.

food:  C+

ambiance: B

Packing my bags

i'm thinking about moving us to Wordpress.

does anyone have any advice? i'm so familiar with blogger, but it seems like wordpress has way more options and features and growth.

I Piss Sunshine

i have a few friends who are using dating websites to try and find a future wife/husband/funny story. they're mostly open about their trials and tribulations in the sort of blind dating pool that i've never been in. something that keeps coming up besides the whole "she looked nothing like her picture" problem and the "that picture was obviously from 10 years ago because now he's bald" things are the questions that they need to answer in order to even be on the sites. there's lots of things like "musts", "must nots" and "cannot tolerate for even one second". i wouldn't last two minutes on these websites, nobody would ever want to date me ever. why? 1. i have very strong feelings on some things that others find stupid, 2. i have tons of pet peeves, and 3. i do Not look good on paper. so yeah i'm sure lots of people have some of these things. but do they really? if you're trying to meet someone, i'm sure people mostly water down their strong feelings about receding hairlines, obesity, body odor, height, or whatever. but if you're using a tool in order to spring forward and skip the whole bar scene and waiting for mr. right to tap you on the should at whole foods, then why bother with the whole masquerade. just let it all out. it will be so liberating!

someone you are attracted to must always:
call the very next day if interested, not 4 days later not 6 months later. be tall and more athletic than not. be atleast 2 years older than me, and must act it, i'd rather date someone 36 than 26 years old. have a job, have a life, have a place to live that's not his parents house. be thoughtful, appreciative, considerate, and willing to make a commitment. take me to see any stupid or childish movie that i want to see. must like spicy asian foods, the water, the ocean, the beach, vacations, traveling, flying, and you should Never check your bags when going on vacation. believe in Food is Love and be one-of-a-kind.

someone you are attracted to must never:
have a criminal record, be hairy, smelly, short, slow, think that the drop-kick murphys are good or cool or belong in society, forget to pronounce their Rs, trust the airlines with luggage, eat a hotdog at the movie theater, use more hair products than me, have yellow teeth, cook with cream unless warning me, use the words "i hate vegetables", be loud, care that i eat a ton, repeatedly complain about something trivial, have to ask "should i have gotten you a card?". think that sports center should ever be watched in my presence, wear socks with sandals, crocs, or any other hideous footwear.

I know. I'm about to feel the backlash. but on paper, that's exactly how it is and how i am. and in real life, i've had only long term relationships. who would believe that right? and i'm actually engaged! i know, crazy. either i am a gem or abe is a gem. either way, it's best to be totally open about exactly what you are and what you are looking for. don't beat around the bush when you're serious about finding love. - i feel like charlotte right now.

A morning surprise

on friday night abe called and said something to the effect of: i'm starving, let's order some chinese, i'll be home in 30 minutes.  i called the chinese place down the street because it's just easy to go pick it up and it's not terrible.  there was no answer, i called more, but still no answer.  i called the alternate number on the menu: nothing.  since it's so close i just took a walk over there, and there were a bunch of chinese men standing outside but there was a sign on the door saying they were on vacation for a week.  there's not a huge selection of good chinese food around me that delivers, but i was determined to get the order in before abe got home.  i ended up calling a place that's not really all that great, but they usually deliver pretty quickly.  kerri if you're reading this it's Red House in Teele Square.  you better know exactly what you want when you call, and i'll leave the rest for your own experience.  anyways.... i ordered $60 of chinese food for 2 people.  i know how obscene that sounds, it's like disgusting.  we totally didn't come anywhere near finishing the monster of a delivery, so abe put the rest in the fridge when i went to the north end to retrieve megan for the night.  megan and i got back a few hours later and i made sure she helped attack the chinese food.  the next day, i had it for lunch and then again for dinner.  and now on this sunday, i might be the most bloated water retaining creature on the planet... like a yellow water balloon.  but that's not even the bad part of my story.  so we got the delivery on friday, and i'm not sure how this happened but the bag it came it remained on the floor in the corner next to our recycling and CSA crate.  so it was kind of hidden.  somehow there were little containers of duck sauce in there, and some bread rolls (Red House thinks bread rolls go with chinese food....), and i just noticed it this morning on sunday.  sunday people!!  i was watching the news this morning really early and i was picking things up here and there and i finally noticed the bag, so i peeked inside and picked out a duck sauce (there were 4 large containers if that helps you gauge how much food came with it), and there were tiny ants crawling all over it.  i would have screamed or at least dropped it back in the bag if my mind and body were awake yet.  instead i just kind of stood there and stared at the ants and wondered if they liked the sauce.  i put the sauce back in the bag gently, and then lifted it up off the floor.... this was both the smartest and dumbest thing i did all day.  by lifting the bag i exposed an ant infestation.  we're not talking a few silly ants, we're talking like 70 or more ants in an apartment that's never seen any ants before.  that set me into motion.  i ran around spraying the shit out of them with cleaner to stop them from running and picked each and every one up.  those freaking bastards think they can invade my (normally pristine) kitchen!!  how dare they.  i hope they enjoyed that duck sauce!

Questions

This is taken from Liam's Alternate Reality, but i found it pretty interesting or pretty interesting for my lazy every day kind of blogging.

Questions:
1> Who threw the last party you attended? What was it for?
i dont think anyone has ever thrown me a party. my parents threw me a graduation party back in 2005. that's kind of sad. that will be changing soon i'm sure.

2> What are you wearing today and why did you pick decide to wear it?
i'm wearing my favorite shirt of the summer. i got it at H&M for like $9 and i love love it. i'm wearing it today because i knew i'd have salad for lunch and this shirt is great for disguising little flicks of salad dressing or other food and coffee stains.

4> What is the closest handmade thing to you right now?
i have a bunch of handmade flower pens. they have big bright pink lillies on the top of the pens, and i made them a couple of years ago for a coworker when she got married. everyone in my office thinks they're real flowers.

5> Aside from mine (obviously), who's blog do you think is the funniest?
Dooce for sure, that blog is hiliarious. my favorite part is the Daily Chuck. it always gives me a little giggle, and then i get really sad that i can't have a dog right now.

OMG.

look at this piece of art. i love these shoes, and the best part for those of you who have money to spend right now is that they available at bluefly for a mere $664. i'm not one of those lucky people, but i do love these shoes!! you could wear them with jeans or you could wear them to work or you could wear them out dancing or out for a cocktail. but if you wanted to wear them in the winter in New England, i suggest you wear them only indoors.

look how much i saved

i wish i could be on one of those Progressive Auto insurance commercials. I saved $300 by switching to Progressive!! i also switched my home policy to Liberty and saved $25 on that. it was grueling grueling work, the kind of investigating and talking on the phone that you really need to set 3.5 hours aside in the afternoon to do. it's kind of hard to focus on stuff like that too. i wish i had tea or something, my eyes started drooping. but i saved a lot of money today, how frugal have i become?? frugal enough to hop in the car and go pick up our farm fresh veggie share.

10 Tables, again

last night i had an exceptional dinner at 10 Tables in JP with a couple of friends. it's just a consistent solid meal that never disappoints. tuesdays are pre-fix with wine pairings. i'm a huge fan of pre-fix because it gives you a chance to try something you might not normally order. i know picky eaters squirm over that, but if you're a picky eater then you're no dining-mate of mine - and i probably secretly disdain you. the reason i love this restaurant is because it's small but cozy and warm, the food is impeccable, the service great, there's always parking, and our friend Dave just happens to be the chef here. We started with shrimp fritters, followed by a minestrone soup with pesto that will knock your socks off, and then lamb sausage on white beans, and by this point i was so full i don't know what i even ate for dessert... it was something i've never tasted before. a chocolate fudge square with basil and mint? and topped with ice cream and nuts? it was really really different tasting, and for such a small portion it was like a "punch to the face". my favorite part was the soup. i've never had a minestrone soup with pesto swirled around like that, it was like a combination of 2 of my favorite things: soup, and super fattening oil based awesome sauces. i would have been happy to walk out of the restaurant just eating that alone and felt totally satiated. and now i feel like a cow, but it was worth every single bite and every single sip.

dinner or dinosaur crap?

sunday, i spent my entire day prepping for a pot roast. i had to go to two grocery stores to find a roast big enough and then i scrubbed the veggies, chopped like crazy, and stuck it in the oven. i was really dedicated to this piece of meat. i took it out each hour to baste juice over the top and make sure the moisture stayed in, and it was starting to look really good. then suddenly it seemed to take a dramatic turn for the worse. my roast went from being really mouthwatering looking to a piece of carnivore shit. how did this happen? i followed every step i was supposed to take. i used our special roasting pan. i called my mom in complete panic:
:ring ring:
dad "hello"
me "hi, is mom there"
dad "hi, how you doing?"
me "is mom there, this is an EMERGENCY!!"
dad "what?"
me "Get mom on the phone, i said this is a freaking emergency!!"
dad "oh...what? oh mom ok."
so after i finally got my mother on the phone, our only solution was to make a nice gravy and douse it to disguise the flavor of being Extra Well Done. and how did this all happen? i just assumed that i was supposed to cook it at 350....well i was wrong. i know this now, but since i let my anxiety over finding the perfect piece of meat take over, i never even thought to look for the temperature to cook it at. i would like to say this is the first time i've cooked a roast, but that would be a lie, abe and i have done this twice before. i guess luckily it was edible, the veggies were really nice and tender and good, the meat was just a bit tough.

This was not as bad as the time that Giada's home made scalding pasta sauce blew up in my face and all over the kitchen, or the time i cooked way expired capers, but it has it's place on my list of idiot kitchen endeavors.

dinner surprise

at dinner last night with my family a woman came up to our table and my parents both gave a warm greeting.  i had no idea who she was.  so she looked at me and said: do you remember who i am?  i was thinking really hard, but i felt like she could have been anyone.  my mom yelled out: it's mrs. ready your kindergarten teacher!  i was like oh my god, i can't even remember where i park my car at the mall and you think i'm going to remember a woman from 21 years ago?  

Not That!

i've been driving my fiance into the depths of exhaustion by grinding my teeth for the past two nights straight. i'm not sure why i did it on monday, but last night i sure do. i had this awful dream. i dreamt that i was pregnant. i dreamt that i was pregnant living with my parents. i dreamt that i was pregnant living with my parents and wearing black leggings!! and i dreamt the full 9 months of the term and was about to deliver when my dream changed. i dreamt that i was back in college, but not at northeastern, just generally back in a college dorm living space. and it turned out that i had somehow forgotten to do my homework for my class coming up, and i had to try and beat my room mate to the bathroom to get ready, and it turned out that my room mate was a boy. that boy is very uncool and i actually know him in real life and would run out of the room screaming if he was ever actually my room mate. black leggings, pregnancy, and being sent back to college are three of my biggest fears besides open water and i already had an open water dream over the weekend. anyways, so you can probably see why i was grinding my teeth like a madwoman. but it's hard to explain these things to an over tired man at 7:15am. and now i'm over tired, but i need to go pick up our veggie share after work and try to run 4 miles and then make us a superb dinner.

Nike+ Addendum

Megan is the one who told me that Nike+ would make all my running dreams come true. she did tell me last year but i was still struggling with the Nike shoe design. Again this year she suggested that i might really love it, and i listened to her this time around. i'm glad i did she is a genius.

Nike+ update

Yesterday, i calibrated my Nike+ gear and i was off. i'm happy to say that i love this thing! i love the little voice that comes over my ipod and says: 1 mile and then later says Half Completed. it was really fun actually, well not fun so much as much more interesting than a normal run is. today i signed up for the Nike+ 10k on August 31. i don't really understand it yet, but i'm pretty sure that when the day comes i'll get it. and actually training for a 10k isn't exactly going to kill my social life. i did 4 miles last night, and i'll be honest...i normally just get tired and then get off the treadmill at 3 miles or so, but this made me run further. thanks nike+!

Nike+

I am a serious brand loyalist. but just when i thought that i would never buy a running sneaker besides Asics ever again, i did it, i went out and bought.....Nike (Nike Air Zoom Vomero+ 3). i knoooow, the shame!! everyone remembers how much i first loved and then quickly hated the nike shox that came out 5 years ago, but the thing is, well it was 5 years ago. and i'd like to think that i'm a better person now so maybe nike makes a better sneaker (i'm also growing sensitive). i really wanted to try the whole nike/ipod hookup thingy too. i was reading the book and honestly it sounds really advanced to the point where i might get confused. i currently have a pedometer attached to my sneaker that we were testing for Actihealth and i liked it a lot, but it could only do so much, this ipod/sneaker thing is crazy. hopefully this will motivate me more to get to the gym more times a week. if i even go one more day than usual, i will say that this was worth every penny. i'll review the sneakers later after some testing.

Shabu Shabu

our friends jen and ben were nice enough to have us over on sunday for some shabu shabu. if you are picky or if you don't like fun and different foods, then you should just skip this post all together. it's asian hot pot. we had 2 different broths steaming in a boiling pot, and you just dunk in a little basket whatever you want to get cooked. then you get to empty your basket into a little cup of soup full of seasonings that you put together yourself to find your favorite combo. it was amazing. we had scallops, shrimp, pork, beef, haddock, and fish balls, bean spouts, some kind of asian cabbage, some white veggie, mushrooms, and tofu. and at the end when you're starting to get really full, balls of noodles are dropped in and cooked, and then you get some noodles to finish off your broth with. the experience itself is really fun, but the food is just delicious: very healthy, spicey, flavorful. i'm a die-hard fan of vietnamese pho soups, but i think that shabu actually beat it because you get to pick exactly what you feel like eating and you can adjust flavors so easily.

I want more!
A+

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2 Stellas later

oh my god. i went out for happy hour last night. i was there for 2 hours, and 2 beers. i then went home and had spaghetti Os and tuna with chips (strange combo i know) thinking that i needed some carbs and protein and drank a gatorade. of course a few hours later i got sick....Real Sick. and now today i feel like 2 unpolished cents. normally on a friday i feel like atleast 5 crips dollars after i drink my coffee. this means i'm going to have to take a little vacation from drinking. and when i say that i mean i'm going to need to take a little vacation from drinking anything more than 1 drink for a couple of weeks. this is horrible, i feel like a leper.