Still no ideas

Except bad ones.

Abe looked in our spare room last night and said: let's take the shades off these lamps and we can be larvae. I laughed so hard I cried because its just so bad its good. Except for the fact that we wouldn't be able to walk or bend our knees and there is no way it would fit around abe. Each of the panels is like 8 inches so even if it fit we'd be pretty squished in there. The party we are attending is: super heros and villians not insects and metamorphosis. I'm still accepting ideas. Also I'm going out at lunchtime to see if there are and last minute costumes that are simple. Halloween got me good this year.

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Dilemma!

we have a halloween party to go to on friday....we have No costumes!  the major problem is that the theme of the party is superheros and villians (creative is better), and we have no ideas and no materials to work with.  the minor problem is that we have 1.5 days to come up with something.  so i think i could use some help.  i wasn't prepared for this one.

did you see that?

after i saw a ghost in my bedroom, i swore off watching any scary shows or shows that might just put ideas into my head whether or not they're real.... until tonight.  Ghost Hunters was on abe had to make a trip to the office.  i decided to lay on the couch and watch to get in more of a halloween type mood, and the Astor's Beechwood mansion was on!  it's a mansion in newport, RI which was on my list to atleast look at for our wedding.  i doubt we'd ever be able to afford such a luxurious place, but at the same time, i'd pay $0 to rent out a haunted mansion for a wedding!  not a chance, you know unless it was free and they through in a free 2 week honeymoon and 1 big house plant, then i could totally deal with a little discomfort for me and my guests.

It's here!

our couch is here!!  our living room is really tight so i couldn't even take a full-on picture for you.  but it's here, it fits, and i still love the color!  AND the boston interiors dudes moved our old couch into the spare room for us when we weren't able to fit it on our own.  i'm so thankful.  and i love this new couch.

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The Groom

i'm having an artist on etsy create a cake topper for our wedding cake.  she sent me a picture of the groom to see if it's ok to move on to the bride.  how adorable is this little guy!!  i hope she remembers the tails.  i know it's a little non-traditional, but sometimes you need something a little fun.

Robin Sparkles

Sandcastles in the Sand by Robin Sparkles

i'm sure you've seen Lets Go to The Mall by Robin Sparkles, but have you seen Sandcastles in the Sand?  you should, james van der beek is in it...and again when he's supposed to look 17 he still looks 32.  robin thicke even makes an appearance.  it's so bad it's good!  or it's just so bad it's painfully funny.  

Men shopping...

i do our grocery shopping every week, it's something that i actually enjoy for whatever reason.  this morning i woke up and i was just feeling a little under the weather, so i gave abe a list and asked him to do it for me.  off he went, and he got his hair cut and was really productive.  he came home and put the bags down and i put all the groceries away.  later he said "do you like my candy selection?" because i had put "1 bag of candy" on the list for halloween trick or treaters to put at our door, and i was like um yeah sure....there was 1 bag of kit kats, so i had no idea what he was really talking about.  i was really busy, i was making us lunch at the same time as making the red velvet cupcakes (post below), so i wasn't really on top of my game.  a couple hours later when i was finally cleaning up my mess abe says "did you see i got oxyclean?" and i was like "no you didn't" and he's like "what?? and lightbulbs?" and i'm like no you didn't.  so he called the store and he had to make a quick trip back to pick up his left bags.  it didn't really work that way though, they actually had a list of all the merchandise he left with the bagger in the checkout line.  so they asked him to go get all the things he needed in the aisles, so he picked up the lightbulbs, oxyclean, and cascade tablets.  he gets back and they say: what about the chips, candy, dishsoap, toothpaste, etc etc.  he was like oh my god (the picture is all the stuff he had forgotten).  apparently he was referring to the 3 1/2 pound bag of assorted halloween candy that he had left behind.  and he almost didn't go back to the store because he thought it was only like 3 things.  i guess grocery shopping once in a blue moon is a really bad idea, i didn't realize that i was so skilled at sunday shopping.

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Red velvet cupcakes

i found a really simple recipe for red velvet cupcakes. but when i say really simple, it's really simple because the ingredients are things that i'm familiar with and all you really need is a mixer. however, this was a tiny bit more laborous than i imagined. it took me 2 hours from start to finish and now the kitchen and i am a total disaster. baking is Not my specialty.

the cake itself is pretty basic, but real fancy at the same time. it's light and fluffy and a flavor that is hard to explain....sweetly decadent. the recipe i used was from an ad i saw in martha stewart living. there was a cute little asian girl so of course it caught my attention, but it's from McCormick if you're interested in trying it out. my only caveat is that the frosting in this recipe is a cream cheese frosting, and i think it's a little too much for me. i am a frosting queen, but this actually took away from the flavor of the cake itself. maybe something a little subdued would work better for me.

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Kaze shabu

we went to Kaze Shabu tonight in china town.  we wanted to show some friends how great shabu was, so we just kind of went here on a whim.  there's a few more popular shabu places in brighton and quincy but this was just more convenient.  we got 4 broths:  thai tomyum, miso, chinese herbal and beef bouillon.  then we got huge orders of prime rib, seafood, veggies, noodles, etc.  and boiled it all.  you can see a mushroom cap and some spinach floating in the picture.  everyone was really happy with the meal and they thought it was so fun to dip your basket into the broth to cook your own food.  it's light and delicious.  if you like soup and if you like asian food then you would love this, it's so healthy and it really satisfies.  they're opening a shabu joint in harvard square soon too, i can't wait to try that one.

food A-

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New sectional

We just bought a new sectional. It only took us 20 minutes to decide on one. Its portofino chambray which is fancy for light sea green. I love it! Tan and beige couches are great but when in life can you have a couch with true personality? Hopefully I won't have buyers remorse. Its arriving on Wednesday and we're moving our piece of crap couch into the extra bedroom.

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Hamster

I'm thinking about getting a hamster. I'm sure that's probably even stranger for an adult to have than a guinea pig but I'm really not that normal. Hmm.

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Splurge!

Abe came home today and said "I splurged". He bought a new 1/4 zip sweater from brooks brothers. We are one in the same sometimes. He saw something he really wanted and just could not control himself. But I will admit it looks really nice especially with all the layers underneath. He's going out with the guys and I asked him where they were going and he said "I don't know maybe south end". I was like yeah you look like you're going to the south end!

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Flower Girl

i have the last of my wedding party, my flower girl Beth!  she's the cutest little girl you've ever met.  i might be a little partial, but i think that she's smarter than any little kid i've seen so far in life.  we are still working on the grooms party, but we'll get there.

Christmas?

I picked up 4 Christmas presents already. I know what is wrong with me? I knew what I wanted to get my bridesmaids for Christmas and then I found them on sale by accident so of course I had to get them. Even in tough economic times I know how to take advantage of a good deal! I love Christmas!

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PF Changs

when you get 12 fortune cookies in your doggie bag there usually is more than two people eating.... usually.

tash and i went to PF Changs for dinner tonight.  i finally got to go, i've been craving it for months.  we got:

chicken lettuce wraps

crispy green beans

PF Changs fried rice

mongolian beef

chicken and broccoli

kung pao shrimp

and then a mystery shrimp dish that we didn't order.  

that's just way too much food for two people.  the waiter brought us 4 cups of white rice thinking there were 4 people.  well out of all that delicious food, the mongolian beef was by far the best.  it was flavorful, but not too spicy, and perfectly cooked.  i think i might be exhausted from eating.  

Food B+

Service B-

10.21 update

things around here are really exciting...

- one of my bridesmaids just passed the bar in RI!!  congrats kerri ___ esq.

- i went to the gym twice in a row this week and really worked hard, this is a vast improvement over last week.  hopefully i can make it 3 nights in a row.  seeing madonna must have really impacted me and my delicate self-image seeing as how i can barely move without soreness right now.

- i'm soon going to quench my craving for PF Changs.  this week if i'm lucky!  i'll try to practice self control.

- thank god for dvr.  i got to watch 2 new episodes of Little People Big World tonight.  i just get sucked into that show and could watch it for hours, also new Interventions are on!  also on demand check out Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but watch like 4 episodes, just 1 won't be enough to get the humor.  i laughed out loud so many times, but i know other people might not.

- the election is coming up and me and my family have aggressive disagreements on the right candidate for our country. 

- there is a mysterious cigarette smell coming from the bathrooms... where in the world could it be coming from, the bathrooms have no windows!  we'll solve this mystery.

- i learned a new joke:  why are math books so sad? . . . because they've got so many problems! i now have 2 jokes in my memory bank, i'm so proud.

Madonna Pics

my pictures didn't come out that great, they're a little fuzzy sorry about that.  next time, if there is a next time i'll try to get a lot closer!

The Chart House

we went to The Chart House on the water front tonight for dinner with abe's colleague from the UK.  it's a lot bigger than i thought it would be and it's a lot more old school boston than i had imagined.  i guess i just didn't quite know what to expect.  

we started with crab stuffed mushrooms.  i like anything stuffed into a mushroom, and these didn't disappoint.  i think they were maybe a little too cheesy and pure crab would have sufficed.  they were excellent though, i'm getting nit picky there.  i had the lobster bisque, of course, i get this any time i see it on a menu no matter what.  this bisque had huge chunks of lobster tail which i love, and it was rich and creamy and the menu says that it's "laced with sherry".  oh it was laced alright, it was doused in sherry, but it was very unique and i liked it a lot.  i'm glad they warned me of that though.  i had the pan seared sea scallops for my entree.  they were cooked in a soy ginger broth, and there was a little spinach, bok choy, and rice dome in the middle.  overall it was good.  there was one scallop 1/3 the size of the rest which i thought was odd, i mean why even put it on the plate it looked like the runt.  it was overcooked as well, but the dish was good, that was my only complaint.  abe got surf and turf, but i actually didn't try any of his meal and he had the chowder.  he claims it was the best chowder he's ever had in his life and he's eaten a lot of chowder.  i tried it.  it was Not the best chowder i've had in my life, but to each their own.  he liked how many clams were in the soup.  for dessert we split the hot chocolate lava cake.  we had to order it when we ordered our entrees because it takes 30 minutes to bake.  abe was really impressed with this.  i've had this somewhere else and it was better at that somewhere else (my memory won't let me figure out exactly where), but also i have a cold so maybe i wasn't tasting the richness that was truly there.  i only had a couple bites, i just thought it was average lava cake.  the service here was pretty upscale, the waiter offered his suggestions and tended to our water and wine needs.  there is complimentary valet service which i've never seen before!  i think that this place is good for picky eaters because there is a wide menu selection with both seafood and steak options, and the prices were very moderate for the area.  there were definitely a lot of tourists eating here, which is both a plus and a minus.  but you can't win them all.

Food B+

Service B+

would i go back?  Yes.

Almost time

To take our engagement pictures. I don't have a full length mirror so I can't show the whole outfit but its nothing special. I debated getting my makeup done at beauty and main in Harvard square but this is the head of the Charles weekend so there are like 200,000 people there. I think I did a nice job though, my skin is behaving for the most part. So we are taking our pictures in a cemetary and I know that is super weird but the photographer showed me pictures of the area in Cambridge and I really liked it so whatever. I'm not superstitious at all. Its 50 degrees outside and windy. Probably not ideal but I'm hungover and I have a bad cold so the weather should match.

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The woman is 50!

so the madonna concert was totally awesome as expected. it was the warmest concert i've ever been to in my life, it must have been like 85 degrees in there, everyone was absolutely melting. she was on stage for 2 hours, and i don't think she really rested more than 2 minutes the entire time. the woman looked amazing, i mean amazing in the kind of way that makes you wonder what she has to do to keep that kind of body. she looks rock hard. she has muscles where i didn't know muscles existed! she's at that age where over the hill is kind of not funny, but she made me feel instantly flabby and overweight. she sang a lot of oldies and some newer stuff that i'd never heard before, but the probably the best part was that she sang authentically. my favorite madonna song is "hung up" and she sang it, but in my opinion that's not a song that should be taken out of dance/disco and put into a rock version. but atleast i got to hear it. and the second best part of the concert were all the dancing people and the crowd. i have a funny video to post later when i can figure out how to edit it. lots of people were Feeling the music in a way that i've never seen before. most of my pictures came out pretty bad, but i'll post a couple later anyways. you can tell she's getting a little more up in her age because even her last tour that i saw on tv was a lot more physically demanding just a year ago or two years ago, but she's still doing a lot more than people half her age on stage. it was really impressive!

Fruit Fly

Ok i know what a fruit fly is, i know what a really un-PC fruit fly is, but have you ever seen it on Etsy?? Check it out. they have the cutest little ceramics, mostly vintage looking but a playful vintage.

Madonna!

Today is the day!! We're (becca and I) going to see her Madgesty tonight!! i'm so excited. i got up and took forever to choose an appropriate madonna outfit that would also be work appropriate, and i even did my hair and wore eye makeup today...that's like huge. i remembered the tickets and my camera, so hopefully i'll be able to write a little post about the experience tomorrow. i'm sure i won't be disappointed. i told my family about the concert on sunday and my brother goes: you like madonna? i was like: you don't know me at all.

Hermione Grangermouse

i know i generally like things that other people don't like, yeah i get it, but these are like the coolest things ever if you like harry potter. this is Hermione Granger by house of mouse. they're on Etsy and i originally blogged about them ages about because they have wedding cake toppers with cute little bride and groom mice. totally something i think is adorable but the rest of the general public would probably think is strange. becca didn't think it was in the least bit cute, but whatever her favorite color is purple so i wasn't too offended. anyways, they make harry, ron, severus, and voldemort too. it's just so cute!!

C3 Squirrel Sweater

Hello Cuteness!! i love cute little animals and their food stash. this cashmere sweater is by C3. i have a sweater by them and it's both light, warm, and comfy without being too delicate. you can find it on bluefly for $149. i love the little acorn in the bottom left. it makes me so hungry.

Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer

ok, so my retail diet ended pretty rapidly with columbus day shopping. oh well. but i had some really great finds including this: laura mercier's tinted moisturizer spf 20 - illuminating. she has a few tinted moisturizers but this one is illuminating while the others are matte, and the range of skin tones is different. this one only offers: bare radiance, natural radiance, and warm radiance. i'm warm. it delivers a really nice and light coverage with a little glow, i could have left the house wearing only this. i wore it over my regular moisturizer because i was afraid it wouldn't be able to be both a moisturizer and a light makeup, i think it would be ok all on it's own but in the dryer months i think i'll continue to use both a regular and this to hydrate. i'm really impressed with it, and i only wish that i had tried it sooner. it's $42, but i swear it was worth every single penny. a tiny little bit works wonders so i'm sure it would last ages. there are definately cheaper tinted moisturizers out there, i hear Stila makes a nice one too for $32, but this one was perfect for my skin tone. i think that since i am so impressed with this item that i'll try other laura mercier products in the future.

product performance A

product price B

Jenny

i had a really great day off from work.  i went to sephora for a good hour, and when i was there someone from work called...i was like what the Fing F, he knows i'm not there today my empty dark cube would tell him that and the sticky note that said: "Hi, i'm not here today".  luckily he just asked me to come in early tomorrow, pheeew!  i did a little shopping around copley (in heels) my feet are killing me, but i wanted to be able to get an accurate length if i tried on pants. - i never even did.  so my feet are killing me for nothing.  on the way home i bought a houseplant, my very first real big house plant, i'm so excited you have no idea.  i've been begging abe for a houseplant for so long, but it's not really convenient to go buy a giant plant and then have nowhere specific to put it....so this is Jenny, and i'm still trying to find her a perfect location.  and the whole jamming a giant leafy plant into the back seat of a sports car blocking the entire rear view and being almost unable to shut the door without shutting it on the leaves.  i also got three mini plants for a window ledge, but the picture wouldn't upload sadly.  this is just the beginning of house plant mania and Jenny is the queen bee.

Columbus Day...off

we are up really late tonight because...

we're not working on monday!!!  instead i'm spending my day finding an outfit for our engagement pictures, looking around for a nice houseplant, and trying to relax and de-stress myself by taking a couple naps.  

Brad's birthday

we had dinner at the cheesecake factory for brad's 22nd birthday.  this is probably his favorite restaurant ever!  i went to northeastern, so we went to the cheesecake factory in the prudential center pretty frequently for years and this one time brad ate so much at dinner that he went to the bathroom and puked, then came back and ate dessert like a trooper.  it was disgusting and impressive at the same time.  like where do we come from?  there was no shame whatsoever.  this time we faired a little better, there wasn't any puking and everyone made it out alive.

BPAs

a little while back there were several studies done on BPAs causing diabetes and heart disease.  the study found that 93% of americans had BPAs in their urine when tested.  it's everywhere in plastic bottles, tupperware, can linings, etc.  you can read a summary of the study here.  the people with the highest levels of BPAs had a much increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.  i just checked my tupperware that i bought a year ago and they are number 7 within the little recycling symbol, which is really bad (so i hear) especially for women and i use it almost every day to bring my lunch to work.  i'll be replacing that asap.  they might do studies five years from now that say otherwise, but i should probably just replace it anyways to be safe.  i'm wondering if i'm over reacting...

apple picking

we took advantage of this nice saturday and went apple picking at honeypot hill orchard in stowe, ma.  abe and yuri are convinced that this is the only place worth going to if you want to pick apples.  we went on a little hayride and picked some apples.  i swear that these trees were really tiny though, i think we were in the dwarf tree area without realizing it.  and the trees were really picked over so if you are planning to go apple picking this year, the time is now!  the best part of it was that when you go to the farm store afterwards they have apple cidar donuts that abe and yuri claim are the best ones ever.  i'm not sure they are the best ones ever, but they're really freakin good.  there is also a petting zoo (sort of...like 3 goats and some bunnies), a pumpkin patch, and a hedge maze.  we didn't actually do the hedge maze or the petting zoo, but you know, it's there if you have kids or are interested in getting lost in tall shrubbery.  i'll be making an apple pie soon, more to come on that!

Gemstones

i have a serious thing for gemstones. these rings are by marie helene de taillac and you can find them at barneys. i think they're so unique and modern. i love how simple they are with such pretty lines. i could just eat them up someday.







this one is a legacy ring by Tiffany of course. it just screams Tiffany's bitches, i'm $11,000 don't even look at me unless you make that much in a day. i just love this setting though. you could probably put a pebble from the sidewalk in the middle and i would still say that i loved it. someday i want one, maybe not till i'm 45 but that day will come....

Found: extra space

i have tons of bad ideas today.

last night i was hanging out really bored, and i was thinking to myself: we have an extra shower in the guest bathroom but it's one of those standup showers that's more like a hole in the wall with a curtain. i think it's been used twice ever because we never have guests. i wonder if anyone would even notice if i took all the shit from our shit room and just stacked it all in there? i mean who would really peek behind the curtain and find a mountain of disorganized useless crap about to tumble over. or would anyone notice if i hung a closet bar in there and hung more clothes and maybe shoe rack?? i really doubt anyone would ever notice! it's kind of like how carrie stored her winter sweaters in her oven. sometimes you need to make the most of the space given. or maybe once wedding gifts start arriving i'll store my nice wedding china in the shower because a robber would never think to look in there! it's a genius hiding spot.

upcoming photos

we're taking our engagement pictures in one week from sunday, so i have 9 days to find a cute outfit.  we're not doing anything fancy, just one outfit and jacket since we'll be outdoors at 8:30am which is painfully early.  so.... i need an outfit!!  i could find something here in my closet, and i probably should.  but i really don't know about that one.  i know i'll be breaking my retail diet, but i feel like it might be totally necessary.  however, i do have a gift card to a simon mall so i just need to head over there and check it out, maybe like monday after work.  i really do need a new pair of jeans, mine are all crap.  i know if i'm going to get something it should be a top right?  but the problem is all my jeans are either loose and old or tight and all severely frayed at the bottom from being and idiot and walking around nyc in flats.  i'm thinking that i'll get a new pair of jeans and make due with a top from my closet.  i'm not sure, there's all sorts of outfits from anthropologie that call my name and all sorts of nice knits from jcrew... it's a hard decision.  

i think i need help!!

Great Hair Day

first hair cut and color that i've gotten in over 8 months!!  i had it deep conditioned and colored and cut and now it's like a whole new head of hair.  it didn't even mind when i didn't get home till 3 hours after my appointment time.  well it sort of minded but then i gave it a steak and cheese lean pocket and it was cool.

wow, my face is really heart shaped....

Zen Gardens

this morning before work, i walked over to my doctor's office. i was sitting there talking to a nurse practitioner, and i took a look around and realized that she had a rock garden on her desk. it was a wooden board with lots of little rocks all on it placed in very particular positions. all kinds of rocks: pretty crystalized ones, beach rocks, almost clear rocks, rocks that looked like gem stones, etc. some of them were all on top of each other stacked, and others were placed far away from the rest and there was even a 1 inch cactus. i wanted so badly to ask about it, but then when i realized that we were sitting in a room that was 8x8 and full of no less than 20 plants that i probably didn't want to unleash the Zen dragon. i wish i could have taken a picture, i couldn't find a comparable one online. i wonder if she was trying to soothe patients or herself, or maybe it was some kind of feng shui... in my house we have a kind of feng shui going on. of course we purposely leave random items in seemingly random places, but i assure you that mini sewing kit on the bar is a meaningful balance to offset the bowling pin on the window ledge.

Presidential Debate II

i would like to preface this post with saying that i'm not feeling very well today, and things have started to annoy me further as the day has gone on.  

i'm watching the second presidential debate.  it's actually quite interesting that they're fielding questions both from the audience and from the internet.  the topics are pretty repetitive from last week, and in fact i haven't learned anything new except that tom brokaw likes to rub his brow when he thinks the camera can't see him...and if john mccain were at hogwarts he'd be in slytherin (i'm sure other people can see it!)  actually john mccain's slytherin came out tonight when he threw a little tantrum about being able get a fair response.  i was hoping he was going to yell out the C word or something.  did anyone else hear that rumor that he called his wife the C word?  abe read me an article about it.  i'm not sure if it really happened, but i believe he's capable of doing that.  and you know how there's always a picture of the president on inauguration day and then a picture after their term, and that man always has less hair and whiter hair and ages quickly and poorly.  i am thinking that obama will get some gray and maybe a few wrinkles.  what the hell would happen to mccain??  his hair is already half gone, he's sporting the half bald comb over, and it's completely white already. 

Mario and Martha!

Look what I came home to:
A new issue of Martha Stewart weddings and super mario galaxy from Amazon. I won't be bored tonight!

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Mandarin Oriental

the mandarin oriental is now open in boston. this probably shouldn't matter to someone who lives in the area, but i'm really intrigued, i'd love to see the inside. something about being in hard economic times that make me really curious about luxury! curious but not stupid. they have a bar with exotic cocktails, i think i'll try it out sometime and report back.

I did that you freakin jerk

you know when someone takes credit for something you did?

you know when someone crosses the line and tries to give you something to do when that person has no right to do so, and scratches his balls all the while?

today is one of those days.
but i do love those Angry Beavers from Nickelodeon.

Su Changs

abe and i checked out Su Chang's in beverly last night to see how it would do as a rehersal dinner location.  his oldest sister did her rehersal dinner there and it's in the same area as everything else so it seems great.  from the outside it looked perfect, big, modern, open.  from the inside it was a little 90s, but that's not a big deal.  we ordered a ton of food because i was starving and we wanted to try a few different things to field a good opinion on what they could do.... we ordered soups, an appetizer, a rice dish, a chicken dish, a beef dish, and a veggie.  for some really bizarre reason, we got the rice first, and 5 minutes later the rest of the entrees came out in intervals.  i really wanted my soup, so we asked for it, and they brought it, but totally forgot about the appetizer.  so ok, the waiter was Not the brightest bulb in the tree.... i can forgive that.  i think i'm a really good judge of wonton soup, and it was bad.  it wasn't like Ok, it was Not Good, the broth was way too watery and the wonton was way too salty and doughy.  the fried rice was flavorless, in fact my home made fried rice was impossibly better.  the general gau's chicken was really good, and the spicey string beans were awesome.  the beef and mushrooms were good but the mushrooms were obviously canned due to their uniform shape.  however, i will say that it was super inexpensive since we were in the 'burbs and we normally spend a lot more on dinner when we go out.  we asked o see the function area and that space was really nice, we just wonder about the food.  so we're going to keep our options open and see a couple more places but this might be the best place for the insane amount of people who will be attending (like 60 for real!).

oh and ps. the owner is white.

Julia Allison in Boston

this week while reading my daily blogs, i saw the julia allison was going to be in the boston area this weekend, but she didn't note for what so i assumed it was for work.  today on her Non-Society blog it says it was for her dad's birthday, so i'm really glad i didn't try to go out and find her to say hi (she was totally right down the street though!!).  however, i would have loved to say hello and taken a picture for my own blog.  i think she's great and i would love to have her job(s), and i think that gawker is trying to destroy her life for no reason.  i don't exactly have any people to look up to professionally, but i'd put her right there.  maybe next time!

Save the Dates, continued.

a lot of people bring their save the dates to staples to be cut down to save time.  i think i should have done that.  it took me close to 3 hours to trim all 75 of them down.

these sons of bitches have taken a lot of man power and a lot of time.  

$28 on luxe white paper

$31 on matching envelopes

$31 on envelope liner paper

$3.50 on glue pens

$12 on paper cutter

$35 on stamps

=$140

i had estimated that i would spend $80-90 but i didn't expect to have the liners in there.  so this is a lot better than having them custom printed.  papyrus wanted us to spend $450 on something that was more plain, more boring, no liners, and way less personal and cool.  i've probably put 20 hours of my own time on these, which is a pretty big dent into my time, but if i was going to say i made them i wanted them to be perfect.  

Envelope Liners

a lot of people might say that envelope liners aren't necessary, but i just really like them.  i think they're a really nice touch.  so for my save the dates, kerri came over to help me make the envelope liners.  i had ordered paper online, and i loved the pattern, but when i opened the box, i hated the paper.  it was furry.  the patterns were raised and furry like felt, so before we even got started we had to head to paper source to get some different paper.

next we used an envelope liner template from paper source for an A6 sized envelope and traced and cut them down.  then they were inserted into the envelopes and glued down with glue sticks.  they were actually Avery glue pens.  we didn't quite finish, we underestimated the amount of paper we'd need so i have to get a couple more sheets, but it only took us about 1.5 hours to make around 60.

This is our finished product!!  we used several different pattern papers for the liners.  i'm really happy with them, i think they came out great.  i think martha would be proud.  now i just have to finish the address labels...

Funny pic of the day

She is so excited to have that hot pocket!

I'm just kidding she's totally not excited.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Darjeeling Limited

i like wes anderson.  i like the royal tennebaums.  i like him on those old amex commercials.  but there's nothing more insufferable than the darjeeling limited.  i wish i had never put it on my netflix.

Paint and Pigs

i've been feeling pretty unproductive and unaccomplished lately. we got GOOD magazine yesterday and it's just full of philanthropists and entrepreneurs that have done a lot of good in the world both for their own personal growth and for the community. after i read that i just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. i can't really say i have any kind of accomplishment that i'm super proud of. i can't say that i've even done much in the past few years or helped much of the world. i adopted an elephant, bought elephant saving checks, and i bring my own canvas bags to the grocery store. this does not seem like it's anything special or anything worth talking about, and i'm a little embarrassed by it.

i have a couple projects coming up. neither are for the community or environment but they will get me up and running. i have a little art project for the guest bathroom (the sketch is part of it... it's Cleo if nobody knows wearing headphones, my old guinea pig), and tomorrow kerri and i are going to attack my save the dates. there will be a post on our process. hopefully nothing goes wrong and i can get those out the door and out of my hair.

Is that you panda?

here's some pretty useless information, you know in case you're sitting at home one night with nothing to do and nothing to watch on tv.  you could use that time to learn how to make towel animals like they do in hotels.

how to make a towel elephant.

Second Bedroom

we have a second bedroom full of shit. i like to call it the shit room because it's full of stuff that doesn't really fall into any category example: table fan, luggage, extra blankets and pillows, video game consoles, ironing board, and a hundred and one computers. this room has become the very bane of my existence. i hate it more than anything else in the world, even more than i would hate rain on my wedding day. i hate this room!! i walk by and think: oh my god i hate you.

i had a really rough saturday evening out drinking, and on sunday very early am, i got sick and wanted my own space to lay down and sleep in for a few hours. but what is that? there's someone sleeping on the couch and there's nowhere else to go?? yeah. it made me so angry that the earth could have vibrated under my hungover rage.

we want to move our current couch in there, and get a new one for the family room around christmas time. i'd like to throw out, sell on ebay, and destroy everything in there that's left and that my parents won't take (they might take the fan and vaccuum and nothing else). but i want it to be a functioning room, so things should be stored in an organized way, not just thrown in a corner or in useless piles. my goal is to have this room organized and cleared out by thanksgiving, and to have the couch put in there by january 3rd and then rockband can enter our home.