No Brakes

Hi blog! Remember me? I'm back! Want to know what I did this summer? Okay!

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After 8 straight days of looking at apartments in Astoria (I must have looked at 25-30) I found my place - sans broker fee and I got them to lower the rent. It's the second floor of a three story attached house, nice red brick with a now-dying sunflower in the front. I really like this block and this part of Queens. I've got a 24 hour supermarket, gym, and Dunkin Donuts around the corner and even the fruit vendor stays open till crazy hours. The train's been crowded well after midnight and I don't ever feel worried walking around. Though the amount of guys hollering at me has gone up by about 95% in this neighborhood which can be quite irritating.

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Finding movers was a bit of an annoyance as I didn't want to spend loads of money for moving literally one room's worth of stuff. Of course Normandie gave me a difficult time the morning of the move and almost didn't let me move out (yes, I'm serious), but everything got there in the end. My box spring actually wasn't fitting through the door which was a minor fiasco but I pretty much pulled it through myself when the movers were scared they were going to break it. I just bought that bed last year and paid the movers, that thing was going to fit no matter what I had to do!! I had several more boxes than I anticipated; here's one of Heimlich crammed between my photo albums and candle-making kit. It was the perfect spot for him and he looked so damn cute that I couldn't not take a photo.

Things are finally falling into place at my, er, place. I had an itty bitty roach problem - this was bound to happen being that in my past apartments I lived with mice (twice), bats (yes I said bats, thank you Binghamton), ants and even biting fire ants. I had an issue with a bathroom ceiling leak as well, but that's been taken care of, and all the little things that needed fixing have also been taken care of. I finally got cable/internet the other day, and most importantly DVR (Survivor started last night, hoorah!) We still need furniture; I'm so sick of sitting in my pink wicker chair that I just sit on the carpet now. I ordered a baker's rack which I'm really excited about, except the box is ginormous and heavy and sitting in my parents' house so I haven't been able to move it into my yellow and blue 70's style kitchen yet.

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And in case you were wondering, Dave finally got his visa - as in it's there, glued into his passport and he's coming on Saturday, as in this Saturday, to live! I finally get to live with my husband, what a concept! (Does this mean I'm not allowed to sleep with my teddy bear anymore?) I told him the first item on the social agenda is Gossip Girl night at Kat's on Monday. He promptly responded with "I have plans."

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Lots of wedding finalizing is happening this week as well. On Wednesday I went to see our flower centerpiece which needed some tweaking but is how we want it to look now. Last night I picked out the linens and the food at Fox Hollow. We didn't get a complimentary food tasting though which is total bullocks (thanks for the Chocolate Mint Martini though.) On Saturday I have my final dress fitting. I'm meeting with the officiant after that, then Dave and I are hopefully going to look for wedding bands on Sunday. Next week I have my hair trial (I got a tiara in the end, I am a princess after all) and then it's the bachelorette party in AC. I also had a surprise bridal shower last month. I figured I was going to have one because I saw items being bought off the registry, but I could not for the life of me figure out when it was going to be as I knew that whatever I had planned were really my plans and there was no way they could be the shower. I actually wondered if it was possible that this was happening after my honeymoon?!

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Anyway, I had planned to go to Gail's so-called 30th surprise party on Saturday, Aug. 15th. Mike had called me in advance and I knew it had a to be a surprise for her since he doesn't call me. He wanted to confirm that a few of her good friends would definitely be available for the party and I said I would be (knowing that I'd probably be going to Germany the day after and could have possibly gone to London to spend that weekend there, but I didn't want to miss her surprise.) He also told me that Gail would want to do something for her birthday, so if she sends an Evite out for a party to just go along with it. He then sent me an invitation in the mail which I thought was funny (but nice) being that mailed invitations are pretty old school, coming from boys in particular. The day before the party I emailed him because even though I'd packed the invite in a safe place during the move, I couldn't find it in the end. He said he was planning on getting Gail there for 8 pm so I should be there at 7:45 pm (little did I know, she had been helping him write that email.) I had run around all that day doing errands in Queens and the city, raced home, got ready (glad I decided on the platforms rather than flip flops), Hopstopped it (I had to figure out getting from Astoria to Bayside which is actually no easy feat), caught the N to the 7, and then had to hang out for 20 minutes at the Woodside station waiting for the LIRR. I caught the train that got me to Bayside around 7:15 pm but figured I was too early, so rather than wandering up and down Bell Blvd. for half an hour, I was pretty hungry so I went to MacDonald's and ate a salad all dressed up by myself. Apparently my friends had been wondering where I was, assuming I had taken that train and I'd arrive at the place earlier. At about 7:40 pm, I went to Monahan's, asked the hostess where the party was (who then apparently alerted another employee to go upstairs the back way to let everyone know I was there), but I spotted a bathroom and decided to fix my make-up, which again made them wonder what I was doing. I finally headed up the stairs, thinking why did they close the door?!?! They are going to think I'm Gail!! As I went to push the door open (and say STOP! IT'S NOT GAIL!!), that's when the surprise happened. I was so shocked that I actually cried!!

The invitation

My mom told me she bought these bears (that make kissing noises when you put their noses together and play wedding music) I think even before I was dating Dave, because they were so cute. Now that is wishful thinking!!

We played games at the shower, including my favorite, The Newlywed Game. The bridesmaids had emailed Dave with questions he answered and then I'd have to try to get the same answers. It was fun but I was stressed that I'd get a ton of answers wrong (which luckily I didn't.)

With my mom and the bridal partyBinghamton girlsHomegirlsThe hat made out of all the gift bows and ribbons

And speaking of gifts, I got awesome ones! From China settings (thanks Mom & Dad, David, & Stephanie) to a vacuum cleaner (thanks Robyn & Rachel) to toasting flutes (thanks Aunt Marcia who came up from Florida for this) to a Snuggie (thanks Jenn), our apartment is fully loaded with goodies. Thanks to everyone else too!! I still can't believe it was a nighttime shower, bonkers.

I stored all of the gifts at my parents' house while I was in Germany (blog post on that to come if I ever get around to it.) We stuffed a bunch of gifts in the hamper (thanks Annette) and strapped it in, and I had to take a photo because it made me laugh.The hamper of goodies included a dustbuster (thanks Aunt Ronnie's mom), but to my chagrin, when I went to plug it in and use it, it was already full of dirt! As in someone bought it, used it, returned it, Bed Bath and Beyond failed to check it, and resold it. Nasty! And yes, I just used the word chagrin.

My surprise wasn't the only one in the month of August. We also surprised Rachel for her 30th birthday.

SURPRISE!

Her party was at the Urban Kitchen in Hoboken. This woman gives you recipes for various courses and everyone helps cook a course right there in a small kitchen, then you get to eat it all.Vicki celebrated her 30th birthday a few weeks ago at Cabanas at The Maritime Hotel. Cool part of the hotel which I had no idea existed. Mark R. was there and gave me some tips about Fox Hollow and Hawaii as I'm following in his wedding footsteps. One key piece of advice he gave me was to emphasize to the caterers that they should make us the correct wedding cake as his was the wrong one (thanks Mark!)I celebrated Gail's birthday (her real one this time) at her wine and cheese party, and Julie's 30th on her rooftop in Long Island City (sorry, no photos of those.) Then it was my 30th birthday (thanks for the "You're 3!" card Glenna and Alexis!) We celebrated with mini beers and $1 sliders (I had about ten of them) at 123 Burger Shot Beer.

I wore the mystery dress in my closet that randomly appeared with a price tag on it. I guess I bought it before I moved to England? Well whatever, if it fits wear it right?

If this guy was a part of our group, can someone enlighten me to who he is? Thanks.

This is Julie's new-ish puppy Toby. The photo is a bit outdated, he's probably double this size now. He's a Goldendoodle, but I think he's actually a stuffed animal powered by batteries. I mean look at him, he looks like he should be in an ad for fabric softener for God's sake!

Heather, Liz, Graham, and I, plus work friends went to see The Bravery as part of the Amsterdam Live series (can't link that, everything turns up porn on Google.) This consisted of a free concert + free Amstel, hence a successful evening.Mr. Hudson opened the show. I had bought his single "Too Late, Too Late" in the UK a few years ago and never knew what happened to him and his Library after that. I'd heard about a recent Mr. Hudson in the music news who was a Kanye West protege (you HAVE TO click on that link), and really did not think this was the same band, but it turned out it was. They were pretty good; kind of reminded me of Bran Van 3000 with all those people up on stage. We met one of the band members outside after the show and she said a couple of them live in Kentish Town so of course I got excited.From past experiences, The Bravery have 75% odds of sucking live. This time they actually fell in the minority which was pleasing to mine ears. We stood in the front, jumping and sweating our asses off like it was 2005 (which I was in some dire need of.) The music was good, they played "Public Service Announcement," and I got to jump up and down. Now let's talk about style for a moment then shall we?

Sam Endicott likes to morph his style for every tour. First time around he looked kind of electro-rock with a forward swooping flattened mohawk thing, fine. Second time around, he wore the same navy polo shirt and white belt like 3 times on that tour. That look was my favorite, but if you are going to play the same city more than once, you have to remember to change your clothes!! Next he was going for a preppy Keith *swoon* Murray of We Are Scientists look. That one was okay, but felt a bit forced. This time was the worst - he was dressed like a wannabe Brooklyn hipster and was flopping his body around like a monkey with a dopey look on his face. This was quite disturbing.

We used to call this guy The Bug because, well, plain and simple, he looked like a bug. This time around he did not look like a bug at all! Maybe it was his hair or his tan, improvement!Here's Dirt, or should I say Mike Hindert (ahh now I know where the nickname comes from.) He's dressed up here which is kind of nice. A few Bravery gigs ago in NYC, they co-headlined with Ash at Bowery and he kissed their bass player. Then I mentioned the kiss to him at the next NYC show because I'm super cool.Unrelated to critiquing The Bravery, this is the Oconee Diner in Islip right near where I got my wedding dress. They go bananas with the decorations for each holiday (the first time I went it was decked out in Valentine's Day decor.) The below shot was for Labor Day. Can't wait to go back before Halloween!

Monday night was Gossip Girl premiere night at Kristine and Faith's. Here's B & S.I got the GG premiere night mixed up with The Biggest Loser party.

Last Saturday I saw Kid Cudi and Phoenix (don't go on this site if you are prone to seizures) at Terminal 5 for the Lifebeat pre-VMA show. Because we had the game set-up, we had VIP access and free drinks (sometimes it pays to work for MTV.) Short set and they skipped some of my favorites but I adore '1901' and 'Lizstomania.' By the way, in the latter, apparently the lyrics are "Like a riot, like a riot, oh!" I thought it was "like a rhi like a rhino!" Oops.

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We went out for Faith's Mike's birthday after that, and on the way home we had a fender bender. Some pimp wannabe (Mike put it better, Sammy Davis Jr.) hit the back of Heather's car while we were slowing down at a light in Chelsea. No one was hurt (and I was buckled up despite the four man squish in the backseat), but my neck and lower back bothered me for a few days after. Kristine had darted for the cop car she spotted as soon as it happened (thanks McLovin') and they wrote up a report even though Sammy was being a whiny bitch about it. We also quickly disbursed, being that there were too many of us in the car and we didn't want to get in trouble. Crappy end to the evening.

The next time I write on this blog I will be living with a boy, whee!

Wedding Silliness

I just created my bride on The Knot, got it as close as I could!

All Things Go

So, I started apartment hunting on Thursday and I'm already feeling totally exhausted. I also know Astoria like the back of my hand now. I was literally about to put a deposit in a realtor's hand today until the landlord decided she really only wanted a single person in the apt...unless I moved in for July 15th - because that really makes sense?

You'd think I'd be a little tired of The Beatles due to work, but I'm not! I'm actually watching Across the Universe at the moment (damn do I love me some Oh! Darling), and bought tickets for Sir Paul next Tuesday at Citifield. Let's just hope these tickets aren't fakes and me and my mom will be good to go. And speaking of the gents, I never posted photos from this year's E3.

My flight was coming into LA that Monday morning from Chicago (more on that later), so I had to book it to the Microsoft press conference. When I landed at LAX I realized that due to our idiot travel agency, my rental car was cancelled. I had to sort that all out, actually figure out how to operate the car, and then figure out the directions (got lost right near the place despite having a GPS.) I ended up at the back of the line when the conference was kicking off and I knew our game was up first, resulting me doing something similar to a wee wee dance but couldn't plead with security because of the confidentiality of what was gong down inside. I missed the beginning (Harmonix speaking and playing the game, screening of the game's intro cinematic - if you haven't seen it you really should watch this beautiful piece of work, and our 10 song gameplay trailer.) I got in just in time to see Dhani Harrison come out followed by Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono though, phew!

...followed by Sir Paul and Ringo. Seeing the audience reaction was almost as awesome as actually seeing them.

Tony Hawk photo for good measure...

I left to go to the convention center before Steven Spielberg came out, oh well.

Anyway, our booth was bangin'!

The outside was designed to look like Abbey Road Studios...

As was the inside...We won G4's award for best booth!

Harmonix demo team working their thang for the crowd inside "Abbey Road Studio 2"...Stephanie and Cheryl, aka one half of the "Booth Babes" (yes, myself included)Lego Rock Band action...In case you didn't know, there are a LOT of songs available on Rock Band!This year's E3 was a lot different from last year's. 2008 was great and all, but I barely ate and that was no fun. This time I had a handful of awesome meals and fun activities in the evening. This includes stepping on light-up floors with my co-workers...After that I stayed with Melanie and Eric in Pacific Palisades. They were having some drama with a funky smell emanating from somewhere. After multiple theories, the last thing concluded (when I was there) was that the stink was coming from the spiritual center's lake behind their apt.Things that look pretty don't necessarily smell pretty...As a result of the stink, Melanie and Eric were told that they could camp out in the empty apartment across the hall, so we basically squatted there for 2 nights. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice Melrose Place-style building, and a beautiful renovated apartment, but we were still squatting - like we literally dragged mattresses over, the computer for entertainment, and we would run across the hall to shower and get our things. It was bizarre!

Fosters (acting like they usually do)

For the dumbass moment of the weekend (I know you're thinking there could have been many of these considering it was me and Melanie together) - we rented Pineapple Express, and in case you don't know anything about it, the whole movie revolves around potheads. We were about to put it into the computer, Melanie opens the case and realizes it's not in there. We called Blockbuster and she explained this to the guy, and just as she's doing so, Eric walks in and asks what the problem is so I tell him - and he points out that the disc was on the floor right next to us...whoops! Melanie simply told Blockbuster "Nevermind we're dumb" and hung up. Of all movies for us to have done that with, it really could not have been more suiting.

High class squatting...Pre-LA I went to Chicago for Zoe's wedding. Debbie (my new friend of a friend who is now my friend, yay) split a room and were buds for the weekend. We stayed out with some peeps after the rehearsal dinner which landed us with two big hangovers. Not only that, but we got ourselves stuck with some dude who wanted to sightsee with us the next day. At least we had someone to take our photos :/

Me and Dee on a bridge...Cool fountain where the dude spits...The Bean...Our reflection...Holding it up...Ready to make out...

Winding walkway... Is this the fountain from Married with Children?Waiting for the wedding to start (of course I'm once again the outsider American in black)

Mr. & Mrs. Kappelman Cocktail hour, I was pretty much knocking people over to get to the sushi
Zoe with the bridesmaidsZoe had sneakers on!!Rachael and MarcYum cake...

Off to Kat's to try out her new Pimms recipe, ciao!

New in Town

Ana visited New York (and me) these past two weeks for the first time. She mostly did sightseeing during the day while I was at work, and we did a bunch of random things at night and on the weekends. Like...

Checking out High Line Park - the new park on the old elevated train tracks on the west side which spans about 10 blocks. They still have train tracks laid throughout the park and tons of places to sit while you can look down over the various side streets (12th to 20th I believe.)

View above 10th Avenue... View of the spot where Ana was just standing... More views from the Chelsea end...We walked around the seaport...Ana playing tourist...We went to the BBQ-fest in Madison Square Park. Free Snapple and Pop Chips! Some random dude (on the left) took this photo. Too funny not to post... Even better... Ana's ankles were swollen from the flight. We didn't have a proper icepack so Meghan filled up a cleaning glove instead...Had to teach her beer pong...Went for Indian food at one of the tacky restaurants on 1st ave...Squished ourselves into the Love sign in Midtown...I got stuck in the E...At Better Than Ezra...Too pooped to write about the show, will save that for another post.Heather rented out a karaoke room at iBop for her 30th birthday... Graham with the ladies... Travis with the ladies...We went to Citi Field. It rained (of course.)During the rain time out...The Mets lost (of course.)Went to Banshee with Rachel and Robyn and had the worst pub quiz MC ever!! I knew the answer to "Who was the Prime Minister before Tony Blair?" Shows that I did learn something from living in London for a year and a half.We went to Crocodile Lounge for the free pizza (of course.)Then we took photos with monsters on the Lower East Side...I finally saw one of our postings for the game, yay!Yummmm crepes...We checked out wedding invitations and flowers, then went to the diner with my mom. Ana loves the diner, who could have doubted that she wouldn't?We got her obsessed with Pinkberry (and Red Mango, and Berrywild...)The stupidest thing I have ever seen - a massive line around the block for an American Apparel sample sale. Ummm are you kidding me? Maybe I'm even dumber for taking a picture of this. @$^$%# hipsters.I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time...Random stoop posing in Brooklyn Heights...Sculpture thing... More sculpture thing...And finally, more jumping photos (I was unsuccessful in getting any mid-air shots.)Time to leave Brooklyn, hooray!

Put 'em All Together and What Do You Get...HOOOOT DOG

Saturday night we saw The Bangles at BB Kings. Antigone Rising opened. To put it simply, they were awful. They ended with a cover of 'Midnight Rider' though which was a bit redeeming. Lucky save.

I am not kidding, The Bangles rocked it. They played most of their classics (did you know that Prince wrote Manic Monday?) opening with my favorite, their cover of 'Hazy Shade of Winter.' 'In Your Room' was most excellent and I got excited when they played 'Watching the Sky', a song I used to love but forgot about. I had to do some research the next day just to see how old they are and it turns out that Susanna Hoffs is 50! FIFTY!!! Cute does not begin to describe this girl. I mean, she was always cute, making the eyes at the crowd and in videos and everything, but still looks like she's 25, it's amazing!

Sistas

Hottest 50 year old I've ever seen September Girls

I didn't want to film this one but I was running out of chances, so here's 'Walk Like an Egyptian'

I went a little hot dog crazy this weekend. Friday night we went out on the LES for $3 happy hour (I didn't even know that still existed) with a stop at Katz's in between. That was hot dog #1 plus a knish for luck. On Saturday I went to RK Bridal with Heather and Liz and under the latter's influence, went to Gray's Papaya (which I should mention I NEVER frequent.) That was hot dog #2. On Sunday, after The Bangles, we went to Rudy's. Those were free so I had hot dogs #s 3 and 4. Yesterday was a BBQ where I had to have one simply out of principle, but there were none! I had a sausage instead. I also had grilled haloumi for the first time ever. Hi, umm why did no one ever tell me to eat this cheese before? It was like heaven in my mouth.

I'm finally catching up on the first episode of The Bachelorette. They upped it to 30 guys from 25 and there isn't even a single cute one! Men must produce this show - are they kidding me with this selection?!

On Saturday I went for sushi in Forest Hills with peeps and on the way to the restaurant with Heather, a woman came out onto the street with her dog. I put my foot in my mouth and just blurted "That is a WEIRD looking dog!" I tried to cover it up with "I mean it's so different looking, I've never seen a dog like that before," asked the offended woman what the type was, didn't understand what she said and then complimented it's hair/fur because I didn't know how else to save myself all while being distracted by the dog. I told my dad about it because I couldn't get over how weird looking it was. So this morning I find this email from my dad in my inbox:

Subject: ugly dog !!

Meredith, I think the dog you saw was probably a Bedlington Terrier( looks like a lamb) . The other breed may be a Miniature Bull Terrier , big head like a torpedo !! Look at them on Google, tell me if I am correct.
Dad

That made me laugh the whole way to work! Retired people are too funny. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was a Bedlington Terrier. The one I saw was a golden blonde/brown but here's an image from one I found on Google:

Somebody missed the evolution boat...

So, a bomb exploded 3 blocks from my apartment. Nothing new for me. Next blog I'm going to give a rundown of how trouble precedes or directly follows me everywhere I go.

The White To Your Left, The Red To Your Right

On Friday night I walked almost 80 blocks after work just to avoid going back to the apartment. When I got home Meghan had started cleaning and I joined in (we were on such a mission that we didn't even cook dinner till after midnight.) As I was sitting eating unevenly (high stool eating off a low table to avoid the critters) Meghan found the source - ready for it? Breadcrumbs baby! Eggs, ants, and all. No bites since then but we've caught a few strays. Hopefully that's the end of it and I can stop having random conversations with people at the gym who approach me asking about my bites.

For Liz's 30th birthday we took a limo out to the wineries in Long Island. You may have known this from the book of face photos already.

Big Pimpin' Multicolored light action On the way to Lawngisland Birthday Stuffs Some Asti Spumanti Dance Party: Begin Liz, Graham, Andy, Me , MeghanSoda before the storm Winery #1 Line-Up Serious tasting Winery #2 It was cold, they gave us blankets More wine seriousness Followed by frollicking Pizza breakPoland Spring PosseWinery #3 where I discovered that Port is DISGUSTING Poseurs Winery #4 Riesling Damien and Erica came tooThis is how we act after 4 wineries Happy birthday Liz Cake cuttin' When Erica misbehaves Oi Obligatory choking photoIndie club in the limoContinued dance party back at the apt

Totally blah on the ride home

Yesterday was brunch-a-licious. Blockheads unlimited mimosas + too many tortilla chips = good Sunday. Some of the group went off to karaoke (yes at 3 in the afternoon.) Not quite sure if the bar actually allowed them to sing but I'm assuming so since I didn't hear otherwise.

Today I was illin' due to sinus awfulness all through the night. I alternated checking emails with watching the Grey's Anatomy season finally (OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE IT), Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, and 4 Prison Breaks. Still on the list to watch: 2 Prison Breaks, 2 One Tree Hills, 2 Desperate Housewives, the Lost finale, and The Bachelorette. Last night I only watched 4 hours of Survivor. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with myself after the shows all end this week (except twiddle my thumbs until Big Brother starts.) Hello loser central.

Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space

Quote of the night -

I just came back from seeing Star Trek which was excellent. I told Meghan that the contest for tickets through work was part of the celebration for Asian Heritage month. Response from Meghan: Oh right because of Spock. (HAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!) Me: Spock is half Vulcan half human! For the record, John Cho, aka Sulu, talked via video recording prior to the movie starting. And I kind of want to watch more Star Trek now.

Yesterday was just plain silly. These are the silly things that happened in the span of two hours:

1. On my way out of work I got stuck in the elevator. It was on the 38th floor with the inside doors open but the outside doors closed. There were 11 of us in there, most from the Nickelodeon softball team who were overly concerned about being late for the game and having to forfeit. Julie called me while I was in there and I was explaining to her that no, I was not "in" an elevator, but I was in fact "trapped" in one, garnering laughter within. We were only in there for 15 minutes or so but I found it to be really funny.

2. On the subway home, I was standing in front of a guy who was sitting and had his eyes closed for most of the ride. He suddenly requested that I take my earbuds out and then asked if I had a relative in the military, perhaps a father or brother? I told him that my dad was in the army in the '60s if that counted (for the record my uncle and grandfather were also but I didn't mention them.) I said why, do I look like someone you know in the military? And he said "No, don't take this the wrong way, I'm just trying to drill my intuition." HUH? Do I look like some stringent, upright bitch? Well, possibly yes, considering a guy tried to pick me up last week by telling me that I look like I belong in The Plastics from Mean Girls (...but I'm probably sweet on the inside.) Do I need to change my facial expression or something??

3. When I went to get my stuff from the locker room at the gym, there was a notice taped to my locker saying I had to see management because I locked someone's pants in my locker! I guess I hung my black jacket up inside of my locker, and when I went to put my bag in, I saw black clothes hanging in another locker thinking it was mine, and locked my stuff in it. I returned the pants to the manager, totally embarrassing.

--This is not part of the silly stuff, but as I was walking home from the gym, I was laughing to myself about the elevator incident, and I bumped into Kristine. She told me she almost didn't want to say hi because I was so smiley and happy and she didn't want to interrupt. Apparently I don't just look like a bitch, but I look like a crazy bitch!--

4. I almost made the rest of the walk to the apt. with some normalcy, but I stopped into Duane Reade to buy soda and some old woman was sitting in one of those folding camping chairs with a drink in the cup holder, just chillin in front of the ATM. That's it! She was just hanging out there, it was so weird!!

Sometimes we just need silliness to get us through the week.

It's the Springtime of My Life

I thought I was in the clear the past two days and then I woke up to 4 new bites (three near the elbow where they usually tend to be) and one on the ankle. In case you don't know the back story, as of last week, we have biting ants in our apartment. I know for a fact that they are ants because I've caught them in action. They are definitely not typical NY ants (did the biting part give that away?), but they are also light-colored and these bites are really fucking itchy! Meghan and I have some theories on where they came from but they've all been disproved (brought in from the park? No, because that was over 2 weeks ago; they live in the couch? (where we usually get attacked?) No, because we bought that couch last June and had no critters till the other day.) My dad thinks they came from someone else's apartment and the people brought them in from South America (huh?) I called maintenance to report it on Tuesday evening but the exterminator (who I keep calling the Terminator unintentionally) only comes on Tuesdays, so I'm living for a week with these monsters. So if you see me with massive bites you know why. Oh, and don't come over.

Happy to see a Carolina Liar video on the TV, though the singer looks super-mannequin like.

Songs I like right now:

Little Boots - New in Town

La Roux - Bulletproof (kind of obsessed with that one)

Noisettes - Never Forget You

Hockey - Learn to Lose

Marmaduke Duke - Rubber Lover

Jack Penate - Be the One
ljih

I just got motherflippin Bangles tickets!! They were the second concert I ever went to (Jones Beach with my dad in 1980something.) When I was a kid, I used to set up my room to give it a "concert feel" - put a cover over my lamp to dim the lights, set up my little Casio keyboard, and next to it was my pink Barbie guitar. Either myself, or with a friend, I'd act like I was the band, playing their albums for my fake crowd. For the record, my faves include "In Your Room" and their version of "Hazy Shade of Winter."

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The above show is at BB Kings Blues Club where I haven't frequented yet. I'm looking forward to the caberet-style atmosphere. When I was buying the tickets, I noticed that En Vogue are playing (first physical CD I bought - don't worry, I had plenty of tapes before that.) I kind of want to go but it's tonight so I doubt I could wrangle anyone in time (or in general.)
kjg

Nerd Alert: Friday was a good day - not only did I have a coupon for free Red Mango plus a topping (and it was ANY flavor yogurt, hello Green Tea) but I won two tickets to see Star Trek through work too! Although I've never seen an episode of the show, nor do I plan to ever do so, this is the second time it's popped up for me in relation to work. When I worked at ICSC, at the last Spring Convention in Vegas, we had our department dinner before the conference kicked off, and our VP gave one of the Meeting Planners Barry Manilow tickets for her birthday. I was joking around about wanting Star Trek Experience tickets (just because I wanted something for free, and the conference was in The Hilton which was Star Trek headquarters.) A few days later our VP pulled me to the side all serious and was like, I got you the Star Trek tickets and was like keep it on the hush, haaaa. Very nice of her but I really had done it for the principle of getting something for free. Immediately after the conference ended, I dragged Laura M. with me to the simulator and whatever else the "Experience" consisted of. The best part of that particular trip was following Star Trek, we went to The Sahara next door to ride the forwards-backwards roller coaster and screamed our faces off in relief that the whole thing was over. Not sure why it never occurred to any of us to do that in previous years.

jg

So, I'm doing one Fire Island weekend this year with my friends. When push came to shove, I couldn't resist. Plus it's at the end of the summer so fingers crossed Dave will be here and he can experience Ocean Beach in all it's glory.

kj

Yesterday, I went home for early Mother's Day. I went with my momma to get her dress for the wedding, which was going fine until I freaked out over a speeding car as I was merging onto 135 in Long Island and swerved and scraped the curb or whatever and got a flat tire. I will say that AAA is amazing - they logged my problem at 2:36 pm, and I was already driving away at 3:01 pm. Friendly service guy as well. Afterwards, we went to look at flowers for the wedding. Bouquets are pricey but boutonnieres clock in at $12 a piece - man flowers all around!

ljh

When I got down to the subway, my watch said 8:32 pm (I like to time the trip back from Queens), and I opened my book which was bookmarked at page 832!! Told you I was freak-ay.

jj

I finished reading I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb last night. That book was da bomb! I've never seen so many bad things happen to a character. Seriously, like every chapter something worse happened! Awesome book.

klh

Thursday night was Franz Ferdinand at Roseland. The openers, Born Ruffians, did not do it for me. Franz on the other hand, well, were awesome of course. They played a great mix of old and new stuff, and although I'm still waiting for the new album to grow on me, I really enjoyed those songs live. Good background images as well.

On Friday night, after my triple dork sensation of free Red Mango, Bangles ticket acquirement, and winning the Star Trek lottery, I ran home and changed, made it to kickboxing, then went to Ella with Kat and Heather and peeps for Veronica's birthday (not in my gym clothes.) Got the dancing out of my system so I stayed in last night. While being eaten by fire ants, I watched Grey's from two weeks ago (eh), Survivor (do I have issues for actually crying during an episode of this?!), and then Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was much funnier than I expected, highly enjoyable.

jbb

I forgot to mention that I saw Rock of Ages two weeks ago. Prior to going, I was complaining to someone about how I can't stand 80s music (that being said by someone who had hastily accepted the free show ticket and was wearing a George Michael shirt on the same day.) Well, can I just say that I thought the show was EXCELLENT! Of course it brought back memories of shit songs (some which I enjoyed in my childhood, and some which are just plain comical) but the way they strung everything into the storyline was really entertaining. So much so that I would actually like to go see it again (hello, they played "To Be With You", I almost died in my seat.) Two of the guys from Styx and REO Speedwagon were there and played a song as the encore too.

ju

Today's assignment: buy jeans that fit properly and look cool. I am 99% positive the result of this will be complete failure.

ujg

Currently Playing: Noel Gallagher - Talk Tonight (live)

The Sun Was Just Yellow Energy

Goings on as of late...

Max's surprise party...

We created our own dancefloor. I was in jolly spirits, even embracing the typical corny songs that get played in every generic bar (most likely because I drank too much) We made a new friend to dance with......who we think stole Faith's phone :/

jh

Zoe and Elisa were in town this weekend. We had some drinks at the apt first (hello Pineapple Vodka, YUM) then went to Black and White.

Ryan, Elisa, Zoe Me and Britchicks Enjoying how Max managed to fit his face into this one

After leaving the bar we searched up and down St. Marks for dumplings. Despite there being like 12 Asian restaurants on that street, Heather came away with a $1 slice of pizza and Meghan and I had peanut butter when we got home.

hg

I had a massive headache all last night which made me toss and turn until I finally got up to take Tylenol at 5:30 am. I got up a few hours later and headed down to L'Express with Meghan and Kat to meet Zoe and Elisa, her co-worker, and Gareth for brunch. It was pouring buckets so myself and the upper east siders came back to our territory to see I Love You, Man. It was funny, have some trailer:

I got my nails did and then ran home, changed, and sped to the gym to make it to Step Aerobics. I was hesitant about going to this class because the last time I did, the teacher creeped me out (in general, but also because he was wearing light grey sweatpants and had a very noticeable sweatstain on an area I should not have been paying attention to.) For these two superficial reasons, I had not been back to the class. I hadn't taken Step for a few months though and missed it so I took the risk, showing up to see that he was wearing the light grey sweatpants again (yugh!) Turns out today was his last time teaching this class so I'm in the clear, I do feel a bit shallow about having avoiding him for all those months, but sorry you shouldn't have been creepy and have chosen better clothing to work out in.

Let's talk some TV:

Amazing Race: Yay final 3 - and you really couldn't hold it in? Puh-lease.

Lost: Um hi I hate the writers right now!! Quality episode but you should not have done what you did at the end. At least we got some Desmond/Penny time.
Survivor: Can't believe my androgynous Mormon got voted off! He was my dude I predicted for winner. Kinda pissed off about that.

h

Does anyone want to see Those Dancing Days with me at Mercury Lounge on 5/26?
k

Meghan and I went to see Gavin DeGraw two weeks ago. I hadn't seen him in a couple of years (I went through a phase where I saw him like 5 times in a 6 month period.) The music was terrific - he rearranged every single song he played ('I'm Love with a Girl' was best) but the thing that amazed me was how grown up he looked. I was so used to seeing him in his hoodie and cap, that when he came out looking like a man I was totally shocked. It was a bit weird to be honest.

I'm only weighing myself monthly at WW and I lost 4 lbs. in the last month. Bing Bang Boom wedding dress here I come!

ugu

Speaking of the big W, does anyone want to take over the planning for me? I'm too busy at work to do anything. Flowers are next, if you interested I'm accepting applications.

jg

And finally, can we talk about how it snowed at the beginning of April and then it was over 90 degrees last week? It was so hot I actually went to the beach! And burnt my hairline in the process, doh.

hg

This week's plans: Working late, working late, Dinner with Binghamton chicks, Franz Ferdinand, working late. Is it Friday yet?

These Rides Aren't Working Anymore

Productive weekend all in all.

Friday night =

Rock Band

+

Three of Cups
+

Cheeseburger Deluxe
Saturday =

Dunkin Donuts Medium Coffee + Skim milk + 2 Sweet n Lows
+

Manicure/Pedicure +

Bagels (which H&H double-screwed up AGAIN) with Kat and Heather +

Kickboxing +

All of the above in a monsoon +

Adventureland

+

The Pub

Sunday =

Treadmill --> Busted Knee --> Elliptical

+

Topshop

+

Soho Park

I've been to a bunch of gigs lately (all at Bowery.) Ladyhawke was fab! Not amazing but I love that album so really good minus a few ommissions. The jam on the end of 'Paris is Burning' was the best.

White Lies were decent. It's amazing how deep the singer's voice is despite him looking about 18 years old. Good stuff, not in love with them but "Farewell to the Fairground" is still pretty ace.

Friendly Fires were highly entertaining and the singer can certainly shake his booty! Here's a sample (it was much more all over the place during other songs.)

I also saw The Rakes but wasn't feeling it. The singer looked like Melanie's husband which distracted me because I kept thinking it was Eric singing and dancing.

ksdjghushg

Now I plan to take my super slow computer and throw it at the wall. Goodnight.