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."

jug

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.

Mmmango

I'm going to some ghetto dentist tomorrow for a cleaning, exam, and whitening for $1. I saw this ad on Facebook and clicked on it thinking a whitening for $1, WOW!! - and that's how I got this appointment. So, if I show up to work on Tuesday with no teeth, ya'll know why.

Just watched the final Flight of the Conchords, sad!! Speaking of that, Dave was here for a visit and we went to some of the show locations bc we are mega dorks.

Henry St. Apt. New Zealand Consulate (actually a disgusting "disbandoned" building) Dave's Pawn Shop I introduced Dave to Red Mango. We were appalled to find that the inside of the yogurt was hollow! I'm hungry after looking at that photo (that's kiwi and Golden Grahams on top in case you were wondering.)

lj;ophj

I went to a bridal event at Bed, Bath, and Beyond last week. They pretty much forced you to learn about china and other household products and tried to get you to register for them. The strange thing about this event is that you were contacted over email about it if you've already registered at BB and B. So, why were they trying to get everyone to register at this shindig if everyone there was already registered?! Anyway, they had 20 raffles for some kickass housewares and unfortunately I didn't win (I'm so good at winning things like that too, I was disappointed - they called #s 35, 36, and 38 and I was number 37.) We did get a goodie bag (actually, an extremely heavy bag that I barely got home) full of random fancy glass things which was fun. I also met Monique Lhuillier whose name I can never spell correctly. She explained her entire line of china to me which was kind of awkward but she was lovely.

Melanie wore one of her creations back in 2005

I am super excited to see Ladyhawke on Tuesday. Except that I heard she's really bad live. And I also heard that she has Asperger's Syndrome. Putting two and two together, well, I don't have high expectations but we'll see. I also have White Lies/Friendly Fires on Thursday. I only know 2 WL songs though, I'd better hop on that.

Highlight of the weekend:
Dancing with the girls to the Ronson/Winehouse version of "Valerie" all over the front of Fiddlesticks at 8 pm last night. Wedding "do" playlist please!

Rabbit in Your Headlights

I went to Scottsdale for work last week. The hotel was really nice, but the rabbits were a little scary. At night there'd be clusters of them in the dark waiting to jump me, it was super creepy.

I left the hotel at 4:30 am to go to the airport. Flight was fine, but when I landed the car never showed. I called and they said the flight didn't land till 4:45 pm. Well, actually, no dipshits, it landed at 1:45 pm as scheduled and I am standing in the freezing cold, ugh!!!

Saw the Bing girls for Sherri's birthday that night at Divine Bar, then went for food at Vinyl with Vicki and Thom. There was a Vanilla Ice doll on display hehe.

Yesterday I got woken up at 8:30 am by a hang up phone call. It was Saturday errand day and I did nothing but catch up on all of my DVRed shows after the gym. I also watched Eagle vs. Shark which was aiight.

Today I went to the West Village for brunch with Kat, Ryan, and Sanj because he's in town for the week. We went to Off the Wagon after for some pitchers. Yeah Sunday drinks in the pub!

Dave is coming for a visit on Thursday (woohoo!!) I'm looking for fun things to do. Ideas I am considering (that primarily include food):

- Peanut Butter Co.
- Long Island Day (show him wedding venue, hotel, etc.)
- Dinners with various peeps
- Possible football match (but prob on Fox Soccer Channel in the apt.)
- Ghetto 1st ave. Indian food
- Flight of the Conchords Season 2 marathon
- Scavenger hunt led by Ryan's dude
- Greenpoint warehouse giggage

Any other ideas?

If I hear about school snow days tomorrow one more time I'm going to throw the TV out the window.

Oscar Predictions 2009!

Lead Actor - Sean Penn
Lead Actress - Kate Winslet
Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger
Supporting Actress - Viola Davis
Animated - Wall-E
Foreign - Waltz with Bashir
Costume - Duchess
Make-Up - Benjamiun Button
Song - "Down to Earth"
Director - Slumdog
Screenplay - In Bruges
Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog
Best Picture - Slumdog

Everything's Coming Up Roses

I woke up at 9 again this morning. I don't like to sleep late because I feel like I'm wasting the day, but this is getting ridiculous.

So, I went to Bagel Express and had one of these:

But the dude forgot to put this on which mad me mad!

Now I'm watching this:

Which is kind of what I look like right now.

My favorite movie fight scene:

Though this one is pretty good too:

Hugh still has the best hair ever.

Just to show off my Martha Stewart skills, check out my Super Bowl spread:

I went here for the first time on Friday: I felt like such a fatass after devouring a bag full of crap that I went here afterwards:

Yesterday morning (again I had woken up at 9 am), I did a load of errands and when I came back there were a few bouquets in the lobby. There were lavender roses that were gorgeous and I was thinking I'd never seen roses that color and how I wish they were for me. About 2 hrs later I got a call that Meghan received flowers so I went down to get them for her, and they were actually for me - and it was the that same bouquet! I took a photo bc I love them so much:Last night, Heather, Liz, and I went to one of the Indian (well, Bangladeshi actually) restaurants on 1st Ave. in the East Village. I can't believe how ridiculous this place was - there were tacky chili pepper lights strung throughout the place, some weird dancy Happy Birthday song would play when people were celebrating, I had to shimmy sideways just to get to the table, and they practically ran us out of the restaurant for taking to long to drink our BYOB wine. When we left, the guy at the door was like bye thanks! and physically pushed me out the door! At least it was only $15 per person for the whole meal. Whatevs, I still need to take Dave to one of these places because they're so ridiculous.We went to 2nd on 2nd for karaoke which I hadn't done in almost a year. I was so excited, they actually had 2 of the 3 songs I've been dying to do at karaoke that I never thought I'd find anywhere. I did "Foundations" (Kate Nash) - not very good and kind of sounded like a Valentine's Day rage song, but at least it has a good beat for those who didn't know it. I can't do a "mockney" accent to save my life (not that I could do a proper one either.)

Then I did "Can't Get Along (Without You)" (Hard-Fi) which made me super excited because I've been wanting to belt that for months. And belt I did!! A guy in the crowd even gave me a rose after my performance.

I'm about to talk to Dave on this:

I'm planning on being lame and watch movies all day (10 Things I Hate About You is next.) Then step class, and later, I may be going to a party to celebrate this:

Give Me Your Glass, It's Your Last, You're Too Wasted

I keep playing the Ladyhawke CD on repeat, but as much as I like it, the music kind of creeps me out. Not in an impending doom kind of way, just like I'm-in-some-weird-time-warp-to-somewhere-I-don't-know, it's just weird. Doesn't she kind of sound like Aimee Mann a la "Voices Carry?"

Also bought new Franz. Not loving it but got Roseland tickets (giving them the benefit of the doubt.) Live Franz is always a good thing.
lkh

I've got tickets to see Flight of the Conchords in April at Radio City too. Thank flipping God! I really might have killed someone if I had failed this time round.

For something different and requiring much patience, I'm going to an Oscar movie showcase the day before the awards. It's an entire day's worth of the best picture films in a row starting at 10:30 am. I'm looking forward to it, especially since Slumdog is the only one I've seen. Not looking forward to the fact that everyone I'm going with already saw Benjamin Button and plan to ditch during it, and I haven't heard great things about it, AND it's like 12 hours long. I plan on sticking it out though. We'll be seeing...

On Friday night Jenn had a Fire Island-themed surprise for us at her apartment - custom made t-shirts with FI stuff on the front and our nicknames on each of the backs. LOVE IT!My nickname is based on this "gentleman":

We did make your own pizza w/ridiculous dessert and then went to see He's Just Not That Into You. Despite all the "trendy" celebrities in the film, it was pretty crap. The lead chick - I mean seriously? Are people really that oblivious in real life? I got so mad when that book came out because my motto prior to that was "Not Everyone Has To Like You." Total rip off!

Today I stuffed my face at Ali and Tarik's housewarming and then I did my taxes. A big win on the federal refund but only getting $6 back from the State. That won't even buy me lunch!!

I have to admit I've never heard TV On the Radio before and I'm watching them on SNL. The music sounded really good until the guy started singing, if that's what you'd call it. Not feeling this.

Does anyone want to come with me to (try to) see Lily Allen play Bowery for free on Tuesday? Matt & Kim are playing too if that helps?

luguug

I'm going to a friend's leaving party tomorrow where we're going to be "graffiti-ing" the walls of the apartment. Not sure yet what that means but I'm looking forward to that and my first venture into Park Slope.

Last weekend, Heather, Kristine, and I went to the 14th Street Y because Glenna's boyfriend was DJing a party there. This was the order of events:

1. Cook Pad Thai for Heather

2. Eat gross Pad Thai with mouth on fire/drink bottle of white wine

3. Kristine comes over, proceed to pound bottle of red wine4. Kristine puts on Meghan's blanket and acts like monster5. Arrive at the Y, realize party is in the dance studio, and remove shoes like everyone else6. Observe eclectic characters7. Drink free wine8. Spill wine all over myself9. Dance10. Drink more wine11. Pose with mannequin legs
12. Drink MORE wine

13. Stumble around

14. Wake up the next morning in make-up, underwear and socks

15. Find open plastic bag next to bed, prepared for upchuck situation/find chocolate mini-cake next to bed, obviously forgot to eat it and passed out

16. Think back and don't remember 2nd half of night

17. Eat chocolate cake

18. Check phone and find in/outgoing messages:

Jenn: What r u doing tonight?

Me to Jenn: At via W

Me to Jenn: Where you at@ what you/emingm

Me to Jenn: Wio what where and why?

Jenn: U r wasted!!!

Me to Meghan: Ink

Me to Meghan: A vom have fun

Lovely!

I haven't drank like that in forever and to be quite honest it was the most fun I'd had in ages. I wasn't sick the next day at all, I even made it to the gym! The bit about blacking out made me think about how I went through a new drunken phase each year of college:

Freshman: Passing Out

Sophomore: Not remembering what happened the night before

Junior: Throwing up

Senior: Hangovers

I think it's (possibly) safe to say that me staying in tonight evens out my behavior from last weekend.

Wrap Up 2008

2008 was a weak year for music. No song came anywhere close to the favorites in my past lists (and nothing can touch 'Charlotte' by light years.) I decided to do a list this year because I was smart and started a Best of 2008 playlist on my iTunes from January and added music gradually, so I figured, why let that go to waste? Totally unenthusiastic about this list but nevertheless, here are my top tunes of '08 (well, of course, the tunes that either came out or I first heard in '08):

60. Kid Rock - All Summer Long
59. Panic at the Disco - Nine in the Afternoon
58. Duffy - Mercy
57. The Pigeon Detectives - Romantic Type
56. Jack Penate - Have I Been a Fool?
55. Madonna - 4 Minutes
54. REM - Supernatural Superserious
53. Panic at the Disco - That Green Gentleman
52. David Cook - Light On
51. Take That - Greatest Day
50. Scouting for Girls - Elvis Ain't Dead
49. Paramore - That's What You Get
48. Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song
47. M.I.A. - Paper Planes
46. Sam Sparro - Black and Gold
45. ADELE - Hometown Glory
44. We Are Scientists - Lethal Enforcer
43. Kevin Rudolf - Let it Rock
42. Ne-Yo - Miss Independent
41. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry on Their Own
40. The Streets - Everything is Borrowed
39. The Kooks - Always Where I Need to Be
38. Jesse McCartney - Leavin'
37. Oasis - Bag It Up
36. Cherry Ghost - Thirst for Romance
35. Britney Spears - Piece of Me
34. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You
33. The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel
32. Gavin DeGraw - In Love with a Girl
31. The Ting Tings - We Walk
30. Kaiser Chiefs - Always Happens Like That
29. Keane - The Lovers Are Losing
28. New Kids on the Block - Summertime
27. Coldplay - Violet Hill
26. Snow Patrol - Take Back the City
25. The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go
24. Kate Nash - Pumpkin Soup
23. Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
22. Glasvegas - Geraldine
21. Ray J - Sexy Can I
20. Justin Nozuka - After Tonight
19. David Archuleta - Crush
18. The Verve - Love Is Noise
17. The Streets - On the Edge of a Cliff
16. A.i. - Tell Me U Love Me
15. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
14. Carolina Liar - Show Me What I'm Looking For
13. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
12. Oasis - Falling Down
11. The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs
10. Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
9. Pigeon Detectives - This Is an Emergency
8. Beyonce - Single Ladies
7. The Ting Tings - Great DJ
6. The Enemy - This Song
5. MGMT - Electric Feel
4. Carolina Liar - I'm Not Over
3. The Wombats - Moving to New York
2. Keane - Spiralling
1. Ladyhawke - My Delirium

So much pop in there. I'm kind of grossed out by myself right now.

2008 Gigs (Band/Opening Act - Venue)
AC/DC - Wachovia Arena
Ash/Levy - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Augustana/Wild Sweet Orange/David Ford - Bowery Ballroom
Bell XI - Bowery Ballroom
Delays/Scouting for Girls - Bowery Ballroom
Editors/Louis XIV - Terminal 5
Elbow - Webster Hall
The Enemy - Bowery Ballroom
The Fratellis/Airborne Toxic Event - Webster Hall
George Michael - MSG
Jack Penate - Mercury Lounge
Longwave - Mercury Lounge
New Kids on the Block/Natasha Bedingfield - Nassau Coliseum
Oasis/The Cardinals - MSG
Panic at the Disco/Dashboard Confessional/Plain White T's/The Cab - Izod Center (it was free, alright??)
The Pigeon Detectives/Your Vegas - Bowery Ballroom
The Stills - Bowery Ballroom
The Ting Tings - Mercury Lounge
The Ting Tings - Bowery Ballroom
The Ting Tings - Webster Hall
The Verve - WAMU Theater
The Who - Orpheum Theater
The Wombats - Blender Theater

I'd have to say my fave gigs were:
#1) Ash - Music Hall of Williamsburg
#2) New Kids on the Block - Nassau Coliseum (I shit you not)
#3) George Michael - MSG (I double shit you not)
#4) The Who - Orpheum Theater
#5) Oasis - MSG

And for a final shit you not, Keane's 'Perfect Symmetry' was my favorite album of 2008. Really! I'm sooo not kidding!!

Other albums I enjoyed (I did not hear much new music this year as you can tell by both my song list and albums):
Carolina Liar - Coming to Terms, The Wombats - A Guide to Love, Loss, and Desperation, Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns, The Enemy - We'll Live and Die in These Towns, The Streets - Everything is Borrowed

People I enjoyed in 2008: Chuck Bass, Rhet Butler, my Weight Watchers leader, Danny Boyle, Desmond, the casts of Spring Awakening and 13, my new fave football team "Dumb," and the chick from The Ting Tings.
uguiug
People I wanted to punch in the face in 2008: Katy Perry and Secondhand Serenade for making two of the worst songs I have EVER heard, Piers Morgan, Sarah Palin, whoever was in charge of the ticker announcing the Stephen Gerrard incident every three seconds, Ogden Cap Properties, Nanny Carrie, Obama supporters, Led Zeppelin for waking me up every morning, the step teacher Monday nights at the 91st St. NYSC, Deanna Pappas, the asshead who attacked Noel Gallagher forcing the cancellation of the Terminal 5 show, and finally, anybody involved with the film Nights in Rodanthe.

2008 was a mega year for me. A few downers - job hunt was still on for the first quarter of the year, my grandfather passed away in December. But, a lot of amazing things happened as well - in April I was offered a job as a manger in my department (which came as a complete surprise to me.) By May I had lost 15 lbs. In June I moved back to the city into ahhhh a luxury building. Fire Island was spread out through the summer. In July our dept. had a great E3 including sitting in the 3rd row of a 1000 person theater for a private concert by The Who. A few weeks later I went to London on a work trip (for something unimaginable) and on that trip I got engaged. In August, Dave and I had a small civil ceremony in order to get the visa paperwork going. We did it at the last minute on a sunny day in the conservatory gardens in Central Park and spent our wedding night celebrating with pints in the pub watching the Olympics. I went on a couple of work trips in the Summer/Fall (I'm all for traveling for work) including LA, Vegas, Dallas, and San Francisco. In October we announced our Beatles video game. The end of the year saw us book our wedding venue and I took two trips to London with the GBP down to less than $1.50. 2008 was one of the best years I have had in a loooong time. 2009 has been uneventful thusfar but that's okay, it's only halfway through January. I did get a load of stuff on mega discount today including a pair of $25 workout pants for $2.99. I hope the recession goes away but not the sales!

Vampire Weekend

Heather and I are heading to Jenn's apt later on so I thought I'd blog while I'm waiting. Watching What a Girl Wants for the tenth time. Amanda Bynes, will you switch bodies with me? Thanks!

Speaking of that, I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers today. I've gained back 6 lbs. since July, and with this being the year I'm getting married, I need to take care of flab sooner rather than later.

I also went errand psycho today. First to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, to WW, the bank, food shopping, back to the apt and cleaned, kickboxing, bought a birthday gift, CVS, did laundry, and cooked a low-fat Shepherd's Pie (suck that Gordon Ramsey.)

I saw Twilight last night. It was um...hmm how to describe it. Well, Meghan and I (and the entire theater) laughed at all of the parts where it was inappropriate to laugh, to give you an idea. Some things were just bizarre, like Edward's stares were intense (as they should have been), but they were overly creepy. I know he's a vampire, but something about him did not look right throughout the film. Some of the running bits looked totally ridiculous too. This will still probably be a movie I end up buying on DVD in the end just because.

Tomorrow I'm going for brunch to meet Kat's parents who are visiting. Then I've got a surprise party for a former co-worker in Port Washington. I'm going to try to go to step aerobics at 9 am but I doubt that will happen.

There's a song my kickboxing teacher always plays for the cool down which I really like. I just looked it up and it's Kelly Clarkson, I can't believe it! She shocks me every time, I never think it's her when it is and it's usually great. Oh, song is "Sober."