Intimate Moments for A Sensual Evening

So I saw this poster for Aziz Ansari, a comedian...and I thought it was classic, hysterical, and perfect. It's wonderful. I haven't seen his comedy act, but now I have it on our Netflix queue. So this past weekend was fun. Stephen came over for dinner Saturday night and Marcus cooked up a great meal: salmon wrapped in bacon, mashed potato with cauliflower and lemon rind, with sauce. Then we ended up at the bar at the Smyth Hotel. Yesterday Marcus and I brunched in Tribeca...and today I was back to my usual Monday activities. But I did get to meet up with Tinita for lunch. She booked us reservations to Dos Caminos and it was really good! What's next? Tonight is the season premiere of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl"...YES! And we're finally getting our new flat screen TV mounted on the wall.

Soreness and Bureaucracy

So it's been a few days...I just finished watching "Oprah" and Wyclef Jean was on discussing the relief efforts in Haiti. And he was frustrated that the proper supplies and services weren't being brought to the people in need, and that instead there's all these photo ops being taken. He also said that if someone would just give him a task force, he could lead the coordination of providing relief to the people, with the Port-Au-Prince Airport as the base. Good for him---motivated, and he said it's also helpful that he's from Haiti---damn, it sounds like a good idea...Anyway, this past Sunday Marcus and I went to a Rangers game at MSG. The game turned out to be a good one, aside from the unnecessary violence. And I'm talking players taking their helmets and gloves off to punch each other in the face. Well I'm still seeing my trainer and coming home sore. Sometimes it's arms, sometimes it's abs and legs, and the usual bruise on the arm or leg. I finally received my long awaited Mountain Rise Chocolate Granola in the mail! I first discovered this brand upstate in Ithaca. I had tried a bunch of granola, and disliked the textures. Sometimes too chewy, sometimes way too crunchy. But this is perfection! If you're into granola and yogurt or milk for breakfast, I highly recommend this brand! I haven't found it in any stores down here, thus the mail ordering. Or if you're ever at our place, feel free to try some!

Thursday

So today I was at home...I worked out, then watched some episodes of "Queer As Folk", and did some cleaning and organizing. Yesterday I went to Terry-a's and we caught up. We ordered food for lunch while Seren took her afternoon nap. It was good to see her. Over email later yesterday Terry-a then informed me and Lauren that our wonderful Limelight is most recently being converted into some sort of sick shopping mall. It makes me nauseous! I mean I know that the infamous nightclub has been out of commission since the 90's and that there is some sort of flea market type thing going on in there...but now this???Depressing. Onto much more serious issues...In the most recent events, as you know, Haiti's earthquake struck just a few days ago...unbelievable that a country already dealing with so much was dealt this card. Stephen compiled a list of ways to contribute to helping those in need in Haiti. Check it out...

Monday and It's Freezin'

This weekend was a cold one! Yesterday I hung out with my friend Christina, who I got to know during my internship. It had been about seven (!) months since I had seen her! So I was so happy to spend some time with her. We ate brunch in the East Village, then headed over to our apartment. It was a good day. This morning, I woke up and looked out our window to find ice floating in the Hudson River! It's that cold...then I headed to the gym to meet up with my trainer. Then I went to the Container Store and bought some Bigso boxes...a stylish choice for storage. And we're strapped for storage space. Now I'm home, phew...because it's cold out there. Tonight Marcus and I are eating again at Aquavit, but at their cafe for more casual food. Yummy.

Addendum: Bacon Pancakes, Not as Expected

So after I blogged about the bacon and maple scone, I remembered that somewhere I brunched they were serving bacon pancakes! I didn't order them, but always wished I did.So I went to the deli, bought some bacon, and made some pancakes (from scratch, of course) with bits of bacon in them. Well, for one thing, I guess the animal fat in the bacon really helped to make these pancakes cook fast and evenly...but I think the bacon altered the normal texture of the pancakes, because they weren't as yummy as usual. So I need to work on that...I'm not giving up on bacon! Marcus' family sent us this photo from the past summer...my brother-in-law Jesper and my mother-in-law Jeanette are in the photo with me, posing in front of the hospital where I work! I had just started and was excited to have my name on the sign outside! It's kind of a funny photo, too, since Jesper doesn't look to thrilled...

Yesterday's Fun

On my day off yesterday I started off with another session with my trainer. More bruises, more soreness. But good. Then I headed home to get ready to meet up with Stephen at the Met to check out an exhibit about Samurai swords and armor and the history behind their craftsmanship. It was cool. They had some crazy bad-ass helmets, too...like ones with bunny ears, built in ponytails and mustaches...Then we headed to the East Village to eat ramen at Rai Rai Ken. Yummy. It was bitterly cold though...ouch. We stopped into the City Bakery's satellite storefront on the way to the train and I encountered this scone with maple syrup and bacon bits....it sounded so good! Augh, I should have bought one. I'm fascinated with the combo of bacon and maple syrup. It all started with the McGriddle. Apparently if you arrive at that place by bicycle, you get a 25% discount...Today I started off with some housecleaning, and now I need to figure out my lunch situation...

Nausea

So I had a session with my personal trainer. Halfway through I felt nauseous...damn my trainer kicks my ass. I knew I had weak upper body strength, but it's always laughable to see and experience it when Iris (the trainer) is telling me to do push ups, pulls ups, and all that good stuff. We also went into the boxing ring for some jabs, crosses, and round house kicks. Burn them calories, burn! Then I went home and in the shower I discovered my leg is bruised up from kicking the bag. Ha ha. Yesterday "Cinema Paradiso" was on TV...I really love that movie. But I told Marcus I couldn't really watch it because it somewhat depresses me...because the movie is essentially about the love of film and filmmaking...and sometimes I get really sad that I'm not longer in film production. And this is one of the movies that really got me interested in studying film to begin with way back when. Speaking of film, we watched "Up in the Air" which was great, but also depressing. We watched "The Hangover" again On Demand. That's a pretty damn funny movie if you haven't seen it...

The Black Hole of All Restaurants...

I think Marcus and I found it! We went to Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue today, and we decided to eat at their restaurant called Sarabeth's. Sarabeth is the maker of yummy preserves, so I envisioned a cozy, welcoming, country-inspired establishment. Well, we walk in, and the "decor" was reminiscent of the type of restaurant furniture you find at one of those Marriot Courtyard hotels where reception is right next to the restaurant, and there's no wall or divider between them. Then, there was absolutely no music playing whatsoever. Then we place our order---they were serving breakfast all day which was great! I ordered eggs, which supposedly came with a muffin...I selected the pumpkin muffin. We get the food and there's no muffin, and no mention of the fact that there's no muffin. So I inquire about the muffin and I was told by the waitress that "he" said that because my meal came with bread already, I don't get the muffin...not that she couldn't have told me that BEFORE bringing the food over. And I had to ask her who "he" was, to find out she meant the manager. Then in the midst of eating our food, we hear someone screaming at someone else in the kitchen. When we headed out, we vowed we never needed to return! Too bad, the food was decent.

A New Decade

So last night, on New Year's Eve, Marcus and I ate an early dinner with family and friends in the city. Then Marcus and I headed back home and got ready for our little outing to the dance club (I must admit I looked pretty good, too). We went to Pacha, a superclub of sorts on the West Side. In classic cheesy style, we had VIP seating reserved, but in all seriousness, it was for practical reasons. I figured we then would have guaranteed seats to call our own. I remembered how it was going out to clubs on New Year's, and at this point in my life (and with my bum knees), there was no way we could be crammed in a corner standing up all night! We were treated ever so well by all staff who promptly escorted us to our couch and table, and got us started with some Kettle One with the appropriate accouterments! The usual suspects were present: college age couples, singles, occasional peeps our age, drunks, and scantily dressed gogo dancer types on podiums---and all that good stuff. Marcus was horrified by how many men were there in comparison to women. Early in the night a youngster approached me and asked if I either had some Ecstasy, or wanted to buy some. I apologized I couldn't help him, I wish I could...ha ha. Anyway, we got some good dancing in, and headed off to the main dance floor where some tribal techno was pumping. My ass was grabbed and caressed on several occasions, but not just by my husband...By the end of our night we were amongst young, drunk, sloppy girls, many of which were disturbingly barefoot and slipping all over the dance floor. A completely drunk girl practically fell all over our table and knocked over some glasses, and we just laughed...I also graciously took photos of twenty-something girls who asked me to...I remember how it felt to get all decked out in crazy outfits and want to capture them on film. At around 3:45AM, we headed out, and got a burger before we left. We had a lot of fun! I was game for more, but Marcus shot me down...ha ha. Although I must say if this is a representation of mega clubs of today, then they are really vanilla compared to what I am used to. My friends Lauren and Terry-a can attest to the good ol' days of our beloved Limelight. We were frequent flyers at that institution back when Peter Gatien ruled the New York club scene, and it was quite normal, if not expected to socialize and dance among heavy drug users, club kids, and people engaging in inappropriate actions... with excellent music and ambiance. Although I didn't know that there was anything wrong with this (and there isn't!), it was all I knew since I had been clubbing there since I was a mere 16 years old. Then in college and beyond I moved on to (partially because the Limelight was shut down) small, seedy hip hop joints, which were heavenly! And even these places barely exist right now in Manhattan. So don't get me wrong, I may be 34 years old, but I still love to go out till the wee hours in the night and I still love to dance, preferably to hip hop. So if that means that it's a little more cleaned up than it should be, then be it. I find that I'm one of the few of my friends that still finds joy in going out to clubs, but it's fun, and there's no shame in that---wanting to have a good time, but knowing that I'm not a 20 year old girl...thank God, I know better now, in so many ways. And it was fun to see all these youngsters doing their thing, and just having a good time remembering how it was to be those youngsters out and about and to be me now---34 years old, with my husband, having an excellent time with blaring music and people everywhere!