Summer, No I Mean Spring Is Here

It's practically 80F outside---is it....summer in New York City? This brings to mind people sunbathing in Central Park, taking long walks outside, street fairs, taking the subway out to the beaches....but wait! We are in April---in New York City. Weird. But the weather is unpredictable these days. Tomorrow it will probably be cold again. Oh well. But speaking of summer which makes me think of vacations, my in-laws just bought a vacation home in Costa del Sol in Spain....so hoping to check that out one day! Anway, Marcus just left for Atlanta for a business meeting, but will also be watching the Masters Golf Tournament, which he's excited about. Marcus' friend came in to town for work and stayed with us, which was a lot of fun. I got to get to know him a little bit, which was great. I also just found out a friend, Eric, is leaving my job, which I'm happy about for him, but I'm still going to miss him. I actually met him when he came to me as a client at the hospital I was working at. He had told me that he was interested in veterinary medicine and asked for advice. I got a really good vibe from him so I asked him to come back another day on my lunch break and I would talk to him about it. He ended up getting a job at my hospital, and it started from there. Two years later and here were are! I consider him my friend and I'm pulling he'll get into veterinary school. Well with spring comes spring cleaning...we have done a little of that here at home, and finally we are getting a little renovation done in our second bedroom, so I'm looking forward to that. Springtime also means beekeeping time! Marcus and I are prepping for our second year of beekeeping, so that will be exciting...

Food Porn to the Rescue

First I wanna say that I just logged in to write this blog entry and saw a photo of myself in the beautiful Caribbean from a previous blog entry---and it looks like I have armpit hair! I don't though, I swear. It's unfortunate shadowing and pooling of the water. Anyway, I was just thinking about food...and what I love to call food porn...my personal past time...talking and fantasizing about food, especially when I can't have it. It's kind of sadomasochistic, because it really hurts to talk about it and not be able to have it, but it's also very satisfying. I realized I found my ultimate food porn TV show---"Paula's Home Cooking". There's something about Paula Deen's unapologetically unhealthy recipes and her speaking with that slow, Southern twang. It's madness. I once caught myself staring at the TV screen with my mouth slightly open. Anyway, an easy recipe I got from her show is Guinness Chocolate Cake. Yes, with Guinness Stout. It's super easy, and very impressive. Now it's not a fancy looking cake, but it tastes so incredible. I made it for my father's birthday and he was raving about it. You can get the recipe on her website, and believe me it's worth it! YUM YUM YUM. Speaking of food porn, I recently went to Hill Country, a Southern style BBQ restaurant that serves up fresh cooked mouth watering meats and sides. I got to hang out with my vet school crew which was great. It was pretty good and I ate like a lumberjack!

Old Fashioned Film

When Marcus and I went to Aruba last December, we got one of those disposable underwater cameras. I just got the film developed and it's funny because with these types of cameras, you hope half of the pictures turn out. We had some fun ones turn out. What's funny is that the photos make it look so overcast or that a storm is looming, and it was blazing sun. But that's the fun part---you never know what you're going to get! Today I'm home sick...about 6 months ago I had a bout of idiopathic positional vertigo (BPPV) aka when you place your head in certain positions and the room starts spinning. It took a week to go away, so I was dealing with moving horizons when I walked, constant nausea, and out of nowhere room spinning, so much so that I fell once. Once you get it, it can happen again. Which sucks! Since then, I've had very mild relapses...yesterday I woke up with the room spinning and I knew. It's mild, and today I just feel nauseous, but it's really frustrating. Luckily my great friend Jennifer happens to be an audiologist specializing in balance (and is about to graduate medical school!) so I luckily have her to give me recommendations, because for most people I would assume, who would you turn to if you woke up to the room spinning?! No pun intended. My friends are awesome. Oh this is really random, but I just realized that I had a dream last night that I was working with Harvey from TMZ?!

Cali: In-N-Out-Quick-Weekend

This past weekend Marcus and I headed out west for a quick trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Marcus had a meeting in SF, so while he was conducting business, I headed over to the Hayes Valley area to check out the scene. San Fran is kinda sorta like California's take on Seattle--maybe? Clean, laid back, I enjoyed it. Hayes Valley had a lot of maybe Soho-L.E.S. type stores, good coffee, and some nice restaurants. I only compare to NYC cuz that's what I know. We stayed smack in the heart of Tourist Trap USA, but it's all good. We stayed at the Argonaut Hotel, and it was really nice! Nautically themed, but not cheesy or campy. We ate at Zuni Cafe, which is supposed to be one of SF's best restaurants, it was pretty good. Good service and nice vibe. And can I say how wonderful the SF Airport is?!?!? I ate gourmet food there waiting for my flight! Then we headed to LA to check out Marcus' friend Linus, AKA Style of Eye, perform at Swedish House Mafia's Masquerade Motel. It was a huge show, so it was really nice of him to hook us up. He was AWESOME. We also watched Swedish House Mafia, and it was pretty amazing to see thousands of people there to watch---I remember the old school days and I never could have imagined the graphics, pyrotechnics, and groupies at a house show?!! We had met up with Marcus' college friend Matt and his girlfriend Nicole and went to the show together. The night was a lot of fun---and I made some dancing friends, bless their hearts, these kids invited me to dance with them and then asked me if I went to college at UC. Hahahahaha. After the show we ate at a 24 hr diner joint and I had chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and poached eggs... Pretty good. Even though it was a quick weekend we got to meet up with some key people so I was really happy. We ate dinner with Azon and Anthony, who had recently moved out to LA, so it was great to see them. Then the next morning we brunched with my cousin Norrel and her husband Larry. Before the show, Linus met up with us for a short while, too. Marcus and I stayed at the Redbury Hotel, and as amusing as it was, I would stay again---I got sucked into the hype. We had a sweet room. But the hotel reeks of uber-hipness, so be prepared to be kept up all night from the loud music either from the club next door or the bar in the hotel. I joked that the hotel's goal is to make you feel like a partied out rock star---whether you party or not....because the first night we got there, we didn't stay out late, but I was up till 2AM listening to club music, so I woke up the next morning as if I had been out all night. And the rooms are dark so when you walk outside you feel like a vampire. Otherwise Marcus and I had a little downtime to walk around and we saw the famous Capitol Records building, I had a burger at Umami Burger which was pretty solid, and we went to Amoeba Music and I bought some old vinyl. I could have spent hours in that store...oh, and we didn't go to In-N-Out Burger, but it fit my title for this blog....

Valentine's Day...

I know a lot of people think Valentine's Day is a joke, a media scam to get people to buy chocolate and cards, but I really like it. Why not celebrate love and friendship? And, if it's a reason to receive chocolate, why would I have a problem with that?!?! Marcus and I are going to watch a Rangers game at MSG tonight and then go to dinner somewhere tomorrow night. He got me a lovely box of chocolates from Switzerland, on his most recent trip to go skiing in France and to attend some business meetings in Geneva. Chocolate---good chocolate is probably the best gift ever. I made him a card (see photo) which was fun, because I love origami. Yesterday I watched this "documentary" called "Whores' Glory"....I feel like the point of documentary is to present both sides of the story as they happen and through interviews...of course the filmmaker's opinion can shine through...but overtly staged scenes are a no-no...and I felt like throghout this film there were weird, unnatural staged scenes. Then there was a john having sex with one of the prostitutes---well, given the full monty shown, I can attest atleast that was legitimate. Woah. Speaking of "The Full Monty"---isn't that a fun movie??? So Marcus and I have been slowly, but surely trying to renovate our apartment. We've been here over a year, but things move slow! My sisters have been really helpful. Most recently we finally replaced our old vertical blinds with new shades and they look great! What's next...hmm so many things---the bathroom, the closet doors...I stumbled upon these cute dry erasable best in show ribbons----aren't they cute?! Happy Valentine's Day and may you enjoy the best chocolate of your life!!!

New Year, Big Changes

It's 2013! And with the new year comes change. I found out that a few friends are moving away, my very good friend Anthony and his wife just moved to Los Angeles, and my very good friend Jessica is heading back to Australia, where she grew up. I'm happy for all of them, but also it does sadden me because I'll miss them. But it sounds like they are going to be happy, which is great. I myself got myself a new job, which I hope brings me peace in my professional life. It's a good hospital with great medicine and management. As a result I'm scaling back at my current job so I can be part time in both places. Marcus and I went to Aruba before Christmas and had an incredible time. Aruba---perfect weather, friendly people, good times! I would go back in a heartbeat. We enjoyed the beach, our hotel, great food, and we got to go to the Donkey Sanctuary! I got to assist a local veterinarian, Dr. Ricardo Contreras, with a donkey neuter and talk shop with him. It's always fun to meet veterinarians in other countries and talk about how they practice. When I travel I love to try to connect with fellow veterinarians. As for the Donkey Sanctuary, if you ever go to Aruba, it's totally worth it to visit! We spent hours there, and we met the volunteers and the owner and you can tell the donkeys are well cared for and happy. Such funny animals. As for the hotel we stayed at, we stayed at Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts, and oh my God---what a great place. Relaxed, quiet, considerate and customer service oriented without being over bearing, and adults only. We loved it there. As for the many places we ate, one was crazy---deep fried goodness taken to a new level. It's a local spot called Zeerover's Fish Bar ("pirate" in Dutch) in Savaneta...you get there, you pick how many pounds of freshly caught fish you'd like, and then you take a seat in an open air restaurant by the water, and wait for crazy, almost sickening amounts of deep fried fish. I don't think I could do it again, but we were glad we went. Augh---I wish we were back in Aruba...aahh Aruba...anyway today I just finished watching a very interesting movie---called "Skin". It's based on the true story of a woman named Sandra Laing, who is the daughter of two Caucasian Afrikaner parents, but herself appears to be of African descent. Her parents fought to have her classified as White, and they swore she was their biological child. It follows the complicated and painful upbringing she had....worthwhile to watch.

Damn You Crumbs!

I recently went to Crumbs to satisfy my need for baked product and chocolate. So I got a chocolate butter cream and vanilla cake cupcake. But upon reaching the register, something alarmed me. I saw the Starbuck's logo...then I looked up at the drink menu and saw Starbuck's drinks! AAAHHH....they have switched to Starbuck's coffee! So disappointing, really. Not good stuff at all. Which leads me to my next point...I don't understand that. Because Starbuck's originated in Seattle, and I must say, the people of Seattle know how to make a great cup of coffee...we could learn a thing or two in some places here in New York. So how did Starbuck's, seemingly the one place in Seattle that doesn't know how to brew, may it big??? P.S. I may need to sacrifice myself and do a side-by-side comparison between the Magnolia and the Crumb's cupcake...hmm...