"Do you think we should... meet?"

Dear readers, I have a story to tell. It's a good one, or so I think. It encorporates action, romance, kitchiness and humor, and has a happy ending. So I will share it with you. Hope you enjoy it. :)

Last Saturday night (the 21st), I recieved a request to arrive at a local coffeehouse the next morning at 10am sharp. This is an important place that I had only been to once before. On an evening in April, 2004, I went there to meet a guy I'd been emailing with for about a month. It's a cute little place, kind of funky and easygoing, a good place to get a cup of coffee and read or chat or listen to some music.

Sunday morning, I drove myself to that same coffeeshop again, and found the same guy waiting there, in the same yellow shirt he wore the last time I'd been there. We ordered our drinks, and when the girl handed me my cup, she also handed me a note. It contained a clue... as to where to go next. My traveling companion and I jumped into the Jeep and headed off.

The clue led me to the Kasshau Memorial Bandshell in Ridgewood, where I found another clue. This one prompted me to go a little further afield... to a really yummy lunch at Peanut Butter and Co. (If you love PB and haven't been there yet, you'd better get cracking! The place is incredible!) With my Fluffernutter sandwich (chunky, wheat bread, toasted) came another note. This one said that stories go well with peanut butter sandwiches, and we should go and find some at a place not far away... really, just around the corner.

For those of you who didn't quite get that last bit, it's alluding to one of my favorite movies. We hopped into a cab (which almost hit a tourist on a bike - which is a bad transportation choice in Manhattan, if I say so myself!) and ended up at Books of Wonder. Being the shop that the Shop Around the Corner was modeled after, it is an incredible place... with a Cupcake Cafe!! I was instructed to look for another clue, which I thought was overwhelming, considering the fact that I had to be surrounded by thousands of books! But my guide pointed out the information desk, so I proceeded there and said something rather witty like this....

"...um, hi... I'm looking for something. But I don't know what it is. I was told to come and ask you..." (at which point, my guide prompted me to tell the help-desk-guy my name) And, surprises of surprises, there was a book on reserve for me... with a note stuck in an interesting page. The words on the page, of course, correspond with the words read by Kathleen at the story-time in the film! :) This clue led me to the highest point in Manhattan... The Empire State Building.

It was a beautiful day to see the world from so high... and certainly a popular place to be! While there, I actually received two more notes, since time was starting to run away from us. The first one instructed me to go and play, but since there wasn't a ton of time yet (for what, I did not know!), we proceeded on to a spot where I would receive the next clue... which would be a non-paper clue. We then headed to the whispering gallery in Grand Central Station. As I stood in my corner, I was told it was time to go find a garden. One of my favorites is out of season at the moment, so I was supposed to board a train to go here... but the train mysteriously didn't come!

So, it was time for plan B... and onto the subway we went. The new destination was to be this, but we met with something that makes this story even more interesting. We made it two stops, and then the train stopped, and was cancelled. Read all about the details of why and when and see pictures here. :)

Considering that I was not sure where we were headed, I was simply confused, but my poor guide was rather frazzled. As more people came down into the subway to see the chaos, he suggested we head back accross the river. So, we did.

Dinner ended up being at Cafe Archetypus (again, if you haven't been there... you must go!!) and I was instructed not to have coffee or dessert, despite the very extensive dessert menu offered there. After a good meal it was off to the last stop of the journey, which happens to be the same as the first. We sat and enjoyed some hot drinks and live music, and then I was asked to come outside for a moment....

... and in roughly the same spot that I met him, Matt asked me to marry him.

And I said yes. :)

Four Things

I was tagged by Becky and Peter to do this, so here I go...

4 jobs I've had in my life...
Audiology Assistant
Bank Teller
Music Teacher
Retail Sales Associate

4 movies I could watch over and over
You've Got Mail
Roman Holiday
Pride and Prejudice
Pirates of the Carribbean

4 places I've lived
Brooklyn, NY
River Vale, NJ
Wenham, MA
My Own Little World

4 TV shows I love to watch
Gilmore Girls
Dancing With the Stars
Law and Order (regular and svu, mostly!)
Everyday Italian

4 places I've been on vacation
Germany
Canada
Alaska
London

4 websites I visit daily
prwdot.org
Marisa
ljc fyi
ThreadBared

4 of my favorite foods
Triscuts
chocolate
freshly baked goods
Nutella

4 places I'd rather be right now
some nice, warm, secluded beach
the middle of the ocean
snuggled up under my electric blanket
with Matt :)

4 bloggers I'm tagging(or rather one blog person and one not)
Marisa
Matt
Anyone else who wants to? (if you do it, just let me know!)

Sunday Soliliquy

To be, or not to smell, -- that is the popcorn;
Whether 'tis nobler in the booger to suffer
The slings and pumpkins of tasty fortune,
Or to take sandwiches against a sea of dust bunnies,
And by frolicking end them. To die, -- to tickle, --
No more; and by a tickle to say we end
The bellybutton and the 9327 natural shocks
That flesh is basketweaver to,-- 'tis a lamp
stealthily to be wish'd. To die, --- to tickle,--
To tickle! perchance to drink! ay, there's the chick pea;
For in that tickle of death what boxes may come
When we have objected off this perverted coil,
Must give us toenail....

Smackity smack smack smack

Today is an important day. It is the birthday of one of my favorite people. I've known her since 1998, when first introduced to her as "Beach-going Becky" when we were on the same floor in Evans Hall. We've had some fun times over the years, and in reading the adorable post about her on the Wood's site, I decided to be a copycat and pull out pictures of birthdays past...

to the left, we see Birthday 2000 - candlepin bowling, and the right shows us Birthday 2001 - snow tubing!

Bec - I hope this birthday (and year!) are the best yet. Happiest of Birthdays, smacky! :)

Happy New Year! (and p.o.t.d.!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

Hope you are all off to a great start in 2006. Have you made any resolutions? I made one, but I am not telling what it is... specifically. I will mention that it is something that falls into the catagory of "random acts of kindness" and that perhaps one/some of you might see it in action at some point. It's not something I want to blurt out or anything, just do it without recognition or fanfare. :) If anyone else's resolutions are share-able, please let me know! I'm always curious to hear what people resolve to do.

As to my celebrations of the last weekend, they were plentiful. Friday night featured a trip to Ikea, where I bought some cool star-shaped lights and other goodies. On Saturday, planning was done for the evening's festivities (including the making of candy sushi!) and then the crew arrived for a boatload of food and fun and good times designed to help ring in the New Year. The next day, the party decided to hit the road and travel... to Belmar. (yes, I realize it is two weekends in a row... but it's fun!) So, we all went down and went to a family party and hung out and ate some more, etc. Monday was kind of rainy, so we only made a quick visit to the Manasquan Environmental Center (must go back there in better weather!) and then headed back for food and a movie before making a rather rainy drive back north. All in all, it was a lot of fun... even with the sad fact that my Jeep, which was spending the weekend up at Matt's, ended up with a nasty flat and ended up needing some rather large amounts of TLC... but it is better now, thanks to two rather handy men! :)

Ah, yes, before I forget... The Picture Of the Day. A towel creation, which greeted me one evening while cruising in Bermuda. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas... a little late!

To all of my dear readers (all four of you!) I hope you had the Merriest of Christmases and that there was much joy and laughter and good times had by all. :)

My Christmas was lovely. I was invited to Christmas Eve dinner with Matt and his family - we went to Mt. Fuji, which is as much of a dinner theatre experience as it is a great meal! On Christmas day Matt joined us at home, where there was a frenzy of traditional turkey and everything. Santa seemed to think I was good this year - I found some lovely things under the tree, such as sweaters, pajamas, gift cards (for B&N and the gas station!) a gourgeous pair of earrings and a gramaphone that will be interesting to play with!

I spent Boxing Day in Belmar - kind of strange to be at the shore in wintertime, but it has its beauty in solitude and quietness. Relaxing and skeeball (yes, there was an arcade open on the boardwalk!) were priorities, and I even had time to curl up and watch Jersey Girl, too. A good movie, and filmed in the town that someone I know grew up in! ;)

Now I'm being called on to assist in hosting a New Year's Eve party... should be some fun! :) Any ideas, readers??

Photography

I am in awe of people who are photography-gifted. I wish I was, and would like to be. Maybe someday. Anyway, while reading Michelle's blog (I connect to her through the Woods) I stumbled on someone that she reads... FunkyPancake. Basically a photo blog, there are a lot of interesting pics from this guy's life in London. I love it, and am quite jealous all at the same time! I'm adding it to the sidebar - it's too cool not to keep checking in on!

It's things like this that make the internet fascinating to me. :)

P.O.T.D.

Pictures of the Day: yes, there are two today. I promised such pictures a long time ago, and they are finally here. Sometimes things just take me a little longer than expected, but I get them done!!

Photo #1: Apple Picking. Warwick, NY, 10-16-05
A fun day to be sure. I posted about it, so if you want to go through the archives, you can find out what we did. Yay for apples!

Photo #2: The pie that I made with the apples. Home, 10-25-05
Mmmmmm.... yummy. A delicious pie, if I do say so myself. It was enjoyed, still warm, with vanilla ice cream. I loaded that baby with apples, so it was overstuffed and oh, so good!

Princess Ida Weekend

Yes, this weekend was the show weekend. Both performances went well, although I tend to think that Sunday's performance was better! It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Friday was stressful at work - there was beautiful snow falling like crazy in the morning, which meant that we were dead... but as soon as the sun came out at lunchtime, so did all the people... in droves. We were so amazingly busy all afternoon. I didn't get home until almost 6 because I was elected to run work-related errand after I left... and I didn't get to leave until almost 5! Ahh!

But yeah, Ida was good this weekend. I had a fan club worth of people on Sunday, which was lovely and surprising and perhaps a little overwhelming, too - but in a good way. There were flowers and hugs and lots of good things, including cookies! Pictures will be coming - I took some on a digital, so hopefully I can get them up faster than with film. :)

Photo of the day

Now that I have the ability to scan pictures into my 'puter I have decided that I will try to post a "Photo of the Day" once a week. I don't know if it will be the same day every week or if it will vary yet, but I will figure it out as I go along. :)

P.O.T.D. Subject - a small creature named TurtleDuck on vacation in St.Georges, Bermuda, September 2005.

And it's begining to snow...

Just a few random fragments:
1. Work has been crazy this week. One of my coworkers has a concussion and another was just diagnosed with mono, and one is on loan. This leaves the few of us that are left going crazy.
2. Sent out a resume today. Will report if anything interesting comes of it.
3. In a few moments, I'm off to dinner with Marisa. Hurray!
4. My show is this weekend. If you live in the area and want to come, let me know. I need to sell some tickets!
5. When am I supposed to finish my Christmas knitting?
6. Went to a cool place on Tuesday night - Reality Bites. It's something like Chunky's, but less theatre-y and more restruaunt-y (but with big flatscreen tv's). We saw The Cutting Edge (it is winter sports movie week) and I had pesto pasta. Cool.

Snaps to the funny, the technological, the helpful

Kudos to the guy who played Norman in the one-acts at Ramapo this weekend. I thought he was very good... and cute! And yay for cheap live theatre! The $1-per-act price was easy on the pocketbook. Gotta love college-student prices!

I now have a regular computer setup in my room again. As some of you may remember, I've been using the laptop since the new computer died, but through the wonders of modern technology and the people who know how to use it, I am up and running again on a desktop. And now I am learning a new technological thing - burning CDs! I was learning to download CDs onto my desktop when the last computer died, so I lost all of that hard work, but I was able to pick that up again and add to it the concept of burning. I feel so accomplished! :)

My resident technological guru spent a great deal of Saturday hooking me up again and succeeded in overwhelming me by also cleaning off my desk (a great pile of junk with a few pieces of needed stuff in the mix), scanning a bunch of my pictures into the computer, and even fixing my toilet... most of this done while I was at work! Amazing, and so handy! I baked some special brownies as a token of gratitude, which he selflessly shared with others instead of eating them all himself. Impresisive!



Picture of the day:
The subject of this post at the Paulinskill Viaduct, June 2005.

Reasons that being a grown-up can really stink...

42. Realizing that with your new projected budget you will have a whopping $40 a week left for personal expenses, and that such a budget does not include any funds towards savings or rent or such things.

This leaves me with several observations:
- With such a projected budget, I will never be able to move out of my parents house or save any money whatsoever.
- It is amazingly frustrating that I am a competent college graduate who cannot make enough to support herself.
- I realize that I (yet again) need to go through the hassle of finding a new job with better pay.
- I will have to go into amazing amounts of debt if I ever am able to go graduate school.


…It really sucks to be an adult. :/

(And to make matters worse, there has been stress-eating of carbohydrates -Ritz, pretzels and Triscuts- and sugar - chocolate and cookies - which fail in making me feel better despite the attempt and leave me feeling more like a grumbling roly-poly with a stomachace. Such things make for a very grumpy and stressed Miss President. grr.)

Forget regret, or life is yours to miss

Hello there! :)

Just a few words about the weekend. Wanted to go to the movies on Friday after a rather uneventful day at work (although I'd been told it would be crazy-busy!) but by the time we got there, only super-late movies were playing. But while I was there, I popped into House of Tar-jay and bought two DVDs for a whopping $5.88 each on special sale! I took home HP3 and Shrek2. Woo hoo! Also went to Johnny's for a milkshake and fries. Yum.
Saturday, after working, I went up to Matt's. We decided to try the movie thing again and ended up going, but not to the matinee as we'd planned - it had already started, and so we decided that since a later showing was available we would wait. Luckily we bought tickets right then and there, since the line was huge when we returned!!! Went to get some food and wander a bit in the meantime, and then attended a showing of something that we saw two weeks ago in a different genre. It was great, and really cool to see both back-to-back. Now the songs are stuck in my head... I think I'll have to suck it up and buy the b'way CD's for my car! :)

viva la vie boheme!!

Jersey City

First off, before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to MOM on the 17th! Hope you had a great day - I love you!

Yesterday was our company's performance at the Loew's in Jersey City. It is such a beautiful place - and a wonderful place to sing - and I was pleased to play the role of Psyche instead of my usual role of Chloe! I had a lot of fun doing it, and it was a great day. :) This is a busy weekend - yesterday's performance, singing in church this morning, and then singing the role again in a non-staged concert version this afternoon. Busy busy busy - but good. I'll sleep well tonight!

click here. Enjoy your day! :)

Lunch with the Dutchess, Chocolate and paying Rent... in Manhattan on Veterans Day

This post has been in production for a few days. It should have been posted much earlier this week. Thank you. :)

Considering the fact that I had the day off, I was invited to go on an adventure. I was told very little about it, other than to be ready at a specific time and to be dressed in a) good walking shoes, b) a warm coat, and c) the "female equivalent of a suit."

And so it began. We got in the car and drove to the ferry. Being a beautiful day, we sat up on top, enjoying the view. Once at the opposite terminal, we picked up a taxi and went cross-town... to the place where we had reservations to have lunch. What a shock, a surprise... amazing! Delicious food, amazing service (from a waiter who didn't think we ate enough!), a fantastic view, interesting people-watching opportunities, and the Dutchess of York... who was dining in the same room, not with us, of course!

As if this was not enough, the day continued. We took the subway to the beautiful Grand Central Terminal to check out the Whispering Gallery. It was at Grand Central that I had to make a decision... flowers or chocolate. I picked the latter... but it was a hard choice! Very interesting - lots of people, lots of things to see, lots of samples to taste! Decadence, gluttony, indulgence... mmmmm...

Next, it was time to hop the tube again in order to get to a place where one can find virtually anything, including dinner. It was a lovely meal, followed by some browsing in a store that is more overwhelming than anything else!

But, oh, the day is still not quite over. One more trip on the subway took us to the heart of the theatre district. We crossed the street and were walking by the Nederlander Theatre when I found myself being led inside, just in time to see the evening's performance of... RENT!!!! What a fantastic surprise to end with, being that I know the music but have never seen it! ! We had AMAZING seats (3rd row!) and the show was, of course, so so great. It was hard not to sing along!

Amazing day. Amazing, amazing day. I'm a very lucky girl... I don't know what I've done to deserve such a day, but I won't ever forget it!!!

Soup: te amo.... and yeah, Hi.

Some Words On A Rainy Wednesday

Ok, a few things.

1. How happy am I at Becky and Peter's news?!?! I got a call on Monday and it made my day. Hurrah!!

2. Went to the city twice last week, which is much more frequently than usual, even though I live quite close and enjoy it a lot. Last Wednesday we went to the Jinx Athenaeum to hear a lecture on Urban Exploration. The Jinx people used to do a lot of exploration in unusual bits of the city before they declared a moritorium on such adventures after 9/11. Our speaker, Steve Duncan, was quite interesting and has some very interesting pictures at his website, undercity.org

2.b. The second trip, which was on Sunday, was less structured. One member of the adventuring party needed to visit the Hershey store in Times Square and there was money to be spent there... and samples to be had as well! We also visited the Nintendo World Store and walked a lot, stopping to try some dumplings at Mandoo and watch skaters at Rockefeller Center. Seeing loads of people in spandex and solar blankets added to the ambience of our surroundings (it being the day of the marathon after all!) and a good time was had by all.

3. I was much amused by the personal statements of my state's candidates for governor on Tuesday. The one I voted for did not win, alas, but while I never seriously considered voting for the person behind the Legalize Marajuana party, I laughed at the fact that he wanted to "give the finger to the Demo-publicans" (actual quote!!!) and thought that his was the most interesting read. So yes, I did my civic duty and voted.

4. I cannot wait until Friday. I don't have to go to work. Yay. You don't know how much joy that gives me. NO WORK NO WORK, woo hoo!!

Ok. that is all. :)

Happy Halloween

Today was a pretty good day at work. I got to wear a costume - cheerleader again! - and sneakers, which especially made my day. I had a surprise visitor stop by to take me to lunch (Hurrah for surprises!) and the day went fast. Soon I am off to rehearsal, in which I am just shadowing/understudying. And it was gourgeous today - the weather was beautiful and sunny and lovely. Amoung the trick-or-treaters that I saw tonight were a very large group of high schoolers dressed as.... PIRATES!!! With a pirate ship out on the street! I was amazingly impressed... and a little jealous! I would have loved to have done something like that with a huge group of people!

The one thing about this Halloween I regret is not getting a pumpkin. They were expensive this year, and I kept forgetting. So there is no pumpkin on our porch. Maybe I'll pick one up anyway, if I see them - it's a harvest-y, Thanksgiving-y kind of thing, too!

...and, oh... a good thought.... pumpkin pie... mmmmmmmm.........

good and not-so-good

I worked too many hours this week. I had to work the entire day on Friday (7:45-7:15) and it was long. Tooo long. And then yesterday I had to work 8:45-12:45, which included a drive down to Elmwood Park. Grr. Sometimes I think that this job is just not a good fit, and I am quite resentful at the fact that I was told that I would work every other Saturday, and the fact is that I get only one off a month. Which will coinside with performances for the show, so it won't even really be a day off.

Yesterday afternoon, however, I enjoyed the fall weather by spending time trying to go to resale shops in the area (all closed!) and visiting garage sales. In the evening, there was a halloweeen party to attend, and it was a great deal of fun. There were a bunch of friends there that I hadn't seen in months - and it was nice to catch up with them. It's funny - I don't think I've ever been invited to a costume party before! I went as a cheerleader - using my quite old cheerleading costume which strangely still fits.

I'm in a strangely contemplative state this morning and so I end with the the following musings - do you ever wish you could just leave your life and step out of it for a while, becoming someone different, or a better "self" or just someone annonymous? Would you like it there? Would you find it interesting for a while, and then want to go back? Would you never come back again, leaving "yourself" behind?

Several things

First of all HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to the Woods!!! They've been married three years now (I was there, and I remember!) and they are such a great couple. Here's to a lifetime of happy anniversaries!

Second. The special brownies. Yes, they were special. And no, not in an herbal sense! I'll not completely divulge the recipe here, but they contained bits of chocolate and peanut butter in them, for starters. And yeah, they were pretty extraordinary, especially when still warm. mmmmmm.

Third. Two bargains of which I am quite proud to share. $0.17 for a 30-something ounce bottle of water with a sport cap. Dirt cheap! And $1.00 for a big tubes of Colgate whitening toothpaste. Sometimes the bargains just seem to find me! (yes, I'm a bargain dork. but hey, I save money so it's a winning situation for me!)

Fourth. Cool mail. Got two things in the mail today that are noteworthy. One of the drugs I use sent me a toothbrush, toothbrush holder and a coupon. I also got a sample I requested, a razor to try. They actually sent me a whole package, with 4 reserve blades. That's got to be at least $6!! Cool and free!

Last. This past weekend, among other things, I went to see Elizabethtown. Although the critics seem to have hated it, I enjoyed it. It was interesting to intersperse such highs and lows together - death, falling in love, discovery - and I loved the road-trip at the end. Honestly, I didn't expect the ending that they gave us, but was certainly fine with it - although I would have been ok with what I expected as well. Anyway, I'd reccomend it. It's a good date movie, as it is not a chick-flick and will appeal to both sexes.