Why travel by plane is evil, part gazillion

I have atrociously bad luck when it comes to flying. Seriously atrocious. The number of issues I've had in the past 10 years are unbelievable. And the worst part? Pretty much every problem I've ever had could have been prevented by the airlines. I understand weather woes. We can't control it, and being delayed or rerouted due to weather is not an issue. The issue is how the airlines deal with those delays and rerouting. Or booking my flight in the first place (OMG why is booking international travel so difficult?). Or mechanical issues. Or paperwork issues. Canceled flights. Gate changes. Being bumped off my flight and instead of being put on the next flight, being put on standby for the next 3 flights (I'm not kidding). I've dealt with them all and then some. I've spent an insane amount of time on the phone with customer service over the years trying to get re-booked on a different flight, find an alternate route, or file a complaint.

The worst issue to deal with? Baggage issues. And this time I had serious baggage issues.

First, the trip there on Thursday. I missed my connection. Why? Because they were given the wrong paperwork so we were delayed leaving the gate. So while I had 45 minutes between flights, when we landed I only had 20 minutes. Then we had to wait because there was a plane at our gate. By the time I got off the plane I had 10 minutes before my next flight was scheduled to leave. Yeah. Nevermind. They close the doors 10 minutes prior to departure, so after running to the other terminal, I spent 20 minutes at the customer service desk. They told me the next flight they could guarantee I'd be on was around 8pm, but I could go standby on the next two and would probably get on the 4pm flight. Eight pm was a little under 12! hours later. I was NOT spending my entire day in an airport, thankyouverymuch.

So thanks to some creativity, they booked me on a flight on another airline. My baggage was supposed to follow. Well, that didn't quite happen. I arrived in Phoenix in one terminal on one airline, and my baggage arrived in a different terminal on my original airline. No joke. So it took me an extra 30 minutes to locate my bag. All because they didn't actually tell me this, I had to speak to two different baggage agents to find this out. But my bag was located, and I finally made it to the resort about an hour before the conference started (cutting it a bit close for comfort). But I did make it. So I said my thanks and just let it go.

The trip home on Monday was even worse. This particular experience takes the cake. There were no flight issues. Everything was on time. But when I arrived to pick up my bag, it never appeared. Everyone else on the flight got their bags. And I was left standing by the baggage carousel wondering where my bag went. I never saw it come up the belt, and I was watching. So off to the baggage office I went, only to be informed that my bag had in fact arrived in Philly. It had been "scanned" on arrival, so it was in the airport. Only they had no idea where. It disappeared somewhere between when it came off the plane and when it was supposed to be put on the belt for delivery. It took everything in me to not demand they just let me go look for it myself, dammit. After an hour and a half of them looking everywhere, I finally left to go pick the dog up from the kennel and head home sans luggage.

They gave me a claim form and gave me the number of the main baggage office for the airline as a whole, as well as the direct line to the office at the Philly airport. So I made a point of checking in a couple of times a day. Monday...no luck in locating my bag. Tuesday...still looking. The Philly airport is NOT THAT BIG, people. Wednesday...nothing. Until 3pm. When I received a phone call at work from another airline. My bag had mysteriously turned up in their baggage office, sans tags. My big bright compression strap was gone. So was the airline luggage tag. I had fortunately put a business card in the little slot on the back of the bag, and that's how they contacted me. They had no idea where the bag came from since the airline tracking tag had been removed, so I gave them my claim number and airline, and they send it back to my original airline for delivery. It arrived at my home Wednesday night a little after 7pm. That's almost 60 hours after I first arrived back in Philly.

Fortunately, everything was intact. Nothing was missing. Even my jewelry was there (granted...all it consisted of was basic silver earrings, not worth much, but still). BUT obviously someone had gone through every corner of my bag. Everything was tossed around, even my toiletries bag had been rooted through. SO SOMEONE TOOK MY BAG FROM THE BAGGAGE AREA, WENT THROUGH IT, AND THEN, REALIZING THERE WAS NOTHING OF VALUE, RETURNED IT TO A DIFFERENT AIRLINE BAGGAGE OFFICE. And the airlines are worried about terrorists getting on their planes. Maybe it's time to look at security within your own operations a bit closer, hm?! But don't get me wrong, I'm very very grateful that I got everything back...even if I feel the need to wash every little thing in my bag whether it needs it or not 'cause some creep touched everything in it (seriously gross).

I've got to figure out who is the god/goddess of the airlines so I can sacrifice a goat and end this string of horrific luck when it comes to flying. And it needs to happen before I leave for ALA in Anaheim, CA in about a week and a half.

Good friends and good food

CH and I had lunch at S'MAC on Saturday. All they do is mac and cheese. And OMG. A cast iron pan of creamy goodness. Fantastic.

I ordered the "major munch" size of the Parisienne. Brie, roasted figs, mushrooms and rosemary. Topped with breadcrumbs and baked until the top got all crusty and brown and the inside bubbled. Very much a "grown up" mac 'n' cheese. Incredibly good. And incredibly rich. I couldn't finish it. I think even if I had gotten the smaller "nosh" size I wouldn't have been able to finish it. It was that rich and creamy. The mushrooms and rosemary were delicious with the brie. And the roasted figs added this amazing sweet surprise. I wondered how the sweet figs would pair with the cheese, but they cut through the creaminess of the brie very nicely.

CH chose the Cheeseburger. Definitely a throwback to childhood comfort food with a nice crunchy top crust. Very tasty, and not quite as rich. I think it was the brie that made the Parisienne so intense.

After stuffing our stomachs, we either needed a nap or a walk. We opted for the walk. As we wandered around, we happened upon a street fair on 2nd Ave. in the East Village. A good 6 or so blocks were filled with people and random tents of food (no thanks...still full) and various crafts, jewelery, music, clothing and pretty much anything else you can think of. I think my favorite tent was the one called "Interesting Things" and had everything from tape measures to tweezers! Definitely and interesting mix of things.

Later that afternoon my friend EH and his fiancee were having a gathering on a bar up in the Murray Hill area. Over dinner last night, CH's friend had mentioned a fabulous international market in the same area. So we hopped on the subway and headed up to Midtown. We found our way to Kalustyan's and wow! The place was packed to the gills with bins, endless varieties of curries, spices, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I had been looking for a spice blend called Ras el Hanout for a Moroccan chicken recipe and had been unable to find it. Kalustyan's had it. In four sizes and two brands. Amazing. It was a bit overwhelming actually, and I was glad I had something specific to find. I think I could have wandered aimlessly for hours otherwise. I did see as I was leaving that they had chocolate covered ginger in a bin...yum. Next time.

We left Kalustyan's and headed for the Rare View bar on the roof of the Shelburne Hotel to meet up with my friend EH and meet his fiancee. I was so fantastic to see EH, as it had been way way too many years. He and K are getting married in October here in the U.S., but since they both work in another country, this was the only opportunity to meet K before the wedding. I'm so glad I did. K is great. And it's wonderful to see my friend EH so happy. He and K are awesome people and they seem to be good for and to each other and balance each other quite well. So congratulations to them and I'm so excited and happy for them!

After all that walking, CH and I opted for some hang out time with the dog (Aussie as always followed CH around endlessly, it's so cute!). Some good Indian naninis and hockey playoffs (go Detroit Red Wings!!) rounded out the day perfectly. It was a much needed weekend full of time with good friends and some really good food and general downtime away from work. I'm ready to face the next week now.

Overheard

Walking through a street fair up and down 2nd Ave. in the East Village:

"Go back to the Midwest where everything is quiet."

Um, yeah, right.

Re-learning a lesson

So I'm up in NYC for the weekend with my dog staying with my friend CH. He's gracious enough to let me crash on his futon. Actually, I think it's all about my dog, and he just puts up with me to see her. Figures. The purpose of this trip is to see my friend EH and meet his fiancee. It's also nice to spend some time and hang out with CH as we're both so busy that it doesn't happen very often.

Anyway, last night we met up with a couple of his friends for dinner at Great Jones Cafe. They have excellent cajun style food like gumbo and jambalaya. Their pulled pork sandwich was fantastic. So were the crayfish we split as an appetizer.

We also had margaritas. Good margaritas. Tequila and I don't generally get long, to the point that I had a no tequila rule for 2007 (the result of a night involving too many tequila shots). But, since they're known for their margaritas, I figured I'd give it a try and just not go overboard. No shots. Just a couple of nice margaritas (stopping at two).

Mistake. Big big mistake.

I have now re-learned my lesson. NO TEQUILA. Ever. It's not about how much tequila I drink. It doesn't matter, it's going to make me sick/nauseous.

I'm not going to forget again. This is not a lesson I particularly want to keep re-learning.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Sunday

Part 3: Sunday

After our late night, KM and I slept in a bit. PM, on the other hand, was responsible and got up to do some of his work. Color me impressed. Once KM and I got up and got moving, we decided to head out for brunch. KM and PM had been looking for a good brunch spot, and I think they've now found it.

MoKaBe's does a great Sunday buffet brunch. I had been several times, but it had been many years, and I hadn't been since their renovation/expansion. With the added space, they have expanded the buffet to add more delicious goodies. KM and PM are vegans, and MoKaBe's menu and brunch buffet includes multiple vegan options, including vegan French toast on request! They both gave the French toast enthusiastic thumbs up. I had the stuffed French toast, filled with cream cheese and candied walnuts and topped with real maple syrup. After stuffing ourselves on juice, coffee (me), tofu scrambles, eggs (me), potatoes, fruit, biscuits and the aforementioned French toast, we headed home.

PM needed to do work, so getting out of the house so he could focus was necessary. KM and I took a long walk. After all that food in our yummy brunch, the long walk was just what we needed. KM and I walked to the Central West End for coffee and lots of talking and catching up. Again, this was the whole point of the weekend for me, to spend quality time with friends I don't get to see nearly often enough. KM and I usually see each other at library conferences, but we're both very busy so we don't have time for anything beyond a quick dinner or to hug each other in passing between meetings. Ultimately we talked until we were hoarse!

When we got back, CC and JH stopped by to share their wedding plans (wedding in September) and catch up on all the happenings in their lives and mine.

The plan for dinner on Sunday was Schlafly Bottleworks. My only request for the weekend was a meal there. Such good food, and they have this dessert called Sticky Toffee Pudding that is just to die for. Bottleworks makes a point to use as many local products as possible, and with a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options like vegetarian meatballs for their pasta and pizzas (wood fired and oh so tasty!). They also have things like yummy Bison burgers (yes, I've had them) and pulled pork sandwiches that are huge and delicious. I've never been disappointed by anything I've eaten there, which is quite the achievement for any restaurant. Schlafly actually has two restaurants, the original Tap Room which has lots of pub-style food, and Bottleworks which is more of a family style atmosphere and a completely different menu. But they serve the Sticky Toffee Pudding at both locations because they're known for it and it's that good. So to honor my request, a bunch of friends gathered at Bottleworks for food and dessert.

I started with a field greens salad (to balance the dessert, otherwise known as the "food negation theory" courtesy of the Amateur Gourmet). The house salad at Bottleworks has this fantastic vanilla vinaigrette and is topped with goat cheese, toasted almonds, and garlic croutons. I asked for a half salad, which is still HUGE, so LC and I split it (see? we share!). The vanilla vinaigrette is just fantastic...I must figure out how to make my own. I followed the delicious salad with the Bottleworks mac and cheese. This is not mac and cheese from a box, this is the real deal. Creamy and cheesy with Monterey Jack, Mozzarella and Provolone cheeses. I paired my delicious dinner with one of their beers, the Winter Extra Special Bitter. I have a weakness for ESBs and bitter beers in general, and Schlafly makes great beer. I'm never disappointed by their brews. I just wish they shipped beyond Missouri and Southern Illinois (they limit to something like a 6 hour radius by truck!).

I saved plenty of room for the dessert, the entire purpose of the trip to Bottleworks, the Sticky Toffee Pudding. This is a British style pudding, a dense cake that is very moist. And rich. I've never been able to eat a serving of it all on my own, it has to be shared. And I don't usually say that with dessert. I'll share just about any meal, but I tend to be protective of my desserts. The pudding is topped with a warm caramel sauce, and served with fresh whipped cream on the side. Whipped cream so well made and creamy that it has been mistaken for a scoop of ice cream. This dessert is a weakness of mine. Just thinking about it makes me drool. It is so tasty. A friend, J, had never had it before. We forced him to try a bite and he was briefly speechless before remarking it "almost" reminded him what sex was like (I almost peed my pants laughing at that one!). But the Sticky Toffee Pudding is THAT good. I promise.

Sticky Toffee Pudding deliciousness
Look at that pool of caramel and mound of whipped cream goodness...

After some tearful goodbyes, we left Bottleworks. My flight left at 7:20 on Monday morning, meaning I had to be up at the horrific hour of 4:30am. So KM and I didn't stay up too late chatting in the interest of getting some sleep. It was a fantastic visit. Everything I wanted it to be and more. I ate lots of really delicious food, and spent the entire time being with friends that I love dearly.

To all my friends in St. Louis: lots of love and hugs and I miss you all!

Slow Saturday

Part 2: Saturday

LC and I decided to take it easy on Saturday. We slept in (again). We had a leisurely morning. There were a couple of things "scheduled" later in the day, but nothing pressing. So we had a late breakfast (LC enjoyed her Shangri-La Diner leftovers!). We bummed around the house for a bit, hanging out and talking and giving the cats some love. Eventually we got ourselves moving. After a snack on Jilly's Bee Sting cupcake to fortify ourselves (yummy!), we ventured into the world.

LC needed to stop by and feed her mom's cats, and we decided to go wander around the mall near there. Now, this is not a typical activity for either one of us. I, however, was on the lookout for a new scarf. I have one, but it's a thick knit and just not useful for anything other than really cold days. So we had a plan: wander and look for a scarf, which LC wanted to get me for my birthday (we're all about the practical gifts). Lo and behold we were successful! I am now the proud owner of a beautiful scarf woven from fibers made from bamboo. And it's a gorgeous burgundy color. So thank you LC for my beautiful and soft scarf birthday gift!

My visit happened to correspond with the St. Louis LGBTQ Film Festival. Saturday afternoon was a panel on marginalized groups in LGBT films, specifically bisexuals, people of color, and trans people. There are lots of gay and lesbian films out there, but much less representation for the marginalized and smaller groups within the LGBTQ community. LC and I knew several of the panelists, as well as the awesome woman organizing it, so we decided to go and support them. It was a wonderful discussion, and the only thing that cut it short was the imposed time limit.

After the panel, we met up with a group of people at MoKaBe's Coffeehouse for the monthly BASL social. MoKaBe's is this great place with excellent coffee, desserts and a wide selection of very tasty food. It has about equal options for both vegetarian/vegans and omnivores alike. KM met up with us there, having just gotten back into town that afternoon. I had a delicious Greek salad (after all the cupcakes I felt the need for greens), and sneaked a few of LC's fries from her plate. LC and I have an "open plate" policy when we go out, unless it's dessert, sampling from each other's plate is more than welcome. It works well for us.

After a few hours of good conversation with friends old and new over coffee and tasty food, LC and I headed back to her place to pick up my stuff so I could "move" to KM's for the rest of the weekend. Lucky for me, I had two friends more than willing to have me impose myself on them for a few nights, so I split it up to share the wealth.

KM arranged to have several friends (and former colleagues) over for some snacks and beer to hang out and visit for the rest of the evening. PM (KM's partner) procrastinated on his work and decided to join us (how could he resist snacks and beer and good company?). It was so nice to just sit and chat with everyone. I hadn't seen MK, CP or SP since Oct. 2007! Needless to say, we stayed up way too late catching up on all the news and gossip and the chaos happening at my former place of work. They recently underwent some major organizational and leadership changes, and the transition has not exactly been smooth. [I made the right decision to leave when I did!] Eventually KM just couldn't sit upright any longer and stretched out on the floor, and we all decided that maybe sleep would be a good plan.

Friday full of cupcakes

My mini-vacation was all about two things this past weekend: friends and food. We didn't really "do" anything besides spend lots of time together and eat lots of good food. Which is exactly what I needed and wanted the weekend to be. It was so nice to see people and just visit with no pressure, no schedule, no plan. Anyway, onto the food reports!

Part 1: Friday

So I arrived in St. Louis, MO on Thursday night, after a long day of travel. LC met me at the airport, and we picked up food on the way back to her place. Needless to say, my friend LC and I didn't do much besides stay up way way too late talking!

Friday was all about the cupcakes. Seriously. We slept in a bit to make up for the late night before heading out to meet up with MM for a yummy Indian lunch buffet at House of India. I've been to their buffet before, and it's awesome. LC is a vegetarian, so we always go places that have lots of options for vegetarians and omnivores alike. House of India never disappoints. The food is consistently good, and they keep the buffet well stocked. I love buffets like this because you get to sample a little bit of everything. Usually I end up stuffing myself silly. But I resisted this time, because I knew what was coming for dessert: cupcakes.

Literally within the same little strip on Delmar is Jilly's Cupcake Bar. It's still fairly new, opening sometime in the last year and a half. So after lunch, we walked about 20 feet for dessert.

OMG. Cupcake heaven. Y'all know my love of cupcakes. I've blogged about how they are individual little packages of delicious perfection. Cupcakes are serious business. Serious. Business. I've sampled cupcakes from all over the place. Jilly's definitely makes the top three. No question.

You could smell the sweetness of baked goods wafting through the door before you even opened it. Inside, we were greeted to a case containing a plethora of delicious options, each one beautifully decorated and distinctive. No cookie-cutter cupcakes here. And in the center was a GIANT cupcake. The display alone was intense. The hard part came when we had to choose. MM, LC and I each decided to select a different flavor, and then share. This sharing thing is not easy when it comes to desserts (thanks, Mom), but in the interest of sampling as many of the delicious options as possible in the limited amount of time I had, I agreed to share. We selected two of their seasonal cupcakes and one of their regular flavors. MM chose the Irish Hopper made with chocolate cake filled with Andes' mint cream, LC chose the Bailey's made with chocolate cake and filled with a Bailey's dosed pastry cream, and I opted for the Chocolate Thunder, a veritable chocoholics wet dream with devil's food cake topped with chocolate butter cream and filled with chocolate ganache. Yes, all three were chocolate, but seriously, is chocolate ever a bad thing? All three were moist and rich and yummy. The Chocolate Thunder was almost too much it was so dense with rich chocolate flavor.

Cupcakes!

The verdict? I highly recommended Jilly's!

Once we had demolished the three chocolate cupcakes (OK, we did take about 1/4 of each one home), LC and I decided we needed to take a few more with us for later. We decided to branch out and get four, two chocolate and two vanilla. We enjoyed the Irish Hopper and the Bailey's so much, we decided we needed to get those again. In addition we decided to try the Bee Sting (vanilla cake filled with lemon and honey curd and a lemon cream cheese icing) and the Missy-licious (vanilla cake filled with vanilla cream and buttercream icing). The Missy-licious was tasty, but definitely all vanilla.

And holy moley. The Bee Sting was fantastic. LC and I split that one for a snack on Saturday. The combination of the lemon with the honey and vanilla made it super moist and the lemon kept it from being overly sweet. I could have eaten more than one of those. It was refreshing and the flavors blended beautifully. Mmm.

After the buffet lunch and all that sugar, we made a quick stop by LC's partner's embroidery/silk-screen shop. MT proudly showed off the new place, and drooled over the two cupcakes we brought him. By that point, LC and I decided we needed a nap. So we headed back to the house for some snuggle time with the cats.

After a nice rest, we woke up hungry. Next up: dinner at Shangri-La Diner, an all vegetarian/vegan diner. LC and MT go there frequently, so the owner Patrice knows them by name. She's a talker, and is as eccentric and fun as her place. I had been warned to save room for dessert as Patrice makes this amazing cupcake (the theme of the day!).

I opted for the Decadent Grilled Cheese. Six kinds of cheese all baked up and melty on whole wheat bread, served with a small bowl of freshly made homemade tomato soup. The soup tasted of tomatoes and had lots of garlic. And the cheese...mmm...melty and yummy. LC went for one of the breakfast options, the St. Louis Slinger: eggs and potatoes and cheese and vegan chili. Usually MT eats the other half, but this time LC was able to take it home and eat the leftovers. The leftovers verdict? Just as delicious the second time!

Then dessert: the Hostess with the Mostess cupcake. It's a homemade version of a Hostess chocolate cupcake only twice as big! Moist chocolate, yummy buttercream filling, and a delicious chocolate ganache icing. We ate a good chunk of it, but decided to be nice and take a good chunk of it home to MT.

A Hostess cupcake on steroids! Look at the sheen on that ganache.

After dinner we headed out to one of my favorite St. Louis bars: Absolutli Goosed. It's a martini bar with a 15 page menu that changes regularly! It was really an opportunity for LC and I to talk and catch up on all the stuff going on in our lives. And vent about how boys are dumb and some like to live with their heads up their butts. You know, "girl talk"! Over good martinis. In an awesome friendly environment. I love the variety of olives they have, my favorite being the chipotle stuffed ones. They add a nice after bite to the martini.

The day was filled with all good stuff: good food, good dessert, good drinks and lots of good talk with amazing friends. And awesome day. And I still had two more days of mini-vacation left!

Time off

I'm taking a mini-vacation this coming weekend (complete with days off work!) and heading to my previous-city-of-residence to visit friends and relax.

True to form, only the truly important stuff is planned: where I'm staying, and the food. We know where we're eating for which meal on which day. It's all mapped out. We have our priorities, you know. On the menu is an Indian lunch buffet, cupcakes, good martinis, sticky toffee pudding, coffee, a vegetarian/vegan diner, and possibly Mexican food. I'm going to gain 10 pounds by the end of the weekend, I swear.

I'll be splitting my time and staying with two awesome women. Part of the weekend I'll be at my friend LC's place (she visited Philly about this time last year), and then I'll be at my friend KM's (and her partner PM's) place. LC and I have our birthdays to celebrate together again (hence the cupcakes), and my visit falls conveniently between her birthday in Feb. and mine next week. We might have to make this seeing each other in March an annual tradition...maybe next year we'll meet somewhere fun and terrorize a new city. And there are tons of people to catch up with that I haven't seen since I moved out to Philly a little over year and a half ago (has it been that long? OMG it has!). I can't wait to see everyone!

Currently I'm frantically trying to clear as much as possible off my desk, make sure my intern has plenty to keep her busy, and prepare for travel (laundry, what's the latest restrictions for my carry on, etc.). And counting down the hours until I leave...which is now at just about 48 hours...

Home again

I'm home from the great white north. And there was snow. Snow flurries and plenty of snow already on the ground. Deep enough that Aussie couldn't walk in it because her legs are too short. So she jumped through it like a rabbit. She looked hilarious but was obviously quite happy and having an excellent time.

Time with my family was good. Low key. Relaxing. Lots of laughter and catching up. We had a house full on Christmas Eve (our traditional night to gather and celebrate and open gifts). I got sleep (as much as possible...but wow insomnia sucks). But I came to the scary realization that all my freakish habits and behaviors are probably inherited. I'm so much like my mom's side of the family it's disturbing. I could practically predict what people were going to do because I would do it if I were them. I am obviously my mother's daughter, and there is no doubt that we are all related (not that there ever was, but it was made quite obvious to me this time that we are all so much alike).

And the amount of food was insane. So much food, and there are still leftovers. I came home with some great recipes, however, that I'm looking forward to making. A few of my friends are having open houses over the next few weeks, so I have ample opportunities to make banana cake or grape salad.

I did take some pictures, and eventually they'll be up on Flickr. Which will be easier to accomplish once I have home internet again [still none because UPS is closed on Monday, the 31st, so I can't get the modem until Jan. 2nd...cranky!].

In the meantime, I'll be furiously housecleaning and preparing for the New Year and company in mid-January during the ALA Midwinter Meeting. And don't forget the New Year's Day Rules!! My aunt tried to send me home with a can of black eyed peas and a can of green beans. I had to swear on the graves of several relatives that I already had some at home before she would let it go. I triple checked before I left because I knew this conversation would happen (again, able to predict behavior because I just know). Instead, she's sending them to my cousin in Florida. And the bizarre tradition of mailing canned goods continues...

So Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Well, as luck would have it, I still do not have home internet and the holiday break is upon us. My department at the library will be closed until January 2nd, which means that unless I schlep myself and my laptop to a coffee shop with free wireless, I will be completely without email for a bit (blessing? or curse? I can't decide...). My home DSL is scheduled to be activated on Dec. 27th, but I won't be holding my breath.

Not that it matters, as I'm headed north (technically to the north-west) for a few days. North to a small town where my cell phone reception is spotty, and the chances of wireless internet access is even spottier. But I'll be with family, and taking a much needed break for a bit. There will be lots of food, the dog will be spoiled rotten (even more so) by everyone who sneaks her extra dog biscuits and bits of apple (Grandmother, I'm talking about you!) and lets her up on the couch, there will be snow (yay!), and lots of time to talk and catch up. I haven't seen my family for year, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! If you're traveling, be safe.

Now back to attempting to look like I'm doing work on the day before a week and a half holiday break!

Weekend in NYC, part 3

First, a note about Aussie versus the balcony/porch. If you remember from our last trip, it took Aussie all weekend to work up the courage to go out onto CH's balcony, even if one or both of us was out there. Well, she's still afraid of the edge, but she did voluntarily go out onto balcony, and at least once all by herself. She still won't get close to the edge, always staying about a foot (at least) from the edge and stretching her neck out as far as possible to peer over at the street below. But she made herself right at home, spending much of the weekend lounging on the couch. Not that that's any different than what she does at home on the weekends, mind you.

Sunday we got up after sleeping in a bit and grabbed coffee from Think, but once again couldn't go anywhere until certain key Rugby World Cup games were completed. Sunday morning were the pivotal pool D games (the only pool completely undecided going into the weekend) so I had to find out what happened. Again, there was much cursing, luckily ultimately much cheering (YAY for Argentina!!) and again, CH dished out a fair amount of grief. Fortunately, I had the chance to dish it back this time, as he was setting up his fantasy football team which also involved cursing and madly checking scores and statistics. We did snack on leftovers from the India Bread Company during all of this. All I have to say is their stuff is just as good reheated or cold. Anyplace that has food that's just as good as leftovers as it is fresh deserves a medal of honor in my book.

Once all sports related events were settled, we headed to Borders to take advantage of the Educators Appreciation weekend. They offer 25% off all regularly priced books, CDs and DVDs for educators (including librarians!) as long as you have your valid id with you. This is an excellent deal, especially for things like children's books, which tend to be expensive. And I needed a baby gift for a friend that's due in November. Given that CH has the same book addiction I do, it wasn't hard to convince him to go wander around Borders for a couple of hours so I could pick up a picture book or two.

Our next stop was a bigger meal. I think this would have been called what my family referred to as "lunner" growing up, between lunch and dinner, but too big for a snack. We had both heard about a place called A Salt & Battery via the Food Network. Bobby Flay did a Throwdown episode where he challenged these guys to a "who makes better" fish 'n' chips competition, and these guys beat Bobby Flay. This place does truly authentic fish 'n' chips, complete with British beverages (beer or soda). Inside there's the order counter, a counter around the edge of the front of the shop with 7 stools, and a bench outside reserved for customers. No tables. They offer a delicious dill dip, malt vinegar, ketchup and salt to have with your fish 'n' chips, as well as a variety of British sides including mushy peas and homemade (savory) pies (I must try the steak and mushroom next time). And OMG this is fish 'n' chips to die for! Truly authentically British, crispy, greasy, hot, and delicious. Perfectly cooked fish and chips. They even had Ginger Beer (non-alcoholic "real" ginger flavor) which made my day. And, get this, for dessert they have DEEP FRIED Mars bars!! Of course...we were too full to eat a Mars bar this time after all the deep fried fish and potato goodness. CH got the large cod bites, and I got a piece of cod (the small, which is still 4 oz. of fish!), and we split a large order of chips. Topped it all with salt and malt vinegar, and it was what I'd describe as just about the perfect meal.

Right next door they have a shop with all British products called Tea & Sympathy. Now I know where to go to get my British groceries (like Christmas pud and good chocolate including a selection real Cadbury sweets) and they even have a tea shop that does high tea and traditional British food. Brilliant! I do believe I'll be making trips back there.

Our bellies stuffed full with fish 'n' chips and plans for a return visit (must try that deep fried Mars bar), we headed back to the apartment so I could get on the road at a decent hour. One last trip through the park with the dog, and Aussie and I were off on our way back to Philly. The trip home ironically had more traffic than the trip there, purely because they're doing some construction on the NJ Turnpike.

Sigh...every time I go to New York City, I feel like I've only scratched the surface of all the good food and things to do there. And I always end up adding more to my existing list than I cross off. There's just so much to see and do. And again, thanks to CH for hosting me and my dog and being excellent company on the various food and activity adventures.

Weekend in NYC, part 2

We got a late start on Saturday. I had to check rugby world cup scores before I could go anywhere. A few key games in the pools that determined who moved forward in to the quarterfinals were being played. CH tolerated my obsession fairly well, although dishing out a substantial amount of grief while I cursed at my computer.

For lunch we returned to the Cozy Soup & Burger. Last time I got a good diner breakfast with a huge pile (mountain?) of pancakes. This time I wanted to try their burgers. I chose the blue cheese burger. And it was so good. The blue cheese was very sharp, and the patty was huge. I foolishly thought I'd want fries as well, so I opted to get the "deluxe" platter with fries and a pickle. I finished the burger, but not the fries. I must learn that at the Cozy Soup & Burger to always get about 1/2 of what I think I might eat as everything there is on the very large side. CH got a patty melt with grilled onions and peppers (also "deluxe"), but he did manage to eat his fries (and a few of mine).

Our plan for the afternoon was to head down to the South Street Seaport Historic District. The area was a mercantile and shipping area, and the 19th century buildings have been refurbished and re-purposed into a shopping and restaurant area. Generally more of a "high-end" shopping area, including a Godiva store. They also have a Museum and a fleet of historic ships, including a Coast Guard ship you can tour. There was some kind of event going on down on the pier called an Urbanathon with a band and a half pipe and people everywhere. The funniest thing we saw was the Seattle's Best Coffee shop that also sold beer and cigars!

Our goal was Bodies: the Exhibition at the Exhibition Centre. This exhibit is all over the world, and both CH and I have wanted to see it for awhile. Lucky for us, the New York exhibition was extended, giving us the opportunity to get to it before it left. It was awesome! Since they used actual bodies that had been specially preserved, going in I figured it would be either really cool or it would be creepy, but either way interesting. It was so not creepy, just really fascinating and very cool, and we learned a lot! You get to actually see how the body works. How our bodies function is so incredible as it is (we are an incredibly complicated piece of organic machinery), and this exhibition illustrated that and broke it down into manageable chunks, while still showing how it all fits together. Different rooms focused on different elements, like bones, muscles, digestion, and the nervous system to name just a few. It was really neat to actually be able to see the nerves in my left arm that were injured in the car accident a few years ago, and see how they connected between my shoulder and my hand. I could feel how they connected, but seeing it and being able to see the "path" they take down my arm helped it all make more sense in my head as to how they were injured and why it hurt where it did as they healed. I hadn't visualized my nerves as being so thick...in my mind I saw them as threads, but they are much thicker than that. We were in there for 2 hours, and I think if I went again I'd learn things I didn't absorb the first time. So much information, and so well presented.

After the exhibit, we headed back to apartment for some coffee and to watch the Stargate Atlantis season premiere (which we had recorded on Friday night...we had gone in search of food when it aired). After walking all afternoon, it was nice to just sit on the couch like a lump and be entertained for a bit. And it gave me a chance to check the last rugby scores of the day (yes, I'm a rugby addict, and I am not ashamed).

Before picking up some slices of pizza for dinner, we took the dog to the nearby dog run in the park. Aussie showed a bit more interest this time, and barked at the dogs running around chasing each other in play, but still wasn't all that into getting involved beyond the initial greeting. So we left the park and walked her over to pick up the pizza. Just like the previous night, she attracted a fair amount of attention. The West Village is a bit busy on Saturday nights (that's the understatement of the year), so there were lots of people and Aussie was feeling quite tolerant about people petting her.

As an example of the kind of attention she gets, I offer the following conversation:
Dude w/girlfriend runs up behind us: "Hey! Can we meet your dog?"
Me: "Sure."
[lots of dog petting and the dude cooing over my dog, his girlfriend was much less interested]
As we are walking away, the following comment:
Dude: "She takes up a whole [sidewalk] square!!"

I do like CH's response to the "can I pet your dog" question: "If she lets you." She'll bark at the person if she's not comfortable with them (she's never bitten anyone, she just barks at them to back off). But I was still amazed at just how tolerant Aussie was on this trip...often she can be quite wary when there's lots of people around, especially in an unfamiliar environment. She must be mellowing in her old age.

Weekend in NYC, part 1

This past weekend I went north to New York City with the dog to visit my friend CH again. I needed to escape Philly for a bit.

My trip up Thursday night was fairly uneventful. Not a whole lot of traffic, other than the expected right around the Holland Tunnel (is there ever *not* traffic??). And bonus! I found street parking about 1/2 a block from CH's apartment on my first trip around the block. Now, the reason I had to make this trip was because I missed the entrance to the apartment complex, but when I looped around to try again lo and behold there was parking. Miracles do happen. We attempted to get Indian food from Indian Bread Company, but the place had a "rush" and they were forced to close early! Bummer. No naaninis tonight. Instead we opted for falafel and hummus pitas and split a spinach pie.

On Friday CH had to work in the morning so we knew the day was half gone from the start. We got up and took the dog for a quick walk and got coffee from Think before CH heads into the office. The dog and I hung out at the apartment getting some work done as well (ok, I worked and she slept).

We were both starving by the time we were done with work (for the weekend, mind you). We opted to get sushi for lunch at Marumi (546 LaGuardia Place). OMG so good...good prices, and excellent fresh sushi. They offer lunch plates that come with set sushi and the choice of soup or salad. You can substitute one option for an extra $1. I had 3 rolls (California, salmon and avocado, spicy tuna) and a salad, all for about $12. My spicy tuna roll was a bit loose, but still tasty. It had been far too long since I had sushi. So good.

After lunch we caught the subway uptown to possibly go to a museum. We head for MoMA, only to discover a very long line. Apparently Target was sponsoring a "free Friday" event where admission was, well, free. We asked one of the MoMA people what the latest exhibit was, and he told us they were "in transition." Meaning nothing special going on, just their permanent collection. As much as we both want to see that (it is the MoMA), standing in line for an hour and then fighting massive crowds inside is not something either one of us was particularly interested in. I'd rather spend the money to go sometime when I can actually see the art without peering through and over people and fighting crowds.

So we opted to wander around Central Park instead. The weather was perfect! A beautiful fall day. I have no regrets about deciding to spend it outside rather than inside MoMA. We started at the south end of the park and wandered up to the Bethesda Fountain and Terrace and eventually up to the Great Lawn before looping back around again. It was a great day for people watching. Lots of families out, a couple of groups having wedding photos taken, baseball games on the Great Lawn, all kinds of activities.

On our way back from Central Park, Tonnie's Minis cupcakes just happened to be between the subway stop and CH's apartment, so we just had to stop and pick some up (you all know my love of cupcakes). We chose a selection of 4 varieties to try (yes, we did split each one like good little children). And they were all delicious (lemon, coconut, red-velvet heart, carrot cake). Mom, don't worry, we didn't eat all four of them at once. We spaced it out over the next 2 days, I promise.

For dinner we decided to go for Indian Bread Company again. Yay! Success! We opted for the Vegetable Tandoori naanini, Chicken paneer naanini, and a Lamb paratha. I don't think I can explain just how good the food there is.

We took Aussie with us on the walk to pick up dinner. She'd been napping on the couch all day and needed the exercise. But taking the dog on a walk through a busy are means random people talk to you. I'm used to this, as it's been happening for years. People always want to know what she's mixed with, if they can pet her, where I got her, how old she is, etc. And they'll comment at random about her to whomever they are with, which I hear when walking past. Grown men tend to "coo" at my dog (yes, coo). CH found this an infinite source of amusement, as he had never really experienced it before. While we were waiting for our food (we got it to go as Indian Bread Company has no outdoor tables), the following conversation occurred:
Dude: "What is your dog mixed with?"
Me: "Basset Hound and something." (my usual reply, and it's the truth, I don't know)
Dude: "And AWESOME!"
Me: !!

No joke, people. No joke. This is now my stock reply to the "what is your dog" question. She's Basset Hound and awesome!

Where have I been, you ask?

I know I've been silent for more than a few days now. What can I say...it was a holiday weekend, I left town, and I had no internet connection for 3 whole days. Really. Three. Whole. Days. And I survived. And then I came home and logged on and was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of email and spam in my inboxes. I finally finished digging myself out almost 36 hours later.

For Labor Day weekend I headed up north to Hanover, New Hampshire. Some good family friends (we consider them extended family) live up there and were having a big celebration on Sunday. So I went as the family representative. My dad and DH went to law school together, and DH literally has known me my entire life (he sneaked into the hospital after visiting hours the day I was born). His partner JF entered the picture a year later. Here we are 30 years later and I'm amazed a just how lucky I am to have two such incredible people in my life. I'm even more amazed that they are still together after all these years, despite society (for the most part) not accepting them for who they are and who they love. But they made it. And as different as they are (and oh boy are they different), there is so much love there it's humbling. And knowing that they love me and that I always have a place in their home and in their lives is so priceless I don't know how to describe it.

Enough sappiness...they also throw a great party. JF arranged for my dog and I to stay with a very nice woman, ED, who lived nearby. ED was more than happy to have a dog in her house again for a few days, and lucky for me Aussie was on her best behavior (she always behaves well in other people's homes...hm...). I got up nice and early on Saturday and hit the road, arriving into Hanover by early afternoon without incident and without encountering any traffic to speak of (can we say miracle?!). ED and I had a nice visit and Aussie made a thorough inspection of ED's very beautiful and fenced in yard (it's been awhile since the dog and I have had one of those and Aussie was in heaven) before ED and I headed over to DH and JF's for a delicious spaghetti dinner. As always, DH and JF pulled together a very eclectic, intelligent, entertaining, and generally wonderful group of people. The conversation was fun and overall just fantastic. So many interesting people to talk to. And the spaghetti sauce that JF made was so good. As was the garlic bread with chunks of garlic sitting on each crusty piece. Delicious. And then there was raspberry or strawberry-rhubarb pie and various ice cream flavors for dessert. It was a feast! After dinner ED and I headed back to her place to let the dog out and get a nice long night's sleep.

Sunday we got up and read the paper for a bit. ED told me that there's a craft fair on Sundays in the same place there's a farmers market on Saturdays just across the state line into Vermont. I had obviously missed the farmers market, but the craft fair sounded like a lovely way to pass the day until the big celebration for DH and JF that afternoon. So we said goodbye to the dog (Aussie made herself right at home and was decidedly unconcerned about our departure and immediately laid down on the couch for a nap) and headed over to Vermont. The craft fair was full of local artists from nearby towns in New Hampshire and Vermont. Woodcarvers, lots of jewelry makers, an incredible glass blower, and all sorts of fabric crafts including silk screened t-shirts, things made from recycled fabrics, hand-spun wool yarn, and various knitted and crocheted things. So much talent in a rather small space. The crafts were beautiful. I even found a belated birthday gift for my friend Catechresis (surprise!) that I will put in the mail soon. And ED and I got a gift for DH and JF that was just perfect (they thought so too when they opened it!).

After wandering and admiring everything, we made a quick stop at the local Co-Op for some local maple syrup for me (grade B, nice and dark and thick, and you can't usually find that grade in the supermarket) and some pure maple sugar candy to share back at work. Then we headed to the house to change (the day had warmed up into a beautiful and sunny day that wasn't too hot...absolutely perfect weather) and take care of the dog before heading to the party site.

We arrived at the Storrs Pond Recreation Area and were immediately put to work by JF (he has a habit of doing this). They had a collection of pictures of the two of them through the years to be hung for people to look through. These included everything from their class photos from elementary school and other childhood photos, photos from around the time that they met, various photos of them individually, photos of them with friends and family, to photos of them together from the past 30 years. So much fun to look through. It was hard to stay focused on the task of hanging them because we kept stopping to look and laugh and ask questions (when? where? who's this? OMG so young!)!

They also had the friendship quilt that was made for them for their 20 year celebration. A friend sneaked into their house and stole their address book and sent the information to another friend. She in turn sent each person on that contact list a quilting square and a request to put something personal on it. She then incorporated all those squares from everyone into a beautiful hand stitched quilt for DH and JF to treasure. Such amazing handiwork! It's incredible to see how the two of them have touched so many lives. And it's held up beautifully through the past 10 years.

Other guests started arriving, and tickets were handed out for the raffle. Now, the door prizes were really more of an opportunity for DH and JF to give away some of the massive amounts of stuff they've gathered (few people leave their house empty handed). And it included some really nice prizes: like books (with the authors present to sign them, no less!) and some of JF's amazing photographs (including copies of HIS new book!). Oh, and JF had fun telling a story about each person that won. I was drawing numbers (see? he gives out jobs!) and I made sure I did not draw mine...god only knows what embarrassing story from one of the many visits made during my childhood he would have come up with!

The afternoon was full of much feasting, an opportunity for guests to turn the tables and tell stories about JF and DH (such fun!), a surprise serenade by an excellent Elvis impersonator from JF to DH, there was a DJ, a little dancing, and lots of excellent conversation with all the interesting people in attendance.

They had the celebration catered by a local barbecue restaurant. OMG it was so incredibly delicious. I must get the name of the restaurant from them to see if they ship the sauce! They had hand pulled roast pork with a whiskey-molasses sauce. I just had to go back for seconds and was so full but it was so good! Add to that cornbread, salad, coleslaw, and some amazing sweet and spicy baked beans and wow. Just wow. They sent me home with some of the leftover pulled pork and I think it got even better. It was that good.

On Monday I thanked ED profusely for her hospitality (I must mail a thank you gift soon!), and popped over for a quick visit to DH and JF before hitting the road. Despite the fact that it was Labor Day, I once again had a nearly traffic free drive. Unbelievable. And Aussie slept all the way home. She wore herself out with all her yard explorations. Old dogs need their naps and she was just too busy smelling everything to sleep.

I had a wonderful weekend. The weather was perfect. The company was great. And New Hampshire/Vermont is just beautiful. I really wanted the weekend to last longer, but alas, I had work to get back to and massive amounts of email to deal with. Next time I go up for a visit it will definitely be for longer than 3 days.

Adventures in NYC, part 2

After our late night of dancing, CH and I got a slow start on Saturday morning. Of course, there was coffee and a walk through Washington Park with the dog, and a bit of time at the dog park.

Once the coffee started to hit me, we realized we needed food. And soon. We dropped the dog off and headed out up Broadway in search of a diner. We ended up at the Cozy Soup & Burger (739 Broadway). For you movie buffs out there, Adam Sandler filmed the diner scene in one of his movies there (I think Big Daddy, but I can't remember for sure). I knew I wanted breakfast food, even though it was definitely lunch time. And CH wanted lunch food. So the diner was perfect and satisfied both of us. It's not large, but clean and bright, and we didn't have to wait long for our food. The staff is very good and there was steady traffic of people in and out the entire time we were there. I got pancakes and eggs and CH got a reuben. The reuben was huge. So were my pancakes. They even came with REAL maple syrup, not the fake stuff. And good. Very very good. I definitely recommend the Cozy Soup & Burger. Next time I'm going to have to try a burger...I saw one the table next to us ordered and wow did it look good.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we knew we needed to walk a bit. So we continued up Broadway to Union Square park. They have a big farmers market there every weekend and several days during the week. Lots of local fresh produce, local vendors offering everything from bread to cheese to meats and eggs. Despite how full I was from my pancakes, I found myself drooling as we walked around. One vendor was offering 12 ounce cups of cold fresh apple cider for a dollar a piece. It was so sweet and delicious. And lucky for us, the weather cooperated beautifully. Sunny but without being scorching. After a few hours, we wandered back down Broadway to the apartment for a nap. Between the food and the walking, I needed it. Who knew relaxing could be so tiring?

We had a nice rest, and decided to go see a movie before grabbing some dinner. Neither one of us had seen the Simpsons, and it proved to be an enjoyable few hours. Definitely not serious (come on here, people, it's the Simpsons), but definitely entertaining. I was impressed they managed to continue the same thread for the entire time without losing it. Of course, like any Simpsons episode, it had it's high points and its low points, but it was definitely worth seeing and it made me laugh. What more could I ask for?

We walked back through the insanity that is the Village on a Saturday night. People everywhere. Everywhere. Craziness. At times we just walked in the street because the sidewalk was packed. Instead of joining the insanity, we opted to pick up some beer and take out. Unlike Pennsylvania, you can actually buy beer in the grocery store in New York. What a concept (feel the sarcasm...having to go to a beer store here drives me nuts!)! For food, we decided on Indian. CH loves this place called Indian Bread Company, which puts a new twist on Indian by serving it as Naan sandwiches or wraps. I understand why he loves it. OMG it was delicious. They put your filling (traditional Indian dishes like Saag Paneer) between two pieces of Naan and then grill it up like a panini. We each got a "naanini" and split a stuffed paratha (flat bread). Absolutely fabulous. I had the leftovers for lunch on Monday and they were just as good cold as they were warm. I think I'd eat there all the time if I could (no joke). Dinner was accompanied by more Food Network. TV about food goes well with eating food.

Sunday morning we slept in a bit. I think we were both tired from our late night on Friday and all the walking on Saturday. The coffee and trip to the dog park was now our morning "routine" for the weekend, and I certainly didn't hear the dog complaining.

Since we had walked up Broadway on Saturday, we went the opposite direction and walked down Broadway on Sunday. We took Canal street over to the Hudson River bike path along the Hudson River Park. Gorgeous. What a setting for a nice run or bike ride. We walked along the path down to the edge of Nelson Rockefeller Park where the North Cove Yacht Harbor is. Great views of the Hudson River. Beautiful weather. A nice long rambling walk. I do believe those are the ingredients for a near perfect relaxing day, despite the mild sunburn I ended up with from being in the sun almost the entire time. We cut back through into the city by the site of the World Trade Center, which I hadn't seen in person. Still just as mind-boggling now as it was almost 6 years ago. We took the subway back to Bleeker Street, where CH's "favorite block" in Manhattan is. In one block is a great bakery, a cheese shop to die for (on par with the local DiBruno Bros. here), a butcher, a fish monger and a market. Everything you need. And all walking distance from his apartment. Incredible.

Unfortunately, it was time for me to head home. CH had a soccer game to get to, and I didn't want to get home too late. So back to the apartment to load up the car and get the dog. One last walk around the block for the dog and away we went. As expected, traffic heading into the Holland Tunnel was bumper to bumper. I think my favorite sight while sitting in traffic was the man reading his magazine. And I had to laugh when I saw the signs for "alternate merge" as they brought up all sorts of memories from the weekend I visited EM. Other than the expected Holland Tunnel traffic and some shore traffic heading back into Philly, my drive was uneventful. Amazingly, I didn't get lost on my way there or on my way home. That's new for me. Maybe I'm getting better at not getting lost...nah, who am I kidding, I just got lucky this trip.

It was a wonderful weekend in NYC. Relaxing. Full of good food and friends and lots of fun. Exactly what I needed. So a big thank you to CH.

Adventures in NYC, part 1

So my weekend in NYC was full of food and activity. After arriving on Thursday evening at CH's place (in the Village), we drove in circles to find a place to park. We lucked out and found a spot not far away. By this point, the dog was a bit freaked out with the car ride and being in a new place, so rather than leave her alone, we decided to get take out and just vegetate on the couch to some Food Network (the foodies in us strike again). We ordered from Suzie's on CH's recommendation. Some of the best Chinese take out I've ever had, actually. So good. Always trust a foodie's recommendation. Always. We won't steer you wrong. That's advice to live by.

CH lives in a high rise building, and on the upper floors. This was Aussie's first experience with staying a place that required elevators and was really high up. She did just fine with the elevator. Didn't bother her at all. CH's porch, on the other hand, freaked her out. Now, the porch has a fence all around, and this is not Aussie's first experience with a porch, but it was her first experience being more than 2 stories above ground. I've now learned my dog is afraid of heights. I'm not sure she ever got closer than one foot from the edge. She'd stand there, and extend her neck as far as it would go to kind of peer over the edge. It took her two days to be willing to even do that! The first day, whenever CH and I went out there (great views by the way), she'd stand in the doorway and give us this "you two are absolutely crazy" look. Overall, she was very well behaved, which confirms what I've always believed: my dog would be an excellent big-city-apartment-dweller dog. Coolness.

Friday morning we got up and took the dog for a walk and got coffee (beverage of the gods, by the way, second only to beer). Washington Square park isn't too far from the apartment, so we grabbed coffee at Think Coffee on the way (so good...and the iced coffee is cold brewed!) and headed for the park. Like most parks in NYC, Washington Square has a fenced in designated dog park in the park. Awesome! Figuring Aussie needed to blow off some steam, we decided to make use of the park. I think it freaked her out a bit as it's been quite a while since we've been to an off-leash park. She stuck pretty close to me and CH, and just kind of observed all the activity. I think she was more thrilled with all the attention she got from people than the other dogs. Nonetheless, the trip to the dog area in the park was a regular part of our weekend.

After our walk, we headed back to the apartment. CH generously agreed to watch the dog (he also had work to get done) so I could meet up with a friend I hadn't seen in years. AP and I have been friends since high school, but tend to only see each other infrequently. Now that we are both on the same coast, hopefully that will change. We met up at St. Marks Place, an area near the East Village with lots of good restaurants and little boutique shops. Unfortunately, the weather was less than cooperative, so instead of walking around in the rain, we headed for food first. We ended up at an Afghani restaurant called Khyber Pass (34 St. Mark's Place). Good. Not excellent, but good. We both got kebabs, but different varieties. I tried a lamb one, and she got a combo with steak and seasoned beef. Both came with rice. We also got coconut cream lattes, which is a latte made with coconut milk. The latte was delicious. Slightly sweet without being a dessert and the flavor of the coffee didn't overwhelm the drink. The kebabs were well seasoned, but a bit on the dry side. The rice, on the other hand, was delicious. Brown basmati rice topped with carrots, raisins and almonds and I think a bit of citrus juice. There were plenty of other things on the menu that interested me, so I'd definitely try Khyber Pass again.

After lunch and several hours of talking, we realized the rain had stopped and so we decided to walk around and find dessert. We found our way back over to the West Village via a stop at her apartment and then the subway (thank goodness I kept my Metro card from my last visit to NYC!). AP knows of my love of cupcakes, and wanted to take me to her favorite place, Tonnie's Minis. They are known for their carrot cake cupcakes. YUM. Unfortunately, when we arrived, they didn't have any, so we had to settle for a red velvet heart (yellow cake with a red velvet center and butter cream icing). SO GOOD. I love cupcakes...little single-serve bundles of sweetness all wrapped in a cute package. After demolishing our cupcakes, we sat and talked a bit more. As we were leaving, we ran into a guy standing on the porch eating a carrot cake cupcake! Freshly made!! So we turned around and headed back into the shop to get some to go. I got extra, knowing CH's love of carrot cake and to thank him for being so nice while his guest (me) disappeared on him for the entire afternoon.

AP and I parted ways, she off to meet a friend in Chinatown and me back to CH's apartment. It was so good to catch up and find that even after years of not seeing each other we can still be so connected. Hopefully I'll see her again soon!

The plan for Friday evening was food and dancing. Knowing it would be a late night, I realized that I: A, needed more coffee, and B, needed a nap (not necessarily in that order). After a brief nap, CH and I grabbed more coffee and took the dog for another long walk. She explored a bit more this time, but Aussie was still pretty mellow about being around lots of dogs. Ah well, she is almost 12 years old now (when did that happen??!!).

We headed out for a late dinner, deciding to just walk around and read menus until something struck our fancy. We overheard some hilarious conversations, including one where a young woman was explaining to an owner why he needed to put up with her drunk friend that was making a scene and not kick them out. Her defense: on a "corporate level" they bring lots of business to the bar! OMG that was just too funny. As we walked by one place, one of the owners was out front trying to draw in business. She told us the food is good, not to expensive, no waiting for a table, so come in! There was a couple leaving at the time, and the confirmed everything she said, so we figured we'd give it a try. Ciao Stella (206 Sullivan St.) was pretty good Italian food. Filling, well cooked, decent flavors. Every meal includes a glass of wine. There was enough food that I had to take half of my chicken with artichokes to go! Fortunately, we weren't far away from the apartment, so we dropped off my leftovers, checked on the dog (snoring contentedly on the couch...hello! spoiled!), and headed back out for dancing.

CH had decided to take me to a place that calls itself a Bulgarian bar and is down in the East Village: Mehanata. The DJs spin a blend of world music from Latin to Middle Eastern to East European. Not your usual pop-mix or dance mixes. It was a bit crowded, but apparently they usually have a downstairs that's also open. Unfortunately, it wasn't on Friday, so everyone was crammed upstairs. The people were just as varied as the music, and everyone was having a good time! About the only thing that freaked me out was when people started jumping around I could feel the floor bounce a bit. But so much fun. Great music, and the DJ did an excellent job of blending one style into the other. After several hours of dancing (and I have the blisters to show for it), CH and I walked back and crashed out. What an awesome start to the weekend.

Taking a day off

I'm taking Friday off. It's been a week of questions and more questions and yet still more questions as everyone starts using the "new" software full time. New workflows. New procedures. It's quite the shift at work. Which means I've been very busy answering all those questions. The past month at work has been very very full with training and this migration to the "new" software. I've done a lot of teaching and even more talking.

I need this day off.

CH invited me (and my dog) to visit him in NYC for the weekend. So not only am I taking Friday off, I'm leaving town. I'm so looking forward to this weekend. I know we'll go out at least one night I'm there for some dancing, which I really need to help me de-stress right now. Dancing is my favorite way to relax. The stress just melts away.

And bonus!, on Friday I'm having lunch with a good friend I haven't seen in years. AP happens to be in NYC for the summer so we're taking advantage of the opportunity to reconnect. She and I have known each other since high school. [Hm...August seems to be the month for me to reconnect with "long lost" friends...I wonder who's next.]

I don't anticipate getting a lot of sleep (not that I've gotten a whole lot in the past month anyway), but I do anticipate lots of fun, some excellent food and lots of time with good friends. That's the best recipe in the world for relaxation.

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Catachresis today!!!

Relief...I'm allowed to leave the country again!

My passport expired in January. Now, for most of you, this is no big deal. I know some of you have never had a passport. Never in your life. Or you got one way back in high school that you have long since lost to the boxes of childhood memories in your parents' attic. Not me. I've had a valid passport since I was 16. A little over 10 years ago, my parents moved to another continent, a continent on the other side of the world. Going to visit them means I need my passport.

I have forgotten this in the past, and had to have a friend overnight mail me my passport so I could leave on a plane the following evening. I am now mildly obsessive about knowing where my passport is and making sure I have it on my person when I travel.

As those of you that read my blog regularly know, my identity was stolen this past fall. Even though I knew my passport was expiring in January, I was very very reluctant to let it out of my sight. The person that stole my identity had generated a fake driver's license, so the only photo ID I had that truly proved who I was happened to be my passport. Well, s*it. Guess it's gonna expire. I'm not happy about this, but I don't see any other option. Fortunately, most states consider an expired passport a valid form of identification for at least a year after expiration. So once it was proven that my identity had been stolen, and who I really am was firmly reestablished, and I had successfully obtained a new driver's license for Pennsylvania, I knew it was time to send in my passport for renewal.

I had no idea what I was doing, apparently. Surrendering my passport into a void. Due to the new laws that will require people to have a passport when they drive to Canada, the backlog going on at the passport agencies is out of control. When I mailed my passport in in March (to a PO box in the same building...absurd!), I was told that it would take no more than 8 to 10 weeks for a renewal. Especially since I was changing nothing. No name change, nothing. Just a new really bad picture (horrid! it's horrid this time!). Note: last time I renewed it took 3 weeks. But OK, no problem. 8 to 10 weeks it is.

They lied.

At around 12 weeks I started to panic. With your parents living in a foreign country, not having your passport in hand and knowing that you cannot get to them if an emergency arises really starts to make you nervous. So I checked online on the handy government travel site. I knew they had my passport, as they had cashed the check in mid-April. But that was still over 8 weeks ago. And no passport had been returned to me. I hadn't heard anything telling me there was a problem. The online "check the status" option just told me that they had it. No update of any use at all. OK.

At a little over 14 weeks, I tried to check back, but the website was "down for maintenance." So I decided to call. I finally go through (about a good 20 minutes on hold, mind you), and in a rather panicked voice, asked the nice lady when I would be getting my passport back as it had been almost 15 weeks and OMG do you understand that my parents don't live in this country so being with out it for very long starts to freak me out?? To her credit, she calmly asked me the info she needed to look it up in the system, acting as if she was oblivious to my shaky panicky voice, and then said, with some surprise: "Oh, it's done!"
Me: "What?? So where is it?"
Nice Lady: "They put it in the mail this morning, it should be there in 3 to 5 business days."
Me: "Oh! Excellent! Thank you very much!"
Nice Lady: "No problem. Have a nice day."

This was before the conference. I returned from the conference to a rather large pile of mail. Can you guess what I looked for first? Yup, my passport. And it was there. Bad picture and all. Thank the heavens, I can leave the country again.

I am now free to move about the world.

Nighttime hilarity in NJ

Once B, E, and I made it back to E's apartment in NJ from NYC safely each night (the safely part became debatable a few times), walked the dogs (E and I braved the cold, B is a wimp), and after we thawed out our extremities (my toes are still cold, FYI), the three of us plopped on the couch for some bad TV (never channel surf on a sugar high), some good TV (Sarah Silverman's 'Jesus is Magic'), junk food, computer time, inappropriate text messages (Jeff, we apologize and we love you!) and general hilarity.

You know you're in a room of librarians when the first thing we all do is pull out our laptops, connect via wireless, and proceed to spend the next few hours uploading photos and making comments on each others photos and laughing. Constantly laughing. As if we aren't all sitting less than 5 feet from each other. Priceless. And the reason we don't have a picture of this scene...we were all sitting on the couch together, too busy to attempt taking a photo with making comments and notes on our Flickr photos. The dogs, having been fed and walked, frankly didn't give a damn. I think E's dog Elston went to bed and I know my dog, Aussie, snored rather loudly on several occasions from her dog bed in the corner.

Once the blogging and photo editing and photo commenting was complete, we broke out the junk food and drinks. [Note: this did get the dogs' attention, both sitting and staring and waiting politely for us to drop something.] We had the world's greatest sugar high both nights. Between the treats from Magnolia Bakery (cupcakes on Saturday and ice box cake on Sunday), the soda and vodka drink (now dubbed the Philly classic), chocolate in various forms, and honey bow ties, I think I'm finally losing my sugar high 18 hours later. We did add some salt to the mix, in the form of pizza and Pringles. Oh yeah, we OD'ed on junk food. I'm actually looking forward to my salad for dinner tonight.

With all the sugar in our system, things got goofy really fast. Now, B, E, and I are naturally a little (OK, maybe a lot) on the nutty side, but let's just say I nearly peed my pants more than once and damn if my stomach didn't get a work out from all the laughing. This is when we started channel surfing through really bad TV, sending inappropriate (not nasty or mean, just really really silly) text messages to friends, and taking goofy photos involving finger puppets and fez monkey swizzle sticks. Naturally, these photos were uploaded the next day for another round of commenting and laughing.

If you can't be goofy and off the wall with your friends, then who can you be goofy with? I, for one, am very grateful that I have friends like B and E who won't let me forget the stupid things I say and do, but know that I have just as much crap on them that I won't let them forget, and we all know that we love each other in spite of everything and because of everything. These are good friends. And we had a really good time with lots of good food. Which, I believe, is what we aimed for: comfort and laughter and general good fun and good food with some good friends. We reached our goal and then some. I call the weekend a success!

We're planning another get together sometime in early April. New York City, prepare yourself.

NYC, day 2

Today is Chinese New Year, so B, E, and I decided to head down to Chinatown for the festivities. Today we made a group decision to drive into the city. One, it's friggin' cold. Two, it's Sunday, so street parking (when found) is free. So we get E's car out of the frozen slush it's parked in, pile in, and head for the Holland Tunnel.
Lucky us, we do manage to find street parking, and not too far from Little Italy or Chinatown. We bundle up and start walking.

First stop, we decide we need coffee and treats. So we head for Ferrara, who E swears has the best cannolis on earth. Unfortunately, I can't vouch for them, because there was an hour wait for a table. But I can confirm that they have very nice bathrooms.

On into Chinatown. It was insanity. People everywhere, streamers and confetti in the streets, dragons and drums and cymbals, it's insanity, I tell you. Insanity. We wander for awhile, and then start looking for food. E leads us to a place that has 5 dumplings for a dollar. One dollar. That's it for 5 dumplings from heaven. We got 10 and split them. A nice appetizer.

Next stop, buns. We head to the Mei Lai Wah coffeehouse and bakery. We decide to go for a table, although it's not exactly warm in the shop with people coming in and out for take-away. There's 4 old men behind the counter, and 2 old ladies running around taking orders from people and giving orders to the men. E orders coffee and a plain roll with butter. B orders Horlick's (a hot malt, kind of like Ovaltine) and I order coffee. We also ask for 2 steamed pork buns and coconut buns. We're told they have no coconut buns and it will be a 10 minute wait for the pork buns. OK. We'll wait. In the meantime, let's have 2 orders of those deep-fried wonton bowties with honey. They disappear fast. Fifteen minutes later, we ask about our buns...10 more minutes. OK. We'll wait. 10 minutes later, we're still waiting. The people that come in behind us also ask for coconut buns and steamed pork buns. They are also told a 10 minute wait for the steamed pork buns, but they get coconut buns, and from a different lady than we have. So we wait a bit more. We inquire again, and are told 10 more minutes. OK. We give up. We get two more bowties to go, pay and head out, in search of pork buns and coconut buns.

We stop at every bakery along the way, and everyone is out of coconut buns. We are in Chinatown, searching for a Chinese restaurant that has steamed pork buns and coconut buns. Ironically, we have NO luck. None. The cold rapidly turning our feet into ice, we admit defeat and head for the car to drive to another part of the city for dinner. We end up at a great little Cuban place called Cafe Habana and get some burritos. Our tummies full, we head for Magnolia Bakery again. This time for Ice Box cake. Layers of chocolate wafers and whipped cream. We start drooling before we even leave the Bakery.

Our quarry safely secured in the car, the heat on high to thaw our toes, we find our way back to the Holland Tunnel. This requires several conversations including the following: "NO, not the Lincoln Tunnel!" and "The Lincoln Tunnel signs are green, the Holland Tunnel signs are brown" and "Alternate merge, dammit! Alternate merge! Let me in, motherf**ker!" and finally, "Stop tail gating me, you dirty little b*tch!".

Once we make it safely back to New Jersey, we have to find our way back to the house. This is not simple. From the backseat, I listened to the following:

B: "Uh, E, this is a two way street."
E: "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

Thank God there was no oncoming traffic.