Saturday

So yesterday flew by, I was still frantically getting ready when Meagan and Dan showed up a little before 8. Can time-management be learned? That would be a nice skill...it's so frustrating, I have good intentions and then life just gets away from me. Needless to say, 0 exercise besides running around to various grocery and booze places and going up and down my stairs cleaning and putting stuff away.

Meagan and Dan showed up and then Laura and Beth came over as well. I had mentioned to Ed that he should invite them [they get along well and I try to up my people-in-my-home anxiety by adding folks when I can], but he never listens to me and last he'd told me was that he'd texted them so I didn't think they were coming. So that was a nice suprise and made conversation and AI Wii-Karaoke even more fun. All in all, a very fun night; and not having to drive home is the shit.

I made a spread of cucumbers, peppers [gross, but yellow looked pretty] and carrots [semi-gross but good for you and people like them] with this parmesean pesto dip from Shaw's [delicious]. We also got red pepper hummus bread and the savory cranberry bread from WPF and I put out some olive oil and balsalmic with S&P. It was relatively healthy and soooo good. Of course, then we ordered some pizzas and had a WPF bread pudding tart thing [french vanilla choco-chip, decent] and the Pepperidge Farms entertainment selection of cookies. And drank way too much.

Said and done, I'd say I had a handful of veggies and dip, probably 2-3 slices of bread total, with OO, 3 pieces of cheese pizza from Angelina's [yum], 3 or 4 cookies and 2 tiny pieces of the bread pudding. Drinking I had a glass of red, 2 of white, 1 of Boone's Farm [love it] and another half glass of red. This was a perfect amount of drink, I felt happy, didn't feel sick and went right to sleep.

Today I had one final cookie and just ate a banana. I am going to Wii-Fit now for 45 minutes or so and then have breakfast [I know it's 2 pm, we woke up at 12:30 and have been cleaning, so sue me]. I think we have nothing to do today...we are on-call babysitting for our friend Lou's kiddies if he needs us but they are with their grandparents today and so I think we might not get them until tomorrow. Beyond that, my day was clear so woo-hooo!!!

I have a huge urge to go out to eat tonight, but last night staying in was cheap but buying food and drink was not. And I thought we might be making salads and being healthy so we have baby spinach and tomatoes up the wazoo...so we are going to eat a tasty but nutritious meal tonight. I already want a loaf of garlic bread but will RESIST. Side note, just heard this on the radio: I love that AirTran commercial where the voice talks to the girl at the night club? "It's an individual pie!".

More later, off to Wii-jog.

2 Degrees

That was the temperature this morning, fun times. I just talked to a guy I work with in Chicago and he said it was minus 20 last night without the windchill...WOW. Can't wait till that gets here. I am having another speed-day, WFH and it's 3 o'clock....it was just 10:30 I swear. I've got to get my ass in gear, gotta hit up the grocery store and get in some fitness before Miss Meagan and Dan come over. Quick recap:

Had my bagel, 2 cups of tea.
Just had a bowl of cereal for lunch.
Now I'm having more tea and a 100 calorie bar...

My house is so cold, I wish I could somehow get work to pay for my heat.

Holiday Season es Fine

Trying to sound exotic but those 7 years of French clearly didn't stick with me. Just returned from Craige and Aaron's lovely holiday gathering. Ed bailed due to illness and I felt a little like ass but my cough let up and nobody gave me weird bubonic plague looks. Their house is soooo nice, if the burbs didn't make me break out in hives, it's a wonder the bang you get for your buck outside of the city.

Awesome food: chips, crackers, bean dip, macaroni ball things, veggies and dips, ham cream cheese asparagus wrap things, shrimp cocktail, peppermint bark, gingerbread, asparagus wrapped in cheese and wonder bread (bomb!), and an eggnog and gingerbread trifle. I sampled all of that and had 2 glasses of wine and a diet coke. I also made out like a bandit with the Yankee swap. I was ghetto and just brought beer with a bow on it but other people brought nice things. Hanging out with grown ups is rough on the self-esteem when you're poor. Anyhoo, I got the second to last pick and wound up with a mirrored/light up Jesus and Mary wall adornment that says god bless this house. Hello, perfect! It's been in their Yankee swap for 10 years but sorry fellas, not getting it back next year. I LOVE it. Plus I got a Buddha bank and homemade BBQ sauce and rub - yum-o. A very successful evening.

Before that, I painted trim and did 13 miles on the bike to the lackluster season 2 finale of Brotherhood. I think I'm kind of over it, I need a new series. The Wire totally spoiled me. I also had a yogurt. Tomorrow, I will make French Toast, go to Home Depot, exchange some Xmas items and take a crack at the Wii Fit. For now, I'm blogging from bed so good-night!!

Ps. Special shout-out to my wonderful boss' big brother Tim. He had an aneurysm a week ago and had successful surgery immediately after. He's making great progress but still needs to wake up so he can do even more. So Tim, I don't know you but I adore your sister and family is everything to her, so please please please wake up asap. There are a million people who love you waiting for your eyes to open. That's all for now.

Just when I thought last Sunday couldn't be topped

I'm on my way to the 3rd playoff game against the Angels! I'll show off a bit here and say my last and only playoff game was in 2004 against the Angels as well. We all know how that turned out. Ok need to park now, write more later.

Ok, so didn't turn out so super amazing. What was super-amazing was our seats: State Street pavillion, right above where Remy sits. We had a waiter! And cup-holders!!



It was awesome. Bum out of an ending, entertaining game over-all, not cold until the 10th or so inning. A bit of a silver lining is my favorite ex-boss Joe is going tonight and he would miss his play-off game if we did win so I'm taking solace in that. Plus we're currently winning game 4 in the 8th so I can be a bit ok with it.

So I'm wayyy behind, let's back it up. Yesterday was Sunday, I got up and grabbed some WPF peasant white [and a little chocolate cake for my parents' house]. Made some ham, egg and cheeses on that, had a cup of tea, some juice-water. Rode the bike for 25 minutes, did my arms pgood girl!]. Headed over to the parents after getting the call from Meagan that the opportunity of a lifetime would occur tonight, so stoked. Sad to miss my parents' Sunday supper but life is about choices. Ed dropped me off, took all of the laundry again [second week in a row, I'm lucky- can't wait for my own W&D!!!]. Hung out for a bit with the fam, I had to leave at 5 so it was brief. My mom made me a delicious salad of Bob Gaudet tomatoes, cukes and some store-bought mixed greens. Tossed that with some olive oil, white basalmic and S&P. SOOOOO good. Linus was being a brat and apparently peed all over the attic prior to my visit. Seriously, I somehow went to the MSPCA for a kitten and adopted an asshole.

Headed into town around 5:30, got a meter by BU. We knew we had fancy seats so I had to trade my chucks and giant Pap jersey for heels and a button down and sweater [at Fenway? and NOT after work? too weird]. Went up to our seats, fully dazzled. We had a lovely waiter Ben, and I had 2 beers, a pinot grigio [scariledge at Fenway but i have boobs so it's not sooo bad], a hot dog [yummm!], chips, some chicken tenders [mehh] and some fries [ehh]. The game was 5+ hours long, I got out of there after 1, took forever to get a cab, one of my major issues with downtown Boston. The T "runs" but not nearly as often or efficiently as needed - yet they don't put enough cabs out either!! Ridiculous. Chugged a Propel on the way home, I was getting that so tired I feel nauseous feeling? Yeah, not a great sleeping weekend, but a great weekend overall. Angels just tied it up...GO SOX!!!

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh

That's right, bitches, Sunday night I was at a New Kids on The Block concert for the first time since the 6th grade. It was awesome, just putting that out there first and foremost. There were so many fabulous moments, I don't know even where to begin.

Food-wise [oh and if you haven't noticed, the only exercise I got this weekend was walking to and from the $20 parking in Gov't Center to the Fleet], we stopped in at Boston Beerworks on Friend Street to pregame. We were going to have the Fried Pickles [I love pickles but I was beyond apprehensive about these] - the waiter and Meagan talked me into it. Thankfully, they ran out of them so I was spared. I love me some fried goodness but there are lines in the world not meant to be crossed. I had their Green Monster sandwich [chicken, pesto, cheese and sauce on roll] with sour cream and chive fries. Sandwich was good beyond the bread to chicken ratio being a bit light on the bread, and the fries were ok but kind of tasted like they were coated with the sprinkles you find at the bottom of a sour cream and onion potato chip bag. I also had 2 blueberry beers that were AMAZING. They have the best blueberry beer around, maybe because it's fresh or because of the real blueberry floaties? It's good.

As for the show, let's go through some highlights:
-Pyrotechnics and lasers and lights and shit were on point, very impressive and hilarious
-We had floor seats that said 15th row, but when we got there realized A-z was first THEN numbers, so we were pretty far back. However, 4 or 5 songs in, there was a lengthy costume change and OMG, they popped up RIGHT NEXT TO US. I was screaming like a 12 year old, it was awesome.
-Based on the proximity, I can tell you that Jordan still has it. M-Fer works out or something, he looked hottt. Jon was a sweaty mess, poor Jon. Joey still has it too but I think I lost that loving feeling when I served him ice cream [fro yo actually, and several times] back in the day and he tipped a quarter [every time]. You've got NKOTB money, pony up.
-Donnie and Danny still have...something? Never been in to either. LOVE Marky mark but that's a separate entry. Donnie def wants to be a real rapper, but I liked his outfits the best [there were 5 or 6 costume changes, lots of bedazzling, and at one point Joey had on a leather jacket with a giant smiley face on the back]. Danny looks exactly the same, he's super-jacked and did some incredible break-dance moves that a 14 year old spry boy would have difficulty with. He's like 40. And a dad.
-There was an odd montage of dead people. Like a memory piece? They had Luther Vandross, Frank Sinatra, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, some of their dead parents, Tupac and Biggie....followed by a big "We Miss you"...it was weird. But I think that was the break that allowed for their traveling to our neck of the woods so I'll forgive them.
-Lots of awesome outfits, puffy paint, big pins. They had a semi-decent looking plain hot pink with logo shirt that tempted me for jogging or sleep but FORTY FIVE DOLLARS. WTF?
-Some girls brought their boyfriends. Some of the boyfriends appeared to dig it.

All in all, totally worth it, totally rad, totally something I'll remember and reference forever. Good way to spend a Sunday night.

Mind the Gap

So it's been a little while since my last post, maybe 27 hours but I've been so good at posting regularly! Whatever, I will not beat myself up. First thing to report today is that I did wind up doing my arm exercises yesterday, with better form. Secondly, I am sore as helllll today, legs and arms. I think that means it's working? Princess said I look like I'm getting skinnier but he is sweet like that on occasion, even if it is a blatant lie. And that is why I love him.

After my arms and my 2 hours of make up, I picked up Meagan in Rozzie and headed to The Alchemist. I was terrified of Triple Ds [even with a rad karaoke night], but had heard good things about the place since the transition/yuppification. I started the night with a drink [shocker], asked if the sangria was good, got a yes, and ordered it. I need like an electric collar for when I try to order sangria in public. It's amazing once in a while and the rest of the times it ranges from ehhh to gross. I have a killer homemade sangria recipe from Pedro at work and I really should just stick to that. This tasted like an apple Jack Daniels wine cooler of a bad flavor of Boones' Farm. Impossible, I know. I LOVE BF, but some of their flavors are rank. Come to think of it, their sangria actually tasted better than this sangria and i seem to recall BF sangria having a slight vomit odor. So yeah, I think it may have been a white sangria - which really needs to be handled properly - but whatever it was, gnarly to the point that I had like 5 sips and put it to the side.

Making up for this was the caprese salad [dope tomatoes, right amount and flavor of balsamic, leafy greens on the side, enough cheese!] and little flatbread and oil they bring you. Both were excellent. For someone with not an Italian bone in her body, I sure have the palate of those folks. The I got the steak tips and fries for dinner, delicious...Highland Kitchen does them better, but HK is amazing. I also ordered a glass of Malbec with my steak, which was sooooo much better than the sangria. And a HUGE pour. I actually wound up pouring my remaining sangria into my wine when it was 2/3 gone and it was a world of improvement.

That was that, we headed to the Jeannie. The JJ has gone immensely down hill [god, this post is making me feel old - bitch bitch bitch, the kids these days, up hill both ways, etc.] since it was my stomping grounds in the early 2000s. We used to go there every Saturday for karaoke. We tried again last night, but they switched DJs and few years ago and I do not know what it is about a karaoke dj but they can be kind of a-holes. I may be projecting since it's my life goal to BE a karaoke dj and now I just work as a sales slave for networking gear, so I'm hating. But he has yet to dazzle me. And the crowd....first of all, half the people were like 19, I swear. There was one crazy woman in a pink jumpsuit at the bar. I loathe places with only one stall in the bathroom [TTs!]. And the place turned into like Allston after 11:30. Crowded, hot, too many people, I couldn't tell who was hiding a shiv in their ankle, skankariffic clothes everywhere, and wayyyy too much hoochie dancing. It's karaoke, some is allowed, but leave room for the holy ghost! Plus some of the JP hipsters were irritating too, but at least they were there to sing and be obnoxious with their friends, not act like they were at Rain nightclub in Saugus.

Plus, and I bleed Boston, never leaving but, I think I've determined why I crossed the River. We do have better food and more affordable apts and more stuff to do within my interests and tax brackets. But beyond that, half the people I saw last night either went to my high school or were younger siblings/friends of people I grew up with. I have my too-cool death glare down pat [thanks Orange Lone], and don't remember any of these people on a name/friendly basis, but it's enough to put you on guard that you may run into someone you haven't seen in a long-ass time. Which may be fun...for 2 minutes and then be awful. Not my scene, I'm a thousand I guess, it did make me sad to see the old stomping grounds go sooooo downhill.

Back to reality, I had a diet coke and 2 Coronas and a water for the rest of the night. Had a good time with Meagan and Emily and her dad. Darling called me like 4 times at 1:20 [I NEVER call when he is out, I hate a nag] and wasn't really making sense but I figured whatever. Got home and there's like piles of stuff that was previously on the couch now on the floor and half our magnets all over the kitchen floor. And the bar to the freezer door almost impaled me when I opened it [after following the trail of destruction, I figured I had to check and make sure he wasn't trying to charge his phone in there or something]. He was already in bed so I went in and gave my most annoyed "What the fuck happened to the house, dude?" Nothing. Try again, still nothing. Grab his foot and shake. Eyes open, "What were you drinking?".
"Feeelsi ilkssie mngdhhdvppppp...."
"What?"
"Eeeksi bliffghippppy....."
"You're such a loser"

Love sweet love.

Running is the new walking

Or so I'm trying to convince myself. After a lovely bongo session last night [thanks Second Floor!], finally got to bed around midnight. Sox won, I had some Japanese rice and some peas [I'm nothing if not predictable]. Woke up and Ed had made some gross stir fry thing for his breakfast. Have we discussed how Ed eats entirely inappropriate foods for breakfast? I'm strongly of the school of thought where breakfast is breakfast - waffles, eggs, sausage, toast, has browns, cereal, bagels, french toast, fruit cup, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc. There are SOOOO many wonderful choices, why would you reheat Thai food or make a TJ's Indian bowl for breakfast? I like both those foods - for lunch or dinner. But there is no reason my house should smell like fish before 10 am.

Anyhow, so I hiked down to Davis to get some American cheese and WPF bread and hot tea from DD. Erin called while I was walking back so we went running [yay!] after I inhaled a yogurt to stave of LBS. We went to Fresh Pond with Mia, it was fun, sort of...not miserable like moving usually is. We ran pretty far, I have no idea how to estimate mileage [my daddy can do it in his head, but he's been running for like 20 years]. After that spurt we just walked briskly, but exercise is exercise. FP is 2.5 miles around, so our goal is to be able to make it around without feeling like death. Then we're only .6 or so away from the 5k. I need to register for that.

I got home, had ham, egg, and cheese on a piece of WPF and another piece as toast [I used Earth Balance, not butter]. I love ham, egg and cheese apparently, another thing I've learned from the blog. Let's hope cholesterol doesn't catch up with me. I just had an apple and some of my watered down juice. Now I am going to do my arm exercises and take 2 hours to put on make-up because I really like to do that once in a while. The Sox just lost the first half of their rain-out DH, like 8-1. Sadness.

Going to the Alchemist in JP tonight for dinner with dear friend Meagan and her BF Dan, haven't seen them in forever but such is life lately. Darling is going to some party, of course. I've noticed we don't do a lot together, but I kind of like it that way. Makes you appreciate each other when you do see each other and frankly I am neurotic when out anyway and it's one less thing to fuss and worry about. And we're probably going to do karaoke at the Jeannie and while I love karaoke, Ed hates it [though it was totally acceptable back when we started dating...funny how THAT works] and so I only make him go on my birthday. I'm not big on making people do stuff, even if it's Darling. That way, he can't expect me to do anything that he likes that sucks. Works out.

Speaking of not working out, the house inspection is tomorrow. While I am praying that there are no structural flaws and it goes well, I have great apprehension. I'm at 15-20% we get in there. I just found a copy of our offer at it was presented to them and signed and a bunch of crap was changed unbeknownst to me, after I signed it. I'm not Sicilian, but I think I may have just felt what that level of anger feels like upon discovering this. I'm going to remain relatively calm, I will rip Ed a new asshole because this is unacceptable and his friend should know you don't do stuff like that on behalf of people WITHOUT LETTING THEM KNOW, particularly when large sums of money are involved. However, hopefully it doesn't matter because a. the P&S really matters and b. house might not work out anyway. Whatever, I'm jazzed for the inspection, should be informative if nothing else and Darling is paying for it because my commission sucks right now. He is a good boy, 43% of the time.