Keep on Keepin' On

I saw Harry Plopper Friday night. Brilliant! I think most of the adaptations of the novels to film have been very well done. I wasn't a fan of "Goblet of Fire" but that was also my least favourite out of the series.

Anyways, the set design was incredible and, holy golly!, Rupert Grint was outstanding.....angst, bitterness....incredible.

And I loved the cliff hanger ending. Voldemort, you evil bastard!

In other news, SB really wanted pizza for lunch on Saturday, so I picked up a take n' bake pie @ Hanaford. The cheese was plentiful, the toppings & sauce were total yum. THE CRUST WAS ABYSMAL!!!! Thick and mushy and did not crisp up at all in the oven. SB says he will never eat Hanaford pie again. Personally, I think if we tweak the temperature and cooking time, it might do the trick. SB says if we spend $9.99 on a pie, we should spend the money on a fresh pie from Marino's.

In late breaking news, Squeaky the cat, just sneezed on me. She's so damn cute that I can't stay mad at her.

Hallow Weenie

Check me out as a "spaghetti Western" & SB as a the Man w/ no Name from "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly". I had a wig but it looked hideous.

We ended up a local bar & it was the first time in a long time we had to pay full price for everything. The people there were very douchy. I saw the Great Milenko. And the DJ played a charming little ditty called "All my Bitches Love Me". We so need to find a new watering hole.

1492

SB & I went to the Amherst/S. Hadley/Northampton area of Mass for the long weekend. We almost didn't go because I couldn't find a cheap hotel room. But thanks to hotwire we stayed at the Howard Johnson's for 57 clams a night.

It wasn't even worth 57 buttons! Ugh! The shower had two heads in it for some reason. You had to have a degree in engineering to turn the fucking thing on. The staircase reminded me of an M.C. Escher painting, yes indeed, there was a staircase to nowhere. The continental breakfast was terrible too! And I'm not one to complain about free food. There were bagels but no bagel cutter. Thank God SB always keeps his Leatherman on him. And when they run of coffee, they run out of coffee. Stick w/ the Lucky Charms.

On to the good stuff! We had an excellent dinner on Saturday when we arrived, at a place that I cannot remember the name of. Sorry! It was the first time I had mulligatawny, I'm staying away from fried apps.

On Sunday, we headed into Northampton to take in the sights. Did a bit of shopping at the used CD store Turn it Up, the thrift store, the book store. And we ended up sitting in the town square enjoying a Starbucks ( I had a chocolate Vivanno) & reading. Check out some of the great pics I snapped.

Sorry for the weird layout, blogger is being a whiny bitch!

My middle brother was supposed to meet up w/ us on Sunday but it was logistically impossible. So, in honour of my birthday, (Oct. 21st in case yr keeping track) he sent me a gift certificate to Northampton Brew Pub. SB got the sampler of beers and a full pint of the Pumpkin Spice. I had a really great tart hard cider. For nibbles, SB had some fancy nachos and I had a chorizo jalapeno thin crust pizza. The layout there is awesome, we sat outside on the 2 tier deck. Just gorgeous! I highly recommend the place.

After a full day of mogging around, we had a late dinner in Amherst at Pasta e Basta. It was a cute restaurant but the food was meh. My meat sauce had little flavour. Still, plenty of places left in Amherst that we have not eaten at yet.

Because of the awful breakfast a the hotel, we ate at the Route 9 Diner. Oh my Goddess! It was truly spectacular diner. SB had challah bread French toast & I had potato latkes. They were crisp, flavourful & not greasy at all. They were so crunchy I am thinking the latkes were rolled in corn flakes before they were cooked.

And of course we had our pilgrimage to Trader Joe's!!!! We got some cider, soybeans, taquitos, amongst other various delicious things. We got the Cha Siu Bao for the first time. They were so awesome!!! SB was drooling and murmuring, "MMMHHHMMM *GRUNT GRUNT* PULLED PORK!"

Can't wait for next trip there!

Pretty as Picture

Exercise yr right to vote! Below are the specs of our engagement photos. I'm not sure which one I like the best. So, c'mon peeps, help me figure out which pic is going to be in the wedding announcement and our save the dates.

Rui Chiu

I had a great opportunity to go white water rafting this Saturday. I was incredibly nervous that my underdeveloped muscles would not be able to keep up w/my fellow rafters. I'm notoriously wimpy and very pussified that way.

Here's a little FYI, you cannot, under any circumstances ever, wear cotton whilst paddling down a river. Which meant I had to wear bathing suit bottoms instead of underpants, no bra & a GIGANTIC synthetic fiber shirt of Sexybeast's. After putting on the wet suit, I resembled a black marshmallow.

After a quick bus ride and even quicker tutorial, we were on our way. Couple things I learned, never take yr hand off the T-grip of the oar. My hand resembled a claw by the end of the day for fear that I would accidentally knock the teeth out of my head.

We headed out on our 20 mile journey. I started out in the middle and then like any good game, we rotated. I needed up in the front w/ Sexybeast. Our awesome tour guide, Madd Pup, decided we needed to have some more fun. I ended up leaning far out of the raft to paddle paddle paddle like a crazy chick. Which was all well and good and righteous except there were ginormous waves. I got smooshed, choking and coughing and trying to paddle. But I did remain in the raft. And I kept the pace the entire time.

Then I ended up in the back and Sexybeast pig piled w/ 3 other people on the front of the raft. And unfortunately, the back of the raft got sucked back into an eddy we were trying to raft over and Sexybeast and company flew into the drink. I got knocked about in the raft pretty hard but I did not fall out. Woo hoo!

Then came the hard part, the last 3 1/2 miles there were no rapids and that's when I really felt the cold and wind and did I mention the snow showers? You paddle to keep warm and I had to make a decision if I was more exhausted or cold.

The best part was the end of the trip, we landed near the rafting center & I had a nice cup of hot chocolate waiting for me. Of course, I had to wait until my hands stopped shaking to drink it but still....

And I found out that peanut butter and granola sandwiches taste really awesome.

Stay Positive

I love date night!

This Wednesday amidst the 86 degree weather, Sexybeast and I went out for a night on the town. Since I work in Albany until 5 pm, we agreed to meet at a restaurant near my office. We decided to check out Salsa Latina. We've never been and I've heard many many good things about the place (Thanks Albany Jane & Mr. Fussy!)I liked Salsa Latina immediately, big bar, cheerful yellow walls, a VERY clean bathroom. Sexybeast had run 6 miles that afternoon and was STARVING, I, myself, had light lunch. SB started w/ the Colombian style beef empanadas, I didn't try because I don't like the texture of shredded beef. I had the tortilla soup which was very flavourful but there was rice in it. Why? Completely unnecessary. SB had the special, chicken mole enchiladas, the sauce was fab, though sweeter than I've ever had. Not that that's a bad thing. I had chili colorado, chopped steak in a very SPICY sauce. Both plates looked like serving platters, lots of food. And, as per usual, there was the usual suspects of beans topped w/ cheese and rice. The margaritas were also a nice addition on super hot April evening.

If some of you might remember, I wrote a post some time ago about The Hold Steady. Last March, they played to a sold out audience at Valentine's. I was incensed that weren't able to go. But fate smiled upon me, as I scored tickets to see The Hold Steady at The LINDA. Lots and lots of hipsters were there. Seriously, is there a factory somewhere cranking out clones of apathetic looking guys w/ beards, glasses and an ironic sense of fashion?

The opening act was The Orange Band, they were OK. It just seemed like all of their songs sounded the same. So, about 2 songs into The Hold Steady's set, their amps died, right in the middle of my fave song, "Sequestered in Memphis". W/out missing a beat, they did a mini acoustic set.

I bought these super cute new black sandals. But after a full day of hiking up the uneven sidewalks on Central Ave, my tootsies were tired and blistered. Standing room only meant I sat my little butt on the cold tiled floor. And as it was a weekend night, we left at about 10:45, before the show ended.

Good times, good times...

Oh Hoppy Day

I realize I haven't been treating my blog as I should. I haven't had the drive and I'm feeling conflicted about whether I should keep on keeping on or pack it in.

For now, here's the run down of my weekend.

We had Seder dinner on Friday night. Unfortunately, we missed the opening prayers because we had to return some mouldy ginger to Gabriel's Market. Anyways, all the usual players were there: Ms. Brisket, Mr. Kugel (BLECH!) and Miss Latke, made my fave way w/ white and sweet potatoes. And a personal fave that we haven't seen in a very long time for dessert, RICE PUDDING. Nom nom nom!

Saturday the weather was gor-ge-ous! Sexybeast went for a 6 mile run and hopefully next month he'll be competing in his 1st race. We went to the park for a grilling feast w/ Albany Jane and her husbear. HMMMM, jerk pork, plantain fritters, beef short ribs and tortellini salad. The park was had a fair amount of people there but it wasn't overly crowded. Good food and good company. Next time, Sexybeast & I need to remember to bring water. Oops, heh heh!

I wasn't feeling that hungry later when we went to my parents but Sexybeast will eat Chinese food at the drop of a hat. However, I did manage to walk to Bumpy's for an ice cream treat, after I roused Sexybeast out of his food coma. Plus, I figured the walk to Bumpy's would negate the calories from the ice cream.

Sunday, there was sooooooo much food w/ SB's family. Just miles and miles of starches, meats and sugar. Sadly, we were forced to bring home a doggie bag. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It was really nice have a simple salad for dinner last night.

I am Grounded, I am Humble, I am One w/ Everything

This is a scene from the wine/whine party I went to Friday night. If you know me, then you know I have extreme social anxiety. So the prospect of going to a party where I only knew the host, made me feel queasy and tense.

It was girls only, so Sexybeast was left to his own devices (pizza & Left for Dead IV). And I ended up having a fabulous time, chatting and mingling and drinking the white stuff. There was also hot toddies.




For nibbles there was chana masala, chickpeas and potatoes in a smoldering curry sauce. There was beef vindaloo which I did not partake because I feel in love w/ the chicken korma. There was also plenty of jasmine rice on hand. My friend Andrea had back up rice in her secondary rice cooker.


Today is Sexybeast and mine 2 year anniversary. We went to Alice in Wonderland last night and it was hauntingly beautiful and morbid and disturbing. I loved it! Except for the gay ass dancing. I decided to keep my 3D specs, the first shot of me looking German.


Check out the sweet new wallet Sexybeast gave me!

We headed over to the Stockade Inn for dinner. It's the place where we're getting married and we wanted to check out the grub. I had an amazing chopped salad w/ avocados, prime sirloin (BLOODY), broccolini (which I've never had before and it soooo delicious) and mashed potatoes. Sexybeast went w/ surf n' turf, bloody prime strip steak and lobster tails. The best part was the dessert, as it was Saturday night, the pastry chef was trying to get rid of everything in the kitchen to start fresh on Sunday. Sexybeast ended up w/ a quarter of cheesecake and I had a gigantic slab of peanut butter pie. Which we ordered to go, so we could drink and watch Start Trek and snuggle.

Leonard Nimoy is the fucking shit! And Zachary Quinto wasn't half bad either.

Weekend Hijinks

So Sexybeast and I just got back from a weekend trip from Hadley/Amherst Mass area. We go to Trader Joe's a few times a year but I got sick of the 2 hours of driving JUST to get there.

I booked a hotel room from hotels.com, Holiday Inn Xpress. Queen sized bed, swimming pool, a gym and free breakfast w/ complimentary paper. It was great for the price, however, we didn't know there was darkening shades on the window sooooo the parking lot lights shone in our room all night. And the toilet clogged because it was a shitty low flow. And the breakfast was really really average.


This is the best tasting seltzer ever! Sexybeast and I stopped at little organic pizza place on Route 9, they even have gluten free and vegan/vegetarian choices as well. Sexybeast had a pepperoni pizza and the pepperonis were HUGE, like the stuff you can buy at the deli. I had a yummy turkey pannini.

We checked into the hotel and much to our dismay, there was no mini fridge. Sexybeast ended up having the rest of his pizza around midnight. Hee!

After check in, we wandered around the quaint New England town of Amherst. I wasn't really feeling the used books at the school bookstore. But I got some great finds at Newbury comics; a ton of new postcards for the fridge, a Kimya Dawson CD, a book about the Brat Pack movies and 2 new buttons for my Pixies hoodie. Even though, it was a beautiful spring day, it started to get cold as the sun went down. We settled into the Monkey Bar for drinks and quiet time before dinner. And as it turns out, parking meters on not free on the weekends. I ended up w/ a $10 parking ticket. Boo!



As we were leaving, a nice older couple suggested a really great upscale Italian place, Carmelina's. I had most of huckleberry "martini", until it accidentally spilled to the floor. Oops! We skipped the apps because of the drinks. Sexybeast had shrimp scampi over linguini. The shrimps were GIGANTIC. I had the lamb shank, braised so long that I didn't need a fork, with saffron risotto, and mixed veggies. Delicious!

After a quick swim in the pool, I forced myself to stay awake to see one song of Vampire Weekend performing on SNL.

We got some great finds at Trader Joe's, low fat queso dip and a sack of blood oranges (amongst many other delicious things).

Can't wait for our next mini weekend get away.

GUESS WHAT?!

Sexybeast proposed to me last night as I making my way through the front door after my last day at Catholic Charities.

Yes, I am going to be married. June 2011.

Hang onto yr hats for a lot of insanity.


HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!!!

Holly Lolly!

My fave Xmas gift this year was my new Canon Power Shot camera. Check my awesome new photos from Christ's birthday.

We also had a chance to check out the Badass Burrito. Monday and Saturday nights are $1 PBR and tacos. Sexybeast had 2 tacos, one beef and one pulled pork. He proclaimed them delicious. After so many days of gorging, I went w/ carne asada salad w/ lime cabbage slaw, a tasty vinaigrette. I subbed the mayo topping for guacamole. NOM NOM NOM. As I am not a huge beer fan, I partook of the 4 dollar Margarita special.

Gobble Gobble!

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. I fully support any holiday that makes eating it's primary focus.

I was in Boston, MA w/out Sexybeast.

I tried to fill my time w/ Candyland, Operation and Guess Who, the Boston Aquarium. However, I couldn't hide my sadness. I hate celebrating holidays w/out some sort of protection.

It wasn't all bad, I made my pilgrimage to Trader Joe's, getting my usual stock of taquitos plus pork pot stickers and mixed nuts. And the Punjab Market for cheap cheapy cheap spices and naan. Which will freeze easily for my dinner party.

December has crashed in and my depression quickly followed. Bear w/ me.

Food Stuffs

So this weeekend, we had some company from Plattsburgh come down. Our 1st house guests! I know, I know, I'm a big nerd.

We started tossing around ideas for dinner. I'll call her Blondie, said she wanted soup. Yes, that's right, soup for dinner. OK short of a homeless shelter, you can't have soup for dinner. Her sister, Hot Mama, said she wanted pasta fagioli and her husband, Fluff, said whatevskies. Sexybeast and I thought. "hmmmmm pasta fagioli pasta fagioli. Where can we get good pasta fagioli?" AHA! Petta's in the ghetto in Schenectady.

I have some personal history w/ Petta's. That is the place where my parents met 40 some odd years ago. At that time, it was just a pizza and beer joint. And my underage mother and her bad fake ID quaffed cheap ale and stole my father's cradle robbing heart. To be fair, she turned 18 a few weeks after they met.

Fast forward to Nov. 2009 and boy oh boy is Petta's everything a great Italian eatery should be. Fresh bread, home made pastas and BIG portions. I got the special, for $20 I got a 14 oz prime rib (BLOODY!) w/ a choice of soup or salad (salad w/ Italian dressing on the side) pasta or potato (baked sans sour cream and I ate the skin for extra iron) and a veggie. (greens) The beef was cooked perfectly and tasted even better the next day. And the greens were extra garlicy, nom nom nom. And I got dessert to go, home made cheesecake w/ cherries. The perfect thing to eat at 1 am when you've been drinking for a few hours. Trust me! Sexybeast and Fluff had chicken Michael, breaded and sauteed GIGANTIC chicken breast coated in roasted red peppers and mozzarella. It smelled divine. I had that dish 2 years ago, perfection. Hot Mama had scallops, to which she said "mmmmmmhhhhhgoodscallopshhhhhhhmmmmm". And Blondie had her a trough of pasta fagioli.

Sexybeast felt uncharacteristically bouncy and energetic on Sunday. I hate Sundays w/ a passion. The whole day I lament that I have to go to work on Monday and that makes me feel very blue. We headed over to the Schenectady Winter Market. The parking was free. This is something I think a lot about as I headed deeper into my 30's. Parking and cleaning supplies. We purchased fresh carrots, HUGE stalk of brussel sprouts, hard cider from a winery in Chatham, muesli from a hippie that bought our electric stove (she knocked 50 cents off the price as the stove has been doing a great job toasting her almonds), cheesy garlic bread, the world's largest apples (they're called Muzos and they are gooooood!) and cheese from the guy from Palatine Bridge (horseradish pub cheese and bacon/onion cheddar).

As a side note, we also went Sal's on Saturday, our local butcher. The prices are reasonable and the selection is great. I felt like I was in Europe. Instead of going to the lame ass supermarket, I went to the green grocer for my produce and the butcher for my meat. It makes me sad to think I missed out doing this all the time before the supermarket giants took over.

Sigh : (

The Drab 4

Back in high school, I was a social outcast. Spit upon, reviled. I wish I could say I was exaggerating. And one thing that fueled my hatred of my classmates was my love of heavy metal. From ages13 to 18, before I figured myself out, metal was all consuming force in my life.

I started off w/ the light stuff, Skid Row, Extreme, Kik Tracee. Heavy on the pretty and cheese factor. When I began my love affair w/ angst, the music I loved grew darker and more complex, Voivod, Pantera, Danzig.

My enthusiasm for metal waned over time. It was something I looked upon w/ embarrassed fondness.

Then I met Sexybeast, a metal fanatic (though to be fair he loves Tom Waits and The Beatles too!). Being around each other, I was re-introduced into something I thought was long dead inside of me.

This past Saturday, I had the privilege of seeing Type O Negative. Self described as "goth-adelic", these boys are moody, hate filled creatures of the night. But the melodies, the lyrics! I was back in my 18 year old mind and it was GOOD. Having conquered many personal demons (and a serious cocaine addiction), Peter Steele sang every word w/a beautiful anguish that he has not been able to manage in many years.

On Sunday, we saw a double header of Mastodon, a weirdly multi-faceted band, that writes all concept albums. They performed Crack the Skye in it's entirety against the back drop of short film that followed the story. They really are visual band. I really couldn't explain the story, check Wikipedia, but it involves astral projection and Rasputin.

Many of you know my love of the one of the funniest adult cartoons in human existence, Metalocalypse. OMG! OMG! OMG! They were so fucking awesome!! They performed my fave song "Murmaider", a song about mermaid murder. Brutal! Essentially, the real band played on stage while Dethklok performed on a big screen behind them.

I had a rockin' weekend. How ' bout you?