Michelle's Birthday Dinner

After a night of decorating with Jenifer & Andi, I had a normal work day to attend to on Friday.  While I worked, Andi & Worley did the Sex & the City tour which I'd heard was pretty good, but they thought it was just mediocre.  Crazy part is that the tour takes you to see the inside of Buddakan...the restaurant I had picked out weeks prior for Michelle's birthday dinner, so they got a little preview of our evening ahead.  As I was ending my work day and Michelle's flight was landing, Andi and Worley found some places to hang out and occupy their time so as not to be seen by Michelle!  I met Michelle at my place after work and we headed for The Jane where she thought we would be having drinks-just us!

When we got to The Jane, Andi and Worley were waiting for us with Prosecco in hand for a birthday toast!  Michelle just started laughing when she saw that they were there.  Too fun!  I love The Jane...it's pretty quiet early in the evening, but I love the decor, the drinks, and the chill vibe it has (late at night it gets crazy wild and packed and I want no part of that)!  Oh, and Brooke joined us for dinner & drinks, too!  (In spirit, at least....she was 8+ months preggo.  Baby Q should be here any day)!

Andi, Jenifer, "Brooke", & Michelle

Upon leaving The Jane, we were attempting to find an empty taxi (with no luck), when a guy pulled up in a limo and asked if we wanted a ride!  I thought he was ripping us off, but then decided the few extra $'s was worth it for Michelle's birthday!  We had a blast in our 10ish minutes in the fancy limo!  Crazy part is, I'm pretty sure it was someone else's limo for the evening and the driver had dropped his party off for dinner and realized he had some time to make a few extra bucks.  There were half-drunken champagne glasses inside...I'm sure the real limo passengers never had a clue that we spit in them (I KID....we just held them for photo ops...no stolen sips or spitting).



Buddakan did not disappoint.  I had never gone before, but always heard fabulous things and I had known people to celebrate birthdays here, so I thought it would be a good pick for this birthday!  The space is huge and gorgeous.  They have "small plates" that you share as a table (seems like that is what EVERYone is doing these days).  We got to try all kinds of things and it was all delish.

While Michelle & Worley searched for the bathroom, Andi and I took the time to have our pictures taken with "Brooke"!

I like this picture of Jenifer and I, but the real star of

the photo?  That DRINK!  Oh, that drink.  I had

heard good things about Buddakan's drink menu, but this

was amazing!  Prosecco, passion fruit liqueur, fresh berries,

and I can't remember what else, but so yum!!

Great pic of Michelle & Andi!

This was one of those meals where we took pictures of our food.  I know...lame.  But, it was all so good, interesting, and beautifully presented and such a fun dinner experience.  Definitely picture worthy!

Tuna Tartare Spring Roll...and THE drink!

Edamame Dumplings

I think 3 out of 4 of us named this as our favorite course of the meal....so good!

Lobster Egg Rolls

Lobster Fried Rice...had all kinds of lobster goodness in it!

I can't remember what this was exactly, but noodles

and more seafood...it was good!

Charred Asparagus - very, very good!  I even loved

the leftovers the following Monday at work!

Scallops!

Dessert #1 - Carrot Cake with a carmelized icing.

This was very good...except for the carrot puree

you see on the plate - it was gross!!

And the Crying Chocolate Cake - yum!

Brooke loved the carrot cake, too!

Brooke was so full after the delicious meal,

Andi had to carry her home!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

The big day is here!  My blog's 5-year birthday!  Can you believe it?  I started this blog five years ago to record my adventure to NYC.  In my very first entry, this is how I explained why I was starting this blog....

"I’ve decided to start my own blog because I wanted a place to capture my memories of the time I will spend in the City. I also want a place to keep track of all the places I go, restaurants I eat at, and things I see so that I will remember the places to go back to or places to take my friends/family when they visit. Finally, I wanted a place where you, my readers- friends & family- can keep up with my life in the City, if you’re interested, that is (I won’t be offended if no one is!).  It will serve as a journal—it might be serious at times or I may turn spiritual on you in certain posts, but, hopefully, it will often be filled with exciting or funny stories of my adventures. And for those who know me best, you know that I hope it will be full of celebrity-sightings!"

I am happy to read that and know that this blog has turned into exactly what I wanted it to be.  I mean who really thought I'd have so much celebrity sighting material to work with?! 

I am so very glad I started this blog.  It's really special to me!  My two favorite things about keeping this blog are:

1)  It's my personal scrapbook!  I love having something to look back on and that all the pictures of my life for the past 5 years are all here in one place.

2)  It helps me stay connected with you, my readers!  Shout-outs especially to my high school and many of my Dallas friends who continue to faithfully read.  In fact, since I started this blog, all 4 of my closest high school friends have started their own (and some of them have started many - ha!).  And a few of you Dallas friends have, too!  It's such a fun and easy way to keep up with each others lives.  I love that!

I have to admit, however, that I don't enjoy blogging as much as I used to.  I've considered putting an end to its short life, but I'm not sure yet.  For now, I'll continue to keep blogging when I want to.  This means, that I'll probably often be behind because I often don't feel like it.  I do wish that I could post as often and as timely as I have at times in the past 5 years, but I guess real life got in the way at some point.  At some point, this adventure to NYC turned into my every day life!  Crazy, but true.  It seems less exciting and more busy!  Which means less time for blogging and less exciting material to work with.  Anyway, I hope you'll hang on until I decide to give up...maybe there's another chapter of life starting soon that will put a spark back into my blogging.  Until then, bear with me!

Birthday Weekend : Part I

No, not MY birthday weekend!  Michelle's birthday weekend!  Michelle thought about her 40th birthday for a while and didn't seem keen on celebrating it at all.  I suggested several times that we just get away somewhere fun.  I was thrilled when she called in December and said she decided what she wanted to do - come to NYC and go somewhere for an amazing dinner and see a Broadway show.  Well, that's easy!  I was excited and started planning right away.  I mean, this birthday deserved a big celebration!!

I got Worley and Andi in on the weekend and they decided they would fly up and spend it with us - without Michelle's knowledge!  We were a little bit nervous a) about pulling it off and b) that Michelle wouldn't like it since she seemed adamant about NOT celebrating, but we decided to go for it and began to feel even more at ease when Michelle mentioned she loved surprises.

Worley and Andi flew in on the 10th..the day before Michelle's birthday and scheduled arrival.  I met Jenifer & Andi for dinner that night and then we ran some errands and headed back to my place for a serious night of crafting!  The girls were awesome to help get the place decorated for Michelle's arrival!

I am loving printables that I find online and found some in a color scheme and with graphics that I thought fit Michelle so well!

Sign on my front door

Birthday banner upon entry into the apartment

Another birthday banner over the Armoire

Close-up of the Birthday banner details

Flowers (smelled so good!) in a vase with

more coordinating decor

Another birthday sign we stuck in a frame of mine

More details of the super fun birthday extravaganza to come!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patty's day always strikes me as a very odd day here in NYC.  First off, my company has a bake-sale (proceeds go to charity) and we get to wear jeans.  We always get to wear jeans on Fridays and St. Patrick's Day.  Does anyone else think St. Patty's Day is a weird reason for jeans day?  Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining!  For the first time this year, I decided to contribute to the bake sale.  I made some super cute (and of course delicious) Shamrock sugar cookies for the occasion.

Of course, I also contributed by purchasing some treats!  On St. Patty's day, I ate a delicious peanut butter/chocolate bar of some sort.  It was amazing and I am tempted to track down whoever brought these to get the recipe!  I also purchased a raspberry/coconut bar and saved it for Friday.  I don't always like coconut, but I LOVE raspberry and this was delicious.  I've already done an online search and think I found a similar recipe for future baking.

Other than Jeans Day, the other odd thing about St. Patrick's Day in NYC is the CRAZYness of it.  I work on the 14th Floor of my building and as early as 10AM we could hear the mobs of people screaming on the streets below.  My office in on 6th Avenue and the parade is on 5th Avenue...not really that close, but you would think we were ON the parade route with how noisy it is.  I ventured out at lunch and totally regretted not bringing mine from home that day...the streets were packed with drunk people wearing green.  I couldn't help but wonder who all these people were that had time to party like that on a Thursday morning/afternoon.  I've just never thought of St. Patrick's Day as a big holiday to celebrate.  I guess maybe it was a lot of spring breakers?

New Year's Goals!

I've been working on my New Year's Goals!  I have yet to run in a race, but there has really only been 1 that I could have done and I waited too long to sign-up and then registration closed, even though it was still supposed to be open - grrrr.  There are several races in April/May and I will knock some out of the way then.  I have been running a lot - a few times a week, usually 3 miles, but I have run up to 5 at one time.  It feels good to be on a more consistent schedule than I have been the last 2 years.  And I've rejoined the gym and am going there some, too.  I've even started working out with a personal trainer for the first time in my life and it's fun!

I have been cooking some and have conquered nine of my 52 recipes for the year.  I'm clearly behind!  It's been fun, but it takes time and planning and I'm finding that I have trouble keeping up with all the food in the house now!  I have enjoyed the new recipes and new motivation to eat at home and spend less and eat less, too.  Here is what I've made so far:

Recipe #1 : Blushing Baked Salmon - it is seasoned with lime juice and honey and was good, but I think I prefer my old honey mustard salmon recipe. 

I forgot to take an after pic, but here's the before!

Recipe #2 : Brussel Sprouts - I like brussel sprouts and made them at home before, but never quite figured out how to make them as good as restaurants seem to.  I did a bunch of research online and combined a few recipes and came up with one I like.  I think the trick is paprika!!  Here's how I make them now:

Cut brussel sprouts in half

Blanche in boiling water (1.5 minutes)

Remove from boiling water and place on baking sheet

Drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika

Bake @ 350 for about 10 minutes

Recipe #3 : Risotto Risi e Bisi - Risotto is something I never had before moving to NYC and I've discovered that it is one of my most favorite things in the world!  This was only my 2nd time to make it at home and I think my first experience when I made Risotto with Asparagus turned out a little better.  This was still really good, just not quite as great.  I have a great Risotto cookbook and plan to make many more recipes from it.

The Risi e Bisi recipe was chock full of veggies and a bit of pancetta!

It made a TON!  Luckily, Katie came over and ate some with me.

Recipe #4 : Ragu Bolognese-after making the Risotto, I had a lot of leftover ingredients I wanted to try to put to use.  I typed celery, carrots, and pancetta into the recipe finder on All Recipes and came up with a recipe for Ragu Bolognese that called for all 3 of these ingredients!  I tweaked this recipe a lot, but it ended up really good - I'll definitely save this one.  I served it over whole wheat penne (my favorite noodle shape).  I've still got several servings of this packed away in the freezer for some day when I run out of all this food!

Recipe #5 : Granola - I was really excited to make my own Granola!  It is good, but I want to try some other recipes to see if I can find one I love!  Although, I guess it's good that I don't love this one by itself...keeps me from randomly snacking on it!  But, it's great in yogurt!  I've been having it for breakfast lately and still have quite a bit left...even after gifting a bunch to a co-worker!  Isn't it pretty?

Recipe #6 : Smoothie - I went through a long smoothie phase in Dallas, but it's been a while since I homemade smoothies and I decided to try again, armed with a new recipe.  This is delicious and I've made it several times now.  Makes for an excellent breakfast after my trainer workouts!

Recipe #7 : Fritatta - Oh my, this was delicious!!  This one came from the Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) cookbook I got for Christmas.  She has done me well when it comes to brunch recipes.  This is a keeper and just might be making an appearance at an Easter Brunch I'm thinking of having.  I downsized this recipe so I wouldn't end up with so much food - divided everything by 4!  It still made 2 servings and the leftover serving was almost as good the next day as the original was.  My only regret is that I made it in my large skillet...it should have been thicker, so next time I will make it in my small skillet (unless I'm making more than 2 servings)!

Recipe #8 : Risotto Caprese - This was another recipe from my Risotto cookbook and was just as it sounds...risotto with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella.  It was good, but the Risi e Bisi was better.  I thought I was going to LOVE this and I just didn't.  It was a little bland and had almost too much mozzarella in it.

Recipe #9 - I feel like I'm cheating by including this because I've made something very similar before and this was sooo easy.  But, I'm counting it anyway.  I already mentioned my Oscar Rice Krispy treats on this blog.  I'd made Rice Kripy Oscars before, but I tried a different recipe.  Actually, I used the regular old Rice Krispy treat recipe that comes right off the box.  So, I've made regular rice krispy treats before and I've made Oscar Rice Krispy treats....I just never put the regular recipe with the Oscar cut out!  This recipe is very sticky and not real sturdy for the little Oscars.  They turned out okay, but the cookies I make are way cuter and much more tasty!

Oscars!

So, of course, all my Oscar nominated movie watching ended in an Oscar party!  My friend Megan took on hosting duties and she did an excellent job!  There were just four of us there, but I prefer to watch with a smaller crowd as I tend to hang on every  word of the winners' acceptance speeches and don't like when I can't hear them!  We had quite the spread for such a small group and Megan had made some really cute foods to represent different nominated movies. It was fun!

I used my Oscar shaped cutter to make Rice Krispy Treats

Facebook cookies for Social Network, Black & White

cookies for Black Swan, and a bottle of Gatorade for 127 Hours

  Red wine for The Kids Are All Right

Megan's cute collage of all the

nominated actresses/actors

Paparazzi!

As I exited the subway and crossed over the street towards Madison Square Garden on President's Day, I found it fitting that there was a small group of Paparazzi standing on the corner.  I was going to MSG to see Lady Gaga perform and, of course, she'd be singing her hit song, Paparazzi, at some point during the evening!

Just as I was passing by, a black SUV pulled up.  Naturally, I hung around to see who was in it!  It was David E. Kelly and Michelle Pfeiffer.  I would not have recognized David and Michelle had ALL her hair in her face so I wasn't positive it was her.  When a girl standing next to me asked "Who is that?" I did say, "Well, it kind of looked like Michelle Pfeiffer, but I'm really not sure".  A quick google search later and I was able to determine that it was indeed her and that the man was indeed her long-time husband.

Kelly & Pfeiffer were entering the back door, so I made my way to the commoner's entrance and grabbed Stacy along the route, who was disappointed she narrowly missed the celeb spotting.  Once we were in our seats in the company suite, we noticed someone on the front row getting a LOT of attention and we began to speculate who the man might be.  Stacy had all kinds of guesses, but at one point said, "Maybe it's Paul McCartney.  It kind of looks like his hair".  All it took was another google search to determine that it was, in fact, Sir McCartney himself.  Pretty cool!  Even though we were WAY far away from him and could barely see him.  Tons of people were taking his picture and trying to get close to where he was and occasionally he would turn around and wave at all the people gawking at him. 

And Lady Gaga?  Well, I was impressed.  That lady can put on quite a show.  Plus, this was the show that was being taped for her HBO special, so I'm sure we really saw their A-Game!  There was lots of action, lots of costumes, and lots of dancing.  But, what surprised me the most?  The singing!!  Lady Gaga has got quite the voice!  I really thought she was more of an entertainer, but she's also quite talented musically.  She even did one song a cappella with about 3 of her backup singers and it was amazing!  I haven't changed my mind about her personality though - she is one odd bird!  She talked a lot about getting beyond your insecurities and Stacy turned to me at one point and said "I feel like we're at church"!  It was a fun night at MSG, as always and I've got some pictures for you (or maybe they're just for Jessica's dad).  You can spot Lady Gaga in all these pictures from her super bright yellow hair!