January Book Club Read

So, the January book club read. One by Jodi Picoult, who, if you haven't yet read, is DE-PRESS-ING! However, I am always looking to learn something new, and this book taught me a little bit about osteogenisis imperfecta, otherwise known as "brittle bone syndrom". However, one can only handle so much strife, even though it does provide insite into what it may be like having to be a parent in such a difficult situation. I give it an "okay" but not a "great".

As a side note, I finished the Hemingway and am not in a hurry to read another.

Next up: its a toss up --  Skinny Legs and All, Her Fearful Symmetry or Julie and Julia. What do you guys suggest?

December Book Club Read

I am almost done. I should finish tonight. However, I am not quite sure that I like the way he writes. I feel like I should becuase he is "one of the greatest writers of all time". However, although I like what he writes about, I dont like the WAY he writes. Pamplona just isn't as exciting to me when Hemingway is the one telling me about it. We will see if I change my mind in the next 20 pages.

You can find out what else I have read and suggest books for me on goodreads.

Magic in The Air

As Kermit says, there is magic in the air. The magic in New Olreans is a little different than the magic at home, maybe becuase of the lack of cold and snow. However, decorations have been put up and people at work are going out for last minute Christmas dinners before we all fly away to our respective homes. I, for one, can't wait to go home and sit in a warm room with a view of the snow outside, drink coffee, chat with the Mom and Dad and watch...Christmas movies! I have been getting in the holiday spirit by watching clips on youtube. I have included one below for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Viewing Pleasure

I was reading Lucy's blog the other day and I really liked Lucy's idea of checking to see the "most viewed" on Flickr. It seems sort of fun to see what the "invisible people" out there are interested in (or just need to see more clearly, I guess). So here is what I found.

This was the most viewed, with 244 hits:

Tarshier - World's Smallest Primate

This one, which is probably one of MY favorites, was second "most viewed", with 177 hits (maybe because it has the word "naked" in the title?):

Tan Naked Man

The next category is "favorites". People can add your photos as one of their favorites. I personally am not very highly followed, but whoever is following me must be a tad perverted, becuase the most favorite is.... "two asses".

Praia de Barra: Two Asses

 

So....of all the landscapes, foreign cities and beautiful vistas.... you see what people really like? I think, judging from Lucy's site, that tagging the photos makes all the difference in the world. I guess I need to get on the ball....or the tan naked man.

Pink Glove Take Two

pink glove dance

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi-370lniaw&feature=youtube_gdata

Thanks for Your Support!!!

To everyone who donated for the Race For the Cure, I want to Thank You! I started off trying to raise 200 dollars and as more and more generous folks added, I upped my goal. My final goal was 800 dollars. 770 was raised.

The event was a success; approximately 10,000 people came out to run or walk. It was very satisfying to be a part of something so generous and righteous. Thanks to all of you for contributing to that. 

Oh The Memories

My October Book Club Read

Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


View all my reviews >>

Race For The Cure

Hey guys...I am going to run a 5k in "support" of breast cancer. It is on October 25, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in City Park in New Orleans.

The website for more information is here.

If you can, please donate by going here. I am trying to raise $200.00, which is a small drop in the bucket of what they need.

Thanks!

Master Cleanse Day Five

DAY 5: The Results

I have a headache from the glass of wine I drank last night. I guess my body isn't quite ready for that yet. I also decided to lay off coffee for a little while to see what happens. I woke up with a headache but other than that, I feel great! I am happy to be at work; I am awake and lively and not even very hungry. Maybe there is something to this thing after all. I will not miss the Salt Water Flush but the rest of it was….Not too bad!

A couple blogs about it that I found when researching...in case you want to know more:

http://mickipedia.vox.com/library/posts/tags/diet/
http://themastercleanseblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/final-thoughts.html
http://bethbrianmastercleanse.wordpress.com/

Master Cleanse Day Four

DAY 4:

7:42 am: I have my watered down OJ all ready to go. I am nervous about eating, since too much too soon can cause digestion problems. I think though that with only 3 days of detox, I shouldn’t have too many problems hopefully.

9:57 am: Have had some spicy lemonade and some watered down OJ. I still do not feel hungry but I want to have some real food tomorrow so I have to get my body ready for it. I actually think I could do this for a few more days, but I really don’t feel like going through the weekend without being able to cook something.

2:46 pm: I am so bored. I realize that when I am bored, I eat. So now when I am bored I drink liter after liter of water and watered down OJ and then I run to the bathroom a lot. However, it is not really keeping me from being bored. My stomach is gurgling. I think it has tasted freedom. Or was that just watered down OJ?

7:42 pm: I was going to wait until tomorrow to eat real food, but I am hungry. The OJ jumpstarted my…something. So I have a salad and some hummous and…a glass of wine. Satisfaction attained.

Master Cleanse Day Three

DAY 3:

11:03 am: I am doing well today. I am not hungry at all and have no ill effects (except that I am freezing – everyone else is in shirtsleeves and I am wearing 2 sweaters). I almost ate something this morning because I was a little stressed out. Normally when I am stressed, I exercise, eat or drink…and I can’t do any of those…so I almost caved. But then I had a few sips of the spicy lemonade and got to work and all was well.

11:14 am: I just walked by the smell of turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. It smells good, but oddly enough, doesn’t really tempt me to want to eat it. My tummy didn’t rumble and my mouth didn’t water. It just smelled pleasant.

1:31 pm: I am still not hungry. And I don’t have a headache. It’s great! I do have some rumblings in my stomach. I have decided to start incorporating stuff back into diet tomorrow. You are supposed to wean your way back on to food with broth and watered down juice and stuff. I really can’t wait to chew something.

7:15 pm: Went grocery shopping for tomorrow’s food. I am tempted to eat some of it now. I am starving. I want Mexican food.

9:15 pm: I feel great. I am not hungry anymore and don’t have a headache. However, I am very, very tired. I go to sleep around 9:30.

Master Cleanse Day Two

DAY 2:

6:14 am: I wake up before my alarm. I am not sure why. I am not hungry at all. Last night I had to do the salt water flush (SWF) in order to cleanse myself of any impurities. It was horrible! It tastes like drinking the sea. And who likes that? What follows is not much better, but I will not get into that. I had a hard time going to sleep due to a horrible headache. I had read a couple of other blogs and many people report sore muscles, but I have not experienced that. I had a marvelous breakfast consisting of spicy lemonade and…nothing.

7:05 am: The elevator at work is broken. I take the stairs. 15 floors later, I am soooo tired… I have NO energy at all. I am starting to get a small headache again. It could be due to not having coffee; I do drink at least a cup every day. Or it could just be because I have not eaten.

8:23 am: I am cold, which is weird because usually I get cold after lunch. Maybe I drank too much spicy lemonade.

11:10 am: I am waiting for lunch time so I can…stop watching the clock. It is such a habit to be able to look forward to 11:30 or so. I think I will go home and take a half hour nap. That is almost as satisfying as food. I am not hungry at all but still want to eat just because. Maybe it is just boredom? Also, I must have jinxed myself when I talked about the sore muscles because now my back and neck muscles are really sore. Does that mean all the toxins are rising to the surface? Or am I just falling apart due to lack of food?

2:08 pm: Went home and took a nap. While asleep, I dreamed about a rap song. When I got back in my car, that song was playing on the radio. I am confused. Did that really happen?

4:57 pm: My back hurts. I think I am going to go home and have a Top Chef Marathon and eat until I burst. Minus the eating part. One good thing is after today, I will be halfway done. I cannot imagine doing this for 10 days.

7:00 pm: Watched Top Chef and it doesn’t even make me hungry. Weird.

10:00 pm: Went to bed with a splitting headache.

Cayanne, I Can

After eating way too much over the last few weeks with the excuse of "being on vacation" and always saying I will "exercise more when I get back", I have decided to try to purge my system for a few days. To do this, I am using the Master Cleanse method. This method uses a combination of water, lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. You make up this mix and drink it and lots of water for as many days as you want to cleanse. It is supposed to get rid of any toxins in your body and make you feel great. Most people do it for 10 days; some do it for as little as one; I am doing it for 4. The reason for this is that I have a concert to go to on Saturday and there is no way I am not eating/drinking that day! I am a little worried, as the hardest part supposedly is getting back INTO food (oh and the toilet issues, but for that you can read the Master Cleanse website)

So, today is day one. Here we go.

1 o’clock pm: So far, so good. I have not eaten all day, although I have had about 6 bottles of water and peed about 300 times. I am not too hungry, although I do miss putting food into my mouth. I went home for “lunch” (ie to watch Jeopardy) and walked by the Whole Hog BBQ place thinking, “Wow, I could eat a WHOLE hog!” Then while watching Jeopardy, there were two categories relating to food! Then as I was driving back, I couldn’t help but noticing billboards for McDonalds, people in the park eating sandwiches and the smell of tacos in the office as I walked back in. So, like I said, I am not very hungry, but I WANT FOOD! I have already started to try to think of things to do when I get off, in place of shopping, cooking and eating (it takes a lot of time!)

4 o’clock, normal snack time: NOW I am getting hungry. I have drunk another liter of water and a half a liter of spicy lemonade (which I actually like the taste of). I have gone pee about 5 times since 1 o’clock. I keep thinking about opening my desk drawer and eating a handful of nuts. Who would know? I kind of have a headache. My teeth feel fuzzy. I had planned on starting back up at the gym this week, but am going to postpone it because I wont have any food to give me energy. When I get off work I am going to do laundry, download pictures, take a bath, read, remake the beds and clean the bathroom and I will probably STILL have spare time.

4:12: Argh. The lady in the cubicle next to me just heated up rice and chicken and it smells delicious! I am starting to plan my meal for Saturday.

I (Still) Love New York

New York City: I never tire of it; it never gets old. There is something new around every bend, a new sight to see, a new neighborhood to explore, a new thing to do. Each time I go there, I do less cheesy touristy things and more everyday things -- my favorite thing to do is to just wander around aimlessly, finding something new and cool with each step forward. As a treat, we stayed at the Parker Le Meridien, which I can highly recommend to anyone who has 300 dollars a night to spend (or a butt load of points -- thanks to the four letter F word, that I will not mention here). It was awesome! And it is right in the middle of midtown, about 3 blocks from Central Park, which is one of my favorite places in Manhattan.
The view in the picture to the left is from out of the hallway window. I love the old rusty bay windows. Something about them just made me want to take a photo. This photo was taken with my phone AND through a dirty window, so its not the best photo ever, but I liked the idea of it.

The picture in the right is a Jewish deli that we went to (had seen it on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show:the Disappearing New York episode). It is called Russ and Daughters and its on Houston St and it's great! Note the "homemade pickled herring" sign. We had bagels with lox and cream cheese. We also had an egg cream, which Jim Dedes, who grew up in NYC, always raved about. It was so-so. It tasted like a melted fudgesicle with soda water mixed into it. It didn't have any ice. It was weird. I still prefer a nice iced mocha myself.

We also went to Chinatown, Wall St, The NYSE, Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge, The Museum of National History and more general wandering..... Like I said, there is never a shortage of things to do! We tend to eat a lot and WHILE eating, decide where we are going to go next to eat. It is fun, but bad for the bulge! And I dont know if walking around the museum counts as "exercise"!!!

Family Talent

My cousin Jon is a writer and was on NPR's Morning Edition regarding his new book. Listen to the story here. What talent!!! Good job Jon!

Red Dress Run

A few pics...I lost my camera yesterday BEFORE I got a chance to download...so all of these are from my, or my friend's phones....Sad but true... Enjoy!

Five Star Stay!

The Waldorf Astoria opened a new hotel in New Orleans this month. The Roosevelt Hotel, "Originally one of the South’s first grand hotels” underwent a $145 million restoration, which “has returned The Roosevelt to its place as the premier luxury hotel in New Orleans".

I didn’t really know the history of this hotel, so I decided to do a little research. Apparently, the hotel was built by Louis Grunewald, a German immigrant, and it opened as The Grunewald in 1893. In 1908, 400 rooms were added, and in 1923 it changed to the Roosevelt in honor of former president Theodore Roosevelt. It was the Roosevelt for 40 years before it was acquired by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in 1965. It remained The Fairmont until 2005, when it was damaged by the storm. And today, the Roosevelt returns. It just re-opened July 1st and as it is (re)new, they are having marvelous summer deals. And, thankfully for me, it is a Hilton partner, which means not only do I get to enjoy a beautiful hotel, but I get points for staying there! Double score. So I decided to go and check it out.

It’s very nice, all done up in gilt and brocade with wide hallways and high ceilings. The staff is nice but not snooty; the rooms are tastefully done and the towels are the softest I have ever used. There are a few kinks that they need to work out as a new hotel – there were still tags on some of the furnishings; the refrigerator still had it’s EnergyStar sticker on it; There is only one trash can and it was not in the bathroom. But the soap leaves you smelling like lemon all day long and the sheets make you want to skip work and sleep all day.

A few more interesting facts: A suite on the 12th floor of The Roosevelt was (corrupt?) Governor Huey P. Long’s residence when he was in Louisiana. When the hotel was The Grunewald, it was home to The Cave, which is considered by some to be the first nightclub in the United States. The Fairmont was known for the Sazerac Bar and the Sazerac Room for the finest dining. So yesterday, we went to find out if it lived up to its fame.

Firstly, Sazerac is a cocktail made from whisky, bitters and absinthe. It is purported to be the first cocktail in the United States (a lot of firsts here today!) We had to have one, since we were in the Sazerac Room. It tasted to me like slightly licorice-tasting whisky. Not too bad though. See below (taken from Wikipedia)

TypeCocktail
ServedStraight up; without ice
Standard garnishLemon peel
Standard drinkware
Old fashioned glass
Commonly used ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Sazerac Rye whiskey
Three dashes Peychaud's Bitters
One sugar cube or simple syrup
1/4 ounce Absinthe
Preparation
One old fashioned glass is packed with ice. In a second old fashioned glass, a sugar cube and 3 dashes of Peychaud's Bitters are muddled. The Rye Whiskey is then added to the sugar/Bitters mixture. The ice is emptied from the first old fashioned glass and the Absinthe is poured into the glass and swirled to coat the sides of the glass. Any excess Absinthe is discarded. The Rye-Sugar-Bitters mixture is then poured into the Absinthe coated glass and the glass is garnished with a lemon peel.
Notes
Originally, the Sazerac was made and served in an egg cup called a coquetier.

Next was dinner – we came for the Foie Gras and it did not disappoint. My second favorite was the surf and turf, which was cooked to perfection and flavored just enough. Dessert was bread pudding, which had fresh fruit and a little bit of vanilla ice cream. All in all, it was a wonderful dinner. The waiter was nice, not in your face, but there when you needed him. There was a live “band” (one man) which was pleasant and not too loud.

So, overall, the Roosevelt has it all – class, charm, history, nice sheets and great dessert to boot! Five stars really does mean five stars!

Kill The Wabbit

I went on an unofficial rabbit hunt, in order to stop the beasts from eating all the vegetables in the garden. With a 22, I shot a poor little rabbit. Then I skinned him from head to tail (it was easier than I thought it would be to take off the fur) and then....we ate him! Delicious! However, skinned rabbit smells like death; I don't really like it that much. But once cooked, all smells of death abate. Anyway, this is a photo of me and the poor headless, skinless bunny.