Today I ate lunch at a little place called Stanley in New Orleans. I was by myself so I was chatting with the counter server when a waitress comes over and tells him John Krasinski was sitting in the corner. So he finds him and we take a quick peek and sure enough, there was The Office's own Jim Halpert. So when I was done I went outside and sat in the square and when he and his friend came out I snapped a quick pick. For a second I considered running over and asking for a picture but my fear of being seen as annoying and stalker like paralyzed me. So I settled for a sighting instead of a meeting. He is very tall and had his baseball hat on. 

I will be posting more on the rest of my New Orleans trip later. G should be back soon and we're going on the Scandalous Cocktail Hour tour.

Things I learned from my mother...

There are a lot of things about my life, personality, looks that I can attribute to my mother. I'd like to take a moment to lay them out...

• Blue eyes and bad eyesight... which I can really thank both my parent for.
• A slight to moderate obsessive-controlling nature when it comes to cleaning
• A moderate to high controlling nature about most things in my life
• An undefined jawline that I am super paranoid about
• High cheekbones
• A tendency to read magazines backwards
• A love of folk music, good books, and liberal politics
• Not being able to deal with loud noises or loud kids that I do not personally have a relationship with and love
• Wanting my animal, dog or cat, to be super snuggley
• A fear of doctors and dentists
• Good budgeting and buying skills. Sounds like it should conflict itself, but so far we're doing well
• Hating projects that don't get finished
• Always making sure, no matter what mood I am in, that those I love are well aware of it

Happy Friday all!

A heart that burns

I know what you're thinking, two posts in two days? (Three if you count the weird one about Lynne that may be as fake as Benny's post.) But I wanted to share a picture from a very good meal I had last night that turned very evil later on. G and I went out to dinner with our $100 gift card in hand, prepared to make this meal awesome. We each had our own 3 course meal. I had mussels in a garlic and white wine sauce for my appetizer, shrimp oreganata over angel hair pasta for dinner, and their dessert special, zeppole (see picture).

Everything was so good, I didn't even have left overs. I had prepared that day by not eating too much. I had an egg sandwich, a chai, and a Special K bar (if you have not discovered the joys of Special K chocolatey pretzel bars, then you are missing out in life my friend). After the meal I did not feel my usual roll me home, I'm so over indulgent and fat self. I felt ok. We got home, went to bed and I was happy.

Until 2am rolls around and I get heartburn like I've never had before... literally. I've never had heartburn before. Heartburn and indigestion. Four tums, two swings of pepto, and an hour later I was finally able to get back to sleep. First of all, I am just grateful we even had those things in the house. And for the husband who woke up to go get them for me. And for Benny who slept on his doggie bed while I tossed and turned.

Is this what adulthood is like? Feeling like your heart and esophagus are fighting to break free by using a flame thrower to make their way out? Because if so, I'm ready to go back to the days of high school where I could eat whatever I wanted and my metabolism and young body took care of the rest. The good thing about adulthood though? Getting a giant bowl of zeppole (note that one zeppole is called zeppola! Thanks wikipedia!) for dessert and no one saying, haven't you had enough sugar? Except maybe my husband, with his eyes.

I wonder who wrote this post....

Sometimes I think to myself, “I wonder what it would be like to work in a museum.” Would it be a fun action filled Night at the Museum? Or like falling asleep in College to the soft dry lullaby of monotone American History lectures?

Early last week I visited Lynne in New Jersey and shadowed her as part of a month-long community outreach program that invites local school children, college students, and admission counselors from Long Island to realize their dream of going behind the scenes at a Museum.

We spent most of the day sitting at her desk talking to her friends on gchat, researching the origins of expressions like “mumbo jumbo”, and walking to the State House to get coffee.

One interesting part of the day was when she gave me a guided tour of the newest exhibit at the museum. The exhibit tells the story of child labor through the photographs of Lewis Hine. Here, in this photograph, you can see Lynne delivering a lecture on the process of researching and developing exhibition content and the aesthetics of exhibit layout.

Later she was called down to the lobby to greet a man dressed in black who was walking through the double doors of the main entrance holding a shovel with something curled up and furry on it. It turned out to be a dead fox. A man brought a dead fox to the museum to be stuffed and mounted for an upcoming exhibit on the indigenous creatures that have lived/currently live in New Jersey.

What an exciting day! I was given an opportunity to interview her to ask many pointed questions such as:

What made you interested in a museum career? Her answer? :: "the glory".

What role should an arts and cultural institution such as a museum play in the surrounding community? She didn’t give me a straight answer to this question. She just looked blankly at me, uncomfortably fidgeted with her cell phone, and then said “hey, remember that dead fox we saw before?”

When did the New Jersey State Museum open? Her answer?:: "In the early spring of 1653."

Tell me about your ideal job? Her answer? :: "In a perfect world I would get paid to travel across the United States stopping at thrift stores and flea markets collecting other people’s old crap. And then I’d write a book about it. Or wait, did you mean in the museum field?"

My Dumb Life

I know I don't post here very often because I don't think I have very interesting things going on in my life. For example, last week one of my highlights was getting the socks I ordered from Kohls.com and getting to wear socks that didn't have holes in them because my dog stole my sock from me one day. Should I probably not wear socks after my dog bit it enough to make a small hole in the bottom that is only getting bigger? Probably, because it's kind of gross and weird, but I have a slight obsession with knee high socks in the winter. So I bought more from Kohl's with my gift card, 20% off coupon, and points I received from MyPoints. And that's all I bought, trouser socks and knee high socks. I'm that awesome. It probably stems from my treks through the cold, mean streets of NYC. Back in the days of one hour commutes on subways, buses, and walking I would wear tights or leggings and knee high socks under my business pants with a tank top under my sweater under my sweatshirt under my jacket, and of course the gloves, scarf and hats to keep everything else warm. And I was still freezing. I do not miss that commute. Or frankly that company. I do not miss leaving my apartment at 7am to get to the office by 8am and working straight to 5 or 6 pm with no lunch. I do miss the C's (Casey, Caroline, and Carrie) and Astoria and being able to go back to an apartment after a concert or party instead of a long ass train ride back home. But the pros of my life quite outweigh the cons. Who wouldn't love a house, a husband I wouldn't give up for the world, a job where I can grow and incorporate what I love about social networking marketing, a driveway (oh how I love having secure parking right by my front door), and my dopey, adorable pup! How did I get from socks to this? No idea. Enjoy this picture of Benny!!

Things I have learned I have been missing all my life:

• DVR: Wow, thank you G for this amazing integration into my life, which now consists of sitting in the corner of our wonderful sectional and watching the Daily Show, Modern Family, HIMYM, and SNL in my downtime
• Netflix: Wow, as if DVR didn't keep me glued to the boob-tube during the cold days, this certainly does. All of LOST on whenever I want to watch? Yes please!
• HDTV: Yes, ok, I understand the first things I talk about revolve around tv, but I lived with no cable and a tv that had a vcr built into it for 3 years so all this seems amazing during the winter months when all I want to do is relax in front of a warm flat screen.
• King size bed: I don't think this needs further explanation. I love to stretch out and when you share a bed with a husband and a dog, it goes from a want to a necessity.
• Counter space: Ok, so I have only been missing this since I lived on my own, but you don't realize how wonderful it is to have more than 1 square foot until that is all you have.
• Heels: I could not walk to work and walk around the concrete flooring in my office in NYC in shoes with any kind of heel and flats would crumble into brown nothingness walking around, so when I started living on LI and driving to work I realized that I could be wearing cute shoes again! My husband can attest to how overboard I have gotten, but it brings me joy to hear those wonderful words: "I love your shoes!"
• Hugs: When he gets home, when I wake up, watching tv, I didn't know how hug deprived I was until I started getting them all the time. I am a full blown addict now. I have come to terms with this and I am ok with it.
  

I could continue, but I will try to post more about random things. Tonight the husband and I are going out to dinner. Maybe I will post about my food. And in two weeks we are heading to New Orleans and in a month and a half I am going on to visit my sisters in New Mexico and Washington. So stay tuned.

Benny the Blogger

This is Benny the Dog, guest blogging here. You may have heard some stories about me and I'm here to tell you they are simply not true. I am not the cute and cuddly pup that the humans would have you believe. I am in fact, a secret agent. I work undercover as the Snugger. This is the cover I use to find the infamous cat simply known as "The Stray". The Stray has been know to use my human's backyard as her own personal litter box and walk all over like she owns the place. I am here to capture and bring her in. She has elluded me so far however. I believe she has an accomplice. We call this one, The Cow. I am restricted by my alias life because the humans have fenced me in or leashed me. But I have seen and had brief contact with these two ellusive pussies. And you can make my words, I will take them down.

I have commandeered the lady human's machine to get this message out to all of you. If you see the Stray or the Cow, remember they are foe, not friends. Any help you can give me to helping me track these bitches down would be helpful. Oh, got to go, I think they said the word "treat"...

Couch and Pancakes

Yesterday, one year after we moved the couches into the house via the family room window, G's friends were back to help us move them out last night to make room for the new sectional we got today. Along with pizza and beer, we celebrated one year in our house by acting very similar to the first day in the house. Moving stuff around then eating.

But nooooow.... the NEW SECTIONAL IS HERE! They showed up at 7:40 to deliver the couch that was coming between 8:09am and 11:09am. Well better early than late.

Speaking of late, this weekend our Thank Yous WILL get out... new couch, lend me your powers!

Monday is pancake day. Not like National Pancake Day or anything stupid like that. No this is pancake day done right. My friends and I are driving from all over to Ridgewood, NJ to get basically the most awesome pancakes. Will they be able to fit all of us in a timely fashion? Will the pancakes be as good as we're building them up to be? Who knows, but we're driving an hour and a half to get there, so I am hoping for the best.

Here is the menu... enjoy being jealous.