Half Court Tennis

Everyone knows I love to play tennis. I already am commandeering my family to play massive amounts with me when I go visit at the end of the month. So it was with excitement and a sense of awe that I read about two fantastic players doing something I had never seen before in the tennis world.

Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal played an exhibition match on a tennis court that had 1/2 grass and 1/2 clay.
The court was made in Palma del Mallorca and cost $1.63 million to produce. Now there are a lot better things I think $1.63 million could be spent on; but, then again I was thrilled about this match between the best grass player in the world versus the best clay player in the world. In the end it was the clay wizard Nadal who beat the grass fiend Federer. I'm sure both of these fantastic players were ecstatic to try their skills on a court that would force them to change their shoes at regular intervals. Congrats to Nadal for beating Federer once again. He needs to teach his tricks to Andy Roddick so a return to American Male dominance can come back into the professional tennis world.

If only I had the cash to fly to the small island off of Spain to witness the "Battle of the Surfaces" in the flesh. Alas, I will just have to wait a few more months before I spend as much time as possible at the US Open 2007 in Flushing, Queens.

Thank you Ben & Jerry's

Today is a special day. Today is a day anticipated for quite some time. Today the moment of bliss occured. Today...I bought a pint of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream ice cream by Ben & Jerry's. The wait for this decadent smooth & creamy concoction is finally over. Well, it's almost over...

I vowed to share the goodness of Americone Dream with my long suffering ice cream deprived friend Claire. She earned the right to enjoy the sound of the pint top lid being released and the first gaze upon the caramel swirly goodness of vanilla ice cream with chocolate covered waffle bits. Lucky for me, I only have to wait until next weekend to end the salivatory glands overdrive. We are going to enjoy a day of beauty capped off with our silver spoons dipping into the cardboard container of ice cream.

Thank you Rockefeller Center Ben & Jerry's for having one last pint available for me to purchase for a steal of a price at $5.50. Obviously, my call to arms to bring this flavor to the Eastern States was heeded by the higher ups at Ben & Jerry's. However, my purchase today doesn't let my brother Coyote off the hook from purchasing multiple pints from Albertson's for my triumphant return to the home of my Joani.

Annual Conservatory Garden Trek

The annual trek to the Conservatory Garden in Central Park occured today. Flowers, trees and watery fountains were in full bloom. I truly feel like this day is the beginning and in a way, the end of spring. I love Conservatory Garden trek day. Here are some shots from the Garden.

Back in the Waldorf Nest

Our embattled leader, George W. Bush has flown back to the Waldorf Astoria nest. Luckily it has been a good six months since his last visit. Those months off have allowed me to be less annoyed, resentful and irritated by the current barricades, guard dogs, passive cops chatting and change to my commuting course. Luckily this visit is extremely short. I believe the eagle leaves after one short nignt in the Waldorf nest. Thankfully he didn't bring a couple hundred U.N. leaders and dignitaries with him this time.

In all honesty, this latest visit will prompt me to walk home today to enjoy the warm sunshine and spring flowers along Park Avenue.

It's Spring!

Finally, it's spring! It began on Friday and continued through the whole weekend. It has been months and months since New York saw a string of 60/70 degree weather. The gorgeouse weather made it imperative that I be outside as long as possible. I dusted off my Reef flip flops and took to the park of New York with Netter and Dancing Queen. It was a fantastic weekend in the springtime sunshine.

Bedroom Redecoration

I made another step up on the "I'm an adult" ladder. I purchased a bedroom set all my own. Finally I don't own other people's castoffs; instead I bribed my buddy Netter to put together three pieces of furniture until 2:00am. The end result was a bedroom of shiny happy yellow walls with bright clean white furniture. My bedroom is just a happy place which fits me to a 'T'.

I "Heart" Shoes

My need to possess cute shoes has reached code red status. Another box found it's way to me at work full of three boxes of very cute shoes. Shoes to be worn in the sunshine that is coming New York's way. Now all I need is someone to work on my feet to make them exfoliated, moisturized and painted with a pretty red color.

MetroCard Disappearing Act

After arriving at the subway yesterday in the pouring rain I reached for my MetroCard only to discover I did not have it. This wouldn't be the end of the world but my MetroCard and my office building pass were together meaning it would have been a pain not to have my pass. Also I enjoyed a great meal with Supplier at Chennai Garden meaning multiple trips on NY's mass transit system. With all that bearing on my mind, I made the decision to leave the shelter from the rain and trek back to my apartment.

At the end of my delicious meal with Supplier at Chennai Garden on 27th street I realized that I didn't have my building pass/MetroCard combo. I was dumbfounded, stupified and perplexed to realized that I had left it in the office. About mid-afternoon I put on my in-office blazer because of a chill in the air. Of course I put my building pass/MetroCard combo in the pocket as I meandered around the office floor. Being a ding-dong I forgot to take it from the blazer pocket to my purse. So I was forced to purchase a $4 MetroCard at Grand Central to get me home and to work the next day.

The moral of the story is to keep tabs on your wallet, cell phone, iPod and MetroCard/building pass because the loss of one or all could cause personal meltdown.

My Search for the Americone Dream

Ben & Jerry have made my little heart flutter. Not only do they make excellently smooth and creamy ice cream but now they have devoted an entire flavor to one of the funniest and truthiest guys around, Stephen Colbert. They named the flavor Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream and it is filled with chocolate covered waffle bits and caramel. Be still my beating heart!

The announcement about this new ice cream goodness was made some time ago; yet, I have not seen a glorious pint in the flesh! I have it confirmed by my good friend Shopping Queen that they exist in the world; but have yet to wrap my hands around the cold cardboard container with Stephen's face on it. Luckily the people who run the website for Ben & Jerry have a trusty tool called the "flavor locator" that allows you to locate a flavor via zip code. I tried this life saving tool and came to find out that there is no store within the five boroughs of New York that have this flavor in their freezer stock. I even looked for my friend Claire in Connecticut and they don't have it within a 50 mile radius of her home. Why are Ben & Jerry trying to punish the Eastern Seaboard? Those who live in the West seemed to find it in ample supply. Why can't I get some when the big Ben & Jerry factory is in VERMONT?!?

I asked my friends and neighbors to join me in a crusade to receive this Americone treat in our homes on the East. The punishment must end as we did nothing to deserve it but take our unsuspecting tourist friends on a 5 hour car trip to Burlington, Vermont just so they can watch a movie about the birth of the great ice cream empire known as Ben & Jerry's.

My Easter Weekend

Regardless of the massive headache of traveling from JFK, I had a great time heading to a land far away to visit Big Lug, Liver and their offspring. We cruised the city, did some shopping and enjoyed the Easter egg hunt at Church. Mostly we spent time eating and taking pictures. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for putting me up for the weekend. I had a great time!

Stupid Sheer Shirts

I'm annoyed. I mean really annoyed. It's the kind of annoyed that I can't do anything about because I have no control over my annoyance. The instigation of my annoyance is my quest for a short sleeve brown shirt. My visit to Ann Taylor Loft at lunch was the final straw. It sent my irritation over the edge. Every blasted store is selling shirts that are sheer. It is virtually impossible to find a short sleeved shirt that doesn't have a plunging neckline or is see through. Eerrr!

Drainage

New York City drainage is always an interesting experience. The bathroom in my apartment has a lovely metal tube coming from the floor which acts as the drain. There is no nifty knob underneath the tub spicket. Yesterday my drain wasn't working and I was beyond worried that I had damaged the pipes because of my recent Drano Max Gel usage. Luckily for me it was only the metal stopper on my drain had become unlatched from the drain. A quick and easy fix to alay my fears.

Since moving to the city I have found I am quite the fixer-upper. Maybe not to the level of my sis-in-law Liver but I'm learning...and as G.I. Joe says, "learning is half the battle."

Trivializing the Sacred

Some people just think it's so funny to mock cultures or religions they don't understand. It kind of drives me crazy when people take something that is sacred to a group of people and trivialize it. The latest case in point.

Ed in the Flesh

This one's for you Doc...meet Ed in the flesh.

My Red Coat

Today while walking to work I noticed that I was in a pack of people all wearing black coats. I of course opted for the red coat this morning. It was kind of startling to realize that I was the only non-black clad person walking along Park Avenue this morning. Gotta love my colorful coats. Friends and family can always spot me in a crowd.

Another Great Debate

Last night I had dinner with the soon-to-be Mrs. Breezy as well as her boss and friend. We went to Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man in Union Square. The food was good and company excellent. One of Mrs. Breezy's friends is heading to Europe for his first excursion and asked me which city he should grace with his presence - Budapest or Prague. I was at a lost for words because I loved and adored both cities but for vastly different reasons. This question triggered a great debate in my mind of where to send this Europe-virgin.


BUDAPEST




The city had gorgeous architecture, savory food and plenty of personality. It was also very affordable to the traveler. My favorite thing about Budapest was walking across the chain bridge and taking a Segway tour of the city.



PRAGUE

The Paris of the East certainly lived up to its name and became a mecca for garnets, amber and amazing crystal. All of our meals were amazing and the view from Petrin Hill was breathtaking especially at dusk. Bridges, spires, and cobblestone streets make this a "must" on any Europe excursion.

Loving these cities equally but for different reasons made it difficult to choose one to tell my new Dr. friend which one to add to his itinerary. I did ultimately advise him of which one I would return to sooner than the other. But I'm going to keep my selection to myself.

Anyone who has been to both cities please weigh in on your favorite.

The Announcements

While at BYU in the Provo Bubble I received countless wedding invitations/announcements. My fridge was always covered with pictures, generally in a sepia tone, announcements printed on the same style invitation and inserts telling me where I could purchase the happy couple a gift. For the most part I kept each and every wedding invitation I received from 1997-2002 because I could map my life based on whose announcement I had. Then the great wedding destruction happened in 2003 when I decided to rid myself of sentimentality...I torched the box of weddings. Maybe it wasn't so much the need to become a hardened character but the pressing need of storage space in the garage for Joani. Never since have I wished I could pull out a wedding invitation and reiminsce.

Now a new era has begun. For the first time in about 4 years, I have not one, not two, but THREE wedding announcements on my fridge. Last night I was comparing my reaction when I opened the double envelopes in college to now. My first thought is that I am more than willing to purchase a gift since I can afford it as a professional so it paid to wait for marriage until I could get you something from your registry that was over the $40 range. The second thought was that I am no longer envious of the marital happiness staring at me each time I reach for a carrot stick. Now I can say with absolute sincerity that I am truly happy for Amanda & Tyson, Michelle & Mat and Jina & Breezy. You have each earned the right to a nice little present from me to celebrate your joy. Best wishes!

I'd Like to Introduce...Ed

I have a new member of my electronics family...his name is Ed. He is a 40" LCD HDTV made possible by Sony. I was able to bring him home to my humble abode on Friday, March 9th. For the last year I have salivated over this purchase and finally Best Buy sent me a coupon that allowed me to bring Ed home. I'm sure my life will never be the same. Thank goodness!

It's Game Time!

Sunday night was the first installment of game night with Netter, CA Lady and Artiste. After a fabulous meal of Hawaiian haystacks prepared by CA Lady, it was game time! The game of choice was Settlers since Artiste and Netter were beginners. It gave CA Lady and I a huge advantage. After a brief review of the rules it was on! In the end, I was victorious because of my intelligence, strategy, perserverence and ability to trade with my opponents!

Ice Skating in the Park

Saturday was a gorgeous day in New York and made even better because Claire came to play in the city. We opted to brunch at Yura & Co. and then headed to the park for some ice skating at the Wollman Rink. When we got to the rink I came to a sad realization...Wollman is a cash only rink. Remember all those who want to skate to bring the bills because no plastic is accepted. Claire and I hoofed it to an ATM and then returned for some 20 minutes of skating before the Zamboni. Luckily we got another 40 minutes of skating on clean, pristine ice. Claire was a pro skater whilst I had a slight misstep that resulted in hitting the ice. After the skating Netter joined us for a cheeseburger, fries and soda at the Burger Joint. It was a great time hanging with friends and doing something outdoors in the winter. Now that the winter activity is done, I'm ready for spring. :)