January 31, 2010

2010 - Day 31

Akeli chose revolutions as her birthday theme. I didn't get too into it, I don't do great with costumes. However, my very creative friends came as a vast array of different revolutions. Jean's costume was the best Revolution #9 from the white album. However, this picture is of me, Ivan and Rebecca, with Ivan trying to take a self photo of a group of people as well as Jean can do it.

January 30, 2010

2010 - Day 30

I decided that I was going to walk home from the West Side of town even though it was freezing out. As I was going through the park I was thrown off by the giant snow machines in the middle of the park. According to the sign they are for some kind of winter festival in the park, the people in the picture are on a ski lift? I don't really understand this, but I'm planning on getting to the bottom of it.

January 29, 2010

2010 - Day 29

Today was Miriam's last day as a receptionist at work. I bought her a chocolate moose and this is her enjoying it and waving goodbye.

January 28, 2010

2010 - Day 28

Agatha & Valentina is quite possibly the best grocery store of all time!! I always call it Agatha & Valencia , because I get it confused with the city in Spain. I don't know why that is, but whatever. It is set up in courses just like a meal and it is my favorite place and quite possibly the only place to buy basa fish, which is delicious.

January 27, 2010

2010 - Day 27

Occupational hazard I guess that so many things end up in my office, but I forgot about this crucifix and it startled me when I walked back into my office. By the end of the day, however, it had found its new home at a new Catholic School in Bushwick.

January 26, 2010

2010 - Day 26

It was Jean's golden birthday, so I trekked down to Brooklyn and bought an ice cream cake. Apparently, it was Jean's second ice cream cake of the day! We went to one of those really chill bars in Brooklyn, where people were sitting there reading a book and having a beer. While we sat in the front solving impossible math riddles, telling lame jokes and doing a celebratory shot of tequila. To each there own. Happy Birthday Jean!

January 25, 2010

2010 - Day 25

A picture of Monday dinner! The Monday dinner tradition is by far the best thing that ever came to pass. Tonight, Amanda tried to make her own dessert. She was inspired by a peach cobbler type thing. However, she thought that pears are a little more in season than peaches so she tried that instead. They turned out pretty good, and obviously we ate them. Tip for next time, I think that we might want to cook the pears for a little bit before adding the sugar. Regardless, it was another successful Monday dinner.

January 24, 2010

2010 - Day 24

I have no excuse for this photo, and that is the truth. The Dram Shop is an amazing place and a lot of more "photo worthy" things happened. However, at the end of 8 hours of watching glorious football (and the Vikings losing!) this was the best that I came up with. I hate this time of year, when I have to find new hobbies. A Sunday with only the Pro Bowl is going to be depressing!

January 23, 2010

2010 - Day 23

A friend of mine couldn't decide where she wanted to have her birthday, so she gave 3 choices and had people vote. However, she now really wants to do all three things, so I'm pretty sure that is absolutely going to happen. On Saturday, we sang Karaoke at a dive bar in Chinatown called "Winnie's" Here is Rebecca singing to the plant in the window, wrapped in aluminum foil. I sang some Spice Girls and it was good.

January 22, 2010

2010 - Day 22

Amanda and Jay have been told me about one of their favorite places, which is a total date place called Pata Negra on E. 12th Street. It is this great Spanish wine and tapas bar. They are now best friends with the waiter, Matao, who is awesome. We had some great wine and just about every type of Spanish "jamon" that there is, and had at least three course. Here is one of them. It was awesome.

January 21, 2010

2010 - Day 21

I met up with a few people for dinner at a little Venezuelan place on West 18th Street. They had arepas with just about every kind of filling which was amazing. I choose the chiquinquira which had guayanes cheese, avocado, and tomatoes. We also tried the Venezuelan beer which is called Polar and is pictured here.

January 20, 2010

2010 - Day Twenty

I got a dessert recipe of the month calendar from the Grammar School Christmas party. So I decided that I would get it started with the January cookie which is a ginger/molasses cookie with a chocolate candy.

January 19, 2010

2010 - Day Nineteen

When I opened the mail this evening, I had a letter from AirTran. I had a pretty horrible flight on January 4 getting back to New York, but apparently the free flight they said we had coming is actually going to be a reality. I'm pretty excited! Now I just need to decide where I want to go. Any suggestions?

January 18, 2010

2010 - Day Eighteen

We did not celebrate MLK Day at my job this year, so it was just another manic Monday for me. I even went to spin class after work, so I had to make Monday dinner in a bit of a hurry. Fortunately Jay and Amanda helped out. I didn't get a picture of our actual food, but we had chicken picatta and roasted potatoes both of which were delicious. Thanks to Kumi for the recommendation.

It was also exciting that 24 had returned, so Monday night dinner has gone back to its former glory where we eat way too much and then watch way too much tv. I can't think of a better way to get the week off on the right foot!

January 17, 2010

2010 - Day Seventeen

Brunch today unfortunately coincided with the start of the Cowboys/Vikings game. Obviously, I had to be a Cowboys fan because I do not cheer for my arch nemesis. Anyway, I talked the rest of the group into trying a bar around the corner so that we could have football and food. It was a cute place, but this picture of Tammy makes it seem like something a little nicer than it was.

January 16, 2010

2010 - Day Sixteen

One of my very favorite things to do in the city is discover new things, and when you live in a place like New York, you can never have seen everything. I heard that they had found an old slave cemetary in Lower Manhattan while doing new construction, and I really wanted to go and see it. Turns out this happened over a decade ago and now it is just a museum that closes at 4 PM. However, there was this exterior monument, and I was convinced that if I could just look in the pit that they would have preserved some of the bones the way they found them. Unfortnately, this was not the case, instead it was simply a triangular structure with a map of the triangular trade in the pit. It still turned out to be a cool picture though.

January 15, 2010

2010 - Day Fifteen

This is a super lame picture for what was actually a really nice day. I had a good day at work and then a nice dinner at Cilantro which is one of my favorite restaurants. Apparently, I was too busy to take a picture of anything besides the exit sign on my way home however.

January 14, 2010

2010 - Day Fourteen

Erin, who I work with had a birthday yesterday, so I went to meet up with her and some of her friends last night. We went to this Irish Pub in Union Square and it was a lot of fun. I think I might have to try that place again.

January 13, 2010

2010 - Day Thirteen

I spent the entire night on the phone catching up with people who I'd been playing phone tag with. This is what I learned. Amber's new phone tells her the time of dusk and she had to go while she had 26 minutes left of daylight. Angela's birthday is Friday, January 15, not January 13, which also happens to Martin Luther King Jr.'s actual birthday. Kacie just got back from Florida where her great grandmother just moved to an assisted living center where she can play bingo. Wendy is actually going to get a promotion and raise at her job this year, but apparently she'll have to take a test. And finally, Elle is settling in Busan, South Korea from which you can apparently take a ferry to Japan!

January 12, 2010

2010 - Day Twelve

Katie and I met for dinner at the Bowery Wine Bar in the East Village. It was a lot of fun as always. The reason I chose this place is because they had an awesome appetizer that had hummus, guacamole and salsa. I am pretty to please obviously.

January 11, 2010

2010 - Day Eleven

MONDAY DINNER!! Amanda cooked dinner tonight and we had tilapia, wild rice, tomato, asparagus and a little wine. And don't forget the bread and butter. It was a success.

January 10, 2010

2010 - Day 10

Whoa, what a day! I was in Brooklyn from 11 AM - 11 PM. It turned out to be a great day though. Despite the fact that my Packers lost, even after they rallied to tie the score at 45-45 and the Cardinals missed a giveme field goal. We ended up fumbling in overtime. It was tragic. However, I was consoled by going over to Tammy and Eric's for dinner. They even waited until 8:30 PM to get to eat with Karen and me. What a day!

January 9, 2010

2010 - Day Nine

My aunt, Dorothy, sent me an e-mail asking if I had seen the billboard of President Obama that was printed in Times Square without his permission. Thinking about it I couldn't even remember the last time that I had been to Time Square for anything. So I made a pit stop in Time Square while running errands and took this picture of the controversial billboard.

January 8, 2010

2010 - Day Eight

This is my favorite street on my way back from work every day. They have all the trees wrapped up in Christmas lights and it seems just like a canopy. When I took the picture the woman walking next to me told me that she always chooses to walk home on this street as well. She also told me that last year only half of the trees were lit because of an electrical problem. Who knew?

January 7, 2010

2010 - Day Seven

It is beginning to look a lot less like Christmas. However, the trees on Park Avenue are all still lit and they look beautiful. Especially since I actually got out of work at 5 PM today and did not have to walk to whole way home in pitch darkness.

January 6, 2010

2010 - Day Six

About a year and a half ago, I joined a Book Club with my friend Kumi. It has become something that I look forward to monthly. I have made some great friends and it is always a guarenteed good time. This month, we read South of Broad by Pat Conroy. We all really enjoyed the book, but it is a little out there. Way too many storylines. We all agreed that if we had it to do over we would have meet once a week this month instead, and discussed each section of the book. Here's my book club with some new friends at a karaoke bar!

January 5, 2010

2010 - Day Five

So in order to celebrate the last day of the Big Ten Football season Akeli came over to watch the Orange Bowl. We decide that we were going to have everything bagel sandwiches and chips. The chips didn't make it too far and this is Akeli being sad about it.

I did not make it through the whole football game, but I did realize Iowa had won when I saw the I-O-W-A text from my friend, Dana this morning. You just have to love those Hawkeyes!

January 4, 2010

2010 - Day Four

Monday Night Football is over unfortunately. Oh well, it is the first night of the Bachlor. Flash back to last season, when Mr. Nice Guy says, "My whole life, everyone has thought that I was too perfect." It was just one of those cheesy lines that has kept me coming back, season after season. Amanda is addicted too, even if it is only to making snyde comments at it.

January 3, 2010

2010 - Day Three

Oh the snuggie. We all got one for Christmas and mine was a Packer one. Here I am with the Packer game in the background. Unfortunately, after the game, I had to take the trip from hell back to New York. We were suppose to leave at 6:50 PM, but we didn't leave Milwaukee until 12 AM.

January 2, 2010

2010 - Day Two

Unfortunately the holidays are over and it is back to the real world. Chelsea starts class again on Monday in Kansas City. Nicki went with her for the 9 hour drive back. So we all went to Panera for breakfast this morning as our last family outing, before they hit the road.

January 1, 2010

2010 - Day One

We've arrived in the next decade, and as promised I am reviving the picture a day blog! In the year 2009, I went to a bunch of weddings, 2 football games, and two 21st birthday parties. However, I was still able to save a week of my vacation time at work, which I used to take the last week off. It has been glorious doing nothing. I capped off my vacation days with a trip down to Chicago to visit my friend, Jeet. Here we are ringing in the New Year Chicago style. Happy New Year!