February 28, 2010

2010 - Day 59

This is a picture of an empty cup of hot chocolate at an adorable chocolate cafe. This post, however, is about The Hurt Locker. It is a not so secret ambition of mine to one day be a member of the Academy. Until they magically invite me to join, I have been seeing all of the best picture Oscar nominated movies on my own. I was really excited about The Hurt Locker which I thought had a good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Picture. I like war movies, and think hopefully in 20 years this movie about the Iraq War will be fascinating look at who we were. However, it was a little too much for me. I am unresolved in my feelings about war in general and the wars we are currently involved in specifically. It really struck me how the movie did not give a single redeeming purpose for the Iraq War. I spent 2 hours and 10 minutes in complete anxiety, clenching my jaw and hoping everyone didn't blow up. Not exactly what I look for in a Best Picture, but it was different and it was fascinating, and it was really hard to remember that you were not watching a documentary. I guess we'll have to wait until next Sunday to see what the rest of the Academy thought!

February 27, 2010

2010 - Day 58

Oh Saturday, my nemesis. I always have such goals of productivity, and it never seems to happen, instead my to-do list just gets longer. This Saturday, I had some quality time with my roommate and my couch. Amanda made an egg in a hole which is something she had been dying to try. It turned out rather picturesque I would say!

February 26, 2010

2010 - Day 57

After a catch up day at work, since it was quiet with all of the snow. I headed down to meet some friends for Happy Hour. On our way home Akeli, Mike and I told the cab to stop at Bryant Park. It was nice to take a minute to actually enjoy the snow!

February 25, 2010

2010 - Day 56

I wanted to take a picture last night to show the huge snow flakes that were coming down and making even larger puddles. However, I think that showing Thursday night and Friday morning makes the snow much more dramatic. I was really surprised that school was cancelled again, until I walked outside. Yikes!

February 24, 2010

2010 - Day 55

I was planning on taking a better picture today, but that didn't happen. So here is a picture of the boiler that was fixed at work today. Believe it or not, two people climbed inside this door to fix the cement plate at the back of the boiler. It is an adventure for me just to climb down to the boilers, so going inside them seems just plain crazy. (Also shout out to Nicki and Chelsea, Naldo borrowed my camera to take this picture and he thinks the two of you are beautiful!)

February 23, 2010

2010 - Day 54

If you worked with me or were my roommate you too could be enjoying the benefits of the dessert of the month calendar. This month we enjoyed a Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. It did not quite turn out like the picture because I do not have a spring form pan. It doesn't matter though, because it still turned out fabulous. I think the best part of making these desserts by far is getting to learn and practice new cooking techniques. I'm having fun with it anyway.

February 22, 2010

2010 - Day 53

For dinner this Monday, we had some delicious pork chops. Amanda used panko bread crumbs, and a mustard based sauce and it was all really delicious. We also had great mashed potatoes (thanks mom for the potato masher) and green beans. Jay also got to relive some of the Olympics coverage from Sunday, because I as usual was a little behind.

February 21, 2010

Day 52 - February 21, 2010

Nice!! Karen pointed this sign out on our way from brunch today. We went to this bar a month ago for $2.50 mugs and football playoffs. Some how Women's Curling doesn't quite have the same draw for me, but to each their own. I also love that you can see my shadow so clearly in this picture as well. If I was a real photographer I think that this could have been even more awesome.

February 20, 2010

2010 - Day 51

Today was a lot of fun. I had plans to do all of these productive things. I did get up early and went to tutoring, but then I took a nap and watched 5 hours of the Olympics. This was followed up by dinner and hanging out with Amanda and Jen. It turned out to be a really fun night. Now that 50 days of this year have passed, I didn't think a picture of people would be interesting. So here is our attempt at an artsy photo in a dive bar. How did I do?

February 19, 2010

2010 - Day 50

I had made plans to meet up with my friends Jean and Andrew for happy hour. However, there was a big work emergency and I ended up making them wait for over an hour, after they had already come all the way up to my neighborhood. But they were awesome about it, they even had a margarita on the table waiting for me when I got there. This picture is my napkin writing of what happened, so that I had some notes to refer back to in writing the insurance claim. Phew!

February 18, 2010

2010 - Day 49

My parents commented that there is an awful lot of food on my blog. That is very true, because when you are taking a picture a day for a year, friends start to object to being photographed. Especially on a Thursday, when you are feeling like crap. Poor Rebecca had to have surgery for her foot injury. So tonight, Akeli and I tried to make it a little bit better by making dinner for her and her mom. Here are the remains of our fajita dinner.

February 17, 2010

2010 - Day 48

This is the cheesiest picture EVER, but Amanda thought that it was cute, so I'll agree. This week has been crazy at work with Lent beginning and everything. But I decided to stay for the Ash Wednesday Mass still, so here I am with my ashes.

February 16, 2010

2010 - Day 47

Due to President's Day weekend we had Monday dinner on Tuesday instead. I made stuffed shells from Emerald's recipe. I even made the sauce myself, which my mom thought was a little unnecessary (she is probably right!) The recipe made so many shells I had to use two pans, and have enough to eat the rest of the week. Still they were delicious! Also between Lost and the Olympics, Tuesday was a great tv vegging night this week as well.

February 15, 2010

2010 - Day 46

Fortunately this glorious Monday, I had the day off for President's Day. Kumi, Abby and I decided to get brunch, before I headed back to New York. We had meet up with Abby in Cambridge, but it turned out that we couldn't find any place with good breakfast food. Therefore, Kumi lead us to this adorable restaurant called the Breakfast Club. I learned that Kumi's dream man would be a short order cook, who knew? It was a nice end to a good weekend. I certainly feel that I have a lot more to see in Boston, and I'll have to make another trip there soon.

February 14, 2010

2010 - Day 45

Here are two photos from my day walking around Boston. The one on the left is a picture from the Boston Commons, and people walking around on the ice. This is the one that Kumi liked the best, because she thought it was the most unique of the pictures that I took. The photo on the right is a view of the Holocaust Monument in Boston. There were six glass columns representing the six concentration camps were people were gassed. Etched in the glass were the 7 digit numbers given to the many people killed at that camp. I thought it was a very powerful image and something that I had not seen done before.

February 13, 2010

2010 - Day 44

I finally made it to Boston!!! I came to visit Kumi who is attending grad school at BU. When my bus arrived I went to meet Kumi at work. She is working with a boy with autism in a suburb of Boston. Their dog, Jennie, was quite possibly the cutest dog ever. Super friendly.

February 12, 2010

2010 - Day 43

Amanda's mom came to visit this weekend. It was wonderful to finally meet her. Amanda's brother Jake was here as well. So we all went to Ssam for dinner. It was delicious. Then we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

February 11, 2010

2010 - Day 42

Tonight I worked late and attended a lecture about Women in the Catholic Church after Vatican II. Most of the people there were a generation or two older than me and it was quite interesting to hear their impassioned responses to what the role of women should be in the Catholic Church. When I told my mom that this lecture was on my agenda for the week, she said that she was glad that I went to lectures. Honestly, I believe we all have so much to learn from eachother and this is just one way to get a broader perspective in life.

February 10, 2010

2010 - Day 41

It was predicted that we would get a foot of snow in New York City today, so everyone panicked and schools were closed. As it was, it was pretty beautiful on the way to work, and annoying on the way home. This picture turned out great (from the morning) before I was annoyed that I was one of the few people stuck at work on a citywide snow day.

February 9, 2010

2010 - Day 40

This is Omyara who I work with. Her birthday is February 10th so we went out for lunch today to celebrate. Here she is with her chicken quesadilla. I had fish and chips (English style) they are horrible for me, but they were delicious.

February 8, 2010

2010 - Day 39


For dinner this week, Amanda made an amazing pork tenderloin stir fry with bok choy and tangerine. It ended up being a little spicier than anticipated, but still delicious! We actually had leftovers for lunch this week too.

February 7, 2010

2010 - Day 38

Super Bowl Sunday, the best and worst day of the year. It is a great excuse to eat amazing spinach dip, buffalo dip and brownies. It is also a lot of fun to see the two best teams compete in a great game, which certainly happened yesterday. However, it is the worst because it means football season is over for 6 MONTHS! It also stinks when the team you're rooting for loses, because Peyton Manning fell apart in the end. Oh well, I still got to wear my jersey that Kacie and Janelle gave me years ago!


Also I have to say my favorite commercial was the Hyudai's Brett Favre commercial I mean come on that was amazing! "I may think about retiring, I don't know maybe . . ."

February 6, 2010

2010 - Day 37

At some point I may not look forward to birthdays so much. For now, they are a pretty great excuse to try a new bar. For Jay's birthday this weekend, we went to Fontanas which is a bar in Chinatown. It was supposedly less well known, although it turned out to be pretty packed! At some point there were even balloon creations. Here are Amanda and Stu sporting them.

February 5, 2010

2010 - Day 36

Poor Rebecca! She tripped in her apartment and ended up with a twisted ankle and a broken foot. So I went over to her apartment on Friday for a movie night with her and Akeli. We watched Zoolander and ate the food from her sympathy basket. I hope 2010 gets better for Rebecca soon.

February 4, 2010

2010 - Day 35

After a pretty busy week, by today, I wasn't really up for anything. I caught up on a few phone calls and watched the Bachelor on my DVR. Pretty pathetic. I thought the fact that I still haven't finished dishes from Monday Dinner exemplified my laziness this evening. I think the size of my dish rack also explains the dilemma!

February 3, 2010

2010 - Day 34

For book club this month, we read New World Monkeys by Nancy Mauro. In a first for our book club, Nancy came to discuss the book with us. It was very interesting getting the perspective of the person that wrote the book in our discussion. It was also really fun to learn about all of the things in the book which were inspired by actual events in her life. Here is a picture of Jen and I with Nancy at our after book club bar.

February 2, 2010

2010 - Day 33

I am dying to take a trip somewhere internationally, and have plans in the works for my next trip. Until then however, I am just going to have to live vicariously through my father. He is in Manila for the week on business. I asked him to send me a picture, and he sent this view from where he is staying. Hopefully some day I'll make it to the Philippines too, it seems rather picturesque.

February 1, 2010

2010 - Day 32

This week for Monday dinner I made an attempt at duck, which is something that I had never cooked before. It was quite a success. Duck breast is pretty expensive, so it better taste good. I have had duck tacos before at several restaurants and have always really enjoyed them. It was really simple to make, I found this recipe on another blog called My Husband Cooks. The recipe called for a homemade salsa as well, which was a lot of fun.