Im still here!!

Hello friends!!!!
Apologies from your slackin blogger ...my personal computer is completely down so I am stealing a sec from work to tell everyone Im still alive and kicking and still loving this city.

I promise as soon as I win the lottery or rob a bank and get a new computer there will be plenty of updates.....

Until then, know that I miss you and that I am well.

Hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather!

Talk soon!

McApple

So I went to McDonald's in my neighborhood yesterday...I know it seems nuts living in the center of the food universe and all, but sometimes you need a little fast food in your life. So I lug my 50 pound bag of laundry up the hill, on the way I hear the bag ripping and start freaking out picturing all of my bras and panties strewn across Broadway..anyway, having worked up a sweat in 20 degree weather, the golden arches just seemed like the right place to go for a little comfort food...right
First of all, the prices are sick, a quarter pounder meal is 6.39 (not even super sized!)...I get over it (afterall, I just paid 4 bucks a load for my laundry so what the hell) I notice the new angus burger they have and got really excited to try one. So I stand in a 15 minute line and get up to order. Of course I have to have it my way, so I say angus burger, pickles, mustard, ketchup only, simple...not First of all, english is the second language in my neighborhood so it took a minute for me to explain what I wanted. Then, the lady looked at me like I was nuts when I said I wanted mustard. She didn't know what I meant, so she starts asking everyone around her, she comes back and says mayonase? No, mustard, Then I get a look as if I had just ordered a burger with a side of crack on it. Now the people behind me are starting to get pissed. They start saying she means honey mustard (which I hate) and I calmy tell them this is not what I am looking for....so the next thing I know her manager is standing there. He knows english and asks me what I want. MUSTARD You know, what comes on every cheeseburger I have eaten at McDonald's since my happy meal days. He looked at me and says we don't have that. I don't get it so I start saying put the same thing on the angus that you put on your cheeeseburgers. He says, Mcdonald's has never had mustard and now I think I am in the twilight zone. Then he says "only McDonald's up in Connecticut or places like that have mustard, not around here" What a jackass I ordered chicken nuggets and walked away defeated. Needless to say the McComfort I sought turned out to be a McGiant Pain in the ass.

Okay, so now that I got that off my chest here are a couple of good things that have happened. New Year's was a blast, I spent it with Mike and Jen at the bar we play trivia at. It was 75 bucks for all the food and drink we wanted and karoake! I did times square once before and I think once is enough, so this was perfect, plus I had to work the next day which was not fun.
The party was a really good time, for the first time in my life I actually sang karoake, lets just say I didn't bring down the house, but I didn't clear it either. I chose Me and Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin which even a person with musical talent couldn't even pull off, what the hell was I thinking??
The next day after a very long day at work I ran into barnes and nobles to grab a book for the subway (I forgot mine and won't get on the train with nothing to read) and as I was walking out I ran into Yoko Ono. She was with a younger woman and they were looking for the movie section...I thought about doing a little stalking but then realized I was so tired I felt like I was sleepwalking.

That's about it for now, hope you are all doing well, will talk to you soon!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Hi from the Slacking Blogger! Apologies for not updating more, this season can be so hectic and, as always, my computer picks and chooses the times it wants to work.





Christmas in New York


I can see how it could be depressing....Christmas Eve, alone, big city, little dreamer...but the beauty of being away from everyone that you love is that you find a way to love even smallest scenes in life..



example.... I was sitting at the Christmas Eve and watched two people walk up to the second floor, only they couldn't really walk on their own



They both had walkers and after one person made it up, the other went down to help the other...they both folded their walkers up in time and sat down for their christmas eve meal. I couldn't help but notice how dapper they looked, in their 60's and all, and how much they loved one another.



I saw that they both ordered a glass of wine and told the server it was on me, not because I wanted a thank you but because they made me smile, the way they cared for one another. They later told me it had been 15 years since they last saw eachother and that the woman (did i mention this was a man and a woman) had flown in from Georgia to see her old friend, it all got me to thinking about how important friendships are and where I would be without them.


I recently had a visit from some of those people, some of the friends that have always supported you and love you no matter what. (More about that below)



Christmas Day was a good one, I had dinner with four of my new friends at Jen and Mike Watts apt, you can check out pics of our dinner on their Blogg(which puts mine to shame by the way)

http://www.weisswatts.blogspot.com/ I was in charge of the side so I made the only thing I know I can, cheesy potatoes. We had plenty of wine and champagne it truly felt like a holiday. I wasn't sure it would being away from parents and all, but I got to see them on my first trip home and we celebrated the day complete with Santa Sack and all (for my new friends this is a giant bag that my dad fills for my mom and I every year in addition to our stockings, it is filled with great stuff and a tradition that I hope never goes away) Thanks again mom and dad for a great day!!! I love you.





So as I mentioned above, Beth, Kretch, Shannon and Toddy all came to visit a couple of weeks ago. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see their smiling faces, I had to sit and take it all in for a minute. It felt good to be around people I could be myself in front of and not worry if they like me the next day.


After a minute it was as if no time had passed.



We went to Greenwich Village to find a place to eat. I have to admit I was a bit surprised where we ended up wich was a "haunted" restaraunt that came complete with talking wall mounts and cheezy servers, but, we will never forget it (did I mention the bathrooms were hidden in a bookshelf?)



After the very interesting meal we headed to meet Gina Samardge, one of the stars of an up and coming clown entertainment group (http://www.thecoolestbandever.com/) and wandered the bars in the village. They recently got back from a tour in China. Somehow (wink wink) we ended up at Hogs and Heffers (the original coyote ugly bar) and I don't think they have forgiven me to this day for that one.


Day two was good times, we started at Times Square at the Rockefeller tree and went on a hunt for a slice of real NY pizza. (This was after Kretchy's hunt for a Salamaria failed, only Kretchy) Then we took a trip to China Town to grab some officially fake designer bags. I have always heard that if you go there for a bag, don't go into the shops but go with a person that approaches you on the street and asks if you want to see a bag and follow them into their lair. This is supposedly where the higher quality knockoffs are(pretty shady stuff) So a woman approached us and we followed her not knowing where the hell she was taking us, then she stopped in front of a minivan which had a person in the back already "shopping", we opted out and grabbed some bags in the shop, I walked out with a high quality black Versace Hit bag (http://www.eluxury.com/estore/browse/product_detail.jsp?program-id=780&ad-id=57&id=11505610) which is now affectionatel called the Ver-sase (piece of shit zipper already broke, maybe I should have gone into the van)



Dinner was awesome, I knew it would be because the Kretch's and the Kralls don't mess around when it comes to food. We went to Del Posto (http://www.delposto.com/) which is Mario Batelli's restaraunt. The wine was perfect as was the food but the company was my favorite part.



On Sunday the Kretches went home and Shannon, Toddy, my friend Helen and I went to the Browns vs Jets game. We met about 100 other browns fans in the parking lot to tailgate and I felt as close to Cleveland as I had in months! It was freaking freezing, I have very little war clothing here yet so I was underdressed for sure. There were five other browns backer groups there, NY, Brooklyn, New England, Phili and Jersey. Did you know that the Browns have the largest backers group in the world? Pretty cool, there is a group in Sri Lanka (http://www.zyworld.com/brownsbackerskc/BrownsBackersofSriLanka.htm)



Shannon and Todd had to take off early for their plane (4p game) so Helen and i stuck it out for as long as we could in the rain. The rain was worth it, we WON!!!

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone......kidding but always wanted to use that phrase

What a trip, my first stop was WEWS, it was awesome to see all of my old work buddies, well, most of them and I couldn't believe how different it all seemed to me. It looked different, felt different and I didn't feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders when I was there! I was there for a couple of hours with Wendy then off the the Chop House for some apps. After I parked my butt at Bruno's (it was a wednesday afterall) and drank and played until the sun came up. Thanks to everyone who made it there, it meant a lot to me.

On Thursday I went back to Bruno's, I needed lunch you know and then headed to Madtown with to see my parents. It was soo good to be home, I swear I never sleep more, or better than I do at my parent's house, something about the warmth and comfort of it all sets my mind at ease.

Friday I finally got to see THE CHIPPER and the Donkey's and Jamie !!! They came up from columbus. We went to dinner and then to the Put-In-Bay bar which is a bar named after the island where we all met years ago. I couldn't wait for that hug from the Chipper, I needed that hug more than you know. We had a great time and I was sad to see them go. The Kretch's let us crash at their home and I got to sleep in my room again, (oh yeah, I have my own room there and don't think for a minute Im letting someone else have it=)

I left on Sunday and was both tired and sad. It was hard to leave when there were still so many people I wanted to see, Mandy and Tami in particular. I miss you guys soo much, I hope next time we can get together.

So that's about it, I think that brings me up to date, I know it's been a long entry but I had lots to say!!!

I miss everyone very much, please have a great New Year and drink one for me!!!

The Replacements

I've come to realize that my life here in New York is similar to Cleveland in a few ways, I have just "replaced" a few things

The Replaceables:

Instead of Bruno's I have The Coral, the food and service is NOTHING like Bruno's, but that it is right by my place and I go there the same night each week (such a creature of habit)



Instead of I-90 I have "The 1 train" ...everyone knows I cannot get anywhere the same way twice if it's not along 90, it's the same here, if I can't get there on the 1, I can't get there, well, atleast not without some creative detours



Instead of a bag of cheez its every morning at work, I eat scrambled eggs with tabasco and 2 sausage links

Instead of going through a drive thru for dinner, I stop for a slice

Instead of BW3's NTN trivia, Tuesday night team trivia at an irish pub, complete with name that song

Instead of the public square tree it's the rockefeller tree

Instead of jaeger bombs, ummm, nothing, I just don't do hard liquor anymore

Instead of sassy leather boots, rain boots with cute designs and leather boots that no longer have heals

Instead of lugging my laundry 3 floors I lug it three blocks

Instead of my mom's great turkey dinner and a day of forensic files with my dad, a night at a seminary cooking the same meal for those that couldn't afford to make it themselves....


The Irreplaceables:

You.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND ALL OF MY LOVE

Missing 3-ways....

Get your mind out of the gutter! I mean I am missing my skyline chili 3-ways (for those non ohioans that is spaghetti, cinci chili and shredded cheddar) that I used to eat every sunday. It's about 6:30p and if I were in Cleveland right now I would be gearing up to go in about a half hour...so I just spent the past half hour on Google looking for Cinci chili, there is a rumor online that a place called Chili Mac's (from chicago) is opening here near Lincoln Center, which, is literally right where I work...can't be true...if it is I guess Santa must heave read my list early.



A lot has happened over the past couple of weeks (I've been slacking on the blog)...I had my first overnight guest...Wendy!! She spent the weekend with me a couple of weeks ago and we had a blast. She brought me meatballs from Bruno's!!! Her first night we decided to get lost in Greenwich Village and find a place to eat, turned out to be a monsoon that night so we ran into the first restaraunt we saw that looked warm, it was a place called Spain which was, ummm..interesting. As soon as we sat down they put a bunch of food in front of our faces that we didn't recognize but enjoyed just the same, it was an experience. After, we dove into every little neighborhood bar we could find and then ended up at some nightclub, it was a blast. Saturday we had tix to see The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway but because of the strike we couldn't see it so we ate at a steakhouse in the Theatre District instead Frankie and Johnny's...it was awesome, very cozy, great steak (although I think they were offended when I asked if they had any sauces for their steaks (atleast I didn't ask for A-1!!

The thing I am still getting used to here, well one of them, is the fact that you are practically sitting with the table right next to you in most of these places which kinda stinks when you are trying to catch up on girl talk. I saw something bizarre that the table next to us did. One of the guys asked the server to cut his steak for him....what the frick? The server did it as if it were a common request...is it??? Let me know....it was creepy to me.



Sunday we watched the Browns lose to Pittburgh at the Brown's Backers bar and then decided to walk around and venture into some other watering holes while we waited for dinner (we made reserevations at an Italian restaraunt). I was in the mood for Sake (flashback to New years with the Kretch's and Meatball when I tried Sake for the first time in times square!!) So we ordered some Wasabe dumplings to go along with it, HOLY SHIT! I like spice, but that, that was just wrong, it was the worst tasting dumpling EVER, it literally took my breath away. I have had wasabe before but this was ridiculous.

We then went to an Irish pub and chilled out, a couple of minutes later, someone from another country, or planet, sat down next to us and ordered a picher of beer, for himself. No matter how I describe this guy it is not going to do him justice.



He was this bald, skinny, pale white and tall. He sat there inspected his beer like some sort of message was going to appear through the foam. He took a sip and then walked over to the mirror to check himself out. After a few minues of staring at himself while the bar snickered, he walked back over to his 30 pound backpack and pulled out some sunglasses wrapped in plastic. After begging the poor bartender for some scissors, he finally opened them up. He walked over to the mirror again and put them on...these weren't just your average shades, they were Elvis shades, complete with gold trim and built in sideburns. So by now wendy and I are crying we're laughing so loud, but he doesn't stop there..by this time wendy and I decide we're gonna have to be later for our reservation just to see what he was going to do next.
He goes back to his bag and grabs a wig, an elvis one, and then goes back to the mirror. I start asking the bartender if there is a hidden camera in the bar, and then I eventually ask him if he is wearing one....he wasn't. Turns out he was wearing that stuff because he wanted to have hair for a day and couldn't think of a cooler do than Elvis's....he was here on vacation and heading back to Berlin a few hours later.... I told Wendy she just had her first "New York Moment."

Letters from home

I am in! Made the big move, (all 2 suitcases) and I am already wondering how I am going to fit in here. The first thing I did? No, I didn't unpack...I grabbed a towel and took the longest bath I have ever taken, I lit a candle, then a cigarette, and relaxed for, I think, the first time since I have been here. Then I walked arounds in my towel for awhile, just because I could.
I now have 3 dishes, all of which are wine glasses, I bought one piece of furniture, a wine rack from a street fair (priorities)
There is one thing in my cupboards, a box of welch's fruit snacks...
And six things in my fridge, al diet cokes.....
I'm set!!!!

This weeks celebrity sitings:
Jerry Seinfeld (who asked me if he could have some of my potato chips which I was shoving in my face when he saw me)
Bob Saget
And finally Barbara Walters (she tapes in a different part of the building so this is the first time I have seen her) I stood behind her in lunch line, for those keeping track, she had an omelet and paid for her assistant's lunch. Maybe I should look into that job.

My New Home!!!!

I finally found it!! I FINALLY signed a lease to a cute little studio apartment on the way upper west side of Manhattan...when I say small, I mean my old place minus the bedroom, but triple the cost...but it is adorable and it's mine. Such a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, I can't wait to have a place for my shoes!!! And I can watch TV all day if I want and I can DVR the hell out of every cheesy show I am embarassed to admit that I watch...I can sleep on the couch again!!!
It is in an old brownstown on a very pretty street and half the walking distance to the subway than my current place. My landlord does all of the renovations himself (just like Tim in Cleveland) and he truly loves his places. It has a tiny little fake fireplace (I have always wanted one, real or not) and a little island. The kitchen is about as big as a bathroom and the bathroom is about as big as a closet so that makes the tub just my size so it is perfect!! The stove and fridge are brand new, stove is soo cute, about the size of an easy bake oven. I can reach every cupboard in the kitchen!
Best part...it has optional furniture in it at no charge...seeing as I came here with only 2 suitcases it is a great feature...
So now, when you come visit me, you can skip the hotel cost and sleep at my new palace....