Belated Birthday Dinner

#11. Try a new restaurant every month

Every year I go out with my two girlfriends for my birthday, but this year with hard to plan around schedules all around, it took us a month to actually do it - not that I can complain to celebrate my birthday a month after the fact! This year I chose a place that my coworkers had raved about - Back Forty - and they weren't kidding! This place was amazing - the food, the drinks, and the atmosphere were all great. This place only serves fresh ingredients, so the menu is always changing. I had the roasted brussel sprouts to start (insanely good), a special of the day, which a delicious steak with roasted winter vegetables, and DO NOT MISS the Fresh Doughnut for dessert - yes I said doughnut, trust me.

Pre-New Year's Resolution Part 2

#40: Make meal plans every week
#41: Try a new recipe at least twice a month
#44: Make (or order in) one vegetarian meal per week
#45: Make fish at least once a month

Along with my workout kick, I'm also trying to cook more (both dinners and lunches for J and I), both as a means to save money AND be healthier! So far, it's been pretty great!

I've tried a bunch of new recipes from EatingWell and they've been a hit:
Chicken Paprikash
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Honey Soy Salmon

I've also made a delicious Turkey Chili recipe for lunch this week from the Food Network.

Pre-New Year's Resolution

#26: Workout 3 times a week for a month

Since I didn't make it last time, and I'm starting anew...I will start counting this again! This time I will count how many times I work out, my total goal is 3 times a week for a month...which comes to 12 workouts (it sounds so much easier to attain like that, doesn't it??)

I had a great first week back, going to the gym to walk on the treadmill twice and doing my 8 minute Arms and Abs workouts twice. Yesterday was my first gym blowoff (I was tired and was having dinner with my parents!) but I'm going to return strong tonight and tomorrow, doing one arms and abs workout and one treadmill.

Harry Potter Marathon? Yes please!

#9: Have a lazy day Harry Potter Marathon, Star Wars Marathon, and Lord of the Rings Marathon (1/3)



Counting it! This weekend was cold and rainy and thank goodness for cable networks in December! ABC Family was having an all weekend Harry Potter Marathon! I found out towards the beginning of #2, and was glued to the TV for the rest of the night through the end of movie #3. The next night #4 aired, and I happily watched. While I definitely would love to have a full marathon of ALL the movies (perhaps over a weekend...) I'm going to count it for now. Funny also, TNT was having a Lord of the Rings Marathon on Sunday, and I watched most of the second film while I was home (and tivoed the 3rd but didnt have a chance to watch it)

Chasing Harry Winston

#2: Read 1 new book every 2 months



Another chick lit book - what a surprise! This time, I went for Devil Wears Prada'a Lauren Weisberger's next book - Chasing Harry Winston. I loved Prada and her second book, Everyone Worth Knowing, so I was excited to put this next title on my library queue! While probably being my least favorite book of the 3, Harry Winston was very cute and fun to read. The book follows three best friends since college, Leigh, Emmy, and Adriana. The POV shifted between all girls within each chapter - I am a fan of the shifting POVs!

The friends are 29 and facing life before turning the big 3-0. Emmy was just left by her boyfriend of five years for a young, virginal personal trainer (who she bought for him as a present). Leigh seems to have it all - the perfect job, the perfect apartment, and the perfect guy, but for some reason it isn't cutting it but she's scared of letting anyone know how unhappy she is. Adriana is a gorgeous brazilian heiress who loves getting the attention of strange, handsome men. One night, Adriana and Emmy make a pact - within the next year, each will drastically change her life - Adriana, who goes through men like Kleenex, will be in a monogamous relationship by the end of the year, while Emmy, who's only ever slept with her 3 long term boyfriends, will become more uninhibited and have an around-the-world sex-fueled adventure.

I wish vacation could be always

#22: Go somewhere warm in the winter with Justin
#78: Go to a Cirque du Soleil show

Perhaps the 101 thing I was most excited to do (and hopefully will get to do again ...and again......) was escaping the cold for somewhere lovely and warm with Justin. While I originally envisioned laying on the beaches of Bahamas (maybe next time), we ended up spending 9 fabulous days in Orlando, FL at Disney World! Yes, we've been there before together (two other times) but we really love it, and we got a really great deal, so off we went! We had a really amazing time (despite a few setbacks, like someone breaking my camera on day 1 and them switching the park hours so that we had to rearrange our scheduling), it was so much fun and we didn't want to leave!!! We're hoping to plan a group trip to Disney sometime in the next 2 years - I don't know if I can wait that long! I'll link to all the trip pics once I get all that settled...



And, while we were there, I took care of yet ANOTHER 101Thing....we saw Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba at Downtown Disney! The show was really entertaining and had a lot of fun acts, including adorable little chinese girls playing with the diabolo (Chinese yo-yo). They hold two sticks linked by a string, they slide, juggle and toss a musical wooden spool while performing flips in the air. Other standout acts were cyclists, hire wire, flying trapeze, and a trampoline act.

Happy Birthday to me!

#99: Get a large TV for the living room

My birthday present this year from my parents, Justin, AND myself, is a wonderful large screen TV for our apartment!!! We decided on a 42 inch Insignia tv cause of the great price and I don't know how I watched tv before without it!

Thank God for Spa Week!

#62: Get a Facial once a year

Without Spa Week, I might never get to enjoy the wonderfulness that is a facial (or a real massage for that matter). Thankfully, Spa Week does exist and I got to get my first facial in a year! I went to a place I hadn't been to before, but it was conveniently located and got good reviews - Moonflower Spa, located on 41st street between 5th and Madison. It was a cute little place and everyone was very nice and friendly. The facial was relaxing and made my skin feel fresh and smooth! I'm already looking forward to the next Spa Week, whenever that may be! Massage next!

Always check if it's a BYOB!

#11: Try a new restaurant every month

So this past friday night I met a couple of my girlfriends for dinner down on the lower east side. We chose this restaurant, new to all of us: Antibes Bistro. One little issue with the place...it was a BYOB and we didn't know it!! The site has a wine list under the list of menus and you have to click onto the wine list for it to tell you that it's a BYOB and then it gives you a suggested wine list. I mean come on! That was a major disappointment since on a friday night, I was in need of a nice big glass of wine to start off the weekend right.

Anyway, the place was cute and small with nice ambiance, tho a little too tight with other tables. I love small places downtown but waitresses shouldnt have to ask people to move so they can reach another table! They put the 3 of us at a table for 2! And we did call for reservations in advance. They also had a small little outdoor seating area that would be nice in the warmer weather. We were astonished to see multiple groups of people sit there in the 40 degree cold! At least they had their own wine tho!

On to the food - I got the Beet and Goat Cheese appetizer which was sooooooooo yummy. I'm a big fan of this combo. For the entree, I got the Salmon with Ratatouille which was a little disappointing - for one, I saw a picture on their website of this which looked a LOT better than what was served to me. Secondly, the salmon wasn't so great, not enough flavor, a little too fishy. The ratatouille was good though. Then we split a Vanilla Panna Cotta with Poached Pears for dessert, which just didnt look appetizing at all. The pears had a pinot noir sauce that I just didn't like and the Panna Cotta was better than I expected (I have a thing about foods with weird consistencies) but still pretty blah.

Overall, I loved the appetizer and the ambiance of this place and would consider coming back with Justin sometime - with a bottle of wine in hand - and trying a different entree (since both my friends loved theirs).

Nothing like a good ChickLit!

#2: Read 1 new book every 2 months

So after my foray into a very long sci-fi series, I decided to go back to my favored book genre - Chick Lit! Now, it may seem like I strictly read books that are in a series, but I promise that's not true...it just is true for this particular Chick Lit book...and the one I plan on reading next...

Well see, what happened was...when I was looking for a new book to read, I started the search with authors that I've read in the past and liked - a natural place to begin! So first up is actually book #2 in a series (somehow I've read books 1 and 3...but it's not like a serious series, just has the same characters) of Rachel Benjamin mysteries - The Jinx, by Jennifer Sturman. This series is a lot of fun cause it's a mix of chick lit and murder mysteries!

The first book in the series, The Pact, follows Rachel and her college best friends who made a pact back in college to make sure to tell each other if the group ever felt a man was not worthy. Well, one of the friends was about to marry someone not so worthy and they all were there for the wedding - when the night before the wedding the groom-to-be was found dead! Needless to say Rachel helps figure it out - AND meets a guy while she's at it!

The Jinx picks up when Rachel is in Boston for the week for business and for her annual reunion with her friends...when her client/friend is attacked! Rachel has to figure it out all while wondering if her boyfriend is cheating on her and her college crush comes back into the picture! (I totally should write those summaries on the back of books, am i right??)

Anyway, long story short, it was a fun, short read!

Wednesday Bloody Wednesday

#8: Go to 10 concerts

Every time I've tried to get U2 tickets, I've come up empty-handed. When I heard tickets were going on sale for Giants Stadium, I was determined to get them. I didn't. Then miraculously, they added another concert, this time on a Friday night (so much better than a Thursday night anyway) and I was able to get in at the very second they came onsale and got great seats to boot! It was all very exciting! Unfortunately, the entire concert experience wasn't as wonderful as the thrill of actually getting tickets. First of all, they moved the concert from Friday night to Wednesday, meaning we had to go to work the next day (of course I couldn't get that mad about it since they moved it because the Jets moved their game up to finish before Yom Kippur). Then, came the traveling debacle we call NJ Transit. I don't need to go into the whole ordeal, but you can read about it here. Long story short, it took an hour 40 minutes to get there and 2 hours to get home.

BUT on the bright side, U2 seemed to wait til the EXACT moment we got to our seats to come on stage (thanks Bono! xoxo) and the concert was pretty entertaining (including really drunk U2 enthusiast guy behind us who enjoyed dancing and singing every word loudly along with the band). It was by no means the best concert I've ever been to, but they played all the hits, I sang and danced along in the sweaty heat, and all in all had a great time.

U2's Setlist:
Breathe
Magnificent
Get On Your Boots
Mysterious Ways
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
She's The One / Desire
Elevation
Your Blue Room
Beautiful Day / Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
No Line On The Horizon
New Year's Day
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
The Unforgettable Fire, Mofo
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone
Encore #1
One / Amazing Grace
Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love
Encore #2
Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

A Song of Ice and Fire

#2 Read 1 new book every 2 months

So I FINALLY finished book 4 in the series I told you about in a prior post. The end got to be really good and exciting, just making it that much more disappointing that the 5th book in the series isn't out yet. I definitely recommend the series (especially the first 3 books, they're hard to put down). The point of view switches each chapter and you get to get inside a large number of characters heads, which is one of my favorite writing techniques. Plus, they're making it into an HBO series, which should be really awesome to watch.

You can read more about the series here.

Save the Last Dance for Me!

#87: Go dancing at least 3 times a year

This weekend's dance-fest courtesy of Katie & Brian's Wedding!


Justin once again won over a new crowd of people with his dancing skills (or shall I say his inhibitions to dance the night away and truly feel the music). A great time was had by all!

Anniversary Dinner!

#11: Try a new restaurant every month

What better reason to try a new restaurant than an Anniversary! Yesterday marked 7 (yes SEVEN) years since the day Justin and I first met. Yes, that's right. We met at a frat party. (Less sketchy is the fact that my best friend at the time was J's frat brother and Justin just moved in to the room next door to him). So 7 years later, we celebrated with an insanely delicious dinner at Pylos in the east village.

Where we sat:


We started out with some really delish greek wine which was a sweet dry wine. We ordered Pitakia Kaisarias (savory phyllo pastries filled with the spiced, cured beef pasturma, fresh tomatoes and mild kasseri cheese) and eggplant and zucchini chips with tzatziki, then I had the Moussaka and Justin had a really amazing chicken dish (organic boned chicken farci with raisins, rosemary, thyme and greek kasseri cheese, served with zucchini, eggplant, and potato). For dessert we did more phyllo dough stuffed with custard and topped with the most amazing honey. Wonderful meal, loved the restaurant, and definitely want to go back!

1 for 4 in Mets Wins This Summer

#7 Go to at least 3 Mets games each summer
Pics from Mets game #3 (Aug 2nd with J's mom and sis) and game #4 (rescheduled birthday Mets game for my dad with the rest of the fam).


J with his mom and sis!


My fam at the Apple!

Oops! I forgot to blog!

Wow, #54 sure is slacking on this list (Blog all 101 things as I accomplish them). I can't believe I've actually missed the month of August completely - what a horrible blogger I am!! It's just that, work and life got super super busy in August and I kept the blog open at work just in case I'd have a moment to recap some wonderful accomplishment, but there it sat! So I hope you don't mind if I write a bunch of August posts and pretend that I wrote tham in August....right?? Multiple posts feel somehow better than forcing you through a really really long August recap!!!

AC BABY!

#25 Go to Atlantic City / #87 Go dancing at least 3 times a year

Check off that first Travel 101Thing! Woo!!! My friend Katie had her Bachelorette Party this weekend and we headed down to AC for the festivities! It was a really fun time, mostly involving drinking, and we went to a 70s-80s themed club Sat night to dance our asses off. Good times were had by all!


AC!


Me with the Bride-to-Be

Getting Beyond my Reader's Block

#2 Read 1 new book every 2 months
So when I wrote my 101 List, I was fresh off reading 3 of the 4 books out in a Fantasy Series (which will end up being 7 books) that Justin had me and our group of friends all start reading. It's a really good read with an exciting and interesting story (it's even being made into an HBO show sometime soon). Anyway, the first 3 books were really wonderful and a quick read once I got into it, but then I got to book 4, which is a lot slower and introduces new characters and is just not quite as good as the previous books. I've read like 2/3rds of it, but it just become something I didn't NEED to read and therefore I wasn't picking it up before bed like I had been for the prior months. So because I wasn't finishing this book, I wasn't able to start any new books, which I really wanted to!

Fast forward to this summer, when we went to a birthday party for one of Justin's best friends from high school and saw his old friends that he hadn't seen in years. Well, one of the girls is now a novelist of tween books! As soon as we heard this, I immediately added it to my queue in the library and finally got it a couple weeks ago! Well, it was the cutest, most fun book - we both just adored it. It could be the next Gossip Girl as far as I'm concerned, it's super clever with tons of humor and pop culture references and I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a fan of this tween series - I can't wait for the next book to come out!!

Cupcake Crawls Should Not Happen in August

#13 Taste cupcakes from at least 10 new places (with Lawrence and Rachel from CupcakeRankings.com)
#14 Go to brunch once every 2 months

We wanted to squeeze in one last Cupcake Crawl before Lawrence left for DC, so we scheduled one for his last Sunday in NYC. We went down to the Tribeca/Wall Street Area for brunch at Kitchenette (followed by cupcakes there, at Soda Shop, and Tribeca Treats). We then decided to sit in this cute little area with a fountain, benches, and lots of tourists. Unfortunately, it was like a thousand degrees and it definitely did not go along with eating cupcakes. And worse, the cupcakes were pretty dismal anyway.


Rachel and Justin at Kitchenette


Delicious brunch


The cupcake display


Me and Lawrence before testing our first cupcake


Soda Shoppe Cupcakes


Tribeca Treats Cupcakes

Fore!

#3 Have Justin teach me how to golf
Ok, so I suppose I shouldn't count this as COMPLETE til I actually know how to play golf...but I wasn't that specific was I??? So a few weeks ago, J and I went with his family to his Grandma's house in the Poconos, which is on a golf course. The men went out to play golf all day (27 holes total). I went with the women to the flea market (where I happened to get a couple lovely necklaces) and then joined Justin for the last 9 holes. I actually did it! I hit the ball and everything! Gonna post some pictures to prove it...

Hot is an Understatement...

#29 Go to Hot Yoga with Katie

One of the biggest accomplishments as far as I'm concerned off of the 101 List! After about a year of asking me to come to Hot Yoga, I finally buckled, made a commitment (there was drinking involved) and stuck to it!! Crazy!

So my experience wasn't horrible. It was really hard! I was worried about the heat and how I would be able to handle it. I mean, it is HOT. Beyond hot. You are COVERED in sweat, dripping, slippery sweat. There's nothing you can even do about it. The yoga poses at least at first, weren't as daunting (thank you Wii Fit Yoga!) but after about 45 minutes, I started to get a little light-headed/dizzy and had to sit out a few of the poses. But I did stay in the room and for that I am very proud! Plus Katie told me that I did really well for a newbie!!

As much as I (sort of) liked the whole experience, the idea of spending an hour and a half multiple times a week doing yoga in a hot and very smelly (there was no acclimating) room that isn't even close to my apartment just doesn't seem to make sense. I will say that my Indian dinner that night was insanely good tho :)

Home is Where the Grill Is

#46 Get an indoor grill/grill plate
#98 Move into a 1-bedroom apartment with Justin #46 Get an indoor grill/grill plate

Ok, so Justin and I didn't move in to a 1-bedroom....BUT, we moved into a LARGER studio with a TERRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Which is sort of like having another room. So...CHECK! WOOO!!!!!! We just moved and love love love our apartment. It's so cute and big and pretty. Moving was hectic, but it all worked out in the end and now we're sooooooooo happy. And our terrace is insane!!!!!!!! Who needs an indoor grill suckas!!!! I got me the REAL DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!

Please enjoy these pics of our new humble abode...


The Bedroom


The Living Room


Posing on the terrace with our view of the Chrysler Building


Justin grilling on the terrace

Restaurant Week @ Fig & Olive!

#11: Try a new restaurant every month
#12: Go to a restaurant for Restaurant Week once per year

Last night was our first Restaurant Week dinner of the year (and of my 101 Things!). We went to Fig & Olive on 52nd between 5th and Madison with Lawrence, Rachel, and Dave.


We sat at that table on the right!

Here is the Restaurant Week Menu.

For appetizer, I had the Tuna Tartar - which was absolutely fabulous, super flavorful and refreshing. For my entree, I had the Lamb Skewers with Couscous which had this delicious honey yogurt sauce that was just so different. Justin got a Filet off the seasonal menu, which had a Herbs de Provence butter atop it. Everything was cooked perfectly and very tasty. For dessert, I switched my Strawberries and Gelato (which I only picked because Justin asked me to) with Rachel's Chocolate Pot de Creme, which was heavenly. Justin got a warm apple tart, which was also tasty, and quite pretty, but not the best apple tart we've had. We also drank a bottle of Robalino, a Spanish white wine, which was sweet and delicious!

All in all - we all very much enjoyed the restaurant. The atmosphere was lovely, the service was good, the food was excellent. Great success!

Tomorrow is Another Day!

#4: Watch all of AFI's 100 best movies of all time

Justin and I partook in another classic on Sunday night - Gone with the Wind!



This is one classic I've been really excited to re-watch. I've seen it a few times before and loved it - I even own the DVD. Re-watching these movies now that I'm older (and have to listen to Justin's gripes) has been an interesting experience. When I was younger and super into old movies, they could do no wrong, I just loved them all so much. Now, I still adore these old movies, but can allow myself to see some flaws here and there or have some complaints. Knowing that Justin has a different mindset when watching these movies, maybe just since he hasn't seen as many as I have, he can't help but compare them to movies nowadays, which you really can't. I think he enjoys making jokes about old movies more than actually watching them!

Anyway, I was a little worried that on a Sunday night, I might not want to watch the full epic that is Gone with the Wind (which is a 2 disc set totalling 4 hours) - but I was still riveted! I love the music, the colors (love when they show a dark Scarlet standing in front of a breathtaking sunset or sunrise), the characters, the drama. I do realize that the second half of the movie is much slower/less interesting than the first and could have easily been shortened.

Oh well...I think that in the future, whenever Justin opens his mouth to complain, I'm just going channel Scarlett and say one thing to him: Fiddle-dee-dee!

Reviews:
FilmSite.org
ReelViews
Roger Ebert

New Apartment and New Comforter!

#99: Buy a nice comforter
#100: Move into a 1-bedroom apartment with Justin

So, big news this week for these 2 101Things! Justin and I are MOVING!!! Ok, so it's not a one-bedroom...but I'm going to count it anyway!!! Mainly cause we're going to sign a 2 year lease, so we won't be moving into a 1-bedroom until after that at the earliest. Plus, this apartment is BIGGER! A larger studio with...wait for it...a HUMONGOUS TERRACE! Oh yea, that's right. We're gonna get a grill and patio furniture and everything. Hurrah! Pictures to come after we officially move in mid-August, but for now you can take a look at our brand new comforter from Target:

Eating Out on the UES

#11: Try a new restaurant every month

Last Tuesday we tried out a new restaurant while visiting Justin's sister on the Upper East side, called Blue Moon. It was a Mexican place, but it looked more like a bar, and had some tables outside so we could enjoy the lovely summer weather. The food was DELISH - I had a roasted veggie burrito that was super flavorful. It might have been one of my top burritos ever, I'd love to have that more often. They also had a lovely drink special with $4 margaritas after 7:30 (for 50 extra cents, they have a multitude of fruity flavors). Two thumbs up!

Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Enemies Closer

#4: Watch all of AFI's 100 best movies of all time
After seeing The Godfather recently, we decided to skip around the Top 100 list and go straight to The Godfather 2!



Although many call this the best movie sequel ever and some like it even better than the first...overall, I'd have to say that we enjoyed the original a lot more than #2. #2 was much longer (two discs for a total of 3 hours and 20 minutes!) and skipped around between the Vito Corleone's young life up until he became 'The Godfather' and Michael Corleone's present life, which itself spanned many years, and seeing him turn into someone he never thought he would. This made the film feel a little disjointed since the two storylines had no clear relation. I actually was more interested in watching Vito's storyline than Michael's, but that was just a small part of the film. Michael's storyline was harder to keep track of and it was confusing to follow who is his real "enemy" and who isn't.

The film also felt a bit darker/gloomier than the first, which is funny to say since both are gloomy and violent movies. But the first one had a lot more excitement and a better climax. #2 didn't hold our excitement in the same way, and while you rooted for Mike in the original to follow in his father's footsteps and get revenge on those who wronged the family, in #2, he seems to be over the edge with his revenge and it leaves you feeling sad as opposed to empowered.

Here are some reviews:
http://www.filmsite.org/godf2.html
http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=263
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19740101/REVIEWS/401010314/1023

Me, a Gym Rat?? Plus a 2nd 101 Completion and more!

#26: Workout 3 times a week for a month (2/4)
This would have been one of my guesses for the least likely to complete from my 101 Things, but I've surprised myself (and all those around me) with my recent devotion to the gym! Along with my first Summer Friday a couple weeks ago, came the sudden desire and impetus to visit the gym in my building, a mere 3 floors below me. It was then that I realized, if I was unemployed, I'd workout everyday! 11-11:30am is just the absolute best time to workout in my mind - the gym is empty, it's before lunch (but, should you wake early enough, after breakfast), you can watch The Price Is Right while you workout, and when all is said and done, you've still got the whole day ahead of you! Of course, I (thankfully) am employed and thus cannot workout at 11am, so I've had to workout after work (since before work certainly is still not an option for me - not only do I oversleep as it is, I've found after the past 2 weeks that I sweat PROFUSELY while on the treadmill, so going to the gym in the morning would also require a cold shower afterward, and what about my hair?? Either way, I'm not sure I could handle waking up early enough to get through it all - especially without wanting to get back into bed immediately after my post-workout shower.) But I digress...I'm extremely proud and excited that I've actually had the energy and willfulness to go to the gym after my sweaty 20 minute walk home from work and I'm even more excited that I am now halfway to my goal of going 3 times a week for a month! Wish me luck!!


#41: Try a new recipe at least twice a month
#90: Keep blog updated and always have a picture for recipes
The usual cooking roundup - New recipes on CareBearsKitchen this week:
Taco Salad
Three Berry Pie
Blueberry Crumbcake


#94: Update picture frames in apt
A second completion in the same week!! Amazing!! Last night, I decided to finally look through the last 6 months worth of photos on my computer and pick out some new fun ones to put in my picture frames, especially since some of the pictures I had included people I don't really see that much - afterall, my frame space is a hot commodity: you have to earn it! While I am marking this 101Thing as complete, that does NOT mean I want to spend the next 937 days with the same pictures...so moving forward, I will think of this 101Thing as a semiannual goal.


#96: Buy a new plant and keep it alive for the entire 1,001 days
So, technically I did not bye a new plant, but my parents did bring me a cactus back from their trip to New Mexico! While I definitely hope to keep this cactus alive (cause if I can't do that, I'm pretty hopeless), I still want to try my hand at a regular plant as well. Perhaps I should just try to keep the 3 plants I already have alive (plus my office plant, that hasn't been looking so hot lately...)

Plant Pictures To Come!

My First Official Completion!

#33: Buy a Wreck This Journal

YAY! Thanks to my friend Anna from PositivelyAnna, I have officially completed something from my 101 Things!! As a thank you for designing Anna's new logo (go check it out...isn't it purdy?), Anna surprised me with my very own Wreck This Journal this morning!! I was extremely excited to get my hands on it and had to force myself to actually do work this morning instead of look through all of my fun future asisgnments filling up the book. I did sneak in a break to fill in the first page though...so now everyone will know who this book belongs to! #33 on the list will now represent my filling out the book, so more to come as I continue on!



Page 1!

Progress Report: #13

#13. Taste cupcakes from at least 10 new places

Sunday was a beautiful day for a Cupcake Crawl! And that's exactly what Justin and I did along with our friends Lawrence and Rachel (from CupcakeRankings.com). Rachel took excellent notes so that she could blog each cupcake we sampled from the following 5 cupcakeries:

1. Sugar Sweet Sunshine
Here we split 4 varieties: Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake, Vanilla (tinted green) Frosting on Vanilla Cake, Red Velvet, and Pumpkin Spice. Everyone loved the first cupcake, especially the chocolatey frosting (even though it was milk chocolate, which I don't enjoy). The Vanilla frosting actually appealed to me more, though I was the only one who thought so. The Red Velvet was a big fat flop, agreed to be the worst cupcake (possibly ever) due to its really weird over-whipped, tasteless frosting. And the Pumpkin Spice was the favorite of the four (and remained one of our tops for the whole day).




2. Babycakes
We decided to try this place as well, even with its gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, everything-free options that scared us a little bit. We tried two cupcakes here: Lemon Blueberry and Brownie Cupcake with Mint Frosting. We surprisingly liked both, all things considered! The brownie cupcake was especially yummy, the combination with the mint was pretty delicious and refreshing, another surprise for me, since I generally don't like mint in food.




3. Baked By Melissa
Lawrence, Justin, and I tried Baked By Melissa a few weeks ago, but Rachel couldn't join us that day so we made the venture back. We tried all 7 varieties of her cupcakes. Lawrence and I agreed that the cupcakes weren't as good as the first time we had them. But Chocolate Peanut Butter still was mouth-wateringly yummy (in my opinion!).




4. Sweet Revenge
We tried 3 cupcakes here: Pure (Vanilla on Vanilla), Crimson & Cream (Raspberry Red Velvet), and Birds of Paradise (Lime Cake with Mango Frosting). All were big hits, especially the Birds of Paradise, which got points for uniqueness AND deliciousness!




5. Tonnie's Mini's
We had to take a long break after Sweet Revenge cause we were all pretty cupcaked out, but Rachel wanted to try this one last place on her list. It ended up being a pretty bad decision - we've dubbed this place, the seedy underbelly of the cupcake world. We got 2 cupcakes: the Vanilla on Vanilla and a mix of Vanilla and Red Velvet. One taste of the vanilla and I was out. It was gross, dried out and odd tasting. The "mix" cupcake was no different from the regular one. Ick.

Here's a copy of our crawl map:

Progress Report: #4

#4: Watch all of AFI's 100 best movies of all time
Last night, J and I watched the #3 movie on the AFI list: The Godfather!



Finally, a movie both J and I enjoyed! While the movie is long (2 hours and 57 minutes - Justin was surprised at the 1.5-2 hour mark after a big exciting climactic part that it wasn't the end), it's full of excitement and suspense. An added treat was seeing some great actors when they were young - Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, James Caan (I quizzed J at the beginning to see if he could recognize the actors).

Here are some links to Godfather reviews:
http://www.filmsite.org/godf.html
http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=262
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19720101/REVIEWS/201010312/1023

Progress Report: #5, #8

#5: Watch all MetaCritic best-reviewed movies of the past 5 years
Now that I've started to use the library in addition to my Netflix, I've been watching a lot more movies lately - hurray for summer! Last week, I got Ratatouille out of the library, which was the top reviewed movie of 2007. I have to say, while I thought it was cute, I don't think it was my favorite animated movie or even my favorite movie of 2007! In fact, at some times in the movie, even though everything's animated - it's still hard to watch hundreds of rats in a kitchen, making food. The thought kind of turns my stomach...but overall, still an enjoyable movie!


#8: Go to 10 concerts
Justin and I attended our 3rd concert this year (2nd since I started the list!) this past weekend - Paramore & No Doubt at Jones Beach! The concert was awesome - Paramore is a band that we've really started to like lately so we were excited that they were opening up and No Doubt has been one of my favorite bands ever since Tragic Kingdom came out, like 14 years ago! They played all of their big hits, plus other favorites - including ending with my favorite No Doubt song, Sunday Morning! The sets were awesome and included a big screen in the background that played some of their music videos in the background as they sung the songs or other fun graphics and the band was really energetic. Even J loved the concert, and he can be a hater!

Here are some pictures from the concert:
TBD

Long Awaited Progress Report

ENTERTAINMENT

#4: Watch all of AFI's 100 best movies of all time
We watched another best movie last week - #2: Casablanca!



This movie gets me excited - if no other reason than the incredible script - when watching it, you are bombarded with so many famous quotes. Also, it's a love story, complete with triangle, that can be argued over. It's not simple, it's not contrived, and there isn't the stereotypical happy ending. Per the discussion in When Harry Met Sally:

Harry: He wants her to leave. That's why he puts her on the plane.
Sally: I don't think she wants to stay.
Harry: Of course she wants to stay. Wouldn't you rather be with Humphrey Bogart than the other guy?
Sally: I don't want to spend the rest of my life in Casablanca married to a man who runs a bar. That probably sounds very snobbish to you, but I don't.
Harry: You'd rather be in a passionless marriage -
Sally: - and be the First Lady of Czechoslovakia -
Harry: - than live with the man... you've had the greatest sex of your life with, just because he owns a bar and that is all he does.
Sally: Yes, and so would any woman in her right mind. Women are very practical. Even Ingrid Bergman, which is why she gets on the plane at the end of the movie.

Here are some links to Casablanca reviews:
http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html
http://www.reelviews.net/movies/c/casablanca.html
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960915/REVIEWS08/401010308/1023

Happily, Justin liked this movie better than Citizen Kane, not surprisingly since it has a much simpler, enjoyable storyline. It still wasn't his cup of tea, but I think we'll get him with our next movie, which we'll be watching this week hopefully - The Godfather!

FOOD WINE
#11: Try a new restaurant every month
I've actually already been to 3 new restaurants this month!
Lilli and Loo - an Asian restaurant on the Upper East, featuring a gluten free menu. I got the Pad Thai and it was deeeeelish!
Suspenders Bar & Restaurant - fun place down in FiDi with a surprisingly awesome looking menu, it was hard to choose! I ended up getting a Steak Sandwich with Goat Cheese, Roasted Onions, and Balsamic Syrup. Yum!! Plus, every Thursday and Friday they give out roses to all the ladies ;)
Maxwell's - a bar and restaurant in Hoboken, NJ. Also with loads of yummy looking dishes, including an extensive daily specials menu. I got a burger with jack cheese, sauteed onions and roasted peppers. Super mmm.

COOKING
#40: Make meal plans every week
#41: Try a new recipe at least twice a month
#45: Make fish at least once a month
New recipes since my last post include: Jam Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting (which was also featured on my friend's website CupcakeRankings.com), Curried Couscous Salad (my lunch for the week), Chicken and Veggies Cooked in a Foil Packet, Cucumber Chicken, and my first fish dish in awhile, Lemon Sole with Veggies - a recipe of my dad's. I still have to add those last 3 to the blog - will do soon!

ORGANIZATION
#49: Scrapbook all my saved up stuff
Amazingly, after getting started on this scrapbooking project and letting it sit on the coffee table for a week or so after I ran out of scotch tape, I went back to it last week while cleaning up the apartment. I've officially scrapbooked all of my saved up stuff through the end of 2008! I can't decide if I should consider this completed, or if it's not completed until I start scrapbooking all 2009 goodies I've accumulated until now. Or if it's never really completed since I'll always have more to add...what a conundrum!

SOCIAL
#85: Host 4 game nights a year
#87: Go dancing at least 3 times a year
Last Friday night was our first game night in MONTHS!!! So happy to see the old gang, tho would have loved it if we had a classic board game night as in the past, where we go through 4-5 different games in a night! This time though, we got to try out group Rock Band for the first time, which was very fun. In fact, I will post a picture of our band to commemorate the occasion.


Lawrence, Rachel, Myself, and Mike

As for the dancing, on Saturday night, we went to a friend's birthday at The Delancey.

HOME
#95: Buy flowers once a month
I didn't have to buy flowers this month - our intern at work gave us all flowers on her last day! Not only was it a really sweet gesture, but it brightened up the office for the next week! Here's a pic of mine:

Progress Report: #13

So somehow tasting cupcakes isn't on my 101 list...but I feel like I may have to add it in there, especially if it involves tasting cupcakes I see on CupcakeRankings.com - or cupcakes that have yet to be ranked....but here's a cupcake picture diary from Saturday's wonderful cupcake tasting with Lawrence:


Baked By Melissa Cupcakes: 6 bite-sized cupcakes for $5



LB with his first mini cupcake...they really are bite-sized!


Smores Cupcake


Cookies & Cream Cupcake





Smores cupcake and Cookie Dough cupcake



Me with my Cookie Dough cupcake



LB cleansing his palate before his next tasting



One of my faves: the Peanut Butter and Jelly cupcake!



Top view



The glorious Tye Dye Cupcake







Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake!



Delish!


Next up: CupcakeStop! Mini cupcakes for $1 each:

Red Velvet and Double Chocolate



LB showing off his mini Red Velvet