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!