Progress!

This year is just chugging along beautifully. It's getting to the point in the calendar that I love. Fall is my favorite season because the weather chills out a bit, and the epic baking can begin in earnest. I'm sure there will be updates about baking successes and the inevitable new recipe failures as we go through the next couple of months.

We can put a check mark next to vegetarian week for September. I'm also happy to report that we took another day trip to New York! D'Paul and I left yesterday morning around 5:30am and spent the whooooole day in the city. We had a very impressive itinerary, and I wasn't sure we were going to get through it all, but we did, which is why I am completely exhausted today. On the schedule we planned to:


- Visit as many premium espresso spots as possible to fuel D'Paul's very particular coffee needs

- Score rush tickets to a Broadway show, preferably Follies, and then see said show

- Chelsea Market

- Lunch in Chinatown for me

- Lunch somewhere that wasn't Chinatown for D'Paul

- Pastry, pastry, pastry

- Dinner at Buddakan

- Picking up assorted treats to take home

- Meeting with a friend of D'Paul's from the internet to pick up a free fancy coffee grinder

That's a lot to do! AND WE DID ALL OF IT IN 14 HOURS.

Our first stop was Stumptown Coffee Roasters for the first espresso of the day. Now, fair warning, I am not a coffee goddess. I have no nose for the stuff. It tastes and smells like coffee to me. Nothing infuriates D'Paul more than my completely pedestrian understanding of espresso (or scotch, or anything that requires a nuanced tasting - I'm more fixated on texture and where and how much sugar/chocolate is located within the thing I am eating). So I will not be reviewing the coffee. I did have a delightful brioche bun at Stumptown (Where even the hipsters are imported! - D'Paul). It was light and fluffy with a beautiful brown finish, topped sparingly with what looked like puffed sugar (I don't know what it's really called), and filled with a delicate orange scented pastry cream. Wonderous. I will now attempt to recreate this majestic breakfast pastry at home, I'm sure.


Then we headed over to the Marquis to get rush tickets for Follies, which we did successfully acquire. From there we walked over towards Chelsea Market. On the way we passed Billy's Bakery, which a friend had recommended to us. Holy delicious, Batman! The cupcakes there were the freshest I have ever tasted, and so amazing! I've had Magnolia bakery's much lauded cupcakes, and I'm telling you right now that they have NOTHING on Billy's. I'd confidently go so far as to say that their red velvet cupcake is the best cupcake I have ever tasted. The cake is perfect, moist, perfect density, and just slightly airy. And then the frosting (OH, THE FROSTING!) is a thick beautifully hand applied cream cheese that is smooth, tangy and sweet, and just perfect. Towards the end of our day we headed back to buy a box to take home with us, and I have discovered that they can be ordered online. Hot damn.

Then we hit Chelsea market and got D'Paul's next espresso fix at Ninth Street Espresso. He later deemed this his favorite espresso of the day. Then we went up to the High Line for another taste of espresso, this time from Blue Bottle Coffee. It tasted like coffee! Since it was roasted yesterday we got a half pound of beans. Roast dates that recent are hard to come by, and unfortunately usually coffee beans that you can buy most places are past their peak date. Expired? Well, no. As good as they can be? Very rare.

We dropped some dollars on cabs yesterday, because with so much to do it was easier and faster than figuring out the subway system (and potentially wasting time by going to the wrong place). Here's where the sprint starts. Next we hurried over to Chinatown to get my beloved Cantonese pan-fried noodles at Big Wong. They were great, and I inhaled them. Consequently, I had the hiccups on and off for the rest of the day. On the way out of Chinatown we passed a street festival going on in Little Italy, so D'Paul stopped and got a big Italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions. The whole booth smelled great, and he was thoroughly pleased with his sandwich.

Then it was on to the theater to see Follies! This was D'Paul's first Broadway musical. I'm pretty impressed with his theatrical eye. He picked up on a lot of things that tend to strike me about these shows. He buys no one's cheap, old, and tired jokes - and I love that. He loved Bernadette's voice, and Sondheim's music (except where the show by means of necessity goes to a cheesy place. Perhaps his next Sondheim is something drier like Sunday in the Park with George or Passion?). We both appreciated the look and the technical aspects of the show. The lighting was gorgeous, and the costumes (particularly those of the Weissman girl ghosts) were stunning. I loved the ghosts, and if I thought anyone would get it I'd go as a Weissman Showgirl for Halloween. After seeing the show in person from start to finish, I think I prefer it in a concert setting. It's so high concept in parts that when it comes back down to earth to go through a more conventional scene it's jarring, and not in a particularly effective way. The individual performances were fantastic. Bernadette Peters was just wonderful. Her voice is spectacular, and seeing her live was a treat. I hope I look like that when I'm 63. With all due respect to Ms. Peters, for me, Jan Maxwell stole the show. I've never seen her work before, but I'm going to have to see more. She blew me away. Her Phyllis was a spot on blend of warm/cold, humorous/biting, and smart/dreamy. By the time we got to the Lucy X and Jessie Y number there had been a tension built up completely justifying the need for the song. Where she really won me was Could I Leave You. I've heard the song dozens of times at this point, and I may have even performed it myself, I can't remember. The jokes (although familiar) were funny, and biting and we laughed all the way through while cringing. I don't know how she did it, but the song's big comedic payoff in the last line "Will I leave you? Guess!" landed comedically and then socked you in the stomach. To take that moment and somehow create it so that the comedy remained intact, but while also sucking all of the air and the hope out of the room at the same time was truly masterful.

After Follies we walked back to Chelsea (can I just move into this neighborhood please?) and had some coffee at Cafe Grumpy. Just stop trying to count the amount of coffee consumed on this trip, it's unreal. I like the lattes at Cafe Grumpy, and had a little bit of D'Paul's drink here. Dinner at Buddakan was next on the docket and I'm happy to report that we had a much better experience this time around. No lost credit cards, and all the food was splendid.

We started with lobster egg rolls with a sweet chili sauce, and spare ribs that came with Chinese mustard. Both were excellent. The meat was tender and so flavorful. I think we'll be trying some kind of a lobster cabbage potsticker at home in the near future, and I'm certain a delicate mustard will accompany our sweet barbecue from now on. Those combinations were so good. D'Paul had a very flavorful Shacha Chicken, and I had the Steamed Sole for dinner. Both were great. The sole had a very delicate, subtle flavor and the texture was light. I enjoyed a bite of the chicken too, and it was dripping in it's own savory goodness. We got a side of char-grilled asparagus with a black bean foam (how trendy) and that was garlicky and delicious. Dessert was a weeping molten chocolate cake with jasmine tea infused ice cream. We waddled out of the restaurant, happily sated.

Of course, that was followed by the trip to Billy's for cupcakes to take home, a trip to Rice To Riches for rice pudding to take home, and D'Paul's meeting with the fellow from the internet to get the coffee grinder. It's a Mazzer (very impressive, I'm told) that needs a little love. So he'll be refurbishing that in the next few weeks. We made it back to the Megabus area in time to get in line early enough to sit together on the ride home. Once we were on the bus we slept all the way back to Baltimore. We got in at about 2am and were in bed by 3am - but I am still sleepy. I had to be at work at 10am today, and it's going to be a long day. I think it was worth it. We had a great time together, and reminded ourselves why we're constantly saying "We really should get up to New York more often." and how easy it is to actually do just that.

My daily workout schedule to keep me in top mental and physical shape for I Want To Be A Gay Icon! starts tomorrow. And now that I wrote it down it has to. Wish me luck!

Moving on through the year - August

As always, somethings are good and going well. Others are not.

Vegetarian week - still going strong! I did the first week of this month without too much trouble, and that means I'm 2/3 of the way through the year. Holy crap, am I going to actually keep the eat more vegetables/vegetarian week resolution?

Pin-Up Shoot - Anna and I had our shoot. And, it ain't bragging if it's true - our untouched pictures look hot. I'll throw them up here as soon as I get them back from Stacey. In other picture taking news, I got my headshot back from the NO H8 campaign and I love it! I do think that it's funny that with my white white skin, a white shirt, and a white background I look just a little bit like a floating tattoo, hair, and eyes. Still, it makes me feel a bit like a big time super liberal celebrity, and at the end of the day, isn't that what it's really all about?

I guess while I'm doing all the superficial resolution checks I should mention that dressing up and feeling hot is working out a-okay. It doesn't hurt that I've lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 - 20 lbs since June. I feel better, although my clothing is not such a good fit anymore. I'll live - THESE ARE GOOD PROBLEMS TO HAVE. Am I right? Of course I am.

Let's check in with the other resolutions, shall we?

Jam of the Week - Abandoned, as was the 30 Day Song Challenge. I got busy right around the time it asked me for a song to describe myself. No matter how you answer that question it comes across as cocky, or inspires a raised eyebrow and a bemused "really?" from the peanut gallery. Maybe I'll pick it up and finish it off. I'm honestly not losing a wink of sleep over it.

Three NYC trips - Here's the thing about doing a solo show: THIS ONE PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN. If we're lucky we'll get in one visit before the end of the year. It's a bummer because I really wanted to see the Alexander McQueen show at the Met, and it closes tonight. Maybe I'll do something irresponsible and use a few vacation days, take some time off during the week and just go. That sounds like it might work. Maybe? File this under things that I'll be daydreaming about while actually being tied to a desk.

Monthly Real Date with D'Paul - Sort of. We're bad planners, so none of this has ever been as organized as my compulsions would prefer. But I did take him for mussels and beer in DC last weekend and we had a marvelous time. I paid the bill while he was in the restroom, so he couldn't be a gentleman and steal it away. This is a game we play, stealing the check. We are both exceptional at it and each enjoy stealing the other one's purchases so that we can give a surprise gift instead. We are adorable like that.

Do weekly body work - Humbug. We played tennis again and had a great time, then the devil went down to Baltimore and it's been ungodly hot so we've not been back outside. My job has sent me on outreach a lot lately, so I've been walking in this awful weather. That's exercise! Also, I have blisters from the heels I'm required to wear. Yea maintaining dress codes in inappropriate situations!

Clean the apartment - Nope.

Record a Song - D'Paul has been entertaining the idea of producing a kind of Eurotrashy 90's inspired dance track with a friend of his, and they would need vocals. Clearly, I'm doing this. Here's the inspiration:

Sunday Update

Hola! I am here at the radio station, and eating taco bell, hence the espanol. It has been a few good weeks for the resolutions. D'Paul and I went to the American Visionary Art Museum, and it was very cool. I think we'll probably go back. It was like someone concentrated Baltimore down and made it into a museum. Apparently we are sparkly and quite a kitschy little city, but you already knew that. Note: this counts for two categories, we went to the AVAM, and it was a planned date. Boom, accomplished.

Cosmic Galaxy Egg at the AVAM

Tomorrow I have a pin-up shoot with my wonderful Anna, so that will be another double accomplishment (both a photo shoot, and dressing up and feeling hot.) I am on vegetarian week now. But why, you ask, is it not the 10th of July already? It is, vegetarian week had to be pushed back this month; I just couldn't handle being a vegetarian on the 4th of July. I am eating a lot of fruit lately (more than I have in the first few months of the year) because it's actually available. It's easier in the summer when all the fruit I like is in season. If they were reasonably available and reasonably priced year round I'd have no trouble eating bunches of cherries, nectarines, and blueberries. On the clean room front I've been doing better. I did the major overhaul and since then things have been much more organized. It could all go to pot at any second, so I should do a little bit of clean up time in there tonight, picking things up that don't look like a mess, but could evolve into one at any moment. I still haven't done the Jam of the Week in awhile, but I am participating in the 30 day song challenge on facebook. I'll post all 30 songs when I get through the month. Oh! And D'Paul and I went out and played tennis yesterday! That's exercise!

Hooray!

Update! I am terrible at updating this!

Ha. At least one of my resolutions wasn't to blog regularly....


Since last we spoke, here's how the resolutions have been going:

1. Jam of the Week

This has been almost completely abandoned. It's hard. Also, I'm too obsessed with podcasts to take the time to do this too. As for the podcasts, you should listen to the Rachel Maddow Show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Doug Loves Movies, the Savage Lovecast, and Greg Proops' The Smartest Man in the World. DO IT.

2. Pin-Up Shoot

This is still happening. Twice. In a few weeks I'm having one done for fun. Then later this year the same photographer will be doing the poster for my graduate project. Maybe I'll write about how that's going. I probably won't remember.



3. Three NYC Trips

Did you know that travel takes money? Me neither! Hasn't happened yet. It might? Don't hold your breath.



4. Monthly Real Date with D'Paul

We're not good at planning. The closest we get to planning is buying a groupon, forgetting about it, and rushing to use it on a date the day before it expires. That counts as a plan, right?



5. Do weekly body work (meditation, yoga, dancing, stretching.)

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, about this one.....

So far in 2011, I have:

                              - run or worked out everyday for 8 days (once)
                              - gone out for a 2 mile run and quit after the first mile (once)
                              - run one 6K race without stopping (once)
                              - taken one Zumba class
                              - purchased 6 Xpose fitness classes, attended 0

This is pretty pathetic. That's about one month's worth of exercise, slightly longer if I actually took the Xpose classes. I should probably actually do this one. 



6. Eat more vegetables

Nope. Probably less. But I do like asparagus now.

Actually, a re-examination of my plan says I've been far more successful with this one (sort of) than at first glance. Remember how I said I would take the first five days of each month and eat no meat? I've actually done that for the first 6 months of the year! Sidenote: it's undergone a bastardization though. Have I eaten meat at any time during vegetarian week? No. Have I gone through an entire vegetarian week eating minimal vegetables while eating carbs almost exclusively? Yes......



7. Go to the AVAM

Let's refer back to #4 and see how this will go. I bought a living social coupon for it. That coupon expires in July. I will probably go to the museum the day before it expires.



8. Dress up and feel hot.

Completely and totally achieved. I've been feeling cocky as hell. Because I am sexypants. So there.



9. Take an hour, once a week, and clean the apartment.

This one has been really hard because in order to clean the apartment, I would need to clean off this pile of crap that's laying around everywhere to actually find the apartment I wish to clean. Next question please.



10. Record a song

This was intended as a mid-season replacement resolution for when I failed at something else. D'Paul and I have talked about it. We'll see how it goes. I envision this happening in the fall, if ever.



11. Eliminate any of this as needed.

Done and done.

Fell off the blog update wagon!

Time for a New Year's resolution update. I haven't been on here in a little while, so let's just call the song of the week for the last 2 months Lady Gaga's Born This Way. I loves it.

I ran a whole lot a few weeks ago, and then stopped. I need to start again, since I'm running a charity 6K in a few weeks, and I'd like to make it to the end.

I have maintained vegetarian week each month! It's getting easier each time, but I still end up craving delicious animals at the end of the week. D'Paul and I have made some serious commitments to eating more ethically. We are only drinking organic milk from grass fed cows. The effects of the additional hormones in conventional milk are too scary to continue courting that threat.

We're doing the whole organic, free range, grass fed, uber ethical path for all of our animal product consumption. Health and animal cruelty are concerns of ours, so this is going to make us feel a lot better about the food we eat. I hear you saying, but it's so much more expensive! I can't afford to eat like I do now if I follow all those rules. To this I say, that's the point. We can't afford to eat the same amount of meat as we used to, and that's a good thing. We're getting more creative, eating healthier, and making a much smaller environmental impact. Winning!

I have done well on and off with the cleaning. Things were terribly busy with school, life, and work for awhile and I totally failed at keeping my life in actual order. Things in my house are picked up now, but I have to do some hard core deep cleaning. And laundry. Laundry is going to need to become a priority REAL SOON, or I am going to be  walking around naked before too long. I have the day off tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm taking tomorrow to make things happen. I have a meeting with school, another one with the artistic director of Iron Crow, and some time to do laundry and homework. Saturday I'll take the day off.

We're talking about scheduling the next NYC trip after D'Paul takes the bar in July. This will be an eating tour of New York! We have a gift certificate to Buddakan that they sent to apologize for the debacle last time, so we'll eat there again. We may look into Colicchio and Sons, Brasserie les Halles, and any other suggestions we receive in the meantime. Where do you like to eat in the city? What have you wanted to try? Help us plan our trip!

Week #5 (and everything you missed from Week #4)

Week #4 Jam of the Week

I'm just getting around to posting this one. I cleaned up my apartment while listening to it and it sparked a whole week of listening to Jason Mraz, which equals a happy sunshiney musical outlook. Hooray!

D'Paul and I have been very good at going on dates this past week. We had dinner at one of our favorite spots, Woodberry Kitchen, last Saturday and it was super yummy as always. PS - I dressed like a pretty lady and wore my contacts and make up. I am getting better at this! Then, when the snow hit and it seemed silly to leave the house we had dinner at the Prime Rib for their restaurant week special! It is right in the lobby of our apartment building and also very delicious. Much more traditional than Woodberry. I wore a little black dress, heels, and lipstick on a Wednesday night. What a wild and crazy social butterfly lady I am!

Living Social had a great discount this week and it helps with my resolutions too. They offered tickets at half off for the American Visionary Art Museum, so I bought them, and I will go! Today marks the first Sunday of my vegetarian five day challenge for February. Woo. So far, so good. D'Paul and I are heading out for a run tonight. And when I say out, I mean up to the gym in our building.

In other news, I have made major progress on another of my on-going goals: financial stability. In the next year or so D'Paul and I will be moving out of our apartments and looking for a home that holds us both, our kittens, and our stuff. Whether that will be buying right away or renting remains to be seen. However, given the financial planning that goes into buying a house, I figure that I need to be planning NOW (if not years ago.) So, this week I paid off my car, set up a high interest savings at my bank, sent in direct deposit paperwork to the payroll people at work so they send what used to be the car payment into the new account, ordered my credit reports (one of which has already come in and is perfect,) and organized a savings plan. This may seem like a lot, but so is a 20% down payment on a house. Especially in Silver Spring, where D'Paul wants to live so we can be close to his family and DC. We have a lot planned in our future, we don't need to be worrying about whether or not we get a good rate on a mortgage loan. Also, 20% of a house that costs 300K is 60K. Think about the prospect of having to come up with that in cash and you'll scramble to plan too.

And apparently, my life is to be an indie rock video this week. Enjoy JOTW #5 - Down by the Water, The Decemberists

Week #2 Wrap-up and JOTW #3

This week I actually did the body work I've been saying I would do. I did my NYC Ballet dvd and bought my Body by Bethenny dvd. This morning I did a little of that one too. I can't stand the gym in my building. It has no oxygen and smells like stale rubber. So, until it warms up outside, I'll be doing videos in my apartment. Hooray!

D'Paul and I made our date for the month. We are going out for restaurant week next week and we will dress up and try something delicious on the cheap.

I continued to clean my apartment, AND I had new floors installed. Originally, they were old tile floors from the 70's (which was impossible to clean) and now it's a much more modern laminate that will be easier to clean and won't show dirt as much when I am unable to do the cleaning. I was owed an upgrade from the management company and I'm thrilled with my choice.

I also continued to dress up and feel hot! I went out. ON A WEDNESDAY. WEARING MY CONTACTS. 

The jam of the week this week was excellent. I continued to eat more vegetables, but when you take into account the amount of crap I ate along with them, I don't think my efforts count very much. On the plus side, the semester hasn't even started yet, but I finished the first round of reading for existentialism. Nerd Power!

And so, I will leave you with the jam of the week for this week. I was able to resist making this the JOTW for 16 whole days. I cannot wait anymore. Enjoy!