A Salt and Battery

Guess who showed up at Grand Central Station today? Nathaniel, Michelle, and little baby Grace! Nathaniel and Michelle went to IWU with me, and they now live in Kentucky. Because they're both originally from New York, they were just outside the city visiting family for Christmas. Great to see you guys!

First stop- the west village to visit a take out place Nathaniel heard of called "A Salt and Battery", which specializes in authentic English fish & chips. They also serve deep-fried candy bars, which is just what the doctor ordered.

We got a Mars bar and a Lion Bar- we shared both and the jury was out on which one tasted better. We did all agree that they are MMMMM YUMMY! Basically, it tastes like a candy bar wrapped in a funnel cake, and the chocolate is melted and gooey.

Grace was such a good little New Yorker! She was all snuggled into this sling that reminded me of a little joey in a kangaroo pouch! Michelle joked that carrying her this way kind of felt like being pregnant with her all over again! These carriers are definitely the way to go in NYC!

We went back up to the Upper West side, where Dan and I live to show them our neighborhood and see our place. We had planned on going out, but instead we took advantage of NYC's delivery and got Brother Jimmy's Ribs.

"PUT SOME SOUTH IN 'YO MOUTH!"

After, Nathaniel busted out my guitar and we played some of our old "9th Hour" songs. It was so great to have all of us together, and we all vowed to not let another 6 years go by before we get together again!

New Year Wishes

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.

-Edgar A. Guest

Every new year people make resolutions to change aspects of themselves they believe are negative. A majority of people revert back to how they were before and feel like failures. This year I challenge you to a new resolution. I challenge you to just be yourself.

-Aisha Elderwyn

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.

-T.S. Eliot

Un-beWEAVEable!

I compiled this photo documentary to demonstrate my new hair extensions and the grueling ordeal to have them woven into my natural hair. Since everyone in Hollywood is doing it, I figured I may as well transform myself into a celebrity as well! I am thrilled with my new 'do and I still haven't gotten used to all this long hair yet! It's heavy! My natural hair length is about 3 inches past my shoulders, but the hair extensions were a good 12 inches long. The entire process took over 4 hours!

Step 1: The hair. A swatch of my hair was cut out as a sample for my personal stylist, Mandi, to match the extensions. She custom ordered 100% human hair to match the exact color and highlights.

Step 2: My hair was braided into sections of corn-rows and then the hair is sewn with special thread and needle into the corn-row. When I want to remove the extensions, I just snip the thread and take the extensions off, then unbraid the corn-row in my own hair. Disclaimer: No hair was harmed in the making of this documentary!

Dan wanted to see how he would look with extensions: a little like Joe Dirt, maybe? Not the best look for him!

Step 3: After the extensions are in, they have to be cut and layered using a razor to create texture and blend them with my own hair. Ready for the finished look?

TA-DA!

You like?

JC Penny Catalogue from 1977

I must be stuck on this retro 1970's thing today! This is a must see- it's some excerpts from a JC Penny Catalogue in 1977! Thank goodness I'm a child of the 80's! You know how they saw that all trends seem to cycle back around? Let's pray that these ones don't!

Garvis! So Dreamy!

This website is worth wasting time on- it's a collection of Swedish bands from the 1970's! Peruse the galleries by clicking the arrow buttons to go forward and back. I don't know what's worse- the hair, the outfits, or the tight pants! Maybe the names... " the cool candys?"Mmmm yummy! I'm gonna hang these pictures above my bed and tape them to my locker!

Gigapan

Check this out: A new technology has been developed which allows images to be taken with GIGApixels. This allows you to be able to zoom in on a large panoramic picture, and view even the tiniest details. This site is SO much fun to play around on, and it's pretty incredible. Bookmark this for sure! The thing that is so crazy to me is that if this technology is possible (which it clearly is) then there's really no limit to the amount of "spying" that big brother can do! They're watching you... (*evil laugh*)

...Strange

Did you ever notice how life seems to follow certain patterns? Like, I noticed that around this time every year, I hear Christmas music.

I KNEW that mullet lunch lady was BAD NEWS!

I just HAD to write about this! I apologize in advance for my rant, but here it comes anyway. Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge SURVIVOR fan, and I’ve watched it since the beginning. Even in college, Danny, Kristi and I had our Survivor nights watching the show every week together. I particularly enjoy the personalities and the social dynamics of the game that make it so original and unlike any other show on television. The smartest, strongest, fastest, or even the people who win the most challenges are often the ones who never win simply because they never get the “outwit” part quite right.

This year, I felt so much sympathy in the beginning for Denise. You could tell she was the kid no one picked for their team in school, and the same was true on the show. Then, all of a sudden, she actually became a pivotal player and started becoming an important “swing vote” which had everyone begging for her to be in alliance with them. This is when I started detesting her. She didn’t play fair and never rewarded others even though they generously shared rewards with her. Then, she played the “I’m a lunch lady and I’m poor” card and totally lost me. That seemed to be her only strategy: to look sad and try to get a pity vote to win the million dollar prize.

At the tribal council reunion show, she played an even bigger “woe is me” game, saying that she lost her job as a lunch lady and got demoted to being a janitor, scrubbing toilets. Mark Burnett felt sorry for her and offered her $50,000 on the spot to help give her and her family a better life.

But here’s where it gets juicy… SHE LIED!!! Read this article that explains how she lied and then ended up apologizing and asking forgiveness from everyone. She even decided to donate the $50,000 to charity because of the scandal!!

Cory, Jess- can you BELIEVE this?! I told you she was trouble!! Plus, her story about why she has the MULLET doesn’t even fly anymore!!

"The Iraq"

The editor of the Yale book of quotations has compiled a list of the top quotes from 2007. Indeed, 2007 had some great ones! The number one quote of the year: "Don't tase me bro!" was followed by (my personal favourite) below:

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us."
- obviously, that quote was from Laura Upton, in the Miss Teen America pageant.

Isn't reading it even funny?

Check out the rest of the top 2007 quotes here!

Genius!

This is a great invention- a wi-fi SD card for your camera! You can set it up with your home wireless network, and the pictures will automatically download to your computer with no wires needed! They say it's simple to use, but you know what I always say: "if you make something idiot-proof, someone will make a better idiot."

There! Checked YOU off my list!

I found this article online which I wholeheartedly support: Gift cards are not gifts. I recently took part in a "secret Santa" name exchange, where each person was supposed to write down 3 things under $25 that would give you ideas of what to buy. Both Dan and I recieved names with "gift card" written on the list. That's pretty much like asking me to put $25 cash into an envelope and hand it to them: "Merry Christmas!" Don't get me wrong, gift cards are great and they do serve a purpose. They're a great way to say "thank you" or as a small surprise without occasion, but a real gift involves thoughtfulness and care. A meaningful gift shows you took the time to find a gift that represents your relationship to the recipient and demonstrates that you care about them enough to know exactly what they would love to recieve!

Please, no more asking for gift cards or (*gasp*) CASH for Christmas!

The KOP Posse

It's that time of year... any excuse to party with friends and take goofy pictures around the tree! Last weekend, I stayed with Jess and Cory in KOP, and we had a great time with Steve and Cara! Well, it was great until the drunk loser with the turtleneck sweater and tweed blazer wouldn't leave us alone at Maggiano's, right? Can't wait for New Year's, and you guys all come up to NYC w/me! Why can't we all live closer?

Look Alikes

Cesar Dog food ran a competition to find people who look like their dogs. The winners are pretty dead-on!

It made me start thinking, "I wonder if me and Dan look like our dogs, Prince and Romeo?" I'm kinda surprised... maybe we DO! Whaddya think?

































Dan and Romeo have a strong resemblence in this one! Same sideways grin, same "mr. Cool guy" collar popped up and chillin'. However, I think me and Prince have are about the same COLOR...White!




Then again, Prince may take after his father more than his mom. They look pretty identical in this picture below... Scroll down!

Bryant Park After Dark

If you can't venture to NYC to see the spectacular Christmas events, then I decided I will bring the sights and sounds of the seasons to YOU, my loyal readers! First on the list: Bryant Park
I already posted pictures on the other blog (Carmine and Dan) of the Bryant Park skating rink that is built and then removed every spring. These pictures are of the Bryant Park Christmas tree and the little "vendor village", I like to call it.

The entire park is lined with booths and vendors selling all kinds of handmade gifts, ornaments, souvenirs, and crafts.

Don't these caramel apples and chocolate things on a stick look great?! YUM! I may as well apply them directly to my hips! STAY AWAY!!

Tourists are drawn like moths to a flame...

What's THIS?! A Canadian Mountie at the Christmas tree? What the? Pretty weird, right? At least the uniform is festive. You should have seen all the tourists getting pictures taken with her! Canadians always make you stop and stare, don't they? I still haven't figured it out, but what do you think this Mountie was doing here in NYC?

Creepy Crawly Dreams

I have weird dreams. Strange and crazy dreams and I always remember them in vivid detail even days or weeks later. I admit that I sleep-talk and sleep walk even as an adult. I always wish that I could analyze or interpret what these stupid dreams mean, and just recently I found this website that provides a DREAM DICTIONARY. You can just look up a couple symbols or things that you were dreaming about, and there’s some pretty interesting definitions of what these symbols represent. For example, a few days ago, I had a dream about roaches. Hundreds of black cockroaches were crawling all over my feet and I was trying to stomp on them. Guess what the dream dictionary says about this?

“To see a cockroach in your dream, signifies your need for renewal, rejuvenation and self-cleansing of your psychological, emotional, or spiritual being. You need to reevaluate major aspects of your life.”

Pretty interesting, right? Talk back: What do some of your crazy dreams mean?

Baby Wit

New fun store 'o the day! This one is tons of cuteness- check out BABY WIT for the funniest baby t-shirts and even DOG t-shirts. I like the "President Poopyhead" shirt for my dogs, and the "They're raising me Gay" shirt is pretty funny too!

Makes me want a kid just so I can dress him up in witty t-shirts! Wait... not so much.

Hong Kong Signs

I found a cute blog called called My 12 Favorite Signs in Hong Kong
I love funny signs!

Teeny Tiny

I'm sending you another great store 'o the day: Today's store is in tribute to the teeny and ridiculously priced apartments here in Manhattan. Living in a small space has it's benefits: more organization, less clutter, and less shopping sprees on junk you just don't need. Dan and I have a rule- if you can't think about where you're going to put it when we get it home, then we can't buy it! We are constantly in a state of purging our stuff, to keep the walls from closing in on us!

This store called TINY LIVING has got it all figured out. Even if you have a huge home in the midwest, you could probably still benefit from this handy stuff- check it out!

If...

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May,you may live in Canada.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Canada.

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in
Canada.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Canada.

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of Detroit for the weekend, you may live in Canada.

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Canada.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Canada

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you may live in Canada

If you can drive 90 kms/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Canada.

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Canada.

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Canada.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit,you may live in Canada.

If the speed limit on the highway is 80km -- you're going 90 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Canada.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Canada.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter,
and road construction, you may live in Canada

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in Canada.

If you find 2 degrees "a little chilly", you may live in Canada


Thanks, Nolan for sending this my way- it's funny because it's TRUE!

Store of the day

Here's my fun store of the day- check out In God We Trust
I think the horsebit necklace is adorable!
Cute stuff!