One Reason to love Riesen's

Because they are DELICIOUS! Really I could eat 30,000 of them and not even flinch. Yes, thirty thousand. I have my first Reisen every morning right after breakfast. Every. Morning (sometimes I even have one or two before 8am). and then it's down hill from there. Or up hill. Depends on if you are my taste buds or my Conscious.

Here's to Reisen's!!! I LOVE YOU!

If I ever have another pet I think I will name it Reisen. Especially a chocolate lab. I never wanted a chocolate lab before, but this gives me a RIESEN to want one.

I love when my curtains dance

With the Spring weather around for the weekend, windows get opened, fresh air gets let in and magic happens. I love watching this in my living room.

The Wizarding World!

I've been meaning to blog about my excitement about this for months. Yes, months. When I first started this thing I said "Man, I have to do an entry about this". Now I finally am. Deep breath...I don't even know what to say except I hope I am not disappointed. When Harry Potter first came out, it was my sister that first really took to it. She raved about it, then my parents read it and loved it. So I read book one and naturally, I wanted book two immediately. I read books 1-5 back to back almost (well as soon as they were available), but for some reason now forgotten I stopped there and took a long hiatus.
Two Summers ago, my friend Corinne and I went away for the weekend to Atlantic City, the place where dreams are made of. I remember we were walking around and I asked her to fill me in on the details of book 7. I told her to spare no spoilers that I would eventually read it either way - knowing or not knowing what happens never stops me from reading a book. So, I knew the big parts, like who marries who and blah blah blah.
Fast forward two years almost and while at Corrine's I pick up book 6 and decide the time had come to bring Harry back into my life.

I didn't realize until maybe the second chapter in, how much I actually missed him and his pals. I couldn't put the book down. When I wasn't reading about Hogwarts and He Who Must Not Be Named (right now only cause I don't know how to spell it, and I don't feel like looking it up) I was dreaming about it. It was kinda like after I play Bejeweled for a while and I close my eyes, all I see in my mind are the little jems and where i can fit them to create a chain. Or when I look at people's faces and my mind starts to move there nose up or eyes down to make things line up (but I think that is a different post), that really happens for at least an hour straight after an intense Bejeweled session.

Ok, so right after i finished book six, i jumped right into book seven and read it straight one weekend and didn't get much else done in my life. I was also motivated by all the Young Women at church who brag about reading book seven in one day. Or the Bishop's kids who read ALL of the books before their 8th birthdays.

I enjoyed those two books so much. You just get so caught up in the story and the characters that you just feel connected. Is that weird? It sounds kinda weird.

I remembered when I was in Orlando last year my family went to Universal Studios and I saw the construction of Hogwarts Castle. It was awesome. So I did a quick Google search and found this. Or watch the video below.

Just look through it. Take the flying tour. Dream of an empty Universal Studios where you can enjoy this for all its glory without hundreds of thousands of screaming kids in strollers and people walking slowing and standing in long lines all day.

That is what I dream of now. I don't know when I will make it there, but I hope it is sooner than later. And I really hope I am not sorely disappointed. This can be wonderful or terrible. Lets all hope for Wonder.

Here are 19 photos that should get you pretty excited.




P.S.
Word is there will be at least TWO roller coasters.

Oh Canada!

Mainly due to the Olympics going on right now Canada seems to be everywhere. Well some people don't like Canada. I know someone who won't even call it by its proper name. They will only refer to it as "America's Hat". Some American's don't like that they club seals. Some American's are jealous of their safeness, clean air, health care or many other neat things. Maybe some people hate it because of blogs like this . Maybe others like to laugh at the way they say SOOORY. I know when I was a kid and watched Welcome Freshman, I used to think they sounded ridiculous. I'm sure it also doesn't help that the United States beloved Stephen Colbert loves to poke fun and spar with them regarding speed skating. Whatever the reasons- justified or not- we have to be ok with the fact that Canada isn't going anywhere, and technically they are on top.

I haven't had many encounters with Canadians, but I would like to share an experience I recently had. In Barcelona there is a place called Montjuic. In most occasions if you wanted to go to the top you would take a little tram that whisks you away to the top and you can bypass the hike and the gardens. Well, since February is off season they decided that they would do repairs, therefore, it was closed and we had to either walk up or take a bus. We decided we would walk. When we got to the point that seemed like a good starting spot (the bottom of the curvy road)

we saw two young men also holding a map and trying to decided which way to go. They were speaking English so we started to talk to them, had about a 10 minute conversation. Turns out they are Canadian. We say good bye and separate on our quest to reach the top. We get to the top of the trail and there is a fence separating us, a road and the fort (our final destination). We see the Canadians looking puzzled as well and they tell us that they are going to walk back down and try a different route (Canadians = polite and law abiding) we decide to jump the fence (Americans = reckless and lawless).

While enjoying the views and the history of the old fort and prison (at this point we have reached our destination)I see a cannon that who wouldn't want to climb and sit on:
.

Now from this vantage point I can see two young men approaching (the Canadians) and josh also sees them. Between snapping shots of me on the cannon he turns to them and says "So you made it". The one looks very confused and shakes his head. Josh says again "So you guys made it". The guy shakes his head again and says "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Neither does josh. josh speaks English. Only English. Josh's eyes go kinda big- kinda like when you don't want to bust out laughing- and he turns back towards me. and says "O.K."
Finally, that Canadian realizes he knows josh, apologizes and blames the long hike.
Sigh... Oh Canada!

La Veronica- You inspire me

On our last night in Barcelona we were walking down La Rambla looking for a pizza place. We were torn between going to the right or left of the main Rambla but we decided to go left. We walked through a few streets and stopped a waiter outside of a little coffee shop and he told us to go to La Veronica. WHICH was on the right side of La Rambla (where josh wanted to go the whole time). The walk was nice, we stopped at a few bodega's along the way cause josh wanted to get more special cookies before the flight (that'll be in the Spain Post. When we got there the waitress didn't speak English and our Spanish was terrible but we managed to make out the English translations of the menu- barely. I still don't know what kind of pizza topping "Rocket" is supposed to be.
Anyway, I ordered a Fennel Salad and it was so yummy. The fennel was shredded and so thin and wispy and cool and delicious. I loved it and wanted more.
Our first might back in NY I attempted to re-create it and I got pretty close. Here are pics of my creation:




So this is what you need to do:
1 Big Fennel Bulb
1 Perfect Avocado
Lettuce of your choice
Olive Oil
1 Lemon
Salt (I used a pretty floral salt- added a little color b/c of the lavender and rose petals)
Pepper
Pink Peppercorns

Cut the bulb of the fennel vertically (you only use the white part) and use a cheese slicer to get the thinnest strips possible. Once you have a decent pile of shredded fennel set it aside and slice the avocado.
Lay lettuce leaves on the plate; starting from the outside working your way in. drizzle a little olive oil over the lettuce.
Next, place the avocado on top of the lettuce and grind a little salt and pepper on top. Take the pile of shredded fennel and spread it evenly over the top of the salad. Drizzle olive oil and squeeze lemon (be sure not to let any seeds sneak in) over the entire plate. Grind more salt and pepper on the top. Lastly, drop pink peppercorns throughout the dish.
That's it. Simple Delicious fresh healthy salad.

Weekend Update

FRIDAY
I had things to write about over the weekend but i never did. Friday night my friend Katie Finn - who designed and made my awesome wedding ring set: was having a trunk show at this awesome little store in the West Village: Castor & Pollux (the people who own this store are the best- such good people). It was really cool to see so many of her pieces in one place. Everything Katie makes is beautiful. Everything. There was not one thing there that I didn't want to buy. You can check out Katie's website and follow the link to her blog. She recycles gold and so she is a considered a GREEN designer.

Katie's friend Dara was there helping out and it turns out she's also a jewelry designer. She engraves really neat organic type designs into lucite and then paints the background and foreground. She happened to have a few samples with her and I really liked them all. This is what they look like Dhara Design. I bought one but it's not on the website. It's blue with white cat tails/wheat looking things. Best part is they are really reasonably priced. After the show we went to a great little eatery down the block called Westville. Josh and I both got the vegetable plate and they had so many choices we didn't even have to get any of the same stuff- except the tofu.

SATURDAY
When I woke up Saturday and really wanted some warm cereal but I couldn't decide between (my Mom's breakfast cereal of choice) or (my Dad's breakfast cereal of choice). I bought both because I can never make up my mind about stuff like that. If you are going to make Cream of Wheat this is what you have to do:
Add Brown Sugar
Add Cinnamon
Add More Brown Sugar
Add More Cinnamon
Add Raisins (maybe- if you are feeling it)
This should be served in a shallow bowl and once you have it served take a little milk and pour it around the sides, kinda like a moat. It's sooo good. If you decide to make Wheatena, then this is what you have to do:
Add Butter
Add Salt
Add More Butter
Add More Salt
Add imitation bacon bits (this is optional)
You can serve this is a bowl or a plate. But once it is plated, you should flop a slab of butter right in the middle, this makes for a good presentation.

I went with Wheatena in the end. I was not sorry.

Ok, so josh has this friend who is a make-up artist and he's a really good make-up artist. He usually does all the make-up for josh's shoots. Well he is also a drag queen and a "mother". And I'm not sure how it works, but something like a Drag family? According to Wikipedia: Houses", also called "drag houses" or "drag families", are groups composed primarily of gay males and transgender people, the majority of which are African American or Latino, banded together under a respected "house mother" (sometimes a drag queen or a transgender person, but not always) or even a "house father". So there you have it. They are a family and the mother guides the children in all the ways of the world.

So this friend of josh's wanted a Family Portrait (maybe I should post one on Awkward Family Photos). It was supposed to start at 11am they didn't start trickling in until 12ish and then they started hair, make-up and wardrobe. Apparently it is a long process to transform into another group of people because they weren't ready to shoot until 4:30ish. In the end there was the mother, two "daughters" and three "sons". The sons didn't have to do anything special, just a little eyeliner. It was really funny. But not LOL funny, because that would have been rude. More like, "haha, there is a drag family in my living room right now, and they are all acting like Diva's" funny. Good Times. I tried to be nonchalant with my picture taking, so this is the best I could do without it being obvious that I was taking pictures and not just looking through my phone:

Sunday
Super Bowl! Did you know I was born on Super Bowl Sunday? I was. January 25th 1981 (Raiders vs. Eagles) Raiders won. We were invited to our friends party, and I was making cookies to take and just as I was about to add the eggs, i realized we were out. I went across the hall to ask to borrow two eggs but the guy didn't have any. But he did have a funny question: "What was up with all those Drag Queens at your house yesterday?" Wouldn't he like to know.

I didn't win the work Super Bowl pool. Other than that there is nothing else about that day worth recording.


Now we are in Barcelona for a quick vacation. Next post will be all about that.

I'll tell you what, this is what I'm going to do...

I'm going to start this blog. It's going to be about things I like, things I dislike. Things I buy (and probably return), things I want to buy. I'll write about food I make and food I eat. Things I do and things I don't do. So lets get started shall we?

Today I like Goldfish Crackers. When I was in Ms. Gardner's kindtergarten class we learned basic math skills with GFC. We were sharks and we had to subtract the fish we ate from our school of fish. I think the problem now is that I was never told to stop being the shark. I can eat some GFC. AND while I eat them, I'm subtracting them from my stash. Last night we went to the grocery store to buy cookies, and I saw their GFC display. I said "Oh I love those, but I won't get them because I will eat them all and that is not healthy". Josh said "you should get them if you want them". I did want them. I bought the chedder flavor (is there really any flavor thats better, i think not).
A little tidbit of info for you: Goldfish Crackers were introduced to the United State in 1962. That means in 2012, it'll be their 50th birthday! I hope they have a blow-out bash.



Oh! I almost forgot. Today I also really like NeRdS! I can't stop eating them either right now. Remember back in the day when you could get a little plastic NeRd guy filled with NeRdS? Those were awesome.