Blaine's a Star!

Blaine Miller started as Melchior tonight in NYU's production of Spring Awakening. So fun to see him be amazing, even though it's not my favorite show.

It was interesting to see a different version with creative decisions and relive the songs that I've only heard via MP3 since it closed on Broadway.

Unfortunately it was clouded by a system downtime at work that is still failing causing my blog post to be late :-/

Cutest Kid Ever

My nephew, Kian, told my sister, "Show auntie nessa my spiky hair". So she sent me a photo this morning that made me reply, "cutest kid ever".

Nothing like having your day made before 10AM!

Bernard's Cake

The experiment turned out. The layers were neat. Funny thing about the new people added to the group is that they never believe that it actually made the cake.

Thanks, Bernard, for the inspiration. Until next year's odd concoction. Happy Birthday.

#CakeFail

I totally forgot to make Bernard's birthday cake. I told him I was sorry I was a cake failure. He replied, awwww you're not. You're an business woman with a side of housewife! Great, thanks BB.

I relayed the story to Shawn and he said, #cakefail.

So tonight I made green tea cake with a white chocolate mousse, always something nutso for my BB. The recipe that he gave me was 5 components and 40+ steps, I adapted it to an easier less complex version. Hopefully it's good!

Oscar Night

I can't stand award shows. A fancy evening of people celebrating the fanciest people. Patting themselves on the back.

The Oscars is one of the worst, for me, since I don't go to the movies. I happened to see Les Mis a few weeks ago, (because it's a musical) but otherwise, none.

I love my dvr, because I can watch the host's monologues and see the winners, but fast forward through the speeches and commercials.

I started 45 minutes into it, caught up live around 10:25 and watched the episode of House of Lies and started again. Caught up live just before it went so far into overtime it's crazy!

Goodnight, Oscars...Until I fast forward through you next year.

A Family Day

I ran a bunch of errands with Christine today, before heading to my aunt's place for lunner.

We went by the office to pick up some things that I had shipped, stopped by teavana and target too.

Then over to the upper west side to spend the afternoon with Auntie Evelyn and Uncle Sanjoy. Auntie Mercy and Auntie Cecilia were visiting from Toronto and Loverly took the drive down from Rockland. I meant to take a photo including the people with whom I spent my day, but failed. So I'll post my first plate of Filipino delights prepared by my aunties. What a treat!

Fashion Challenged

I must have missed this trend... Leggings and slouch socks with stilettos.

Couldn't help but snap a photo on the bus today.

Amazeballs!

A Thoughtful Gesture

I left early mentioning having had a really bad day. When I walked in this morning, I found an amazing bouquet with a note from a thoughtful colleague wishing me a better day.

Such an awesome gesture and a great start to a much better day.

Mascara

I took personal time this morning so I took plenty of time getting ready. Christine gave me some new mascara this weekend and I love it. Took a funny photo to share with a friend and it was entertaining enough to me to post here.

Who Said You Weren't OCD?

I've taken a lot of flack over my quirks and OCD over the years. Eating pairs of same colored M&Ms together. Smoothing out the top of the ice cream before putting it back into the freezer. Today was a perfect example.

A few months ago I had bought a box of 50 pencils from Target. I brought the box to Scott, knowing he likes to write with pencils and we often need them for projects at work and games at my apartment.

In preparation for D&D tonight, I asked Scott for a handful of pencils to take home. He grabbed and handed me seven... Four red and three green... While commenting it was Christmas themed.

I asked how many colors there were in the box and strategically traded the 7 for 10, 2 of each color. Scott asked, "who ever said you weren't OCD?" I replied, "no one".

Outlet Mall Shenanigans

After losing all of our money gambling, we stopped off at the outlet mall on our way back to Manhattan.

After buying some supplies for the soup kitchen at the Williams-Sonoma outlet we dropped into Claire's Accessories for our own montage of fascinators and Hello Kitty impersonations. It's fun to have girlfriends to exploit.

Mystic Aquarium

We made so many good friends at the aquarium today, it was really hard to decide which one to post as the photo of the day. But since this guy kept coming up and saying hello to me, and somehow went missing from my Instagram feed, I'll give him the spot light. Beautiful Beluga Whale...

Deal Hunting

I never left the house today. Relaxation. TV. Naps. Ate leftovers. And hunted for deals. The soup kitchen is in need of a new food processor... So I scoured websites, coupon apps, etc. looking for a great Presidents' Day deal.

Christine also wanted to ride the good luck of Chinese New Year and head to a casino so I spent a fair amount of time looking to book a hotel. Mystic, Connecticut here we come!

Doggie in the Window

I don't care how much they cost... I won't actually buy them, but I love walking past the window to see the different doggies that play in the store on the way to & from the subway.

Valentine's Day = Treats!

Valentine's day means nothing more than junk in the office. Just like when we were kids and school was packed with candy grams, Valentine's stuffed with lollipops and lifesavers, conversation hearts and sweet tarts.

Today, Arun brought cupcakes from Crumbs and I woke up & realized I didn't have any Valentine's to give... So at 8am I made 2 pans of triple chunk fudge brownies with pink cream cheese icing and giant heart shaped sprinkles.

The PMO team meeting is at 11am on Thursdays, so of course, I had a pre-lunch cupcake and brownie! Delish sugar crash kinda day!

In Motion

I love photos of taxis in motion. Coming home from work, late & in the rain, I was taking photos out of the window. I thought this one was particularly interesting, including an city bus, especially after an Instagram treatment.

Extra Row of Teeth?

My sister sent me a photo today. Kian's mouth, wide open, pointing out a second row of teeth coming in along with his existing teeth.

I told her his adult teeth are likely growing in behind his baby teeth and to take him to a dentist. Not such a big deal, but a pretty cool looking photo!

Return to Chirashi

Chirashi has always been a Friday tradition, but since it was Jared's last day, we made an exception.

Starting with the salad loaded up with Jared's favorite ginger dressing, (he drinks it if there is any left in the bowl) followed by miso soup and a bowl full of chirashi... That's sashimi over sushi rice for you who are unfamiliar with the craft.

It's been a long standing tradition for team lunch. The women know us there... They nearly put in the order before we sit down.

Farewell, Jared. It was a nice final lunch.

Year of the Black Snake

Year of the Black Snake and I'm a recipient of the Red Hello Kitty envelope with $8 inside.

Lucky me. Let's see how this year works out...Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Nemo's Wrath

When I went to sleep last night there was barely an inch of snow on the patio table. Nemo left his mark after I was in bed.

I thought it looked pretty cool.

A Cup of Comfort

It's snowing. I've been inside all day. I've been watching tv & movies. Drinking hot tea, eating pancakes and snacks. Nothing screamed snow storm like a cup of hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows!!

Mango Cake 2

Holly shared her birthday with the Super Bowl this year. She asked for the same cake that we had for André & Victor's birthday. Yum!

Finally, Les Mis.

Amy and I made it to the Ziegfeld for Les Mis tonight. There were less than 30 people in the gigantic theater, but fun to see in such an historic space.

The movie was great. I loved it. Avoided singing along, most of the time!

Terrible photo but it was the best I could do in the freezing weather 6 weeks after the movie opened.

A Gray Hair Kinda Day

Today's forecast was snow, so I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. No sense in fighting with the elements.

I turned toward the cabinet to grab a ponytail holder and there it was... 3 inches of gray hair sticking out so obviously. I grabbed a tweezer to pluck it out but not before I snapped my photo of the day.

Damn stress!

Online Shopping Addiction

You know you're addicted to online shopping when ... a pile of 13 boxes needs to go the recycling area by the freight elevators. Tom always says I must own stock in the cardboard industry. Hehe.

Super Bowl XLVII Power Outage

Decided to forego invitations to Super Bowl parties, since I am one of few people I knew who actually wants to watch the game not just the commercials and the halftime show.

The lights out delay in the 3rd quarter made me very antsy. Decided to do the blogging for the day.

Hopefully it's better news for the 49ers when the lights come back on...

Soup Kitchen 2

2nd soup kitchen of the year... A lot of regular volunteers weren't there today, seems everyone is sick, so we worked really hard.

I had a great time & spoke to a lot of our patrons today.

Forbidden Broadway

To end Cathy's trip we decided on a parody of Broadway's hits. I thought it was fun and I has seen all but 2 of about 25 the shows they used.

The actors were talented, I was as impressed as ever. Even the playbill was a parody.