Giacomo Variations

Mozart opera excerpts strung together with a Casanova story line, starring John Malcovich. What an interesting evening.

I grabbed a photo of the giant dress on stage at intermission. 

Farewell, Mom

I woke up so early to send off my mom and JR. This photo was taken the night before, after dinner was cleaned up, but it was technically "today". It was a nice visit, they were exhausted after days of touring and walking around. 

I'm back to regularly scheduled programming now... Until my next houseguest arrives. 

Family Dinner Party

It's my mom's last night in town, so we I invited Auntie Evelyn and Uncle Sanjoy, plus Christine, Jonathan & Shawn.

It ended up being a nice evening. We had salmon, chicken, stir fried veggies, rosemary roasted potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. 

Christine helped me shop and cook. We had fun cooking and the dinner turned out to be delicious and with fun company.

Nice Work If You Can Get It

I found last minute discount seats for Nice Work If You Can Get It. I had already seen it, last summer, but figured it would be fun to see before it closes in a few weeks.

It was a fun show, still not in my top 20, but a fun night. 

Chinatown Tourists

After so much walking yesterday, we concentrated on the City Hall/Brooklyn Bridge/Chinatown/Little Italy area.

We had a name drawn for a friend of JR with his daughter's name. The man drew each letter as a NY landmark. Best I'd seen in 9+ years in NY.

We had dim sum. We had ice cream from the Chinatown ice cream factory and we bought 8 or so lbs of fruit, I included a photo of the smattering that I had with my dessert tonight. 

10K Step Tourists

I was telling my mom about my pedometer app and how we often discuss 10,000 steps as a concept at work.

We did a touristy walk up to 89th to the Guggenheim, closed to mount a new exhibit. Down into Central Park. Over to the west side. Columbus circle. Street fair on lex, up to church and to a Turkish restaurant for dinner.

We capped out much over 10K all things considered, and saw some great sightseeing.

Mom in NY

My mom & JR arrived today ... She told me the 26th. She told me 6PM on Sunday... She was wrong. It's the 25th! Fortunately she sent a text to let me know they landed in salt lake earlier than expected. 

I called and said, "umm, mom, why are you in salt lake today if you're not coming to NY until Sunday?"

So they're here a day earlier than I expected!

Graduation Day

Kian graduated from Kindergarten & I completed PM College. Kian received a certificate passing him into the 1st grade. I received a certificate of completion of Project Management Essentials. A banner day. 

Lisa is a Master

Lisa graduated from her master's program & I met her friends and family at Cafe Orlin for dinner to celebrate!

She has tiny trucker hats with nickname as placecards/party hats. Super cute!

Handroll is a Cone

Our server tonight at the sushi restaurant decided that she knew better on each item we ordered.

I ordered a spicy tuna handroll ...  she told me that was the cone shaped one.  

I ordered the grilled king crab ... She told us we should get the vinegar one. 

I use chopsticks to pick the meat up off the crab she told me to use the poker.

At the end of the meal with the bill she brought us chocolates and told us, "this is some chocolate".

Incredibly odd being told how to eat... The meal was good nonetheless.

Chrysler View

I was feeling blah. It was nice to join some colleagues for a drink in a new spot. We went to Upstairs... the bar on the roof of the Kimberly Hotel. 

It was an after work crowd, a few private parties took up most of the seating, but we stood near the bar and chatted. I took in the people watching and grabbed a few snapshots of the Chrysler Building along with the lights from the patio. 

Pretty venue. 

 

PM College

I'm spending 21 hours of my work week in PM College, learning the foundations of project management. 

So far the speaker is dynamic, reinforcing concepts, giving a lot of good tips, tricks and techniques. He's keeping my attention which is no small feat!

Cottage Pie

I did a lot of cooking this weekend. It was relaxing and fun; I really enjoy cooking.

Tonight I made a cottage pie... Similar to a shepherds' pie, but made with ground beef rather than lamb.

It turned out delicious. 

Vision Corrected

I received a postcard from Visionary Optics, down the block, reminding me it was time for my annual eye exam. On the way home from the dentist on Tuesday, I popped in to make an appointment.

After watching tv for nearly 5 hours this morning, I saw the clock and said, wasn't I supposed to be somewhere at 12:30? Ah... Eye exam! 

Apparently my vision is better than before! Thanks to insurance and a little deal from my local shop, I was able to get both pairs of my lenses replaced for a completely reasonable amount.

Farewell Marina, Girls Win!

As I mentioned, yesterday, our team had an outing. Today I spent most of my time on conference calls and compiling the photos from yesterday into a PowerPoint slideshow. Tallying the head to head winner of each letter. Girls won the boys versus girls competition. 

Download the Slideshow

Here's a photo of Marina & me holding a taxi to win the letter T. 

Team Outing for Marina's Farewell

Tomorrow is Marina's last day. We had a team outing to bid her farewell. When I asked what she wanted to do on her last day, I said, lunch? Ice cream? Visit the Statue of Liberty? She said, "can we do that?" I didn't see why not, so we set the plan in motion... Liberty island is closed due to damage from Sandy. So we took the 6 train to the 4 train to the Staten Island Ferry. I gave the group a piece of paper with an alphabetical listing of items for a photo scavenger hunt and we played boys against girls. The photos are funny, maybe I'll post a collage after judging for a winning team, tomorrow.

Today's photo is a view of Lady Liberty to say a fond farewell to our intern, Marina. 

The Wrong Shoe

When Vikki was pregnant with her second daughter (now almost 3 months old), Shawn commented that after she popped we'd make a date for oysters and champagne. So a plan was put in motion along with tickets to a Broadway show. Though I've already seen it twice, I was more than happy to buy tickets for Cinderella when it made its way back to Tdf. 

We had a great time. The show was magical as it was the two times previous.

Then we went to The Smith where our waiter gleefully explained the menu, then I asked him to do it again, more thoroughly, and he did. We had an incredible amount of food and as we were wrapping up the night, I handed Shawn his playbill. The waiter saw it and said, you guys didn't see kinky boots, I was going to ask how it was... But I got the wrong shoe. Classic moment to end a classic evening. 

Cavity Free

I had a nice visit with the Cadillac of dentists. No cavities. Clean teeth. Stared at the underwater scenes on the light over, and for a goody bag to take home. 

I Love Fortune Cookies

The best part about Chinese food is the fortune cookie at the end. My fortune wasn't particularly noteworthy. But I do love a fortune cookie!

Groceries Delivered

The groceries delivered today, from FreshDirect. They brought me somebody else's box of strawberries and eggs. And six of my yogurts were open, getting yogurt all over everything. In an odd coincidence, I was also taken on an errand run to Costco and Target... Negating the need for a delivery of groceries at all. 

Nasty Rain Day

Today was poopy weather. I was happy not to have anywhere to go, so I watched the rain pelt down on the sky lights and caught up with some work and my DVR.

I watched the storm pass on the radar all day, hopefully it clears up soon!

Obvious Winner

One of my favorite reality shows ended tonight. Enjoyed knowing the person I picked to win from the beginning won. 

Pretty Nails

The woman who did my manicure said I had pretty nails. I think she was full of it, but it was nice to hear, as a former/recovering nail biter, it's nice to hear my nails are pretty, even if it's a bold faced lie!

Sock Pile

None of these socks have a mate... I am perplexed. Hopefully their partners are in the bag of laundry I sent out, today. Do you think dryers really eat socks?

Magic Bars

Not my best effort as far as baked goods go, but I hadn't made anything in a while and decided to make a treat for the team.

Fork Bombing

Scott tipped off Atomic that I don't like silverware in my food photos... So this was an action shot at dinner. You can see the tines of the fork still in action as it fork bombed my photo.

Cinco de Mayo

Christine asked if I wanted to go to get Mexican food for lunch. Though I always want Mexican food, it seemed like such a chore to go out & fight the crowds on cinco de mayo. She ended up coming over around 3 and we ordered in our Mexican fiesta.

Tacos al pastor, Mexican corn (it wasn't assembled so it just looks like corn in the photo), guacamole, and carne asada nachos.

We ate while catching up on the latest episodes of Scandal and Revenge.

May the Fourth

Today was a big day... My sister's text said it best... Soup kitchen day. Star Wars day. Kentucky Derby Day. Cinco de mayo eve. I spent most of the day in the kitchen, we were so busy that I didn't take any photos.

I missed a Star Wars party, I missed dinner and brunches with friends. But I did get in a quesadilla and I did watch Orb win the Kentucky Derby.

Oddest Mail Ever

I opened the mailbox & had received a paperback book. I guess whatever ministry decided sending out books has so much money that they can send them out at random. So crazy.

Flip Flop Weather

It's an amazing feeling not to have to drag out a scarf, a coat, gloves, knee socks, etc ... I love flip flop weather. Time to celebrate spring!

Yankees from the Delta Suite

Glen, Valerie and Henry are in town. I just saw Glen in Chicago and now he is here in NY.

He bought our seats at Yankees versus the Astros, tonight. We had a great time. Free sodas and waters. Free popcorn and peanuts. I also ordered fancy nachos to be delivered seat side.

What a great treat, thanks Jacksons!