April Showers

Rain rain go away.

It's almost May! Flowers not showers!!

Movie Night Snack

Silver Linings Playbook and M&M laced popcorn. Rain tapping on the skylight. Perfect Tuesday night at home.

FroYo for Dinner

I had a meeting until 6:00 today & joined Judy, one of my project managers for a treat at Yogurtland.

4 flavors of yogurt and an assortment of toppings later and I was not only sugared up, but full, I was able to put in another 3-4 hours of productive work from 7-11PM!

Celebrating Bellies

Met up with some of my girls for a not-baby-shower belly party.

I learned a few years back, from this same group of girls, that some cultures don't celebrate the baby until after the baby is born, so instead, we celebrate the belly.

We had some food and I was asked to make dessert (the same as from Oli's bachelorette party) just doubled all of the recipes!

Trifle with dulce de leche, Nutella mousse, brownie chunks & fresh whipped cream.

So easy to do, but Vikki was so impressed she took my photo while I was assembling it.

Oli's Bachelorette

Our queen of the night was definitely the queen of her night!

We had brunch, she had a trip to the nail salon while we ran last minute errands and set up. Hair and make-up from 3-6, more guests for champagne, fruit and dessert. Then we were off to the big event. Back to the diamond horseshoe to me... For Queen of the Night. 

The show was a spectacle, the girls enjoyed it, too many of the actors recognized me... It was a great time.

Then to the Gilroy for a nightcap and back to the apartment to clean up & scarf down a pizza!

All in all, a success!

Preparing Oli's Hen Do

Party planning is always fun. Weeks of preparation, thinking through details, making to do lists...

Now it's the night before and time for execution!

I adorned the champagne flutes, bought the tiara, masquerade masks, decor... Now I'm cutting and washing fruit, making brownies, whipped cream and Nutella mousse for the chocolate martini trifles.

So much fun... Hoping the party is amazing.

Frappuccino Cat

Starbucks has a new add campaign about summer frappuccinos. It has a caff'd up cat. It made me giggle with how ridiculous it is!

Discounted Happiness

Discounted candy makes me happy. The fruits of my 50-75% off bin shopping is festive and helping us usher in the spring time!

Bridesmaid Dress and BBQ

I met VRay at David's Bridal to choose a bridesmaid's dress. We ended up with a long chiffon number... I was comfortable, she was happy, we went for hill country BBQ.

4 meats, 4 sides and a banana pudding later... We were stuffed!

Wedding season!

Clear Coffee

Why is the coffee clear? I ask myself. Total dodohead, I put the water in, I put the filter in... Damn, forgot the beans. Hot water doesn't have caffeine. :-/

Oh Monday...

Also ran some errands on 34th Street, so I had a great view of the yellow ESB.

Easter Picnic

I joined my former roommates, Flo and Iana in Sheep Meadow for a picnic.

There were probably 30 of us in total; food, drinks, card games, blankets, frisbee, volleyball. I didn't even realize how late it was until the sun was going down as I walked out of the park.

I made deviled eggs, Mediterranean pasta salad and sparkling lemonade to contribute. 

Meals, Errands & the ESB

Pio Pio for lunch, Brick Lane Curry House  for dinner, Target and groceries, the Dismans, setting up a Roku for Auntie Evelyn, and the Empire State Building is lit in pastels for Easter. 

Fun day... Productive and enjoyable.

Long Island Jaunt

Went on a Long Island jaunt with Christine today. Dress shopping at the mall for the weddings, bachelorette parties and other fun events to attend this summer.

Followed by a trip to NY Mart, aka Asain Costco. 

And on to Queens-Philippines for a Good Friday Filipino feast of sinigang and rice.

Lung Launching Cough

The weather changes, so cold, the end of winter... Monday I wore a dress and flip flops. Then it got cold again... Back to a winter coat cold. My lungs do a terrible job adapting to such an experience. It manifests in a cough that sounds like I will launch a lung across the room.

Everyone worries. That I'm dying... That I'll get them sick. I see it in the faces of my colleagues and fellow passengers on the subway. It sounds awful. I walked into workforce health to "get it checked out" ie. ensure I wasn't contagious.

I walked in and the receptionist handed me a surgical mask... She too was scared. ;) Good news, I'm not contagious, but did get a steroid to open up my dang lungs from my pulmonologist.

Oooooey Gooooey

My last Cadbury egg... (Until I buy more, can't avoid the after Easter sales!)

It was so gooey and melty. An amazing treat for the evening. I love Easter candy!

Missing SB

Stephen, Christoff and I have had lunch yesterday and today, and in honor of our vacationing pal, had chickpeas (falafel sandwiches) yesterday & avocado (on chipotle) today... Poor SB, allergic to great things!

See's Delivery

I love having houseguests. An excuse to be a tourist in my own town, visitors who I haven't seen, fun times with friends and family... But one great part is the special delivery from home!

See's Easter eggs!!

Failing Candy Crush

So far I've sailed through crushing the candy... But this level is holding me back! I hate when it tells me I have failed. Damn game.

Egg Hunt Montage

Jonathan is in town. We lost a lottery and went to brunch, then a walk up to TimeWarner and through Central Park taking photos.

A montage of faberge Easter eggs hidden all over the city. 

Trying Vinylux

New nail polish is always fun. Rather than  shellac, I went with the new Vinylux by the same company. Less expensive, no UV lamp, but it's supposed to stay chip free & nice for a full week... We shall see!

My First Cronut

Fancy packaging... Croissant dough, donut fried, filled and topped. Interesting buttery confection. One photo wrapped, one from the top, one showing the crossiant layers.

RFP Finalization Treats

Today was the day. We needed to publish the RFP. Months of work. Hours of meetings. 126 pages later!

Judy said she wanted a chocolatey treat, so I popped by Insomnia to grab a dozen.

Plus a beer & potato skins after work with Scott...

Creamy Dreamy

The weather is warming up, I was smiling, and I had a few things to celebrate. Treated myself to a creamy dreamy (i.e. a cream soda float) along with my sloppy dog (i.e. a hotdog with sloppy joe on top) and split fries with Scott.

Terribly unhealthy lunch, but tasty & celebratory!

NPH in Drag

Hedwig and the Angry Inch on broadway starring Neil Patrick Harris! What a fun evening. Shawn played and won the lottery. We met for BBQ and ended up at sushi. Then to the Belasco to see NPH in drag in a musical on broadway!

Banana Chia Pancakes

My one productive act today... Banana pancakes with chia seeds, maple syrup and chicken apple sausage. 

Delicious breakfast. I read 2/3 of a book today and cleared 30% of my DVR. Also productive but not as fun to look at as these. 

Pantry Tetris

Starting at 8am by unloading a giant pantry, prepping and serving food all day, cleaning it all up and stacking it in precarious precision until the next time we unload it all at 8am on the first Saturday of the month.

Soup kitchen pantry Tetris... Awesome.

Layover Deep Dish

My flight was delayed due to bad weather in Chicago, so I grabbed a deep dish for my layover. One piece was filling enough. I had another 2 on the plane and  finished it up at home in NY.

Vikki called me a traitor via Instagram. It made me giggle.

Clowns are Awful

I've spent the last 2 days in a room called "the greatest show on earth". It's a circus themed room where my conference is taking place. Today I got totally creeped out by a lifesized clown figure. And saw a wall of clown paintings. Bleh.

I also took a few photos as we were pulling away to show the expanse of their campus. Amazing.

Epic RAC

I'm in Wisconsin. Visiting a vendor and many colleagues from other medical centers to learn and help each other improve processes and workflows. It's a great conference. I learn so much and make connections all over the US.

This year rather than giving big colorful printed booklets of material, they asked us to download an app. Technology!

Travel Day

I was up at dawn's crack to make my way to Madison for my conference. Orange County to Minneapolis, saw lakes that were completely frozen still and landed in Madison in time to check into the hotel and grab dinner with some colleagues from Rochester.

Excited for some sleep!