Ah, St Valentine, You Sadistic Bastard

Cupid is an asshole.

Tonight was supposed to be our makeup Valentine’s Day date. Yes, the original makeup date was last Tuesday. Then postponed to Friday. Then postponed again until tonight. Okay, no big deal. At least it’s finally happening! Mike wore a new shirt to work and I brought something to change into. He wore real shoes, I put in my contacts and even put on some makeup . We were looking good and ready to go.

 So we met up after work and made our way to the Strand Hotel on 37th, ready to make our way to the top. I was looking forward to a purple cocktail and amazing views of the Empire State Building. The moon was big and bright and we were both excited to have a romantic, classic New York evening- and okay, I was really excited about those cocktails!

We walked to the door, the doorman escorted us in… and told us a private party was taking up the Top of the Strand bar for the next 3 hours. Wah waaaaaaah. Insert Debbie Downer face. Valentine’s Day date - thwarted.

                                        

We sat down at the (street level, very nice but view-less) lobby bar and regrouped. We passed on checking out our second choice (the rooftop bar Jimmy at the James Hotel) and decided to hit up lobster night at Wombat in Brooklyn. No view, no purple cocktails, but it’s close to home and hey, lobster. I’ll take it.

The street level version of my purple drink. Would’ve looked better in the moonlight, but it WAS $3 cheaper!

So we took the train home, hopped in the car and drove to Wombat. On the way we kept our spirits up- thrice-postponed Valentine’s Day, Take 2! Michael even agreed to hit up Trophy, a nearby cocktail bar, after dinner. Specialty cocktails here I come! I’m feeling the Valentine’s Day love!

     ….Wombat was closed. No sign, no explanation, just lights off, nobody’s home. We stood in silence and peered through the windows. Thwarted again!

We walked a few blocks on Metropolitan, trying to find a suitable alternative, but it was cold and after your Lobster and Fancy Drinks dreams are dashed, even Bushwick Country Club’s cherry vodka slushy drinks couldn’t cheer me up. We called it quits and cobbled together Plan C- pizza, beer for Mike and the bottle of wine I’d been saving back at home for me.

Still we tried to maintain our good humor. Even when we pulled up at the bodega for beer and I tried to get out of the car while my seatbelt was still buckled. (Doh!)

We got home, got the pizza, Mike cracked a beer and I- realized I’d already drank the sparkling wine I thought was in the fridge. Strike 3. I’m out. I threw in the towel, put on my sweatpants and watched an Office marathon with my sweetheart.

My fancy Valentine's Day dinner :/

I think this is the universe telling me that an engaged woman should not post THREE blog entries about Valentine’s Day on her wedsite, where she already posts lovey-dovey Mikey schmaltz that probably makes her single friends want to light her on fire. Sorry folks. Guess I got what’s coming to me.

So yes, we are going to try again, but I promise not to write about it. In fact last night I finally gave Michael his birthday/Valentine’s Day present and I’m not even going to tell you what it was! Look at me, shutting up. (Now that would be a real gift to Michael.)

My Cupid

I never went crazy over Valentine’s Day. Sure, it has some historical significance, but it’s basically a Hallmark holiday. I don’t want to do something just because a marketing executive tricked me into it. Yet, I have a diamond engagement ring, a red velvet Christmas stocking with my name monogrammed in glitter glue, and I’ll be pretty damn grumpy if I don’t get chocolate in one form or another this coming Monday.

See, I do agree with taking a day to make a big deal out of things. Yes, you should love and honor your mom every day of your life. But she does deserve one day a year where she is guaranteed brunch and some thoughtful words. I love my birthday and think everyone should take advantage of  a 24 hour period in which no one is allowed to be mean to them, plus a pass to eat all their favorite foods in one meal. I know that New Year’s Eve is just another day on the calendar. But you’ll never hear me complain about an excuse to drink champagne!

One (of several) bottle(s) used to toast our engagement

So Valentine’s Day, to me, is a holiday worth celebrating, if you want to. I never felt depressed if I was single, though, because it gives single people even more excuses to ‘celebrate’. For couples, you have a reason to have a nice dinner, a nice bottle of wine, some nice chocolates- and a responsibility to NOT be smug or act too happy in front of ‘poor, lonely’ singles. If you want to celebrate, you pay for your happiness in over priced restaurant specials and jacked up heart shaped candy packages. It’s only fair.

If you’re single, personally, I think the world is your oyster on February 14^th. You can go to a bar alone and not worry about people staring- they’ll feel obligated to pity you and be discrete in their glances. You might think you hate pity. But do you know what pity equals in a bar? That’s right- FREE DRINKS!! From the bartender, the manager, the other patrons. Men will line up to buy you a drink and bemoan your single status with you. You’ve just been handed a free pass to get wasted and say inappropriate things. Your boss will feel as awkward for reprimanding a single girl’s post Valentine’s Day hangover as he does when you need to leave early due to ‘lady troubles’. Huzzah for gender stereotypes that work in our favor.

On the house, of course!

As someone who is always trying to repress her propensity for excess, I kind of envy you girls who can justify that whole bottle (or two) of Moet and entire tray of Fererro Rocher to yourself. Because ladies and gentleman, I’M the one you should really feel sorry for. Because- Valentine’s Day is also Michael’s birthday.

That’s right. Affianced,  I’ve lost my opportunity to swill pity champagne and trade sexless marriage jokes with the bartender. And what do I get in exchange? Nada! Worse- a raincheck. For three years now, Michael has promised me a ‘make-up date’ for Valentine’s Day. Do you know how many makeup V-Day dates we’ve been on? ZERO. It never comes to fruition. I spend my Valentine’s Day buying him dinner, or cooking whatever he requests, or waiting outside a movie theatre in the cold because the cinematography of the movie he chose is making me nauseous. Poooor me! Boohoooo. { ;) }

All joking aside, I’m happy to give him his special day- after all, I’m the one who believes in birthdays. But last year, looking at everyone’s facebook ‘what a sweet spouse/partner’ postings, I let it get to me- momentarily! Just momentarily, okay?- and got a little bummed. Enough for Michael to notice and run to the corner of Flushing and Broadway, where he purchased a teddy bear-in-cellophane from a folding table and a box of chocolate from Duane Reade.  His being born on Valentine’s Day was not a coincidence- he is my little cupid.

This year, he surprised me- early! He has already made plans to take me out for drinks at Top of the Strand. Nothing says love like $18 cocktails and million dollar views. Seriously, I love this shit. Once in awhile I just really love to (1) see Michael in something other than his beloved swishy pants, (2) gawk at the Empire State Building from a swank rooftop 4 blocks away and (3) spend a day’s pay on drinks that contain more ingredients than most of my dinners. I’m stoked. And it's our first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple. Awwww. (You know i'm going to do this for Every Single Holiday, right? Flag Day just has so much more significance with a ring on your finger!)

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you lovebirds out there- and happy ‘Pour me another on the house, barkeep! You’re my imaginary boyfriend tonight!’ to everyone else!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Generally I like to stay in on New Year’s Eve. Well, I like to go out for a nice dinner, then come home to a bottle of champagne and watch Dick Clark and MTV, and toast when the ball drops. Last year I went out for the night for the first time in years because some friends were in town. But I think it is generally not a good idea, not just because it’s ‘amateur hour’, but because by 3:00 am I look like this:

NYE 2010

With Mike on bed rest it was better for us to stay in anyway, so I bought us a small feast- we had whole Dungeoness crabs (with Old Bay, of course!) for lunch, jumbo shrimp cocktail as an appetizer, then lobster tails and dry aged rib eye steaks. I had a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, plus a mini bottle of Moet to pop at midnight after we kissed.

It looked something like this :)

All in all it was a nice night, and a nice, quiet weekend. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas! (Part 2)

More presents! Oh, and general merriment J 

One of my big ticket items was a Nook from my sister! Up until now, I have been purposefully avoiding eReaders because I just love books and don’t want to contribute to their obsolescence. But as Mike and Beef pointed out, I can do both. I buy all my books and keep them- it’s my prize collection. But I sometimes read what is commonly referred to as ‘chick Lit’- you know, Bridget Jones, Jennifer Weiner, Jane Green, those types. They are great subway books- light enough to be able to follow while someone is drunkenly serenading me or playing a brass drum practically in my lap. (Both of which have happened in the last month. Shout out to the 6 train!) Anyway, I don’t feel the need to ‘own’ those. And I have to admit, I love that I can just download some books when I need a one in time for the next morning’s commute instead of trudging to the bookstore every time.

Not that I won’t keep trudging to the bookstores! There are so many great bookstores just in Brooklyn I want to give my patronage to, and I made a vow to myself that this year I would buy, if not exclusively, at least primarily from them. I let my Barnes & Noble membership lapse. Generally I go there because the smaller, ‘better’ book stores don’t carry as much chick lit, but if I’m downloading that instead- win/win!

Not that I shouldn't be proud of this...

{By the way, I kind of hate the term Chick Lit, but it’s just easier to use in this case. Please don’t stone me.}

My sister called Mike to make sure that he wasn’t getting me a Nook and to find out whether I wanted one, and even though I’d told him not to get me one, he gave my sister the go ahead. And I’m glad he did, although I know his motive was to get me to stop buying so many physical books- one of our recurring disagreements is over clutter. I’m a pack rat, and he seems to be getting increasingly neat as he ages. We’re a regular Odd Couple, it’s true.

Anyway, I also got a beautiful coat that I desperately needed from Michael’s mother, as well as new sheets and pillowcases- also desperately needed. I was going to wait for any household items, since we’ll be registering sometime in the next year, but we really did need those sheets now. Our current 'collection' forces us to mix and match brick red, hot pink, navy blue and this hideous primary colored stripe and polka dot patterned sheet. Oh, and every single one is ripped. Classy. I also got some stemless champagne glasses and a NY Giants apron. Guess which one is my favorite and which is Mike’s?

Christmas dinner was at Mike’s parents’ house and my sister came too. Highlights: I ate some of a piece of cheesecake-topped red velvet cake that was later revealed to contain 630 calories per slice, went a little nuts with the after dinner spirits (at one point I was chasing Courvoisier with Godiva chocolate liqueur and then chasing that with pink champagne- surprisingly, not the best combo!), lost every beer pong game I played, and stayed up drinking and talking with one of Mike’s step-sisters until 3:30 am. The good times were worth the killer hangover the next day!

We also did stockings and presents with my sister at her apartment with her dog and roommates’ puppy on Christmas Eve, who tore every piece of wrapping paper to shreds.

Fergie

Remy in her Christmas sweater from her godparents! ;)

Then we got snowed in by the Blizzard the day after Christmas.

That was a fun drive.

Now, finally, we are home, ready to spend a quiet New Years weekend playing with our new toys. Happy Holidays to all!

Merry Christmas! (Part 1)

Our first Christmas as an engaged couple! I knew it was going to be a difficult Christmas for me this year, but I was determined to be cheerful, and we had a nice time. Now let’s get down to the important part- the presents!

Mike and I put a spending limit on ourselves that was half what we spent last year, since we’re saving up for the wedding. It was also a good idea to put the brakes on our spending, as it’s been escalating- last year I bought him a flat screen TV. I just couldn’t top that this year!

Every year I try to make a keepsake from a part of our tree. Aw.

And from champagne corks! Jessica started it!

Mike thinks it's really cute. (No.)

So I got him a few things he asked for- a subscription to Gamefly ($12 instead of $100 for the two games he wanted- score!), some accessories for his phone (discount from sister, score again!), some clothes, shoes, a cable for the computer and some things for his guitar, which included his ‘big’ present- some type of noise eliminator thing that cost half of his total.

I did pretty good, for him. Not only did I get some good deals, some of his presents benefited me again this year (see big screen TV above). The cable was so we could watch movies from the computer on the TV (already put to use when I made him watch The Best of Amy Poehler last night) and one of the phone accessories is a car charger for our twin Blackberries. Not to mention I picked out his new clothes myself at Brooklyn Industries, a nice compromise of casual clothes I wouldn’t mind seeing him in, that he doesn’t mind wearing. Wardrobe crisis solved! (i.e. I win.)

Now for me! I got a few things I specifically asked for, like a watering can and a dance DVD. I got about 40 Ferrero Rochers (little joke of ours), a memory card to put music on my phone (plus a promise to help me load it up), 2 books plus a Borders gift card, an electronic photo frame (and something else I can't remember but I;m sure I just loooved!) Unfortunately Mike had a medical issue pop up and was unable to finish shopping, so he ‘owes me’ a few more things, which I doubt I’m going to ask him to follow through on. I’m quite happy.

Although he did flake out on one thing- for four years now I’ve been asking him to get me stuff at Victoria’s Secret, and he is just too intimidated. This year I literally spelled out exactly what kind of underwear I wanted, and reminded him again how the VS salesgirls are used to talking to husbands, fiancés and boyfriends (and girlfriends) and won’t even blink if he asks for assistance. Trust me- years ago I was one! I saw a lot of boobs, a lot of nervous significant others and my fair share of sleezoids and snickering teenagers. Everybody loved waiting on the nervous boyfriends- not least of all because you could usually up-sell the bejeezus out of them. Hell, I thought Mike might even get a little kick out of having some pretty little thing pick out panties for him (er, for him to buy, for me, of course).

But once again, Mikey was too shy. I promised not to embarrass him too much on this blog, but he swore he was going to go through with it this year, so I am calling him out!

Mike's worst nightmare!

So that’s our Christmas together. More to come on things other than gifts- if anyone's interested in that.

Thanksgiving, Part 2

So, our first Thanksgiving as an engaged couple was a success!

             

 My sister and her dog stayed over for two days, and we calculated that we went through 76 beers and two bottles of wine. That was probably part of the success.

I’ve mentioned my wannabe culinary aspirations, but for this Thanksgiving, my first cooking, I wanted to keep it traditional- our traditions, the way my mom made it. (Except for the turkey. That was the only change.)

So I made mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, asparagus, rolls and my mom’s famous macaroni and cheese. She taught me the recipe a few years ago and I’ve been trying to perfect it ever since. She cooked like I cook- eyeballing it, not measuring, so replicating is all trial and error.

I’m proud to say that I think I finally got it right! My sister said it was fantastic and I have to say, it tasted pretty good. :) Thank you, Mom.

                                                                                    

On Thanksgiving morning, Mike and I woke up early, watched some of the parade and then walked to the Food Bazaar to get some extra snacks (as well as the can of cranberry sauce my sister insisted on, if only for decoration).  

It was weird being out in New York for a holiday- so many stores were still open, but the energy was so different. It was a perfect fall day, and we enjoyed our walk. We also ducked into a party shop and loaded up on turkey day paraphernalia. I think waking up to the parade and taking a walk through the neighborhood might be part of our new tradition together.

I ‘made’ the appetizer table just like my mom did, with a few small additions- brie and goat cheese in addition to the cheddar, and shrimp for Mike.

Somehow I got everything made, correctly, in the right amount of time. I know it’s not really a big deal, since all the dishes are basic, but the 6 dishes going on the table all have to be made at the same time (by the same person), so I was definitely worried. I'd bought a chef's hat while we were visiting Mumford's, and was wearing my mom's old Christmas apron, so I really had a lot to live up to.

But we pulled it off!

                  'We' pulled it off- here are my helpers, contributing.

Today, we plan to just lamp out on the couch, each with our heads buried in electronic  devices- Mike’s on his phone now, I’m about to spend a few hours looking at OffBeat Bride Wedding Porn. I also found a bunch of locations to investigate thanks to their Bride Tribe. I will leave you with an abundance of our holiday pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

                      Yum

The turkey was worth every minute in line- sooooo good!

 Paper table cloth and cardboard turkeys care of Party Glitter on Broadway

The man of the house, carving the turkey- Thanksgiving is a time for gender roles (jk)

                              Stephy always gets the drumstick!

                    The perfect plate

                     Sleeping it off

Brooklyn Thankful

This Thanksgiving is one of firsts. My first Thanksgiving in my own home- and my first as head (and only) cook.  My first Thanksgiving outside of New Jersey- first in my new home, New York City. My first Thanksgiving with Michael as an engaged couple. My first Thanksgiving without my mom.

Like most of this wedding planning process, it’s bittersweet. But I’m making an effort to be positive.  It is nice to be in my own living room with just Mike and my sister (and her crazy dog)- my family, version 2.0. And yesterday, waiting in line for our turkey, I got to feel like part of the family in my new home since 2007- Brooklyn.

Since I was cooking for the very first time (more on this later), and also making new traditions, I decided to both give myself a break and try something different- a fried turkey from Jive Turkey in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Yesterday, on line (for 4 hours, in 40 degree weather) freezing for fried fowl (thanks Amy!) there were people from every borough, upstate, New Jersey and New York. But mostly there were fellow Brooklynites.

Everyone knows the camaraderie that can grow in a slow-moving line with like minded people- or just those in the same boat as you. Whether you’re enthusing over the recent set lists of a favorite band while camping out for concert tickets, or ruing the consistently terrible service at the DMV, waiting in lines forges fleeting friendships, especially when uniting against a cause.

Yesterday, we railed against the cold, took issue with the reservation policy and eyed potential line jumpers warily. We also compared notes on Thanksgiving plans, and shared nips of brandy offered by a fellow freezing for fried fowl friend. A young man who ran out to get a turkey at his mom’s behest spent the 4 cold hours in line wearing just a sweat shirt and basketball shorts. Understandably, we held his place while he periodically slipped into his car to warm up. Later he let two similarly underdressed girls (one in flip flops) huddle in the back seat for awhile. The girls had entertained us with choreographed dance routines they performed while listening to a shared iPod, in the hope that movement would warm them up. We owed them.

Shorts guy talking to dancer girls while brandy man plays scrabble online.

The refrain of ‘this better be the best damn turkey in the world’ was muttered by everyone at least once. But any time a passerby would stop to ask what was going on, each person would proudly state their current wait time, defend their dedication and declare Jive Turkey’s vast superiority to anything you could make at home.  When my group finally got inside and prepared to leave with our orders, goodbyes were said, even some hugs. Outside, the groups behind us cheered when we walked by with our shopping bags full of dinner, finally victorious.

I made it home, toes frozen, and collapsed dramatically on the floor inside my apartment. Mike and my sister had driven by, about two hours in, to deliver me a hat and gloves, and knew what I’d just been through to secure the centerpiece of our dinner. They had a glass of champagne already poured and waiting for me, and a pizza on it’s way.

Which, I must say, is the very best way to show you’re thankful.