Friday-Creative Title, Isn't It?

So Yay! for Friday!! That means the last day of work and better yet-visitors! I'm so excited for Linda and her daughter Jamie to get here. Tonight we're going out for Tapas (again) because it's yummy. I hope Jamie isn't embarrassed by us taking pictures of our food. :)

Remember yesterday I told you I had a mystery package waiting for me at UPS? Well, I got it! It's an early birthday gift from my sister C-Unit and niece Rye Bread....It's the Top Chef cookbook! How exciting it that? (It doesn't have this last season in it.) The recipes all look so awesome, I can't wait to cook! Some of these might fall into my goal of "One new dish a week." The only weird thing about the book is that it's covered in a fabric book cover...which I think is a little weird for a cookbook...a glossy cover might have been better so you can wipe it off if you spill something. BUT-it's still a cool ass book. :)

People here at work are very label conscious. They always talk about designers and clothes...I laugh a little bit in my head because a few of these people have complimented me on my outfits-if they only knew they were from Target or Lane Bryant! Today I have on cute high heeled sandals that I always get compliments on every time I wear them...I'd love to see the look on their faces if they knew they were from Payless! (There's a girl here who wore a $1000 suit the other day.)

Remember how I was in love with everything bagels with plain cream cheese from the coffee shop down the street? Well, they switched the bakery they get them from, and now-they aren't yummy anymore. :( I'm going to have to find someone who DOES get them from that bakery because sometimes, you just crave that bagel...

That's all for now my peeps-have a great weekend!!

Um...I Don't Know?

I don't have much to say today...I thought about doing a TT post, but couldn't come up with 13 things. I thought about writing about the dream I had last night, but it was too weird. (Cross between Journey to the Center of the Earth and blogging.) I thought about telling you what I'm up to, but it's nothing, really...

What I didn't once consider is letting you in on the nipple secret. ;)

Work is good. I really love it here. It's not rocket science what I do, but it takes lots of organization and an ability to multi-task-and I am great at both. The people are really nice and the commute is awesome...

This weekend Linda is coming to visit again-this time with her daughter Jamie. We've got a few things planned for the weekend here in Boston, but I won't disclose them as of yet....stay tuned. I'm sure we'll both have pictures and tales.

I have a mystery package waiting for me at UPS. I have no idea what it is or who it is from. UPS won't tell me, so I'm stuck wondering until tonight. It's tough getting packages at my apartment because it's a locked building. This time though, the UPS guy didn't even try to contact me. He just left a sticker in the front of the building-it's lucky I even saw it...

My birthday is coming up soon. I have no plans. Zero. Zip. Nada. This makes me sad. I know that as an adult I'm not supposed to get excited about birthday's-but I do. Not just mine-I love everyones birthday. There was talk about the possibility of getting baseball tickets from my dad-but he hasn't emailed or called me about them so I have to assume that this is not in the cards...I am thinking of setting up a dinner with the internet people I meet in Boston so that I won't be bored on the actual day...is that loserish?

I tried 2 new places to eat around my house. One is a Chinese place which I fell in love with-because I was one of 2 non-Chinese people in the place. That's a good sign. Plus, there was a table of older men playing Mahjong in the back. Very cool...The other place was a Jewish deli up the street from me that I've been passing every time I walk to CC. I was disappointed in it. It might have been because they had several beef tongues in the case staring at me while I was ordering, but after I ate, I felt kind of nauseous. The pickles were OK but a little too salty. It makes me miss Reins.

I have to start cooking again. I feel like my degree is going down the tubes and fast. The trouble is that at this point, I'm not willing to sacrifice my quality of life-exploring, seeing new things, experiencing the city-to work until 1am as a prep cook. (Plus, you all know I don't want to work in a restaurant.) I don't know what to do. There are so many talented people here. In order to make myself feel a little better, I am going to try to make one new dish a week and bake 1 new item a week. This is huge b/c I live alone and have no one to eat with-that's why it's only 1. Plus, cooking fancy stuff costs a lot of money.

Also-I know this is not very mature but I would really like to have a friend who I could go out and drink too much with. I used to have one-but she turned out to be a jerk and I dumped her. There are some times when I'd just like to be able to have too many margaritas or sangria.

So...I guess I do have a lot to say-it's just not very focused. :) I'm glad tomorrow is Friday and that I have friends visiting. It sometimes gets lonely spending the entire weekend without talking to a single person! Have a great Thursday everyone.

Randomivity

Sleeping on the floor isn't so bad...especially when the "getting there" was fun.

I need my own book of fancy moves...

It has been said that I have the nicest apartment in Boston...

For the first time this weekend I gave my name for the order placed at my favorite coffee shop-yesterday morning, I was greeted by my first name. You KNOW how excited I was, right?

It's a beautiful thing when one of your bosses writes an email to HR about how "thrilled" they are so far with your work and how efficient I am.

Pretending you don't know about a delicate piece of information is hard. Especially when the compassionate part of your heart wants to comfort that person who thinks you do not know.

Excuse me, Ms. Grouchy Pants-it's a bunny...in the city...and it was cute. And, for the record, YOU bumped into ME. Beyoch.

"If you are longer her friend, I will not hang out with you." Even though this is not the outcome I wanted, I am touched that someone would take my side.

I hate that people boo the players when the run onto the field during the All Star game-for this one night, can't they just cheer for everyone in their league?

I was going to write something about a wish I have about nipples, but I decided against it.

Toosdae ?'s

After a one week hiatus (b/c I was at the beach) your Toosdae ?'s are back! I'm sorry to those of you who missed them-next time I'll try to plan better and I'll post some with the nifty scheduler. So...without further ado, here are this week's questions-I hope to see LOTS and LOTS of answers (b/c you missed 'em so much last week.) :)

1. Would you ever go to a nude beach? If so, would you be a spectator or would you get naked too?

2. What is the riskiest thing you do on a regular basis?

3. Do you carry an umbrella when rain is forecast or do you just risk it?

1. If the beach was somewhere far from my home, yes, I think I would go to a nude beach as long as I was not with my family. If I was with someone who I trust and/or someone who's already seen me naked, I would play along-but...there are just some places sand shouldn't have access to!

2. I often drive with my gas tank dangerously low-even when I'm going to places farther away than just down the street. In the most severe instances, I sometimes talk to my car and sort of talk it through the pain-"You're almost there...c'mon, you can do it!" I know, I'm a wild woman.

3. I have one umbrella in my car and one in my apartment. I never take the umbrella into my office unless it's raining when I get to work-so if it rains on the way out, I get wet. The only time I bring an umbrella with me outside of work is if I know I'll be outside-and that's only if it's cloudy and confirmed that it'll rain. Otherwise, I just assume not carry it.

Manic Monday: Bug

Monday's are MoMoLicious! Visit Morgen for more Manic Monday Tales!

I went to kindergarten in both New York and Connecticut. We moved to CT in the winter, and so I had to say goodbye to all of my little friends (and my beloved family) to face a foreign new world. (Hey, to a little kid, going from the city to the "country" is a big scary thing!)

Though I remember their faces and in some cases, what they wore or liked to eat, I do not remember the names of the friends I left behind. (Except for a boy named Judd who's head was very large for a kid his age, and who ate something squishy on our field trip to the Catskill Game Farm...I know this because he had to hold my hand in line and I thought it was icky.)

I remember a boy who I considered my boyfriend-a small fragile kid who always wore a yellow shirt. He had deep brown eyes and always made sure he put his mat next to mine at nap time...

A girl whose curly blond hair was so short it stuck out in all directions-she wore a dark green dress with white flowers on it a lot. She read at a 3rd graders level even though we were in kindergarten, but when the teacher told her to "put some elbow grease into it" she literally rubbed her elbow into the picture she was drawing and therefore, got crayons all over her dress.

And then, my best friend. I want to call her Heidi, but somehow I know in my heart that this is not her name. It's probably the name she used when we were playing house or dress up. I only went to her house once, and all I remember is that I sat on the brown sofa while her parents sat on the floor. We were playing a board game-Strawberry Shortcake-and we didn't get to finish because my mom came to pick me up early.

One day, "Heidi" didn't come to school...and days and days went by and still, she did not return. My little heart was breaking because I thought that she left without saying goodbye-but then our teacher told us that Heidi was very sick and had to go to the hospital; she had a BUG in her tummy.

Now, I'm certain that our teacher did not tell us this, but I distinctly remember her explaining that a worm had come out of Heidi's belly button. I was horrified. I was worried that because I played with her on the playground all of the time that I, too, would get the BUG and a worm would come out of my belly button too. Of course that never happened, but I was very worried for a little while.

Heidi returned to school a few weeks later. She was skinnier than she used to be, and she didn't like playing as much as she did before. I don't remember much about her after this, which leads me to believe that while she was away, I became better friends with the others still left at school. And then we moved away.

Luckily, to this day, I still have not seen the worm and I pray I never will!

No Name, No Problem!

This weekend I was lucky enough to be taken on an adventure. Ok, it wasn't really much of an adventure, but it certainly was new to me and therefore, exciting! I went to No Name Restaurant.

No Name is an out of the way seafood restaurant with no frills or fancy cloth napkins. In fact, the menus are printed on paper and pitchers of water sit on every table...right along side the Dixie cups. The tables are close together. But you know what? It's just the way it should be.

I'd read that the waitstaff was surly and that there was a chance they might be unshaven. The food got mixed reviews. Someone said they were mad that there was no chowder and another said it was great...so I went into this place with no expectations-which really, is a great way to walk into a restaurant.

I've been to many a clam shack and seafood dives in my life. No Name is neither. What it is, is a wonderful little gem with colorful characters (our waiter was quite animated and friendly) and good food. The seafood chowder was very flavorful and packed with fish-something you almost never see. The fried fish platters (you almost HAVE to order it in this place) are piled high with crispy shrimp, scallops and oysters (YUM) along with fries, coleslaw and tartar sauce.

Though it's a little out of the way, I would recommend a trip to any of you who live in the area. If you like fresh seafood served by colorful, entertaining people (who have worked there for a bazillion years) with little to no frills, you definitely should check this out. If you have visited before and didn't care for it, I challenge you to give it another try. This time, see it for what it is-not for what it is not. I guarantee that with that attitude, you'll find yourself as happy as a clam.