It's Girlfriends Day!

Men around the world might be thinking, “As if Valentine’s Day wasn’t enough…”  Today is Girlfriend’s Day!  I say, why not?  Married women get a wedding anniversary.  (Although my boyfriend and I celebrate an anniversary of our first date every year.)  Well, girlfriends can never have too much attention!
This made-up holiday (who makes these things up anyway?) isn’t limited to the boyfriend-girlfriend-couples genre.  It is also intended for celebrating girls that are friends!  I found a website that lists a bunch of ways girlfriends can enjoy this holiday together:

SheKnows.com – National Girlfriends Day

It’s pretty stereotypical if you ask me.  There is one suggestion that I do like – donating clothes.  Girlfriends share clothes all the time!  Why not share some of your least-used tops with the less fortunate?  I’m all for helping the needy.  They need it! 
Personally, what I plan to do is leave facebook messages/blog comments/etc. for my female friends, to at least make them AWARE of this festive day!  Most likely, nobody’s heard of it.
Why are there so many of these ridiculous holidays anyway?  I found some great resources with random holidays and such, and I plan to share the best ones with you all, as often as I can!

S'mores Cookie Bars. Holy Freaking Crap.

PREP TIME

20 Min

TOTAL TIME

55 Min

SERVINGS

24

INGREDIENTS

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1	cup graham cracker crumbs
1	cup butter or margarine, melted
3	cups milk chocolate chips (18 oz)
4 1/2	cups miniature marshmallows

Save $$$ on your favorite brands

1. 1Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased 13x9-inch pan.
2. 2Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate begins to melt. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
3. 3Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Serve warm. Store any remaining bars tightly covered.

Awesome Recipe! Banana Split Mini Bites

Banana Split Mini Bites

Banana Split Bites ~ A classic ice cream dessert gets mini for some bite size fun. And yes, there is actually a tiny scoop of ice cream tucked inside and underneath the whip cream of  those little darlings.

Banana Split Mini Bites

For once I made something mini for portion control and not just for the cute factor. My little guy had some friends over the other day and of course with a mom who is a baker, the expectation is dessert will not only be good but it will be fun. And I was asked, by friend Caroline, not to let her boys eat too much dessert.

Keeping all things in mind what I served is what you see here. It was a hit!

Here’s what wasn’t a hit and what I learned.

• Impromptu play dates with four kid’s ages 3-5 year olds after a full work day –not a good idea.
• Know in advance what other kids will and won’t eat. Hungry kids are cranky kids and some cranky kids bite; so no that is not a new tattoo I’m sporting on my arm.

Luckily, dessert made all things right. The banana split mini bites were fun and having two each seemed to be just enough for each kid.

No recipe just a few notes:

• Use firm bananas and cut into 1 inch sections. Leave the peel on for easy handling, and with a melon baller, dig a well in the middle of each banana section. 
• Melt chocolate in the microwave and dip the bottom portion of the banana in chocolate and then dip it once again in either non-pareils or chopped peanuts. To quickly harden the chocolate, place dipped bananas in the freezer for five minutes.
• Fill each well with ice cream (I filled mine with vanilla chocolate chip) and top with whip cream and a maraschino cherry.  

The Wedding that was *ALMOST* a Disaster!

Congratulations to Melissa and Rosendo Escobar!

Yes, that's right.  My sister finally got married yesterday!  We are all so happy for her.  But I gotta tell you, this wedding almost became a huge disaster for me.  

Last Thursday I went to work as normal.  I decided to try out a new place for lunch.  Ordered an expensive-ass $7 salad with asiago dressing, which I'd never ate before.

Friday morning, I woke up COVERED in hives!  Now, I've gotten hives before but it was never like this.  Usually I'd get like, one or two hives if I was in the sun too long, and only the skin that had been exposed to the direct sunlight would be affected.  This was not the case on Friday morning.  I remember having a really stressful dream about a little boy and a horse drowning in the ocean (don't ask) and I also remember waking up a few times throughout the night, itching myself and wondering if a spider or mosquito had gotten into my bed.  But when I woke up and realized I had hives all over, I started to freak out a bit.

My mom, Rachel and I had to do some last-minute wedding shopping, and we stopped at Target and I got some Benadryl and some anti-itch cream.  Usually that does the trick on my hives.  I took two Benadryls, got all loopy and out of it, slathered on the anti-itch cream and went to bed, hoping for clearer skin in the morning.  

Saturday, I woke up with even MORE hives.  Like, ALL OVER MY FACE!  Now I was really freaking out.  It was the day of the Rehearsal Dinner!  Danny was coming over!  The wedding was the following day!  How the hell was I going to survive the festivities looking like a freakshow??  

I went to my mom, crying and stressing out.  We were supposed to go get manicures and stuff.  Mom suggested that she take me to the Urgent Care Center instead of manicures, but I insisted that I didn't want to miss out on wedding stuff.  So we went to Sue's Nails or whatever, despite me being covering from head to toe in disgusting red puffy blotches.  I felt really bad for my manicurist, but I assured her it was allergies (though I still haven't figured out WHAT I'm allergic to) and she did a lovely job on my nails anyway.

Afterwards, we went to the Urgent Care Center and I finally got to see a doctor.  She seemed to think that I'd been mixing too many vitamin supplements (I'd been feeling sick and coughing cuz my Mom had been sick the week before, so I was taking vitamin C and D pills trying to get well) and told me to stop taking any unnecessary pills.  But to keep taking the Benadryl.  I begged her to give me something to clear up my skin so I could get through the wedding without looking horrible, so I got a temporary prescription for steroids.

An hour later, I got my roids and took em immediately, hoping to look ok for the Rehearsal Dinner.  By the time Danny arrived at my house, my skin was clearing up fairly well.  (Thankfully!  My dress was halter style!)  He barely even believed that I had hives at all.  We went out to dinner and met up with the rest of the family and had a lovely time.  

Sunday, I woke up and the hives were back!!  NOOOOO!!!!!  It was 8am and my legs were super itchy.  I was thankful to not have hives on my FACE like the day before, but I was still uncomfortable and worried about the hives spreading again, so I had my roids and Benadryl cocktail right away.  

Melissa and Rachel getting ready.

We set off for the hair salon to get ready.  I opted to not get my hair done in that half-ponytail because I was worried that I'd need to use my hair to cover any potential blotches on my face.  I did get my makeup done by the professional because well... obviously I might need it.  I put on dark pantyhose and my bridesmaids dress, and Dan and I drove out to the Coral House to start setting up for the wedding.

When we arrived, I was greeted by Sarah, the photographer we'd hired for the wedding.  She and I went to high school together so we are friendly, and the first thing she said to me was, "Don't freak out, but you can't set up for the reception."  Meanwhile I'm carrying a basket of crap I needed to set up, and Dan was hauling a huge 20x30" poster of my sister and my brother-in-law.  

Apparently, Melissa had forgotten to remind me about the fact that there was another cocktail hour scheduled in the room she'd booked, which wasn't going to end until the time when her wedding ceremony was supposed to start.  How was I supposed to set up all this stuff, if I'm supposed to be outside being the Maid of Honor at the same time?  I immediately started taking out my frustration on the poor Coral House staff.  We'd been assigned a Maitre D named Robert, and he tried to calm me down while relaying news like, "the centerpieces haven't been delivered by the florist yet" and "you can't set up for the ceremony either because there's another ceremony going on outside right now."  I wanted to rip his head off.  The most they let me do was put the seating chart and guestbook on a little table that would be wheeled in later.  Oh and they got me the easels I'd requested to display the posters I'd made.  

By this time, the musicians for my Dad's 4-piece band had started arriving and were wanting to know where they were supposed to put their instruments and do a sound check.  I continued to berate poor Robert and demand a place for them to put their stuff.  Robert got a little divider for the room and told the musicians to put their stuff behind it, and assured me that nobody would touch their stuff.  I wasn't pleased but at this point... what could I do?  

My Dad, Rachel and her boyfriend Jesse arrived soon after.  Rachel tried to help me set up, but as we weren't really allowed to do anything, we went up to the bridal suite to wait for Melissa.  Dad stayed downstairs to greet his band mates and the invited guests who had started to trickle in.  By this time, it was about 12:30pm, which was when Melissa was supposed to arrive.

Rachel tells me that she just called Melissa, who was waiting at the house for my mom.  Apparently my Mom was still at the salon, getting her makeup done.  We couldn't understand why it was taking so long, and why they were running so late.  They didn't even leave the house until like 12:45... and the ceremony was supposed to start at 1!  

By 1PM Melissa had hurriedly arrived, and I was running around trying to get the marriage license signed by the witnesses (one of whom was also late) so that the ceremony could actually HAPPEN.  Poor Melissa had to rush and get into her dress and take a few solo portraits before we all went downstairs and headed out to the ceremony site.

I was extremely pleased to see that the ceremony site was all set up, everyone had their wedding programs and bubbles and everything was fine.  This was when I started to calm down.  The string quartet was playing lovely songs and it wasn't too sunny, so I wasn't worried about having a flare up of my hives.  We got into our line-up and Pachelbel's Cannon began to play.  Danny and I walked down the aisle, had a little kiss on the cheek and things began to move a little more quickly then.  

My main concern at this point was to not cry.  I didn't wanna get all emotional infront of everyone, despite how I'd been so stressed out in the days leading up to this event because of my mysterious allergies.  Not to mention the whole fiasco of the morning.  But we all made it through the ceremony without sobbing or ruining makeup.  It was very beautiful and I was really happy for them!

Melissa and Rosendo - MARRIED!

While the rest of the guests went in to the reception (and I had no idea how the room was going to look, since I couldn't set it up or do anything at this point) we stayed and took portraits and stuff.  I am tempted to post some of the pics here on the blog.  Sarah sent me some teaser pics today, like the one I posted above, so I am really excited to see the rest!  Here's a really stupid pic of me and my sisters!

Yeah I'm making a REALLY ATTRACTIVE face.  Wah.

Let's not comment on how Melissa and Rachel look pretty identical and I'm looking the other way, like a brown haired retarded misfit.  Whatever!  At least I don't have any hives in these pictures, right?  That would've been a lot worse.

We finally made it inside, just in time to have a couple of pieces of fruit that remained from the cocktail hour.  The room actually looked very nice.  The floral centerpieces arrived after all, and everything was set up pretty much exactly how I would have wanted it.  I gotta give props to Robert, the Maitre D!  At this point I no longer hated him and was much more agreeable as I continued to bug him the rest of the afternoon to coordinate the rest of the 'events' of the reception.  

The First Dance

The reception was really nice!  Melissa and Rosendo had a lovely first dance, and then she had a Father/Daughter dance.  Even our iPod sound system was running smoothly.  Rachel and I gave a toast to the new couple and I finally got to sit down and actually enjoy myself!

Apparently a mistake had been made when the salads were served.  My family's table was the last to get their salads, and it wasn't the Caesar Salad that we'd ordered.  So everyone else at the party had to eat the weirdo gross looking salad that had been originally brought out, while my family's table got to have the yummy caesar salads that I wanted!  Suckers!  

We did some dancing, ate some AMAZING Chateau-Briand filet mignon or whatever it was (it was freaking sweet!) and had an all around awesome time!  I was so glad that the party went smoothly, everyone had a good time, and I even got Danny to dance the Horah.  Not to mention he and I had some nice romantic slow-dancing too.  It was really fun!  OH and I should mention the very important news regarding the fact that I caught the BOUQUET and apparently will be the next to get married.  We'll see about that...  (but it was fun to beat out all the other single girls on the dance floor!  lol)

So even though I'd almost shown up looking like a blotched freak show, and I couldn't set up anything for the reception beforehand as I'd planned, not to mention the fact that the bride was almost a half hour late to her own wedding, everything worked out!

Anyway...  Congratulations to Melissa and Rosendo!  They are off on their honeymoon in Atlantic City right now.  I should be getting the rest of the wedding photos early next week.  I have to get the disposable cameras developed too.  I can't wait to see everything and put the wedding album together!

Now the only issue is that I still have hives.  They were on my face again today.  WTF???  Sigh.

Been a Busy Bee

Sorry I haven't posted in a while!  Not that anyone's noticed, I'm sure!  Anyway, I've been super busy lately because my sister's wedding is fast approaching and I'm doing a ton of stuff to help her out.

This weekend is the Bridal Shower, so I have been planning what we will do and what we will eat, etc.  It's wayyyyy more work than I thought!  We're doing a Tea Party theme, and I was starting to slightly panic last weekend when I didn't think we had enough tea cups.  Then my mom went to the basement and starting magically producing really pretty tea cups that used to belong to Nana.  This one was my favorite:

I'm calling it "The Queen's Cup" because it has the seal of the Queen of England on it!  The only reason I know that is because of the craziness of the recent Royal Wedding.  I still haven't officially figured out what E II R means but Melissa and I decided it's probably latin for Queen Elizabeth the second or something.  I suppose I could just look it up... meh.

OK so I got the tea cups, now I'm working on the menu for the party this weekend.  I've found some recipes for Finger Sandwiches... half of them do NOT seem palatable.  But I did find some regular Cucumber Sandwich recipes and stuff, so maybe we'll just make one plate of sandwiches and the rest will be cookies and scones lol!  I mean, seriously...  look at this website with the finger sandwiches.  Some of them sound SO NASTY!  High Tea Recipes

Last week I went with my sister and her fiance to do a photo shoot with their photographer.  It was very nice, the photog is a girl I went to high school with and she was super nice and professional!  Now I have to edit up these pics and send some out to be printed so we can display them on a table at the wedding.  I took some photos at the shoot too, just for fun.

We did the shoot at a very pretty gazebo across from the Garden City Hotel.  Doesn't it look lovely?

I just realized I have no idea when my bridesmaid's dress is supposed to be done.  I had it altered so they could add straps - I am NOT dealing with a strapless gown at the wedding.  Screw that!  Speaking of which, I also need to decide on what hairstyle I want to do for the big day.  I really like this style, worn by Dianna Agron from Glee:

I think this style will suit my hair type.  I hope.  It looks really pretty.  I hope I can pull it off!  lol :D

Bacon, Egg and Toast Cups

From MarthaStewart.com:

Try cooked, crumbled sausage in place of bacon or make a vegetarian version with sauteed spinach. Dress things up with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

• Prep Time15 minutes
• Total Time35 minutes
• YieldMakes 6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 8 slices white or whole-wheat sandwich bread
• 6 slices bacon
• 6 large eggs
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter 6 standard muffin cups. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly and, with a 4 1/4-inch cookie cutter, cut into 8 rounds. Cut each round in half, then press 2 halves into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly and making sure bread comes up to edge of cup. Use extra bread to patch any gaps. Brush bread with remaining butter.
2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium, until almost crisp, 4 minutes, flipping once. (It will continue to cook in the oven.) Lay 1 bacon slice in each bread cup and crack an egg over each. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until egg whites are just set, 20 to 25 minutes. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately.

Cook's Note

Standard muffin pans come in 6- or 12-cup size; if baking 6 items in a 12-cup pan, leave empty space in between. Nonstick pans are nice but not essential. Beware of very thin pans, which often lead to burning. Place pans on a baking sheet to make them easier to get in and out of the oven.

Easter is Evil

I had SUCH a bad week in terms of eating healthy.  Well, last week, I mean.  The week began with the celebration of Passover.  I ate FAR too many hard boiled eggs.  For some reason my Mom always makes hard boiled eggs and we pass them around with the Green Vegetable that is part of the seder.

There's always plentiful desserts and all sorts of yummy things to eat at Passover.  At least at my house, it's sorta like "Jewish Thanksgiving."  Wine, several courses, matzah galore...  not to mention the fact that we had a seder two nights in a row.  So that was the bad start to the week right there.

Thursday of last week was my BIRTHDAY!  So of course I wasn't planning on eating healthy that day either.  We went to Friendly's (my personal fav hehe) and got all kinds of fried noms that Dr. Oz wouldn't approve of.  And umm yeah we got a big ice cream cake too.  :)  By the way, Danny got me the BEST present - Pride and Prejudice on DVD!!  I've wanted this damn movie for YEARS now and nobody had ever gotten it for me.  But Dan finally did and I've watched it at least 5 times since then.  YAY DANNY!

OK so after that, you'd think I'd have had my fill of bad foods and stuff.  But no.  Sunday was EASTER!  Dan and I went to the movies, I had wayyy too much popcorn.  Then we came back and it was time for Easter Dinner, and I managed to polish off my plate of roast pork and mashed potatoes.

But I have an ISSUE with Easter.  Easter is Evil.  Why?  Because all the treats for Easter are SO BAD!  I mean, sure, you could say Christmas has a ton of 'naughty snacks' too.  But Christmas I associate more with sugar cookies and gingerbread.  However, Easter is known for chocolates filled with creamy things.  Like cream.  Or peanut butter.  Or caramel.  And the BEST Easter candies are the HUGE bunny chocolate things.  Of course now that it's the day AFTER Easter, all these naughty chocolates are 50% off and my Mom bought a bunch.  TO TORTURE ME!  *cry*

iMac Withdrawal

Well, last week my iMac had a massive hard drive failure.  It's kinda like the equivalent of a stroke... but for a computer.  And now you might say that my iMac is in a coma and will not wake up.  It's all very sad.  I had a bit of a panic attack about this last Wednesday.

Luckily, Danny helped me figure out that I could take the computer in to the Apple Store on the weekend, and find out exactly what was wrong w/the damn thing.

My mom, Rachel and I went to the Apple Store, and the guy ran some high-tech tests.  He said there were over 2,000 errors on my hard drive.  Not good.  It would have to be replaced.  I told him how much it sucked that this was happening, since my Apple Care had just expired last month.  He said that they don't even MAKE the 250GB hard drives anymore, so I'd get a free upgrade to the 500GB.  I asked how much this was going to cost.

He said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it for you."

OMG!  He took pity on me and is getting me the new hard drive for FREE!!!  YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!

So now I have to wait for the hard drive to come in (he had to order it from elsewhere) and then take my iMac back to the store for them to actually do the replacement.  For the time being, I'm stuck using my Asus PC laptop instead.  Thankfully it's nice and fast, and my boss said he'll install Photoshop and Premiere on this laptop for me, which was very nice of him.  But I'm still going through Mac Withdrawals.

On my Mac, I took full advantage of the OS X Leopard capabilities, specifically using Expose and Spaces.  I would keep all my work related Finder windows, and a separate browser full of work email and links open in one Space desktop.  Then I'd use another browser in a second space for all my personal crap.  And I would use Expose constantly to switch between windows.

Now when I'm using this PC, everything is smushed into one desktop.  I can't keep work and play separate.  It sucks!  I really miss my iMac and I just can't wait til it's fixed and happy and working again.  I don't even care if I lose all my files (tho I am going to attempt to salvage whatever I can, if my plan works, this evening).

I'll keep everyone updated on my iMac status!  For those who care, here's a scary error message I'd gotten on my mac:

Mobile Blogging!

This is my first attempt at blogging from my new Blogger App!  I got my Optimus V smartphone last week and I've been pretty obsessed with it!  Between that and the new Pokemon game coming out, I've been quite preoccupied lol!  Not to mention that I've been helping Melissa with all the wedding planning...  don't have much time for blogging.  But maybe with this app that will change. :-P

Photoshop Effect Trial

Just for fun, I've been trying out some different comic book effects in Photoshop.  Here's the link to the tutorials, in case you want to try:  20 Insane Comic Book Style Photoshop Effects

I haven't tried them all yet, and I probably never will.  But I did try the first one and dabbled with some others.  Here's a "finished" attempt!  (I could have messed w/the levels some more but whatever!)

It's not as good as the one in the tutorial, but that's cuz I had to take the photo myself using Photobooth and the shitty lighting in my room.  I think it's good enough for practicing purposes, though!  :)

Cottage Pie Recipe

My friend posted this on Facebook so I am copying it here for safe keeping!

I can has Cottage Pie?

YES U CAN HAS!

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (angus please!).  If you want a veg version go for some veggie crumbles or just leave out the meat
• olive oil
• 1/2-1 can tomato puree or 2 grated fresh tomatoes 
•  a few tbs Sriracha (Rooster) hot sauce (use to your own taste)
• 2 tsp thyme leaves
• 1 tsp oregano or italian seasoning
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• garlic and onion powders
• 1 regular sized bag of frozen mixed veggies OR fresh chopped carrots, peas, green beans, and corn (NO potatoes!).  Don't use canned, they've got a ton of sodium and are soggy
• 1/2-1 cup chicken or vegetable broth or water
• 7 potatoes (or more or less depending on preference), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 knob butter (yes I wanted to say knob)
• splash or two of milk
• ground pepper
• parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Saute onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until tender.  Add garlic and saute a bit longer.  Add ground beef or crumbles and brown evenly, breaking up any clumps with your spatula.  add salt (optional), pepper, garlic and onion powder and stir to distribute evenly.
2. Add vegetables, tomato puree, broth, thyme, oregano, cayenne and sriracha and bring to a simmer.  Cover and cook 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  Consistency should be of a very thick stew, not too much liquid, yet saucy
3. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water with the cubed potatoes to a boil.  Cook for 15 minutes or more, until the cubes are cooked through and easily mashed with a fork.  Drain.  Using a fork or potato masher, combine and mash potatoes, butter, ground pepper, milk, and cheddar cheese.  Your choice whether to have it super smooth, but I prefer it more of a "country" mash.  
4. Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit.  Pour the beef mixture into a large baking dish (this makes a lot FYI, I use a deep ceramic roasting pan) and spread evenly around.  Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese.  Top with mashed potato mixture, spreading*carefully* so entire top is covered.  
5. Bake, uncovered for 30-45 minutes until mashed potato top turns a bit golden.  Serve!

My Latest Obsession

Last weekend, I went to the city to visit Danny, as usual.  We celebrated Valentine's Day early since I had to be back on LI to work and such on Monday.  On my way back, I didn't have time to call the house before getting on the train back to my town.  And since I don't have a car, I have to call my mom to get a ride home from the train station.

As you would expect, I called the house from the train, using my crappy cell phone.  For those who don't know, I currently have a Tracfone.  It's a pay-as-you-go phone service, I prepay for minutes and then use them up, and the cycle continues.  In the past I've attempted to connect to the internet using this phone, only to discover (to my dismay) that I was being charged for the time it takes me to write out the web URL I want to visit using the number pad.  It's safe to say that this phone totally sucks.  What I didn't realize was the full EXTENT of the suckiness.

So I called my house.  Nobody answered.  I called my mom's cell phone, no answer.  Then I tried my dad's cell, and yup you guessed it, no answer.  At this point I was starting to slightly panic, because I was already on the train and was going to have to find SOME way of getting home, hopefully without having to pay $7 to take a taxi.  I kept trying, finally left a voicemail on my mom's phone.

Once I had done all that, I noticed that my phone had used up 10 minutes of air time.  Just for dialing and listening to the ring of a phone that was going unanswered on the other end.  I mean, REALLY?  They charge me for waiting for someone to pick up??  That was the last straw.

I've decided that a new phone is not only a fun thing to get, but it was now a NECESSITY.  I'd been looking at cell phone plans and things before, but now I'm starting to get serious.  Tracfone might be [somewhat] cheap and convenient, but it doesn't really do everything I want my phone to do.  Not to mention that my Tracfone is archaic and has zero features (except Tetris).  What I'd really like is to join the rest of the world and get a SMARTPHONE.

No, I'm not a spokesperson for any cell phone company.  But I must say that I'm smitten by Virgin Mobile's "Beyond Talk" plan.  For $25 a month (taxes and fees included yay!) I could get 300 minutes, and unlimited text, email, data and web.  My little sister has had a smartphone for like a year and I've been desperately jealous of her ability to google things at a whim.  With Virgin Mobile's cell phone plan, I think I could actually be able to do this as well!!  I've pretty much decided that I want to get this phone:

It's called the LG Optimus V Android.  It's $149, available at my local RadioShack and compatible w/that Beyond Talk plan that I want.  The price isn't unreasonable for a smartphone... and I just NEED THIS DAMN THING!  I'm toying with the idea of getting this phone like, as soon as I get my first paycheck from my new job.  (I'm starting part-time with them, so I know my check won't be huge but I'm pretty sure I could swing $150.)  This phone has EVERYTHING that I want.  It's 3G, WIFI-capable, access to the Android Market, has all the silly apps I'd need, it's touch screen...  need I say more?  So yes, I'm kind of obsessed with this phone right now.  I feel like I've been stuck in the stone age with my current cell phone and I want to upgrade!  NOW!  Please?  So hopefully within the next month I'll be getting this new phone.  Hopefully I won't have to change my cell number (I'm worried that the 646 area code will prove to be problematic when trying to transfer, since I now live on Long Island) but at this point... it would be worth it.  I'll post emphatically if/when I get this phone so um... stay tuned?  

OH and in case you were wondering, my mom got my voicemail and was able to pick me up at the train station, so I got home just fine.  :P

Baby Photo

I meant to post this a week or so ago but here is a photo I took w/my sister's iPod Touch of her latest sonogram!  It's a 3D composite of my niece or nephew.  Right now... it kinda looks like an alien.  But I love how the hands are pretty well formed already, and the baby is making this diva-like pose that says, "No photos, please!"

Gonna Be an Auntie

Well I wasn't really supposed to share this information before... but nobody really reads this blog anyway.  Hehehe.  My sister posted it on her Facebook wall, so I guess it's public now.  She's having a baby!

And that means I'm gonna be an aunt!

Melissa got a sonogram today and brought home pictures of her little baby squiggle.  I kinda want to scan it or something cuz it was pretty small and cute.  She said the urologist was having trouble taking a picture cuz the baby kept moving around!  How cool is that?

I really hope the baby is a boy.  Just cause we have SO many females in this family, we need to like, even it out.  Plus my sister and her fiance already decided that if it is a boy, they are going to name him after my late Grandfather and call him Frankie.  That would be really sweet.

I just can't believe it's really happening!  It's so hard to fathom right now!  And most likely Melissa and Ro won't be getting their own place right away, so it means the baby will be RIGHT HERE in the house with the rest of us!  And my Mom has already assigned me to the 11pm-2am babysitting shift, apparently.

If I can manage to get a scan or photo of the sonogram picture, I'll post it.  It's really cute!  I'm so proud of the little squiggle baby!  :D

Jets Suck & Nabokov is a Douche

Sunday Funday!  I kinda like watching football on Sundays.  No wait, that's not entirely true.  When Danny would watch like 3 straight games starting at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon... that wasn't quite as fun (hehehehe). But when there's just ONE game that I'm somewhat interested in watching on a Sunday evening, I like it!  For example, tonight's Steelers vs. Jets game, to decide which team will make it to the Super Bowl.  I am a Giants fan, so I don't much care for the NY Jets.  Plus that coach Rex Ryan is just a big talker and he's kinda creepy.  At least the Giants coach looks like a mean dinosaur instead of the Pillsbury Doughboy, and doesn't make strange foot fetish videos.  So I was pretty gleeful when the Jets lost tonight.

Yeahhh I got bored and took a bunch of really retarded DSi photos with effects and posted them on Facebook.  I'll probably regret that tomorrow lol!  xD

Anyway so that's not the only sports topic on my mind right now.  I'm a bit baffled by the Waivers system in the NHL.  You see, this goaltender named Evgeni Nabokov had been placed on waivers by the Detroit Red Wings... and when you're on waivers, it means that another team can swoop in and snag the contract.  So the Islanders claimed Nabokov off waivers, and this fucking goalie is being a HUGE diva bitch about it.  Clearly he doesn't want to come to Long Island.  He said:

"Right now, that's right. I was surprised they picked me up. I was like, 'Wow, what's the point?' " Nabokov told ESPN. "It's nothing against the Islanders and their organization. It's just that I'm at the point in my career where I want to help a team win in the playoffs. I don't see how I could help the Islanders or what I could do for them."

I say... first of all, guy, it's not up to you to determine why a team picked you up.  We have our reasons - mainly that our main goalie Rick DiPietro's ability to play is pretty uncertain, and our 'baby goalies' aren't doing so hot either.  Lawson (the better rookie) is kinda injured and I don't even KNOW the other goalie's name.  So we need a more, uh... 'reliable' goalie.  It's not like a player can be placed on waivers and then give dibs to a team that's in playoff contention.

So anyway, this guy Nabokov is refusing to report to my team.  He even hung up on the General Manager, Garth Snow:

Snow, however, also confirmed what owner Charles Wang had told reporters a few minutes earlier, that Nabokov - the longtime Sharks goalie who started this season in the Russian KHL - had hung up on him during an initial phone call made Saturday. Before talking to Snow Sunday, the 35-year-old Nabokov told ESPN he hadn't been contacted by the Isles or received any voice messages from Snow.

"(Nabokov's agent Don Meehan) called me and told me it was uncalled for and that he would get to the bottom of it," Snow said. "He called me back 15 or 20 minutes later, saying '(Nabokov) didn't know it was you.' I just gave him the benefit of the doubt."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/hockey/2011/01/23/2011-01-23_islanders_owner_charles_wang_reveals_gm_garth_snow_confirms_evgeni_nabokov_hung_.html#ixzz1BvV5oJgs

I say, child please.  This is the most obnoxious move I've ever seen by a hockey player, and that's saying a lot, considering how much crap NY Ranger Sean Avery has pulled in the past 5 years or so.  I always figured that [most] hockey players were humble and down to earth.  At this point I don't want this fuckhead Nabokov on my team - he's clearly a selfish bitch, and that doesn't fit my team's mentality.

I hope the league forces Nabokov to honor his contract that is now owned by the Islanders, and then I hope the Islanders suspend him for the rest of the season for being a douchebag.  That way he can sit on his ass and mope around for the next 3-4 months and not play for ANYONE, let alone a playoff team.  That's what you get for being a selfish asshole.

*end rant*  :D

Interview Day!

Well, I guess my 'post a day' quest has been downgraded to 'post a week.'  Or maybe a 'post whenever.'  :P

Anyway, today was kind of exciting!  I'd been applying to jobs all week, looking for jobs that were specifically in my local area and in my areas of interest.  I thought it was going to be business as usual - send an email, hear nothing back, rinse and repeat.  Not today!

I was doing my workout and my cell phone rang.  I was in the middle of a 20 minute jog so I was all out of breath and not quite equipped for a professional conversation, so I let it go to voicemail.  When I was done and showered and ready to focus on stuff, I sat down to check my messages.

When I called the voicemail, I had not one but TWO messages!  I have no idea when the other message had arrived, since my phone sucks ass and doesn't tell you any of those helpful details.  But I digress.  So I checked my messages - the first was from a place called "Catnip and Carrots," which is a local veterinary practice in New Hyde Park, which is one town over to the south.  I spoke to a very nice receptionist who signed me up for an interview on Sunday at 4:30pm.

The other message was from "Eventful Productions," a local event planning company in Roslyn Heights, one town over to the north.  The woman I spoke with at this company scheduled me in for Wednesday at 2:30pm.

I am super psyched about both of these prospects!  The vet would be perfect for me because I love animals, and I would LOVE a job that allowed me to work with animals all day.  I could help train the cats, I'm good at handling even difficult cats...  I've even had to apply oral medicine and topical creams to my cats in the past.  And no, that's not easy - cats HATE when humans try to assist them with their hygiene!

The event planning company would ALSO be perfect for me, because they are looking for someone who is heavily versed in Photoshop and Social Network Marketing.  Those are two of my favorite things!  Not to mention that wedding/bat mitzvah/social events is a field I've worked in before, so I could offer my services in video editing as well.

All in all, I think I'm highly qualified for either of these positions.  Unfortunately, I'm pretty lousy at interviews.  Unless I'm SUPER confident, I tend to blow it.  Maybe I should review some interviewing tips and articles about this sort of thing tomorrow, to help prepare.

I hope it goes well!  :D

Cleaning Out My Closet

That's the name of an Eminem song.  This entry is not about that song.  I literally cleaned out my closet today, while watching "Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion".  Rachel had never seen that movie before - I was shocked!

Anyway, the reason I was doing this was not because my closet was really all that messy.  I mean, I only moved back home a month ago, so how messy could I possibly have gotten?  (I'm actually more organized than I've been in a long time, so that really was not the issue.)  The reason I was going through all my crap is because I couldn't find my digital camera.

I thought it would be in the closet, because that's where my video camera is, and they had both been packed together in the same box when I was moving.  So I pulled all my clothes off the closet bar, took out all the boxes and other crap my mom had jammed in there.  I found quite a lot of stuff that I didn't even know was in the closet, like a bag of stuff my mom had taken from my old room and brought up here.  For example, my first place award from the French Competition back in 2000.  (OMG that's 11 years ago!  Shut up!  lol)  And the porcelain carousel horse that has a music box which plays "It's a Small World After All."  Not to mention some REALLY old CD's of mine, like some Metallica crap and some other random shit.  It was great to find these gems, and I was able to re-organize my closet in a more sensible way.

Unfortunately, I didn't find my digital camera in the closet.  I was kinda pissed off about that, but I figured I'd just give up and look again later.

That is, until I sat down to write this entry.  I was thinking about where I had put the box that used to contain the digital camera and the video camera.  It had been on a shelf over my bed.  I looked over my shoulder to see... a suspicious black mass on that same shelf.  When I got up to investigate...  of course.  The digital camera was right there, in it's case, exactly where I had left it.  Sigh...

Well, at least my closet is organized now!  :P