Saturday, January 20, 2007

Candle 79

For the past 8 months I have heard nothing from my coworkers except how fabulous Candle Cafe and Candle 79 are and how I have to go. However it's on the upper east side and I never go to the upper east side. How inconvenient I thought. When am I ever going to get there. But then I decided it was time when I had a concert at the Beacon to go to with a good friend of mine. Holy holy did we enjoy the food. Vegan food that is so delicious you crave more. (I literally did have cravings for the next few weeks) I then went back with Plosk and Steph before going downtown to union square. Yep, we went completely out of our way all for a restaurant. Again, worth the trip.

But I had still not been to Candle 79...until last night. Last night as a thank you Plosk and I took my parents out to this beautiful intimate restaurant and spent an hour and a half oohing and ahhhing at the food. We each tried everyone elses plates and just went nuts enjoying the incredible flavors packed into each dish. This is not a restaurant for vegans or for omnis but a place for anyone who wants great food. And it's healthy with lots of local produce. The health part won't even be noticeable though because the food is so excellent, you'll forget that what your eating contains no animal products and lots of things that are good for you.

On our way out my Mum took a bunch of cards to distribute amongst her friends. Plosk and I will definitely be back and I'm sure my parents will too. Even in NYC I find I am not often wowed by food. It's usually good, or very good but to be wowed is a whole other level.

Thanks you Mum and Dad for joining us for a lovely evening.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

My 100th Blog

Yes it's true. I have written 100 of these less than amazing blogs. That's all I'm going to comment about that but it did feel as if it should be the title to this blog even if it's not the main attraction.

This past weekend Plosk and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We made our way back up to the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge MA. (Thank you Nilly and Papa for the generous gift and to Plosk's Dad and Lin for the gift of food) We had an incredible time relaxing, reading, writing, reliving and a bit of shopping. On our actual anniversary we went over to Lenox and walked around the lovely little town. Later we had dinner and said our vows to each other in the exact place where we were married. I know, we're adorable. We actually did very little this past weekend but that was exactly what we needed. Rest/relaxation and quality time. Oh, and driving. We definitely did some driving. We also brought home a lovely clock for our living room and an adorable pewter sugar container for the kitchen. Yes, we can be domestic.

We came home and rested for a bit before heading back out to meet my parents for Children of Men. I thought it was fabulous. Dark and fabulous. The acting was great, so was the humor and the camera work was astounding. It's a movie I've been wanting to see for months and I was no disappointed.

Now it's back to work. In fact Plosk is sitting at work right now- it is 6:43pm mind you. Martin Luther King will be a lovely 3 day holiday we'll be ready for again.

Now back I go to reading Brian's new book.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

England

On December 23rd Plosk and I made our way to the land of my birth. My parents were generous enough to give us 2 premium economy tickets using their miles to London Heathrow for a 7 day trip to visit family. It was a very different experience than I have had in the past. There were no late evening pub visits but instead it was very child based. Darren and Rachael, my two wonderful cousins have both had children in the past year and a half so the two little ones dominated the home.

It was my first real experience with children. I can't ever even recall holding a baby, but this visit I definitely got my fill. Plosk laughed at me because in the first 24 hours I was so excited and all I wanted to do was play with Amaya and Niall. I even said that the idea of children was less frightening and more exciting after spending time with such lovely babies. But then the second 48 hours hit...and my mind began to wrap around the constant attention a baby needs. And with that I was back to my normal self not in any rush to have anything exit my womb. It's strange being the youngest one around while growing up- you have no concept of children so this gave me a little perspective.

Christmas day was lovely. We ate a delicious meal with lots of veggies and an amazing nut roast prepared by Rach. Boxing day Plosk and I went to lunch with my mum and dad in Barnwell where we ate more yummy food. I will say eating was a major theme on this holiday. Way too much eating.

We then spent a speedy night in Cambridge with Rach, Dam and Amaya where we enjoyed Pingu and Thai food. Then it was off to London for 2 nights and 2 1/2 full days enjoying some private time and a more active holiday. We walked so much both of our legs hurt from over use. London is the city in which I was born. Oddly enough I have never really explored London. I have been to England many many many times but barely set foot in London at all. Plosk had spent 2 weeks exploring a few years ago so he was able to show me around which was fabulous. We went to the Tate Modern, the Globe, saw two shows at the National: Coram Boy and Waves, and shopped for people back home. Out of everything we did in London, Coram Boy was by far the best experience. It was the most exciting thing I've seen on stage I have seen in years. YEARS. It was original, technically brilliant and engaging. Out of our entire trip, that was the most wonderful experience. Waves was also good, but because of time we had to leave at intermission. We had expected the show to run an hour and a half or perhaps 2 at the most, but it was 2 hours and 40 minutes. When you have a flight to catch that evening, that is just too long. I didn't love Waves but I appreciated it's unique style. Events that happened on the stage were filmed while being done so that the audience was both watching the film and the real life actors at the same time. I said to Plosk that it really amplified the difference in stage and film acting. Something would look amazing on film, a small facial expression or a movement that would be missed completely if it hadn't been projected for all to see.

Then it was back home to see the kittens and relieve Alice from her house watching duties. It was a different trip than I had anticipated. It's amazing how much two little people who can't even speak change a dynamic. But we got to spend time with lots of family and then have some time on our own for a more active adventurous experience. There was balance. And now 2007 is here. We broke into the year with friends and brutally honest conversation at 11o1. And now to keep the festivities coming, we've got our one year anniversary this weekend. Non stop it is.