cookie cupidity

So a few weeks ago, more like the last week of May, there was this UPS notice floating around the lobby of my house. The first attempt notice, it was hard to read who the package was from. Ivan had many suggestions and after staring at it for a while I thought it said Cookie Outlet(!!!).

I was laughed at for that by 2/3 of the building. I guess that sounded rediculous to some.

So then I got a second notice and it didn't say who that was from. Eventually Adam saw the UPS guy lurking outside of our place and acquired the goods. I was the from the Cookie Outlet!

Inside was a batch of brownies that turned out to be the best brownies EVAR But there was no note in it for who it was from. There was a like note in it that said ...we are proud to offer this premium selection to our Loyal Customers and Hope you and your Family enjoy then as much as we do...but I have never ordered from them before or even heard of them so how would I be a loyal customer?

I thought perhaps it was from Lilibeth, who once sent me a huge cookie for my birthday a few years ago from Mrs. Fields. Yesterday I was talking to Dr. Cini online, one of my best friends, and she asked me Hey, did you ever get my cookie?

Oh! You mean the brownies?!?! That was YOU?!?!

Mystery solved! Thanks Cini!!

So when I was researhing this company (I had to make sure this package wasn't a trap!) it seems that there is a lack of Italian bakeries in the mid-West. Hence a lack of Italian cookies. Apparently Italian-cookie lovers have this company as the only resoure for getting their hands on Italian cookies in their respective remote locations and they all love this place. I do too. I'd eat it all up like the fat kid that's in me.

bob, bubble, & beatles

I was waiting to get some pictures from a friend before I posted this week.

Friday I had off and I visited a friend in Hoboken who was working. We went to a local coffee shop and relaxed and caught up. It was nice to be able to have some time to catch up with friends who you'd otherwise not see on a normal week. She also gave me a book that she was the publishing editor for. It must be so satisfying to have your name on a piece of work that you had a hand in producing. That's so cool!

On my way back home I ran into Ivan, Sof, and Adam who were maliciously loitering around in the street. They were hungry and we all ended up going (back) down to Charritos in Hoboken. The food there is so dangerously good.

After my class I visited my family to join them for lunch. Visiting home reminds me of how much I missed my family's cooking and it left me craving for real food for the rest of the week. :-)

On Sunday we had a performance at the Jersey City Museum. Ivan was playing Bob Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man and his guitar teacher and myself were accompanying him.

We were the last act in the last show, so you can say that we were headlining the headlining show. =) Ivan's friend came over to take these pictures and help us move all the equipment and just to see the performance. Ivan's sister and her friend also came to see the show.

Ideally we wanted to hang out with everyone afterwards to celebrate, but we had a salsa class in Hoboken that we had to get ready for afterwards (after fixing the neighbor's air conditioner). The class was a private 1x1 lesson and before us there was a couple learning to do a ballroom dance for their wedding that was the following weekend. That was their last lesson of 4 lessons and they had their dance down. The salsa class was a lot of fun too and the girl who helped out the instructor was a girl I knew back from our college days as well as the days when we use to drive down to the group lessons, which stopped after the accident. Private lessons are a little more than group lessons but they progress much faster and you get more out of it because of new people who'd join the class every week.

Afterwards we went back home to change and then went back down to Sinatra Park to see a show that was rescheduled due to rain last Thursday. The band was called Bubble and they were doing the whole Abbey Road and A Hard Days Night album. They were excellent! We bought their album of original music too. Apparently last year they did the whole White Album. That must have been great too...it was probably the best Beatles performance I've seen.

I realized that the next best thing to seeing a concert in New York, is see a concert with New York as its backdrop. It's even better when the band's musicians are pro and the music is awesome...it leaves me with such a satisfied feeling...

Afterwards we went to The Brass Rail to do a little celebrating for our show earlier in the day. We both had one of the specials, tilapia, and a really good bottle of wine. Ivan said if was the best weekend of his life and I agreed. It was a lot of fun, especially since the show went really well!

Here is a clip of Bubble doing Carry That Weight (it may only work in IE), if you listen real carefully you can get an idea of how beautiful the strings sound (!!!) :

I will try to post a video from the show when I get a chance!

Real Age

According to RealAge my:

• Calendar Age: 26.1
• My real age so far is 24.2

<-- Speaking of real age, I forgot to post this picture in my Memorial Day blog.

I didn't really plan anything this year except eat with my parents! On my actualy birthday, which landed on a Tuesday, Ivan and Adam took me to Cold Stone to buy me an Ice Cream Cone but ended up buying a cake instead! =)

Thanks hunny!

Woman at Cold Stone: What do you want the cake to say?
Ivan: Happy Birthday Sushi!
Woman at Cold Stone: Happy Birthday SUSHI, S-U-S-H-I?
Ivan: Yes!
Woman at Cold Stone: (out loud) WE NEED ONE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSHI!
Man at Cold Stone standing next to Woman at Cold Stone: Sushi? S-U-S-H-I?
Woman at Cold Stone: Yes!

The flow of conversation was so smooth that I thought they were going to break out into song! Then...

Woman at Cold Stone: (accusingly) Is Sushi in the room right now?
Ivan: Yes, Sushi is here!
*Everyone in the store starts singing*

And so the story goes...it was SO funny.

Cold Stone cakes are the BEST, by the way! We got one at work yesterday for someone who sits next to me - it happened to be the same girl who took me out on my first day working here so we had to celebrate! =)

weekend update

Before much time goes by, I need to give the weekend update.

Thursday we got throught the list this time at the Verve! We went to their wine tasting with a few friends from work. It was a lot of fun and we stayed there later then we ever have stayed there before.

Saturday I slept in and it felt great. I can't remember the last time I just slept because I could. Saturday evening we went to the Alfonso's Medical School Graduation party, a friend that I've known from college. I can't believe 4 years went by so fast! On our way there we went accidentally went on the express lane on the NJTPK and we missed our exit. So then we tried to get off the same exit going in the opposite direction, but that side seemed to have skipped that exit. So frustrating...we pretty much went all the way back to get back on the other side to get of the right exit. That part of the NJTPK is very poorly labeled, by the way. I think I need to invest in a GPS or something. A ride that should have taken 20 minutes ended up taking twice as long...

Anyway, his mom managed to secure tents so that they could continue to have it ourdoors. It was a nice party and I don't think I knew anyone there besides him. We did however got into a really nice conversation with a family friend of his. We talked about everything from travel, sushi, colleges, music, etc. Another hightlight of the night was the jazz band. The guitarist said he remembered me from the Fonz' NYU Graduation party. I asked if they did requests and they did Tangerine for me! I love that song! Ivan also requested some songs and they played them too...I have to ask him again what they were.

Sunday was a nice day too. We woke up early and went to the driving range in New Brunswick. I am not very good at golf but Ivan is pretty good though. I'd like to get better but Sunday proved to me that that will be after much trial and tribulation. Afterwards we drove around looking for the Short Hills Mall, we eventually found it and we got the The Office Special (British version). I really liked the last episode. This is such a funny series and such quick-witted humor. It seemed that the show started out so funny and there were parts of it that became more and more serious and kinda poignant. You should watch it if you get a chance - it's probably right up there with Arrested Development. We also got some maps for our vacation.

Later we went walking to Hoboken. It was a pretty nice day so we wanted to enjoy some of it before the weekend was up. I finally got a picture of some art/graffitti that appeared on one of the street nearby. What do you think it's suppose to be? I'll tell you what I think it is after you tell me - that way I don't lead anyone on.

We ended up watching a girl's softball game. It was a lot of fun to watch but we both couldn't figure out who that guy was on the field. It's an all-girls team and there's a boy wearing big jeans and a huge t-shirt. What's that all about? The other team also had an extra player between 1st and 2nd base...2 short stops perhaps?

Then I got an unexpected call from Loren and she invited us to a Vietnamese restaurant in JC!! It was one that she took me to a long time ago when she lived next door to me in college. Loren & Don met us by the park (Thanks guys!) and the ride to the restaurant in Loren's car can only be described in a picture:

Ahahahaha.....The food there was great! We had some trouble getting all the condensced milk out of our cups (as you can see from the picture), but once we did, we devoured the iced coffees.

When we left he restaurant it was pouring! Luckily, they drove us home too! Thanks again!!!! You guys are loads of fun and we are looking forward to the Sushi place too! ;-)

P.S. We kinda weren't expecting to see anyone we knew, which is why we looked so fluffy.

the junk truck

Before I go on to talk about my weekend, I would like to talk about a topic that's very near and dear to my heart: the junk truck.

Some may know if for its incessant clanking which bombinates when nearby and some may know it purely for its asthetic qualities, but this neighborhood faux pas has been the subject of much chatter. It came to my attention this week when the DSA asked me, no, wait, dared me to extricate a dolphin from the varigated assortment. I declined.

If you see the junk truck, you should NOT panic. Contact the Suspicious Activity Hotline and the DSA will get right on it. The junk truck can be identified by the following characteristics and words of the day:

bombinate \BOM-buh-nayt\, intransitive verb:
To buzz; to hum; to drone.
Cries of terror bombinate about the junk trunk.

extricate \EK-struh-kayt\, transitive verb:
To free or release from a difficulty or entanglement; to get free; to disengage.
Many furry friends will not be extricated from the junk truck.

variegated \VAIR-ee-uh-gay-tid\, adjective:
1. Having marks or patches of different colors; as, "variegated leaves or flowers."
2. Varied; distinguished or characterized by variety; diversified
We spotted varigated assorments on the junk truck.

fulsome \FUL-sum\, adjective:
1. Offensive to the taste or sensibilities.
2. Insincere or excessively lavish; especially, offensive from excess of praise.
Junk trunk = fulsome.

virtu \vuhr-TOO; vir-\, noun:
1. love of or taste for fine objects of art.
2. Productions of art (especially fine antiques).
3. Artistic quality.
The junk truck speaks to the taste and virtu of it's owners.

pocket change

A friend of mine has been working with this new startup company in NYC called Pocket Change. It's about some of the most expensive places and things to do in the City. If you got some time, check it out:

http://pocketchangenyc.com/

Let me know what you think!