Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I don't really understand this holiday.

I should probably look it up.

I just feel like it gives me another really good excuse

to present this photo of

Zara the cat in a sombrero.

Enjoy!

Fresh Direct Bluenanas Are in Season!

Jon and I ordered a few bunches

of these new bluenanas

before they ran out.

As a blue food they're supposedly

very high in antioxidants

and very good for memory, diabetes, and everything.

I also read that even though the plant

is carnivorous, 

it only eats Smurfs,

so humans wandering 

through a bluenana grove

are safe, 

and it helps keep the Smurf population down, 

thankfully.

But in all actuality,

Jon was pretty excited about this

until he realized it was a joke.

I'd warned him this morning not to be fooled too!

Now he's a bit disappointed.

If bluenanas tasted anything

like bananas and blueberries,

I'd be very disappointed they didn't actually exist too,

but who knows, man?!

Who knows?!

Asian Jade Society's Chinese New Year Dinner

My cousin Samantha asked me to accompany her to this event

because her coworker had some free tickets.

A free Chinese banquet meal is one of the stupidest things to ever turn down,

so I agreed to go.

Then it was canceled because of Nemo.

It was rescheduled the day of a big March storm,

but thankfully the snow started after we got home.

I don't really understand what the event actually was

since the woman sitting next to me was reading the program over

my shoulder, and I just gave it to her.

But it began with a dragon dance,

followed by a bunch of speeches and awards and more speeches

(and with about a thousand people or so,

we heard mostly "shhhhhhh"

for most of the time during the speeches),

and then some weird interlude with a Hispanic lady 

singing covers of some songs

with back up dancers.

It sounds like a bad dream or something, right?

The dinner was at Jing Fong.

It was my first time eating there.

(When we looked for a possible wedding reception place, 

they said they could hold up to

three more events and have the restaurant open at the same time.

We were really not interested in that sort of set up.

Queens has better Chinese food anyway.)

It was their most basic menu

--probably $250 per table (or $25 per person)--

which included: 

shrimp with mayo (mmm!),

basket of pork and chicken (eh),

fried tofu and seafood (eh),

chicken and corn soup (eh),

steak (mmm),

lobster (eh),

and then we left since it was getting late and loud 

and there was a storm coming!

Some women were dressed appropriately for a dinner,

and some were dressed like they were ladies of the night.

Most of the men were wearing nice suits.

I had Beyonce's "If I Was a Boy" video in my head.

We left as they were doing the electric slide.

Boogiewoogiewoogie!

 

So many red faces!

Everyone looked lucky that night.

(This is what half the room looked like--it was full on.)

Everyone loves a good Chinese new year bash.

My Green Thumb (?)

For Christmas 2011,

Jon got me a device that grows stuff in foam.

I opened it up the other day,

and planted some Japanese tomato seeds that

he got me in spring 2012.

At first nothing seemed to grow,

but then they started to sprout!

And shortly after,

they grew some more!

And some more!

Now I have no idea what to do once or if they actually grow into

a real tomato plant.

(I feel like they're probably going to rip themselves out of the machine.)

But trial and error and all

that survival of the fittest stuff.

Grow, my little ones!

Grow! 

Surf and Turf

For our big Valentine's Day/anniversaries dinner extravaganza

Jon aged a piece of meat and cooked it along with some lobster tails.

It was all delicious and very special.

 

This is the fatty tuna from the huge tuna

they carved up freshly at Mitsuwa the weekend we got back.

Mmm . . . fisheh!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

How neat is this Valentine?

I think it's the first real Valentine I've received in a while.

And Lauren also gave me a Valentine with WWE wrestlers and a WWE pencil with

my favorite actor: The Rock.

Why is he so hilarious and wonderful?

It's crazy how this time last year

Jon and I were coming back in from Paris.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Istanbul!

But without Jon because he's not so hot on traveling to countries where a bunch of

the constituents are haters.

It's a bit sad to leave him all alone here.

(He even recently lost his wedding ring.

That can't be a good sign.)

But I need a break from the everydayness of everyday, 

and it's a good excuse to eat some kabobs and see some men whirling.

Whirl for me tassel ladies.

Ash Wednesday 2013

So I didn't leave the office until 7 today.

St. Patrick's website said that they'd be dispensing ashes from 7 to 7.

I thought I missed my window

and would have to go to my neighborhood church's Spanish mass.

My Spanish isn't even Dora good.

Maybe Miguel Bloombito good though.

But I went anyway,

and guess what?

The church's website was a huge liar.

Dozens of people were getting their ashes.

Then, because it was late,

and I was on Fifth Avenue anyway,

I touched a bunch of sweet threads I wish I could buy

and bought some ridiculous pants from Uniqlo

before heading home, 

talking to my dad about how many

fezes he needs.

We decide a shore fez and a North Bergen fez would be probably good enough.

What am I giving up this year?

I don't know.

I really don't know.

Can I give up thinking about that?

Chinese New Year 2013 3.5 (since 4 is unlucky): Our New Year's Feast

The waitress suggested that we ordered too much.

We ate all of this, and then some.

So there, waitress.

Pshh.

This is what I ate at some point,

before refilling my plate

again and again.

Ayee, PoPo, and Ma--so lucky in their pink and red clothes!

Chinese New Year 2013 Part 3: New Year's Prayer Food

Sweet dumplings

Savory dumplings

Lucky fish

Something my mom likes eating

that they call stinky socks.

It has meaning for luck too.

  

Lucky citrus

(and the squirrel)

Buddhist exemption chicken

I'm not sure what that even means.

(It just came to my attention recently that some people don't

eat food with heads.

Like they eat filets and stuff but think that this is gross and out of the question.

That's it's weird to look your meal in the eye.

I guess.)

My handsome gong gong.

Burning down the house with some hell money.

Chinese New Year 2013 Part 2: Hijinks

Now that's a smart-looking pomelo.

This crazy guy was the highlight of New Year's celebrations for some.

Yeah, she's really into it.

Sam is pretty amused.

Dare we disrespect the god's cup?

At first no, but how could we not resist?

  

Finally PoPo gives him a nut.

Chinese New Year 2013 Part 1: Toys

The Easter bunny,

the snowman,

the Cinco de Mayo parrot.

They have a good time.

Settlers of Catan

or as I prefer: Pirates of Catavan.

I'll trade you sheep.

The menagerie this year.

What is this?

A fetal rat on a bouncing thing?

Discarded Forest

"So . . . now what?"

the trees ask.

Time to pack up our little black tree.

The holidays are over.

That was quick, huh?

Hetal's 2012 Christmas Tree-Trimming Party!

Hetal had a fun Christmas tree decorating party a few weeks ago.

The tree only fell twice while we were there.

(It fell once a few days later.

I have to find the metal stand my parents have for next year.)

I crocheted a little fish ornament for her.

I used a narwhal pattern without the horn and flattened it

and the tail looks nothing like the pattern actually.

Rana lobster ravioli.

Rana vegetable ravioli.

These were all really delicious.

We're all really grateful that it opened up in Chelsea to satisfy

our pasta needs.

Hetal also made these phyllo dough with spinach and goat cheese tartlets.

So cute!

And so delicious!

She also made a large tart with cheese and veggies

that was impressive and very tasty.

Crazy Christmas socks.

Hetal's three-year-old nephew, Jaden,

decorated most of the tree.

And mostly in the same area of the tree.

Ha-ha!

(See the first photo for comparison.)

It was a great night of catching up with old friends and new,

hanging out with Jaden,

drinking Dani's dad's delicious homemade wine,

eating very well,

and all that good holiday stuff

you can't do any other time of year.

Our New Year's Eve Party/Homeland Season 2 Marathon

The spread from Dickson's Farmstand Meats.

Cornichons!

Spicy mustard!

Rillette of deliciousness (meat under a thick layer of fat--that you don't eat)!

Apricot chutney!

Let me introduce the meats more intimately:

This is lonza.

Delicate and salty,

like a thin prosciutto.

This is ham.

Thicker, bolder tasting,

but still like prosciutto.

Hetal also brought some delicious chicken spring roll things

that her mom gave her to bring over.

It's a new product at Sam's Club.

It was actually a great complement to the cold platter.

Hetal, Dani, Jon, and I watched season 2 of Homeland on NYE

and New Year's Day.

That's about 12 hours of TV.

An hour per episode.

12 episodes.

Yeah--we did it.

It was quite the journey.

Some of us even fell asleep.

The photo above demonstrates one of our many frank conversations

about Saul possibly being killed off

since we'd heard that someone was going to die.

Well, Hetal was convinced that the big death of the season was going to be Brody,

so she wasn't too concerned about Saul.

At some point our Fresh Direct arrived,

and Jon cooked us up a quick spaghetti bolognese.

I really enjoyed the spaghetti he picked up from Chelsea Market.

Really thick strands and lots of texture for the gravy to cling to.

He's such a good husband.

And Dani brought desserts!

Bombolini from Sullivan Street Bakery

and cupcakes from Amy's Bread.

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

She told us that in Croatia she eats bombolini for breakfast.

I want to go to Croatia.

Back to watching Homeland 

like it's our job,

making sure Saul doesn't fucking die.

We took a break to walk up to Central Park and watch the fireworks

and ring in the new year.

We watched episode 6 with champagne.

It was all good.

Happy 2013!

Jon, Dani, Hetal, and I celebrated the last minutes of 2012

and the first minutes of 2013 in Central Park,

watching the Road Runner's fireworks--like what Jon and I did last year.

The girls were funny--they asked me what they did last year 

(because I have the memory of an elephant and the deductive skills of the Mentalist):

Dani was coming home from working a crazy ER shift at the hospital.

Hetal was in Vermont.

It was pretty cold.

Definitely not fifty degrees out or anything like last year.

(The best purchase I made in all of 2012

was this superwarm white puffy coat.)

This is what we looked like in 2012.

This is what we looked like at the beginning of 2013.

The fireworks seemed like it was set further back this year,

so we walked toward it.

I love this guy.

I also went on Google Hangouts

and tried hanging out with anyone who seemed to be online.

I hung out with Dom and his friends at his apartment for a bit,

then we got disconnected, 

and I hung out with Wee and Chris for a good part 

of the duration of the firework show.

It was fun!

No crazy incidents to report.

Well, actually . . . Hetal did accidentally fall.

It's been the first time since high school that it was the three of us,

and she just dropped.

(She does that.)

But she was wearing my red Keds,

instead of her five-inch-heel stilettos,

so it sort of makes sense.

And the sidewalk was a bit uneven.

This was the first new year's we spent together in like ten years.

It was crazy awesome.

2013!!!