Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Getting There....Slowly

Remember the FLOR carpet tiles I had in the hallway previously?

Fiance wasnt a fan, so for months i had them behind the couch, hidden from view.

Since Ive started decorating the balcony, they have a new home!!

I am still working on the balcony. I haven't decided if Im going to buy the rest of the wrap around couch or if I should put a little bistro table out there. What do you think?





Friday, May 25, 2012

My Brother

I know I can post this because he'll never read it :-D

Scope out my bro, Seth!!!
His restaurant, Fine Line Bistro, is in Ithaca, NY, my college alma matter.

Seth is participating in a charity event for Share Our Strength to end child hunger called "Taste of the Nation Ithaca" (website here)

The event is ON ITHACA COLLEGE CAMPUS!!!! WOOT WOOT


Seth Gregory

Restaurant Name: Fine Line Bistro
Hometown: Alfred NY
Signature dish: Chipotle Mussels
Featured dish at Taste of the Nation: Wait and see
Reason(s) for participating in Taste of the Nation: To help raise funds for underprivilaged kids (and it’s fun)
Celebrity chef you would like to cook with: Hannah Hart (from ‘My Drunk Kitchen’)
3 things you always have in your fridge: Leftover delivery food, eggs, beer
Favorite hobby: Music
Most healthful, kid friendly, fast breakfast: Eggs
Most unusual thing you have eaten: Frozen sheep eyes
Favorite spice or spice blend: Kosher salt
Favorite cookbook: ’Unmentionable Cuisine’ by Calvin Schwabe



Thursday, May 24, 2012

Forbes: Test Your Mental Sharpness



Not to brag, but I got all but the last one correct. I don't think the last question is worded correctly to come to the conclusion they did......

Click HERE for the website

10 Brainteasers to Test Your Mental Sharpness

To test your mental acuity, answer the following questions (no peeking at the answers!):
1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?
2. A clerk at a butcher shop stands five feet ten inches tall and wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?
3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?
5. What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?
6. Billie was born on December 28th, yet her birthday always falls in the summer. How is this possible?
7. In British Columbia you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
8. If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?
9. Which is correct to say, “The yolk of the egg is white” or “The yolk of the egg are white?”
10. A farmer has five haystacks in one field and four haystacks in another. How many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in one field?

Answers


1. Johnny.
2. Meat.
3. Mt. Everest. It just wasn’t discovered yet.
4. There is no dirt in a hole.
5. Incorrectly (except when it is spelled incorrecktly).
6. Billie lives in the southern hemisphere.
7. You can’t take a picture with a wooden leg. You need a camera (or iPad or cell phone) to take a picture.
8. You would be in 2nd place. You passed the person in second place, not first.
9. Neither. Egg yolks are yellow.
10. One. If he combines all his haystacks, they all become one big stack
.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hollywood Assistants

ok, so maybe we aren't all in Hollywood but this applies to everyone in a support role. I am dying of laughter.



Monday, May 21, 2012

I have a famous friend

To all you Rangers super fans....check this out!!! Allison Marden is one of my closest friends from college. She must have the best luck on the planet....go ahead...be jealous.


Photo by Stefanie GordonStefanie Gordon arrived at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, N.Y., at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. She was given her plane ticket, went through TSA security and walked to Gate 1 of Terminal A, where her Delta Flight was scheduled to depart at 10 a.m. Like the rest of the passengers, she patiently waited until the announcement for boarding was made, at which time former New York Rangers star Ron Duguay would scan her ticket before she embarked on a 17-minute flight to a hockey game in New Jersey.
"It was the most interesting way I've ever gotten to a sporting event," said Gordon, a Rangers fan from Manhattan.
Gordon and her cousin Allison Marden were among the Rangers fans that landed seats on Delta Flight 8857 from LaGuardia to Newark International Airport, where they were whisked away by bus to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
"I think we were in the air for about seven minutes. We taxied longer than the flight," said Gordon.
The flight was announced last week as the "Delta Rangers Fan Flight," billed as the "ultimate ride to the NY Rangers game." Fans went to the Rangers' official web site and signed up on a first-come, first-serve basis for tickets on the flight, and transportation to and from the game via a plane ride.
The majority of the fans on the Delta flight already had tickets to Game 3, which the Rangers won, 3-0, to take a 2-1 series lead. Gordon, however, was surprised when she was invited on the trip.
The Rangers, not exactly famous for social media outreach, contacted Gordon on Wednesday to offer her a place on the flight because of her prolific support of the Rangers on Twitter -- she has nearly 5,600 followers and has tweeted over 85,700 times. They offered her tickets to Game 3, and two seats on the plane.
"I grew up following my brother's travel hockey team. It's in my blood. I've been a Rangers fan for 34 years now. It's a way of life," she said.
Gordon wasn't quite sure what to make of the idea of flying from Queens to Newark for a hockey game.
"Is that even possible?" she wondered. "I thought they might take us in a helicopter. I didn't think it was logistically possible to fly from LaGuardia to Newark. I thought we'd go to LaGuardia and take a boat there."
Instead, it was a plane ride, and the experience was very much a normal one for any air traveler. Rangers fans had to submit ID and other information prior to the flight. They went through security like other travelers.
Then, admittedly, things were a little different at the gate:
Photo by Stefanie GordonThere were Rangers signs, gifts and door prizes. Rod Gilbert and Duguay got on the loudspeaker at the gate and pumped up the fans before the flight. Duguay scanned their tickets as they boarded.
"Then it was like a regular flight. We all sat down, they did the 'in case of emergency' flight speech," Gordon said.
But Ron Duguay didn't do that too?
"No. But that would have been great, wouldn't it?"
Photo by Stefanie GordonUnlike most hockey road trips, Gordon said there wasn't observable alcohol consumption on the Rangers flight. Then again, there wasn't exactly beverage service on a plane ride that lasted around seven minutes.
(They spent more time on the tarmac at LaGuardia than Newark, to the surprise of no one that's ever flown out of both airports.)
Once at Newark, they were loaded on buses and traveled to the Rock by 11 a.m.
Photo by Stefanie Gordon"It seemed like everybody had a lot of fun. It was a unique experience," she said. "I mean, it wasn't very green from the Rangers and Delta…"
Yeah, about that: The New York Daily News reported that the Airbus A319 burns 640 gallons of jet fuel per hour, selling at $3.10 per gallon. Factor in the environmental impact, and this wasn't exactly something that would put a smile on Al Gore's face.
Said Gordon: "It wasn't very green. It was probably the most ridiculous thing [environmentally] that could be done. But as a one-off thing, it was fine. It's not like they're going to do this again on Monday."
Photo by Stefanie Gordon - Allison Marden (right)Even if it's a one-off thing, it was an incredible, surreal morning for die-hard Rangers fans — with a suitable ending at the arena, where fans who took to the skies to see their team watched New York ground the Devils.
"There were 'Let's go Rangers!' chants going on before the flight, during the flight and after the flight," Gordon, pictured left, said.
"The people on this flight were not the bandwagon fans."
(Thanks to Stefanie Gordon, for the time and the images. Please visit Mini-Sticks for Mikko, a very worthy charity effort for a 5-year-old player diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, for whom fans around the world are purchasing mini-hockey sticks. Gordon supports it, and so should all of us.)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Fresh Face

I am so sorry for the hiatus. Things are WILD around these parts!!!
As a fresh welcome back, I present you with:
Zoe Parker Marden, one of my best friend Allison's new niece!!!!!
Yay for babies


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Inspiration to eat healthier

This is inspiration to live a healthier lifestyle. This woman is 70 years old. She has been on a raw/vegan diet for 27 years (there's still time!!!!!).

I don't think that I could give up steak, eggs and milk but I do look forward to using my juicer in the 'burbs a lot more where the produce doesn't cost more than the juicer!!!!


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Bow Tutorial

Tying the PERFECT bow, usually on a dress, is something that I have always wanted to master. It's one of those things you would never think you need to know, but it's sort of handy!

My aunt is the best at it. Every present I receive is wrapped tightly with a perfect complementary bow.

I can't wait to use the below tutorial from Lindsay Albanese. You can thank me later, when you are the official wedding dress bow tie person.


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Flower Arranging

If you are like me, you have 20 different vases in your house and you plan on always having fresh flowers around - decorated just so, but not overly done.

Then life happens and on your walk home from work on Friday, you don't want to pick up flowers because they are going to sit in your gym locker - and then there isn't a Bodega close enough that sells flowers after the gym so it's not worth it to walk 5 blocks - or it's Friday and you are going away for the weekend so what is the point in flowers if you don't see them? so you don't get them and then Monday you wish you had them all week - but again, you don't want to stuff them in the gym locker after work.....

You get the point.

When I finally figure out a good flower buying schedule, I am happy to have the below tutorials from Gwyneth Paltrow's blog, Goop.

Enjoy
goop - do

Flower Arranging by Vase

I love to pick up a nice bunch of flowers when I see some of my faves at the market (peonies, lillies, hydrangeas, to name a few), but when I get them home I never know how to arrange them in a way that looks, well, good. We thought it would be a better idea to see what vases we already had and work backwards, finding flowers to fit. The Martha Stewart in me is nerding out with excitement over the fact that I may finally be able to properly arrange flowers at home.
Love,
gp

The Vase

With vases of all different shapes and sizes, it's often hard to tell what flowers to arrange in them and how. We opened up our cupboards and examined what we had in stock.
We took them to Wild at Heart, Nikki Tibbles’ wonderful shop (institution, really) in London, and set her the challenge of making arrangements for all our different shapes and sizes.
She showed us what and how to arrange in every single vase. Scroll down to see how she tackles each arrangement.

The Column

Column vases can be daunting, but they’re easier to use than you’d think. Keep your flower stems long, as you’ll only need to trim, and create a loose arrangement with a few varieties.
Start by stripping each stem of any foliage besides the flower or leaves you’d like to highlight. Cut all your flowers to a similar stem height (you can then shorten the stems as you go).
Begin with your foliage. Insert a few stems (Nikki says it’s best to work in odd numbers) pointing them in different directions. The foliage stems will anchor the rest of you arrangement.
Now insert your longest flowers – these are the ones that are going to stand out most. In this case, Nikki used foxgloves. Nikki emphasizes always putting the flower in the direction it wants to go. So, if it’s leaning left, let it lean left.
Keep adding flowers variety by variety and work in a circle, always walking around the vase, making sure to cover every angle.
Now push the stems into the vase a bit and squish in a few strands of ivy to surround (and disguise) the stems.
You’d be surprised; a little water, changed often, goes a long way.
Done!

The Flared Vase

Flared vases can be tricky, as the shape doesn’t lend your arrangement much structure. That’s where learning how to make a bouquet comes in handy...

The Hourglass Flared Vase

Remove surplus foliage and cut stems to a similar size. You will trim again at the end.
1) Start by pairing a bit of foliage with your focal flower, in this case, a rose and white leaf.
2) Add a flower from each stack, one by one. If you’re right handed, hold the bouquet in your left hand and add flowers with your right. Add each flower at a sharp angle, lock it in, and hold it down with your left thumb. This will give your bouquet its pyramid shape.
3) Keep adding flowers and foliage, rotating the bouquet in your hand.
4) Make sure you don’t have too much of one flower or color in one section.
Tie some twine around the bouquet to hold it together.
Wrap the bouquet with ivy and insert into the vase.
Done!

The Cone

Surprisingly, a dramatic shape like this one is relatively easy to arrange for. The peculiar shape of the vase itself will give your arrangement a unique look.
Go for big bushy varieties like lilacs that can easily fill up the vase.
Follow the same instructions as above: Add each flower at a sharp angle, lock it in, and hold it down. Note the sharp angle each flower is inserted and then locked under Nikki’s thumb.
Disguise the cone with some ivy or another kind of foliage and top with your arrangement.
Another statement bouquet down.

The Regular Flared Vase

This is the kind of vase that most of us probably have at home and yet it’s surprisingly difficult to get right, as opposed to more dramatic shapes like the cone above.
1) Here, Nikki builds her arrangement into a bouquet. This time, she doesn’t tie the stems. She holds the bouquet next to the vase and trims the stems (always at an angle so they’ll absorb more water) to the desired height.
2) She carefully puts the arrangement in the vase, holding the bouquet tight until it’s released in the water.

Cut Glass Vase

These old-fashioned looking vases benefit from a tight, formal bouquet.
All you’ll need is a tight bouquet of roses tied with twine. To disguise the twine, use a ribbon and pin it to the bouquet as demonstrated above.
1) Take a short length of ribbon and 2) wrap it around the bouquet. 3) Pin the first piece of ribbon into the bouquet. 4) Fold the other edge of the ribbon. 5) Pin it into the bouquet. Now insert the bouquet into the vase.
A finished, formal bouquet.

Cube Vase

Hydrangeas are a great flower to use in a cube vase. They’re big and bushy and this contrasts well with an angular and squat vase like the cube.
The trick here is to trim the leaves off the hydrangea stem and save them for the vase.
Fill the cube with water and then push the hydrangea leaves against all sides of the glass.
Create a bouquet of hydrangeas, and tie it with twine.
Cut the stems so that the blooms will sit right on the lip of the vase and you're done.

The Pitcher

Nikki shows us how to arrange for two different kinds of pitchers. A bouquet arrangement works for both – the ceramic pitcher being the easiest, as the stems are disguised and all you see are the blooms.

Glass Pitcher
For a delicate glass pitcher like this one, keep it simple and loose with sweet peas and alchemilla.
Nikki creates a loose bouquet as shown above for the flared vase.
She holds the stems in place and then gently releases them in the water.
And there you have it... Note that because she builds her arrangements in one direction, the stems flare out in that same direction when they’re put in the vase, which has an elegant effect.

Ceramic Pitcher

This one’s so easy because the stems are disguised. Create a big bouquet of hydrangeas and tie with twine. Cut to size so that the blooms sit right on the pitcher’s lip and that's it.

The Tall Rounded Vase

A big vase like this one can be eluding. Keep it simple with one single variety of tall stemmed flowers such as lilies or, in this case, delphiniums.
Strip the stems to the height of the lip of the vase.
Bunch several together and then let them loosen once inside the vase. Here, Nikki removes any last distracting buds right at the lip of the vase.
A simple, yet striking arrangement.

Small arrangements

Using small vases – even every day jam jars and water glasses that you have at home – is probably the easiest way to go. The key is to create loose, uneven, multi-floral arrangements in sets of three or more mini vases. Short arrangements are best for the dinner table, as they won’t get in the way of conversation.
Here, Nikki created uneven combos in small bud vases, and then bring several bud vases together. Keep in mind that these look better in groups.
Here's a formal mini arrangement, made with Guelder roses and herbs that you might find in your garden, for your every day water glasses or tumblers.
We loved these jam jar arrangements that were on display at the shop.