I was finished with all my ads by 2 pm yesterday. This time of year my office tends to slow down and our phones were down for a day and a half. After all the ads got done I was doing everything possible so I did not have to file all the insertion orders for my territory. I should actually be filing them after I put in the order but that is a different story. So I cleaned out my personal and work email. I got a new cup of water, I went to the bathroom, I had some yogurt, I gossiped and so on. I did eventually file the darn things.
Tonight's dinner Shake and Bake pork chops, cheesy cauliflower(ala Green Giant)) and baked perogis(ala Mrs. T's).
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I recently brought a yoga tape(which I found on
Rainy Sunday Daily's blog) and I thought I would give it a try. I have heard about yoga for a while now as a means of getting in shape and I thought why not. I'll let you know what happens. I have this image in my head as what I look like, but everytime I pass a mirror I am always shocked at what I actually look like...who the fuck are you? I have said to the mirror.

Interesting things that happened at work yesterday. Our phones went down(still down) and there was a small electrical fire in my boss's office. AAAARRRGGGGGHHH!

I was watching a news programing and I noticed that the men on the panel pretty much had similar suits and colored suits on. Most men's fashion is not as diversified as women's is. It's a shame.

Wonderfalls is now being moved from Friday night to Thursday night where it will get killed by The Apprentice. Wonderfalls your fired! I hate Fox.

My knitting is coming along very well. I am now able to knit at home and getting further into knitting the scarf. I am very excited.

I remade the Salmon fishcakes recipe again(I used breadcrumbs as a coating) and they once again came out yummy. Recipe on the side.

It is crazy busy at work today. So here is a brief rundown of my weekend. Saw Dawn of the Dead. Not as scary as I thought it would be. It was comical at best. Although before the movie the feeling I had could be described as being on a line to board a roller coaster. Some people find roller coasters exhilarating I do not. So I made it out alive and so did Niel's hands. :)
The spaghetti recipe was so so. The meatballs were a lot better than the actual sauce. Maybe because I put an extra clove of garlic? I looooooooove garlic. We ate it with some yummy garlic bread from Pizza Hut.
Sunday I made Curry Turkey Burgers for lunch. The recipe is on the side link. We ate it with Grey Pupon Mustard. The recipe is influenced by Thai ingredients. For dinner we had Turkey meatloaf. I just made up the recipe. A little over a pound of ground turkey, a table spoon of steak sauce, a pinch garlic salt, adobo, paprika, pepper, half a cup bread crumbs and one egg. I also put a honey and ketchup glaze over it. We enjoyed it greatly. We've been eating a lot of turkey meat these past few weeks. Partly because our local supermarket has had a sale of buy one and get one free.
My driving lesson with the instructor is getting better. I still am in no shape to hit the road alone, but Niel's been nice enough to take me driving in the local cemetery's;(no chance of me hurting anyone) just so I can get more practice.
Good luck to Niel with his SAPing.

Today I am off from work. Yay. I do feel a bit guilty that I am lazying away. I know not a word and Niel is working learning a new skill. Sometimes I really enjoy being alone and other times I really rather have Niel with me. I don't remember much about my life before Niel and that is the honest truth. Last night we had a tasty cheat version of Shepherd's Pie. I think next time I will use real mashed potatoes and spices. I am a spices kind of girl. We watched The Run Down while we ate. I found it very enjoyable. This movie I wished we saw in the theaters. The Rock is very entertaining. Today I am going to make Spaghetti with Meatballs and eat it with some nice bread that I am making in the bread machine. Niel's boss was very nice enough to give us a bread mix to try. I am using a lot of Rachael Ray's recipe's lately. I sold a third item on my ebay list and looks like I will sell a fourth item. There are still 24 items left to decorate your home with. There is not a new Friday Five this week so I am using a old one. After this I only have one more old Friday Five left.

1. Hey, baby, what's your sign? Do you think it fits you pretty well? Aries and yes very well

2. What's the worst birthday gift you've ever received? Anytime some gets me any clothing item that is too big. I know I am big but not thaaat big. Sheesh. If you have absolutely no idea get me a gift card to a book store, or Ikea, or Target or Old Navy.

3. What's the best birthday gift you've ever received? Anything my husband purchases for me. He puts a lot of thought into it. It tells me he knows me very well and takes time picking items out.

4. What's the best way you've celebrated your birthday thus far? Well all my recent bdays have been nice because of Niel. But if I was given 2 plane tickets to somewhere different in the world for each bday I would be so very happy.

5. What are your plans for this weekend? Relaxing a bit today. Eating a nice breakfast of feta cheese, tomatoes and pita bread. The rest of the weekend. Who knows? Laundry and cleaning? I can't wait to have an actual house so we can paint our rooms a different color and decorate on the weekends.

Today is going to be a busy busy day for me. I have an 8:30 sales meeting this morning, then a meeting right afterwards with my boss, then we have an 11:00 am staff meeting, then I have two appts. at the same place at 2:30pm then after that I am going to pick up a check. Phew. I am glad I am taking Friday off.


I found this test on Curly Girl's website.





what decade does your personality live in?


quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd

I found this neat test about cheese(one of my favorite subjects) on Stef’s site. Below are my results.



Like most supermarket’s Stop and Shop site. (my local supermarket) makes its own brand of Cheese Doodles called Che Bongos. We bought some last night and it tastes as good as Cheese Doodles. Plus I enjoy the name a lot more. LOL! Niel says it is cheesier and less buttery. Mmmmm cheesy!

Only a few more days left till my ebay selling ends.

The weather is really wonderful today. I know it is only in the 40's(Friday up to 60) and in other parts of the country it is already in the 70's, but I will take it. I am just worried once it does reach 70 and 80 it will be tooo warm for me.

I forgot to mention on Sunday I made a chocolate cake to bring over to my parents house. It was pretty tasty.

We ended up eating the Irish Stew and Soda Bread last night. I made it on Sunday before we went out. Niel enjoyed the stew very much. I really liked the bread. All three recipes are on my new link on the side bar. I get bored and change around my side bar every once in a while.

The weekend was a good one. A bit chilly but cold. For pete's sake there have been Peep's for weeks now on the shelves of various drug stores screaming "Spring is here, eat us!" but it sure don't feel like Spring.:(
Niel and I walked Ripley on Saturday morning then headed out to IHOP. We first attempted the IHOP in Douglaston. That one was suuuuuuuper crowded. So we were just going to head out to Long Island to see Eternal Sunshine (Yes I am officially shortening the name). However the way were driving we saw another IHOP we never saw before in Manhassat. That one was not crowded. So we suffed our faces with omelets(Bacon and Cheddar) and pancakes(blueberry syrup please) and then looked around the Barnes and Noble next door and then went to see the movie at the Broadway Mall. The movie rocked. It was sooooo well done. It is by far my favorite Charlie Kaufman film. It was so beautiful and trippy. I can't stop saying good things about it. Everyone must go out and see it!!!!! We then walked around the mall a little bit and then drove to Kelvin's 28th bday party. It was nice being there for Kelvin's bday. His new place in MD sounds nice and Rachel did a good job with being a hostess. Niel had a good time seeing some of his old buddies again. We laughed, ate and discussed various subjects. Then we went home and fell asleep watching SNL. It was a good Saturday.
Sunday we gorged ourselves some more at my parents for dinner. Damn my mama can cook.

There is a never a day that doesn't go by where I laugh hard after reading one of Dooce's entry's. She is refreshingly honest and candid and not at all foofey(meaning a selfhelp blog). Did I spell that correctly? Whatever. I hate foofey. Check her out!

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and this is what my block looks like. Happy Spring people!

I have been eating a lot of baked potatoes with melted cheese lately. I realized even though with the meds I am on for my digestive problems I should not eat this as many times that I have during the week. It makes it a bit difficult to er go.
Since I am on the topic of food, my favorite jam is Sour Cherry because it reminds me of my Horak(Armenian for father's sister...we give feminine and masculine titles to certain family members). She is the sweetest lady. When my family went to Armenia for a visit when I was ten, one of the people we stayed with was her. It was good to see family again and to have more memories of Armenia. She made a wonderful breakfast and one of the foods was bread and butter with Sour Cherry jam. I happily ate away. I miss my Horak who now lives in California.

As always here is the Friday Five, old and new. Enjoy!

New Friday Five:

If you...

1. ...Owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve? Seafood and Sushi baby!

2. ...Owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell? Books. I have always loved reading and it was exciting for me to be able to buy a book and smell it.

3. ...Wrote a book, what genre would it be?Children's!

4. ...Ran a school, what would you teach? Kindergarten!

5. ...Recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it? Quirky stuff.

Old Friday Five:

1. What did you want to be when you grew up?I had a entire list of things I wanted as a career. A teacher, anthropologist, a lawyer, a writer.

2. Do you have any nicknames? Niel calls me cutesy/love names. I will keep it for me.:)

3. If you could change something about yourself what would it be? God where do I begin? But I am healthy and can pay the bills so that matters the most to me.

4. Have you ever bought anything from an infomercial? A griddle.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Maybe see a movie and have some IHOP. Go to a party and have dinner at my parents.

I was having a shitty morning until I found a Dutch oven on sale at Macy's for $10.00, now I feel a bit better. I was looking for a Dutch oven for a little bit now so I am happy I got one at such a good price. I am doing a happy saving dance. I know the Dutch oven won't solve my sporadic work dilemmas, but it does put a bandaid on it for a bit. I hope the next two and a half hours will be a bit more quiet.

On the study front I am on book three and on quiz three I got a 100. Woo hoo! Only a few more quizes to go till the test.

Niel and I will most likely host Easter again this year. We just haven't told our parents about it. I guess time to get cracking. No pun intended. Get it eggs cracking? Anyway I remember the very first Easter we hosted which was three years ago? (Wow married for almost three years. Good grief it passed by all too quickly.) The night before Niel and I were decorating the eggs and Dave stopped by. He ended up helping us decorate the eggs. That was funny. I remember using Disney characters on some of the eggs. I was also making Hummus and my hand held blender broke and all these little plastic pieces ended up in the bowl. Well I was going to throw out the thing, but Niel and Dave came into the kitchen and picked out the plastic pieces from the bowl and started eating the Hummus which they said was good. Things are changing so fast I hope times like that can continue.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all whom celebrate it!

I was hoping to make an Irish dinner for tonight's meal. Although Niel and I are not remotely Irish I thought it would be fun. But the recipe I want to use will take too long to make after work, so I am going to cook the dish on Saturday night. I will let you know how it comes out. I thought I was the only weirdo that celebrates other cultures holidays by eating their foods, but I'm not, a few ladies from my office do the same.

I added another list on my side bar. It is of the restaurants I mentioned I wanted to try. My coworker and friend Isabelle is not helping the matter by giving me menus of interesting places.

Niel and I thought we were going to work late last night, so we decided to go out to eat dinner. YAY! But because of the storm the Indian restaurant we wanted to try was out of the question since it was a bit far. Plus all the Sushi talk that Little Things was doing yesterday made me want some really badly. Niel mentioned a Sushi restaurant that opened in Glendale. This is the first of its kind in that area that I know of. I was soooo happy to have a Sushi place remotely close to our neighborhood, because I looooooove Sushi. But we didn't want to stay on the bus that long so we just went to the Sushi place in our neighborhood. The Sushi was awesome. We had Miso soup, salad, fish tempura, Goyza, Shumai, Sushi and Sashimi, sweet potato roll tempura and General Tsao's chicken. The sweet potato roll tempura was our favorite. We never had it before and Niel had the good judgment to order it. I was hesitant at first to try it, but I was happy I had. It was so flavorful. Mmmmmm! Then we walked home to work off gorging ourselves. How many times did I say Sushi in that paragraph?

I haven't given up on the knitting. Work has been pretty busy lately so me and my knitting buddy Elaine haven't had a chance to do much. But Niel will have his scarf darn it, even if it is the first and last thing I knit. I want to be able to finish on the things I start.

I posted yesterday how lovely the weather was. If you are in New York City look outside your windows people it is snowing! Niel says it won't stick because it was so warm yesterday. Good grief!

The weather has been gorgeuse today. Just perfect. I was lucky enough to be able to get out of the office for a few hours so I got to enjoy the weather a bit.

There is an British rapper by the name of Just Jack who has sampled the Cure song Lullaby for his background music while he raps. I do listen to music that has samplings, but I was just peeved when I heard their music sampled by him. Blech!

Who knew this was a sport? I can't believe I never heard of it before Saturday when it was on television.

I sold two things on ebay so far. I really hope the rest sell. Woo hoo!.

This past week was a good cooking week. All the recipes and places we tried were tasty. That makes me really happy.
Today I made ribs with Asian spices. I used four pairs of ribs with a good amount of ribs still on them. I marinated them with a cup of soy sauce, four scallions, a few Thai chilies, green peppers, a few zests of ginger, 4 cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of honey and mirin. I let the ribs soak for a little over a day and then I broiled it for about 8 minutes each side. We ate it with salad and Lipton's Teriyaki Noodles. I want to try their Sesame Noodles next. News that doesn't make me happy. My mom mentioned that one of her cousins husband lost his job(who is only a year or so older than I am). They have a one year old and a baby on the way. How will they pay for food, their mortgage, the hospital and other things? He has a degree in international business. I hate it when people have money problems. I hope it gets resolved soon. It scares me. I hope it never happens to us again.
I helped out Niel with his scout troops pancake breakfast. I make a baked good sometimes from scratch and sit at the cake table for a few hours twice a year. The kids are nice. Niel was soo pooped that we had to reschedule with my parents. Hey it happens. I made a pineapple upside down cake and it sold. Below is a picture of the cake. To see more pictures that Niel took while I was baking. Go here.





I was able to sell one item from my ebay list. I hope the rest go. If not I am sure I can eventually(when we have a home...i.e. more room) I will be able to find room for them. There is a lot of purple on the list. I didn't realize till I looked back that I liked purple a lot when I was younger. Sheesh.

I am sooooo happy I gave Wonderfalls a chance. The show is sooo awesome! It is well written and witty. I hope the people who enjoyed All McBeal and the people who enjoyed Dead Like Me(Same writer as Wonderfalls) will enjoy this as well. I truly hope that the idiots at Fox won't yank this off the air like they did with Fast Lane(yes it was a good show!!!!!!) and Firefly(movie starts shooting this Summer wooooooo hooooooooo)!
Caroline Dhavernas the lead actress is phenomenal. She is a Canadian actress. America has been lucky enough to have so many good actors from our neighbors up North.

We didn't end up eating leftovers last night after all. Niel's mom invited us to go with her and Mike
to the Olive Garden . We haven't been there in a long while so it was nice.
I don't mind having left overs tonight though.

Last weekend we got a small can of paint to cover up the black spots on the wall in the living/dining room. I couldn't take looking at them anymore. We tried to match the color as closely as we could, but it turned out a bit lighter than the yellow that is already there. However I don't notice it.

I have a whole list of restaurants I want to try. I don't only want to leave them for special occasions. I 'd like to try:
Seas
Serendipity
The Sunburnt Cow
Eight Mile Creek
Medievel Times
Bubba Gump Shrimp

Once again here is the new Friday Five with an old one on the bottom. I only have a few old Friday Five's left.

1. What was the last song you heard? Hey Mama by the Black Eyed Peas.

2. What were the last two movies you saw? Starsky and Hutch and School of Rock.

3. What were the last three things you purchased? Containers, ice bucket and breakfast.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend? relax, clean, take a lesson, and do laundry.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to? Niel, his mom, his brother, my mom, Megan.

Old Friday Five
1. What was the first thing you ever cooked? Most likely I tried to fry or boil an egg.

2. What's your signature dish? I don't have one yet.

3. Ever had a cooking disaster? Yes a few.

4. If skill and money were no object, what would make for your dream meal? Lobster!! Tasty!!!

5. What are you doing this weekend? Look at the new Friday five.

Three movies I am interested in seeing are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (It seems very quirky and I enjoy quirky), Jersey Girl (I have forgiven Ben for the whole Bennifer thing..I think you should to) and The Prince and Me (don't judge).
Last night I think I may have cooked the last Martha Stewart recipe. The recipe is New Orleans Shrimp and Rice.
I found the recipe in her magazine. So this is why I had to write it out and not link it.
You melt a stick of butter and add a tablespoon of flour to make a rue. Then you add one chopped shallot and two chopped green peppers(I only had one so that is what I used) and a cup of celery to saute for about 7 minutes. The recipe next called for 1 can of chicken stock and one 24 ounce can of plum tomatoes but I only had crushed so that is what I used. Also add in chopped parsley, 1 3/4 tablespoon of Cajun seasonings, a few drops of tabasco sauce, and 1 tablespoon of paprika. I also added salt and pepper. You let that cook for half and hour and then add a pound of shrimp to cook for a few mintues longer. You are supposed to eat it with rice. Man we soo enjoyed it. It has so far been a good food week. Tonight we are eating left overs of the shrimp and rice, and chicken Parmesan. Mmmm.

Forgot to mention another good recipe from Rachael Ray that we enjoyed. We didn't make the gravy. I used dry mushrooms from Mr. Mushroom. We ate it with buttered noodles.

I posted a few entries ago about purchasing the Tide Stain Brush and how I was amazed at its cleaning power. I put the pretreated clothes into the wash and they came out clean and spotless. So now if I spill oil on a shirt I put on a bit of talcum powder on the spot and then treat it with the Tide Stain Brush before washing it. Seems like a lot of work but a lot cheaper than taking it to the cleaners.

A few people have emailed me questions about the items I am trying to sell on eBay. I hope they all sell.

I am glad the local meterologists were wrong about the weather this week. They predicted it would snow till Friday. So far it has only snowed on Monday. Yipee.

I have this melody stuck in my head and I do not for the life of me know where it is from.

There is a commercial that uses some of the lyrics from a Cure song Pictures of You. I think it is a lovely song, but I especially like the following lines the commercial uses:
Looking so long at these pictures of you but I
never hold on to your heart looking so long for
the words to be true but always just breaking
apart my pictures of you

I had such high hopes for this show. Sigh.

The first time I saw a commercial for Wonderfalls
I scrunched up my nose at it, but I saw a different commercial the show last night and the second ad made it actually seem good.

I can't get the song "Hey Mama" by the Black Eyed Peas out of my head. I have heard of the band for a few years now but only caught one of their videos recently. The song is soooo catchy!
This is a awesome recipe for Chicken Fried Steak. Mmmmmmmmmm. We ate it with sweet potatoes.
I found this neat British Name generator through Stefandmike.org. My British name is Amelia Walpole. You try! They have a lot of other fun tests to try. Good lord how will I work ever again!!!

Niel and I went to see Starsky & Hutch this past Saturday. The movie was really funny. It was however an exaggeration of the show. Huggy Bear was never that cool on the show.
We also tried Chef Boyardee's Deep Dish Cheeseburger Macaroni. Pretty much canned pasta pizza. It wasn't too bad.
American Idol has these commercials asking who will be next Clay Aiken? They are implying who will be the next winner? Hello Clay Aiken did NOT win American Idol yet he is all over the place? What about Ruben?
There will be a new TV show called Wonder Falls. Do people really miss Ally McBeal that much that almost all the shows now have people daydreaming?
I am happy that Mindy Cohn has a job again.
I heard over the weekend that there might be some type of legislation passed by the FCC on what we watch because of Janet exposing her boob. Why are we still talking about this people? It was a boob. It will not harm you. We are treading on dangerous waters. We say it is wrong for Muslim nations to suppress their people and cover up their women, but aren't we beginning to do the same thing? And no one thinks this is wrong? A boob is wrong but possible new leglislation led by the FCC to ban what we want to watch is ok?
Apparently McDonald's will no longer offer Supersized fries or soda. Hey isn't it my decision if I want to become a fatty? I blame all those idiots who sued McDonald's because they gained weight. Did Ronald McDonald come to all of your houses and put a gun to your heads and say you have to eat at our establishment three times a day? Did he? Don't you yahoo's know that you are giving up your rights with these trivial lawsuits and costing tax payer money. It is your fault you wanted that sweet Apple Pie at 1 Am and it is your fault you wanted those salty delicious fries. Now I am going to have to pay another two dollars instead of just thiry cents if I want more freaking fries. Thanks a lot!!!

Martha Stewart is going to jail. No more show on food network, no more magazines, no more books. Thousands of people losing their jobs. This is a real witch hunt. I have read she wasn't a nice woman to deal with, but something is not right about this entire case. Not fair!

I had lunch today with Niel at Mandler's. It is pretty much an upscale sausage place. The corn fries are awesome. They don't look very much like fries. They should be renamed corn fritters. They are exactly like the fritters at Sizzler. The bread and the sausages are very tasty also. But not as good as the corn fries/fritters.
We finally got around to renting School of Rock. I am glad we didn't see it at the theater and pay full price. I was dissapointed. I enjoy Jack Black and the music was great, but something was lacking in the film.
There are days when I love living in New York City. Being surrounded by culture, wierd little shops side by side with the big named stores, the musicians in the subway, the plethera of exotic cuisine. Then there are the days when this great city just makes me sad. This week it seemed like everywhere I went I saw something depressing. Monday I saw an old man who passed out and was being given mouth to mouth and yesterday a homeless person was having a fit on the subway.

Two Friday Five's. The top one is new and the bottom is old.

What was...

1. ...Your first grade teacher's name? I don't remember.

2. ...Your favorite Saturday morning cartoon? I don't recall if it was Saturday morning but it was Jem!

3. ...The name of your very first best friend? Jennifer. She was a pudgy Asian girl I met in kindergarten.

4. ...Your favorite breakfast cereal? Cheerios. I don't like sweet cereals.

5. ...Your favorite thing to do after school? Read while eating fudge pops secretly.
OLD
1. What's your favorite vacation spot? That is easy Disney world!!! Besides being a fun place it was the spot of my first date and honeymoon with Niel.

2. Where do you consider to be the biggest hell-hole on earth? Washington Heights.

3. What would be your dream vacation? A month long trip England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia.

4. If you could go on a road-trip with anyone, who would it be and why? It would be with Niel. I find him a lot of fun to be with. And no I'm not just saying this! Although Maria and A would be fun also.

5. What are your plans for this weekend? Take it easy.

Here is an excellent recipe for an easy and delicious beefy stew. Enjoy!

I carried it in my new Cambell's Soup Thermos that Niel got me for a Christams present. I ate lunch at the school cafeteria, so I never had the experience of carrying a lunch box. I got to be a bit of a kid again!

I found this site through Megan's blog. My new name now is Tarin Letitia Vuolo. Try it and see what your new name is. Hee Hee Hee!!!

The Cold Stone Creamery has opened up at the Target Mall. I saw the chain when we were in Seattle. I guess they are expanding to the East Coast also. I tried some of their Pistachio. The flavor was intense. The service was slow and the staff broke into song every few minutes.

We stayed up till 12:15 watching the Oscars. Were they always this long? I thought Billy Crystal did a pretty good job. I was disapointed Triplets of Bellville did not win, even though Finding Nemo was very good.

I added two new sites to my wanderings list.

I also put some stuff up on ebay to sell. I have a link to that also.