I Dance Like the Italian Women: February 2006

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

so i finished my first book of the year....and before it was due at the library. anyway, i read grapes of wrath and if you've ever read it and remember it, give me a shout out. though now i do feel kind of empty after reading it. the ending has left me kind of sad, and kind of hopeful and kind of spent. i guess that what is was supposed to do?? i'm not sure. too bad i don't have a book club to discuss this with. where's oprah when you need her???

Monday, February 27, 2006

oh the olympics...finally over and a little hole has been left in my heart....i mean my brain, cuz the olympics have yet to stop for me. let's just say being the company that holds all the broadcast material for nbc blows! and the olympics are no where near over for me yet. why am i complaining? cuz you see, with the impending beginning of march, comes a little thing called college basketball!!!! and it's a month of 12 hour days, unending college kids either playing hero or goat, and press conferences that truly show off the "academic" side of the "student-athlete"

so forgive me if i don't post as much in the coming weeks. i just don't have the time!!!

Thursday, February 23, 2006

yesterday i hit the slopes once again. this time, back to mountain creek up in the hill of northwest new jersey. i was out on the slopes by 1030...even with the slight bleeding from my thumb as i slid it down the edge of my ski...those edges ARE sharp!

so out on the hill, and i get a few runs in. i hop on another lift and wind up taking it up with 2 older gentleman. the one sitting closest to me says "playing hookey from school today?" and with utmost glee i say "i haven't been in school in YEARS!!!" and the nice man said "well, you could've fooled me!". i replied "it's the pompoms on the hat, isn't it??"

so i was off to tackle the rest of the mountains. i even tried some diamonds! and i made it successfully. which brings me to why i dislike beginner snowboarders on the trails. and this is why. when skiers and boarders alike aren't the best, but are trying diamond trails, we take a little longer and generally go a little slower. but as a skier, when i take a trail slow, i only move the snow a little bit, and it doesn't go all that far. BOARDERS on the other hand, slide on their back edge, and because they have more surface area, and for some reason they like the middle of the trail, all the snow gets pushes to the BOTTOM of the trail leaving just the ice for us to glide across. thanks! it's really annoying. i really don't know what the solution to this problem is....maybe giving boarders their own trails somewhere, but that just doesn't seem feasible!!!

but - i do have one more lift ticket left to use this season. so if you want to join me on a weekday (whether you ski or not!!!) give me a call....cuz on a wednesday, there are NO people on the mountain in the late morning early afternoon!!!

Monday, February 20, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

so i entered my 28th year yesterday...and so far so good!!!

peter and i made our way yesterday to central park to go ice skating at wollman rink. we got there just in time as the ice was being resurfaced. and even though it was cold, the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so it was warmer than expected. we skated for a good hour and 1/2 before it was time to go (and the ice was to be resurfaced again). we stopped for some hot cocoa in the park...and sadly it wasn't that good...i should've gone with the coffee - so keep that in mind next time people!!!

peter and i made our way to staten island to have dinner with my parents, one of my aunts, and my grandma. food was good! and since we know the owner of the restaurant, we got dessert on the house! i had the key lime pie...yum!!!

presents you ask...i got some good ones!! from the parents, i got some more dishes from the set i already have (which i needed), and some fun kitchen gadgets - also needed! my aunt got me new towels...also needed! and another aunt got me a teapot and canisters that match my dishes. my kitchenware is stylin! now i can have more than 3 other people over....i have enough dishes! what did i get from peter?? glad you asked....i got a pretty necklace from our trip to canada, some chocolate with hazelnuts - which i LOVE and......TICKETS to see THE STROKES next wednesday!! i am SO excited about that....i tried to get tickets a while back but was unable to!

so it was one good birthday - sorry i didn't have a big party - but the Olympics are keeping me busy. but maybe the next time you see me, you can buy me a drink!!!

Saturday, February 18, 2006

what is up with the Olympians from Norway??? not ONE gold medal in cross country skiing this year!!! WTF?? i mean, my people INVENTED these outdoor skiing sports. we could at least win something. i do have my hopes currently in the men's biathalon pursuit.....my people are currently running in 1, 2, 3 place.....GO NORWAY!!!

and what up with American woman falling down?? Jacobellis, Kildow and the US hockey team...oh wait, they couldn't beat Sweden in a shoot out (another one of my ancestral homelands) i guess sweden has the female steven forsberg and henrik lundqvist.....go sweden...win that gold!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

i know you were wondering.....the cookies were a big hit. very yummy indeed!!!

i don't know what my next kitchen creation will be. but be assured you will know about it.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

COOKIES!!!

i made some today for valentine's day using the brand spanking new purple mixer, i got for christmas from peter, for the first time. i know you'll want some of these cookies....and maybe you'll get them......maybe

Monday, February 13, 2006

the great blizzard of '06

how did i spend it?? snuggled up drinking hot cocoa and baileys with a cute boy?? skiing with my friend in the great mountains of jersey???

if you believed any of that, you don't know my job!!!

i was, in fact, digging my car out at 9 am yesterday from the almost 20 inches of snow (that's 1 foot, 8 inches for those that aren't quick with the math) and headed off to work so i could sit around and watch the Olympics on the tv. the reporters on tv told me to stay home. but, like superman trying to save lois lane, i trudged out, cleaned the car and drove really slowly to my office - letting nothing slow me down (even more). i was a hero to my news director who is in italy at the olympics. he congratualted me on my ability to get to work on time....which, if i didn't, i'm sure i would've been black listed at the office as a loser. and it would take a long time to live that down.

and when i finally left the office, i pilfered a spot that someone had lovingly dug out.....you know what they say...you move it, you lose it.

so that recaps my blizzard. not as much fun as the great blizzard of '96, or the freak april snow of '97....let hope the 50 degree weather headed this way this week melts a lot of the snow so i can park my car with greater ease!!!

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

things that shouldn't happen during the grammy's

1. mary j. blige jumping around while singing U2's ONE

2. christina aguilera trying to class herself up by looking like gwen stefani...there's only one gwen, and honey, you ain't her!!!

3. the grammy people arbitraily deciding whom should get a tribute...i mean, sly stone, he looked like a complete fool!!

4. joss stone...does she EVER sing her own songs?? and who dresses her? she's like a walking circus tent. i KNOW there is someone in the united kingdom that can help her.

things the grammy's should have MORE of

1. KANYE WEST...he should be on camera every 10 seconds!

2. Jay-Z, Linkin Park and Paul McCartney...if only they weren't singing a john lennon song. i enjoyed the tribute, but c'mon, paul didn't have any input on that one!!! but i did love it none the less

3. more BONO...'nuff said

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

BC SUX!!!

last night my terriers tried to put a little scare into us with less than 3 minutes remaining in the nightcap game of the 1st round of the Beanpot. but my guys held on, and finally got that empty net goal to seal the victory and have yet another date with Boston College in next monday's final. and for those of you that missed the BU alumni event missed some yummy food, and a raffle, that no one i knew won. but it was good times all around!! so maybe you should join us next year......

Thursday, February 02, 2006

here are 2 pictures from our ski weekend....

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Oh, CANADA!!!

yesterday i finally returned from our neighbors to the north. i took peter with me to meet up with some people to go skiing at mount tremblant outside montreal. i had gone there last year, but this was peter's first time...and his first time skiing in 10 years.

we got up there friday night, and saturday we headed out to the mountain. there were less people than one would think on a saturday, and we had some excellent conditions. peter only knocked me over twice, and he fell just a few times. we made our way back to the condo for some lunch and a showers. we headed to casey's bar for dinner with the rest of our skiing weekend crew. and then after that we made our way to Le Petite Caribou for some drinking and dancing! we tried to catch the last shuttle bus back up the hill to go get to our condo, but sadly the only bus that was running was "too big and too long" according to it's driver, which, as he said, is also the story of his life. i think that was a little TMI. so what's left for drunk people to do??? that's right, walk up the mountain where our condo was. as we're headed up the hill, a group of drunken souls start singing behind us....and the chorus of the song you ask, well it was..."mustard and baloney and liquor and whores!!!" which then became the anthem of the weekend

sunday started out just like saturday....up in the early morning and then out to the slopes. peter and i went over to the north side of the mountain, and found even BETTER conditions and absolutely NO people. we had the place to our selves, practically. we had the most fun skiing through the snow makers....it was like a skiing car wash. after getting in some good hours on the slopes, peter and i made our way to the Creperie and had some yummy crepes for lunch!!! and then a little shopping on the mountain. we then met up with everyone back at our condo and had a lovely pasta dinner with the gang. we started to watch the absolute WORST horror movie ever, called High Tension. i think what should've given us a clue was that it was a french horror flick and it was dubbed horribly. needless to say, i will not ruin the movie by telling you what happens....take my word, you're not missing anything by not seeing it!!!

monday morning, out and about skiing it up. this time there were EVEN LESS people on the mountain, even more snow because we got a few inches over night. but by this time, since i am SO out of shape, i could only get through a few runs. so i took a hot cocoa break at the top of the mountain, and peter took on some more runs. we headed back to the condo after peter was done skiing and got ready for FONDU NIGHT!!

but before fondu, we all headed to a new feature at tremblant....the N'ICE club, which is a giant igloo bar!!! everything is made of snow and ice, even the glasses. so it was really fun to spend some time there. and COOL (ha! what a joke-ster i am) and i thought i would be a little freaked out by sitting on what looked like elk fur, but i will say it was quite warm and comfy. the drinks were good too! then we had some more drinks this time at the brewery on the mountain. then off to fondu. it was cheezy goodness all around!!! and there was also seafood and beef, and a little chocolate fondu for dessert, so life was good eats. then we all headed back to the condos, full of good food, good drinks and good times.

before peter and i left the mountain yesterday, we stopped in for one more round of crepes. goodness i LOVE those crepes. so peter and i had a FANTASTIC time and i was sad to see canada go. so next year, you should totally come with us. it was AWESOME!

I Dance Like the Italian Women