Andy Who?

Wow, it’s been a week since I’ve posted here already!? Time flies when… all you do is work and study. Ha.


We had what I would call a D-list celebrity sighting in LIC at breakfast on Saturday. Does anyone remember The Andy Milonakis Show on MTV? I think my brother liked it, I can’t remember if I did or not. Anyway, we saw Andy in the checkout line at Foodcellar. I wonder if he lives in our ‘hood.

Another one the few fun things we did this weekend was go to Bareburger for lunch with some friends (pic). We had been once before, loved it, and have been dying to go back ever since. They were out of ostrich and bison which was sad (I wanted to try ostrich) and our party was a little too big for the place so we had to wait for almost an hour. I regretted not bringing my muscles of the lower extremities flash cards, lol.

It’s supposed to rain and snow tomorrow so this picture of flowers blooming in our park seems out of place. It’s going to be so nice to have sun and grass again. Speaking of, say a prayer that we are able to visit Florida for Spring Break in a few weeks.

Snowy Spring Days

Snow two days after the start of Spring, what the heck? Actually, when I moved here last March (can't believe I've survived a year here already) there was a good amount of snow on the ground. Apparently, it has also snowed once in April every year for the last ten years... or something like that. Anyway, enjoy this pic taken in the park down the street of the little bit of snow we got Wednesday.

Wednesdays at good ol' Bourbon St. is Cajun Foodie Day which means we serve two different cajun classics each week for $5. This week's specials were interesting: sauteed beef tongue and three onion soup. I will try everything once (if we're talking food) and I can tell you I found something I won't be trying a second time. Beef tongue's texture was just like you'd expect a thick cube of barely cooked tongue to be like, gross. Our GM (who's from New Orleans) gagged it up, but I somehow chewed and got it down. It was kind of like winning my own version of Fear Factor.

Today Jen was finally able to make it to the doctor after months without her meds. It was a major stressor in her life so thanks to Aunt Mary for all her help today. She made a trip out to White Plains and was devestated to be out of the office for a day.

Tonight we had our neighbor over to catch up over dinner. We're going through an extremely busy season in our lives right now and it's easy to loose touch with people, even the ones that live right above us. Her hubby was unfortunately stuck at work and couldn't make it... I understand how that goes. We had Rachel Ray's chicken and dumpling (gnocchi) stoup (soup + stew). Delicious.

Here's "My" Title

Like I’ve been saying, there’s just not enough time to do exciting things in the city regularly right not because of our crazy schedules. They say it’s the little things in life that make it interesting though, right? With this in mind I’m introducing a couple new photo segments to my blog (neither of which are my original ideas, ha).

The first is in response to the hilarious “Put a Bird on It” skit from the show Portlandia and will be aptly named Put a Bird On It. Portland, Oregon is not the only place that loves to embellish with birds. Enjoy the coming photos, starting with this one tonight (pic)… Put a Bird On It.

The second idea comes from a book that Jen and I enjoyed one day in a bookstore or Urban Outfitters, I can’t remember. I believe it was called Unnecessary Quotation Marks and featured pictures of phrases with just that, and a caption mocking the misused quotations. It seems like something Leno would do on his show. I found this perfect little example at school (pic)

All the pictures featured in the posts will be taken by me and will show up randomly when I notice them while out and about.

With clinicals pretty much owning me for the next year I have alot less time to do fun things in NYC. Wednesday afternoon the honors society (which i could be in if I didn't work when they hold meetings) sponsored a free live jazz show in the building where we have our lab practicals. It sounded great as it echoed up through the atrium and melted some of our stress away. I passed up all the coffee and cookies because we gave up sweets for Lent... again... bla. We're reading the Bible everyday too.

Walking to work Wednesday I spotted my Linus bicycle on this billboard for Clarks. Cool right? I'm always so ahead of the trends lol... and Clarks isn't too bad either.

Planned Work

No matter what we were doing this weekend there was one consistent factor, subway system construction. For instance, to get home from work Friday night I had to take two trains and a shuttle bus because the two trains I can take straight home without a transfer weren’t running. Saturday night was the same story coupled with the loss of one hour of sleep. Because I got home so late and was so frustrated with train issues, I put my eye pillow to good use and slept until about 2pm Sunday and missed church (I’m such a heathen). I know I could have just taken a cab home but I already pay so much for an unlimited metro card that it seems silly. New Yorkers are always complaining about transportation (and it could be much better) but it still beats having to drive everywhere in our opinion. Don’t even get me started on the cost of auto insurance and our nation’s dependence on oil.

Sunday night Jen and I needed some quality time together and decided to go out and about. Always keeping our Pup in mind, we went to Pet Smart in Soho to pick up some new bones and poo bags before walking just northwest to Greenwich Village to find a place to eat. We decided on a romantic little Italian restaurant where we had Ahi Tuna, Artichoke Ravioli, and found a reisling that we actually both like which rarely happens.

As a final update on the coworker/ sheep decapitation situation (previous posts), Taylor had to leave Bourbon St. to “take time to take care of some things” and won’t be coming back to work. I would not want to be in her shoes right now! Hide your sheep, hide your lamb!

School is going… well its going. It’s a lot of information early in the week, practice in labs after that, and then clinical application by the end of the week. This week is Hip ROM and MMT… you know what that means right?

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I didn't want to work Mardi Gras at the restaurant tonight as last year was said to be a madhouse and not much more lucrative than any other night. I didn't even have to request it off, though, because it's outside of my new availability now that my two week break from school is over. Just in time! Today was a really nice day which usually adds to the size of the crowd. I plan on checking in to see how it is at work later tonight.

I'm now quite glad I took the time to tell you about the Times Square sheep art installation in my previous post, as I just so happen to have a crazy follow up story. Read the article below from The Gothamist, keeping in mind that Taylor is (was?) a bartender at my restaurant, Bourbon St Bar and Grill.

Times Square Sheep Decapitated Via Roundhouse Kick!
Yesterday a woman roundhouse kicked one of the 24 paper sheep currently set up in Times Square as part of a week-long installation. According to the NY Post, the woman—Taylor Galary—decapitated the sheep with her foot at around 7 a.m., then tried to flee in a cab. The 22-year-old was charged with criminal mischief. But to be fair, she was dared to do it. At press time it's unclear whether this was an escalated double-dog dare, or just a standard dare.
The remaining 23 sheep will be in Times Square until March 7th, as long as there are no copycat incidents.

Other online articles state she was charged with a felony and also facing charges for something else in another state, one she wasn't supposed to leave. Oh, the professionals of the food and beverage industry.

Here's a little more comic relief for the day (pic). Jen and I were in line at Duane Reade over the weekend when the fashionable clothing of the ladies in front of us caught our attention. This picture doesn't even do it justice. I mean what were they thinking? I don't know if a power outage in a windowless apartment would be a sufficient excuse. I'll let you guess what nationality they were. :)

Min-Pin

Wednesday night our pretty mild weather turned cold and windy which meant few people were on the streets and it was slow at work. The whole floor upstairs was cut and closed by 9:30 and we left with very little. The good side was that I got to come home early for once and spend time with Jen. We watched The Social Network, the Netflix movie we had been looking forward to getting for a while. It made me want to start my own business, something Jen and I have considered many times but always talk ourselves out of because of the intimidating start up costs. Maybe next year. Anyway, we recommend the movie!

I've been more interested in modern art lately and I literally stumbled upon some more on the way to work yesterday in Times Square. It's a really interesting handmade exhibit called "Counting Sheep" by an Asian artist. (pic) As you can imagine, farm animals really stick out in the middle of Manhattan.

This morning I volunteered at AC&C and did lots of dog walking. The big pit bull mixes in adoptions are generally friendly and dopey but, like Pup, it's the little ones you have to watch. There was one lone min-pin mix in the small dog room and I soon learned why this cute dog hadn't been adopted. The dog was very aggressive in the crate and showed it's teeth when I went for the latch. With the help of an employee and some treats, though, I coaxed it out and got it leashed up. It was actually sweet once out of the crate and walking around outside. I always forget to take pics, although we're not supposed to have our phones on us while with an animal.

Put a Bird on It

As I mentioned in a previous post, our friends upstairs asked me to do some wall art in their bedroom. We had a few meetings to decide what they wanted... or what Nicole wanted rather. Ricky suggested painting a nest full of eggs being invaded by a squirrel or hawk, ha, so he lost his input privileges. :)

The "penthouse" units above us have high ceilings, sky-lights, and lofts in the bedrooms making it an awesome space to work in. Once the piece was all done it really enhanced the room and looked good with all their current decorations. Hope you like it as much as we do!

Here's, as a reminder, the wall art in our bedroom...

Oh! After watching the "Put a Bird on It" video that a friend sent me from "Portlandia" (also in previous post) I watched a few other youtube clips from the show. Hilarious! It's my sense of humor if you ever wondered if I even had one, ha. I recommend any of the feminist bookstore clips... just youtube it.