Christmas Cookies

 

At times, Jen makes it easy to visualize her having her own TV show. I can't decide whether it would be more at home on The Food Network or Comedy Central, but it would be entertaining none the less. Maybe she just needs her own network like Oprah. While baking some chocolate/mint Christmas cookies this evening she randomly announced, "they should be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, like an old turd." Her less than appetizing comment did nothing to dissuade me from wanting one of those poo-colored treats. They're delicious.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We spent a lot of time in the wintery, snowy weather this weekend, but not as much as we could have. Our calendar was pretty booked. We decided against going to our church's Christmas Extravaganza on Friday night because of the frigid weather (and taxing work weeks). We had also reserved a Zipcar to drive to a friend's game-playing party on Saturday but had to cancel when the news about the snow storm made our trip to New Jersey seem unsafe.

An old friend of Jen's from Florida is now married, pregnant, and lives just a couple blocks from us. Their holiday party on Saturday was too close to home for excuses so we did make it out to that. We got there and back without getting too cold or wet, but many couldn't make it or were very late due to public transportation-related issues. 'Tis the season for over-indulging, and I did just that at the party. But it's ok, we ate very healthy today and hit the gym to make up for it. Anyway, enjoy a few of the pictures we took this weekend!

Speed Walking

Why does it seem to rain or snow when you most need it not to? For me it’s almost every time I have to trek to school across LIC, get groceries, or do laundry. There’s nothing quite like having your warm, dry laundry re-wet on your walk home after spending a few bucks and waiting half an hour for the dryer to do its thing. To be fair though, this is a very wet place to live and running those pesky errands is a weekly occurrence. I shouldn’t complain.

Through a few winters here, I have learned that even in mid March it’s not uncommon to get a late winter snow storm and the arctic temperatures that follow. This was the case on Friday. Friday began as a typical cold, late winter day of average gloominess. But after racking my brain with my study group for a few hours in the afternoon, I exited the college doors to find a different world awaiting me. The snow and sleet were coming down heavy and sideways. Of course I had no boots, umbrella, or even a hood to throw over me. It was me versus Mother Nature for the 20 minute walk home.

If you think I walk fast as it is, you should see me in inclement weather. On my way I hurried past people walking leisurely down the sidewalk and through crowds waiting in line at food trucks along the curb. What is wrong with these people? Aren’t they getting cold and wet? The snow and freezing rain didn’t seem to register with a certain production company either, because with just a couple more blocks to go, I sped right through some film set. “Hey, um, sir, can you please cross the street,” they requested. But it was too late, I was too fast. I also got a text from my brother at this moment asking how things were. For whatever reason I could only think to respond with, "I feel like I live in Russia." This got him on a rant about the Russian mob, fallen USSR, and singing their national anthem, not surprisingly if you know him. 

Making it home and walking into a warm, cozy apartment after a walk like that is priceless… until I realize Pup needs to go out. I guess there’s quite a bit of Florida blood left in me. I hate to be cold.

The next day they were still filming, and this time I did cross the street and go around. Taped to a lamp post, the location permit stated the filming was for a TV pilot of a show called The Tomorrow People. So keep your eyes peeled during that one, I might be in it. 

Nemo Found Us

I’m writing today from of our warm bedroom with a view of a very wet, snowy, grey NYC landscape. Today is a “flex Friday” off from work for Jen and I certainly have plenty of studying to do so we’re spending the day defying the weather by staying indoors. From what we’re hearing the weather will soon be getting even more wintery. Nemo, as it’s being called, is about to take a big white number two on the North East.

We honestly don’t know what we can expect to see in the next 24 hours. Newscasters themselves have been jokingly giving predictions of “2-30 inches.” We both got very alarming emergency alerts on our phones yesterday requesting that we prepare for the storm and limit travel. The mayor’s office has seemed to over-prepare for every snow storm since the record breaking blizzard that caught them off guard two years ago. That was a mess! The city has 250,000 tons of salt being spread. It’s a good thing, considering I just read on Twitter that we have 6,300 street miles to plow if the snow fall is heavy enough. It’s equivalent to plowing from NY to L.A., twice! Jen and I don’t typically get too hyped up and tend to side with the more conservative weathermen that are predicting less than six inches. There’s also the fact that this storm shares its name with a talking, crippled clownfish from a Disney/Pixar movie that makes it hard to take seriously. We found NEMO! You can’t always judge a storm by its name though. My Aunt Sandy is a lovely person, but Hurricane (Super Storm!) Sandy was a b*tch.

Weather permitting, we’ll go to White Plains tomorrow for Jen’s Grandma’s 83^rd birthday luncheon. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten at The Cheesecake Factory, one of our all time favs, so we’re hoping it’s a go.

No matter what this storm entails, one thing you can be sure of in this city is stupidity. Someone will decide to go for a drive through the snow with their kids, get stuck, and blame the city when they almost freeze to death. There will be people scraping the bare sidewalks with their shovels at the first sign of flurries and calling it plowing. And someone will give their gasoline powered generator a precautionary test run…indoors

P.S. Something about a commercial I saw recently filmed entirely in the city, inspired me. I might be getting the Sony Handycam out again to do some filming and play with some more effects in my video editor. So look for that, hopefully next week!