Another Reason why I Heart Starbucks...

Although I have a preference for local coffee shops, I do love Starbucks. They sell cool indie cds and if I needed one more reason to dig them...they now offer their creme frappucinos "light!" Although it is not listed on their website, any Starbucks will make it for you light! Enjoy!

Wedding Q & A

I've been fielding questions left and right regarding wedding plans. I thought I'd address them here as a sort of FAQ. And, I'll update when I have more info. Any more questions, let me know and I'll add to the list.

1. How did you meet? Match.com!

2. When is the big day? August 3, 2008.

3. Where is the wedding going to be held? Both ceremony and reception will be held at the Berkeley Plaza in Berkeley Heights, NJ.

4. Did you pick out a wedding gown? Yup!

5. Did your mom pick out a dress? Yup and she's wearing a lovely gown in lilac.

6. What color are your bridesmaids wearing? Peridot green (like a sage)

7. How many are in the wedding party? Eight on each side.

8. Did you pick a wedding song? Yes. We'll tell you later.

9. Where are you going for your honeymoon? The Pacific Northwest. Flying to Portland, then a road trip to Seattle and Vancouver. Also Cascade National Park and Victoria, BC.

10. Are you registered? Yes! At Crate & Barrel, Macy's and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

New York Taxis Going Green!

I found this interesting story on Grist today. The city of New York is planning on introducing 1,000 hybrid taxis in the year 2008. By the year 2012, all of the city's 13,000 taxi cabs will be hybrids. Awesome! And, according to Mayor Bloomberg, "And because taxis are so heavily used, the new standard will have the equivalent effect of removing 30,000 individually-owned gas-powered vehicles from our streets." See the full story here.

Update:

Yesterday, I found out that New Jersey's largest utility, PSE&G is also going green! In the next decade they will replace one third of their fleet with hybrid vehicles. Woo hoo! See story here.

Holiday Weekend

Hope everybody enjoyed the nice weather this holiday weekend! At least, the weather was nice in our area! We did get a lot done around the house. We moved some furniture around, bought a new dresser and bookshelf at Ikea, enjoyed a barbeque at my parents' on Sunday and assembled a couple of our new pieces. However, there is still so much more to do!!! I have a busy week ahead of me and a jam-packed to-do list! And, I really have nothing else exciting to blog about right now.

Want more of Centralia?

If you're not sick of my Centralia postings by now and can't get enough...here's another video. This one is a fun documentary of the town. You get to meet locals and tourists alike. However, it's not entirely factual like the other clip down below. The woman whom is interviewed gets the story of "the boy who fell in the hole wrong." She declares that he is a man in his twenties who is pulled to safety by his friends. But, actually, he's an eleven year old who is pulled out by his cousin. But, otherwise, check it out!

Busy-Happy-Stressed-Glowing

The title of this blog entry kind of gives you an idea of how I'm feeling now. Wedding planning is exciting yet stressful. However, I've never been happier and I can't stop smiling and glowing (or so I'm told)! Not only do I have a million things to do with our nuptial planning, but I have a million things to do at home. Oh yeah. And our school is in the middle of construction and I'll have a classroom next year. At some point. Thats good. But I have to pack everything up here at school by June 27th. And that, my friends, just adds to my aggrevation level right now.

I have a blog entry in the works about this past weekend and some pics too. So keep checking back. I'll get to it soon. I hope.

Burning Love

When trying to think of a witty title for today's blog entry, I decided to borrow the title from "The King's" hit song. Saturday morning, my love and I made the 2 1/2 hour voyage to Bloomsburg, Pa to visit with his parents. You've probably never heard of Bloomsburg before. I hadn't. It's a small town--in fact, the only official town in the big ole state of Pennsylvania. Bloomsburg is home to a state university in which Eric's father taught at for many years. Bloomsburg lies on the Susquehanna River. Look! A pretty picture of Eric with the river behind him!


So we had a lovely overnight visit at Eric's folks' home. Thanks so much for having us again! We attended a Thai dinner party at the next door neighbor's home and spent some quality time with a friend of the family visiting from Denmark. I even learned a few phrases in Danish to add to my repertoire!

Sunday morning/afternoon, after breakfast, Eric and I headed to our next adventure--hence, the title of this blog entry--Centralia, Pa. I've blogged about Centralia before. So I was finally going to visit the town thats been literally burning up for 45 years! Unfortunately, it really is a ghost town! There are some houses that are still occupied. There are a couple cemeteries that are still there with open gates and all. Is that supposed to be metaphorical? Not sure! But there's plenty of abandoned buildings too.



The main thoroughfare that used to go through town, Rt. 61, has since been diverted away from town. Huge mounds of earth have been formed to create roadblocks over the old highway. However, it doesn't stop crazy folk from driving right over the piles to satiate their curiosity.





For the record, I am crazy enough to have driven through. But my fiance--well, he is not! But, we drove on any roads we came to. I got to see some smoke coming out of the ground.


Looks can be deceiving...




I'll do some more research before I go back. Maybe get myself an off-roading vehicle and a helmet too.

Read this sign!



And this one too!


Look! I found a clip of a news story! In case you can't get enough!

Read this post!!!

So, it started off as an ordinary-yet-fun-filled weekend! Friday night, I stayed in. Saturday night, Eric and I made the drive down the shore to have dinner and drinks with friends. We met up with Robin and McKenzie and Greg. Mckenzie and Greg are having their first baby in June! So we had a great time. We had dinner at 507 Main and drinks and conversation at Leggett's in Manasquan.

Then came Sunday. A busy Mothers Day. Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there!

So its Mothers Day. We had lunch with Eric's parents here in Bethlehem, Pa, and spent the rest of the day at my parents' abode. After leaving my parents' home in the evening, Eric and I (in our separate cars) went to Target. Another errand for me to run at Walgreens, then Eric called me and asked me to stop at the supermarket for fruit for smoothies. Even though we already had fruit.

I knew something was up. But I humored him and I went to the supermarket and bought some blackberries and bananas. Stop and Shop was almost all out of fruit this Mothers Day Sunday evening at 9:30 pm.

So I get back to his house. Shaking. Because I knew. And in his laundry room is a clue. A clue attached to a stuffed monkey. And, I follow this monkey to another clue and another and another. Eight altogether. The last clue points me out to the balcony where Eric was waiting for me.

It was there that he asked me to marry him.

And I said yes!

Tentative wedding date: August 3rd, 2008.

Yay!!!

My Fiance and I!

Monkey #1 with Clue #1 (and the ring!)

I got Tagged!

Eric tagged me to do a foodie survey. This is a fun one. Enjoy!

1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you.Include the city/state and country you’re in.
Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
tanabata (Saitama, Japan)
Andi (Dallas [ish], Texas, United States)
Lulu (Chicago, Illinois, United States)
Chris (Boyne City, Michigan, United States)
AB (Cave Creek, Arizona, United States)
Johnny Yen (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Bubs (Mt Prospect, Illinois, USA)
jintrinsique (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA)
Ace (Hillsborough, New Jersey, USA)
Marisa (South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA)

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location.

1. Makeda (New Brunswick, NJ) Makeda is an awesome Ethiopian restaurant, just a stone's throw from the Rutgers campus. Haven't tried Ethiopian yet? What are you waiting for? My favorite is the perfectly spiced lentil dish that Eric also loves--mesir azefah. Everything at Makeda is delicious--from the lentils to the spongy bread to the Monkey Bay wine! And, if you go on a weekend night, you're treated to some live music. Be sure to make a reservation though!

2. Mexicali Rose (Montclair, NJ) Delicious and authentic Mexican food in one of my favorite local towns. Everything is fresh and yummy and its BYOB. There's even a liquor store right across the street. Be prepared to wait on a weekend. Patio dining in the summer. I love the mushroom quesadillas and the vegetarian stir-fry.

3. Akbar (Edison, NJ) This is a wonderful Indian restaurant right on Route 1 conveniently located close to Route 287. I always feel like I'm stepping into an Indian temple or castle when I'm eating at Akbar. The building is simply beautiful and, I believe, they host Indian weddings and parties too. Like many other Indian restaurants, they offer lunch buffets (though I haven't tried they buffet yet). Go for the buffet or go for dinner. Everything is a la carte. Rice, naan bread and all. Service is good and the food is simply delish!

4. Bensi (Several New Jersey locations, including Paramus, Garwood and North Arlington) Bensi is a great Italian local chain offering the gamut from pizza to wonderful pasta dishes. I love their Bensi Salad (with roasted pepper and fresh mozz) and bucatini with eggplant sauce and fresh mozzarella.

5. Sawadee (Metuchen, NJ) A great Thai restaurant in another of my favorite local towns. The owners also have another local Thai restaurant, Pad Thai, in Highland Park, NJ. I love the food at Sawadee. But be forewarned--they serve their food spicier than you may be used to when eating Thai food. Full bar and never a problem getting a table. After dinner, save room for dessert. You've got a great ice cream shop, What's the Scoop, practically right next door and a great local bookstore, The Raconteur, down the street.


3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged.
Jennifer also in NJ, Becky in Ma, Jessica in Co. I can't think of anyone else but if I left someone out, feel free to consider yourself tagged!

A Great, Great Weekend

Sometimes, the weekends when there are no time for sleep are the best ones!

Saturday night, Eric and I went to the Ellarslie Open XXV's opening reception at the Trenton City Museum. This was an art museum that I had known of but had never had a chance to visit it. And, it was impressive. There was a lot of great work displayed. And the best part? No, not the free wine. My good friend, Amber, had some artwork displayed in the show--a painting and a framed photograph. Here's a picture of her and her painting.


And one of Eric and I from the art show--


After checking out the art exhibit, Eric and I had dinner at this awesome Asian restaurant, Elements. It was my second time there and the food does not disappoint. Its an eclectic mix of Chinese, Thai and Japanese.

Sunday, Eric and I headed to Baltimore for the day. Our main reason for going to Baltimore was to see the screening of the documentary, Blood, Boobs & Beast, about indie horror director, Don Dohler. Dohler happened to have been the director of Eric's film, Dead Hunt. It was an interesting documentary which ended unexpectedly and sadly. Dohler passed away of cancer this past December.

We decided to make a day out of our visit to Baltimore. So we had lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen at the Inner Harbor and paid a visit to Eric's "fifth favorite place," The Baltimore Aquarium. It was a lovely day and here's a couple more pics. Enjoy!

Eric and I enjoying the sunny, breezy day!

Horror Man Terrified of a Shark!

Three

May 15th of this month marks the three year anniversary of the day I moved back home.

Three months I thought I'd stay there.

Three years later, I'm still living at home (which won't be the case for much longer. Mom and Dad, you can breathe a sigh of relief.)

Good things happen in threes...

Yesterday, Eric and I celebrated 3 glorious months together.

Eric finally received his much-awaited and well-deserved promotion this week!

And I'll let you know when the third thing happens!

So in anticipation of flying the coop sometime soon, I began cleaning out my $149.80 per month storage space this past weekend. As I mentioned above, I expected to be home a matter of months. Three years later and a lot wiser than I was when I was 25, I realized I saved way too much! I've so far emptied out about nine boxes. I have thrown a ton away. And apparently buggy bugs really like my storage space too. I rented the storage space to store...well...my stuff...two nearly new couches, a two-year old queen sized bed, hand-me-down furniture...and lots of boxes.

The cost to store all this junk? About $5,080.

Five thousand dollars and change to house some spiders and a lot of garbage I should have parted with when I was 25. Priceless. (Don't you love my sarcastic wit?)

Oh well. Live and learn.