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.

Cool Find

Eric tipped me off to this interesting site called Very Short List. Check it out and if you're intrigued, as I was, then sign up for the daily email. You will be informed as to the newest and greatest discoveries in tv, music, movies, books, art, whatever. As their site claims, it really is "one cultural gem."

In today's email from VSL, I got a link to Jack White's Coca Cola commercial from overseas. I liked it a lot so here's the clip for your enjoyment!

Where Pierogies Meet Punk...

...Warsaw is where its at! I did not make up that catchphrase about pierogies and punk. At the live music venue, Warsaw, housed at Brooklyn's very own Polish National Home, there was a sign advertising, "where pierogies meet punk," at the food stand. A food stand which includes Polish staples like pierogies and kielbasa. I decided I had to sample the authentic pierogies...I mean for $5, you get a whole plate of pierogies with sour cream and applesauce. After drinking my Polish draft beer (which was very similar to Miller Light, mind you), I couldn't resist the craving for authentic Polishness. Keep in mind that I'm probably 75% Polish but my experience with pierogies are limited to the Mrs. T's, straight from the freezer aisle. I mean those are very good, but these were certainly the real thing. Potato with bits of sauerkraut. Yummy.

I blogged about Warsaw back in January when I was there for another show. This time around, I was there with my now Brooklynite-vegan-mischievous-free-spirit-friend, Amber, to see Josh Rouse. What an interesting venue. You walk into this huge room which is reminiscent of a high school gym with a stage and even a balcony. Okay so most high school gymnasiums do not have balconies. Nor do they have polish beer.

About the show. Yeah, the reason we were there in the first place. Josh Rouse was amazing. It was my first time seeing him live. He's an amazing artist. Rouse is an indie singer-songwriter who, after residing in central Tennessee for several years, hence his album titled Nashville, picked up for a small town in Spain to be with a girl he was dating. Within the first week of living in a quiet town in Spain, Rouse's last album was written, titled Subtitulo. Check him out if you haven't. Rouse's music is filled with infectious melodies and its got a mellow sound which is great to chill out to day or night.

But the "No Moshing" signs at Warsaw need to go. Nobody's going to mosh to this music!
(I cannot take credit for the above photo. Because I'm too much of a wuss to bring my own camera to shows, I borrowed one from Rouse's myspace.)

Sunday with my Sweetie

Busy, busy week! I've been on Spring Break all week and Eric came home on Saturday from his trip to Scotland! I missed him lots and I'm glad he's home now! Being off all week makes me really excited for summer!

On Sunday, Eric and I enjoyed an adventure in New York. I decided to drive in--our first stop was Union Square. We first had lunch at Cafe Spice, an Indian restaurant part of a local chain. I'd eaten there once before at their Philadelphia location. The food was good--though I've had better Indian for sure! (I live almost right in the heart of New Jersey's Little India!) Our adventure continued at the Strand Bookstore--home to 18 miles of new, used and rare books! The Strand is one of my NYC favorites! You can easily spend hours there perusing their 3 levels of books and spend a ton of money on half-price and $1 sale books. Just about everything there is half price with the exception of some new bestsellers and rare books. I got away with spending only about 27 dollars and I came home with 5 books! I did get a copy of the book I'd been eying for a while. It's written by none other than Amy Sedaris, sister of one of my favorite authors, David Sedaris.

Lunch at Cafe Spice

After our visit to the Strand (Eric's first!), we hopped back in the car and headed uptown to Zabar's, "NYC's gourmet epicurean emporium." It was my first visit to Zabar's--but guess what? Remember the scene in You've Got Mail where Meg Ryan's character, Kathleen Kelly is grocery shopping and ends up in the cash only line when Tom Hanks's character, Joe Fox helps her out. Yup. That takes place at Zabars. So Zabars is a place which is not only way too crowded (and therefore can be stressful) but is filled with lots of yummy and expensive foodstuffs. Specialty coffees and cheeses and chocolates...making me hungry...(hmm...we have a fridge full of their yumminess!)

Munkee and Monkey!

So that was our day. We almost ran out of gas on the GWB because foolish me thought I had enough gas to get us into the city and back. Sigh. Eric was right. But we made it out just fine for me to get gas in NJ. And we survived our first NYC outing together.

My Ecological Footprint

So tomorrow is Earth Day. And yesterday, I read an interesting article in the Star-Ledger about ecological footprints. An ecological footprint is basically the mark you leave on our planet. You can take the quiz to see how much land and water you need to support what you use and discard. Before reading the article in the newspaper, I didn't think I'd do too bad. I'm a vegetarian. (Sorry to do this, Meat-Eaters. But check out this link to see how horrific factory farming really is for the environment. Not to mention animal rights. But I digress.) I recycle. Though my car isn't a hybrid, its not a gas-guzzling monster. I'm always trying to do more. Or should I say do less damage on the environment. I just bought a new refillable water bottle and a Brita pitcher for Eric's house so I don't have to create more senseless waste with those single serving water bottles. Inspired by Becky's post on using canvas bags, I'm going to try to use less of the throwaway plastic bags and canvas-bag-it myself at the grocery store from now on.

So this quiz asks you fifteen questions. How far do you commute on a weekly basis? Do you drive a car, a motorbike or use use your own two feet primarily? What kind of mileage does your car get? Where do you live? Whats the size of your home? Free-standing or apartment? Running water? Unfortunately living in a place like the USA brings down your score because we're just the worst when it comes to things like global warming and polluting. Another question asks about where your food comes from? Is it packaged and processed or locally grown?

So I didn't do too well. I did horribly, actually. Here are my results:

CATEGORY GLOBAL ACRES
FOOD 3.5
MOBILITY 5.4
SHELTER 6.4
GOODS/SERVICES 10.9
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 26


IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 GLOBAL ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXISTS 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL ACRES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 5.9 PLANETS.

Shudder. This is scary! Being that tomorrow is Earth Day, here are some things that I can do to do better. Isn't that what its about? Just doing a couple extra things every day that will make a difference.

1. Start using energy-efficient lightbulbs.
2. Start canvas-bagging it like I mentioned up above.
3. Buy more locally-grown produce. I used to belong to a really cool co-op called Purple Dragon. You can find one near you if you live in the NJ area. You can join one and every two weeks, you pick up a delivery of locally-grown (inasmuch as possible) organic produce. Yum! The best thing about it was that you never know what kind of fruits and veggies you're getting until a couple days before the shipment! Once I was happily surprised with a head of purple cauliflower! Maybe I should rejoin...

Its a short list to start with but I think making small changes in your day-to-day routine is what counts. So tomorrow's Earth Day. Do something. And why not make every day Earth Day?

Spring is (finally?) in the air!

Over 7 inches of rain and chilly, un-springlike temperatures couldn't keep these gorgeous blues from saying hello! It's enough to remind you that its the simple things that bring smiles about...fresh budding daffodils...cherry blossoms...cardinals chirping in your backyard...an "I love you" from your special guy or girl...winning a $25 gift card to the Olive Garden at one's school's Tricky Tray fundraiser...oh, and last, but definitely not least--a certain somebody's boyfriend's homecoming from a visit to a European country in one more day! Yippee!!!

Movie Meme

Stolen from Jessica

1. Name a movie you have seen more than 10 times. When Harry Met Sally, Serendipity, You've Got Mail

2. Name a movie you've seen multiple times in the theater. Nine Months (I worked in the theatre at the time so I saw it 3-4 times for free!)

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie. Will Farrell

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie. Mel Gibson

5. Name a movie than you can and do quote from. Napoleon Dynamite, 40 Year Old Virgin.

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs. Pretty much anything Disney and Grease.

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with. See #6

8. Name a movie you would recommend everyone see. Napoleon Dynamite.

9. Name a movie that you own. I own lots of movies...one that I own is Happy Accidents.

10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops. Hmm...Queen Latifah!

11. Have you ever seen a movie at a drive-in? If so, what? Never been to a drive in, though I did see Hitch in a park in Watkins Glen, New York a couple summers ago.

12. Ever made out in a movie? No Comment!

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I've got a Scanner Darkly from my netflix queu...been sitting around for a month...also, I've been wanting to see Sabrina, a Hepburn classic.

14. Ever walked out on a movie? Not that I remember.

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater. I think I almost cried during Brokeback Mountain. I certainly cried during the Tigger Movie. Don't make fun of me!

16. What was the last movie you saw in the theater. 300

17. What is your favorite/preferred genre of movie. Romantic comedies or just comedies.

18. What is the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, I think!

19. What movie do you wish you'd never seen? There was one that was so bad...it was disturbing...I think it was called Fat Girl.

20. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed? Who's definition of weird? I like a lot of weird movies! Like Being John Malcovich!

21. What is the scariest movie you have seen? Rosemary's Baby and The Ring both freaked me the hell out.

22. What is the funniest movie you have seen? I was almost crying I was laughing so hard when I went to see 40 Year Old Virgin! That or Napoleon Dynamite!

Phun with Photoshop

So I've been taking this Photoshop course through Union County College. Its noncredit which means the work is not too intimidating, though it keeps me busy enough. I'm learning a lot and I can't wait til the course is over so I have the time to really start playing around! Here's a cool picture I created a couple days ago. Its titled, "Grazing Deer."

Nearly Drowned by this Weekend's Nor-Easter

All right, well, I didn't nearly drown. However, after receiving something like 8.5 inches of rain this weekend, New Jersey is the wettest its been in years. Even though I had to work today, our state was in a state of emergency. At least fifty roads were closed and thousands of people have been evacuated because of floodwaters. This picture I've posted is taken by John Munson for the Star Ledger. No, its not a picture of New Orleans. Its downtown New Brunswick.

Though I had no problems getting to work, I did have problems getting to Eric's tonight. I promised him I'd make sure that his home was not underwater. Well, unfortunately every road I could think of to get there was closed due to floodwaters. Better luck getting there tomorrow.

Free Cone Day

Just a heads-up, Readers--tomorrow, besides being local election day, and Tax Day, is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's! So, after you file your taxes and vote, get yourself a free cone!