Where do YOU get your calcium?

As I'm on my voyage to becoming a near-vegan, I'm learning a lot of interesting information about foods that offer the most nutritional bang for the buck.

The million dollar question I hear is, "You don't drink milk? But where do you get your calcium from?"

Dark, leafy greens. Calcium-fortified ricemilk.

And broccoli! Did you know that a serving of broccoli has as much calcium as a serving of cottage cheese! (And I'm pleased to report that Bianca posted how she recently made some vegan cottage cheese. Woo hoo!)

How green is your candidate?

Newsweek's cover story this week compares the three presidential candidates and where they stand on environmental issues. The article is here if you are interested...

Ever try a neti pot?

I've been fighting a cold/sore throat/cough all week long--just after I boasted last week that I hadn't been sick all winter long! I'm doing everything possible to avoid nasty meds. I'm using some of the natural remedies on Earth Clinic. I'm gargling and drinking lots of hot tea! I decided to try one of these neti pots. Anyone ever use one? Read more here...

A Month of Organic Living

I decided on the way to work this morning in the nasty pouring rain to feature sustainable and organic living this month in honor of Earth Day. So lets talk chemicals. We all know they are bad for our bodies and bad for our planet, yada, yada, yada. Personally, I'm trying to be a lot more aware of what I put in my body these days. Natural, unprocessed fruits and veggies, whole grains. For the most part. (I did have a 1/4 of a bagel this morning minus the cream cheese. Not so bad.)

But how often do we really think about what we put on our skin? The shower gel we use? The moisturizer and face wash? I just read that the skin is the largest organ in the body. Do you really want to be rubbing chemicals into your skin that can cause harm to yourself?

I use Aveeno face wash and moisturizer. I thought it was a good product. But according to Skin Deep, a site that rates beauty products, my moisturizer is rated high hazard! It has ingrediants that are linked to cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, allergies and other gross things. And they perform animal testing. So I think when I have some extra money, I will be definately buying some organic products for my skin.

Going greener!

I'm constantly debating how we can make our lives greener. Lately, I've been eyeing the Toyota Prius but, not only can I not afford a hybrid vehicle, but I still have 2 1/2 years left of payments on my Matrix.

As I'm reading the wonderful book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I'm realizing the importance of locally-grown, organic food. However, right now, there is really no local produce to be had! And the cost of organic produce tends to be astronomical! So oftentimes, I'm buying the conventional-flown-in-from-Ecuador produce from the market. But I'll make a conscious effort to do better, come summer, when local produce is available.

Today's April 1st. Yes, it's April Fool's Day, but we also observe Earth Day this month. I have a list of things I'd like to do to turn Kermit-like this month, such as joining Green Dimes and learning about composting.

Today, my AAA membership is up and instead of renewing, I've decided to join the Better World Club. Their services are comparable to AAA but they are an environmentally conscious company. They donate 1 % of their total revenue to environmental cleanup and advocacy.

Healthy Eating

I've spent the last four weeks eating healthy. Healthier that I've ever been in my life. I mean when I lost 70 pounds after college with Weight Watchers, I don't think I was eating this healthy! And, it's working. I've lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks.

Preparing healthy foods is not only expensive but it's so time-consuming! I feel like I spend hours in the kitchen everday! In the evenings, I make Eric and I breakfast smoothies and salads to bring to work. I pack healthy snacks that don't come out of a package! Stuff like carrot sticks and hummus and lots of fruit.

On a side-note, I think I've consumed more bananas this week than this guy!

Yummy Vegan-ness

No, I'm not a quite a vegan but I'm pretty close to it. At least, I'm trying. I've found some really amazing vegan food blogs and a book I've seen mentioned numerous times is Veganomicon, a vegan cookbook from these people. It includes 250 recipes of some really yummy sounding things. I perused it at Barnes and Nobles yesterday but opted not to buy it right away.

Last night, Eric got home, and I would say he's a good munkee. After spending a few days nervous that I was joining a vegan cult, he decided to purchase the book for me online. Yay! I can't wait for it to come.

There are a few recipes available online on their website. Tonight, I'm trying the vegan caesar salad.

Eat to Live

About three weeks ago, I went back to Weight Watchers and have been really motivated about eating right. I'm trying to not only eat less, but eat more veggies and natural foods and less processed garbage.

A food blog that lately, I've been enjoying is called Fat Free Vegan. From that blog, I learned about the Eat to Live Diet.

The next day, I went out and bought the book.

I'm going to do the six week plan in which you get most of your calories from nutrient rich vegetables and fruits, some whole grains, beans, tofu, etc. Animal products are to be used minimally or not at all. Sugar and salt intake is limited as well. Yes, I'm a vegetarian but I like cheese. But I'm excited about this new way of eating and I want to see if I can do it.

Progress!

I'm so excited to say that, for two weeks now, Norton has been doing utterly fabulous! We wanted to see how he would do if we stopped crating him. See, we had little choice; Norton basically ate his way out of his second metal crate. Well, he's been doing great! He is still on his meds but hasn't been getting frantic when we leave him alone. It's such a relief. We can actually go to work and not only that, but have a life, without feeling guilty about leaving the dog. We can go out without worrying the whole time! It's wonderful!!!! But when we get home, we still "check for damage." And when we find no damage everyday, we praise Norton for being the best doggy ever!

So, here's what happened when we got home from an outing yesterday. As we finagled the key in the front door, I wondered what toy would be in Norton's mouth when he came to greet us? Would it be the talk to me treatball? Or the kong? Or the toy cell phone?

None of the above. Norton met us at the door with a slice of bread in his mouth. Apparantly, Norton jumped up and grabbed a loaf of Weight Watchers bread off of the counter and ate half of it while we were gone.

I was relieved that he ate the bread and not a wall.

Eric was relieved that he wouldn't have to "eat that dry bread anymore."

So it was a happy day for all of us!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

...won't you wear a sweater?

March 20th would have been the 80th birthday of Mr. Rogers. As a tribute to Mr. Rogers (who died of cancer five years ago), everybody is being asked to wear a sweater on that day.

Remember when, at the beginning of every show, Mr. Rogers would put on his cardigan sweater and change his shoes?

I mentioned to a fellow teacher I work with the idea of promoting this in our school on March 20th. But the sad part is, I bet our young students wouldn't even know who Mr. Rogers is.

Instant Karma

Today, while Eric was making a purchase for himself at the Sharper Image, he surprised me and bought me the cd, Instant Karma, the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Long title. Instant Karma is a two disc set of John Lennon covers by artists from Aerosmith to Jack Johnson. According to the website, "it seeks to mobilize millions around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. It combines the power of John Lennon's music recorded by some of the world's best-known artists, together with cutting-edge forms of instant activism enabled by Internet and mobile technologies. "

The back of the cd reads this...

The conflict in Darfur, Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction and displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed by deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and over 2.5 million civilions have been displaced.

Click here to take action...

Ever sleep in an igloo?

Last night, we watched a special on the Icehotel in Sweden. I'd heard of the Icehotel before but the show we watched was fascinating! Everything in this hotel is sculpted of ice. In your hotel room, you're sleeping on some animal skin on a bed made of ice and snow. The hotel bar, a happening place, is made of ice. Instead of having some ice in your drink, your drink goes in a glass made of ice. Amazing! In the morning, you're awakened with a glass of hot lingonberry juice. According to the website, they suggest you spend one night in the icehotel and all remaining nights in a heated chalet type hotel.

Activities include ice sculpting, dog sledding, car racing on an ice track, snowmobiling, and northern lights excursion tour.

They even have an icechurch for people who would like to get married here.

Every year, they must rebuild the hotel. Of course, it melts when the weather warms up!

I clicked on the availability on their website just out of curiosity. I tried a couple random dates--for the year 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. And they were all booked up! This place isn't cheap but isn't as expensive as you'd perhaps think. After you convert to the US dollar, the iceroom runs about 300 per person, per night.

I think I might add staying at the icehotel to my lifelong list of places to see.

Out West we go!

This week, I finally began officially planning our honeymoon. I booked our airfare and most of our lodging. Here is our plan:

8/4 Fly out of Newark into Portland, Oregon on an early evening flight. We'll get to Portland at 9pm Monday night and we'll be staying in Portland through Friday.

8/8 After driving to Mount Hood, we'll head up to Seattle, where we will stay until Monday.

8/11 We'll spend this night at North Cascades National Park. We'll we'll actually be staying at an inn nearby. North Cascades looks gorgeous! There are glaciers and all!

8/12 British Columbia, we arrive! We'll spend two nights in Vancouver.

8/14 Two nights in Victoria on Vancouver Island. We'll be staying at an amazing little inn right by the ocean and a huge nature preserve.

8/16 Back to Seattle for one night.

8/17 Fly out of Seattle back home.

Using Trip Advisor, I was able to find some amazing bed and breakfasts for us to stay in. We will be going in a little over five months!

Let me out!

In anticipation of a real snow day!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Sort of. Well, my mom got the name Marisa from the actress Marisa Berenson but I'm not named after her. My Hebrew name is Naomi Rifka. Naomi is for my great uncle Nat and Rifka is for somebody but I don't remember who.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
When Susan and Tim got engaged!

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING
Sometimes

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT?
Duh. None.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Not yet.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I think so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
I love sarcasm.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE TONSILS
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Maybe in my younger, crazier days. But, no.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL?
Special K with berries or kashi.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM Off?
No.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Eh. So-so.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM?
Mint chocolate chip. Cookie dough.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I'm observant. I can tell a lot about a person soon after meeting them but I can't think of one thing.

15. RED OR PINK?
Depends on my mood. I do love pink though.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My lack of organization.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST
I miss my friends who I can't see that often. I miss my Shayla.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
If you want to do a survey, go ahead and do this one.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Tealish sweater. Brown pants.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
2 fun size twix bars

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Andy on the speakerphone.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
lime green

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?
The ocean. Fresh baked bread. Chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Andy

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Of course or why would I spend the rest of my life with him?

26. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Umm...baseball, I guess.

27. HAIR COLOUR ?
Blondish.

28. EYE COLOUR?
Hazel green.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. Your favorite food?
Indian. Thai. Ethiopian. Dark chocolate.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings!!!!

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Princess Bride

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Well, I like cold weather better than hot. But I do like my summers off so it's a toss up, I guess.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Love 'em both!

36. FAVOURITE DESSERT?
Anything chocolaty. Tiramasu!

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Jenn.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND ?
Most everyone else.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
"Life and Times of the Thunder Bolt Kid."

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
WFUV.org

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T. V. LAST NIGHT?
Didn't watch last night, but tonight, watched The Martha Stewart Show!

42. FAVOURITE SOUND
The sounds of the beach. The ocean surf crashing and the seagulls calling. Norton's snoring.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
The Beatles!

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
US Virgin Islands

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Not really sure.

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Edison, NJ.

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
I dunno.

Last Night's Eclipse

Anyone see the lunar eclipse last night? It was really awesome! I think it was the first lunar eclipse I've ever witnessed. If you missed it, I'm sorry, because you won't have another chance to see a lunar eclipse until the year 2010.

The moon had a reddish tint and if you looked to either side, you could see the star Regulus on one side and Saturn on the other. Of course, I couldn't tell which was which.

I told my third graders about it yesterday and a few of them were lucky enough to be able to stay up until 10:00 to see it! I remember when I was in third grade, we had a solar eclipse. Well, my teacher told us that we would become blind if we looked at it. I remember feeling terrified that whole day to look anywhere near the sky lest I become blinded! It's nice knowing that it's not harmful at all to look at a lunar eclipse!

(Photo credit: I got the photo from this page and it was shot by Hal Laurent from East Baltimore.)

New Babes

Kayla turned 3 weeks old yesterday! It's amazing how during those first few weeks and months, babies change so much! Here's a cute photo of her sleeping on her changing table from this past weekend.

Here's a promised photo of Vincent Joseph! This was taken Monday while they were still in the hospital. Mom, Dad and Vincent went home on Tuesday and are doing well, albeit a lack of sleep!

AccuWAIT!

In the year 2008, how can seemingly intelligent people still fall into these crazy fad diets? I have a coworker who does the Accu-Weight Loss program. She has a bead behind her ear, which is the acupuncture aspect of the diet. She is supposed to rub this bead to keep focused. Here are some of the rules of the diet.

1. Only eat between noon and 6pm.

2. For two days, you can only consume whole milk products. You must have 2.5 cups of milk and/or yogurt. Thats all you eat on your milk days!

3. The next two days, you consume vegetables only. You get 2 servings of fruit and up to 1.5 lbs of veggies. Thats all you eat on your veggie days!

4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until you get to your goal weight.

So, basically, you are starving your body on this diet. There are no whole grains and there are no sources of protein other than the milk. Our bodies work best when we combine many different healthy foods and eat them in moderation. I like Weight Watchers the best but in my opinion, the best diet is not really a diet but a plan you can live with permanently!

Anyone ever hear of this crazy diet?

Wedding Registering Madness

I couldn't wait to begin the whole registering process back when we got engaged last Spring. Everything we had for the kitchen pretty much was either hand me downs from Eric's parents, my parents, college leftovers, and other stuff I got really cheap.

Our first registry was created at Williams-Sonoma. We figured it would be easy because it was a small store. We registered for a handful of things there. And we got some of them as engagement gifts.

Then we began a Fortunoff registry as oppose to a Macy's registry. My mom said Fortunoff was better. From visiting either store, they seemed the same to me. So we registered for our "fine stuff" at Fortunoff.

We registered for much of our everyday stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond.

We were done. Or so Eric thought. Then these things happened.

1. Martha Stewart came to Macy's!
2. I realized Macy's has a better website than Fortunoff.
3. Rumors began floating of Fortunoff going belly-up. (Okay, it seems as this point that Lord & Taylor is buying them out.)
4. I visited Crate & Barrel the other day, in search of the perfect everyday glasses, and decided we must register here!

So we decided to abandon the Fortunoff and Williams-Sonoma registry in favor of having only three registries--Crate & Barrel, Macy's, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

So yesterday, Eric and I went to Crate and Barrel to register there. It was amazing. We didn't argue. Not once. We always argue when it comes to registering. So if you're looking to buy us a gift, please don't shop at Fortunoff or Williams-Sonoma because you won't find much left there!

Three Day Weekend

I love three day weekends. Even if I do have to go to the dentist tomorrow.

Today we're seeing Kayla again so I'll post more photos today or tomorrow!

And speaking of babies, Kayla's not the "baby" of the family any longer!

My cousin, Andrea, and her husband, Frank, became first-time parents this morning! They had a little boy, Vincent. It all just happened so I don't have any other details as of yet but its very exciting!

Yesterday, Eric and I explored the little town of Andover. It's ten minutes from where we live and it's home to tons of antique shops. We had a delicious lunch at a cute little coffee house called the Gristmill Cafe. We spent some time wandering around the shoppes in town and bought a couple cute things.

Then last night, Eric got yet another birthday dinner. We had Ethiopian lentils and Ethiopian green beans and potatoes. The green beans and potatoes were a new recipe and they came out pretty good! All in all, it was a healthy and delicious meal!

After dinner, we watched The Princess Bride. It's a movie that I had never seen before but it's one of Eric's favorites. It was a cute movie.

Eric v. Abe

Today seemed like a fitting day to compare Eric M. Munkee to Abraham Lincoln. A fun fact that you may be unaware of is that they happen to share the same birthday! Yes, it's true. Did you know that they have other similarities, too?

Eric loves KFC and while I doubt Abe ever had the opportunity to try their hot wings, he was born in Kentucky. Abe also bears a remarkable likeness to the colonel.

Did you know that Abe was the first president to wear a beard? I think that Eric may very well be one of the first Asians to sport one too!

Abe served as captain of the military. While Eric is by no means affiliated with any sort of military, he is captain of his Strat-o-Matic hockey team, the East Coast Earthquakes. At least, I think that's what his team is called.

Did you know that Honest Abe "clerked" in a shop? As a teenager, Eric never worked in a supermarket as a cashier or grocery bagger. He blames his inability to bag groceries properly on this key fact.

Happy Birthday, Munkee!

Today is Eric's 33rd birthday. Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

On Sunday, we invited Eric's parents and my family over for dinner to celebrate Eric's birthday. It was a wonderful day.

Here's the cake that I baked for Eric. It's a stadium cake! I used the stadium bundt cake pan that we received as an engagement gift. The football cookie in the middle was a gift from Ashley and Joe. Even though I did not think we had any use for a stadium bundt cake pan, it's not a bad thing to have. The cake was definitely a hit!

No More Polaroids

I read online today that Polaroid is shutting down the instant photography aspect of their business. They've already ceased production of instant cameras and will stop manufacturing the film for them (though they do have enough film to last through 2009).

How sad. I admit it. I haven't owned a Polaroid camera in years. Back in 2000 or so, I had one of those Polaroid sticker cameras. They were very popular at the time!

No matter your age, there's still something magical about holding that Polaroid photo in your hand waiting for it to develop.

When my friends took me out for Hibachi on my 29th birthday, I received a birthday Polaroid souvenir. It's still on my refrigerator.

Here's a "vintage" Polaroid commercial from 1979.

Isn't she lovely?

Look at this funny babe, one hour after birth. Isn't she precious?



Kayla's first picture with Grandma


Kayla and her favorite aunt!

PuppyBowl IV

I watched some of the SuperBowl with Eric. Because I had to. But on commercials, we watched the PuppyBowl. The PuppyBowl, in my opinion, was so much better than the SuperBowl. It was sooo cute!!! There were no winners. There were no losers. Just puppies playing on a fake football field.

And, during half-time, there was a kitty show.

You can even go on their website and vote for the MVP.

And, I found out that all the puppies and kittens come from shelters. Eric says we can't get one though. :(

A Big Day

Well, today was a big day. Not JUST because the Giants won tonight's Superbowl.

Today marks the one year anniversary of my first date with Eric. One year ago today, I never would have believed it if somebody had told me I was going to marry that guy. It was a good date. I liked Eric's sense of humor. He seemed like a nice enough guy and we got along well.

The next day was Superbowl Sunday, but instead of watching the game, I was spending the day with a girlfriend. We made pizza and brownies and watched a movie instead. While I was there, I had gotten an email from Eric asking me out for another date.

I asked my girlfriend what she thought. Should I go out with him again? She and I decided, why not? First date went well. Might as well give it a try.

Tonight, I want to thank that dear friend. That first date turned out to be the love of my life.

And six months from today, we'll be married.

And wedding plans are moving along...yesterday we had our second premarital counseling session with the rabbi AND we picked out our wedding rings! We've found a new videographer since the whole Celebration Studios nightmare. And we've contracted somebody to design custom invites for us! Yippee!

Kayla Ruth

My brother, Ryan, and my sister-in-law, Lauren, became first-time parents tonight to Kayla Ruth. Seven pounds, nine ounces. I got to see the proud parents and new addition to the family tonight. She's just adorable and Eric and I are thrilled to be "uncle" and "aunt!"

NKOTB Reunion!!!!

Okay, I'm not making this up. I'm hearing New Kids on the Block are going to be reuniting! Apparently, there will be some kind of official announcement next month. The NKOTB website is up and running with some old video from the 90's that I couldn't get to work very well.

Anyone else kind of excited about this??? I'm going on thirty but an announcement like this makes me feel eleven years old again!

Reason #458 Why I don't Like Mainstream Radio

The other day, I happened to be flipping back and forth between radio station. I briefly stopped on a former favorite station of mine to listen to one of those hysterical music contests. You know, listen to 1-2 notes and name the song. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, the DJ makes some comment about a David Bowie song, which in his opinion, is a great song.

Then he mentions on the air how he'll talk to his station manager about getting this particular song.

I guess its not on their top 20 approved playlist. I like my public music stations because the dj's can play whatever they'd like! The other day, the morning dj pulled out some old, obscure record album from the sixties! Apparently, nobody still plays records on the air but this dj did! She made a comment about "hoping it would work!" And it did!

Movie Madness

It seems that I'll either go forever without seeing a movie or I see a bunch in a short duration of time. In the past week, I saw three good movies, all rented from Netflix.

A week ago, I saw Freedom Writers. It was a riveting film. You've all heard of that one. I would certainly recommend it.

Monday, we were going to see Juno. But with the whole Norton fiasco, we really couldn't leave him for even a couple hours. Plus, I pulled something in my back on Sunday. I'm still trying to recover, though I am feeling a lot better. Much of my time was spent on the couch this week!

So instead of Juno, we watched Waitress. Have you heard of it? A hit at last year's Sundance. Bittersweet and comedic both. Keri Russell plays the main character. The talented Adrienne Shelly wrote, directed and also starred in the movie before being murdered in her apartment by her contracter. What a sad story. Bittersweet. We really liked the movie though. It made us smile and feel, too. Rent it. I think you'll enjoy.

A couple months ago, I heard a particular song from a soundtrack I couldn't recall on one of my beloved public radio stations, WFUV. I loved the song so I spent months hoping to stumble across it on iTunes.



And guess what? The other day I found it! The song, Falling Slowly, is from the soundtrack to the movie, Once. And the song was nominated for an Academy Award also! So guess what? I rented the movie and bought the sountrack. It's a modern day musical filmed more like a documentary than your traditional romantic comedy. In a nutshell...

Boy is a street musician in Dublin. He fixes vacuums by day. He has an ex in London.

Girl is a Czech street vendor (living in Dublin). She lives with her mother and young daughter. She has a husband in the Czech Republic.

We spend a week with these two characters as they develop a friendship and "write, rehearse and record songs together." Their music is simple and lovely. His beaten-up acoustic guitar and her piano melodies. The chemistry is real and the story is touching.

I won't tell you what happens. See for yourself.
Wanna see Alvin sing the same song?

Cat is out of the Bag

I didn't want to detail the scandal surrounding the previously mentioned wedding vendor. However, we got our money back and it's all over the news so I'm ready to spill the beans!

After Eric and I got engaged, one of the first things we made sure to do was find a photographer. We met with somebody from Celebration Studios, a tri-state wedding photography and videography company. Celebration was referred to me by a coworker whose daughter is getting married a month before we are. They were recommended to her by some other happy clients.

CS had many different locations all throughout NJ, NY and Philadelphia. We met with Karen Towerton from the Montclair office. She offered us a phenomenal package which included a videographer too! I should have realized it might be too good to be true.

The catch? If you pay up front, you get a 20% discount. The red flags should have popped up then. Over lunch that day, we decided to book this company. We were later able to choose our photographer based on an online gallery of some samples of different photographers' work. We then met him in person and were really excited about his style and thought he'd do a wonderful job shooting our wedding.

Things were fine until last month, while perusing message boards on The Knot, I came across some negative feedback about CS. I was shocked. The more I dug, the more information I unearthed. Brides and grooms, married for 1, 2, 3, even 4 years, still waiting for wedding albums, videos, proofs, all paid in full. Some turned in baby pictures to be used as a montage for their videos. Phone call after phone call, email after email, they were fed lie after lie. And by late fall, it was impossible to get a hold of anybody by phone.

Celebration Studios was going to be "new and improved," or so they claimed. They were just backlogged. Their design center was closed in order to restructure things, to make it better, they claimed. It was supposed to reopen January 2nd. However, on that day, a sign was on the door at the center in Clifton, promising a reopen by January 31st.

However, just a couple days later, there was a for lease sign hanging in the window.

It was that week, I started to really get frightened. I started spending every waking minute on the Wronged by Celebration Studios yahoo group. I found out CS stopped paying their photographers and videographers. Some are owed $10,000 or more. They quietly closed each and every office. Sales staff quit. Basicallly within the course of a week, there was nobody left working for this guy.

Except one office actually didn't close. Their Philadelphia office became Accent Studios. Marc Schwartz, the owner of CS, claims it's an unaffiliated business. Then why did it not only have an identical website until people caught on? Why is it owned by Marc's girlfriend, Shani Whittemore? Clients of CS claim that they booked with CS, yet their credit card statements say Accent.

Schwartz is claiming to have no money left. His lawyer says he's going to be filing bankruptcy. Then he won't have to pay back anybody. But where did all this money go? There were SO many shady dealings. It's been all over the news. Check out these links if you're curious.

By the way, we're sooo lucky that we disputed our charges with the credit card company. We got every penny back that we paid that scamming CS! Not everyone was so lucky though. Hundreds of brides and grooms may never see those pictures and albums they paid so much for. My friend was telling me about her coworker who hired CS to shoot her wedding this weekend. She paid up front. In cash. Even though she has retained a lawyer, she'll never see that money again. People have been filing criminal complants and there are a couple class action law suits that are forming against Schwartz.

And we found an awesome photographer to boot. We really did our research this time. His name is Josh Lynn and we can't wait for him to shoot our wedding!

Links

• The Star Ledger article
• NJ 12 TV report
• NBC news report
• CBS news story
  

Absolutely Absurd!

Our lovely state of NJ is in debt. And a lot of it. $32 billion dollars in debt. Sounds pretty much typical for this country.

Our esteemed Governor Corzine came up with a plan a couple days ago to relieve us of this debt.

What a joke.

Many of our New Jersey roads are toll roads. Corzine's plan is, beginning in the year 2010, increase said tolls by 50%. And every four years, increase the tolls by another 50%...

He also proposes to add tolls to a stretch of Route 440, which is now toll-free.

Corzine thinks this pretty much only affect commercial vehicles and out-of-state traffic.

Well, he's dead wrong. Many, many, many of New Jersey residents commute to work on a daily basis on these toll roads! I'm fortunate that with the move, I don't have to travel the toll roads any longer. But prior to this year, I traveled the Garden State Parkway to work on a daily basis. I paid $2.10 a day in tolls, a total of $42.00 a month. Here's how the increase, if approved would affect a commuter, like myself, on a yearly basis.

Year Monthly Toll Expenditure

2007 $42.00

2010 $63.00

2014 $94.50

2018 $141.75

2022 $212.62

2026 $318.94

That's almost an increase of 10 times over a twenty year period. Gee, lets stop and think. Add that to the increased prices of gas, property taxes that never stop rising, and the astronomical cost of living in this state.

This plan would pay off half of New Jersey's debt. Tell me, how is it our responsibility to clean up the mess that others have left???

Just needed to vent.

Yay Yay Yay Yay!!!!!

I love Visa!!!! I never thought I would say that! But they refunded the money that we paid to the horrid vendor that I previously blogged about.

And I found a great florist for the wedding. She designed a lovely bouquet for me!

And a fun fact...

On this day in 1902, the state of New York declared flirting an illegal activity. It's true. I heard it on the radio today!

What a week!

We've been ensconced in this madness for the past few days surrounding one of our wedding vendors. It's not something I can really talk freely about online, especially because we're disputing the charge with Visa now. We went with this particular vendor because they were highly recommended.

We paid up front for the services because we were offered a 20 % discount. We thought it was a great deal. And they were recommended and did great work.

Wow, how things change in a matter of months. After the CEO has been writing bad checks to employees and not giving clients what they have paid for, I think he'll be filing bankruptcy.

Keep your fingers crossed for us that Visa will follow through and give us our money back.

There's lots of chatter about this on The Knot as well as a yahoo group about it. It's just mind-boggling.

2007 in Review

Jennifer posted a year in review on her blog. I liked that idea. Mine probably won't look as pretty as hers but I'll try my hand at making one too. A lot HAS changed this year!

January

In January I had attempted to cancel my match.com membership. I was frustrated and tired of the whole thing. I wasn't meeting anybody who I really connected with. But apparently, I didn't hit the confirm button when I tried to cancel so I got charged for another six months.

I figured I might as well get some use out of the damn membership. So I sent a bunch of emails out. One to some guy named Eric. And so we began emailing back and forth...


February



Eric and I had our first date at an Ethiopian restaurant called Makeda in New Brunswick. We also had a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth date...


March



My mom had a special birthday this month. My siblings and I planned a birthday luncheon for her. Eric met my family for the first time this day.


April

I missed Eric while he was in Scotland but then it was my spring break! We spent a lot of time together that week.

We had our first New York outing together. We had our first fight at Zabar's.

May

May was a special month. On Mother's Day, we got engaged! Yay! Norton (and Pumpkin too) was very happy to hear the news. He adores his new daddy-to-be!

Speaking of daddies-to-be, at the end of the month, my brother, Ryan and sister-in-law Lauren announce that they are expecting a little one in the beginning of 2008!

June


June was a good month. Our friends gave birth to Caiden who underwent very successful heart surgery. He's a champ!!! He's now a healthy, happy baby!

July


We went to Miami for Eric's AAJA conference but we enjoyed some downtime as well.

August


We moved. Really, must I say more? What a crazy month fixing up the townhouse so it could sell and fixing up our new home.

September


Eric and I enjoyed a weekend in the San Francisco area before I had to return to work. I also got to attend my first football game!

October



We hosted a party for my birthday at our new house!!! The Bell Family (the nickname my college friends and I gave ourselves) even attended!

November

Eric and I went away for a long weekend to Burlington, Vermont. We had a great time exploring! Here I am in Middlebury trying to stay warm!

December


We celebrated our engagement with some of our close friends and family.


2008 will be an even better year! I wish all of my readers a healthy and happy year!

Welcome to Morocco!

Saturday night, Eric and I, along with Jennifer and her fiance, Matt visited Morocco. Well...sort of! We had dinner at an authentic Moroccan restaurant called Marakesh. It's really a funky place! We all enjoyed the Sultan's Feast! It was an exquisite feast of soup, salad, appetizers, entrees, dessert and yummy mint tea. And, we were treated to some live music and belly dancing!





It was such fun. It was the first time the four of us all got together. Jenn and I were very happy that our fiances got along so well. Apparently they both have a love of telling jokes with Scottish accents.

Sadly enough, they did say no to forming a scooter club.

My Green Dining Room

Here's a pic of before we took the tape off the walls and put the room back together. It really does look beautiful. It's calming and so serene. My new favorite room in the house!!!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everybody enjoyed their Chrismahanukkakwanzaa! No matter what you celebrate, I hope you are enjoying this time of year and are not getting lost in the craziness of it all.

Eric and I enjoyed yet another holiday together. Monday night, my family went out to dinner to Carmine's in New York. It's tradition. We go every Christmas Eve. My immediate family plus my aunt, uncle and cousins. With spouses and boyfriends/girlfriends, we had 14 this year at our table. Next year, we'll have two more (since my sister-in-law and cousin are giving birth this winter)! Sadly, Eric had to miss it because he was still at work. But after dinner, I met Eric and his family for the rest of Christmas Eve. We had a very nice time and didn't get in until late.

Christmas morning, we went to my folks' house for present-opening and breakfast. I brought over a french toast casserole. It was the first one I ever made and boy, was it a hit!

Then back to Morristown for the rest of the day to be with Eric's family.

After picking up Norton from my parents' house at the end of the night, we came back home. We had a great time with both of our families, but it was nice to be home at the end of the night.

This morning I slept til 10. Which is LATE for me!!! After some straightening up, I decided to paint the dining room. I did all the prep work, the trim and the whole first coat. It is a Martha Stewart green called "Wild Artichoke." Tomorrow morning, I'll buy a second can and do a second coat. Wow, what a job. By the time I was finished, I suffered numerous aches and pains including stomach pains from not eating all day.

But I'm glad I accomplished something!

I'm a genius!

You'll never guess what I'm so excited about?

I've really been wanting a Dyson. I guess it began when I noticed that bright purple vacuum at Target one day. So bright and colorful and cool-looking. Ooh...and the purple model is for animals specifically! And you, my readers, know about my pets!

So Eric has a five year old Hoover Windtunnel that we've been using. He bought it because it was rated highly at the time. Maybe so but its not a vacuum that's designed for the amount of pet hair that we have! So a couple months ago I had to get a new belt for the Hoover. Its an ok vacuum but I've been secretly hoping it would break again so I could justify purchasing my Dyson.

The Hoover hasn't been working right lately...so guess who's getting a Dyson???

After doing much research on Epinions and other sites, I decided on the DC15. Not only is a powerful vacuum but it's really cool too! Nicknamed The Ball, it steers with the turn of a wrist. Also, its bagless AND beltless!

I ordered it online for an awesome discount plus no shipping, no tax!

Looks can be deceiving...

We were "blessed" with a couple storms over a period of a couple days. Thursday, we got four inches of snow. Saturday night into Sunday, we got another couple of inches of snow. No big deal, right? Sunday afternoon we got a bit of rain.

We decided to brave the hour ride to my parents' house for Ashley's 20th birthday. Eric was a little worried about the rain freezing over but it wasn't bad enough to keep us home.

Here's a picture of our house before everything became coated with ice. Looks pretty, right? But a few hours later, that pretty snow became treacherous!



Now that pretty scene is downright dangerous. I am praying for the warmer temperatures this week to melt that damn ice. Even poor Nort can't seem to get on good footing.

Read Eric's blog to see what happened when he decided to chase after our garbage pails...important lesson I learned--never put out garbage when 50 mile winds are anticipated and 6 inches of snow and ice lay on the ground!

Happy Friday

My dear Eric is putting me to shame. Eight blog posts in a week! Wow! I wish I had the time and the energy and the motivation to post as often as I did this summer. Things have been so hectic. Work. The holidays. The new house. The crazy dog.

Eric and I, along with Norton and Pumpkin, live in the Northwestern part of NJ. We live in the mountains. You actually have to drive up this huge hill to get to our house. It's usually about eight degrees cooler where we live than other sections of NJ. It was great this summer. It was usually a bit cooler here and less humid too!

However, now that winter is upon us, we really get the brunt of it up here! We've already had about 4 occasions of snowfall. The first I posted about--the Monday before Thanksgiving. We had four inches of snow yesterday and are expecting a Nor'Easter this weekend! Four to six more inches of snow! Now, I know thats not a tremendous amount of snow...but considering its only December. I do like snow but I like it more when I don't have to drive in it or shovel!!!

If we get snowed in this weekend, we'll miss my sister's birthday celebration. Sorry, Ash. Happy 20th birthday!

But on a more positive note, maybe we'll get a start on holiday cards and wrapping...and relaxing by the fire...maybe even a home cooked meal!

End of Weekend...

Another busy weekend. Saturday morning, we all woke up bright and early in the Munkee household. Norton and I headed to my folks' for the weekend and Eric flew off to Green Bay soon after for a Raiders game.

It was a busy Saturday--my sister-in-law's baby shower in the afternoon and then a visit with my friend Susan in the evening.

Sunday, my Nana and I went to a special Chanukah concert at the temple. We went to see Craig Taubman and his band perform. It was a such a joy to see this guy live after listening to his cd for a couple years now. Not only is his music really joyous and upbeat but he's a funny and energetic stage presence too.

Happy Chanukah!

Happy Chanukah to all my fellow Jews out there! Hope you're enjoying your latkes and lighting your candles.

Eric and I decided to exchange presents for all eight nights of Chanukah. This is something I haven't done since I was a kid! It sure is fun getting presents eight nights in a row!

For the first night, I gave Eric a set of cufflinks and studs from the New Orleans Cufflink Shop. He gave me two beautiful necklaces from Danforth Pewter in Vermont. I got this dragonfly necklace and this butterfly necklace. I don't think I've ever owned any pewter jewelry before and I'll tell you--both necklaces are stunning!

Pumpkin's New Hobby

Our strange little kitty has a new hobby. On Thanksgiving morning as I was preparing a green bean casserole and a pumpkin pie to bring to my parents, Pumpkin was sitting out on the deck off of the kitchen, as she often likes to do. That morning, the breeze was blowing the fallen leaves about. Pumpkin decided to be the predator and she spent a couple hours out there catching leaves and, like a proud hunter, bringing them into the kitchen to show me. We have a pile of four leaves on the kitchen floor that I really need to bring back outside. However, I don't want to insult Pumpkin as they were a gift to me, I think!

A Snow Day before Thanksgiving???

Note: I began this post almost two weeks ago. Finally, here it is.

Okay, well, sort of. I DIDN'T have a snow day. In fact, the town that I teach in had no snow accumulation on the ground. But Eric and I live in the mountains. We had a little snowfall on the ground Sunday morning. Norton and I were delighted--but it didn't stick to the actual pavement. I was glad because we had to drive to New Rochelle, NY for a wedding later that day.

But we got more snow Sunday night and it was still snowing Monday morning. We had about four inches on the grassy areas. It was accumulating on the roads but the plows were out and about so I figured the ride wouldn't be bad.

Boy, was I wrong. It took me 2 1/2 hours to get to work driving on snowy, icy hills. Even with my All Wheel Drive, I was terrified driving. I realized a block from my house that driving conditions might not be ideal but I wanted to make it to work.

Living in the mountains where we get far more snow than other regions of NJ, I decided its important to make sure to have emergency sub plans ready at school at all times. Just in case!

Hello, Hello

It's been almost two weeks since I've blogged. Things have been hectic and stressful so I've stayed away a while.



I had off last Thursday and Friday for the NJEA Teacher's Convention. Did I go to the convention in Atlantic City? Nope. Instead, Eric and I went to Burlington, Vermont for the weekend. Pics to come later...



We had a great time...cold, crisp weather, delicious food, wine tasting...and we had dinner with my coworker's daughter, Tara, and her boyfriend Dan. Tara's mom is my "work mom" so that makes Tara...my long lost sister! Ha! They live right in Burlington. Lucky!



I owe you a splendidly humourous and witty blog posting. But not right now.

Recycling Day

The first Friday of every month is recycling day. That means on the first Thursday night of every month, Eric and I are scrambling to put everything out after he gets home from work. Since we moved in August, half of our 2 1/2 car garage has been filled with boxes waiting to be broken down and recycled. Well thanks to Eric's hard work this week, we actually have a garage again. I bet the recycling people were cursing when they got to our house today. This is what they found:

• 7-8 large boxes filled with broken down boxes
• 2 bins of cans and bottles
• 2 boxes of newspapers, magazines and 1 expired YellowPages

Thats a LOT of stuff, don't you think? The hardest part was lugging all of that stuff up our windy, lengthy driveway. So Eric would load1-2 boxes at a time in the back of his SUV. Then Norton and I would hop in and drive the car up the driveway with Eric in the rear holding everything in place so we wouldn't lose any boxes. Norton had an important job too--co-captain of the Recycle Transit. He alternated riding in the back with the boxes or sitting on the passenger seat leaning over my shoulder.

Even Norton was exhausted last night. We all worked incredibly hard (especially Eric). It'll be worth it come our first snowfall when we'd like to park in the garage!

Monday, Monday

Life has been crazy lately. I've barely had a moment's time to breathe--let alone blog!

Eric and I had a nice weekend and for once, we did have time to relax!

Saturday after running errands, we spent much of the afternoon and the entire evening at home. We took a nap, enjoyed Thai take-out, played board games (two new games--Pez and Zombies--both fun!) , video games and watched movies. I can't remember the last time we spent a night at home doing nothing. It was fabulous.

Eric finally showed me his movie!!! He wrote the screenplay for an "indie" horror movie and it was good! It's now on dvd and it's called Dead Hunt.

Friday was my grandmother's 80th birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandma! I finally finished her scarf. I started knitting it 2 years ago and finally finished it! Sunday, we celebrated with Grandma and my family and Sunday night tried out the brand new Guitar Hero! Rock on!

I've been tagged!

Things have been crazy later. Sorry for the lack of blogging. Eric tagged me to do this meme so here goes...

Little known facts about Marisa

Four things about me that you may or may not have known in no particular order. The directions are at the end.

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Teacher

2. Paralegal

3. Server

4. Bookstore cashier (at my college bookstore)


B) Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Serendipity

2. When Harry Met Sally

3. You've Got Mail

4. Breakfast at Tiffany's (I saw it for the first time a little over a year ago but I loved it!)


C) Four places I have lived:

1. South Plainfield, NJ

2. Long Branch, NJ

3. Montclair, NJ

4. Byram Township, NJ


D) Four shows that I watch:

1. The Office (the only show I really watch regularly)

2. 30 Minute Meals

3. Gilmore Girls (though at this point I watch reruns)

4. Scrubs (behind on this one too)


E) Four places I have been: (besides the places I have lived)

1. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

2. Lave Havasu, Arizona (home of the original London Bridge)

3. St. John, US Virgin Islands

4. Napa Valley, California

F) Four people who e-mail me (regularly):

1. Eric

2. Robin

3. Eric's mom

4. Spammers

(Most of my communication is via phone, instant message and text messaging!)


G) Four of my favorite foods:

1. Indian

2. Thai

3. Ethiopian

4. Dark Chocolate



H) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. My nice warm, heated house (my classroom has no heat. It's broken. I'm FREEZING!)

2. A warm beach with Eric someplace

3. Vermont (we'll be there in less than 2 weeks)

4. In bed.



I) Four folks I think will respond (maybe):
1. Jennifer.

2. Jess

3. Becky

4. Susan


J) Things I am looking forward to this year:

1. Going to Burlington, Vermont for a long weekend in November!
2. Me and Eric's first Thanksgiving together!
3. Another wedding
4. Picking out bridesmaid dresses

Like Eric said, we have a lot to look forward to next year!


RETURN DIRECTIONS: Copy the text, delete my answers and pop in your own. Tag, you're it!

Thursday Thoughts

Lets start with the visit with the behaviorist. I think it went very well and I was very pleased with her. Over the course of a two hour visit, she and her tech observed Norton, caught some video, watched him play and asked lots of questions. The doc then sat down with me after over an hour of this in order to put together a plan. I'm feeling optimistic that things will improve.

1. We're doubling his one medication and tripling the other.

2. I'm working on desensitizing him to exit cues--picking up keys, putting shoes on.

3. I'm teaching him down and stay--two commands he never mastered.

4. Norton now has a "safety blanket." Its a blanket that he can lay on and good things will happen on it. He'll get petted and he'll get treats. Hopefully it'll work to "calm" him one day.

5. We need to use a visual cue when we leave. I ordered a lavender scented stuffed lab that I'll put on the table when we leave and put it away when we get home. Hopefully, it'll calm him and he'll see it and recognize that we're coming home.

6. We need to use a cd to desensitize Norton to gunshots and fireworks and thunderstorms.


We have another wedding this weekend. This one's in Pittsburgh. Eric's college friend is getting married.

Speaking of weddings...I picked out and ordered my wedding gown on Friday!!!!

Our Escaped Convict

We've taken to crating Norton again since his little "incident." Separation anxiety is a horrible, horrible disorder that most pet owners don't have to deal with. I don't mean mild barking and whining when you leave. I don't mean coming home to chewed up socks and shoes because your dog is lonely.

We spent all day on Sunday at a wedding. As of late, Eric and I can't really enjoy ourselves when we are out. All we do is worry, worry, worry. It's terrible.

So we left Norton in the crate before we left for the wedding. We got home from the wedding and guess who greeted us at the door?

Norton.

Our clever little munkee broke out of his crate. It would almost be funny if not for it being so serious. The last two days, Eric's been padlocking the thing to keep Norton contained.

He's taking meds--Xanax and Clomi-calm. We're using a DAP diffuser.

Today Norton and I have a 2 hour consult with the behaviorist. She's a vet who specializes in behavior and she's highly recommended.

Yesterday, Eric set up his digital camera to videotape what Norton does when we leave. It only taped for three minutes, but I swear it was the saddest three minute video. I have never heard those heartwrenching howls out of him before.

I'm reading this book, Help for Your Fearful Dog. We can use all the help that we can get right now.

Look What Norton Gave me for my Birthday

I was having a great birthday weekend. I had a party Saturday night which was a blast! Sunday night, Eric took me to the Melting Pot. Fondue! Yum! We got back from dinner to this-

Our hearts sunk. Sweetheart that he is, Norton has a tremendous separation anxiety problem. We spent all day Monday at the vet. I mean, he ripped out a 4 by 5 foot section of wall, including sheetrock and fiberglass insulation!

Then I paid a visit to my own doc. Bronchitis.

Norton is meeting with a behaviorist next week. I hope she can help us.

I just finished Marley and Me. Great, great book, even if I did bawl at the end. It's nice knowing my dog isn't the only nut that's ever existed.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

A True Story...

Two kindergarten boys are sitting on the carpet. One says to the other, "I love you!"

The other one replies, "But I'm not a pretty girl!"

This happened last month and it was too funny not to share!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is the big 2-9. I'm eager to celebrate the last year of my twenties! Since Eric is working tonight and I wouldn't see him til late, he gave me my gifts last night. He got me two really awesome gifts.

The first is a pet goat. Well, sort of. Her name is Cathy and she's a rescue but she won't live with us. She resides at Farm Sanctuary and she'll thrive thanks to their care and Eric's $$$! She's one of these goats, not sure which one yet. I should be getting some color photos and adoption info within a couple of days.

Are you all wondering what my other gift is? Eric drove all over the place calling lots of different stores to get one for me. Then when he finally secured one, he traded in a lot of his precious dvds to be able to actually buy it for me!

It's a Nintendo Wii! Yippee! I'm having a very happy birthday so far!

Contest Results!

Thank you to everyone for participating in the contest! And the winner???

Drumroll please!

Jesser came the closest. She guessed 34 though our collection totals a whopping 58 or so cookbooks that we own! And that doesn't count Eric's boxes of recipes nor my collection of magazine recipe collections.

Jenn, you should have stuck with your original guess of 47! You would have been the closest!

Some of the cookbooks I bought. Some Eric bought me. Some he got from work for the mere cost of a donation. Some I got from library sales and some were gifts.

Jesser, email me your address so I can send you your prize!

What a Day

It's Monday. Boy, was I tired this morning. But I woke up and headed on my way to work at 6:30. Plenty of time to make it in on time. But then, I was twenty minutes from home when I realized that Eric left his keys in my car last night.

And, they were still there this morning. So I had to drive all the way back home. Then all the way back to work. The drive should have taken me an hour and ten, maybe.

I left my house at 6:30 and made it to work at 8:40. But its okay. Now, Eric can make it to work too.

Any last guesses on the contest? I'll be tabulating the results later on today after work.

Why can't we all just be friends?

Eric's boss gave him his Giants tickets for Sunday night since he was going to be away. So off we went Sunday night to Giants Stadium to see the New York Giants play the Philadelphia Eagles. I was excited--my second football game! And both just weeks apart from each other! We had great seats--we were high up but had a great view of the entire field.

And it was a terrific game. I mean, so I've heard. I tried really hard to follow the game. And, I'm trying to understand the game of football. But I was lost for 99% of the game. And, tired too.

What disheartened me about the whole thing was the rivalry between the Giants and the Eagles. I mean a little healthy competition is okay. But I couldn't believe the number of fights between fans and the way that the Giants fans jeered at the Eagles fans. Shouted at them to get out of their stadium.

On the way home, I told Eric that I'm not sure I'd let my kids go to these games if I had them! I mean is this what these fans are teaching their kids? Lets throw punches at your friends who are fans of the other team. Let's curse them out.

Why can't we all just get along?