The Un-Facebook

Wheezy, Dave, Adam and I were joking around on Sunday [at Dave's b-day party...happy b-day Dave] about how we should form our own Un-Facebook social network and send each other letters by mail.

Well, I defected from our theoretical Un-Facebook social network by joining Facebook this week. I think our little pact failed mainly due to the fact that our theoretical social network was theoretical and was also a network rooted in being anti-social network. I now have like 6 friends, all of them actual friends. This morning my brother-in-law Zryce asked to be a friend and I accepted which is how I got from 5 to 6 friends. He's almost 4 times more popular than me with 23 friends, but I'm most impressed that Zryce found me so quickly since I'd just signed up for Facebook two days ago on Monday. I also have to extend props to Zryce for saying a friendly and appropriately casual "Hello!" in his email as opposed to the odd and overly formal Linked In invitation Adam sent to me a few months ago.

Lobstah!

I recently treated myself to this super cute lobster tote from LL Bean. I love how the lobstah is so big and red and stretches across the entire tote. They also have a crab and trout version, but I don't think they're quite as adorable.

Fatties

The following is a reconstructed side conversation between plasticann and Adam while their friends Wheezy and Dave were discussing lifting weights and working out. Note, Adam and plasticann are not currently big on exercise.

plasticann: [leans over and says quietly] Are we fatties?
Adam: It's OK.
plasticann: [unsure, but tentatively eating mac & cheese] It's OK?
Adam: Well, it's not OK, but don't worry about it now....just eat your mac & cheese.

Then we all laughed, because it was funny.

Planet B-Boy

We saw Planet B-Boy at the Kendall last night, it's a documentary about a break dancing around the world and is themed around this annual break dancing competition Battle of the Year. We really enjoyed it and it reminded me a lot of Dogtown Z-boys and Riding Giants. I'm not a big skateboarding, surfing or break dancing fan, but they're still super fun documentaries to watch. My favorite team was the Japanese team from Osaka, Ichigeki while Adam liked the underdog South Koreans from the country Last for One. The two teams went to the final battle and the South Koreans took the prize. I would highly recommend seeing it, really energetic, fun and heart warming.

Bike

We went and got Adam a bike Wednesday night. The following are reconstructed conversations with Adam's bike enthusiast coworkers (BEC):

Adam: I'm getting a bike tonight.
BEC: How exciting. What kind of bike are you getting? We may have some recommendations.
Adam: plasticann said something about a hybrid. I don't know, a bike bike!
BEC: A bike bike?
Adam: You know, something with two wheels mostly so I can ride [to the cheese shop] with plasticann.
BEC: [clearly disappointed] Oh! we don't really have any advice for that.

later that evening at the bike shop

plasticann: Adam, do you want to put your [newly purchased] helmet in my bag?
Adam: No. I'm going to wear it?
plasticann: Why?
Adam: So we can bike home.
plasticann: What am I going to ride?
Adam: Oh, that's right, you don't have a bike. You mean I have to walk the bike home?
plasticann: Well, you can ride it, but I'll have to meet you back at home.
Adam: It's OK, I'll walk it home.

plasticmom=plasticann

plasticmom is in town for a visit and the similarities in taste are eerie, all purchases from REI:

p.ann: p.mom, I got you this [yellow] spork, I have one at work that I use all the time.
p.mom: [ha ha ha] I have one already.
p.ann: What do you mean you have one already. You asked me to buy you one last fall.
p.mom: I didn't know we were talking about the same thing. I bought it at the camping store.
p.ann: Well, you can have this one too if you want a different color
p.mom: I already have a yellow one.
p.ann: Geez!

p.mom: I wear my sandals everyday, they're very comfortable.
p.ann: Oh, your CROCs?
p.mom: No, the ones with the rubber front and the holes in it. I tried them on in Seattle.
p.ann: Oh, my Keen sport sandals.
p.mom: I wear them everyday.
p.ann: [confused] Did I give you my shoes?
p.mom: No, I went home and bought myself the same shoes
p.ann: Blue?
p.mom: How did you know?
p.ann: Because mine are blue.

So this week, p.mom bought a pair of the Keen trail shoes exactly like mine, but half a size smaller which is funny because I bought my Keen trail shoes because MGDub was wearing them when she came to visit last winter. All in all, MGDub, p.mom and p.ann all have the exact same pair of shoes in three different sizes.

Silvertones

Adam had the morning off from work on Monday so he met me for lunch downtown and we checked out Silvertones on near Park Street. I'd been once before with some coworkers and greatly enjoyed my grilled ham/cheese sandwich so I was looking forward to going with Adam. We ordered the Mac & Cheese and the Steak Tips and both were really delicious. We actually ordered the Steak Sandwich, but they brought us the Steak Tips by mistake, but we ended up keeping it because it looked good. Mac & Cheese was really cheese and gooey and the Steak Tips were nicely marinated and grilled. I even had leftovers for lunch during the week. It reminds me a little of Paramount on Charles Street. Comfort food, nice and consistent and reasonably priced. (Steak Tips were $12, Mac & Cheese was $8 and the Grilled Cheese w/ Fries is $6.)

Happenings

It's been a busy few weeks here, we were in Baltimore early February where we visited our friends Adam, Meredith and they baby Zmma. I hadn't been in a long while so it was fun hanging out. Highlights include delicious gelato at Pitango in Fells Point. We tried the vanilla, hazelnut and coffee...all amazing. We even checked out this tortilla factory store where we bought a big stack of fresh tortillas for less than $2. Then there were the delicious cupcakes at I think the Baltimore Cupcake Company. The blueberry cupcake was delcious as was the chocolate peanut butter. Then we mostly hung out around home the rest of February. I'm a little obsessed with BerryLine frozen yogurt in Harvard Square. It just tastes so refreshing. I've tried their original, orange and peach, orange is my favorite. I can't seem to get enough of this stuff and I've caught myself scheming to find opportunities ot go, I particularly enjoy it with cocoa puffs. Last week I went to Detroit for the day, real exciting. Looking ahead to next month, plasticmom is coming to visit which I'm very excited about. Then we're going to CA for our godson baby Zhor's baptism on Easter. After that, it's back to Baltimore for Corinna's bridal shower. I'm honestly looking forward to April when all the activity will hopefully die down. Time sure is flying, I guess that's a good thing, means we're having fun.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since Adam has class on thursday nights, we went on our fun Valentine's Day date last night, dinner at Teatro and a movie I really wanted to see, 27 dresses. We got to Teatro just in time for the prix fixe menu which is an excellent deal. Choice of Caesar salad, Tuscan soup or mushroom ravioli for appetizer, choice of steak or swordfish entree and a choice of any of their desserts. All this for $29 when the steak or swordfish would have set us back $26 alone. We shared one order of the prix fixe and a small spinach ravioli which was just enough food. The crusty bread came with a wonderful olive oil/garlic/bean spread. The food was awesome, homemade mushroom ravioli was a favorite and the steak was good too. We got the chocolate crema for dessert which was like a super nice and decadent chocolate pudding. Teatro just might be one of my favorite spots, they also have an awesome antipasto plate for two that's big enough for a light meal. Plus, it's 25 feet from the movie theater to boot. All in all, a fun night out.

Super Tuesday Joke

Adam: I tried asking my coworkers who they voted for in the primaries, but no one would tell me.
plasticann: I really don't think you should be talking politics at work...or religion for that matter.
Adam: [pause] Hah hah hah! [loud disingenuous laugh]

I retold the joke to several others who actually laughed appreciatively.

Key Fact: Adam works at a church so they kinda have to talk about religion at work.

LinkedIn

I just got an invitation from Adam to join his LinkedIn network. Hmmm, I wonder if he used the generic invitation template?

Ann,
Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn.
I'm using it to discover inside connections I didn't know I had. It's interesting to see the level of access you can have with only a few people in your network.
It's free to join and only takes a minute to sign up and join my network.
- Adam

Typically people will personalize the invitation with a generic, "Hope all is going well since graduation" so I started laughing when I read Adam's generic invite. I thought, hmmm, it's nice to know that I'm someone my husband trusts. I feel affirmed! Incidentally, I'm the 2nd person to join Adam's network, apparently Chi-Ray was quicker to accept than me.

Heel

The following two reconstructed conversations are about bread...specifically the heel:

plasticann: [looking in the fridge] What can I take for lunch today?
Adam: There's a turkey sandwich.
plasticann: I don't want it, it has the heel.
Adam: I thought you liked the chalupka.
plasticann: The what?
Adam: Chalupka is the heel. It's Polish.
plasticann: I like the heel if it's crusty bread, but not if it's soft sandwich bread.

Later that evening?

plasticann: I'm still kinda hungry.
Adam: You could eat that sandwich.
plasticann: I don't want the sandwich, it has the...chalupa.
Adam: [long pause] ha ha ha! The Taco Bell is gone, there's no chalupa. It's chalupka!
plasticann: You knew what I mean, chalupa chalupka.
Adam: Hey, this is my [Polish] heritage you're talking about.
plasticann: Admit it, it was kinda funny...you laughed.
Adam: Yeah, it was a little bit funny.

Like Netflix, but for books and slower

One of the many fantastic benefits of being married to Adam is that he's a very active "patron" of our library system. The public library is pretty fantastic. You can put books on hold online and get them transferred from other libraries in the system. Once a week or so, Adam picks up all the books that have come in for him at the library. I described it to MGDub as, "It's like Netflix, but for books and free, but slower." What's fabulous for me is the soup to nuts service Adam provides: he picks the books, gets the books and returns the books. Recently, he got me A.J. Jacobs' "The year of living biblically," a man's quest to follow the bible very literally for an entire year. It's utterly hilarious and I highly recommend it. He grows a giant beard, wears white, tries to kindly "stone" Sabbeth breakers, etc. He approaches his project with such sincerity that while the book is slightly irreverent, he doesn't mock the Bible. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that the author is a fellow Zrown alum. Go Zrown!

No Pants

It was a fairly mild and sunny day today and I was out shopping when I encountered hoards of people wearing no pants. I was riding the green line when a group of people wearing boxers got on. At first, I figured they were young kids out for a jog and exercising on a nice day since they were wearing sneakers and fleece jackets. When I got to Park Street, even more people were wearing no pants. These folks were definitely not cooling off from a jog, they were wearing blazers, button down shirts, peacoats, heels, etc, but no pants. They weren't obscene or anything, but I was too freaked out to ask one of the no pants people what was going on so I asked some other pant wearing people. Turns out it's some annual no pants day organized by some improv people in NYC. From what I can tell, there's no real social or charity purpose for wearing no pants other than some lofty goal of people not taking themselves too seriously and promoting humor. There you go, no pants day on the T today.

Convenient Oatmeal

I’ve been really into eating oatmeal for breakfast these days which surprises me since I usually get tired of eating something especially if it’s somewhat healthy. Instead of buying the flavored instant oatmeal packets, I’ve started making my own convenient single serve packets. I measure out quick oats, brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon into Ziploc sandwich bags assembly line style so I’ll make 10 at a time. On my way out in the morning, I grab a packet to take to work. Sometimes, I cut up a piece of fruit like a lovely persimmon and put it in the Ziploc. When I’m ready to eat, I add hot water to the oatmeal in a bowl and microwave for 90 seconds. It’s convenient, just the right level of sweetness and a delicious treat to boot.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup quick oats
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs raisins
Dash of cinnamon

Prepare:
Add about 1/3 cup hot water, microwave 90 seconds.

Home Sweet Home

We've had a busy few weeks traveling home to California for the holidays and hanging out with Adam's family. We spent Christmas in the Bay Area with Adam's parents, Zryce, Zara, Zess, Zames and Baby Zhor. Baby Zhor, who we met for the first time and will be our godson, is a pretty chill baby. Adam and I went out to dinner with Zryce and Zara one night and we brought Zhor along with us in his carrier. He slept then entire time, I almost forgot we had a baby with us. Day after Christmas, the whole family packed up and drove to Lake Tahoe for a week where Zara and Zryce had rented an awesome house.

The kids were learning how to ski and were generally fascinated about snow. Zess got pretty good at skiing, it was her second year. It was Zames' first time and he got really into going "fast." Zames is two and is really into trucks and things. He got all excited when his parents told him they were going to teach him how to "snowplow." Unfortunately his enthusiasm waned once he discovered that they weren't talking about an actual giant snowplow truck and that "snowplowing" would make him go slower which he wasn't into since he likes to go "fast" and likes to say "fast, fast fast."

We also got to watch the Patriots game that resulted in their undefeated season while we were in Lake Tahoe. Last year, Zryce had Zess calling the Patriots the "Patsies" while Adam was watching a playoff game. This year, Zess needed no such prompting to cause minor mayhem. The Patriots were wearing their white shirts so I told Zess that Uncle Adam and Aunt Ann wanted the white shirts to win. At first Zess said that she wanted the white shirts to win which pleased Uncle Adam and Aunt Ann. Then she decided that she wanted the opposing blue shirts to win. Then she asked wouldn't it be great if both the white shirts and the blue shirts won. No it would not be great, but we told her it would be very nice indeed if they both got to win. Next she asked who was winning, the blue shirts were winning unfortunately. Zess declared that she definitely thought the blue shirts were going to win in the end. Fortunately the Patriots in the white shirts prevailed in the end so I made it point to report to Zess the next morning that the white shirts won, but I think she'd forgotten all about the white and blue shirts by the next day.

I do miss hearing Zames say "Uncle Adam and Aunt Ann" to Adam and I individually. He knows which one is Uncle Adam and Aunt Ann, but he seems to enjoy saying both at the same time to what seems like only one of us. I also miss all of Zess' cheerful pink themed outfits and patterned tights, but it's nice to be home sleeping in our own bed enjoying the peace and quiet.

KO Prime: Bring your own utensils

I went to a client dinner for work last night at KO Prime which I was excited to check out. There's nothing better than an expensive meal on someone else's dime. I ordered the 14 oz 28 day aged New York Strip steak which was delicious and I enjoyed a plethora of sides: pumpkin risotto, pomme frites, creamed spinach, asparagus and a potato gratin.

That said, I would recommend that you bring your own set of utensils if you dine at KO Prime. The utensils there are beautiful to look at and lovely, but utterly useless. I've never seen so much food dropped on the floor and so many utensils flip over and fall to the ground. The problem? All the silverware was very bottom heavy. My neighbor dropped her fork twice. I dropped some steak on my seat and a spear of asparagus. The guy across from me dropped a big hunk of steak on the floor which he took home to his dog.

I doubt we were all super klutzy so I blame it on the silverware and the dinnerware. I had to wince and hold my napkin in front of my eyes because I couldn't watch our waiter clear our table. He kept trying to pick up the imbalanced stack of stuff about three times and I swear it looked like he was going to drop it each time. I'm sure my vivid facial expressions didn't boost his confidence. All in all, a tasty meal, but I do prefer Ruth's Chris. Their sides are bigger, the steaks are bathed in butter and the utensils are wonderfully unmemorable.

MGDub is Coming To Town

MGDub is visiting for a few days just in time for the snow. We're going out on Saturday with Wheezy and the Zoritys for a holiday dinner at Maggiano's which I'm totally looking forward to. There might be snow on Saturday, but as long as the T is running, we should be able to trek down to Maggiano's Little Italy for something delicious.

Giant Snowstorm

Tons of snow today, they closed down the office this afternoon and I came home early and worked at home. I was so glad I can take the red line home. The snow storm barely affected my commute at 3pm, some of my coworkers drove for three hours to get home. Adam drove a friend's car to park in our driveway since they needed somewhere to park their car during the snow emergancy and it took him 20 minutes to drive back to our place when it normally takes him only 10 minutes to walk the same distance. Adam's been very nice about shoveling.

Salty Snacks

I came downstairs yesterday to find Adam watching football and munching on a bag of Pepperidge farm dried stuffing mix. He claimed that it was tasty and low fat. I pointed out that it was probably high in sodium and that he shouldn't drink too many liquids in case the stuffing expanded in his stomach. I did promptly go out and buy five different kinds of crackers at the store: water crackers, sesame water crackers, low fat triscuits, stoned wheat crackers and some low sodium goldfish.

Double Time

I woke up, got ready for work, put on my nice watch, went to work, went to the restroom, pushed up my sleeves, washed my hands, looked down and noticed I was wearing two watches. I was already wearing one when I woke up and then I added a second one.

Twitter

I now have a twitter update section on the upper right section of my blog which I use to write updates of mundane and random things I'm doing. I've only been using it for a week and I've decided that my life is pretty mundane and many of my twitter updates are about what I ate, what I'm eating, what I'm about to eat with a few weather updates thrown in there. Nonetheless, I'll be twittering away here and there about things that do not warrent an actual blog post.

Brownie Baking Contest

Last week, we had a brownie baking contest at work. I was originally going to bake some box brownies and enter them, but having won the chocolate chip cookie contest, I thought I should put some more effort into it and bake a batch from scratch. I consulted my friend Laurel, who's a master baker, for a good brownie recipe. She too finds scratch brownies too much of a bother and usually uses a mix, but she recommended the Alton Brown recipe if I was going to the trouble. I came home from bowling Monday night pretty tired and the kitchen was messy, but I decided to use the one square foot of counter space available and bake these brownies. Unfortunately, it wasn't until after I'd mixed in all the ingredients that I realized that I'd used a 1/3 measure thinking it was 1/4 and had also used a 1/2 measure mistakenly as well. I felt pretty darned frustrated at this point since all the cocoa powder sifting had left my kitchen even more messy, but I stuck them in the oven and baked them anyways. They turned out pretty good, I added a dash of mint to the recipe and entered them at work. I didn't win, but I came in 2nd which is good because I was dreading having to confess to my inability to measure dry ingredients. As you faithful blog readers may remember, this is a problem I've encountered before when I've used inaccurate amounts of butter in my baking. That said, brownies are very forgiving and taste good even when you aren't quite so accurate.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest

We had a chocolate chip cookie contest complete with a blind tasting at work on Tuesday and I WON with the aforementioned chocolate chip cookie recipe from a few weeks back. They were even baked the night before and no longer ooey and gooey so just imagine how good they are fresh out of the oven. I'm hungry just thinking about it. Next week is the brownie contest for which I don't have a good recipe so I have to do some research.

Magical Convection Oven

Adam roasted a whole chicken for dinner using the convection roast function on our new oven. expecting it to cook in 30 minutes according to the oven manual. Unfortunately, he didn't read the manual carefully enough to see that the timing was 30 minutes per pound. Apparently, convection doesn't cook at warped speeds, but it does promote nice airflow to aid even browning. I was very hungry. That's all I have to say about that.