The Young Dustin Picasso

Well, well. My Fi has done it again! He's landed a role in another community theatre production. Some of you may remember that I mentioned he'd tried out for and got a part in "Communicating Doors" which ran at the CEC (Columbia Entertainment Company) for two weeks (weekends, plus Thursdays). It was very cool and fun and we made some super fantastic friends from the experience. Now D has landed the title role in Steve Martin's play "Picasso at Lapin Algire" (Spelling may be off-we don't have the script in his possession just yet) and to top it off, some of our friends are in it with him! Namely, Ben (who is currently writing a novel and is one of the friends we made when D was in his last CEC production) and Eli (who is dating our good friend Beth). It's a very exciting endeavor and yet another example of the array of talents my Fi possesses. Let me give you a sampling of how similar D and Picasso look:


















See what I'm talking about? Weird, right?

At any rate, D has to kiss a girl or two in this one...which, at first, didn't sit well with me, but I couldn't say that to him. I needed and wanted to be supportive of his creativity and if I were D and had all the talents he had, I'd want to express them in every arena possible. Not to show off or to feel good about myself, but to keep myself stimulated. It's frustrating to have a lot to offer the world, but lack the resources or outlets with which to display it. However, D does not think this way. He is Mr. Modesty himself (seriously. People at karaoke request songs from him. As in-strangers put in a song and say "Hey-I just put this song on the list cus I really want you to sing it, man. You're really awesome." To which D tries to back out or find a way (sincerely, too, not just faking it), but, inevitably, caves. Most likely it's because the person who has requested the song is bigger, scarier, drunker and may, very well, be packing heat.) At any rate, it doesn't pain me to say that D is BURSTING with talent and those of us who know him know what I'm talking about. 

In this play Picasso is a playah (holla at me, bitches!) and he hooks up with chicks left and right by saying (imagine a sexy, Spanish voice): "I want to draaaw you." (I've added the extra "a's" for emphasis). And the ladies love him, love him. Fo-shiz. No sooner is the audience introduced to this player than he's making out with a waitress in a bar who has a boyfriend who, consequently, owns the bar (or at least bartends there). This is a true testament to my fiance's talent. D is no longer a player...hasn't been in years (don't hate-we all go through our phases) and it's just incredible to watch him move from charming, talented, artistic, sensitive, modest, loyal fiance to sex-fiend, womanizing, artistic, egotistical male-whore. Amazing!

At any rate, I've spent part of the evening talking him into taking the role because this looks like a super fun play and it will exercise his other outlets of creativity and, yeah, he'll have to kiss some ladies, but I think if Angelina Jolie can handle Brad Pitt making out with a few dozen women, I can handle D kissing some women a few dozen times. No big...if it were, I wouldn't be marrying him.

Heads up, folks! This play only runs one weekend in March-the weekend with the 14th in it-so be prepared to buy your tickets and cheer on Dustin as he brings the young Pablo Picasso to life before our very eyes!

xoxo

N

Hooker Mascara and Vegan Food

Dustin and Lance like to tell Bogey (my oldest fur-baby on the right here-->) that his mascara is running. I think it's funny, but kind of mean. All dogs have tear ducts that run like this, but it's more prominent on white dogs, of course.

However, today while getting ready to leave and play racquetball, D, while playing with Bogey and petting his little yoda head says: "Bogey, you look like a crying hooker."

Ha. I thought I'd pee my pants, but, instead, we went and played racquetball and D barely beat me. This means I'm getting better. We've been playing consistently for about a week and he, in the beginning, whipped my butt and I would, in turn, get incredibly sore about it. I was never a sore loser before, but I'm not used to performing so poorly. I attribute it to being out of practice. So it felt pretty good to give him a run for his money today. When we came home, we were both pretty hungry (I begged D to stop at Schnuck's so I could get some harder-to-find groceries) and I whipped up a vegan stir fry using Quorn Chicken Tenders in place of tofu or meat. I've read that vegan diets are the best healthwise for a person, which is why I'm incorporating it into our meals as much as possible. It's not based on a feeling of not wanting to eat animal products. This may sound gross to ourveg/vegan readers, but we're fine with eating animals-especially if they came from the sea. We've both been vegetarians at one time or another, but we've come to terms with our eating habits and feel at one with our carnivorous meals. We're just not fine with being fat. (Don't hate!)

Last night, I prepped breakfast for this morning because I just knew I wasn't going to want to get up and make breakfast for D this morning, but I wanted him to have something good since he had to teach at 9am. So I whipped up a animal-bi-product-drenched- Scrambled Egg White and Veggie Casserole which had a mixture of some veggies we had on hand: broccoli, spinach and tomatoes, namely. I've been using a lot of pepper and onions in our meals and I think he's getting a little sick of them so I opted not to toss them in, though I ordinarily would. I ground some fresh pepper in there and whipped up 7 egg whites and one full egg (scrambled style), then mixed it all together in a small casserole dish and stuck it in the fridge. This morning, I popped it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400-degrees while D got ready for school and, voila! A super tasty meal for 6 (so there's plenty left over for the weekend hang-over heatup cure). I added a dash or two of Frank's Hot Sauce because it is incredibly tasty for a hot sauce (I love that it has a peppery taste rather than just a 'burn your mouth off and render your taste buds useless" taste). All together it was 77 calories a serving, 4 carbs, 2 fat and 11 protein. Not to mention it was filling and scrumptious.

Tonight, we had the quorn stiry fry which, essentially, consisted of our veggies: brocc, carrots, two cups of the quorn tenders, a small can of mushrooms, a can of cut baby corn, half a cup of chopped yellow squash, a small onion, four Tbl of sweet and sour sauce and half a cup of cooked rice for each of us. Basically, I just cooked up the veggies, added the Quorn, half a cup to a cup of water, the sweet and sour sauce and simmered away. When it was close to done, I tossed some premade veggie spring rolls in the oven that we bought at the store. They were also strikingly good for us and kosher. Four little spring rolls made up a serving and they were incredibly filling little suckers. Dinner was 343 cals, 65 carbs, 3 fat, 14 protein. There were, at least, six servings in the pan so we've also got plenty of that to eat up later this weekend, too.

Tomorrow, Beth's friend Hailey will be in town and they will probably head over our way, with Beth's bf Eli, to hang out and play Wii and have dinner. Since D and I have been missing our Ben Hedrick and Co. a lot, we're hoping to weasel some playtime out of them, as well! It's stacking up to be a busy weekend, my friends.

Although, it will be an unpleasant one for me if my throat doesn't feel better soon...so I'm off to consume some Cap'n and Coke with D-Diggity-Bones. A little numbing never hurt!

Hope you're all well and having a fab first day of the weekend!

xoxo

N

PS-I should say, though, I am in desperate need of some new fantastic bread recipes. We do NOT have a bread machine and I am not super crafty with the yeast. It never wants to rise for me...so any and all advice you might have, I'll take! Esp. if it has to do with zucchini, wheat or honey.

Start with Soup

I was searching for something in google, when out of nowhere the title: "Start with Soup"glared back at me. It felt like someone was trying to tell me something about how to combat the cold weather and snow. While soup is nice, and the last time I went to the grocery store with Mom, I lifted the lid of each of the soups they had to find out whether their scent piqued my interest (none did), today I preferred Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate from my Christmas gifted hot-chocolate maker. In the end, I had neither soup nor hot chocolate.

We've been seeing a lot of snow and today I felt so stir-crazy I almost went running in it, but, instead, opted to get my church on with Connie so I could get out of the house. In an unusual twist of fate, I drove and found that the roads and pavement were quite clear, just saturated, which meant I probably could have gone for a run, but lost my luster for it when we came home. Maybe it was all the white Bogey hair on my coat that I proceeded to remove, piece by piece, during the homily that changed my mind. At any rate, by the time we arrived back home, all I wanted to do was work on my syllabus and eat some yogurt. Unfortunately, the yogurt didn't quite pan out (turns out my dad digs fage, too!), but the syllabus did and I completed the whole thing, weekly schedule of readings and activities, as well, all before dinner time.

Also, I slipped in a little registry browsing whilst watching CSI with my parents (who are getting to the age where they ask me to please not run on the stairs. I partially want to remind them that I'm still young and fairly limber and that my hip won't break easily if I slip, but I don't want to remind them they're getting older and, by saying that, I'm fairly sure I will. More than that, I don't want them to know I recognize the fact that they're getting older. I want them to remain as young as possible for as long as possible, even if it is just at heart.) Anyhow, in my idle registry browsing, I stumbled across a "kitchen torch" which showed a picture of a small, hand held, flame-throwing torch being held up to semi-charred vine-tomatoes on a wire rack in, what could only be (I attribute this assumption to the name of the product) a kitchen. I sort of wanted it, but it reminded me of the time I left the oil to heat on the stove in a pot and forgot about it, only to remember just in time to see it burst into flames and shoot monsoon-sized waves of smoke throughout the house. It took Dustin's smarts on putting out electric fires and my running around the house opening all the doors and windows for us to stop coughing and the fire to go out. It didn't do much for the smoke alarm, which alerted us just a little too late that something was a rye. But they always do, don't they? Either they alert too late or they alert without cause (because the batteries are running out, of course!).

I opted not to register for the mini blow-torch, though it promised lots of charbroiled fun. I dig my house and would like it to remain in tact. Who knows if Dustin will be home the next time I almost set the place on fire?

My advice to you all, when the weather is crappy, like they're predicting it will be tomorrow, and keeps you from heading home to see the love of your life: start with soup. It won't take you home, but it sure is comforting and it beats pining for Greek yogurt that you ran out of and couldn't find a replacement for at the store two days ago. Trust me on this: soup.

xoxo

Neesha

PS-I miss you, D! Hopefully the snow will let up so I can head your way. I think the house must feel lonely with only half of us present! xo

Another Birthday and an Unexpected Restaurant Selection

I got up this morning and ran three miles in 24 minutes. I haven't run that fast in a year. Sure it was flurrying, but with my new running tights (don't make fun, bitches! They're warm!) and coat, plus my favorite Saucony running shoes, I was good to go. The main problem with running when I visit my parents is that it's not runner/biker friendly like back home. There are no sidewalks or paths for me to stay on  directly outside of the complex they live in, so my best bet is to run through the townhouse community and around each of its courtyards two times. Ordinarily, this takes me about thirty minutes-a nice leisurely run, but today, I ran my pants off (alright, so it's a hyperbole! I was still wearing 'em when I got home, but not for long!). I was so pleased with myself when I climbed the stairs to my parents' townhouse until I felt like I very well might throw up the two cups of coffee I downed before leaving the house. Luckily, both of my parents were on different phones when I felt my stomach turning and my father shoved the third into my hand so I would answer it leaving no time to succumb to my  stomach's unhappiness.

But, enough of that. Who's up for a recap of the last few days?

We've been getting slammed with snow on and off, but Monday we were snow-free and I headed to White Plains to catch up with Carrie, one of my bridesmaids, to check out bridesmaid dresses and to hang out. It was a day nothing short of wonderful. We walked, took the train, chatted and found two dresses that we both loved for her bridesmaid attire. When we left the fabulous loft-like bridal store, we headed back to the train, but got distracted by a carousel which we couldn't pass up. Since Carrie hasn't posted any approved photogs yet, this is going to have to do. I think she looks glamorous...sort of like a celeb turning the tables on the paparazzi, don't you agree?

I suddenly recall having posted about this day already. Woops! Sorry all...let's just call it an excuse to post a pic of Carrie and the carousel :) We had a blast!

Tuesday, we were iced in. Literally. The weather was nothing short of a nightmare and my dad's poetic description serves best to describe it: It looks like glass. So we all bummed around, read, watched CSI and SVU and Law and Order (you were totally hoping for another abbreviation on the last one after those first two, right? Sorry to disappoint!). I don't know what will become of me now that I'm so used to cable! This holiday has spoiled me. Not to mention both D and I have learned just how much we both love the show House! What will we do without him in our lives??? 

Wednesday we were stuck inside again-more crystal weather. We ordered pizza and didn't shower all day.

Alas, today was clear and it was my Aunt Barb's 46th birthday. After running, showering and finally figuring out how to use a flat iron for curling my hair (pics to come), we took off for the restaurant. Little did I know we were headed to the exact restaurant I worked at on and off through college and for, at least, eight months between college and moving to Pittsburgh for my masters. 

Cosimo's is closest to my heart of all the places I worked. Whenever I left for a new endeavor, that inevitably fell through, they always had a place for me when I came back, even if they didn't need more staff at the time. I was lucky to have them and I learned a lot in the clips of time I worked there and gathered a tremendous amount of writing material, as well. Some of my favorite stories stem from my days at Cosimo's-meeting the Young Republican Group's president whose face I laughed in and turned away from when he tried to kiss me and instead got my ear, the Secret Admirer flowers and stuffed monkey I got on Valentine's day-left in my car only moments after I arrived at work (freaked me out-like someone was watching and waiting for me to pull in and park), all the stories and people I met while bartending, the Christmas parties we had when the kitchen staff would get so drunk they'd almost fling their dancing partners (usually us wait staff) into the buffet table...and the list goes on. Good stuff. Mostly, though, they were family. The same familiar faces greeted me tonight that I knew over six years ago now ('could it really be that long?' we asked ourselves as we embraced, reminisced and said our "hellos"). In a way, it was sad that some of them "never got out," but, still, I was glad for their sincerity, their genuine care, and, most of all, their consistency-proving that 'home' is a place you can always go back to.

So we got our own special table in the banquet room of the restaurant and top notch treatment. The room was private and isn't ordinarily opened unless there's a private party or a holiday going on. My Aunt Barb is the one to the back right in the pink sweater. Beside her is my UJ, Mom, U. Teddy, Papa, me, Cousin Jamey and Aunta Rah (Aunt Ronnie). 

(Fun fact: Aunt Barb shares her birthday with her father, my grandfather-Rocco (Robert, but Rocco was his legit birth certificate name). 

We started out with a toast to the birthdays and a nonstop eating fest. While Cosimo's hasn't really changed, the menu (at least the dessert menu) has...and it was fabulous.

We bombarded Aunt Barb with cards, tequila shots (it's her drink of choice, just like my brother Amit) and food. I had some calamari and focaccia (they all had antipasti and bruschetta, too, but both had balsamic-which I can't have for allergy reasons), the grilled chicken pesto penne for dinner, a dessert they called the "Vesuvius" (think thin chocolate ganache bottom, tiny drizzled layer of caramel on it, cheesecake, layer of chocolate mousse and more chocolate ganache on the edge...ouch! It was sooooo good I thought I'd go into cardiac arrest from all the sugar right then and there), a dirty martini (which in Cosimo land  is served in a full martini glass with an extra two drinks in a glass of ice with a strainer) and an "Irresistible Kiss" coffee with two kinds of digestifs...one was Bailey's, but by then I was a bit too tipsy to remember the other. And of course, they all came and sang and she made a great, big, top secret wish that I hope will come true. Aunt Barb was still fairly young when we were kids. For a while, during my childhood, she and my Grandma lived with us on the top floor of our old Victorian house (it was originally the attic, but was redone into an apartment when they decided to move out of Queens). I still can't see her any older than the 22 year-old she was when first moving into our house. I suppose part of me never will.

Then, we packed up all the leftover food, handed it Jamey's way (there was so much food and no way I needed to pack in more carbs tomorrow after the Carb-fest we had tonight...I have a
wedding gown to squeeze into...remember??? You all know I'm not usually THIS obsessive about nutrition and fitness) and posed for a few pics before heading home. The one here on the right is of me and Mario-who used to be my manager and still is the manager at Cosimo's. We are standing in front of the brick oven where they make pizzas and just at Mario's shoulder, that small visible rectangle, is a memorial to Cosimo DiBrizzi who owned and created all the Cosimo's. He was a partial owner of my Cosimo's (the one we're standing in), but passed away the year after I moved on and seeing the photo and plaque dedicated to him was the first I knew of his death. Of course it surprised and saddened me, but he'd be proud to know how spirited the place still is. As for me and Mario, I'm ducking down because he's rather short and asked me to duck so he didn't feel "like such a shrimp." :) How could I say no? This guy has cleaned and bandaged my bloodied, cut finger before (bread station-sharp knives...I was in a hurry. We cleaned the whole thing out, though, and they bought a metal glove so it wouldn't happen again!)From left to right, again: Aunt Barb (the birthday girl), Jamey, Mom, UJ, Me, A. Ron, U. Ted, Papa. I think we were mostly laughing in this pic (cus most of us were drunk...only my dad and Aunt Ron drove so the rest of us could rest on our way home and relax, knowing we were in sober, safe hands).

My mom's side of the family is mostly Italian, so you can imagine what our feasts and holidays are like (if you're a regular reader, you saw the NYE dinner pics!). Here's a small taste of our good-byes. 

Don't look at drunk me being a cheeseball if that's at all possible...check out the endless hugging in the background and my U. Teddy waiting his turn while UJ waits for U. Ted to pay attention and give him a hug! It's, essentially, an endless cycle of hugging and good-bye-ing. This may be the last time I see my A.Ron, U.Ted, A. Barb and cousin Jamey until my wedding! Though I will see UJ and A. Patti (who couldn't come tonight, sadly enough) on Saturday when Mom and I go back into the city to look at gowns for her. I am enjoying all this family time! Can you tell?

And in Wedding News...D found an awesome videographer named Cathy Evangelista. I figured out what gift I think I'm going to give D before our wedding ceremony (you know, during when we don't get to see each other. I hope you weren't being perverted when you first read the "gift" part! This is a PG-13 (at worst) blog!). I ordered part of the BM's gifts, mostly picked linens with Connie, checked out more flower options, saw many of the dresses my ladies will be wearing...and there's more, but I'm so tired now I can't remember. And, trust me, it's been nonstop wedding for the last couple of "iced in" days, too!

That's all for now! Tomorrow: maybe more running and wedding stuff . Saturday-Mother of the Bride gown shopping. Sunday-Missouri-bound. Hope you're all well and have settled back into work smoothly (if you're back to work!).

xoxoxo

Neesha

PS-D, if you're reading this: what do you think of this shirt on Jamey? My cousin wants to know. He and I had a good ten minute discussion on it. I think you'd dig it because it reminds me of one you have only in a different color. Love you and miss you and see you Sunday!!!