my front door

we just started working on the house....now we are changing out the front walkway (yucky concrete slabs). Here is a BEFORE pic of my front door {{{YAWN}}}

here are the workers chopping up the walkway {hello, BUTT PIC - huhuhuh}
I cant just stand there while they do all the work...gimme a sledge hammer (DAMN, it's heavy....take the pic already - I can't hold this thing for much longer!!)

first pic of my Niece...or Nephew

I'm gonna be an aunt!!!!

Here is the first pic of:

Baby Marks at 16 weeks

♥ what a cute nose ♥

I GOT NEWS

....wanna know????
......and it's BIG news!!!!!!

BUH-BYE Poughkeepsie

Don't you just HATE when someone you actually LIKE at work leaves. me too.....it sux :(
one of the girls that has been around even longer then I have (and I've been at my job now for 6 looooooooooooooooooong years) is leaving at the end of this week.
I said my "toooldle-loo" on wed, since I'm bumming around the house on thurs & fri thanks to summer fridays (wait a sec....YEAH-BABY - Summer Fridays..SNAP UP!!!!) First, we planned a "meet for drinks", which a ton of people showed up at El Rio Grande. Then, we took her to Tao (which was a kick-ass choice, since that was one place I prob had to cancel reservations like 3 times to & really wanted to go)...We'll miss you am-ar-yah!!!

DMB - randall's island (N1)

last weekend was sweet...what could be better on a sunny saturday afternoon then sitting on the grass (on lawn chairs, duh), drinking a beer (ok, a smirnoff) & psyching up for another Dave show?
um...............not much!
Randall's Island was just as good as Camden. Even my seats, which were orig in the 300 section (which got "upgraded" to 303 section when my feet got psuedo puked on by my drunky-happy dave dancing neighbor)

Sing and dance

I'll play for you tonight

The thrill of it all

Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes

But I'll work it out

hey la-la-la hey, hey la-la-hey

what makes me go WHOOOO-HOOOOO

1 - summer fridays......it's 10:05am & I'm still in my pj's (think I'll go watch "so you think you can dance" on the DVR)
AND
2 - just a few more weeks until the next DMB show!!!!!!

Reunion Meeting - part duex

this time we had the meeting at Joanne's home & BBQ'd. Nothing beats grilled london broil with a beer on a saturday afternoon :)
AND.... we got a lot accomplished!
Like what?
Well, I can tell you for a fact that if you mix Vodka with Blue Curaco & Chambord you might have a purple drink....but it tastes like sh*t (trust me on this one!)
Another cool thing was that although some members were not able to attend this time, we were able to recruit some new ones. I already had plans with my sis (who graduated a few years after me) that morning. She decided to keep on hanging out with me for the meeting. Not sure at first if it was my fabulous persona she was coming along for or the BBQ, but it was really cool to get some of her ideas. Then again, nothing beats grilled meat with a beer on a saturday afternoon.....although I think she is one of those "ketchup on hotdog" people {{{{{shudder}}}}}

Kick off Dave 2006 summer tour

kicked off my Dave summer season with a new venue - Tweeter Center. WH members are the coolest.....Shannon & I decided (or should I say shannon gave my arm a half twist & I caved immediately) on Tues afternoon that we NEEDED to see this show (cuz we just couldn't wait until next month for Randall's Isl). So Wed night we drove 2 hrs each way...and it was worth it!!! Never been down to Camden before - the acoustics are really good & the crowd was just as into the music as ever
NICE!

what a guy will do for a girl in a low cut red dress

ok sweet Bride, get ready to toss (looks like Ms Bistro has a leg up on her competition)

OH YES!!!! this was a knock-down grabfest....and Ms Bistro was playing for keeps!!!
aim well, sweet Groom....after sizing up her choices, Ms Bistro is feeling lucky tonight!!
oh-my-goodness...is this guy old enough to drink?????
LUCKY, LUCKY GUY....so, do you think Ms. Bistro likes younger men ;)

Going nuts OFF my diet

This has been a very bad week for me, at least for my diet...and I've actually been enjoying it immensely.

Thursday - full day business meeting (w/lunch) that ended with a dinner at an Mediterranean restaurant that I haven't been to yet.
Friday - sushi making class that ended with sushi eating....and lots of SAKE
Saturday - seafood festival down in Belmar, where I ate a ton...which would have been ok, except most of it was fried (conch fritters, crab poppers, coconut shrimp)....then to top it off - I had a strawberry pina coloda made in a blender that ran on motorcycle parts

Sunday - wedding in the evening....and I want cake!!!

I'm gonna turn into a weeble-wobble!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 10

Lost -2.5 lbs (total weight loss = 22.0 lbs)

I don't know how anyone can stay on this diet for very long - the food is good, don't get me wrong & I have lost weight....but I am so sick of eating the same meals over & over & over!

cuteness at 2 ft tall

Chewie found someone his own size...and he's in love!!!!

chewie likes maddie - she just told him a secret

he tells her; "to swear you wont tell anyone my secret, you must kiss me"

...and she DOES!!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 8

ok, I skipped posting 2 weeks, but I can explain...I had a Cinco de Mayo party on May 6th & then Mother's Day dinner on May 14th & both times I had leftovers galore in my fridge...I was weak! BUT, I stuck to the diet (I mean, I am paying in advance for the food, so I should)..and after 2 sucky weeks of yo-yoing

LOST -4 lbs (total weight loss = 19.5 lbs)

pretty cool :D

reunion BEFORE the reunion

Organized the first reunion committee meeting this weekend for my 20th yr HS reunion. Totally cool - Barbara & I got to meet up with Sandra who we haven't seen since like 1992 (whoooohoooo to the gazillion red devil pitchers we polished off backintheday!!!!). What was even cooler was meeting up with others that I really wasn't "friends" with back in school & seeing what we have in common....which actually was a lot. One of the guys who joined the group let us host the meeting at his restaurant & DAMN it was worth breaking my diet (yum/yum). I'm really into this party planning now!!!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 6

Lost -3.0 lbs (brings total loss to 15.5 lbs)

Clean, but Miserable cat

so, would I ever do this to mocha...hell no...her revenge would leave me sleep deprived!!!!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 5

Gained +1.5 lbs (brings total loss to 12 lbs)
I'm starting to slack sticking to the diet....plus I know I need to get to the gym more often

JOY....Mocha & Chewie get along :)

It's about time!!! Took a year living in the townhouse & 4 full months of them chasing & hissing (mostly mocha) at each other...but look at the end result. These pics are of Mocha teaching Derek how to create a myspace.com account.

landscaping is a bitch in suburbia

I went from a dinky townhouse where landscapers showed up at 6:30am with their blowhoses (not sure which was worse...that or the annoying carhorns that blared cuz everyone was too lazy to ring the doorbell) to a home on 1/3 acre. Just check out how many bags of leaves Randy raked up....and that is just the FRONT of the house!!!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 4

LOST -1.5 lbs (brings the total loss of 13.5 lbs)
I guess I shouldn't kick myself that hard...
this past week was Passover & Easter

Passover 2006

This past Wed I hosted my first real dinner party at my home. Total of 13 people (down from 16) came. Setting the table was really easy - we used my own dining room table, a borrowed folding table & my side table. Bet Randy can't wait until I bring up the Thanksgiving menu :)

I LOVE hosting parties!!!

my sedar table Reenie & Me

Fern, Sam, Karen & Sean

Derek

Linda & Mom

NutriSystem weigh in - week 3

LOST -3.0 lbs (brings the total loss of 12.0 lbs)

I have a license to snap gum!!!!

The NYS plates are going back - I am officially a "joisey girl" now. I can walk, talk, snap gum & put on makeup all at the same time!!!

for those BAD BOY BEER drinkers....

you would think if you were spending money on a sign (I mean, it is your means of income), you would spend a few bucks more and have a spell checker review it....GUESS NOT!!!!! Perhaps budwiser did something bad??

NutriSystem weigh in - week 2

LOST -4.5 lbs (brings the total loss of 8.5lbs)

my DOG is taking lessons from my CAT

Chewie & Mocha have now been living together (w/o a babygate) for over 4 mths. To protect my living room furniture, we cover the sofa & chair so that the cat & dog dont shed all over them.

I guess one of Mocha's lessons were:
"when at all possible - sit on the windowsill & sun yourself"

I wasnt sure how much weight my front picture window could handle, but now I know :

AT LEAST 48 lbs!!!!!

NutriSystem weigh in - week 1

LOST -4lbs. (not great, but not bad)

I live near Tony Soprano

I know I shouldn't be all giddy over this tidbit of info - but I am.
This past Saturday as I was getting my nails done (yeah!!! I finally found a really cool place that although they are not open on sundays - no one is - they are open late during the week)

After telling me of a good pizza place (john's on rte23 which I already knew) and good nursery to go to for landscaping (along rte23) & which bushes I should buy so that they deer wont eat it (dogwood), I was informed where the front location of Tony Soparano's house is located. Guess what - it's like 5 minutes from where I live

Randy didn't want to go....so after 5 min of begging, he was cloaked in sunglasses - I followed the directions over the hill & VOILA, there it was. Neato!

For once I didn't take pics - I felt invasive, since the house is so close to mine.

Kinda cool :)

NutriSystem & THS 20 yr reunion

I can't believe I graduated almost 20 yrs ago (it will be official at the end of June 2006). A few weeks ago I volunteered to chair the event. That means I get my grubby fingers involved in the planning of this event (which if anyone from THS is viewing this - it's going to be held on Nov 4th, 2006)
So, it's time to get rid of the extra lbs I've been saying I'm going to drop for the last 4 years (I tried for Sherri's wedding, never got there. Even tried for my wedding - nope, never got there either). Time to truly get a grip & take control. I bypassed WW and went hardcore. Today was the first day eating the Nutrisystem foods. Not bad (not great), but I'm not going to starve.

Two things I dont want at this reunion:

BIG HAIR or a BIG DRESS!!!

Celebrate Spring - light a fire!

Ok, so we missed lighting the fireplace in the winter....last night it was like 25 degrees out - I dont care if it officially was the first day of spring. It was COLD! And now my fireplace is not a virgin anymore!!!!

Housewarming Party

Had a party last month (Feb 18th to be exact) to show all our new house.
Thank you all for coming and bringing cool stuff & food (especially Irene's mom's fingerlicking bone sucking amazing tasting chicken - Reenie, I NEED that recipe!!!!)
My most fun part of the day was when we started playing "Trival Pursuit - Pop Culture edition". My goal was to finally beat Sherri - and I lost :( All the teams were pretty good (actually Tom on his own was very good)...but Sherri's team (sherri, neil, derek & brett) just know WAY too much useless knowledge.

The only pics taken were indirectly of the kids...so here Jeremy(w/CJ) & Maddie in my kitchen at 24" high

Here is my living room - Patty is holding little Isabella

Maddie is TWO!!!

Oh my goodness - how time flies. It felt like just yesterday when Barb was preggie & now Maddie is two years old! Her party was at a FunZone this past Sunday - there was all kinds of cool things for the kids to climb on/thru/over & around. There was so many cool things to play with: Ms Pacman, air hockey, wack-a-mole, rock climbing wall, skee ball, car driving games (now that I think about it, all the adults had a lot of things to play with)

AND......Drum Roll Please.......

~ Dance Dance Revolution ~

What a wonderful game. I want this game. Oh my - I need to say it again - what a WONDERFUL game. While little kiddies was climbing up and over ropes & balls, I was slamming my feet down on the pad to match up with the arrows.

(Here is Rebecca showing me how to use the pad)

I W-A-N-T THIS GAME !!!!

I N-E-E-D THIS GAME !!!!

Not the safest Taxi in NYC

something tells me that this driver was talking on his cell phone instead of watching the road!!!

the pets come together

I am happy to report that I might not need baby gate in the near future....Mocha is starting to accept Chewie!!! Yes, I am talking about my cat starting to tolerate my dog.
WHAT A RELIEF!!!!!!!
In the last week, Mocha has been all over the house, even walking right past Chewie (something tells me that she wacked him good...maybe it has something to do with the scratch on his nose????) Anyhoo - she allows him into her bedroom, I mean my bedroom as long as he doesn't get within licking distance. He can sit right next to her, but it he tries to sniff or lick her - BUHBYE.
I might get a cat free bedroom.....YEAH!!!!

(click HERE to see more pics of my pets)

when the pavement wins.....

the move was a success (it took 10 hrs, there were a few stubbed fingers when it came to the movers bringing in the piano and I have come to the conclusion that I will be unpacking until June), but all in all it went very smoothly (if anyone ever needs a moving company - use OZ Moving...they haven't let me down yet). I have learned one lesson - I need to be a bit more careful when I walk the dog down the driveway.

Check out what happened to me when I wasn't looking where I was going:

it's kinda like I tried to kick the sh*t out of the driveway & it kicked back....and won!

Ever see a room condom???????

Now you have!

This is what the spare bedroom (the one where we decided to keep the wallpaper) looked like while Randy painted the ceiling............SEXY ;)

Chewie KNOWS we're moving.....

the GUILT i've been getting from my dog while I'm packing....geesh!

Painting continues

Over the weekend my Dad and Randy knocked out priming all the rooms & began painting the ceilings. Well, so far the ceiling in the kitchen & master bedroom are completed. Today Randy is going to knock off the rest of the ceilings (except for the living room & derek's room). The living room needs major repairs before we can paint the ceiling - randy needs to remove the green paneling around the fireplace. Derek's bedroom is also causing a problem. The wallpaper was put on so well that its becoming impossible to remove.

My job - pack this damn house....and I HATE PACKING!!!!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

On Sunday my parents threw an awesome party yesterday (one day shy of their 40th annivesary!!!!) I could not believe how many friends were there! The room was packed. It started out with a renewal of their vows under the chuppah in a separate room.
It was a really, really sweet service...and I got to hold one of the chuppah poles. The four poles were held by: Randy & me, Mike & Iris (friends that go back to their orig wedding 40 yrs ago!), Linda & Sam and Hank & Sandy (friends that might not got back to their orig wedding, but I've known them since I was a little girl....so maybe 30 years). Rabbi Stern asked everyone to gather around the chuppah, and we formed a huge circle around my M&D. When it came to the blessing over the wine, they drank from my wedding kiddush cup (which was almost a disaster since no one told the rabbi that they were actually 2 cups intertwined but NOT LOCKED together). I was praying the entire time he was holding them in one hand. Guess my prayers were answered...he didn't drop them (whew!) At the end they kissed & then we partied. It was a fun afternoon - good food & dancing. No party is complete w/o dancing the Hora, I tell you!

Wallpaper Be-GONE!!!!

ok - randy was able to remove the wallpaper in 2 of the bedrooms & the kitchen. I decided that I liked the wallpaper that is in the den (which I'm sure randy is happy about after scrapping for the last few days). Tomorrow we start painting the ceilings.

Anyone who wants to help paint.....just let me know!

prepping takes so long!

it's now been an entire week since my last post, and it feels like nothing has been accomplished, but that is so far from the truth. Randy has been working his butt off every day (and then going straight to work every night). He's prepped the entire upstairs with removing fixtures, spackeling all the nail holes, removing all the blinds, getting all the floors ready for removing the wallpaper...and shoveling. Ugh - shoveling was not in our planned out schedule. The snow just poured out of the sky and plopped all over the place....it covered up my driveway so we can't get in (the plow has left a bank so thick that you can't park on the street)!!!

Time to begin

today we brought over all the painting supplies...I can't believe HOW MUCH ceiling paint we picked up. After looking again at all the wallpaper that needs to be ripped down, we decided that the 3rd bedroom (soon to be the office) can keep the existing wallpaper. It's kind of a natural color, and put on really well (no seams!). Wish that was the one that is to be derek's bedroom - as you can see in the pic below, his room has pretty flowers EVERYWHERE! After looking at this, all he wants a simple white room. I don't blame him one bit....
Also brought over the massive basket of goodies my mom packed for us (some of the important stuff that we didn't even think of bringing over yet packed in the basket were soda for the fridge & toilet paper for the bathroom....mom's rock!!!)

It's snowing

Geez...I get to own the home for like A DAY and already we are going to have to shovel (who am I kidding, Randy is going to shovel)

I'm a homeowner again!!!!

closed on my new house yesterday afternoon!!!!

Afterwards, we took the train in from Montclair into manhattan to celebrate. Actually, Randy was working around MSG and I headed over to Lorena's housewarming party.

Today Randy & I are heading over to home depot to pick up ceiling paint, tape, extra dropcloths, etc. One of my first jobs is to scrape off all the wallpaper (it's in every bedroom!!!)

PS - the homeowners took the trampoline :( bummer!!!!

Closing date has been moved to Dec :(

not the worst setback in the world....the date has just been moved by a few days. It's due to the bank requesting at the very last minute that they want a brand new survey conducted (which is a bummer, since the prior owners were willing to pass theirs on...now I got to blow approx $700. I can't b*tch too much since this bank has given me an awesome intrest rate, and are waiving all their fees)

so................. the date has been moved from next Tues, Nov 29th > that Fri, Dec 2nd.

PS - I'm about to get stuffed like the bird I'm about to devor...Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Closing on our new house

I'm soooooooooo excited.....the closing date has been set for next Tuesday, November 29th!!!!! I'm still blown away on how fast all of this has happened. We only viewed the house on Oct 23rd...made an offer the next day & was in contract by Oct 25th.
OH-MY-G-D!!!!!
The coolest thing is that since the sale of my co-op took so long, I will only be a "non-homeowner" for less then 10 months. That works for me!
I might not have enough time to plan thanksgiving at our new house....but there is PLENTY of time for me to plan to host Passover!