Geeking out on vacation

Tonight, I could finally appreciate and enjoy the fabulousness of my hotel (The Park Hyatt Buenos Aires), being that tonight is, technically, the first night of my vacation. Remember how Bill Murray's shades opened automatically in Lost in Translation? Well, they do not open on their own, but they do open with a touch of a button. And the lights are incredibly complicated in a geeky sort of super neat-o way, with all sort of dimming patterns, and require reading the above sheet in order to understand what the unmarked button even meant. The first night, I tried to turn out my bedside lamp and ended up closing my bedroom shades instead.

Fairy lights at the Faena Hotel + Universe

me in the hotel lobby corridor

sparkly lights in the pool area

Tonight we all went to see a tango show at the Faena Hotel + Universe, which is a crazy Phillipe Starck hotel that is basically all done in shades of red. And unicorns. The tango show was pretty wild; at one point during one of the last sets, the woman ripped off her dress and was topless — wearing her fish net tights and dancing shoes. Apparently, the table next to yours was annoyed with us getting up and down a million times to go to the bathroom, checking our Blackberries, and laughing inappropriately, because she said to her partner as we walked out at the end, "Those Americans were so fucking loud!"

Purse holders at the Park Hyatt

The Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt Hotel has the best service imaginable. In fact, it makes it very hard to go to any other restaurants, since their service will never ever be able to compare. One small example of this is that while dining in the hotel lobby restaurant, the Gioio, the server brought me a little magazine rack thing, specifically for holding my handbag. It was so genius, for so many reasons. One, my bag did not have to get dirty by resting on the ground. Two, the rack elevated it just enough that if I wanted to go digging around for something in there, I did not have to bend over fully, or haul my purse onto my lap. Thirdly, not that anyone would want to steal it, but it made it much more visible so that no one would be able to snag it without my noticing. I am considering going to Crate + Barrel when I get home, to purchase a magazine rack for this very purpose.

Tagliatelle with cherry tomatoes

Making it just in time

This has been a long weekend, and its only Saturday night. But I cannot imagine it getting any more stressful.

Tonight, as we buckled ourselves onto the plane for the flight to Buenos Aires, there was a weird whining noise coming from underneath the airplane. I ignored it, and settled into business class, eating my complimentary toasted nuts. Then the captain got on the loud speaker and told us that something on the plane was broken and that we would have to deplane. This was not boding well, and I was going to freak out if we had to wait until tomorrow to fly. You know how that happens. You deplane and "oh, gee, look at that time. The pilot and the crew are over their alloted amount of work time, so I guess everyone will have to go home and come back tomorrow." I was all set for that to happen. But instead, they dragged a spare plane out of the hanger (Who knew they had spare planes laying around?), and then they were like, we have exactly 30 minutes to board this plane and take off, before we miss our time!

Since the boarding of the first plane was chaotic, to say it kindly, they air crew made a comment about how we all needed to try to board better, the second time around. People were still crazy queueing everywhere, which made me thankful, again, for being in business class. Because you can basically just cut ahead all of those pushy line jumpers who try to board in group 1 when their tickets all say they are in group 5.

As we buckled in for our second round of warmed nuts, the FAA guy got on his bullhorn and was yelling at people to hurry up, sit down and buckle themselves in. It was not a joke — and the crew was all down to business and were being really firm/stern with those annoying losers (like me) who refused to check their stuff and brought all of their luggage as a carry-on and then could not shove it into the overhead bin, since everyone else brought on more then the customary purse + rolling suitcase, as well.

Shockingly enough, we made it! With less than five minutes to spare.

Bento Boxes in Canada

For our Carefree® meeting today at the plant in Montreal, our Canadian colleagues arranged boxed lunches for our noontime meal\. Sadly, I have grown used to the catered lunch meetings in Skillman, NJ, where it is almost always the same series of sandwiches and wraps (vegetable, turkey, chicken, ham, and tunafish — all with packets of mayonnaise and mustard to add your own condiments — plus baked Lay's® and two kinds of cookies. These lunches have become so dull, that I find myself usually eating two oatmeal raisin cookies and then wishing I had brought my lunch instead, once I develop a huge stomach ache. So, imagine our collective delight when we saw the above smörgåsbord of a boxed lunch that the Canadians had ordered in for us. Again, this proves to further illustrate my theory that Canada is just so much better in so many ways.

Wearing my coat as clothing

Today, the office was even more freezing than usual, so I never even took off my winter jacket. Instead, I wore it all day long, prompting my boss to call me, "Nanu." (Which, by the way, is derived from the Inuit word, nanuk, for polar bear.)

Changing perceptions

I have never really been fond of skateboarding. Perhaps its because I unconsciously link the sport with the movie, "Kids" and I really hated that movie. However, yesterday, we stopped by some skate boarding store on Smith Street, and Patrick took the time to explain every single long board in the entire store. He was using words that sounded scientific to describe th stickiness of the wheels, and the cut outs on the board like little wheel wells, and the parts like trucks and ball bearings that sounded familiar but looked so different than the skateboards from 20 years ago. Kenny did not buy a long board, but we left feeling like he ought to, because it seemed so freaking cool.

So this morning, Kenny wanted to show me a video showcasing a particular board. We watched the movie in silence, completely in awe. The guy(s) boarding looked amazing, like they were dancing on the board. And it was as if they were snow boarding, yet it was through a park, in the middle of the summer, while wearing no shirt. And the point of the story is this, I am completely converted. All it took was one person (Patrick at the store) speaking lovingly and enthusiastically about the sport, and one mind blowing video, and I have completely changed my opinion of skate boarding. No longer do I look at it like its some juvenile sport for grungy guys with fat-laced sneakers, who pretend that they are reliving "Kids." Instead, I am wishing that I knew how to skate on a long board, too.

The power of persuasion is really fucking amazing. Or maybe its just because the song in the video is so fabulous.

Giant Thumbs

Today we took my mom and Andy to see the Bodies exhibit at the South Street Seaport. I have been really wanting to see this exhibit for like two years, and it never worked out that anyone wanted to go with me, or what have you. Finally, we went, and I was completely enthralled. Now, this is NOT the usual reaction I have when going to any sort of exhibit. In fact, I even made it very clear at the onset, that we needed to make sure we kept up the pace and that an hour was the ideal time frame for us to view the exhibit and get out of there. This comment was aimed directly at my mom, since she is known for taking three hours to go through a very small museum, as she reads every card, placard and tidbit posted about every little item. Even if it is not even in English, she reads it. Even if it is Romanian…I kid you not.

Anyway, the exhibit was incredibly fascinating. Since I am quietly infatuated with all things rather gross and disgusting, like teratomas (tumors with hairballs and teeth, amongst other stuff, growing in them), I was so into it — as there was certainly enough gross stuff to keep me interested…for more than an hour and a half! They even had a teratoma on display and NO ONE in my family even noticed it. How could they zip right by that one? And no one saw the Giant Thumb, either, which was the example of Giantism that the curators were displaying. The Giant Thumb actually was even cooler than the teratoma, and no one even saw it. I thought it was actually so fabulous, that I want to go BACK, just so I can see it again. Because despite the no picture-taking rule, there are a ton of pics on Flickr, and again, no one took any pictures of the Giant Thumb. What if I was the only person who ever noticed it?

I am a road bike owner

Waiting expectantly.

Gazing admiringly: I own you, Jamis Quest Femme. You are mine.

Testing fit.

Pedaling.

This morning, my family went with me to go pick up my new bike at the bike store on Vanderbilt. I had been waiting to collect it since Thursday, and so was incredibly excited to see the bike (praying it did not look too "femme", like the name implied) that I could not wait to try it out. Oddly enough, I have not been this excited in years, and it was the same feeling I used to get on Christmas morning, before we were allowed to open any gifts. Anticipation is really quite amazing. Honestly, I was practically hopping up and down while I waited for the bike store owner, Michael, to put on a pair of cheap pedals so I could ride it home.

And it really felt amazing once I was on the street; it rode completely different than my mountain bike. First of all, the bike is super compact and very narrow — it made me feel actually quite large, in comparison. And it was effortless to pedal, I felt like I was floating…unlike my ride-around-the-city bike, which must weigh at least 30 pounds.

When we got home, Kenny and Andy immediately set up my trainer, so I could ride indoors, while it was still so cold out. Since Andy and and my mom were sleeping in the spare room, the bike moved into our bedroom, so I could look at it as soon as I woke up in the morning.

5 Pointz

On the way home from LaGuardia, we drove through Long Island City towards the Kosciuszko Bridge, and stopped by 5 Pointz, which is basically a giant graffiti filled street. It was one of the neatest things I have seen in a long time, in New York City, and it was almost like I was visiting from another place. You know how it is…you get so used to the city that you barely notice things any more, which means something has to be pretty freaking spectacular for it to even register on your radar.

Graffiti artists are invited from all the boroughs (hence the name) and also from around the world to hone their art in these proving grounds. And while there are some loose guidelines posted as to who can paint what where, the enforcement is seemingly based on common decency and mutual respect. According to the Website, there are over 600 works, but it’s hard to quantify what a “work” is. Pieces often overlap or are painted over, continuously morphing into something altogether different and transitory. The whole building is a fleeting piece of art of the collective unconscious, and where the boundaries lay is hard to decipher, as it is seemingly engulfing neighboring structures. And it’s the scribblings between the lines that are also fascinating—coexisting and morphing with natural erosion in a harsh landscape subjected to the elements.

Bonus Clogs

These are not the clogs I has in mind for my bonus clogs. But they sure are super cute. They are Pia Wallen felt baby slippers. I actually have a pair in black, but I never wear them, because I prefer slip on slippers.

Today, I was given a bonus…I feel appreciated, which is always the nicest feeling. And now I plan to buy some more clogs.

Premade dinner

before

after

We had been trying to figure out what to do for Valentine's Day all week, that would not be too exhausting. Initially, the plan was to make a romantic dinner featured in Martha Stewart Living, that involved pork chops and lots of groceries, and some serious exertion in the kitchen. Knowing that even if Kenny cooked dinner, I would be unable to resist art directing from the sidelines, which made it pointless having him cook it for me so I didn't have to. So when I was working from home the other day, I just went online to Fresh Direct and ordered our entire Valentine's Day dinner (organic pulled pork, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, jalepeño cornbread, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate souffles) to arrive fully prepared, and to be delivered this evening. Along with two six packs of beer. And all I had to do was literally just peel off the clingfilm and stick everything in the oven at 350ºF, for like 30 minutes or so.

It was really lovely. Dinner arrived around 7pm. We peeled off all of the wrappers, put the food into nicer serving dishes, stuck it all into the same oven and within 30 minutes we had our Valentine's Day dinner. The only thing I did not like was the macaroni and cheese because the wrapper indicated that it was made with pastuerized cheese product (i.e. Velveeta) and I am a cheese snob. So I defrosted two pieces of my own homemade mac and cheese and put that into the oven to bake as well.

Valentine's Day packages from Australia

Outside of the package.

Inside of the package.

Today was Valentine's Day. And this year, I did not get around to sending any Valentines to anyone. In fact, the boxes of conversation hearts valentines are still sitting in the trunk of the car from where I tossed the bag a month ago, after I bought them in an act of spontaneous planning ahead, and then completely forgot about them until the day was long over. But, thankfully, I have friends who are much better planners than I am. Because when I came home from work, Kenny handed me the mail and there was a simply super package from Kristy, for Valentine's Day! I have no idea how she managed to plan the timing from Australia so that it arrived right on time. But it totally made my day. Getting a package in the mail, itself made my day. But then when I opened the sweet little paper bag, I noticed that it was chock full of Cherry Ripes and Violet Crumbles and it was like, "Oh, wow!"

Thanks, Kristy!

Peanut M+Ms tear and share packages

This video is really scary, because since I love peanut M&Ms, I am now lumped into this crazy person's same category.

I am holding peanut M&Ms solely responsible for my gain of 12 pounds since I started working at Johnson + Johnson. Before I started working here, I did not even like peanut M&Ms. Now, not only do I love them, I find myself eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It does not help that for some reason, the entire office seems to eat peanut M&Ms and the moment a package is opened, its like some subconscious part of my brain switches to "I am starving," mode. Needless to say, there is something very cheerful about opening a package of M&Ms. You have the option of five different colors and they are all slightly different shapes, due to the irregularity of the peanuts, etc. and its like each new package is a delight.

Melatonin

So after sleeping for like 18 hours and then being up for almost 24 hours, I was so desperate for a sleeping aid that I broke down and called my doctor. I was a basketcase. Unfortunately, they could not prescribe Ambien over the phone (really?) and they wanted me to come in on Tuesday for an appointment. There was no way I could make it until Tuesday at that rate, and needed something immediately. So I called Romulo, who is a doctor and who is my friend. I try to never ask Romulo for medical advice, because that would be the equivalent of him asking me for graphic design advice. Well, I would not mind, actually, but that's not the point. Anyway, Romulo suggested melatonin. Which is what he uses for jet lag. So at the next health food store we saw, Kenny stopped the car, I jumped out and bought all four types of melatonin that they had on the shelf. I did not want to take any chances that one was a dud — so yes, as you can tell, I was acting like a crazed woman at this point. Its amazing what sleep deprivation can do to you.

However, I took the melatonin and slept for eight straight hours, right on a normal schedule, and my jet lag was conquered. It was that easy.

Snow variance by Brooklyn neighborhood

Snow in Cobble Hill. Snow in Prospect Heights.

Person of the Day: Stef

Stef and I.

Chris and I.

Dane and I.

Tonight was a girls' night in. In celebration of the fact that Stef was in town from Costa Rica with Isabel, we all met at Dana's house and ordered in sushi and sat around talking about girl stuff; and caught up with Stef, as she told us all about her life in Costa Rica. Stef has such positive energy, and is such a thoughtful person, that I only wished that I could have met her sooner.

I heart Stuffed Bumblebees

14" (Chicken) Breasts

This day was sort of hazy. However, there was a certain moment when the jet lagged fog cleared for a few seconds and Kenny swooped in to tell me about the an article that he had just read in the NY Times about 14" chicken breasts in China. And now because there are so many steroids in the chickens in China, the Olympic Food Committee has to ship over chickens for the athletes to eat, lest they test positive for drug use after eating a chicken dinner one night. A few hours later, I wondered if I dreamt this exchange, as it sounded so bizarre.

However, the link for the article is here.

Watching television

Somehow, I managed to stay awake through the entire episode of Friday Night Lights — the last until the writers write more. Which is so unfair. Why me of all people? I never used to even watch television, and this past year, I have fallen so hard for two shows in particular. And it's like because I am new at this game of watching television in my spare time, I am hit even harder than the rest. I don't have any back up programs I can watch in the meantime. Ok? Its not like I flip between programs aimlessly; or have a TiVO. Which means I am left to troll inane fan websites in order read any small tidbit that I can find about the upcoming episodes. I have a Friday Night Lights jones. How sad, is that?

And everywhere that I go, I ask people if they watch the show, as I am trying to find other people who are as obsessed with the program as I am. When I casually mentioned it to a colleague, she was like, "Why, do you find Tim Riggins hot, too?"

Um, yeah, I do.

Eating pomelo for dinner

It was all I could do to drag myself through the day and not fall asleep under my desk when no one was looking. When I got home, there was no way I cold even consider cooking anything. Even the act of putting food into my mouth seemed exhausting. But thankfully, I had thought to bring home a package of super ripe pomelo from Thailand (it was part of my carry on snacks) and ripping off the cellophane was about the extent of the work required to eat it. I laid down on the couch and fed myself some pomelo, very very slowly. And halfway through eating the entire package, I got up and went to bed.

Getting home an hour after I left...Asia.

The entrance to the Bangkok International Suvarnabhumi Airport,
all decked out for Lunar New Year.

More pineapple before the plane took off.
I had to eat pineapple everyday.

Long Live the King. On everything.
Including ALL of the flight bridges.

Somehow, arriving home only one hour after I left, technically.

Pocky for Dinner, part 2

Valentine's Day flavor.

Milk flavor and Choco Banana flavor.

Roast Boy flavor. And pink strawberry Valentine's Day flavor.

Corn flavor. And Beer flavor.

Chicken Larb flavor.

Pizza flavor.

Chestnut flavor.