Updating from work. My Exec Chef friend from Melange across the street brought over some amazing treats for us tonight: some kind of amazing lamb and chicken dish that I'll expand on later after I get home. Reservations there tomorrow night after I get off for my hot-as-balls boyfriend's birthday. I'm really stoked, its going to be super-ultra yummy! Especially with live music and drinks! Woo!
Gotta run, one of the regulars is looking for his underwear. Little does he know that I actually hid it so that I could wander around with it on my head wearing it like a little hat.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
WARNING: This Post Not for the Faint of Heart
I'm getting ready to go to work, somehow made it thru the night. No idea how. My period is out of fucking control. After being fucked up for Feb, March and just Whoa-Nelly-Disappearing during April, its come back with a MIGHTY debt to settle in May... the whole bit: bloating, cramps, crankiness, cravings, mondo horny. Shit just isn't right.
I know its disgusting and I probably shouldn't blog about my period but Holy Mother of God... how am I still alive? Cartman doesn't know. I sure as fuck don't know either.
As I said earlier this week, thanks God/Mother Nature for the reminder that I can bear children. Why does it have to be such a huge fucking mess?!
There is No Mention of Sports in this Entry... at ALL!
I've been advised that I'm quite boring when I talk about sports.Actually, the text I got was to the tune of, "I love you and your blog but I don't like the sports stuff and that's all you've been writing about lately."
Or something like that. So, since that's the only feedback I've gotten, I'm specifically not going to mention sports at all in this entry.
Well, anymore than I already have.
Unfortunately, I don't really know what else to talk about. The series between the Caps/Pens is the BIGGEST news happening in both the NHL and in the city right now (aside from the fact that they won tonight to put the series at 2-1). The Pirates are trying to not be completely terrible and doing a pretty mediocre job of it but God bless them for showing up every night.
Hey! I could be talking about the Steelers and how they decided to release Larry Foote
But I won't since I promised I wouldn't!
Honestly, I guess what it comes down to is that sports are a major part of this city's culture and so they're a major part of the people, who we are and whats going on in our lives. I'd say the same for anyone who's ever spent a significant amount of time here. A good example is my hot-as-balls boyfriend. He was born in Natrona Heights, raised in the San Fransisco Bay Area and then moved back home about a year and a half ago. He gets his Steeler Pride from his mom and dad who are both natives to the Pittsburgh area.
To understand Pittsburghers you first have to understand our obsession with sports as tradition. Our love of the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates are part of our identity. Everyone that grew up here has a
savvy and sophisticated opinion of sports (especially about football). You're taught at a young age to bleed black and gold (since its the colors of all 3 sports teams) and to carry a Terrible Towel with as nearly as much reverence as you would the American flag.To have pride in your sports teams here in Pittsburgh is to have pride in your place of residence and in yourself. When the Steelers win a game, the entire city is happy and buzzing for a week. If they lose, everyone's pissed and calling Ben Roethlisberger a bum. When the Steelers win the Superbowl, a citywide holiday is declared and kids don't have school, their parents don't have work and straight A college seniors set fire to couches in Oakland. When the Penguins win, thoughts of the City of Champions dance in everyone's mind and we consider how cool it'd be to be the home of both the Vince Lombardi Trophy and the Stanley Cup.
If the Pirates win a game, we're inspired to think that anything is possible. Its just how this city works.
My friend who told me that my writing about sports bores her, texted me during the Superbowl back in February asking about the Terrible Towel and what it was exactly. Being half drunk, I was still able to give a somewhat decent response. "Its the flag of Steeler Nation," is what I initially said but she wanted an actual reply.
I explained that back in the '70s the voice of the Steelers, one Myron Cope, was instructed to generate some sort of gimmick for merchandising. Myron told his listeners to start bringing black towels to the games they came to in order to show fan support. It eventually caught on and lived on through the 70s, 80s and 90s. Its seen 6 Superbowl victories and was the original towel waved at any sporting event. This is a great article and you can hear Myron Cope himself tell you the story of how the towel rose to greatness (the "he" Myron talks about is the Terrible Towel).
Anyway...changing topics--here's something good: My horoscope via Twitter!
DH_PiscesIf you feel like you're a doormat for a friend or coworker, stand up to them today.I had such a terrible night at work and was so beyond ready to throw down that hearing the stars are aligning to back me up when I get ready to explode isn't exactly good news. It means that I should email my boss right now to tell her exactly what I think and that sleeping on it isn't good advice.
I'm going to sleep on it instead because I don't want to get myself into trouble. Ugh! And I'm too tired to keep typing right now so... to bed, to bed, to bed I said!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Someday I'll Get Back to Paying Attention to Current Events
Things I like about baseball:
Ok there's not much right now because most of the time I have no idea wtf is going on and I refuse to believe that the game is as slow as it seems. There's GOT to be something else going on in order to keep a hundred gahzillion people interested in it.
But I LOVE listening to the Pirates commentators on FSN. I'm completely confident that baseball is a sport that I could adequately call on both TV and the radio. Tonight's game featured the Buccos against Milwaukee. The game of baseball is so obnoxiously slow, the 2 guys calling the game started talking about the different hats that people were wearing in the crowd. Then they switched topics in the same inning and said, "Some day, I'd like to see Yankee Stadium."
Dude I could totally talk about fashion and traveling on TV intermixed with something like "Oh... and he hit the ball! LaRoche actually hit the ball! Its in the air. Aaaaaaand... oh the other team caught the ball. So LaRoche is out and Morgan's back up to bat. You know I like how he wears his socks on the outside of his uniform instead of inside. Its way cuter and totally more baseball--player like. If you go back in history, all the best players wore their uniforms like that. Uh Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantel. Roberto Clemente. I think if more of the players on the Pirates wore their socks outside, then they'd definitely win more games."
Go ahead and think Legally Blonde but I'm telling you, I can fill space with my voice like no one's business.
Look at Nate over there on the right. He's such a wannabe emo-kid. He just looks like he's thinking "God I hate my life, I hate that I have to wear this and stand next to the guy who wears his socks on the outside but I'm making a bagillion dollars and on a team that can barely make it to .500! God I hate my life, just take the picture. I'm going to be different and not put both my hands on my hips because I want to look like a male model which is what I really want to do. Baseball is gay, I want to have my own A&F ad."
He's totally thinking that, look at his face!
The other night one of my guests gave me a box of Betsy Ann chocolates as a thank you gift.
It looked like this:
It was also totally unexpected and so super nice. I've never had Betsy Ann chocolates before (I know, shut up!) but holy mother of god are they amazing! My hot-as-balls boyfriend had never heard of of them so I set him straight and tried to save a couple for him but after tonight, yeah that's not going to be a possibility.
Sorry!
Twitter has become an educational toy. Somehow, the Executive Chef at a new restaurant close to my hotel managed to find and start following me on Twitter. I'm not quite sure how all this came about exactly but he seems like a pretty nice guy. One of my regular guests was talking the place up the other night and saying how he knew the vocalist of the band that performs there on Friday nights (small world, right?). So, I decided that since Friday was my hot-as-balls boyfriend's birthday and I needed something nice to do for him that night, we could get cleaned up after work and jaunt on over to enjoy the music, some nice hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail (or 4 if you're me).
Here's the catch. My boy doesn't drink. This hasn't been a problem in the least for our relationship. If we go to dinner and I order wine or a beer, he's fine with that. And although he never says anything, gives me a look or an air or vibe... I always feel guilty ordering alcohol whenever he's paying for me. It feels disrespectful, so I don't do it.
I sent him a text last night that simply said, "I want to get trashed one night and let you take advantage of me." Friday sounds like a good night for that. I hope he puts up with me.
My Executive Chef friend says his restaurant has some really great non alcoholic beverages. I might have to put his mixology knowledge to the test! Hash House a Go Go had a GREAT drink called a Ginger Lemonade (or was it a Limeade?!) that they ended up getting rid of because it wasn't popular.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Hmm we'll see in any case :) I can come up with some pretty insane things if given the chance. And I think I might have my opportunity here. I should go back to school for mixology. That'd be a blast!
Ok there's not much right now because most of the time I have no idea wtf is going on and I refuse to believe that the game is as slow as it seems. There's GOT to be something else going on in order to keep a hundred gahzillion people interested in it.
But I LOVE listening to the Pirates commentators on FSN. I'm completely confident that baseball is a sport that I could adequately call on both TV and the radio. Tonight's game featured the Buccos against Milwaukee. The game of baseball is so obnoxiously slow, the 2 guys calling the game started talking about the different hats that people were wearing in the crowd. Then they switched topics in the same inning and said, "Some day, I'd like to see Yankee Stadium."
Dude I could totally talk about fashion and traveling on TV intermixed with something like "Oh... and he hit the ball! LaRoche actually hit the ball! Its in the air. Aaaaaaand... oh the other team caught the ball. So LaRoche is out and Morgan's back up to bat. You know I like how he wears his socks on the outside of his uniform instead of inside. Its way cuter and totally more baseball--player like. If you go back in history, all the best players wore their uniforms like that. Uh Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantel. Roberto Clemente. I think if more of the players on the Pirates wore their socks outside, then they'd definitely win more games."
Go ahead and think Legally Blonde but I'm telling you, I can fill space with my voice like no one's business.
Look at Nate over there on the right. He's such a wannabe emo-kid. He just looks like he's thinking "God I hate my life, I hate that I have to wear this and stand next to the guy who wears his socks on the outside but I'm making a bagillion dollars and on a team that can barely make it to .500! God I hate my life, just take the picture. I'm going to be different and not put both my hands on my hips because I want to look like a male model which is what I really want to do. Baseball is gay, I want to have my own A&F ad."
He's totally thinking that, look at his face!
The other night one of my guests gave me a box of Betsy Ann chocolates as a thank you gift.
It looked like this:
It was also totally unexpected and so super nice. I've never had Betsy Ann chocolates before (I know, shut up!) but holy mother of god are they amazing! My hot-as-balls boyfriend had never heard of of them so I set him straight and tried to save a couple for him but after tonight, yeah that's not going to be a possibility.
Sorry!
Twitter has become an educational toy. Somehow, the Executive Chef at a new restaurant close to my hotel managed to find and start following me on Twitter. I'm not quite sure how all this came about exactly but he seems like a pretty nice guy. One of my regular guests was talking the place up the other night and saying how he knew the vocalist of the band that performs there on Friday nights (small world, right?). So, I decided that since Friday was my hot-as-balls boyfriend's birthday and I needed something nice to do for him that night, we could get cleaned up after work and jaunt on over to enjoy the music, some nice hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail (or 4 if you're me).
Here's the catch. My boy doesn't drink. This hasn't been a problem in the least for our relationship. If we go to dinner and I order wine or a beer, he's fine with that. And although he never says anything, gives me a look or an air or vibe... I always feel guilty ordering alcohol whenever he's paying for me. It feels disrespectful, so I don't do it.
I sent him a text last night that simply said, "I want to get trashed one night and let you take advantage of me." Friday sounds like a good night for that. I hope he puts up with me.
My Executive Chef friend says his restaurant has some really great non alcoholic beverages. I might have to put his mixology knowledge to the test! Hash House a Go Go had a GREAT drink called a Ginger Lemonade (or was it a Limeade?!) that they ended up getting rid of because it wasn't popular.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Hmm we'll see in any case :) I can come up with some pretty insane things if given the chance. And I think I might have my opportunity here. I should go back to school for mixology. That'd be a blast!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pens/Caps Game 2: Penguins Lowlights
I still don't know anything about hockey
But, I'm trying to learn.
So, I missed Pens/Caps tonight because I had to work. There's something very wrong when the 2 hyped players of the game both get hat tricks but the wrong team ends up winning because the right team isn't paying attention to who's skating where most of the time.
This highlight (read: lowlight) clip I found on youtube to get myself caught up from tonight's game pretty much delineates everything that happened and when.
Great vid imo! Although, if it didn't show the Penguins handing the game to the Capitals, it'd be a little bit better.
Every single time Ovechkin scores, its because the Penguins seemed to conveniently forget that he was out there on the ice. If the Pens lose this series, I wouldn't be surprised. Realizing that I know nothing about the sport, it still seems to me that strategy here would be pretty easy. Cover Ovechkin/Pummel Varlamov. Its not like the Caps have an all star lineup.
Course all you gotta do is win, don't mattah how!
Anyhow... for a real opinion (backed with like knowledge and statistics and all that fun stuff) check out The Pens Blog since they actually know what they're talking about. :(
But, I'm trying to learn.
So, I missed Pens/Caps tonight because I had to work. There's something very wrong when the 2 hyped players of the game both get hat tricks but the wrong team ends up winning because the right team isn't paying attention to who's skating where most of the time.
This highlight (read: lowlight) clip I found on youtube to get myself caught up from tonight's game pretty much delineates everything that happened and when.
Great vid imo! Although, if it didn't show the Penguins handing the game to the Capitals, it'd be a little bit better.
Every single time Ovechkin scores, its because the Penguins seemed to conveniently forget that he was out there on the ice. If the Pens lose this series, I wouldn't be surprised. Realizing that I know nothing about the sport, it still seems to me that strategy here would be pretty easy. Cover Ovechkin/Pummel Varlamov. Its not like the Caps have an all star lineup.
Course all you gotta do is win, don't mattah how!
Anyhow... for a real opinion (backed with like knowledge and statistics and all that fun stuff) check out The Pens Blog since they actually know what they're talking about. :(
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Grasping at the Straws of Sanity
I am opting to not write anything today because I had a bad day and this entry would just be full of bitching.
But, in lieu of being in a positively bad mood, lets review some key points that make my life great right now:
1) My boyfriend is fucking amazing.
'Nuff said, any guy that goes out of his way to buy his woman a Coach bag as a surprise is totally worth keeping around.
2) Even though I'm a little angry at the world, I still feel secure and empowered.
3) I'm good at my job (most of the time).
4) I have a tenative plan for the future.
5) My trip to Toronto.
6) No Doubt on 6/13!
7) I'm in control.
Ok, forget it. This isn't helping. In fact I think its making me feel worse because I can't think of anything good about myself right now. I think I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed. Ugh
But, in lieu of being in a positively bad mood, lets review some key points that make my life great right now:
1) My boyfriend is fucking amazing.
'Nuff said, any guy that goes out of his way to buy his woman a Coach bag as a surprise is totally worth keeping around.
2) Even though I'm a little angry at the world, I still feel secure and empowered.
3) I'm good at my job (most of the time).
4) I have a tenative plan for the future.
5) My trip to Toronto.
6) No Doubt on 6/13!
7) I'm in control.
Ok, forget it. This isn't helping. In fact I think its making me feel worse because I can't think of anything good about myself right now. I think I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed. Ugh
Friday, May 1, 2009
This is Getting Out of Control
I've found myself developing a fascination with cooking, baking and ice-cream-making. Last night, I got bored while I was watching the Vancouver/Chicago game so I decided to make use out of those left over strawberries before they went bad.
My initial desire was to find and make a great strawberry limeade only I didn't have any limeade concentrate available and it was 10 o'clock at night. I needed to do something else.
Somehow I fell on a great blog by Alison Lewis called "Ingredients, Inc." with a recipe for Strawberry Granita (its a sort of Sicilian Italian Ice). I had strawberries and lime juice so why not jump in feet first?
The recipe was pretty easy. Slice 2lbs of strawberries, add 6 tblspoons of sugar, stir. Let sit. Add 1 cup of water and lime juice to taste, puree and freeze for 3 hours. Stir and freeze for 5hrs or overnight. Thaw for 10 minutes, grab a fork and "fluff" it. Yeah baby!
This seemed idiot proof enough for me to try. Here's some pictures:
Strawberries + Sugar = Strawberry Pie type filling. Who knew?
I don't bake!
An hour later, the mixture's a little more saucy and sexy looking.
Pureed, covered and ready to freeze for a few hours.
The presentation leaves something to be desired but it'd be really tasty
with a traditional brioche or even some Italian custard!
I'm watching the Pirates play the Reds right now. Its a replay of the earlier game. I'm starting to realize that baseball players are such a definitely a significant breed of man. They all have facial hair, they all chew tobacco and they all "adjust" themselves when they're in the outfield as if there's no one else around.
They're kind of disgusting.
And my hot-as-balls boyfriend used to pitch.
I'm also impressed with how many different ways their are to wear a baseball uniform. I thought uniforms were uniforms meaning that they UNIFORMLY presented individuals as an entire team. Some guys wear their shirts untucked, some wear them firmly tucked in. Others wear their socks over their pants, most don't. Very strange.
The Pirates also have more uniforms than I have outfits in my closet.
Anyway...
I got called a bad friend last night. It really, really hurt my feelings a lot. Orlando and I had it out like my exhusband and I used to all the time. Being so stubborn, I wouldn't hang up and he finally hung up on me at 3am. I'm not sure how I went from being a great friend a month ago to being the worst person he knows in the matter of about 4 weeks. I think that's a record, even for me. I don't know, I just know I'm really hurt and don't deserve being talked to the way I was talked to last night.
I hate losing friends over dumb shit.
But, you know what... if how he really felt about me came out last night--I guess he wasn't my friend after all. I'm just sort of broken hearted about it, I guess. I thought Orlando was a guy I could count on or depend on... a guy who said he'd be there for me always. He told me before, "You're a great girl. You got me for life. I got your back for life." Another broken promise, look what happens when I trust people.
What a Debbie Downer of an entry here. I'll get my shit together and try again tomorrow.
My initial desire was to find and make a great strawberry limeade only I didn't have any limeade concentrate available and it was 10 o'clock at night. I needed to do something else.
Somehow I fell on a great blog by Alison Lewis called "Ingredients, Inc." with a recipe for Strawberry Granita (its a sort of Sicilian Italian Ice). I had strawberries and lime juice so why not jump in feet first?
The recipe was pretty easy. Slice 2lbs of strawberries, add 6 tblspoons of sugar, stir. Let sit. Add 1 cup of water and lime juice to taste, puree and freeze for 3 hours. Stir and freeze for 5hrs or overnight. Thaw for 10 minutes, grab a fork and "fluff" it. Yeah baby!
This seemed idiot proof enough for me to try. Here's some pictures:
Strawberries + Sugar = Strawberry Pie type filling. Who knew?
I don't bake!
An hour later, the mixture's a little more saucy and sexy looking.
Pureed, covered and ready to freeze for a few hours.
And Finally: the finished product.
The presentation leaves something to be desired but it'd be really tastywith a traditional brioche or even some Italian custard!
So yeah, my hot-as-balls boyfriend says that he's going to start calling me Betty Crocker for real. I told him that he shouldn't get too excited (even though between me and the 5 people that read this, the reason I started getting interested in this was because I sort of wanted to cook for him but now I'm just hooked and can't get away from it). I'm a novice. I don't think that my cooking can stand up to Betty Crocker's, Paula Deen's, Rachel Ray's or even stand up... I think my cooking would flop over like the dead fish it was if I was making steamed salmon.
I finally decided on my boyfriend's gift to go along with dinner (HEY, BOYFRIEND, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, QUIT IT NOW PLEASE). I'm committed to it since I immediately purchased it and requested rushed shipping as soon as I got home from work too. Check this out! I made a contact for Pittsburgh home games this afternoon and plan on calling in a favor for tickets soon enough! So I figure the gift, plus dinner and tickets and a few accessories and a girl can't lose.
I finally decided on my boyfriend's gift to go along with dinner (HEY, BOYFRIEND, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, QUIT IT NOW PLEASE). I'm committed to it since I immediately purchased it and requested rushed shipping as soon as I got home from work too. Check this out! I made a contact for Pittsburgh home games this afternoon and plan on calling in a favor for tickets soon enough! So I figure the gift, plus dinner and tickets and a few accessories and a girl can't lose.
I'm watching the Pirates play the Reds right now. Its a replay of the earlier game. I'm starting to realize that baseball players are such a definitely a significant breed of man. They all have facial hair, they all chew tobacco and they all "adjust" themselves when they're in the outfield as if there's no one else around.
They're kind of disgusting.
And my hot-as-balls boyfriend used to pitch.
I'm also impressed with how many different ways their are to wear a baseball uniform. I thought uniforms were uniforms meaning that they UNIFORMLY presented individuals as an entire team. Some guys wear their shirts untucked, some wear them firmly tucked in. Others wear their socks over their pants, most don't. Very strange.
The Pirates also have more uniforms than I have outfits in my closet.
Anyway...
I got called a bad friend last night. It really, really hurt my feelings a lot. Orlando and I had it out like my exhusband and I used to all the time. Being so stubborn, I wouldn't hang up and he finally hung up on me at 3am. I'm not sure how I went from being a great friend a month ago to being the worst person he knows in the matter of about 4 weeks. I think that's a record, even for me. I don't know, I just know I'm really hurt and don't deserve being talked to the way I was talked to last night.
I hate losing friends over dumb shit.
But, you know what... if how he really felt about me came out last night--I guess he wasn't my friend after all. I'm just sort of broken hearted about it, I guess. I thought Orlando was a guy I could count on or depend on... a guy who said he'd be there for me always. He told me before, "You're a great girl. You got me for life. I got your back for life." Another broken promise, look what happens when I trust people.
What a Debbie Downer of an entry here. I'll get my shit together and try again tomorrow.
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