We've got spirit around here

Our Christmas tree/rosemary plant. Pretty cute, huh?
Larry hates Christmas (remember?)... or Christmas photos, at least. He's actually very excited about the upcoming traveling,  attention, etc.

Our four dollar gingerbread house. Once again, Trader Joes rocks. 

For twenty some-odd years, this is how I've (subconsciously) stood in the kitchen. Daryl captured my cooking stance here. Maybe this is why I have such huge calves.
Larry is looking for anything that looks remotely edible.

I've been in the kitchen a lot lately, working with a lot of SUGAR. Check out my food blog in the upcoming days for a sweet themed week. 

When it's really, really cold...

1. Working outside is really, really miserable; especially when you're doing a background job on a ridiculous tv show where you're a pedestrian/speck and the wardrobe lady is crazy and won't let you wear your hat or a hood (even between takes) because it will mess up your hair. Crazy. For one thing, you won't be able to see my hair. If I show up in the shot at all, I will be a half inch blur. For another thing, I don't have any hair to mess up..which means that I don't have any hair to cover my ears, which means that they get super cold. I mean, good for her for taking her job seriously, but c'mon...

2. Larry is miserable

He knows that sweater=cold weather, and stalls on the stairs...

3. My skin gets crazy dry

As soon as the temperature dropped, my skin started getting all flaky and gross, so I started slathering jojoba oil onto my face each night. I'd wake up with dry patches and teenage-zit-skin. I couldn't take it anymore. The solution? A thirty dollar humidifier. It's winter skin magic. My skin stays hydrated and Daryl reports that his lips are no longer chapped. Why didn't I think of this before?! 

We haven't had any snow stick yet; just a lot of wind and frigid air. As brutal as it can be, I much prefer the cold over the heat. You can always bundle up and I'm fond of winter accessories. Although...the kind of cold we've been having is pretty unbearable. I like scarves and hats but I don't want to have to wear a freaking ski mask.

Hi, there

It's December. Whoa. I think this has been my reaction to the start of each new month for the past few years. The older I get, the faster time flies. I think my mom told me this would happen.

These next few weeks are going to fly by, as well. I've been working a lot, which is good, and necessary. Usually I'm excited about obtaining work because you never really know when it's going to come. Lately however, all I want to do is make cookies and soups and such, so I'm like "Work? But I was going to make a lasagna and some snickerdoodles!" Ridiculous. I'm am grateful for all of the work I've had this week, and I really can't complain at all because I'm actually sitting here typing this "at work."

What I should be doing is finding new monologues and looking for representation, etc. because that's what will lead me to what I actually/ultimately want to be doing. In the meantime, my food project has been a great creative outlet for me. I haven't been so fulfilled that way since I was planning our wedding/when I started this blog.

I'm feeling very relaxed after spending the long weekend in Vermont and I can't wait to go home for the holidays. I love NYC, but those few weeks in Texas/Kansas in the winter are my absolute favorite weeks of the year. Here are some more pictures from Vermont:

 I told him to smile, but something pretty important was happening in his video game and he just couldn't pull his eyes away for one second. Larry smiled for me. Or is he giving me 'tude? I can't tell.

Okay, he is definitely giving me 'tude here.

Writing about broccoli...

Happy Thanksgiving

We are having a lovely time in Vermont. The boys are sad about the outcome of their football game, but other than that...

I had fun cooking in a real kitchen. 

Daryl is the turkey cooker. 

Scotty made his holiday phone calls from this perch.

This is what Larry did when he wasn't trying to find scraps in the kitchen.

This is what we ate. 

Larry's Thanksgiving dinner.
(We give him rice when he gets into things...helps with digestion )

I'm really excited about shopping tomorrow because there are some great Black Friday deals at the local outlet malls. I'm gonna stock up on some work clothes for my fake office job. 

The Ninja Likes Chemicals

He'll do whatever it takes to get ahold of food items. After almost three years, I thought we'd finally figured out how to Larry-proof our apartment.

We got really lucky with him; he's not much of a chewer. He has never really destroyed our material things, clothes, shoes, furniture, etc. I knew that he liked chemicals, because he tries to lick your legs when you have lotion on, or he'll try to taste the medicine you put on your face.

The other day I came home and found this:

This was my brand new 3.5 ounce bottle of hand cream/ointment. He licked it dry. 

I called the emergency vet, who instructed me to call poison control. The vet at poison control would only give me a consultation if I forked over 65 bucks. I thought that was pretty lame, because if I had to end up taking him to the vet anyway, it would have been another xx dollars. She didn't sound terribly concerned when I told her what he had ingested, so I did some googling and determined that it was probably non-toxic. Since he was acting totally fine we just decided to keep an eye on him. 

The next morning, we woke up and said: "Larry, you're alive!" Other than being extra-gassy, he's been fine for the past few days. 

Daryl got onto me about leaving my lotion out, but I was like, "C'mon, he's had access to lotion for years and it hasn't been an issue. It's not like I left it on the floor. Or in his food bowl." 

So now I guess I'll have to put that up, too. 

Larry Is Angry

Since I don't get any light in my kitchen, I have to transport most of my creations to the bedroom in order to photograph them properly. Larry sits on the bed and watches me do this, but he doesn't like that I never let him have a taste of my subjects. He gives me the stink eye on a daily basis.

Just one of his many stink-eye looks.

It's the little things...

I love bargain shopping. You know this. Today, I picked up a potato masher and a turkey baster. I'm determined to make good mashed potatoes this year! I also scored a pan set for a fraction of what it should have cost because it wasn't marked and so the employee just tagged it for 10 bucks...I bought an eyebrow kit so that I won't butcher my eyebrows at home anymore, and I found some smoked paprika at Marshalls. I couldn't find in in any of the grocery stores around here.

Even though I found a lot of great deals today, the purchase I am most proud of is my new cell phone case. It's a lot like the one that was stolen from me; only this one is better because it's made by jelly belly (who happens to make some stellar jelly beans) and it smells like strawberry cheesecake. That's right- my phone is now dessert scented. Pretty weird, huh? I don't know who thinks of this stuff, but I like it.

Okay, so this picture sucks, but my phone smells delicious now.

My other blog

It's up! It's my first name and then "eats" .com.
I'm not linking it from here. Check it out and leave a note.

In other news, I managed to cut off a chunk of my eyebrow tonight. I haven't done that since I was 13.
Trimming your eyebrows with a pair of fingernail clippers= bad idea.

A New Kind of Naughty

When Larry's friend, Koda comes over to play, we've discovered that he gets a little territorial by leaving puddles on the floor. Not ok. I finally caught him in the act the other day and when I scolded him, he jumped up on the couch and smiled at me like this:

He feels no shame.

He smiled for so long that I had time to grab my camera and snap a photo of that ridiculous face. 

I was just wondering...

...if you made these yet. Because it's November already. Pretty soon it will be gingerbread and egg nog season. I hope you're getting your pumpkin on.

I also wanted to share this picture with you. This was taken at our friends' house. I love natural light and wish that we had some in our apartment. This morning I made some eggs and had to take them out to the hallway to get a decent shot. Hmm. Maybe I'll have to invest in a lightbox one day.

Geeking Out

I've always liked to eat, but have never taken it too seriously.

I have been such a nerd this week and it's been so much fun! I was hoping to launch my new site by this Monday but I've been busy working. Yesterday I stood in for the judge on L&Order and all I wanted to do was go home and play with new fonts. Yeah...geeky, I know. I also really wanted to pound the the gavel and I didn't get to. It's not very often I get to (or will get to) sit on a judge stand.  It's the little things, you see. On Sunday, the NYC Marathon is happening. I won't be running because it makes me feel like I'm going to die, but I'm proud to be working the event. I'm going to help set up the gatorade/water stands for the runners. The marathon is always such an inspiring and positive environment to be a part of. I wish that I wanted to participate. It's 26 miles. I run a half a mile and I'm done. We have friends that run and I really admire them. Daryl has talked about running one. That would be awesome.

A New Project

I'm really excited to tell you about something I've been working on for the past few months; Ladies and Gentleman, my food blog will be born soon. I have been glued to my computer (and kitchen) working on recipes and other content, photography, design and a little html. It's been a little frustrating (web coding...whhaaat??) but mostly fun. I've been honing developing some photography skills on my new SLR camera, which means that I have 100+ pictures of Larry sitting on the couch.

You might have noticed that my blog has been lean on posts lately. This is in part because I've been avoiding food topics so that I'll have lots of content for my new site and, well...I mostly write about food.
That being said, I still intend on keeping up with Mandyland as a personal blog and a way to keep in contact with my family and friends. My new blog will be written for you all with a more public audience in mind, as well. After some thought, I've decided that I prefer it be somewhat anonymous (yet not impersonal). Therefore, I won't be linking it to this blog.

As soon as I launch my new site, I will let you know! I'm just going to write about what interests and inspires me and hopefully there will be a few people who find it useful and/or entertaining.

Here are some of my photo experiments:

This could be his headshot, no?

Looking much more angelic than he really is. I think I was holding food above his head.

I made these!!! It took 5 hours and they weren't perfect but they weren't too shabby either.  I'll tell you about it later.

My new hand mixer. It's no Kitchenaid stand mixer but it does the trick. Look at the peaks on that meringue. 

Adios, October

It's November. Whhhaatt? How was everyone's Halloween? We weren't feeling too festive this year; no costumes or themed parties for us. I just wasn't inspired by all of the weird-I'm-trying-to-be-sexy things running around the village the night before. There is something especially pathetic about a slutty bunny hobbling around in a drunken stupor. I did make Daryl's favorite cupcakes, though. Yep, it's the time of year, folks. Mmmm. I brought them to a get-together so we couldn't eat them all ourselves.

Here's a scary picture for you. Happy belated Halloween: 

Rot Face Shirley...she sort of made it until Halloween

Phone Update

Sadly, the phone thief did not man up and return my mobile device. Luckily, our friends were generous enough to let me have their old one and everything was synched up and restored. Whew. It was pretty easy to do, actually; too easy. You can steal a iphone, ditch and replace the sim card and have it up and running within minutes. I think that it should be possible to report a stolen phone's serial number to apple/att&t so that it can't be activated by a shady crook. Apparently, they do not blacklist serial numbers. When a customer's iphone is stolen, they get to charge him/her big bucks for a replacement. 

I don't think this was as bad as the time my car was stolen on the eve of Christmas Eve. Yeah, that was a lot worse. 

Moving on...

Losing Stuff

For the most part, I try to keep this blog on the positive side; we all have bad days and experience negative and horrible things sometimes. I don't like to vent on here. But I'm sad and angry today.

I woke up and realized that I lost my 30 day metrocard (which is what you swipe to ride the subway and buses), which is almost 100 bucks. Luckily the MTA was able to issue me a credit since it was purchased with a credit card. They were also able to deactivate it so that no one else can use it. It was totally my fault because I had stuck it in my back pocket rather than put it back in my wallet where it belongs. Besides being a bit of an inconvenience,  it ended up not being a huge deal.

A few hours later, I lost my phone. Whoever found it is a sucky person, because instead of contacting one of my contacts or turning it in, he/she ignored my text and phone calls and checked my e-mail. I know that someone found it because my email accounts were accessed on the phone after it went missing. I don't know exactly how it disappeared; I was shopping in the housewares section at TJmaxx and 2 minutes after I left, I realized that it wasn't in my bag or pockets. I had to have dropped it or set it somewhere- either that or someone reached down in my bag and grabbed it? Unfortunately, it wasn't locked and so this shady person was able to access all of my shhtufffff. I can guarantee they didn't find anything interesting or scandalous, and I've changed all of my passwords. My service has been shut off. A friend is going to let me use his old iphone. It's the principle. It makes me sad that a lousy person happened to pick it up.

Fall Visitors

Over the weekend my cousin and his husband flew in from Des Moines and I had the pleasure of being their host. It was great hanging out and exploring the city with them. They're big foodies, which made it that much more fun. Daryl had to work most of the weekend but was able to join us for dinner each night. 

We got a lot accomplished in 2.5 days and had many food experiences. Here are the things I can think of off the top of my head: 

Bouchon Bakery

Ray's Famous Pizza 

La Maison du Chocolat 

Ess-a-Bagel

Ippudo Ramen

Shake Shack 

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory 

Chelsea Market  (Fat Witch Brownies and Ronnybrook Milk Bar)

Amy's Bread 

Kashkaval 

Larry also indulged in Bouchon Bakery by sneaking into our room and eating the top of Brian and Chad's brioche muffin. The next night, he stole apricots from their bag, and on their last night, he broke into their zipped backpack and ate a bag of almonds. That was two days ago and the almonds are still making their way out...apparently he swallowed most of them whole. Pretty disgusting. I guess the ninja misses his pantry. 

About to eat fancy Ramen at Ippudo. This was the only group shot we got.

At the scene of the crime. 

Hi Brian and Chad!
There's a great view of Manhattan from the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights.

They did a great job of documenting their trip on camera. You can visit Brian's blog to see more pics.

We Carved Our Pumpkin

Her name is Shirley. I roasted her seeds with olive oil, a sprinkling of cumin and a dash of salt. Yum. 

Pantry Thief Thwarted

I've been on a cleaning/organization streak this week. It's shocking, really. Last week I ordered a hutch online so we could maximize our kitchen storage. It arrived this morning in a 100 pound box comprised of 50+ pieces. I put that sucker together with my own two hands. It took 5 hours. 

Our pantry problem (no doors, very narrow)

Our other pantry problem (takes advantage of doorless situation)

Thanks thatre degree/stagecraft class, for teaching me about screws. There were many different kinds of screws involved in this project.

The final product. Who needs a man when you're this handy? 

He's sad because he doesn't know how he's going to reach the oats now. Or the honey. Or the baking powder, soy sauce, tahini, and all of the other pantry items that he was fond of stealing.

Columbus Day Pumpkin Patch

On Monday we visited Stony Hill Farms in New Jersey for some pumpkin picking and corn maze fun. I had never been to a corn maze before. If they have them in Texas, I don't know about them. The weather was beautiful and the foliage was just beginning to turn. I'm really excited about carving a pumpkin this year. I haven't done one in years; not since I moved to the city. Since we rented a car for the day, we got to partake in some of my favorite suburban delights: Wal-mart, Chilis and Dairy Queen. It was a good day. 

Yeah, what the sign says...

We picked fresh vegetables. Yum. I brought home some yellow peppers, tomatoes and apples. 

I picked this pumpkin.

This is Tracy's dog, Koda. Adorable. Larry couldn't go because we couldn't hide him in a tote bag.

Serious pumpkin picking.

Hayride! It transported us 30 yards for a dollar apiece...but we made it seem much more exciting.

Welcome, October.

Hi! Sorry it's been awhile. The truth is, life has been a little crazy lately. In the past few weeks we have been presented with moments of extreme joy and at the other end of the spectrum, there has been some heartbreak, too. I'm reminded how lucky I am to be in good health and to have an incredible husband, family and friends who are loving and supportive (not to mention an awesome dog). It's what really matters. And as brutal as NYC can be sometimes, I feel fortunate to be able to wake up every day and give it a shot.

Fall is my favorite season. I look forward to seeing what it will bring.

It's that time of year...

It's football season folks. Dallas Cowboys, please start winning so that my friends and husband won't be sad.
Larry, stop farting. Seriously. It's out of control.

Amish Country, Dog.

Last Saturday, I took an impromptu trip to Lancaster, PA with our friend Tracy. I don't have the pictures yet, but I'll post them as soon as I get them. Lancaster County has a large Amish population. It was a real treat to drive through the picturesque farmland and see the horse drawn buggies and farm equipment (horse drawn farm equipment). I loved shopping at the roadside farm stands. The produce and goods were fresh, homegrown or homemade, and sold at remarkably fair prices. My favorite purchase was a giant yellow watermelon for 4 dollars. This watermelon alone was worth the three hour drive to Pennsylvania:

I didn't know watermelon could taste this good.  

We ate at two restaurants: Good N Plenty (recommended by Daryl) and a smorgasbord (an all you can eat buffet) called Bird In Hand Restaurant. We also stopped by a Civil War reenactment which ended up being super lame. We still managed to get some good pictures, though. (I'll post them, I promise!) Daryl couldn't go because he had to work, but it was fun to have a girl day. When we were in the area, we stopped by a dog breeder's place to look at a puppy that Tracy had found online...which brings me to the Dog part of this post:

Tracy had been looking for a scrappy little mixed dog for few months. She wanted to adopt/rescue, but it was difficult to get taken seriously as a twentysomething girl in an apartment in NYC with no back yard. A lot of people who aren't familiar with the NYC lifestyle don't realize that dogs can really thrive here. No, most people don't have backyards, but we have dog parks. New Yorkers can't tie their dogs up in the backyard and throw some food and water out on a patio; you really have to want to care for your pet because it does take a bit of extra effort. While it's true that an older dog might not adjust to the hustle and bustle of the city, it seems unlikely that a puppy couldn't adapt. Anyway, Tracy was becoming frustrated and started looking at breeders. Long story short, the "breeder" we visited in PA was in fact, a puppy mill operation. 

I have mixed feelings about breeders. The reputable ones are essential in order for breeds to carry on. However, there are so many people who are simply trying to make a profit, and it's sad and disgusting. As a consequence, millions of healthy and adoptable animals are euthanized every year (3-4 millions cats and dogs, according to the Humane Society). Daryl and I got Larry from a breeder. He was our first dog and we had our hearts set on a French Bulldog puppy. I adore him and don't regret getting him for a second. However, I do sometimes feel a little guilty about not saving a dog, and for supporting a business that I don't really believe in. Hmmm....I'm sounding pretty hypocritical, huh? The truth is, there are certain breeds that are hard to come by in a shelter, through rescue, etc. My sister's dream dog is a black frenchie, and she'll most likely have to go through a breeder if she wants to raise a puppy. However, many, many breeds are represented in shelters. Just visit one. Or look on Petfinder.com. If we ever get another dog, I will definitely adopt. I'm gonna be bossy now and discourage anyone from supporting puppy mills or pet stores (which acquire their dogs from mills-  good breeders would sell their dogs to a pet store). A lot of people like to think that they're saving the dog that they purchase, when in fact, they are contributing to a vicious cycle. If you are not familiar with puppy mills, google them. It's gross. 

Oh, and don't even get me started on the "designer" dog breeds: maltipoos, puggles, labradoodles, etc. There is no such thing. Yeah, they're cute...but they're technically mutts, and good breeders don't breed mutts. Period. Go to a shelter or look on Petfinder and you'll find your "designer" dog.

Okay, so why the mini rampage? Well, I accompanied Tracy to the North Shore Animal League on Thursday, and it broke my heart. It's the largest no-kill animal shelter in the US, and it is very well maintained. Even so, those rows and rows of beautiful animals begging to be taken home really got to me. 

On a happy note, Tracy found her scrappy pup. Meet Koda, a 5 pound 3-month old dachshund mix who was transported to the Northeast after being rescued from a kill shelter in Virginia. Aside from being absolutely adorable, she's the sweetest little girl. And she's hilarious.  It's been amazing to watch her transition from a shy, shaking orphan to this feisty little puppy (in just 3 days!). It's pretty crazy to think that she could have been put down. Luckily, she found a good mama. We're hoping that Koda and Larry will be good friends. 

I'm feeling the urge to volunteer or foster...I'm looking into it. 

Ways To Sleep On A Pink Couch