Tuesday Travels: Atlantic City

Saturday was the awaited day - our first trip ever to Atlantic City - I was not expecting much but I was super excited just to go somewhere new! The plan was to drive down to AC, check out the casino, check out AC, then have dinner and go to the LIVE (as in the band) concert at The House of Blues at The Showboat Resort & Casino.

Unfortunately for us the weather was less then cooperative! It was misty, cold and certainly not a day to stroll the boardwalk and check out AC. I was so happy that I ran in NYC before driving down as opposed to doing my run on the boardwalk as I had originally planned. On top of it all Jon had a conference call that began at 4PM right as we arrived there and went pretty much until our friends Gary & Tiffany arrived. Matt (my brother-in-law) and I checked in to the hotel, got everything squared away with our room and then decided to hit the casino (neither of us big gamblers!) He played some online poker, I played some slots, he played some slots, he won $50, I lost $10. We had not realized that in the casinos you can still smoke (I'm sorry if you are a smoker and you're reading this) which makes being in the casino not a very enjoyable activity. We got sodas, watched some of the basketball game, got a lay of the land (ie: found the concert venue) and then Jon was off the phone!

We all decided to walk down the street to a bar that guest services recommended to us to watch more NCAA March Madness action. We only walked 3 blocks and it was pretty miserable. We had one beer left and went back to the hotel and got in line for the House of Blues restaurant for dinner. Our dinner there started off great - a round of Miller Lites, fun apps for the table, dinner is served, plenty of time until the concert....and then....I found a lady bug in my ceasar salad! A lady bug (maybe I'll have good luck in the near future!) The manager walked by asked us how we were doing, Jon mentioned the lady bug and good things started to roll...50% off our dinner, a free round of Miller Lites and a free round of shots later we were off to watch LIVE up stairs in the concert venue. (I guess in away you could say I did win big in AC, just not in the typical gambling fashion.)

The place was just a huge open floorplan. We got as close as we could to the stage and the opening act began. They were awful, really awful! So we chatted and kept ourselves entertained. Then it was time for the real performace - LIVE! We were all so excited as were our "new friends" standing around us. They were awesome. Jon and I saw them last March (me for the 1st time) in Sayerville, NJ at the Starland Ballroom and they were amazing. I've been listening to a lot more of their music getting ready for this concert and once again they did not disappoint. They played a lot of songs I was unfamiliar with but they still sounded amazing!!!

Our 5AM wake up call, to get Matt to Newark Airport for his flight to London, came soon after our heads hit the pillow, but we got him there by 7AM and were back in NYC and in bed by 10AM after breakfast with my parents in NJ (we tried Bagelicious' competition, Fair Lawn's Hot Bagels...definitely not as good as Bagelicious!)

All in all it was definitely an interesting Saturday and I enjoyed exploring somewhere new, but I'll be honest, I'm in no big rush to get back to AC. Maybe if we had had a nicer day....

Post in Comments:

Have you been to AC? Did you like it? Did you win big?

Monday Bookworms: Lucia, Lucia

I picked this book up based on a recommendation from my friend Amy. She read this book a couple of years ago and I was recently perusing her reads looking for something good when I stumbled upon Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani.

Lucia, Lucia is of course the story of Lucia Sartori, a young woman 25 years of age, who lives in Greenwich Village during the 1950's. Her Dad is from Italy and owns the local Italian Groceria, her mother stays at home, and her 4 older brothers work with her father. She works at B. Altman's creating custom dresses, wedding gowns, suits, etc for the wealthy women of New York City. She is fiercely independent and struggles to find a balance between meeting her families expectations of getting married to an Italian-American man from the neighborhood, keeping house, and raising a family with her dreams for herself of being a career woman.

We follow Lucia as she meets the man she thinks will enable her to "have it all". Then as always life gets complicated!

This was an enjoyable and entertaining read. Of course as someone who lives in New York City reading about life in New York City during the early 1950's up to present is always interesting! The cast of characters in this novel or loveable and you'll feel like you're in the Sartori's kitchen at Christmas eating Tartuffi!

It is a quick, light and easy read although I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed. It's the perfect book inbetween some heavy reading that has your brain working overtime as it will certainly not tax your brain to read this book.

Overall, I'd give it 3-3.5 stars.

Favorite Things Friday - Bagels

This Friday I'm going to share my love of bagels with you all! Ever since I was a really young girl I've always loved bagels. I would only eat plain bagels until the age of 19 when I was working at Cool Beans (the coffee shop on campus at Holy Cross) and I needed to eat breakfast. They had all sorts of bagels but no plain that is the day I became an adventurous bagel eater. Now I like poppy bagels, marbe bagels, cinnamon raisan bagels, wheat bagels, and my two favorites are the Everything Bagel and the Onion Bagel!

When I lived in Boston I was a Brueggers girl. There bagels were small (and probably healthier for us for that) but they were by far the best in Boston (IMHO). My favorite bagels from my hometown of Ridgewood, New Jersey come from Bagelicious Bagels on Broad Street in town. They are hands down the best bagels I've ever eaten in my life! If you ever roll through Ridgewood check them out.

Moving to NYC the bagel mecca of the US I was psyched to find the perfect bagel. The two that stand out the most to me are: Smilers (across the street from my office) they have a damn good bagel for a deli and Pick-a-bagel a true New York Classic I'm told! The one that I have yet to try is Esse bagel - maybe I'll give it a go this weekend.

Regardless, bagels are the perfect comfort food breakfast, unfortunately you can't eat to many of them a week because they're not great for the waistline. They're a special treat!

Post in Comments:

Do you have a favorite bagel?

Do you have a favorite bagel place?

If you live in NYC, what's your favorite bagel place in the city?

Entertainment Thursday: I Love You, Man

Thursday night I went out to Astoria to have dinner and catch a movie with my good friend Jen. She made a delicious dinner of stuffed shells (a variation that I had never had...but may have to try in the near future!) and we shared some wine and then headed over to the movie theater to watch I Love You, Man.

The premise is that Paul Rudd's character, who just proposed to the girl of his dream, his girlfriend, realizes that he doesn't have any close guy friends. When he realizes that his future wife is concerned that she's going to have 7+ bridesmaids and he won't have any groomsmen he sets out on a series of "man dates" to find a Best Man.

Enter Jason Segel, as Sydney Fife, a fun loving guys guy that Paul Rudd's character, Peter Flaven, hits it off with. As they bond over their love of the band RUSH, and start spending all of their time together, Peter's fiance, Zoe doesn't appreciate their new formed friendship.

I'll be honest, I don't watch How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM), and I know I should start, but the few times I've seen it Jason Segel seems really young to me (in real life he's a year younger than myself). In this movie however he seemed much older and it took me about half the movie to reconcile that in my head. There were plenty of laugh out loud moments, and plenty of awkward Peter Klaven moments where you just were cringing in your seat embarrased for him! It was definitely a feel good movie, that goes exactly where you think it's going to go and then brings it back to finish exactly how you want it to finish.

I would say that it's a definite rental - 3 stars!

Recipe Wednesdays: Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs

Last week I made another Giada creation: Orecchiette with Mini Chicken Meatballs. Once again, it was delish!

If you would like the recipe you can click HERE. It was fairly simple, more prep time than cooking time. It was more flavorful then I thought it was going to be. The chicken meatballs were divine and I was nervous seeing as I had never used ground chicken as a base before in place of ground turkey or beef.

This meal heated up great as leftovers, I ended having it for lunch most days last week. I just added a little bit of chicken broth each morning and some salt, pepper and cheese and it was delicious once heated in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

This is definitely a recipe I would recommend!

Tuesday Travels: Top 5 Domestic Dream Vacations

Last week I blogged about my Top 5 International Dream Vacations so this week I'm going to write about my Top 5 Domestic Dream Vacations (again in no particular order). I love to travel and it doesn't matter if it is abroad or in my own country, exploring new places, meeting new people, discovering new running routes, that's my main objective!

First up is Texas, I know it may seem pretty random but I have had a desire to visit Texas for a VERY LONG TIME and I have yet to get there. I don't know what it is that entices me but I have got to get to Texas sooner rather than later. Whether it's exploring great music in Austin, running where Kristin Armstrong runs in the hills of Austin, visiting the Alamo (even though I've been told by all that it is over rated), seeing the river walk in San Antonio, going to a high school football game, going to the rodeo, vacationing along the Gulf of Mexico or eating delicious barbque, I just want to experience Texas in all of it's glory.

Ah, Yellowstone National Park. I love doing outdoorsy things: hiking, white water rafting, kayaking, swimming, and just being in awe of Mother Nature. Where better to experience that then Yellowstone National Park, the grand daddy of all National Parks. My parents recently took a trip there and my cousin visits Yellowstone frequently. I just want to see the Buffalo blocking the middle of the road, visit Ole Faithful with all the other tourists, and walk the trails. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the day that we get to go here...although I will say I'm not much for camping...I'll do it, but it's probably the outdoorsy activity I like the least!

Wow, I'm really sharing myself with you guys. Mount Rushmore is one of my OBSESSIONS. It's bizarre and pretty random, I know, but I am obsessed with Mount Rushmore and my need to visit it. It is a running joke in our household. Maybe it's because of the President's, or maybe because it is just so random and cool - faces of our Presidents carved into a rock in North (or is it South) Dakota. I mean look at it - you know you want to see it too!

I don't know how I'm going to get to Mount Rushmore, as I do not believe there is much to see out where it is except Mount Rushmore. I may have to combine it with my trip to Yellowstone even though I'm not sure they're near each other....hmmm...this one is going to take some pondering. But when I get there, ahh, I'll feel I've truly accomplished one of my life goals.

Hawaii!!!! Who doesn't want to go here??? Not only do I want to visit the beautiful beaches, go snorkeling and enjoy the blue blue water, but I also really want to visit Pearl Harbor (a time period in history that facinates me to no end), take the Road to Hana, walk near a volcano, visit the pineapple farms and eat fresh pineapple, among numerous other things.

It might have been the episode of Saved by the Bell or Full House that introduced me to Hawaii (you know which episodes I'm talking about!) Either way it's beautiful, it's not part of the continental US, and it's a MUST visit!


Last but not least, The Grand Canyon. I already have my trip to The Grand Canyon planned out although it requires the attendance of our unborn children. We're going to spend a week rafting down the Colorado River and then spend some more time hiking and exploring all the nooks and crannies and swimming holes that The Grand Canyon holds.

You have to be 12 to raft on the Colorado River and you have to book the trip 3 years in advance. Seeing as we do not have children yet, and I'm not pregnant, I guess this trip won't be happening for awhile. Although I've already started saving for it because it's going to cost a pretty penny. It'll be worth it though when I'm standing at the rim with Jon and our 4 kids looking across the Canyon saying to myself, "We finally made it here!"

Post in Comments:

What are your Top 5 Domestic Dream Vacations?

Have you visited any of mine?

Monday Bookworms: A President & A Shopaholic?

For those of you who know me or have been following my blog from the beginning you know that one of the reading challenges I have outlined for myself is to read a book about every President in order. I've been working on this for about 4-5 years now and I usually try to read 2 President books a year.

I just finished a book about John Tyler, the 10th President. I chose a book from the American Presidents Series. These books are good for Presidents that you want to read about but you perhaps do not want to read 600+ pages about. John Tyler was one of those Presidents.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. John Tyler was the first Vice President to replace a President who had passed away in office. That in and of itself is interesting. He was a lot of other firsts as well: The first President to lose their spouse in office (his wife passed away in his first year or second year of Presidency); he was the first President to be married in office (to his 2nd wife); he had 15 children total, the most of any President (8 by his first wife and 7 by his second wife); he was the first President to lose his parties support and be ousted from his party during his Presidency (the Whigs were so upset by his numerous vetoes they told him he could no longer be part of the Whig party!); he was the first incumbent President to not run for re-election; and he was the first President to betray his country (after he was out of office when the South voted to secede from the Union, John Tyler voted with the South).

Many say that he was not a great President, unfortunately for him he was up against a lot. Many people didn't feel that he should be President, they called him "The Accidental President". Henry Clay, especially felt very strongly about this. At one point during his term it is said that Clay orchestrated that Tyler's entire cabinet (minus Daniel Webster) resigned in the same day!

While maybe not the most important President, I still found it interesting to read about his life, his Presidency and his family. I'm finding that sometimes it's the Presidents that I do not know much about that are proving to be the most interesting reads!



From President John Tyler to shopaholic Becky Bloomwood, my reading tastes are certainly varied! Shopaholic & Sister is the 4th book in this hilariously fun series. I'm sad that there is only one more to go.... I've thoroughly enjoyed this entire series and it seems to me that each book gets more outrageous and funnier as I get further into the series. I think also having seen the movie that just came out and having a picture of Hugh Dancy & Isla Fisher in my head, had me laughing harder as I imagined them acting some of this stuff out...oh, how I hope they make sequels to that movie!

In this 4th installment of the Shopaholic series, Becky Bloomwood and Luke Brandon are finishing up their around the world honeymoon. After 10 months they decide that it is time to come home to see family and friends and begin working again. However, upon arrival, Becky's parents seem to be keeping a secret, her best friend Suze has a "new" best friend, and Becky worries about how much she actually ended up purchasing and shipping to Luke's flat in London. As she discovers that her parents secret is that she has a half-sister, Becky thinks this is grand, she'll show Suze. She envisions that her and her half-sister Jessica will be best friends forever, that is until she meets Jessica. Jessica is everything that Becky is not, frugal, spend thrift, hates shopping and excesses, and is passionate about the environment and rocks. As Becky tries to form a bond with her new sister, handle stressed out Luke who's trying to close a new deal, and adjust to being back in good ol' England, hilarity ensues.

Once again Kinsella managed to capture my heart. I may not be as crazy and over the top as Becky but how can you not root for her again and again as she gets herself into all sort of funny situations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book (I actually had to put it down a couple of times becuase I was laughing so hard my eyes were shut!) If you haven't read the Shopaholic series I absolutely suggest them as fun, outrageous, light, laugh-out-loud reads - you will not be disappointed! Just make sure to start from the beginning!