HAPPY HALLOWEEN

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Boo!



A Jack-in-the-Box!

ASL IS WRITING A BLOG

I'll be the first to admit that I am completely addicted to Facebook. Seeing what's going on in my friends' lives, viewing photos I wouldn't normally have access to, reading people's status updates all makes for a great time. I even like reconnecting with old friends - people I haven't seen or heard from since high school and beyond. And yet, my circle of friends on the site used to be limited to people I actually talked to, or do now that we've reconnected. But suddenly, this small group from my high school is on and adding me as their friend and it's not a bad thing, but still. Half the time, I don't know the person by their married name, so I'm sitting with my mouse over "Confirm" and racking my brain trying to recall who they are. And then, on top of that, a few of them I didn't even speak to in high school. Not because we were enemies or anything, but we just weren't in the same crowd. So now I'm confirming them as friends on Facebook, but I wish I could add a little disclaimer that states, "I didn't have anything to say to you in high school, so I really don't think I have anything to say to you now. Please view my photos and read my status and I'll do the same to you, but no need for any additional contact." I'm honestly not trying to be mean or snobbish...I'm just trying to be a bit cautious about who has access to my life. Before, it was this great Facebook world of true friends and now it's getting a tad strange.

CS/30

Yesterday, while walking around Tribeca with some friends who were visiting from out of town, one of them mentioned that she thought the guy who had just walked past us into the toy store with his son was Michael Imperioli, best known for his role as Christopher on "The Sopranos." After following him into the store to confirm, I had to admit that it was an excellent sighting being that he looked like this for his current role on the 70s-set TV show "Life of Mars."

TECH CENTRAL

With the dying of Adrian's laptop comes the addition of another desktop computer into our household. That brings the grand total of computers in our house to five (2 desktops and 3 laptops). Absolutely ridiculous, I know - even if two of them are broken. So now instead of having the "battleship" set-up of our two laptops facing each other, we are now sitting back-to-back at our own desks, which is funny because our old apartment was bigger than this current one, but the set-up was not conducive to having two desks. Adrian says it's all about having corners. All I know is that I finally get my dining room table back so that it will be used only as a dining room table, and I can tell Adrian's in the room only by the clicking of his keyboard.

ONLY 17 MORE DAYS

Jack's custom-made birthday shirt from Etsy.com:

SEARCHING FOR THE GREAT PUMPKIN

It's pumpkin time and I love me some pumpkin. However, my most favorite pumpkin thing - the pumpkin cheesecake shmear from Noah's Bagels isn't found on the East Coast. I haven't even been able to find pumpkin bagels, period. Nor have I been able to find the pumpkin cheesecake ice cream from Ben & Jerry's that Katie raved about last year. I'm on the lookout constantly for anything pumpkin at any store or bakery we visit, but I've been striking out left and right. Then on Friday at our neighborhood farmer's market, I found a pumpkin chocolate chip loaf at the baker we frequent. I didn't set my expectations high because some of their stuff is good and some isn't, but the loaf was excellent. Even Jack enjoyed it (and he didn't even get any of the chocolate parts). I hope it's just early in the season and more pumpkin things will be coming my way. Otherwise, I will be stocking up on that pumpkin loaf come this Friday.

RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Without a doubt, Adrian is the harshest food critic I know. Every Thursday, on our lunch date, we leave the restaurant and when I ask him what he thought, he always, always says..."It was okay." (This also goes for everything from movies to Broadway shows to clothes I try on - it is his standard response to most anything.) So I couldn't believe it today when we left our lunching spot and I asked him what he thought and he said, "It was quite good." Let me repeat that in case you missed it because when I first heard it, I almost fainted. He said, "It was quite good." Ahh...but here's the kicker. He followed that up with, "You know I judge a place by their bread, and they had really good bread." Forget the saffron pappardelle appetizer or the short rib croque monsieur or the black forest mousse. That bread - now that was a winner.

VACUUM QUEEN

I'm not even sure if people live below us, but if they do, I wish I could explain why we feel the need to vacuum at least twice a day. Perhaps they've seen us with Jack and can assume that he is a very messy boy, which he is when it comes to any mealtime. I never vacuum before 10 a.m. and never after 8 p.m. and I just cross my fingers that it's not something that bothers them. I would hate to be annoying people I've never met.

(Here is a photo of Adrian and Mark (and me from the back) at the recent Burger Bash found online at New York Magazine!)

THE KAHNS ARE COMING!

It's taken almost two and a half years, countless entreaties, numerous promises, and some blood, sweat, and tears, but Katie and Noah (as a couple) are coming to visit us here in New York. We're overjoyed to get to share our wonderful city with them and we look forward to celebrating Adrian's birthday just a tad belatedly with our "life swap" partners. Hooray!

WHERE'S THE BEEF?

With eighteen hamburger vendors to choose from, a Godiva dessert lounge featuring everything from cheesecake to chocolate mousse to cookies, booths for water, beer, wine, coffee, and a photo booth to capture the good times, both Adrian and I have to say that last night's Burger Bash was quite the success. We gorged ourselves to the point of stomachaches - Adrian was able to get down around eight burgers (they weren't normal size, but they weren't sliders either) with a few nibbles of the ones he couldn't eat fully, and I was done after four. I was more into the desserts anyways. We hung out with some friends and saw a bunch of B-list (maybe even C-list?) celebrities: Rachael Ray (who was the night's host), Al Roker, Guy Fieri, Spike Mendelsohn (from Top Chef's season 4), Katie Lee Joel (Billy Joel's wife - who actually won the People's Choice award for best burger...we didn't agree with that), and Art Smith (Oprah's former personal chef). We named Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien the best burger we tasted, while I gave Al Roker's second place, though Adrian wasn't feeling that. He gave his second place to Kobe Club. It was too much food, and too much fun.

DATE NIGHT

I'm off to shower because I have a date tonight. With my husband. And I plan to wear real clothes and maybe even make-up. Sure, it's to eat hamburgers after an hour subway ride, but did I tell you? It's without baby! Woo hoo!

EGGS

I have too much to read (my magazines are piling up on me!) to write a lengthy blog right now. I will say that Jack ate his first scrambled eggs today and he loved them. He couldn't get them into his mouth fast enough, which resulted in some misfires that ended up on the floor, as does most everything these days. Isn't it amazing watching your child eat something for the first time that you take completely for granted?

CS/29

I almost ran into Dianne Wiest while doing lunges down the hall at my gym yesterday. I had noticed her earlier when she was talking to one of the owners - if you've ever seen her in anything (Parenthood, The Birdcage, Hannah and Her Sisters, HBO's In Treatment), you'd recognize her voice instantly. She seems so sweet and her "excuse me" was said with such a nice smile. I hope I didn't drip any sweat on her.

CAN'T WAIT FOR FRIDAY

We're back! Chicago was fun - it was great to see the Bonds and explore the city with our two little ones. The photos have been posted at Jack's Picasa site, the laundry is done and put away, and we are slowly getting back into our routine. We are excited for Friday when Adrian's parents are coming to babysit at night, so that Adrian and I can have a date night. We're headed to the NYC Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash, where we are going to chow on some (hopefully) delicious burgers for three hours straight and then head home from Brooklyn in our burger coma. We can't wait!

TO TIDE YOU OVER

I forgot that we're leaving for Chicago tomorrow, which means I probably won't be able to write any blogs while we're gone. So to make up for it, I'll leave you with four things you might not know about me.

• A boy nicknamed me "Racetrack" in fifth grade for a chicken pox scar I have on my nose that is perfectly oval. It was not meant as an endearing nickname, though why it was so hurtful when it's such a dumb name is beyond me. Oh, elementary school.
  
• The only thing I automatically do left-handed is dribble a basketball.
  
• I always set things such as alarms and microwave timers at numerically odd times (e.g. 1:17 or 6:31).
  
• I make a list of things to pack before any trip, whether it's two days to three weeks, and I cross each item off as it's put in the suitcase or bag. (But I bet you could have guessed this one.)
  

ACCOMPLISHMENT

Well, I did it! I wrote a blog every day in September (not counting those first four days that somehow got by me). So to make up for those four days, I'll write the first four days in October and if you're lucky (and if my life remains as minute-to-minute exciting as it usually does), you might just get a blog every day of October. Stay tuned!

(I also just realized that Adrian and I got engaged five years ago today. Getting him to propose - now that was definitely an accomplishment!)