Springtime in Boston!

I. Love. Today.  It is finally Spring!

There were teases of it before (and perhaps this 80-degree day is also a tease,) but I absolutely love the feeling I get each Spring when the weather finally becomes warm and sunny.

And the people come out in droves!  Code and I are going to go join them!

"Are you going to get a new phone this summer?"

Last Saturday, M3, E, M2 and I went on a bar crawl - Bar Golf.  (That's another story.)

At the first bar, I went to text M2 quickly, to figure out where she was.  As I was putting my phone away, M3 asked me if I was planning on getting a new phone over the summer.  (M3 and I have the same phone, which we got weeks apart, so she figured my contract was coming to an end.)  I replied that, yes, I'd definitely be looking into a new phone, contract, supplier, I wasn't sure, but definitely a new phone.

Minutes later, M3 and E both had their phones out, texting or something.  (Does this happen to anyone else?  Everyone around you is checking their phone, texting, etc. and you have absolutely nothing to do on your phone.  But you pull it out anyways.)  To not feel left out, I pulled out my phone, too.

And promptly dropped it.

I've almost never dropped my phone before (mostly because I rarely use my phone.)  M3 said no worries, just pop out the battery, stick it back in, all would be fine.

Nope.  Screen was completely blank.

After repeating this a few times, M3 turned to me and said, "When I asked you if you were getting a new phone over the summer, I really meant 'tomorrow.'"

After a brief dilemma (do I break down and get my lusted-after iPhone?,) I eventually decided to finish out my contract with Sprint and then go month-to-month till the next iPhone version comes out.

My new phone?  The Samsung Rant.  So far, I'm mostly loving it.  Given that I hate talking on the phone but enjoy texting, the key pad is the best thing that's happened to my phone since... well, since I got a phone.  (Note: As with the camera, I'm not asking for a lot out of my electronics.  Can it text?  Yes.  Awesome.)  I was able to get Tetris on the new phone without paying again, which was awesome, and I got some sa-weet ringtones ("Yeah!" and something by A R Rahman, my new obsession.)  I neglected to read reviews before buying the phone, but I've definitely noticed some issues with freezing, even after only a few days.  I'm going to see how things go in the next week, but I've got thirty days to exchange it, so I'm not chained down (yet.)  That being said, I've never been chained to my phone, so freezing once in the while isn't the end of the world!

Still lusting after the iPhone...  Soon...

Free Time... What to Babble About???

So...  This week, most of my friends have out-of-town things going on...  Which leaves me alone with lots of free time...  Which is strange, as, for the past month or so, I've had plans probably five of the seven nights of the week (at least.)

I realized that I have a free night.  I'm mostly caught up with my DVR, so I thought I could write a little about... something.  But what?  My blogs till now have been about strollers (yeah, I gave up on that,) FOOD or quick notes that were inspired by events in my life.  (coughdogpeemancough.)

But NOW.  I said forever ago that I'd babble on about my new(ish) camera.  And maybe my new phone, too.  Gadgets galore!

SO, I got the new camera three months ago.  I originally wanted a DSLR, but then I walked into a Best Buy and saw this:

Not going to lie.  Sometimes I buy things because of how they look.

It's beautiful.  Less than half an inch deep, completely sleek.  The entire back of the camera is the viewing screen...  Which is a TOUCH SCREEN.  So far, the battery hasn't died, the flash works, the screen is huge, the memory hasn't been full...  And, did I mention?, it's beautiful.

My one complaint is that it has a weird thing with light.  It tends to wash out pictures a bit, especially if the picture's taken by a light or a window in daylight.  I'm kind of betting this is something that I can adjust with settings.  That, however, would involve reading the User's Manual.  Ack!  (So, if anyone knows anything about this camera, advice, please!)

Long story short: I love the camera, but I'm not asking for a whole lot.

Religion!

My life lacks religion for the most part.  That hasn't really changed, but a couple of weekends ago, I did attend a Passover Seder and an Easter supper.  (Anyone miss that those both revolve around food?  No?  Just checking.)

Saturday, April 11th - Passover Seder

E has been hosting Passover Seders for three or four years now.  Her parents comes down from Maine, her aunt and uncle join, there's some friends and cousins...  In the end, there are about twelve people crowded around a table in her living room in S'ville.

These dinners always involve a) drinking wine and b) reading the Seder text.  (I have no idea what it's actually called.  Which is terrible.  I've read it three or four times now, and I have no clue.  It talks about the Jewish people and the Seder plate and the oppressed people...  Well, wiki's entry covers most of it.)  We take turns reading the text, which generally results in some yelling about where do people begin and end in the text.  Hilarious.  (There's also mention by the Christians in the room - lead by E's uncle - about how this isn't their "thing."  Also hilarious.)

I must insert something of a cool story here.  This year, E put an orange on the Seder plate.  Someone commented that this was strange, so it was told that (and, no, I don't have dates, names or locations straight here) some old male said that women belonged on the altar (is there a Jewish term for that?) "like an orange belongs on the Seder plate."  So, it has become some sign of female empowerment to have an orange on the Seder plate.  Yay, ladies!

In the end, I'm always a huge fan of these gatherings.  I never had a big family growing up, so to have a gathering of all these people of different generations is lovely.  (Plus, there are no actual kids, so it's great to be on the same "adult" level as everyone in the room.)  Given E's family, politics are always brought up - this year was distinctly different, thank you, Barack!!!

A brief note on the food...  I can't (won't) eat most of it - brisket, potatoes (cooked with meat,) matzo soup.  However, E's aunt made a beautiful and delicious salad.  My favourite part of Passover?  Charoset.  I have no idea how E and her mom made it, but here's a recipe - apples, spices, nuts, sugar, red wine - yum!  Since the beginning, I've made Chocolate Chip Meringues, which always go over well.  (Notes: Pinch of salt.  I had to do the oven thing twice to get them baked through.)  Easy and delicious!

Sunday, April 12th - Easter Sunday

M3's Sunday dinner turned into Easter supper - a lovely excuse to make a lot of food and get together a bit of a bigger group than usual!

That being, said, we had a bit of a hard time coming up with what Easter supper consisted of.  I can't remember growing up eating Easter supper, so...  I looked online.

All combined, our dinner ended up consisting of: (ham,) roasted potatoes, deviled eggs, guacamole (new tradition!,) asparagus, pineapple bread (made by M2) and cherry pie.  Yum yum yum.  There was also Easter candy, but I think we were all too stuffed to eat any of it!

Really enjoyed this weekend... and all the food it involved!

Food Catch Up!

So, I just went to upload my pictures so that I could ramble on about food for a bit...  And I discovered pictures of other events from the past couple of weeks!  It was a nice reminder that I do things (possibly) worthy of pictures other than eat...

That being said, on to the food!  (There is a lot of it.)

Sunday, March 29th

"Big Bowl of Mexican."  This is officially one of my new favourites.  I believe M3 created this after returning from Mexico and missing all of the flavours...  So, she just put everything into a bowl.  It was / is spicy and delicious!

As I clearly got this "recipe" (it's a bit of a make-it-up-yourself thing!) I shall share:

- Corn, sauted in lime juice, with chili powder and cumin and garlic and a bit of olive oil

- black beans (with jalapenos - Ortega does a can of these)

- Rotel, lime and cilantro (this salsa-type thing)

- rice

... Mix altogether, heat, eat!  Actually, heat up a tortilla to eat it with.  And, you know me, add some guacamole!

[I'm pretty sure there was a dessert - M3 always does dessert - but I don't have a picture, and I can't remember!]

Tuesday, March 31st

Eggplant parmesan, garlic bread.  This was my night, and I was trying to do something that I hadn't done before...  I'm not sure that my friends were that excited about eggplant, but they at least pretended to be happy!  And I thought it was great!

I used this recipe.  Slight alterations: I only used two eggplants.  Sweat the eggplant before making (coat in salt, let drain for ~30 minutes, rinse in cold water.)  I baked the eggplants for 10 minutes / side.  Go!  Enjoy!

Thursday, April 2nd

Rice and veggies.  More importantly: scorpion bowls.  M1 started with the idea of fruit salad, which lead to scorpion bowls, which lead to (sorry, I forget) some Asian-inspired sauce with rice and veggies.  Yum!

M1 decided that scorpion bowls should be her signature drink.  Which I am all for.  This evening, we made them according to this "recipe":

1 part rum

1 part Malibu

1 part vodka

3 parts Orange-Mango-Pineapple juice

maraschino cherries!

We decided that the 1 part alcohol:1 part juice was a bit strong, so we splashed a bit more juice in there...  Delicious!

Sunday, April 5th

Guacamole, enchiladas.  M3 made enchiladas, as she did in our very first family dinner.  (Let's all take a moment to reminisce.)  Awww...

Cheese and tortillas and chilis and spicy goodness!

Again, I'm sure there was a dessert, but I can't think of what it was to save my life!

Tuesday, April 7th

Lasagna, garlic bread.  Following in M3's footsteps (and by request from KJ,) I made lasagna, as I did in week one.

Also, I made garlic bread.  But, differently.  By "differently," I mean "I bought frozen Texas Toast.  It was a bit sacrilegious - I've almost always made my own garlic bread!  But, having been fed and REALLY enjoying Texas Toast, I broke down and made it myself.  And I'm just happy that I did.  It was delicious.

Tuesday, April 14th

Black bean burgers, potato wedges.  Haha, this was another one that I told my friends about, and there was a slight hesitation before the "That sounds good!"  Putting vegetarian options on meat-eaters is, understandably, not always that exciting.  But I think they like it!!!

Here's the recipe I used: Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers.  And, the slight changes I made (all based on the reviews): Rinse and dry black beans before mashing.  I squeezed the moisture out of the onion-pepper-garlic puree through coffee filters.  I doubled the recipe, except I used three eggs...  And I added more chili powder.  Also, I found that they needed a little longer than 10 minutes / side in the oven.

I found these delicious - and, possibly the best part - they freeze great, so I've had them for leftovers a couple of times since, and still have a few more!

That's all on food for now...  And I haven't covered Passover and Easter!  (What can I say, it was a religion-filled weekend...)

Chair Launch Party

Ha.  "Chair Launch Party."  They have those???

Yes, yes they do!  And they serve wine at them!

I'm not entirely sure if this kind of an event is unique to modern designers, but, apparently, modern companies hold launch parties for new items.  I'd never been to one before, but this one seemed to be fairly open-to-the-public, so maybe it's just a case of knowing it's happening?

Anyways, M3, M1 and I headed down to the Kartell store a couple of weeks ago.  (A store which you could somewhat often find M3 and myself with our faces smooshed against the window on our walk home after some bars...)  Kartell manufacturers lots of items, almost all (if not all) made of plastic...  Actually, the company was founded as a plastics producer (chemistry!,) only later moving into furniture.  They were launching the Papyrus Chair:

I'm not a huge fan (it reminds me of the '70s,) but I love being around modern stuff.  (The brothers who designed this chair did actually design one of my favourite sofas: The Alcove.)

After going in and having our names checked off of the guest list, we grabbed some Proseco, and began to wander around the store...  At which point the photographer they hired for the event began following us around, as evidenced here.  M3 and I knew a fair amount about the furniture, but it's always fun to touch the pieces!  And be reminded of what more you want...  And this...  And this...  And this...  And this...  (JK on the last one!)

Kartell apparently has begun making jelly shoes, which was new to me.  Not entirely sure how I feel about these, but if you're going to wear jelly shoes, they may as well be made by Kartell!

In the end, it was a funny night...  Walking around, drinking, and trying to pretend that I fit in with the crowd that showed up.  Other than the free drinks and some good chats with friends, I did leave with my new favourite picture of myself:

... Never mind the retro chair...

Absurd.

Dear Little Man, Thanks for reminding me that there are jerks in the world.  -Jennifer

So, this morning, like every morning, I was walking Cody.  We were on the final block of his walk, he lifted his leg and marked some house.  No biggie.  This happens approximately ten times a day, and I'm not including his actual bladder-relieving pees.  We continue.

In a couple of steps, we are about to pass a man.  By "man," I mean "jerk."

Jerk: Did your dog just pee?

Me: [Confused.  I mean, stupid question.  Was it supposed to be rhetorical?] Ummm, yeah.

J: That's not good.  I know that's not your house.  Is it?

M: [If you know, why are you asking?] No.

J: That's bad.  You should take your dog in front of your house to pee.

M: Ummm, okay.

J: It's not the dog's fault.  It's the owner's fault.  The dog doesn't know any better, so it's the owner's responsibility.  Do you understand that?

M: [This is actually something I agree with, so I nod.  Even though he was being a condescending a-hole.] Yes.

[Possibly there was another exchange, but in the interest of not hitting him, I tried to move along.]

J: See the difference?  One is being a good, nice person, and the other is being a pig.

M: [As I'm retreating.]  Got it.  And thanks for calling me a pig.  It's been awhile.

And now I've been thinking about this since I got home.  There are several other ways I have since thought of to respond to the jerk:

1. Punching holes in his theory.  Have you had a dog?  Clearly not, as you must know that you can't walk a [male] dog around, more than a block, without him marking his territory.  So, am I expected to pace in front of my house so that he only pees there?  (This is a hilarious image, given the number of dogs that live in the South End.)  Also, I don't own my house; so is it fair for him to pee there?  If not, where do I go?  Or do you believe that one shouldn't own a dog till they own a house?  (I actually suspect this jerk wasn't a dog person and would prefer that no one own dogs...)

2. Be as condescending to him as he was to me.  Did you have a bad weekend?  Did a dog once pee and kill your prize-winning [flower]?  Did Mommy and Daddy never let you have a dog?  Ugh.

3. Punching him in the face.  I'm just saying, I bet it would have felt good.

Okay, I must get on with my day, now.  Hopefully it'll continue better than it started!

And, for the record, I plan to let Cody pee pretty much wherever he wants.  Yes, I can control where I take him, but as far as starting and stopping his bladder...  Nope!

Restaurant Week, Spring 2009

Does other cities have Restaurant Week?  I'd never heard of it before Boston, but I've only really lived in a couple of other cities.  Regardless, it's a fabulous idea that should be wider-spread.

What is Restaurant Week?  First of all, it's actually two weeks, and happens twice a year (Winter / Spring and Summer / Fall.)  Three-course dinners are set at $30.09.  Lunches are $20.09.  There are generally two or three choices per course.  Drinks aren't included, but some pretty amazing places participate in this.  Basically, I try to use Restaurant Week to try out fancy, expensive places that I generally wouldn't be able to afford (or, well, to let myself afford.)  Also, it's great to be "forced" into getting a three-course meal - how often do you eat out and get appetizer, meal and dessert?  It doesn't never happen, but it's certainly not frequent for me!

3/19/09 - M1, M3 and I went to Banq.  We'd been there before, but only for drinks.  (Tip: Just say "no" to the Hot Mess.  Hilarious name, bad drink.)  The architecture in there is absolutely stunning...  And actually the reason that we declared that we needed to return!  (I asked our waiter who designed the place, but I only half got the name and don't have the patience right now to really search for them.  So, deal with this image!)

So pretty!!!

Appetizer - Beet Salad.  Okay, kids, I'm not really a beet lover.  That being said, this was my first try, and they were huge.  I pictured beets as slivers.  These puppies looked like tomatoes.  Seriously, I got the salad and asked my friends, "Where are the beets?"  (Note: Most of my choices are limited due to the fact that I don't eat meat.  Restaurants are usually good about making me something without meat, even if it's not on the prix fixe menu.  But, little choice.)

Main Course - Zucchini and Tofu Steak.  Yum!  This was over some noodles, and absolutely delicious.  Best of all?  It was big enough that I had leftovers for lunch the next day.  (And they didn't openly scorn me for asking for a doggie bag.  I always feel weird doing so in fancy places...)

Dessert - Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake.  Okay, it wasn't bad or anything, but I can do better.

Overall: Great experience!

3/25/09 - Again, M1, M3 and I went to Sorellina.  I had heard amazing things about this place from multiple people, so I was psyched to try it out.  The decor was lovely...  The food and service, not so much.  Our waitress came over and asked if we wanted anything to drink seconds after we had been seated.  Maybe this is good service (?,) but we hadn't had time to look at the wine list, so it was a little preemptive.  When we did order wine, it must have taken fifteen minutes to get to us.  Service throughout the night was less-than-stellar.  M1 got soup as her appetizer...  It came with no spoon.  M1 ordered a coffee with dessert...  It never came.  It was just like this through the entire meal.  And, then, the food...

Appetizer - Salad, with pear.  This was my favourite part of the meal, and a great salad.  Greens, pear, craisins, it was delicious!

Main Course - Vegetarians get the shaft here.  I got what I believe was pasta, cauliflower, green beans and some green leafy thing.  If there was a sauce at all, it was maybe a butter sauce.  Basically, I can (and have) made better pasta sauces at home in five minutes.

Dessert - Not idea what they called it, but it was chocolate pudding.  I do enjoy chocolate pudding, but...  M1 and M3 got an "apple tart," which they equated to an apple muffin from Dunkin Donuts.  Dessert = no.

Overall: I wanted to love this place...  Maybe it was because it was Restaurant Week, and they knew people wouldn't be paying the full prices, but how do you expect people to return to your restaurant if their first experience kind of sucked?  Seriously, the best thing there were the plates, which were beautiful. That being said, I wouldn't say no to returning for a fun drink and the parmesan truffle fries...