I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Etc.

A good day

yesterday was a good day

It was gorgeous out. We set a new record! It hit 90 degrees in Boston!!!! (granted it dropped like 40 degrees overnight for today’s high) The city was alive with people riding bikes, selling their artwork on the street, eating ice cream, and walking around- overall just being outside.

Sonsie’s ‘outdoor seating’ on Newbury Street (across from the BAC)

I had a meeting at school and I’m now a level 8- the level of performance, knowledge, and responsibilities at work required to graduate. wOOt!

When I got off the T I saw the most incredible sunset. In the minute it took to cross the street and get my camera it already changed so much, but it still was such a pretty, vibrant color combination.

don’t judge the picture cuz it’s crap- the sunset was unbelievable!

Price got a rate increase for the drafting work he just started. So cool since it’s like seeing the light in the end of the tunnel in terms of getting money, paying off CC debit, and splitting bills again.

 the best of the worst shots I took of us

So we sorta celebrated my final approval to graduate and his increase with a simple sushi dinner at Privus. We took a walk at night and headed down the road for something quick and cheap for dinner and ended up at Privus. Such good sushi! Price got their Crispy Dragon Roll and I got their Treasure Island Roll.

do you see the dragon?

 once we got home we had a call with my mom discussing the graduation party. We picked a caterer and menu and then I went online and we picked out invites that I have to edit and order tonight.

loving how everything is wrapping up and how spring is gearing up!

 

 

Tired Feet: our long day in NYC

Price and I went into NYC on Saturday to see the Tim Buron exhibit at MOMA, among other things, but sometimes plans are ment to be broken. When we arrived we learned that the event was a timed admittance and sold out while we were in the crazy line to get in the museum. Well we regrouped and walked over to the International Auto Show. We saw the commercial for it the night before and Price’s eyes lit up with glee with the thought of going so it was nice that we did get to do it. I Liked it but I like the boat show more. I really liked the Nissan Cube and we liked the Jeep Liberty and Patriot. Of course we loved some crazy expensive cars but these were practical ones that we liked.

After leaving the auto show we went back east to 5th ave check out some stores by Herald Sq. We grabbed a cab at this point to head down to the East Village because we wanted to check out his restaurant down there. Sadly, in the cab ride down we checked into it and found out the place closed last year. Damn it! (If you are closed put it on your website or shut it down entirely!) But that did not stop us from enjoying the area and some good food.

My trusty Yelp app on my iphone had me pulling up places that I had previously bookmarked to visit. Of course places varied from hot dog stands to ramen and dessert bars. We chose a few places to check out, very good choices in deed. We went over to Pomme Frit on 2nd to try Poutine. I fell in love with Poutine. Makes for a stronger argument to get up to Montreal this summer/fall.

 After spending time in the East Village getting food and checking out at street fair by Cooper Union we headed over to the NYU campus and then headed down West Broadway to Ground Zero. It was sad to still see a big pit in the center of all these buildings, sad after so many years. We walked all around the site and checked out the new buildings (7 WTC) and checked out the construction cranes. After looping around the site we headed North and then East to get over to the Brooklyn Bridge.

We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge just to check it out. On the way over to Brooklyn we saw newlywed’s getting their photos taken (In fact we saw them in Grand Central later that night too!) The views of the Statue of Liberty, South Street Seaport, and the Empire State Building were great.

Once we got over to Brooklyn we flipped a coin and decided to head back to Manhattan for dinner instead of eating over in Brooklyn. So back over the bridge to head into Chinatown.

The return trip over the bridge was really getting to us. It was about 7pm then and we had been in the city since 10.30 or so and had been on our feet for 95% of that time so we were getting tired. So the goal was to get over the bridge and find a place for dinner.

We walked through Chinatown and ended up in Little Italy for dinner. There were guys out there calling us in for dinners so we have plently of choices ahead of us. We picked a place that was close (tired feet), a good menu, and was fairly cheap. We kept dinner light by sharing an appetizer and entree- and a very large glass of wine!

Lastly, we ended up going to Rice to Riches in Nolita (North of Little Italy). I just saw it on The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Foodtv. While it was not the best rice pudding I ever ate it (my dad’s is the best) was still a great place to try. The store was designed beautifully and had really funny sayings applied in bright graphics.

We headed to Grand Central after dessert for the 9.37 train. The train ride back is not long but we were so tired that we fell asleep and missed our stop. We woke up once we heard Greenwich being announced. No idea how both of sleep through them announcing “Po-rt Ches-TA!” Luckily my mom could pick us up… so embarrassing! In the end we figured the passing out was justified since we were basically on our feet from 10.30- 8pm and walked over 12 miles (I figured it out using gmaps) Although our legs were jello and our feet were tired we had such a great day- great weather, great cars, great food, great photos, and now, great memories!

Living by countdowns

I can’t just live in the  moment. I constantly look forward to the things to come. It’s not to say that I don’t enjoy what I’m doing at that moment. It’s just ingrained in me. I look forward to holidays, birthdays, seasons, vacations, etc. Sure while on vacation I love every second of it and think of nothing else, but once I am back I’m thinking ” Okay, where to next? What’s the next project?”

Vintage Westclox Pocket Ben Pocket Watch - Manufactured in Canada August 1948

This week has been long in the fact that it rained again there were more water issues. I’m tired of sump pumps and dehumidifiers. We moved the computer in the office to have a better set up and in lost internet connection for no real reason than to annoy me. Annoying engineers. Stepping over hoses in the bathroom. Angry rabbits who are determined to go in their normal place but can’t because of the hole in the floor. The list can go on but the point is that looking forward to the weekend has gotten me through the week.

4/2- Leave for Greenwich- LESS THAN 5 HOURS!

4/3-4- Day in the City- 1 day

4/13- Glee is back!- 11 days

4/16-4/18- Weekend in Skaneateles- 13 days

4/27- Semi Precious Weapons concert- 24 days

5/1- CKC Manchester- 32 days

5/23- LOST Series final- 50 days

5/29- BAC graduation and party!- 59 days

  

I can’t wait to reach these ‘milestones’ and cross them off my list to amp up for the next thing

PS- I would love this pocket watch.

 

Magic Garden

 

While visiting my friend Dawn in Philly this past weekend, we went to the Magic Garden. Magic Garden is this indoor and outdoor exhibit that displays the work of Isaiah Zagard. While his work is throughout Philadelphia, this is the most concentrated area. This work and his murals use tiles, mirrors, glass bottles, bicycle pieces, glass, and other odds and ends of discarded materials.

 

The work was beautiful and spectacular. Shimmery reflections of tile. Unique shapes and colors. Intricate patterns and designs. It’s just as important to stand close to the tile and look at the details as it is to step back to see the overall look of the wall and how that one piece fits into everything.

  Magic Garden is pretty cool but I loved how Isaiah’s work creeps out in the neighborhood. Dawn and I walked around looking at the work on buildings and in people’s yards. If you go to Philadelphia you have to check this place out. It was amazing in the day with the sun reflecting off of all the mirrors but I bet it is cool to see at dusk/night since there are strings of lights on some of the work.

STOMP out loud

Last night Price and I saw STOMP at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. It was my 5th time seeing this show. Clearly I love it. I started seeing it when I was younger and saw it 4 times within a few years. My Dad saw that STOMP was going to be touring in MA so he got us tickets for our Christmas gift.

I have no rhythm. I can’t keep a beat. Clapping is lost on me. I think that makes me love the show even more. (Plus it feeds into my love on drummers) I am utterly amazed by the show and how they create this stunning music with everyday items. Just 1-7 people performing at a time. It can start with 1 person tapping, then one by one the others come on stage with their “instrument” at a different beat. At times it sounds chaotic and then suddenly it all makes sense and they all hit the same beat with a bang.

The one thing that I completely forgot about was how much audience participation there is. It’s just clapping and stomping but the interaction with the performers is so much fun. Again it reminded me how I have no memory and rhythm. Luckily Price can keep a beat so he did enough clapping and stomping for the both of us. Still so fantastic!

The Great Outdoors Layout

I will conquer my photos and they will all be scrapbooked and neatly organized one day. So this leads me to digging out photos that have been printed, for let’s say 2 years, and scrapbooking them. Things are a bit chaotic how since I’m doing photos from last week and 2 years ago but it is still fun to be crossing things off my to do list.

So I got through some photos that were from a weekend in New Hampshire. Price and I went up there for some kayaking on the Conway River but the recent rain raised the water level and made the river too fast for kayakers. While our original plans changed we still had a great time. I think that the revised plans were just as good because we got to explore more of Franconia Notch State Park because we had more free time.

One of the things I love about New Hampshire is the White Mountains and the Franconia Notch State Park. It is a fantastic spend a day. There is no cell service (at least for AT&T) so it is a great way of taking a break from everything.

 Supplies: Green solid paper from an unknown kit; Patterned paper, solid papers, brads, journaling pen, punches from Stampin’ Up!; Cricut cartridges Graphically Speaking and Street Signs; stickers from SRM stickers

The Blizzard That Wasn’t

Lots of snow. A blizzard of snow. School closed all around Boston (about 18 hours ahead of time). Plows were at the ready. People stayed home from work. Drivers took public transportation so they would not get stuck later in the horrible conditions.

the only problem…

NO SNOW

 Boston ended up with about an inch of snow. Seriously.

The Cape got more but the point for me is where I live… no snow!!!!!

I think I need to change proffessions. If we make a mistake there are seriously things to account for and fix. But a weather(wo)man can be off about a 1′ of snow and no sweat, things changed. Their warns can close the publis school system ( I wish I had that power) and if they are wrong they just say “Oh the snow storm got to big it started to get warm. So, no snow.”

Pictures of the “Snow” when I left my office late last night.

Holy Glitter Batman!

I have been feeling a little off lately. Just not myself which has translated into a scrapbooking slump for a few days. I also think that this contributed to the muffin mishap on Sunday (see earlier post), clearly I was not thinking properly, ha.

Well I finally told myself to shake it off and get back to being crafty. I have been thinking about this layout for a few days but have just been putting it off. It’s kinda simple but that was sorta all I could handle last night. I have had these Stickycut Letters from Stampin’ Up! for a long time. I decided that I would used them for this layout and use glitter to make a bold title.

I made a horrible mess on the floor, table, and my face. Price said he could see glitter all over my face… great, I hope I got every speck off in the shower this morning. Either way I love glitter and I have a feeling I’ll be using these Stickycut Letter a lot since they are made for glitter and beads, and I imagine sand would work too!

Date night

Dear James Cameron-

Congrats on creating the highest grossing piece of crap. Price and I went to see your movie last night. We both knew nothing about your movie- no joke. Neither of us looked into what it was about at all prior to going. So we happily forked over the $25.00 (plus service fee) to see your movie in 3D at an IMAX theater.

I guess you should be glad that we knew nothing about the movie because if we had we would have saved our money and stayed in and played some wii. About 15 minutes into the movie I realize that it really is going to be SOOOOOOO predictable. Good guy, bad guy, save the earth message. We care about the earth- we recycle, use reusable bags, compost, etc- I get it. It’s an important thing that everyone can relate to. Anyway, my problem was the predictability plus I kept thinking that I had seen the movie before, just with a few changes.

This nagging feeling continued on until I remembered FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST. That cartoon that came out in 1992 with tone loc and tim curry- as the creepy sexy slim thing. You have kids- granted they were born after this movie came out but you are in the MOVIE BUSINESS. I would think you see a few of them for work related research. And If not, why did no one have the balls to tell you that Avatar is a future version of Ferngully?? Also, both movies were released by 20th Century Fox, did no one there consider the similarities???

Hoping that you are satisfied with having the top 2 grossing movies of all time and you retire now. With your new found free time you should sit down and google “Avatar Ferngully” or ” James Cameron Ferngully” and you can find things to the liking of this.

Signed-

Nicole and Price

Most exciting part of the night was getting jellybeans (juicy pear is my all time favorite) and then going home to write this. Oh yeah and watching a clip of Tone Loc rapping in Ferngully.

   

But I don’t want to!!!

I don’t want to go to work tomorrow. I love having fantastic weekends but hate that they come to an end.

On Friday Price surprised me with cake. I have revolted from boxed cake mix- except for funfetti. I love funfetti!!! So when I saw he posted a picture of the cake on facebook during the day on friday I was thrilled because he made me a cake. It was so unexpected and so nice.

Plus my friend Natalie and I went to a Yelp Elite Event!  Great event with great food, booze, and some cornhole. I love yelp!

 

On Saturday we had plans to go to the Museum of Science to see the Harry Potter Exhibit early on in the day to beat the crowds, instead we slept in until 10.30. Although we had a late start and had to deal with crazy crowds we had a good time. I even got into a little bit of a friendly debate about NASCAR at the bar where we had lunch. Which lead Price to say “Never a dull moment” as he pulled me away from the guys outside. But guess what- I totally won beat 4 guys in that one 🙂

I was disappointed that the people at the MOS working the Harry Potter Exhibit were such Nazi’s about taking photos. There really should have been a few opportunities to take some good HP stuff. You cound not even take a picture of the poster outside the exhibit!  Crazy! At least they had a chess piece from HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Price and I are now MOs members so we are looking forward to going back to see other exhibits. Plus there is a network of 300 museums and zoos that have a reciprocal program so we can get in there- including the Bruce Museum (Greenwich CT) and the museum of Science and Technology (Syracuse, NY).

And then I scrapbooked, watched football, and we made a turkey today. Which is an amazing feat since we cooked it in that tiny thing over Price’s shoulder. It was good but I made crappy gravy. Oh well, at least the turkey was a success.

So i’ll have to brave the rain and the 50 mph wind gusts that we predicted for tomorrow. happy monday.

 

Project 365

Project 365

I always wanted to do Project 365 because I think it’s a fun way of quickly capturing what’s going on in your life, one day at a time. I started it this year and I hope that I can stick with it- I’m not one for consistency. I have never been able to keep a reliable date book or a diary when I was a kid because I would do it daily for a week and then leave it for 6 months. Hopefully posting the pictures on the blog will help me.

Plus, I am determined to have a full set for Shuttercal. I’m kinda OCD when it comes to having complete sets- like glasses, silverware, plates, etc. This all started when I was younger with crayons. I would freak if I lost or broke one because the set was ruined. I’m quirky but I think this will be cute to have. Check out ShutterCal to have a cute way to organize your 365 photos.

Oh happy day

I celebrated my 25th birthday with

a beautiful flower (gifted in a flour sifter) at my desk from Helen

maple layer cake with maple buttercream frosting from Julie, plus she gave me the cutest bunny earrings from Figs and Ginger

 

 

   

pizza with price

This has become a tradition for my birthday. It’s the fifth year making pizza together on my birthday. We make pizza at other times during the year but we have to do it on my birthday… it just would not be my birthday without it. I have the same toppings on my pizza every time, pineapple and jalapenos, but this time pricer also got some ham to make it a real hawaiian pizza. I think this was our best pizza yet.

and

flan cake from kellie that we ate before I remembered to take a picture! Damn!!!

 

Thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday and for making it so great.

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