Twitter vs. Facebook

I finally figured it out. I may be the last one, but I am a little slow, so bear with me.

Facebook allows for cross-posting your tweets to FB, but it's pointless. If I follow you on FB, I don't need to see the same posts on Twitter and vice versa.

What I have come to realize is that Twitter and FB updates have their own unique purposes.

FB friends are people I know in real life (for the most part), so those updates can be more personal.

On Twitter I am followed by many people I've never met. They could (presumably) not care less about what I'm eating for dinner, how much I love my new shoes, etc. (Of course, it is debatable as to whether my FB friends care either, but that is a different story.)

After the election I stopped using Twitter for a while because of all the duplicate posts. I loved watching the debates with Twitter, but after that, my interest waned considerably.

Now I have it figured out. Twitter is useful to me for one thing only: discussions about toics of common interest. Topics may include news, conferences, movies, beers, restaurants, brands, etc.

Twitter is a public forum. If I tweet about the Beer Wars movie, people from around the country are going to soon search on "beerwars", see my comments and those by everyone else tweeting about the movie. It's a shared experience like nothing else I can think of. And, actually, it's pretty fabulous. I'm all fired up about Twitter again.

And now I'm going to unfollow all of my Twitter friends who cross-post to FB. It's nothing personal, guys. If you decide to separate the two, please post a message on FB so that I can start following you again.

No, not yoga for dogs

Thanks for all the feedback about the yoga and pilates classes. Maybe I was jumping the gun a tad by thinking I should buy a year-long membership after taking only one class. (Actually, I was only going to buy a 3-month membership. Much more reasonable.)

I went to a beginner yoga class last night and then I bought two 10-packs, one for yoga and one for pilates.

I cannot adequately describe how beneficial this yoga class was for me. I felt relaxed and appreciated and safe and content. Is that how yoga usually goes? I've only done it maybe 2 or 3 times in my life and it was always in a big class with very little personal attention.

This class only had three students. The instructor (who is the same person who teaches the pilates classes) showed us (me, really) variations on every pose. With almost every pose she walked around to check that each of us had more or less the correct form.

She said the yoga classes never get much bigger than a few people. I find that surprising, but maybe it's because there are other yoga studios all around.

I kind of want to go every day, but I'm going to wait until next Monday to go back. Maybe I'm just a little bit too excited about taking these classes.

Philly beer week, I love you, and a question

Philly beer week was fabulous. Next year we will definitely try to talk as many friends as possible into going with us. The saddest part was that we had to miss the vast majority of the events taking place in Philly during the work week.

As soon as we arrived, we went straight to a tasting lunch with Stone and Dogfish Head beers to drink and brewers in attendance. How often does the CEO of Stone Brewing sit at your table, with just you and your husband, to chat about beer and such? I will tell you: not very often.

After lunch, I'm a little embarressed to admit, we took a nap.

The only other official event we attended was the jazz happy hour at TIME restaurant. There was nothing that made it seem like an event, unless the place is normally empty on a Saturday night (unlikely). And the kids we saw playing New Orleans-style jazz on the street were way more fun than the jazz being played at the restaurant.

We went to Zot for dinner, a Belgian restaurant we noticed in the old town the last time we were visiting. There was no official event going on, but we wanted to check it out. They serve mussels with 50-some varities of sauces and they have a fabulous selection of beers. The end of beer week coincides with foie gras week, so I made the questionable decision to have two of the foie gras appetizers for my meal. It was, I believe, due to this divinely delicious but incredibly heavy meal that I was barely able to move after dinner and we had to forego any more beer week activities for the evening.

For brunch on Sunday we went to one of our new faves, the Belgian Cafe. The eggs Benedict on a Belgian waffle was truly inspired.

And now, a question.

Last night I went to a pilates class at a tiny studio in Jersey City. I have been searching for just such a class in just such an environment for years. They also offer yoga and various other classes. I was pretty sure going into last night's class that unless there was something really horrible about it, I would be joining this ... what do you call it exactly? Hold on, that's not the real question.

The more you pay for at once, the less you pay per class. The pilates classes are $12 each and the yoga are $18. If I buy a 10 pack of each, I pay $10 and $15 per class, respectively. So, if I take one of each per week, that's $25. Or, I could pay $99 for an unlimited monthly membership. OR, I could pay $269 and get 3 months of unlimited. (Or I could pay $719 for a year of unlimited, but that seems really crazy at this juncture.) This seems a little nuts, taking one class, and then handing over $269, but it's not that unreasonable, is it? Hold on, that's not the actual question either.

It's not that I can't afford this. I totally can. It's just that gyms don't typically cost $88 a month and only include classes. Although, to be fair, Maximum Motion does include a few classes per week that involve weight use. But the other thing is that I don't like gyms and so if I join one, I'm unlikely to ever go to it. If I work out, I run. But I would really like to be able to do pilates and yoga and maybe another class now and then. Is it ridiculous to pay that much for a few classes per week? (That's the real question.) I should note that because of the studio being small, everyone gets personal attention and is on a first-name basis. The instructor told me that yoga on Thursdays usually only has 2-3 people in attendance.

My mind is pretty much made up. I'm just curious what others think.

Eau de Penn Station

There is a hallway in Penn Station that has always smelled like cheap lemon yogurt. I don't hate lemon yogurt (although it's not my first choice). But smelling it down there is so disgusting that I breathe through my mouth when I walk by. Of course, I am often compelled to take a quick whiff to check that it still smells like lemon yogurt. (It still does, as of an hour ago.)

I used to think the smell came from the ice cream stand that was on that hallway. But the ice cream stand is long since gone and now there is an Auntie Annie's there. There is no reason for a pretzel stand to smell like lemon yogurt.

This weekend is the end of Philly beer week. There is so much going on that we are having to make difficult decisions about which events to attend. Do we go to the 3-hour seated prix fixe lunch (with beers from Dogfish Head and Stone) or do we go to the pay-as-you-go session with River Horse (one of my fave brewers) and classic Philly foods, such as fried Tastykakes? We finally chose the seated lunch. It's only $35, too.

There is a jazz happy hour (with Moinette Brune, Saison DuPont, and Scaldis Belgian Strong) and a special Sam Adams release party (for Double Bock, Imperial White and Imperial Stout with matched chocolate and cheese) and a beer brunch on Sunday...

We are going to be so full of beer by Sunday afternoon we are going to swear it off. For at LEAST a week. (Now Jeff is telling me he already has those Sam Adams beers, so maybe we don't need to attend that one.)

You can say you knew me when

Apparently, I have a thing for foods that are more than one thing. Not foods that satisfy more than one food category (such as pretzels covered in chocolate -- that is WRONG). I mean foods that are two things at once, such as the amazing Flip Sides Townhouse crackers, which are a cheesy cracker on one side and a pretzel on the other side. Pure genius. Pure delicious, as well.

Another example of this brilliant food combining technique would be Tweeterz, which are candy-coated Twizzler nibs. Why stop with just delicious Twizzler nibs when you an make them even more delicious by giving them a candy coating? You don't need to answer that. I already know the answer.

The new exercise sensation that is soon going to be sweeping the nation was invented by me. This is how you do it. You put on some good dancing music. I went with a new wave station that I created on Pandora. And then you start dancing. While you are dancing you think up the next thing you are going to do, such as: lifting some weights, or doing some crunches, or some stretches, or some stretches AND some weight lifting, or some jumping or some running in place or some jumping jacks, or some pushups. Then you stop dancing and do one of those other moves for 15 reps or a minute or a song or whatever you like and then you start dancing again until you have decided on your next move.

I'd better patent this right away. I need to figure out a name first, though. Craigercize? Crexercise? Aeorcraige? Craigobics?

Invention

I made the following dish for lunch. I call it: What's in the fridge that can be combined?

I was going to broil the eggplant, but I stupidly put it in 2 pans instead of the broiler pan that came with the oven and they would not both fit in the broiler. In the future I would definitely broil the eggplant and do the tomatoes, separately, in the oven.

I brushed the eggplant slices with a lemon olive oil we got at the Fancy Food show and which we had not yet used. I am definitely a fan of this for veggies. I have some asparagus that is begging to be roasted with this oil now.

When I flipped the 'plants, I added the sliced cherry tomatoes, which had been tossed with the olive oil, s&p. I sprinkled the 'plants with cumin and jalapeno powder and s&p.

I cut into triangles 4 corn tortillas, sprayed them with Pam, sprinkled salt on them, and put them in the oven, too. Setting off the fire alarm when they got crispy was not part of the plan.

When the tomatoes were bubbly and the eggplants were browned, I put 4 rounds on each plate, topped them with tomatoes and sprinkled on some grated sharp cheddar. Chips on the side.

Not stuck

For what it is, I really do love our little apartment. I love the wall of closets, drawers and cubbies. I love the non-working fireplace. I love the heavy pocket doors. I love our pass-thru. I love our tiny bedroom and rather large bathroom. I love our eat-in kitchen. I love the shared backyard. I love the molding above the light fixture in the living room. I love the crown molding in the living room. I love the 2 greens we painted the living room and bedroom. I love our old man wing chairs. I love that we have space to have guests sit at the table. I love the big windows that let in lots of light. I love that our neighbors are easy-going and we share duties.

I love that parking is not very hard. I love that we can take different routes to and from the PATH train. I love walking by the little gallery on Coles every day. I love that the homeless people in front of the deli say hi cheefully to us. I love keeping track of buildings going up. I love the variety of restaurants.

Everything else, I hate. No, but overall, it's good. Sure, there's no way in hell we could sell our place now and get anything near what we paid for it. But it's not as if I hate it here. Far from it.

Highlights of Christmas in Montreal

1. Apparently on my iPhone I can only type in the HTML editing box. I wonder why that is. But I can type on the horizontal so that makes typing much easier.

2. Oh yeah, I got an iPhone. Last week I was on the PATH train on the way to work when I realized I was sitting in a puddle of water. I of course blamed the person who had been sitting there before me. I moved over one seat and went back to my book, only to feel a drip a minute later on my calf. I realized the water was coming from my purse, which of course meant an entire 12 oz bottle of water had leaked into my purse and then onto me. My Treo sputtered and popped when I tried to turn it on. 

When I got to the office, I called Jeff and said, "I'm going to buy an iPhone today" (we had agreed to buy them in January). He said I couldn't do that and I should just wait. I said, "but I need a phone!" He made me promise to wait and I said, "look, if you got me an iPhone, just tell me because otherwise I'm going to go buy one today." He finally caved and said okay but I had to guess which box it was in. 

3. But back to Montreal. On the 24th, we took the subway to the Marche Jean-Talon where we went the last time we were here, in the summertime. All the outdoor fruit and veg stands were closed this time, but there is still a whole inside market. My new favorite triple cream cheese might be this Quebecois one called Riopelle. The label says it is the only triple cream of Quebec. I also got these little cured meats called Grelots des Battures. Jeff says they look like cat turds. I say they are delicious. Per kilo, they cost twice as much as the triple cream. 

4. Jeff kicked over a cup of tea onto his laptop in the middle of the present unwrapping. He managed to wait 24 hours before trying to put it back together and it is more or less together and functional again now (aside from one screw that is stuck in the wrong hole and some warping at the front by where it should latch. 

5. When a lobster dinner for Christmas eve is not an option, fondue is an excellent alternative. We went all out at Fonduementale and got the Mentale selection, which is a 3-course deal starting with cheese fondue, followed by a seafood (scallops, shrimp, salmon, calamari) fondue in a broth, and finishing with a maple cream fondue served with fruit and tiny marshmallows. 

6. Jeff's big ticket item was meant to be a grey blazer he had been wanting. I could not find one anywhere in Manhattan (except for one cashmere one at Men's Wearhouse, which I knew he would not want because it would not be usable in the warmer months), so I printed out a certificate and listed some stores in Montreal where we might find him one. To throw him off, I wrapped up a box of the clothes I would be wearing to dinner last night. The look on his face when he pulled out my red skirt and fuzzy sweater was priceless.

7. Before dinner last night we went ice skating at an outdoor rink.

8. My French is abysmal. 

9. I bought Jeff the wrong Dr. Who calendar but he was nice about it even though I was not paying attention and should have known that of course he would not want the Dalekmania one again. I think his favorite gift was probably the Beedle book. 

10. I got three puzzles. Three! And a Kenneth the page talking bobble head. And a filled pancake pan and delicious peppermint bark, and pretty earrings (made by Jenn and which I picked out without even realizing it when selecting a pair to send to a friend). And the three Dexter books and a Phillip Pullman book and other stuff that I am forgetting but not also loving. Oh, and a baking book called Baked from John & Steve plus delicious baked goodies from them. 

Lift tab to open

I just kind of stopped blogging there. When I realized how many weeks it had been I was half considering giving it up altogether. Clearly I'm just not into it anymore. But I don't know if I'm really ready.

I will say this, though. At Target they not only sell tamales in the frozen food section that are delicious, but they also sell the big boxes of Nerds. This is great news because the big boxes of Nerds are so hard to find.

These Nerds are red, white and green and the box says they are FROSTY. I eagerly anticipated the frostiness of the Nerds when I tore open the box. As far as I can tell, they are regular Nerds without any sort of frosting. I know a lot of candy is packaged as the holiday version of itself and is actually the exact same product, but come on, you can't call something frosty and have it not be different somehow. I am let down.

On the back of the box is a trademarked Nutritional Compass. One of the directions (south) says "Good to remember: Have some now, and save some for later." That's good nutrition!

Since I bought two boxes (due to the big boxes being so hard to find), and since I am so let down, I will probably be gifting one of them. Just FYI. It might be you. Please contain your excitement.

Four years ago today...

I have written this story before, but it was on my old blog, which is now gone, so I'm writing it again, the highlights as they have remained in my brain 4 years later.

Four years ago today, I woke up on the pull-out sofa in the ante-room of my parents' hotel room, somewhat hung over from a great rehearsal dinner at this fabulous Italian restaurant in the theater district, the name of which I'm blanking on right now.

Everyone staying in the hotel gathered for brunch. I was not overly emotional until my grandma presented me with her own engagement ring that she had received in 1928. I started crying then and was on the verge of tears for the next 24 hours. In a good way, I assure you. I wear this ring every single day and I love it so much.

My bridesmaids and I went to get our hair and nails done. I had my heart set on having my hair down and curly, but the dude said that would not be advisable on a cold November day. I appreciate that it was out of my face, but I'm still a little sad that it was not down.

At Alger House (in the west village, best wedding venue ever), my mom showed us how to tie bows on the chairs and we all worked on those while her friends set up flowers around the room. A dear friend of the family showed up from Virginia, with the cake she had baked for us in her backseat. I always loved her desserts and her family, so it was a very wonderful gift and one of my favorites that we received.

The bridesmaids and I got dressed upstairs and the guests began to arrive. Lots of guests coming from NJ were stuck in tunnel traffic and missed the entire ceremony, especially because the ceremony was so short. Our minister forgot to call up my mom's oldest friend (who I call aunt) and my dad's youngest brother for the readings. We recessed to the Star Wars throne room song and went upstairs to sign the official stuff. We came back down and did the two readings plus a speech by my dad while the three of us stood on the stairs. I really liked doing it that way, actually. A lot of people assumed we'd planned it that way, which was just fine.

Our first dance was to All You Need Is Love. That was a damn difficult song to dance to, but we pulled it off. Whenever I hear it, I get a little misty-eyed. I never thought of it as an overly romantic song until we danced to it at our wedding.

Those are the main highlights. Click on the photo to see the rest of the set. Everyone looked so great and I honestly believe that everyone had a really good time, too. My mom looked gorgeous in her green dress. And all my bridesmaids looked fabulous in the black dresses of their choice. My dad and Jeff looked extra dapper in their tuxes.

Here's to four great years and to 40+ more! I love you, Ponty.