Thankful: On Lazy Mornings

In general, I have a hard time spending time doing nothing at all. Many weekend mornings I wake up early and wish with all of me that I was one of those people that could sleep forever, but I'm not. Luckily, this morning I woke up and was happy to be awake, happy to spend the morning in quietude doing nothing of consequence.

I downloaded a few new Mat Kearney songs, worked on perfecting my eggs sunny side up, emailed a few friends, and am now doing to snuggle up with my book and perhaps fall back asleep.

So damn lucky...

Dining: Pizza Joints in Stamford - the lovely and the ugly

This week I have had the unfortunate opportunity to eat out for pizza not once, but twice. This is not a habit I intend to keep up with (it's surprisingly not as beneficial as frequenting the gym - surprising, right?), but it did give me the chance to make a good comparison of the two - Colony Pizza and Remos Brick Oven Pizza.

Monday I went with two girlfriends to Colony Pizza, which is said to be the best pizza in the city. The place is ugly and serves only thin crust pizza to eat and only beer and martinis to drink. I personally don’t feel that martinis go well with pizza, but obviously they feel differently. Beer does go with pizza, but only when your tap is working… I ordered a cheese pizza with peppers and I think there may have been 3 whole large peppers on there – I mean I got my moneys worth, but I don’t want to eat peppers again for a couple months now. It took great effort to get anything at all from our server and the parking lot was a small glimpse of hell. If it weren’t for the company, it would have been an unbearable experience.

Wednesday I went to Remos on Bedford St. and pleasantly surprised. I chose it because I’d walked past before and liked the décor a lot. Well, it turned out to be as delicious as it looked from the sidewalk. They cook them in a brick oven and have a choice of old world (with fresh mozzarella and flat bread) or new world pizza (New York style). They have unusual high end toppings as well as the usual. I had an old world spinach pizza and it was absolutely fantastic, paired very well with my glass of wine. The décor is cozy and the modern Italian music sets the mood. I couldn’t be more complimentary of their establishment.

I will most certainly be back at Remos again in the near future, but Colony – it will take a miracle to get me through their door again. I’ll do all I can to change the perception that they are the best in town, because it is most assuredly not true.

Film: Stranger than Fiction (& my subsequent thoughts on life)

Disclaimer: If you are going to watch this movie, I probably wouldn’t read this. I’m bad about giving plot away sometimes (but not the whole thing)…

Isn’t it strange how people come and go in our lives day to day and we never know when they come if they are going to be important to us someday? That they might have a profound effect on our life? There’s those people that you made a bad first impression on and at first you told yourself it was no big deal, but then a little while later you really regretted it. That’s the kind of thing I love about life – things have a strange way of working out but getting the best of us in the process.

Today I watched Stranger than Fiction and found it to be not at all what I expected. It was tragic and not your standard Will Ferrell comedy. I was caught completely off guard, but pleasantly so. Will Ferrell, an IRS auditor, falls for a indie-type tattoo-adorned baker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who refuses to pay all of her taxes because she doesn’t agree with the government’s use of them. When he walked into that bakery, he had NO idea that he could fall for a girl like her and so starkly unlike him. He made a horrid first impression, but down the road, it played to his advantage.

It made me think. There is someone in my life that I am terribly attracted to because he intimidates me. I find myself very strange in this realization but intriguing at the same time. I know I made a bad first impression awhile back and I think that has a bit to do with why he scares me. What to do with this I don’t know, but it’s interesting all the same. I certainly didn’t see this coming when I met him that first day.

My life is no movie, but movies certainly make me think about my life.

What Would You Do for an Ipod Nano?

People, people, how are we constantly falling for scams like this? Clearly, knowing the demand for ipods, they are never going to be put on sale for $49 and what does making this purchase have to do with your social security?? I'm sorry for anyone who fell for this or any other scam, but can we please be a little more cautious? And to all the scam artists out there, you are sick and need to learn what it means to make an honest living. I hope you discover that some day.

http://macenstein.com/default/2009/08/ipod-nano-for-just-49-plus-your-social-security-number/

What I want is to dwell

I think I take life too seriously a lot of the time. There is a time to be serious and a time to have fun (that’s not meant to be a quote), and right now strongly feels like a time to have fun. If you think about it, many of the decisions we make instantaneously are built on our beliefs about time and obligation and things we build up in our minds to mean more than they do; we tell ourselves no when there isn’t a good reason not to say yes. For the moment, I just want dwell and not consider the long term in every situation. Time is passing by too quickly to lose the moments and people that are here and now.

Now all I need is someone to take care of my bills…

ABDC is back!

America's Best Dance Crew is back in action tonight at 9PM. I had no idea until today because I have not had cable for the past 3 weeks, but what are the odds that I get my cable hooked up this afternoon and one of my favorite guilty-pleasure tv shows premieres tonight? It was not on purpose, but I must say it feels a lot like fate.

If you are into hip hop and a host of other types of dancing and love to laugh at the not-so-clever commentary of Mario Lopez, check it out...

America's Best Dance Crew (Season 4) - MTV Shows

Thankful: On Friendship

We walked down streets aimlessly walking and talking; the hours rolled by, but no one seemed to notice.

Today as I rode the train back out of the city I thought about just how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends who I can spend hours with without feeling any pressure to impress or filter or entertain; when we are together, all my cares can be cast aside. Who can ask for a better gift?

And a note on this section – I want to start blogging about the things in my life that I am thankful for because there are countless days when I think to myself that I am blessed more than I deserve. More to come…

I <3 Mini

In the car buying process, there were moments when I wasn't sure if down the road I would regret my decision to get my Mini. Luckily, I haven't even for a moment yet.

Just yesterday I had the greatest urge to go drive - just open the sunroof, turn up the Dave, and drive. I was abruptly awakened when I remembered that I'd moved to Connecticut where 95 is jammed right into sunset and there really isn't a place to take nice drive and not hit traffic or a bunch of lights - an unfortunate realization, but I still enjoyed the short jaunt into Darien.

And today, as happens every time someone I know sees my car, two friends of mine asked me if I felt like Charlize Theron behind the wheel and wanted to go do some great heist. My response: everyday.

Now of course it doesn't mean the world to me (and my hope is that no material ever does), but my little Mini brings me a bit of joy everyday. Judging my Forbes, I don't think I'm the only one that feels that way...

If she lasts that long, I will most definitely love her for 50 years.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/29/bmw-mini-cooper-lifestyle-vehicles-mini-car-50.html

Film: Away We Go

I originally went to see Away We Go for two simple reasons: (1) Alexi Murdoch is one of my favorite artists and he did almost the entire soundtrack for the movie, and (2) John Krasinski is adorable. My expectations honestly weren’t very high for the movie, but I was pleasantly surprised. This movie is an indie film love story between two people who have great screen chemistry. And we all think Jim is hysterical in The Office, but who knew he could make the audience laugh so heartily in a completely different role? I laughed so hard at times, I wanted to be Maya Rudolph at others and at moments, I wanted to cry.

One of the best movies I have seen in a long time, hands down