The Margaret

Miss Penny Lane

2008-05-09T13:20:00.009-04:00

So I've just entered a photo of Penny into some Pet Photo contest thingy. Might be lame but who knows. In honor Miss Lane, I thought I'd post some photos of her over the past couple years we've had her. Enjoy!

The photo I entered of her...

In bed with her stuffed alligator (which is about the size of her).

Hanging out on the couch (no, of course she's not spoiled!).

In her Mackinac Island shirt that my mom bought her. Not sure how thrilled she was wearing it!

I thought my scarf matched her nicely :)

Such a hard life!

Back to the Mitten...

2008-05-09T11:40:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I went back to Michigan for my friend Nicole's bachelorette party and bridal shower. Those events took place on Saturday and Sunday, so Friday I spent a nice night out with my parents. We went to Argieros in Ann Arbor, one of our favorite Italian restaurants, for my birthday dinner. So here's a few photos from the evening. Enjoy!

Mum and Dad

A little bubbly to start off the night

Me and Sister Melissa

Scampi in Town, Part Two

2008-05-08T13:50:00.010-04:00

Probably should have posted this one before the B-Earthday one, but whatev. Time is of the essence these days so I post when I can! I came across some more photos from Sister Melissa's visit to NYC. Enjoy!

The official photo from our visit to the ESB

Beer Battered Pickles, our fav!! Definitely not as good as the ones at Cleary's though...

At Wonjo for Korean BBQ. Trying to figure out what is what!

Chris having some sake.

Yay, Ciara came with! The four of us took a boat from 34th up to Yankee Stadium. It was good fun (a bit cold though). Here are Melissa and Ciara, showing off their matching mittens (and coats it seems).

Yankee Stadium. Really not sure if they won or not. Maybe if they were playing Detroit I would have paid attention more. It was fun still...

Melissa keeping score

Doing the YMCA! Apparently this is Chris and Melissa's song that they will have to dance to at the wedding... goodness.

My B-EarthDay

2008-05-08T13:30:00.005-04:00

So, a little late (would you expect anything less from my blog posts?!), but thought I'd post a few photos from my fancy bday dinner. We went to the Four Seasons I think it was and the restaurant in there was called L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Very fancy, very French. We actually got a good hook up from Chris' friend Frenchie (well, her real name is Emilie but I guess everyone calls her Frenchie). As much as I was dying to take photos of all the awesome looking foods, I didn't quite feel that was the kind of place to do such a thing. That was until my dessert came out, then I of course had to! Enjoy the photos of my awesome dessert... I know I did!

Before

After

Scampi in Town

2008-04-18T23:45:00.007-04:00

So a few weeks ago, Sister Melissa came to visit! I thought about uploading all of the photos from the various cameras I randomly carry around with me... but it's getting late, and I kinda don't feel like it. So here are some photos from the night we went to the Empire State Building.

Chris and a guy who said his name was Ringo (I think... or something else famous).

The one decent non-shaky shot I got of the Chrysler Building.

Big brother and little sister (that's what they call each other :)

Awwww! Me and my sister :)

Two in one day!!

2008-04-18T23:22:00.010-04:00

So as most of you know, I enjoy cooking. I find it to be very relaxing after a rather long day. So a few weeks ago I had an incredibly stressful Saturday, full of getting my hair and nails done (I know, so stressful... I deserved it though!!). But that night I made some swordfish kabobs with couscous and a tomato/olive mix topping kinda thing. It turned out pretty good, and I must say the presentation turned out lovely with my new dish :)

The hostess with the mostest ;)

This is huge...

2008-04-18T22:02:00.021-04:00

I have finally located the memory card for the SLR camera (yessss!). I'm also home doing nothing that awesome on a Friday night. So clearly this means I will be uploading lots of photos (yay!!). I'm going to first start off with Easter photos in this post (yes, that was nearly a month ago). So let's hope when I'm done I'm finally all caught up here!

Bogart just loves Theresa!

Cake by mum :)

Melissa and Bogart

Ralph discovers he's out of vino...

It's empty! Dad is to the rescue though with a refill.

I made cupcakes!! The pink ones turned out best (or the pink frosting should I say).

Ralph and Mary Ann, my second parents :)

Dad and I trying to practice for the father-daughter dance... this should be interesting!

Chris seems so thrilled! I think Mary Ann was cheating with those sunglasses on ;)

In Brief...

2008-04-03T16:16:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to make a note that I have not died, nor have I fallen off the face of the earth! For anyone who reads this, well, I've had lots going on. I was sick for about a week (and was out in the mitten the following weekend) and have been trying to play catch up ever since with work, wedding and classes (yiiiikes!!). But I do have loads and loads of fun photos to post at some point in the next couple of weeks maybe (Easter photos, and Melissa is in town this week... yay!). So until then, stay tuned :)

RIP Fubar

2008-03-15T16:24:00.003-04:00

Nothing exciting to report today, something rather sad actually. Just a couple of hours ago a crane fell on top of the building our bar, Fubar, was in and demolished it. I spoke with Erin who I used to work with at Fubar and she said for the most part everyone is ok (though the cleaning guy, Juan, may not be). It's so surreal though, our bar is gone. The bar I started working at to try and make a living when I moved out here. The bar we spent our New Years Eves at. The bar we went to see our friends at. The bar where Chris and I met. Our own version of Cheers, we knew so many people there. It's gone. So many memories made in that bar. It may be hard for those outside of NYC to understand, but it was so much more then just a bar. You don't find many places in NYC where you can go and everyone knows who you are, like you can at a bar or restaurant in a small town. Fubar was that place for us. Such a sad sad day.

Lombardi's

2008-03-11T10:51:00.013-04:00

After watching countless shows on the Food Network and Travel Channel about the great pizza debate (NY vs Chicago... there's no question as to who beats out who btw!), we finally went to the place that claims to be the first pizzeria: Lombardi's. It was fantastic! The photos were taken with my somewhat crummy phone camera (of all the cameras I have, I used that one... my bad), but they should give you a good idea of the place. Enjoy!

A photo on the wall of the guy that owns it now (I believe it was his grandfather that started it?). We actually saw him in there at one point, but I kinda felt a bit odd about trying to get a photo.

This is real pizza my friends (well, maybe not as real as the stuff in Italy... but as close as you can get I'm sure). We got an original margherita style pizza with mushrooms on half. Honestly, it's perfect just plain without any toppings.

You can kind of see the brick oven in the back. Not sure if it was from the original place or not. Apparently the current place was opened in 1984.

Barney's!

2008-03-06T14:04:00.007-05:00

One of my favorite times of the year is in February/March, and that is the Barney's Warehouse Sale. For those of you not in New York... this is a HUGE deal! Designer clothes at very cheap prices. If you go in the beginning of the sale, the crowds aren't too bad, but the deals aren't that great either. The best time to go is the last weekend of the sale, when prices are slashed and the crazy women come out. There are no dressing rooms, women basically change in the middle of the warehouse (no joke) and will push you aside if they want something bad enough. Last Saturday I went with Jen, Liz and Linsey. Jen, Liz and I met up for breakfast at Cafeteria to prepare and energize, then headed over to meet Linsey in the huge line waiting to get in and shop. One of the guys in charge layed out the rules for the crowd: No biting, no hair pulling, no shoving and no scratching. Again, no joke. I didn't take any photos inside (not sure if I was allowed to... plus I was much too focused!), but got a few of the crowd outside. All in all, I think I made out pretty well :)

The long line of people already waiting when we got there.

Linsey, Jen and Liz

Getting closer!

Deal of the day! This dress was originally tagged at Barney's for $700. I got it for $50! Might have to be taken in a bit... but that's what Mum is for (nudge nudge, wink wink:)

To Market, To Market

2008-02-29T11:49:00.006-05:00

Ok, I need to try and get caught up here! Last Saturday, Chris and I took a walk down to Union Square to hit up the Green Market and Trader Joes. Not too much at the market, which was dissapointing. When I was living on my own I used to go down there every Saturday and they always had a lot of produce and whatnot. But anywho, we took the camera with us and after a few pictures, the battery died (my bad!). Luckily I have a camera in my phone, so when we ran into a Penny look alike I was able to get some photos. Enjoy!

Bridal Shower

2008-02-28T11:22:00.015-05:00

Nearly two weekends ago now, I had bachelorette party number one (those photos will NOT be posted here!) and the bridal shower. It went by really quick, but it was such a fun weekend.

Prizes for the games and the cake!

Table set up

The food table

Ann Marie preparing the ice breaker game

Annie, Mum, Theresa and Mary Ann getting things ready

Still recovering from Friday night Nicole?!

The centerpieces (in case you're wondering, they tasted awesome... thanks to Mum!)

Close up of the bruschetta

Kelly (my stylist ;) and her daughter

Mum and Ilona chatting

Bryn's game, pin the flower on the bride (ouch!)

Theresa and Mary Ann... enjoying themselves I hope!

Kristie playing pin the flower on the bride

Monday Night Stew

2008-02-26T17:53:00.007-05:00

So last night I made seafood stew which turned out awesome, found some weird shaped peppers growing in my red pepper and took a fun photo of the puppy. Enjoy!

Yes, our kitchen is that tiny...

Another back in January moment...

2008-02-26T12:22:00.007-05:00

So back in January Chris and I found cheap tickets on eBay to see the Pistons play the Knicks at MSG. Last time I went was on St.Patty's day of 2006... and for some reason, the Pistons (best team in the league!) lost to the Knicks (worst team in the league). For some reason, that happened again when we went last month. Clearly, I'm bad luck and not allowed to go see them play at the Garden anymore :(

We were there the night the Giants were playing the Cowboys... so they decided it'd be a good idea to show the score of that game I guess.

Snow :)

2008-02-22T15:13:00.007-05:00

Hurrah it snowed today!! I was always very iffy about snow after the age of 16 (actually... I got my drivers license at 17 so scrap that) in Michigan. But now that I don't have a car and don't have to drive in the stuff, I love it! It's always very pretty at first, and then people come along and it kinda goes gross. But for a brief moment, NYC does look pretty in the snow :)

VDay

2008-02-22T14:30:00.010-05:00

So for Vday this year we decided to stay in. I made steamed moules (mussels) and they turned out awesome which was rather exciting (must give thanks to Barefoot Contessa :). I also made baked pomme frittes (fries basically) and fondue for dessert!

The whole spread

Checking out the scrapbook I made for VDay/Anniversary gift

Puppies need love too :)

I goofed. I got him chocolate Mii's (as in from the Nintendo Wii) and there was supposed to be a guy and girl. Apparently I accidentally orderd two guy Miis... my bad! I'm sure Penny would love to eat them whatever they are though!

Puppy love! I seriously feel like a third wheel sometimes ;)

You Say It's Your Birthday!!

2008-02-22T12:49:00.010-05:00

Ok, that was cheesy... but back in January Chris and I had a little bday celebration for our four-legged child, Penny Lane. She turned three (as far as we know!) on MLK Day. We've decided since it's a three day weekend and the vet pegged her birth date as January 2005, that it would be a good choice (therefore it does change every year). Here are some photos from our little event.

Here's Chris using his favorite new toy (the buck knife) to get the tags off of Penny's present. We took her to Petco earlier in the day and let her choose a toy. She chose a stuffed squirrel. Maybe it's because Bogart (my parents dog) has one as well and she was jealous... who knows. She loves it though and it's still around which is rare for her!

So I made her pupcakes :) I have this book that has recipes for dog and people friendly food. So these were basically just the usual muffin mix I guess with cheddar and apples and yogurt I think. The "frosting" was cream cheese based with a sprinkle of carrots on top. They looked much prettier with the wrappers on, but she couldn't eat them that way of course!

Patiently waiting for her pupcakes and squirrel.

Yum! Trying the first pupcake. I think she liked it :)

Chris tried to have a pupcake, but she was clearly not in the mood to share!

Yeah, not that good! Then again, I didn't think a cupcake with cheddar and apples would be. At least she liked them.

Here, you finish this...

The puppy and her squirrel.

Yes We Can!

2008-02-13T14:32:00.003-05:00

Ladies and Gentleman, I have just made my first contribution to the Barack Obama campaign. Chris and I talked it over last night, and I'm really excited that he wants to back Obama as well and make a contribution to our next president. Barack is what this country needs to turn itself around! I feel very inspired by him to get involved and I urge everyone to go to his website (www.barackobama.com) and make a donation as well. Even if it's just $25, it still helps in the run to the White House!

Ciao for now,

Margaret

Blog Part Une

2008-02-11T12:42:00.000-05:00

So I have decided to start a blog... because everyone else is doing it and that's a good enough reason to do anything, right?!
Since nothing that interesting is happening at the mo, I'm not really gonna write a whole lot in my first installment. But exciting things are on their way and bound to happen I'm sure.
Ciao for now,
Margaret