HOOS got a blog?

First order of business, if you've been following my blog, yesterday was quite tragic, being that the GC (Giggle Conductor) was MIA on the train. Unfortunately, today was no better. The GC was nowhere in sight again today, and Stephanie are very worried. We seriously hope that he is on vacation, but something tells me they switch the train rotations every few days, so this is bad news bears for the GG's.

Next, today I went to a resume workshop presentation at work, and it actually baffles me how long it is possible to talk about one piece of paper. It's unbelievable.

And still next, I wanted to say how happy I am that two of my good friends (Tara and Alexis) started blogs today! Two blogs in one day- it literally could not get any better! (I hope they see this shout out on my blog and comment because I LOVE when people comment on my posts...hint hint)! For a while, even though I really have been enjoying this blog thing, I started to think, uh-oh, if I'm writing everything down on my blog, then when I see people in person, I won't have anything to say, or they won't have anything to say to me because I've already used up all my witty remarks on my blog! But, then someone very wise reminded me, "the blogs are just like spark notes to help everyone stay up to date...real conversations help fill in all the blanks" (Christopher Schulz, 2010). This made me love blogs even more, so you can imagine my excitement that two more of my friends joined the party! And, I also realized today that now that I have all these blogs to read and compare, that everyone has a very distinctive way of writing in their blog, and for everyone's different blog, I can picture them actually saying what they wrote. It's really cool to see that, especially because some of my blogging friends don't live very close to me!

In other news, I will be starting a project with my dad and sister called Burgers Across the Island (name subject to change in hopes that I think of something more creative/wittier). Since we went to American Roadside Burger last night and thought it was so darn delicious, I decided that we needed to go to some other burger places close by my house that we never really tried. So, once a week, we will be trying to go to one of these places. Not sure how long that's going to last, but I'm very excited!

Anyways, Rockstars of the Day include the two newest bloggers on the block, and my boss at work, for being extra cool today. Tomorrow, my fellow interns are giving my a crackberry class, being that you'd think they invented the blackberry, that's how much they know about it. P&B!

Where's the GC?

Today, Stephanie and I got on the train and, and as we heard the clipping sound of the conductor coming up behind us, panic set in instantly. WHERE WAS THE GC (Giggle Conductor)??!! The GC has become one of our good friends on our daily journey through LI to NYC. He has been the conductor every morning, for the past few weeks. And, for the previous few weeks, since Stephanie and I have been watching 30 Rock, when the conductor would walk by, chances are that we would be laughing. So, the conductor would always say, why are you girls laughing at me? And then we’d say, no, we’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing at the show! And then he would say we were making him self-conscious (he was being sarcastic though). Then he started calling us the Giggle Girls, so we started calling him the GC (not to his face though, that’d be too much). And, since the GC knew us, the GG’s so well, he’d never make us show him our tickets, which was so nice and convenient. BUT, today when we got on the train, the GC was nowhere to be found. Me and Stephanie obviously cried for at least 2 hours, caused a major scene, and tried to get off the train to search for the GC, but nothing worked. There was a different conductor who made us take out our tickets!

Hopefully the GC is just on vacation, and will be back soon, because we miss him dearly. If you see the GC, please let me know, being that he’s a champ. Being that this whole post is about him, he is most definitely Rockstar of the Day because he is very pleasant, friendly, and always made us laugh, even when we are very tired.

Very unrelated sidenotes: It was 1 million degrees in the city today, if you get a chance, watch the movie The Blind Side, I’m very excited that this is a 4-day week, I broke down and got a Blackberry yesterday, still not sure how I feel about it because my fingers are so cramped because the keys are so small, and I’m worried that having e-mail on my phone may be detriemental to my health, but I got a stellar case, so that negates all the other thangs, WTFAR (what the freak Andy Roddick), I had a PB&J for lunch today, and now I'm off to Roadside...scoreeee.

Are you sure we're related?

Today was quite the relaxing day. After Allison woke me up by just magically being in my room when I opened up my eyes (not creepy), Lauren and I were up in the gym working on our fitness for the morning, and then we sat with Rob and watched my Dream Team (USA soccer obviously) lose to Ghana, which was quite unfortunate. On an unrelated note, last night AJJ and I enjoyed a delicious egg lemon soup and Greek salads at Mykonos. We both decided the salads were better than ever before! We also confirmed the fact that we are still twins. Good news.

But, the real fun began when tonight, I went to King Umberto's, an Italian restaurant most certainly run by the mob, to celebrate my cousins Alex's graduation from high school and my grandparents 58th anniversary! Everyone seemed to be in rare form tonight, especially my grandma-who may have had a few too many glasses of wine! We were of course the loudest ones in the restaurant, but, as always, we had a lot of laughs. One of high-lights of the night was when someone commented on how long my grandparents have been married. Being the jokester that he his, he just laughed and said, "well, I told her when we got married it'd be for better or for worse. She couldn't find anyone better, and she couldn't be any worse!" He actually said that. My grandma proceeded to threaten my grandpa's life, muttering to him, "I'm going to kill ya!" followed by some Yiddish slang. What a pair those two are!

Anyways, I think the reason I wanted to write about this was because it's just funny how family works. Sometimes, you have no idea how you're related to some people. I love my family like crazy, but we're actually nothing alike! It's really crazy, though, that whatever happens, we'll always be family, and we'll always have this bond with each other that will bring us together for times of celebration, like tonight, or if we really needed each other. I also think it's cool to see how families evolve from generation to generation. And, while sometimes I think my relatives are "crazies," I know deep down that I've got a little bit of the "crazies" in me too. And, for better or for worse, I'm pretty proud of it.

Hope everyone who watched the soccer game is not too sad right now. If you need to talk it out, I'd be happy to commiserate with you. Like I tell my tour groups, I like talking a bit too much for my own good. Rockstars of the Day are the Flicker/Kantor crew, for making for yet another hilarious, ridiculous, and memorable evening of family fun. P&B.

NBD? Just living the dream.

So, I’m writing this post on my home away from home, the LIRR (the Long Island Railroad). For the past few days, I have been carting around a semi-large suitcase through the Subways (I don’t recommend this), through an unfair amount of revolving doors (don’t recommend this either), up many staircases (I actually don’t believe I climbed 49 steps every day to get home last year!), and on two different trains (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME KIDS) all in 92 degree weather. Anyways, even though I’ve been struggling with my luggage, it was well worth it because for the past two days I’ve been living the dream.

So, here’s my best attempt at a recap. I’ll try to keep it short and sweet, but I actually am not really going to try that hard to do that…oops.

Tuesday: Day starts at 6:50am. Get on the train with my partner in crime, Stephanie. We proceed to Penn Station, the Subway, then we go to work. Minor setbacks that morning include me losing my shoe on the escalator (don’t worry, it was recovered!) and also me getting stuck in one of those revolving doors because my suitcase was not cooperating. Very minor. I should probably say the reason why we were carting around these extra bags was because my cousin was letting us stay at her NYC apartment for a few nights so that we could avoid the commute! It was so nice of her! After work, we started trekking through the city that doesn’t sleep (that’s why it’s so crowded all the time, everyone is always awake and never at home in their beds asleep obviously). We ended up on a subway that was near Middle Earth, that’s how far down in the ground it was, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. When we got back to civilization, we brilliantly figured out which way the streets were running, and continued on our merry way. We reached the BEAUTIFUL apartment and obsessed over how cool it was that we were now legitimately "city girls." Both of us being pretty big SNL fans, there was a lot of “ohhhh myyy goddd” references within that first 10 minutes. We then proceeded to get dinner. We went to Delizia, a delicious pizza place, and continued to pretend we actually lived in the city. Then, we went to Duane Reade and bought a delicious breakfast of champions for the next morning: Honey Nut Cheerios. Before we went to bed, we watched Seinfeld, in which George gives Elaine a cashmere sweater with a stain on it. Poor form George.

Hump Day: Got up. Read a book that had about 50 cookie recipes and then read another one about cupcakes over cereal. I will probably not ever bake any of them, which is kinda sad, but the pictures were great! My cousin is an extremely talented, and excellent baker, and her cupcakes are just plain wonderful! When she has her own bakery, we’ll all go and eat the cupcakes.

Anyways, after that we made our way Downtown and went to the Today Show! I had never been in the crowd outside, but it was really fun, and we got to see Meredith, Matt, Natalie, Ann, and Al (such champs) and also Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Chris Rock. At work, everyone cheered for the USA when we won the World Cup game, which was really cool. I know you all already know, but gosh how I love the World Cup!

It was quesadilla Wednesday, so I ate lunch while I sat outside in the mock tennis stands watching the World’s Longest Tennis Match. Literally. Then I got free strawberries and cream that they were handing out. And these were totally free- not free like the “free food” they give out at school- these were actually free!

At the end of the day, I met up with Stephanie and we got to go see a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (due to the fact that I have another cousin who works for the show)! All my cousins are just so talented I guess: he is a writer for the show and is very successful with that. Heidi Klum was the guest, and she is for sure just as beautiful in person as she is on TV. Also, Jimmy Fallon did a skit where he pretends he’s Roger Federer. Watch it. It’s great. There was a guy in the audience dressed in skin-tight jeans and high furry boots, a furry vest, a sun’s out, guns out tank, and a hat with fox tails hanging in the back. Just saying, I heart NY. After that we got dinner in this little coffee place and people-watched for about an hour because our legs were so tired. Then we got ice cream and watched the Best of Will Ferrell on SNL. Then, all of the sudden, I got a fever, and we figured out that the only thing that could possibly cure it was more cowbell!

Thursday: Woke up. Packed up. Said to Stephanie: “don’t make me leave!” Basically ran to work. Good thing it wasn’t too hot out! Oh wait, just kidding. Take note: on the way to work, we did decide that if you live in the city, it is absolutely necessary to own an awesome dog so you can walk it around and look like a boss. Got back to work, got to watch tennis again at lunch, and now I’m back on the train with my suitcase listening to a lot of people with really legit Long Island accents banter about lots of random things. I was telling The Texan, who I was chatting with on the phone before, that sometimes the train is quiet and relaxing. Sometimes all the crazies are yelling. Today, my immediate section is pretty quiet, but not silent like it is sometimes, but the people behind me sound like they’re having a party! Also, it’s unbelievable how many people drink Casual Beverages (CB’s for all you cool kids out there) on the train! I know they’re CB’s, but I’m still deciding on whether or not it is casual to drink them on the train.

On my journey home, since the 4th season of 30 Rock has not come out yet on DVD, I’m glad I chose to work on my blog and reflect about how stellar the past few days have been instead. I’m so lucky that my cousins were able to line up two really awesome opportunities for me. I realized 1) not all areas of the city are really tourist-y, and while those areas are really cool to see, I happened to really like being in the more residential areas, and 2) working on a television show (especially one like Jimmy Fallon) would be beyond excellent. Still not totally sure what I want to do, but I did like the pace of that show, and how it’s taped in front of a live audience. I’m not really surprised that I liked it- I’m always going to have a weird thing for famous people and show business, but I’ve got time to figure that stuff out. For now I’ve just got to take it all in and appreciate these really cool opportunities.

For all of you who actually read all that, I take it you are my loyal blog followers, so thank you very much, I hope you found it enjoyable. And thank you if you’ve also read my other posts! I’m loving this blog thing.

Rockstar of the Day is Jimmy Fallon because his show was great and he truly seemed to love what he did. He is also quite hilarious when he laughs during all of his old SNL skits (specifically the Cowbell skit, the Hot tub skit, and the modern clothes store/small phone skit). And, the other two Rockstars of the Day are my two cousins, Melissa and Jon, for obvious reasons. Also, shout out to all the new OL’s who started work today. Hope you’re all enjoying being Herf Sheriff’s (pronounced Sherf’s). I will probably write again before this, but make sure you watch the US take on Ghana in the next round of the World Cup! P&B.

Is it really only Monday?

Party people- I would very much like to write a wonderfully descriptive and intellectual post right now, but I'm unfortunately REALLY tired due to the fact that I left my home at 8am and did not get home until 9pm. Now, if I were at school right now, the night would just be beginning. I would probably be making my way to good old Alderman, or depending on my level of procrastination for the weekend, maybe even Club Clem with all the crazies!

But since I am Smithtown-ing, I am super tired and it is just not that late at all. That being said, tomorrow is sure to be a wonderful day. Get pumped for more stories and some sure to be witty jokes. Tomorrow I will be living the life in NYC and staying there overnight, instead of commuting, so it's sure to be quite the party.

Also, today was really cool because I got to enjoy my lunch outside on a mock Wimbledon set. I watched the tennis match on a big screen TV, in stands made to look like the real deal. Then I went back to work. NBD. It was great. P&B. Rockstar of the Day is my sister, Lauren, for passing her road test on the first try! Watch out, she's coming soon to a highway near you.

Can I get you guys anything else?

On the weekends this summer, I have been working at a sushi restaurant. It is a tiny little sushi place in Stony Brook, with the most excellent sushi in town. My job is not too difficult, all I have to do is meet and greet people, take their drink orders, and help clear the tables when the customers leave. Nothing too earth-shattering, but since I've never worked in a restaurant until now, I've never had the opportunity to truly get the benefits of people-watching so much!

Since it's such a small restaurant, even if I'm not even trying, I can overhear most people's conversations. I'm not talking word for word, I can usually just get the gist of what they're talking about, which is so interesting. For example, last night there was a group of 4 people sitting close to me, and they whole time they talked about computer programs, and which one was best for computing data, and they talked about derivative and math formulas (throwback) and then when I came over to clear their plates they were having a lively debate about environmental policy and conservation. Such academics! It really made me wonder what they all did for a living. I wondered if they were professors at Stony Brook University, which is only about 5 minutes away from the restaurant, or were they scientists, or just business people who liked talking about math and science while eating miso soup and California rolls.

Then there was the family with the obnoxious dad. This guy, who I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the mafia, come in and act like they own the place. This drives me nuts. It's a restaurant. Congrats if you're friends with the owner, but do you REALLY need to cause a scene. I mean, really, is it necessary to demand to sit at the sushi bar when it's already full and then kind of just shout instead of talk for the rest of the night so that people realize you're here and important because you know the owner? Really?

Anyways, his tween-aged daughters texted the whole night, and he and his wife obnoxiously carried on loud conversations with the owner of the restaurant. They were quite difficult, and felt the need for us to roll out the red carpet for them. I know, "the customer is always right," but did they really need to order cappuccino which took about 20 minutes to make while the place was packed? HOO orders cappuccino at a sushi restaurant. And then HOO leaves a crappy tip at the end of the whole extravaganza. RUDE. But oh well, it takes all types to make the world go round.

Then there was the party of 7, who were very pleasant at first, except for the two sons, (ages 12 and 15 if I had to guess) who were unfortunately still in that stage of thinking being rude and annoying was just plain hilarious. News-flash boys: it's not that funny. Not at all.

And then there's the perfect customers: the elderly couple, I think they're music professors, who always order pretty much the same thing, who are so cute and quiet, and very friendly and have very good manners, and just chat quietly and drink green tea, and then always tell us how great their meal was! They are champs, and it's unbelievable how just being kind and grateful is all it takes to put someone in a good mood. It's not that difficult, and I'd suggest some more people try this approach. Such champs.

Finally, there was a guy last night who came in alone. I'd never seen him in the restaurant before, and he was kind of shy and didn't speak English too well. He was studying a sheet with a bunch of math formulas while he ate for a while, but other than that he just drank his Japanese beer and enjoyed his meal. And, even though he seemed content, he broke my heart. Saturday night, and I don't know if this guy had anywhere else to be. I don't know if he was traveling through Long Island, and just stopped here for the night, if he lived here and just needed some alone time, if he was usually alone, or, I mean, for all I know, he was a secret agent doing investigative research of the restaurant (doubtful). Either way, it killed me that he was in there alone, and I wanted to go over and sit with him, but, because that would be inappropriate, the only thing you can do is just be pleasant. I hope this guy had a family somewhere, and maybe they just weren't around last night, but when I see situations like this, I remember how lucky I am to have so many great people in my life who I really care about, and who really care about me.

Sorry that was a bit sappy, but I hope it paints a nice picture of the restaurant: A Day in the Life, if you will. Rockstar of the Day is Rob, my dad, because it's father's day, and he's the best dad. Ever. In the history of dads. Hands down. But, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there! Enjoy your day! P&B.

Goooooooooooooooooal? continued

K, so I promised I'd finish my pretty lackluster post from yesterday, so here it is!

As I think I made it pretty clear before, I, as I'm sure many of you as well, have greatly enjoyed the World Cup these past few weeks. Not going to lie, I have been mostly concerned with the status Team USA, but either way, it's an awesome event. In watching the World Cup, I've realized how much I really miss playing sports competitively. Although the World Cup does not make me want to actually play soccer (been there, done that, wasn't pretty), it does make me miss volleyball a lot, and sometimes even badminton! Being part of a team is pretty epic, and I'll be forever grateful for the awesome teams I got to be a part of at SHSW.

Apart from missing actually playing sports myself, I am always in awe of how good these guys are when I watch things like the World Cup. Other comparable events that invoke similar emotions for me are: The Olympics (BEST EVER), the World Series, the Superbowl (you don't even need to know what's going on to appreciate it), college basketball.

Whether you follow these sports all year, or whether you just tune in for the big shebang at the end, it's absolutely awesome to watch so many people with so much talent battle it out for the ultimate reward.

It's totally great to watch people win, but the down side is that you always have to watch people lose, which is pretty heartbreaking, but as is life I guess sometimes. It kills me to watch people put their whole heart into a game, and then bam, good try, come back next year. But, as my Dad would say, "that's why you play the game."

It's cool how sports bring people together, whether it be a town, a state, or an entire country. Not many things do this, but sports have this cool way of forming bonds between teammates and between fans. For example, if you're a Yankee fan (rock on), and you meet another Yankee fan, you don't really even have to talk for more than 2 minutes. You're going to have something in common, something bigger than the both of you, and that's pretty darn awesome.

So, that's my little rant about sports. They're great. I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of the World Cup. And I hope I get to watch a little bit of Wimbledon, because tennis players are also unbelievable athletes. After all that, I will have to psyche myself up about the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As for the rest of my day yesterday, it was very excellent. I got to go to the beach with

my sister, and although she unfortunately told me she doesn't like ANY of Lady Gaga's songs, which I find VERY hard to believe, she did introduce me to this new song, by Enrique, who I thought fell off the face of the Earth, but in fact did not, and was just busy filming music videos with Pitbull starring the Emmy-award winning cast of the Jersey Shore...classy Enrique. On the drive home from the beach, 3 GREAT songs came on the radio in a row, and that made my day too. Just wanted to include that. I also got to see that Get Him to the Greek movie with two good friends, and it was quite hilarious. P. Diddy was a champ, as was the Jeffrey scene.

Rockstars of the Day yesterday were obviously Team USA- shoutouts to Landon Donovan, not only for having a great sports name, but also for scoring a goal, and to Michael Bradley. Oh, AND Carlos Bocanegra- sorry I'm not sorry.

Today, Rockstar of the Day will go to Aldous Snow, because he literally is a Rockstar. P&B

Goooooooooooooooooal?

There is literally nothing better than watching live sports. Especially on the International stage. LITERALLY NOTHING BETTER!

I planned on writing this whole post right now, being that I'm on an adrenaline high because I'm so freakin' excited, but being this excited is not conducive to blogging and typing precisely, so it is TBC (To Be Continued).

GO USA! I'm pretty sure you know who the Rockstars of the Day will be. P&B&WC (World Cup).

What the hell time is it?

I don't know why, but today was a great day.

Wednesdays are usually not my jam, being that you're like, oh, i still have two more days of the week til the weekend and I am starting to get really tired due to the trials and tribulations of Monday and Tuesday, but today was quite the nice day.

Started off pretty similarly to all the other days of the summer. Got up. Ate a bowl of cereal and peanut butter and jelly and banana on an english muffin (sorry I'm not sorry that I really like breakfast). Had a really hard time coming up with an outfit today but managed to find a casual cardigan and went to the train station. Got on the train (it'd be weird if I didn't), watched 3 solid episodes of 30 Rock, NBD, took the Subway two stops, got to work, did work-related thangs, ate a quality quesadilla for lunch for only $4- such a BARGAIN, finished up with work-related thangs, then walked outside to the Subway. All of this seems like a pretty darn normal day.

Then, as I proceeded with my escapades through the mass transit system with Stephania, I realized today was the day: all the crazies were out. Some days, you feel like you can just walk through the city without a care in the world, take in all the sights, and just do what you have to do. Other days, such as today, it seems as if everyone in the city forgot how to walk.

People walk unbelievably slow, they stop in the middle of the road and text (very rude AND unnecessary), they backpack slam you, they hit you with their sidebags, and they awkwardly cut in front of you. It's not pretty.

As we're going down the escalator in Penn Station, I realize we have only 3 minutes, according to my watch, to catch the train. As we started to sprint through the crazies, we started yelling to each other, "only 30 seconds MacGruber!" and as we ran onto the train-making sure we watched the gap- we were pretty loudly shouting "1 second MacGruber!" I'm sure we got some funny looks, but all of the sudden, the crazy commute wasn't looking too bad at all. In fact, the whole thing was quite comical.

On the way home, we somehow got seats next to each other on the train from Penn to Jamaica (yea mon) AND from Jamaica to Smithtown...it was basically a Christmas Miracle. And, to top it all off, we successfully finished 3 complete episodes of 30 Rock which means we finished 3 full seasons! It was a great success. A great, great success. I'm not really sure what we are going to watch now, being that we tried watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia but found it so inappropriate it was actually shocking...but also funny. One day we watched the Best of Gilda Radner on SNL and were introduced to the one and only Roseanne Roseannadanna, and that was pretty great too, but the next sitcom we watch is still to be determined.

So, this post might seem completely random, which it kind of is, but the main message I'd like to drive home is that even though everyone was being very unpleasant on the way to the train, Stephanie and I were able to turn our days around in quoting 30 Rock incessantly (even while we were watching it we were quoting older episodes) and also quoting as many SNL digital shorts as we could think of. The line "because we live in the matrix" was hands down our most popular phrase of the day. And, our favorite line from 30 Rock today was definitely Tracy Jordan shouting, "what the hell time is it." Out of context, these are just not that funny. But I wanted to write about this because it goes to show that just a little bit of comedy can turn your whole day around. It feels good to laugh, but if you're on the train, just make sure to do it quietly, because all the boss-like business execs sitting around you don't usually laugh along with ya.

Rockstar of the Day is Tina Fey, for creating such a wonderful television show AND for going to UVa AND because I may or may not want her life. Honorable mentions go to Tracy Morgan for being the funniest character on the show, and Alec Baldwin for having an excellent voice. Thanks for reading! P&B.

And the Oscar goes to...?

I know it's not Oscar season, but when I was flipping through the channels tonight, I quickly found myself enthralled with the MTV Movie Awards. And, even though Kristen Stewart was ridiculously awkward every time she went up on stage, and even though I was legitimately shocked about Katy Perry's outfit when she sang California Girls, and even though I've never been a huge MTV fan, I freakin love award shows.

I love the video montages they do at the beginning, I love when they honor famous actors and actresses in the middle, and do a run-through of all the good movies they have been in throughout their careers- tonight, it was Sandra Bullock...GREAT choice MTV Movie Awards people! I love the day after the awards when everyone is talking about all the dresses people wore and the crazy things that they said and I love watching the hosts try to be extremely witty for 4 full hours in front of a ton of famous people.

I'm fully aware that all of these things, in the world of Hollywood, are just not that important in the grand scheme of things. We can talk for hours about who looked the best on the red carpet, but honestly, none of us are going to go out and buy those dresses...am I right? Most of them are downright strange. And, the stars are always thanking the Academy, and the voters, but who the heck are these people? Who's the Academy? Who's sitting there voting for these people to win these awards? I'm really not sure. And honestly, it makes no difference to me. All awards shows are cool. I think it's awesome that all these famous people sit in a room for 5 hours a few times a year, and watch each other win huge gold statues for perfecting such an all-encompassing craft.

I usually have pretty few complaints about my life, but I just thought of two.

1) Too bad my life is not like Glee- in the fact that everyone sings all the time and there's always a stage, costumes, microphones, and a guy sitting at a baby grand piano ready to play a power ballad for me to sing, and

2) I wish I could act. But no worries; I've got time...I'll get on that stat. (And, while I'm at it, I wish I could sing, because the two talents seem to go hand in hand these days).

Rockstar of the Day is DEFINITELY Sandra Bullock. Not only is she beautiful, very sassy, witty, and fresh, a major female powerhouse, not going to put up with any BS from Jesse James (VERY rude), but she genuinely loves her job...a lot. Rock on Sandra. You're a major boss. Thanks for inspiring us to do what we love, and to do it well.

P&B everyone! Hope your day is great tomorrow...but not as great as this video...that'd be far too much.

All aboard?

So, now that I'm a working girl, I have become quite accustomed to...commuting.

It sounds scary (but most of the time it is not) but I would just like to say I have the utmost respect for people who are commuters throughout their careers. I honestly do not think I will be able to commute extensively for any longer than the span of this summer, so kudos to all you people who have been doing this for years.

For now, I would like to hi-light the ups and downs of being a commuter.

Pros of Commuting:

-In the morning, when you get onto the train, and you know all you have to do is sit there for 1.5 hours, it's very relaxing

-You can catch up on television (hello 30 Rock) that you have

been meaning to watch your whole life but just haven't had the chance!

-You can read the newspaper, which makes you feel very worldly

-Subways = awesome...very efficient

-When you walk out of Penn Station and get onto the street and look up and see the Empire State Building, it's quite the beautiful view, and you feel very lucky to live so close to such a stellar city

-Catching the train with literally 1 minute to spare is exhilarating

Cons of Commuting:

-Sometimes you don't get a seat and that's just plain depressing

-When the trains are delayed, it makes you tired

-Some people like to yell on their cell phones the whole time, and that's really rude

-When the train is really crowded, some people still don't understand, and they sit in the outside seat, and actually look annoyed/surprised when you ask them if you can sit on the inside seat. Also rude.

-Things like this can actually happen: So, I'm on the train talking to another intern that I met at work. We're having a pleasant conversation, and all of the sudden this (somewhat creepy) guy who was sitting next to us says he has been listening in on our conversation. Not to say I've never halfway listened to a neighboring conversation in my life (we're all human) but usually I don't join in on the convo if I'm not invited. However, this guy didn't get it. After he heard me talking about how much I loved blogging and how I didn't want to make a twitter, he told us he was a professional Twitter-er and that he worked for a social media company and Tweeted for big corporations. It was awkward after I had expressed how I didn't fully understand the need for Twitter. Then, after I said I didn't think I would have liked going to an all-girls school, he told us how awesome he thought his all-boys high school was. More awkward. And then, when I thought he was done, I mentioned that I wanted to get a blackberry (even though I know it will be detrimental to my health) and that I didn't like the iPhone because it was a touch screen. Sure, enough, he whips out his new iPhone and tells me how awesome it is. Good times on the Long Island Railroad. Good freakin' times.

P&B. Rockstars of the day are the soccer players playing in the World Cup because they are all

absolutely awesome and extremely talented and make soccer look very easy when it is obviously not at all. Go USA!

How would you like that cooked?

Today's post is going to be all about FOOD! Sorry I'm not sorry.I have spent much of the day talking about food, and, for the first time in my life, looking at pictures of food. I never really understood the draw- why would I ever want to sit around and look at pictures of food? It just made me want to get up and eat everything around me. Or, it would just make me upset that there weren't enough delicious things at my fingertips to eat! Either way, I was confused by the appeal. Today, however, I have been looking at pictures from my cousin's blog and since she is a master baker, she has tons of beautiful pictures of her signature baked goods

- cupcakes in particular.

Not going to lie, I don't really plan on baking any of these recipes any time soon being that my skills in the kitchen are best used towards making cereal. For some reason today, though, I really wanted to write about food. I also just realized that another reason why I have the inclination to write about food is because yesterday Stephanie and I, after a hard day at the office, rewarded ourselves and went to Magnolia Bakery to mack on some cupcakes (if you can quote this whole song to me you can be Rockstar of the Day). This bakery, being very picturesque and delicious, I'm sure had something to do with this food kick I seem to be on.

All my life, I've been REALLY into food (find me someone who isn't and you too can be Rockstar of the Day for a whole week). But, what I'm trying to say is that I'm all about big meals, large portions, and high quality food (and H2O). I'd much rather eat 3 big meals a day than snack on something little and insignificant (Tostitos being one of the only exceptions). I think family-style Italian restaurants are great because when the the food comes out everyone always acts like they're overwhelmed and complain, "oh wow, such big portions, I'll have to take some of this home," BUT I know they're thrilled and also very excited because they, like myself, have a lot of confidence that a) they'll be able to finish the meal b) they'll have some leftovers that will be utterly delicious the next day, or even later that night (oops). And, I love really good food. We are NOT talking about McDonald's or Taco Bell party people. I'll thank The Parentals for that trait because they had a lot to do with what kind of food I grew up with/came to really like, AND because they chose to live in New York, and although I'm no world traveler, restaurants don't get too much better than they do in the Big Apple and the surrounding suburbs. Good work Long Island.

So, even though I don't cook much/ever (don't worry Mom, someday...), I wanted to share some of my fave's in terms of restaurants in general. Again, I'm no expert, but I realized I do like talking about food. For this post, I'll split it up based on the two places I have most recently lived. But, before I get started, I'll have you know I am probs a bit biased being that I honestly think I could live off of carbohydrates for the rest of my life and be very happy.

Strong Island: Butera's, La Famiglia, and Carrabba's are great for solid Italian cuisine but La Parma is also delicious, and a family favorite. If you want pizza, and I know you do because why wouldn't you want to eat pizza in NY, you MUST go to Mannino's. I'll forever be loyal to Baja Grill due to its prime location, delicious chips and salsa, and festive decorations. For sushi, Sushi Ichi fo sho, and for burgers look no further than the gourmet quality of American Roadside. Make sure to get sweet potato fries. For Greek food, I love Mykono's and their awesome pita bread and if you like watching people cook on the table right in front of you, go to Gasho for the win. And, finally, for breakfast/bruch, Maureen's Kitchen is so great and is decorated with charming cows. And a late, but great find, thanks to my friend Shannon, JT's is also a winner. Also, Trace and her spaghetti squash are fab. Oh, and all things prepared by my grandma for the Jewish holidays. (Ex: matzo ball soup, kugel, and briscuit).
Charlottesville: I decided to do my top 5, but we all know I like mostly all Corner eateries. Bodo's has to be mentioned first because I think my life would be very different without it. I can't say that I haven't eaten there multiple times a day for different meals on multiple days throughout the year and last summer. It is also quite cheap, so that's always a plus for us college kids. Then, I'd have to say Boylan Heights for burgers, Mellow Mushroom for specialty pizzas such as Kosmic Karma (most definitely ate 3 slices in a very short period of time the last night of school and may or may not have wanted to have eaten 4 slices). Bahh, and I guess the last 2 would have to be good old Little John's for its cheap sandwich delights and delectable muffins (chocolate chip OR banana nut, you can't go wrong with either), and then Basil because I've had many a wonderful dinners there with many wonderful people.

I know I said I'd keep the list to top 5, but I thought it would be alright, being that it's my blog and all, if I name dropped some honorable mentions:
Pita Pit- I don't what it is about that place that makes it so great but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the pita is always wrapped to perfection. You can also order online until the wee hours of the morning and get it delivered to many different locations...like DKE, if for some reason you were there. AND, if you sit in there long enough, you might get a coupon for a free pita...go figure!
Also, Lemongrass should be mentioned, but it is not for the weak-hearted. I am confident that the Spicy Scale, 0-10, is totally random, so if you can take the heat, go for it like a boss.
Cheesy bread and regular pizza are clutch from College Inn, and they deliver, so that makes the whole thing a lot of fun (especially if you're at the library or having a sleepover with your roommates.)
Chipotle. Best enjoyed after you ride your bike there, so you're getting exercise and enjoying a healthy (debatable) meal.
Being that I'm a carboholic, the Downtown Grill is also great due to the huge biscuits they serve.
Arch's brownie batter topping is also top notch as is the Black Caesar Archer.
And O'Hill stir-fry...such a champ.


Although this post hopefully has your mouth watering, I did not want to make it sound like I like every and all restaurants I have ever been to, so I have compiled the (short) Places I Would Not Enjoy Spending Money At If I Am Hungry List: Jimmy John's (sorry Chuck and Panda), any Chinese food restaurant, and Rapture on the Downtown Mall (the DTM for those of you who are cool). That's all I've got for the moment.

I hope you enjoyed this food post. And props to KKraft for opening my eyes to the website for many of these pictures. Let me know if I missed anything! The Rockstar of the Day is hands down the woman who orders lunch for us at work. This is my 3rd day of enjoying her lunches, and she has yet to dissapoint. Rock on Karen! Today was the best lunch yet!
P&B everyone!

So you think you can dance?

K, so as I stated in my previous (and only) post thus far, I thoroughly enjoyed writing my first blog post and I may or may not have enjoyed talking about my blog throughout the rest of the day even more! So, I apologize to those of you who have heard me talk about it far too much, but hey, it's the holidays! I like blogging, so I'm going to talk about it! The only strange thing I've found so far about having a blog, apart from all of the global media attention I've been receiving, is that everything that happens to me during the day, however unexciting, I think to myself, hmm, how can I put this into blog format? I know that these strong emotions towards my blog are obviously only because it is so new and oh so fresh, but in the spirit of being overly excited about things, I figured I would devote this post to something I really like.

It is difficult to choose only one thing write about for this first, I'm sure of many "Things that are Great" posts, so I'll have to start off with something REALLY important: Dance Parties.

Honestly, who doesn't like dance parties? Oh wait, nobody. That's because dance parties can happen any time, any place, for any period of time, and with anyone. Not going to lie, some dance parties are more thrilling than others (dance party in a car by yourself vs. dance party at 3 am when you still have a 5 page paper to write but realize you absolutely must celebrate "My Life is a Musical Day" at that moment). It is imperative to realize that dance parties, while they are more fun with more people around, obviously do not have to take place at actual parties. For example, last summer, I would attend a hip-hop dance class as part of Summer Orientation at UVa because it was part of my job. Needless to say, but anyone who actually knows me knows that even though I do quite enjoy dancing, I'm no professional. Therefore, I found it quite difficult to keep up with all of the choreographed dance moves we were supposed to be learning because they were teaching the class at the speed of light. So, due to the mass confusion the class was causing, a few of my friends and I had our own dance party within the dance class. I'm still not totally sure if the teacher really realized us going crazy in the back of the room, but I'm over it. It was awesome.


Another great dance party was the Great Dance-Off of October, 2007, in the West Side gym at lunch time during the famed Smithtown Classic Volleyball Tournament. That was quite the event. Please note: a volleyball tournament- obviously not the location of a rager; yet, it was one of the best dance parties I have ever witnessed. Also, why do you think Glee is so successful? In addition to Finn's undoubtedly good looks, it's because I'm not the only one who wishes my whole day was like a dance party.

Now, instead of retelling every detail of every great dance party I've ever had the pleasure of being a part of, I will impart some dance party advice (inspired by personal dance party experience, so in essence retelling details of many great dance parties I've had the pleasure of being a part of, so basically it's a win-win for all of us).
First, always sing while you dance. And, if you're going to sing, sing loud and sing proud. Second, try to stand on furniture and be a boss. Whether it be a couch, chair, or large wooden table/stage dancing on furniture is the way to go. And, to wrap up this segment on dance parties, I wanted to advise everyone to develop a signature dance move AND to adopt the signature dance moves of their friends. This will make your own personal dance style more exciting and your dance parties most definitely dance partays. And, you never know who is going to teach your dance moves to their other friends to use in their own dance parties or who is going to teach your dance moves to their whole family, basically turning your dance moves into a nationwide phenomenon.

If right now, you REALLY want to have a dance party, here are some suggested songs to get you started. Honestly, it's not necessarily the song that makes the party, but based on experience, Imma Be, Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer, any throwbacks such as the Backstreet Boys, N*SYNC, or C'est la vie, Jai Ho (critics choice), MGMT's Kids, Pitbull's 1, 2, 3, 4, Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro Song, Go Girl, Don't Stop Believing (Glee version works well too, let me know if you'd like to learn some inspirational choreography for this one), Forever (still a good song, still a bad dude), all Lady Gaga, Sexy B*tch, Paris Hilton's Nothing in this World (just listen to the video, no need to watch), and finally, if you wanted to slow it down, Donna Lewis' I Love You, Always Forever. Again, any song has the potential to spark a dance party.

In other news, Quinn is the Rockstar of the Day, since it happens to be his birthday! And, since birthdays and birthday parties often have a strong correlation with dance parties, it seems only fitting. Dance your pants off party people! P&B.

If you enjoyed this post, you can look forward to similar posts about other wonderful things. For example: Gmail, YouTube, Hulu (particularly SNL clips), and guacamole and chips (may not get their own post, but are just really good).

Do I love Charlottesville? Absolutely.

What's up party people?! Welcome to my blog. I've been wanting to start a blog for a while now, but I have been waiting until I had something exciting to write about. So, here we go...

The S.A.S.S.Y Charlottesville Adventure

I am currently a rising 3rd year student at the University of Virginia, located in the small, but wonderful city of Charlottesville. This weekend, I flew back down to Virginia from Long Island to volunteer at Reunions Weekend for the +5000 alumni returning to dear old UVa to "relive their crazy college days." Upon my arrival at Dulles, two of my roommates from 2nd year, Zenith-ers Emily and Kate picked me up and we drove to Herndon, VA to have lunch before the drive down to school. There was a festival in Herndon (which included a large stage) so we seriously contemplated doing a performance for the lovely Herndon residents, but since we were so hungry, and for that reason alone, we decided against it. There was also the issue of what song we were going to sing (we very seriously considered True Colors but quickly decided it was too risky since we were missing the rest of our entourage).

We stopped at Kate's house and took a picture with a life-size Elvis cut-out and talked about isolated thunderstorms, and then me and Emily, aka Sassafrass, continued on our way. Highlights of the drive included some isolated storms (it is key to note how isolated they were), two very great CD's, and a dance party on Route 29 featuring Forever (good song, bad dude) and Haven't Met You Yet (if you click this link, starting at around 2:30, I just wanted to make sure you knew that I legitimately wish grocery stores were this much fun).
After Emily drove like a boss through those isolated storms, we reached C'Ville and were quite excited (especially when we drove past the Roto). Along with Chris, we waited for Quinn on the front porch of his summer house on the three high-quality couches that were out there. When he arrived, obviously wearing a lab coat and steel-toed workboots, we picked up The Texan and went to BellAir Market, a 5-star sandwich restaurant that also sells dog food, hidden within a gas station. Everyone really needs to eat here some time. Although, due to its location, it is less talked about than the famed Take-it-Away sandwich shop on The Corner, it is hands-down just as good AND is on that list of Things to Do Before You Graduate.

The next day, after an exciting night involving a short stint with the fire alarm (but no fire, so don't worry), me and Sass reported to Alumni Hall at 8am to start volunteering for Reunions.
Highlights of the 2-day extravaganza include the Class of 1980 Fiesta at North Grounds Fitness Center, in which we talked incessantly about the wonderful-ness of the Class of 2012 and Marisa and I ate some delicious lemon curd, the Class of 1970 Dinner on the Esplanade of the Rotunda where it was about 200 degrees (literally), the Dorm Reunion in McCormick Quad featuring 6 large kegs, having free Qdoba for lunch at Alumni Hall, chatting with many great friends from school, and the Band Party in the Amphitheater until 1am in which Emily and I convinced a woman who may or may not have been having a little bit too much fun that we were biological sisters. Overall, the whole weekend was a very positive experience. It was really cool to see so many people who really loved their time at school, and who very evidently still absolutely loved the school. I sat in on a panel for the Class of 1970, in which a bunch of people just chatted about their time at UVa, and one man, who told me he was the jokester of his year, said, "this place is different." And he said that because it is.

When my parents dropped me off at school 1st year at Bonnycastle, as they were pulling away, my dad stopped the car and leaned out the window and said, "Al, just do me a favor and don't drink the punch." I agreed I would stay away from the stuff (and stick to drinking lots of naked juice and very casual beverages), however, I find it very ironic that a few weeks ago, the Silver Fox, Dean Groves, said, "the students here at UVa really drink the punch." I'm pretty sure they were referring to two very different beverages (one probably much more casual than the other), but the point is that UVa is a cool place, with even cooler people, and I'm very lucky to be a part of it.

So there you go, that's my first story! I thoroughly enjoyed writing it, so I guess I'll keep up with this blogging thang. Get pumped for all kinds of stories, some advice, far too many YouTube and SNL references, pics, and random lists (in case you were wondering, any list I create was due to inspiration from Katie, my first friend to catch blog-fever). Also, you can be sure that all posts will be witty and very fresh. And, if you think things could get wittier up in here, just let me know, I will do my best.

Peace and Blessings. P&B. And special thanks to Emily for helping me create a name for this blog. She is Rockstar of the Day.