Thanksgiving 2010

Mom flew up for Thanksgiving this year! We spent the morning at Katherine and Sheldon's watching the parade, came back to my apartment just in time to put the turkey in the oven and then went to see HARRY POTTER while it cooked, we came home afterwards and stuffed ourselves so full that there was no room left for pie... until breakfast the next morning ;)

L to R: Sheldon, Katherine, Adeel, Chris, Emily, Paige, Leslee

(a couple of my classmates joined us for the parade watching)

Bday!

This past Friday was my birthday and Sheldon took me to celebrate for the whole weekend!

First, we started out by getting all dressed up and eating out at Gilt at the New York Palace on Friday night. The waiter actually called us by name the whole night (Ms. Redfield vs ma'am is actually pretty cool), had 5 different kinds of amazing warm pre-dinner rolls, and a wine list with 3 WHOLE PAGES as the TABLE OF CONTENTS. It was longer than most books I've seen. The sommelier picked out something sweet, bubbly and fruity for me because my taste buds haven't grown past the average 5 year old, and it was awesome. Sheldon even liked it enough to have a glass (which left him pretty flush faced and adorable, but with an upset tummy :( , eh he tried). I had scallops and venison steak, Sheldon had mushrooms and duck. Both of us agreed it was one of the top 5 best meals we've ever had in our lives. For two people who really, REALLY enjoy food and live in NY and have made a habit of going to Michelin star restaurants for date night, that's saying something! They even had a legitimately impressive after-dinner tea menu (again, for two people who's other food vice is tea shops - that's saying something!). After a thoroughly enjoyable meal and a surprise birthday dessert dish (with Happy Birthday written in chocolate swirls along the outside of the plate ! ), we walked home in the unexpectedly balmy night. When we got back to our apartment, we got into comfy clothes and watched the first season of Sherlock Holmes ( from the PBS series - only 3 episodes, but 3 whole episodes of awesome!), then went to http://thescienceofdeduction.co.uk/ and did the cipher puzzles there before hopping into bed.

Then, on Saturday, we hopped a train to Tarrytown where Sheldon had reservations for us at the Castle On The Hudson , which is - you guessed it - a castle :) . We walked there from the train station, because it was a nice day and only a mile walk according to google maps. Did you ever notice how castles, being fortifications, are built on the highest ground? Suffice it to say, it was a mile straight up, thanks google maps... About 30 minutes and 2 gallons of sweat later, we checked into our swanky castle digs, then caught a cab into town where we had a lunch of tea, mini-sandwiches, and scones with creme fraiche at the Silver Tips Cafe. Then we wandered the town a bit during which time I discovered that nail salons outside of the city are much cheaper than nail salons in NYC. After a few hours of wandering and one french manicure later, we hopped a cab back to the hotel and proceeded to watch The Golden Compass, National Treasures Book Of Secrets, and The Bourne Ultimatum from the depths of our enormous, comfy bed. Then this morning (Sunday), we went outside to play chess at the Giant Chess Board, and to explore the castle. There had been a wedding there the night before and we thought their centerpieces were cute so we took some photos for wedding planning purposes too! After exploring the grounds we checked out and went back to town for round 2 of tea, scones, and sandwiches.

Now, a short train ride later, we're back in town. I think I'm going to have to up my game for Sheldon's bday next year...

Back-Up Profession

- photo credit to Chuck (he found this, it is not a photo of him!)

Chuckoween

Chuck and I headed to Boston this past weekend to celebrate his 26th birthday (October 28th), to see the BC Eagles take on the Clemson tigers and to celebrate Halloween at the Cantab Lounge. Chuckoween is an annual celebration that started in college so Chuck felt that it was only appropriate that it be resurrected this weekend with his old college roommates. We got in town Friday night and met up with Jason and Dani for some cocktails. Saturday morning we were up and tailgating and then had the good luck to see Boston College upset Clemson 16-10 in their best game of the season, you will also note that Chuck is looking very team spirited in the BC pants I got him for his birthday... After the game we played a few rounds of beruit (aka beer pong for everyone that did not go to BC) for old times sake and then disbanded so that everyone could get into their Halloween costumes. I went as a member of the Tea Party (very scary), Chuck and Jason were pirates and Dani was a gypsy/pirate wench. We danced the night away at the Cantab (which Katherine and mom will remember visiting) and then finished up the weekend visiting Chuck's sister Liz (who is a senior at Boston University) and driving back home. It was quite a weekend!

Toil and Trouble...

Sheldon somehow talked me into waking up at o'dark hundred on a SATURDAY to do volunteer work all day at an elementary school in Brooklyn through a program called New York Cares . We were put on mural duty - this is now the wall of the play ground at PS 199 (aka Shakespeare Elementary on Shakespeare Ave.)

We were in charge of Macbeth.

Of course, we were very serious about it the whole time...

Go Lions!

Columbia had their homecoming football game this weekend. Apparently we are hurting for fans, because the school puts on a free tailgate for anyone with a ticket or student ID (before all home games, not just the homecoming game) where they serve complimentary beer, burgers, hotdogs and pizza! Who can resist free beer? Not us!

some fellow SRNAs: Geoff, Paige, Kim, Emily

Don't Give

Our local NPR station, WNYC, is having its pledge drive this week and it sucks just as much as pledge drives suck in other towns so I was groggily tuning out their requests for pledges when my bedside radio went off this morning and then I heard this:

This one is pretty good too: