Blog goes hamburger

Hmmm finally after 6mths I can post my iphone images to the blog. We are in trouble now.

Hamburger courtesy of Hamburger Habit

Part Deux! New York or Bust!

We woke up on Sunday morning and checked our tickets for the 911 museum showing. Umm the tickets said our tour would begin at 11:00am on SATURDAY! We missed it. I was so bummed. I knew the company did not do exchanges and I was so upset. I decided to go ahead and make a call to the museum and see if by chance they could do anything. I got on the phone with a gentleman who went way out of his way to accommodate us on the 2:00pm tour and we only had to pay a $8 reschedule fee. I was relieved. As I was getting off the phone I asked the person who helped me for his name. He said "Gary Susson" I was shocked that I was speaking to the creator of the museum. The photographer who actually took all the photos and collected all the artifacts and remains that we would be seeing later that day.
 We decided to start our morning off looking for Strawberry Fields in Central Park. We walked and walked and walked some more and finally found it.

We stopped for a bit watching people lay on top of the circle and basically being asses. Then we went across the street to the Dakota where John Lennon was shot. It was pretty interesting to see a place of modern history. It hasn’t changed and I wonder what Oko thinks each time she leaves the hotel, walking through the same arch that her husband was shot in.

 We were tired of walking so we jumped in a cab and went on our way to Wall Street. We walked around a bit and checked out the NY stock exchange building. There was a photo shot of some sort happening so we got to see a real live NY model standing ontop of some historic building. Real NY models look just like real LA models.

We had a pretzel, wasn’t that great actually. I loved the mustard more than the pretzel. We walked towards the twin towers location and stood across from the construction that is being done in the location of where the building fell. At that point we hailed a cab and headed up to the Meat packing district were the 911 museum was located.

We had about a hour to kill so we walked around an Apple store and had lunch at a bar/restaurant named Gaslight. The pasta was so good, a seafood pasta with red sauce. Chad ordered pizza, I thought it was ok but Chad seemed to enjoy it. We both had a bloody mary and it was very different, super thin tasting.. if thin tasted.

After lunch we met up with our 911 tour and were escorted in a very small room. I was surprised at how small the space was and sort of felt like we had been duped a bit. I was so wrong. We were given a set of headphones and a small audio device. As we walked around the room we were able to hear details and information on the artifacts and pictures in the museum. It was very moving. It felt like you really got a chance to see what it was like down at Ground Zero. Some amazing things do come in small packages. Gary Susson was the only photographer allowed at ground zero during the recovery process. He was able to collect items like shoes, pieces of window, steel and desk objects. It was a very moving display.
I have a few photos of the displays to share with you. Gary was able to collect the Calendar that was found in a subway control room. Left is his display: Right is the original location

Switched this time: Clock found in a breakroom I believe.

After we left the museum we stopped in at an Alexander McQueen store. I was not going to be able to get to the Museum to see his showing so this was as close as I could get. Lets just say the doorman was in the restroom because if he had been at the front he would not have let us in. The dresses were amazing with equally amazing price tags. I took a few pictures before I got my hand slapped for being a tourist.

 

We left the store and grabbed a taxi to go back to the hotel. We prepared for our last night eat fest. We started off with a walk to the Hala Hala cart and enjoyed a split of chicken and lamb over rice. Amazing!!! We stopped on a park bench and ate outside of Rockefeller Center were we would be going up to the Top of the Rock. Oh the food was good. Soooo good. We finished up going Hasselhoff all over the bench and took our trip to the top of the rock. Good times! It’s like a million stories high. Talk about a view. Chad saw the Statue of Liberty and all of the main big buildings. We stayed there for a bit and then decided to start our hunt for cupcakes.

On the hunt for cupcakes we headed back towards Time Square and found my cupcake store. We bought a 6 pack to go. Then we stopped off at the Stage deli and had a pastrami sandwich. It was pretty good. The heat tasted so fresh and it wasn’t greasy or oily. I guess I am so use to the Hat pastrami heart attack. I had been searching for Oyster Rockefeller the whole trip only to find out that they are served most famously in New Orleans, duh!!! We did see an Oyster Bar however and they had a version of Rockefeller so we stopped in and sat at the bar. One of the greatest experiences in New York. This place specialized in raw oyster with different varieties. I went for it. The hostess/bartender/server was hooking me up with different types of oysters and drinks and sauces. I was in heaven. We stumbled out of the Oyster bar so full and very satisfied and into a Pub. Had a drink and decided we needed to head home. 5:00am was going to come soon.

(Pictures eventually)

On our way back to the hotel we stopped in at a Bakery and picked up some cheesecake and canolis. Once we got back to the hotel and after Chad did some iron board vaulting we had a dessert feast and promptly passed out in our mess. Well almost in our mess.

The rest of the story is we went home the next morning.
So to wrap up. My last trip back in 2002 was sad and melancholy. 9/11 was still very fresh for a lot of people. I was toured around with a New York native and it seemed I got a different view of life in New York. This time I felt like visiting was so light and fun. Good weather, good people and good food. I also think having Chad as a traveling companion didn’t hurt. So all my pre-planning ended up working out and we have the memories to prove it. Thank you New York for giving us some great memories. We love you!

New York or bust!

This month literally flew right by. May seems to always kick my butt. Literally so much to do so little time. This month ended with a very important test for Chad (which he passed) and a trip to New York.
My last visit to New York was months after 9/11. The place was so different this time. It felt more alive and bright. Like the cloud of despair and sadness had been lifted. Chad had left the Sunday prior to my leaving on Wednesday. I caught a red-eye at 10:30pm from LAX and the turbulence was crazy bad. My hopes of sleeping through the flight were demolished. I finally got to JFK at 7:00am and was picked up by the Shuttle for a 2 hour trip to the hotel. I hate shuttles. I like the price of Shuttles but I hate riding in them. Once I got to the business hotel that Chad was at I rushed downstairs to find some food. I was starving. I wound up at Utopia a small restaurant for breakfast. I had the salmon and onion omelet and it was very good. I must have looked like the walking dead because each person I spoke too asked if I was ok. After my meal I stopped into a deli to grab some water and headed back to my room for a nap. I finally woke back up at around 1:00pm and decided to go ahead and research some Tattoo places for my possible inking. I found one that was about a 11 min Subway ride away so off I was. I purchased a $10 metro card and got on at 72nd street and took it downtown to Red Rocket Tattoo. After making a reservation for a Sat night tat and then walking around in that area and picking up some much needed face powder I got back on the subway and went uptown to Colombia University were Chad was taking his test. I love the Subway. This was my only time riding it and I wish we would have used it more often for Transportation. Something about the speed and the different people you see makes you feel like your on an adventure.

Columbia campus is wonderfully green. I knew I had a few hours to kill so I found a Japanese restaurant to sit at and enjoyed a glass of plum wine and very salty edamame while I waited. I also put on band aids because the blisters that were developing were making it impossible to walk. After about a hour of sidewalk banter with crazees I walked to the building that Chad was taking his test in. I waited by the entrance and after 30mins I saw him walking out. The news was not good. Apparently Chad felt that he had blown the test. Let's fast forward to the dinner that night at Le Monde when he finds out he passed. After the test there was a wine reception where everyone was discussing how badly they failed. We then joined the class for dinner were more discussion were had about how horrible the test was. Later that night for those that stayed till the end of dinner scores were given out. Dryden and Chad had passed. What a relief. For celebration Chad wanted a cigar bar. So we found the Carnegie club after a quick change at the Hotel.

What a great cigar bar and the drinks were so good that the rest of the evening gets a bit fuzzy. We did go to the Plaza and shut down The Rose Club. We had one more drink there and by the time we got home at about 3:00am... well lets just say we celebrated the passing of their test in New York style.

Friday morning included sleeping in for me and packing to move to the Parker Meridian hotel. I had all the bags ready to go and waited in Dryden's room for the boys to come back from their last day of classes. Around 3:00pm we headed to the next hotel, Le Parker Meridian. After Chad gashed his head on luggage and we made a cluster of the hotel lobby we finally got to our amazing room. Perfect view of Central Park. We left quickly to go find a replacement purse for my completely trashed one and then returned in time to get ready for our night out. Dinner at the Harvard Club with Dryden and his niece and then Spiderman. Dinner was very nice, not the best meal in NYC but I blame that on my bad ordering. I strayed a bit far from what I typically order. No drinks to speak of here other than a great cup of coffee at the end which ended up hurting my tummy later that night.


After dinner at the Harvard Club we walked to Spiderman and made it just in time. It was an amazing show. Not the typical Broadway show, a stunt show mixed with crazy good music and so much action. You can tell it was still in preview because there were a few hiccups but overall most things went well. The stunt work was just amazing. I had to hold my breath a few times during the aerial work. I am excited to to get the soundtrack when it comes out. After the show we walked around Time Square for a bit and took some shots by the ticker. Dryden was an amazing host and knew so much about NYC. Dryden wanted to treat us to a drink at the Peninsula rooftop bar. Salon De Ning is located on the 23rd floor of the Peninsula Hotel. Very trendy and crowded. I ordered a Cucumber Martini and was floored at the $23 price tag. Chad had a Makers Mark. Lets just say they pour them deep at this place. There was an aged women DJing outside and I couldn't help but laugh at her lack of skills. This was the type of "to be seen at " bar that New York is well know for. We had a Raspberry Mousse for dessert that was to die for. Amazing!! The view was wonderful and the weather was perfect. It was the perfect way to end the evening.It was about 1:00am so we cabbed it home and fell right to sleep.

Saturday morning we woke up and met Dryden for breakfast in Central Park. It was as if we were exactly were we should be our whole trip. Sitting in Central Park and just watching life move around us was nice. Then we decided to go check out some stores and Dryden wanted to share with us the Plaza Grand Ballroom. Now there are not many times in life when I can go speechless but this was one of them. When we excited the plaza elevator that placed us into the lobby of the Ballroom we were greeted by the most beautiful pieces of floral artwork that I have ever seen in my life. Chad and I literally stood with mouths wide open in awe. I couldn't move or talk. I actually started crying because I had never seen something so beautiful in my life. I decided to not take a picture, one because it just didn't seem right and two, it would have not done the work justice. The Grand Ball room was very nice but having spent my fair share of hours in ballrooms decorating and so forth it didn't really have that much of a wow factor for me. Those flowers however. They will remain in my mind for the rest of my life. A room so full of floral pieces that it literally moved me.

We checked out FAQ Schwatrz were Chad was able to see the Big Piano and walked over to Grand Central station. I wanted to jump on a Subway so bad but Dryden explained that Times Square was only a few short blocks from us. It was time for our amazing tour guide and Chad's boss to leave. With a mighty handshake and warnings of taking cabs he was gone.

After our Saturday tour with Dryden Chad and I walked towards Time Square to pu tickets for the Harry Potter exhibit at the Discovery Museum. We stopped for a break and bloody marys at a small tavern. Happy Sat mid morning prices were refreshing. 2 drinks for less than $20.00. AMAZING! We finished up and literally walked right into Harry P. No line, no issues. The exhibit was very cool. Tons of props, costumes and various movie decor were setup in a walk around style tour. My favorite finds were the wands and how individual each was. I also liked the costumes and seemed to be transfixed by the shoes of each character.

We left the exhibit after more than a hour of wandering and found a BBQ place called Virgils. We had TRAIN WRECK FRIES-fresh cut fries, covered with melted cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, scallions, pickled jalapenos and topped with ranch dressing, BBQ riblets and Biscuits and Gravy. While we were being served a Navy Dr. that had been sitting next to us offered up 2 free Matinee passes to Catch Me if You Can. We were in shock. Another show! We hurried through our meal and ran to the Neil Simon Theatre just in time. The show was great! The typical musical of Broadway, different than Spiderman but a great contrast for Chad to experience.

After the performance we headed home to change before my tat apt. Chad bought a touch of liquid courage for me and a few cigars for himself. While in the shop he saw Rev. Al Sharpton. Hmmm interesting. We decided to cab it to the shop.

I had already picked out the artist had a drawing done and was ready for my 6:00pm apt. When we arrived at Red Rocket Tattoo my artist had called in sick that day. I was heartbroken. We did however have another option and after reviewing Marcus's work I ended up going through with it. 11 years in the making and I finally got my 3 little birds. Amazingly detailed and just so cute, each bird was colored with the corresponding child's birthstone color. Jackson on top with Julia in the middle and James floating by on the bottom. It hurt, the color mostly. The fine line wasn't too horribly painful.


After the tat we walked back to the hotel with a few store stops. We decided to eat at the Hamburger spot located in our hotel. It had rave reviews from yelp. We ordered 2 huge Hamburgers and fries and went upstairs and ate and ate and ate. It was pretty good. That night we fell asleep in a food coma.

Part 2 to follow

Tour of the Forest Extravaganze

So I found this on my camera after Julia's party. I had totally forgotten that I filmed it. So for those who are voyeurs like me and get a kick out of looking inside peoples homes here you go! It's a little Blair Witch so beware.

Forest Party from Carina Vasquez-Krieg on Vimeo.

I blinked and then November was here.

So I borrowed this header from Elise Blaha, I hope she doesn't mind. It was too cute to pass up. So October is over, out of here, in the books. Now it's on to November. Ahh Nov. the month that brings 4 family birthdays, the end of soccer season, a huge Turkey, anxiety over Christmas and cooler weather. I want to squeeze in a camping trip this month but I doubt that will happen. I am excited over my lemon and tangerine bounty that is blowing up in the backyard! At least 100 lemons and close to 50 tangerines. Looking out my window over the last 3 days I could literally see the colors change on the hard round fruit. Each morning a new shade of lemon and orange and I am thrilled to bits that my trees have survived another season. The orange tree is coming in last with 2 pieces of fruit. Now wait the pomegranate tree is last, one piece of fruit this year. But for a tree that wasn't supposed to fruit at all I guess we are actually coming out on top.

Projects this week include a owl stuffie for Jackson to work on and pumpkin inspired baked goods. Plus working on Julias party goodies. 18 days away!!

Woodland/Fall Forest Friends/Chocolate Party

It's another party. This time Julia has requested a Chocolate party. Only my daughter. So I started to plan it around a woodland theme and it really does fit perfectly. Some ideas to get me inspired.

Fall..... I swear it's right around the corner...

I simply can not wait for fall. Since I have the pleasure of being up at 5:30am I have noticed the cool crisp smell and feel of the air and I can see it roll in before the blazing sun burns it off by 8:00am. The kids are living in layers and while I hate tracking down all the clothes.. I love the fact that the season is changing.

I wrote a summer manifesto and I think I need to do one for Fall. It always helps give me a GUIDELINE to the type of season I would like to share with my family.

So here it goes. I want to spend this fall 2010 doing the things I love best with my family and friends. I want to cook lots of soup, spend time working on my THIRTY THREE list, spend soccer weekends picniking during the games, get in a last camping adventure, eat apple pie, thrift some jackets, make apple cider from scratch, cook a few turkeys, spend time on the porch under a blanket with HOT COCO and muffins, read more to the kids or in Jacksons case be read too, relax on Sundays and kick back more on the couch, craft nights with Julia, garden fall veggies and last but not least chill out from the hot summer days.

Camping weekend!

Styling a Bloody Mary bar and a Smore Bar. I know its not your grandma's camping but I am mixing two of my favorite things for my Birthday camping trip. I love to style tables and parties in general and this weekend I wanted to bring some "fun" to our camping trip. We have a few guests joining us so I thought I would add some fun details to the meals. Bloody Marys count as a meal you know.

So far I am beyond 20 ingredients for the bar and the smores have been upgraded a bit. My biggest problem with styling these bars is gaining height and since I am hauling everything with me I predict the same problem this time. So we shall see what come of this adventure.

Cookies and Milk Party!!

Also called... a reason to eat cookies!

So I have been daydreaming about this type of activity for months. Spurred on by images from various blogs it finally took this blog post and offer of freebie artwork to get me to commit. So this summer I will host a Moms Club event themed "Milk and Cookies". I will probably host in July and make it a 2:00pm afar so that the kids can have time to bake/decorate cookies (hopefully while James is asleep) and play some games celebrating the wonderfulness of cookies!! All before Oprah is on. I will handout cookie cutters as a "thank you" for coming gift and my plan is too ask each mother to bring a dozen cookies for a cookie swap. I will also have a giveaway of a cookie jar for one lucky mom to take all her cookies home in. What a fun way to spend some of the hottest hours of the day don't you think? Well except the baking cookies part.. hmm I may have to re-think that option?

Oh and side note: Soy milk will be provided.

PSA for the Day

Need I say more?

A week in the life.. of me

I started my Ali project this past Saturday the 17th. I wanted it to cover over two weekends so I could showcase both ends of my life. With the kids and with out. No one really understands the pain of shared custody unless you actually live it. Having had people tell me how lucky I am to get a break from my kids every other weekend tears me up. But it is what it is and I do my best to make the situation workable.

This past weekend Chad and I filled our time up and kept busy so the missing vibes were kept at bay. We literally stayed home and cooked all day on Sunday and spent some good relaxing time in the mountains on Saturday. It was a good weekend.

Notes for AWITL: Saturday we went up to the Mountains as guests of a co-worker to check out their camping membership. We spent a good part of Saturday walking out in the fresh air and sun. James was a party animal entertaining everyone he came across. Prior to our trip into the Mountains I worked for a bit and we picked up our wine club shipment.

Sundays cook-a-thon included stuffed shrimp and crab jalapenos, black bean soup, potato and leek soup and we brined a turkey. So far all meals for the week will be cooked once the turkey goes in.

Valentines Update in Pictures!!

Valentines Insanity!!

So this year I thought I might do a mini Valentine Candy Buffet for the kids. Nothing super crazy just a small smattering of goodies laid out all fancy like so they feel like it's a bit of a special day. Just a small way to show them I love them and a way for mommy to let out some of her creative juices. Well on my jaunt through blog land I stumbled upon Amy Atlas and her amazing buffets. yet again. This lady does not disappoint. I mean R U kidding me with this??

Umm yeah.. sorry kids but mommas limited funds of $20 bucks and time of maybe a few hours will not allow me to produce this masterpiece. However I can promise some strawberry milk or pink lemonade, but not in clear glasses, come on we all know one out of three of you will drop it.

Oh and kids, since I am using all of the old Halloween and Christmas candy the colors will be more of a black/orange/red/green theme. But heavy on the red, I mean come on it's Valentines. Only the best for this family, only the best.