um, blogher pt 2?

guess who never finished her blogher breakdown? (hint: it's me!) too much stuff going on, but not really. things like joining the new rec center ($12.50/month for me & $25/month for s-time to get our butts in shape!), 2nd opinion appointment about my colitis (md told me today he wants more labs because i may have developed autoimmune hepatitis-sweet!) and using extraneous exclamation points! !!
anyway, back to blogher. what i can remember of it, that is. on saturday we hit up breakfast, went to suzanne's panel and i scouted the expo halls again while she did her booksigning. we ended up lunching with another panelist from suzanne's session, which was really an enjoyable lunch. that was when the cranky began because i was really getting sick of so much of everything (perhaps a premature bit of homesickness) & we ended up at dean & deluca so i could bring some chocolates home for s. the afternoon was a big blur and then we met all the cool kids for an indian dinner at vatan, which was amazingly delish. i'm sure i'll forget someone, but liz rizzo, zandria, sassy monkey & her fake husband, suebob, suzanne and a couple fun people i met for the first time were there. appetizer course had so many delightful treats and you could have second helpings of whatever you wanted, then they brought out the main course, which was the same way. a large round tray with like a classy, metal cafeteria tray with space for each item. it was at that point that i realized my gap jeans had decided to part ways with me. either that or the fat on my thighs had finally rubbed together so much that they were near to starting a fire because a small (read substantial) hole developed on my left inner thigh. now admittedly, i wear my long & leans 2-3 times a week, not all day, but quite a bit for the past 18 months since i bought them. and gap material quality has gone downhill in the past few years (much thinner fabric), so it could be a combination of a number of factors. by the time we had our subway adventure, the cheezburgher party, sparklecorn and the paperbag-hatted walk home to await my shuttle, the hole was at an embarrassing point. and lo, it only got bigger as i packed and stayed up with suzanne for my 3am shuttle pick-up.
but i was glad to get home, no matter how much fun i had and i absolutely can't wait until next year or whenever i get together with all the rest of you beautiful people.

blogher-licious: breakdown

here we go: on thursday, much too early, s & i left for the aeroporto and thanks to construction, i ended up getting to security at 6:20 for a flight that was set to leave at 6:45am. almost died and security took pity on me as the only person scurrying through (totally forgot to take out both my laptop & my baggy of liquids, der!)
thankfully, the rest of the trip was fine, besides picking up the supershuttle and listening to the couple next to me discuss how coney island and long island were both islands in nyc and they were pretty sure people didn't live there.
got to suzanne's, picked up my key, gave tycho bunnae a pet and walked to central park to get a metrocard. why i decided on a 7 day unlimited pass beats me.
suzanne met me to drop her stuff and we headed to the hilton, where i met the darling suebob and we headed out for dinner, while suzanne went to the ce dinner for blogher editors. as suebob and i looked for sustenance, s (so many esses in my life!) texted me that he was playing with puppies at the rescue and sent me a pic, to which he responded when asked whose it was: 'ours' i about flipped out. we have enough on our hands with grover as it as, much as i want another puppy.
paninis eaten and meeting up with a friend who moved to nyc a couple years ago outside the hilton, it was time to head to the people's party. in the huge ballroom, i instinctively headed towards suebob's tulle/tutu making table for a bit. making the circuit of the ballroom on the way back to the table, i ran into the famous jonna, who hugged me and asked what my plans were, party-wise & whatnot. sadly, that was all the jonniker-action i got, even though i kept seeing her throughout the weekend and i'm sure she thought i was stalking her because people i was with/around kept trying to catch up to her (ie suebob, sassymonkey).
come friday, suzanne & i went to breakfast and drove at least 3 separate sets of people away from our table during the opening welcome. then time for the expo halls, where we got loaded down with swag. dropping it off at suebob's room in the sheraton, we barged in on sb catching up on sleep and in her skivvies (ooh-lala!). lunch and the sex session with @avflox, who then roomed at suzanne's apartment with us after eating druze cuisine at gazala place. this was, of course, after the community keynote and voices of the year gala. we were all concerned about how the posts would translate into art. when suzanne finally saw her art, some of the comments seemed inappropriate as the posts and art seemed a bit disparate. (someone had posted "joyful" under the photo for her post about her grandfather and the holocaust) while there i saw suebob in a grouping with a cute redhead and stroller, wherein i was introduced to lawyerish. i felt like a bit of a douche because i'd read her blog from jonna's, but then when it was password protected & back to an open blog, i didn't start reading again. and hoo boy, what i've missed! she's adorable and oh-so amusing and her babeh is gorgeous.
so the 3 of us, suz, av & i, geeked out early on friday night & surfed the internet at the apartment the rest of the night.

more to come...

leftovers

i'm broke until payday on july 1st. once a month pay periods are a pain in the fanny. it's difficult to stay ahead of the game when the end of the month rolls around.
so until then, i'm going to try to refrain from buying any groceries. especially since s got another flat tire on the way to pick me up from work on wednesday & therefore, i need to buy 4 new tires before our trip back to nd in less than 7 weeks for my baby brother's wedding.
for dinner we are scrounging my pantries and fridge:
spinach salad with tomatoes, radishes and dried cranberries & crumbled goat cheese
baked salmon with dill (dried, not fresh. hey, i said i was scrounging!)
broccoli cheese pasta (one of those lipton bags or whatever)
day old oatmeal raisin cookie from work for dessert

i'd also like to direct my readership to a new food blog by someone i know from the internet pre-blogging.
deb's perfect bite
she has got some tasty recipes, for sure.

also wondering if i should get actual business cards for blogher. i don't exactly have a 'theme' and i'm not really looking for a huge increase in traffic. i'm more of a fangirl than anything else. but it seems like the thing to do, so if i meet even more cool people in real life than those i already know on the interwebs (and some of whom i've been lucky enough to meet in person. suzanne, i'm lookin' at you.) i'd better make my decision soon, since time is running out for printing purposes. i'm getting so excited for this!

rawr

i really want pancakes for dinner!
that is all.

thankful

it's been a while since i last posted. things have been a bit rough, joint-wise. apparently after girls' night out (sushi! wine! dresses!) the ol' arthritis started kickin' in. or rather beating me to a pulp. and my next infusion isn't until wednesday, but i'm getting by with the medication from the gp & it seems to at least let me get around without shrieking at my every step.
anyroad, this is a post in honour of thanksgiving. i was lucky enough to spend my second year at the 'in-laws'. weeks ago i offered to bring sweet potatoes because it's one of my must-haves at both christmas & thanksgiving. last year, i was thwarted as they only had a basket of baked yams on the table. so i rounded up a recipe from the pioneer woman that went over like hotcakes. pecan-crusted sweet potatoes. in fact, i got so much attention that it made me blush. and that was just my first attempt at the recipe. guess it'll have to become a regular feature & i can even make it for my fam (except dad) at christmas.
hope you & yours had a wonderful thanksgiving. i've so much to be thankful for: steady job, great benefits, fantastic friends, amazing family & 'in-laws' & last but not least, s.
now i'm going to avoid anything to do with consumerism & retail that is black friday.

pleasant surprise

i ran to the grocery store just now to pick up a few things. busy parking lot, but not shocking. when i walked in i found them giving away little tasting glasses & wine merchants were scattered throughout the store along with samples from the store's catering department (sushi, chinese, tortilla roll-ups, chicken wings, chocolate fountain!). yum! that is a sample day i can get behind.
now i'm going to eat half an avocado for dinner.

*burp*

for the past few weeks i haven't been feeling so well & my appetite has been lacking, as well as having abdominal pain & extreme fatigue in varying degrees. i've lost about 6 or 7 lbs over the last 3 weeks & i'll be seeing my gi doctor tomorrow afternoon. we already ruled out pancreatitis (thank goodness!) last friday when my labs came back normal. now i'm wondering if it's my spleen or could be mono (enlarged spleen is a side effect) because of my crappy immune system. we'll see what the doc comes up with tomorrow.
but today i had more energy than in a long time (not in excess, but more than yesterday) & all i could think of was how good sweet potatoes with marshmallows & stuffing with gravy sounded. so i hoofed it to the grocery store (a 40-minute round trip) to buy the supplies. i just feasted on way more food than my poor stomach could take, but it tasted so good. i kinda want a second helping, but i'm not sure if that's the best idea... maybe in another hour.

the best purple food in the universe

i'm not generally a fan of purple, in food, clothing or otherwise. admittedly, i loved purple like most little girls, but around 8th grade a 'friend' told me redheads should never wear purple & it sortof ingrained itself into my consciousness. now my only concession is the occasional periwinkle shade in my wardrobe.
but there is one purple food i can eat. my favourite thing ever is pickled beets! and because they aren't exactly easy transport from my parents' 800+ miles away, i rarely ever get to enjoy them. well, i'm planning to change all that by making my first attempt at canning this weekend. i just picked up 2lbs of beets at the farmer's market this morning & i'm going to head to the consignment store later this afternoon to get half a dozen or so half pint jars. i have my great-great grandmother's recipe (i'm not sure if it's the norwegian or english one on my dad's side; leaning towards norwegian-pickled everything!). we shall see how things go tomorrow. i'll try to photodoc my steps & i'm more than happy to share the recipe with the blogosphere.
*fingers crossed* here's hoping they turn out as tasty as i remember!
(and that my entire kitchen is not stained with beet juice!)