Tam's World of Dr. Pepper and Brownies....... **NEW** Now with SANGRIA!

Nice to meet ya!

If you read my blog -- I want to know who you are! And I want you to get to know my other friends and family who read, as well.

So -- introduce yourself. Tell us:

Who are ya?
Where are ya?
How do you know me?
Whats your favorite dessert?
Whats your favorite color?

Don't be shy! Even if you have never commented before -- please do it NOW!

Happy memorial day weekend! :o)

posted by Tamfish @ 10:41 AM Comments: 12

:o)

My brother's comin'! My brother's comin'!!

I'm excited, can you tell? :o)

Here's a question for all you faithful readers:

Tell me your fondest family memory. What happened? Who were you with? What did you do? How did you feel? Is that family member still with us and, if so, are you still close? Are you carrying traditions you learned forward with your own spouse and/or children?

posted by Tamfish @ 10:21 AM Comments: 4

Random thinkings...

This coming weekend is Memorial Day weekend and it's my Mom's family reunion. My brother is coming!! I am really excited because, for some reason, we don't get together hardly ever and I wish we did. He has 5 kids (yes 5 - that isn't a typo) so he's always busy and then I've got 2 teenagers and we are doing our thing... that's just life. But this coming weekend we get to visit and have fun! I need to get a new digital camera before then so I can have pictures to post.

This summer I want to do some home decorating projects. I want to start with Jacob's bedroom. It's the smallest bedroom in the house, so it should be a manageable project to kick start the summer. I want to paint the walls, maybe paint his furniture and I want to rip the carpet up to expose the parquet wood floors.

We need a chest of drawers for our room badly. We have clothes everywhere!

It's hotter than hell today. It makes ya want to just lay around and not move.

We need ice cream.

posted by Tamfish @ 3:26 PM Comments: 4

And I think to myself....... what a wonderful world....

I was thinking I was going to blog about food and our relationship with food – but over the course of the evening, my thinking changed and I want to talk about something else.

I went to the Beachbody chat last night to see what Tony Horton (fitness guru, creator of P90 and P90X) had to say. It was mostly the usual stuff – eat healthy, exercise blah blah blah – but then he addressed something that really fires me up. That is: the reason for exercising and eating healthy.

Tony called it “Substance and Purpose”. Eat healthy, live an active life…. Why? For mental, spiritual and physical health. Do it so you can be a better person. Do it so you are happier on the inside and therefore can contribute more to your family, friends and to the world that surrounds you. Forget the numbers game – forget the scale, the measuring tape and the clothing size tags.

What a perfect world it would be – in my own opinion – if people would do just that!

I’ve been of the mind that taking care of myself was all about looking good. And maybe until you’ve been there and been through that, you don’t understand when I say meeting those goals are hollow victories. So what if you are a size 4? So what if you have a hot body and look good in a bikini?

Hot bodies are a dime a dozen, baby. They’re everywhere. If that is what you are wrapped up in, then you need to just get over yourself. There is always going to be someone better looking than you, smaller than you and richer than you.

Somehow, I’ve come through the other side of that mentality and my thinking now is……… I am okay just being me. I don’t feel guilty over what I eat anymore. Sometimes I enjoy a big salad. Sometimes I enjoy Sonic onion rings. So what? Sometimes I enjoy running. Sometimes I enjoy sitting on my ass watching The Amazing Race. So what? I’ve gained about 10 pounds since last summer and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. So what? Does it mean my friends and family love me less? No. Does it mean that I love me any less?

No. I love my family and friends for who they are – not what they weigh. It took me a long time to figure out that I needed to feel that way toward myself.

In my perfect world, people would be happy to just.... be. There would be no “OH I can’t eat that!” or “I MUST do this workout or else!” In my perfect world, sometimes we’d run and sometimes we’d sit around watching a good movie and eating pizza. And nobody would feel guilt. Nobody would have that stupid, niggling voice in their heads telling them how “bad” they were.

Come live in my world. You know you wanna. C’mon……

:o)

posted by Tamfish @ 9:57 AM Comments: 6

Byron Nelson Review

We're back!

The Byron Nelson tourney was cool. We got there Wednesday morning when they were having the Pro-Am. This is where big-wig corporate execs pay to play a round with the pros. We found our fave pro, Fred Couples, and his group and followed them for a while. Jimmy got him to autograph our program for the day - that was a highlight. Then we found Vijay Singh and followed him for a few holes. I got him to sign my visor. Then we just walked around and explored for a while. We found Chris DiMarco on the practice putting green and he signed Jimmy's "PING" hat.

Thursday was Round One play of the tourney, so it was down to business for the pros. We arrived and caught up with Couples and his group on about the 5th hole and walked along with them the rest of their round. He was playing with Kenny Perry and a guy from New Zealand named Phil Tataurangi that we had never heard of. We kept calling him "Chatarunga" hahaha He was awesome and on the last 4 or 5 holes he had a birdie streak. Fred wasn't doing so well, unfortunately. :o(

Friday was Round Two of play. Again, we found Fred - this time he was playing on course #2 so it was nice to have a change of scenery. This course was all UPhill though! Man, the walking was tough. Our legs and feet were already sore from all the fast walking and jogging we'd been doing the previous days. Still -- it was nice to be outside, the weather was so pretty, we couldn't have asked for a better day. Freddie still wasn't doing too well. Chatarunga could do no wrong, though. We watched their group for a while, then headed back over to course #1 to check out a few more players. We ended up sitting at the 18th green, watching the rest of the groups come in and finish their rounds.

Saturday began Day Three. Fred did not make the cut, so he was out of the tournament. We had staked out a good watching place the day before --- we knew if we sat at the base of the press booth on the 17th green, we would be in the shade all afternoon. We got there at about 11:30am and no one was sitting there yet, so we unfolded our chairs (we brought them this time! we were tired of walking!) and set up camp. The first 2 hours were sheer HELL. The sun was beating on us relentlessly. There is not enough sunscreen on earth for that type of heat! Jimmy kept saying, "Just a little while longer and we'll be the envy of the 17th green!" And sure enough -- the sun went behind the trees a little and we were in the shade all afternoon. It was a good 10 degrees cooler then. We got to sit and watch the entire day's play from our spot.

One of the highlights from that day was a little short dude from Sweden or Finland --- his name is Richard Johnson. He looks to be maybe 5' tall and the day before we had seen him practicing and he was wearing the most outrageous colored outfit. It was like neon yellow and lime green. Anyway -- he hit his tee shot off 17 and ended up 63 feet from the hole, all the way over on the right side of the green as far as you could be! He lined up his putt, hit it smooth and the ball started to travel...... it looked good..... it got closer to the hole and a buzz went thru the crowd..... closer...... closer..... and IN IT WENT! The crowd cheered so loud!!! It was so neat to see -- Richard took off his hat and covered his face in disbelief -- then took a bow. :o)

We watched the rest of the groups come thru, then we took off for a shower, some dinner and decided to go ahead and get home. We were tired and we'd had enough sun and walking. Besides, Couples was out of the tourney and he was the main reason we went to begin with.

All in all -- I would do it again. It was great fun seeing the "stars" from TV live and in person. The people watching was good, too. And any time spent with Jimmy is a good thing in my book ;o)

posted by Tamfish @ 1:27 PM Comments: 5

Another week - another trip!

Tomorrow morning, Jimmy & I are headed to Dallas to spend the remainder of the week at the PGA Byron Nelson tournament event. How exciting! We will get to see golf greats like Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, etc LIVE and in person. (Live and in person -- as opposed to dead and in person. Ew. )

We've never been to anything like this before. I am anxious to get there and start seeing sports celebrities. I hope we get the chance to get an autograph or two, and maybe a picture.

Golf is Jimmy's passion (well, besides me of course!) and this was my gift to him for Christmas. I hope he is excited, too! I'm sure he is, he just doesn't get all giddy like I do. :o)

In other news:

Hello to my brother Billy if you are reading this. Ellie and I are cookin' up something for Father's Day. I guess I'll email you about it, that'd be good huh? Duh. Your sis is blonde. Truly.

Hello to my Mom if you are reading this. I need to call you! I have a shortage of time. I promise I will very soon. Love you! :o)

Hello to any Gulls reading this. We seriously need a gathering. Seriously!

Hello to any BB pals reading this. Why can't it be easier to stay slim and healthy? Whhhhyyyyy? (nancy kerrigan whine) Oh well - as long as we are livin' and laughin', it's all good!

Does anyone watch Deal or No Deal? It's addictive in our house.

Does anyone watch The Ultimate Fighter on SpikeTV? It's addictive too, in a completely different way. On Friday nights we get the UFC fights on high definition - now that's gross. But you can't look away!

Ok I better do some work........ :o)

Talk to me!

posted by Tamfish @ 12:13 PM Comments: 6

Manhattan, part deux

Day 2 begins. We decided to go ahead and sleep in and enjoy the hotel room while we had it -- for a reason. This was where the adventure really started. Since our flight home left at 6:00am Sunday morning, we had decided to check out of the hotel on Saturday, carry our backpacks with us while we explored downtown Manhattan, and just stay out until it was time to take a cab to the airport. Brave? Yes. Exhausting? Yes, x10. Worth it? Absolutely.

Dressed, hair done, packed and ready to go, we decided to be courageous (and cheap!) and try the bus/subway into Manhattan instead of taking another cab. It was not as confusing as it first sounded. The bus stop was about a block from the hotel. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus. The bus ride to the subway station lasted about 15 minutes, during which we got to see more of Queens and how people live there. The neighborhoods are quaint, some kept up better than others. Neighborhood delis, markets and boutiques dot the streets. We got to the subway and got on the train. In Queens, the train runs above ground. We rode past Asian and Latino neighborhoods and saw lots of colorful graffiti.

We rode to Times Square station, then changed trains to the #1 (red) to head downtown to the Staten Island Ferry. We rode and rode, then stopped and they announced it was the last stop and the train was headed back to Queens. A nice lady advised that we should get off now and switch to a different train -- EVEN THOUGH THE MAP DIDN'T SAY SO. Thank God for helpful New Yorkers (they are NOT rude -- that is a stereotype! They are just impatient and in a hurry! haha) We rode the #2 train further down, then got off and rode a shuttle to the ferry. (Apparently, they do maintenance to the subways on the weekends so the train schedules can be completely different from what you expect by reading the map).

Waiting for the ferry, we ate a hot dog from a street cart. It was.... a hot dog. Nothing special. $1.50 gets you a weenie on a bun, with your choice of onions in a weird sweet red sauce or sauerkraut (or both, if you swing that way). Kathy also bought a pretzel -- I was not impressed. It's just a big piece of bread with salt on it.

The ferry ride was a highlight, for sure. We rode just in front of the Statue of Liberty -- beautiful. The day was clear and sunny and warm. On the other side of the ferry, we could see the Manhattan skyline from the water -- amazing, just like in the pictures you've all seen. We saw the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. From the back of the boat, we could see the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. It was a great way to start off our site seeing on Day 2.

As we got back and prepared to disembark, a man caught my attention. He was standing next to the exit, preaching loudly. He was just talking and talking. "Do you believe in God? Jesus is the reason the boat floats. Jesus floats the boat. Jesus floats MY boat. Does Jesus float your boat?" Speaking quickly in rhymes and riddles about God and Jesus. It was very cool. Lots of people were giving him the "yeah whatever" look but I was giving him the "Preach on brutha!" look. We wondered later if he felt it was his "calling" to ride the boat and preach, or was he just a little touched in the head? Either way, the word of the Lord is being broadcast and some will hear it.

From the ferry, we took off walking uptown. We walked thru the Financial District, seeing many impressive old buildings (the Customs House is beautiful!). We made our way to the "Wall Street Bull" sculpture and the Trinity Church. We saw the World Trade Center site and across from it, the beautiful, historic St. Paul's chapel. From there, we walked to City Hall park and saw the Brooklyn Bridge, but it wasn't a great view because there were trees in the way. Our feet needed a bit of a rest from here, so we took the subway to Chinatown/Little Italy.

We were hungry at this point, so we got out our guide book and chose a restaurant in Little Italy to start walking toward. It wasn't that far from the subway station. We sat at a table outside on the sidewalk for maximum people watching while we ate. We started with garlic bread and stuffed mushrooms (divine!). I ordered the "prixe meal" -- you got a pasta course and a main course for $19. I had the rigatoni in vodka sauce and the veal marsala. The rigatoni was good -- the sauce was mellow and you could taste the cream and parmesan cheese. Then came the veal. Oh. My. Lord. They must serve this dish in Heaven because it is truly worthy of it, let me tell ya. I think I had an out of body experience at the first bite. So rich...... the veal was cooked to perfection, the sauce bold with great body, buttery and robust with garlic and meaty slices of mushroom. It came served with sliced, roasted red potatoes and sauteed spinach with garlic. We each ate until we were ready to burst. I left a few bites on my plate, sadly. I may have shed a tear or two as we walked away.

We were not quite ready to walk around again just yet, so we went across the street to the Cafe Roma, an Italian pastry shop. This particular place was written up in our guide book so we figured it had to be worth it. Well? Think again. While it was not BAD, it just wasn't good. But then again -- not much could be deemed "good" compared to the manna from heaven I had just experienced. I ordered a hazelnut hot chocolate and a piece of tiramisu. The chocolate was great.... the tiramisu was average. It was a bit dry on top, better on the bottom where you could taste the liqueur. The WORST thing about this particular place was......... the bathroom. There was one tiny bathroom for all guests and, apparently, someone either (A) puked their guts out or (B) shit their guts out or (C) opened a can of chili and threw it all over the toilet and the back wall. And it didn't smell like chili........

It was entertaining to watch people enter the bathroom, then come out a few minutes later with a look of wonder and disgust on their face.

I had not seen the bathroom yet, nor had Heather. Kathy had been inside and dutifully reported the situation to us as she came back to the table. We were discussing what we wanted to do next -- which was walk back toward Chinatown and check out souvenier shopping -- when the subject of our safety came up again. Heather said to me, "Remember, we don't have to run fast. We just have to run faster than Kathy." This made Kathy snort and spew her hot chocolate ALL OVER the table, which made us laugh hilariously, tears and all, while the wait staff gave us wary glances. At this point, I could hold it no longer so I went into the bathroom of disgust, wiped off the toilet seat with a huge wad of toilet paper and gingerly perched on the edge and did my business. When I came out, one of the wait staff was standing by the door and he said, "We are going to clean that up." I replied, "You might want to get a hose."

We then headed down the street toward Chinatown. Little Italy is a neat area, but I wondered, how do all of these restaurants stay in business? They are all one after another, right up next to each other. They all serve the same food, basically. There are so many of them! I guess there are enough customers to go around. That is amazing to me. The hosts stand outside and "hawk" to try and get you to come to their eatery. We kept saying, "We just ate!" One grabbed my backpack as I walked by. I made Heather stop and look inside it to make sure my cell phone was still in there (I was carrying my money and credit cards in my front pocket -- if anyone was going to pick THAT off me, they'd have to feel me up first) The guy saw us stop and saw Heather checking my backpack and he gave me a dirty look. I shot him one back. Weirdo.

Chinatown. Crazy. People everywhere -- a lot of tourists. This is the place to buy your souveniers and stuff like that. Everything is CHEAP and they expect you to haggle them down from there. We bought t-shirts and looked at some great costume jewelry (I didn't buy, but seriously considered it). We found a place selling purses and wallets and I bought a cute pink bag for $20. This place had Dooney & Burke and Brighton knock-offs. We looked around in there for a while. Then we bought refrigerator magnets of the Statue of Liberty from a guy on the sidewalk. He was giving us the hard sell. "Three dollah each! I sell you four for ten dollah! Good bargahn!"

We got down to an area teeming with tourists and checked out a sidewalk produce market (everything looked fantastic). We saw a place with Peking duck and a weird looking squid hanging in the window. We went inside a bakery, to see what the Chinese do. They had lovely, delicate pastries, beautifully decorated with fresh fruits. We saw a seafood shop where the workers were closing up and taking all the fish off the ice and throwing it into big tubs.

Everywhere you walk there are Asians hawking stuff at you. "DVD? DVD?" as they hold out pirated copies of the latest movies (Flight 93 was one I noticed) "You want Rolex watch?" The one that got Heather was the girl who said, "Coach purse? You want?"

Heather said she would like to see the Coach purses. The girl motioned for us to follow her. We marched behind her, back up the street the way we had come. At the corner, a bunch of other young girls caught us, saying "Coach? Coach purse you want?" and our girl turned around and said something to them in Chinese. They understood then that we were following her, and they all gave each other knowing glances and giggled. Kathy and I looked at each other with the one-eyebrow raise, both of us thinking back to the Seinfeld episode involving Elaine and the Korean nail salon.

We kept following the girl, only by now we had turned a corner and were heading up a darker, less busy street. She was talking in Chinese to someone on her cell phone. No doubt calling ahead to say, "I have white women and I am bringing them to you!" She arrived at a metal door in the side of a building, opened the door to a darkened, narrow flight of stairs and motioned for us to go up. Kathy and I said, "Heather you are on your own." because we were going nowhere near those stairs and Heather looked up them and said to the girl, "On second thought..... no thank you." And we started walking away, back in the direction we had come. Well, this made the Chinese chick mad and she started cursing at us (in Chinese -- no I don't speak it but you know when you are being cursed at) and from out of nowhere some dude appeared and caught up with Heather, trying to convince her that it was safe to go upstairs and see the "purses".....

All we wanted to do then was get away. Visions of going upstairs to buy a purse and being told to take off all our clothes and hand over our money were dancing in our heads. Maybe that's being dramatic, but...... you just don't know. Later I thought it over and I wondered: Maybe that girl had been smuggled into the country illegally and she had to sell fake Coach bags to work off her debt? Maybe she got all excited when she thought she had hooked us in -- then was mad when we cut the deal because she was going to get beat up by the boss man..... ??? All those people -- obviously poor, hawking everything from t-shirts to fake Rolex watches.... they are all just trying to make a living in a big, cold, daunting city.

Still -- we had to be safe and weren't none of us heading up them stairs!

Next, we saw a man doing this neat artwork on the sidewalk. He was doing people's names, painting the letters colorfully as dragons or butterflies or flowers. We stopped and Heather bought one each for her kids.

Then we went back to the subway and rode to the Empire State Building. I had the tickets this time! It was dark by now --- we walked up the street and suddenly we saw the building looming above us. It is impressive and beautiful! Since we had pre-paid tickets, we skipped thru the longest of the lines and got to go straight to the elevators. We were packed into the elevator like a can of sardines. Literally, you can't move your arms. That's how many people they pack in there at one time. I said to the man in front of me, "Dude, I am not trying to feel your butt......... however it is quite nice and firm." Everyone laughed. We got to the 86th floor and went out to the observatory. The first thing that hits you is the COLD WIND. It was bitter cold up there! The second thing that hits you is.... the city lights are just breathtaking. You forget the cold for a moment while you run to all sides of the building to look out and see what you can identify from such an altitude. Heather brought up the point that, if someone were to drop a penny from the top (the area is fenced but you could easily drop things thru the grate) it would kill someone on the street if it hit them. I wonder if anything like that has ever happened?

The cold got to us so we decided to head back down. In the "down" elevator, we were packed in reverse, so the man I said I butt grabbed was now behind me. As we entered the elevator, he said, "Hey its MY turn now!" and we all giggled. I love it when people have a sense o'humor.

It was about 10:00pm and we had about 5 hours to kill before we wanted to taxi out to the airport. Kathy suggested we find a club or somewhere to hang out -- she looked in our trusty guide book and found the Gotham Comedy Club, which turned out to be a taxi ride to the address to find they had moved and a short walk back up to the new location. We went in and were told the show didn't start until 11:30pm, but we could sit in the lounge and wait, which we gladly did. We got called up at 11:30 to our reserved table, were we each ordered a drink and got ready to laugh our guts out. We saw Jim Medrinos, Jessica Kirson and Orny Adams ( www.gothamcomedyclub.com) and it was wonderful. Sometimes smart, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes outright silly -- it was all good and we laughed 'til our ribs were sore.

After the show, we exited the club, went to the corner and headed for what should have been Times Square. Only, it wasn't lit up like before when we found the club. I said the first thing I thought, "Oh no, they turned it off! It's closed!" hahahahaaa we were facing the wrong direction! We turned around and went the other way, toward Times Square. We found a little pizza place and ate a slice, drank a Coke and just chilled for a while. They say NYC is "the city that never sleeps" but that is not really true. At about 3:00am, walking through Times Square, there is hardly anyone out except cops. Out of things to do and see, feeling like zombies from lack of sleep and dead on our feet, we hailed a cab and headed for the airport.

Our flight left at 6:00am and we slept nearly all the way home. Home sweet home!!!

Ladies, it was a pleasure. You both make wonderful travel companions -- this trip was priceless. I am looking forward to the Gull's Mexican Cruise 2007!!! :o)

posted by Tamfish @ 1:36 PM Comments: 7

Gulls take Manhattan!

Our flight was called. We boarded, buckled in, anxiously giggling that our trip was finally about to take place.

The doors were closed and the flight attendant began her safety lecture. "Please take the safety card out of the pouch of the seat in front of you and read along." Heather and I look over at Kathy across the aisle and she is actually doing this. She gives us that teacher look that says, "Children.... follow instructions!" But we just laugh and watch her as she studies where the exits are located and what to do in case of an emergency water landing. If the plane goes down, at least one of us will live.
We begin taxiing to the runway. Kathy reaches up and starts playing with the knobs and buttons overhead of her seat. She pushes the "flight attendant call button" and it lights up and goes "DING!" and startles her. The look on her face was hilarious! She asks, "What was that?!" and Heather tells her and she goes, "Oh thank God, I thought I pushed the "STOP" button!" and for some reason this makes us laugh hysterically, tears and all.

The rest of the flight was fairly boring. Our seats were at the very rear of the plane, right next to the lavatory. In hindsight, we are thankful it was a boring flight. Sitting that close to the only bathroom in a flying aluminum tube could have been disastrous and nauseating!

We landed at Chicago for a small layover and change of planes. We each had the $8 breakfast plate there. What is with the prices on airport food? It's because they have you captive! You can't go anywhere to eat, you don't have the time, so they gouge ya!!! It's a travesty, I say! But.... we were starving so it was a good $8 breakfast. Another potty break and it was time to get back on a plane and head for LaGuardia.

We landed at LaGuardia just after 2pm. We hurried outside and found our hotel shuttle easily. Rode over to the hotel and checked in, took another potty break and readied ourselves to hit the town!

We inquired at the front desk as to the simplest way to get into Manhattan (our hotel was near the airport -- it's much cheaper that way). The desk clerk started rattling off how to take the bus to the subway then the subway to downtown and it sounded complicated so we agreed to just let him call us a taxi. I was expecting a traditional New York yellow cab but instead a Lincon town car drove up. We got in and there was no meter. That bothered me, as I had read in various internet travel guides that you can get scammed by not taking a yellow cab. The town car guys are kind of like poachers -- they don't have to use set rates like the yellow cabs do, etc. But we were already in the car speeding away so it was too late. Heather asked our driver about his rates and he told us it was a $35 flat rate into Mahattan, plus tolls for the tunnel. We shrugged and said "okay" -- pretty much our only choice, other than hurling ourselves out of the car while it traveled 70mph thru the midtown tunnel.

We sat back to enjoy the ride and look at the things we were passing as we left Queens. Houses, apartment buildings, things like that. It's a world totally different to what we are accustomed to. People don't own cars -- there's no need for them and no place to park anyway. The houses are all close together, usually mulit-family affairs (one building actually has 2 or 3 "houses" inside it). Kathy asked our driver about the cost of living and he told us a lot about what it costs to live in Queens and Manhattan and how the "working class man" really struggles because things there are so expensive.

We were headed to the Empire State Building, however some doofus retard left the tickets back at the hotel (that would be..... me!) so instead we had him drop us at Grand Central Station. We gave the guy $50 for the ride, tolls and a tip, not realizing we had really just been screwed, but you'll see that later in the story. I mean, you'll see how we were screwed, not that you will see us being screwed. Because that? Would not be attractive. Unless you are into that sort of thing. But I digress.

Grand Central. Beautiful. Busy. Bustling. Confusing. After a few minutes, we realized that this wasn't just a subway station -- it is also the TRAIN station, meaning the Amtrak or whatever they call it there. I'm so glad we didn't hop a train and end up in White Plains or Rochester. That would have been bad. Instead, we went downstairs, found the Metro card vending machines, purchased a card to ride the subway and figured out how to ride to Times Square. (Not hard -- you take the 7 train, it's the purple line, only 2 stops away).

We got to Times Square and from there we wanted to go north (or Uptown, as the New Yorkers would say) toward Central Park and walk around that area. Walking thru Times Square station, we started to discover that some of the best shows in New York take place in the tunnels! Forget Broadway! We heard lots of music in the subway. Some dude was playing a flute. There were a pair of guys, one on a clarinet type instrument, the other on one of those pan-flutes, playing Beatles songs. There was a man playing something that looked like a sitar, only it was skinnier. And the best. show. ever...?? The breakdancers! There were a group of 3 or 4, who had taken over a large empy area in the middle of the subway station. They had the boom box blaring loudly and a circle of people for an audience. One by one they would dance into the middle of the area and begin doing the most amazing things. Twisting, turning, up on their hands, down on the floor, moving quickly and smoothly, without effort. It was simply amazing. The strength and balance required to do that stuff ....... incredible. The best show, really!

From there we went down a level to find the right train to ride to Central Park. When you get 3 people together looking at the same map, well..... let's just say that you get 3 different opinions of which train to ride. The platform was fairly crowded, it was close to "rush hour". Kathy asked the lady standing in front of us if she could help -- and that is how we met Peggy. Peggy was the quintessential New Yorker -- coming home from work, dressed to the nines, hair in place, perfect makeup and understated jewelry. She told us we should go to Columbus Circle and then walk up Central Park to see Lincoln Center, etc. She said she was going that way -- we could just ride with her! So we did. She told us all about what we should see and do. "Then you need to turn right on 66th street and walk by the building that looks like a castle -- they film One Life to Live in there!" She told us when to NOT ride the Subway, but that for the most part it was not dangerous. Kathy said, "We'll be fine. Heather takes her kids to karate, I've seen parts of a Tae Bo video and Tam's done Pilates!" hahaha

It was a swirl of directions and travel tips, none of which made a whole lot of sense, but we were having a marvelous time just visiting with her. She and her husband actually live in Jersey. They drive in together to her husband's office, where she hops the Subway down to Wall Street to her office. Her husband is Irish and when they first moved to the city, he would spit on the doorway of their apartment building because he hated it so much!

We got off the subway at Columbus Circle and headed up to street level. As we walked toward Uptown, Peggy told us more places to be sure and see, and we traded stories about ourselves and where we were from. We got to a particular corner and Peggy let us know this was as far as she could go -- her husband's office was right there. She told us her husband works for ABC Television. "Oh really?" we asked, "Is he someone we would know?" She said he was a director at ABC News, his name is Patrick Moynihan. We got excited because the name is familiar -- turns out to be because of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Not the same person. I googled and found that this Patrick Moynihan is Director of Fire and Safety for ABC News Television. But that's still cool because Peggy proceeded to tell us a little dirt on some ABC celebs, like:

Meredith Viera from The View is a slob and kept her dressing room like a pig sty, with moldy food and dirty clothes lying everywhere.
Star Jones' husband is gay.
Regis is kind of a dick. He goes into restaurants and says loudly, "Do you have a table for REGIS??" knowing that he'll be recognized and given a free meal.
Mel Gibson is very short.
Most stars are not recognizable in real life. When Peggy was going to meet Tom Hanks at ABC studios, she was riding the elevator with her friend on the way up to meet him. She said, "I'm going to meet Tom Hanks but seriously I have to pee really, REALLY BAD." And the man standing behind her said, "Nice to meet you -- my wife pees a lot, too." It WAS Tom Hanks! Hee!

Relucantly, we parted ways with Peggy and walked north, seeing the Metropolitan Opera House, Juliard, the Museum of Natural History. We crossed over to the park and saw the Imagine memorial for John Lennon, which is just across the street from the Dakota, which is where he was killed. Central Park is just gorgeous -- honestly, if I lived in NYC, I would want to live near the park. We walked through the park, saw the meadow where people play football and frisbee and have picnics. Saw the Lake with the rowboaters out en force. Walked thru the Zoo area (the zoo was closed already) and ended up at Tavern on the Green, where we had dinner.

There were not many tourists in there. I felt somewhat out of place in my track suit and tennis shoes amidst the cocktail dresses and suits -- but whatever, it's part of the adventure. We were seated and "Captain Ron" came to introduce himself as our host/waiter/steward for the meal. He was quite rude. It was obvious that he felt he was better suited to wait on the chi-chi clientele, rather than us plain ol' hick tourists. I ordered the crab cake appetizer, and the roast chicken in tarragon wine sauce (with mashed potatoes and steamed whole green beans) as an entree. The bread basket came -- the bread was good but it was cold. The food came -- it was overpriced and overrated. The best thing on my plate was the green beans. I guess that about says it all. It was my turn to pay the check, so when it came, Heather & Kathy ran for another potty break while I took care of the cost. I didn't leave a tip for Captain Ron, he was a dick.

While I was leaving, the hostess seated Lindsay Lohan at the table across from us. If it wasn't her, it was her twin sister. I bet she got better service than we did. *hmph*

Back to the subway we went -- rode back to Times Square, where we got off and went up to the street. We walked up Times Square, marveling at the lights and all the people. This is obviously a big tourist area. There were chain restaurants all up and down the street -- Red Lobster, Hard Rock Cafe, Champs, etc. Who comes to NYC and eats at the same places they can eat at home? I think that's retarded. Smushed in between the chain restaurants are little delis and markets and pizza places -- those are the places where you go and grab a bite!

We walked along, saw the ABC Primetime live studio. Apparently they were having a show (I guess they were) because a bunch of folks were gathered outside shouting and cheering up toward the windows. We saw MTV Studios and some of the theaters that were off on the side streets. Wicked, The Lion King, The Color Purple. We walked up to the Ed Sullivan Theater, where David Letterman tapes. Of course by this time it was 10:00pm and nobody was there. The Hello Deli was closed. It's very, very small.

From there we walked a block over and took a seat at Lindy's for a cup of coffee and cheesecake. I had the Irish coffee (It was mondo strong) and rice pudding (mmmmmm wonderful). We were beat, our feet hurt and we were lagging from no sleep the night before, so from there we hailed a cab and headed back for the hotel.

THIS time -- we got a yellow cab. The ride was like a roller coaster -- 70-80mph (at least!) weaving and bobbing in and out of traffic, honking the horn, barely missing tourists trying to cross streets against the light. The cab rides in NYC are an event in and of themselves! The ride back to the hotel was about 25 minutes and it cost $23.50 plus tip. Now -- do you see the scam between that and the town car? Tip: If you ever go to NYC make SURE you request a yellow cab if you have the hotel offer to call you a taxi!

We showered and fell into bed exhausted. I stuffed my ears with cotton (thought it might help, judging from the night before) but seriously, I was out and comatose nearly all night. I never heard Heather snore at all. Kathy snored lightly but it was so quiet, it didn't bother me at all. We each got some much needed rest and slept in the next morning until about 8:00am when we rose and got ready for Day 2.......

posted by Tamfish @ 6:24 AM Comments: 3

'Twas a night of noise and excitement....

Thursday dragged by like the day before your birthday, or the day before Christmas. I was all packed and ready to leave by noon, I just had the afternoon to get thru. Soon enough, 5:00pm came and I shot out the door like a bullet! I hit the road and headed straight for Llano to get Kathy. Got there, Kathy was ready so we went to the potty and hit the road again. The ride to Austin from her house is only like 1.5 hours but the time just flew because we were talking and laughing the entire time. We got out to the airport and chose a Super 8 motel to stay the night in (our flight left the next morning at 6:50am). We checked in, waited for Heather to find us, then the three of us went in search of dinner.

We meant to go to Olive Garden but they had a line of people waiting for tables that stretched out the door. We drove around a little more in the shopping center and came across Pei Wei. I'd never heard of it, I thought Heather was suggesting we eat at "PayWay" which sounded like a dollar store to me. But no -- it's an Asian diner. Heather raved about it, so we said "sure" and went in. The menu had things on it that I recognized and things I didn't. We decided to let Heather order for us, since she had been before. We had:
Spring rolls with this spicy/sweet dipping sauce (awesome!)
chicken lettuce wraps (nice and fresh, with crisp lettuce -- not as good as the spring rolls tho)
Kung pao with beef (OMG....... OMG OMG SO GOOD)
Pad thai with tofu (um...... yuck)

We ate and talked some more, the conversation flowing lively and easy, as it would with three gals who have known each other 20+ years. No topic is off limits. Literally. Even when you are hearing things about your friends that you wish could be off limits. hahahaha I won't divulge any information, I'll just say one of the topics was: what kind of sex do you prefer: (A) Vanilla, (B) Vanilla with an occasional swirl of chocolate and sprinkles or (c) Chunky Monkey with coconut, M&M's, gummy worms, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry on top?

We each got a fortune cookie. Mine said "You will have an enjoyable adventure" or something very similar. We took it as a great sign of things to come.

Back to the hotel. Kathy & I washed our hair and generally did everything we could to speed up the morning process, since we were leaving out early. We needed to go to sleep, but we were like that Disney commercial where the kids are giggling and the mom tells them to go to sleep and the little boy says, "We're too excited to sleep!" I did manage to fall asleep finally. However, it wasn't long before I was awoken by "Night of the Nostrils" also known as "Symphony of Snores". Heather started, then Kathy joined in. At one point, Heather's just got louder and louder, as if someone was turning up the volume knob on her sinuses. I started to wonder just HOW LOUD could she get when -- suddenly! -- she stopped completely. I thought, "Heather died. Great now I can sleep!" haha I'm just kidding - I never sleep well when I'm away from home anyway. Add the excitement of the trip to that and it's a wonder I slept the few hours that I did. Kathy had it worse than me. She says she sat up most of the night wondering if she could turn on the TV without bothering anyone. I'm not sure she's telling the truth because I heard her sounding like a goose with bronchitis, but.... whatever. :o)

Our wake-up call came at 4:45am, but we were really already awake. We got ready, made sure we had everything we needed and headed for the airport to check in and wait for our flight. The adventure was about to begin!!! .........................................

posted by Tamfish @ 11:46 AM Comments: 4

Back!!!

I am back from the Big Apple!! It was great!! I have a lot to tell -- I plan to tell it all in order, but it's going to take me some time to sit down and type it all out. Plus, I want to do the story with pictures and I need to give Hothat some time to get those ready. So be patient!

If you ever have the chance to just throw some clothes into a backpack and get on a plane to somewhere, I highly recommend you DO IT. It is so worth the adventure. Oh the places you can go, the things you can see, the people you can meet!!

Until I can get started on the story of my adventure --- tell me about what yours would be. Where do you want to go? What do you want to see and do? What do you want to experience?

posted by Tamfish @ 9:51 AM Comments: 4