It’s a Holiday Party!

So, four days until Christmas Eve!  Who’s ready?!  Surprisingly I pretty much am.  I only have one more present to wrap, and I am good to go!  I am very much looking forward to the short work week, rumor has it that we’ll be let out early on Thursday and then I am off to PA until the 27th.

This past weekend was a blast, my sister came down on Friday night and the two roommates, her and myself took it easy Friday in order to be well rested for Saturday nights party.  First on the agenda was dinner out and then over to a late showing of Black Swan.

Crazy good, I really loved it, and never have I felt more sane in my life than after leaving that movie theater.  It’s a really intense movie, one that definitely leaves you thinking, and sometimes uncomfortable and covering your eyes.  I really recommended it, and wouldn’t mind going to see it again.

Saturday started bright and early with a trip to the gym, where I got in 50 minutes of cardio alternating between the treadmill, elliptical, and some other cardio machine kind of like the elliptical, and some weighted lunges.  Then it was to the grocery store to pick up some things for the night’s party, I was making a buffalo chicken dip.  Before long, all the ladies were ready and it was time for people to arrive.

 

cookies were made

decorations were hung

the ladies looked lovely

and the party started

 

 

there was beer pong

and flip cup

good friends

and dancing

lots of good friends and good times

 

Thanks to everyone who came, I hope you all had as much fun as we did!  With a bed time of around 5 am, I was slow to start moving on Sunday morning.  When I finally did, I made it about as far as the big comfy chair in the living room where I stayed until hunger drove me to Moe’s around 7:00.  There was some excitement in the day when a log exploded in the fireplace and sent embers and pieces of wood flying across the living room landing on the couch and carpet.  The couch was only on fire for a minute before we were able to move and throw the burning wood back into the fireplace.  Way too much excitement if you ask me.

Alright everyone, enjoy your Monday!

Lots of booze and food

Still comfy and cozy in the East Village today :).  I can’t even imagine trying to sit at work today after this past weekend.  Also, blogging from the boyfriend’s PowerBook all weekend has only solidified my strong desire for a MAC.  Time to start saving.  Ok let’s see.  Well sadly Team Patron Patrol did not win the beer pong tournament, but we played decently.  The first game I was on fire and hit every single cup securing us the win.  After that I cooled off just a tad, but luckily my partner remembered how to hit cups and we won a few more games.

Our custom banner made by Budweiser

Team Patron Patrol

The bpt started at 5 pm and went until 9:30, and for $25 it was an open bar for that entire time (well all the Bud Light you could drink anyway).  Needless to say everyone was a little intoxicated by the end.  I have a vague recollection of stuffing a cheeseburger and fries in my face in between games at one point.  Hey, it was dinner time, and once you see one person with food it’s impossible to not order your own.  I think the bf and I lasted until 11 before calling it a night and heading home.

Yesterday was a pretty lazy day, although I did find an awesome natural foods grocery store around the corner that I plan to visit before heading home later today.  Since we were impatient and opened our presents on Friday, mine and Alex’s v-day didn’t really start until we headed out for drinks and dinner.  We went to a bar called Drop Off Service, which apparently used to be a laundromat.  It was very nice, had an awesome beer selection, and comfy couches to lounge on.

After our drinks, we headed over to Barbone for dinner.  You have the option of doing a 5-course tasting, and since there were so many things both of us wanted to try we decided to do that.  First things first though, we started off with a bottle of red wine.

It was pretty good, the bf said it tasted a little carbonated to him.  We drank the whole bottle, so we obviously liked it just fine.  The free glasses we were given at the end of the dinner were much better (and probably much more money).  For our appetizer we ordered the Buffalo milk mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and gremolata.

It was delicious.  I ate my entire tomato, and most of my mozzarella, but gave Alex the last little bit.  We were able to make two choices from the primi section of the menu, and went with Duck Ravioli red wine and balsamic glaze, and Black pepper pappardelle braised short rib ragu.   I never had duck before, so I was a little nervous but willing to be adventurous.

They were very good, I was pleasantly surprised.  The sauce was a little too bitter for my liking, so I ate about one and a half of the ravioli and handed the rest over to Alex.  I think his favorite part was eating everything that I didn’t finish.

This was my favorite course!  I ate every single bite.  After our two primi courses, it was on to the secondi.  It was a toss up between the semi-boneless cornish hen with roasted potatoes or the prime flat iron steak with broccoli rabe fingerling potatoes and salsa verde.  We decided on the steak, and I was very happy with it.

I ate one of the pieces of steak, my potato, and some of the broccoli, and then handed my plate over to an anticipating bf.  Then it was time for dessert.  Normally I’m not a big dessert eater, but it came with the tasting so why not.

Our two desserts.  One was a pecan cheesecake, and I cannot remember what the other one was.  It was sort of like cheesecake, a little more gelatin like and cold.  Both were fantastic and we cleaned the plates.

It was the most delicious dinner I’ve had in a very long time.  I can’t wait to go back and try some of the other things on the menu.  Best Valentine’s Day dinner that I could have asked for.

As I was standing outside taking this picture, a guy and his girlfriend walked by and I thought I heard him say something about my legs, but they kept walking.  Being the dummy that I am, I only brought black stockings to wear with my brown shoes so instead of looking mismatched I went barelegged. Then I looked down the street, and the guy was standing there with his pants around his ankles yelling “oh my god, this is what your life is like right now!”  Haha, apparently he was shocked at the fact I was walking around in NYC like that in February.  It was so funny, both the bf and I laughed very hard.  Hey a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Ok, the bf just finished up some work he had to do this morning so now we’re off to lunch and playing in the city on our day off!

Cookies and presents, it’s like a second X-mas!

Apparently facilities management reads my blog.  I was all prepared this morning to take a picture of the major fail on their part, of the six-foot snow piles in the handicap spaces, but they were gone!  Ok, it’s highly more likely that someone called to complain about the stupidity of that, but a girl can dream about being that popular, right?

Anywhoooo, happy Friday everyone!  This weekend I’m heading back up to good old NYC for Valentine’s Day.  I have off on Monday, so it’s another long weekend for me, yipeeee.  Whether I’m going tonight or tomorrow, I have no idea, babe a little help?  I was originally preparing to go tomorrow, so I am not packed at all, unless you count the fact that I am still packed from last weekend :(.  I know, I’m the worst.  Tomorrow the bf and I are playing in a co-ed pre V-day beer pong tournament.  Go Team Patron Patrol!  So uhhh yeah, tomorrow will not be the healthiest of days for me.  Chugging beers at a bar/restaurant.  I see fried food in my future.  Oh well!.

I had another one (or two or three) of my yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies last night for dessert.

Dinner was take-out Chinese, and I ate so much my stomach hurt, whoops.  Dessert actually came before dinner, and I did not take any pics of dinner.  You all know what lo-mein and chicken and broccoli look like.

Last present picture for the boyfriend’s gift guessing game!

The bear is not for him, my mom gave that to me.  If you say “I love you” to it, it talks back.  Haha, too cute.  Look what I found in my bbm’s when I woke up in the middle of the night!

It’s my presents!  Alexis and I have already analyzed shapes and sizes to guess what they might be.  Together we guessed correctly that my x-mas present was in fact shoes!  The boyfriend and I are trying to guess how long we can make it without exchanging gifts, no way we make it until Sunday.  My guess was after the beer pong tournament if I didn’t go up until Saturday.  If I end up there tonight though, all bets are off.

As most of you had probably guessed already, I did in fact have my triple venti non-fat caramel machiatto this morning.  Hooray for caffeine.  Ok, hope everyone has a lovely day!