On Thursday August 13th, after making her family wait for over 24 hours, my niece Isabela was born! She is 6lbs 1oz, 19 inches, and 100% cute! I haven’t seen her in person yet, but from what I hear, she is a little peanut who is calm and happy as long as she is bundled. I have started knitting her a little sleep sack to keep her snug as a bug at night. I can’t wait to meet you Izzy, Love Auntie Lizbeth.
(People, this post is filled with shock, outrage, and possibly a touch on the dramatic side. I do understand that there are real atrocities happening all over the world and this does not rank among them. With that said, on to my rant.)
What do White Owl Cigars, Mad Dog 20 20, and hot coffee poured over ice to make iced coffee all have in common? They are cheap imitations of the very things they claim to be! No cigar aficionado is going to smoke a White Owl, no sommelier is going to add Mad Dog to their wine list, so why should I have to drink a terrible iced coffee! I suppose I am not exactly a coffee expert, I couldn’t tell you the difference between one coffee roast and another, but I know what I like and what I don’t like. I like a strong brew, allowed to reach room temperature if not already chilled, undiluted with a splash of half and half and lots of ice. Cold brew if you have it, please. Today I ordered what I assumed would be a passable cuppa cold joe from a fancy pants eatery in Soho (I am looking at you D&D), what was handed to me was almost white in color. I didn’t see the preparation method at this point so I asked to have it a little darker. I watched the barista pour out what was in the cup and add more coffee, still not quite seeing where it was coming from. The cup was handed back to me without much change in color. The woman at the register could tell I was still not happy and offered to remake the drink and this is where I saw that they fill the cup with ice and pour hot coffee in the cup. And I paid a premium for them to perform this atrocity! I walked out without a word (in stunned silence more like it) and a doppio espresso later I was able to somewhat salvage the drink.
I can’t say this enough times, you can not make an iced coffee by simply pouring hot coffee (and weak coffee at that!) over ice. What you get is a watery mess of brownish liquid that tastes about as good as a watery mess of brownish liquid can possibly taste. Not good.
I love this picture titled Lonely Sunset. I wish I was on this bench right now.
Photo by ~jillysp~ from the Brownstoner Flickr Pool via
What could be better than dinner and a movie on date night? How about dinner and a drive in double feature! It was a real after school cartoon kind of line up with G.I. Joe and Transformers 2. It was a beautiful night and we have a van so we blew up an air mattress, threw in some pillows and drove over to the theater in Hyde Park. G.I. Joe was surprisingly well done with lots of action, cool gadgets, not too over the top nods to the cartoon, and a decent story. A very satisfying summer blockbuster. Transformers, in a word, sucked. Not worth it at all. Confusing plot, terrible new characters (think Jar Jar level annoying), unnecessary subplots that lead nowhere, and too many explosions. The coolest part of the evening was watching the moon rise above the tree line, something we most likely would not have seen if we hadn’t been at the drive in.
No one had a camera so this image will have to do.This weekend we had a few friends come in from out of town. It was a crazy sleep deprived weekend. These are friends we have known for 15 years and it is always an adventure when we all get together. Things are a wee bit different then they were 15 years ago. A few more pounds, a few less hairs, jokes of jobs (or lack there of), more and more little ones, and much less stamina for staying up late. We gave it our best though. We made it through the weekend with only one casualty and luckily it was just a couch. Don’t ask. And while things change, they also stay the same. The re-telling of the night of 1000 stories, teasing to the point of tears (or with tears as the ultimate goal), talk of how it was back in our day, and of course overindulging in food and drink. As our friend Matt put it, “These gatherings happen less and less often, therefore their intrinsic value grows. You better f-ing appreciate it.” I couldn’t have said it any better.
I signed up for twitter a while ago thinking hey I like blogging, I will like tweeting too. This is decidedly not the case. I guess when I find something I want to talk about, I need more than 140 characters to do it. I suppose that puts me in the lazy category although lazy suggests I am being passive about the whole thing when I have made a decision for one medium over another. At this point the account serves as a way to follow a few people. I guess I could tweet that I just blogged… or maybe not. Graphic via
I have been listening to NPR Talk of the Nation podcasts on the way to and from work. I am a little behind so I just heard today that after 39 years to the day of reminding us to “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars” Casey Kasem retired. I haven’t thought about him or American Top 40 in ages. Sitting by the radio being ready to hit play and record on my boom box just in case it was something I would want to listen to later, the long distance dedications, and waiting to find out who will be #1. Just for kicks here are the top 10 songs from 1988.
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1
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FAITH | George Michael |
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2
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NEED YOU TONIGHT | INXS |
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3
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GOT MY MIND SET ON YOU | George Harrison |
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4
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NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP | Rick Astley |
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5
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SWEET CHILD O’ MINE | Guns N’ Roses |
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6
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SO EMOTIONAL | Whitney Houston |
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7
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HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH | Belinda Carlisle |
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8
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COULD’VE BEEN | Tiffany |
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9
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HANDS TO HEAVEN | Breathe |
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10
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ROLL WITH IT | Steve Winwood |
I needed a smile today and these monsters were exactly what the doctor ordered. The rain and stress are starting to get to me a little. I am hoping to get back to a more regular schedule of blog posts so hang in there if you are still checking in!
After a week of biking, laying on the beach, grilling, puzzles, and hanging out with my family I am back at my computer catching up with emails and blog posts. Apparently LBI was the place for Brooklyn Bloggers last week. Who knew I was in such good company. We were fortunate to get in and out when we did. The traffic was bumper to bumper in the opposite direction practically from our house to LBI. My sister who is leaving for Australia in a few days (lucky girl!) and my cousin spent the 4th with M & me which helped extend the feeling of being on vacation. After we drove home, we trekked into the city for lobster rolls from Mary’s Fish Camp, (yum!) followed by cupcakes at Magnolia (although those were eaten in the morning because we couldn’t say no to the bread pudding at Mary’s) and then fireworks. Quite a packed day and a lot of fun.
The picture is from the Amateur Gourmet and if you are wondering what the deal is between Pearl and Mary’s Fish Camp Adam’s explanation will clear it all up for you. In my humble opinion, I say you can’t go wrong with either.
iamlizbeth.com 