Turning the big 3-0, Part Deux

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up feeling the effects of the drinking the night before and the weight of the cake in the bottom of my belly. As I got out of bed, everything bone in my body creaked and cracked, alerting me to the intensity that comes with turning 30, I was really old (or at least I felt that way). My birthday hosts (aka, Sam, Shelly & Joe) told me about my birthday plans. They were whisking me away to New Haven, Connecticut to visit Yale and stay in a bed & breakfast and then we were heading to the casinos. We were taking a train because Joe had never been on a train before.


Shelly & Joe on the train

We arrived in New Haven and took a cab to the B&B, which basically boiled down to the first floor of a historic house, which included a kitchen, etc. We headed out in the rain to a great seafood place for appetizers and a quick drink, then a cab ride to the Yale bookstore (for a magnet) and an awesome Italian dinner (after boozing it up at a couple of bars in New Haven). We were so stuffed from the dinner that we couldn't even enjoy drinking back at the B&B. We did enjoy playing dominos, especially since we had just purchased them at Walgreen prior to heading back to the B&B. We had breakfast the next morning and instead of taking a bus from the train station to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, I had the brilliant idea to rent a car to make it more fun!


A Woodchuck before dinner


Dominos and Alka Seltzer

We arrived at Mohegan Sun, gambled a little and stuffed our bellies at the buffet. Can anyone tell me why buffets are ever a good idea? We eventually headed to Foxwoods and to the Two Trees hotel to check in. We gambled and drank and gambled and drank and then headed back to the hotel to sleep. On a sidenote, we did not do well in the gambling. Let me rephrase, I did not do well at the gambling - Shelly & Joe did great and even left with money.

The next morning, we decided yet again that keeping the rental car would be more fun than taking the train back to NYC. Driving was such a good idea, I just wish we thought of it prior to taking the train. We could've taken the Red Rocket and saved me about $300 in car rental fees. This is what happens when I'm not in charge! (Just kidding, this was a wonderful trip!) We had to head back to New Haven to re-rent the car before driving to NYC, but at least it gave us a chance to see Yale in the light.


This is us "Not Standing" off campus

We arrived back in NYC just in time for Shelly & Joe to repack and take the rental car to JFK to catch their plane home. I had such a wonderful time in Connecticut with my bestest friends and my super duper husband.

Thank you Sammy for a wonderful birthday trip and a total surprise. You know I love to gamble, so you totally picked a supreme place to take me. Maybe 30 won't be so bad.


The 4 of us overlooking Long Island Sound...

Birthday Recap (?!) - Part 1

Can I get a show of hands of those who are actually curious as to how my 30th (wow, that's still hard to type) was spent? Anyone? Yes, you in the back, I'll give a brief rundown of the many surprises that awaited me - the fun surprises, not the scary, oh my G-d, I'm 30 surprises.

On Thursday, January 4th, my friends from work told me that they would be taking me out that evening to celebrate my birthday - just the gals. I told Sammo to stay home so that I can get some good eats with the chickies. This fun evening did not start out well. First of all, we didn't even leave the office until after 6pm. I was told that we would be having dinner and by 7pm I was still waiting to leave Bekah's house and there had been no food shoveled into my tummy. I was irritated and ready to get some food. My friends were not accommodating. We were still waiting on Jen to get there. So, needless to say, I was dolled up in the eve of my b-day with apparently no place to go. Well, 8pm rolled around, Jen was with us at the apartment, and we still weren't leaving. I was getting a little irritated. What the hell was wrong with my friends? Finally, Bekah told me that we were leaving....and walking! to get some food. We rounded a corner and headed into a bar. Damn you my friends, did I not mention I was hungry?! They told me to shut up and just head inside, we would get some food.


The chickies before we left Bekah's apartment...

As I walked into the back of the bar, I recognized a round, bald head to be that of my husbands. I was excited to see him, but not as excited to see the two people next to him (no offense Sam!). As soon as I realized that Shelly and Joe had arrived from Austin (assumably for my birthday), I started to cry. All of the hunger pains went away as I hugged my friends. Sam had finally pulled it off - a surprise for his unsurprisable wife! In addition to Shelly & Joe, James and Kenneth were there and later on, Pax, Mary, Stacey & Carlos showed up to join the party.


Shelly & Joe...what a great present.


Jen, Sarah, Kenneth, Bekah & James


Carlos, Stacey, Mary & Pax

We ordered chinese food into the bar, drank a little, played some darts and stumbled back to Bekah's house. Upon arrival to our apartment, I was treated to a rich chocolate cake at midnight, as a beginning to the birthday celebrations. Thank you Sam for a wonderful surprise and a great start to my birthday.




Have I ever mentioned that I am a champion dart player? Yeah, when I'm not tossing darts into the floorboards...

Professionals...

People who tend to be really good in their chosen field are regarded as professionals. Some people may claim to be professionals, but are usually hacks. Case in point, I rarely get a haircut. Maybe it's because I don't feel that I have time to properly take care of myself. It could be that I don't really care that much about my hair and would just as soon put it in a ponytail than blowdry and flatiron it. I have never been that in to my hair, mainly because it's long and thick and a true pain in the ass. For 10 years I trusted Alex in Austin to take care of my hair, although never visiting her more than once per year. Now that we're in NYC and I don't have Alex here, I've had to find someone new.

Since we moved to NYC I have had my hair cut/styled 5 times. The first was from a Dominican lady who gave me a hot oil treatment, which I blame for the lack of curl that I have since experienced with my hair. The second was at an Aveda salon in the neighborhood who didn't do a bad job, but feigned exhaustion at the thought of blowdrying my hair. The 3rd was Michaela. Oh Michaela, how I love what you do to my hair. After a year of not being sure that I could trust someone to cut my hair that didn't have her own salon, I submitted. The haircut was great (See November blog from 2005 for proof). But I was not yet convinced. In April of 2006 I found myself in Austin and in need of a cut for a wedding. I called Alex and was able to get right in. As much as I loved Alex and have trusted her for 10 year (hell, she even did my hair for my wedding), she butchered me just hours before I was to be a bridesmaid. I have not had a haircut since and have been letting my hair grown and turn various shades of dead.

Then Michaela opened her own salon down the street from us. I finally set an appointment and got my hair cut on Thursday. This is why people become professionals in their field. Because they can! Check out the results.





Now, I claim to be a professional social worker and I think I do a pretty good job of being one. However, I may be good at many other things, but would never consider myself a professional. Possibly a jack of all trades, someone who dabbles a bit. One thing I could never become is a professional hairstylist. Hell, I can't even be a professional head-shaver. My husband, bless his bald little head, has began having his head shaved every two to four weeks since July. I blame Michaela for starting this trend by shaving his head when I was out of town for 4th of July. Unfortunately, she lost a customer when Sam realized that he could do it on his own. So I began helping him with the spots that he missed.

Today, he let me drive the clippers. He told me that I could do whatever I wanted. This is why people trust professionals and not dabblers. I present to you:

Sam's racing stripes!





Don't worry, after the pictures were taken and I stopped laughing, I completed the job and Sam has a nicely shaven head. Unfortunately, a shaved head is not the best winter 'do, but it's what he likes.

So, the moral of this story? Always trust a professional to do things like haircuts. It's okay to trust dabblers for smaller things, such as advice or things that won't affect your outside appearance. Viva Professionals!

Go Colts!

Happy Superbowl my friends! Thought I'm not 100% committed, I am going for the Colts. I like Peyton Manning and want to see him win a Superbowl.



We're heading over to Stacey & Carlos' to watch the game and more than anything, to watch all of the commercials. Can't wait to see the Federline, burger-flipping commercial. We'll have to decide which commercial is the funniest after launching a poll from all of my loyal readers - So, Stu, Sam and Mom will have to cast their votes!

Enjoy the game! Stay warm! And cheer on the Colts (unless you're a Bears fan!)

And about all of the posting that I haven't been doing. I promise that I will have something big and long by the end of the week - a recap of the last month and a half!