Meet my friend, Bill-April 28, 2006

I came back from my French class to find fifty-sixty people against the wall of the foyer and elevator bank of UNICEF House. I went to pass through security, when the guard tells me, "I'm sorry, you can't stand there". Without giving me an explanation why I couldn't be there, I simply moved to the side of the wall in line with the other people. I asked around and was finally told "Clinton is coming". In my head I thought, "that explains why there were secret service men/women on 44th and the big black SUV parked out front."

Before I knew it, one security guard gave the signal and Bill Clinton, former President of the USA, walked through the door. The crowd started clapping (why?) and he greeted us all with handshakes, waves and hellos. (He actually looked pretty good).

That was the highlight of my day.

(I have to thank Leah for the picture...she was sly and took it on her phone)

Charles & Sanjeev visit-April 21-23, 2006

Charles and Sanjeev came for a visit over the weekend. After work, Steve and I met Charles in midtown and headed towards Port Authority to wait for Sanjeev's arrival. To pass the time, we went to an interesting bar--cash only, hispanic-men heavy, tiki hut themed (Steve and Charles thought it was a gay bar, I wasn't convinced because of the female scantily clad dressed waitresses). A few rounds later, we met up with Sanjeev.

We were starving. Steve and I decided to show the boys a good time at Brother Jimmy's. Bringing visitors to BJ's is a guaranteed fun time! Chris and Drew were there (and had been there since post-work). We ordered and drank rounds of pitchers (14 in total). And to soak up the alcohol, we ate the Pick Platter (ribs, chicken wings, pulled pork, and onion fries). We did a mighty fine job in slickin' our plates clean.

All of us enjoying the country music selection..."She's my little whiskey girl"

And then, out came the fishbowl. For those who don't know the fishbowl, it's a fruit-punch alcohol-laden drink that's served in a plastic fishbowl. The dozens of straws help you to consume the entire drink faster....


And the fun continues....


We ended up staying at BJ's until nearly 2am. We probably would have stayed longer if Chris wasn't destroying the decorative pieces off the wall...

Saturday morning, we woke up with headaches and felt bagels would be the best cure. We took the boys to Bagel Express, the worst-run bagel shop in all of NYC. But, Charles and Sanjeev got a kick out of it. (All Sanjeev wanted to do was eat a NYC bagel and pizza. Check.) We came back and watched Gung Ho since it started to pour. Then, we felt it was time to get out of the apartment. We walked around the UES tying to find a restaurant that was playing the game and served greasy food. We ended up at Mo's Caribbean. A few hours there, we came back and got ready to head over to Mikey's, Drew old college roommate who was throwing a house gathering. At Mikey's we drank beer, watched game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, and ate chips and salsa.

It was time to meet up with Sanjeev's friends at the Town Tavern, in the NYC area. The boys were getting hungry, so we left the bar and grabbed a slice (check). I had to take a picture of the pizza, because it was a chicken onion (one thought bbq flavored sauce but it was really) catalina dressing pizza. Odd.

We headed back up to the UES and took the boys to the Big Easy or rather, the Big Sleazy...I think you can guess why.

Sunday, Sanjeev headed home early in the morning to get home to work on a paper. Charles hung out for the morning. We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Then he went up to the Bronx to visit a friend who volunteers at a Haitian church...hours later, he came back and ate dinner with us before hopping on the China town bus.

I had a great time guys! Thanks for visiting.

Passover 2006-April 12-16, 2006

Wednesday, April 12, 2006:

Steve and I spent our First Seder at chez Temes. After work, we walked to the UWS and started the meal preparations. Steve and I brought the maror (horseradish) and the charoses (chopped apples and walnuts sweetened with honey) as well as a flourless chocolate cake for dessert.

We all sat around the table taking turns reading from the Haggadas, the book that tells the Passover story. We ate our bitter herbs, the maror and charoses , matzah, gefiltefish and finally the main meal. Dave and Sara made a delicious chicken meal with a cauliflower kugel. After dinner we did not finish the Haggadas -- as Steve says, the sign of a good Seder (more accurately, a good seder meal) is that you don't do the second half. Thank you Dave and Sara for hosting!


Thursday, April 13, 2006:

The next morning Steve and I woke up bright and early to catch our flight to Minneapolis to spend the second Seder with his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. We arrived and went directly to Dan and Stacy's house. We spent the afternoon helping Stacy prepare the night's meal. (Ok, so we helped by entertaining Benji and Zoe....and napping. But I did help with the granola--I was a test taster). Finally, six o'clock rolled around the family members started arriving. It was time to start the Seder.

Here is Dan greeting and thanking everyone for coming.

View from the top:

View from the top: There were 29 people present. In no particular order: Bernie, Jack (Steve's grandparents); Sally, Morrie, Ellen (Steve's aunt, uncle, cousin) and Dan (Ellen's boyfriend); Dan, Stacy, Benji, Zoe (uncle, aunt, cousins--who we stayed with); Wendy, Marty, Marisa, Brian, Jory (Stacy's sister who lives down the street and her family); Nancy, Stephen, Abigail, Rebecca (Steve's aunt, uncle, cousins who live in Arizona)

Here are pictues of the maror on the matzah as well as the charoses. These are eaten prior to the meal, in the portion of the Haggadah that explains the symbolism of the foods - bitter herbs dipped in salt water, maror, charoses, matzah.

After going through the first part of the Haggadah, it was time to dish up the main meal. Stacy made a delicious Chicken Marbella (chicken/olive/citrus dish) with mashed potatoes, asparagas, fruit, and meatballs. Looks good, doesn't it?

And for dessert we had some candies, coffee, and cakes.

Here's SHB with Benji and Zoe!

Friday, April 14, 2006:

We woke up and the first thing we did was go to Dunn Brothers to pick up our daily cup o joes. Dunn Brothers is a local coffee roaster that makes one good cup of joe. If you're ever in Minneapolis (even if you're just in the airport) I highly recommend grabbing a cup.

Later that morning, Dan took Steve, Barb and I to St. Paul. We took a quick tour of the old neighborhood where Steve used to live. Here's the house:

And here's Steve sitting on the steps. (Apparently, there's a cute photo of Steve as a kid sitting on these steps and he's re-enacting it here).

The rest of the morning we spent around the house. We had some time before our lunch engagement, so we took a stroll through a local park. It was beautiful spring day and being outside was a perfect way to spend it. Lunch time rolled around. We enjoyed chopped liver, meats and matzah as well as homemade mozzarella cheese (by Stephen, Steve's uncle). But, the highlight of lunch was the jar of spiced peaches. Yum, yum. Aren't you jealous, Aaron?

After lunch, Steve, Barb and I went to the mall to peruse. We realized it was the perfect time to register--we were outside Manhattan. We walked around to a few stores and found items we likes. After filling out the appropriate paperwork, we were given our tagging gun. Ready, aim, fire!

Dinner was at Sally and Morry's house. We had brisket, chicken, Grandma Gussie's spinach, and salad. For dessert we had nut cake and brownies. Once again, we consumed another amazing meal.

Saturday, April 15, 2006:

I woke up to the sweet smell of Dunn Brother's dark roast coffee. (To the tune of the Foldger's Coffee commercial) The best part of waking up is Dunn Brother's in your cup! Steve, Barb, Sally and I went back to the mall to finish registering. Steve and I were determined to get as much of it out of the way so we wouldn't have to fight the NYC crowds. We did a pretty good job. I caught Steve in action selecting the knives.

After a few hours, we hit a wall and called it quits. And it was back to the homefront for the day.

Dinner was inspired by Rosebud, the half cow Dan and Stacy purchased--400 pounds of beef. We had a Mosow family traditional dish, Sphardi. And for dessert, hot fudge sundaes!

Sunday, April 16, 2006:

Again, we woke up to a fresh cup of Dunn Brothers Coffee. It was a lazy Sunday morning for us since we had to catch our flight at 1pm. We packed our bag and put it on Benji...the bag is practically the size of him.
We said our goodbyes and it was time to head back to reality. Steve and I get the airport and are going through secuirty when Steve realized his drivers license is at Crate and Barrel....yes, he had to leave is ID to get the tagging gun and forgot to pick it up when we were done registering. Fortunately, we were in the MSP airport where people are understanding. Steve put on his nice guy charm and explained the situation. The security guard let him through, but with added security. Thank goodness we weren't in LGA...

We finally made it back to NYC, safe and sound.

Sunday, fun day-April 9, 2006

Sunday was a fun day. It started by having brunch with Jamie and Lee, who came into town all the way from East Haven, CT. We went to a local restaurant called Panorama to enjoy good food and company. After a nice leisurely brunch we made our way to our place to show off the digs and the backyard. We realized it was afternoon and a Red Sox game was about ready to start. Hum, what to do? I know, go to the local Red Sox bar and watch the game. And that is exactly what we did. We spent the afternoon in Pat O’Briens watching the Red Sox play the Orioles at Camden Yards. It was a good game with a victory for us. (Click HERE for details of the game) Then, it was time to bid farewell to the Rubins. Until next time when Steve and I make it up to East Haven. Thanks again for coming down and spending the day with us!

Steve and I went home to take a little nap before our next social event—dinner with Leah. For months now we have been trying to meet up with Leah so I could meet her. For some reason or another it never worked out, until now. Leah ventured uptown to see the abode. After a quick tour of our place, we went to Cilanto for cheap margaritas and delicious Mexican food. It was great to finally meet Leah. We’ll have to dine together again soon.

And that, my friends, is why Sunday was a fun day!

(Sorry for no pictures)

Snow in Spring-April 5, 2006

Yes, it snowed today in New York City. Around 10am this morning the sky turned black. Storm clouds rolled in. I looked out the window and it began to mist. Moments later it was raining. Minutes after that it was SNOWING. Yes, SNOWING in spring.

However, the snow did not last long nor did it stick.
They were HUGE flakes as you can see.



The storm clouds moved out and by 3pm the sun was shining once again.

Weird weather.

Roger Federer-April 3, 2006

Roger Federer, tennis superstar, was announced today as the latest "UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador". This 24 year old Swiss native is not only gorgeous, but is a humanitarian who believes in promoting sport for peace. Collaborating with the UN "Year for Sport and Peace" and the tennis association, Federer promotes sport as a tool for the youth of today to learn respect, leadership and cooperation. For more about Federer click HERE.


Yes, I got to see this tennis buff in person.


Also at this press release was Adolph Ogi, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace.

A no-show at the last minute was Shakira. I guess I won't be hearing "whenever wherever" today.

Here's to Spring-March 31, 2006

The long awaited arrival of spring officially came on Friday! It was a beautiful 73 degree day. No clouds in the sky. Trees in bloom. Flowers in blossom. What more could one ask for on the first nice day of Spring?

Well, a BBQ would be nice.

And, that's exactly what Steve and I did on Friday evening. We hosted Matt and Lauren for some juicey burgers. The burgers were amazing. (I think it was the Montreal steak seasoning Steve added to the homemade patties). The smell of bbq resonated throughout the apartment. It was great. (I even smelt like BBQ).

The talk of baseball season commencing always excites anyone who loves the game--I do believe Matt and Steve talked baseball talk for quite some time. Season openers start Sunday! Go Red Sox.

...here's to Spring!