My frist Bar Mitzvah Candle!

Soooo, the Bar Mitzvah was so much fun! I must say my little brother definitely enjoyed himself. He now wants his birthday to be at Dave & Busters....well I want all my debt to go away, but we can't all have what we want! J/K Just the scale of this party was insane, not that I expected anything else from Phil's aunt. So here are some pics.

Phil's brother Scott is quite the Dance Dance Revolution player. I danced w/him twice & both times he kicked my ass. I have to admit my legs are soar today from all that jumping around (man I am out of shape)! Oh and ladies, my brother-in-law is single, so if you know someone who needs a good man let me know! ;-)

Phil's Aunt hired these actors who did a whole schtick, they did a Fiddler on the Roof Dance, they carried Jesse (the bar mitzvah boy) in on their shoulders, it was quite funny. Sorry the picture isn't great (I need a new camera, mine has been acting up), but you can see the 3 guys w/the fake beards & they have wine bottles on their heads.

The party was a "Bowl" Mitzvah. It had a cute bowling theme and that was our place card, it's a refridgerator magnet.

This was also my first Bar Mitzvah candle, Jesse did a cute little rhyme about Phil's family and his new cousin (me) and then we helped light candle number 3. It was really cute. I don't have a picture of this though b/c, well I was up lighting the candle. But it was really adorable and I was so happy to be included.

The Bar Mitzvah was definitely a gooood time. Also, Kerwin (my little brother) spent the weekend. Here is a cheesy pic of us. (Excuse the close up, but my arms aren't that long.

This weekend I also helped out my co-worker's daughter w/her office pumpkin contest. I went over Sat. and here is a pic of the semi-done project:

Here it was still missing the lettuce, which she put on today b/cwe didn't want it to get wet & ruined, and also the pumpkin seeds on top as sesame seeds. That's me & and co-worker holding the gloves up that weren't attached. It's a cheeseburger w/oniones, tomatoes & pickles. I think it came out good!

So that was my weekend. Pretty fun I say!

Family Filled Weekend

So after much time of not seeing my family (I've lost count now, maybe a month), Phil and I are off tonight to pick up my little brother Kerwin. He's going to be spending the Bar Mitzvah filled weekend with us. Phil's brother is also coming up from Virginia for the event. We have service tomorrow at the temple followed by a brunch and then Sunday is the party at Dave & Buster's. We're excited, it's like the adult Chuck E. Cheese!

Sunday we'll be heading back to New Jersey to drop Kerwin off. Then we'll probably stop by my cousins house to drop off a gift for her daughter Olivia who turned 5 last week. She is just the CUTEST thing ever. I love her kids they're all adorable. So this weekend we're pretty much filled with family stuff.

Also, we're hoping tonight we'll have some time to return some stuff from our registry. Basically it's things that don't fit in our home in exchange for things that do! Seriously we still have boxes in the closets of our apartment. Stuff from when we lived at home that we never unpacked, our nice china that I want to buy some storage bags for, and a few glasses (OK OK so I registered for about 10 different sets of glasses....I'm related to A LOT of people I can't help it if I want to make sure they have the appropriate glass for when they come over). We've done a pretty good job this week of sorting through stuff. Well it was more of an obligation b/c we were using the spare bedroom as storage and since Kerwin's coming over, well he needs a bed to sleep on!

So that's pretty much what our weekend is like. That's about the most exciting thing going on with us right now!

Oh and for the record I am NOT pregnant, nor will I be for a long time. But I will take the fact that many people think that I would be as a compliment that I get it on a lot ;-). Hahaha. Ok until next time....

Super Updates

Well...as usual I have ignored my blog. I have a tendency of doing that. This wouldn't be my first blog you know, and I've been known to sort of flake out. SORRY! Sooo some updates.

First the Mets...yup they blew it, absolutely, positively blew it. I've moved on. They make me sad and I just don't like that feeling!

Phil's b-day party. Ok so not a lot of people came (only 12 and we were expect like 20)...but this always happens last minute people backing out. Although my cousin & her husband had a good excuse....he had to go get his appendix removed! As for the cake, well the karaoke machine cake never happened b/c I ended up getting sick a few days before the party (talk about timing). I did though make individual 3 in. black forest cakes, and everyone took one home. I made Phil his own 6 in black forest cake since I know it's his favorites. I also made mini key lime tartlets which were a hit w/my brother who took whatever was leftover. Karaoke was fun, I love the having your own private room. Everyone says they have to go back. Poor Phil ended up spraining his ankle...and it was the FUNNIEST thing EVER! I know what you're thinking "Damn you're a horrible wife". But you have to understand...it was just hilarious! So the karaoke place is on a second floor in NYC. We go up to let them know we were there and then we went down to get the food. Well that last step was a doozy for Phil. He missed it and tripped and practically landed outside on the sidewalk. My friend gasped & this guy came running over to see what was going on! I couldn't help it, I started cracking up! It's one of those "Haha, are you ok, haha, omg are you sure, hahaha". My hubby is 300lbs, he doesn't fall gracefully, he falls FUNNY! Poor thing!

The Sat. after we stayed home like 2 couch potatoes...we couldn't move (Phil especially w/swollen ankle and all). Then Sunday we went to the Bellmore Street Festival which is like the BIGGEST thing in town. Now I had never been to one so I didn't know what to expect. Well let me tell you I was overwhelmed! There were so many people, vendors, tables and just things going on. We entered to win a plasma TV from Optimum (we did not win...lost out to two older ladies on both the morning and afternoon drawings). We ate so much we practically popped! Luckily Phil's dad's office (my current place of employment) is in the middle of the street where all of this was occurring, so although parking was a pain, we did have somewhere to go in and watch TV, sit around and use the rest room (which is a plus). Now let me give you an idea of the scale that this thing is on.

They say that there was about 100,000 ppl there on Sat. How insane is that? Now they had EVERYTHING there. There is the street fair and then in the parking lot of the train station they have the big carnival with all the rides.

Now the only downside to our even filled weekend, we ended up forgetting/missing Phil's mom's birthday. The only upside is that she was working at the street fair & so she didn't have time to celebrate her birthday. So we did a belated celebration at our Friday night dinner/laundry. I baked a HUMONGOUS Strawberry Shortcake. I made everything from scratch (including the whipped cream). Each slice of cake was about a pound. Now how did I end up making this enormous cake? Well It started out as a cake made w/ 2 9 in cake pans. Well we needed somewhere to store the cake (b/c I work right by their house & Phil would have to go out of his way b/c their house is before ours). So we call his aunt & she says no problem we can store it in her fridge (she lives around the corner). So I start to look at the two 9in pans and thing...hmmm this isn't going to be enough. So then I decide to do another 13 in cake. Well 5 layers and 4lbs of strawberries later, I end up with this monstrosity! I dropped off the cake at his aunts house but she wasn't home, but when I went to pick it up she asked me if it was a wedding cake! What can I say, go big or don't do it!

The next day we went over to a friends house. Well...friend, stranger, online buddy, what's the difference? :-) We had a blast! Lisa has this awesome house that her and her fiance just bought. It is HUGE! We also met Mary, who made an awesome garlic dip. What did I contribute? Something I like to call the Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake. It's a double fudge chocolate cake, in between the layers I put slices of fresh strawberries and I made a chocolate glaze that I drizzled on the strawberries. On the outside it was chocolate frosting and I put fresh strawberries on top. This was also the day that I realized why my cakes were coming out a bit slanted...turns out our floor isn't level in the kitchen so we have to use the levers on the stove so I can stop having slanted cakes!

Aside from that we're not up to much. This weekend we're going to spend the time to get the house in order. It looks like a tornado ran through there. Next weekend we have Phil's cousin's Bar Mitzvah at Dave & Busters which should be fun! I need to write more often. I'll try!

Until next time....

Cakes

So I didn't want to forget, here are the cakes that I baked.

This is the one I baked for my cousin to say thanks to the doctor she shadowed while she was here.



This is the one for my father-in-laws birthday. My hand wasn't as steady as I'd like!


Next...karaoke machine!

Dusting Off the Cobwebs

So I haven't blogged in a really long time, and well I thought I'd get back into the swing of things. So I'm dusting off my blogs cobwebs and I'll be back to blogging, but now about everyone.

For old times sake though, lets talk Mets. They were dusting off some cobwebs yesterday also. After their shameful last few games, looking like a bunch of little leaguers they won last night against the Nationals 8-4. About damn time. Five straight losses...FIVE! Not just that, pathetic losses. They were usually up, how can you be up 7-2 and all of a sudden lose 9-8 to the Nations? Before that the Phillies basically wiped the floor with them...WIPED. Luckily lately I've decided to forego watching these games, but rather hear my husband in the next room yelling. We do have tickets to next Saturday's game against the Marlin's...lets see if they stay in the winning mood.

So on to other things. So Phil's 29th birthday is next Wed. the 26th. Last year I threw him a poker themed party and baked him a poker cake.

This year we're doing Karaoke. Apparently it was a big hit for my cousin Sarah's b-day, and with her blessing we are rolling with the same idea. So this year the big idea is a Karaoke Machine cake! Yeah, I know I'm nuts (or so I've been told). So I'm looking at doing something like this

OR

We'll see. I made two other cakes so far after the poker cake. I made a doctor's lab coat for my cousin to give to her doctor as a thank you for the internship and a Mets jersey cake for my father-in-law's birthday (I'll post pics soon). I'm thinking red velvet for the inside of the cake. Then I'm also going to make mini black forest cakes b/c that's Phil's favorite. I've also got to make appetizers b/c the place said they have a really small menu and that I'm allowed to bring food in if I'd like. But I'm not sure what to make b/c by the time I get from Long Island to NYC the food will be cold if it's hot so I don't know yet. Any suggestions?

Los Mets

Ok, so right now we are at the top of the eight. I again started to watch the game late. I believe it was the bottom of the sixth or the top of the seventh, can't really remember. What I do know is that I've learned a couple of things today also.

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I learned that the Mets are often called Los Mets. This I found out when I told my fiance that almost everyone on the team is freaking Hispanic. Now don't get me wrong I like that my people are getting places, but damn it looks like Minaya went to Washington Heights and picked up a bunch of players! (A little aside, Sanchez just struck out all 3 batters to make it the bottom of the eighth.)

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Ok so after a quick stop for a phone call I come back and find Frank Robinson (Washington Nationals coach) screaming at an umpire. Something about his pitcher being kicked out for hitting LoDuca even though 6 Nationals players were hit tonight and LoDuca was the first to be hit on Los Mets. Man I've really missed all the action in this game. But I didn't miss when Carlos Beltran belted that ball out into the bleachers. Neither did I miss when he was refusing to come out for a curtain call. He's a first class jerk. Thank goodness for Julio Franco being an old-timer. That would have really brought some trouble up for Beltran with the fans. He needs to get over whatever's biting him in the butt. He hasn't been worth anything for some time now and yet the fans still cheer him on when he goes up at bat, who cares if they boo him when he sucks. Hey when you suck, you suck and New Yorkers are going to let you know. Speaking of, he's at bat.

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The ball counter has been on some delay today. Sometimes 2 pitches have gone and it's still only showing one...They need to get on that. Oh up now is Delgado, what a beast of a man he is. He's out, that's bad. Oh, here's Wright. He's so cute I just want to pinch his cheeks (like I told you honey if I didn't have you I'd be a Wright fan), I know a girl who would make the cutest couple with him! LOL....Maybe this is why women shouldn't watch baseball! J/K. I like my newfound hobby.

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I also learned that the visiting team is first at bat. I had always heard of the home team advantage, but I was never sure how it worked. Slowly but surely I'm learning a few things. Floyd just got out so that's it for the eighth. Reyes, he's the Dominican Speedy Gonzalez. I imagine him in D.R. playing tag (as most of us have in out youth), it must have sucked playing with him! Bradford pitches funny, I've never seen anyone pitch so low. It's actually pretty interesting to watch. The score's nice right now Top of the nineth 10-5 Mets, they've got one on base one at bat and one out. Soriano's out, just one out left. As it looks we will be winning this.

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I find sportscasters a bit on the annoying side. I understand they have endless knowledge about the game and sometimes have good imput....but geez sometimes you just want them to SHUT UUUUUUP. Oh and Los Mets WIN!!!! Now what I've been waiting for, I'd like to hear what Beltran's reasoning is for almost shunning the fans. Oh they just showed a little clip of when Martinez hit that batter, Pedro's nuts he didn't move an inch when that guy came towards him. Apparently as I just found out he's just used to people charging him (Thanks Phil). I guess he isn't afraid of letting a ball go here and there.

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Apparently Beltran's reaosning for not coming out on for the curtain call (yeah that was something new that I learned) was that yeah he was getting mad for the booing but he started to think, you know being a good Chrisitan and all, what would God do and he would get up and go so that's what he did. So the interviewer asked, well did Franco have something to do with that, and Beltran said yeah but I was already thinking about getting up. YEAH RIIIIGHT. Whatever. Beltran is soooo full of it. It being himself. What an idiot.

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Boy that Franco is a peace maker, he was the one who calmed down the batter who wanted to swing his bat at Pedro's head. Then he got Beltran to get up. He's a good man, well he has good sportsmanship. Well I'm watch the Nissan Post Game Live, but I'm about to pass out. So this is it for my coverage of the game (well at least the end of the game).

Mets v. Nationals 4-5-06

Ok, so as I watch the game (bottom of the tenth) I've learned a few things. Mind you I only started watching the game at the bottom of the seventh so I missed most of the Mets action. And as i watch the Mets get ready to lose, because quite frankly bottom of the tenth with 2 outs there really isn't much to hope for, I've learned a lot of things. I learned that under the score it is balls first and then strikes (hey I'm just starting out ok, don't judge), I learned that Julio Franco is the oldest man playing baseball (47, that might as well be my dad) aaaand they just lost. That was disappointing. We are going to say that it's because of the cold weather and half of our team comes from some place warm (really this weather was unexpected). I also learned that when they say that the person was signed as a free agent then it means that they got them when they weren't under contract. I also learned that it's called extra innings NOT overtime (well I knew that but I still say overtime for some reason). I learned that Jose Reyes should not bat under pressure (quite frankly maybe not even when he's not under pressure) because he will just swing at ANYTHING, and it looks like Anderson Hernandez is going to do the same thing. Of course with Anderson it could just be that he was dying from that spill he took when he caught that ball. That was a nasty little fall he took, he looked like he was diving into a swimming pool. And Delgado is a BEAST....but that I didn't learn, I already knew that. Beltran needs to start earning that money he makes, because he is not doing it right now. Let's hope they come back tomorrow (PEDRO'S pitching). Well I think I've talked enough Mets. I'm out.

I haven't completely figured this blogging thing out....but I'll leave a few more pictures on this post.

My "Little" Brother...he's 12, look at the difference.

My fiance and me

Pedro pitching

My people...this is what I liked calling the Dominican corner.

Anderson Hernandez, Jose Reyes, Juan Padilla, & Pedro Martinez

They were jamming to some reggaeton (well all except for Hernandez)

Practice Comes First!

So I started off my blog with Opening Day (although I didn't really divulge in the game yet), but really I should have started with Practice Day. Phil (my fiance), Kerwin (my "little" brother), and I were able to be a part of the first ever Mets Pre-Season Workout. Now of course I didn't go thinking that it was going to be something extravagant, but they did say that there would be crowd interaction and games. Well first, we thought it was going to be just Mets season ticket holders and ticket plan holders, well it also turned out that Brooklyn Cyclones Season Ticket holders were there. The lines were crazy. There were so many people that the stands were filled up to the third tier. We got fairly good seats by the first base line. It was pretty much 3 hours of watching the Mets throw the ball at each other. But what would you expect, it was a practice. Of course the way it was explained on the website it made it sound like a bigger even than it was, but it was the first year and the first time is always a test run. On a good note, my little brother got Anderson Hernandez's autograph, he tried to get Carlos Beltran but he wasn't quick or pushy enough. I never realized how crazy people are when they are trying to get autographs. You have grown men trampling little kids. All in all though, it was a good time. I got to watch Pedro dance around like a loony. He's really a fan man. He would try and catch the balls just to throw it to the fans. There was a little girl on the 3rd tier who he kept trying to thow a ball to, but everytime some guy around her would catch it and not give it to her. Who does that? So finally after like 9 balls the little girl finally got it (her and everyone else on the third tier who was near her!) It was a nice way to spend a beautiful day. I'll leave you with some pictures of the Pre Season Workout.

Anderson Hernandez signing autographs after practice.