Back in the ATL

So after five months of living in the Northeast, I am finally back in the ATL! It is good to be back and be surrounded by my own stuff.

The last couple of weeks in Albany were stressful, due to our final exam and moot court, but I did pass!!! Yipee, now for 12 more weeks of training!

Moot court was an interesting experience, one case, two attorneys (including a JAG), a courtroom and five of our bosses.......not stressful at all. However, Emily and I prepared and prepared some more, so I am thankful to have her as my co-worker, study buddy and friend. I was the first to go and therefore the first to finish! Not an experience that I would like to repeat.

Things I will miss about Albany......

1. Being close to the NYC (this was an amazing experience being so close to the city. I had many great adventures with my co-workers, Kevin and seeing my old classmates from Ireland.

2. Per Diem.......the only good thing about living away from home.

3. Ummm......I guess those are the only things I'll miss about Albany. I am sure it's a great place in the spring, with a ton of outdoor adventures, but when your in school and have no car, it makes it hard to get anywhere!


So back in the ATL for a full week and finally feeling like I am getting settle back into my apartment. However, I have no Internet, which makes it difficult to keep up on my blog. This of course will change in a couple of weeks, but until then I have to hang out at my local coffee shop.

I am throwing the invite out to everyone to come and visit me in the ATL before I take off at the end of the summer!

Washington D.C.

After NYC, I was headed to D.C. to hang out with Christy.....

We had a great time hanging out. Of course every time I see her, she seems to be putting me to work.....I helped paint her room in her new place. It was good, cause I also got to hang out with Karen.

We headed to hibachi/sushi dinner for Friday night, it was yummy!!! Saturday was filled with a bit of American History at the Smithsonian's American History Museum. It was cool, they had
Julie Child's kitchen.....

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Also they had a modern science exhibit where they highlighted birthcontrol!!


We walked around the mall for a bit and then headed back to the house to get ready for our big night out......

We went to dinner then out to a couple of bars to hang out with the children......
Sunday was a mellow, recovering day.....we went to brunch and then relaxed before we did some shopping. Unfortunately, I had to head back to Albany, but overall it was a great weekend with Christy.

Recap of the last month......NYC

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written anything and a ton has happened since the last time I wrote.

So Kevin came and visited, and over President's day weekend I headed back to New York City, to hang out with Kim, whom I went to school with in Ireland, 11 years ago! We were planning on meeting up with a fellow student, Sean for dinner on Saturday night. I arrived Friday, and Kim graciously offered to let me stay at her apartment on the Upper West side near Central Park. Friday night was pretty mellow, just met up and grabbed a beer at her local watering hole. Saturday morning, I went for a nice run around Central Park and it was amazing, glad I finally did it. After the run, Kim and I met back up and went to lunch with a fellow classmate of hers. After that we parted ways for a bit, me to the MOMA and her to do some studying.

MOMA......amazing.....four floors of great art. Van Gogh's, Starry Night is here, Dali's, Persistence of Time, and Picasso's Three Musicians......of course there is also Monet, Miro, Matisse, and Warhol, to name a few more. They also had a great exhibit for Women in Photography. I spent a good 2.5 hours here and enjoyed strolling through the wonderful paintings.

After the MOMA, headed back to Kim's place to get ready for our evening out....We met up with Sean in the Village at this hole in the wall sushi place, literally it was a hole in the wall and we were the only ones there. We tried to get the sushi chef to fix us special rolls, but he was insistent we order off the menu. So 5 Saki's later and full of sushi and reminiscing about our time in Ireland. Kim lived upstairs from me and Sean lived across from Kim. We headed out to a bar called Temple Bar, we thought maybe it would be something like an Irish Pub, however it was a pretty swanky joint. Temple Bar is a spot in Dublin filled with pubs and restaurants. After our expensive drinks there, we decided to head over to Tom and Jerry's another bar, but this one much more my style and had a couple more beers.
Christy and her boyfriend were in town so we tried to meet up, however it was a big FAIL. After Tom and Jerry's we attempted to meet Christy, but with a line and it getting late, we decided to head back, but of course no NYC night is complete without a giant piece of pie.

Le Bernardin.......the best dinner ever.

“Anybody can make you enjoy the first bite of a dish, but only a real chef can make you enjoy the last.”
Francois Minot


On Saturday night, Kevin and I got to experience the most amazing meal I have ever eaten. Not only was the food amazing, the service was incredible. Kevin (sometimes me) loves to cook and watches the cooking/food network and is a fan of the chef Eric Ripert, the executive chef at Le Bernardin, a three star Michelin restaurant and voted 2007 Zagat's top pick. We had a six o'clock reservation and arrive right on time. After checking our coats we were seated immediately. The restaurant's decor wasn't all that amazing, but apparently they will be going through a full renovation in august. When we got to our table, mine and Kevin's chairs were pulled out and pushed in for us. They brought out our menu and shortly after brought on a little starter, that was amazing. When our waiter, Luis, came over to us, we really had no idea what to get. It's a prix fixe meal, with three courses plus dessert. We decided to have him choose a different course for each of us, giving us the opportunity to try each other's plates. As I said earlier, the service was amazing. After each course, they cleared away our flatware and brought new flatware. When Kevin or I had to use the restroom, they folded our napkins and if in the middle of the course, brought over new flatware as well. They would also rush over to help you out of your chair and push it in. Also our waiter was extremely nice and answered all our questions on the food. I think he liked us, because we got a few other things that other people didn't......Anyways now on to the food......

Starter: Shrimp, mushroom and truffle oil soup



Almost Raw: My course:
Layers of thinly pounded tuna, with fois gras on a toasted baguette, shaved chives and extra virgin olive oil



Almost Raw: Kevin's course: Fluke Sashimi; Crispy Kimchi in a chilled citrus, soy, jalapeno nage.



Barely touched: Kevin's course: Seared Langoustine, mache, wild mushroom salad with white balsamic vinaigrette.



Barely touched, my course: Charred octopus, fermented black beans, pear sauce vierge, ink-miso vinaigrette; purple basil




Lightly cooked, my course: Seared Yellow tail king fish; truffle risotto, spring vegetables and black truffle emulsion




Lightly cooked, Kevin's dish: Crispy black bass: lup cheong and beansprout "risotto"



Mini-steamed buns, hoisin-plum jus


Dessert: Kevin's
Black sesame cherry pana cotta and pain de genes, sour cherry sphere, shiso and Mandarin sorbet




Dessert, mine; Tres Leches: Milk soaked sponge, roasted white chocolate, banana, lemon and coconut sorbet


VIP dessert! Milk chocolate pots de creme



Milk Chocolate, Carmel foam, maple syrup and maldon sea salt.




Finally, coffee and petit fours: a small choice of four desserts

It was a wonderful meal and plan at some point to go back. My favorites included Kevin's Langoustine (shrimp) and my yellowtail. The pots de creme was also the most amazing thing ever. Kevin's favorite's included my pounded tuna and also the yellowtail. Honestly, there wasn't a single bad bite, if i wasn't in such a nice place, i would have picked up my plate and licked it clean.

Why I love reality T.V......The Bachelor...possible spoiler for you west coasters

Did I ever tell you I have a reality T.V. addiction. The Real Housewives, Top Chef, Amazing Race, Survivor, The Bachelor, Millionarie Matchmaker....just to name a few. Currently we are in the middle of The Bachelor, with Brad Womack, back for a second time. He is still super hot and there are a ton of girls I like, and a few that really need to go. Did I tell you Brad is hot???

I have watched ever season of The Bachelor and a few of my friends have encouraged me to apply. I would be one of those girls who would probably fall in love and ball on T.V. all the time! Anyways, back to this season. They are currently in Vegas, shopping, performing in shows, etc. Of course, these dates are so freaking unrealistic, no wonder why these girls fall in love in like two weeks.

The girls I like.....Emily, she is a cute blond from North Carolina and just seems very genuine and sweet, she is my front runner. Chantell (there are two and they both have dark hair), both are cool. I like the embalmer chick from Chico, can't remember her name, also seems down to earth.

Girls I don't like....Michele, she just seems like a bitch, get rid of her. Also I think she is super high maintenance. Maybe tonight???

Philosophical or Melancholy.....

This weekend was a pretty mellow weekend, taxes, work, laundry, etc....Yes I know my life is so exciting! I am looking forward however to this next coming weekend....I will say more on this in a bit.

Moving is a funny thing. I feel that not only will I gain new friendships while I am on my journey, but might possibly lose some of my friendships from my past. Of course, I am on a mission to keep this from happening and with the invention of skype, facebook and email it shouldn't be as difficult. However, I realize that the friendships I do have, I don't want to just communicate this way. A phone call, letter or even a left message is so much more meaningful then anything else. I have great friends and am lucky to have met such wonderful people and I know they will always be my friends. But really....when you are 3000 miles away, living separate lives isn't it easy to get caught up and forget to call, write, whatnot......For some people yes, these are the people who I will call acquaintances and not true friends.

I guess I bring all this up because of these are all long distance relationships, not just the romantic one that I have or don't have. My friends are far away and we now have to work at maintaining our friendship, just like any relationship. Why is so much harder for some people, than others? It's hard, and it's going to get harder when the phone isn't an option, but skype, emails and letters are, but who writes REAL letters these days, so send me those addresses. I plan to, at least each month I hope to send out a few letters to friends and family. Of course, the blog will be going on, but I am sure won't be that exciting.

Long distance sucks! I miss my friends, family and whatever the other one is! I get sad when I hear about my friends doing things that I can't do, because I am not there. To see my friend's kids get bigger and even my niece and nephews. I miss being able to call my friends and say, 'let's go to dinner at sushi cafe,' let's meet at Rubicon, or it's time to pick up our shipment in Amador. Or even our girls nights.....we never did finish Sex in the City.

Long distance sucks, when you meet somebody and really like them. Can it work??? Really??? Or is it just a fantasy. I like to think if it's meant to be, it's meant to be....but is it really. Don't we control our fate and destiny. Is two years too long to ask someone to put their life on pause, even though I am willing to try? I don't know the answer to these questions, I am learning that I just need to take it one day at a time and let the cards fall where they may.

As for that, Kevin is coming out to visit this weekend. We are meeting in Manhattan and it is going to be super awesome. No matter what we are, will be or will not be, this weekend will be great. We have great dinner plans at Le Bernardin on Saturday night and I am sure it will be extremely memorable. It's about the experience we share together and we can add this to the list.

So I leave with this quote, which I thought very fitting for my situation and all the hard work I've put in to get what I want. I do know one thing, I've been told "NO" a lot, but my hard work and persistence has paid off......

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Boston and winter

Last weekend a group of us headed out to tour Boston. I've been to Boston a couple of other times, but never in the winter and not sure if I would recommend it. Boston is such a great walkable city that the cold, snow and wind, make it pretty miserable in the winter, however we prevailed and carried on. We arrived Saturday morning (took about 2.75 hours from Albany) in Cambridge where we were staying. Cambridge is located right across the Charles River and is home to MIT and Harvard, both of which we saw.
Once we checked in, we headed on the T into the city to find some lunch. We landed at a place near the Boston Commons, which was pretty cool. The week before Boston had been pounded with a snow storm and there was still remnants of it all over the city.
After our pub fair and drinks, we ventured out in 2o degree weather to follow the Freedom Trail and see some of the sites. We saw the old state house, which was the location of the Boston Massacre, the old city hall, Faneuil Hall, a really old church and cemetery. Also walked around the cemetery, where Sam Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock are buried. Once finished with there we made our way to Cheers. Here we stopped in for a pint and a bit to eat, though most of us just had a drink. We walked through the Boston Commons to get to Cheers which is located in Beacon Hill. At the first pub we were in, the bartender recommended a place called the 7's. So off we went to find the pub, which we did and it was pretty cool! Then it was off to dinner at this cute little Italian trattoria next door.
Dinner was good, a little on the pricey side, but still good. When we left the restaurant it was snowing outside and made it so pretty out. We wandered through the park, until we made it back near Faneuil Hall, to the pub the Black Rose. Had a couple of pints, then Emily and I wandered back to the hotel, while a few of the other folks stayed out. Man, i am old!
Sunday, we slept in a bit and then wandered back into the city, we wanted to go to the Sam Adams brewery, but it's closed on Sundays, so we thought about hitting up the Harpoon Brewery, well we made it there and were going to get food, however, it is in the middle of nowhere and no food was found. We decided to head back to the commons in search of some food. Wow, nothing is open on Sunday mornings!
After finding some food, we made a game plan to go to the Aquarium, get some cannolis, then hit the road back home. The aquarium was pretty cool, had some great penguins and cool seahorse/sea dragon things that looked like weeds. Then my favorite part of the weekend, was heading into the north end to get some cannolis from Mike's Pastries. I had been here before with my brother and sister-in-law and have been dreaming of them since! They were super good, I got a chocolate cream, pistachio and express cream, all were fantastic and even now I am craving more.
Boston is a great town and I hope to return in more pleasant weather.

Winter here in the NE has been interesting. We have definitely been hit with some big storms, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. The NYC has gotten more snow then we have. We've had our fair share, but nothing to crazy and they know how to deal with it here. It's really the super cold temps that I am not a fan of. Last week we had a day that was -14 when we went to work! I know that I've never been in that type of cold before.