So not only is it a super birthday because I spent it with my baby boy. (And awesome husband) But it's restaurant week here and a dozen restaurants had 3-course prix fixe menus for $25. So I got to try this neat little restaurant Lucy's, which has a great tapas menu and had the yummiest options for each course. It was a cute little jewel box of a place, with mismatched chandeliers and a tiny, 4-seat bar. Luke LOVED staring at the lights and ceiling fans, the french doors were all open and the weather was perfect. It couldn't have been a nicer evening. I had amazing steamed mussels, organic pan-roasted chicken with the creamiest polenta I've ever tasted and warm molten chocolate cake. (If you can't eat warm chocolate cake on your birthday, when can you eat it?) Tommy hesitantly ordere a pork chop that came with figs and plums, mashed potatoes and spinach. Now, he's really a cheeseburger and fries kind of guy, so I was very happy to see him going out on a limb. He LOVED it! He said he was wary at first, but he said the food was amazing. And...he said, "We can totally come back to this place." Which I whole-heartedly agreed with, if nothing else, but to sample the crabcakes and the truffle mac and cheese. The service was amazing, my food was unbelievable and the atmosphere was perfect. Lucas was an absolute angel. Diners all around us kept commenting on how adorable and well behaved he was. Our waiter even took a photo of the 3 of us for us.
Lucas decided this was the perfect occasion to start saying, "Ma ma ma ma ma" which I know doesn't really mean he's referring to me, but was wonderful to hear just the same.
And yes, there is an amazing difference in taste when you pan-roast an organic chicken!!
So, I listen to WFUV, Fordham University's radio station a lot. They do various fun morning stuff. The last time they had asked what would be on George Orwell's iPod since it was the anniversary of his birth. I emailed that any animal song on The Beatles' White Album would sure be there. This time they asked what would be on Alfred Hitchcock's iPod. I HAD to think of something cool. Had to. So at first of course I think of "Psycho Killer". But that'd be way too obvious. So I delve deeper. And *poof* the line "She looks like Eva Marie Saint,
in On the Waterfront" pops out at me. I think of it in terms of the cover by Tori Amos of the Lloyd Cole song "Rattlesnakes". So I send off my email stating, "Curly Glamour Girlie of Her Hometown (you have to include your first name and hometown) thinks that Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole would be on Alfie's iPod since he loved his icy blondes and would want to carry a song that payed hommage to Eva on it." Or something like that. So I'm sitting in my office with 2 tech guys from the new software package we're moving to who are training me. And I'm listening to 'FUV not expecting anything. All of a sudden, I hear very familiar lyrics. THEY'RE PLAYING THE LLOYD COLE SONG!! I get very excited. I try explaining to the 2 guys that this makes me so freakin' cool. Then I don't let them speak after the song is over, since I know now that they're going to say my name ON THE RADIO!
Not only does the coolest morning dj ever Claudia Marshall say my name, but she reads practically my WHOLE email! I think the 2 tech guys were even mildly impressed.
I felt cool for the whole morning. It even held over until the afternoon. Then I was bummed by Kelli being aufed on Project Runway.
The title above reminds me of a Gilmore Girls episode where they kept playing that song over and over and over again at a town festival.
But today was far from lazy.
Luke and I:
*Went to a teen production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie", whereupon I was able to show off my pristine, perfect child to my friends. Whereupon it was also Luke's first musical.
*Did laundry.
*Ran home to change and load the Lucas-bag.
*Went to my MRI where I conquered the closed MRI. (I thought I was going to have to be seriously drugged to be put in there.)
*Came home.
*Made dinner AND homemade caramel sauce for a cake I made over the weekend.
I'm beat.
And I'm lucky that Luke's so good that I can tote him just about anywhere. He LOVED the show. So much so that I had to remove him from the theatre since he thought it was an audience-participation type performance and sang along and spoke back to the actors. This kid seriously has the theatre gene.
I have a confession. I heart WalMart. In a time where gas is topping $4 a gallon and coffee can go for $3 a cup, I'll take bargains where I can get them. I've even been shopping there more than my favorite store in the world, Target. I don't get why Target isn't as vilified as WalMart - should I not like WalMart as much as I do?
Not for nothing, but the staff at the ones I go to are almost always helpful and friendly. The stores are clean. The aisles are wide enough to get down with a cart. And the prices are seriously unbeatable. This is not to say I purchase everything at WalMart, but I do as much as I can there and save quite a bit of the green stuff. I bought a 4-cup coffee maker for $10. And it's a nice little stainless steel version that looks classy on the kitchen counter. I buy cute little separates there that I can wear to work - shirts for $10, dresses for $15-$20. Seriously. I mean, I love love love the Isaac Mizrahi line at Target, but $40 dresses are a little out of the family budget right now.
So what's the deal? Is WalMart a good thing? A bad thing? I know that one of the arguments is that they shut out the little mom and pop stores, but honestly, here on Long Island, there were few and far between those to begin with. And with gas rising, one-stop-shopping really makes a whole lot more sense.
No matter how wistfully you think of eating halvah in your childhood, no matter how yummy you think it is, no matter how on sale it is, it will no doubt give you a stomachache. (Yes, I know Kerry.)
Lucas decided this was the perfect occasion to start saying, "Ma ma ma ma ma" which I know doesn't really mean he's referring to me, but was wonderful to hear just the same. 
in On the Waterfront" pops out at me. I think of it in terms of the cover by Tori Amos of the Lloyd Cole song "Rattlesnakes". So I send off my email stating, "Curly Glamour Girlie of Her Hometown (you have to include your first name and hometown) thinks that Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole would be on Alfie's iPod since he loved his icy blondes and would want to carry a song that payed hommage to Eva on it." Or something like that. So I'm sitting in my office with 2 tech guys from the new software package we're moving to who are training me. And I'm listening to 'FUV not expecting anything. All of a sudden, I hear very familiar lyrics. THEY'RE PLAYING THE LLOYD COLE SONG!! I get very excited. I try explaining to the 2 guys that this makes me so freakin' cool. Then I don't let them speak after the song is over, since I know now that they're going to say my name ON THE RADIO!
Not only does the coolest morning dj ever Claudia Marshall say my name, but she reads practically my WHOLE email! I think the 2 tech guys were even mildly impressed.
I have a confession. I heart WalMart. In a time where gas is topping $4 a gallon and coffee can go for $3 a cup, I'll take bargains where I can get them. I've even been shopping there more than my favorite store in the world, Target. I don't get why Target isn't as vilified as WalMart - should I not like WalMart as much as I do?
No matter how wistfully you think of eating halvah in your childhood, no matter how yummy you think it is, no matter how on sale it is, it will no doubt give you a stomachache. (Yes, I know Kerry.)
