Guest Blog Entry

November 29th

So I protested the hell happening work and spent the entire day at home. Naps, baking, making french onion soup, and watching several movies put me in a much better frame of mind. However, nothing appeared on my camera.

So here is a photo taken at sunset by my friend Kelly. She works at the Laguna Beach Art Museum and this is what she gets to watch every day. I told her to write something snarky about how working in the OC should make all us eastern folks feel jealous, but her suggested comment was a little too naughty, even for Miss Banana

Words Of Advice For The Inebriated

November 28th

What should you do after stealing a package of hamburger buns because you are slightly inebriated and feeling punchy? Why smash them against a hoity-toity New York window display making a bad pun on the word toast of course!

Also, what should you do after encountering a sad jack-o-lantern in the gutter when slightly inebriated and feeling really angry about work? Stomp on it of course.

Roscoe's Chicken and No Photos

November 27th

Tonight was the last game of the regular season of kickball. RCK lost to the top ranked team, but we managed to keep the score to 3-0. There was also a hilarious all star game with alternating innings of the best women versus the best men. My camera battery was almost dead but I did manage to grab this one blurry shot of the moon when the NY Parks Department turned off the lights on the field. However, you can go here to see some professional shots from the games by my friend Suggs.

Rainy Midtown

November 26th

My First Christmas Tree

November 25th

With Thanksgiving's gluttony behind me and a month of rampant consumerism in my immediate future, I decided to give in to holiday kitsch. For the first time in my adult life, I erected a Christmas tree and decorated it with all the childhood ornaments my parents were only too happy to unload. Seeing as I haven't decorated a tree in at least five years, it was a hoot to unwrap all the decorations and tell their story to my holiday helper, Lori.

I had a rather pleasant evening lying on the couch in the glow of the tree. And let's face it, even if the city gets overrun with tourists this time of year, New York City is at its most special when it's all gussied up for the holidays.

Brooklyn Moon

November 24th

The moon was even better when framed by a few clouds and some sparse Brooklyn trees.

Harvest Moon

November 23rd

Tonight I stopped over for a visit at my brother's house. My nephew and I went for a walk in the freezing cold to take photos of the amazing rising harvest moon. When it started to snow and neither of us could feel our fingers, we ran back to the house!

Gobble Gobble

November 22nd

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my third favorite holiday (behind Halloween and St. Patrick's Day) because it centers around the societally approved stuffing of oneself. During the appetizer portion of gorging, I learned that my ENTIRE family reads the blog so I will now commence talking about them!

My aunt does a wonderful job decorating her home to make it festive and classy.

However, note her "kids table" at the end here. I got demoted last Christmas and can't seem to make it back up, despite my recent transition into the third decade of life! :-)

Here are the lovely cooks Jeanne and Dan showcasing the bird that died for our enjoyment! Thank you delicious bird!
(And a special thank you to them for driving me back to Brooklyn!)

Jeanne put my brother to work mashing the potatoes even though he wasn't going to stick around long enough to enjoy them! Good work, Steve!

I recently joined a group on Flickr called I Ate This and feel this photo is destined for submission. On this plate you will find, turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips, creamed pearl onions, corn, sweet potatoes, the best sausage stuffing in the universe, and in a bizarre nod to our German ancestry - sauerkraut. The only items available on the table of which I did not partake of were cranberry sauce, pickles, olives (gross), and rolls.

But I certainly found room for Tollhouse pie and pumpkin mouse.

This is my cousin Andrew. I certainly don't think we're related because this was HIS plate.

My cousin Liz finally brought her finance TJ around to meet the family. I hope he comes back!

And I don't know what's so funny...

but I suspect it is the fact that our moms were rocking the exact same Thanksgiving holiday sweater!

Welcome To Stones

November 21st

I have a standing date the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with my girlfriends from high school. This year, after several failed attempts in different bars, we discovered that we are indeed getting old. Since we weren't in the mood to scream over bad classic rock across a one foot space while getting bumped into every minute, we retired to the comfort of Jessica Stones.

I used to come here with the same lovely ladies every Thursday during the awful nine months I lived at home post college. It was such a throwback to sit around years later and get the same welcome feeling. In addition to good company, this place has the best chicken wings!

Melissa also noted that they have $4 pint glasses of mixed drinks!

Oh yeah, and $4 FULL shots of Crown Royal. God, sometimes I love Albany!

Ladies, it was lovely to see you as usual!

Roscoe's Chicken and Jagermiester

November 20th

Another Tuesday kickball session! RCK fought hard but only managed to secure a tie this week.

Good thing Brian was still in town and helped ease my pain with way too many Jager shots! In my 4th season of kickball, I can say that I've never seen a more wild bar scene than this night!

Cutie Patootie

November 19th

My friend Brian is visiting from Boston this week. I met up with him at Sheep Station and we consumed a few pints together. For the first time in our entire friendship, we did not close the bar!

PS - For those that are interested (Dad, PJ), I finally updated the kitchen photos.

Adopt A Neighborhood - Greenwood Cemetery

November 18th

Today was yet another Adopt A Neighborhood event. This month we decided to explore Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Why a cemetery? Founded in 1838 as the third rural cemetery in the US, over the years it has buried many famous figures, currently has close to 600,000 graves on its 478 acres, was a popular destination for carriage rides in the early part of the century, and is now a registered historic site hosting guided tours, lectures, and book signings. As their website says, "It is also a remarkable arboretum, wildlife sanctuary, sculpture garden, a place of architecture, landscape design, and history."

This is the entrance at 25th street and 5th Ave that was designed by Richard Upjohn and is home to a large colony of monk parakeets who scolded me from above. (I kept my umbrella up just to be safe.)

The trees made an awesome backdrop for our long exploration.

Battle Hill is the highest point in Brooklyn and offers an amazing view of the city.

During the Battle of Brooklyn, this exact hill saw the first and largest battle of the American Revolution on August 27, 1776.

In addition to historical figures, there are some beautiful headstones and massive mausoleums throughout the grounds.

In general, it was a pleasant walk through the first people free natural environment I have experienced in all of New York City. It wasn't spooky except for the five panic filled minutes in the dark when we believed ourselves locked inside!

You can view the entire set of photos on my Flickr account here. I'm also really excited out to announce that one of my photos was chosen by Gothamist and used on their website! Check out the article here. Thank you PJ for the Flickr professional account that allowed me to get noticed!

To celebrate being alive and not stuck in the cemetery overnight, we all pigged out at the Greenwood location of Maria's Mexican Bistro.

We followed this up with two rousing rounds of "slackers" versus "professionals" bowling at Sunset Lanes. I bowled the best game of my life with a 113!

Too bad Mel was there to put my score to shame with his 153! Jerk!

It's Fall Bitches

November 17th

Thanks to global warming (?) we get to enjoy the colorful leaves this far into November.

I enjoyed a nice stroll around Park Slope snapping shots! It looked beautiful, even with a dreary grey sky.

The remainder of my afternoon was spent watching my girls happily choke their way into last place in the boccie ball league!

Hisssssssss

November 16th

Ever since the ConEd steam pipe explosion in mid-town this summer, I practically run past things like this!

Drinky Drinks

November 15th

Tonight I met some of my old school crew for a few beers and burgers at Gatsby's. It's amazing how hard it can be to find one night that works for five New Yorkers to have drinks!

Not A Photo Day

November 14th

Today was one of the most exhausting nutty surprising days in my life. Without going into too much detail, suffice to say the Director resigned effective at the end of this calendar year and it looks like I am getting a temporary promotion to Interim Deputy Director at the museum! Phew!

In any case, I never really got around to taking a photo. Instead, I'm going to show that I appeared in this month's issue of WAKA's Kickball Today newsletter. You can view the full isuue here for a limited time, but this is the photo that appeared with the text below. I've made myself an international star!

Anna M. from "Roscoe's Chicken and Kickballs" in the NY Star Division made sure to pack her WAKA shirt for her September work trip to Moscow. "There are lots of stray dogs in Moscow, the food really is bad, the people are rude and cranky, the vodka is plentiful and everything is super expensive, but I'm enjoying it!" Anna loves the WAKA experience so much she has played in all the NY divisions! Fly that kickball flag high, Anna!

Roscoe's Chicken and Free PBR Headbands

November 13th

Guess what, chickens? Twas kickball tonight. Some of us are getting fancy with the tights...

...and some of us are getting into arguments with rubber chickens!

"You talking to me?"

After our 4-2 victory, RCK celebrated together! PBR was on hand and showered the ballers with free paraphernalia from above. It reminded me of drunks begging for beads in New Orleans!

Ahhhh. With this post, I declare myself caught up! It only took me all of October and most of November to get this blog up to date post Russia!