Someone Beat Me!

I thought this was so good, I had to repost. Now we need to see what other states I could possibly get this plate in!

MmmMMmmMMMmmm!

[Flickr Photo Pool/NYCviaRachel]

3 Weeks of No Drinking – And I’ve Never Felt…WORSE!

For the record, I am not catholic. I didn’t walk around NYC on Ash Wednesday with an ash smudge on my forehead. (Yes, I felt like I wasn’t one of the “cool kids” because I didn’t have a smudge, but my insecurities with not fitting in are the subject of an entirely different blog post.) I didn’t go to Catholic school. And I can barely tell an altar boy from a priest from a cardinal from a pope.

Nonetheless, I still decide EVERY YEAR that I should give something up for lent. I like to torture myself.

I’ve given up many random things over the years – soda, gum, meat, Cable TV, TV, movies, brushing my teeth, etc. Usually, I’m pretty successful. For the past two years though, I’ve given up alcohol. For anyone living in NYC in their 20′s, I think giving up alcohol is probably one of the hardest things to do in LIFE. Work events = alcohol, birthday parties = alcohol, brunch = alcohol, walking home from the gym and passing a bar and you just ran out of bottled water = alcohol, waking up in the morning and bored?? = alcohol, not having to drive home EVER = alcohol. I think you get my point.

Last year for lent, “not drinking” was pretty easy. I had pre-designated “sign-off” friends who could approve minor indiscretions of the no-alcohol policy. Basically, whenever it got hard, I would call a friend for “sign-off”. Lent began with 1 or 2 days of complete 100% off the wagon NO drinking. Around the 3^rd -5^th day, I would have a birthday party or a dinner with work, and I would call my “sign-off” friends up, and we’d agree…SIGN-OFF was necessary. After all…how can someone not drink at a close friends birthday party or at a networking work event?

Eventually, I started to obtain “sign-off” for more and more things. Pretty soon, clauses were added: dinner with friends? Sign-off! Only drinking wine? Sign-off! Only drinking beer? Sign-off! Drinking after 3:00 p.m. but before 8:00 p.m.? Sign-off! Drinking after 2:00 a.m. but before 5:00 a.m. on a non-work night? Sign-off! On a work night? Sign-off! Happy Hour? DEFINITELY sign-off!

At the end of Lent 2008, my liver was destroyed and I was on the verge of checking myself in to the Betty Ford clinic.

And the Hiatus is Over

So I got some good news today…my two week hiatus from work is over. Apparently, the contract  I am on was finally signed last Friday, so I am back to work tomorrow. It was nice to have the past two weeks with no work…I got caught up on my yoga, gym, errands, and I even got all my work training completed.

The bad thing is…I think my contract only takes me through the end of the week. So, we’ll see if I’m back on hiatus soon (hopefully not).

The One That Got Away: A Hiatus Fish Tale

I am currently on week #2 of my work hiatus. What is a hiatus you may ask? For me at least, it is when the project that you are staffed on has some contract issues, and they tell you that while the contract is getting figured out, I am “unstaffed”. Being “unstaffed” or “on the bench” or “on the beach” is common for Consultants. In this day and time, being unstaffed for too long is probably not a good thing because you run the risk of getting fired…but it is a normal occurrence in the consulting industry and it’s built into our operating margins.  The good thing is that you still get paid. And you DON’T need to use vacation hours either while you are unstaffed – although if something work-related comes up, you are expected to be available to help out.

So what does one do when they find out they are on hiatus? For me, it involved immediately going online and booking a flight to Cali. My flight left the next day (2/28) and I was on my way to LA and OC to see my family and friends for an impromptu visit.

Yee Haaw!

I like corny and campy things. Sometimes. But when a friend at Accenture decided to leave the firm this past week, I suggested the ULTIMATE in cheese for his going-away celebration.

A bar with a mechanical bull.

Horrific, right? Well…the way I sold it to the rest of the group is that we were going for the macaroni and cheese. The mechanical bull would just be the additional icing on the cake.

Needless to say, the night was great…I never knew I had the cowboy gene in me. And no…the mac and cheese was NOT that good…but the chance to dress in plaid and ride a bull after work? Priceless.

And P.S. We’ll miss you Kevin!

Kevin, Joe and Me at Mason Dixon - Pre Bull Ride

Riding it Like a Pro!

Baby Joe and His Bull Bruises

In A Recession?? Go Walking!

As co-workers around me decide to take our Voluntary Separation Program or are laid off…it makes me happy to know that in our recent New York City office remodel we got new…drumroll please…TREADMILL DESKS!

You heard it right folks. Now, when we are documenting business requirements or on a conference call with India, we can burn calories at the same time.

It’s kinda sorta what I’ve always wanted. Not to walk on or to do actual exercise…but to watch the a-hole walking on it fall flat on their face while tripping over their laptop power cord.

But then I realized they are $4,292 each. And in times like these, I begin to wonder…couldn’t that money be better spent on a Happy Hour? Pass the martini!!

Treadmill Walker #1 = $4,292

Treadmill Walker #2 = $4,292 + $4,292 = $8,584 of Martini Money!

And you seriously thought I was going to say that money could be better spent to pay another persons salary for a few weeks?! AS IF! =)

Oh and P.S. thanks to my co-worker Matt for the photo!

A Taco Grows in Brooklyn

So I just realized. I am a bad blogger. Real bloggers update their blog multiple times a day, every day. Or at least once every few days. My last post was January 28th. A full 19 days ago. Have I been super busy? Not especially. Have I been out of town? Nope. Am I just lazy? Definitely.

Anyways, I digress. What I really want to post about now are tacos. And my taco trip to Brooklyn a full FOUR weeks ago. Yes, 4 weeks. I told you I was a bad blogger, didn’t I?

For those that knew me during my college years in San Diego, I became a connoisseur of tacos during my days working in Student Affairs at the UCSD Biology Department. Sandra (the receptionist for the department) and I spent most of our days gossipping or talking about food. Kind of like what I do with my co-workers today as well. Most of my Mexican experiences in SD up to that point involved being super drunk (as most college kids tend to be on weekend nights…or weekday nights) and driving to Roberto’s Tacos or  El Cotixan where we would get massive California Burritos  (carne asada, french fries, salsa and guacamole), rolled tacos (basically what everyone else in the US would consider to be “taquitos” except these were REALLY good and doused in guacamole and cotija cheese) or Carne Asada Fries (a pound…or two.. of french fries, topped with chopped carne asada, guacamole and cheese). Needless to say, just thinking about carne asada fries makes me re-live my days in the dorms and makes my stomach growl and the drool start coming out of the corners of my mouth. YUM. For some of you who want some food porn…here ya go:

Bringin’ Home the Bacon…Recipe

In perfect timing, the NY Times had an article this morning aptly titled “Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog.” and a recipe for an item called the Bacon Explosion.

When made, the roll has 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat. Sounds DELISH! It is basically a lattice bacon “crust”, filled with italian sausage and more bacon, that is wrapped, and then baked or fried. Bacon/pork overload? Me thinks not. Bacon/pork amazingness? Obvi! 

Weave the bacon, stuff the bacon, eat the bacon. Yum!

I think this may need to be my first recipe from my new Bacon of the Month Club. Thoughts?

Change I Can Believe In

I think everyone remembers where they were when the November 4, 2008 presidential election results were announced. It was one of those “defining” moments in our lives…sort of how you will remember forever where you were and what you were doing when you heard about the 9/11 attacks, when you opened your mailbox and saw the big envelope from your college of choice, or when you found out that you got that amazing job offer that paid thousands and didn’t involve flipping a hamburger or bagging groceries. When they announced that Obama had won, the excitement in NYC was palpable. The streets were alive and I brazenly proclaimed to my friends, “This is the first day of the rest of our lives”.

So on election night, besides calling my mom, dad and sister and my hardcore Democratic Aunt/Uncle in AZ to celebrate, the next call I made was to my Congresswoman for tickets to the inauguration!

Unfortunately, 3,000 other NY’ers also had the same idea and my Representative (Carolyn Maloney of NY) sent me the proverbial “thanks, but no thanks” email at the end of December, effectively dashing my hopes and dreams of attending the inauguration.

The Most Exclusive Club in the Whole Wide World

So my best Christmas gift ever was probably a bicycle. I think every kid remembers that Christmas where they wake up, make a mad dash for the Christmas tree and see for the first time a brand new bike sitting there that they KNOW is theirs. It’s not the Barbie bike with the colored streamers coming out of the handles and the giant flower basket in the front (that was obviously for my sister), but it was the red Huffy mountain bike with the 15 speed that I’d been waiting, praying and dreaming about for soooooooo long. I knew then that Santa ROCKED.

Well, this Christmas was a little bit different.

In my old age, Christmas gifts tend to get a bit boring…I exchange gifts with my family and a few close friends, but the gifts always seem to be same sort of thing. A sweatshirt, makeup for the ladies in my life, something “fishing” related for my dad, etc. etc. But this year, my friends literally surprised me with something I never would have expected…They got me a membership to the most exclusive club in the whole wide world…the BACON OF THE MONTH CLUB.