Don't Hate the Chains

Most people would dream of going to cute Italian restaurants once they've been away from NYC for a few months, right? Not this girl.

Monday night, we went out for what was to be a very cool NYC outing...about 4 hours earlier than one would expect. We started dinner at around 5:30 in Little Italy. True-blooded cool people start dinner around 9:30. Whatever, we're old. Get over it.

It was a warm 60 degree night in December in New York City. We got off the subway at Canal Street, walked in the wrong direction for about 2 minutes (thanks to me) and finally found our way to what looked like a cute and charming Italian restaurant in the Little Italy section of the city.

It looked so quaint with its stucco walls tastefully decorated with nice wreaths and lights. We took a table outside and embarked on the night I'll call "Colon Blow". One delicious Sangiovese glass of red wine, 1/2 order of soggy calamari, and one order of pesto pasta with portobello mushrooms and sundried tomatoes later, I had one really disappointing meal. To add insult to injury, the total bill was $100 for the two of us. Bleechhh...

I won't even go into detail about what the meal did to my colon and my digestive tract for the next 24 hours. Basically, my colon hated me and wreaked havoc on Monkee's belly.

Fast forward to today. I met up with one of my beloved friends Kip at another Italian restaurant in Chelsea. What little find would that be, you ask? It would be the Olive Garden. Yes, that's right, the Olive Garden.
I love this place.

My meal cost $17 (with a generous tip and tax) which included: 3 (okay, 5, I lied) crusty yet soft garlic breadsticks, unlimited salad, one lunch-sized serving of whole wheat linguine with marinara sauce, and free refills on my favorite beverage - Diet Coke.

Based on these past two recent experiences, it will be a looong time until you'll find me an authentic New York City Italian restaurant. At the Olive Garden, it's WYSIWYG.

Put a Fork In Me...

Photo Credits

...I'm done!

I'm 1/4 of the way done with business school.  I can't believe it.  It's scary and exciting all at the same time.  I'm off for a month, and I look forward to agenda-less days with my hubby and puppy. 

Ho. Ho. Ho.

As I'm finishing up my final two days of my first semester at bschool, I have a lot of important things to accomplish when I get back to NYC.  I have to plan and execute the 3rd annual Calong-Russo / Russo Christmas card!  That's a mouthful (that's what she said).  Sorry, that joke will never get old.  Anywhoo...

Found this amazing stationery website:  Linda and Harriet.  Their holiday cards are so charming, aren't they?  Since they're a little more than I should be spending for Christmas cards,  these will be reserved to send only to a select number of friends who really appreciate fine stationary.  The rest will get leftovers from LY or whatever is on sale and my local Barnes and Noble.  Te gusta? 

I've been looking for personalized stationery for me and CPR since we've been married.  The problem is my hyphenated last name. Here's a free public announcement to all you single ladies - DO NOT HYPHENATE YOUR NAME.  I will never be able to get monogrammed towels, joint address labels, and the list goes on.  Sigh, what's a girl to-do?  Aren't these to die for?  I love the vintage look to them.  

Here they are:
And I really like these...they almost make me want to buy someone a gift just so I can use these cute gift tags!

Was hoping L & H sold their stuff at my local Paper Source down the street from me in Beantown, but they don't.  *tear*.  They do sell it at Kate's Paperie down in NYC, so that's where you can find me early next week!  I love that store.  There's something so serene and peaceful about being surrounded by such pretty paper.  

IT final tomorrow and my finance final on Thursday.  One should go well, the other...well, let's be thankful I am not the one in charge of the financial crisis.  See you back in NYC!

Moo. Moo. Moo.

Been busy with finals and final projects, but I have a quick thought.  I know firsthand how it must feel for celebrities when they see doctored images of themselves in magazines. As the finishing touch to a marketing project, our team decided to take a picture of ourselves doing the good ol' Toyota jump.  Disaster.  1.  Girlfriend can't jump.  2.  My belly was exposed and it wasn't pretty. What could be more unflattering than a little belly fat being caught in action as someone is jumping??  *dry heave gagging noise*.

Fast forward to about 10 minutes of tears and self-depreciating jokes.  I begged my team member to photoshop my stomach so that it looked like my shirt was covering it.  He didn't get the color quite right, so it kind of looks like a maternity band on the top of my pants. 

Moo on that. 

Oh, this is war, b*tch.

Two blog posts in one day?  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I just showered and put on my newest pair of jeans.  Sadly, since I'm a po' grad student, my newest pair of jeans were actually bought at the end of July.  They were one of my last purchases with my Bloomie's employee discount.  Excuse me while I shed a tear.  

Today was destined to be a great day.  I have one class and a group meeting and I'm going to live on the edge and wear my Seven Dojo Jeans instead of my boring business casual attire.  I'm a sinner, I know.  But NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING pissed me off more than when I pulled on my jeans (albeit a teeny snugger) and the hem barely skimmed the top of my foot.  

Dear dry cleaner,

Why do you shrink my jeans?  If I wanted clamdiggers or cropped pants, I'd buy them, you evil woman.  Oh, and while we're at it?  Those pretty J.Crew slacks I brought in to get hemmed?  Nice try, but they're still about 4 feet too long.  Don't charge my poor a$$ and not deliver the service.  You are going down....

Worst regards,

MM

I want THIS! Notice how the pant is long?  The hem goes OVER the shoe?  

And if I was blessed to have a bod like this, maybe I could pull off the cropped pant look.  Thanks to you, I have a short pair of boot cut jeans. If they were a straight cut pair, I could maybe pull them off as a modified skinny jean.  But, no.  You ruined my jeans along with my life.  Grr.

Oh What Fun!

As I was perusing the Internet this morning in a very serious effort to avoid running in the cold, I came across this gem of a website.  The stuff is just adorable.  I won't have to shed a tear when cutting the onions for my tuna salad each week with these Onion Goggles.  How cute are these?  So cute I might actually wear them outside of the kitchen.  Okay, that's a bit much.

Or how about this lunchbox?  This would be perfect for moi now that I'm a poor b-school student who has to bring her lunch every day.  Add an extra point for being environmentally conscious! The only drawback is that it's hard-sided (that's what she said), and probably won't fit will into my school bag.  Maybe I'll just ditch my textbooks just so I can carry this cute contraption.  

I know I said in an earlier post that a $600 bag was a recession friendly gift, but these 2-in-1 cashmere gloves truly are a steal for only $59.50.  They're cashmere!  Who doesn't love the feel of cashmere?  These puppies are practical too...Boston winters will definitely require gloves that go up to my elbows.  For reals.  

Not Feeling so Merree...

These three pictures pretty much sum up how I've been feeling all week. I'm sour, agitated and bitter. And in case you were wondering, that second photo is NOT me. I did sport a similar haircut for much of my youth. Try not to be jealous.

Now that I think of it, this reminds me of the time I got my haircut in the Philippines. My mom, brother and I spent the summer in the Philippines back in 1986. My mom took me to get my haircut and I pretty much got the same haircut as the girl (or maybe it's a boy?) in the picture above. Not that the hairstyle I had before was that much better, but I assure you, the end result of the Filipino stylist's vision was not pretty. I recall straight short bangs with a feathering effect, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I left crying and hid underneath the bed when I got home. Wow, I was already vain way back then. Interesting.

As usual, big brother comes to the rescue: Ryan told me if I ate a lot of cheese, my hair would grow quickly. Like many of the other lies he told me as a child, I believed him. I went downstairs and grabbed the largest can of Kraft cheese and started eating it. (Filipinos eat their cheese from a can. Don't ask.) I don't recall waking up with long locks of hair, but I do recall a massive stomach ache that may or may not have been the cause of a trip to the Filipino emergency room. For the record, I think the trip to the ER had something to do with my inability to swim in the ocean with my mouth closed which caused me to drink a lot of dirty ocean water. Life 1, Me 0.

End of Year Resolution

No, the title is not a typo. I made the executive decision to start my new year's resolution ahora.  Why you ask? 

 It might have something to do with the fact that I lived in fear that the button on my oxford blouse would pop off and seriously injure someone while I was sitting in my finance class.  

I wish I could say that my button was at risk of popping off because of a growing bosom, but unfortunately that's not the case. Damn, I wish I were that lucky.  I'm afraid the problem is much more grave.  In fact, the problem is closely linked to my previous post about the muffin tops.  I'm on my way to gaining the First-Year-MBA-15!  Gulp. I never knew there was such a thing...

Just before going to business school, I successfully shed almost 9 pounds of the happy fat I had gained during my first year and a half of marriage.  I trained for triathlons all summer and saw a nutritionist.  As soon as I set foot in Beantown, *poof*!  My hopes and dreams of staying svelte and fit as a graduate student went to the wayside just like the Yankees' hopes of making it to the playoffs.  

So, as a December Resolution, I will cease the consumption of my favorite snacks colored by orange #9 until I lose some L-B-S. I heart pringles just as much, but I find myself being able to down a can in two sittings...that sort of behavior does nothing for my psyche.

 

Stop the Cheez-Its and Pringles.  STAT.  

Get Your Muffins Here!

I thought I knew what to expect when I began business school this past fall.  I knew business school would make my life in the real working world seem like a cake walk.  Long gone are the cushy 8:30-5:30 work days and the carefree weekends.  Fine.  I get it.  Business school is hard work.  What I don't get is why I've developed muffin tops.

Alright, I admit it - I eat more, drink cheap beer and work out less.  But does that really mean I deserve to have muffin tops?  Really, God?  Am I that bad of a person?  

On that note, this muffin looks darn tasty.  I'll see you at Dunkin' Donuts getting my reduced fat blueberry muffin with the additional 500 calories to make up for the missing fat.  Why not celebrate having muffin tops with eating some?  

Santa, I've been good!

"

Champagne-Taste-on-My-Tap-Water-Budget-Bag 

Balenciaga Giant Arena Bag

I'm loving Rebecca Minkoff's Nikki hobo in this gorgeous cranberry color.  This is a recession-friendly bag...at least in comparison to other 4-figure priced bags I've been dreaming about. Sigh, I am really missing my Bloomie's employee discount right about NOW.   

Now that we're officially in the holiday season, I like to daydream about the packages I'll be opening on Christmas Day.  These are two bags that would make me a very happy girl. 

You Go Girl!

Instead of doing homework, I'm watching the countdown to Britney Spears' special on MTV.  She looks amazing and I'm looking forward to cheering her on during her comeback.  

  

Life Lessons from Ben Russo

I must take a cue from the second love of my life, Ben.  Seriously, this is how life should be lived.