Good Intentions and DRAGONCON

Now that you got the drama side of me... (you know you wanted it!)...

I come with good intentions! Now that I live in such a cool area - I can finally do something that we had intended our blog to do - go out and give reviews of the city life around us!

Isn't that what post-graduate living is all about? We get to do the 9 to 5 but we have NO kids and NO marriage holding us back!!!

I'm attempting to stray away from the "I went out and got drunk and went to some club" posts though - I want to actually experience Atlanta. Yea - there will be some clubbing and drinks - but first - I want to do artsy fartsy stuff (lol).

There are tons of events going on in the next few weeks (I'm still wading through the list a friend sent) so I'll try to go to as many as possible!

1) Atlanta Chili Cook-Off!. MMMM FOOD!!! My stomach is already growling just thinking about this. Over 300 participants will be making chili with tons to give away as samples to attendees. I'm a little disappointed by the music for the evening, but...it's the South and it's not hosted by ethnic folk, so I can't expect some hip hop or R&B. Should be fun though!

2) Midtown Festival of the Arts . Now that's more like it! There will be artist booths, live music, demonstrations from local chefs (sooo interested in that). There's also something called "Plates on Peachtree" where you pay like $30.00 bucks and you get to walk around sampling some delicious sounding dishes made by local chefs from amazing restaurants. There's also a beer garden, which I'm less excited about but I know one of my friends will be so into that so we'll probably go. I wanted to volunteer...serving drinks of course...but Saturday is the chili cook-off so I can't do that and Sunday its during my online prep course. Too bad...

3) Habitat for Humanity - my firm is sponsoring a house with another firm! Finally - some charity work that doesn't involve just opening my wallet. We're going on the day where the roofing needs to be done. I'll have my will drawn up by then... I leave the name SS to whomever can be witty and bitchy enough to replace me!!!

4) Gay Pride Atlanta - there is usually something around Halloween so believe I'll be out in force to support my gay buddies! Coincidentally - this is the day before our LSAT scores are available on-line so I'll need to prepare with liquor beforehand!
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AND NOW....


DRAGONCON!!!

As you all learned, and probably have forgotten by now, I'm a nerd!!! I love video games, sci-fi stuff etc. Atlanta has this huge festival every year called DRAGONCON in which people come to town for a weekend and attend forums etc for their favorite shows. This is the weekend where you see klingons and storm troopers unite in harmony! I'm not THAT nerdy by the way... that doesn't get my juices goin'! There is a parade that is free to the public and, since it always seems to be in the building next to mine, tons of people watching in our joint food court. My friend and I took some pics from the people watching and the parade, so I've posted those below in addition to some links to other pics I found online. Some of these costumes were AMAZING!! Next year... I'm dressing up! Any ideas?















ANNNND the coolest costume EVER!! (please click it - I'm too lazy to figure out how to re-size so the whole thing fits! lol)




Had a great time!!!

Here are some CNN news stories on it - in case you needed more information!

Dragoncon Costumes
What is Dragoncon?
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Hoarding and Me

A&E debuted their new show Hoarders...


I only was able to catch parts of it...and the link to watch the entire episode isn't working on A&E's site but wow...riveting. You usually only see people who hoard trash and junk...I have never seen one with food. My mother caught the whole episode and relayed it to my in gritty details. The more I listened...the more fearful I got.

Why? I’m bad with food… I have too many food-based fears and, at the same time, I take too many risks when it comes to it. This is gross…but…I have cut mold off of cheese and bread and eaten the rest… With other foods though, fruit in particular, if there is a soft spot…I can’t bring myself to eat it or if I’ve had it more than three days (and I always buy in bulk mind you), I also can’t eat it. There really is no reason ever for me to buy milk…I never use it! But every time I go to the store…I buy some.

That being said…I never considered myself a hoarder per se. After watching the show, however, there may be some early signs I need to watch for. I’m sure I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m a huge fan of the Intervention and Obsessed (which is relatively new to the game) shows based on Addition and OCD. Well…hoarding is a form of OCD as well but is probably one of the more common and possibly dangerous OCD’s evidenced here and here (careful with the second one...you may puke).

I see a lot of myself in this woman, although mine hasn’t become dangerous or unhealthy and I don’t have an attachment to the food; I CAN and WILL throw it away when it becomes inconvenient. But…still…signs are there. I have let fruit rot in the fridge. When it starts to mold, I become sickened by it and can’t eat anything in the fridge. I also…can’t bring myself to touch it, so for days at a time, I will have mini-panics if I have to open the fridge for any reason. When it gets to be disgusting enough…I’ll finally bring myself to throw it away. More often than not, however, someone else has already done that. If we were to open my freezer…half of the meat in there has intense freezer burn… I frequent Sam’s club and buy chicken and steak in bulk (steak is nicely priced there!) but then I wont want those things…so I never actually eat them. Its one of those “shopped when I was hungry” kinds of things. My hoarding is more pricy than anything.

At least I have taken step one and realized it and now know that I can do things to combat it before it gets out of control:

1) Go shopping every two or three days. When I finally strike out on my own…I’m going to do my best to live near a farmer’s market and/or a grocery store- like within walking distance. That way I won’t have the issues I have with fruits because I’ll always know they’re fresh.

2) Shop with recipes in mind. My problem is that I’ll go with like 12 or 13 recipes but I’ll only actually do like 2 of them and not the rest because my tastes have changed. If I shop every two or three days, I’ll be more likely to still want to eat that stuff.

3) Set a budget. Another issue I have is…buying too much food. I’ll tweak recipes (a little extra meat…three or four more tomatoes) to fit what I THINK i’ll need and it always turns out to be more. So…if I’m shopping for two or three days…but 4 chicken breasts rather than a pack of 12. Sounds like a lot less wasted meat already!

4) If all else fails – live with ravenous teenage/college boys. They’ll eat any and everything. I’ll never have food!

Keep you updated!

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Vegas Baby!

Well...

Back from Vegas and I have no idea where to begin! I had such a good time its not even funny!! I drank every night, partied, gambled...it was crazy. Jet lag is killing me now though...

Warning- this will probably be a little long and very haphazard as I have so much to say and so little time to do it (gotta catch up at work...). I'll make a more organized post on the fun stuff (clubbing/sexing/drama) later!

In preparation for my trip...I did some research. Looked up clubs that played my kind of music, looked up ideas on how much money to take, what to wear...everything. Most of those guides were slightly off though, so here's mine (pics included).

Initial Prep:

Dont believe the hype- several websites told me that $500 bucks would be enough for Vegas. I didn't plan on gambling, so that took away a big chunk of necessary cash. My hotel had a pretty cheap buffet and a McDonalds right downstairs, so that also helped. I was on a $100 dollar a day budget. I didnt need clothes nor do I ever buy souveniers! So you figure $50 to get in the club and buy two drinks, $50 to eat for the day. Sounds ok? Well...no. I mean I wasnt stupid, I brought $1000.00 instead but...uh...the hotel actually took a $400.00 deposit and I did indeed end up gambling Next time Im bringing $1400.00 for spending and $1000.00 for gambling. You live and learn.

FOOD/Drink

OMG! Vegas has some of the most amazing food available. Wolfgang Puck has like 5 restaurants (I was too poor to eat at any of them...maybe next time) and I saw at least one of Bobby Flays restaurants. The buffets though; amazing! The first day we got really drunk and headed over to the Rio hotel to hit up their world famous Carnival World buffet. DELICIOUS! Its $17 for lunch and $24 for dinner but you can stay and eat as long as you want. We went around lunch with the intent of staying through dinner. They had EVERYTHING. Its as long as a football field and has 10+ cuisines from around the world. Good eating!

My hotel (Harrah's) also had a pretty good buffet- Flavors. They had a nice mix of cuisine for a decent price (15 bucks I think). They also had this early morning special (1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) for Steak and eggs for 5.99! We did that every day after clubbing. In fact...most places had a cheap steak and egg or steak and shrimp/lobster deal going on daily! Be aware of that!

Also try the Paradise Buffet in Old Las Vegas. It was about $16.00 but sooooo good. Crab legs, shrimp, roast beef (so good!) and steaks cooked on a grill in front of you the way you like! Huge array of desserts as well as tons of meat and vegetables! Great place!

In terms of drinking...yea...there are several ways to beat the system here. One: find a liquor store (do NOT purchase in or near your hotel, they will rip you off). Get a bottle of cheap shit and make it last. Two: go play the penny slots. I won about $100.00 bucks in total and as long as you're gambling, people will bring you drinks! They are stronger in Old Las Vegas (Ill discuss later) so if you can get there, do it.

Partying

I'm into Hip Hop/Reggae/R&B/Reggaeton, so this is biased towards those. The first night, we couldn't figure out what we wanted to do. A friend didn't bring the right clothes for the club so he couldn't go. I ended up going to this club called Poetry which is in Caesars Palace (where Hangover was filmed!). It bills itself as *the* black club (in that they only play hip hop/R&B etc) and I had a good time. I got in for free because I put myself on the guest list (others paid $30...put yourself on guest lists!) and I met this nice guy who I hung out with over the course of the next few days. Its kind of small and very crowded but the music was good!

The next night we decided to go back to Poetry because T-Pain was supposed to be revealing a new artist there. They were giving women free champagne until midnight and so I had about 30 by then and was messed up. Jet lag kicked in at about 1 a.m. Vegas time so we all left and headed home! Never did find out if T-Pain actually showed!

The third night we were planning to head to Prive in Planet Hollywood because Lil Jon was going to be there but out of sheer laziness I headed across the street to the Mirage Hotel to try out Jet Nightclub. AMAZING! Probably one of my favorite clubs. They played a mix of music(a lot of Michael Jackson due to his passing) and while it was packed (at least 1000 ppl in there) there was room to walk and dance comfortably. It was just me and a friend and we bounced from corner to corner of the club. They have HUGE shots in there and we probably drank a little too much. Good times all around! They apparently have other rooms to party in but we were too drunk to care!



On Sunday, we went to Pure which is also in Caesars. AMAZING. It is a huge and beautiful club. White furniture with color themed lighting and a beautiful rooftop view. Unfortunately for us, we got stuck on the rooftop because a Kardashian had rented out the bottom of the club for a birthday party or something. It was probably like 98+ degrees (at 10 p.m. lol) but it was good. We drank too much (paid for it the next day) but had a good time dancing and enjoying the view.




Beautiful huh?

On Monday half of us had spent the whole day in bed puking our guts up and nursing horrible headaches. We did not go out...Monday was not a good day...

Sightseeing

Things you have to do:

-Sirens of Treasure Island

-Bellagio Fountains
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-Fremont Street (Old Las Vegas) - amazing sights and sounds and good drinks. The gambling odds (I hear) are also better. My brothers and I were winning some nice dough [pic]. Pretty good when you think that I only put a dollar in to start!

-Walk the strip (wear tennis shoes)

Gambling

DO IT! Even if you don't think you will like it...you can play penny slots so you wont lose much money! I recommend Caesar's Palace or Golden Nugget (Old Las Vegas) as they have a pretty diverse amount of machines. Something for everyone in there! Also..find the Monopoly Super Grand Hotel Machine! Great fun !!

This was kind of haphazard because I have so much to say but so little space! Hopefully you get the jist of where I'm going here and I'll probably talk more about my trip and post my actual pictures (haven't uploaded yet!) in the coming days/weeks!

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*Highlights* - Obama's New Goals for America

Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's



Firstly, I'd like to say that I prefer IHOP over Denny's any day and many of the reasons touched on here are why. COME ON PEOPLE! I dont want to see you in your stained sweatpants and dirty wife beater while I'm trying to enjoy a Sunday brunch after church....fine...after clubbing (dont judge me).

LMAO! I have to say that this is very well done and I wonder how many people will think that this is true and go up in arms. Its freaking hilarious!!


5/5 for a More Realistic Presidential Agenda!





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MOOBS

LOL

Ok since this week's schedule seems to be a little out of wack with Memorial Day and all so forget a real entry...I'm going to just throw in a little something for all you MALE SOY LOVERS out there...

Do you see the title of this entry? YEAP

BEWARE OF ITS SIDE EFFECTS!!!

(Don't get me wrong...I love Asian tofu and most other soy products...yuck to soy drink/milk though)

Enjoy...

Remember: EVERY thing in moderation...

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*Highlights* - Good Non-NYC Bagels..

GOTHAM DAYS says:

GASP!!! GOOD bagels outside of New York City?!?!?

BLASPHEMY!!! and to think...from the mouth of a New Yorker!!!

I know.

But you should take my word on it..ESPECIALLY because I'm a New Yorker

The bagels from The Bagel Basement in Hanover, NH are SO CLUTCH!!!

Fresh bagels made daily. Plenty of flavors of bagels. (The Fresco is FANTAB, and the blueberry stays so soft) Several kinds of cream cheese. (I stand by the veggie cream cheese.) TONS of different things to stack between the bagel slices. (ALL so yum.) Of course there is the toasted or not toasted option. (Always toasted for me.)

SO YUM. The last time I had them were last October when I went up to New Hampshire for Homecoming. And I bought a bunch of specialty bagels back to NYC with me. Why? Because my little cousins LOVE THEM. I didn't forget the ankle biters this time either! Best souvenirs ever!

If you ever find yourself in Hanover, NH...either hiking through on the Appalachian trail (runs right through town), visiting Ben&Jerry's across the river, busing it up there for the fall foliage, or enjoying time at Dartmouth...make your way down to the Bagel Basement and try EVERYTHING on that wall sized menu.

They have muffins and such as well, but obviously bagels are their thing.

Oh yes. And MINI BAGELS!!! SO cute!

My NEED to get them everytime I go back:


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I Love Food

But because of these braces, I have to cut back on a lot of food so now I'm purely eating for sustenance and flavor. No more eating just because. Hahaha I think that's a good thing...lol

mmm...the one flavor I've been excessively craving is SPICY!!!

I just drooled thinking about it...When I first had the braces put in, I had a very intense desire to put a straw in a bottle of Red Hot and just BEAST on it (ok not a VAT but I just found this pic kinda ridic)



Alas, I am no longer in college. I couldn't just go down to one of the school eateries and just grab a bottle. So I settled for a jar of medium El Paso Salsa and went to TOWN on it.


DROOOOOOL








There really was no point in this entry. Just wanted to share my palate with you =P*

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