Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Running through New Jersey

I'm traveling for work AGAIN this week.  I did take a new job a few weeks ago, but being that I'm working on the system that is being deployed into the company based in MA, I guess I sort of figured that I'd be staying there most of the time.  But, I did have to do two back-to-back weeks of travel.  Last week, I was in Rochester, NY.  I decided that I don't like Rochester that much, and my family should not worry about me ever wanting to move there.  In all honesty, there's nothing there.  Even the Panera was empty at 7:45 in the morning....I mean, come on!  You go to the Panera on Reservoir Ave in Cranston, and it's PACKED!

The other reason I could never make Rochester my home?  Well, all the people who think there are "amazing Italian restaurants" there.  Seriously.  There's this guy there (who shall remain nameless) who happen to be in Raynham the week before I was in Rochester.  And he asked for a place for he and his wife to go to dinner.  I suggested either the North End or Federal Hill.  I mean, you're in the Providence/Boston Area?  You go get Italian food.  He poo-pooed the suggestion, saying that he could get Italian food any time he wanted at home.  All he talked about was "chicken french" ...It's so good, it's amazing, you can't get it any where else, BLAH BLAH BLAH.  What's chicken french, you ask?  It's chicken francaise, over a bed of escarole.  When I found out that it was over escarole, I told him about how I love escarole, and when I was young, my mom used to make escarole and beans....He followed with a story about how an old Italian lady used to make him greens and beans often when he was a kid, too.  I just shook my head.  In any case, Rochester didn't hold much for me (I just read that Ragu came originally from Rochester...I guess that should say something about the Italian-ness of the town, huh?)

Now, I'm in New Jersey.  In Piscataway, NJ, to be exact.  So far, I haven't found too much here, although I also haven't made much of an effort.  So far, my schedule has been about 8am-5:30pm, with a short break for lunch.  Then, back to the hotel, work out, shower, eat, watch tv, go to bed.  I'm currently in the watch tv moment right now.  The hotel is connected to a Ruby Tuesday, so in my laziness tonight, I decided to just get room service.  While it was easy, it wasn't necessarily delicious, either...But maybe I'm just a food snob.  However, I was able to make smart (or not so smart) choices, based on my Points Plus.

Tonight, after I got back from work, I went down to the "fitness center" here at the Hotel.  BTW - The Fitness Center consists of 2 treadmills, 1 elliptical machine, 1 recumbent book, and some hand weights.  No, I'm not kidding.  In any case, I did a half hour on the treadmill.  That's 10 minutes more than I did yesterday.  I was able to do a run-walk combination.  Last night, I ran 2 intervals at .25 miles and then about .10 miles with walking in between.  Tonight, I ran 2 intervals at .25 and then 3 intervals at .10 miles with walking in between.  While I wasn't able to do more of the .25 intervals, I did do extra of the .10 intervals.  My leg just still can't handle that much running.  Even now, I've been back in the room for almost 3 hours and my leg is still sore.  Damn that torn PCL!  But in any case, there are improvement, and I need to just take it slow!  If I try to do too much too fast, I'll hurt myself even further.

Here's to hoping that I find a few things to do here in Jersey during the rest of the week that I'm here.  So far, it is better than Rochester, and I'll be going out for "Team Dinner" tomorrow....I'm hoping it's better than the team dinner at the "Italian" restaurant in Rochester, HAHA!

At the end of the day, I've basically come to the conclusion that I'm too much of a homebody to enjoy traveling.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Act your age....NOT your shoe size

Hi.  My name is Camille.  I am 28 years old.  I am an adult.  Sometimes, admittedly, I act like I'm 9.  And I just can't help it.

How, you ask?  Well, I'm sure I can dig up a few examples.

Let's start with food.


I like putting cereal into a bag, and munching on it throughout the day.  I prefer if that cereal is something like fruit loops.  I realize that instead of sugary cereal, that bag of snack should contain something better, like carrots or something, but what's the fun in THAT?  Although, they are advertising that it now has more fiber... (On a side note, while looking for pictures, I just realized that it's spelled, FROOT LOOPS.  Seriously, I'm out of touch.





 I go to the supermarket every week in hopes of continuing my journey of healthy eating.  I buy healthy foods, with a couple of treats mixed in.  Without fail, the treats are gone within minutes.  Sometimes I have to throw the healthy food away because it's gone bad. I swear, I try!  But I'm sorry, have you tried Plan Ciobani Yogurt?  You'd choose the treats over that, any day!  I'd put money on it!



I much prefer to eat macaroni with butter and either ricotta cheese or cottage cheese than have a delicious steak.  I swear, I have completely developed taste  buds.  I know the difference between good food and bad food.  Maybe this can be considered lazy, but don't you think that a bowl of carbs and cheese can go miles?  I do.  Maybe there's just something about macaroni with butter and cottage cheese that brings me back to 4-years old, sitting in Nonni's kitchen having lunch.  Either way, it just makes me so happy.

Next.  The domestic adventures in the life of Camille.

We all know I like to bake.  But honestly, aside from baking and the few meals a week that I make, I have to ask myself, where's the domesticated girl that was supposed to appear when I reached adulthood?  For example...

I hate the following:  Ironing, Putting stuff away, Cleaning and Dusting, Laundry.  My sister will appreciate the fact that I have openly admitted that I hate doing anything that's associated with housework or straightening my pigsty.  I do it, however,  I do it because I know that I'll get annoyed with the mess within 15 minutes.  But still.

Ironing?  Let's just say that I try to buy clothes that never require ironing.  I also try to wash/dry/hang dry my clothes so that they don't get wrinkled.  If they are wrinkled, I usually only iron them if I absolutely have to.

Laundry?  I live on the 3rd floor and the laundry is in the basement.  Enough said?  I know, I know, not a good excuse.  But still, I end up waiting to do my laundry until I have no underwear left.  Or no pants for work, or no shirts (you get the picture...)  Tonight we're going to my dad's for dinner, and I'm bringing laundry with me.  I don't hate doing laundry, I hate the up-and-down the stairs that come along with them.




Dusting?  I honestly like living in a CLEAN environment.  What I hate is having to take everything off my bureau, only to dust it and then pile everything back on.  Maybe I'll patent a type of bureau that has dust resistant particles manufactured into it.

Finally....The adventures in "Camille Hair"


Scott has aptly named anything to do with my head "Camille hair."  Why?  Well, in the humid weather, whether my hair is in a pony tail or down, it gets so messy, that I have these wisps that completely surround my head.  I can brush my hair and 3 minutes later, it's a mess again.  But who am I kidding?  It's not like that just in the humid weather.  It's all the time (Picture attached, obviously exaggerated, but still truthful).


Likewise, I can go get a hair cut, and have the most amazing hair, but it's impossible for me to re-create the amazing job that the hair dresser has done in blow drying my hair.  I honestly think that most people don't realize just how much hair I have because it's almost always in a pony tail!  I still can't move past that 4th grade notion that it's OK to have my hair in a pony every day!


OK, so maybe I only have three major points to comment on here.  But honestly, do you understand the predicament that I've gotten myself into here?  I find that more often than not, I do not act my age at all.  I really do act my shoe size.  But, at the end of the day, when I look in the mirror, I see that if it weren't for these flaws, if I really did change all these things, I wouldn't really be me.  Am I right?  Do YOU act your age?  or your shoe size?  


Props to Lauren because I totally stole this blog post idea from her!  :o)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

$h!t on the Yankees!

Literally!

We had some excitement last weekend.  And by excitement, I mean we had poop all over the basement!  I got a call from a neighbor on Saturday, late afternoon.  She mentioned that when she went downstairs to do a load of laundry, there was water all over the basement.  So I asked Scott to go look (I was very busy baking Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Bars).  He confirmed that there was about 1" of water and a "grainy substance" all over the laundry room, under the stairs and it was also pooling at the bottom of the stairs.  It was also all soaked into the stupid rug that some foolish Yankee fan put in the laundry room...But luckily, it wasn't going near our storage area!

So I happened to also go downstairs to grab a pocketbook that I had in the storage area, and I saw everything for myself.  There was a lot of water down there, but there was also a funky smell.  So after some deliberation where we both had no clue what to do, I did the only thing I could think of...  I called my dad!

We found the source of the water, which was a pipe in the wall.  We had the 1st floor flush the toilet, and confirmed that it was leaking, basically every time the toilet was flushed!  We broke through the wall, and found that the cover to the stink stack was COMPLETELY OFF!  So everything (EVERYTHING) was just coming out into the laundry room.  It was beyond disgusting!

Well, it's a good thing that Gem Plumbing has 24-hour emergency service!  And they recommended an amazing cleaner!  And it's also good I have a lot of patience, because in typical Condo Association fashion, no one helped us do anything!  Even though the pipes are a shared resource.  Lovely, right?  I think it's finally time to seriously think about selling the condo and moving!

So all in all, we had an exciting weekend, where we were FINALLY able to throw away that stupid carpet that someone put in the laundry room.  I told the cleaning guys that since the Yankee's had been shit all over, they could throw it out.  They liked that!  HAHA!

I've spent the last four days up in Rochester, NY, which naturally is a haven for Yankee fans.  The hotel even has the YES Network which I find so obnoxious!  I can't wait to go home!  Hopefully we won't have any more poop explosions this weekend!

Monday, September 19, 2011

4 miles in 34 minutes...

ON THE ELLIPTICAL MACHINE!  HA!

This week, I'm in Rochester, NY at the OCD (Ortho Clinical Diagnostics) plant.  In all honesty, I have no clue why I'm here.  I thought I was supposed be taking the integration plan, and writing and loading the test scripts into HPQC....But I needed "Srini" to show/tell me how.  Well, so far I have made up my own way of creating the test scripts because Srini definitely doesn't know what he's doing.  THAT is going to be fun.

In any case, I'm staying at the Rochester Airport Marriott and they actually have a fitness center here.  So even though I've been up since 5:30 this morning, drove 1.5 hours from Providence to Boston, sat in the airport for an hour, had a hideous flight from Boston to Rochester on a puddle jumper airplane, got lost trying to drive from the Airport to OCD (WITH A GARMIN), and then worked for 6 hours, I decided to suck it up and exercise.



The fitness center here is small, but it serves it's purpose.  Only one guy was in there when I went in, and he was on e of the four treadmills in the room.  There were two elliptical machines (the kind with the arm handles so you get two workouts in one) and one recumbent bike.  There were also a number of hand weights.  SO....I chose the elliptical machine.  It was actually a really good workout.  Anything that ends with 500 burned calories is pretty damn good in my book!!!



So, as I now sit here, waiting for my room service (there's NO way I'm going to go out to dinner with a bunch of men that I don't know)....I'm watching TV (watching the pilot episode of The Big Bang Theory, which happens to be on (I thought it was on Thursdays??).

By the way, next Thursday is the season premier, and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Bars

I hardly every need a reason to bake....But today I had one staring me in the face.  We're having a few people over tomorrow for "brunch" and while I am going to make scones (recipe and results to follow tomorrow) and possibly some hash browns (someone else is bringing quiche), I decided that we would need some kind of dessert.  My friend Hillary had previously posted a recipe on Facebook that I saw and was like "WOAH!"  So today I took the opportunity to try them!


I actually made 1.5 recipes, because it called for an 8x8" pan, and all I had was a 10x10" pan, and I didn't want it to be too thin.  I've included just the single recipe below.



Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Bars
(makes 9-12 bars)
1 stick (1/2 cup) Softened Butter
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsps Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
2 cups Chocolate Chips (I used Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips)
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
20 Oreo Cookies

  • Preheat oven to 350*
  • Butter and flour an 8x8" cake pan.
  • Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar, until fluffy.  
  • Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.  
  • Once this is combined, add in the Cocoa Powder and mix again until well combined.  
  • Add flour and salt, mixing well until batter is smooth and comes together. 
  • Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
  • Spread the combined mixture into the greased and floured pan. 
  • Sink 9 Oreo cookies into the batter and press gently (shown below).  Bake for 25-30 minutes. 


  • While this is baking, crush the remaining Oreo Cookies in a ziplock bag. 
  • When brownies are finished baking, remove from the oven and sprinkle with 1/2 cup chocolate chips and the crushed Oreo Cookies. Place back in the oven for about 2-3 minutes.   It is important to have as many of the chocolate chips touching the brownies as possible, as they will act as a glue between the brownie and the crushed cookies.



  • During the time the brownies are in the oven, melt remaining chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Remove brownies from oven and pour melted chocolate mixture over top, spreading with a spatula.  The chocolate mixture will serve as more glue to hold the crushed cookies to the top of the brownie, so make sure it is covering everything.
    • To melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter, I did the following:  Put the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds, then stir.  Microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again.  When the chocolate is almost completely melted, add in the peanut butter.  Return to microwave for another 15-30 seconds.  Stir well to combine. 
  • Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
  • Let brownies sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting. Don’t worry if some of the cookies spill out from the middle or the top cracks – they are still delicious!
Since the Bars are for tomorrow, I haven't cut them yet....But as soon as I do, I'll add in a picture of the final finished product!  

Friday, September 16, 2011

Getting back into the swing of things


So as you all know, I managed to run just over a mile on Wednesday.  Well, I can tell you that I was in pain by about 8pm.  My legs felt like every single muscle was tight.  It hurt to sit down, and then it hurt to try to get up once I was down.  And forget about going up and down the stairs (not a good thing, considering I live on the 3rd floor).  In any case, I decided that the only way to make my legs feel any better would be to workout again on Thursday.




Yesterday, I went to the gym and after a little bit of stretching, faced the treadmill once again.  I added a half mile onto my total distance, totaling 1.65 miles in 25 minutes.  Instead of trying to run out the full mile like I did the day before, I walked for a couple tenths of a mile, and then ran for 0.35 miles, walked for 0.1, ran for 0.25, walked for 0.1, ran for 0.15, walked for 0.1, ran for 0.05, and then walked for 0.1.  In any case, it wasn't nearly as painful, and while I averaged between 5.0 and 5.3 on all the runs, I got up to 5.8 on the last run.  


The result?  Just as much pain as the night before.  At first, I thought that I had successfully stretched my legs back out, but by the time I got home from the gym and was trying to walk up the stairs, I knew that I was in just as much trouble as the night before!  I found myself wishing to have magical powers that would project me up the stairs so that I wouldn't have to walk...




Unfortunately, I am NOT Mary Poppins (as much as I wish I could be), and therefore kept reminding myself that old saying, "No Pain, No Gain"

Finally, in my attempts to help not only myself, but also everyone else, I have begun calculating Points Plus values from some various restaurants.  I have two done so far, which can be accessed here on the "Pages" tab.  I will continue to calculate as I can, and keep adding them as I finish!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

How many points was that???

My morning routine does not vary very much.  Wake up, shower, get dressed and ready, leave the house, stop at Dunkin' Donuts, get to work (in as little time as possible).  The past few days, I've grabbed an egg white veggie flatbread sandwich, which is part of the whole "Better for you menu" at Dunkin'.  Well, in all honesty, they are terrible.  The flatbread always tastes like it's been sitting in a freezer for a while, and all they did was pop it into a toaster.  Seriously.  It's like eating a cardboard hockey puck.  

This morning, I varied my routine.  Instead of getting the flatbread, I decided to go all out and get a "Reduced fat blueberry Muffin."  This, too, is on the better for you menu, so I figured it would still be a decent option.  As usual, when I got to work, I looked up the Nutrition Facts, which are conveniently posted on the Dunkin' Donuts website.  Here's what I found:

Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin
  • Fat:  11g
  • Carbohydrates:  81g
  • Dietary Fiber:  2g
  • Protein:  7g
  • WEIGHT WATCHER POINTS PLUS:  12
Regular Blueberry Muffin
  • Fat:  16g
  • Carbohydrates:  83g
  • Dietary Fiber:  2g
  • Protein:  7g
  • WEIGHT WATCHER POINTS PLUS:  14

What do YOU think about that???  I spent 12 points on breakfast!  (Really, I spent 14, because I needed to count in my coffee, as well).  SERIOUSLY!  That is NOT low fat!  I suppose that's why Dunkin' Donuts calls it "Reduced Fat" ..... Because technically, the fat IS reduced.  But it certainly isn't low!  I think next time I want to vary my routine, I'll just get a donut!  Those, at least, are fewer Points Plus.

I've taken the liberty of calculating out a few of the Dunkin' Donuts Points Plus values for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I "ran" 1.15 miles today.

I “ran” 1.15 miles today.  It took 15 minutes.  You may say, “What’s the big deal?”  Well, I’ll tell you the big deal!  It all goes back to December 24, 2010…  Scott and I had a beautiful night, celebrating Christmas Eve with my family at Auntie Regina’s house.  Scott went home at the end of the night, and I decided to go to Midnight Mass with my sister.  After mass, she drove me home, and as I was walking up the front steps of the condo, my foot slipped and I fell (I whole-heartedly blame the fall on the lack of traction on the hideous UGG boots I was wearing - as you can see from the attached picture, there's nothing on the bottom of the UGGs...).  And when I say I fell, I mean, DOWN.  My right knee hit the ground so perfectly, I saw stars.  I assured my sister “I’m fine!  I’m fine!” and hobbled up to the third floor, crying the whole way up.  As I let myself into the condo, I scared the bejeezus out of Scott.  Basically, I spent all of Christmas day heating/icing my knee.  The doctor/MRI confirmed that I had a partially torn PCL – Torn just enough so that I didn’t need surgery, but I did need physical therapy.


So, five months before my wedding, I was in absolutely NO shape to do any kind of hard core exercise.  It was horrible!  I had gotten into good shape, the best I had seen in myself since my freshman/sophomore years of college when I was rowing on the Crew team at UMass. I can say with confidence that after I stopped rowing, I had a lot of ups and downs, but I had gotten myself back to where I wanted to be.  I knew around the time that I fell that I had gained a little bit of weight that I wanted to lose, and I was banking on exercise before the wedding.



Well, All I can say is that my body really transformed…And it hasn’t been pretty.  The worst part of everything was that while my exercise regimen went out the window, so did my healthy eating habits.  While at my wedding, I was heavier than I wanted to be, I was still at a physical state that I felt comfortable with.  Since then, however, I have managed to progress into a physical state that I abhor.




So, as you know, I decided, not too long ago, that I was going to make major changes to myself.  I feel like I have a better (and healthier) understanding of what needs to be done in order for me to get to my goal.  I have joined Weight Watchers, as I mentioned before, and if it’s done anything, it has really helped me to understand how certain foods affect my body.  What it has also helped me understand is that exercise is a key element to weight loss.  There have been a couple of weeks where I haven’t exercised as much as I wanted to.  The result:  Not as much weight loss as I had been hoping for.  There have also been weeks where I haven’t tracked as well as I should have (or eaten more than I should have – like when I was on vacation), but still lost weight because I exercised so much.  I know that I could learn all of this by easily using my common sense, but WW works for me!  I got my new Saucony Sneakers and I'm going to use them!



So, back to running those 1.15 miles.  It’s been a long time since I have been on the treadmill.  After I tore my PCL, I did try to do a lot of exercise, especially because of the wedding.  But after that, I really fizzled.  So today was my first time on the treadmill in (honestly) about 15 months.  I have, over the past number of months been doing a lot of outdoor bike riding, but I figured that with the changing of the seasons, it’s probably a good idea to get going on some indoor activities.  SO, just the fact that I was able to keep a constant 5.5 speed for 11 minutes (the other four minutes I walked) is just amazing to me.  I know that it will be a process of improvement, but for today, I’m Proud!
For your viewing pleasure:  A diagram of the knee...

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Hot Dogs are only good if they're grilled.

My dinner tonight was not only disappointing, it was bordering on disgusting.  I try to cook during the week.  I feel like I go through spurts, where I'll cook three days in a row, and then go five days living off of either leftovers, random findings in the fridge or ordering out. 

As a child, I grew up with my mother putting a delicious meal on the table every single night.  Dinner that I could smell from the street, riding by the house on my bicycle.  Chicken Marsala, Breaded Chicken, Steak Pizziaola, Baked Scrod, Macaroni and Meatballs, Pasta Fagioli, pizza, spinach pie, you name it, my mama made it.  And she made it good.  And I'm talking no shortcuts.  The very first time I ever ate frozen pizza was in college.  The first time I ever had jarred "pasta sauce" was after college.  Oh, and by the way, we never called it "pasta."  It was either macaroni or spaghetti.  I don't understand where this infatuation with the work pasta came from....Pasta was homemade, macaroni and spaghetti came in a box.  But I digress...  If we ever "ordered out," it would be on an occasional Friday when my mom was tired or not feeling well and we protested against leftovers.  I mean, seriously.  My kindergarten book was entitled, "We all love food."  Only that can come from a house of food lovers.

As I am now older, living away from my mother and married, I find that I would much rather bake cookies and cakes than cook a wholesome dinner.  And I'll tell you, it's formed some habits that I don't really like (that after tonight's dinner, I have made a mental promise with myself to change).  The thing that gets me, is I figure that if I buy the cookbooks, I'll end up cooking more....But all I can really say about that is that I have more cookbooks than what fits in the cupboard over the microwave.  And I never use them (this is also going to change).

Tonight, my dinner consisted of yogurt and saltines (before my husband got home), a baked potato with a dollop of sour cream on it, two fat free hot dogs and a salad with goat cheese.  So I have a number of comments about this:
  • The yogurt has been sitting in the refrigerator for over a week.  I go food shopping every couple of weeks, and while my intentions are always to fill up the cupboards and refrigerator with healthy food, I often end up throwing it away.  I decided when I got home today, in order to fulfill my hunger, I would have a yogurt.  It was good.
  • Saltines.  Seriously gross.  I mean, if you have some cheese or peanut butter, they're not terrible, but I ate them plain.  Yup.  Drinking a lot of water right now.
  • I could have spent the 30 minutes between when I got home and when my husband got home preparing something for dinner.  Instead, I ate my yogurt and saltines while watching the end of "The Prince & Me, II" on TMC while waiting for Twilight:  New Moon to come on.  (Terrible, I know).
  • When Scott did get home, and he asked me, "What are you feeding me," and I thought, "What am I feeding myself?"
  • Scott suggested hot dogs, and I figured potatoes would compliment them OK.  There is a shared grille for the condo, but the neighbors have really abused it, so we really try not to use it.  SO.....
    • Boiled hot dogs?  NO.  These are fat free hot dogs.  The last time I boiled them, I was happy I had a lot of bread to mask the flavor of them.  While they're good grilled, they're terrible boiled.
    • So I cooked them on the griddle.  Yes, I did.  Needless to say, two hot dogs (minus one bite) made it into the garbage can.  I don't recommend ever doing this.  They were worse than the boiled hot dogs and I had no bread.
  • I needed to replace the hot dogs with something...So I opted for salad with goat cheese.  This was a much more acceptable choice.

So, boys and girls.  What needs to change?  I need to actually USE my cookbooks and decide what I want to cook throughout the week.  Then I need to go food shopping accordingly.  I'll update you with my progress.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

25 Random Facts

Here are a number of facts about me, the first two (which I won't count to the 25) are that I stole this idea from that "25 Random Facts" of Facebook that went Viral in 2008/2009.  I'm going to try to state a number of things that I didn't say back then!

  1. I have to go to Rochester on September 19-22 for Work.  I've never been to Rochester before.
  2. I love baking.  I'm sure you've seen this from previous blog entries.
  3. I'm not a fan of cleaning, but I can't stand my house to be dirty.  It always seems to be messy.....
  4. My husband and I have gotten into bike riding.  I love it and wish I did it more often.
  5. I live in a condo, and can't wait to move out.
  6. I want to build a house on at least 1+ acres in Barrington.  I hope I'm able to do that one day.
  7. I have a love-hate relationship with caffeine.  To little = headache, too much = headache.
  8. I don't understand the fascination with the word "pasta."  Growing up, it was either macaroni or spaghetti.  Pasta was just if you made it by hand....
  9. I watched "Inglourious Basterds" the other day for the first time.  I loved it, and will definitely watch it again.
  10. I love all movies made by Mel Brooks.
  11. I tore my PCL 5 months before my wedding (on Christmas Eve).  It still hurts when I try to run.
  12. My sister is getting married in June and I am the MOH.  Techinically I'm the "Matron" of Honor.  I hate the word Matron...It sounds so old.
  13. I am newly obsessed with the 2004 Movie "The Phantom of the Opera."  I saw it at PPAC in Middle School, and it scared the crap out of me.  I have a new found love for the music.
  14. I love dirty Martinis.  With 3 olives. 
  15. I went to the ENT because I've been having a lot of issues with my ears.  Apparently I have arthritis in my jaw and it affects my ears.  I can't eat bagels or chew gum.
  16. I don't like being taken advantage of, and I don't like being lied to.  
  17. Hockey is my favorite sport.  Football is my second favorite.
  18. I am transitioning into a new job.  I will soon be an individual contributor again.  I can't wait.
  19. I get frustrated very easily.  I need to remember to take more big breaths.
  20. We had a huge hurricane (Hurricane Irene) over the weekend that a lot of people didn't take seriously.  They actually reclassified it to a "Tropical Storm" but there are still areas that don't have power.
  21. It should usually take me 45 minutes to drive to work.  Lately it's been taking almost an hour because of construction on Rte 44.  They're supposed to be doing this construction until Spring 2012.  JOY.
  22. I have been trying to lose weight.  I have thus far lost 14 lbs on Weight Watchers.  I need to exercise more in order to boost the weight loss.  I get distracted easily.
  23. I have more cookbooks than I know what to do with.  I hardly use any of them.
  24. I have a facebook account, but I'm very upset with the new privacy settings.  You can now tag people in your posts and pictures, even if they're not your friends.  That doesn't seem very private to me!
  25. I love Mexican Food.  And I love drinking Margaritas and Sangria with my Mexican Food.