Jenn's Episodes

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Mariah Madness!

Soooo - let me start off this post by saying I am not a Mariah Carey fan. I can remember a short stint in 8th grade (maybe) when Hero came out and I fell in love with that CD... Since that time, I haven't given Mariah much thought. Her skimpy outfits and over-the-top glitzy-ness were never uber appealing to me. But - Marc had a couple extra arm bands to her Good Morning America performance on Friday in Times Square thanks to his fantastic promo manager (you rock Shari!) so I decided to make the early morning treck. My friend Edna and I met at 5:50am and walked over along with Edna's Mom (another big Mariah fan...) and we had a blast! Here's some pics and video clips - enjoy it... Can't beat 6th row in the middle of Times Square for a performance on Good Morning America - even if it is Mariah Carey. I will give her some credit though - she's a lot more down to earth than I ever would have guessed. She seemed really nice and fun, aside from her next-t0-nothing wardrobe and outrageous shoes! Try walking NYC avenues in those 6+ inch heels!

Stage set up at 44th and 7th, right beside GMA studio in Times Square

Edna, Edna's Mom and Me

Mariah's Manager

Da Brat - Mariah's girl here for support

Wowza - are those reals? I mean seriously......seriously!

How about these heels? She had to have help walking down the stage...

Make sure you check out the rhinestone studded ear pieces, microphone and mic stand...

The GMA crew...

The Pope In NYC

So, last weekend the Pope was back in the U.S. for the first time since the 9/11 tragedy (which was during the reign of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI is the current Pope) . Being the faithful Catholics we are - haha - we headed to 5th Avenue to see the PopeMobile head up from St. Patrick's past Central Park to the place he was staying in the city. The Pope had more security this time around than any president has ever had - I've never seen so many Police escorts, officers, barricades, etc. all in one play - it was crazy. Streets were closed between 6th and 5th Ave and 5th and Madison all the way from 50th up to Central Park - it was a nightmare trying to get across just to get to the swarms of people, hoping to get a glimpse of the Pope as he drove by. There must have been hundreds of thousands of people out there - it was amazing to see so many different races, ethnic groups, countries, religions, etc. represented... It didn't matter whether you were a Catholic, Baptist, Jew, Protestant - it was a diverse crowd where everyone was welcome and knew they were there to see the most influencial religious man walking the earth. It was truly amazing and as with my journey to become a Catholic, continued to keep me thinking of religion in a different way, keeping me open minded - beliefs differ drastically from one religion to another but it seems those who believe in Jesus Christ and the cross and the life of the world to come - all of those people see the holiness and faithfulness that the Pope represents. It was a unique experience - here are some pictures to share as much of it as possible.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Mets and Shea Stadium

I'm way behind on this post but the week after we went to the Yankee's game, we headed to Shea Stadium to meet the Mets. Talk about a crazy bunch of fans - these people are fun and loud and rowdy. We had a good time but I still thing the history attached to Yankee Stadium makes me more of a Yankee fan at heart... I'm officially declaring my support - aside from Astros being my #1, the Yankees (minus one steroid-using, longhorn aka Roger Clements) are officially my NYC team of choice. Still had fun at the Mets game and will definitely go again - I have to say that or Byron and Jess might void their friendship with me! =) Enjoy the pics!

Train Stop

New Stadium on Right, Old Stadium on Left - It's going to be an awesome new facility

Shea Stadium from the inside

Classic Marc and Jenn Pose

Byron and Jess - trying to stay warm and dry - it was drizzling...yuck!

Monday, April 21, 2008

You'll Never Believe It....I Didn't!!

Soooo - tonight I came home late after going to a meeting I had to attend after work.

No big deal - right?
Marc headed home a little early and took care of the dogs - took them walking/running out by Chelsea Piers and then to the dog park. Marc text me during my meeting with a ha-ha comment, "Dexter played with Tony Soprano today and then attacked his dog - ha-ha".....

Again, no big deal, right?
In my mind I picture a big Italian guy and his dog....Dexter has been a little agressive lately so none of this was news, just thought the part about the big Italian guy was funny.

EXCEPT IT WAS REALLY TONY SOPRANO AKA JAMES GANDOLFINI

I came home and started talking to Marc about it and low and behold, it wasn't just some funny Italian guy! Marc and "Tony" chatted it up - pre and post Dexter attack - lol. I guess it was a conversation topic, after all. Marc said he was super nice and his dog was really cute - some white and black lab mix.... I guess he was there with his girlfriend, Deborah Lin - Marc said he was with "the lady in the picture" so that's the best clarification I can get.

So that's Marc's first big start sighting - I think his might be big enough to cancel all mine out!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

It's A Dog's Life

Thought I'd give everyone an update on our children....err....dogs! Maddie and Dexter are still growing like weeds - every day they are into something new, curious as ever. They are still puppies but I am happy to report that we are giving them a little more responsibility these days. We've actually been leaving them out on weekends when we run errands, testing them a few hours at a time, making sure they aren't going to rip our house apart when we are gone. Besides a few chewed up wires I am happy to report our home is still in tact! They've been really good so we'll hope this lasts and slowly start letting them out of that kennel more and more when we're gone. Here's some updated pictures and footage of our two little babies - they keep us laughing day in and day out - from these shots, you'll see why!

I like to call this section below, Daddy and Me, by Dexter and Maddie - notice any commonalities in these photos?

Sleepy...

Maddie's comfy AND hiding in both of these...

Sleepy....

Sleepy some more! You'd think from the pictures above that we sleep all the time - wishful thinking...

Maddie snoozin' minus one Dad...

Mom and crew

Dex and Maddie - they are growing up, huh? Still super cute!

Below is a video of Dexter and his interesting sleeping style - promise it will make you laugh!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Friends In Town

Jeff and Jen came to visit last weekend and we had lots of fun sight-seeing and playing all over NYC. Their traveling experience wasn't so great - were scheduled to land at 4:00pm on Friday but finally walked into our apartment around 11:15pm that evening. We headed out - grabbed at slice at Brick Oven 33 and took the train to Times Square. Then came back to our Chelsea neighborhood and hit Westside Tavern (By the way - interesting crowd here, be ready for it!) and Kanvas. We finally wondered home around 3:30 am and crashed - had such a good time though that night just catching up and hanging out with our friends again, FINALLY.

Saturday we woke up early and headed to the Yankees game at Yankee Stadium - so cool to see the history and passion behind this baseball team. The new stadium is going to be beautiful... This was also the first day with a temperature of 55 degrees or higher since I've lived in NYC - I was happy to roll up the sleeves of my sweater and look a little silly in order to get some sun on this pasty white skin of mine! I have to admit I've never been a big Yankees fan but after our Saturday experience and heavy pressure from Jill, of course, I might finally be turning over a new leaf. =)

After the game, we headed to Nobu Next Door in Soho, nice atmosphere, great restaurant, fantastic rock shrimp tempura dish - different than anything I've ever tasted, WOW. From there we headed to tour Ground Zero, took the train back to Times Square for dessert at Juniors, walked over to ESPN Zone to watch our North Carolina team crumble (with a waiter pulling for Kansas who is LUCKY to still be alive) and then sulked (especially Marc) all the way over to the Empire State Building for a late night look of the city. We were beat once we got home - unfortunately, Maddie and Dexter were energized and ready to go after being couped up all day. Let's just say Marc and I were a little sleep deprived the next day...

Sunday was more sight-seeing - Little Italy, Lombardi's, Ferrara's, Canal Street, uptown to Central Park, down 5th Avenue, then home to drop off Jeff for his flight out. Jen stayed a couple days over so we went over to Chelsea Market and made a last minute Billy's stop, then headed home to cook.

Monday was work, lunch at Macy's with Jen, home for Rub BBQ and then sleepy time. Ruth mentioned to me recently that we talk about our food finds a lot - wanted to know how I hadn't gained a ton of poundage... =) Maybe the explanation of the walking and running around town we do in our typical days above gives y'all a clear picture of how much opportunity there is to burn calories, day in and day out!

Jen and Jeff - had a blast, look forward to next time asap!