a deluxe apartment in the sky

or a deluxe blog on typepad, more accurately.
after almost six years on blogger, i've decided to make the migration to typepad. (particularly since my new work firewall has blocked blogger.)

here i am, come and read me:
http://www.jadedem.typepad.com/

(and if any of you have been so kind as to bookmark me, update the bookmark too!)

it's times like these that call to mind the heartfelt words* of Kermit and Fozzy:

Movin' right along in search of good times and good news,
With good friends, you can't lose,
This could become a habit.
Opportunity knocked once, let's reach out and grab it,
Together we'll nab it.
We'll hitch-hike, bus, or yellow cab it.

Movin' right along, foot-loose and fancy free.
Gettin' there is half the fun; come share it with me.
Movin' right along (doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)
We'll learn to share the load.
We don't need a map to keep this show on the road.

Movin' right along we found a life on the highway,
And your way is my way, so trust my navigation.
California here we come, that pie-in-the-sky land.
Palm trees and warm sand, though sadly we just left Rhode Island.
Movin' right along, hey, L.A., where've you gone?
Send someone to fetch us, we're in Saskatchewan.
Movin' right along (doog-a-doon, doog-a-doon)
You take it, you know best.
Hey, I've never seen the sun come up in the West.

Movin' right along, we're truly birds of a feather,
We're in this together,
and you know where you're goin'.
Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down.
We're stormin' the big town.
Yeah! Storm is right, should it be snowin'?

Movin' right along, do I see signs of men?
Yeah, "welcome" on the same post that says "come back again."
Movin' right along, foot-loose and fancy free.
You're ready for the big time, is it ready for me?

Movin' right along
Movin' right along

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* unsurprisingly, i've chosen a song that doesn't exactly, point for point, mirror the experience of moving from Blogger to Typepad. that said, it is an great song in its own right. and, while appropriate for enjoyable listening anytime, has an especially good tempo for the gym. i kid you not--this song + me on a bike = cardio awesome.

The Day After

not exactly like the nuclear holocaust movie they made us watch in Junior High School:

but certainly devastating vis-à-vis my sanity.

i'm talking about the Day After the Wedding, folks, and the would-be brunch we're throwing for out-of-town guests. for our guests we were able to block out rooms at three hotels: two mid-range and one high-end (at bargain basement*--eye roll--prices ranging from $275/room to $410/room).

at the Doubletree, one of the mid-range options, we planned on having a day-after brunch. a leisurely affair, including a buffet and an omelet station and, mais oui, an assortment of breakfast meats (mmmm, bacon). as a bonus, the room was also somewhat non-hotel-y/non-conferencey, since it's on the 20th floor, has windows and even has a large terrace area. (in case our November weekend is unseasonably warm).

The Empire Room

however, when the contract from the Doubletree arrived by email, i noticed that the brunch was scheduled for 10am - 12pm. a mere two hours!!


this was much to my dismay since, as my colleague noted, brunch is *not* a meal to be rushed.
i immediately contacted the hotel to see about fixing this grievous error. i figured it would be a thirty-second phone call, followed by a minor contractual revision. ah, would that it were the case.
instead--
it was drama. apparently, the Doubletree Hotel is a union-run shop. which is fine by me--hell, i saw Norma Rae--go unions! somehow the union was dictating a two-hour brunch. this was *so* not ok with me. after much discussion, the catering manager was going to check with the union and see if the brunch could be extended to three hours. the next day, i got a message saying that three hours was a go. hip hip hooray? not so fast.

when i called to confirm and change one of the menu items, it seemed as if the brunch's third hour was going to get the red-headed stepchild treatment. i.e., no replenishment of food, cold coffee (gross!), etc. i was not thrilled.

at this point, Jennifer, my superduper wedding planner at the Wedding Library, intervened and phoned the Doubletree. i have no idea what conversation was had, but suffice it to say, the three hour brunch lives to see another day (hot coffee and all!), and i may actually sleep through the night...

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* yes, i realize that $275 is not at all a bargain. even though we blocked our rooms about five minutes after getting engaged (back in December), these were the best prices we could find. hopefully the (once again) awesome brunch will ease the pain. a little. (ok, a very little).

overextended

...that's me!
since the weekend of the 4th and my (all-too-brief) escape from the city (with Lola and Ted), i've been doing a whole lot of activity but haven't had much time to document it. the weekend of the 4th was a bit of a disappointment, since my parents' pool was a) unheated and b) just filled, making for a chilly swimming environment. happily, the pool heater problem has since been fixed, so if i ever make it out there again this summer, i might be able to bear exposing myself to more than waist deep excursions... Lola and Thurston were braver, getting all the way into the deep end. the boys also got to play catch and whiffle ball and T got to eat a burger just the way he likes it-- scarily cooked.


the rest of the weekend was kind of beat as T had a cold. so i made some Thai Carrot Spicy Soup, which was quite awesome. (since i froze a bunch of it, it's also served as a delicious lunch this week).


we went to Lupa for his birthday dinner and then spent Independence Day gaining our freedom from clutter. (read, we cleaned out some of our closets.) does it get more exciting than that?
the true excitement though (and when is it not?) is born of all the wedding related balls i have been juggling. cakes and brunches and dresses--oh my! and that's just the easy stuff.

but aside from cake appointments this past weekend, we did get to a) see Superman Returns with Sam and Mark and b) have brunch with Evil and Mrs. A at O'Nieal's in Hoboken (where we got to sit outside and have outstanding burgers.* for some reason, i decided it made extra sense to drive to the movies on Saturday night. i was all, "it's Battery Park City--even if we have to park in a lot, it will be so much cheaper than cabs for both ways."
not only was parking *not* cheaper than cabs (cough-over $30-coughcough), it was not even that close to the theater. another one of my hare-brained schemes, go figure.

you might have thought i learned my lesson earlier that day, when, during a cake excursion to Brooklyn, we found a great new way to learn that the car's inspection is up:

because the A/C in our car is shot, we switched cars with my brother (who, on a cross-country road trip in my parents' other car, may or may not be aware of this transaction). in doing so, we neglected to notice that my brother did not get his car inspected as he ought to have done in June. so, yes, another "let's drive to save $" trip has (again) become more costly than a cab ride. hell, even a car service would have been more economical. yeah, driving in the city makes sense.

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* yes, i am aware of the weight consequences of burgers and fries, but i also am aware of the me-consequences of burger deprivation. it ain't pretty...