WGC #9 & 10!! (gobble gobble edition)

i don't know about you guys but at one point during thanksgiving i was so full i thought i was going to die. seriously.

we went to rogray's sister's on the upper east side around 11:30am to begin the festivities. the babies were taking their nap so we all just hung out waiting for his dad, step mom, and grandfather to arrive. we decided to start eating. now what should we start with? how about rogray's now famous spinach artichoke dip?



i love spinach artichoke dip. it is a weakness of mine. if ever i am forced to eat at a place like this or this the only thing i will want is spinach artichoke dip. we've coined this t.g.i.rogray and it was a hit. about half an hour later it looked like this:

this thing was so popular that rogray has to make it at the twins' b-day party next weekend, our chrismukkah party in 2 weekends and again at christmas at his mom's. i couldn't be happier.

rogray's bro-in-law makes amazing cuba libre's:

so i had one to start the day. when rogray's dad and step-mom showed up with grandpa gray in tow they opted for red wine and antics:

after my cuba libre i discovered this toy. at first i was confused and a bit scared:
but then i realized it was awesome:

while the turkey was finishing rogray and pedro had a moment:


and gracie tried to think of other words to say besides no: she couldn't. but she's 2.

the bird finished and while bro-in-law moved it from roaster to cutting board holgray (apparently rogray thinks the middle sister wouldn't like to be called hogray even though i think it's hilarious!) carved it:



oh, and yes, these people cook their turkey with bacon on top. yummy!

we all settled in with an appropriate family member at the head of the table: and ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and some weird cabbage, vinegar thing that rogray family loves. i have what they call a "no thank you" portion of it.

after awhile we were ready for pie! holgray made maple pumpkin and rogray made apple cranberry:

we were very excited to get into the pies:

we decided you couldn't compare the two so they both won and when our plates looked like this:

we did some of this:

but not for long since the babies wanted to do some of this:

and this:

until they found this: which led to this:









it took 4 adults to clean up the mess these 2 little people made. but look at their faces. . .argh! so cute!!

after that the twins were pretty tired so we put them to bed, said goodbye to the parental units, cleaned up and hopped the train home. it was a very successful day of thanks.

but what was rogray's 10th cooking endeavor you ask? why. . .turkey tetrazzini of course!!!



ok. let me just say that i don't really like turkey. and i never thought i liked turkey tetrazzini. until rogray made it! he's a third of the way through his cooking project and it's pretty amazing how you can really see (and taste) the difference. he doesn't get stressed out while he's cooking anymore and when the cream sauce looked a bit thin he threw in more flour to thicken it -- without the guidance of the recipe!! now that's what i call cooking.

rumors

so this article popped up today. . .

if he runs, will he win?

if he runs and i volunteer on the campaign can i meet him?

if i meet him will he and i become besties?

once i upload our pics from thanksgiving there will be a mega post. . .

meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow

*

so this is our cat: harper. for some reason when miss n met her she called her parnell and it somehow ended up sticking as a middle name as did petunia, koogs' addition. she looks innocent enough but beware. . .this bitch has claws and she's not afraid to use them. por ejemplo:

when rogray and i were making plans to move across the country back to nyc we were trying to figure out how to transport harper -- at first the plan involved driving with her across the country, sneaking her into hotel rooms and putting ice packs in her carrier so she wouldn't overheat -- we decided that was too difficult and were about to choose the more expensive option of having rogray fly back with her the weekend before we left and deposit her at koogs' (her second mommy, really) and then rogray would fly back to drive with me. crazy? yes, but it seemed to to make sense at the time. then mateo told me he was coming to l.a. for work the week before we left and valiantly agreed to fly back with harper and take her to koogs' himself.

the day arrives and amidst many warnings of her reputation as a crazy, homicidal, killer feline, mateo assures me all will be well, that he "loves cats and not to worry." so i pump her up full of kitty tranquilizers and send her to the airport with an idealistic mateo at the wheel of his snazzy rental car. if only he had heeded my stern warnings.

since mateo was not landing in nyc until midnight and koogs teaches the future of america he had to keep harper with him until the next day when he could take her over at a more reasonable hour. so around the time that harper should have been snuggling into her old friend's lap i gave a call to see how things were going. that is when i found out from koogs that things were not going well and i should call mateo. i do and it's awful. not only can i hear her meowing and growling in the background but i can here a broken spirit in mateo's voice. he sounds like he has been through a battle between good and evil and evil is winning. i tell him to steady himself, throw a blanket over her and shove her into her carrier no matter what. he says he's tried it and i say do it again -- i tell him how there have been times when i've had to straddle her and pin her down to clip her claws or grab her by the tail to get her into the carrier and that she won't get hurt and that she can't actually murder him -- she just sounds like she can.

we hang up and i wait. a few minutes pass and he calls and sounds worse than he did before. at this point harper parnell petunia is hiding under a table in his living room snarling at him like what'sherface in the exorcist. i call koogs and ask her to go over there for back-up. she kindly agrees and goes over with her head held high and optimistic that she possesses the magic touch to calm harper and get her to willingly walk into her carrier.

cut to something like an hour and 30 minutes later (!!!!) and i still haven't heard from either of them so i call and now koogs sounds like she has been broken by this 5 pound ball of fur. apparently they have spent the last hour with harper in the closet, koogs sitting outside of it meditating only to have harper come out and allow koogs to pet her while simultaneously growling at her. and now harper is huddled in a corner and koogs can't get near her and neither can mateo.

at this point harper has been freaking out for something like 4 hours and mateo has been on the brink of an opera style meltdown for at least 3 of those and koogs has joined him in half that time and i am feeling horrible that this has taken such a disastrous turn. so i finally tell them to just grab her, stick her in the carrier, put the carrier on it's end so she can't run out, zip it shut and be done with it. i tell them that they can do this. that no matter what sound she makes she is not actually hurt -- she's just putting on a show. i tell them that rob suggests getting her into the bathroom so she has nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide. (sorry about that musical interlude, it was unavoidable)

somehow mateo rallies and gets her in her carrier in under 5 minutes.

all of this is to say that our cat may be small, she may have the cutest white paws and little nose, but she is a beast that can bring an adult woman who is in charge of 25 8 year-olds every day and an adult man who directs entire plays to their knees. she is a beast.

of course, she's never treated me that way. . .

*photo courtesy miss n's camera phone.

workin' for the weekend.

this is how our busy weekend started: hot dogs!! rogray and i went to lincoln center to see the understudy run-through of this play:



miss n is the understudy for one of the leads and invited us to come watch her in the run-through. we were so excited we took a picture of her name in lights:



basically we got to see a very expensive play for free with fantastic performances. miss n was the best though and i'm not playing favorites -- she was at the top of her game- the part was written for her and why she wasn't just cast is a mystery to me but whatever -- she was funny, smart and beautiful. here she is after the run-through in costume:



see how hot?

saturday we finished cleaning the apartment and our reward was going to mateo's 27th b-day party!! he was celebrating with another friend of his and their friends got together and not only were they great hosts but great chefs too. an action shot:



and the spread:



there were spring rolls, homemade guacamole and salsa, chicken satay with homemade peanut sauce, bruschetta, prosciutto wrapped crudites, some kind of garlic dip, bacon wrapped scallop and shrimp, crab dip, a fancy cheese plate and geo's special ginger kisses which didn't taste like there was any alcohol in them but the pounding in my head sunday morning begged to differ. . .

we had lots of fun:



but then i couldn't find my cell phone so the evening started to look like this:



rob trying to call my cell phone while mateo gave me the old "oh shaygo" while his roommate ignored the situation completely. but we couldn't find my cell phone because it was hiding under this:



after being assured that mateo would definitely find it and assuring that his cookie stash we gave him was safe inside his closet so nobody could partake of mateo's one true passion we decided it was time to leave since we had our own soiree to throw.

Housewarming Brunch!!

we woke up early and i made a bloody mary mix and then we went to park slope to get too many bagels and pick up mo and her hubby so they could help us set up and din't have to cart their homemade banana nut bread and berry muffins on the train.

miss n thought the fritattas i made were tasty:


while these two were more intrigued by our coffee and bloody marys:


there was some perusing of my us weekly:


and some general silliness:


some serious chatting:

turns out mo and miss n's b-fri, the rock star, went to elementary school together!

the lumberjack came and went:


and at the end of the day when everyone had left and rogray and i did our re-cap we realized that the most remarked upon item at the brunch was not the food, not the company, not the music, or even the apartment but this:



our light fixture. that we didn't buy. it was the only thing in the apartment when we moved in. and it was all anyone could talk about. so basically the one thing people were the most obsessed with was the one thing rogray and i had nothing to do with. little did i know we had such a gem on our hands.

it was a great brunch. the lawyer brought us a plant which was a nice gift and many brought sweets and cakes to round out the whole meal -- the critic even brought pancake batter because i got paranoid there wouldn't be enough food but we didn't even touch it...but i heard it made a great dinner so it didn't go to waste.

thanks to everyone who came. our house has been officially warmed.

When I Paint My Masterpiece

rogray and i have been in the midst of trying to get our apartment (aka our shit) together. it's a big space by our standards(not to brag but more to make you wonder if your space would be considered bi and therefor make you feel ever so slightly insecure about your own home -- don't feel too bad -- our bathroom sink is missing a leg and the shower drain is clogged so we're not perfect) so we don't want to overfill it but we don't want to leave it empty either.

basically all that is to say that i spend hours on craigslist trying to find us a coffee table, shelves and the like. thanks to all my research on craigslist rogray was able to buy us a bookcase for $15 -- the trick being it was unfinished wood. so one trip to home depot and $54 later i was ready to do my first official home project: paint a bookcase. unfortunately i have no pictures of what it looked like before but i do have pictures of the transformation.

this is me in the act:


notice the use of painter's tape for the delicate edging. take a closer look at the way i grasp the brush to exert maximum control yet have fluidity in my painting style.



no shelves-- an example of minimalism and function -- the function being that this was the 3rd and final coat of paint and dry dammit!!! DRY!!

the shelves:



at that angle it looks like my floor is really slanted. . .it's not.

and finally the finished product:


take your time. deeply inhale and relish the simplicity, the beauty, form and function mingling together. . .a true piece of art.

ok. not really but i am proud of it. i used primer! i used one can of paint called egyptian nile and another called cottage white because i wanted contrast! an assortment of paint supplies were used including mini rollers and small paintbrushes! i arranged the books with thought and then embellished with chotchkes!

is this the same humble beginning from which martha began?

Cheeseburger in paradise

Fast Food Nation: The Movie

See it or just read the book?

And if you've read the book -- are you going to see it?

WGC #7 & #8!!!

2 for the price of 1!! you guys are lucky.

so last thursday we had some more fine ladies over for dinner and some theater type conversation and rogray made pasta with toasted hazelnuts and shaved asparagus. . .you're getting hungry just thinking about it!



we've switched to whole wheat pastas in an effort to incorporate more whole grains into our diet and it's easy because it doesn't taste any different from the other kind.

this is a really quick and easy weeknight dinner that rogray obviously aced. you shave the asparagus stalks raw with a vegetable peeler and toast/roast the hazelnuts -- when the pasta is cooked -- you drain it and throw in the shaved asparagus -- the heat from the pasta cooks it! it's genius. throw in the hazelnuts with some olive oil and parmesan and you're done. . .and happy.

#8 was salmon in a dijon-dill sauce with sauteed kale.



ok -- i know the picture doens't make it look so appetizing -- and the picture that came with the recipe made the sauce look thinner and yellower but whatever -- i'm not a food stylist and i refuse to hire one for our photo shoots. this was good -- rogray's first foray into kale -- but we both agreed that the sauce wasn't amazing enough to justify the trouble it took to make it -- we like our salmon with some olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder.

in an effort to keep rogray from burning out i made a spaghetti carbonara without cream -- turns out you don't need it. i didn't take a picture because i forgot but let me tell you -- it hit the spot and was just the comfort food we were looking for.

we probably won't be able to do another rogray cooked meal for the next week but i'm hoping for some red meat. . .i know, i know. . .it's terrible for you -- but i haven't had any for almost 2 months so i think i'm due a serving.

WGC #6!

so mondays have become dinner night with koogs, miss n, and myself. the ladies come over (koogs brings bread and cheese, miss n brings dessert) and rogray cooks and then we eat! so here we have the results of meal #6:


marinated pork with mushroom gravy and balsamic braised veggies. (recipe and menu designed by rachael ray.)


we ate. three different ladies, three different styles of eating!



and then we discuss what we're eating. rogray likes the way he sautees garlic but miss n thinks her way is better:



the pork was delicious -- cooked perfectly so it stayed juicy and tender which is good because nobody likes touch, dry pork. the veggies were good and cooked perfectly! the gravy? no good -- and as usual this was in no way rogray's fault. rachael ray is simply bonkers. i have a sneaking suspicion she's a reliable resource when it comes to simple and classic comfort foods like chicken marsala and the like but when it comes to her trying to get fancy she spins wildly out of control and thinks that a rich mushroom gravy would go well with a light tart pork marinade. ho is crazy!

koogs was very uncomfortable with the constructive criticism I gave rogray but she also thinks i'm hilarious so this is what she looks like when telling me to stop:

just try and hide your amusement!

after dinner we digest a bit and then eat dessert -- this week was uncanny cashew ice cream from ben & jerry's. i'd never had it before but it's miss n's fave and rightly so. . .

the night ends with some good tv watching -- this week we watched an episode of 30 rock which miss n's old rommate, jack mcbrayer, is on -- and he's brilliant!!! so everyone watch it so it can stay on forever. we call it a night when koogs admits defeat to her exhaustion which is usually around 9 -- hey, you'd be tired to if you had to guide and teach our nation's future, the youth of america…

rogray's next task: a pasta dish. . .

Oh happy day!

We did it! -- now we have to see if we can keep doing it. . .and lets just keep our fingers crossed for the senate shall we?

i'm bummed that Lois Murphy from the 6th District didn't win since that's who we canvassed for but she lost by a mere 3001 votes (2%) and District 6 is mondo conservative so I have hope for them that the Democrats will win there some day.

jk thinks that all of the blog posts and phone calls to people telling them to go vote were "completely patronizing and tired." i think i would feel the same way (especially since you're often preaching to the choir in your own circle) except that rogray told me this story about something that happened when he was canvassing in PA yesterday: an older woman told him she wasn't going to vote because she was fed up with the whole system and didn't trust any of them. i agree with her feelings of anger and bitterness but i do not agree that not voting is the answer so i think reminding people to vote is a necessary evil.

but whatever. . .the point is now we've done it so please, please, please democrats: DO. NOT. FUCK. THIS. UP.

i'm shaygo and i approve this message.

You is just a hot mess. . .

a thought from koogs and her fiancee the hulk re: britney dumping kfed:

"Hulk and I were discussing the difference between a "hot mess" and "just a fucking mess." We decided that Britney with Justin was a "hot mess". But Britney now was "just a fucking mess." Also in the running for "hot mess": Demi Moore, Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton. In the running for "just a fucking mess": Nicole Richie, Courtney Love."

i concur with their thinking. . .hot mess is sexy, dirty, wrong but oh so right. . .just a fucking mess is a disaster, shameful, and so depressing.

now you can leave your votes in the comments as to who/what you think is a "hot mess" vs. "just a fucking mess."

come on people -- show me who reads this blog. . .mom? dad? rogray? jk? hello? anyone there?

Breaking up is hard to do

unless you are britney spears finally dumping k-fed and getting your shit back together! then breaking up is easy -- even if he is your baby daddy.

mazel tov britney.

Rock the boat. . .

or Rock the VOTE!! Get out there and vote people -- and then call everyone you know and those you don't, especially in those places with close races, to vote too. . .because if you don't you'll feel guilty when the dems lose because you know that maybe if you had reminded and urged people to vote the dems would have won and you don't want that kind of guilt weighing on you for the next 2 years do you?

and if the dems win you can walk around all haughty like since you know you actually did something about it. . .it pays off either way!!

Go Vote!

when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's delicious!

rogray and i decided to get out the vote so we woke up super early on sunday to go canvassing in PA with ActNowNY. we drove two other ladies and went to Ardsmore to make sure that democrats would make it to the polls on tuesday and vote for Lois Murphy. i wouldn’t say i had the time of my life but it was fun and we met some cool people and i knew that if i didn’t do it and the dems lost i would feel shitty – but that if i do it and the dems lose at least i know i did my part.

also, we were somehow assigned a very rich section of Ardsmore – and when i say very rich i mean actual mansions and driveways so long you can’t see the house and also how would you get into the gate anyway without a code. so we didn’t hit every house on our list but we got a lot and after almost 5 hours we were exhausted and headed back to brooklyn.

when we got in i promptly started making dinner (rogray needed a night off). i made pizza!! and now i am going to tell you what i did to the sauce because it was so yummy i want to remember and also, maybe you’ll want to make it.

1 can tomato sauce
A drizzle olive oil
Some red wine (ohh la la)
2 cloves minced garlic
Some shallot or red onion (diced)
1 portabella mushroom (chopped)
Salt & pepper

let the whole thing simmer for awhile while you chop and shred and the oven heats up.

my toppings? shredded mozzarella, zucchini and prosciutto. . .oh me oh my it was tasty. the crust was just a frozen foccaccia from the co-op but it was crispy and soft at the same time.

tonight rogray starts cooking again and we are looking at a diverse and exciting week of meals: pork, salmon, and pasta dishes are all lined up for the week. . .let the re-caps begin!

Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies. . .

i may or may not be temping at a major company whose sole responsibility is to sell lingerie to women along with some really slutty clothes they sell only in the back of their catalogues (i mean, seriously, what's with those clothes?). this company may or may not have launched the careers of many super-successful super-models, two of which have their own tv shows. and i may or may not be violating some piece of paper i signed at my temp agency about confidentiality but what i'm about to say is, in no way, surprising, revelatory, or secretive (hint hint).

what i am about to do though is tell you about the un-photoshopped image that is to go in an upcoming catalogue that is meant to bludgeon you blind with boobs or make you wonder why your boyfriend refers to it as his free playboy subscription when it's clearly not a playboy -- it's not like they are objectifying women and paying said women millions of dollars to pose in suggestive poses in the nude or practically so -- oh, wait, yes they are. . .yes, it IS his free playboy subscription. i get it now.

anyway, in the photos i saw all the models wear skin-colored g-strings under all the underwear and they photoshop the visible parts out. one model clearly doesn't keep up with shaving her armpits. all the bras are too small for the models which is how their boobies are practically on their eye-level -- but since they are so small the straps and bands twist and dig into the skin creating the appearance of back fat. all of this along with various tattoos, skin blemishes and so on get photoshopped out -- and then muscle and bone definition get added in.

am i surprised? no. did i know this was happening? of course -- but there is something about knowing it and seeing it that makes it different. and after seeing these images i felt somewhat empowered because all of the times where there have been pictures of me where i thought i looked really good were not aided by a computer program. just by me being adorable.

and as an added observation about the glory of photoshop i saw this image on the subway today. now, bo derek is 50 and morgan fairchild is 56. and i applaud them for still working -- and obviously they have enjoyed some nipping, tucking, and the injection of clostridium botulinum aka botox aka minute doses of one of the most highly toxic bacteria on the planet (but i'm sure that there won't be any long-term damaging side-effects, i mean the doses are so small. . .so small they're cute!) but i don't care if your face has been pulled, scrubbed, lasered, exfoliated, injected, peeled, and then massaged with the lining of a goat's bladder -- you are still going to have wrinkles at the age of 56 or 50. . .check out this lady. Ms. Deneuve ages like she means it -- maybe because she's french, maybe because she's a better actress. . .but whatever -- if that's what 63 looks like -- sign me up!

Just the 2 of US. . .

US Weekly that is!! rogray got me a subscription to US Weekly for my b-day this year (along with a camping trip on the beach and a travel mug -- back off bitches, he's mine) but due to all our moving we couldn't really set it up until we got settled and i just got my first one today!!

i am as excited as i sound.

thanks to rogray and kudos to celebrity mania and consumerism!!! yay america!

This is the song, Elmo’s song! And WGC? #5

i don’t know how you people spent All Hallow’s Eve but i sure know how we spent it. with rogray’s niece and nephew! they turn 2 next month and they are obsessed with elmo so their mom decided they should both go as elmo. brilliant!

this is the best we could do for pictures of them in their costumes.



it turns out that 2 years old don’t want to wear loose fitting caps nor do they want to be dressed head to toe in red flannel on an oddly warm night at the end of october. however they do like running around apartment buildings banging on people’s doors for candy. that part they got. and fast.

we went trick or treating in a nearby building with a some of rogray’s sister’s friends and their kids. we saw some of the cutest things like a one year old dressed as a strawberry and a 3 year old who not only was the status of liberty but was so committed to the look that she held her flashlight torch above her head the entire time. . .amazing.

by the end of the night everyone was exhausted. after a few hours of keeping up with toddlers and fending off aggressive 10 year olds in some of the scariest costumes i’ve ever seen you feel an intense need for a glass of wine and a yummy dinner. rogray steps in to save the day! meal number 5: another success!! here he is with his creation and a close-up.

it was penne with tuna in an olive and parsley sauce. the olive oil base of the sauce kept it nice and warm while the saltiness of the kalamata olives, capers and tuna kept it bright. and it can be made in 20 minutes.

we now have 25 more meals to go and let me just say that i can’t wait to find out what he cooks up for me next. i have asked to move out of the realm of chicken for awhile so i think he’s going to be focusing on pork, fish and (here’s hoping) he’ll follow it all up with some steak!