New Haven

We moved to New Haven May 31 to spend the rest of the assignment in a different area.  The house is a few blocks from Yale and has a fenced in backyard/patio area that the dogs (as well as us) have fallen in love with.

We have tried a few restaurants around but have been keeping the fridge stocked with yummy fruits and veggies (yes, Jenna is coming around to their delicious taste).

Jenna enjoys taking long walks with the boys on cloudy days...on sunny days Lui just runs from shade to shade and pants!  He has lost weight so we're excited about that.  (17.2 lbs down from his max of around 21-22)

The girls that live upstairs have been overall OK....they slam doors and scream up and down the stairs but we pictured late night parties on the patio with Suzanne screaming obscene things out the window since 5am comes early on work days.  The commute is an hour to work, but it's a nice area to be in on days off...younger scene than the immediate area around Greenwich.  

Sequoia Experience

In response to a request by a dear friend to resume updating this blog with the craziness that is my life...here goes...

Update on my experience in Elmsford, NY May 2013

Jenna and I moved into a hotel for a week while we waited for Sequoia to move his stuff out of our sublet for May.  Amazingly a week in a hotel with each other went pretty smoothly and we didn't kill each other!  We lived sans fridge/microwave and that made for some interesting meals out.

I'm a huge fan of yelp and I found a little local, family-run place in the town we were in.  We ventured out to eat after tasting some beer at the local brewery.  When we arrived at the restaurant the valet showed up to take the car and after a brief spanish exchange he realized that we were in fact just eating and not moving in (despite having a completely loaded down car).  As we got closer to the entrance Jenna noticed that everyone was dressed to the 9s. (Keep in mind that the menu online had entrees averaging $14-$24...nothing super "fancy") I was wearing a sweater and jeans and she had on a tshirt and jeans.  We decided we would just sit at the bar and grab something quickly.

Upon entering the restaurant we noticed the average age was somewhere in the 70s and until we arrived the youngest person was probably ~45 and her husband was ~80.  A cover band was playing some pretty awesome oldies and these senior citizens knew how to get down.  It was delicious food and the music was great!  The bartender was the owner's mother and she was a fan of the heavy pour.  Thank goodness we just had a glass of wine because any liquor drink I'm pretty sure consisted of ice and said liquor!  (which can be great sometimes but not when you have orientation at 8am!)

The day we were supposed to move into Sequoia's house he emailed saying that due to circumstances out of his control we couldn't move in until Sunday.  We luckily got a room in the same hotel and got to move all our stuff from room 1 to room 2....yay!

Sunday May 12 we finally arrive at Sequoia's place in Norwalk, CT.  Jenna moved in while I was at work and thank goodness it all went smoothly because by this point we were OVER Sequoia.  (if we only knew he was going to make us crazy for the next few weeks)

The place was in a lovely neighborhood with a great yard and the house itself was split into 3 apartments.  Sequoia is big into sailing so his place was full of ship sails, books, maps, etc.... It was rustic but at least we had a kitchen, washer/dryer, cable tv, etc.

Quick synopsis of the next 3 weeks at Sequoias.....
~He came by everyday but 4 to "grab something," work in his workshop, change cars, or just to annoy Jenna
~The exterminator showed up and informed us that Sequoia had been trying to catch rats for close to a year with no success...Lui proceeded to kill said rat in roughly 1 week....in the yard (no house sightings were made)
~My car got covered with tree sap and we spent a good 1.5 hours scrubbing it inbetween shifts while I proceeded to lose my mind
~The wiring was so ghetto rigged that we were thankful we escaped before blowing up!
~Wildlife we saw - wild turkey (they pecked our cars...wtf?? We unleashed the miniature dachshunds on them and that was quite a sight), chipmunk, deer, raccoon

Overall it ended up working out well, but it was quite a headache on a weekly basis.

McDonalds Binge

So after running my butt off at work....literally I could feel sweat dripping down my back at several time during the day...I decided some McDonalds was in order.  It had been a while since I'd filled my body with the greasy goodness, but after hearing Cherryl and Brittany talk about it at work yesterday I was in the mood. 

When they say "eat everything in moderation"  I imagine they don't mean....go to McDonalds order 20 chicken nuggets, a McChicken, a double cheeseburger, and a medium fry and proceed to consume most of it....maybe that's just my guess.  I only ate 6 of the 20 nuggets along with all the rest, but still it classifies as a pretty good binge.

Highlights from the last few days since I posted:
Friday night - out and about in SF with Cherryl and Elena.  Club Roe...I think they should have had a height requirement for guys to get in like they do at amusement parks for small children.  The average height in the place was probably 5'3 :-/ 
I learned that cabs do not like to bring me back to where I live so I got smart and just got in one and told him where to go....he grumbled the whole way but I got home safely

Saturday I explored Ocean Beach aka fog central and then made my way up to Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry building.  Kara's Cupcakes - raspberry chocolate one = heavenly...I shall learn to make that once I have my kitchen appliances back

Sunday - "I was out in the sun all day and my belly got burnt....did I burn the baby??...are you sure cuz it's really red...so the baby's okay????"  - Really people??

Was excited about going to Tahoe tomorrow but Northstar didn't impress me with 101 inches in a week so end of the season still charging $125 for lift and rental yeh...I passed :-/  I'll find some madness to get into!

Sad :-(

Busy day

Sore legs

Crappy conversation

Sad Suzanne

Great Wine

Trash TV

Bed

The spark has been extinguished despite my instinct and beliefs

Lazy Sack of Fluff

So much for making the most of my last days off.....

Sunday I hung out and cooked most of the day then watched the Boston vs NYY game with a crazy NYY fan. 

Monday I woke up watched a movie and then decided to venture out to do "Power Hour Yoga" at the studio down the street.  When I arrived nobody was there....come on I get the nerve to try to do power hour after not working out for 2+ months and the place is closed?? (The online site said they had a class)
I came home and did about 30 minutes of a yoga/pilates core tape from netflix and then ordered Chinese food.  I think that sounds more like me anyways!  I discovered some lovely tv to watch on hulu and then managed to head out for my salsa lesson. 
    Oh salsa lesson...I arrived at the address and it looked like an abandoned alley with dumpsters, boards, lots of graffiti...yeh promising I know!  It actually turned out to be great fun once I found the place.  When I arrived there were girls doing Samba and omg it was pretty amazing to watch.  It was like their bodies just moved crazy fast and their hips shook like there was no tomorrow. 
I ended the night with an amazing dinner of scallops and then a great salad with lamb chops.  Mmmm yummy. 

Now I sit here in my bed where I woke up early and proceeded to grab my computer and continue watching tv on it.  Why must hulu addict me to new shows?  I guess on the plus side I'm not out spending money since I have to pay Virginia another $260 and hope California gives me the money they kept out back.....oh taxes why must California be like it's own country and not deal with other states. 

My Spark

Today was exactly what I needed after 3 long days of work!

Last night Jennifer and I went out in the Castro for her last night in the city.  I made a new friend and had some laughs at the crazy events going on in Gay Bars. 

I spent most of today relaxing after a burrito bowl lunch with J.  I was introduced to a cell phone game - Alchemy - A-D-D-I-C-T-I-N-G!!  I managed to pull myself away from my phone long enough to finally unpack from my trip to Florida and put away clean laundry.  Now I find myself on the couch watching Eat Pray Love and eating some pizza.  Oh relaxing and very fun day! 

Oh Windy Windy Day

Today I returned to work after a week off and it was a pretty good day.  One of the hardest days to get out of bed, but had a pretty delivery and introduced a student to the wonders of birth.  He didn't faint! 

I came home excited to work on finishing the wine I started drinking with Jen last night....mmmm so much better today after decanting.  I had a fantastic surprise upon arriving home and then made my way to the kitchen to enjoy the 2004 Cristina (Pinot Noir) from Russian River Valley...yummy! 
Paired with medium rare steak and a side of tomato, basil, mozzarella it is AMAZING.