What I'm Reading Monday - Love me some Vamps

Boy.  Did last week go by super crazy ridiculously fast for anyone else?  It was halfway through before I even blinked and then here I am and it's Monday!  I was productive this week though.

1) Called and complained to the apartment office far too many times for them to finally do what I needed them to do on Friday.
2) I did some updating to the blog because I figured out how to add widgets!  I know have a Follow me on Pinterest link, a counter to show how far along I am on my Goodreads 2012 reading challenge, and a visual of what books I am currently reading.  Super cool right?!
3) I sewed up a huge cute something for a friend that I got to see on Sunday night.  I will share that one (and all of the drama associated with it later).
4) Finally was able to vacuum since the above mentioned apartment drama was almost over.
5) Oh and I finished a few books. :)

First one I finished, Darth Paper.  I knew immediately when I started it that I didn't really like it.  It grew on me a little bit because since I started it I wanted to finish it.  Overall, you can seriously tell this was written for a younger audience.  If you have a teen and they love Star Wars they would enjoy this book.  I realized a third of the way through that this was a sequel to another book but you didn't really need to have read the first book to understand what was going on in this one.  Also listening to the book I found that this is probably a book better suited to be actually read via the paperbook.

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The second one I finished was the first issue of Fairest.  Now, I have had this issue since pretty much the day is came out... months and months ago.  As you can tell I am a bit behind.  I was a little disappointed because it starts off the story with a male character but I can tell that it is going to be just as good as the Fables comic.

I stayed up a bit late on 3rd of July to finish Lola and the Boy Next Door.  I have to say that I really really liked it up to the very end.  Now, I don't want to ruin it for anyone who has not read it but I just don't feel the ending was right.  I believe the true ending was foreshadowed but not chosen.  I did like it overall though.  I just fast-forwarded in their time and imagined my (better) ending for it.

I am still chugging along on Undercover in High Heels.  I am getting to the really good part where you don't want to put it down.  I can't wait to find out who the killer is!!

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The next audiobook that I started was Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore.  And. I. Love. It.  I love the reader and I love how the story is written.  I am so happy that I have all three in the series.  I will be able to go right from one to the other to the final one!

I am thinking about catching up on the three other issues of Fairest that I have... might make Jon feel better for buying them individually for me versus waiting for the trade... :)

Can't believe it's Monday, but have a good one!!

Pinterest Pick - Party Balloons!

We had a party last week for 3rd of July.  We were lucky to have had enough room in the fridge for everyone's drinks of choice.  However if we had not there would have been some warm beer drinking.  That's because we didn't prepare for the party by making water balloons.

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It is such a ingenious idea.  Especially that after the balloons melt they can be used in a horrifically cold water balloon fight.  Which I refuse to participate in.  Brrrrrr.

Food Friday - Sausage and Rice

There are many times that Jon and I want a quick and easy dinner... Well let's be honest, all of the time we want that.  This is one of those dinners:

Super easy, I promise.  First you need these ingredients: Sausage, rice, and veggies.

We normally use broccoli and carrots.  But really any veggies would do, so use what you like!

Now the best part is you get the rice and sausage boiling in the same pot.  Lots of times we even cook the veggies in the same pot too but this time I wasn't fast enough to get them in there.

We had a few frozen broccoli's left and they made it in the pot.

Pretend the rice bag is in there.  Apparently I didn't get a picture of that either.

I used our little microwave steamer to cook the other veggies.

Once the sausage is cooked we cut it into little medallion shapes.  Sometimes I make them half moons too.  It's all based on preference.

 Dump the sausages back in the pot along with the rice and veggies.  Mix it all around.

To spice the meal up we will put salsa on top.  We also will use the queso too if we happen to have some.

And there is dinner!!!  We tend to have a bit left over and it reheats well too.

Hope everyone's weekend will be great!

NYC Vacay Part 2

On our third day in the NYC, Liz and Mike brought us to their community farm.

It was so freaking cool!!  They pay for a 1/2 a share and owe the community 9 hours of work over the course of the season.  Each week they get to take their 1/2 share of the food!

I have to say there was amazing looking veggies as you can see.

The view of the city from Governor's Island

After the veggies we headed over to Governor's Island for some lunch, biking, and Statue of Liberty viewing.  It was so great!

Jon and I rented bikes (which were so weird because it had pedal breaks vs. hand breaks).

Hi Mike!

I had never seen the Statue of Liberty before and I was a little underwhelmed.  I thought the statue was smaller than I had expected.  The photos all make it look so huge and in person it wasn't the same.   After checking out Lady Liberty we biked around the rest of the island and checked out all of the old buildings.  It was really interesting to see and think about how people used to actually live on the island.

We headed home and chilled for a bit before leaving to go to the Nitehawk Cinema to watch Moonrise Kingdom.  The theatre was cool because it is one of the dine in ones.  I enjoyed the food and the smore's pie for dessert.  The movie was pretty good.

When we got out of the theatre we realized how cool the building was!  We arrived early so it was still light outside.

We made a trip to a look out area to check out what the city looked like at night.  As we were walking up we heard what we thought were fireworks.

We were right!!  The party they were prepping for on Governor's Island was in full swing.  It was a Gay Pride something or other and they had decided to have fireworks.  It was great because we could see the Statue of Liberty AND the fireworks at the same time.  It was a pretty long show too!

After seeing the fireworks the skyline of the city at night looks pretty darn good too!

On our way home we took a mini tour of Red Hook.  We were not ready with the camera so this was the best shot we were able to take as we were driving by.

On our fourth day in the Big City, Jon and I ventured out on our own!  It was funny how I knew (remembered) how to get to the subway better than Jon!  We made it to the right stop and headed over to the 30 Rock Building.

We thought we were going to have to wait to get a ticket up to the top but we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to go right up!  The elevator ride was crazy!  I almost had my dizzy/sick feeling but luckily it went away quickly.  And yes, it is true you need to ride looking at the ceiling the whole time so you don't miss out.

The view was beautiful!!  I have been up very high to view skylines before in Las Vegas and this was just as amazing but completely different.  I could not believe just now many buildings there were.  And that you could pretty much see them all!!  You could see the Empire Statue Building, the Chrysler Building (which was hidden by the Met Life Building), and Times Square.  I was so happy there were difrerent levels so each view was just a little bit different.  Jon went picture taking crazy.  He also ran into one of his co-workers!  He couldn't believe it.

As we were walking through the levels we found a room where the lights on the ceiling followed you around and made noised.  It was so freaking cool!

I couldn't believe we had gone waaaaay up there!!!

After we left it was time for lunch.  Jon found a Chinese food place online and we hoped that it was going to be delicious.  It wasn't delicious, it was amazing.  When the rice arrived I was worried that Jon wouldn't like it.  With his first bite I could tell he was loving it.

We hit up Times Square and checked out the scene.  Jon went off and took some great shots of the buildings and what not.  I had been before and it was "old news" to me. :)

On our way back home we saw this really interesting building.  It was beautiful.  There were numbers all the way to the left (the ones in the middle changing super crazy).  A guy overhead us talking about it and explained it all to us.  The numbers were in military time, then the crazy numbers were the milliseconds, and the last set was a count down until midnight.  It was amazing.  The center sculpture represents the beginning of the Earth and basically how it was created.  The hand of God at the tippy top (a representation of being the Father of the Earth) was pointing directly at the statue of George Washington (a representation of being the Father of our Country) across the street.  Both of their hands are shaped the same and pointing at each other.  The last part is the little gold ball.  It shows the phases of the moon!  I wished we could have been there at night to see it and how accurate it was.

After all our walking around we headed home and were rewarded by going out to eat pizza!  Yes, I admit I was not gluten-free conscious for this meal.  I had decided that I would have a NY pizza and deal with possible headache later (luckily no headache!).  And holy crap it was totally the best pizza ever.  Oh and yes, Jon and I ate the whole thing...

There is more fun stuff to share next week. :)

Gluten-Free In NYC!!

I was very worried heading up to New York because I didn't know how the restaurants dealt with gluten-free.  I have to say that I was very happily surprised!!!

On our first day in the city we went to The Grey Dog.  And in trying to figure out what I wanted to eat Jon mentioned that I was gluten-free.  The server immediately said that they had gluten-free bread and that any of the sandwiches on the board could be made with the gluten-free bread.

Let me reiterate - ANY OF THEM!  I was in heaven... and hell!  It made my decision so much harder!! 

 I finally ended up with a Cuban.  It was amazing and I wanted to transplant the restaurant to Orlando ASAP.  I have no idea what type of gluten-free bread they used but it was perfect.

In other gluten-free news: Of the three times I ordered tacos all three came with corn tortillas!!!  I was so happy that I didn't have to eat my tacos without the wrapping.  I do have to say that Jon was not so happy.  He likes the flour tortillas and decided he will not be ordering tacos in New York every again.

I have a special post coming next Wednesday about what I was able to order on the plane ride up to New York.  :)

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I hope everyone is having a very happy and BBQ filled Fourth of July!!!!

Vacation in the Big Apple - Part 1

Jon and I went to visit some friends of ours in New York City last week.  It was amazing!  I wanted to share some highlights with you.

We arrived and headed straight to trivia at Rocky Sullivan's.  We did horribly, but we certainly had fun trying to earn the free drinks after each round.

The next day our friend Liz had the day off of work so she joined us on our trip into the city!  We had to keep ourselves occupied until Mike got out of work so of course we headed to a bar!

We went to McSorley's which was pretty darn cool inside.  It was the oldest bar that held out in letting ladies in.  Walking in I was surprised to see sawdust on the floor, apparently to make cleaning up puke easier.

Then we headed to a super great place.  I have been to the counterpart that is located in Orlando and could not wait to go to the original.

It was BabycakesNYC!!!!  I love the location in Orlando at Downtown Disney and love the NYC location even more!!!  Everything written in white was gluten-free!!  I got some stuff and wish I had gotten a bit more. :)

Last stop of the night was Tiki Bar.  We were the first ones there and literally were told that we had to wait to get in.  Once in we were enveloped in darkness and some really cool color changing lights.  I also got a super awesome drink.

It had fire on it!!!  But super nasty tasting alcohol in it.  I ended up having them fix it (as the bar tender didn't make it how the guy who took our order told him) and my second drink was much better.

Jon is showing off the super cool shot glasses the Tiki Bar had.  They were little Tiki Men!!

After that we were off back home to rest up for the next day!!!