Partying like it's 2001!

While I like to consider myself an aficionado in many things, I will admit I am not as much as a film buff as I should be. TV, on the other hand? Got it covered. We can deconstruct how all the Housewives of OC, NY, and Hotlanta are alike and different at the same time, especially Vicki and Lisa. Books? Let's discuss how On the Road is cool to read at 18, but when you reread it at 25 you realize the Beats were all kind of depressing and it wasn't much fun to be a woman in their world.

So the title of today's post is not a reference to Kubrick's Space Odyssey--last night I wasn't all anti-gravity partying with a computer named Hal. Rather, I partied like it was my senior year in college (I graduated from Duke in 2001. Go Devils!). I stayed up till 5am, even though I had stuff to do today! Hehe.

It started last night at 8:30pm when I hopped on the subway to go to a super cool last minute holiday party in Sunnyside at my dear friends' Megan and Josh's apartment. I brought my friend Mike, homemade chocolate-peanut bars, and Charles Shaw chardonnay. High roller, that's me!

So I get there and to my delight there are an assortment of goodies--FREE goodies--displayed on the table for my free eating pleasure. I ate carrots, hummus, 7-layer dip, chips, pasta, and of course I drank free wine and beer.

More people showed up and we just started having all kinds of collegiate-like fun. There was no flip cup nor Beirut going on--we are mature adults here--but there WAS a round of Kings. Before I knew it it was 3 AM and there were about 7 of us left, including the host and hostess.

So then we decided to turn on Christmas music and dance. Neighbors love it when you do this. We snapped photos and finished whatever food was left.

At 4:45 AM, there were 5 of us left, and Megan and Josh decided I should stay the night. Sleepover! Cool! We then did a very college thing: we popped in a movie. We started watching "Love Actually" which I adore but it also makes me feel all sort of lonely, because I can't remember the last time anybody waited for me at the airport. I just want to be loved goddamnit! And fed!

I wanted to go to bed, but since I was going to be sleeping on the couch, and we were watching the movie on the couch, and it was not my apartment, I couldn't exactly kick people out. Finally the final 2 guests left and Megan, Josh, and I all decide to go to bed. At 5 AM! Just like seniors in college!

The next morning I woke up at about 11am. Megan and Josh were still sleeping, so I finished my book. I also started thinking about my free food quota for the day. Weekends are always tough, so I went into their kitchen and ate some peanuts from their cabinet, just in case I didn't have the chance to eat anymore free food today.

Megan and Josh woke up, and we went out for brunch at about 1pm at the venerable Sunnyside institution "New York Style Eats." I ate a barbecue chicken sandwich with fries (not free). Josh didn't want to eat there, so he left to get a bagel. He came back to the diner with a dozen bagels: the place had a $10 minimum for credit cards and Josh had no cash. I got all excited and asked Josh for a bagel so it could count towards my free food. I also offered to immortalize Josh in my blog. He happily obliged and gave me a whole wheat everything bagel.

Now I'm about to go to bed, and to be honest I haven't eaten the bagel yet. I'll probably eat it tomorrow for breakfast. Good thing I had those peanuts!

Liz in Wonderland!

Because I am cool, I am a member of a children lit's book club. We started out reading the Harry Potter series, then the Narnia books, then Twlight, and now we're reading the Looking Glass War series, written by Frank Beddor. It is a wannabe revisionist modern day retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and it blows. However, my book club decided to meet at Alice's Tea Cup on the Upper West Side to discuss it.

Alice's Tea Cup, once featured on my beloved Real Housewives of New York, offered a 2hour wait--and probably no mimosas--so Jess, Celina, Caitlin, Stephanie and I ended up at City Grill nearby. I ate a Hawaiian salad, soup, coffee, and a bellini (not free).

After brunch, we stopped by a flea market at a senior citizen's center. I bought a pair of boots and a belt for a dollar each, then got the book Biko. Woohoo!Afterwards, we wandered offer to Jacques Torres, where Stephanie bought me a huge chocolate chip cookie, which was my free food for the day. Now I'm off to a party in Sunnyside, and I'm sure I'll have much to tell tomorrow!

Also, I forgot to mention the delicious free meal I ate yesterday in addition to the scotch tasting. Forde bought dinner for me at Cuba Cafe. I ate guac, a crappy margarita, a Corona, and chicken stuffed with chorizo. Yum yum!

Scotch: Not just a useful tape

Fridays are so much fun because they mean the end of the work week! Yippee!

Today started off well in the quest for free food: someone left out a homemade cherry pie in the 8th floor kitchen. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of cherry pie, but when it's free, why not? It's just like a danish anyway, so I had no guilt eating a small slice for breakfast.

I ate a few pieces of candy from Johnny K's Batman head after lunch, and then I got a text from a friend inviting me to a scotch tasting tonight. So I corralled my sister Katie and her fiance Forde and off we went to imbibe on the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition!

At thw onderful event, we sampled several different kinds of Macallan single malt, and on our way out we received a gift bag which included a Godiva chocolate bar. An early Christmas present, I suppose?

Overall a great day in the pursuit of free food!!!

Eggplant rules!

Sorry this is late kids. Tonight I went over my friends Nick and Sara's for eggplant parmesan and wine. Both were delish!!!

New shows and a new view!

Now that the Pick-Up Artist has been chosen (Simeon, ugh, don't get me started. Please put yourself in a corner, what movie is THAT from?) and the sun has set on the Real Housewives of Atlanta (Team NENE!), I've been forced to re-evaluate my life. I cleared out my DVR of all the shows that I am probably never going to watch. These include: about 36 hours worth of Olympics coverage from August, 6 episodes of Life On Mars, Real Chance of Love, several back episodes of Intervention (though I kept Sylvia--where are my babieeeeeees???), and the episode of Degrassi where JT gets stabbed (too emotional). I feel very cleansed.

I have not given up tv altogether. Luckily, two great shows are returning so I am all set! We've got Bad Girls Club on Oxygen and Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo! Phew! Quick digression--do people think Gretchen is only 30? I think she's pretty and all, but she looks older. Maybe it's because she's dating someone 23 years older? Who knows.

So I've got all my shows in order, so I am trying to keep myself in order. I mean, I've got my sister's wedding to go to in a year! I got to get in shape! So today I ate only ONE mini-Hershey bar, and it was Special Dark.

I also ate a couple homemade Reese's peanut butter cup type things, but I made them so it doesn't count.

Advent is Advantageous to a good Catholic like Liz!

When you're a really awesome cool girl like myself, God rewards you. As the Real Housewives of Atlanta would say, He has blessed me! But God does not shine down bling on Sister Simons, no, He bestows free food. Thanks God!

So today was what we define as "successful." See, one of the vendors that I work with, heck, the ONLY vendor that I work with, e-mailed me last week asking if he could take me out to lunch today. Is the Pope Catholic, like Liz? Yes, and yes!

So at 1 pm today we met at Ono which is a really fancy restaurant in the Hotel Gansevoort, which is a super trendy place in the Meatpacking District where Perez Hilton hangs out when he is in town. Probably Scarlett Johansson too. Needless to say it is not a place where I ever go.

So I meet Mike at lunch, and I start with a $14 lemongrass mojito. We then order two "small plates" that were about $17 each, a lil beef dumpling thingy and spicy tuna tartare. Both were about the size of my big toe, but they were delicious nonetheless!

After our apps, we ordered three sushi rolls: barbecue eel, some salmon thing, and something else with avocado (NOT vegetarian though!). We capped off the meal with a chocolate cake and something with apples, and cappuccinos.

All I know is this is a reminder why I absolutely NEED to start Internet dating. Can you imagine all the free food at great restaurants???

So I got back to work full and bloated, so you can imagine my slight disappointment when I saw leftover pizza. There was no room in my stomach, otherwise I would have eaten it.

After work, I stopped by some Astoria shopping extravaganza at a diner because there were supposed to be a free hors d'oeuvres. Well, I must have missed them because I sure didn't eat any! Can't complain too much--I DID get a free tote, in which I found a delightful candy bracelet with a Santa Claus charm!

Brownies for breakfast make for a good Monday!

So today it was hard getting up in the morning, let alone going to work! After several days of eating, drinking, and sleeping, I must admit heading back to the office was not too thrilling of a prospect.

But then my kind boss surprised me with two-bite brownies with frosting. She had them leftover from Thanksgiving. I ate 3. So they were 6 bites, hehe.

All right, heading to bed now!