Free food is hard to find on weekends!

I've been up since 5:45 this morning so this will be quick.

I SORT of ate free food today. See, this morning I woke up at 5:45 because I needed to get to Central Park by 7:30 am to do a 5m road race for the New York Road Runners. I only pressed snooze once and was out of the house by 6:30! And it was cold!

I went by myself to the race and was shocked to see 3000 other kindred souls. Wow, there a lot of masochistic crackheads in New York City. I made a brand new friend named Jen on the way to pick up my t-shirt, and we ended up running the race together and became bffs. We both love Murakami! And think the Beats were misogynistic! And we love geeks! We went to grab coffee afterwards and agreed to run all upcoming races together. If only I could pick up men the way I pick up friends!

So, the questionable free food I ate was after the race. There were bagels and apples, but since I paid $25 to run the race, not sure if this counts towards my quota.

How do you talk to an angel or a faded teen idol?

Okay, the 1980s seem to be following me. Last night it was all about Swayze, and tonight I watched "Confessions of a Teen Idol" on the DVR. "Confessions of a Teen Idol" is, naturally, on VH1, and it follows 7 has-beens as they try to reclaim their so-called fame that has eluded them for years. Now, I'm a pop culture whore and I cast a wide net when declaring someone a star (I'd probably faint if I ever ran into, say, Dina Lohan) but even I thought VH1 was stretching it when they called Eric Nies a teen idol. And Billy Hufsey? Bueller? I've never heard of him. And what's up with them casting Jeremy Jackson, the second Hobie Buchanan on Baywatch? They should have chosen the first one: Brandon Call. What I wouldn't do to see what he is doing. Or Jake from Sixteen Candles. A girl can dream for season 2.

Luckily, "Confessions of a Teen Idol" did feature Jamie Walters, though they mysteriously omitted his star turn on "The Heights" when describing his miraculous resume. He's a (married) bad-ass firefighter/paramedic with fierce tats, and I kind of got a little excited. Just don't push me down the stairs, Ray Pruit!

In addition to my tv watching, today I had a blast from the past that involved a real person! Woohoo! Over a year ago I took my favorite mode of transportation back to Boston--I'm talking about you, Fung Wah!--and I had a really great conversation for I think 3 of the 4 hours with this guy Jay. We exchanged e-mail addresses and then never got in touch. So this week he e-mailed me, and of course I remembered him because I am Captain Autism (at least that's what my brother calls me, because I remember everything, including the name of the little girl in the tv movie The Secret Garden, Gennie James, and no, I did not look this up on imdb.com). We met for lunch at Room Service, a Thai restaurant in Chelsea. I ordered tom yum soup and lard nah. Oh, it was delicious! I had not even told Jay about my blog and he *still* picked up the check. 2009 is going to be a good year people!

Now I am going to bed. Why so early on a Friday night, you ask? Well, I plan on running a 5 mile road race in Central Park tomorrow at 8am. Yeah, I'm hardcore.

Your pal,

Liz!

It's my way or the Sway-way!

Patrick Swayze has been a part of my life since 1988. That's when I saw Dirty Dancing. Yes, I know it came out in the theatres in 1987, but it was PG-13, and sexy, and featured an illegal abortion, and premarital sex (yahoo!) and my Catholic, Republican parents were not about to let their precious third grade daughter, lover of LA Gear and Family Ties, see it at Lawrence Showcase Cinemas. My fifth grade sister Katie, however, DID get to see it while I saw He Man: Master of the Universe with my brother and dad. Yeah, I guess my parents saw being 10 as vastly more mature than being 8, but whatevs, the three Simons sibs all turned out okay!

The Swayz continued to keep rocking . . . 1989 brought us Road House, pottery became sexy in 1990 with Ghost,'91 he teamed with Ted for Point Break, and in 2001 he reinvented himself in Donnie Darko. And now in 2009, El Pat is taking on his greatest challenge: Pancreatic Cancer. I DVR'ed his Barbara Walters special from last night, and tonight I watched. Oh, wow, the waterworks burst! It was so emotional and wrenching and Swayze and his super cool wife of 33 years, Lisa Niemi, have such an amazing bond and love for each other and I hope I find that in a partner someday, and hopefully not on Match!

To mentally prepare myself for the interview, I ate 3 peppermint crunch Andes mints from Johnny K's Batman head. They did the trick!

All right, I need to go to bed. I love you Patrick and Lisa!

Beer: Australian for Awesome!

Your girl Liz is oh so INSPIRED by the new year! I joined the New York Road Runners this week, I'm pumped to run the New York City Marathon, and I am going to look SEXY at my sister's wedding in November (and before that too!!!)!!! It's a year for exclamation points!!!

Too bad BEER has to exist! See, my friend Allison threw a party tonight, and it was open bar, and it was open bar at a super kick ass bar on the Lower East Side where there was beer that was 11% alcohol! Woohoo! The place was called Spitzer's Corner, 101 Rivington St @ Ludlow, super awesome, I can't WAIT to take my Republican (but open-minded!) dad there. Unfortunately, Ashley Alexandra Dupre was not there, but plenty of Belgian beer was in her place! And sliders (the yuppie way of saying teeny tiny hamburgers!)! And grilled cheese! And French fries!

Seriously though, Spitzer's Corner RULED and I high recommend you go there.

Your friend and neighbor,

Liz!

A new day!

Today I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting in over a month and I was not thrilled with the scale. That said, it's a new year and I'm being positive and I am going to get in awesome shape and look so kick ass at my sister's wedding that I will probably get a dozen proposals immediately.

Of course, this commitment to health is a little bit of a hindrance when one writes a blog about eating free food every day. Since I hear dark chocolate is healthy, I only ate 2 mini-York peppermint patties from Johnny K's Batman head. And then after my Weight Watchers meeting, I met my wonderful friend (and talented comedian) Selena Coppock to watch a comedy show at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street. I swore off booze for the night, but then Selena offered to buy me a free beer, and who am I to say no?

I also joined the New York Road Runners last night and I am going to run the NYC Marathon in 2010, just you watch! I guess I'll just have to eat free carrots from now to then!

I'll be your friend, diabetic John!

Hi all,

Oh my God tonight was one of the best Intervention episodes ever. It featured John, a 21 one-year-old from Tucson, Arizona who does not take care of his diabetes. Meanwhile, he has no friends and lives with his awesome parents Lori and Jeff. Lori has MS and lupus and Jeff diabetes also, and John's refusal to maintain his health is tearing his family apart and worsening his mom's condition.

Frequently on Intervention, you resent the addict or the enablers or both (I'm talking about you, Gabe!) because they allow the problem to fester. But in John's case, there was no one to blame. I was sobbing when my boy Ken Seeley (he's also my friend on Facebook!) sat down with the fam and convinced John to get help for his depression. Two months later, John seemed a lot better and was keeping in diabetes in check. I am really cheering for his recovery!

I imagine being diabetic is very hard, and I'd hate it because I'd probably have to curb my free food eating. For example, today my friend Pat took me out to lunch at Pop Burger. I ate two cheeseburger sliders, french fries, and a Diet Coke. I tracked all these points for my Weight Watchers journal, though I kind of made up the point value for the sliders (I said 4 each--anyone have a better idea?). I also went running after work. I'm the maid of honor for my sister's wedding in November and I need to look the hottest out of anyone there, hehe.

I'm really looking forward to next week's episode of Intervention, because we're getting an update on Tressa. She's everyone's favorite lesbian/almost-Olympian who was addicted to meth. She's one of the most beloved Intervention subjects ever, along with Hubert, Jacob, and Sylvia. Can't wait!

A quickie!

What's up my good friends???

I know I've been kind of lazy the past couple weeks. You see, I've been on vacation, and not working, so all routine is out the door. I still ate free food, I just didn't write about it as much, eek!

Here are some highlights of the past few days:

1) January 1, 2009--I spent New Year's Eve at my friends Gloria and Ben's house in Cambridge with two other couples plus one-year-old twins. I slept over and on Jan 1 I ate leftover pizza, woohoo! My dad came to pick me up, and then we went over my favorite Irish-Italian family in all of North Andover's house. Mistress and master of the house Marie and Barry had pizza waiting for me, plus wine, beer, decaf coffee, and chocolate cheesecake. Plus I got to see their 2 awesome (adult) children Shelagh and Ryan and Shelagh's new baby Mia, who is so goddamn cute and has the fattest lil thighs and she is at the only age where it is appropriate to comment on a woman's weight (she is 7 months).

2) January 2, 2009--This was my last day in MA before I took my beloved Fung Wah back to New York. First my dad and I went to Whirlaway Sports in Methuen, home of the Loop, to buy me new running shoes. While not food, they were free because Papa Simons bought them for me! We stopped back at the house so I could eat lunch before my trip. My dad was so cute--he packed an extra lunch for me to take on the bus. He made me a turkey sandwich with mustard and Muenster cheese, and threw in a few cookies and a tangerine. I don't think my father has ever packed his own lunch in 34 years of marriage to my mom, so I thought this was so cute and adorable and made me love my dad more than I already do! My mom had made the cookies so I love her a lot too!

3) January 3, 2009--My first full day back in NY. I went over my friend Mike's house to play backgammon and drink gin and tonics. He also gave me a cookie.

Today was meh in the free food pursuit. And my meh I mean a failure, unless you count the Communion wafer I ate at church, or I should say the body of Christ. Tomorrow I go back to work, which is a little depressing, but at least I'll have Johnny K's Batman head!