¿Cafesito?

When I was an adolescent, mom trained me to make espresso for visiting family members, usually on a Sunday afternoon, but I never cared to ingest the tar myself. It wasn’t until I was in grad school that I started drinking it for its power to keep me awake. Too lazy to make it myself, I drank only my mom’s leftovers. When I started dating Chris and he was spending more and more time at my house, he got hooked on café cubano and my mom taught him how to make it. He was suited with his own espresso machine and his own stash of Bustelo. He became so good at it that he was promoted to head barista at our house. His brew is always better than mine, and often better than my mama’s. Who could have predicted that perhaps the whitest guy I knew could slaughter my mom's coffee?

When we moved from Miami to the ‘burg, we had a hard time finding Cuban coffee. Most markets don’t carry it. Farm Fresh carries the decaffeinated version, and everyone knows that decaf just won’t do. We finally found the real deal at Wal-Mart. Not being a fan of driving all the way to Wal-Mart, we often purchased it in bulk. This past year, I’ve become more and more disenchanted with the conglomerate and decided to join the rest of the boycotters. That decision made, we were faced with a major obstacle. This weekend, Chris discovered that we were down to our last brick. We already started buying the dog food at Target; even though it costs two dollars more per 35 pound bag….but Target doesn’t carry Bustelo. What the crap are we going to do? Chris scoured the web and found this amazing website that not only carries Bustelo for less that Wal-Mart, but also delivers with free shipping...FREE SHIPPING! And, they have the cooooolest t-shirts! Take that, you greedy, economy-destroying slave drivers.

Check out some Natalee Dee coffee humor.

Oye

I am SO overwhelmed at work. The last couple of weeks I've been working tirelessly and haven't had time to do any blogging. This morning I made my to-do list and I am so busy that I don't even know where to start, so I won't. Deadlines, exams, receptions, tours, reimbursements...augh!

Spring semester is coming to an end. That's good and it's bad. It's good because Chris will be done with his finals on Thursday which means I will see his face after work again. The house will be clean. It's bad at work because when the faculty aren't in class, they're at my desk and handing me work. Chris has a couple of weeks off in May, which would have been a great time to vacation, but it's the deadline for faculty to spend their money, so they're booking travel and buying stuff they don't really need. Chris also has a few weeks off in August, but that's when the new faculty arrive in Williamsburg. No time for me. Why am I still at this job!? Oh yeah, it's a short drive, and the people are nice.

The weekends have been my only time to rest. We have been spending our weekends dining with Margie and Christopher & Corbett. Last week we went to Busch Gardens for the first time this year with the Cs and we got Fun Passes that will get us in all season for the price of one admission. Sweet!

In other news, Margie is off for her 3-week cruise around the Mediterranean. I set her up with a blog last night, and I encourage everyone to check it out. She says she's going to update it. Let's hope she follows through. There are two posts so far. Can anyone guess which one I wrote while she stood over my shoulder?

A World of Excess

We had an amazing weekend. First of all, I’m ailing from all the delicious food we’ve consumed. This eating contest began on Friday, when I decided that it was time to use the $15 gift certificate from the Olive Garden. Chris and I aren’t really fans, but we are fans of free food. Shockingly, we were able to find an exceptionally inoffensive plate of mushroom ravioli, and for dessert, we had Andes mints (a personal favorite). When I told the waitress that I love them, she came back with an armful. YES! That’s one more dollar for you, young Lassie!

Chris had been given a gift certificate to Le Yaca, a French restaurant that we’ve heard a lot of good things about, but never got around to going – the price list is staggering. We opted to go for dinner on Friday and we ate well – I ordered salmon and Chris got the Faux NY Strip, which was really veal, and it was really tasty. For dessert, we ordered an artery-clogging soufflé, which was to die for. I feel especially terrible that when we got home we finished off the ice cream cake that was left over from the party while we watched The Soup.

Needless to say, I was feeling a little under the weather from the excess on Saturday, so we took it easy and got whoppers from BK. We were a little late picking up Christopher and Corbett for our dinner date with Trey and Missy. We drove up to Gloucester to see their new property, then up to Christ Church in Irvington to visit Grandma & Grandpa Lindgrove. It’s a very scenic drive, and the flowering trees are spectacular this time of year. We also visited Uncle Spanky & Aunt Sandy’s new shop in downtown Kilmarnock – lots of pretty things, but out of our price range. I have to really suck up this year so that I can get one of (Chris’ cousin) Jennifer’s hand-made necklaces. Holy cow! We had about an hour and a half until our 7:30 dinner reservations, so we stopped at a Mexican restaurant for margaritas and chips. We got a little sloppy and full, just in time for our dinner at Eckhard’s. We were seated and received glares from all of the proper and elderly patrons in suits and dresses. Apparently nobody’s ever gotten tipsy and loud before dinner. Perhaps it was the gay couple in jeans? Eh, who cares? We kept eating, drinking and laughing. It was never-ending. And after dinner we ended up at the Yorktown Pub. We had beer for dessert. It felt like an after-prom party. We ended up on the beach, the ladies barefoot in the sand, men carrying our shoes. Oh, what a night.


Sunday Chris and I recovered from the previous night’s fête and got ready to meet up with some out-of-town friends and co-workers at the Blue Talon. At this point I couldn’t even look at a menu. The thought of food was revolting. I ordered a ginger ale and a burger. It was just the thing to settle my queasy stomach. Did I mention that this Bistro Burger had a fried egg in it? At the end of dinner, Kenny proposed a jaunt to Rita’s for old time’s sake. They have the BEST custard! It was raining and cold, so we politely declined. What? Was that “No” to Rita’s?! We had to refuse. I’m running out of jeans that fit. I do believe it’s going to take no time to get back to chicken and broccoli with jello for dessert. I'd like to add that this is not a complaint in the least - I feel very fortunate to a have great food around and great friends to share it with. Oink, oink!

Shamelss plug

Some of you may know someone who is living with Multiple Sclerosis. Last year I found out that someone I knew was - Cristina, who I’ve known since 9th grade. This past December, Cristina's sister Patty married my brother Joey, and thus she became family. Cristina was a newlywed herself, and about to graduate from law school with honors when she was diagnosed. MS is an unpredictable and devastating disease that can attack any of us in the prime of life.

I am very proud to say that this Sunday April 13th, Cristina, Patty, Joey and many others will be participating in the MS Walk and I am asking you to help them make a difference. Please take a minute to check out their web pages and make a tax-deductible donation. It would mean the world to us...and if you forgot to give us a birthday gift this year, this would make a great one! Click to donate to Patty, Joey or Cristina. (If you can't decide who to give your donation to, please help Joey raise his goal - as a sister, I'm partial.) Sincere thanks for your help.

Happy Birthday to Chris!

Chris had a birthday yesterday, a non-milestone. I opened my eyes on Sunday morning before 8 am, which is bothersome, because this is the last day this week that I can sleep in, and it isn't even 8! I heard Chris stir, so I snuck a glance, and we decided we were awake. I quickly got up and brought him the dogs so they could greet him him with wet noses and wagging tails. I gave him his gift - Arrested Development Season 2 in a Starbucks bag with a card that I didn't sign. (That's a new thing for me...somehow I think I can use it again if I haven't written in it yet?) We rolled out of bed, and I started the day by making him his very favorite breakfast, french toast. We opted to invite some of his friends over for some food and drink, and allow Chris a break from his studies. That was tough. I snuck out to pick up his Dairy Queen ice cream cake, then picked up the mess before people arrived. We had a pretty good turn out: Jim, Christopher & Corbett, Trey & Missy, Jason & Amber and Margie. We got some pretty cool bottles of wine, including a port called Cockburn's. This title made Chris wince a little. I got Marley & Me, which I can't wait to start reading...thanks Amber! (Great, now I have to READ!?)

French Toast!

Chris dancing with his breakfast

Trey & Jason
(Ramona: "is he looking at me?...how about now?")

Jim and the mona

Corbett, Christopher & Missy
(Me: Christopher, watch your head - that shelf is sharp!
Christopher: Damn, Sonya, I'm not 5!...Ow! Am I bleeding?")

Chris & Cake

Happy Birthday Cake

Jason & Amber

I'll admit, this party was on the tame side compared to my last birthday party but we still had a great time. We managed to get through the evening without breaking anything or enduring hangovers. Thankfully the Maytag repairman was scheduled to repair our refrigerator this morning, so I was allowed to sleep in...until 7:30 - I needed that! Thanks for turing 32, Chris! You're officially older than me again.

My Bad

Tonight Chris is hitting the books hard, and like a good wife, I opted to stay home. I've already had a beer with dinner, then a cup of coffee after dessert. Other than watching The Soup, it's been a boring evening. I started dialing around. While on the phone with Juliet, I was once again reminded of how inconsiderate I can be. She told me that she loved the pictures on the blog and asked me if I did them myself, and of course, I had not. They were all highjacked from a website that I love, nataliedee.com. Perhaps I should give credit where credit is due.

Too Close for Comfort

There are a few close-talkers where I work, mostly people who are otherwise very pleasant to be around. This morning, not only did someone call me “Andrea” (he confused me for someone who is under 5’ tall and big who happens to have the same hairstyle as me) but he also entered my personal space in order to have a conversation with me. I am not a fan of having my back against a wall, I don’t like knowing what others' breath smells like, and I don’t care to see nose hair. If I were allowed to punch people in the stomach at work, I may have punched him today, despite the fact that he is very sweet, pretty old and wears a tie to work every day. Oh yeah, and he was cornering me so that he could ask me to do him a favor. Sure. Now do me a favor…please don’t make out with me.

Pushing the envelope?

I’ve been told that I like to shock. This must be true, since I’ve posted this video clip. Chris and I have been watching a lot of Family Guy since the writers strike. Recently, we saw this episode where Lois and Peter get high and end up on the couch naked. Stewie and Brian walk in and this conversation occurs. Normally, Chris and I have a high tolerance for this sort of humor, but this episode shocked me. Am I getting old?