Mark's Memorial

My cousin Mark passed suddenly about a week or two ago. We were all shocked and sad to hear the news.

We gathered at Pete and Liz's house and then drove to

the beautiful little white church near their home for the service.

It was a beautiful day

and the service was held outside in a little, private garden inthe woods next to the church.

We stood in a circle while the reverend gave the sermon. I, along with several others shared some memories of growing up with Mark. I had fun with him as a kid and remembered some funny stories from then. I didn't mention it, but later realized that he was one of the most dedicated readers of this blog. I guess it helped to keep him up to date on our goings on in the US since he was so far away.

At the service and the lunch afterwards, we all got together and caught up and shared stories. It's always nice together, but I wish this was under happier circumstances. In addition to Kathryn, Jim, Jeff and Pete and his family, Patty and Kitch were there along with lots and friends of the Asheys.

I was thrilled to finally meet Nancy and Neema. Nancy, although

clearly upset and sad, was very sweet and nice. Neema, who is 3-years-old, is the cutest little thing. She is friendly with just about anyone and loves to play and run around.

Jill and Paige are nearly all grown up. Jill and I played with Jeff's iPad for a while after he read the Cat and the Hat to Neema. In the afternoon, Paige was off to wash, Chief, her horse with her friend. She got all of her equipment ready for a rally she is having soon.

After leaving the Asheys house,we visited Patty and Kitch at their hotel. We had some appetizers and drinks and continued to catch up. We wished they could stay a little longer.

Larissa's Birthday at Von

Last weekend, Carrie hosted a pre-party for Larissa's birthday before we headed to Von. We had delicious food -- cured meats, cheeses, a delicious salad made by annique and some veggies and dip. We had champagne cocktails when Larissa arrived and then had birthday cake. It was delicious. She was surprised by the cake, took some time to think of a good wish and blew out the candle.

Needless to say, all of this took some time, so we ended up being a little late to Von. The main floor of Von is a bit like a regular bar, but there is a bar downstairs that is a little more lively. We headed downstairs and nabbed a table, threw down our jackets and waited for Larissa's friends and the DJ to arrive.

The party lasted a long time and ended up with a trip to the diner. Annique decided to stay over because it was so late. We moved aside the "Noguchi," which is very, very heavy, and pulled out the sofa bed. It's funny when the sofa bed is out because the whole apartment is like two giant beds. But it works!

When we woke up, we headed to Le Pain Quotidien for some croissant or something. It was fantastic!

Weekend Trip to Milan

Last weekend, a bunch of us took Amtrak to Milan, NY, to spend the weekend at another friend's country house. It's a beautiful old house from the 1700s with gorgeous wooden beams that are held together with those wood pegs rather than screws. It has wide planked wooden floors and an excellent fireplace.

We arrive on Friday bearing some wine and lots of food for the meals throughout the weekend. The first thing we did was light the fire. Then, we opened a bottle of wine and relaxed in front of the fire with Terry's dog, Larry. After that we had a lovely pasta primavera and some Italian truffle cheese that Andrew brought.

The next morning, Terry woke us up by playing Van Halen's "Jump" loudly on the stereo and knocking around some pans in the kitchen while making us cinnoman apple pancakes. Reluctantly, we crawled out of our beds lured by the scent of the pancakes and the brewing coffee. There was real maple syrup and lots of butter. It was magnificent. Afterwards, we spent some more time in front of the fire and felt that we deserved a mimosa.

As soon as we finished cleaning up from breakfast, it was time to start lunch. Andrew made a giant spinach tart, with a much fancier name. It was scrumptious. Once that was made, Terry left to make lemon sugar cookies for our dessert. A glass of wine or two later, it was time for dinner. Andrew and Jeff made marinated pork loin on the BBQ with brussel sprouts and fingerling potatoes. YUM.

We were stuffed, but there was still some time for dancing to some old timey music in the kitchen. Later, after some more quality couch/fire time, we made lemon sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches. (Everyone except for me!) We talked some more and then turned in for the night.

The next day, it was time to clean up the house and get ready to leave. In between washing and changing sheets, we fixed ourselves a huge banquet of leftovers. Everything tasted even better the next day. Andrew dressed it up a little and tossed a delicious salad with a light and refreshing lemon and olive oil dressing. Then, we cleaned all the dishes and mopped the floors.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the train and back to the city. Andrew and I had "business class" tickets, which doesn't really mean anything. It only cost $12 to upgrade and it didn't get you one thing! Plus, all the business people are angry, so it wasn't as fun as we thought it would be.

Girls' Trip to Puerto Rico

In February, I tagged along with a friend from work and her friend and headed to Puerto Rico for her 30th birthday. It was the same weekend as the big snowstorm hit New York City. We felt so lucky to have escaped the snow and to be lying in the sun by the pool.

We stayed at the El San Juan, which is kind of like a docked cruise ship. It has everything you need all under one (pricey) roof -- casino, restaurants, lounges, bars and allegedly the most popular club in PR, Brava. The hotel was beautiful and new with giant chandeliers and modern furniture with a Spanish flair. The three of us shared a room with super comfortable beds (which is kinda unusual) and had a great time.

However, journeying outside the immediate area of the El San Juan was not recommended. It was pretty seedy around the hotel. We were able to take cabs around to Old San Juan and other places. The first night we went to a beautiful restaurant on the beach called Pamela's where we celebrated Lisa's birthday in style. After that we headed to the rooftop bar.

We spent a couple of days by the beautiful pool trying not to get burned and at night we had Puerto Rican food, which is super heavy. One night we had Mofongos and lots of rice and beans and plantains. Everything was kind of heavy and salty.

We tried out several different kinds of bars and even went to the famous Brava, a booming techno club. My favorite part wasn't close to the hotel at all and I think it was called La Placita something. We had a lot of fun at a bar there.

All in all a great time. The flight was delayed on the way home while they removed an iguana from the runway. It was strange!

Anti-Valentine's Day Paprikash

My first attempt to make Great-Grandma Andrews's chicken paprikash all by myself. I think I did a great job at least for having never done it before. Grandma Elsie would have been proud. Of course, there were several phone calls to my mother for emergency assistance, but generally all went well. I mostly cook vegetarian stuff, so this was not my usual kind of meal.

Chopping took up a lot of the day. Five onions! Four cucumbers, green peppers and fresh tomatoes. By the time dinner rolled around I was exhausted and wondering how women in the past did two big meals a day all the time.

Another challenge was my teeny kitchen with no counter space. It comes complete with a teeny stove and teeny refrigerator with a moderate-sized sinks. I've navigated smaller kitchens before -- that were literally closets or just a corner of the living room, so I wasn't too put off by this. The key is a butcher block with a big-ish space to work with. Living in NYC teaches you to make the best of every inch of space you have. I think this is a good lesson for me, especially coming from the suburbs where there is oodles of space to spread out and collect things you may not need.

I invited a couple of girlfriends over and we had the Paprikash with the famous cucumber salad, citrus salad with mint and feta and mini-cupcakes. Of course, the Hungarian wine was flowing. After that we just hung out at my place watching the olympics and having some laughs together.
Also, it was the first time I was able to open up my table to its full size. My apartment is small, but if you move things around you can fit six around the table. How exciting!

Sledding at Columbia

On February 10, a big snow storm hit NYC and the tri-state area. Usually, everyone gets all excited and we get a little dusting or something, but this time the storm was big.

My job let us out early at 2 pm, and I am was looking for someone to play in the snow with -- maybe a snowball fight or possibly sledding. I checked in with my friends and Annique was sledding with Thalia near Columbia. I quickly threw on my ski gear and headed uptown to 116th street to check it out.

The hill was covered with students, family and people of all ages with various kinds of substitutes for sleds -- plywood, plastic bags, tupperware containers and, of course, the famous lunch tray. Thalia had a proper sled, purple plastic, so we used that.

The hill at Riverside park was packed and you couldn't even see NJ past the Hudson because of the snow and clouds. The hill was really a double hill, a big one at the top a flat part and a smaller one that led to the road next to the river.

Annique and I had a couple of amazing runs. One of which we nearly hit a tree and then a man in overalls. He wouldn't move and steering was difficult!! We avoided both obstacles and ended up in a heap at the bottom of the hill.

After that we headed to a Norwegian restaurant near the Law school and had some dinner and some warm cookies for dessert. They offered "free sled parking" with your meal. All in all a great snow day!

Andrew's 30th Birthday Party

In Janaury, my good friend Andrew celebrated his 30th with a fancy cocktail party at his house. The dress code was "excessive" and everyone followed it in their own special way. In the above picture, we are pretending that we are at the prom. We had a lot of fun.

Pictured: (L to R) Andrew, me, Rosa, Stephen