Lack of Blogworthy Things

It's almost 2008 and I am having a blog dilemma ... I have nothing to say. Well, I always have lots to say but I never know what's interesting to say and what people might want to read. So I'm going to start throwing caution to the wind (we can call it a New Year's resolution) and just blog about whatever freakin' topic fancies me.

So I'll think about what to write but for now and wish everyone a happy, healthy new year.

Check out what's happening in Times Square for New Year's Eve here: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/

Absolutely Adorable!

Hopefully my discovery isn't too late to spread the word. A blog I fancy, Angry Chicken, has the most adorable and funny gift tags.


Click here for the pdf version.

Holiday Heresy!

This has never happened before or at least I've never heard of it. I don't like it.

I helped my father-in-law decide and purchase the gift (let's call it "gadget version 100") for his son, my husband. We were on the phone together when I ordered it and my FIL chose the in store pickup option. We both get the email saying the item is ready for pickup (yay!) and off my FIL goes to get the gift. He shows up at the store, hands his printed email over and they hand him "gadget version 99" and say that they ran out of version 100 and version 99 is $15 cheaper. WHAT?! FIL, who doesn't take any ish like that, refuses version 99 and promptly calls me to tell me the story. I was flabbergasted. In the end I found version 100 at another retailer and it arrived well before today.

Another similar story, my mother-in-law ordered a gift from Kohls and when her package arrived one of the items didn't look familiar to her. Figuring they sent the wrong item, she went to the store to return it for the correct item. She was told by Kohls that they had run out (or backorder) of the item and sent something of similar value "so that the recipient would have something to open on Christmas." Again, WHAT?!

I don't know if it's just me or everyone else, but I think that substitutions should be my decision rather than the retailers'. Just tell me you don't have it and let me figure out where to spend my money. I am guessing that retailers are in a bind now with the dollar being week and spending expected to be down so they are trying every tactic to "cross-sell" the customer. I'm sure about half the people out there offered the substitution route is going for it because (1) it gets the shopping done (and the recipient has something to open) and (2) sometimes the substitution will save you a few bucks. Regardless I still feel it's heresy.

Kenneth the Page

Who else out in the world is one of the "dozens and dozens" of 30 Rock viewers? If you are one, you'll be just as excited to hear/read as I was to see in front my own eyes, Jack McBrayer, who plays Kenneth the NBC Page.

I went out with a co-worker to pick up lunch from 49th and Broadway and on our way back, on 49th, Jack McBrayer passed by us. I focused in on his face, because it was familiar, and I slowly realized who it was and could feel my eyes getting wider and a giddy feeling rising up inside me (a goofy grin was probably involved). Jeez! I must have looked like a total crazy to him! Unfortunately, my co-worker was not as excited because she isn't one of the dozen fans of the show. So far, seeing Kenneth is my #1 celebrity city since beginning to work in New York. I've seen Rachel Dratch of SNL fame and Christopher Gorham from the short lived show, Out of Practice.

Rachel and Jack (yes, we are BFF now) all work in Rockefeller Center where NBC Studios is located and the building, 30 Rockefeller, is the origin of the show's name, 30 Rock.

If you don't watch 30 Rock, please do. The writing and the cast are so amazing and very hilarious. It's on NBC Thursdays at 8:30pm.

Rockefeller Center

I have the pleasure of working very near Rockefeller Center and last night I was very close to the commotion of the tree lighting events. As I left work I could see straight down 49th Street into Rockefeller Center with the crowd of people and big jumbo screens set up for those not fortunate enough to have a close view. I resisted the temptation to join the throngs of people and went the opposite way to New Jersey.

As I watched the events unfold on television I have to admit, I was jealous. I spent some time sending my brother text messages as he was there, not in thick of it, but close. He works for Tishman Speyer the real estate firm that runs this show and owns Rockefeller Center. He was fortunate enough to look out the windows and go out on a roof deck from some of the Tishman Speyer owned buildings.

Today a co-worker and I needed an afternoon caffeine pick-me-up so we strolled underground to the concourse for some Dunkin Donuts and then continued west to see the tree. We headed up from the concourse and exited right behind the tree as it overlooks the ice rink. It was definitely a magnificent tree. We admired the eco-friendly solar powered led lights on this year's tree and due to the crowds and cold we made our merry back to our office. After seeing the tree we were quite curious about the history of it all. You can read all about the Rockefeller Center trees of past at www.thetreenyc.com . The most interesting thing has to the timeline. You can see all the different heights of the trees and read about the tree's decor for a particular year as well as other events in history. There's also video and pictures about the tree that currently sits in midtown Manhattan.

I am still amazed by all that I have access to while working in Manhattan. It's been one awesome 9 months!

Well played Moberg, well played.

Almost straight out of James Blunt's song, You're Beautiful, a guy sees girl on the subway and he doesn't give her up but rather searches for her with the powers of the internet. He would've gotten the girl right away if he had real super powers rather than the powers he leverages off the internet. Enough about his or the internet's powers but the story ...

<-- This is the before (he finds the girl) image.

Guy (Moberg) sees ("locked eyes with") girl on NYC subway. Too many people getting on and off subway cars equals guy unable to chase down girl for her number or strike up conversation (he totally could've knocked a few people over like a typical New Yorker). Guy decides he must meet this girl and launches on his blog (www.patrickmoberg.com) and through a much hipper name and redirect (www.nygirlofmydreams.com)

The after --> (I found the girl and had a date with her) picture from their interview on Good Morning America. I gotta give Moberg some points for scoring an Aussie. She's got the coolest freakin' accent and says godsmacked during the interview.

Aloha!

I've been waiting close to forever for this. Our very own has finally opened! I've known about the existence of Trader Joe's since college when my economics professor would reward students showing up for class with various treats from Trader Joe's. Usually the huge bucket of half dollar sized chocolate chip cookies. Last year a Trader Joe's opened up near my last job but it was always on the wrong side of the highway at rush hour. I've literally been stalking the Edgewater NJ store on my way home hoping for signs of life and finally determined it would open in early November. Well it's just about mid-November and I've been there twice!

First trip was this past Monday with the hubby who thinks it may just be his new favorite store. We spent about $40 on random things that we hoped to be good. The orange flavored (dried) cranberries were a little too much orange. I had some teriyaki mushroom sushi rolls and didn't like the teriyaki much. There were some other stuff but I couldn't remember. The second trip, on my way home from work, one night was much more successful. I highly recommend their garlic naan for those Indian dishes, or if you're like me and just like naan. Also good is their microwaveable (only 3 minutes!) Jasmine rice. They had another kind of rice but I can't remember what was. They didn't have microwaveable basmati so I just bought that in a bag and I'm sure rice in a bag is good.

I've heard that there are some Trader Joe's with a liquor section, unfortunately due to NJ ABC regulations it's a no go, but there's plenty other stuff to be excited about.

Baby it's cold outside...

For those of you that do not live by NJ, be thankful. It was freakin' freezing today!

Christmas is all around

I feel it in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
Christmas is all around me
and so the feeling grows...

On my way home from work I stopped at Target. I walked in and it was like Santa's workshop in there! There were holiday gifts and decoration everywhere! From the dollar spot section to the front and back seasonal sections! And don't forget the card section and the end caps with all those subliminal holiday gift suggestions. I was suckered in and bought two rolls of wrapping paper from the dollar section. (For those that don't know - I love wrapping paper and all the accoutrements that go with gift presentation.)

It makes me feel like I need to get a jump on Christmas shopping (apparently Target is no slacker and I am). I thought Christmas was coming fast at me like a freight train, but (holy smokes Batman!)Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks! I don't even know where I am going to eat turkey this year. I did prepare and order some (what I tasted for the first time ever and thought was) yummy pecan and pumpkin pie from dining services at work. Yes, I bought pie from the company I work for, sort of. Apparently, for who knows how long, our dining services area sells pies during the holidays (also something called a chocolate yule log and cognac pumpkin cheesecake) and has a tasting day. Yesterday was tasting day and I had samples of apple, blueberry, pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan pie. The blueberry, which is usually my favorite, wasn't that great. Apple good but the pie eaters in my family won out and got their pies of choice.

At least the Target holiday shopping bags aren't out ... yet.

My Heart Goes Out to Mother Earth

The hubby and I have been watching this two-part CNN documentary series called Planet in Peril with Anderson Cooper, Jeff Corwin and others. The funniest thing is that it's a AC360 Special Report. That's right, you guessed it - Anderson Cooper 360. Apparently, Anderson Cooper is so awesome he gets a special reports segment with CNN and his name reduced down to his initials. On top of that (and to make it sound cooler) the brilliant minds at CNN decided to throw on some numbers, specifically 3-6-0. Honestly, 360 is only cool if you're someone like Tony Hawk or Michelle Kwan not CNN news guy 360.

Moving on to more solemn matters, our doomed Earth. Planet in Peril focuses on issues of overpopulation, loss of habitat/deforestation, species loss and global warming. It's was a very interesting 4 hours of television but it definitely left me a bit depressed about what has happened to our planet and its inhabitants as a result of human actions.

I highly recommend spending some time watching this as it will at least open your eyes up to things that are happening all around the world, as well as right here in our own backyards.

Time Lag

Is there such a thing as time lag? If not, I am going coin the term. I completely understand why the U.S. gets involved with daylight savings time but it's absolute torture whether we fall back or spring forward. I had one hell of a busy weekend with my cousin-in-law's wedding (the business began on Friday and didn't end until yesterday, Monday) and messing up my times certainly did not help (nor did staying up until 2 am for 3 nights in a row).

My final thoughts - go with the happy-medium route and we'll spring forward 30 minutes 'round Easter and call it quits on this daylight savings time mess.

Slices of Hawaii in Manhattan

Ever since we came back from Hawaii I have been obsessed with everything Hawaiian. My biggest obsession has been with the delicious food we enjoyed in Hawaii. The evening before the wedding we went out to Roy's in Poipu and enjoyed some of the best food we've ever had. Our friends, David and Meredith, recommended Roy's as a must go for a tuna and wasabi dish and their melting hot chocolate souffle, which is to-die-for! My husband and I have been dreaming of the souffle and as luck would have it, there is a Roy's in downtown Manhattan at the Marriott Financial Center hotel.

About a month back we headed into the city to visit an event, DigitaLife, at the Javitts center that my brother gave us complimentary tickets to check out. We spent the bulk of the daylight at the Javitts Center playing with various gadgets. In the evening we headed downtown to meet up with hubby's BFF, Chris who now lives Downtown. We had hoped to head to Roy's for dinner but since it was a Sunday the restaurant was closed (who does that?). After some wandering Chris remembered there was another Hawaiian place downtown. Turns out it was more of hole-in-the-wall/fast food joint.

I present to you L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. In Hawaii there's this thing called plate lunch which is like your Hawaiian momma's version of a good filling meal. Hubby and I had the pleasure of enjoying a plate lunch (at a hole-in-the-wall that was not L&L) on a day trip in Maui to Kihei Beach with our cruise friends Charlotte and Roger. The plate lunch was so filling I had to give up to avoid exploding. Going back to NYC ... we decided to have the plate lunch (more like dinner) at L&L and again were stuffed and brimming with delicious Kalua pork, lau lau, rice and yummy Hawaiian style macaroni salad.

So if you have a chance pay visit to L&L in Manhattan (or other states, supposedly there's tons in Hawaii but I honestly don't remember seeing a single one) or Roy's. I highly recommend going to Hawaii just for the amazing food. Now to convince my husband that I need to go back to Hawaii and not bother with any other tropical paradise.

Hawaii or BUST!

Sample Sale

Last week I went to my very first NYC sample sale. I was browsing my InStyle magazine one evening and came across an ad for Accessoiree . The sample sale was right across the street at the Time & Life building. I was able to recruit a couple interested co-workers, paid our $30 fee, that goes to charity, and we were off to shop last Wednesday.

We really had no idea what to expect and were a bit disappointed. Some of the well known vendors like Coach and Cole Haan were big let downs. Coach, on the two occasions we went in the same day, had ZERO handbags. Upon shopping, I learned that most of the girls that were manning the vendor stands had bought up all the Coach handbags! Cole Haan had only one type of handbag and I thought it was ugly - it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I hit the jackpot at the Havaianas table. I got myself a pair of their gold slim on the first visit to the sale and later on visit #2 got a silver pair for myself and another gold pair for my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law loved hers. And I've been wearing mine all weekend because the weather has been unseasonably warm.

The only other item I bought was a necklace from Tracy Matthews Designs that I absolutely love even if it isn't exactly my day-to-day style. The necklace I bought looks like a combination of the two. The coloring and chain is like the top one with the tear-drop and multiple dangling stones. At the sample sale the necklace I got was only $20! Something similar is quite a bit more. I'm kicking myself now for not doing the research and getting more for myself or even for Christmas presents. Another time perhaps. Either way I got some awesome buys that I don't, for a minute, regret.

HEROES Addict

I resisted as long as I could, but everyone around me gave me wide-eyed looks whenever I told them I was resisting. My brother's girlfriend, Rannie, was the last straw with her puppy eyed words, "Jenny just try it." Of course, my hubby later reminded me of Rannie's request and I caved.

We watched the first episode of the popular NBC series, Heroes ...

... and now I am hooked. I am hooked so bad that we watch about 3 episodes each evening. Today we watched 4 episodes until we couldn't avoid our other plans for the day. I have this odd desire to know everything about these people and what happens to them. I want to sneak away and watch the episodes without my husband (he's got company over now) because I crave the need to know more. I want to save the cheerleader and save the world.

The new season begins tomorrow, Monday and I have to keep my ears and eyes closed to any news of the new season because I have yet to finish the first season. If you aren't addicted to this show yet I recommend doing show - it's amazing!

An Unexpected Gift

My MIL flew back from Georgia yesterday (she spent the summer there) and brought me back the coolest gift ...


... a Mary Engelbreit wedding journal! While my MIL was in Georgia she sent us the wedding journal from her wedding to my FIL. It was record of wedding details - gifts, wedding attendees, etc. I thought it was so much fun to read about all the details. So now I have my very own book and one day my children, will hopefully, read it and be just as excited as I was over my MIL's wedding journal.

I started to fill out all the blanks, well as many as I could, and found whatever things (pictures, invitations) I could to include in the book. I found a save-the-date I designed for Hawaii but never ended up using and put it in the book.


There's so much more to complete in the book but it'll a fun, ongoing project for me.

Toccis Land a TKO!

I am usually too exhausted from working and commuting to even think about preparing a meal. I will often eat leftovers that I deem worthy or snack all night and wake up starving. Thank goodness today was a Friday so I was willing to put in more effort than my usual Monday-Thursday nights. The honey and I went to the grocery store and at the store decided to have turkey burgers. We usually go the route of tzatziki burgers which we've simplified to making like tacos. But the honey wanted, hesitantly, to use the George Foreman grill we got as a shower/wedding gift. We went back and forth and finally decided that I would take charge of the grill.

The grill is cooking up those burgers! See the onion on the plate in the foreground? That we threw on first to see what would happen and the honey likes grilled onion on his burger. A win -win.

Now for the knock-out ... threw on the seasoned ground turkey patties for the 8-9 minutes called for by the grill guide. Tick, tock, tick, tock ...

POW! We have gorgeous (love those grill marks!) looking burgers that also tasted delicious! Not dry at all!

So far, at least for turkey burgers, I highly recommend the George Foreman grill. I have yet to try chicken on it and the other different things that my crazy grill can do. The model I have can make burgers, bake, make pancakes, even waffles!

I ♥ Target!

I didn't think it was possible to love anymore but today I realized that it is. Target, I love you! I thought I knew everything about Target - charitable giving, friendly, great prices, brilliant and now they step up and bring GENIUS to the table!

I started to go through the day's mail and saw a Target item and couldn't imagine that Target would send junk mail and so my interest was piqued. Take a lookie at what I discovered ...

TARGET CLIPLESS COUPON! This thing is amazing. It comes in this two-fold card-like flyer and on the right (which is really the flyer's left) is images and "coupon" savings off Target items - 75 cents off deodorant, $1 lotion, etc. Then on the right of the flyer is the clipless coupon that you tear away and it comes out in this neat 3 section piece you fold up and put in your wallet. Basically you get the same picture of all the couponed items on the back of the clipless coupon so you know what this ONE coupon covers. You keep using the one master coupon to save once on all the couponed items! How neat is that?

I am in heaven. This coupon is already in my wallet because most of the couponed items are items we buy regularly at Target! Life is great!

The Starter Wife

Has anyone seen USA Network's show, The Starter Wife? I missed the show during it's original run but recently downloaded it to my new video iPod and have been obsessed over this show!
I loved Debra Messing on Will and Grace and actually, I didn't think it was possible, love her even more in this series. Debra plays a wife, Molly Kagan, who has a Hollywood life being married to a movie studio executive. One day, he dumps her and her whole privileged life changes. Molly has a great group of friends who all, surprisingly, have their own hefty issues and get their moments. I won't say anymore but, what a great series it was. It's definitely something I recommend and will be watching over and over again on the iPod.

Happy 25th Birthday to the Compact Disc!

Can you believe that the CD is 25 years old?! I am barely older than the CD and can't really remember it gaining popularity until I was in middle school (circa the 90s).

Something interesting about the CD ...

The Philips company (as in electronics) and Sony (electronics too) were working together on plans for the compact disc. Philips had a plan for the CD to 11.5cm in diameter. Sony insisted that all of Beethoven's 9th Symphony fit on the CD. The music label, Polygram, had the longest recording for Beethoven's 9th Symphony which ran 74 minutes long forcing the CD to be wider in diameter - 12cm to be precise to fit the entire symphony.

Thus the reason for those 74 minute CDs and it's 12cm diameter (I had to measure to believe it).

My New, Comfy Flips

I've been dying for a pair of Havaianas flip flops. At first I wanted them because of the hype. One day I came across a ton at a little shop on the Seaside Heights (NJ) boardwalk and fell in love. They are heavier than your standard flip flop and give you more support in the foot -it's cushier.

This past weekend I was shopping at the Jackson Outlets and came across them at a swimsuit store and was sold on a simple black pair. I threw them on that evening to go out and I was hooked! They are truly one of the most comfortable pairs of flip flops ever.

Havaianas are the non-Crocs of the year. I am head over heels for Crocs too but sometimes you don't want to wear them and so I wear the Havaianas. The Havaianas come in all colors of the rainbow and in different versions (just like Crocs). The baby ones, like the Crocs, are irresistible!

Post Wedding Project

I've taken on a pretty time consuming project - wedding albums. I know, you are thinking, "How hard can that be?" Now for what the project entails:

2 Sets of Pictures

1. Hawaii ceremony pictures
2. Chinese reception pictures

Hundreds of Pictures to Choose From

1. Hawaii ceremony - more than 500 images
2. Chinese reception - more than 600 images
   

Albums for Family

1. My family
2. Hubby's Mom & Stepfather
3. Hubby's Dad
4. Hubby's Sister (she was my Maid of Honor and now MY sister!)
5. My paternal grandparents (they couldn't attend either because they are old and live on the other side of the world - I'm also the oldest grandchild and was an only granddaughter for 10+ years)
6. My maternal grandparents
   

That doesn't even include our own wedding album - which will be a later project with more input from the husband. Maybe.

I was going to order the professional pictures from Pictage or Collages but they are just so insanely expensive for the amount of pictures that I need - we'd be broke. So I ordered a handful from Pictage to test their quality - which was very good. I did some research on the prints from the online printing sites and discovered that Kodak offers something called
Kodak Perfect Touch processing, which is none of the other photo printing sites mentioned anything similar. I decided to order a bunch of pictures from Kodak to compare the quality to Pictage. I found only the following items that were of any importance whatsoever and even then other than price it was minimal.

1. Price - Pictage was about $2 for a 4x6 (we own the rights so it's cheaper) whereas Kodak was about 20 cents per 4x6
2. Paper - Pictage had hearty photo paper but was negligibly thicker than the Kodak paper
3. Print - the coloring between Pictage and Kodak was only noticeable when put side-by-side, otherwise you'd swear it was the same thing.
   

So I saved a ton of money on the prints and I was able to finish 2 albums with the pictures from Hawaii and they were sent off to our mothers. My mom loved it and his mom hasn't gotten it yet because I had to mail it to her home in Georgia.

I searched high and low and discovered that Target is a great place to find photo albums. They have so many online and in the store. The online selection is huge but it's always better to see things in person first. I was very picky about the album pages and prefer the sleeves with black
plastic over the paper backings. I am a spaz and would tear or wrinkle the paper in a heart beat. Target prices are also hard to beat. This is the album I chose for the moms' Hawaii ceremony pictures.

Wish me luck!

Handbag Horror

Don't worry there was no destruction of mauling of any kind to a handbag. My issue is rather, materialistic. I want a new handbag (just like every other girl) and can't seem to find the OMG-I-can't-live-without-it bag. There are a gazillion bags out there from every designer out there and I can't find one. I do have a type of bag that I am in search for and it has be an over the shoulder bag but can't be humongous.

A couple weeks back I bought this L.A.M.B. Rowington saddle bag from Gwen Stefani's line. It looked darling on the Nordstrom page in the cheetah (second image) and it was during their Semi-Annual Sale.

I wanted a bag to throw over my should and was trying to avoid a solid color to have something different. The bag arrived, I was excited then disappointed. The bag is huge for a shoulder bag and stiff too. It certainly not have been comfortable for someone 5' 2". So back to Nordy's it went and I've been on a mad hunt ever since.

Most of my bags are satchels and made best for hanging on the forearm. My bags are also huge and can fit a small family thus making it almost painful to carry a bag of such great weight on my forearm. I figured I could get a small bag to throw over my shoulder, keeping my hands free and hopefully my junk at a minimum. So far no luck. The issue isn't really price but rather the designs suck and if it sucks then I just wouldn't pay for it no matter the price.

Thank for letting me have a materialist vent ... I'm sure the hubby just loves it.

Who doesn't love cupcakes?!

True or false? Cupcakes are cute and irresistible.

True or false?. Giant cupcakes are freakin' awesome.



I give you Wilton's Giant Cupcake Pan from Sur La Table. For only $27.95 you can make little children weep with joy at the very site of this amazing dream come true. Now, don't be fooled, as awesome as this looks there is some assembly required and that does not mean decorating. You bake the top and the bottom of this massive cupcake separately and then put them together. Don't believe me? Click here.

I'm thinking I'd like one of these ... I would feel so cool making a giant cupcake and of course it'd be for the future children of Tocci that are but a twinkle in my eye. :)

Still reading ...

I am still emmersed in the world of Harry Potter. I'm more than half way through at page 500-something. My only comment is ... this book is action packed!

It's Here...

As my mother-in-law said, "It's a happy day for muggles." The final installment of the Harry Potter series has indeed arrived. I've just finished reading the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, and what a read it was. I actually cried while reading it and I am feeling this very odd sense of sadness because I know that after book 7 that there'll no more Harry Potter stories to enjoy. Thank goodness there are two more movies to go.

I hope everyone out there is enjoying Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows or any other Harry Potter book. Time to crack open my Special Edition as I am off to discover the last adventures of Harry, Hermoine and Ron.

Have a magical rest of the weekend!

Honey Walnut Shrimp - Mrs. Tocci Style

When choosing our reception menu we were careful to choose dishes that would appeal both to the Chinese guests and the non-Chinese guests. During the reception, hubby and I were so busy running around we ended up missing quite a few of the dishes we had been looking forward to having. The good thing is we've had it all before but sadly being the bride and groom we were still deprived of food but we did eat more than we thought we'd be able to - thanks to our wedding party and my brothers who loaded us up with food every time we were near our table.

We've gotten a lot of complements about the reception food but have heard the most raves about one dish in particular - Grand Marnier Shrimp. I've been thinking about all the yummy food from the reception and really want to have a food do-over. I decided to try my hand at making the yummy shrimp dish which is more commonly referred to as Honey Walnut Shrimp.

Here's what the fruits of my labor yielded. I think it was a success as everyone in this room ate it and enjoyed it. I would have more but I'm so full from "testing" the dish out and eating some of my Thai food take-out.

I began by Googling some recipes and found one that most appealed to me and got to work. This is a more traditional type of Chinese dish and is considered one that originated in Hong Kong.


You will need the following ingredients (a trip to the store is usually necessary).

• 1 lb of large or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup walnuts (or more if you really like them)
  
• 5 cups water
  
• 1 cup sugar
• 2-3 cups oil
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp condensed milk

Start by rinsing the walnuts, then boil in water, changing water a couple of times. The goal is to have clear water but it takes way too long. When tired of changing the water add sugar and boil until sugar dissolves. Drain walnuts.

On high, heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, lower to medium heat and deep fry walnuts until they're shiny and brown, no longer golden. It takes a little while before they actually burn but keep an eye on them. Place walnuts on cookie sheet, let cool. (I make extra because they are delish and I ate quite a few while prepping the shrimp). Keep the oil to cook the shrimp later.

Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky texture. Do not over mix, if too smooth and soupy add some more cornstarch. Add peeled, deveined shrimp and coat well.

As you can see my mix is a bit soupy. This mixture, when fried, will be like a tempura type coating on the shrimp and should be crispy like fried chicken or something like it.

Next prepare the sauce - combine honey, lemon juice, mayo and condensed milk. I found that there's not really a lot of sauce for the shrimp but if you don't want it very saucy this is a good coating. Otherwise increase the amount of honey, lemon juice, mayo and condensed milk. Or just add a little more condensed milk if you just want a bit more sauce. The mayo and condensed milk really make the sauce.

Now it's time to fry up the shrimp. Use the same oil from frying the walnuts but add more oil to make sure you cover the shrimp. Heat the oil up on high and turn down a bit when it starts to smoke. I recommend cooking the shrimp in at least 2 batches to ensure the tempura-like batter cooks and gets crispy. Do not cover as it will steam the batter and shrimp. Drain the shrimp of excess oils. Once done frying the shrimp add to the sauce and coat well. Top off with the walnuts and serve.

I'm officially a Tocci!

My sister-in-law keeps reminding me that it was my choice to join the family. Well...I've officially done it. We finally got our marriage certificate so I took the day off to sit in line at Social Security and New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC). Surprisingly I didn't sit for very long.

My day began at 9:30am at the local Social Security office and to my surprise I was customer B122 (they make you check-in like a deli counter) and they were already helping B117. Not too bad. By the time my turn was within reach the SS office was packed up with customers like a can of sardines. It was finally my turn - quick and totally painless. Victory!

The next stop was the bank (hey, I needed money to pay for the new license). It was about 10:30am at this point and I rolled in there and saw a LINE ... outside of the door ... oh crap! There was apparently some crowd control going on because as I waited outside there were a couple MVC staff creating a queue line of 5 or so people and then sending them in. As I waited in the queue I was asked if I had my 6 points in documentation to get a license. Heck yeah I did. I know this stuff because I just got the new digital license back in September 2006. It took a little longer here and the fees (new name on license and registration) only cost me $16 but it was smooth sailing the entire time. Very important - if you own your car change the registration while you're at the motor vehicles agency!

All in all I think it was a most productive day as I was home by noon! Now I have to figure out where else I need to change my name ... as I type this post I've got the window open for a new passport. There there are credit cards (Visa, MC, Amex, etc.), store cards, library card (didn't even think of that 'til now), bank accounts, IRAs, 401k, websites, loans ... the list grows!

I Feel Like I've Been Hit By a Truck

All the weddings are officially OVER!

Two nights ago we had our much anticipated Chinese banquet. As usual there was some drama but in the end it was awesome. Surprisingly the night didn't go by too fast, at least for me, it was a good pace and I know I had an awesome time.

Monday morning was another story. After having stayed up until 2, 3am the two nights prior to the party and then being up late a third night it was painful to get up on Monday. I have no idea how I survived but I seriously felt like there was impact with something large and fast.

I've been sleeping quite a lot the past two days and will soon, hopefully, be able to post more about Hawaii and the banquet.

Where to begin ...

Oh my gosh. Holy crap. It's been forever since I last posted. What's my excuse? Well life is hectic when you come back from 2 1/2 weeks in paradise and have to finish planning for a reception and it's not just any ol' reception - it's a Chinese banquet. Okay, I am now done with the whining.

Upon returning to reality we made a decision about our cake. We ordered our cake from Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken NJ. We had batted around different ideas to make the most of the money and what different guests might like but decided that the easiest and most delicious route would be to go with Carlo's. Our cake will be a 2 tier square, chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Yummy! The cake is not necessarily sweet like sugar but more a rich chocolate taste. Almost rich like dark chocolate. I don't know really how to explain it best but I can vouch for the fact that it tasted awesome.
Our cake should look something like this pretty Tiffany blue cake with some color revisions.

The guy to see at Carlo's is Buddy. That's right ... his name is not Carlo. It turns out that his grandfather (maybe father) bought the bakery in 1964, kept the name and made a name for it. The bakery has been featured in almost every bridal magazine I've come across and I've seen it on television in one of the wedding shows. I know I sound like an advertisement but this is voluntary and I gave Buddy my money!

So far so good - we love the cake, we love the design and Buddy is really easy to work with. We didn't have any crazy requests but rather took something they've done and tweaked it a bit. We'll give a final review and pictures of the finished product (definitely before we cut it up) in about 2 weeks time.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

That phrase could not be more accurate to describe the priceless and perfect photographs we have of our wedding.

We got married on Thursday May 24, 2007 and didn't really see any pictures until more than a week later. Since our cruise stopped for two days on Kaua'i we took a morning to visit our photographer, Sara Wall, and picked up our DVD full of glorious pictures. Sara was kind enough to show us a slide show of the 500+ pictures and we were floored at how great they turned out.

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures ...



A really nice and reassuring surprise happened when Sara walked in the room and following her was another photographer. If I am remembering correctly, her name is Keana. I know for a fact that she took the last photo through some trees.

Sara and Keana both do amazing work. They are both such professionals and really put me at such ease that I didn't even know most of the pictures I have were even taken. Sara is a bit on the pricier side but absolutely worth it. I have never been so pleased with 500+ photographs.

The Honeymoon is Over

That's right we're back in good ol' New Jersey. I really really needed that 2.5 week vacation. Work was burning me out and I couldn't handle my crazy job and wedding planning.

Everything went so wonderfully, from the days before the wedding to the trip to Honolulu and our honeymoon cruise. There's always a few things but I'll save the ranting for another time.

I went back to work and the daily grind of NYC today. I felt like it was second day of work again with everyone briefing me on what I missed and what went on while I was away. The sad thing is that I had a pretty good idea of the goings-on because I did have to work a bit while away. I'm in a tough spot because I'm the only one in the entire company that does what I don't and nobody else seems to really get it and so they can't do anything without my input. It's sad but I have some pretty good job security.

For now and for your viewing pleasure - a
pic of the Kaua'i chickens. I will talk about
them and their story in another post.

Stuck in Phoenix

Yup that's right, I'm in Phoenix Arizona and not Hawaii. Why? Because Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has decided to hold myself, my family and friends hostage. Our flight from Newark to Phoenix was text book. We even arrived early in Phoenix giving us plenty of time to eat and relax. Then 9:30am rolled around and we were waiting at the gate and and our plane turned out to have mechanical failures. They almost, yes almost, cancelled our flight but since it's the only flight out to Lihue in a day they "found" a plane arriving from Los Cabos Mexico. However the plane from Mexico wont' arrive until 1:45pm and then it needs to be cleaned and quarantined because it's an international flight. So that doesn't put us out until 3pm PST. We'll arrive in Lihue around 7pm. Grr.

On top of that, my FMIL's husband spent ALL day at the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport in Georgia dealing with a mechanical failure and ended up not being re-booked. So he's turned around and gone home. Hopefully he'll be set to fly out tomorrow morning and arrive in Lihue around 2pm and be on the same flight as my Uncle Ernie and his family.

What drama. I vow NEVER ever to get married in Hawaii again. :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Holy cow! I feel like I've waited for forever for this day to come, to go to Hawaii and to get married! We off to the airport in a couple of hours, at 4:30am but now it's time to doze in and out of sleep while waiting anxious in anticipation of the 13 hour flight and paradise.

Actually I did the dozing already and Nick and I are heading out to pick up our friends Mike & Michell. The car service will be here at 4:30am!

Have fun not being in Hawaii ... I'll be sure to post pictures at the very least!

The Cake Better Be Made of Gold Bars!

Yesterday Nick and I went to Carlos' Bakery in Hoboken NJ to try out some potential wedding cake. I need to first say something ... I do not really like baked goods at all. I think cakes tend to be to fluffy and frostings not so good or too sweet. I always try cake in hopes that I'll find one that I can tolerate.

Let's rewind a bit to tell how I came across Carlos' Bakery. Being an avid watcher of the wedding shows on television I knew lots about Carlos' Bakery. But last fall, my friend son turned 1 and had a cake from Carlos' - I had two pieces. That's just how good it is.

Our tasting yesterday begin with coffee, excellent coffee, brewed and made to perfection! Carlos' starts off in the lead with a thumbs up for their coffee. Next we were presented with two cake books listing the flavors and cake choices. It seems limited, but once you start tasting it's really not with the various filling and cake combinations. Anyhow, we started by trying to figure out the design of the cake and what we wanted it to look like. We have a rough idea but haven't committed yet. Anyhow we're basically looking at $1000-$1200 for a cake that will feed about 150 people. This includes delivery fee to East Brunswick.


This cake seemed to be the winner in shape and a similar design ...

I was being talked into a gold and red cake but I felt that there's enough red and gold at the reception to go around so we decided a brown base would be nice. Not sure if we'd go with red ribbon or gold but the dots would definitely be white. I'm also a little unsure of the quilting and the big bow on top. It's a cake dammit.

Anyhow the pretty cake, delivery and sheet cakes for there rest comes to $1000. That's right you heard me, $1000. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

At the tasting we had bites of:

• red velvet with cream cheesing filling
• red velvet with vanilla icing filling
• carrot cake with cream cheese filling
• vanilla cake with
• chocolate cake with ganache filling
• chocolate cake with mousse
• chocolate and vanilla cake with hazelnut filling
• chocolate cake with fudge filling

The consensus is that it was some good cake. MY favorite was the chocolate with chocolate ganache. Nick was very curious about the fondant icing and so we were able to try some white fondant icing and some chocolate fondant icing (which tastes like tootsie rolls).

I give Carlos' Bakery an A because I'll even eat the cake and I am no cake person and price well ... I am not thinking about it. I know I should but I can't right now.

What's a girl to do? I've called around to some known-by-word-of-mouth bakeries but either I wasn't sure about the bakery or, one in particular, did not do tastings. $*($*&*$# Yeah that's right NO TASTINGS!

Pretty things

Isn't this stuff pretty? I know you're asking, "What is this?" This happens to be the remnants from my dress being hemmed and then, presto chango, embroidered with our initials and wedding date. what I am doing with them will be a surprise. You'll have to wait until after the wedding to see the final use. I do promise that it's WONDERFUL!

Invitations are out!

Last week we finally sent out the invitations to the Chinese reception. Here's a look at the invitation set, complete with RSVP, invitation and map of reception site and hotel.


Now let me tell you about the drama behind it. First you should know that Chinese invitations tend to trend towards the corny and even tacky. These invitations were the best at the two print shops I checked in Chinatown. My very first issue with the invitations happened when we were looking at invitations. The paper insert that has the printed information was pink. Yes crayon pink and there was something funky going on in the paper, almost like mulberrry paper where the fibers are visable. That was a no go and I knew enough to inquire about alternatives and was told that it'd be no problem. Then we had to proof the invitations. I headed down to Chinatown (haha, that rhymed) during lunch one day and dropped off the wording. At this visit I learned that the paper that I decided on to have the text printed wouldn't work because of the invitations I picked out but after some back and forth the printer was able to locate paper that would work. Then we went back and forth twice on the wording and voila we were done and just had to have them printed. The print shop said they'd be done in a week so I said I'd stop by Satuday morning and pick them up ...

A week passed and it was Saturday morning and I decided to go to Chinatown before heading to my FSIL's house. I showed up around 10:30am and was told the invitations weren't ready and would be in about an hour and a half. WHAT!#@! I didn't have time to wait around and with a panic attack about to occur I left and ended up calling my mom. We collectively figured out that perhaps we can take half of them and at least start getting them put together and addressed. I hopped out of the car and popped back into the print shop to inquire about taking part of the batch. I walked into the shop and the employees where no where to be found but smack in front of my face, on the counter, were MY invitations. The employees walked out and I knew that very moment that those PUNKS had not even started printing the invitations. ARGH!

I had no choice but to call it quits and head to FSIL's. I ended up taking the subway on Monday, during my lunch hour, to Chinatown to pick them up. Boohoo. But now all the invitation drama is over and the RSVPs are rolling in.

United Printing in Chinatown gets a C- in my book.

I'm starting to get excited...

I am finally starting to get excited about our upcoming wedding (14 days) and trip to Hawaii (11 days). Today someone at work reminded me that the days are flying by and I actually got giddy.

Another exciting wedding thing happened today ... something very awesome arrived in the mail today all the way from Taiwan! My dad's family (my grandparents and aunts) bought me a custom made qipao for the Chinese banquet. I have a total of three dresses I will be wearing, (1) my Nicole Miller gown, (2) a traditional Chinese 2 piece dress suit from China and (3) the qipao. Here's a swatch of the material.

It is seriously gorgous and I was super super pleased with how it came out. My Aunt Susan asked that I send my measurements and boy where we worried but alas it fits perfectly!

My Bachelorette Party - Part II

Our adorable toes with fresh polish ...

After our toes dried we headed over to Rivolis for dinner. That's us (Mandy, me, Joan, Bev and Diane) at dinner posing with our very large portions.

As you can see the portions are certainly huge. Those platters could serve Thankgiving turkey on it for a small family! I was able to make 4 meals out of my order of Shrimp De Micci.

Thanks for a great night girls!

My Bachelorette Party - Part I

I was just plucky with having a Bridal Shower and nothing else. My bridesmaids didn't think that was enough and knew I was a bit of a prude so they threw me a very tame and small gathering this past weekend. On Saturday I arrived at my FMIL and MOH's house to find this ...
Then we headed over to Freehold Raceway Mall to meet up with my other bridesmaid, Diane and her mom, and Mandy's aunt, Beverly. Upon our arrival I was promptly given a gift full of tulle and prettiness. The gift was the Night at the Museum DVD and announced the plans for the day: "shopping, mani/pedi and dinner with portions the size of my big head." The shopping plans were mainly to find dresses for the girls. We started off at Nordstrom but had no luck in store - it turns out that the online inventory has far more to offer. Strangely enough the ladies at this Nordstrom were quite snooty and I've never ever experienced that before...hopefully they were just having on off day. Since we had no luck at Nordstrom, upon my FMIL's suggestion, we headed over to Lord & Taylor where we spent a good 2-3 hours and hit the dress jackpot! Both Mandy and Diane found the same dress for the reception and on sale. On top of that two very generous ladies allowed them to "borrow" their 20% off coupons.

After the dress success we headed to find shoes for the girls and ended up finding this gorgeous Nine West Accolia sandal. Nine West was out of their size but I just knew Macy's would have them in stock. Macy's had them so I bought 2 pairs and got to use a 20% off coupon. (If you didn't already know ... I am "CJ" aka "Coupon Jen" to Nick's family.)All the shopping was a success so it was time to move on to manicures and pedicures. To be continued...

Weddings, like any other special event, are such a pain in the ass to get dressed up for. On top of that it just so happens that this wedding is mine; adding even more pressure to the whole gotta-be-dressed-prefectly issue. To my right and yours is the Spanx Hide-and-Sleek half slip. I bought this baby in the nude color for $52 at Nordstroms. This is the most expensive slip I've ever bought but to it's defense, it hides a lot. My dress is made of silk charmeuse and it's apparently very clingly and will show anything and everything - like panty lines. So I had to find a solution.

Well now the solution has a little problem because the silk lining of the dress clings to damn slip causing some wrinkling and clinging at the side seams. Now what heck is a girl to do? Keep in mind that I have about 1 month before the wedding or less than 1 month before we fly out to Hawaii.

What's a girl to do?

Rubbermaid Premier

When you think there's almost no hope and you're on the last straw with the tupperware food storage containers toppling over and crashing down on your head Rubbermaid comes to the rescue (or your mother-in-law mentions it and your fiance sees the commericial). How terribly convenient. Sometimes I think commericials have an invisible link to your brain and shows exactly what you're thinking of at the right time.

May I present to you the Rubbermaid Premier tupperware food storage container set.
Basically this tupperset has lids that attach to the bottom of the container and they are sized to stack within each other. So no missing lids and no toppling of tupperware food storage containers on your head. They're also stain free and guaranteed for life. Amazing.

You can register to win the 20 piece set at Rubbermaid's website (click link above) and print a $1 off coupon.

29 Days to Go

Today, I realized that we have only 29 days until we leave for Hawaii! I have a co-worker who also happens to be going on vacation on May 21st so we have a count down going. Every couple of days we remind each other of the days remaining and then chat about how much we both need this break.

Now in 29 days I have quite a few things to do:

• Flowers - I still need to finalize them with the florist on Kauai
• Maid of Honor dress - still needs to be picked out and bought
• Best Man attire - same situation as the MOH dress
• Attire for my brothers - they're walking me down the aisle so they need to look spiffy
  
• Soon-to-be Hubby's attire - he's got the shirt but no pants!!!
  
• Luggage - need to decide if I need to buy a garment bag for my dress and FI's attire, also FI might need a suitcase

Those are the major things and there's always little stuff but we'll get there!

The Funniest Thing Ever

You've probably seen this already as it's the funniest thing on the internet now. Will Ferrell's Landlord. I caught a clip of this at the end of one my entertainment shows and ended up replaying it. Later I decided to look it up online and found out it was much longer and funnier!

Our Reception Photographer Revealed

I am finally comfortable enough to disclose our fabulous photographer. Drum roll please ... our reception photographer is Rita Rojas-Sullivan. We've sent her a check (and she's received it) to secure our date and now I just want to shout her name (advertising her talents) from rooftops. I know, it's just a photographer but to me it's so more than that. It's ...

• the fact that she has a great talent,
  
• and due to her talent we'll have a seamless flow from ceremony to reception (since they're in two very different locations), and
  
• amazing prices.
  

Another amazing thing about Rita is that she includes a love story (engagement) sitting in her package prices! I had given up on the idea of engagement pictures but since they are included I am super psyched! We decided to take these pictures in West New York, NJ on the cliffs that look over to New York City. We've lived in the vicinity for quite a few years and have made so many memories in the area and NYC that it would be just perfect!

Done & Done

Time is flying right on by! We've got 5 weeks until the wedding and I feel accomplished. The only thing I'm actually worried about is packing for 2.5 weeks. To the best of my knowledge I don't think I've never been away from home for that long.

We've accomplished quite a few wedding things and I'm darn proud and cannot wait to have this wedding stuff done with. What have we done you ask? Here goes ...

• My dress has been through three fittings and not sits in my closet ready to wear on May 24th!
  
• We've promised our first born to the travel agent and paid up for our trip! We pick up all the tickets and other paperwork on Saturday.
• We booked the DJ for the banquet in July.
• We booked our photographer for the banquet.
• We scoped out sites for engagement portraits.
• I've picked out our banquet invitations and am now in the proofing stage for the wording.
• We have everything for the welcome bags - just need to fill them and pack them up for shipping before we leave.

Wow! Just think in June most of this will be done and I'll have so much free time I won't know what to do with myself.

Reception Photographer

I realized a little while ago that we need a photographer for our reception. Yes, I know, it took me some time to figure that out, but when I did, I was on a hunt. I didn't want to spend a fortune since it's only the reception but I also didn't want any old photographer, I wanted to make sure I did my best to continue the photo journalistic style that our ceremony pictures will be taken in. So after searching high and low and pricing out about a handful of photographers I came across Rita on Craig's List (Craig's List was Nick's fantastic suggestion).

I'd tell you more about Rita and give her URL, but right now I am being selfish and want to make sure I book her first. (The bridezilla in me is rearing her ugly head.) Rita has some beautiful work on her website and some really fantastic prices which will allow us to take her basic package and add on if we want without breaking the bank.

Nick and I just met with her this Saturday and I love her even more! She is so sweet and personable and I got to see even more of her photography and I can't wait to start working with Rita. The best part is that she includes an engagement sitting in her package so now our problem is to pick where we want to do the engagement sitting. Oh the dilemmas!

My Latest Candy Obsession

I present to you Gummy Peaches from Dean & DeLuca...

No lie, they are freakin' awesome! Very peachy, very good. I found them the other day while trying to decide if the line at D&D was too long to wait on and decided it was, got some candy and was immediately checked out by very nice clerk because I only two things of candy. Haha to all you lunch getters!

I inhaled these babies in less than 24 hours (there's only like a dozen of them in the little tin) and found the very same gummies at Au Bon Pain! Same price and more peachy goodness!