Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Gastronomic Stimulus Plan

I'm in Boston this week for work, and besides it being the most frigid two days I've ever spent in March, I was excited to learn that it's restaurant week in Boston. This means that many of the more well-known (and pricier) restaurants offer a prix-fixe menu for a mere $33.09.

Last night, we went to Terramia, a quaint Italian restaurant in Boston's North End and it was delicious. Tonight, we went to Stephanie's on Newbury. Let's just say I'm stuffed.

I wish other cities, like Raleigh, would do something like this. It's such a great way to sample the menu, especially at restaurants you might not otherwise visit because it's too extravagant. But I feel that people might drop $33.09 to taste creations from a well-talked-about chef. And what a great way to stimulate the economy - and your tastebuds.

I'm all about food. Especially good food. And I defintely had some good eatin' up here. If only this trend would catch on down south...

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Why, oh why?

I'm a few days late, but it's taken that long for me to even open my computer and face the harsh reality of Wake Forest's defeat.

I'm at a loss for words. My previous post talks about how we totally bit it in the ACC tourney, but I really thought the team would pull it together for the big dance. But, alas. Jeff Teague failed to play with any passion and the team as a whole couldn't make a shot to save it's place in the tournament. I've never even heard of Cleveland State before. Now I'll never forget them.

I've heard from several people that Wake has totally busted their brackets. But I knew this would happen. Following Wake basketball for the last nine years has taught me never to get my hopes up. It happened with Chris Paul. It happened with Jeff Teague. And I suspect it will happen next year again.

Oh, it's so hard to be a Wake fan.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Fifty People One Question

A small production company, Crush + Lovely, put together this montage of people in Brooklyn. They interviewed fifty people and asked them all the same question and filmed their response. I thought the production was very lovely, but an added bonus is that my sister, who lives in Brooklyn, was interviewed for the project and chosen for the final cut.

She's the very last person to be interviewed, before the film fades to white.

The question everyone was asked: If you could choose to wake up anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you want to wake up?

Unfortunately, the site won't let me link the video directly into Blogger, so you'll need to click below to view. It's definitely worth the five minutes of your time.

Fifty People Video

Monday, March 16, 2009

Wake Forest is dead to me

How does a nationally ranked basketball team (No. 8 in the AP Poll) and a top team in one of the toughest conferences in the nation (No. 2 in the ACC) lose its first game of the tournament? By 11 points? To a team we beat in the regular season?

Wake does this every year. We finish strong in the regular season and then we choke in the tournaments. Of course, I'll be cheering my heart out for them on Friday, but sometimes it's so hard to be a Wake fan.

On a similar note, how does Carolina get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, when Duke had a better overall record than them, AND won the ACC tournament? Meanwhile, Duke is stuck with a No. 2 seed. Carolina has this halo effect with the NCAA officials and, frankly, there would be nothing I would like better than to see Carolina go out like they did against FSU on Saturday. Yes, I said that out loud.

Hey, it's March Madness. And nothing gets me more mean-spirited like a little friendly competition.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Four dog night

Perhaps as a reaction to all the baby-fever going on, Scott and I have decided to adopt a dog. We've opted not for a pedigree, but for a rescued dog. So we've been visiting a few pounds and shelters and seeing what might be the best fit for us.

We came upon an organization in Wake Forest, NC that houses several strays and abandoned dogs and found four dogs on their website that we'd like to meet. So we filled out an application and e-mailed it in. That was four days ago. No word yet.

According to the website, they will review your application and then get back to you within a week to schedule an appointment to come see the dogs. If you don't hear from them in a week, then you can assume that your appliation has been denied. Since it's now been four days without a peep, I'm thinking that we may have been denied.

What's crazy about this is that we're not asking to adopt a child, for which an application and background check would be entirely appropriate. We are asking to adopt a dog. Who used to live on a street. Who has no home. And is a dog. Come on, people.

Where I work, there are several homeless people who stand on the corner, asking for money. Last summer, one of the homeless men found a stray dog and took it in as his own. When you passed by this man, you could tell that he truly cared for this dog and treated him like a companion. He would give it water and he propped up an umbrella to keep the dog shaded. You would see him petting the dog and showing it affection.

A few days later, we heard on the news that a couple came by and took his dog from him because they felt sorry for the dog. They didn't think that it was right that a dog should live under those conditions. I would see this man for days afterwards, with a sign asking for his dog back. There are two things that irked me - and still do - about this story.

First, someone stole something from this man. I don't care who this couple was, or that the dog's owner was homeless - no one has the right to steal anything from anyone. The dog wasn't abused or in danger. He had become someone's pet. The man is homeless - at least let him have his dignity and companionship.

Second, the couple saved a dog, but didn't do anything to help this homeless man. The couple felt sorry enough for a dog to "rescue" it, but didn't feel sorry enough for a human being to rescue him. Did they give this man money or food or bring him to a shelter? No. But they did for the dog.

What kind of society have we become, when we value the life of a dog over that of our own species?

Friday, March 06, 2009

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

With the recent state of the economy, this twitter was, er, tweeted:


Or you can by a share of Citigroup and have change left over for a small McDonald's coffee. I'm thankful that my husband and I have a steady jobs right now. If only I could just stomach the fast plummet of our savings and 401(k)s.

Maybe it's safer to invest in fries...if only I didn't give that up for Lent!

Thursday, March 05, 2009

A beautiful day for having a baby

With the deluge of pregnancies comes the deluge of little babies. Some of my friends have already started birthing, and the latest addition is little Chase Matthew Bevacqua. He is absolutely adorable and already looks a lot like his daddy!

Congratulations to Elizabeth and Chris! You make very cute babies...

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

When politicians do stupid things

A West Virginia delegate, Jeff Eldridge, wants to ban Barbie from the state. He's trying to pass legislation to stop sales of Barbie dolls in West Virginia. His reasoning is that toys, with the emphasis on Barbie dolls, have a tendency to glorify physical beauty over brains and leaves young girls with negative body issues. I have two comments on this:

1) How about we try to pass legislation to SAVE THE ECONOMY.
2) Why are girls treated like delicate creatures?

Yeah, yeah. I realize that there probably is some kind of issue with body image when we open magazines or look at too-thin models. But, come on. No matter what, women are always going to have some sort of body issues because that's part of evolution. We have to look good to attract a mate. And brains play a part, too.

But why aren't we passing legislation to ban sales of wrestling action figures? Why aren't we concerned about the negative body issues that poses for young boys? After all, they are never going to get abs that ripped.

Maybe all this emphasis on trying to protect us poor, helpless women only adds to the problem. Because of Eldridge, we think that Barbie is causing body image issues, and that makes us more sensitive to our own body. I'm not saying we ignore real issues that might be out there, but let's not make them worse.

And if we are, then let's do it for both genders, because those real issues don't just affect women.