And the winner is...

I always love watching the Oscars. There's just something about watching movie stars, all dolled-up, reflecting on the past year in film that is very fun to me. Though this year's award show was a bit dull, I loved watching the little guys win - telling their stories of how they did it - and last night there were quite a few of them.

My good friend Dan makes movies. I first met Dan back in 2002. It was late August and our first year of college at Elon. We quickly became close friends and as freshmen were in some of the same communications classes together. He was into movies and I was into PR (well, who is ever really into public relations? It's in the family...but I digress). It didn't take long for me to realize how talented Dan was. Before starting college, Dan and his Ohio friends made a movie which was eventually picked up and played on the college's TV Network.

Fast forward four years and Dan was moving to New York to pursue his film career and I was moving to New York to become a PR girl. Leaving Elon for the last time [I think I cried all the way back to Raleigh], I called Dan and we both talked about how we couldn't believe college was over, how sad we were, but excited for our future. See you in New York, we said.

While Dan and I don't see each other quite as often as I'd like, I know he is out there making movies. Last night, as I watched the Oscars, I imagined Dan one-day, receiving his. Goosebumps.

Check out Dan's next project, The Richard Corman Documentary. Dan needs our help to make it a reality. You can read more about that here or check out Dan's message below.

Good luck, buddy!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

It's been a little long since my last post but it has been cold and we haven't done much. However, Southern in the City and The Husband did do something very cool last week - we took a cooking class! Yes. It was awesome. My friends are probably saying, "Thank God" right now because we all know that I don't cook. The Husband loves to cook and is actually good at it so he was equally excited to go and learn more.

I've never been to a cooking class before, unless you count watching The Food Network while trying to cook along with the chef on TV.

Through work, I found the talented chef, Myra Kornfeld and she is wonderful. If you are looking for a fun date night or a group party, I highly highly recommend using her! Check out her site for contact information and upcoming classes.

After work Thursday, we walked to her loft in Chelsea and she greeted us with wine and appetizers before we started cooking. Her kitchen is beautiful and was the size of our apartment. Literally. A dream for a chef and an amateur like me.

We cooked and talked and she showed us the correct way to chop an onion, make chocolate mousse from scratch, how to poach a pear and butterfly a chicken (really!). She showed us insider tricks and equipment that everyone should have. Of course we asked her millions of questions like, "do you cook everyday?", "what's your favorite restaurant?", "where do you shop for groceries?" We learned quite a lot. When I told her that I don't cook because my kitchen is small, she quickly replied by saying that she wrote two cook books from her worst kitchens with no space. I guess I have no excuse now.

As we left Myra signed her holiday cookbook for us.


Now, the test will be if I can cook like I did with Myra in my own kitchen. Stay tuned! Thanks for an amazing night Myra...

"Winter Must Be Cold For Those With No Warm Memories" - An Affair to Remember

Happy Valentine's Day to all my blog readers - I love (luff) y'all!

On this Valentine's Day, I'm feeling a bit tired. Scratch that - very tired. Maybe it's because I stayed up until the wee small hours of the morning both Friday and Saturday laughing so hard my stomach hurt and my eyes watered up. Good friends will do that to you.

As I mentioned last week, we had some very special visitors this past weekend at Hotel Worsham: Lauren (Lo), her man Adam, Gray and her man Eric (Huddy). Lo, Gray, Huddy and I all went to college together and this was the first weekend we got to meet Adam, whom we luff! And speaking of Elon, those who attended would appreciate that in the wee small hours of Saturday morning, we stumbled upon [more or less] Sparks and were able to have a Sparks Challenge. Ah, college.

There is just something about having your friends visit that just fills your soul. They are probably making fun of me for that last sentence but I'm corny and they love that.

So on to the weekend recap...most of our weekend consisted of us yapping (probably about our favorite blogs like Young House Love). The boys asked us what we would do without blogs and we replied, "we have no idea."

Per usual, we took our friends to our favorite sandwich shop in the city, Torrisi Italian Specialities, which I swear gets more delicious each time we go.


After stuffing ourselves, we walked to Park Here (the indoor park that sort of feels like a real park). Although it's not huge, it was quite comfortable so the six of us sprawled out for a bit taking in all the fake bird sounds and fluorescent sunlight. This is a perfect place to take your kids in the cold winter months. They even have free wifi and very clean bathrooms.



Next we walked and talked and walked some more through most of lower Manhattan. There is nothing better than people watching in the city and stumbling upon crazy little stores in the village like this one. Who'd a thought that a whole store could be dedicated funny lines and jokes from The Big Lebowski (The Husband's favorite movie by the way)?

We also checked out Chelsea Market and The Highline Park, ending our trip at the Beer Garden at the Standard Hotel. The Beer Garden was quite the highlight of the weekend, especially with all the beautiful people (models for fashion week, er, I mean my friends). If you're looking for a fun and trendy but not uptight place this is it. It's very comfortable, not too expensive and they even have ping pong. What more could you need?



On Saturday night we visited our favorite local pizza place and attempted to go to Cafe Wha?, which I don't recommend unless you want to pay $60 for a bucket of beer (Wha??) and if you don't like being claustrophobic. I'll just leave it at that.

Oh how I luff my friends. Though I'm tired today, it was sooooo worth it and I miss y'all already.

P.S. If you find a flip phone or a jacket lying around the city, please let Huddy know:)

P.P.S. If you see a "wanted" sign for Gray, please let Gray know:)

The Snow Can Go.

My parents always said that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. This is fine and all until you are just so fed up with things that you have to let it out. So here it goes...

I'm incredibly sick of this damn snow. I have had it and I'm pretty sure that if it snows one more time I will cry (maybe I have already. Sue me). We haven't had snow in a few weeks so you're probably wondering why I'm complaining. Despite some 40 degree days last week, there is what I like to call snow mounds on the sides of every street. Unbeknownst to me, New Yorkers think these snow mounds are trashcans. They are filthy with old cups, cigarette butts, dog crap (now, come on), old food and other things that I just wish to forget at the moment.

I knew that yesterday was going to be a long day after the following happened at 8:30 a.m.: per usual, I was walking Bailey before work and casually stepped on some black ice. All of a sudden I found myself on the ground in yes, a snow mound full of trash. It was embarrassing. It was cold. And, I felt very geriatric.

I know that I chose to live in a city where it's cold in more months out of the year than it is warm, but seriously, I have never seen so much snow or have been so freakin cold. Please, please please hurry up spring. Please. I really don't want to have one more blog post about snow and I'm sure y'all don't want to read one either.

Okay, thank you very much readers for humoring me. I feel much better letting that out. On to the weekend...I have some very special visitors [see photo below] coming to see me and for that I'm happy and a bit warmer inside. I leave this negative post with something happy.

Go Heels!

Even though I'm more than 500 miles away from NC, I'm still a Tarheel born and bred - especially the days (today!) that Carolina plays Duke. College baseketball is my favorite - thank goodness football season is over and basketball is here!

The walls of my New York city cubicle (exciting stuff, eh?) show my Carolina pride... ...Go Heels, beat Duke!

There's A Bluebird on my Shoulder

41 Days until spring. That gives me plenty of time to plan my spring decor. We could all use some pastels, birds and overall freshness in our lives, especially after this long and arduous winter. I also plan to organize my life and closets. They [the closets] are getting a bit out of control and I need to make room for my new spring coat - thanks to mom!

Here's a couple quick ideas from PB that I'm thinking about recreating. They remind me of spring and clean:

More substantial posts to come...

Nadeau

Despite the square footage of our apartment, or lack thereof, I'm always searching for furniture to fill my oneday bigger home. One of the great things about living in the city is searching for antiques and cheap finds that you can turn into your own treasures. We've been lucky enough to find a few pieces that way.

Yesterday, my good friend Leena forward me an e-mail about a furniture store opening in Manhattan - Nadeau - which sells, "furniture with a soul" (inexpensive and unique). Who wouldn't love that?? When the weather improves, I will check it out and you should too. Nadeau's new flagship store is located at 57th East 11th Street in Greenwich Village, just south of Union Square. Visit their Web site for other stores across the country.

Here are some pieces that caught my eye. If only I had more room...