A year in the life...

As we approach the end of the year - it is only natural to sit around and create a montage of your year in review. What are your most memorable moments of 2007? I imagined my 24th year to be the 'best year of my life'. Yes, it was a bit overzealous of me to create such high hopes for the year but it was my golden birthday year. Inevitably with all the hype, it was somewhat of a disappointment. No it was not the best year of my life - but it was good, which is better than saying, it sucked tremendously. So here we have the 10 most memorable moments of 2007.

1. New Years debacle. Oh giggles. Oh Viv, for you, i TOO would miss a funeral.
2. First time abroad - EuroFoodTour 2007. Did someone say sausage and mash?
3. The phone call that changed my life - May 30th - and the aftermath.
4. 42 (+3) miles of biking around New York without getting hit by a taxi
5. Summer of 07 - at Sergio's pool. Yeah Rada crew!
6. I'm from Barcelona Groupies at McCarron Park
7. The first 3 weddings to scare the rest of us.
8. Eyal-ing it in San Fran. Sammifying it in Vegas.
9. 6 hour interview with 5 case studies. Worst experience.
10. Having to give the toast at the company dinner my 2nd week on the job, being coached by the COO.

I'm sure there's other moments, but for now - this will suffice. I learned a lot this year and I had to face things that I didn't necessarily like or anticipate so early in my life. I guess it's these things that build character - hopefully it didn't come with a side order of cynicism. There were people who were there for me - who have always there for me (thank you so much), there were people who I hoped would be there for me but didn't pull through, and there was kindness found in places I would have never imagined. Someone told me that 'it's not the bad things in life that define us, it's how we deal with it' and it really helped me not take a giant bite of my 'self pity pie'. I did however, have a taste. It was kind of yummy - tasted like chicken.

To conclude, family was good, health was good, friends were good, career took a turn for the better, and all in all I'm pretty satisfied. True - not the best year of my life - but I'm happy. I have great hopes for 2008. I can't wait to make more memorable moments. (end sappy montage music)

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A week in Limbo

It's hard to focus having all that Christmas dinner, cookies and cake under my hypothetical belt (I'm not really one to wear an actual belt). It's hard to be motivated with one holiday behind us, and an upcoming one in a week. I have my Christmas toys at home waiting to be played with, Christmas cookies waiting to be eaten and Christmas flub waiting to be burned off.

ON a positive note - the commute has been heavenly. No getting squished under unsavory armpits or shoved by little old asian women. Quiet sleep on the 7, a seat on the 4/5..Oh man =)

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Juno

This movie was absolutely amazing. I cannot stop raving about it. This is definitely one of my top 10 movies, if not in the top 3. I cannot lie - It started as some creepy infatuation with Michael Cera. To defend myself, he is 19 and I've already admitted that it was creepy. Little did I know, that he would spend most of the movie in abnormally short gold shorts. H-O-T...ok, it was truly more disturbing than anything else. haha. It actually turns out that I fell in love with Ellen Page's character, Juno. Between the amazing soundtrack and the perfectly "me" kind of humor - I felt like this movie was made for me. The quick whip humor and the sweet story of best friends made for a full circle of a movie. I laughed. I cried. (I tried to conceal the two tears that I already unsuccessfully tried to blink back) I just cannot wait to see it again. I really cannot get enough of this movie and I need to recommend it to as many people as possible. It was amazing. A definite DVD buy. A definite CD buy.

Visit the site to listen to the soundtrack. You can find the controls on Cera's blinding white legs. The soundtrack is really great. The songs are really cute and strange but you come to realize that sometimes, you too, feel cute in your bunny suit. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/juno/

I guess in the end, I'm just looking for the cheese to my macaroni.

TANSTAAFL

TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. From the 1966 novel The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

Is there really such a thing as a "free lunch"? Before you run away from this post - no, this is not about economics. Or is it?!

TANSTAAFL means that a person or a society cannot get something for nothing. (wiki)

A few months ago when I was looking for a new career/life/path/money making scheme, of course Google was on my long list of potential employers. It the hip company to get into. It's huge, innovative and has a LOT of money. It's on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for. Wow. KIND of a big deal. The unconventional, young, fun culture is what we often hear about. We hear of the perks, the unique google "style", and its invoativeness. I was intrigued of course, who wouldn't be?! You'd be crazy to not want - climbing walls, razor scooters, swimming pools, free car washes, laundry service, gyms, and extensive cafeterias (if you can even call it that) with guest chefs every week, as your perks? OK most of those things are only in the Mountain View Campus in California, but wow. Just wow.

So being in search marketing, I work with search engines - mainly google and yahoo. I got a little tour of google NY yesterday as well a taste of their famous meals. The hallways were lined with serving containers of M&Ms, trail mix, chips, and random snacks and I have to gratuitously mention the razor scooter parking lot. As you walk into their cafeteria three men were putting on their google chef whites at their lockers, walls were lined with previous guest chef pictures and stats and then...the unveiling. Not just food made in the back room by microwaves and makeshift grills. Chefs making food right on the spot. All kinds of stations. Grill station, pasta, vegetarian, salad, sides, dessert, and I thought I was hallicunicating when I saw the gelato stand.

A good deal huh? Free lunch!! or is it. You have all the comforts of home - at work. That can be nice - until you realize on your way back to your desk from eating your free dinner that the office has become like home. Like a second home. Maybe that was the intention. Dazzle with the intentions of cutting down lunch time by having employees eat IN instead of taking long lunches and provide dinner for many a late nights. Just a theory. Maybe the unconventional company is a little more conventionally corporate than I once thought. After even working with google for a little bit, you realize that it IS very corporate, being that it's all about the money. But in their defense, you have to be super occupied with money when you're growing so quickly. Plus, I really enjoyed lunch!

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Melp

Brandy Library

25 North Moore St

New York, NY 10013

The name pretty much implies it all. It is nothing like anywhere I've ever been. This is the opposite of a college bar in the basement of a dilapidated building serving communial drinks out of a bowl. You know what I'm talking about ahem 'the rat' ahem . It was refined. Leather chairs. Dark mahogony shelves. A bartender with suspenders and an arm band. It's like an old time gentlemen's bar. The problem remains: I can't drink, nor do I wish to sit and "enjoy" a great whisky. I didn't want to blow my spot and tell them that the only whisky's were taken shot style (once in a boot shaped shotglass). So, I figure I would experience the experience - partake in the old age tradition of having a real drink. I asked my fellow drinkers who are huge fans of the "BL" what I should take as a beginner drink. I had an Italian scotch. I never thought I'd ever say that. But my first taste couldn't be described better than with the word: brutal. It was shocking, warm, thick, and burned. It burned my lips, tongue, cheeks, and throat...basically everything. It was pretty vile - not really my style. Not saying it its bad. I guess it really is an acquired taste. On a positive note - it was really fancy and the food was pretty tasty.

Melp

This is my version of Yelp. My daily usage of this site proves much more helpful than books like Zagat. "Real People. Real Reviews"

The Tasting Room
264 Elizabeth St
New York, NY 10012

Hidden on a this small dark street, you can walk by this restaurant thinking that it's either closed or not even notice it. The inside decor is somewhat "barn-like" but in a quiet, dim lighted way that makes it trendy. Our table was kind of messy looking, like it actually belonged in a barn and instead of chairs, I felt we should have been sitting on a long bench. The other tables however were very nice dark wood. I guess for large parties it's hard to find a matching long table. There is quite a big selection of wines and knowing nothing about wine, I opted out for a salty dog, which is some grapefruit, vodka concoction with sugar and salt. Holy salt batman - all over the outside of the cup. The drink though was very tasty. Later we had a Hungarian dessert wine, Tokaji, which was by far the sweetest wine I've ever had. In true Melissa style, I felt the need to water it down, but I realized that was probably a socially unacceptable move.

to Start: Foie Gras "en Torchon"
Molasses Gastrique, Beets, Scallion
to Continue: Muscovy Duck Breast
Okinawan Sweet Potato, Mustard Greens, Pears
to Finish: Bittersweet Chocolate Pots de Crème
Molasses, Bourbon, Coconut Macaroons

Let's not lie - ordering Foie Gras seems a bit pretentious but the book I'm reading got me intrigued. I imagined a liverwurst kind of taste in a pâté form but surprisingly, it was sweet. Unfortunately I was in a salty mood (despite the drink), damn molasses. I could have just eaten a bag of chips and been pretty happy. There goes any kind of classiness I could have otherwise faked. I actually felt less cultured than usual as I enjoyed the pâté less and less until I resorted to just eating the toast.

The Muscvoy Duck or duck from the region in west central Russia or Moscow, tasted like duck from northern queens or Flushing. Four quarter inch slices of duck breast with a layer of fat atop it and a crunchy skin. The slightly rubbery rareness of the meat warranted a walk through history on how you can eat raw bird. I'll believe it - I'm still stomachache free as of now. I actually did enjoy the duck despite everything - I could have eaten more. The Japanese mashed below it was sweet which once again made me crave salty boxed mashed potatoes. The mustard greens (which at the time I thought was spinach) were deliciously salty but only lasted 3 leaves as the portions was really small and my appetite was really big.

The finishing touch was a thick chocolate pudding-like creation with three neatly laid out macaroons. I guess I'm supposed to say something like, "How decadent" but in this case, I might have to go with "eh". Not to say that it wasn't good but it was a bit much, in a way I cannot describe. There was a cheesecake shared with me (see: stolen)that was absolutely great. Light but not too light, fluffy but not to fluffy, cheesy but not too cheesy...the perfect after dinner dessert.

overall - The best part was the stolen cheesecake. I left wanting a greasy burger.

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Groupie Love

My boyfriend: Christofer Olofsson

Languages: English, Spanish, Swedish

Hometown: Jönköping, Sweden

Talents: Piano, Singing, showing his beer belly

Where we met: Paris, France

Our first date: he sang to me

Nicest gift: he built me a tree house

Relationship issues: long distance, having to compete with his 28 friends

~Love is a feeling that we don't understand - but I'm gonna give it to ya~

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