Halloween x3 or x4?

It is not yet Halloween, but I made good use of this year's costume. Friday night was an event calling for costumes or creative black tie. I have yet to determine what creative black tie is, so I opted for the former.

Saturday night, I hosted my own shindig, which (if I might say it myself) was quite a success. Around 75 people; all but 3 came in costume. It was a good time, but it didn't help me to shake my gnawing cold.

Sunday night, my "boss" had the core folks who I work with daily over to his house -- in costume. Families were invited; the kids were adorable and had a blast.

Now, Halloween is tomorrow, but I think the time has come to throw in the costume!

Airborne

I just sampled a new herbal supplement to try to curb a cold. It's called Airborne. I haven't seen great results, as I am probably too far into the cold this time. What's interesting about the name of it, and true for me, is that I always seem to get a cold shortly after I fly. Why is this? Do planes really maintain higher concentrations of the virus? Wouldn't subways carry just as many germs?

Perhaps it also has something to do with my trying to fit in one too many activities during my travels (and sleeping too little). Then again, that is not so different from my everyday life.

Mie N Yu

I regressed throughout the weekend, managing an intermediate stop between dinner and dancing for drinks (surprise, surprise) at Mie N Yu Saturday night. Kudos to Alysa for the suggestion (even though she wasn't joining us). I love the play on words. Good atmosphere. Great cocktails. Only the beer-drinkers were a little unhappy that there was no tap at all. They felt a little better about that, though, after enjoying a 20 oz. Bass out of a bottle made them feel better about that, though.

As to cuisine, I hit a few oldies (Sake Club) and a few newbies (Grill from Ipanema and Neyla), but shook it off with a little merengue at Paper Moon and a run on the Rock Creek Loop.

The highlight, though, was probably the orangutan under the sheet. He just made my day.

Cookbooks and Such

Andrea went home after her BMT and hospital stay. I am so happy! I look forward to trying out the new cookbooks and making her time at home as much fun as possible. For her, I'll even try to do better than chilli and pasta.

Ever too early for Molten Chocolate Cake?

It might surprise you that the answer is yes.

I attend a lot of events. Last night's was a ton of fun, but it had one key flaw. They served the delicious molten chocolate cake 20 minutes before the Keynote speaker began. As I know her personally and was excited to hear her speak, it was disappointing to see half of the room leave before she got started. The event was essentially over before it really began.

Now, a dessert buffet, where one can go up after the speaker is done and mingle with others over coffee and such, seems like a much better call.

Quarters for Laundry

They are the bain of my existence. When I was in college, my mother would send me a roll of quarters every so often to help me out. Now, I am on my own, and I need to scrounge up my own quarters.

I finally got myself to the bank during banking hours to get a pound of 'em, but it turns out they won't serve you if you're not a member. I guess I will have to keep on giving the confused cashier one dollar and 17 cents when the fruit/gum/chocolate comes to 67 cents. (For all of you that took Hypercard instead of Math, my change in that scenario is 2 quarters.)

Apple Picking

I went apple picking for the first time this past Saturday. After a lot of debate as to whether it should be Doe or Honey Pot, we ended up at Applecrest. It was fantastic. There are still 7 varieties available, the activities were numerous, the kids were playing, the sun was shining, and we tasted (illicitly?) along the way.

With a little nudge from Tom that we stop to pick up an Apple Corer on the way home and a couple of calls to my mom as to what ingredients I needed, I *easily* baked my first apple pie. I brought it to Aquene's birthday party. I got lots of compliments. (Thanks Mom!)

I have to throw in that I also had my first night on a stage in a karaoke bar with Ky and Steve, but it is certain not to be my last. Whatever was in that pie, it gave me a little extra singing ability (or so it seemed by that point in the evening).

In other highlights, I had a fantastic reunion with the ChemE women and a beautiful fall-colored drive out to the Cape for Jim's send-off.

Columbus Day

I want to salute Columbus for taking credit where credit was not necessarily due. His day was a good day, as was the entirety of the weekend that was all the more enjoyable because I knew it would be a long one.

There was fun in the sun -- on the roofdeck and at the 10k (kudos to Sandra and I). There was even greater fun after dark as I hit some of my favorite spots each night with some of my favorite people -- Tonic, Kashmir, Eastern Standard and Tapeo. Got to celebrate birthdays, too (Paul and Ruthie have almost caught up to me!). Big thanks go to Alison for helping me to finally get curtains up -- it was getting beyond ridiculous. Now, if I can just get to those light fixtures!