Tag Archives: five things

Five Things (4)

Posted in Bookish, Broadway, Plateful, Thoughts by

We are in the fourth month of the year 2013. Spring has officially begun, but Mother Nature didn’t get the memo. I’m thinking we need to rename the seasons, there is Fall from November to January and then Winter from February to April. May is Spring, June/July is summer and everything else is a sort of muggy uncertainty.

Enough with the weather, that universal topic of conversation; it’s time to talk about FIVE THINGS!

— Thing One —

I love Broadway, so I try to go to a show at least once a year (or more). 2013 started off with Rock of Ages, and it was wonderful! I would recommend this show to anyone – it’s electric!

— Thing Two —

I love getting together in small, intimate groups with friends, especially friends that I consider dear to my heart. This past month I got to hang out with some of my old workmates who are dear friends of mine. We met at someone’s house and spent the day around the table, having brunch then supper and talking about life, work and babies! I think I’m going to pass on the babies! haha

Since it was a brunch get together, we each made dishes and I decided to try a recipe that I found on Pinterest. I’ve done a few successful ones and some not so successful ones, my fave being the Personal Lasagna Rolls, but ever since I started my “Delightful Dishes” board, I’ve always wanted to try the French Toast Bake. So, after some consideration, I made it for brunch and, I have to say, it was DELICIOUS! Instead of brown sugar, I only had white sugar in the house, so I added some molasses (yeah, we have that and not brown sugar) and it gave the base a sort of pancake syrupy taste. Of course one serving was about 500 calories, but, hey, it’s the weekend, I can let my hair down (and loosen the belt).

shanella_frenchtoast

Other such intimate hangouts included time spent with three other ladies, one who I haven’t seen in a loooong time due to time and distance. That was an awesome evening, I started out hanging with C and we talked about a ton of things and I shared some funny (and disturbing) stories about men, that I was experiencing at the time. Watch this space for a detailed post in a month or so. (hehehe)

Then spending the night at the movies with my soon-to-be-published cousin A.J., watching Jack the Giant Slayer and making fun of the predictable plot. I don’t usually talk during movies in cinemas, but when there aren’t many people there it really is a lot of fun laughing and talking about what’s going to happen next. So predictable.

Then this past Sunday there was a spontaneous Sunday lunch (well I had two lunches, like a hobbit) because I was missing some faces, but only lunch #1 was considered intimate. Large gathering does have it’s time and place as well.

— Thing Three —

Girl Scout Cookies!!!!! The Girl Scouts know about demand and supply. I can’t tell you the number of cookies I’ve consumed in the past two weeks … I’m ashamed to count them! But those Thin Mints and Tagalongs are just SO GOOD!

Just the other day I was on my way to the threading salon where I passed a group of Girl Scouts strategically located right outside of the salon, I was going to purchase 1 box of Thin Mints, but ended up purchasing 2 boxes of Thin Mints and 1 box of Tagalongs. I’m a little tempted to buy a bunch and hoard them, but I’m afraid that might lead to the over-consumption of cookies over the span of a few hours.

— Thing Four —

This might have been my first bookish event this year – I’m slacking, I know! I saw Andrew Jenks, Alaya Dawn Johnson and Eireann Corrigan. I wrote a bit about the event on my book blog, so you can check it out there if you’re interested (and see photos from the event).

— Thing Five —

Finally, The Good and Beautiful God book club met for the second time a few weeks ago. I love reading and discussing books with others, it really does amaze me how two people, reading the same text, can find different insights. I love the sharing of inspiration and ideas that come out from the text. I also love how everyone reads differently and react differently to the text. Discussing books shows me how diverse our world is, I absolutely love it!

shanella_hitechlotech

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Five Things (3)

Posted in Thoughts by

This set of five things is brought to you by “Finding” Nemo.

— Thing One —

Oh winter storms, you come with no respect for my plans! Nemo came, and the bright plans for brunch was slashed as I spent an hour and a half outside, shoveling snow. But, Nemo didn’t keep us down! Six of us met, later that day, for Dallas BBQ in Queens. It was great hanging with friends on a winter day 🙂 especially since the rest of the day was spent sleeping.

— Thing Two —

The week after Nemo was tinged with sadness, and I stopped the daily exercise and proper eating schedule that I had developed – sometimes you just need to comfort of potatoes, any style, doesn’t matter. However, since then I’ve been back on my running schedule and I was reminded of the fact of how much I disliked running until I met my friend Danny. We would go running for two miles in Flushing Meadow Park. He was very patient and took the time to teach me how to run properly and because of him I was able to do two miles, nonstop, which was pretty much a miracle for me. Due to this renewed burst of running and better eating habits, I’m happy to say that my winter weight is gone! Woohoo! All the weight I packed on from November to January (and a bit more) is now gone from my body, and I definitely feel more energize – though, that could also be due to the fact that I am sleeping longer hours. Sleep is really awesome and I find that uninterrupted sleep at nighttime really gives me a restful day. Yay for healthy habits! 

— Thing Three —

More Girly Time!  I had some great hang outs with girlfriends this past month. First, Tea and Sympathy with Alex, an old work-mate of mine. We had a great time enjoying T&S’s tea service and chatting about work and life. Then, I had some Ramen with C&C; it was definitely needed. Sometimes it’s easy to shut myself away during busy or difficult times, but I definitely needed to be around people on that particular Friday and I enjoyed the company of those two ladies a lot. 🙂

The following week I hung out with Eve and got some yummy Thai food (in Long Island!) and saw Identity Theft – which was hilarious! The rest of the week was a cousin-fest, from watching Amour to having dinner at The Olive Garden. I hadn’t been to Olive Garden in ages! The bread … so yum!

A few weeks after that it was Cambodian sandwiches – YUM! – and Argo Tea with E&C. Looking back at all the different food places, I feel incredibly blessed to be experiencing so many different cultures in New York.

— Thing Four —

Imagine this … You’re on the local train from Atlantic Terminal to Manhattan when you hear that it’s going on the express track, but that’s OK, the express train stops at your stop. You are listening to some music, and as the morning light peeks into the train as it slowly commences its trek over the bridge, The Violet Hour begins to play.

As the train descends, the last bell tolls, was there ever a better soundtrack moment?

— Thing Five —

Oscar Party! This is my third one, and it was great! Also, great app ABC – just make it a little less bloated and figure out what to do when there are ties and you’ll be perfect!

I had a lovely time with my friends, watching the red carpet parade and the entire show in general. I’m not really a big awards-show person, so attending an Oscar Party isn’t really something I’d have ever imagined myself doing, but, friends make everything better! Looking forward to next year!

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Five Things (2)

Posted in Thoughts by

Can you believe it’s already February? January was so busy for me it seemed to fly by; and there have been so many changes in 31 days that 2013 is turning into a mini whirlwind. But, with the wind there have been little quiet moments that I am grateful for, so, today’s five things feature on the quietness (and fun-ness) of friendships.  

— Thing One —

Mondays get a bad rep, they are the first day of the work week, the weekend is still fresh in our minds causing the next weekend to seem so far away. However, I’ve found that Mondays can be fun when you have something to look forward to, and having some plans (or spontaneous movie outings) on Mondays made them, well, fun days! =D

Also, any day is amazing with good and cheap food. The Hummus Place is wonderful!  I absolutely loved it and since having some hummus there  I find that I really want to go back … soon!

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to another fun day, where I’ll be having tea with an old workmate! Bring it Monday!

— Thing Two —

I went wedding dress shopping with J; and WOW, what an process! Going to appointments, trying on tons of dresses to find the right style, dealing with pushy sales people – or none existent ones – how do brides deal with this? Wedding dress shopping is anything but quiet, but when you see your friend picking out THE dress for her big day, well, it’s definitely something special. I’m so happy that I got the chance to share in this special moment.

— Thing Three —

Which leads me to thing three! Girly time!! I grew up among a lot of guys. It’s not that difficult being friends with guys. Like the same things, talk about those things and you’re pretty much golden. So it took me a while to develop decent female friendships because females like to talk about topics that guys don’t necessarily sit around chatting about for more than a minute. Females tend to dissect a topic, dig deeper into it, and all of this is done over appetizers.

The female friends that I have are all brilliant! I just loved the time I got to spend with so many of them in January. Hanging out, talking about life, sharing intimate details and desires, it’s really wonderful and refreshing 🙂

Also, I do love the way our conversation has evolved over the years, from school and assignments to more grown-up things. I also love the topics that haven’t really changed over the years – will we ever understand boys enough to stop discussing and dissecting them? “So every time I turned around he was standing next to me, regardless of where in the room I was, yet he didn’t introduce himself or talk to me? What’s up with that?”

— Thing Four —

I’ve always been a fan of board games. Growing up, I’d play them with aunts and uncles from time to time; one of the favourites was Pay Day. When you have the right set of people and a fun board game, time seems to fly by.

It was a busy week leading up to MLK day, and even busier weekend. Unexpectedly so, since I double booked the weekend then had to do the most uncomfortable task of canceling and rebooking. When Monday came around, I wanted to lay in bed all day and do nothing. But, I am so happy that I got myself up and out of my house to M&J’s place for some board games! I think my friends are the right group of people for playing games; Clue and Electronic Monopoly have never been so fantastic on a wintry day!

— Thing Five —

January ended with an old schoolmate, visiting from Guyana. We went to Tea & Sympathy, watched Warm Bodies – I have no idea what genre THAT movie falls into – and then hung out in Barnes and Noble.

One of the things we did in B&N was read children’s books. I pulled out all of the books that I found entertaining and made her read them; it was fun! There is something about children’s books – especially great ones – that make me smile. I love the quirky ones and the ones with really great art. The next time you’re in a B&N go to the shelves and read a few medalists, I promise you that you’ll leave with a smile on your face.

~ * ~

Five Things (1)

Posted in Ballet, Cultured, Thoughts by

Oftentimes it’s difficult for me to keep resolutions because, despite the plotting and scheming to get things done, the change I want is frequently so tremendous that I become disillusioned when I can’t obtain my goal (or close to my goal) within 30 days.

I want to say that I will blog more, that I will talk more about what I observe in the city I call home, but the truth is, I don’t like sharing my thoughts and emotions with everyone. Blogging will always be difficult because of this; while I love the idea of the world wide web and the connectivity we have online, I will always prefer the casual anonymity of being a browsing wallflower.

In an attempt to write more and be more thoughtful and expressive, I’ve decided to start with a small step in blogging – I will record 5 things. And, keeping with small steps, these 5 things do not have to be recorded every week, but, I must records 5 things at least once a month. I’d like the things to be positive things, because life is too short to settle on the negatives. Maybe they’ll be things of interest to me, I don’t know what they will be, the only thing they cannot be is negative.

So … without further ado, here are five things.

— Thing One —

After the downer called 2012, the year started off on a great note when, while texting that my service ended late and that I would probably be heading home, I found out that my friend proposed and his girl said yes! It was such great news to hear at the onset of a new year. Thankfully I got to see them for a bit and express the full extent of my excitement for them.

— Thing Two —

I saw a swift answer to a prayer. Without getting into too much details online (but, you can ask me about it offline, I’d love to share), I found myself in a tough situation and I sent up a desperate cry for help and it came, in the form I requested. It was just the boost I needed and I’m thankful for the reminder of the all-knowing God that I serve.

— Thing Three —

Earlier this week I went to Carnegie Hall for the first time. I am constantly astonished by the culture that oozes out of the pores of New York City. Where else can I see Wicked on Broadway, then take a train north to the Met and then go a bit west to find Lincoln Center and see an Opera? I love that it’s brimming with art in its many forms.

I am often surprised by the inner workings of humans as expressed through the things they build so, when John and Hank Green were hosting a Night of Awesome at Carnegie Hall, I hopped online to get a ticket. They entertained a sold out hall, just two brothers from the middle of nowhere, one a bestselling author and the other an internet intellect. Both brothers started a community called Nerdfighters through their Vlogbrother YouTube channel.

Now, before you think that this is too geeky for your tastes, the core message of the Vlogbrothers is being true to yourself. I would rather my teenagers watch their channels as opposed to the constant barrage of low level entertainment that forces them to be something they are not – to confirm to a societal norm. The fact that they sold out Carnegie Hall is astounding in and of itself. This means that there are enough young people in New York City (and those who have access to NYC) who have been influenced by these guys, enough to sell out Carnegie Hall. For me, this is mind-boggling.

These guys are the influencers you want to pay attention to.

— Thing Four —

On the same vein of expression in arts, I also saw a ballet at Lincoln Center this week! They were presenting Tchaikovsky/Balanchine pieces. Tchaikovsky is a great composer who composed the famous Swan Lake piece and Balanchine is a famed choreographer. I actually read the biography of Gelsey Kirkland, Dancing on My Grave, for a Ballet class that I took in college, and since then, I’ve always been interested in George Balanchine pieces.

It was a beautiful night, first they did a shorter version of Swan Lake, the ballerina was amazing and I was very impressed with her cavalier. The second piece was the  Allegro Brillante, the lighting on this piece was pretty neat and I loved the costumes on this piece the most. Finally they performed to Suite no. 3. During this piece there was a little fumble, a company dancer got in the way of the male principle and I thought, for a moment, that they were about to do a lift (which was confusing as I’ve never seen a female lift a male). However, they had a speedy recovery and the show carried on.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience. I’m such a fangirl of the Lincoln Center, I love the complex, love the theater, love every bit!

— Thing Five —

Another yes! Or two! This weekend has been packed with surprises and proposals! First, my lovely friend, J, was proposed to on Friday night. Then, on Saturday I found out a college friend proposed to his girlfriend, only to discover that the girl was a friend from my old High School in Guyana. This world is such a small one! Overall, a wonderful end to a lovely week.

Well, that’s five, it’s late and I’m falling asleep…

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