(Another) Pizza Party

Back in the good ol' days, when finances were in "irresponsible" hands, MCI would throw their employees a nice, big holiday party. A nice holiday lunch would be served in the cafeteria - we're talking carving stations, hearty sides, etc - and down the hallways (our site is six buildings long), they'd have dessert tables, coffee/tea/hot chocolate tables, and holiday-colored snack bins lining the walkway on your way to and from the cafeteria. Holiday music would be playing and the mood was extremely festive and it was a great time to take a break and just hang out with your peers and catch up on holiday plans. It was nice.

Then bankruptcy came (hmmm - too much egg nog?) and there was a quick halt to the company holiday festivities. In the first couple of years after bankruptcy hit, HR encouraged each group/organization to have their own little get together and could expense certain foods - as long as it wasn't unreasonable. We've had Olive Garden catering or a pot luck lunch always followed by the ever-popular White Elephant gift exchange. But even those days seem to have dwindled because it seems like any gathering that we have, in which lunch could be involved, it all boils down to pizza.

We've had a few pizza parties in the office - all catered by local pizzerias or Papa John's. For the masses (which are my Indian co-workers), the favorite seems to be Papa John's. I can't complain about Papa John's. It was, after all, my staple food in college. But growing up in Jersey and outside NYC, I had some of the best NY Style pizza - thin, oily, greasy or the Sicilian kind. And it wasn't mass produced - it came from the mom and pop stores in town. Ever since moving down to Virginia, I have been on the hunt for the best NY Style pizza. It took me awhile to even find a place that would sell me pizza by the slice! So for the first couple of years of living here, I was living off Papa John's and Pizza Hut to get my pizza fix. But then my co-workers took me to a local pizza joint (inside an ice-skating rink) and I have not been able to look at Papa John's since. It's by the slice and it meets all the NY Style requirements - thin, greasy, good. Since discovering Pomodoro's, I have been able to find more places to sell pizza by the slice but they're just not as good...why? The secret is in the sauce and their sauce is good. So good that I've already alerted my husband that he has to get Pomodoro's pizza for my birthday party in January.

Being faced with another group holiday gathering in a week, the lunch of choice...pizza (SHOCKER!). The last pizza order we had came from Pomodoro's and I was told it did not go over well with my Indian counterparts. Of course the (Indian) person that told me tried to do a blanket statement saying that no one liked it. 'Umm - I beg to differ,' I had to inform her. I know of at least six people that thoroughly enjoyed it. Is it coincidence that the six are all Americans? But it's looking like Papa John's will be the pizza of choice here.

Having said all that, I don't think Papa John's is a viable option as "my favorite pizza" choice when faced with all these other local pizzerias. I think Papa John's is an acceptable answer if you're in college or you are only surrounded by Dominoes, Pizza Hut, Sbarro, etc. But a real lover of pizza should never list a chain as "my favorite pizza." I think Papa John's is a favorite among the Indian co-workers because they wouldn't know to go to a local pizzeria to check it out by the slice. So I'll chalk that up to lack of pizza experience.

I've already got another NY Style recommendation right by my house - so there is a chance that my husband won't need to travel to go get my birthday party pizza. Who knew NY Style pizza would be so hard to find?

You're Only As Old As You Feel (Right??)

I have an August birthday. This meant two main things growing up. One - I got big time shafted when it came to celebrating birthdays in elementary school. I had to bring in my cupcakes on that "catch all" generic birthday day. Usually sometime in June. Two - I was always younger than most of the people in my class.

These were both negatives to me at the time. Point Two was particularly problematic as I approached the crucial ages of 16 and 21. There was nothing like being at the mercy of your for-all-intents-and-purposes same-aged friends for a ride to Taco Bell in their standard issue Chevy Cavalier or Pontiac Sunbird (it was GM country) or being left behind for the bar scene in college.

But something happened. Suddenly, I got old.

Now, I know 33 is hardly something to cry about. It's not like I have one foot in the grave or anything. But lately, I feel like the resident senior. All of those years of wishing I was a little older? Man, that would be nice, wouldn't it?

I bring this up because of my interaction with a girl in my hip hop class Monday night. As you know, Jen and I take adult hip hop. And it's awesome. Not only is it great fun to learn the various dance styles - it's an insane workout. On this particular Monday, Jen was a little later than usual. And I usually get there at least 15 minutes before class, so I was chatting with some of the girls in our class who were also early. I like to refer to one of these girls as "the Cheerleader." She's just so peppy and spunky. She's clearly skilled in other dance disciplines. And she's whiter than white. At first, she was a bit much to take (way too enthusiastic about everything). But she grew on me.

She hasn't been showing up as much this fall as she did last year. So I mentioned to her that I hadn't seen her as much. She said that was because she used to get rides from this other girl in the class who was away at college. And this is where I learned that the Cheerleader is a sophomore in high school! Holy bejeezus! Not only does she not remember "Rhythm Nation," the song we are using for our recital (yay!) - but that song came out about 3 years before she was even BORN!

I did the math. I could be the Cheerleader's mom. Really.

Facebook Pheno (nah nah) menon

Amanda and I joined Facebook in the beginning of October. Since then, we have populated our pages with gardens, aquariums, places we've been around the world, super wall postings, photos, video clippings, celebrity look-a-like meters (a favorite) and fan postings for our favorite teams. One person's page can be really busy or it can be pretty bare, but I think the more you have on your page, the more traffic you'll get amongst your friends.

There is this feature that is one of my favorites - Poking. You can poke a friend - just a simple pointer poke, as Amanda and I have been doing everyday since joining. And then there's the super-poke feature which is not so much finger poking as it is things you could 'virtually' do to your friends like dance with them, high-five them, cheer them on, or throw things at them. During the holidays, they have special things you can throw at your friends. For Halloween, you could throw a vampire or ninja at your friends. For Thanksgiving, I think you could throw turkey, mashed potatoes and other Thanksgiving-related goodies at your friends. For the upcoming holidays, you can light a menorah, spin a dreidel, throw an elf or sleigh ride with your friends. It's fun and addictive.

There are also groups you can join. People start groups so that people with similar interests can join. I've joined the following groups:
1) Purdue Young Alumni - so I can keep in touch with the young alums in the DC area
2) I don't care how comfortable crocs are, you still look like a dumbass - reference 'Croc me Amadeus' posting from a few months ago.
3) In Love with Julia Quinn novels - she's one of my favorite romance authors - read all her books
4) The 80s Cartoon Appreciation Society - because I am a child of the 80s and I miss Voltron and Thundercats and My Little Pony and the Smurfs.
I'm not sure what these groups do except chat on the Wall (aka - discussion board) and what not. I've been able to recommend other books on the Julia Quinn group. I've also been able to send out announcements to DC Young Alums on the Purdue Young Alumni site. So I guess there are useful things that come out of these pages.

Facebook is also a fun way to connect to old friends and new friends. I've connected with friends from college and old jobs. Plus, Amanda and I have both managed to connect to our new friends across the pond, that we met at the wedding we just attended. I guess this is the next step from email - except much more fun as we can see their friends, their interests (through their pages) and chat with each other via the Wall.

Finally - one of the more useful applications of Facebook is your status. You can have your status display where you are - I'm at home, the office, sleeping, etc. (those are generic). Or you can get creative and put your own status in there. Mine reads: 'Jennifer is freezing her butt off because it's freakin' cold over here!' That was yesterday's. I'll have to think of something creative for today.

So if you get a chance, I recommend Facebook -it's a fun place to be.

On the Prowl

After my most recent trip to London, my friends and I had the pleasure of doing some leisurely shopping and happened to go into a Bertie Shoe store near Covent Garden. Having never heard of Bertie shoes, I was weary of really knowing whether I was buying quality or shabby shoes at quality prices. The shoes in there were nice and I tried on a couple of pairs but after doing the exchange rate, I could not justify purchasing shoes that I could probably get in the States for half of the asking price. So I mustered up the self-restraint and told myself that I did not travel all that way to buy shoes - and walked away. Walked away from two really cute looking pairs of shoes.

But now, in my 'not-so-busy' hours at work, I find myself surfing. Surfing for Christmas gifts, surfing for deals, surfing for shoes. I told myself that I really needed a pair of brown/tan shoes. While looking online, I decided to see if I could find the two strap mary-janes that seem to be the "it" shoe of Winter 2007 (reference picture - Miu Miu). I found a couple but they weren't quite the same. Two people at the wedding, a guest and a bridesmaid, happen to be wearing the black patent leather version and they both got it in two different places - one was at a British version of "Payless' because she said she paid something unreal, like 12 GBPs for hers and they were comfortable! The other gal bought hers in Japan for $100. I probably would've leaned toward the $100 but my comfort zone is definitely somewhere between $40-80 for a pair of these shoes.

So I've looked at Nine West, Steve Madden, Piper Lime - done general searches and I think I'm just going to have to suck it up and search for it as a 'side project' while I do my Christmas shopping at the mall.
I hope I find them - I really do like them...and I hope I find my brown shoes too. I seem to have an over saturation of black patent leather shoes right now in the closet - but then again, you can never have too many shoes, right?

I'm taking suggestions - if anyone knows where I can find a good pair of double/two-strap mary janes, I'm all ears!

One for You, Two for Me . . .

Let's face it - the holiday season has begun. As with every year, it's hard to believe it got here so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was cursing the giant inflatable snowglobe at the grocery store - which was prominently displayed in the aisle next to the Halloween decorations. "It's too early for Christmas," I groused, "and I can't stand those puffies!!" (okay, that's really my mom talking on that second part - but I don't like them either).

I vow every year that I'm going to cut back on the holiday shopping. I have very good intentions (what's that saying about the road to hell . . . ?). Here's what happens: I get some vague idea of where I want to start my holiday shopping. I need something for my mom, my sister-in-laws, my mother-in-law, you get the idea. And I find something generic enough that it's probably a good gift. And it's a good deal, for some reason or other. But I am just not sure. Immediately after I hastily make my purchase, I start to think, "Maybe it is actually more suited for someone else . . . maybe someone like . . .me."

I think I may have a problem.

Shut Up and Get Into the Spirit

These are the words that I kept uttering to my father, over the weekend. Growing up, we had our artificial tree that my sister and I would look forward to decorating. We also had some really nice decorations that we adorned the annual Christmas tree. However, since my parents became empty-nesters, Christmas does not come to the old homestead in Marlboro, NJ. I think my parents depended on us kids to get the tree up and decorated and taken back down again and stored away. I think my Mom still takes out some minor holiday decorations around the house but barely noticeable - in fact, for all I know, they might just stay up year round.

This past weekend, I spent the time getting ready for the holidays. I feel like I'm behind on the holiday spirit. A large part of that might be because I spent Thanksgiving in a foreign country and was not able to be a part of the craziness known as Black Friday. As I hang my head down in shame, I will tell you that I have been a part of those crazy 6 am (I don't go any earlier than that) lines at Best Buy. If I'm up in New Jersey for Black Friday, my sister will inevitably drag me to Kohl's and I will inevitably buy some nonsense not on my holiday list.

So our "getting ready for the holidays" weekend included buying a live tree (our first), ornament shopping for the tree and decorating it. We have a mini tree we display on a table with all our collected ornaments from the past ten years but in our first house, we wanted to start it with a live tree and new ornaments to signify a first for everything. Crate and Barrel assisted with the ornaments while Michael's offered my tree top ribbon and bows.

One of the best purchases I think I ever made was my Bow Maker. I made all the pew bows for my wedding so I still had it stashed away somewhere. There was no way I was going to pay $36 for a pre-made bow at Michael's when I could do it myself in 10 mins with $5 worth of ribbon. And I have to say, it came out lovely. I was so excited about decorating the tree that even my Dad's constant pacing and wondering 'why the heck we were going through so much trouble for 'didn't even irk me.

When completed, the tree was simple, yet elegant with clear white lights and a theme of red, gold and clear/silver/white. I was so happy with the results. Even my Dad was impressed and quickly broke out his camera to take pictures of the finished product to show my Mom what she was missing. My Dad even ran up to his room to change shirts so he'd look nice next to the tree....even though the tree still showed him up.

Nevertheless, I had such a great time decorating and getting into the holiday spirit that I started doing my online shopping this morning...I can hardly believe it's already December and Christmas is a short 3.5 weeks away.

Happy Holidays!