Last night, I received a Macy's flyer in the mail. Not just any ordinary Macy's flyer but one that highlighted 150 years of Macy's. And instead of sending their usual 20-or so pages of things that will be on sale this weekend for their birthday, their marketing (probably unbeknownst to them) gave a birthday gift to their consumers....in the form of the Calvin Klein insert.
You might recall that the face of Calvin Klein, at Macy's, is none other than Gabriel Aubrey. You know - the one in the commercials that has Martha Stewart dropping her china and Mariah Carey pausing in her stint as her own perfume girl... The man is a fox! And in the insert, he had a nice CK layout of suits, casual wear, sports wear, etc. But I could care less about those - the BEST part of the flyer was the underwear section. It was a collage of 1.5" x 1.5" pics of Gabe in CK underwear - tightie whites, boxer briefs, and undershirts. Sure there were also female pics mixed into the collage to show off CK lingerie but I have CK lingerie - so let's get back to Gabriel.
Granted, the collage wasn't as provocative as the David Beckham Emporio Armani ads or even the ads of Marky Mark dropping trou in the 90s. But a little pic can go a long way. I CAN use my imagination.
So thank you, Macy's and Gabriel Aubrey, for showing me a little of what Halle Berry gets to see on a daily basis...dammit! So jealous!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tiny 'Gooey' Bubbles
I heart bubble teas. For those of you unfamiliar, you might know the bubbles I speak of as boba. Bubble teas are milk mixed or artificially flavored teas (usually green tea) that are shaken, mixed and poured into a cup filled 1/4 full of black tapioca pearls...or bubbles. They can only be slurped up through "fat" straws because that's the only way you're going to get any bubbles with your gulp.I was first introduced to bubble teas in NYC's Chinatown...there are a few (read: many) cafes, tea houses, restaurants that offer bubble teas - but the best one that I've had in Chinatown comes out of Ten Ren Tea Time Cafe. Ten Ren is already renowned for their selections of teas but they have a separate cafe next door that offers all types of drink conconctions - half which come with bubbles. Whenever I am in Chinatown, I try and grab one (or three) during my visit. I think my record is three during a day. The only reason I can justify so many in a day is because I only get it when I am in NYC - so that's three times per year. That was until I found local places that satisfy my tapioca tastebuds.
For the past five years, I have been searching, high and low, in the DC metro area, for someone to serve me up a bubble tea that is the equivalent to Ten Ren - not too sweet, not too bitter...not too frothy with bubbles that are perfectly gooey. Until a few months ago, I did not find such a place in the DC area. However, during a particularly slow time in the office, I decided to do another search (because you never know when one is going to pop up) for bubble tea places and FOUND a Ten Ren in Rockville, MD. It's about 15 miles away but 15 miles compared to 220-something miles up to NYC is not bad....so I surprised my husband and took him there for a bubble tea treat one Sunday afternoon.
Then I found this great taiwanese cafe in Annandale, VA that not only sold bubble teas but had a Maria's Bakery (popular in the Chinatown world) that also sold it...their teas are pretty frothy and super sweet - definitely not as good as Ten Ren - but a tea is a tea.
Eventhough I found a Ten Ren closer to our home, I really haven't been out there getting a tea every weekend - that would just be silly. But just this past week, while I was trying a new Pho place by my office, in a strip mall, I glanced at a coffee house menu taped to the window and saw that they offered bubble teas. I immediately jumped in (cause they had my favorite - Lychee) and ordered one. It was good - it was very comparable to Ten Ren - and this place was run by whities, which was all the more surprising.
I was so excited, that when I brought it back to my office, I called my sister at her office and said, 'Hey, guess what I'm eating/drinking...' and then I proceeded to slurp a little and chomp on my bubbles. Did she know what I was eating/drinking? You bet she did - she's gasped and said, 'Where did you get a bubble tea?' (she's good at that game - or maybe it's a sister thing) I told her all about my path crossing this coffee house that I wasn't even thinking of going into - but once I saw the words 'bubble tea' and 'lychee' on the menu, they had me - they beamed me in and made me a fan.
If you get a chance, try a bubble tea - even if you don't love tapioca (as in tapioca pudding), this is different - this is japanese tapioca (black) and you might just enjoy the drink itself. As my God-Sister's father once said, 'It's like a tiny surprise with every drink.'
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Farewell, Red Lobster
Warning: I'm going to be blunt and to the point here - there's no sugar coating this post - I'm going to tell you about what I think about Red Lobster. So I *might* offend your sensibilities, if you're uber-sensitive.
Admit it - if you're living in a well-populated metropolitan area, with loads of restaurant options and a Red Lobster, chances are, Red Lobster rarely makes the Top 3 list of places to eat on a Saturday night. But when their 'Lobster Fest' or 'Endless Shrimp' commercials come on TV, you second guess yourself and think, 'Hmmm - that sounds good.' Of course when you're seeing these commercials, it's about 10pm on a Wednesday night and you thought about it for about a NY minute.
When I first met my husband, he and his two buddies growing up had a tradition of going to Red Lobster on their birthdays (once a year) - two of the three happen to have birthdays a day apart. After we began dating, we had gone to Red Lobster a handful of times - especially when we lived in New Jersey - it's not that we made it a habit....I tried to keep his birthday tradition alive for awhile since he was away from his friends. Now that we're living in metro DC, Red Lobster is barely a blip on our radar. The one that was close to our condo got leveled and then we had to make a mental note of where the next closest one was located. But we didn't make any efforts to go...until last night.
Red Lobster is just not what it used to be. I remember, growing up, the Red Lobster by my parents' house (shout out to East Brunswick, Route 18) was always packed on weekends. I think I can count on my one hand how many times we went from the ages of solid food through college. Now, you can usually get a table with minimal wait time (5-10 mins) and when you do get seated after your wait, the place is not even full.
And I came to this conclusion...fat people and old people go to Red Lobster. And if you want to get fat, you can go to Red Lobster. So where do I fall in those categories? I guess personally, I would call myself fat, but in reality, I would say that we're the spectators/occasional visitors. We were the dummies that fell for the endless shrimp commercial on TV. You'd think having fish on the menu is a healthy option, but not at the Red Lobster because it is drenched with butter and none too healthy. I managed to get away with 1 lb of snow crab legs (no butter), a side salad, a baked potato covered with lobster sauce and one cheddar biscuit. I'll admit the cheddar biscuits are good but one is the limit for my un-bodacious body. The baked potato was a side...and it was COVERED in butter (lobster sauce = butter and lobster bits) - when I had it once before, it was actually really good and not drenched with butter - the butter was so thick last night, my husband thought it was cheese...that's how bad it was. Needless to say, that went unfinished.
So back to the old and fat people at Red Lobster. The patrons aren't necessarily old AND fat - but they're pretty much one or the other. And maybe I shouldn't say fat - but I did say I would be blunt. There was a party of three females - two older ladies and an 8-10 year old girl. The two older females were fat. The 8-10 year old was well on her way. An older gentleman brought his mother to the Red Lobster. She was so old that when she walked past our table, I looked at my husband and said, 'Cause you're a homo' - she reminded me of the sweet, little, old lady from Wedding Crashers.
Thankfully, after our dinner, my husband came to the realization that his palette has changed (thanks to places like Legal Seafoods, Capital Grille, Hank's Oyster Bar and other local seafood places) and the trip to Red Lobster last night just didn't cut it for him. I have a feeling that we won't be falling for the old 'Lobster Fest' trick anymore - we know better now...Red Lobster, it was good while it lasted. Maybe we'll see you again in a small town in the midwest!
Admit it - if you're living in a well-populated metropolitan area, with loads of restaurant options and a Red Lobster, chances are, Red Lobster rarely makes the Top 3 list of places to eat on a Saturday night. But when their 'Lobster Fest' or 'Endless Shrimp' commercials come on TV, you second guess yourself and think, 'Hmmm - that sounds good.' Of course when you're seeing these commercials, it's about 10pm on a Wednesday night and you thought about it for about a NY minute.
When I first met my husband, he and his two buddies growing up had a tradition of going to Red Lobster on their birthdays (once a year) - two of the three happen to have birthdays a day apart. After we began dating, we had gone to Red Lobster a handful of times - especially when we lived in New Jersey - it's not that we made it a habit....I tried to keep his birthday tradition alive for awhile since he was away from his friends. Now that we're living in metro DC, Red Lobster is barely a blip on our radar. The one that was close to our condo got leveled and then we had to make a mental note of where the next closest one was located. But we didn't make any efforts to go...until last night.
Red Lobster is just not what it used to be. I remember, growing up, the Red Lobster by my parents' house (shout out to East Brunswick, Route 18) was always packed on weekends. I think I can count on my one hand how many times we went from the ages of solid food through college. Now, you can usually get a table with minimal wait time (5-10 mins) and when you do get seated after your wait, the place is not even full.
And I came to this conclusion...fat people and old people go to Red Lobster. And if you want to get fat, you can go to Red Lobster. So where do I fall in those categories? I guess personally, I would call myself fat, but in reality, I would say that we're the spectators/occasional visitors. We were the dummies that fell for the endless shrimp commercial on TV. You'd think having fish on the menu is a healthy option, but not at the Red Lobster because it is drenched with butter and none too healthy. I managed to get away with 1 lb of snow crab legs (no butter), a side salad, a baked potato covered with lobster sauce and one cheddar biscuit. I'll admit the cheddar biscuits are good but one is the limit for my un-bodacious body. The baked potato was a side...and it was COVERED in butter (lobster sauce = butter and lobster bits) - when I had it once before, it was actually really good and not drenched with butter - the butter was so thick last night, my husband thought it was cheese...that's how bad it was. Needless to say, that went unfinished.
So back to the old and fat people at Red Lobster. The patrons aren't necessarily old AND fat - but they're pretty much one or the other. And maybe I shouldn't say fat - but I did say I would be blunt. There was a party of three females - two older ladies and an 8-10 year old girl. The two older females were fat. The 8-10 year old was well on her way. An older gentleman brought his mother to the Red Lobster. She was so old that when she walked past our table, I looked at my husband and said, 'Cause you're a homo' - she reminded me of the sweet, little, old lady from Wedding Crashers.
Thankfully, after our dinner, my husband came to the realization that his palette has changed (thanks to places like Legal Seafoods, Capital Grille, Hank's Oyster Bar and other local seafood places) and the trip to Red Lobster last night just didn't cut it for him. I have a feeling that we won't be falling for the old 'Lobster Fest' trick anymore - we know better now...Red Lobster, it was good while it lasted. Maybe we'll see you again in a small town in the midwest!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Proofreading
I have admitted that I am a bit of a grammar snob. This gets me into trouble sometimes, as it means that I have to be extra careful not to slip up myself. (It's one thing to be a grammar snob - quite another to be a hypocrite.) After correcting my husband numerous times, for instance, he has taken enormous pleasure on the rare occasion when I have misspoken. I can usually spot my mistake immediately, but once it comes out of my mouth, I have set myself up for ridicule. And good for him, really. The fact that he notices my errors is a huge step in the right direction. Progress, people.
I have principles when it comes to my grammar snobbery. When I see shoddy proofreading or sentence structure in advertising, for example, there's a good chance I will boycott the product or place altogether. I could not stand Applebee's slogan "Eatin' good in the neighborhood," because, of course, the correct statement would be "Eating well in the neighborhood." Because this is not a Rolling Stones song, I'm just not giving the writers creative license. I don't care that it rhymes. Those people in the board room can do better. (Thankfully, Applebee's has now adopted a grammatically correct slogan, which means I don't have to boycott it anymore. It turns out this is relevant, as Applebee's is one of about five restaurants in my new town. I simply will have no choice but to dine there on occasion.)
Today, I got the following promotional e-mail from two different people. It's probably a spam scam, but in case it isn't, I can already tell you that I'm just going to have to say no. It's like a Highlights for Children. Can you spot the many mistakes in this one?
"Dear friend,
i would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electornic products.Now the company is under sales promotion,all the products are sold nearly at its cost.They provide the best service to customers,they provide you with original products of
good quality,and what is more,the price is a surprising happiness to you!It is realy a good chance for shopping.just grasp the opportunity,Now or never!"
This is nails on a chalkboard for me. Absolutely no way, no how, would I EVER patronize this business.
Okay, off my soapbox now.
I have principles when it comes to my grammar snobbery. When I see shoddy proofreading or sentence structure in advertising, for example, there's a good chance I will boycott the product or place altogether. I could not stand Applebee's slogan "Eatin' good in the neighborhood," because, of course, the correct statement would be "Eating well in the neighborhood." Because this is not a Rolling Stones song, I'm just not giving the writers creative license. I don't care that it rhymes. Those people in the board room can do better. (Thankfully, Applebee's has now adopted a grammatically correct slogan, which means I don't have to boycott it anymore. It turns out this is relevant, as Applebee's is one of about five restaurants in my new town. I simply will have no choice but to dine there on occasion.)
Today, I got the following promotional e-mail from two different people. It's probably a spam scam, but in case it isn't, I can already tell you that I'm just going to have to say no. It's like a Highlights for Children. Can you spot the many mistakes in this one?
"Dear friend,
i would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electornic products.Now the company is under sales promotion,all the products are sold nearly at its cost.They provide the best service to customers,they provide you with original products of
good quality,and what is more,the price is a surprising happiness to you!It is realy a good chance for shopping.just grasp the opportunity,Now or never!"
This is nails on a chalkboard for me. Absolutely no way, no how, would I EVER patronize this business.
Okay, off my soapbox now.
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