Kurt and Debbie have News

Looks like I'll be having another niece/nephew in 8 more months! They really make cute kids; exhibit A:


That's Drew showing me his toothbrush while we were at Mom's house this December. I'm really excited for you guys!

Project: Chair

I always wanted to be handy, so when I saw this cute chair at a thrift store for $10 I thought I might as well give refinishing it a shot. You know, start small? I have no idea what I'm going to do with it or how feasible it is to refinish a chair in an apartment, but I'll see how it goes. I've been looking at it for several months now, but I think I'm ready to finally do something with it. So now for some research about my first step. I'll keep my progress posted; its going to be slow going, especially since I still have one more exam to finish for my CPA. Can't wait for February 22nd to come and go and be completely done with all my tests! Fingers crossed I'll pass and then be a genuine, bona fide, Certified Public Accountant. Yes, some people want to be that, ok?

Apple Cider Donuts

I stopped in at the farmer's market in Union Square today and I always like to get hot cider from this stand. Today they had apple cider donuts and I decided to give those a try. They were awesome plain, but I decided to make a glaze for them.

I made a glaze for the first time. Glaze is pretty easy to make...3 ingredients, a slightly annoying bit of sifting, and then whisk.
Here is my attempt to add glaze to the donuts. Yeah, it's a little sloppy. I think next time I will dip the top of the donut in the glaze rather than try to pour it on...because that obviously didn't work. Tasted great though!

Out and About

S and I braved the cold weather and ran a few errands around town today. All it took were two layers of pants and two thermal shirts, a sweatshirt with a fleece and jacket, plus gloves, hat, and scarf. All the layers made the temperature bearable, but difficult to move limbs. Our first stop was this little Indian restaurant, Sangam, in the Village. They have pretty good biryani and it was really great on a cold day like today.

I wanted to pick out some good coffee to send to my mom and S had seen this coffee importer in the Village so we decided to go here and check out the selection. This place was awesome- bags and bags of beans of all kinds of different flavors and roasts. I wanted to take a picture inside, but they wouldn't let me--what is up with that? So many stores do not allow pictures. It was hard to choose what to get, but the people who work there were very helpful. I ended up getting French Kenya, French Italian Espresso, and Cafe Blend for my mom. I got Pumpkin Spice and French Cinnamon for myself. I normally don't get flavored coffee, but I wanted something different to have on occasion.

Last, we decided to have a coffee at S's favorite place, Esperanto Cafe, but we discovered that it was out of business. That was a disappointment, however we found this little place down the block. The cappuccino was excellent and it was really cute inside; overall, not a bad replacement for Esperanto, although I got the impression from S that their Tiramasu didn't measure up.

We had a really good time hanging out in Greenwich Village today....now, it's time to watch the Jets finish off the Bengals.

My New Point and Shoot

I finally got a new camera! I've had mine for 7 years so it was time for an upgrade. I chose the Sony T90, mostly based on looks. It got great reviews online too. I took it out on the town today for the first time and so far I'm really liking it. I love how small and light it is.

Yogurt with Honey

I've never had this combination before, but it is amazing.

No Fun

Life is short on fun these days. I spend all of my time either working:





Or studying for my CPA exams:

I passed my first test in April and I just took my second test on the 17th. I'm not too confident I passed, so there's a good chance I will have to take that one again. Urgh. I'm planning to take test #3 sometime in October.

For now...the one goal I'm really trying to commit to is working out--mostly about 45 minutes of cardio at least 5 times a week. All this sitting around all the time is taking a toll on my health. I went to the gym this morning; got up at 5:45 a.m. and jogged at a snail's pace for 25 minutes and then worked out my arms. It feels good, really. I wish I could remember this feeling at 5:45 a.m. when I'm trying to get out of bed; I would be a lot more motivated!

Its about 90 degrees in New York these days.....so humid and hot, its disgusting. Last night there was a storm and some trees fell down on our street. No houses look damaged, but there were some close calls. I can't wait for it to cool down. Hopefully it will be better by the time Kurt and Debbie show up--4 more weeks now! I'm going to post the itinerary I make for their visit...maybe this weekend.