This Month's Featured Reader: Nick!

Introducing February's Featured Reader: Nick!

Here Nick is posing with some of his Christmas gifts this year from me: CVS brand denture cleaner for his nightguard & boxers. Was he a good boy this year? Tough to tell with those presents...

Nick and I officially met in February 2005; however, our paths may have unwittingly crossed earlier than that as we both graduated BC in 2001. Maybe it's best we met when we did though, because I have heard stories from his roommates about how he would play video games all night and one time even woke up the next morning still holding the controller and sporting a severely indented thumb. I, on the other hand, was a bit of a nerd (shocking, I know), followed the early to bed/early to rise mantra and worked the early morning shifts at the library and the on-campus Dunkin Donuts.

I could go on and on about why Nick is the most special person in my life and why he's such a wonderful husband and person; but I'll try and keep the gushing to a minimum. Although it sounds cliche, one of my favorite things about our relationship is that Nick encourages me to break out of my comfort zone and try new things. Before we met, I had never really thought to hike Mt. Washington, take up skiing and golfing again or go off the beaten path while traveling. Thanks to Nick, I've gone on some awesome hikes, am addicted to golf and look forward to leaving the resort area while on vacation. These experiences together are some of my favorite memories! OK, here is Nick in his own words! (My questions are in bold.)

1. By day I... manage the SPA northeast insurance sector, and by night... I'm an amateur photographer, chef, and Circuit City employee.

2. I can't live without... my wife (cough...cough...skiing)

3. Best meal I've ever had...A ribeye steak with mushroom sauce and a giant portobello on top at the Capital Grille; oh, and anything my mother-in-law ever made me (that one's for you Michele). Worst meal I've ever had... Orange peel flavored cous cous. (Ed note: I followed the recipe!)

4. 3 Quirky facts about me: I read Scientific American. I'm hooked on American Idol. I love cold Spaghetti-O's and Meatballs out of the can.

5. Haiku describing what you did yesterday

Lost in corporate life,

I found my way home to find

dinner and the wife.

This (Last) Month's Featured Reader: Carlton!

Introducing January's Featured Reader: Carlton!

I mentioned a couple of posts ago, that Carlton Banks made a donation to Team Eye and Ear. Well, Carlton is also January's Featured Reader of the Month. Despite the fact that it's already February 5th, I will excuse Carlton for turning his answers in late as he was tied up with Bel Air social events. Here's Carlton in his own words! (My questions are in bold.)

Real men wear pink

1) By day I... crush my bridge club, by night I... rock out in a barbershop quartet.

2) I can’t live without... Bananarama’s Greatest Hits

3) Best meal I’ve ever had was Beef Wellington with Yorkshire pudding at the Beverly Hills Country Club. The worst meal I’ve ever had was Delmonico steak at Capital Grille – too spicy!

4) 3 Quirky facts about me:

1-I brush my teeth with my left hand, but croquet with my right

2-On New Year’s Eve 2006, I stayed up until 1:15AM

3-I prefer a single Windsor knot to a double Windsor.

5) Haiku describing what you did yesterday
the Prince loves the chili
I Saran wrapped the loo
not so Fresh now

This Month's Featured Reader: Jen!

Introducing December's Featured Reader: Jen!

Here's George, Jen's cute cat that once escaped her apartment, but came thankfully came home!

Jen and I worked together for two years and ate lunch together almost every day. We were in a lunchtime knitting group and Jen never once laughed at my sad blue "scarf" (aka fabric strip) even though she had long graduated to sweaters. Jen has a quiet & admirable determination that sets her apart from most people; she's a loyal friend, the best coworker, and the best dancer I know. Seriously. She can shake it like a Polaroid picture. Here's Jen in her own words! (My questions are in bold.)

1) By day I am the female version of Chandler Bing (nobody knows what I do) …by night I either go to school, do homework and occasionally sleep.

2) I can’t live without food and water...I know, its crazy, but I would literally DIE without them!

3) Best meal I’ve ever had was in a small restaurant in France. Can't remember the name, but it was delicious! It might have had a lot to do with the fact that I hadn't eaten anything normal while in Europe, except Nutella and bread, so anything was delicious at that point. I even took a picture of my meal….

Worst meal I’ve ever had was a batch of macaroni n' cheese I made once. Yes, I completely screwed up Kraft Mac N' Cheese and in the process almost poisoned myself!

4) 3 Quirky Facts about Yourself
1. I was born in the Blizzard of '78
2. I hate coconut
3. If there is music, I will dance...even in the elevator

5) Haiku describing what you did yesterday
stressed a lot at work
ate food, drank wine with friends
crawled into bed...snooze

This Month's Featured Reader: Vince!

Introducing November's Featured Reader: Vince

Vince was married a few weeks ago, & this photo is from his honeymoon in Santiago, Chile! Ole!

Vince and I both graduated Boston College in 2001; however, we didn't become friends until Nick and I started dating. (Vince and Nick were roommates after college.) Vince is a great guy for many reasons; one being that he shares a love of puns and corny jokes with me. Vince is a great cook and is fun to go out to dinner with, because his knowledge of cuisine is impressive. I admire Vince because he does everything with purpose and meaning; he's one of the most thoughtful people I know. Here is Vince in his own words! (My questions are in bold.)

1) By day I am an Compensation Analyst, by night I am an amateur chef!

2) I can't live without my iPod and cheap Mexican take out.

3) Best meal I've ever had is the epic tasting menu at Salts restaurant in Cambridge. That meal involved 1 Amuse Bouche (white gazpacho), 2 Appetizers (heirloom tomato salad and seared monkfish), 1 Palate Cleanser (grapefruit sorbet), 2 Entrees (chicken ballotine and a duo of pork confit and pork filet) and 3 Desserts (churros with a peach dipping sauce, a chocolate truffled dessert, and a nasturtion sorbet). It was absolute heaven and nothing has compared to that experience yet!

Worst meal I've ever had is in college, when my attempts to create a succulent piece of steak resulted in a dorm full of smoke and steak so burnt and so hard that you could've used it to hammer nails in.

4) Quirky Fact 1: I can stuff my fist in my mouth
Quirky Fact 2: I have no middle name
Quirky Fact 3: Despite my Chinese background, I don't like ginger.

5) Write a haiku that describes what you did yesterday:

Ate at Dumpling House
Had Pork Buns and Sauteed Eel
Nauseous all night long

This Month's Featured Reader: Lauren!

(So, I'm going to try and make it a monthly habit to feature one of my blog's readers. We'll see if anyone will be brave enough to be next month's featured reader. The questions will be the same each month.)

Introducing September's Featured Reader: Lauren

Lauren is 2nd from left. This is a photo of her paddleboat team.

I've known Lauren since 6th grade, but we didn't truly bond until an 8th grade yearbook meeting where we wrote a profile of our history teacher. (We bonded even more after the yearbook was published and we realized that the stupid yearbook advisor totally revamped our awesome article!) Anyway, Lauren is definitely one of the funniest people I know, and among many things, I admire her ability to consume large amounts of food in 1 sitting, her fashion sense and her strong, positive outlook in life! Now, here's Lauren in her own words... (My questions are in bold.)

1. By day, I... am a speech-language pathologist. And by night, I... pole-dance (ed. note: for exercise, not for money) and paddle (dragon boat.)

2. I can’t live without… my boyfriend's digital cable, soy lattes (iced or hot, depending on the weather) and chapstick/lipgloss, in no particular order.

3. Best/Worst meal I’ve eaten

Best meal: this clam shack near the outlets in Kittery, Maine - they have the best lobster roll, comes with a pickle and coleslaw, and I order a side of wild rice. Service comes with a smile - each time I've gone, there's the same cute little old lady working one of the registers. Her name is Lillian, she sits on a stool by her register inside the ordering window, and apparently she's been working there since the 80s. She has a dish named after her, and she genuinely looks pleased as punch to take your order.
Worst meal: It was the first Christmas my family celebrated without my grandmother, so my aunt and her partner invited us over for the day. They do not partake in meat or alcohol, and neither one of those things was permitted to even enter their house! (We did fill up on a meaty breakfast beforehand.) The food was terrible - a lot of frozen Trader Joe's foods that either weren't fully cooked, or were over cooked and dry. My brother, sister, and I were banished to the 'kids' room' for dinner, despite the fact that the youngest of us was my sister, who at the time was 18. (My aunt's partner claimed she got a headache when we laughed. So sue us for having some Christmas cheer!). To add insult to injury, my gift from the hostesses was a Celine Dion greatest hits CD.

4. 3 Random/Quirky Facts I used to aspire to be a marine biologist as a child, so I went on a ton of whale watches, and even attended some whale lectures (thanks Mom for humoring me and taking me along, despite some nasty sea-sickness!).

What I've retained: the blue whale is thought to be the largest animal to ever live, measuring up to 100+ feet long. Its' heart weighs as much as a small car, its tongue can weight up to 4 tons and could hold about 50 people, and its blowhole can shoot water up to 30 feet in the air.

5. Haiku that describes something you did yesterday
Half a year ago
Roommate made some granola
Now moths swarm pantry