March 29, 2012 - Hucky's Maw

Hucky was sitting on my lap and being very sweet. I decided it was a great opportunity to take pictures of his mouth. I don't know why.

March 28, 2012 - Reunited!

I met up with two of my ex-coworkers for dinner at Flex Mussels - the food and company were both delicious!

March 27, 2012 - Chef Roblé

DailyCandy offered a Deal to attend a private cooking demo/tasting from Chef Roblé Ali (from the Bravo show "Chef Roblé & Co",) and I ended up getting to go. It was fun! I thought he did a really great demo, he was funny, and the food was delicious! He and a couple people from his team made us his version of mac-n-cheese (with smoked duck instead of bacon - yum!), some lamb sliders (pictured here), and a peaches & cream push pop for dessert. He's going to post all the recipes on his blog if you're interested in trying them.

March 26, 2012 - Magnolia Tree

I walk past a big magnolia tree on my way to work each morning, and it's so pretty right now... ENJOY!

March 25, 2012 - Soooo Sleeeepy

Howard has started resting with the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth. I don't remember seeing him like this until fairly recently, so I'm pretty sure it's a new thing, but I've spotted him doing it a couple times. He basically stayed like this, with his tongue sticking out, for a nice, long, nap - despite me taking many pictures of him.

March 24, 2012 - "That's MINE!"

Somebody does not like that somebody else has their special toy. (But the "somebody else" thinks it's awesome.)

March 23, 2012 - Subway Shot

The people didn't catch me taking their picture... but the dog did!!

March 22, 2012 - Draw Something

Well... I started playing the latest internet/mobile craze Draw Something - think Pictionary on your phone with friends or random people. I think this drawing for "polaroid" was one of my best of the day. I'm very proud of it and luckily John John 17 got it right or I would have been crushed. After he passed on my inspired "ukulele" I wasn't sure how much longer I wanted to play with him, but I finally quit our game when he passed on my "swoosh" and then drew "Pauly D" by writing "pauly d."

PS - if you want to start a game with me, you can find me as "dslivken"!

March 21, 2012 - Track Work

There were workers on the tracks this morning while I was waiting for my train. So I took a picture. So there.

March 20, 2012 - Goo Survey

As a follow-up to his FiPS post about Team in Training, Tom decided to survey a bunch of energy goos to see what they were all about. I helped out with the project and picked up this bunch so we could do a taste test. His review should be out shortly, but I'll just say that by the last few we were both wired and a little loopy! Also, I'm still not a fan at all of any fruit flavored goos, and am sticking with the chocolate/coffee flavors from Clif.

March 19, 2012 - Cab Call

Tom and I took a cab home after having a great Mexican dinner with his cousins Andrew & Staci at Toloache. On the way back to Brooklyn he called his sister so she could tell us about a sick raccoon that had been in her yard. He put her on speaker for the actual story part - I'll just say it was not a happy ending for the raccoon, but it was a crazy story!

March 18, 2012 - My Li'l Helper

I took advantage of the beautiful day... and put together a new IKEA dresser (ha.) Scrappy wanted to help so much - he paid attention to every step.

March 17, 2012 - The Yard's A-Bloomin'!

Whee!

March 16, 2012 - Which Dog is Being Patient?

(Hint) Don't even think about guessing one of the pugs.

March 15, 2012 - iPadophilia

I happened to be walking past the Soho Apple store and saw them setting up traffic control lanes in anticipation of the crowd they expect will want to buy the new iPad first thing in the morning. There were a few die-hards camped out on the sidewalk for the overnight wait... I hope they had blankets!!

March 14, 2012 - Salad Bar

I've been salad-barring it from the deli next to my office for lunch most days the past couple of weeks, so I sneaked a quick shot of the spread as I was waiting.

March 13, 2012 - Quad City Connection

My fabulous friend Sara was in town for a trade show so I was happy I could meet her for a quick drink to catch up a little. We've known each longer than almost anyone else I know (from pre-school) and it's always fun to be around her.

March 12, 2012 - Hello, Daylight Savings

I left work and it was still light out... so nice!!!

March 11, 2012 - Pork Realness

I made pulled pork (for tacos.) It was just cut up pork shoulder with an onion, some garlic, some cumin, salt & pepper, a couple bay leaves and an ancho chile I simmered in fresh orange & lime juice for about an hour.

Thank you Mark Bittman!

March 10, 2012 - Subway Construction

Tom and I went to see the off-Broadway production of the musical Carrie with our friends Dave & Rob. I thought there were some good things about it and some not so good things. The main actors (which included the great Marin Mazzie) were fine, but the songs were really dumb & repetitive for the most part. With lyrics like "Let's not fight... With the girl Carrie White..." it was hard not to giggle/groan at parts. It kind of felt more like an overdone workshop than a real show to me - not even committed enough to develop a cult-following (despite seeming like it should have everything going for it in that regard.)

Anyway - I didn't take any pictures of the show, or the cast, or the crowd or anything like that. But I did realize I still needed to take a picture while we were on our way home, so voila, here is a shot of the currently-under-construction 4th Avenue subway station. Neat!

March 9, 2012 - Jennie's First Guacamole

Tom and I had an opera night planned, so we invited my niece Jennie and her boyfriend Jordan to have dinner with us at Rosa Mexicano. It's always one of my favorites places to eat, but this meal was extra special for a couple reasons. One (1), because it was during chef Jonathan Waxman's stint as culinary advisor so there was a special additional menu to pick from. The theme of the special menu was "Eclectic Cuts" & everything on it looked great. Jennie and Jordan split veal tongue tacos as an appetizer, and between the four of us we covered all the special entrees: braised pork cheeks/soft corn tamale, tamarind seasoned tri-tip, and lamb neck enchiladas. Y-U-M!

The other special reason, Two (2), was because we also ordered guacamole to start, and Jennie didn't think she ever had it before. Now honestly... I don't know how somebody could get to college without trying guacamole, so maybe her memory was bad from all her studying, but I was very happy to be a part of such a momentous occasion as someone's first guacamole. ¡Fabuloso!

March 8, 2012 - Yes, I Walk All Four Together

Many people ask me if I walk all four dogs at the same time. The answer is "Yes."

I like to think of our walks as daily little zen-like exercises of balancing the dogs needs, wants, and issues. I typically keep Howard and Hucky towards the street-side of the sidewalk until they take care of business (because they are a little pickier with their spots and Scrappy will go wherever he feels like along the walk.) Once the pugs are done, Foxy gets moved over to the outside hand and the boys weave around each other, jockeying for position as they continue searching the route for smells and scraps of things I'm constantly trying to avoid. Strange dogs, people on bikes, familiar walkers we say "hi" to, and even odd-sounding cars all add "excitement" to the routine in various ways, but it's all good - especially on beautiful spring days when the sun is shining and it feels great to be outside.

March 7, 2012 - "I Have You Now"

Just Hucky in a little patch of sunlight with his prey (aka poor ol' squirrel baby.)

March 6, 2012 - It's Good To Be The King

"Kneel, pathetic subject. Prepare to do my bidding!" - Lord Scrappy

March 5, 2012 - We Hungry!

Guess which two dogs are trying to tell me I should be feeding them instead of working on the computer. (Hint - Huckleberry is still sleeping upstairs & it's not Foxy.)

March 4, 2012 - 'shrooms!

This was a day that had a bunch of great picture opportunities. I ran a 5K in Washington Heights with my friend Sean. I ran past another friend, EQP, who was watching the race with her son (the incredible Bruno.) I saw my uncle Kenny also running the race. And I got to see one of my favorite former co-workers before, during and after the race. Plus, my cousin Kim came to town for a quick day trip and we had lunch at delicious neighborhood restaurant. But I didn't take pictures of any of that. Instead, I realized I still needed a picture while making myself some dinner - so, Ta-Da: sauteed mushrooms! (they actually were delicious.)

March 3, 2012 - Gas Station BBQ

On day 2 of the 2012 SKCBBQ&SJ (Surprise Kansas City BBQ & Steakhouse Junket,) we were planning to have lunch at Gates' BBQ - a Kansas City standard - but almost everyone we talked to encouraged us to try Oklahoma Joe's. A relative newcomer, but one that has earned very high praise including a spot on Anthony Bourdain's "13 Places to Eat Before You Die". So we changed plans and decided to try it instead.

The restaurant is in the back half of a working gas station - and the line was out the door from when we arrived until we left (thankfully it moved quickly.) I went for their signature sandwich - the "Z-Man" which was brisket, smoked provolone topped w/ two onion rings on a kaiser bun. It was seriously excellent, and the place was great.

March 2, 2012 - Surprise Trip

Tom asked me to take day off work so he could surprise me with something... little did I know the surprise was a trip to Kansas City for a BBQ & Steak junket! It was awesome. Our first meal at Hayward's was delicious (we each had the pulled pork sandwich.) That evening, we had steak dinners at an old school steak house called The Majestic. Neither of us could finish our plates, and we were lucky the walk home from the the restaurant was basically down hill! It was a super-fun, exciting adventure day!

March 1, 2012 - Dog Scale

I had to pick up a refill of Howard's dolls at Animal Kind tonight so I took a picture of the scale while I was waiting. The wooden animal shapes on either side don't look very real to me, but Scrappy don't care... he barks at them every time!

February 29, 2012 - Choo Choo!

While waiting for my train, I took a picture of this one coming into the station on the opposite track.