Mother's Day Bash

M and I made it to Leonia with the help of all of her devices and in spite of the the overpowering fragrance of half a bushel of steamed and spiced blue crabs. Mom ran out the door and the first thing she asked was not, "how are you" or "how was the ride". No, it was "Where's Petunia??!?!"

And of course, Mother's Day would not be complete without a trip to Mom's and my favorite place in the whole world: Woodbury Commons. Surprisingly, the two people who dislike it spent the most money (Dr. Do and M)! I only bought 2 pairs of thermals. The little kitchen things I picked out were not worth waiting in line for.

Even the geese had a nice Mother's Day together.

And then, in addition to Petunia, blue crabs and Woodbury, our final mission of Mother's Day was to get mom tanked. She totally rocked out! We had a great evening of Rock Band and Kareoke Revolution with old family friends.

*Sanducci's Restaurant & Old Family Friends

I was supposed to visit E, C and baby J this afternoon but mom gave D and I her illness. I thought it best to stay at home and not infect the little one. I would hate to be responsible for baby J to get sick and need a spinal tap.

So, I gave up on the basement and went to attack the attic. Wow. I ended up shredding 4 large garbage cans of paper. While I did find some good stuff, I was really annoyed that I kept all that crap.

Our old family friends wanted to take us out to dinner to celebrate the move. My parents have known them since they lived in Taiwan so they've seen me since I was sucking my thumb. They like to point that out.
They picked a really good restaurant. I have never been there but the place was hopping.

Then the kids came over. J combed through all the hand me downs for some stuff. E rocked out with D. Mom debuted "Call Me." All in all, a very productive day.

Call Me!

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I heard Blondie's Call Me playing downstairs. And then my mom's voice singing. It appears that she really likes the song and has printed out the words to learn it. I was no help with the Italian or the French but I am looking forward to her Rock Band debut.

Jersey Rock

[in progress]

Camp Rock

[in progress]

Rocking Out with Sushi

[in progress]

Greatest hits
W goes to medium

Toward the Familiar

I was supposed to attend this networking event but... I just couldn't. I didn't feel up to smiling and meeting strangers. The first day after M leaves is so heartbreaking and I was so sad and just wanted to get off the hamster wheel and call it a day. But, B came to the rescue and we headed back to Jersey to join Doris for some Rock Band, Wii bowling, beefaroni and beer. I feel better, thanks B and Dr. Dodo!

Anyway You Want It...

I was expecting a quiet evening at home but got a call from a friend and we had an impromptu Rock Band session. We nicknamed B's character Hoboken Jesus. I had $11,000 earned from previous gigs so got pink hair, an Asian top, 2 arms sleeve tattoos, a mini skirt and boots. We played favorites and demanded songs to be sung from each other. I shot a lot of great videos and can't wait to post them on youtube.

W is a Rock Band Convert

W had called me on Christmas and I thought, hmmm, perhaps she is in Jersey this weekend. Lucky for me, she is and her dad was picking her up from the city at the same time I was getting off of work. It was great to see him again.

We headed to their awesome restaurant, Kuma, in Paramus, NJ and I got to see her mom. I had yummy hot and sour soup (my Chinese-American food guilty pleasure), sushi (very clever rolls wrapped in cucumber or carrot), fried dumplings (always yummy), and this dish I had never had before, shrimp song wrapped in lettuce.

I realized while watching a tasting challenge on Top Chef and seeing both W and D try to figure out what was in my vegan cupcakes that a good chef tries to figure out what ingredients are in the food they eat. Normally, I'm just chowing down. What's in the song? Diced shrimp, zucchini, shitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, sweet toasted pine nuts and fried rice noodles. I think that's it...

We were going to hang out at W's house but I was concerned about her driving too much so we headed to mine since she'd have to drop me off later anyway. After snacks and going through her incredible photos from Borneo, we started Rock Band (thanks Doris, we took good care of everything and put it all back).

W and I have a long history of karaoke so this was a natural next step for her. She has a great voice and took to the guitar and drums quite easily. Meanwhile, I'm like, "Am I on easy? Did you see me pick easy? This is not easy."

Rock On Lil Sis

Phil brought home a cymbal set for Doris and she waited so patiently for me to finish watching Top Chef. So, rock on lil' sis, rock on.

*Essex and Economy Candy

[in progress]

Beach Weekend

[in progress...more photos, verbiage to follow]

Road Trip/ Smart Car: sing-a-long to power ballads like Sweet Child of Mine, I'll Be There for You, Living on a Prayer, I Remember You.

Beach on the Bay: horseshoe crab, blue crab, razor reeds

Dinner: Team Corn, Team Salad, Team Steak and Team Shrimp! Unbelievable produce: sweet corn, juicy ripe tomatoes. Shrimp boil: 1 part beer, 2 parts water, old bay seasoning, bring to boil, cook shrimp briefly until pink, enjoy!

Celebrity: Turkey! Jeremy Irons! Wait, that's my clue!

Rock Band: Mas-holes vs. Lolcats. P is quite the singer. Give L a month and she will be able to play every song on every instrument on expert.

Jimmy's

Winner of Most Tasty Award: A (with 14 bug bites!), silver goes to D

Fire Island/ Cherry Grove: Paradise, gorgeous blue water, "I don't want to eat at the grocery store." L, "M's unhappy face is so cute. It makes me want to make her unhappy just so I can see it."

Rock Band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It97YxBqyS8