Saturday, May 16, 2009

Lido's of Meriden (East Side)

My father likes to meet for dinner at pizza places. He used to love Wooster Street, of Wallingford, which is now closed. He is a bit fan of Sergio's in Cheshire, and of course, there is Bohemian Pizza in Goshen (one of my all time favorites). It's no wonder that as a child I have distinctly about six birthday parties, between my little sister and I, that I can remember at Papa John's, making pizzas.

My Dad's newest obsession: Lido's of Meriden.

My biggest pet peeve: his mispronunciation of the name!

Aside from calling Lido's (pronounced Leigh Dough's), Lydio's, and throwing an even extra syllable into the mix like Leigh-I-Dios, my dad has come to describe the place as "that pizza place where the movie theatre used to be."

Although I am not a super huge fan of its pizza, the restaurant does offer a quiet environment and HUGE portions, for example, I have my spaghetti and meatballs dinner, which is going to last me an additional two meals.

Another authentic Italian restaurant to perhaps give thought to.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

$1.99 Freshly Made Sandwich

If I go out to eat all weekend, I usually do not find the need to go grocery shopping for the week, as I will often times have a ton of left overs. Although, I have found a "trick of the trade" sort to speak.

Since I live by myself, I often times unintentionally have to waste. For example, I go through one loaf of bread in like three weeks, and I have become sick of throwing out old cuts that I have not eaten. So, I found that Shoprite has fresh sandwiches, daily, for $1.99. In fact, I went this morning and since there were no sandwiches already made, the woman made me a fresh one. (This happened to me once before.)

For $1.99, you can't beat it!

Dunkin' Germs

Yesterday, I was a little bit uneasy about eating my muti-grain toasted bagel with low fat creme cheese.

ALWAYS opting to go to the Newington Dunkin Donuts, up the street from campus, as opposed to the one near campus, for cleanliness reasons, I was a little unnerved when I saw that the woman who worked there was touching the money and running the drive through did not have gloves on.

I don't think that she put any on when she made my bagel either.

Now, some people, this would not bother at all, but when I saw her dirty cracked hands and the cigarette box behind the counter I was absolutely disgusted.

I know that she was all by her self, running the whole store, and I know how that is, but still, I was grossed out.

To calm myself I just said that the bagel was hot so the germs were killed, but realistically I knew that "they" would still be there if she did not wear gloves.

I am still hoping that she wore gloves.

Mother's Day Cake

Usually I am a fan of Stop and Shop cakes, although the communion cake that I ate a couple of weeks ago was wonderful, and from Walmart.

Upon asking my mother what kind of Mother's Day cake she wanted she said: "Shoprite has good cakes."

She wanted it to be a surprise, but she wanted chocolate.

I picked up a "Chocolate Sin-Sation Cake." It was one word: phenomenal.

I braved my fears to try salami--Grand Apizza--North Haven

Good service? Good food? Good service? Good food? Grand Apizza of North Haven proves that you don't have to compromise good service for good food, and vice versa.

I went there a little while ago with my mother and absolutely loved it! We ordered a large mozzarella pizza and an anti-pasto. Well, needless to say, I have never in my life tried salami until that day. To me, if something does not look appetizing, I simply will not eat it. Why should I? Well that has always been the case with both salami and pepperoni. Although, I am more positive that I don't like pepperoni because I even get disgusted when my dad orders a "half pepperoni" because the juices flow onto the mozzarella side.

Well, the anti-pasto looked so appetizing that I tried the salami and LOVED it! It tastes like a better bolgna!

The pizza was good. Not like "wonderful" but good.

The service---one of a kind, absolutely spectacular.

I even bumped into an older customer of mine from teh restuarant I used to work in.

Wooden Tap Southington

I had another favorable experience at Wooden Tap, but this time I went to the Wooden Tap of Southington.

Ever correlate a person or a name with a place? Well, that is basically what I have done with the Wooden Tap, although I am no longer phased by it. (Partially because the food is so good and partially because I correlated it with one guy and then last summer, I correlated it with another guy, both of whom were not good guys, but now it makes for some laughs.)

The last time I was at the Tap (besides last week) was late last summer with this guy and my friend Jane. Jane's boyfriend refused to join us because he knew that the night would result in me "dumping" the guy, who wasn't even my "boyfriend" so I was more just telling him that I did not want to act like boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. But, be that as it may, he was watching some ball game and we were in the bar side and he ordered me a drink, which I said that I probably wouldn't finish because I was eating a huge cheeseburger with bacon on it. Well, we got into a fight about me not finishing the drink and then my girlfriend and I went into the bathroom where she yelled at me and knocked some sense into me and told me to get rid of him.

Well, anyway, my last experience at the Tap (one week ago) definitely out weighed the previous horrendous experience about one year ago.

Shopping for a Communion Card

Who would have thunk that shopping for a First Holy Communion card would have been so difficult.

Like the last minute gal that I am, I waited until about 11:00 p.m. the night before the communion to go get a card at Walmart. This was not intentional, of course, my lack of timeliness has just become a daily routine in the life of a full-time working and full-time student, like myself.

Well, of course the Wallingford super Walmart was under renovation so I was all over the place even trying to look for cards. Alas, when I found the two racks of cards that the store had, there were no communion cards.

Ok, so at this point, I was exhausted and had cheese, for burgers that I had baked the day before and wanted to heat up for lunch the following week, melting in m hands. Ok, not melting, mushing.

Well, then, of course, I go home and wake up early in the morning to get a communion card. I was going to go to Halmark, but my mother suggested that the dolalr store might have one. So, I went into some dollar store on Broad Street, in Wallingford, Dollar Tree, or something or other, and they only had two communion card options: one for a boy and one for a girl. Of course, like Murphy's Law, there were no cards left for a boy. (But since I was right there, I managed to pick-up a cute Mother's Day card. I have come to the conclusion that I make the excuse "oh I am right here" to make a purchase.)

Well, as I was checking out, I asked the cashier about communion cards and she said taht what ever was there was what they had. Well, the woman in line infront of me, she was a cute older lady, said, that we should go take a look. I didn't know that she was going to bring me right back to the same spot that I had been looking, but I didn't want to be rude. And what shocked me was that she didn't know the difference between a christening and a communion. So I said that a christening was like a baptism.

Well, I left the dollar store and at this point it was something like 10:40 a.m. and the communion started at 11:00 a.m. and I had to stop at my apartment in East Meriden to change. I figured that I would stop at Walgreens. I stopped at Walgreens and found the same problem: no boy cards.

And, a sales associate also did not know the difference between a baptism and a communion, so I got sick of explaining that I just said that one was for a baby.

She was so sweet and managed to find a card for me.

Over all, I was shocked that people did not know the differece between a communion/christening/baptism. I know the difference between a circumcision and a bar/bat mitzva. O well.

Bottom line: I made it to the communion on time, with a card.

First Holy Communion--St. Bridget's of Cheshire

Having gone to Catholic school for about 13 years of my life, some masses "come and go" and they say. Many messages unfortunately go "in one ear and out the other." However, on May 3rd, I attended one of the best masses of my life. That mass was St. Bridget's School of Cheshire First Holy Communion Mass, at St. Bridget's Church.

Attending Holy Trinity School of Wallingford, I had always heard of St. Bridget's, as our athletic teams often competed against one another. But, up until that point, I had never been inside the school's church before.

What struck me the most about this communion mass was that the priest gave an excellent homily. He told all of the children that they should think of the moon every time they think of God, because the moon looks like the host (what is "eaten" at communion distribution time, during mass); both are circles.

The priest also set-up 13 chairs on the altar and had some students sit in them. He explained to them that the chairs were arranged in a loose circle, but one chair was away from the circle, and immediately, without being told, the one student whose chair was set away from the circle, moved his chair toward the circle. The priest then went on with his circle and moon theme and told the children to always think of their First Holy Communion day every time they saw the moon.

It was also very touching because he seemed to know all of the children and "called them each by name."

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The "Whole" Deal

Before attending CCSU's Spring Dance Concert, my friend and I thought that we would make a trip up to Whole Foods, in West Hartford.

Located in Blueback Square, Whole Foods is something that I have passed by every time I went to Blueback. Usually when I go there it is to shop or to eat at The Cheesecake Factory.

I knew that Whole Foods was a place that my friend would like, because I have heard many things about the natural foods that it has.

Walking into Whole Foods I was pleasantly surprised. It really was the "whole" deal. The store had what appeared to be so much natural and whole food.

I got a cup of minestrone soup with a piece of bread. Everything was fresh and tasty. There was even a little spot to eat our mini dinners.

Central's Spring Dance Concert---Wonder and Awe

CCSU's spring dance concert was surly a sight to see. I was there, originally, to support a friend who was dancing in the tap number.

I have never been to a dance performance at Central and did not know what to expect. What I saw blew my mind.

This show was really one of the most entertaining productions that I have ever been to.

A diverse group of students came together to put on a modern dance show.

What was even better was that the performance was free, due to the economy, stated the show's director Professor Catherine Fellows.

I brought a friend with me who does not go to school at Central and she loved it to.

If I ever have time in my schedule, I would definitely attend another performance!

Opening Day--The Nature Scpae Unleashed

Encouraged by our professor to attend the opening day of the Jefferson Elementary School's nature scape, I began my Monday morning in hysteria. I got dressed for work, ate a small snack, packed a lunch and a dinner for later on in the day, and had been doing some homework, all before 9 a.m.

I knew that the day had a lot in store. At 10 a.m. I would go to the nature scape opening, then I would go to help out at Central Conn. State University's Car Club's club drive, then I would go to work, class, do my paper, eat dinner, and go to class all night.

Despite my hectic day, I am so happy that I did spend the time going to the opening of the nature scape that I had worked on.

Even better was i got to hear Hot Stixx perform, again.

It was really exciting to see all of the little children run into something that I had helped put together for them.

New Britain's Jefferson Elementary School's New Play"ground"

New Britain's Jefferson Elementary School was going to be building a nature scape the week after "The Night at the Museum."

My COMM 495 class requirement that students spend at least two hours helping to build this project, as a community activity assignment, soon vanished as the end of the semester woes began sinking in, students started complaining, and the April rain began pouring.

After a long week of work and schoolwork, I could not turn my back to Jefferson Elementary School, that had some of its students perform on their drums at the UMC (University Museum Community) collaborative, just the previous week.

One of my friends from class and I managed to have some free time in the middle of the day on Friday. I went to Jefferson Elementary School and helped to build the fence on the nature scape.

It was such a wonderful feeling, knowing that I was helping to build something that students who emotionally touched me with their drum performance one week earlier, would be able to play on. Many students would reap the benefits of this play scape.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

UMC----"Night at the Musuem"

On April 16th and 17th the New Britain Museum of American Art held "The Night at the Museum." My friend and I stopped by, as it was part of a course requirement to make something, whether it be written or artistic, that would be contributed to the display of artwork, in the museum.

The goal of the evening was to try to bring together community and environment with learning. I had made a huge poster board project of the water bottle litter in New Britain. My friend had come to look at my work, which was on display.

To my surprise, my poster was in the very front of the room! This was wonderful, because everyone could see it, as there were many performances in the front. But, it was hard to observe, since there were people performing.

My favorite part of the entire night was the performance by Hot Stixx, a drum ensemble from Jefferson School in New Britain.

It was so powerful to watch these little kids make so much noise, with these big drums, all in synchronization.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Marley and Me

Tonight I just watched the movie Marley and Me. Overall, I thought that the movie was realistic. Despite the unfortunate ending, it is an important element in a film to consider reality. I thought that Jennifer Aniston both looked great and acted very well. It was also interesting to see Owen Wilson in a role that, at times, required a more serious character.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Ted Turner

Last week, I attended some of the Ted Turner talk, here at CCSU.

He was a good speaker and very charismatic. Although, he was also very good at dodging questions that came his way, that he did not like, or did not want to discuss.

As a PR major, I was easily able to recognize when he felt uncomfortable and tried to "turn the tables," sort-to-speak.

Eastern Market

During Spring Break, while in D.C., my girlfriends and I visited Eastern Market.

While there, we experienced food, music, and the many exotic artworks that local artisans had to offer.

Walking through the market on a Sunday was quote interesting. Being in D.C. on a Sunday is a completely different scene. The market was mainly attended by all locals, who were trying to buy produce at a good price.

Even on our way to the market, the metro and buses were not crowded like they were on that following Monday.

This leads me to conclude that Eastern Market, although a tourist attraction, is a mainly local activity.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Mexican Food in D.C.

Last week, while in D.C., my friends and I went to eat at Cactus Cantina.

Our server was very nice, constantly refilling our drinks and complementary tortilla chips and salsa.

The food was good; although, I did eat at about 10:30 p.m. and was starving, so at that point anything would have probably tasted good.

The bathroom was smelly.

And, of all people at the table, of course a knat landed on my plate of food.

But, to console myself, I was sure to have a dessert. I was pleased to see that they offered vanilla ice cream.

This is not a "must try" restaurant, but is edible if convenient.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Pizza in D.C.

According to my friend Anna, a former CT, New Haven County, resident, D.C. and places that are further south do not seem to appreciate the "pizza culture" that us CT residents have, with New Haven brick oven styles and New York just in our backyard. Therefore, when she first introduced me to Angelico's, on Wisconsin Ave., I was starving, but unsure as to what the pizza would be like.

Well, it was a "love at first sight" type of deal, when I first saw this huge, "bigger than my head" piece of pizza, last summer, while in the city.

Earlier this week, Angelico's proved to be just as tasty.

It is an interesting restaurant that seems half commercialized, half hometown.

Although, I must say that when I asked for a slice of mozzarella pizza, the waitress looked at me very puzzled and said, "We just have cheese."

Ironically, one of my favorite pizz restaurants in my hometown: Amore Apizza of Wallingford, claims that it uses the "finest Wisconsin mozzarella," and here I was on Wisconsin Ave and "mozzarella pizza" was unheard of.

I replied by telling her that I will have a piece of that, and Anna cleared up the incident by explaining that people "down here" don't really have the same pizza understanding as us New Haven County residents do.

I highly recommend stopping here, if you are in D.C., and in the mood for pizza.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The International Spy Museum

On Monday, my friend Caitlyn and I visited the International Spy Musuem, in D.C., while our other friend, Anna, who we went to D.C. to visit, was working.

It was $18 to get in, and worth most of it. Overall I did enjoy the museum, but with so much stuff to do in D.C. that is free, it had me wondering wether or not it was really worth the 18 bucks.

Supposedly the museum takes about 2-2 1/2 hours to run through, although my friend and I made it through in just under 2.

One favorite exhibit of mine was the part where the museum showed different spies that had Hollywood or other famous connections. Julia Childes and some Yankees ball player were even featured.

I was able to collect an interesting: "Beware of Female Spies" magnet and coffee mug.

Overall, I would say that if a person is interested in spies, then he or she might already know everything that the musuem features. But, it was definately an interesting stop to make, especially since my friend and I were disappointed to learn that the FBI Building was not giving tours.

The Mitsitam Café

While in D.C., I suggested that my father and I meet up at some point for lunch, since he was in the city on business at the same time that I was there for Spring Break.

My father, very eagerly, told me that he wanted to meet up at the National Museum of the American Indian. I thought to myself: "Okay, so maybe we grab some type of snack and look around." I had it pictured to be like a cafeteria, with maybe milk, apples, and some type of pizza or pastry-ish lunch food. Boy, was I wrong.

My father's smile and wave sure had me fooled into thinking that it would be a calm lunch hour. Instead, my father led my friend and I into a whirl wind of people, food, and beverage, from all over.

Like a cafeteria, it was every man for himself. My dad shoved some trays our way and let us out, into the "wilderness."

I agreed to split this platter with my dad, from, I believe, what was labeled the Southwest corner. It turns out that the café breaks up the different regions of the nation into different grilles that sustain the native foods of both that region and its peoples.

The Mitsitam Café offered some foods that I had never eaten before: duck and venison. Both were very tasty. I also had rice, a seven grain roll, and some salmon.

This sample platter was pricey, but seemed to be the way to go when a couple people want to split a dish and want to try something new.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Philly's Best

Yesterday, while in Philly, my friend and I decided that we wanted a "real" Philly cheesesteak. My friend's friend introduced us to Jim's Steaks, on South Street. "Since 1939," Jim's has been serving the greater South Street community.

The menu ranged from cheesesteaks made with Whiz, American, or Provolone, to ham and egg "hoagies." One of the cooks even cooked a ham and egg "hoagie," for an Indian woman, on a separate grille, so it would not touch the beef from the steaks.

Like a lunch line, those waiting to put their sandwich orders in wrapped around the small restaurant, zigzagging in a line, which, according to my friend's friend, is "usually out the door and down the street."

The long line was well worth the wait. We all went up stairs to sit down, where we saw signatures from many famous people, like jazz players. There was even one from Denzel Washington.

My main complaint: the bathroom that I used was atrocious.

The food was great, though, and well worth the wait.

Vegan Philly Cheesesteak

Yesterday, my friend and I met up with one of her friends from BU, to venture into Philly's cheesesteak paradise: South Street.

My friend's friend is a vegetarian, but this did not stop her from enjoying Philly's finest. Gianna's Grille, a restaurant with a "hippie/retro" environment, offers not just vegetarian foods, but vegan choices, even a vegan cheesesteak.

The restaurant itself was very dim and had pictures and posters that looked very 60's and 70's. There was a huge display case, that held about eight kinds of pizza, and there was an entire bakery fridge, but it was turned off and there were no pastries inside. A note on the outside of the case said that the baker was on vacation.

This experience really proves that Philly does have a cheese"steak" for everyone.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Death of Natasha Richardson

It is shocking to see that such a talented woman died because of an "accident."

A NYT article/obit:

"But almost no one doubts that Ms. Redgrave inspired her daughter as well. Like her mother, Ms. Richardson was known for disappearing into a role, for not capitalizing on her looks and for being drawn to characters under duress."

It seems that Natasha was just as brilliant off the screen as on the screen. What a Hollywood rarity to "not capitalize on looks" but to actually rely on pure talent. After all, "beauty is as beauty does," Natasha proved false "that beauty is only skin deep."

Many will miss her.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

"Home, home on the range...?"

Yesterday I attended the Meriden Rod and Gun Club's annual St. Jude Children's Hospital fundraiser. It was a good time. With food, raffles, and of course an open shooting range, the event was quite a family affair. But the fact that this was a family affair is what began to concern me.

Many people criticized the December 2008 incident where the father of a young boy allowed the boy to shoot an Uzi at a gun show and the boy accidentally shot himself in the head. Well, all I could picture was a similar incident occurring as I watched old men showing their grandsons and younger men showing their sons and sons' friends how to shoot various guns, or letting them shoot guns. Standing next to this site was so uneasy! Images were running through my mind of accidental shootings, as the boys would tilt the guns as they kicked back. They were essentially, at times, waving around these powerful rifles and other guns.

Then, the most convincing incident of perhaps not mixing family, alcohol, and guns occurred to me when after the raffle, my friend and I went to the car to warm up and we saw this man running to the range screaming, "The kids are in the woods. The kids are in the woods."

It was like a slow motion movie as my heart stopped and I felt sick to my stomach. The man, who was screaming just kept screaming until someone finally went running up to the shooters to tell them to stop. Two minutes later, three little boys came running out of the woods, completely unfazed, and curious as to why their fathers seemed angry at them. It was a good thing that these children were alright, but had their parents been keeping a better eye on them and perhaps not indulging in alcohol this incident would have never even occurred.

In addition, while I was at the shooting range, one young kid on an quad began driving behind the shooting range, and everyone had to stop. You would think that knowing there was a shooting range people would be extra careful, and residents in the area would not be quading anywhere near it.

Overall, I had so much fun at the fundraiser, it was for a good cause, the food was good, the people were good, I even won a raffle. But, attending this event made me think of things that never really applied directly to me, before now/then.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Therapy of Art

As I was reading a NYT article on Bronx school children, who were in an overcrowded school that found room for art, I was somehow able to link this image to that of artwork in prisons.

As a criminal justice minor, I have been in classes where I have learned that many prisoners create art on the walls. Of course this is a money saver, because it is one less thing that the D.O.C. has to paint or in certain cases decorate. But, beyond that, I think that this helps to rehabilitate the prisoners, and is also a form of therapy.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Healthier Eating is a Must According to Michelle Obama

According to an article in The New York Times, Michelle Obama is cracking down on eating non-healthy foods.

What first attracted me to this article was that it discussed healthy eating, but what was also interesting about it, is that the article made clear that Michelle Obama has no problem broadcasting the fact that she wants her family to be eating healthy food. She also wants the nation to be eating healthy food, especially because of obesity problems rising.

The article states: "White House officials say the focus on healthy living will be a significant item on Mrs. Obama’s agenda, which already includes supporting working families and military spouses. As the nation battles an obesity epidemic and a hard-to-break taste for oversweetened and oversalted dishes, her message is clear: Fresh, nutritious foods are not delicacies to be savored by the wealthy, but critical components of the diets of ordinary and struggling families."

Although Michelle offers some incite as to community gardening and maintaining a lower calorie count, I think that sometimes it is a struggle for those living on a budget to eat healthy food. With "The Dollar Menu" and KFC's 99 cent selections, Americans on the run don't always have resources to purchase produce or cannot take the time out of a work schedule to cook a good meal.

Do you think it is more expensive to eat healthy food?

Monday, March 9, 2009

What is Lost and Never Found

When I was younger, my littlest sister got the movie El Dorado for Christmas or her birthday, or some holiday. I think that she was too little to understand this animated movie, but I fell in love with it. I would watch it over, and over, and over again. That movie never got old, for me.

Even now, as a college student, once in awhile I will be flipping through the channels and see it playing on t.v. I always stop to watch it. It still amuses me.

Apparently I am not the only one amused by the topic of El Dorado, other lost cities, and history. David Grann, a staff member for The New Yorker is also interested in this topic, writing a book called “The Lost City of Z.”

This topic goes beyond this one city, it hits at the heart of a concept. It is a concept that I am not quite sure about. I believe that people do not like to wrap their minds around loosing things, let alone whole civilizations or cities.

In eighth grade history class I would always get goosebumps when we would get to the part about Roenoke and the lost American colonists.

Whether it be the allure of lost gold in a South American city, or the mystery of lost colonists in North America, people like to be informed and enjoy learning of a secret. Or perhaps people are so fascinated with these lost worlds because this world is so over explored and full of claimed land and boundaries, that these lost places give people the allusion that the world is not so small.

To eat or not to eat…meat that is…what is your take?

A WSJ article discussed a diet plan that cut out meats in order for people to shave pounds quickly. How do you feel about this?

Throughout my life, I have had several encounters with friends who are “fad” dieters, always trying the newest technique to loose weight. The truth is that there really is no one diet that fits all.

Personally, I have found that when I cut out meats from my diet and add more carbohydrates and breads, it makes a difference on the scale. But some people, such as athletes, perhaps should not take this approach. Are they really getting all of their nutrients?

My biggest concern when people cut out major food groups such as this is where their bodies get the needed fats and proteins from. If a person is not properly consuming the right amounts of these, when s/he works out or does any physical activity for that matter, his or her body begins to eat away at muscle in order to compensate for this. I recently read on a web page (that I found when searching for information on iron in breakfast foods) that since muscle allows you to burn calories, not getting enough nutrients is defeating the purpose of loosing weight, because the ultimate goal is o cut back/burn calories. Muscles need to be fed in order to burn calories.

But, I know of several people who are vegetarians and exercise frequently and “feel great.” It must be a matter of balance. Perhaps vitamins and iron pills do the trick.

What is your take on cutting meat out of a person’s diet so s/he can loose weight?

Artists Must be a "Jack of All Trades" in Their Field to Survive in the Economy

The New York Times had an interesting article that talked about how artists have to be able to do a variety of things, in this struggling economy, in order to survive on a tighter budget. This immediately reminded me of how newspapers and the field of journalism are requiring editors to be able to report and reporters to be able to take pictures and photographers to be able to do graphic designing, in order to cut back on budgets.

Furthermore, the article talked about how the Internet is a good place to post artwork, because people will not have to travel to view art and artists from many nations can collaborate.