Sticker SHOCK

New York City has put into effect a new law that all chain resturants have to post calorie counts next to items on their menus. When I first heard about this I thought "what a waste of money to change all their signs and menus. Nobody will even care". But as the change took effect I have noticed one change in my own habits. Take your average lunch. After eating left overs all week I decide on a Friday to go get my favorite Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla. MMMMM..... I decide it is worth the money to spend one day a week. I get over my guilt of spending money on something so small but so tasty! I get to Taco Bell and go to order and to my SHOCK I see that one chicken quesadilla at Taco Bell is 520 calories!! One tortilla with chicken, cheese, and yummy sauce. Now not only do I have to get over the guilt of spending money I have to get over the guilt of adding 520 calories to my day for something so small. Now when I want to run and get something yummy I have to talk myself into it. So it seems that the program is working. At least on me. I have lost 10 lbs. since moving back to New York. I don't think it is only this reason, I do 100x more walking then before but this can only help. It is nice to see that the responsibility is being put back onto people to own their choices and decisions instead of blaming companies like McDonald's or Taco Bell. I have a long road to being healthy but this is a good help for my instant gratification syndrome!!

Coney Island

I realized the other day that we have lived in New York all together more than three years and we have never been to the beach. Adam went before we got married but I have never been to the beach here. We live on an Island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. So we decided to go to Coney Island on Saturday. For any of you that may not know what Coney Island is it is a beach in Brooklyn (not so much an island.. go figure) that has a big roller coaster and Ferris wheel.

It was a nice day. No humidity and not too hot. Perfect. We strolled along the boardwalk and I kicked Adam's butt in Foosball. They have lots of booths with games to play. One game was "Shoot The Freak" now that's what I'm talking about! Who doesn't love to shoot at freaks!! But seriously it was some guy running back and forth that you shoot at. How much would someone have to pay me to do that?

We also had a funny run in with some funny dressed boys and girls. They were way too cheerful and perky to be from New York and then I spotted the nametags:

We saw five sets of missionaries at the beach. Does anyone else think it's funny that they choose the beach to spend their Saturday? Funny. I guess it is the perfect place. People go to sit and not move so not a lot of chasing for them. Anyway Coney Island was fun. Probably not a place I would go all the time but a fun tourist stop. I think I will start going to the beach more though! What a nice tan I am getting...Pasty white to Ghost white... I am getting there!

Musical's and Costco's and Birthday's OH MY!!!

Happy weekend everyone! Today is my 27th birthday. As Kyla says I am an "Old Fart". huh....

I have had a great birthday today. Adam & Rocky bought me one of my favorite cakes from Costco. Although I didn't think that through to much until after we got the cake home. We are only 2 people & 1 dog, how on earth can we get through a whole Costco cake. I am sure we will manage! :o) We did resort to trying to give some away to the door man but we still have this much left...

If anyone would like to drop by our apartment for a slice feel free!!!

Adam also took me to see Mama Mia! I really enjoyed it. I have heard all the bad reviews and was expecting to hate it but I liked it. Adam is the best husband to suffer through the singing and dancing for me!

Also another side note. The Costco we went to was a two story Costco. That's right people I said a two story Costco! How you ask? Well I took pictures!! On the first floor they have all the candy, personal stuff, and cleaning supplies. Then you take this escalator to the second floor to all the food. The wheels on the carts snap into the slots on the escalator so it does not move. Although they had to come up with another way on the way down because people's carts are so heavy and full of food. You still go down on the escalator but they do not let you go down with your cart. It has to go on a belt next to you. Our cart was full but not as full as others and it even started to slide. They had to run and jam it into the walls to keep it from sliding! Fun job huh!

Anyway it's been a great day. Thanks to Adam for making it special and thanks to everyone who called to wish me a happy day!

"I bloody had to wait in a queue for my fags!"

I am getting a free education in the difference between American terms and British terms. I find some of them quite interesting so I thought I would share. Now these are better then the ususal lift, loo, flat, etc. These are ones that I had to stop and ask in a room full of Brits what they heck they are talking about.

Queue- line (like waiting in line at the post office)

Fag- Cigarette (I knew that one I just wanted to say Fag and not get beat up)

Plasters- Band Aids

Breedy- A woman who really wants a baby

Purse- This is like a wallet or a coin purse

Handbag- This is what we Americans call a purse

Brill- Great (short for brilliant)

Hooter- nose

Naughty bits- See previous post picture of my great grandparents!

Everything is in military time and they write their dates dd/mm/yy today is 21/7/08. It drives me crazy. Just a few little differences that I find interesting!

My great great great........great Grandpa & Grandma Bailey!

Hello friends! I hope you all are well. Today in NYC has to be equal in temperature to where Satan dwells! It is about 98 degrees and 80% humidity. Yuck! So I decided to finally visit the American Natural History Museum and get out of the heat. It is here on the Upper West Side near us. If any of you don't know that is the museum in the movie "Night at the Museum". I definetly recommend anyone to go if you visit. It is pretty cool but HUGE! It is a full day of walking around looking at interesting stuff. Parts of it are a glorified Cabela's display of animals from Africa to the Americas. The settings they put them in amazing. They look so realistic.

They have so many different subjects it's hard to wrap your mind around all of them. They have a huge display on the "Big Bang" theory. They also have a hall just for Evolution. It was interesting to see what they think we came from. Below is a picture of what my great, great, great....great Grandparents would have looked like :

What do you think? Any resemblance? I guess maybe a little in the eyes. haha.... (Come people it's funny!) Anywho.... I also got to see the cool bubble gum stone statue from the movie.

It was a fun and interesting day. Oh and I also got to walk by the apartment building that John Lennon was shot at. It is pretty close to the museum so I walked over there. It is a really cool apartment building. I would love to live there and be haunted by him!

Well I hope everyone had a great week! Keep on bloggin'

Much Ado About Nothing

One good thing about living a large city is the free events that you can find. Last night we went to Shakespeare in the Park to see Much Ado About Nothing. It was really fun. It is held in Riverside Park Solider Memorial. They have this huge monument and off the back has stairs leading to a large half circle patio. It was so fun to see a play in a setting very similar to how Plays were seen back in Roman Empire times. Sitting on stone steps in the fresh cool breeze. From the steps that you sit on you can also see the Hudson River and watch all the boats go by. The actors were very good at using their environment. They used the stairs, balcony, and even the trees (see below picture). It was a really fun night that didn't break the bank!!

Our New Hood

I just realized that we never let you guys see our new neighborhood. We would like to show you around our new hood....

This is our building. We live on the 4th floor. We live on the Upper West Side on Broadway. For those that have not been to NYC before Broadway is the major road that runs North to South. It is also the road that the Thanksgiving Day parade runs down.

This is the entrance to our building. We have nice, friendly door men that open the door for us. In the morning there is a woman that seems to dislike me but love Adam. Go figure.

This is our reception/elevators. The building is really nice. Plus they have great floors that Rocky can't scratch!

That's all for our building let me move on to the neighborhood. Our neighborhood I think is one of the best in New York. We are 3 blocks from Riverside Park and about 3 blocks from Central Park. Most families live in our area so we get to see lots of kids that all want to play with Rocky.

This is our bank, newstand, and subway station. They are all located right outside our front door.

Last but not least our favorite new restaurant. This restaurant "The French Roast" is in our building on the street level. It has a great outdoor eating area. Ben and Jerry Stiller are patrons of this restaurant (Adam has seen them there!). It has great food. And Josh you can relax there are no actual French Citizens working in the restaurant that I know of.