Deer Convention, 2010

Its happening in our backyard - Take a look!

Whoops, Now It's Spring!

Donde esta the deck?

Our porch! Tis gone!

Happy Valentines Day! (I'm Talking To The Books...)

Though David is working this Valentine's Day, he sent me beautiful flowers! Yep, he makes sure to get me flowers every year, whether he's home or not... :)

....If you're in Ithaca tomorrow (President's Day 2/15) come visit me downtown for "Story Time" courtesy of the Library Lover's Book Fair!

I'll be reading at 11:30 AM at Autumn Leaves on the Commons.

Backyard Views & News

It has been a beautiful winter so far up here in snowy central NY. We had lots of the white stuff from late December thru mid-January, but now it's kind of tapered off.

DEAR, THE DEER!

Have I mentioned lately how thrilled we are to be hosting a lovely deer family that lives in the woods of our backyard? It is so awesome to greet the day with them! We love our deer neighbors so much...

They are welcome guests, but alas, not ALL animals found on our property are the friendly variety. Take, for instance, the pack of tiny flying squirrels who have taken up residence in our attic/crawlspace area, on both sides of the house. You know, the ones that have apparently been here for multiple seasons, but our inspectors MISSED? Yep. THOSE flying squirrels. They're not too friendly. Luckily, we have Fur And Feathers on the job. So far, they've captured about 10, some alive, some not-so-much. Phase 2 begins next week: the sealing of the house. (Necessary, because we've learned that those little buggers can squeeze into spaces that are only 1/2 square inch!) Will keep you posted on further creepy teeny batty flying squirrel misadventures...

Unfotunately, we haven't had much time to do any renovating lately - this winter has gotten rather busy. David has been going back and forth at full speed, working a 28/14 schedule in the gulf. I've signed on as associate director for the Kitchen Theatre's upcoming Family Fare show, and I've been busy teaching at the Trumansburg After School Program, working with the elementary kids, running Dance Club & Drama Club.

David wants to do some more work on the hardwood floors next time he's home. We still have to get rid of the carpet in our master bedroom closet, as well as the guest bedroom, and on the stairs to the loft...

FOR ITHACAN EYES ONLY...

At 11:30 AM on Presidents Day, I'll be reading stories to the kiddies for the Tompkins County Pubic Library' Foundation's Annual Library Lover's Bookfair. Join us at Autumn Leaves - Feb. 15th. Check out the voucher here!

Snow-A-GoGo

More pics of our first winter at the homestead...

Happy Snow Year!

Enjoy the serene, snowy views from our front and back porch...!

Psssst..... David has spent the better part of the past month aboard THIS seafaring vessel, but he gets home later this week!

Avoid The Hero Boy

Well, David came home a few weeks ago, and within a few days we were up and traveling again - this time back down to NYC for work & auditions. We had a lovely week planned, ready to fill our time to capacity hanging out with friends and family. Instead, we spend the 2nd half of the week laid up on my parents couch, recovering from The Food Poisoning Extravaganza Of The Decade!

DO NOT GO TO MANGANARO'S HERO BOY (or Manganaro's Grosseria, for that matter)

Manganaro's Grosseria and Manganaro's Hero Boy are right next to each other on 9th Ave - around 36th street. They were owned by the same family who later split in a feud and decided to operate separately. Now the Deli (Grosseria) is run by the infamous Bitches of 9th Avenue (vicious women who immediately bark at every customer who enters, thereby preventing anyone from becoming a repeat customer... seriously - it's a Soup-Nazi situation) and the once-wonderful Hero Boy cafeteria next door, which used to be one of my food staples, will now unfortunately be remembered as the Gateway To Our Personal Hell. What a huge disappointment. I used to eat these heros ALL THE TIME when I was in a revival of Yentl that ran for a few months back in 2002. The theatre was right around the corner, and we had multiple double-show days. Between the matinee and the evening shows, my friend Charlie and I would always meet for some super-delicious sandwich fuel.

I don't know what happened to this place, but it's safe to say that those "Sandwich Days" are over. Never, NEVER again. We did the social "math" and there is absolutely no way this horrendous food poisoning came from any other source but Manganaro's Hero Boy. David was sick for two days, I was sick for three-plus.

Manganaro's, I hate to say it... You used to be family - but now you are dead to me.

P.S.

David left today to go back to work.

Christmas will be celebrated upon his return!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! We had a great time! It was full of many "Firsts for" us...

• Our first Thanksgiving in the New House!
• My first time preparing a Thanksgiving dinner.... ever!
• My first time cooking a whole bird... ever... :(
• Our first Thanksgiving since we've been together, in which David and I could spend the holiday together! (David is usually at work)

With some help from The Internets, and a lot of hard work, it was a great success! We had three friends over: Mike, Julia, and Alexis...

I am a dork and I typed up a list of everything I was making (it was originally intended as more of an organizing "gameplan" than a "menu," but then as I went along, it was fun to make everything sound fancy...) Anyway, here was our Menu for the Day:

• BISCUITS with Butter & Honey
• CRUDITE - Fresh Veggies & Dip
• CHEESE & CRACKERS
• ALEXIS & JULIA’S HOMEMADE COOKIES
• -----
• ROAST TURKEY & HOMEMADE GRAVY w/ Thyme, Butter, Garlic, & Lemon
• HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE with Orange
• ROASTED RED POTATOES and Garlic
• STEAMED YELLOW AND GREEN BEANS
• ROASTED SWEET POTATOES w/ Butter & Cinnamon
• ROASTED RADISHES
• ROASTED GARLIC BRUSSELS SPROUTS
• WHOLE WHEAT HOMESTYLE STUFFING
• SPICED LAMB STUFFING w/ Apple & Cranberry
• -----
• WEGMAN’S BAKERY PIES - Mixed Berry Pie, and Pumpkin Pie w/ Whipped Cream
• VANILLA ICED CREAM
• ALEXIS & JULIA’S HOMEMADE COOKIES

So, all in all, it was a wonderful day. It ended with me, slightly drunk and exhausted, relating the day's antics over the phone to my parents in Queens, whilst curled up on our new green couch, crumpled apron and all. After all my fears about cooking a whole bird, and weeks of gathering advice from everyone who would talk to me (Momma Herzog, Momma Campione, Queen Susannah who I ran into at Wegmans and cornered for turkey tips, and don't forget The Internets...) I actually succeeded in making a moist, crispy-skinned, delicious roast bird! Go figure! Next year I have nothing to fear! :)

More pics of the couch (without me on it) to follow...

David leaves next week for work/training... More travel coming this "holiday" season...

HAPPY NOVEMBER, EVERYONE!

Well, we're having a lovely November here in Ithaca, and that means two things:

#1 The gorgeous fall colors are turning to bare branches...

#2 I haven't posted on this blog in practically a whole season!

Whew!

It's been a VERY busy Autumn for us. Most of my time was spent working at the Kitchen Theatre, and other than seeing the show six times (what a champ!), David of course spent his time at home this fall working on the house. That means finishing the floors in our great room, constructing our bed in the master bedroom (that's right, our mattress is no longer on the floor! Woohoo!), buying and installing new lighting and hardware throughout the house, and getting some new furniture...

Here's a preliminary pic of how the floors turned out in the great room. There will be many more pics to follow including (spoiler alert...) our new gorgeous green couch from Sam Peter!