Amber & Happy Monkeys

I am still pretty sick, but I managed to venture out today and experienced the Snowpocalypse Aftermath first hand.  Mostly, it meant climbing some street corner snow banks, and trudging through slush.

To prepare for this dangerous adventure, I armed myself with three items of prime safety: my ridiculous big snow boots, my super soft hoody (no, really, have you felt how soft it is?) and a novelty-t.

This novelty t is from the Short-Haired Lady Coffee Place near Nick.  Nick goes there almost every day to work, but I like to go there because they have coffee.  And because I fit in good with my increasingly short hairstyle.  And now that I own this shirt, I like to go there even more because they support monkey happiness.

Close up:

Not all monkeys going into space were happy.  But this one sure is.  He must like coffee, too.  Or short-haired ladies.

Thank you for the nice shirt, Nick.

Amber & Top Foods Challenge: Day Three

A must-have: coffee from the Mud Truck.

 

Hot or cold, but definitely from the truck-- no need for a café in my opinion.  How do they get those rich chocolately undertones in there?  And definitely not from the cheap rip-off Love Truck.

Not fancy, not really a meal, but a requirement for any trip.

Amber & Top Foods Challenge: Day Two

I love brunch.  I love not eating first thing I wake up, and I love making a mid-morning meal into a social event (even if "social" just means me and a book at Plum Pomidor).  And, readers of this blog know how much I love La Palapa.

My visitors are sure to be treated to a meal at La Palapa--either the eastern or western options, depending on how much said visitors enjoy walking and how tolerant of east village youth I am feeling.  (Also, there is a waiter at the east one with the most beautiful hair ever.)  All of the breakfast options are great but must be accompanied by café de olla, the orangey sweet deliciousness that makes, if you can believe it, coffee even better.

My favorite brunch option is to get the brunch special and upgrade the coffee to the café de olla on my second cup.  The brunch special also comes with a bloody mary (or bloody maria if you have a better relationship with tequila than I do) or michelada, fresh fruit (you can have my pineapple and mango), and then your choice of entrees.  I recommend the huevos rancheros con salsa verde.

Eggs, just perfectly runny, on delicious fresh tortillas with tons of queso fresco and crema, swimming in a sea of the most delicious salsa verde ever (I could just eat a bowl of the salsa verde and be happy).  If you visit NYC for two weekends, we might have to go there twice.  I wish they were serving brunch right now.

Amber & Marco Polo

Earlier, CRD shared this Hitch quip about the importance of a lingua franca (but not my former employer) amongst friends.  Sassy slanged banter is a mainstay of my communications with my pals, but so is playing Private Joke Marco Polo.  One of us sets 'em up, and the other knocks 'em down.  With friends on other coasts and through the miracle of modern technology, this takes the form of visual Marco Polo.

For example, yesterday Kirk visited this site (which is some kind of viral marketing for a product not targeted to my demographic and therefore fully incomprehensible) and said, "Marco."

And then I made my own. "Polo!"

And then Emma both Marcoed and Poloed with these offerings.

Today, Emma sent this exhibit of her love of bananas. Marco!

I returned with evidence of my love of coffee.

Polo!

Etc.  Friendship rocks.

Amber & Portrait of the Ampersand as a Young Man

A friend forwards this found portrait of me.

I love four cats (especially ones wearing birthday hats) and flowers and guitars and boat trips in Alaska and French press coffee and lamps and being at home and yarn and birds (especially owls who say "hi") and cupcakes and ice cream cones and tea pots and boots and rainbows and bees and leaves and other stuff!  The resemblance is uncanny.

Amber & Desire

Sigmund's astral body chuckled with contentment yesterday as I learned an important lesson about the nature of desire.  It all started with an afternoon sweet treat craving and an ad for a Frappuccino on a cup holder that I played with on my desk during a conference call.

Now, it's no secret that I have long been a fan of Starbucks's product, highly-available coffee.  Given my love for the brewed bean purveyor, you might be surprised to learn that I had never tried a Frappuccino.  They just seemed so expensive (I get the misto although I really prefer a cappuccino mostly because it costs about a dollar less) and more like a dessert than a beverage, really.  I've had the ice coffee, of course, and the weird Vivanno blended smoothie drink, too. But, until yesterday afternoon when I succumbed to my yearning, I had never had the Frappuccino.

Well, desire sure is the yearning for a fundamentally lost object, Sigmund.  I'd even go a step further and say it's a yearning for something that one cannot have, that may never have existed.  The Frappuccino?  Crappuccino, people.  Not only wasn't it as good as it was in my imagination, but it was just plain pukey.  It didn't taste anything like coffee, was way, way too sweet, and had a certain waxy thickness about its texture that seemed highly unnatural.  Gross, gross, gross.

Some things we think we want, with all our hearts, are only wanted because they can't be had.  Some things look like delicious sweet treats and we might fantasize about them as afternoon snacks, but in reality those frozen coffee drinks might have been serial womanizers who have horrible, violent tempers who are are registered Republicans.

Ah, desire.  First it's red and then it's blue.  And every time I see a Frappuccino, it reminds me of you.

What flower expresses the kisses, the kisses?

Amber & Appreciation

Thanks to Nick both for noticing that there was a certain... shall we say... magic to the time stamps in my kitty birthday posts yesterday.  That magic was sure not lost on Nick.

Also, Nick introduced me to the magic that is Manhattan Special.  Yum.

It's soda, not coffee, right?

Amber & Le French

You may not know, but Coffee, my on-again-off-again lover, and I broke up again.  I'm totally head over heals for the bean, but we're just not a good fit.  It's not you, Coffee; it's me.  And my shaking hands and acid reflux.

And, I totally recognize that I am on the rebound.  I went back to my old flame, Red Lipstick.  Although I know in the past Lipstick has treated me wrong, it claims to have reformed.  And, I believe it--although I recognize that I may just be taken in by its obvious charms.  Only time will tell.  And my Scramble 2 scores.

When we're going out together, I feel like I can be myself--more monochromatic--just because lipstick is with me.  (That makes Purple my BFF, the third wheel, who will be waiting for me patiently and comfortingly when Lipstick and I are on the rocks again.)  So, today's outfit revolved around a black and white striped t-shirt.  And that made me think of France, and then I had to know why.  So I Googled.  And lo!  It's because of their naval uniforms.

And that made me think of all of the other great things the French have given us.  Herewith, a list of my top five favorite French things.

1.  Striped shirts.

(Even better with red lipstick, which is not French.)

2.  Mayonnaise.  Great with fries, burgers, Sapporo rolls, and turkey sandwiches.  Really, great with just about everything.

3.  Casablanca.  Without Paris, what would we always have?

4.  Jacques Lacan.  Because without the Symbolic Order, I wouldn't have a BFA.  And if I hadn't gotten that degree, I wouldn't have met James or Kevin, and CRD and I wouldn't have half the jokes we have now.  And I wouldn't have really utilized these over-active mirror neurons.

5.  That really great episode of Murder She Wrote where Jessica is in France.

Merci beaucoup, les grenouilles.

Amber & Self-Avatar-It

I know what I look like. But, I can't seem to make an avatar that looks like me. CRD made this one of the two of us in the style of that show all the kids love these days.  The coffee is the only real give-away that it's me; the body type is 100% me, but the nose is not-quite-exactly-Amber.

I made this one.  I got to pick from lots of different faces and noses and eye shapes.  I still don't think it looks like me.  It has the right hair and bangs, maryjane shoes, brown eyes, and $35 jeans, but it's still not quite right.  It just doesn't look like me.

It sure is hard capturing my essence in pixels.  Maybe because there's no avatar setting to coat yourself in cat fur?

Amber & What's Mine is Yours, Except Sandwiches

Anyone who has read more than two posts on this blog knows that I love my cats. A lot, a lot, a lot. In fact, I let them take all kind of liberties that maybe I shouldn't. Some of which might land me with a visit from a stern British woman in a jumpsuit who would tell me that my cats really want me to be more in control of them and take back command of our home.

One example of something I recognize needs to change is Ginger's need to milk tread and push his cold, wet, purring nose on my face at 3 am every night. Luckily, he's stopped doing it since I made him a sleep spot at the foot of the bed with a towel because how could I tell this cutie little face that I didn't want him to show me he loved me?


And, not only do I let Woody have his own pillow in the bed, but the cats are allowed to use my dresser drawers as nap environments... which explains the coating of fur all over my clothes.


But look how happy he is!

But, today, we defined the limits of what I am willing to share with my animals. The border lies between sandwich crumbs and the actual sandwich. Licking the plate after I am done is fine, but attacking and eating the sandwich while I am on a professional business call is Not Okay.

Moreover, it is even Less Okay if you steal a giant bite of my sandwich and then start to make mournful noises because you are going to puke it back out onto the couch during my professional business call. And, even Fewer Okaynesses apply to then, while I am busy cleaning up your puke discretely while talking to my boss about print order projections, go over and take some giant licks out of my Cafix.

Cats, be aware: I love you more than fur-free clothing, more than having space in my own bed, more than a solid night's sleep... but not more than my lunch.

Amber & The Calm Before The Storm

Ironically, before our trip to the farm, we are having rest stop lunch. It's the opposite of farm fresh, and the contrast will heighten our enjoyment of the food to come.

Amber & Road Trip

Lizzie, Diana, Kevin and I are on our way to Windflower Farm in Washington County for a sleep over with Farmer Ted. I am so excited! But I also am hungry, craving coffee, and needing to pee. All of those needs will met when we stop at New Baltimore's market. Upstate Club!

Amber & Iced Drinks

Earlier this week, I noted one thing I do that I know is bad for me. It started me thinking about other things where I make a hedonistic choice, where my enjoyment of the thing overrides any resolutions about not tempting fate. One such indulgence is iced beverages.

I have one just about every afternoon at work. Sometimes I have an iced green tea, with lunch at times an iced thai tea, sometimes a pombupani, and sometimes I go from tempting fate to assaulting it with full force and have an iced decaf coffee.

I know iced drinks are bad for your digestion. And I know my tummy really doesn't appreciate them. Why oh why? Because they are so refreshing. And I like straws.

Amber & Mornings, Good-style

I'm testing out throwing one house-chore goal into my morning routine. This morning, I did the dishes.

I didn't make a giant pot of oatmeal for breakast; that pot served as my dish pan. (Notice, CRD, it's called a dish pan.) And there are so many plates from feeding cats. Four of them. Sigh. Dish-o-librium.

P.S. Does anyone want my coffee maker? I moved it into the cabinet above the stove today to avoid temptation, but I don't foresee myself using it any time soon. I still have two french presses which I will keep to use for loose tea, but I think I should say goodbye. It has a self-clean feature and an auto-timer so it can start itself in the morning! Let me know if you're interested and you are withing carrying distance without having to check luggage.


[Update 11:49 AM: CRD claimed the coffee maker.)

Amber & Performance Reviews

On Friday, I got my first real performance review from my boss. I got three gold stars!

I am performing well at swimming, good working and no coffeeing. Yay, me!

Amber & Cafix

So, I love coffee. But, it doesn't love me so much. Thus, my last hurrah has ended and I am trying to go coffee-free.

Kevin advised me to not think about changing my health and eating from the papers again as one big switch to pull ("now! I am perfect from now on!"), but rather to make better decisions in the moment. That makes so much sense to me since I have trouble digesting big changes to begin with (and coffee). Kevin also told me about this product that Diana drinks: Cafix.

It's made from barley and chicory and contains no caffeine. The point is that it is supposed to be a delicious hotdrink that fulfills the sensory gap left by removing coffee from one's consumption. My only experience with these coffee-substitute drinks has been at Angelika Kitchen where their grain coffee is always a meal-end treat.

This is my first morning with Cafix, and let me tell you it is pretty delicious.

I added some creamline milk, some honey and some cinnamon and served it up in my favorite morning mug. It's downright delightful. No, it doesn't taste just like coffee, but it has the hearty, rich, earthy flavor that feels like waking up. I am having a super nice time on the couch drinking my beverage with kitties. Thank you, Kevin and Diana.

P.S. Pickles just caught and ate a fly. Now he is coughing funny. I think it tickled his throat.

Amber & Reflux Redux

So, I've had this sore throat for weeks now. And, although my friend Zyrtec is helping my other allergy symptoms pretty well, the throat thing has only gotten worse. Yesterday I had pre-cocaine Kathleen Turner's voice.


So, today, I went to see the wonderful Dr. Alexandra. I started complaining about my allergic throat and then sort of coughed and cleared my throat--coincidentally--and she got very wide eyes. Turns out that, going against House's one diagnosis that explains it all theory, my throat is unrelated to my allergies. It's the return of acid reflux.

Remember how I learned all those valuable lessons in Wisconsin about acid reflux? Well, I forgot them. In fact, (and CRD can tell us if this is irony or not) I have had donuts for breakfast twice in the past week. Bad, bad Amber.

Farewell, coffee. Farewell, tomatoes late at night. Hello, healthy eating.

Amber & Sleepiness

I have been having horrible trouble sleeping. I lie down at a reasonable hour, caffeine long behind me, but then I just can't get comfortable. I didn't doze off last night until well after 2 pm, and that was even after I self-medicated. And, of course, self-medication then leads to an inability to function in the morning, such as today when I poured the water into the french press, let it steep, and then realized I hadn't added any coffee.

And, I am still feeling under the weather, although some people are suggesting that it may be allergies.

Days like today make me wish I had a train ride to Trenton.


Only, I would spend less time playing with Photobooth on my laptop and more time following Kevin's lead.

Amber & Back to It

I am home safe from San Francisco. I had some waking up trouble this weekend, showing that I really had adjusted to California Time better than I had believed while I was there. Plus, we lost that hour. And, I lost another few hours just staring into Woody's eyes.


But, now I am back in my morning routine. Only, I've been gone so long that Ginger seems to have forgotten he's not allowed on the counter, that the weird machine makes coffee, and that I promised to protect him from all small kitchen appliances when I adopted him.


This photo can't convey the hissing coming from both the coffee steam and the baby cat.

I love New York.

Amber & Jimmy Time

Yesterday, I got my bangs trimmed for free, bought a perfectly-sized pair of jeans, went to Murray's Cheese Shop and got malted milk balls, had Laundry Club with CRD, watched a Doris Day movie that made me think I was having LSD flashbacks, and had a really delicious Mexican Brumch with Jimmy.

I took this picture of Jimmy while we were doing errands. He had to hold my coffee so I could press the black button on the camera.


Then, Jimmy took this picture of the two of us. I look sort of droopey, but I think that's from the cold windy weather and incredibly bright sunshine.