Star Spotting #5

#5 - and up close and personal! I got in the elevator today to go to the gym and I think, huh, that guy looks like Don Cheadle. I then took off my sunglasses and casually glanced over my shoulder and it was him!

Let me tell you, I'm getting REALLY good at not gasping and dropping my jaw. I played it real cool, to the elevator wall. There were about 5 others in the elevator so I wasn't completely obvious. I realized that there could probably be more star sightings since Miramax is in my building. I thought I saw someone else a month or two ago, but not sure if it was him or not. But of course, now I can't remember who that was.

Anyway - Don Cheadle, Oscar-nominated actor, Kansas City native (thank you IMDb), star spotting #5.

Confessions

Ok, I just realized that there is something that a lot of you don't know about my current apartment. It's something that I thought was completely weird at first, and its now something I've just adapted to.

I don't have a microwave.

I know...big confession. But several people have thought this was really weird when they come to visit. I remember when my friend Molly was nannying in Petaluma, CA and she didn't have a microwave. I recall a good 10 minute conversation about the way she heats things. I just couldn't fathom how someone could exist without one. Now, I heat water in the kettle on the stove, heat up leftovers in the oven or on the stove, everything just takes a bit longer. The gas stove does get hot a lot faster than electic stoves but still. No microwave.

As I write this there is something else you might be shocked by, no toaster either. Not even a toaster oven. You can ACTUALLY toast things in the oven. Who knew?

Stranger than Fiction

If you have not seen this movie, you must go out and rent it. I thought it was very funny, a little weird, but overall fantastic. It contained my favorite quote in a really long time.

Will Ferrell's character Harold (who is an IRS agent) is asked about his love life and says, "I was engaged to an auditor once, but she left me for an actuary." I may be the only person in the world to find this hilarious, but I kept rewinding it and re-watching it. So funny!

How I Met Your Mother - The Proposal

I was going to save this story for another month but I'll just have to send a reminder email when the show actually airs.

My friends Jana and Tim recently got engaged on the set of "How I Met Your Mother". It's one of their favorite shows and since Tim knows everyone, he had an "in" at the show that helped him arrange everything.

Since I happen to be the worst storyteller in the world (too many details to keep track of) I thought I'd leave it to the experts. Here is an exerpt from one of the star's blogs.

Something amazingly cool happened. We had an actual marriage proposal on the set of How I Met Your Mother. I just e-mailed Matt Kuhn to get the details 'cause he's the one who set the whole thing up. Matt is a writer's assistant and one of the masterminds behind Barney's Blog. He also wrote the episode "Columns" this year. Rather than condense, I'm just gonna reprint part of Matt's e-mail. (I'm sure he won't mind. And direct quotes seem to be the theme of this blog.):

"The couple was Tim [Russo] and Jana [Rugan]. They live in Brooklyn. I'm friends with Tim's brother. He called me up and said his brother and his girlfriend were huge fans of the show and wanted to know if they could visit the set, etc. I said, 'Sure.' Then he asked if Tim could propose to Jana on the set. I went to [cocreators] Carter [Bays] and Craig [Thomas] to see if they were cool with it, and then we all realized we could actually work them into the finale. (They're such romantics.... And by 'they,' I mean Carter.)"

Here's the gist (and this is me, Josh, by the way, not Matt): In a rare romantic gesture (I kid), Ted takes Robin out to dinner for their one-year anniversary at the same restaurant where they had their first date, the place where Ted stole the blue French horn for Robin in the pilot. Two glasses of champagne are delivered to the table and at the bottom of Robin's glass is an engagement ring. Well, it turns out the champagne (and ring) were supposed to go to another table where a guy really was intending to propose to his girlfriend. (Was that a terrible sentence? I'm having trouble writing.) Anyway, so we shot a bunch of takes of this scene. Tim and Jana were extras in the restaurant, and everyone on set knew there was this couple who were about to really get engaged. (Everyone except Jana, of course, who's just trying not to make any noise as an extra.) So Pam Fryman, our unbelievably great director, calls "second pass," which was the code, but I was totally confused about what we were supposed to do and actually got scared I was going to ruin the whole thing. Anyway, our prop guys stealthily switched out the prop ring with the actual engagement ring, and we started the scene. At the moment when the other guy was supposed to stand up and announce the ring was his (as he'd done the previous eight or nine takes) Tim stood up and said, "It's mine." He came over to us, retrieved the ring, walked back to the table, got down on bended knee, and said, "Jana, will you marry me?" (Spoiler alert) She said, "Yes." She was sobbing. Actually, pretty much everyone started to cry. Not me, though. I'm tough. Well, maybe I got a little misty. But Stage 22 is pretty dusty, and as I'd mentioned in Blog #1, I have allergies. Damn dust.

It's SUCH a cute story and may even air in the season finale airing May 14th. Regardless, they'll be in the background.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

I'm in love...

Who wouldn't be? I LOVE these shoes and I pass by them every day. I was walking by yesterday morning and decided I had to take a picture. This is the trouble with working in Soho. Beautiful shoes that are not priced so that they make logical sense. They're not just printed in zebra stripe, they're made with some type of synthetic hair. Sigh.



I'm actually in love with all things zebra right now which is very fortunate that it's everywhere! Last night I purchased this weekender bag for 50% off (go me) from Laila Rowe. Not a bad deal for $20. I realized pretty early after my move that trying to navigate a suitcase with subway stairs is not a very good idea.

Unbearably Cute

I think this bear...



Might be replacing this bear...



...in my heart.

I will always love Tai Shan. I remember back when Sabrina and I would stream video of Tai Shan all day and IM each other whenever he did something particularly cute. While I don't yet know of a similar website for Knut, the adorable polar bear, I may have a new obsession.

South Dakota Easter Weekend Extravaganza

My weekend home was really nice and I got to spend lots of quality time with the family. In the house. It was a lovely 20-some degrees on Friday with a windchill in the single digits. Let's just say, I tried to spend as little time outside is possible.

I did manage to stop by the Karpen Grain Auction for a bit on Saturday to say hi to my fam helping out with the auction. It always amazes me the number of people that attend the annual event. The first hint is always the number of trucks lining the perimeter of the shop, the second hint is all the people following the auctionner in their work clothes. As my bro-in-law Matt said, "Carhart as far as the eye can see."

Some exciting developments, 1) I got a new computer, which I blogged about earlier, and 2) for the first time in YEARS I didn't eat my whole easter bunny. And while the reason may be that I put it in my suitcase, and could not access it until 11:15 when I started unpacking, it still counts.

On a sad note, our dog Lucy passed away a week ago. She was nearly 15 years old and probably the best dog I'll ever know.

New Template - Pretty

You're at the right page, I just thought I'd jazz up my blog a little with some circles. Jazz hands!

New Computer!

We went to the "toy store" (what my mom calls the computer/gadget store) yesterday and I came home with a new toy. A NEW LAPTOP! YAY!

The total came to ~$13 less than my refund from New York State so I'm pretty psyched about that. It's a Gateway of course and my 3rd laptop, (2nd functioning).

Today is My Friday

Back in the day when I was selling pancakes at the wonderful establishment that is Perkins, every day someone else had their "Friday". Since Perkins is a 24/7 establishment, full timers would get two consecutive days off in the week. So frequently women would come in on Tuesday and say, "It's my Friday!". Well you know what folks, today is my Friday. Woot woot.

I leave tomorrow morning (pre-dawn) for the great state of South Dakota by way of Nebraska and Iowa. This weekend is not just the Easter holiday, but also the Annual Karpen Grain auction. People around the Jefferson/Elk Point area bring their stuff to my dad's shop to be auctioned off. Most of the stuff is farm machinery, but dad has gotten some pretty cool non-farm stuff in the past. Like our pet dog, Toby, that we got when we were little. So, it's a ceramic dog, we still loved him.

Passover

Please add Passover to the list of Transit holidays that I love. There was no one on the train this morning. The list so far this year is:

1) Week between Christmas and New Years
2) Martin Luther King, Jr Day
3) President's Day
4) Passover

I have a feeling that there is going to be a holiday that I don't get off in May that I can look forward to an empty public transportation system. Woo!

Star Spotting #4

DO YOU SEE WHO THIS IS?!?! DO YOU SEE WHO I SAW GETTING OUT OF A BLACK ESCALADE THIS MORNING?!?! None other than Mr. Kevin Spacey who (I am assuming)was going to Balthazar for breakfast.

Not that exciting of a story sadly, I was walking down Spring St. and the back door of the Escalade opened up and this man in a suit got out. I thought, "Hmmm. Well that is an attractive, well-dressed man this early in the morning is Soho" (black suit). Then when I realized who it was, I did my trademark, tourist, open-mouth complete with gasp. Classic.

Update: Apparently Mr. Spacey was on the Today show this morning promoting his new Broadway play, which explains the suit and the early morning in Soho.