Randomness of the Day

1) My mother-in-law reminds me of "Kitty Foreman" from That 70's Show (another all-time GREAT show), sans the excessive drinking.  My MOL laughs at EVERYTHING (seriously, she laughs even when she cries), tries to see EVERYTHING in a positive light, LOVES match-making, and just wants everyone to be happy.

2) My first blog consisted mainly of aim conversations between Moobles and myself.  Thus I created this second blog that would relate better to others, and that would make sense to others besides Moobles and myself :)

3) I love reading all the different random facts about my friends and family.  It's those random facts that make them who they are.  Thus going back to my fascination of "why we are the way we are".

4) I am ALWAYS hungry, even when I'm full, and stuffed to the brim.  I'm still thinking about what I want to eat next. I think it's from all the NOT eating I did as a kid.  I'm making up for it, like sleep.

5) I love hugs.

Randomness of the Day

1) I don't care if the channel is in HD or not. I know what the difference is, but I just don't care. I really could go through life WITHOUT seeing ALL the zits on an actor's face. This situation annoys my hubby to no end.

2) I can't seem to get myself out of bed and into the shower to get to work on time. This is not a new thing. I have this issue EVERYDAY.

3) I do tend to talk to myself, and have been for as long as I remember. I never had an imaginary friend. I just had me.

4) I still get excited when somebody mentions the New Mickey Mouse Club (aka MMC). It makes me feel special that I knew about Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling (one of my faves), Christina Aguilera (another fave), Britney Spears, JC Chasez (the love of my life), and Keri Russell (wanted to be her, and was DEVASTATED when she broke up with Tony Lucca-her "soul mate") before most people.

5) When working out, I keep imagining "Nicole Sherzinger abs and Kelly Ripa arms" over and over again in my head. This somehow doesn't motivate me to get up and out of bed any earlier to get to the gym in the a.m., and then get to work on time.

Randomness of the Day

So, on Facebook, a "note" has been going around called: 25 Random Things About Me. It's actually quite interesting and fun (but, of course, I love that kind of stuff). So I thought, why not post my list of 25 on here, and then everyday post something random about me or that I'm thinking of (along with my "Train of Thought" post), as I have PLENTY of random thoughts about myself and the world. So, let's start today with the initial "25 random thoughts about me":

1) I had written this whole thing out, and my program decided to shut down on me before I could save it. Aargh. Of course, I did it again immediately. I love this stuff.
2) I am SUPREMELY neurotic
3) My little sister is my soul mate -- connected through all of our lives, past, present, and future
4) But my husband is the love of my life -- my strength, my calmness, my laughter, my tears, my annoyance, my hugs, and everything in between
5) The one regret in my life is quitting dance. I started taking classes at age 3, until age 12, when I contracted a major case of stage fright. Still have it.
6) I love to write, however I find I write in rambles. Thus blogging and I have really connected. Check mine out at browniesugar.blogspot.com
7) I wish I were wittier. I think I might have been at one point.
8) Josh Duhamel is #1 on my celeb "to do" list ;)
9) I really wish I was more like Heidi Klum as she's #1 on my husband's list :)
10) Shopping is my drug of choice
11) Baking is my activity of choice. And now I bake from scratch! (No more boxed mixes for me, no sir!)
12) I want to see the world
13) I speak Hindi-English and Spanglish. One of these days, I'll actually start speaking fluent Hindi and Spanish
14) I want to go back to school to get my masters. I just wish I knew in what.
15) I already have names picked out for my future daughters. I can't think of any boys' names I like. This just means I have to have all girls :)
16) I dream in color -- very vivid, very real dreams
17) I majored in psychology due to my extreme fascination with "why we are the way we are" -from birth through the college years. I'm still fascinated by this.
18) I sing in the shower, and think I sound amazing (only in the shower)
19) I incessantly stare at my bare, non-existent abs (aka pooch) in the mirror
20) I play out every worst case scenario in my head of any and every situation that comes my way, whether is has anything to do with me or not. Sometimes I do the same thing for situations I see on tv.
21) I am insanely competitive, thus avoid playing any games to avoid having a "Monica" moment (see "FRIENDS" ep "The One With All The Poker"). I hate when people know more about pop culture than I do. But I'll keep that to myself ;)
22) I used to see 4-5 movies at the theater, in one month, growing up. I now see that many in a year.
23) I love monkeys. The cute curious george, chimp types. Not the crazy baboons with the red butts.
24) I need sleep.
25) I don't know how to swim

Am I Missing Out?

So, with a few exceptions, the TV world has been somewhat disappointing in the last few years. Every night I had something to look forward to, many times more than I could record at once! But lately I find myself only looking forward to Mondays (too much going on on Mondays...VERY frustrating) and Wednesdays at 9pm. So I figured, I MUST be missing out on something. There has to be other good shows on that I am not watching. SO here are some of the shows I have heard good things about, and am interested in starting (will have a lot of DVDs to rent). Also, I will list out the current shows that have been disappointing me over the last season or two (or more), the shows that still get me excited, and some NEW shows that haven't started yet which I am looking forward to.

SHOWS THAT ARE ON MY "TO-DO" LIST:
In Treatment (Sundays, 6:30-8:30pm, HBO Signature)
House (Mondays, 8-9pm, FOX)
Fringe (Tuesdays, 9-10pm, FOX)
Bones (Thursdays, 8-9pm, FOX)
The Office (Thursdays, 9-9:30pm, NBC)
30 Rock (Thursdays, 9:30-10pm, NBC)
SuperNatural (Thursdays, 9-10pm, CW)
Ghost Whisperer (Fridays, 8-9pm, CBS)
Friday Night Lights (Fridays, 9-10pm, NBC)
Samantha Who? (in the process of shifting days/times)
The Starter Wife (USA)
True Blood (HBO)
Trust Me (TNT)
Leverage (TNT)
Sorry 24 fans, I still can't seem to get into it.

SHOWS THAT STILL MAKE MY HEART GO AFLUTTER:
Gossip Girl (Mondays, 8-9pm, CW)
The Big Bang Theory (Mondays, 8-8:30pm, CBS)
How I Met Your Mother (Mondays, 8:30-9pm, CBS)
One Tree Hill (Mondays 9-10pm, CW)
NCIS (Tuesdays, 8-9pm, CBS)
Scrubs (Tuesdays, 9-10pm, ABC)
Lost (Wednesdays, 9-10pm, ABC)

REALITY TV THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME CRANKY:
Life In the Fab Lane with Kimora Lee Simmons (Sundays, 8-9pm, Style Network)
Keeping Up With the Kardashians (E!)
Run's House (MTV)

SHOWS FALLING OFF MY RADAR:
Desperate Houswives (Sundays, 9-10pm, ABC)
CSI: Miami (Mondays, 10-11pm, CBS)
90210 (Tuesdays, 8-9pm, CW) *it upset me at "Hello"
Nip/Tuck (Tuesdays, 10-11pm, F/X)
Ugly Betty (Thursdays, 8-9pm, ABC)
Grey's Anatomy (Thursdays, 9-10pm, ABC)
Daddy's Girls (Mondays, 10:30-11pm, MTV)
The Real World (Wednesdays, 10-11pm, MTV)
The Hills (MTV)

SOMETHING NEW TO LOOK FORWARD TO:
Castle (Mondays, 10-11pm, ABC)
Better Off Ted (Tuesdays, 8-9pm, ABC)
Dollhouse (FOX)

SHOWS HAVING ME WONDER "WHERE ARE YOU?":
My Boys (TBS)

Got any other recommendations for me?

Kissing Satellite

*picture courtesy of the Gothamist / Gawker*

I thought this was so cool, it deserved a mention. Enjoying smooching a loved one tonight!

Foodie & the Restaurants

OH (aka TM), one of my closest friends, and an utter foodie, just like me, loves trying new restaurants and frequenting the faves. You will usually find us together on our monthly jaunts to faves, as well as new spots off our respective Restaurant lists. She is also a restaurant blogger for the Urbanista website -- a site for "urbanistas" to find everything they are looking for in NY.
Anyhoo, OH & I were just discussing how we haven't really found any restaurants recently that we have fallen ABSOLUTELY head-over-heels in love with. I feel, gone are those days...which is really sad for me. I miss having a fave frequented restaurant. Hopefully, I'll find another one soon. (Keep your fingers crossed)

But I decided to give you my list of my ALL-TIME fave (and go-to) restaurants, in all my fave cities around the world:

New York:
Cafeteria (Chelsea)
Coffee Shop (Union square)
Nobu (Tribeca)
Le Bilboquet (UES)
Baraonda (UES)
Stanton Social (LES)
Mermaid Inn (LES)
Shake Shack (23rd Street)
Chennai Garden (Little India)
Tiffin Wallah (Little India)
Ginger's (Garment District)
New Yoshi (Hell's Kitchen)
Empanada Joe's (Midtown West)
Zen Palate (now closed)
NY's Delicious Pizza (Murray Hill)
Dojo (NYU area)
Atomic Wings (any location)
Best Wingers (Murray Hill)
Dukes aka Earl's (both locations)
*Honorable mention: Fishtail by David Burke, At Vermilion, Pranna

London:
Ping Pong (any location, but St. Christopher's Place is most frequented by yours truly)
Wagamama (any location, but Waterloo is most frequented by me)
Hakkasan
Yauatcha (sister restaurant of Hakkasan, Soho area)
Sylvio (across the street from the entrance to Selfridges' Dept Store on Duke Street)
Carluccio's (St. Christopher's Place location)
M&S Food Hall aka Simply Food (Marble Arch)
Selfridges' Food Hall (Oxford Street)
Suka (Sanderson Hotel)
Maroush (Hubby's fave - I haven't been)
Cinnamon Club (Westminster)
Royal China (Baker Street)
Crazy Bear

Mumbai:
Royal China (Sterling Cinema location, same group as of that in London)
Frangipani (Oberoi Hotel, Nariman Point)
Tibbs (Shivaji Park at Breach Candy, possibly the best food item on the planet!)
Swati Snacks (Tardeo)
Golden Dragon (Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba)
Indigo (Colaba)
Trishna (Fort location)
Moshes (Cuffe Parade)
Ling's Pavillion (Regal Cinema, Colaba)
Shamiana (Taj Mahal Hotel)
Citrus (Leela Kempinski Hotel)
Pan Asia (Grand Maratha Sheraton)
*Honorable mention: Hokey Pokey ice cream parlours (all locations)
**(note) You'll also find not too many Indian restaurants listed here. This is because when I am in Mumbai, my favorite Indian food is at the homes of my family and friends. The best Indian food you can get anywhere :)
***(note) Colaba is one of the areas my mother grew up in Mumbai, and also one of the main areas of the November 26th, 2008 terrorist attacks. :(

Las Vegas:
Social House (Treasure Island Hotel)
Red 8 (The Wynn Hotel)
In 'n Out Burger (Off the Strip)
Okada (The Wynn Hotel)
Noodles (Bellagio Hotel)
N9NE (The Palms Hotel)
Yellowtail (Bellagio Hotel)
Trevi - formerly known as Bertolini's (Caesar's Palace Forum Shops)
Wing Lei (The Wynn Hotel)

Paris:
Les Etoiles (Rue Princesa, St. Germain-des-pres) *i'm sorry, this site is in French
Colette (Rue St. Honore)
Hotel Costes outdoor restaurant
Mood (Champs Elysee)
Pizzeria Napolitaine Chez Bartolo (Rue Canettes, St. Germain-des-pres)

So what do you all think? Have any favorites you'd like me to try or visit again? Let me know!

New Lunch Spot!

*picture courtesy of NYMag.com*

So, the people of Hale & Hearty have come up with a new self-serve concept restaurant, located in the new NY Times building on the 41st street and 8th Avenue corner (620 Eighth Avenue). It's called Schnipper's Quality Kitchen, and every dish on the menu is under UNDER $10!! And the dishes look to be exactly what a girl who constantly craves comfort would eat: some standouts are:
Green Chili Cheeseburger
Sloppy Joe
Sweet Potato Fries w/ maple dipping sauce
Chicken Fingers
Asian Chicken Salad
Fish Tacos
(and although I am not a HUGE cheese fan):
Grilled Four Cheese Sandwich
Mac & Joe (Mac 'n Cheese with Sloppy Joe)

They also have numerous "healthier" options. I am hoping for this to be one of our new lunch spots during the work week! Check out Midtown Lunch's post!

Sunday Cupcaking Sunday

So as I promised last week, I baked and baked and baked this weekend. The two pics to the right are the Chocolate Chip cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Buttercream frosting (recipe taken from the latest issue of Martha Stewart's Living magazine). Since our get-together was in honor of the wedding of a close family friend, I decided to pull out the gel cake writers and throw a congrats on the cupcakes. Pic #2 (to the right) also has 6 cupcakes in which I added some mint extract and green food coloring to the leftover cupcake batter and frosting -- to make MINT chocolate chip cupcakes (Hubby's fave flavor -- but only if it's green :D). They have been placed in my Cupcake Courier which is the BEST way to transport your cupcakes. I'll be honest--was not a fan of the Wilton cupcake carrier. My cupcakes went flying all over the place. In the Cupcake Courier, each cupcake depression is deep enough to keep the cupcakes in place (unless of course you tip the whole thing upside down...which I don't recommend).

The cupcakes below are the Sexy Low-Fat Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Skinny Confectioners' Icing from the book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This was for my RaakStaar who is Vegan, and is also traveling to the sunny shores of Puerto Rico this weekend for a wedding. I still wanted her to be able to indulge in some sweet cupcakey goodness. These were a HUGE hit. My sister (who only loves foods that are "meant" to be fatty TO BE FATTY, but then craves salads. This I don't get, but my mom wishes I could be more like her in that respect :D) -- anyhoo, my sister LOVED these cupcakes, and even took some home (where my mother finished them off, and even complemented my increased skills in the baking area -- Woohoo validation!!)

OMG...LMNOP...

The following is part of my conversation today with my colleague (yes, the very same "NO MORE SMALL BOXES" colleague. Let's call her Krazeekin, or Krazee for short...keep reading below to find out why).

Krazee: You know, I had a dream the other night.
Me: Oh yeh? *not even a faint sound of enthusiasm in my voice*
Krazee: Yes. I dreamt that Michelle Obama was wearing a white one-shouldered dress. And last night at the ball, she did!
Me: Holy Shit, Kreskin! You need to quit the business and go on a publicity tour! *VERY sarcastic tone in my voice*
Krazee: Who's Kreskin? How come I don't know who Kreskin is?
*our conversation goes back and forth about who Kreskin is...*
Krazee: You'll see...next time I have a dream, I'll write it down so you believe me.
Me: Okay, MLK.

Go Martha! Go Martha!

*courtesy of Martha Stewart Living*

So I'm not a great fan of Martha Stewart's, but sometimes, she comes up with some great ideas. Her home line at KMart is actually quite lovely. AND the February 2009 issue of her Living Magazine...*one sole tear of sheer happiness rolls down my cheek*...it's just....exquisite. Why, you ask? Because the cover story is all about...CUPCAKES!!!

So I know everyone (all 4 of you) voted equally for either a Strawberry ShortCupCake or the Baileys Irish Cream Cupcake, but i think I may have to try out Martha's Boston Cream Cupcake first. I mean, look at it. The custardy vanilla cream splicing the cake, and the ooey-gooey chocolate ganache oozing off the top. This CANNOT be made healthy, I'm sure. But it looks so damn amazing! *I actually want to hug the screen right now, it looks so good!!* There are plenty of other recipes in the issue that I want to try as well. And on top of ALL of this Cupcake-aganza (yes there's more), today's episode of The Martha Stewart Show is, again, ALL ABOUT CUPCAKES!!! The girls over at Cupcakes Take the Cake were there, of course! (You can spot them out in the audience in the preview of the episode on Martha's site).

I'll also be making Vegan cupcakes this weekend, as we're having a get-together with some friends, one of whom (my dear RaakStar) is vegan, and who tends to get left out of the yummy goodness sometimes.

I'll let you know how they all turn out!