walters canal cafe

ever since BJs stopped carrying my fresh mozzarella balls, i've been craving it. yesterday my coworker SLI asked me to go to lunch after the fact, and i immediately thought maybe they had gone to this cafe i've had my eye on... so today at lunch i went to this place. it's been catching my eye for quite some time now.. it is an establishment that is alongside the canal on my way to work, and recently seems to always have a parking lot full of cars. the inside is kind of nice. you can sit down, or take out like i did. i ordered a grilled portabello/fresh mozzarella panini. (i know, bring on the upset stomach) as i was ordering it the man (walter perhaps) told me he was making a new fresh focaccia and if i wanted to wait a little bit i could have the best sandwich i've ever had. i decided i had time. well. wait i did! it had to have been 30 minutes. maybe because i am such a patient waiter they forgot about me.. i had thought about taking my s'wich to the canal park across the street and eating it in the sun, but i didn't have a lot of extra lunch time, and there was a bus full of kids having a big picnic, so i thought better of it.. maybe next time when i go back with SLI we can venture to the park, hopefully it will be teenager free. he was pretty offended that i went without him. i tried to give him the "i had to make sure it wasn't poison" line, but i don't think he bought it.

we are the smartest team ever!

well... 3rd smartest! for the last 4 weeks we've been steadily increasing our scores. well this week we started off with 2 perfect scored rounds. we were giddy with excitement!! people were asking the trivia lady who we were.. :)

we ended up taking 3rd. so sweet!! i love to win!

here are the pics of the questions and our prize..

its HEKDs birthday!

happy bday hoper! i wish i could get the video to work from my camera and i'd post your wedding day dance with mikeyP in honor of today.. :( but alas, i can't get it working.

i'll be thinking of you at trivia tonight!

oh to work for a school or be retired.

as we all work today, mike and cath are lounging at the beach working on their tans. i need to get a job where i have summers off.

i went and talked to jennycraig today. interestingly if my celiac tests come back positive they cannot take my money.. how funny. i'll have to lie if they do come back positive. :) the program in case you are curious costs between $13-18 a day for food. averaging $15 a day, that would be $105 a week. shiiiiiit. if i were to commit to this, i wouldn't be able to afford to f around. :)

i'm meeting LD at the mall tonight to buy a shower gift for BD. her bachelorette party/shower is this weekend. should be a grand time! although, i don't think i've ever had as good a time at a bachelorette party as i did at EH's... something about stumbling from one dive bar to the next, sloshing our drinks from bar to bus to bar and back and witnessing the drama all night is a recipe for a fantastic time! maybe if i wear my hello kitty underpants i can bring the party good luck! :)

bruised...

at the doctors office today the woman that was taking 5 vials of my blood asked me which arm was better, and truth be told, i find that i have the easiest time when they take blood out of the top of my hand. well, this nurse was not comfortable doing that, and she ended up giving up after she unsuccessfully poked her needle all over the inside of my left hand. i was looking down and saw the needle fanning around at different depths inside the back of my hand. not really a pleasant sight. that nurse decided to call in a more experienced nurse, and she checked my fat arms and still couldn't find one, so she took it out of the vein in the right hand luckily that one took.. its bruised and swollen already. :(

i went in today to get some advice about weight loss programs. these weddings are killing me with the horrible pictures that keep getting taken of me. my dr thinks that i should take some welbutrin and then she will see how i feel in a month and maybe prescribe something similar to the new drug Alli. it was funny that when i was crying in her office she was visibly uncomfortable. i figured being a doctor she would not be so uncomfortable.. i was wrong. i kind of think that is why i was prescribed the welbutrin... and i guess i didn't realize that i might really need it.. it's been a year since i went off paxil.. we'll see how it goes, i've known people who've been on it and it seemed to work well for them.

in front of the medical complex is a painted up horse, and guess what it's painted like? starry night. damn that van gogh is a popular decoration for those community artworks...

saturday stream of thought

today has proven to be an expensive day for not having any plans..

cath woke me up early to go to the market and we got some locally grown strawberries, some red leaf lettuce, fresh tomatoes, scallions, and some of the first garlic. i'm going to make a tofu/baby corn/thai noodle mixture of sorts tonight. yummmm.. and i might make some black beans with this cilantro base i picked up at the p&c the other day..

after the market i took my bridesmaid dress for BDs wedding to the tailor. they are so nice there, but they make you pay for it!! $100.. yeah!! i love to buy a dress, and then buy it all over again just to get it to fit!

while cath planted and rearranged her garden for the 20th time this summer, i went on a little shopping spree to macys. i got a coupl eof cute tops and some capri pants. i've never worn capri pants, so now that they are probably going out of style, i figured i should get some. :)

i also got a cute pair of brown shoes to wear with my brown/light colored skirts.

i've been trying to talk my roommates into going to see "a mighty heart" tonight, but i don't think they are biting.

i think i might go clean my room and do some laundry.

oh, also.. CNY peeps.. i'm going to be having a dinner party to be followed by game night the week my parents are going to be away [i wasn't invited]. i'll whip up a little invite. i think it's going to be thursday july 12th write it into your calendars.

i was just thinking about how i didn't write too many things about HEKs wedding. so here are a few of the memorable moments...
- i liked that HEK invited all the "father/daughter" combinations at the wedding share her dance. if i ever get married, i want to do this too.
- having HEK announce to me, EH and her wedding party [then later to my whole table at the wedding] that when her and DD were trying to figure out how much alcohol to buy from the barn she counted me twice, cause i drink enough for two!
- when EH and i were thinking about getting some of the chocolate fountain we both thought we were kind of full. then i got the once over and EH remarked that *we* didn't need the extra calories.
- having the "dance like LK" moment was fun, as was having the DJ to ourselves.
- asking for "country road" and getting "i'm a country boy".
- ordering EH a watermelon beer at Beerworks only to have her come back from the bathroom and look at it with such disgust that the bartender ran over and took it back and got the princess something different..
- walking all over salem at 130 am to get some funyuns from the gas station, and having to wait in a line with some hoodlums where the attendant transacted through a sliding drawer.
- abandoning the gas station and walking all over the hotel looking for the vending machine. 130am is a really great time to get in your exercise for the day, especially when you've just drank 2 peoples share of alcohol.

what would you pick?

if you wanted to see a movie tonight, which one would you go to of these choices...

knocked up
oceans 13
a mighty heart
evan almighty

i've already seen knocked up. but if someone wants to go with me and see that movie i would go again.

comment me with your vote and if you want to go with me. :)

i love the dentist CNY style..

this morning i finally got around to finding a dentist and going in for a cleaning and have my broken crown looked it..

those of you that are new to this blog probably don't realize how much i love the dentist. i kinda feel like i grew up in the dentist chair, maybe that is why i love it so much.. i've had more cavities than anyone you know i bet. i have two crowns, i've had a root canal, i've had braces, someday i might even whiten my teeth.

anyway.. i love when the hygienist rips into my gums so much that i feel like i've been punched in the mouth for 2 days. this hygienist was too kind. i felt like telling her that she didn't have to be so gentle. i had xrays taken, and i love those lead jackets they put on you. i wonder if i could get one to wear around the house.

the best part of the visit though was the 9 minutes i saw the dr. i swear he didn't look at my xrays at all. but because he didn't look, i don't have any cavities. :) and the really best part was that he took out his high pitched zip needle and "polished" the rough edge of my broken crown and told me i was good to go!! woo who!! no charge, no need to replace the crown, and its smooth now! win win win!

cath hates my dentist though. apparently they are aggressive with their confirmation process...

a new concoction...

i went to the grocery store tonight and bought some stuff to make the best trail mix ever. in case you want to follow suit, this is what you will need.

1 round tub of gummi bears
1 circular small tub of banana chips
1 circular small tub of dried cranberries
1 pkg of fiery spicy shelled peanuts

i realize this prob doesn't sound so good. i'm really not sure that it is even, but it can't be all bad. :)

i was looking at a calendar today and realized that the 4th of july is right around the corner! omg... the summer has slipped by. and i have no 4th of july plans :(

the other day on of the tv shows that my station plays had a segment about summer wines. i really didn't know that there was such a thing as dry roses. so i went to the local wine store and bought a bottle from the annoying lady. she was very helpful this time around, but she did proof me again! ugh. anyway..

so if you are in the mood for a great dry rose... try this one..



ohhh....my cousin posted her pics of SB and JHs wedding.

here is a cute pic from this album.

hek's wedding was this weekend. i had a great time. my date was so much fun despite her judgement of my caloric intake and lack of exercise at 1230am.

i'm exhausted... i took a nap when i got home today and felt like i could sleep through till tomorrow.

check out the photos...

work picnic...

today was the work picnic. it was much better this year. there was pulled pork, salt potatoes, all kinds of good stuff. as promised i took some pics..


ML and JB. Bridge Street crew.


NB and MK. my office mates.


the buffet line


the band.

trivia was hard again

we did better at trivia this week then we did last week by 5 points. however, we did not place in the top 10 even. :( oh well. we had loads of laughs doing it!

we had the delicious sushi before at sakana-ya and mike and cath had a really exotic looking one.

in the above picture we got #6 and #9 wrong. anybody know them?

tomorrow at work there is a work picnic. i am kind of excited. when i went to this party last year i didn't know anyone. this year i know a handful of people. :) LOL. i joined the "party planning committee". i can be angela from "the office". :)

maybe i'll take pictures tomorrow at the picnic.

LK Ass Crack

it was the marshfield fair, not the irish festival...

found the beer

i found the pomegranate beer at the grocery store. its good! last night i made the enchiladas again, and they were yummy again! Mike better not have eaten the leftovers today or he's gonna get it!!

cath planted my firey looking xmas trees.. so cute!

this week there are quite the trivia volunteers. there are at least 5 of us from my camp, and my trivia friend is bringing 2 or 3 people.. woot! we might have a chance this time!

i'm getting all my ducks in a row for this weekend. i've scheduled myself and EH for basically every minute of the day! wooot!

in case you haven't seen LK's blog, today is ARs birthday... she's 29 again! :) happy birthday angela!

so my predictions were way off..

i got doses and doses of culture yesterday! instead of my typical greek festival attendance, i went to all 3 festivals instead.

but first cath and i went early to the farmers market and bought some fresh food and a few plants. we got some scapes which we learned are the tops of garlic bulbs. we have yet to decide how to use them. i also bought some really cute "burning xmas tree" plants. when cath plants them i will take a picture.

after the farmers market mike and i went to the polish festival downtown. it was alright. not that many people were there at 1pm.. but the one that were had on lots of red and white. because it was so cold earlier at the farmers market, i over dressed in jeans adn a long sleeved turtleneck sweater. holy moly that was the wrong thing to wear, i was sweltering!

next up we swung home and picked up cath for the greek festival. so delicious their food was. we must have gone at a better time this year cause we were able to park right up next to the tents and it didn't seem as crowded. we bought $20 worth of pasteries. yummmm..

after that we headed to the balloonfest which i have never been to. it was actually a pretty good time. there were live bands, carnival food, rides, the whole 9. we waited and waited and waited for the balloons to launch, but it looked like it might be too windy for them, so cath made us leave. sure enough on our way out we turned around and saw a balloon rising through the trees from where we just were. luckily we had only made it to the upper field and were able to watch a bunch of the novelty shaped balloons take off from up above.

it was so exciting!! of course i took a lot of pics. they can be accessed here.

i also saw knocked up this weekend. omg. i really considered going to see it again sat night. it was so laugh out loud funny that there were a bunch of scenes that i missed half of because i was laughing so hard at the last one. this is the kind of movie that you buy and learn all the quotes from...

this is sarah..at emilys

the landlord - outtakes..

the weekend is upon us

this weekend is festival mania here in the 'cuse!! there is a balloon festival, a greek festival, and a polish festival. i've never been to the balloon or polish festivals, and that probably wont' change again this year. the only festival that i go out of my way to attend each year is the greek festival. sooooo delicious food!

if possible this weekend i'd like to attend the farmers market. reading about how the "gluten-free girl" goes to the market all the time is inspiring me to go.

then there is drawing saturday morning. i should go to that too.

i had lunch with SF at the dark horse tavern today, very delicious black and blue salad. i love steak on my salads!

i think i am going to see a movie tonight with my roommates. either "knocked up" or "ocean's 13".

anyone besides me heard of "flight of the conchords"? its a new 30 min show on HBO. its about a couple of folk parody singers from new zealand trying to make it in NYC. pretty funny stuff. the accent alone makes me fall in love with them.

poor fatty

well yesterday was D day for fatty. she had her yearly hair appointment. they did a much better job this year than they did last year. they seemed though to have nicked her tail though. but they did make her tail look like a lion too. :)

last night trivia was a huge success. we got 180 out of a possible 260. the winner had 250 and there was a 3rd place tie at 225. we didn't even come close. but we had a damn good time doing it! i also had some of saranacs pomegranate wheat beer. soooo good. if you see it at your local beverage center i highly recommend picking it up...

here are pretty much all the questions. if you want to know the answers, email me.

within 2 years how old does nicole kidman turn this year?

what was the first successful walt disney cartoon movie?

a tv picture is made up of what 3 colors, know as TV Primary Colors...

name the song from the following lyric, "lips as sweet as candy, their taste stays on my mind"

within 3, what number US President was martin van buren?

what is the master gland of the endocrine system?

who was the first woman to host the oscars?

what is the last name of the founder of wal-mart?

how many verses are there in the star spangled banner?

within 2, how many of the 48 contiguous states have an ocean coastline?

who was the first player to break babe ruths home run record?

greenwich mean time differs by how many hours from EST?

in the TV world what do emily deschanel and deforest kelley have in common?

within 2, the 2007/2008 season of the simpsons will be what season number?

what type of creature begins with gills and then develops lungs? (name the term)

what country uses the letter D on its car license plates?

what is the first word of the preamble of the constitution?

give the 1 800 number to alexander and catelano.

spinach and black bean enchiladas

while cath was off at the casino gambling away her money, i made the most delicious and easy black bean and spinach enchiladas. MB even liked them and he doesn't like mexican.



i also found the most delicious green salsa i've ever had from a jar. ortega's salsa verde. i am buying all my arms can carry next time i go... i used the whole jar in the recipe. soooooooo gooooood.

its 930, i think its time for bed.

oh, and great news. i found at least 2 people to play trivia with tomorrow. wooooot! tomorrow is destined to be a good day.

a breakfast tale.

this morning i went about preparing my lunch/breakfast every morning like i usually do. i poured out 1/2 a cup of milk into a ziplock plastic container, poured 1/3 of a bag of peanut butter puffins into my ziplock bag and went on my merry way. well. i got to work and was disassembling my lunch box so i could put the perishable items in the company fridge and i looked down and though my milk container looked a little dirty. i passed it off as condensation. upon further investigation i realized it was that the container had collected all the dishwasher leftovers and they had dried inside the container on the edges and were removed by the skim milk. so i had a nice little bowl of dishwasher soup! so gross, where is the quality control on dishwashed items? i promptly went to the vending machine to buy some more milk, but all they had was chocolate milk. dishwasher 1, rebecca 0.

the weekend was a blast. MK and i had a nice dinner/beers at "malt river" in Latham and watched a few minutes of the game while we caught up. we phoned AL who happened to be partying with MV and MG. i wish i could somehow get a VM from my phone to my computer, cause MG left me a bizarre as ever VM.



next up was lunch with the kell(e)ys in the old neighborhood. nothing has changed. it was nice to hear about JKs trip to Europe. many interesting stories.

the night out with the ladies was a lot of fun. dinner was delicious as always... i think all of us were very full afterwards.









lk should have the pics up at some point. hopefully the edited version. ;)

i am looking really forward to HEKs wedding. it's going to be an interesting time to say the least, and i'm glad i can be a part of it.

funny tidbit...
this morning i had brunch with those of us that were sober enough to attend. we met at the pour house and as always there was little to no parking. i spied a small meter spot on newbury st and am always up for a challenge. not to mention i was already 15-20 minutes late meeting JN. so in RB fashion, i started squeezing into the spot. let me also mention that the spot was so tight that if i could have picked up my car and placed it in the spot i would have had literally 2 inches in front, and 2 inches behind between the 2 cars. but if you've ever been to boston you know that you sometimes need to bump the car or cars around you to fit in.. so i start bumping the one behind me, and the one ahead of me, and i start to grow a small audience on the curb.. well, about 4 more bumps to the front later the driver side door opens up and the driver leans out and glares at me. i immediately think, oh shit... i was already so late, and not about to give up the spot, so i acted like i knew what i was doing and leaned out of my door and rolled down my window and asked the guy to move his car forward an inch. :) he shook his head and started up the car and pulled it forward a foot or so. :) so i finished parking (still about 2 feet from the curb) gathered up my purse, grabbed some quarters for the meter and thanked the guy (who was still hanging out the car door) and went on my way. :) it was priceless. i think he was too in shock that i would hit his car repeatedly then ask him to move to be an a-hole about it. damn i'm a lucky girl.

thank god for air conditioning..

last night i went to bed early again (9pm) and laid in bed for about an hour and a half sweating profusely. it was time to get out the air conditioner. luckily cath the ever so helpful lent me a hand (and some choice advice) and we got it in my window. i love to sleep with my down comforter all year long. :)

today is equally as sweltering. i hate hot weather. give me a *dusting* anyday!

i'm really looking forward to meeting missy the great for drinks tonight. it'll also be sweet to watch the yankees lose again!

tomorrow is shaping up to be a monumental night. nooner wrote me to say that she "called" the kissing bandit, and she will be joining us too. good thing i charged up my camera battery! woooooooo who!!