American Thanksgiving in NYC!

At the end of November, my mom, Deborah, and I are heading down to NYC for a long weekend of shopping, sight-seeing, and of course, eating!

Naturally, my mom put me in charge of putting together a list of restaurants to eat at while we're there. Thanks to friends on Facebook, Twitter & good old fashioned research, I compiled a pretty tantalizing list. That being said, I am still welcoming suggestions from you guys! Please comment if you think I'm missing any "must-eats."

Restaurants:

1) Cafeteria (119 7th Ave, 7th & W 17th)
2) Momofoku (Noodle Bar or Ssam Bar)
3) Babbo (110 Waverly Place, NW corner of Washington Square)
4) Shake Shack (Madison Square Park)
5) The Spotted Pig (314 W 11th St at Greenwich St.)
6) DuMont (432 Union Ave, Brooklyn)
7) Fatty Crab (West Village, 643 Hudson St, between Horatio & Gansevoort)
8) Boqueria (171 Spring St, Soho)
9) Balthazar (80 Spring St, Soho)
10) Pearl Oyster Bar (18 Cornelia St)
11) Prune (54 E 1st St, between 1st & 2nd)
12) Barney Greengrass (541 Amsterdam St at 86th)
13) Katz's Deli (205 East Houston) **Definitely eating here - a scene from my fave movie was filmed here! Hint: "I'll have what she's having!"**
14) Maialino (2 Lexington Ave)
15) Di Fara Pizza (1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn)
16) Buddakan (75 9th Ave, 9th & W 16th)
17) Corner Bistro (331 W 4th St, Jane & W 4th)

Sadly, I had to narrow this list down from a much longer one, and we won't be able to eat at all of these.. But these restaurants look absolutely delish!

Like I said, still open to suggestions! Happy eating! :)

Baked Grown-up Mac and Cheese!

Since I've joined the gym this past week, I've been making (very) minor adjustments to my life to sort of gear toward a healthier, not to mention less expensive, lifestyle. For starters, I've totally cut eating out at restaurants (okay okay, I ate at Poutini's this week... but we were in a pinch for food before the Warren Haynes Band concert!!), so I've been cooking a lot more.

Yesterday, I sat brainstorming for a while ideas of what to make for dinner for me and my boyfriend. I was in the mood for something super flavourful and fairly epic. I perused the internet for ideas for quite a while and decided on baked mac and cheese. I compiled a bunch of different recipes and came up with my own!

INGREDIENTS:
Serves 6 


-1 lb Large Shell pasta (or any pasta that you like, really. Most websites recommend elbow mac)
-1/2 cup, or one stick, of butter
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-4 1/2 cups milk
-2 cups grated sharp white cheddar (1/2 cup for the top)
-2 cups grated sharp orange cheddar (1/2 cup for the top)
-2 cups grated gruyere (1/2 cup for the top)
-generous amount of salt, black pepper, paprika
-chili flakes (optional, but adds a nice kick)

----------------------------

First, I boiled the large shell pasta in salted water until it was about two minutes outside of being cooked (it would cook in the oven anyway, and nobody likes mushy pasta - especially not me!). Then, I strained it and put it in a large bowl to sit.

Then, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees while I prepared the sauce.

First, I melted the stick of butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Then, I whisked in flour, and slowly added the milk, whisking continuously until it reached a boil. Then I reduced the heat, cooked for about 5 more minutes, whisking constantly. After 5 minutes had passed, I added in the cheese, salt, pepper, and paprika. I kept whisking the sauce until it was completely smooth (no chunks), and removed it from heat. I then added the sauce to the pasta in the large bowl and mixed it well.

I coated a large baking dish in low cal Canola Oil spray (cuz I need to be watching calories at this point, right? Ha!), poured in the pasta and sauce, and topped it off with the remaining grated cheese.

I baked it for 40 minutes, when the cheese was bubbling around the edges and the top was a beautiful golden brown colour.

----------------------------
Holy COW! It was so so sooooo delicious! I had a large helping, as did Chris. It went really great with dollops of Sriracha Chili Paste.

Stay tuned for my next cooking adventure :)

Happy eating!

Homemade Delicious Guacamole!

Chris (@tman41) and I decided to head up to the cottage for a night so that he could take inventory of his camping stuff before heading to Bonnaroo this weekend. We’re always looking for something fun to do together, and we had so much fun cooking together before, so we decided to come up with a superb guacamole recipe and get to work with the ingredients.

We stopped at Zehrs in Keswick and picked out our ingredients:

• 6 ripe avocados, peeled & pitted
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed
• 1 small tomato, diced
• 6 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1 cubanelle pepper, diced
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp salt

In a large mixing bowl, mash the avocados, leaving some chunks. It’s best to do this by hand, rather than by blender, because you don’t want the avocado to be like a purée. The chunks add a different texture, as well as keeps the delicious flavour of a ripe avocado! We used a potato masher and a spoon.

Once you’ve mashed your avocados, you’re ready to dice, chop and crush the rest of your ingredients!

 Last but not least, add all of your ingredients into the bowl and mix to blend it all together.

As you stir it, your taste buds will be tickled by the incredible smell alone. Get out your favourite nacho chip (we used President’s Choice Sea Salt Kettle Style Tortilla Chips, which were really yummy!) and enjoy!

 Because we made our guacamole right before dinner, we decided to incorporate it into our dinner and make homemade burritos.

Chris marinated the chicken in a smoky chipotle salsa and fried the slices in a pan. He used the leftover cilantro and lime from our guacamole recipe to create a cilantro & lime rice. We grated what was left of our Monterey Jack cheese, and voila! We had delicious burrito ingredients. Add lettuce, sour cream and any other of your favourite toppings, and enjoy!

But we weren’t done yet!

Our guacamole was so delicious, and there was so much left, that the next morning, as we were making cheesy chorizo scrambled eggs, we decided to make breakfast burritos!

Using basically the same ingredients as the burritos from the night before (I added bacon bits and Franks Red Hot Sauce), we made scrumptious, savoury breakfast burritos.

All in all, the guacamole was a tasty, fun and easy dish to make!

(Prep time: approx 15-20 mins)

Technology That Empowers Me

Recently, I’ve been having a bit of a writer’s block when it comes to blogging, journal-writing, as well as writing for school. Thus, I looked up “what to write about in a blog” on Google, came across Chris Brogan’s 100 Blog Topics, and a light bulb went off. 

The title that jumped out at me the most was “Technology That Empowers Me.” To me, I believe that all technology can be empowering, if used correctly. Along with the internet comes a wealth of information being shared between users across the globe. This information comes in a variety of mediums, such as blogs, websites, photos, games, applications, e-mails, texts, BBMs, social networking tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and many more. All of these valves of information can be attained by using almost any tool, such as a laptop, desktop, iPad, iTouch, cellphone, smartphone, among others.

What amazes me, and I suppose empowers me as well, is how quickly information can be shared with anyone and anything in any small corner of the globe. This blog post, for example, can be read by someone sitting behind their computer in Jakarta, someone flipping through their Blackberry in Helsinki, or someone walking down the street with their iPhone in La Paz.

I can come up with a funny thought, punch it out on UberTwitter/HootSuite/Tweetdeck/Twitter for Blackberry/Twitter for iPhone/Panoramic moTweets/CoTweet, and have it retweeted by 17 people in a matter of minutes, reaching a whole slew of people I never could have reached otherwise. 

The fact of the matter is, there is not merely one technology that empowers me, but technology as a collective whole that empowers me, as well as everyone else in the world. I’ve got the world at my finger tips, and at the rate we’re going, I have the distinct feeling we’re going to be a whole lot more empowered in years to come.

What technology empowers you? Why?

21 Years & Counting.

With my 21st birthday fast approaching, I've commenced the organizing, inviting and planning for my (fabulous) party I'll be throwing on September 2nd (my b-day). While writing out my Facebook invite, I decided to compile a list of 21 Things That You Don't Know About Me, and I thought I would share it with all of you as well!

21 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ME:

1) My favourite colour is green.
2) I still have all my 500+ Barbies.
3) My thumbs, pinkies, and elbows are double-jointed.
4) I've attended six different schools (so far).
5) I had a goldfish named Spotty who lived for seven years.
6) I used to prefer KD for breakfast, as opposed to.... anything.
7) I placed first in the province for High Jump in grade 6.
8) I went on a student exchange to Japan when I was 14, where I learned how to perform a traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
9) I'm horrified by human statues (see: La Rambla in Barcelona).
10) I'm pretty damn good on the Flying Trapeze and the Spanish Web.
11) I went to Britney Spears' first ever concert in Canada, and stood on my chair in the 3rd row.
12) I work at West Elm... Come buy a sofa (and perhaps a bed) and I'll be your BFF.
13) I bumped into David Suzuki in a forest while portaging on a canoe trip. No joke.
14) My favourite trip was to Istanbul, Turkey.
15) My favourite movie is When Harry Met Sally.
16) My favourite place to relax is Mont Tremblant.
17) I used to listen to opera and classical music to fall asleep.
18) I designed and invented the "Sadie" La Senza Girl sweat pants when I was 12, based on the "Jewcamp" sweat pants I always wore.
19) I was a member of the Bishop's College School Number Two Cadet Core and a member of the Colour Party.
20) I'm a published author in the Montreal Jewish Public Library's 2007 edition of First Fruits.
21) I went dog-sledding and slept in the snow for a week, so now I have my Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Well the sun is surely sinking down, but the moon is slowly rising.

I'm lying in bed, listening to the soothing sounds of James Taylor, and reflecting on this past year of my life. The good, the bad, the ugly. New friends, old friends, experiences, opportunities, love lost and love found.


I've gone through a lot in the past little while. While I may have had some hardships at times, everything I've experienced has been a learning adventure. I've developed some amazing friendships with people I have had the absolute fortune of meeting. Some friendships may have fallen by the wayside, but it's never too late to pick up where we left off. As they say, better late than never. 


I guess the point of this post is to just assure myself, and maybe some of you, my dear readers, that although times may be difficult, don't take anything for granted, whether it's good or bad. Anything and everything you go through helps you grow as a person, and I have firsthand experience of this. 


As long as you have a core group of people who love and support you, who can understand you and you can relate to, you are golden. I'm lucky enough to have the best friends and loved ones who care so much about me, and only want the best for me. I want all of you to know, if you're reading this and if I haven't told you already, you mean the world to me and I couldn't ask for more!


I suppose I'm in a bit of a corny mood, and listening to James Taylor may fuel this mood a little, but I just felt like writing a note to the world to get some lovey dovey feelings off my chest.


Every day is a beautiful day. Carpe diem, my friends!


In the words of James Taylor,


When your down and troubled, 
And you need a helping hand 
And nothing, whoa nothing is going right. 
Close your eyes and think of me ,
And soon I will be there 
To brighten up even your darkest nights. 
You just call out my name, 
And you know where ever I am,
I'll come running, oh yeah baby, 
To see you again. 
Winter, spring , summer, or fall, 
All you have to do is call 
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah. 
You've got a friend. 

xoxoxox,
Sadie

So Much Going On!

Hello friends!

So much has happened in the past little while that I've got so backed up on my writing.

FIRST: WORLD CUP 2010!!!! I don't know about you, but I'm a football fanatic, particularly when it comes to World Cup/Euro Cup/Premier League Championships. As always, since I was a little girl, I'm rooting for none other than BRAZIL! They are playing incredibly this World Cup. I am also very impressed by the effort put forth by the underdogs this year. The favourites are making some shocking moves, and lack of goals (achem - Spain vs Switzerland, Portugal vs Ivory Coast, Serbia vs Germany, to name a few). I think that's one thing I love about tournaments like this on the world stage. Anything can happen! It is very unpredictable, keeps us guessing, keeps us on our toes. It's great excitement!

If you're looking for a great place to watch the games with a few friends, some drinks, good food, and a great atmosphere, check out The Football Factory. I watched the Brazil vs North Korea game here and the energy was phenomenal! One of the co-owners, Chrissie Whittick, even gave me a Brazil tshirt and a World Cup bottle opener key chain.

Happy World Cup everyone!

SECOND: This past weekend, I volunteered at The Field's MMVA Pre-Bash at Tryst nightclub. I was working the VIP green carpet alongside my good friends, Bridget and Julia. Whenever a celeb walked into the party, I would scribble their name down on a white board, and hold it up for the media to see while the artists posed in front of the media wall/step & repeat.

Sponsors such as Yellow Tail, Pizza Hut, Boris, Eska, PS3, World Vision, FitFlop, and more sprinkled the club with samples and reps for everyone to try. Free wine, free beer, free pizza and free burgers from our friends at South St Burger Company (yum!!) - how can you go wrong!!!!??

This was probably one of the most fun volunteer opportunities I've taken part in! I got to meet and mingle with Canadian celebs such as Stereos, Karl Wolf, These Kids Wear Crowns, Ten Second Epic, Crush Luther, The Danger Bees, The Blue Print Crew, Elise Estrada, Giovanni & Solitair, Ray Robinson, and many many more. I was a little bummed that Dave Navarro, Adam Lambert, and Ke$ha (who all RSVPed 'attending') didn't show up, but I was still thrilled nonetheless!

I wore a cute little summer dress from Urban Outfitters, my killer nude Browns heels, and a gigantic smile the entire time! Can't wait for next year's pre-party. Trust me, I will do what I can to volunteer again!

THIRD: This past Monday, June 21, I attended my first Tweet Up at Caplansky's Deli, along with 20 other Twitteraholics relatively in the food realm. It was great to put faces to names with people I've been Twittering with for months now.

I met Bridget to the Adelaide Street Pub beforehand to gain a little liquid courage over some beers before heading over to the #DeliTweetup. When we arrived at Caplansky's, the patio was packed with live Tweeters, sampling pickled platters of pickles and tomatoes. Bridget and I pulled up a table and joined in on the sampling.

Zane, the owner of Caplansky's, then brought out little plates of chopped liver, schmaltz, rye bread and tomato for us to try. He gave us a spiel about how it was his mother's delicious chopped liver recipe, so I dug in. It was very tasty. Chopped liver has a very distinctive taste, and sometimes, if made the wrong way, can turn out too sweet. Here, it was done just right. Delicious with tomato.

Then came out the potato knishes. I am a huge fan of all things knish, as my grandmother is a pro-star at baking them for me (cheese and potato). The ones at Caplansky's were okay at best, but I hated the "signature" smoked meat gravy that was doused all over the plate. Knishes are best served by themselves, or with sour cream. The salty, watery gravy made for an awful topping.

We were then told to split up into groups of four and order things to share. Bridget and I ordered the Matzah ball soup (a favourite of mine), and the famous smoked meat poutine. After one taste of the matzvah ball soup, I was ANYTHING but impressed. The spices were all wrong. The soup had a very strong taste of dog food, which I found absolutely appalling. The matzah ball may have been tasty, had it not soaked up the horrific broth it sat in sadly. Then came the poutine. Where were the cheese curds? We counted three. The smoked meat was the same smoked meat gravy that was served with the knishes, which I was utterly disappointed with. The portion was WAY too big, even for two people to share.

All in all, I had a an absolutely great time meeting new people, but I will NEVER EVER return to Caplansky's Deli. The food is 100% awful, which my mother warned me of before my visit, and I now agree with her.

I'll take my regular order at Yitz's ANYDAY!

Sorry for the all-at-once blog post, but I figured it was easier than separating it into three!

Cheers,

StheF

A New Chapter

There have been some big changes in my life recently. Usually I am absolutely terrible with dealing with change, but this time, I am embracing it with open arms. This time around, it is the kind of change that will bring happiness, comfort, a little bit of sadness, but ultimately, it signifies a new chapter of my life.

My diet that I spoke of in an earlier post has been somewhat unsuccessful so far, but that is because of two family weekends in a row. Two weekends ago, I was in London Ontario for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. These sort of weekends are always a blast! The drinks were flowing, the conversation was at high volume, there was a Mariachi band, and to top it all off, we ended the night at the Barney's Patio in downtown London!

This past weekend, I was in Boston, or more specifically Andover, for my other cousin's high school graduation at Phillips Academy Andover. It was a beautiful weekend, filled with close family, good food, a gorgeous ceremony, amazing seafood (copious amounts of oysters!!), and a night out in Boston with an old friend at Ned Divine's. The only downside was a ton of rain and humidity - which didn't help in the hair frizz control department.

Now that all of the chaos is done, I am putting my life in order. Back onto the 10 Steps to Success! And I'm making more time for friends. With the new changes comes more time to myself, and I'm going to spend it wisely with people I've sorrily neglected.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

StheF

Sex and the City 2 Premiere Party

Last night, Bridget and I attended the What Women Want Sex and the City cocktail party at the 99 Sudbury event space. Earlier in April, I had entered a contest on this blog to win two free tickets to this party, and I won! So naturally, I called up Bridget and asked her to come along with me.

The anticipation for this party was immense. The build-up of it all was great. I find, before any party, I get so excited with the preparation for it: the manicures/pedicures, cocktail dress selection, new shoes, accessories, drinks prior to the party, and just how fashionably late should I be?

I ended up wearing a strapless Betsey Johnson (pale yellow with tiny white dots, corseted, then flowy) dress, Browns nude-coloured platform stiletto-heeled pumps, and a nude clutch with gold buckles by Jennifer Scott. (Sorry for the poor quality photo, it was taken on my Blackberry, and I promise that the dress looks better on than off!)

I started my night out by going to meet Bridget at her place, and then out to get some drinks and a little something to eat. We ended up at Fuzion on Church Street, one block north of Wellesley. They have the cutest patio and totally friendly staff. We each had a 'Big Red', which is a fabulous drink, comprised of Absolut Mandarin, Alize Passion Fruit Liqueur,  cranberry juice and Red Bull. It was so delicious, I had to have more than one!

We also ordered a few tapas dishes. We had the Fuzion Frites with avocado-scallion aioli, and Rice Balls. The frites with the dip were yummy... The rice balls? Not so much. Essentially, they were just deep fried balls of rice with what seemed like melted mozzarella cheese, and a tomato paste dip. I do not recommend this tapas choice! (Editor's Note: I'm aware that these are most certainly not part of my new diet, but I mean, it's only been one day! I'm bound to slip up and forget at the beginning! Back to dieting....)

We then decided we were fashionably late enough to head over to the party at 99 Sudbury (Liberty Village, one block south of The Drake hotel).

Upon arrival, we were greeted by scantily-clad women, and were given one drink ticket for a Carrie-themed Cosmo. After a quick pit-stop in the bathroom to adjust make up, and rest sore new-shoe feet, we headed into the main room.

We soon came to the realization that you had to collect your goodie bag as you enter the party. This, we both found to be very unfortunate. Nobody wants to mill around a party carrying a massive, heavy bag from The Bay, filled with perfume, juice drinks, and cosmetics. This was definite poor planning on the party committee's part. I would suggest in the future, they dole out the gift bags as people are leaving.

As we entered the main room, it became apparent that this "party" was more of a trade show, than anything else. I was aware, from the mass amount of messages I received via Facebook regarding this party, that there would be many SATC-themed vendors, but I didn't realize that it would be one giant room, filled wall-to-wall with vendors! There were bikinis, dresses, manicures, purses, jewelry, false eyelashes, the works! But where was the dance floor? Where was the great music and fun, party people?

All around the room,  there was an eclectic mix of women, that's for sure.... and approximately seven men - two of whom were straight. There were some very fashionable women, wearing gorgeous cocktail dresses and amazing shoes, and then there were the tragically dressed women who just have no clue how to dress for a cocktail party - SATC-themed, no less. I know this sounds mean, but there are blogs you can read, and websites you can scan - magazines, even! - that can tell you exactly how to dress for a party of the like. Even an LBD will do! For those of you who do not know, an LBD is a little black dress. They are perfect for any event, if all else fails.

After about 30 minutes, and one free cocktail later, Bridget and I had had enough people-watching, and decided to head for a little Queen West action. Because of the whole new-shoe-factor, we hopped in a cab and arrived at The Drake a mere two minutes and $4 later. After a quick flash of the ID's, we traipsed up the stairs to the stunning Drake Sky Yard, a personal favourite of mine among nighttime patios in Toronto. We grabbed our vodka-sodas-with-a-wedge-of-lime, snagged two seats by the bar, and resumed our people-watching, albeit a little more interesting than the all-girls party we were just at down the street.

Four vodka sodas and two doubles later, we headed back down to the street and hailed a cab. Our funny little Thursday night adventure had come to an end, but not regrettably.

All in all, it was a fun night (as soon as we arrived at the Sky Yard). No goodie bags to brag about, no new toys from any of the vendors, and certainly no real gossip after such a quiet night. Tonight, I have a fun-filled evening of work from 4.30pm-10.30pm, and a Bar Mitzvah in London Ont all weekend!

Tata for now, lovelies!

StheF

"On the whole, human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time."

The title of this post is one of my favourite quotes. It was said by famed and acclaimed author, George Orwell. It's one that I find relatable, and definitely applicable to our society, and societies around the globe, in this day in age.

This afternoon, I went for a run under the piping hot sun. The Weather Network (I live by it) informed me that it was a sunny day, 31 degrees - feels like 38. These kinds of days are my favourite to run. You really get to push yourself in the heat, sweat it all out, stop in the park to stretch out and bask under the rays for 15 minutes, then carry on your way.

My favourite part about running is no matter how many people are around, no matter how many cars drive past, no matter how many construction men whistle, I am in my own world. Running is an escape for me. It is one of the reasons I look forward to summer the most. It is the best way to organize my thoughts, reflect on what's going on in my life, and just clear my head.

Lately, a lot has been going on for me in my life, personally speaking. It's just so great to let loose and run for miles, without a care in the world at long last. Do you ever feel like you just want to rip your brain out because it won't shut off, or even shut up for one minute? The greatest thing to do on days like that is to hit the ground running and never look back.

Writing has always been an outlet for me as well, but it just doesn't compare to the sound of my running shoes smacking the pavement, my deep, heavy breathing - in through the nose, out through the mouth - and the silence and clarity in my head.

When I woke up this morning, I wrote out a draft of a diet/new lifestyle plan I'm going to try. I call it,

10 STEPS TOWARD SUCCESS

• Step 1: NO MORE JUNKFOOD! (Chips, fast food, candy, deep-fried food, ice cream, etc.)
• Step 2: NO MORE POP OR SUGARY DRINKS!
• Step 3: EAT VEGETABLES WITH EVERY MEAL!
• Step 4: EAT BREAKFAST! (Wheat or bran cereal, fruit, and a glass of juice)
• Step 5: NO MORE SLEEPING IN! (Must be out of bed by 10.30am latest)
• Step 6: RUN AT LEAST THREE TIMES A WEEK! (Make a schedule and stick to it)
• Step 7: NO MORE BEER OR SUGARY DRINKS! (Only clear drinks or white wine)
• Step 8: QUIT SMOKING! (By the end of June - Permanently)
• Step 9: SPEND TIME OUTSIDE EVERY DAY! (Go for a walk, go window shopping)
• Step 10: DO SOMETHING FUN EVERY DAY!

I really don't think any of these things are unattainable. I even gave myself a realistic date to quit smoking. That's going to be the hardest task on this list, but I know that with enough will power and support from friends, I can do it!

Well, it's time to hop in the shower after being outside all day in the heat! 

Until next time,

StheF