Robin & Bill's Wedding

Sunday - 5/24/09

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked as my camera battery died =(

Also, more ketubah pictures.

Done!!!

I finally finished!!!!

busy busy week...

It has been a crazy busy week...work has been hectic, good, but hectic.

Tuesday - YPE (Young Professionals in Energy) Networking event



- followed by dinner at Pop Burger

Wednesday - I went to the Asian Pacific Heritage Month event at Gracie Mansion and got another picture taken with Mr. Bloomberg
- then I had sewing class downtown at Make
- then stopped at Je'Bon to see Djinn perform

Thursday - Happy hour (actually 3) at the same place =)
- then Drum class at Solstice Studios

Tonight - home to work on the ketubah that's due for the wedding I'm going to on Sunday!!!

Honestly, that whole thing has been crazy...it's not just copying text...it's like I'm learning a whole new language! I'm so stressed, I can't wait for it to be done!

Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend!!!

Free yoga in Bryant Park

In case you're interested...

Bryant Park

Stevie Wonder Annual Tribute Party

A midst the crazy yoga weekend that I had...I went to the Stevie Wonder Tribute Party in Brooklyn on Saturday.

It was suppose to start at 10pm...we got there at 10:45pm...and we were on line until nearly 12:45am!!! AND...at about midnight...it started to RAIN! I haven't stood on a line to get into a club in a llllllllllooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg time!

Here are a few pictures....

All in all it was a good time...I we headed out about 3am...the music was really good! Whoever the DJ was did an excellent job!

Food for Thought...

After a fantasic weekend of yoga, philosophy and meditation, I just had to share this email that I got. More on my yoga weekend later...

****************************************
A group of gradutes, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said, "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

"The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups -- and then you began eyeing each other's cups.

"Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have."

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
And enjoy your hot chocolate!'

drumming...

So I had my first private lesson yesterday and I think it went pretty well.

We worked on a few things...just seeing where I was at and the sounds that I made. He said I had a good foundation...so then we worked on tone and accents, how drumming lightly then loudly would make an impact in a song. I had heard people do this before, but hadn't actually capitalized on that myself. Pretty cool stuff!

Then we actually worked on slaps (which I hadn't ever done before) and then worked on incorporating them into songs. I have to remember to keep my hand relaxed! As soon as I start to think about it too much, my slap sounds like a doumb. I have a bunch of things to work on, but I think I made some progress.

My instructor said that eventually he wanted me to play with the band at their weekly show! I was like NO WAY! He said yup! So, we'll see. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. I'm not saying it wouldn't be fun...I'm just saying I'd be afraid of f*cking up and making everyone else sound bad. THAT would be TRAUMATIC!

In the meanwhile, I am signing up for his 6 week series class and in addition to that 2 more privates. I'm really looking forward to working on everything and being more consistent.

A melody that is still with me from last night is a filler for masqum...

D S k S D k S

I like it...just have to practice it...I tend to not want to do the k S (or k t)...and accidentally switch hands S k (or t k)!

Practice, practice, practice!!!

Speaking of drumming...

Besides having a great weekend of hanging with friends and family, I spent a little bit of time with Kellie (my drum teacher) who taught me a new way to make a ka on my doumbeck! She had gone down to North Carolina to see Souhail Kaspar. What a difference in my ka in only 2+ hours with Kellie. So she suggested that I buy his DVD...which I did...and had a nice email conversation with him =)

How cool is that?

Now he is having a workshop in Astoria, Queens this weekend, but I can't go because I will be at the Yoga Journal Conference near Times Square all weekend! I pre-registered for it over 6 months ago...otherwise I would have gone!

A little late...

...but better late than never =)

Here are a few pictures from my trip to D.C. back in April.

Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday!

Food...glorious FOOD =)

Did I mention that I LOVE FOOD =) Well, if you didn't know that you will certainly find this out in the next few moments =)

So yesterday I got an impromptu invitation to the Grand Central Terminal Grand Gourmet event...OMG! I was in heaven!!! We had VIP tickets, so we got to go in 30 minutes before the general population...I have never eaten so much food in my entire life in so short a time frame! We literally ate NON-STOP from 6:30pm to 7:15pm...and the only reason we stopped so early is because we just couldn't fit any more food into our bellies!

So to give you a glimpse of the food we had, I put together this list (and believe me, I wasn't able to remember everything, so...)
-charred feta in a papaya and grapefruit salad
-beef short rib taco
-tuna tartar wrap (OMG...AWESOME!!)
-fried skate with bi-color beets
-suckling pig
-tuna tartar
-assorted cheese and prosciutto
-Greek salad
-blue cheese stuffed date wrapped in air dried beef jerky
-steak with mushroom gravy and creamed spinach
-mushroom soup
-porter house steak bites
-lobster sausage (Holy moley, I had no idea!!! Check out the picture below!!)
-raspberry creme brule with a dark chocolate spoon
-champagne



Basically a bunch of restaurants were passing out sample dishes and it was phenomenal! Some of the restaurants featured were:
-Kellari Taverna
- Ammos
-Silverleaf Tavern
-Fireside
-Pershing Square
-Public House
-Pera - Mediterranean Brasserie

And there were many more...but I just didn't grab cards from everywhere I went!

What an awesome evening!

A great week!

I have to say that I am having a really great week!

Monday - Channel 13/WNET.org gala (previous post on that)

Tuesday - Asian American Federation Gala @ The Pierre Hotel...lovely reception! I had a wonderful time and met some lovely people. One of which just invited me to the New York Women's Foundation breakfast on 5/14.

Wednesday - had dinner with my mentee, Nolan, a freshman at Manhattan College. He's doing well and got that internship in his town. I'm so proud of him =) Then I came back into the city to watch Djinn play at Je'Bon! What an awesome show! And guess who I bumped into there? Pacita =) What a small world, huh?

Tonight - I was going to head home for an early night, but I got an impromptu invite to the Grand Central Terminal Grand Gourmet event (food tasting!) tonight!

Friday - my VP's retirement party!

Holy Moley what a busy week! But it has been SO FUN =)

drum drum drumming....

So I am thinking about taking some more formal drum lessons...that is, build upon what I've learned from Kellie and my CD's.

So I debating taking some private lessons...

And maybe a retreat with Raquy? She has a blog too =)

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments?

I love all the links on Pacita's page!

Thirteen/WNET.org Gala 5/4/09

Last night, I had a lovely time with some friends and family at the Channel Thireteen/WNET.org Gala! It was at Gotham Hall on 36th Street and Broadway...and it was a fun night! The honorees were: Meredith Brokaw (Tom Brokaw's wife), James Dimon and Kevin Klein.

Pretty swanky, huh =)

This past weekend...

...WAS AWESOME!!! I went to Spring Caravan in Somerset, NJ this past weekend. Now normally, I just go...watch my friend's (Anka Kusu) performance, and then go home. It always seems like I'm double-booking...anyway, I did have some place that I could have gone (Silverhorde meeting), but I got sucked in! I watched a bunch of very cool performances (Djinn included!) and did some shopping (Yeah! New music!) and was hanging out with friends. It was really fun! The next thing I knew it was 8pm...and at that point, I might as well stay for the after party!!! (which I had gotten a couple of invites for)...

And I bumped into a friend that I haven't seen in years (3+ to be precise)...and her group performance was very cool...and we got chatting and found out she lives a lot closer to me now (NY) then before (MA). That was fun and unexpected.

The after party was very fun...I got to drum with some awesome musicians...and the energy was really high...I really need to drum more! And...I met some really cool people this weekend =) I'm hoping to get out to some of their shows!

If you're my friend on FB, I posted some pictures from this weekend =)