Peter Luger's

Last Saturday we had a family dinner to celebrate Kate's birthday last month. Paul has been to a bunch of business lunches at Luger's and Pat and I had been a few times, so we had to introduce Kate to the delight of Peter Luger's.  We had tried to make the reservations months ago, but they wouldn't accept them that far in advance.  Once we called again, we ended up with 3:45PM reservations.  So, a very early dinner which actually worked out perfectly.

Tomato and Onion with their sauce on top, yum.

VERY thick bacon

And the steak. 1 plate was Medium Rare and the other was Rare. 

And lots of butter. 

These are the chocolates they hand out at the end. We skipped dessert there to have a tasty and homemade chocolate cake that Maura made. And champagne!

I wish I'd taken a picture of it, but the kids gifted Kate with a beautiful watercolor of some sailboats.  For some reason I didn't take any pictures of Maura and Mike together either, but they sure were dressed nice and looking lovely.  Anyhow, a very fun day of celebrating.   :o)

Weekend Ahead

TGIF!

This weekend I have to survive on my own without Pat.  The lucky guy headed off to a bachelor party in Vegas yesterday. 

• Seeing Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie play with Miss Molly tonight ($20 hiptix)
• Dinner before the play at Lily's (menu has me sold on fresh ricotta gnocchi with arugula and walnut pesto, fresh shaved parmesan).  We'll be using a Restaurant.com gift certificate.
• Make up for lost TV time during the storm.
• Hanging out in the city with Laurisa tomorrow afternoon, a little late brunch and shopping action.
• Run outside.  It's going to be beautiful!
• Pick up Pat from Newark airport on Sunday :)

Mini daffodils make me and the kitchen very happy.

Enjoy this great weather!!

Love me some Levon

Yes, he's an old man, but he can still rock.  We had so much fun at the Levon Helm concert last Friday night.  4th row seats gave us a great view of Levon and his wonderful band - at one point I think I counted 15 musicians on stage.

Larry Campbell and Amy Helm, Levon's talented daughter

Larry again- I don't think he took a break the entire show, which was pretty long.

Donald Fagen joined in! (Steely Dan)

Teresa Williams, what a beautiful voice.

Borrowing form Wikipedia:

Levon Helm, is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequently lead and backing vocalist for the R&B/rock group The Band. Helm is known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, and creative drumming style highlighted on many of the The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". His 2007 comeback album Dirt Farmer earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in February 2008, and in November of that year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #91 in the list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.  In 2010, Electric Dirt, his 2009 follow-up to Dirt Farmer, won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, an inaugural category in 2010.

OK, listen up you Nashville people:

April 21, 2010

Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Tickets go on sale March 12th. The Levon Helm Band ~ Ramble at the Ryman with Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings Machine, Rodney Crowell, Sam Bush and more...
 
This guy is worth seeing, I promise!

Storm Damage

Pat walked to meet me at the bus stop last night, and in between the time he left and the time we both arrived home, the power came back.  What a big relief! 

My pictures from Sunday will give you a look around the neighborhood.  Crazy right?

Books for a Buck

I keep telling myself not to buy any more books, but it's just too hard. 

Today's book for a buck is Thirteen Moons.  It's been a while since I read Cold Mountain, and I think I might enjoy his writing even more since I've grown up a bit.  Who knows, we shall see.

Currently about halfway done with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (still really liking it). 

Next up, for bookclub, is The Reliable Wife.  Just ordered it on Amazon today!

STILL no power, so I guess there will be more reading by candelight tonight.  Maybe, just maybe, it will be back on by the time I get home.  :o) Fingers crossed!

Kiss Me

I'm Irish!

Does everybody have their green on today? Will you be eating corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread?

The New York parade goes up 5th Avenue, so I can watch from work.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everybody!

My mom sent me a couple kitchen towels earlier this month - so sweet.

And a few pictures from past celebrations...

At Scruffy Duffy's in NYC 2007

Irish Flag Andrea

in Hoboken 2008

Where have I been?

The storm got us!  We haven't had electricity since Saturday!  This is by far the longest I've gone without power.  Yes, I've camped out for longer than that without it, but let me tell you it's different when you're in your house.  Things I miss - radio, hairdryer, clocks, heat, internet, microwave, oven, stovetop, and topping the list: the fridge (just went to grocery on Friday grrr), TV, and lights.  I'm at work now, but once we have electricity at home (tomorrow? Thursday?), I will upload some pictures.  There are so many trees on the ground, and none on our roof or property, so really I have no reason to complain.

My poor in laws arrived on Friday and the next day we lost power.  I don't think this is what they had in mind when they came for a visit.  They've still gotten to see quite a few friends and we all enjoyed Peter Luger's Steakhouse on Saturday at least.

The rain has stopped and the sun is out today.  I hope this is a sign of good things to come (ie Electricity!).

Weekend Ahead

Finally Friday.  Well, actually, more like yesterday was finally Thursday.  I took a vacation day today, so as far as "Suz News" goes, all is great!

• Grocery to stock the fridge and pantry
• In Laws arrive today. They'll be here about a week.=)
• Levon Helm concert at Wellmont Theatre tonight -rescheduled for snow 2 weeks ago.
• Birthday dinner for my mother in law on Saturday - restaurant is a surprise! 
• Cook up a new recipe on Sunday: Chicken Piccata from The Pioneer Woman.

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Last night I had a great time at a customer appreciation night for a catering company I use.  Their kitchen takes up the ground floor of their street address at West 31st Street.  The company, First and Fresh, had it all set up and decorated with flowers and pretty tablecloths and tons of food for people to help themselves.  And a couple bartenders too!  I took my friend Lacie and it just so happens that we both won a raffle prize!  She got a bottle of rum and I got a couple goodies from Bliss.

And everyone got a goody bag to take home.  My favorite was the mug.

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A little puzzle progress for you:

Working on the end pieces.

And sorting into color:

My helper:

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And one more thing!  Today is the beautiful Dia's birthday!!

Have a great weekend my dear!

I hope you ALL have a great weekend.  xoxo