End of the Year Updates

Things have been busy but good. Here is what I have been up to lately:

Theater:
-Went to City Center for Encores which is a really cool program. They revive a classic Broadway show but only for one or two weeks. I saw Kelly O'Hara in Bells Are Ringing which was fantastic and you would never know they put the show together in such a short time.

-There are no shows on Thanksgiving (which makes sense) so to make up for it they have a Friday Afternoon performance the day after and you can put your name in a lottery to win $25.00 tickets. Some of my friends and I won the lotto for Next to Normal which won the Tony a few years ago. It was not my favorite show but the actors were incredible and I am glad I saw it.

Thanksgiving:
-I had my first Thanksgiving in NYC. It was fantastic. About 10 of us went to a friends apartment and had a really laid back dinner.

Other Cultural Activities:
-I went to The Met Thanksgiving weekend. I generally go to see special exhibits at the Met. It is such a large museum that I feel it is impossible to see everything there. So I went with the intention of specifically going to see the 19th Century European Paintings on display.

-I saw the movie Burlesque with my friends Carrie, Keith, and Jeff. I think Carrie and I want to be Burlesque performers now. After the movie we went to Don't Tell Mama's Piano Bar. Jeff performed with one of the singers during the Cabaret which was really cool.

Weight Loss News:
I have lost a total of 63 pounds since the end of July. Carrie went clothes shopping with me. I have to admit clothing is a tricky thing that me the girl who used to shop till she dropped gets a little overwhelmed by. When you are on the larger end of plus size you only have so many stores to pick from and you really don't have to think about the shape of how something lays you just care that you find something that fits.

These days I almost have to take a shopping buddy with me because I can't always tell how things look on me or what the correct size always is. It is fun though getting to try on clothes I never used to think I would wear. Although I'm not investing a lot into my wardrobe yet. I won't do that until I hit my goal weight.

I actually updated my blog?

Okay so here is what has been going on in Paula Land

Halloween Weekend-At the office we had a Speak Easy Themed Party. I went as Clara Bow ;)
I went to CT with Michael and Esther to visit Victoria and Stephen. Victoria made amazing soups from scratch and cookies that belong in a 5 star bakery. She showed me her studio where she designs hats. She gave me a ton of vintage hats, one that she designed, a couple handbags, and a muff. :)

In other news:

New Restaurants Miss Paula Has Been To:

- L'Orange Bleue-A Mediteranian Cafe in SoHo where I had a yummy brunch with Esther, Linda, and Susan.

-Shun Lee Cafe-A Chinese Dim Sum Restaurant on the Upper West Side where I had a great late dinner with Esther, Michael, and Mark

Visit with Old Friend

-Luke was in town and we went to Nizza one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Hell's Kitchen to catch up.

Weight Loss News:
Down 57 lbs since the end of July :)

Writing News:
I am going to have some upcoming pieces published so stay tuned. :)

Upcoming Events in Miss Paula's Life You Will Read in the Next Few Blog Updates: Theater Outings, Holiday Celebrations, and Perhaps an Exciting Announcement or Two.

Bet you thought I abandoned my blog

Well it has been one crazy end of summer. So crazy that it turned into mid fall :)

I had a couple on mini trips to Michigan (pleasure) and the Saratoga Springs (Business).

Life post surgery has been going really well. I have lost 53 pounds since my pre-surgery diet in July. I have deltoids now. :)

I really don't have too much exciting to report (mostly cause I can't remember most noteworthy activities of the past few months). I have had some fun though including a day trip to Governor's Island, going to Birdland for live jazz, having a scavenger hunt for my friend Mary's birthday, etc.

I will try to post more often and more interesting tid bits about life in the big, bad, apple.

Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes Part Two

So last blog post I mentioned there were a few other changes underway. They are both official so now I can talk about them.

1. I was recently approved by my insurance company to have a Lap Band procedure and I had surgery this Thursday. For those of you not familiar with Lap Band it is a less invasive form of Gastric Bypass or weight loss surgery. My body will only be able to tolerate a small amount of food. I will be able to eat normal things just in smaller portions. The weight loss is gradual, about 1-2 pounds a week. I am really happy about the decision. I am feeling pretty good post surgery. I had to do a 2 week liquid diet pre-surgery and lost 18lbs doing that which has been a great kick start. I am sure I will post about my progress in the future.

2.I was promoted to Senior Advisor at work. Not too much of a change there. Still working in the same place, I will just have some more administrative and supervisory duties.

Those are my two big pieces of news. Other then that just some fun typical NYC things going on.
-Luke stayed in town last weekend and we had a great walk through Central and Riverside Parks before going to see Inception.

-Esther and I accompanied Michael to Amherst, MA for a day. Michael was in a board meeting while Esther and I went to Emily Dickinson's house and the Eric Carl museum.

-Sarah came in this weekend to hang out with me post surgery. I was feeling up for getting student rush seats (apparently I can still pass for being a student) for South Pacific. It was amazing and $20.00 seats were pretty exciting too!

Cha..Cha...Cha..Changes Part One

Can't believe the summer is almost over. It always goes by way too fast.

At the beginning of July I was in Cleveland for a little bit. Sarah's best friend, Jessica got married. Sarah was her maid of honor and they both looked beautiful. Jessica and Sarah were one grade behind me so it was fun to see some people I haven't seen since high school at the reception. One of Jessica's bridesmaids, Becky was in my class in grade school. It was really fun reconnecting with her. She is also in the process of moving from DC to NYC which is great for me since I have several friends that have moved or are in the process of moving :(.

Back in the Big Apple things have been kind of hectic. My office has moved yet again. I am now back uptown but in a beautiful new suite. I have to admit I will miss being downtown. The neighborhood is more pleasant to walk around during lunch (more greenspace, less tourists, cheaper places to grab lunch) and I liked being more connected to the rest of campus. But on the plus side this is the first time that all the fashion advisors will be together. I am now advising students in three programs and am overseeing advising for students in our online fashion marketing program.

My best friend from high school, LeeAnn and her friend Erin came to NYC for a weekend. We had a great time. It was really fun. We did a whole New York on a budget weekend and it is amazing how inexpensive a weekend you can have. Theater Development Fund is a great organization that I belong too. It is for people in the non-profit sector. You can purchase off Broadway tickets for as low as $9 and Broadway shows are never more then $36. We managed to get good seats for Lend Me a Tenor with Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shaloub, Justin Bartha, and Brooke Adams. We had a blast. Our biggest splurge of the weekend was a round of drinks at Bar Centrale (because I always have to take people from out of town there). We saw Debbie Monk, Kristin Chenowith, and Sean Hayes.

We also went to a street fair, walked through most of central park, went to Radiance for tea, strolled through the Village, had burgers at City Diner which has a classic art deco vibe, and had breakfast at the counter of a traditional Greek diner. All in all we did a lot for a little and in less then 48 hours.

Esther, Michael, Sandy, Terry, and I had dinner at Peter Luger's in Williamsburg. If you like Steak this is the place to get it. There was a cigar bar next door so Michael and I had a post dinner cigar and scotch...very Mad Men. :)

Esther and I had a fun day of window shopping for furniture. ABC is an amazing furniture and home decor store with everything from vintage to contemporary.

Luke and I had a fun diner experience. We went to the Westway Diner in Hell's Kitchen. One of my favorite things about diners is you can have breakfast for dinner. After that we went for a walk. Times Square is always crowded but if you go on a weeknight between 8PM and 10PM while most people are in the theater, it is tolerable. We sat out by the TKTS area to eat out dessert and pretended we were tourists.

In other news I'm a great-aunt ;). Michael's son Marc and his wife Robin had a daughter earlier this month, Julia Paige. I haven't met her yet but can tell from the photos she is a cutie.

I will actually have two more exciting changes to share in the next blog post or two. I have the greenlight on both, but want to wait till they are official before posting. Stay tuned! :)

Summertime and The Living Is Pretty Hectic

Phew it certainly does not feel like summer at work. We are busy as always. To add to that my office will once again be moving uptown so they are packing us up for that.

We did have an awesome end of the year party at my co-worker Paul's beer garden in Bushwhick. My friends Sarah and Joe even came out for the festivities.

At the end of last month my friends Dave, Ben, and Luke were in town. Among other things we saw Hair (and got to dance on stage with the cast) and The Addams Family on Broadway. We of course went to my standard place I take people to from out of town...Bar Centrale! Our celebries co-dining there for the evening included Swoozie Kurtz, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, and Jessie Taylor Furguson (from Modern Family...but he will always be Leif Coneybear in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to me). It was an amazing weekend all around with amazing people.

I went on a tea and coffee walking tour of the Flatiron district and Chelsea. The tour included some of my favorites-Serentea, Joe the Art of Coffee, and Cafe Grumpy. It also introduced me to some new places-Birch (which will be a favorite coffee house, great atmosphere!), Agro Tea, and Limelight Market. The Limelight Market is an interesting place in Chelsea. It was originally a church that was later turned into a nightclub. After the Limelight Club closed, the church was converted into a marketplace. There is an outdoor farmers market in its courtyard. Inside there is a gourmet food market where they roast their own coffee, a tea place, several bakeries and chocolate stores, and some retail stores. Very cool and worth checking out.

Carrie, Tiffany, and I went to Greenpoint for the Renigade Craft Fair in the park. After that we headed over to Williamsburg and had some amazing BBQ at Fette Sau. Another new restaurant I went to was Jewel of India in midtown with Esther, Michael, and Mark. It was a really treat because Mark was in India this past winter and ordered for all of us.

Esther, Michael, and I celebrated Michael's birthday by ordering Thai take out, making strawberry shortcakes, and watching the TONY's.

The past couple weeks I have been laying low a bit. Important note:If you are walking all the time and it really hurts you may have a stress fracture...not that I was walking on a broken foot for five days before going to the doctor...yeah don't recommend that. I'm fine. It doesn't hurt, I just have to wear an aircast that weighs five pounds. Hopefully it comes off this week. It makes you appreciate your ability to walk though. Thank goodness I didn't have to get a hard cast and crutches because I have now idea how those people manage in the subway.

Crafts, Shows, and New Restaurants

Well commencement finally came so I guess summer is sort of officially here. Other then work being busy I have had some time for some fun events this month.

Esther, Michael, Linda and I went to see Promises Promises with Kristen Chenowith and Sean Hayes which was super adorable.

I had some more reviews in The Villager and Downtown Express. I interviewed a great local musician named PT Walkley. He introduced me to a great restaurant in TriBeCa called Bubby's. He also gave me and my friend Tiffany tickets to his concert at Joe's Pub which is a really fun venue in the East Village. I also introduced Tiffany to the Knickerbocker Restaurant that night.

I took Luke to the West Village and we had dinner at a local dive, The Prickly Pear. I also took him to the Highline overlooking the city. I had never been up there in the evening before so it was kind of a first for me too.

My coworker Jen introduced me to the roof top bar at the La Quintania Inn in midtown. It is right behind the Empire State Building. It is also near Little Korea. Jen and her boyfriend Dan (and Nuttly-their dog) took me to Seoul Garden for a Korean dinner.

Michael, Esther, and I went to Ed's Chowder House on the Upper West Side for AMAZING seafood. It comes in at a close second to Aquagrill in my book.

This weekend I went to Greenpoint with Jen. We went to the Bust Crafticular at the Warsaw Building and had a great Polish lunch in their dining hall. She used to live in that neighborhood and she introduced me to Peter Pan Donuts which are famous for their Red Velvet Donuts. She also took me to the Manhattan Avenue Rite Aid which used to be a Roller Disco. The aisles are in the center of the rink and the disco ball is still there. Pretty cool for a drug store. Made me want to bust out into the soundtrack from Xanadu.

Whoa We Are Already Five Months Into 2010

Time sure flies when lots is going on in life. Apologies for not being a better blog updater.

Hmmmmm what has Miss Paula been up to these days. Lots I guess so I will briefly recap:

-TriBeCa Film Festival. I have been reviewing films at the festival for The Villager, Downtown Express, and Chelsea Now. If you are interested my reviews are up on The Villager's website http://www.thevillager.com/.

-Trying New Restaurants-Yes indeed now that the weather is nice, even some outdoor dining. Some new places have included Peanut Butter and Co near Washington Square, Chocolate and Chilies a Mexican restaurant in Park Slope Brooklyn, and Blue Ribbon Sushi, also in Park Slope.

-New Bars-Have also grabbed a drink with friends at a few bars I have never been to before, The Thirsty Scholar in the East Village, Mission Dolores in Brooklyn, and The Blu Bar in Chelsea.

-Other Activities-Participated in The Unity Walk for Parkinson's Research in Central Park with my friend Teresa. Was an actor in one of my office's work study student's films-The CatNapper. Guess who played the title roll? Have been experimenting a lot in the kitchen. My grilled coconut mango chicken is pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

That's about it for now. Sure I will have more to report as the semester ends and summer arrives.

It is spring already?

March has flown by almost as quickly as February.

I did get to see a few shows this month. Luke and I went to see All About Me with Michael Feinstein and Dame Edna. We went to good ole Bar Centrale afterword and saw Judd Hirsch.

Esther, Michael, and I went to a fun, casual restaurant in the Gramercy neighborhood called Mumbles. After dinner, Esther and I went to the Vineyard Theater to see The Scarborough Boys. It was an incredible show. It is a musical by Kander and Ebb that was never produced until now. Audra MacDonald was in the audience that night.

I went to Michigan for a long weekend. It is always wonderful to visit with my extended family.

Esther and I went to MoMA for the Tim Burton exhibit. I invented a new people watching game during our museum day. Its called "Spot the Mutton dressed as Lamb." It makes up for not being able to play "Find the Hooker at the Amway" with Chad. ;)

NYC weather has been crazy. One day it is sunny and the next day it is raining with 40 mile per hour winds. No wonder the whole office/including me has a flu bug. :( Why do I bother getting the vaccine.

A Month Goes By Fast...

...Lets see how quickly I can sum it up.

Florida
-Fun sister's weekend
-The Rosenberg Girls made Gnocchi from Scratch for a dinner party
-I can now say I have been to the Burt Reynolds and Friends Museum. Meghan-There was a whole section dedicated to Charles Nelson Reilly.
-We had a fun day trip to Juniper Beach, Juno Beach, and Stewart.

Next Fall
-Saw the play Next Fall which was very good.
-Saw Timothy Hutton and John Krasiniski at Bar Centrale afterword which was pretty sweet

Euchre Group
-There is an organized group of people in NYC that play Euchre once a week and yes most of them are from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana

Snow
-People in NYC freaks out when it snows, I had two snow days from work, in Michigan this would be unheard of

Thrift Shopping Day
-Had a fun day of consignment shopping with Sarah P. and Paula V.
-Later had a great dinner with Sarah P. and her hubby Joe at Tio Peppe (a Spanish restaurant in the West Village)

Women's Panel
-Went to an interesting panel on Women in History with Esther and Sandy
-Had a really great dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, GOOD afterword

Sarah P's B-Day
-Had a great dinner with Sarah, Joe, and Paula V. at Mimi's Hummus an Israli restaurant in my neighborhood
-Went to Williamsburg after dinner where we met up with Sarah and Joe's friend Luke at Spuyten Duyvil and Barcade before a 3AM breakfast at a diner which made me think of late runs to Dennys at AQ good times.

Fast Week

This week has flown right by. I saw Present Laughter with Victor Garber which was very fun. I also tried out some new restaurants with friends. My friend Justin took me to Rye a new place in Chelsea. Sarah, Joe, a photographer friend of theirs (I forgot his name...I do that a lot), and I also went to Brass Monkey in the Meatpacking District.

Sarah invited Paula and I on a photo shoot on the Highline in Manhattan. The Highline is an old set of train tracks above Chelsea/Meatpacking District. It is now a public green space with art and plant installations.

Sarah was also shooting some models. While she was doing that, Paula and I were exploring the Chelsea Market. There was a great string quartet playing in the common space. There are lots of great stores, bakeries, and restaurants in Chelsea Market. Ronnybrook Dairy makes amazing coffee drinks.

Ending the Month with a Bang

I survived orientation and the first week of classes. In addition to assisting my students I am once again taking a class of my own. I am taking a scriptwriting class with my friend Tiffany.

Aside from that I am keeping busy with lots of other things. Last week Esther and Michael took Sarah, Joe, and I to Smoke for some dinner and live jazz. After the show Joe and Sarah took me to Rattle N Hum in midtown for a round of beer which was also fun.

My friend Shannon treated a group of us to an evening at Medieval Times. There was jousting, falcons, and theatrics. We then all went back to Shannon's for some Wii.

Luke and I have hung out some more. Esther and Michael took us out for restaurant week, we saw Nine at the Times Square Movie theater (and had to ride a billion escalators to get to our theater, and today we met up with my friend Paula at the Brooklyn Museum to see the Rock N Roll Photography exhibit and have a late lunch in Park Slope.

At work we decided to have a monthly outing on the last Friday of the month. This month we had dinner at The Stand and later went for a drink at Cowgirl which is a fun western themed restaurant in the West Village.

The new gym is working out great. I have learned there are class I like/am good at like interval training and belly dancing, there are classes that I am just not coordinated enough for (Salsa), and there are classes that make me want to cry (anything with the words Boot Camp in the title).

I also have been meeting with a weight loss doctor and nutritionist (as part of my new years resolution). I have lost 8 lbs in my first too weeks of the program. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

New Year-New York

I have been crazy busy in a good way at work with my new group of students. I love my new digs downtown and it is nice being so close to my friends Carrie, Tiffany, Jane, Joe, and Theresa who also work in the same building. Carrie and I joined Lucille Roberts which is a gym in the NYC. Theresa and Tiffany will most likely be joining us there too. I have really been enjoying it. I loved CURVES but was ready to switch it up a bit. It is great having friends to work out with now. I am enjoying the classes even though they kick my booty. My biggest challenge is being really uncoordinated. I have accepted that no matter how much weight I loose I will never be a "delicate flower".

My friend and former roomie Lukie has been coming to NYC every week as part of his job. It has been great spending time and catching up with him. We hung out in the Village one night and I took him on a little walking tour. We were freezing but stopped for yummy hot chocolate at this cute place on 8th ave and 14th street. I don't remember the name but we will be back. Lukie also came over to my place and we had dinner at Picket Fence in my neighborhood.

Esther and I saw a new play called Time Stands Still. It was incredible and had a great cast, Laura Linney, Brian D'Arcy James, Eric Bogosian, and Alicia Silverstone. We had a really nice and casual post theater meal at Glass House Tavern.

Carrie, Tiffany, and I went on 10 hour shopping spree yesterday. Although all I have to show for it is a new pair of heels, a new top, and some Old Navy gym cloths which is fine. We had a great time hanging out and discovered a great dinner called Fat Annie's Truck Stop which was really fun.

Right now I am just getting ready for orientation next week and classes starting the following week. Lots going on this month though, some upcoming adventures and another new article. Stay tuned.

Conections and Reconections

Mid December was the typical end of the semester rush. Apart from work it was filled with holiday parties for work. It is nice being downtown now because I am by my co-worker friends Tiffany and Carrie now. A few weeks ago we went to Heartland Brewery with our other co-workers Paul, Jen, and Brian. After dinner we went to Dragonfly Karaoke. It was one of the most non-threatening karaoke lounges I have ever been too. We had a ton of fun.

Esther and I celebrated the end of 2009 by going to see Nine with our friend Linda. We went to the Ziegfeld Theater which was a first for me. It is an old live performance theater that was converted into a one screen movie theater. After the film we went to Fiorello's for dinner.
Before leaving for the break I briefly met up with my college friend Matt who was visiting from Boston.

The past week and a half I have been in Cleveland. A head and chest cold unfortunately has made up most of this holiday season for me but I still have had time to get together with old friends. My high school friend LeeAnn and I took a mini road trip to Detroit so that she could hang out with her college friend Erin and so I could hang out with my college friend Julie.

Sarah and I had dinner with our friend Chris and had a breakfast with our friends Kevin, Ashley, and LeeAnn. I have not seen Ashley in years and she was one of my best friends in high school so it was great to get together with her. Kevin is someone else I have not seen in a million years and it was fun to reconnect with him too.

It is a New Year and I am preparing to head back to NYC and get back to the grind of things. I have made my resolutions below and am sure I will update my progresses on this blog through 2010. Have a happy, healthy, and joyous New Year.

-Paula

Resolutions
-Go to the gym more often (actually switching gyms and will post more about that this month)
-Post more frequently on my blog
-Take better care of my self both physically and taking time to de-stress
-Only putting energy into friendships where the other person is putting energy in it too. I would rather have a small tight knit group of friends who are steadfast then worry about sustaining friendships where I am the only one initiating contact
-Making to do lists and sticking to them
-Try to live more simply
-Put more effort into into walking out the door confident and with a smile on my face
-Worry less about trying to please others and concentrate more on being pleased with myself