dundalk dinner party

it's wonderful to have friends and it's equally wonderful to be able to have them over and cook for them. i've always loved cooking but, in the past three years or so, i've found it difficult to actually place myself in the kitchen and prepare a decent meal that didn't constitute microwaving leftovers or thrusting frozen dinners into the oven. my previous domicile had two very anal-retentive occupants who, when i cooked and then cleaned, rolled up behind me to clean again, though i have no doubt in my prowess with a soapy sponge. however ... they apparently did.

now that i have my own place i find that it is much easier to create the mess and clean it up after with the knowledge that my practices will not be scrutinized later. thus, the dinner party begins.

last night i hosted an informal blogger convention/dinner party amid unpacked boxes and the smell of new carpeting. the guests of honor included: mrs.twink, the mr., jamie and theresa, 4 people who i adore and am very happy to know. well, except theresa because she dropped key lime tart on my carpet, but i digress.

my guests all arrived bearing gifts, each with a bottle of wine and mrs.twink and the mr. bringing along mini-tarts for desert as well as some amazing artichoke hummus that mrs.twink made from scratch. impressive and quite delicious.i decided to bake a lasagna and, mind you, it's been about 7 years since i've actually made a lasagna so i feared that my skills might be a little rusty, however, i found a great spinach lasagna recipe online at theveggietable.com. spinach lasagna? you may ask ... yes ... you see, mrs.twink is a born-again vegetarian and i felt that it would be far simpler to make everything vegetarian than to single her out and make her eat ruffage while the rest of us enjoyed juicy and meaty steaks. so, for a starter, i created a cool summer asparagus salad (i know it's not summer, but i love asparagus and i love salad thus, i love asparagus salad) with the lasagna playing center stage. i won't lie ... i had a fair amount of trepidation regarding the outcome of the meal, but i am certainly pleased with the results.

the salad was nice and cool with a light, citrus flavoring and the tang of kalamata olives topped off with a hint of mint. (ooh, i rhymed!) however, i feel that i had put too much onion in, though i followed the recipe exactly, except i forgot to crumble goat cheese over the top! oh, i was so angry. that's the part i was looking forward to the most even if it was only an optional ingredient.

the lasagna, made with a four cheese alfredo sauce instead of the traditional marinara, had quite a bit of flavor and wasn't as heavy as many lasagnas tend to be. though the recipe didn't call for it, i added several cloves of garlic as, in my opinion, garlic has a place in virtually any meal, especially italian fare. everyone, save mrs.twink and her amazing figure, had second helpings of each. damn her and her skinniness. i just think she didn't like it.

throughout the course of the night and the meal, we managed to drain the 3 bottles of white wine, though the types fail to come to mind at the moment. i do remember the riesling, as we saved it for last as more of a deserty wine to have with/after the mini tarts.

after dinner we lounged and chatted, mrs.twink and the mr. snapped some photos, though i felt completely gross after working all day and then slaving in the kitchen, so i wasn't very cooperative where the photos are concerned. the mr. and i bonded a few times ... i believe there is photo evidence of that and i would appreciate copies of those, thank-you-very-much-mrs.twink!

all in all, i think the evening went well and i can't speak for everyone, but i had a great time and i am sincerely glad that they came over to see my new place and to spend some time with me. i haven't seen mrs.twink, the mr. or theresa in quite some time, so i was super excited to see them. thank you guys and gals so much for making my night so enjoyable. i [heart] you guys!

an additional thank you to jamie for sticking around and helping with the dishes even after i assured him that i wasn't too worried and i would take care of it. finally, i gave in and he helped me clean up. so, thank you very much, jamie-poo!

side note:
i will be having a housewarming party at some point once i get all my boxes out of the way, so have no fear.

also, i managed to get my xbox360 working last night, though i don't know for how long, but at least i am able to get some use out of it before i send it off to the nazi-corporation, microsoft.

edit: comments and jokes last night were just that ... jokes. hopefully people know me enough by now not to take shit i say seriously. however, though it goes against every conceivable evil bone in my body, i apologize if i offended unintentionally. ooh, apologizing hurts.

i want to be a part of it ... new york, new york!

hello there, my loyal fans and fannesses ... i have missed you. did you miss me? i knew you did.

this past weekend, jamie and i traveled up to NYC (brooklyn) to visit my brother and attend a halloween shindig he was planning. all day friday i was dreading the amount of work i was going to have and planning on getting out of work late. usually i get out of work very late on mondays and fridays and so, all day i was praying to the all-powerful workload gods that they would be lenient. apparently my prayers only got halfway through. i looked at my workload and sighed ... i got about 50% more work than i usually get during the week, which is bad. however, upon closer examination i only got about 50% of the work i normally get on fridays, so while i was busy ... i wasn't busy. i managed to leave work a little after 7 p.m., i think, i don't remember, and i went straightaway to jamie's house. i would have been there sooner, but i got lost. i know, i know ... i've been to jamie's house countless times but i had never travelled there immediately after work so i got confused ... it's not very difficult to confuse me.

i meet up with jamie, we shoot the shit for a little bit and then load the car and then depart. bitching betty was all set up, her volume loud enough to be heard over the ipod (80's and 'they might be giants' the whole way). we stopped in deleware at a rest stop overpopulated by truckers, old tourists, thuggy people who pick up old receipts off of urinals to read them as they pee (it happened right next to me. eww. why would you even touch something left on a urinal?) and a troop or two of boyscouts. (shut up, jamie!) see if i ever crack jokes again. apparently i can't even glance at someone w/o jamie thinking i'm a peder. no thank you. so, we picked up a bite to eat at sbarro's (spinach & broccoli pizza pie pocket thingie) and a garlic stick. i also had a piece of the pepperoni and italian sausage pizza. we eat and then resume our trip. we ended up getting up to brooklyn close to 11 pm. we chilled out with my brother, amanda and brian (their roommate). we had a few beers, talked and then called it a night.

author's note: i know that i am repeating a lot of what jamie said.

the next morning we got up and started preparing for the party. i'll summarize:

>> buying groceries
>> pumpkin carving (have pictures)
>> toasting pumpkin seeds
>> buying alcohol
>> picking up leaves (jamie and i)
>> decorating
>> ironing my costume
>> having a couple celebratory beers

as jamie stated in his blog, he wasn't feeling well so i made him walk with me to the store to get some ice and so he could get some fresh air.

after 8 pm the guests begin to arrive. i'm decked out in my nun costume, jamie with his dick in a box, my brother as a brokeback cowboy or woody from toy story ... whatever, and amanda as a mermaid. at first we thought one of the girls was dressed as tootsie from the movie, can you guess it? ... tootsie. apparently, that's her normal garb. wow, new yorkers dress horribly. more on this in a bit*.

so, long story short, all of the guests arrive (whereas only like 1 other person dressed up if you don't count my brother's stalker who is trying very hard to go for that 'single white female' schtick and be, look and act just like him), which ended up being more of brian's friends than my brother's or amanda's. the pumpkin seeds we baked that afternoon (with lots of salt and garlci powder) were a big hit and were cleaned out in fairly short order. we drank, had a great time, and jamie's costume was a big hit until it broke off. his poor, poor dick in a box.

the next morning, jamie, my brother, amanda and i went to teddy's for brunch where i downed 3 bloody marys to recoup from the previous night of drinking while jamie, in his snobbish sort of way, drank mimosas. we ate, went back to the apartment, hung out for a bit, then jamie and i had to leave. we bid them farewell and got on the road. took us about 5 hours due to quite a bit of traffic on the jersey turnpike and at one point, i ended up falling asleep while jamie drove and jammed to bjork.

all in all it was a great weekend and i had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go up there again! it was great to see my brother and meet amanda and i miss them already. i love my brother to death and can't wait to see him again. also, this was jamie's and my first road trip together, we realized, but i hope it was only the first of many. he's a great road trip partner!

*NOTE: new yorkers wear the tightest, thinnest jeans imaginable. it's like baggy pants are sooooo last year. ick.

the not-so-surprise surprise!

this past saturday was jamie's birthday and to celebrate, we decided to throw jamie a party that wasn't really a surprise party, as he knew that we were doing something ... however, he didn't know the specifics ... that is, until an individual divulged the information to him on friday night.

::frowny face::

apparently, friday night, jamie went out and got completely polluted to the point that he wasn't able to talk without throwing up everywhere. it was very linda blair of him and i think at one point, he shoved a crucifix up his piche, shouting profanities. regardless ... come saturday morning, he wasn't feeling too hot and for some reason, threw the phone away when i asked him if he was hungry for "some greasy fried eggs and a glass of bacon fat." i don't get it.

all that aside, we decided to go ahead as planned and i met up with terri at tom's house at around 1:30/1:45 ... i was supposed to be there at 1, but i hit oriole's traffic and that screwed me up a bit. she and i hit the party store first ... we picked up a huge unicorn balloon, ala 'charlie the unicorn,' a pretty pink birthday princess balloon and finally a balloon that stated in simple terms ... "birthday's suck." truer words were never spoken. we also grabbed two bunches of balloons in the colors of the rainbow (pride, baby!) and some crepe paper (also in the colors of the rainbow), a birthday tiara and a pin that read: birthday girl. yay!

we then hit up the grocery store and bought the necessary supplies and then finally the liquor store to pick up essentials and finally we were ready to head back to the house and start decorating.

we wound the crepe paper around the columns separating tom's kitchen area and the living room area and hung a swath of crepe paper in an upside down rainbow between the columns ... it looked like the gay prom.

jamie arrived shortly after we finished decorating and the party began. jamie, of course, was swearing up and down he wasn't going to drink and started off with a bottle of water then later had a gin and tonic (i believe) which he nursed for-ev-er. meanwhile, everyone was clamoring to get jamie to do a shot which he readily refused until the 'slippery nipple' shots arrived and he was coerced into doing one.

quite a few people showed up and i was so happy to see everyone. i'll try and give a rundown of who came:

jamie (of course!)
tom (it's his house, afterall!)
myself (geoff)
terri
steven
paul
mrs.twink
the mr.
aaron
bob
bill
kristen
jackson
michael
doug (and their son, owen)
sherri
angela
leo
kristin
fisherman dave

i think i've forgotten someone, but i can't think of who it might be right now. it's monday morning ... i'm always slow on mondays.

we had an amazing time and i certainly hope jamie did too! i wish we could have done more for him as he deserves it. jamie does so much for so many people and he is an amazing guy and a friend to many (usually in the club when he's snogging half the attendees!)

i love you, jamie, and hope you had a great birthday!!

happy birthday, jamie!

32 years ago, today, jamie flew out of his mama in a swirl of pink glitter and rainbow-colored flying ponies! on that day, the heterosexual world lost a 9 month battle in which they tried to shape jamie into one of their kind ... and the gay world gained an ally. yay us!

happy birthday, jamie!!

i hope you have an amazing day and get all that you want! love you, boy!

farewell to a friend ...

jamie (It's bittersweet, but it ain't chocolate) efficiently described last nights 'farewell to cindy' dinner at tom's house and although i didn't know the guest of honor quite as well as i would certainly have liked, i did get to spend some time with her and get to know her. she was with us on the boating trip and we had an amazing day due, in large part, to her presence. she's intelligent, hilarious and obviously caring and kindhearted. she also very stubborn ... it took 11 tries for her to attempt water-skiing out on the chesapeake and the only reason she gave up was because others wanted a go at it. had everyone else been through with their turn, i'm sure she wouldn't have stopped until she managed to get on top of the water and ride the waves.

you know, it's amazing to see how many people truly care about you when something like this arises in a group. you feel like the gathering is going to shatter a bit, but it stays strong and that person is still an integral part, just a little further down the road. she will be missed, that's for sure, but when you chance upon each other again in the future, it'll be all much more special. she's gone, but not 'gone.'


now, the food last night was amazing. tom really outdid himself but had to step away while changing into his formal attire, designating jamie as the resident 'kitchen bitch.' he cut the cheese (no fart remarks, please), the vegetables and then even had time to play with his meat.


we had quite a spread and pictured below is only a portion of our delicious fare. i neglected to take pictures of the appetizers as, well, we picked through them in fairly short order. many of us were feeling a bit peckish while we waited for the remaining guests to arrive. i managed to snag some food to bring here to work today for lunch and, in fact, i'm eating it right now as i type. yum. beeeeeeeeeeef.

(top) cheesy potatoes
(middle) fresh roasted chickens garnished with fresh roasted asparagus
(bottom) roasted terriyaki beef

tomato salad: cheese, onions, tomatoes (duh!) and a vidalia onion vinaigrette

(author's note: yes, jamie, the asparagus made my pee smell funny.)

aside from a bit of melancholy, the night was enjoyable and i was sad that i had to leave early to get home and get to bed, but, i'm a working girl now and i need muh beauty sleep.