Promotion!!

Well, I just wanted to send you all a little update from the wonderful world of the Topps Company.  In 2 weeks I will be moving to the sports department as the new sports editor for the company!  I was promoted yesterday and when I start I will be working for the baseball team, designing and creating new product!  I'm really, really excited about this opportunity- all the hard work I've been putting in really paid off!


 

The Lion King

If there is something, anything I could tell you that I would hope you would take as advice, or a suggestion, or a command, I would tell you this: GO SEE THE LION KING!!!  You can see it on Broadway, off Broadway, in Providence from the first balcony, dead center with an immaculate view of the screen, or sitting in the last row... but I will tell you this; you will laugh, you will cry, you will sit there with your mouth wide open in awe at the sheer creativity and brilliance of it all.  The voices and the talent that the actors possess as well as their ability to become one with their character managed to just blow me away completely!

The Lion King tickets were my Christmas present so Saturday night, we got all dressed up, went to an amazing dinner at Nick's on Broadway and went to see the show.  Lucky for me, I had the seats in Providence that were dead center with the immaculate view :).  And for the entire 2 hour show, I sat there in my seat feeling much like a little kid witnessing the equivalent of heaven on Earth.  They could have started the show from the very beginning as soon as it ended and I would have sat there and watched it over and over again.

Check out this video; I'm sure the opening scene will completely sell you because after I witnessed it, I was hooked and completely spell bound.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLvD4DeeE5I

And watch for the giraffes- those are people on stilts, double stilts... don't ask me how they do it, they just do and it will just blow your mind that people can really do that!  So really, go see it- I don't care where, I don't care how, or who you go with... take me if you want because I'm ready to go see it again!

Lombardi's Pizza

So let me tell you a little story about one of my favorite foods; pizza.  New York is known for many things; like Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and Coney Island, but I'm sure most of you won't know that it is considered the birthplace of pizza pie!  So the other night, Robyn and I ventured to Nolita (North of Little Italy) to sample the country's first pizzeria.  Although pizza didn't exactly become popular until after World War II, Gennaro Lombardi decided to start selling pizza in 1905 at his grocery store which had opened in 1857.  


With the convenience of it being a grocery store, workers would stop in to grab lunch on their commute to work.  To increase business, Gennaro began selling tomato pies wrapped in paper and tied with a string to many of the Italians in the area.  Most couldn't afford the whole pie so he sold it by the slice, or more specifically sold it by however much you could afford.  So let's say you had 2 cents; you would ask for 2 cents worth of pizza.  I wish this was still the case!!!  When Gennaro passed away, his son John took over, and then the business eventually went to John's son, Jerry.  As the years passed, Lombardi's became an institution, and continued to sell pizza.  In 1984, Lombardi's closed its doors. It wasn't until 1994, when John Brescio, a childhood friend of Jerry began to talk him into reopening the pizza parlor.  In 1994, Lombardi's reopened and moved their location a block down the street.  And believe me, if you're ever on Spring St, you can't miss it- it's the old fashioned looking pizza parlor with the best smell you could imagine emanating out the doors.  Get there early, or you might wait an hour just to taste it!


As far as I'm concerned, this is the best pizza I've had in the city so far.  And it's so simple; take a seat at a table for two in a dimly lit corner, tables complete with red checkered table clothes and choose from 2 options; a small or large pizza.  It's a flat crust pizza, topped in sweet, savory tomato sauce, pecorino romano, fresh basil and melted, gooey mozzarella.  Robyn and I ordered the small; which wasn't small at all, but regardless, we managed to finish every last crumb, right down to the strings of cheese hanging off the spatula.  


Check it off my to do list of places to eat in NYC-  and while I always say I'll never eat at the same place twice, I might just have to break my own rules and go again!

eataly is italy... or heaven

So last night, Robyn and I decided that instead of just going out to eat, we would make our own feast at home.  When you're feeling spontaneous- all you need is Eataly! Seriously, it might be one of my favorite parts about NYC.  Think of it as this- a creation by Mario Batali, famed chef and genius; it's an indoor italian marketplace and they have literally everything from fresh pasta, to fresh bread, to a piazza where you can sample wine, cheese and meats... I simply like to think of it as heaven.  

meat counter

pasta lover's paradise

just in case you get lost... it's very possible

So after we tried City Bakery's overrated hot chocolate, we decided to go back to basics with Italian food. After wandering around the indoor marketplace in search of dinner, we finally decided to settle on putting together our own Italian feast: fresh prosciutto, fresh italian bread, a wedge of pecorino romano cheese, and the freshest tomatoes I had ever sampled in my life.

We brought it all back to Robyn's house, made a nice bread dip from olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and salt and set to work on devouring everything!  And when I tell you we devoured everything, I'm not kidding in the slightest...

our italian feast!!

clearly you can see that almost everything is now gone...

when life gives you ice...

So I figured this would be a good time to discuss with you what you should be doing when the weather outside is oh so frightful....

I figure there are a few things you could do. Why not make yourself some delicious pancakes?... and who says they have to be boring old pancakes? Dress them up a little bit- add a splash of blackberries, a dash of powdered sugar.....

You could crack open a bottle of wine... or to think of warmer weather, find yourself a good brew, one that would be perfect to accompany you in the hot summer sun....

Or you could set up shop in the kitchen, slicing and dicing, creating some delicious soup, or baking and filling the house with waves of warmth...

And if all else fails...  you could always trek out in the snow with a good friend and explore the city....

Until then, you might have to just sit and wait for a sunny day....