Getting By, Dreaming Big

This is a blog for me to share my thoughts on my favorite things: books, traveling, food and entertainment!

Monday Bookworms: Sharon Kay Penman December 21, 2009

Filed under: Book Reviews,Monday Bookworms — readerbean @ 3:59 pm
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So I’m still working on my book and hopefully by next Monday you will have a book review to read!  I’m slowly but surely getting back to it folks.  These holiday happenings have had a serious affect on my reading (as well as other parts of my life!)  So in going back to my Top 10 (er…11) post I thought I would provide an author/book recommendation.

Back when I was in high school my Dad read “Here Be Dragons” by Sharon Kay Penman.  He loved it, and passed it on to my mom, who loved it, and passed it on to my friend Katie’s mom, who loved it and passed it on to my Katie, who loved it, who tried to pass it on to me.  I was having none of it – 13th Century England and Wales, NO THANK YOU!  I was not interested, I was also on a reading hiatus, so unless it was assigned in school I wasn’t reading it. 

Fast forward to after college (I was reading again at this point) I’m on the phone with my mom, whining that I need a book recommendation, I just didn’t know what to pick up next.  She suggests (for the hundredth time) that I read “Here Be Dragons”.  In order to get her to stop talking about it I pick it up…and…you guessed it…LOVED IT!  I passed it on to my friend Amy in OKC, who loved it and returned it to me.  I then passed it on to my sister, who loved it and passed it on to our sister-in-law, who loved it.  I also passed it on to my husband’s grandmother, who of course, you guessed it, loved it!

I know, I know, you’re saying, really 13th Century England and Wales, but I’m telling you this story is so captivating.  You will be swept up almost immediately and be transported to this war-torn, violent, manipulative time filled with deception, passion, marriages, families and deceit and you will not want to leave even when the book ends.  This book is historical fiction at its finest.  I took my time in getting to Falls the Shadow, because I didn’t want to rush through the series and have to leave these people/characters.  Falls the Shadow was my favorite of the trilogy.  When it ended I literally cried for 30 minutes, Jon came upstairs from our basement because he was convinced I had just received some awful news, imagine his surprise when he discovered I was crying over a book.  To me though that shows just how strong a writer Sharon Kay Penman is, that I felt that strongly about her characters, the entire book/trilogy was very real because of how she wrote it.

The third book in the trilogy is The Reckoning, which really ties all the stories from the first two books together.  You will not be disappointed, I promise, I can practically guarantee it (if you enjoy historical fiction…).  I mean of the 200 people on Amazon who collectively reviewed all three books, each book averages 5 stars, that’s saying something.  So what are you waiting for, run to your library or local book store, pick up Here Be Dragons and be transported back in time!  What am I waiting for, I think it’s time I pick up the first book in her next trilogy….

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite series?  I think you know mine!

 

Entertainment Saturdays: Sugarland & Keith Urban December 19, 2009

Filed under: Concerts,Entertainment Saturday,Music — readerbean @ 2:53 pm
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I do so many “entertainment” related activities (ie: movie watching, broadway shows, concerts, television shows) that I decided to add Entertainment Saturdays.  Entertainment Thursdays will focus primarily on movie reviews and television show reviews while Entertainment Saturdays will focus primarily on concerts, music and reviews of Broadway shows or any kind of theatrical/dance performance.  Eventually the titles may evolve into something different but that will be the breakdown.

I’ve been wanting to write this post since October!!!  But was so swamped with movie reviews that I just never got around to it.  I apologize that this is so delayed but hopefully you’ll still enjoy it.  Back in October, my co-worker Rachelle and I went to the Sugarland/Keith Urban Concert.  We are both huge country fans and we both love love love Sugarland.  We listen to them at work often, much to our other co-workers shagrin (sp?)! 

Sugarland Performing

 Sugarland was the opening act!  They were awesome.  Rachelle and I were so excited to finally see them live.  I would say that my favorite song they performed was “Everyday America“.  They broke out into some freestyle action, where they sang a couple of different songs in the middle, before coming back to “Everyday America”.  The other reason that was my favorite song was because that’s where my blog name came from.  I was listening to their cd “Enjoy the Ride” a lot back when I started this blog.  Part of the chorus goes, “Whoa, whoa, everybody’s dreaming big, whoa, whoa, but everybody’s just getting by.”  I love that because I feel like I’m always “dreaming big” (planning vacations, trying to accomplish challenges and goals I set for myself, exploring NYC, trying to make my life bigger than it is, etc) and yet I’m just “getting by” like everyone else (clockin’ a 40 hour work week, doing laundry, doing dishes, working out, living in reality, etc).  So now y’all know the origin of the blog name!  My other favorite song that they performed was “Love” and of course “Stay“.  They played for about an hour and then it was time for Keith Urban. 

Rachelle & I

 Rachelle and I decided to get all decked out country style!  We thought for sure a majority of the people attending would be wearing plaid, cowboy boots & hats, etc.  But no, we were like 2 of 20 people in all of MSG decked out.  Oh well, it made our viewing experience more fun for sure!  I will say this was the most on time prompt concert I have ever been to.  Both the opening act and the main act started right on time, not a minute late.  It was awesome, it elimated a lot of sitting around you tend to do at concerts.

Keith Urban rockin' out!

Rachelle and I weren’t sure what to expect from Keith Urban.  Don’t get me wrong, we both love his music and listen to it a lot, but we don’t have all of his cds so we were uncertain if he was going to play stuff we knew, and if we were going to like him as much as we were planning on liking Sugarland.  Boy were we blown out of the water by his performance.  He played a lot of old stuff as well as new stuff, he came out into the crowd a bunch of times, he was just AMAZING!  I would say that Keith Urban is pretty rock ‘n’ roll, some of his guitar riffs were crazy.  We practically lost our voice singing and screaming to his songs!  I would say my favorite song was “Days Go By“, I LOVE that song!  (seriously.)  This concert made me realize just how many great songs he has, “Better Half”, “I Told You So”, “Sweet Thing”, “Stupid Boy”, “Hit the Ground Runnin’”, the list goes on and on and on.

Overall, this was a GREAT concert and I would certainly see both these acts again live!  So glad they came to little ‘ol NYC!

Post in Comments:

Who’s your favorite country band/duo/group/singer?  Do I have to pick a fave???  Sugarland, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town…I guess those would be my Top 4.

 

Healthy Living Friday! December 18, 2009

Filed under: Healthy Living Fridays — readerbean @ 3:32 pm
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Now that I’m blogging more frequently, I figured that I should at least be blogging once a day, just so that you, my loyal readers, have something to read!  I’ve been playing around with a couple of different topics and recently decided that Fridays would be dedicated to “Healthy Living”.  Foodie Wednesday covers restaurant reviews, the Giada Challenge, cooking magazine reviews, among other fun foodie topics. 

 

Healthy Living is going to be dedicated to…well…what else “Healthy Living”.  Blog topics will include:  new foods being introduced into my diet, fitness routines that I like, and every week I’ll mention one thing I did that week to Live Healthy. 

 

I’m pretty excited about this, as I’m someone who enjoys living a healthy and active life!  However, sometimes I can get sidetracked and get caught up in some pretty bad habits.  By blogging every Friday about Healthy Living in my life it will hopefully help me implement more healthy habits into my life.  It’s all about balance so have no fear Foodie Wednesday will still include some indulgent meals & baking!

 

So officially starting next week Healthy Living Friday’s will be up and running!  If you have any suggestions, comments, foods that you think I would love, please leave them in the comment section.  I am hoping that this will be a good addition to the blog and to my life. 

 

Entertainment Thursdays: AFI Gangster Challenge Done December 17, 2009

Filed under: AFI Movie Challenge,Entertainment Thursdays,Movie Reviews — readerbean @ 3:30 am
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Back in May Jon and I saw this show called AFI’s 10 Top 10.  It recapped AFI’s Top 10 movies in 10 different genres.  While there were a lot of movies we had seen there were also a lot of movies (mostly older movies) that we had never seen.  We decided we were going to watch AFI’s 10 Top 10.  We started with the Gangster genre (Jon’s choice) and we finished the 10th movie this past weekend.  I just realized that I only recapped 4 of the movies – oops!  I will give you an overview in this post of our thoughts of the Top 10 Gangster movies according to the American Film Institute and then I’ll come back next week and give short recaps on the 6 movies we watched that I didn’t post reviews for…sound like a plan?

Below is a list of the movies – our star rating for each movie is in parentheses next to the title.

AFI’s Ranking of the Top 10 Gangster Movies

1. The Godfather (5 Stars)

2. Goodfellas (5 Stars)

3. The Godfather, Part II (5 Stars)

4. White Heat (4 Stars)

5. Bonnie & Clyde (3 Stars)

6. Scarface (the Original) (3 Stars)

7. Pulp Fiction (4 Stars)

8. The Public Enemy (3 Stars)

9. Little Caesar (3 Stars)

10. Scarface (the Remake) (3 Stars)

We were very happy that we did this challenge.  I had only seen Pulp Fiction & Goodfellas prior to starting the Gangster Challenge.  It was of course great to see some amazing classics – like The Godfather (great book too!)  I would say that overall we agreed with the ranking provided by AFI.  The only movie we thought was in the wrong position was Bonnie & Clyde.  We would have put that 10th and bumped everything up.  It wasn’t that Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway weren’t amazing, because they were, but there just really wasn’t much to the story, it was very choppy and we were surprised it was ranked 5th.

Honorable Mentions: 

Casino (4 Stars) – We felt that this should have been in the bottom half of the Top 10.

The Departed (5 Stars) – We felt that this should have been ranked 5th.  While not a traditional gangster movie, neither were Pulp Fiction or Bonnie & Clyde, so we felt that this could have been included.

Boyz in the Hood – I personally have not watched this movie, but Jon has and he felt strongly also, that while not a traditional gangster movie, it was worth including.

What we did realize is that Robert DiNero is in the Top 3 Gangster movies.  We were thinking that maybe that’s why Casino wasn’t included because they felt they needed more variety.  DiNero is a pretty impressive gangster!  Of the older movies White Heat was definitely our favorite, what a classic movie.  And the line at the end, “Made it Ma!  Top of the World!” is a classic.  I’ve heard it used like 3-4 times since I’ve seen White Heat.  We were also impressed with James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.  We felt that in the older movies the emphasis was much more on the acting then on the entertainment value (ie: the original Scarface vs. the remake – not that Pacino didn’t play that character well – because he did, he was crazy - but the movies were almost identical with way more special effects in the remake.)

I’m not in love with the gangster genre, but I feel like I gained an appreciation for it after watching these 10 movies.  I definitely want to finish the Godfather series and I would certainly seek out some more James Cagney movies.  I’m just happy that I broadened my movie mind.  Next on the list is the Mystery Genre, of which I’ve only seen one of the movies.  I am excited – and hopefully you’re excited to read about it.

 

Post in Comments: 

What is your favorite Gangster Movie?  My favorite is The Godfather, Part II!

 

Foodie Wednesday: Cookie Swap Recap December 17, 2009

Filed under: Chocolate,Foodie Wednesday,Uncategorized — readerbean @ 2:58 am
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Every year around the Holidays I host my Annual Cookie Swap!  I started this tradition in Boston (I can’t really remember what inspired me to do it) and when I moved to NYC I kept it up.  This year was the 3rd NYC Cookie Swap (hard to believe that I’ve been here for 3 years – gosh, time flies!)  This is one of my favorite days of the year, all of my girlfriends in one place, enjoying holiday music, holiday treats, wine and fun conversation.  This year we had about 11 people in attendance.  People really bring it to the Cookie Swap, all the goodies were so delicious.

Pictured above are:  Christine’s Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips and Rachelle’s M&M Cookies.

Pictured above are:  Kate’s Oohey-Gooey Special K Bars, Christina’s Walnut Cups, and Alison’s Andes Mint Cookies.

Pictured above:  Shion’s Russian Tea Cakes and her Chocolate Bark and Christina’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars.

Pictured above:  Jen’s Pumpkin Cookies with Cinnamon Chips, My Assorted Bon Bons (Red Velvet with Dark Chocolate, Oreo with Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter with Milk Chocolate) and Kate’s (my lil’ sis) Mint Brownies!

All of the cookies were so delicious and so different!  It was a great night and thank you to all who came and brought your yummy treats to share.  I thoroughly enjoyed them all and enjoyed the leftovers (as did Jon’s officemates).  I already can’t wait for Cookie Swap 2010!

I’ll be sharing my appetizer recipes & perhaps some bon bon recipes in future Foodie Wednesday posts! 

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite holiday treat?  I have too many:  Bon Bons (of course), Carrot Pineapple Bread, Jeanne’s Mint Brownies (Matty I’ll be battling you out for those on Xmas) and Chocolate Bark!

 

Tuesday Travels: Scott’s Pizza Tours (NYC) December 15, 2009

Filed under: NYC Experiences,Tuesday Travels — readerbean @ 12:46 pm
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Gatsby's - The location of the original Lombardi's

 Awhile back Shion and I were discussing her love of pizza and my love of NYC experiences and decided to combine them both by going on a NYC Pizza Walking Tour!  We had heard about this pizza tour and were curious as to whether or not it really existed.  Have no fear – it does.  We googled Pizza Tours in NYC and found Scott’s Pizza Tour!  We immediately booked our tickets for the 3 hour walking tour.  The day finally arrived this past Saturday, a blistering cold day in NYC.  Shi & I braved the cold and met our tour guide Scott and the other 9 people on our tour at 11:00AM at Gatsby’s.  The tour meets at Gatsby’s because that is the site of the original Lombardi’s, essentially the site of the first pizza in NYC, and the site of the pizza restaurant that started all good things pizza in NYC, according to this “pizza tree” in the New York Times.

After learning a little bit about the history of pizza in general and in NYC we mosied on over to Alleva Cheese Shop in Little Italy.  From the window we got to see them making fresh mozzarella, quite the process.  Then we went inside and got to eat some of the fresh mozzarella and meet Bob (the owner of Alleva’s?)  The mozzarella was really fresh and had a kind of bland inital taste but a great cheesy aftertaste.  Bob, actually let Scott make his own mozzarella balls, needless to say Scott was pretty excited!  Alleva is a great little Italian delicasy shop – you can get cheeses, meats, basically anything Italian.  I’ll have to go back one day when I’m looking to create a real Italian feast.
After Alleva’s it was on to our first pizza stop, Lombardi’s!  I had had Lombardi’s once before, but via delivery, which just isn’t the same as eating it fresh out of the oven in the restaurant.  Scott took us into the kitchen in small groups so we could see how a coal burning oven works, and how they make the pizza.  Then we were allowed to sample a slice.  Lombardi’s was delicious, the tomatoes were so fresh tasting, the slice was thin, but still had a doughy crust.  It was pretty perfect.  I would definitely return for a regular dining experience.
After Lombardi’s we visited a store where a lot of the local pizza shops purchase their supplies, it was nice to get inside and warm up a bit!  Then it was off to Joe’s Pizza, sight of the famous scene in Spiderman 2.  We went to Joe’s for our street slice.  The slice was much larger than the slice at Lombardi’s and at Joe’s they use shredded mozzarella instead of sliced.  For a street slice I have to say that Joe’s was a lot less greasier than I expected.  It was a good street slice, light, cheesy, big, but it wasn’t my favorite of the 3 slices we ate on Saturday.
Then we walked around the corner, literally, to John’s Pizzeria.  I had eaten at John’s Pizzeria in midtown, but not the original John’s in the Village.  Scott was able to go underneath the restaurant and show us the actual coal they use for the coal burning oven.  I have to say that John’s won it for me, it was my favorite slice of the day, and not because it was the last.  At John’s they put the cheese (sliced mozzarella) right on the pizza and then top it with the sauce.  It was the cheesiest, saltiest, most delicious piece of pizza!  I loved every bite.  I’m definitely going to have to go back and enjoy it again!

All in all this was a great NYC and Foodie experience!  We learned so much about the history of pizza & specifically the history of pizza in NYC it was awesome.  I don’t want to tell you ALL the deets, you should take the tour for yourself, it is definitely worth it.  Scott, started leading these tours in April 2008.  I have to say, he is really REALLY passionate about pizza.  His enthusiasm was contagious.  The guy just loves his PIZZA!  I asked him how many slices he eats in a week and he said “20-30 depending on the week”.  He eats pizza all over the world, judges pizza dough throwing competitions, is working his way through all the pizza places in New Jersey, and his passion for pizza really comes through on his tour.  Shion and I made a list of pizza places we have to visit:  Keste’s for the original pizza (lard, cheese, olive oil, salt & pepper), Totonno’s Pizza, Arturo’s Pizza, and many others.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience.  Shion & I really enjoyed our day and our eats!  I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting NYC or living in NYC.  I’m looking forward to hopefully taking the NYC Pizza Bus Tour in 2010 (Shi, you up for it?)

Post in Comments:

Where is your favorite place to get pizza?  I would say Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn is in the lead right now for me, with John’s Pizzeria a close second.  Outside of NYC, Bar in New Haven…YUM!

 

Monday Bookworms: Colum McCann December 14, 2009

Filed under: Monday Bookworms,NYC Experiences — readerbean @ 4:23 pm
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Collum McCann answering questions

Sorry no book reviews again, like I said, I’ve been in a slump, and while I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, there just hasn’t been a lot of reading going on.  However, I did go to a fabulous book related event last week, so I thought that would be appropriate to share with you all.

 My friend Jen is the best!!!  At the cookie swap last week (re-cap coming this Wednesday) Jen and I were chatting about having one last “hang out” before she heads down to Florida (her home) for two weeks over the holidays (lucky duck!)  We agreed on last Wednesday with no set plans of what to do.  I had my last work related event of 2009 on Tuesday so Wednesday plans seemed far away.  Jen however, stumbled upon an event listing in New York Magazine, and saw that Colum McCann would be doing a reading for his new book at 192 Books, a small independent book seller in NYC.  She called and got us standing room only reservations!  Don’t you love it, when things just pop up like that and they turn into amazing experiences?

If you remember I attended the 50th Anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” in 2008 and that was were I was first introduced to Colum McCann.  I was so blown away by his talk or speech that evening, that I added his books to my “to-read” list.  Back in March, I chose, This Side of Brightness by Colum McCann for my book group pick.  Everyone enjoyed the book and it just kind of stayed with me.  Needless to say I was thrilled to hear him talk about and read excerpts from his newest book, Let the Great World Spin, the 2009 National Book Award Winner. 

We got there just before 7PM, when it was scheduled to start, and ended up actually getting seats because people were late.  The bookstore was tiny but probably fit about 50-65 people and it was packed!!!  Mr. McCann started out by speaking a little bit about what Let the Great World Spin is about and why he wanted to write it.  Then he spent 20-25 minutes reading excerpts from two characters in the book.  Afterwards he answered questions for about 15-20 minutes.  It was really interesting to get an author’s perspective on why they wrote the book, what their writing process is, how the characters and ideas came to them, etc.

Me, Collum McCann and Jen!

The thing about Mr. McCann is that he is so incredibly intellegent (not surprisingly), I wanted to literally scribble down all the quotes he was quoting, books and authors he was mentioning, etc and just absorb it all.  Yet at the same time he is so relatable.  Sometimes when you meet authors, or “famous people” they seem to be on another plane or a different level.  He struck me as someone I would love to meet at a pub and share a beer with.  He stayed around to sign copies of his book.  He was so nice, apologized for taking so long to get to everyone (we were kind of towards the back of the line) but yet, took the 5 mintues to really interact with us on a personal level asking us what we did, etc. 

All in all it was an incredibly enjoyable.  Jen and I both agree that we want to take advantage of events like this more often in NYC in 2010!  I’m adding it to the list…Afterwards we walked over to Azya Wine Bar for big glasses of red wine, Jacques Torres chocolates and great conversation!  It was a perfect NYC night with a good friend.

Post in Comments:

What author would you most want to meet?  Personally if I could go back in time I’d have a drink with F. Scott Fitzgerald!

 

Tuesday Travels: Jane Austen Exhibit at the Morgan Library December 9, 2009

Filed under: NYC Experiences,Tuesday Travels — readerbean @ 2:15 pm
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I bet you are wondering, “Beth, where oh where, have you been?”  I didn’t mean for my Thanksgiving hiatus to be so long, but I have been doing a lot of fun things, that I’m really excited to share with you all!  A brief run down:  competed in my first 5K race in a long time, saw 3 Broadway plays (yes, you read that right, I’ve been spoiled!), had my cookie swap with all my fun NYC girlfriends, attended a friend’s baby shower, had my final event of 2009 for work, put my Christmas tree up and all the decorations, and last but not least I’ve been cooking up a storm.  So let’s get right down to it….

Megs, Alison & Myself

 

 My friend Meghan (my college roomie from Freshman & Sophomore year – it’s still hard to believe we’ve known eachother for 12 years!) was in town over Thanksgiving for an extended stay so that she could celebrate her 30th birthday!  My office was closed the day before Thanksgiving, so naturally I suggested we spend the day doing fun things in NYC.

We started off with a trip to The Morgan Library, just around the corner from my apartment.  One of the travel blogs I read, Intelligent Travel by National Geographic had written up a blurb on the Jane Austen exhibit and it intrigued me.  I decided this would be the perfect NYC experience for Meghan and I to start our day with.  The Jane Austen exhibit is on the 2nd Floor.  It explores the life of Jane Austen through her letters.  I believe they stated that 160 or so of Austen’s 3,000 letters have survived and The Morgan Library has 50 of them.  That is a pretty impressive collection if you ask me.  Most of them were to her sister Cassandra, who donated them after editing the contents :)

There was also a video, The Divine Jane: Reflections on Austen, that I enjoyed.  On top of the video and the letters, the Morgan Library also has Lady Susan, the first novel by Austen, which is the only remaining manuscript of any of Austen’s novels.  They have the first 7 pages on display and it is quite remarkable, to think of an author of that time, hand writing their novel!

After exploring the exhibit (and becoming inspired to read all of her novels – I’ve only read Persuasion and Pride & Prejudice) we found our way to Mr. Morgan’s Library & Study, an ongoing exhibit.  This area of the museum is my absolute favorite.  To be locked in those rooms and get to just explore and truly take it all in (sit at his desk, climb the levels of the library) would be AMAZING!!!  I think Meghan was impressed.  I spent some time sitting on a bench in the library just enjoying being there (and perhaps imagining what it must have been like when Mr. Morgan was alive).  His collection is amazing.

Admission for adults is $12 and is totally worth it.  They have great exhibits, and if you haven’t seen Mr. Morgan’s Library & Study, they alone are worth the $12 (in my opinion).  Perhaps on Bookworm Monday one day soon you’ll read a review of one of Austen’s novels…I definitely enjoyed the exhibit and will remember to look for future interesting exhibits at The Morgan Library.

It was a great way for Megs and I to start our day…to hear how it finished…well you’ll just have to wait and read!

New York Times Review of the Austen Exhibit.

Post in Comments:

What is your favorite Jane Austen Book?