Who's a big geek with a P Touch?




Yeah, that would be me.

I'm just super excited to leave for my vacation on Thursday. If you have any advice on places to visit along my route, or if you know anyone we can crash with in any of these cities ('cept Memphis) let me know! Emily and I are calling this the "Tennessee Tack Tour" cause we basically plan on visiting the tackiest places possible.

This Lee girl is going to the South to find her roots...and to conquer her fear of all things Southern...except for the food and music. MAN OH MAN, I was reading some of my city research tonight and my mouth was watering like nobody's business. I'm gonna gain 15 pounds on this trip. Yee HAW.

This picture pretty much sums up my Saturday afternoon.



Oh, and these:





Damn, I love popsicles. I ate like half a box yesterday.

And my tomato plants are finally producing! I may only have a handful of cherry tomatoes thus far, but I am incredibly proud. I pretty much have a black thumb when it comes to gardening, so it's remarkable these things are still alive...woop woop.



Eventually I peeled myself off the couch and went to the McCarren Park Pool to see Bloc Party. It was hot as balls, but fun.











Today would have been a repeat of yesterday had I let myself stay home, so I went into the city for brunch with the Columbia girls and then met Stefan and Vanessa in Brooklyn for a bloody mary and a walk in the park...

WHERE A LITTLE GIRL RAN ME OVER WITH HER BIKE! And didn't even apologize until Stefan yelled at her. What the heck? She ran me down from behind. I'm gonna have a large tire-shaped bruise on the back of my thigh. Awesome. This is why I don't really like kids. Ridiculously enough, fifteen minutes later I almost got hit by TWO MORE girls. Ridonk.

Wow, I feel like such a proud mama. I just watched Adrienne Curry get married to her fair Brady on national television. It seems like just yesterday I was watching her compete in photo shoots on America's Next Top Model, mumbling the whole way through. You go girl.

I'm beginning to realize I'm going to grow up into one of those old ladies that likes to stay home with her "stories." No wonder I'm still single after all these years...I think my friends and family live inside an electronic box. I was reading a writing sample for work on the subway the other day and got teary eyed. It was the graduation episode of Dawson's Creek. I forgot how attached I was to that show, but it all came flooding back to me. I just get so wrapped up in these characters' lives that I really feel vested in what happens to them. Am I crazy? Perhaps. I should also mention I cried watching Adrienne's wedding. Maybe I just have some hormonal issues.

We had so much beer and so many bags of chips left from our July 4th batch, that Friday night we decided to have a dip party. Okay, so the inspiration was also that I read this article in the L.A. Times on dip and it made me really want an excuse to eat a lot of it...Anyway, we decided to come back to our place after soccer and eat dip and play board games. What more could a girl ask for?

Not to toot my own horn (TOOT TOOT) but I made the best dip ever. AND probably the most fattening dip ever. It had bacon and pecans in it and the base consisted of mayonnaise, sour cream AND cream cheese. Thank you L.A. Times. (Recipe following this weekend's pictures)

Here's our lovely assortment of dips:



Then we got into a heated game of Pop 5...Goliath got a little too excited every time we started to yell out answers...



Wynn turns out to be really good at charades. His team turned out to be not so good at guessing.

Group: Star!
Wynn: (motions) YES! (does sounds like motion, then acts out having sex)
Group:FUCK! Star fucker!
Wynn (motions) NO (does SOUNDS LIKE thing again and acts out having sex)
Group: Star fucker!
Wynn: (motions) NO!!! (sits down and pretends to drink coffee and type on a mac)
Group: (blank stares)

STARBUCKS people. No wonder my team won twice...
This is Wynn typing on his mac. Obviously.



Saturday we took Debbie out to a belated Birthday dinner at Otto. Just because it was a nice restaurant didn't mean we had to behave...I discovered that I can get a clam out of a shell with no hands. My parents taught me manners real good.





We looked purdy, though. So purdy that I felt a little feisty and was giving a hot waiter the booty eye...only to realize later that he was blatantly gay as he rubbed the shoulders of another male waiter. Sam: The girl with no gay-dar.





Katie came up with a new dance. We call it "My dogs are barkin'"



And then started talking on the phone with a porn star...seriously. Long story.



Okay, so here it is, the second recipe to ever appear on this page:

Spinach Bacon Dip
From this article: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-dips12jul12,1,4372567.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Total time: About 35 minutes, plus at least 1 hour chilling time

1/2 cup pecans

1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed, or 8 ounces bagged spinach leaves without stems

8 slices top-quality, thick-sliced bacon

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

3 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon minced pickled jalapenos

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Spread the pecans in a cake pan and toast them until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool, then coarsely chop the nuts. Set aside.

2. Wash the spinach well in several changes of cold water. Drain the spinach and immediately transfer the damp leaves to a large pot set over high heat. Cover and cook until the leaves are just wilted, 3 to 4 minutes. Strain through a colander and let stand until the spinach is cool enough to handle. Squeeze the spinach first with your hands to extract most of the moisture, then in a couple of layers of paper towels to dry the leaves completely. Chop very fine and set aside.

3. In a sautee pan, fry the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then cut each slice crosswise into half-inch pieces. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, cream cheese and mayonnaise, and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the spinach and jalapenos and mix well. Stir in the pecans and bacon. Add the Worcestershire sauce and salt and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Cover and refrigerate the dip for at least 1 hour. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

Each serving of 1 tablespoon: 64 calories; 1 gram protein; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 6 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 9 mg. cholesterol; 107 mg. sodium.

6 Grams of fat per tablespoon! Make sure you invite a cardiologist to your party...

It's been a while since we've had a Hasselhoff Friday...so here goes:

David Hasselhoff Crying


Apparently The Hoff is a big Taylor Hicks fan...or maybe he was just crying because he realized he had agreed to be on America's Got Talent. Either/or.

Saw a TREMENDOUSLY fun show tonight at Warsaw.

I got sent a free CSS cd at work a few months ago and thought, "gee, this Brazilian group is tons of fun." It was enough to make me want to see them live, so I snatched up a coupla tickets when I saw they were coming to town with Bonde do Rol and Diplo. They did not disappoint. In fact, I'd say CSS was 10 times better live than on disc. A show not to miss. Great energy and just general rocking fun. I totally want to be the lead singer. She's such a crazy rock star.











When Diplo came on it just became a giant dance party and I danced my ass off. So did these members of Bonde do Rol and CSS that came back on stage...If you can't read it, the lead singer of Bonde de Rol's shirt says "Crack is Back." Truer words were never spoken.

Ethan Embry, WHA HAPPENED?!


(pic from go fug yourself)

Sweet Jesus, I used to have such a crush on this boy. I watched Can't Hardly Wait over and over again till I wore out my VHS tape. Actually, that's a lie, I still have it. But, seriously?? He was so cute. The dimples? Those eyes? Swoonworthy. Now he looks like any pseudo-hipster dude I might find sitting at the bar at Floyd's or Great Lakes. Okay, so I'd probably still check him out and find him decently attractive cause I seem to like dirty, slightly overweight guys with scruff, but it just wouldn't be the same...

Last night I went to hear the Philharmonic perform in the park and see some fireworks. One of Ori's friends had brought a bucket of KFC, which I ogled for a while until I realized everyone was sharing and finally got Debbie to snag it for me. I haven't had KFC in eons. Damn that shit's good. They cut the show short because they said a storm was a-brewin'-- which we decided was a crock...until it started downpouring and we were absolutely drenched. I mean, we may as well have taken a swim in our clothes...Not really wanting to go all the way back to Brooklyn soaking wet and freezing, I ended up staying at Debbie's apartment so she got to play dress up with me this morning. "J.Crew Sam" came to work today. I felt weird all day cause I wasn't in an outfit I would ever normally wear. Just didn't feel like me. Funny how that works. Anyway, here are a few pics I took before we got all wet.









And on a random note:

Have you seen that Gatorade commercial with all the professional athletes' heads on kids' bodies? Freakish. What is WITH that trend? Between Little Man and this commercial I just don't know what to do with myself. People, listen up: Adult heads on kiddie bodies are scary. SCARY. Please stop it. Thanks.

Lucy Liu was filming a movie at Kane and Court last night when I was walking home from the improv show. She was tiny and pretty. They were filming her running into Quercy (a restaurant). Apparently the movie is called Watching the Detectives and is a comedy from the guy who brought you Super Troopers. Her co-star was sitting in a director's chair on the sidewalk and was pretty hot. Imdb says Jason Sedeikis is in it which makes me happy cause he is a nice guy. I have fond memories of him from my NBC days. When I had a job interview to be Marci Klein's assistant he came into the room in the middle of my interview and started chitchatting. It was late summer and the cast for the next season hadn't been announced yet. He was a writer and was hoping to join the cast. We wished each other luck. I didn't end up getting the job and he didn't end up on the cast (at that time). So, I was really excited for him when I saw that he had been added as a featured player halfway through the season...and that's my rambling story about Jason Sedeikis.

BTW

I know it's late notice, but if you're free tonight...

I'm in an improv show.

Fortified Mustard presents:
BROKEN HIPSTERS
IMPROV SHOW

Featuring:
Hot Sauce
Fortified Mustard
The Whites of Their Eyes

8pm at The Red Room
85 East 4th Street
Between 2nd and 3rd Ave.
$5

*There will also be a show NEXT Monday with Pax Romana instead of Hot Sauce...same time and place.

Screw the Siren Festival, this weekend I went to the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival upstate. My sister's fiance's aunt helps put on this festival every year that's hosted all sort of great musicians over the past 30 years. I have been very excited to go, and it didn't disappoint. We only went for Saturday, stayed overnight and came back today after a quick trip to the swimmin' hole and Dad's Diner, but it was great fun and I can't wait to go back next year and stay longer.

When was the last time you rode a school bus?



Can you see the teepee in the back? People get very creative with their campsites.



These young thangs called King Wilkie were very popular with the ladies (old and young). They're like The Killers of the bluegrass world or something...Definitely had quite a few groupies backstage...

In height order...



These boys were brothers



These two are brothers too



I woke up this morning with a huge headache. No wonder. All of the pictures of our group have beer in them. Here are Keil and Heather with Keil's dad and Connie backstage. We had VIP bracelets. Swank.



Heather's future sister-in-law



Keil's future sister-in-law (me!)- How pretty is the view?



Grey Fox has a cool policy that basically says sit in any seat until the owner comes back and makes you move. This results in a hill completely covered in chairs.



I made the mistake of letting her sprinkle me with fairy dust and after a swim in the lake AND a shower I still have glitter all over me. Damn you, Glitter Fairy, damn you.



We ate some crawdaddies



Larry Sparks



The mandolin player came up to us and was all "What the heck are y'all eating?"- We told him we were eating crawfish. "I'd have to have a lot of beers to try those," he says.





The two sisters who kept getting checked out in the front row...yeah, you heard right, front row. VIP baby.



Grammy Winner Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder



I was really excited to see Steve Earle live. I've been a fan since college and have never been able to make it to one of his shows. He didn't disappoint. Apparently he lives in NYC now, because, as he says, "After the last election I wanted to live somewhere where I could walk out my front door and see a biracial gay couple." It would be cool to run into him on the street sometime.





After Steve Earl we went back to our "campsite" (aka car), just spread our sleeping bags out next to it and slept open-air. Tents are for pansies.

We decided to take scenic route 22 home and saw some lovely scenery.

A cool old building:



I love old cemeteries.



Cruisin'



So, we passed by this creepy abandoned psychiatric center. It was HUGE. And creepy. Did I say creepy?







Anyway, I got home and googled it. Apparently there were talks a few years ago about re-opening it as housing and shops. Not sure I'd want to live in a place that used to be a psychiatric center.