st. patty's on the town

We got a chance to go out for St. Patrick's Day. Doug donned the green, Beka the orange and white and we were off.

We went to a few different bars to sample and enjoy things Irish in nature -- liquids as well as some tasty Irish Whiskey Cake...

At one point Doug took the camera and tried taking photos. When he tried taking a photo of the empty plate, Beka told him she already took a picture of that. Doug then was a smart ass saying, "Plenty of people took pictures of the Grand Canyon but it wasn't art until Ansel Adams did it." The photo with the * in the corner is the photo Doug then took... ahem... In fact, all but one of the blurry pictures are courtesy of Doug.

st. patty's dinner

beka's commute

Proof that you can see anything and everything on New York Subways...

Recently Beka saw a clown/mime...

Yes he is holding a bra...

toasty dinner

We went to a lecture on Billie Holiday at Union and then got some dinner at Toast.

During dinner the building next door caught on fire. We had already decided we would carry out our dinner and beers if we had to leave...

Yes, we noted the irony in that we were sitting in a restaurant named Toast. Once we knew everyone was safe, we quietly made more jokes about flambe dishes and songs they should have been playing on the radio (The roof, the roof is on fire).

blockheads

We took in dinner and a movie.

And gargantuan margaritas -- the blockheads way.

New Orleans

Beka is one of the adults going to New Orleans for the ELCA's National Youth Gathering with a group from the church. The whole group has started a blog for our journey. Check it out:

Road to NOLA 2009

foggy moon and finished bathroom

We tried to put some humidity back in the air. We ended up with a foggy moon...

And our bathroom is done! Finally! After all this mess, we repainted and moved all our stuff back in. We even got some new shelves.

growing record collection

We've been collecting some new vinyl over the past month... No Doubt, Esthero, Weezer, Regina...

Doug got Beka George Carlin (with the 7 words), Amy Winehouse - Frank, and Dino - Italian Love Songs for Valentines day.

carbonation

Doug successfully got some carbonation in his homebrew.

Eva's jealous.

best. ice. cream. ever.

We tried out the ice cream maker. At first we were taken back by the fact that you had to freeze the bowl -- for 15 hours minimum. Then you made the mix. The mix Beka chose to make first had to chill for 7 hours minimum. Then you had to let the mixer run for 30 minutes. Finally, the ice cream had to be put in the freezer for 5-6 hours.

It seemed like an awfully long time to wait for ice cream when we could just as well buy it at the grocery.

But Beka followed all the directions and decided to let the mixer run while she was getting ready for work -- then it could freeze again while we were both at work and be ready by the end of our long days.

So Beka set it up and then went to get ready. She realized 30 minutes had elapsed and upon checking the mixer found the fluffiest most amazing soft serve she had ever tasted. Absolutely incredible.

It was still fluffy and fantastic by day's end. This really is the best ice cream Beka has ever had and she's kinda an aficionado.