Happy Halloween! (And Picture of the Week)

Happy Halloween!


In honor of the holiday, this week's picture of the week is of one of my favorite Halloween costumes - the little mariachi guy! I don't remember wearing at all, as I was about two at the time, but I like the pictures of it!

And just for fun, here's a picture from work today. The kids can't dress up, but teachers are encouraged so my friends and I went as the cast of "Grey's Anatomy" (well, except for Amanda, who was Dr.Acula, hence the teeth and the blood).



AND the costume from Friday's Halloween Party - Awesome 80's prom queen!



Hopefully later I'll get a few pictures of Jack dressed as John Lennon.

Photo Gallery Update!

Pictures from Emily's Sweet 16 party are now in the photo gallery. Click here to see them.

Emily's Sweet 16!

Yesterday we celebrated Emily's birthday (on October 2nd, if you don't remember the post about it) with a big Sweet 16 party at the Mt. Kisco Holiday Inn. The whole family was there to celebreate, and we had a great night of food and dancing.

To whet your appetite for pictures, here are a few of the centerpieces that were made by Lindsay, Kara, Emily and myself last weekend when we were in Binghamton (mostly my job was to paint everything gold). Each piece was designed by Kara and reflected a different Broadway show.

Wicked

The Phantom of the Opera

Beauty and the Beast

A Chorus Line

Spamalot

Rent

Little Shop of Horrors

Hairspray

I think my favorite part of the evening was before the party started and we were getting ready. I needed to shower, but the bathroom had no towels. Kara said she saw a maid cart in the hall and to poke my head out and ask. When I looked down the hall, I saw a GIANT bag of towels just laying along the wall! Though I didn't actually take any from that bag, I DID manage to get some from the maid!

Picture of the Week

Because this week's picture of the week is related to the story I just told, I thought I'd post it today instead of tomorrow = plus I have to work late tomorrow and have 8 million things today so I likely won't get a chance.


This picture was taken on our trip to Paris in 2003 (in fact, on the very day I wrote about below). It has become famous because of Jack's reaction to it when he saw it. Clearly, the fish is a statue on a bridge that we saw during one of our long walks. However, Jack (who was two at the time) was quite confused by Lindsay's mock pain from putting her hand in the fish's mouth, and he was quite concerned, and did not want to look at the other pictures. We had to teach him all about pretend that day, and for a long time he would walk around going "Lini - fish - just pretend" as though to reassure himself that she was not hurt!

He also then learned how to imitate the face she made and it became part of "the routine" - something I would do with Jack where I would give him commands of things he knew how to do ("make your face," "make Lini's face," "clap hands" and there were a few more that I don't remember)!

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Three

Day three in Paris, at which point I started writing a new novel in my journal and not describing the trip as much, began with breakfast (this time I KNOW we had breakfast!). I remember being really impressed with the breakfast the hotel put together. It was a full breakfast and it had anything you could imagine - and it came with the room! So we filled up there and met with the rest of the group and took the train over to Montmartre, which quickly became one of my favorite parts of Paris (partially because my favorite movie is Amelie, I'm sure...)

Our first stop was the Moulin Rouge, though we didn't go inside. Only the windmill is left from the original structure so it looks nothing like it does in the movie. It was a fun sight to see. According to the marquee, they were dooing a show called Feerie. Underneath the sign were the words "Le Plus Celebre French Can Can Du Monde" (I just like French words).



From there our tour guide Patrick (who was nice enough to take us on the tour for FREE, despite the fact that there was an optional tour we could pay for!), showed us the cafe from Amelie as we walked up the hilly streets of Montmartre. As we walked, he filled us in on various stories about Paris - how the streets are cleaned everyday, how old buildings were, and he pointed out various landmarks. We came across a statue of St. Denis and heard his story as well as the story of the man who got stuck in a wall (also a piece of art in Montmartre). We finally ended up by the Sacre Coeur, the highest point in Paris, where you can look down over the whole city. In the square just behind it were a multitude of artists, all painting something; some portraits, some landscapes. Everything was really pretty.



The sacre-coeur was an impressive building and I loved the view from up there. Lindsya and I stayed in Montmartre for lunch (where we had roasted chicken and french fries, I believe - I love the simplest food in Paris!), and heard and accordian playing (a man was walking down the street with it). Then we decided to walk down the "Amelie" steps (as I call them, cause they're from the part where Nino follows the arrows) and ended up down by the carousel.

From there we headed back towards the Eiffel Tower area and just explored our surroundings a little more - my favorite thing to do in foreign cities is to just walk as much as possible and look at things. We ended up over by the Louvre again, taking some pictures, but we didn't go in yet, saving it for when we had more time. Our walk continued towards the Marais district, where we found the "Big Head Statue" at St. Eustache. We took some goofy pictures there, and then just sat for a few minutes - where we encountered the world's most annoying crow! It was just behind us, hopping around in the grass and making horrible screeching sounds!



When he became too much for us, we decided to walk back to the hotel. Neither of us wanting to spend a lot of money on dinner, we decided to buy some bread and cheese on the way back to the hotel (and, in the end we also got some Nutella!). As it turned out, there were really good baguettes just around the corner from the hotel, so this became our meal on more than one night (cause there is nothing better than bread, cheese, and chocolate really, when it all comes down it!). We spent the rest of the evening back at the hotel, enjoying our baguettes (yes, we each ate a whole one!).

Some notes from my journal (because there are SOME):
I can hardly believe how fast the time is going by. Tomorrow is WEDNESDAY already. I think, however, that it may turn out to be one of my favorite days. However, today and went to Montmartre... When I get my summer apartment here, I think it may have to be in Montmartre! It's so quaint and artsy and I saw all these places that were used in the movie "Amelie." I can't wait to get all my pictures developed!

We are waiting for a phone call from Evelyn. She and Gunther are coming on Thursday and that should be a lot of fun. Lina nd I want to return to the Eiffel Tower and head to the very top - by using the elevator!

I am exhausted, but it's that great kind of exhaustion and I'm proud of it!

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part Two

Remember: text in italics is from my journal. Day two in Paris was May 26, 2003.

Well here I am after my second exhausting day in ol' Gay Paree. I was much more comfortable today. I had a better grasp on things and best of all - I saw the Eiffel Tower today! Up close and personal - I stood on it, under it, beside it, in it or whatever else you might be able to think of. We also got a little lost, to tell the truth, but I was not afraid. Somehow you can never be lost in Paris. There is always a way to get from once place to another place. It's really nice actually.

Day two began late, as Lindsay and I were both pretty jet-lagged and slept in. We went to breakfast in the hotel (or did we - we might have missed it, though I might have grabbed a pain au chocolat to bring back to the room!). Once we got dressed (and fought with the weird tub/shower thing), we headed out for the Champs Elysees, knowing that we would be able to walk to the Eiffel Tower from there, and we could also see the Arc du Triomphe. A quick glance at the map showed us the way and we were off.

I suppose we DIDN'T make it to breakfast that day because we were both pretty hungry and stopped at this little Panini place near the Place du la Concorde. They were having a train exhibit in Paris that week, so the beginning of the Champs Elysees had a bunch of old train cars along it. After we sat and ate our sandwiches, we continued walking, enjoying the little flower displays and the signs we could read, which are so different from the ones we have here.

We didn't go into any stores, but instead walked directly to the Arc. Once we were there, we wondered how on earth you get to it without dying, as the traffic circle around it was very congested with speedy cars. Finally one of us noticed the underpass to get there, and we sat beneath it for a little while and used up a roll of black and white film.

Lindsay at the Arc du Triomphe

When we felt rested enough to continue our walk, we mapped out where we needed to go - and the promptly took the wrong street. We walked for a while, wondering why the Eiffel Tower was not getting any closer. WE continued, both thinking we should be able to see it in the distance. We finally realized we had walked down the wrong street, going in the wrong direction. A quick look at the map and Lindsay has us oriented again, and we walked down the CORRECT street, where the Eiffel Tower just got bigger and bigger as we made our way towards it.

Me at the Eiffel Tower when we got our first good view.

We headed to the tower and paid to head up to the top - by WALKING! That was not fun at all, so we ended up staying on the first level and looking down. Even from there, everything looks miniscule!



After some fun at the top of the tower (including our heads in the gates), we headed down and walked to the other side for some pictures and headed towards the Metro station, passing L'Ecole Militaire and more French sites. I particularly liked the way they put up ads and things.

Oncw we finished at the tower, we were really tired so we went back to the hotel (or we may have walked over by the Louvre; it was so long ago I can't remember - and we DID do a lot of just walking around).

That night we wanted to have an authentic French meal at a REAL restaurant. After consulting the guidebook, we found a good one just a few blocks from the hotel and walked over. Dinner was good but then we were so tired we headed back to the hotel for bed. We had to be up early the next day for Montmarte!

Snapshot Slideshow: Paris and Lyon

In a completely unrelated trip to the story from earlier, here's our trip (mom's and mine) to Lyon and Paris to visit Lindsay when she lived in France for a semester. It is the first of the many "Snapshot Slideshows" I plan to put together of the various family events.

Travel Tales: Paris 2003, Part One

Last night in my journal searching, I found all the entries I wrote when Lindsay and I went to Paris in May of 2003 for my college graduation. It really helped me remember everything that went on, so I'll try to blend the journal entries with what my memory tells me. I'll put the journal entries in italics to distinguish.

Can you believe that I am actually in Paris? We arrived this morning and right now are awaiting a meeting with the entire group. Hopefully we'll get some helpful information and be able to find things. We are also going to discuss the optional excursions, which should be fun [I still like that word, apparently!].

We did in fact arrive that morning via an overnight American Airlines flight. Once we got off the plane and got our luggage, we headed outside, where we found a cab driver holding up a sign with our names and with a couple's name. They were from Queens and on our same flight (Lindsay used to do a fabulous impression of the woman... "Hey Patrick..." - more about that later!). The driver took us to the Hotel Ronceray near the opera house on what was called the "American" block in Paris because it housed the Hard Rock Cafe and - oddly enough - a TGIFriday's (I believe). I remember being disappointed that you couldn't see the Eiffel Tower from every point in Paris, and we did not see it at all on the way to the hotel. However, it was exciting to look at the streets and all the things in French as we drove along.


Once inside the hotel, we met our tour guide Patrick and were shown to our room where we did wait until the meeting. The other four people from our group were already there, and had been since the morning. When we had our meeting, we discussed which optional excursions we would go on - including Giverny, a Seine River Cruise and a trip to Versailles. Then it was off to start exploring Paris.

First, Patrick took us on a little tour. Getting onto the Metro (conveniently on the corner of our block!), we went to the Opera House.


From there we headed over to the Louvre, following the same path I would later readin in The Da Vinci Code and say "I know where that is!" We didn't go into the Louvre, just looked at it and the little shops that lined the street along the Tuileries. The group split up there, once we were shown where the Metro station was (but Lindsay and I, as New Yorkers, figured we could easily figure out a subway system - we were right).

I saw the Eiffel Tower IN PERSON for the first time in my entire life. The truth: it looks a lot smaller here. But then again we were not right up next to it. We're headed to the top of it tomorrow for what should be an exciting, exciting day! We're also going to check out the Champs Elysees and buy some Toulouse Lautrec pringts. They are really cheap here and therefore MUST be purchased!

Yes, in fact our first view of the Eiffel Tower was not from right near it - but from the Louvre. We almost didn't notice it but Lindsay saw the top of it standing high in the distance. It DID look small, but like I said, we were far away from it at that point.


Our Hotel Room, good and messy!

We headed back to the hotel after looking around a bit. The jet lag was starting to settle in and we were both feeling so out of it, we ate at the TGIFriday's for dinner (something I have never wanted to admit to anyone in my life about my first dinner in Paris, but we were just TOO tired to hunt down a restaurant!). We headed to bed, ready to start the next day!

The Very Private Journals of Kelly Elizabeth Russell Roberts

I have been keeping journals my whole life, and every now and then I like to pull them out and see what I wrote. I started them when I was seven, and I think I'm up to my 35th journal since then (so 35 journals in almost 20 years). The first one I got was a really popular kind when I was younger, with the little lock and key and this pastel, girly pattern on the front:



Some sample entries - apparantly "fun" was the only adjective I knew when I was seven. Oh well... it WAS a simpler time.

Unfortunately at seven I was not in the habit of putting dates on my journal entries, but I'll separate them a bit (and I'll use the ORIGINAL spelling and grammar!):

ENTRY ONE:
I went to my fathers office. I had fun. It was fun. Tomoriw I will go to new lebinon.

ENTRY TWO:
I'm having fun in new lebinon. Today I will go in the trackter. Today I will go in the woods in the trackter.

ENTRY THREE:
I'm leving to go back to Broklen today. I had fun in new lebinon. I had so much fun I didn't want to leve. I went in the trackter yesterday, and this morning. I went with patrick sho(a)ne [apparantly I changed the "o" to an "a" - yeah... the kids name was spelled "Sean"] Joey mom and Lindsay. I had loads of fun. Today I went with only Patrick and shone. We had a graet time. I like fun days instead of boring days. I had lots of fun!

I wonder when "fun" stopped being my favorite word...

I'll do this occasionally... it's fun to see this stuff before I got older and everything got complicated... some of the later stuff I'll keep to myself!

Picture of the Week

Katherine gets her hair done upstate by Pam. Neither had a comb for the part, so Pam used a backscratcher shaped like a hand!

Home & Garden Week: Monday

My living room!

Here are my couches, and yet another rug I really like!


And if you look to your left, you see the big chair, and one of my many bookshelves. This one houses my photo albums and travel books.


Taking another look to the left, you see the t.v. and the ever-so-attractive weight collection (again, like the Treadmill, it's the best place for it)!


And here's a little touch on my door:


And since I'm not sure what room this would fall under, here's my pride and joy, in the little hallway off the living room: my photo wall!


Someday when I have a whole house to myself, I hope to have a completely separate room for all that execise equipment!

My Weird Cat!

Apparantly, it's just a busy day for news. While we were having dinner today, mom knelt on the floor to take some pictures with Jack, her feet behind her. As you will see from the picture below, Dawn (the aforementioned Weird Cat) got onto her skirt and just planted herself there. Had I not moved her, I have no doubt she would have settled herself in for a nap!

A Broken Collarbone!

This week, Jack fell off the monkey bars at school and broke his collarbone! He has to wear a sling for four week now (as apparantly you just can't put a cast on a collarbone). He seems to be in good spirits though!

Home & Garden Week: Sunday

On the Sense & Sensibility message forums, they are doing a "Home & Garden Review" with a different room each day, so I thought I'd take advantage and post here as well.

My dining room - which really serves as a place where I do all my lesson plans for work (you'll see it's covered with my teaching materials!) is in the middle of the big open space, in between the little "office" and the living room.

My mom gave me the table when she bought a new one - I used to have just a big open space in the middle of the apartment. Now, it's taken up by the table and the Treadmill (nowhere else to put that, unfortunately!). However, I do love my rug!

Here are the two views:





Someday soon I will have a bunch of pictures in those empty frames you see - but they probably won't be there. I have some really nice art nouveau prints I got in Paris a few years ago and I'm just waiting to gte them framed.

Instant Bad Mood Cure

Whenever I'm in a bad mood I turn to movies. The three latest "bad mood" movies have been: 1.) The Holiday, 2.) Sense and Sensibility and 3.) Love Actually (which I have on right now).

Here, one of the greatest movie scenes ever from Love Actually:


From The Holiday:


And the best scene in Sense and Sensibility:


Any one of these movies are a guaranteed cure for any sort of bad mood you can be in (and watching with hot chocolate is even better!).

Introducing Gomez!

Here's a formal introduction to the newest member of the family - Gomez! He's Ami's new dog, and it's ALMOST like having a new baby in the family!

Picture of the Week

Jordan breaks the rules?

Room Tour of the Week

This week the room tour is of another one of my favorite rooms - my kitchen (where all the magic happens!). It's where I spend a lot of time preparing assorted baked goods and meals for friends and family.


The view from the dining room area, looking over the counter. My friends like to sit at the stools and watch me cook. They tell me it's like their very own live cooking show!


View from the kitchen at the entrance.


The view from by the sink.


Piggy! (He really needs to be updated... the slumber party was in July!)

Hopefully soon I'll have pictures of OTHER family members houses! I'll be at Kevin and Lori's in two weeks cause Emily and I are going to visit Kara in Binghamton, so perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone and get Kara's new apartment then as well!

Weekend in the Country

This weekend, we all headed up to New Lebanon, New York to spend some tima at the Hitchcock House B&B, in honor of Cindy's visit to New York. The weekend was full of fun games and lots of food - and even a family musicale on Sunday night!

Inside the Circle of Super Quiz

As I have been posting the game notes from our various sessions of Super Quiz, I thought that it might be good to have some pictures from our latest circle. We had one on Saturday night, October 6 - the first one we've had since May 2006 so it was a long time coming. We had it minus one of our cabinet members and plus two brand new members! From here on out, I will be using the Super Quiz identity names in the post as I show you a rare glimpse into a circle session.

First off, the amazing circle:



Next, President Bort and her sector's cards (Leisure & Travel, Spelling and Words):



Now, Pot Luck and new member Songbird during the "CRAP" wrong answer ritual.



And lastly, Niblet with her game notes. Niblet is quite the accomplished Recordkeeper for our circles. She notes everything important - and even the not-so-important but equally entertaining things. Soon, her game notes for Game # 8 will appear on the family website on video!

Pig and Pepper Designs

Lindsay and I have had this REALLY unofficial cake business for a couple years now. Really that just means that we make cakes for various functions and hope to make them more professionally at some point. But for now we'll stick to being impressive at family events and parties.

In any case, here's a showcase of some of the Pig & Pepper designs.

Our most recents, for Richie's 30th Birthday Party this Saturday:



A cake for a baby shower for my friend Celeste, February 2006:



A winter wonderland cake for Christmas one year (a little busy, I think!):



A butterfly cake I made for a friend for her birthday:



A piano cake for Joe's college graduation - next time I'll figure out how to make it with legs!



We're now on a cake decorating kick so we'll see what else we can come up with as the months go by!