Brushes with the rich and famous

I attended a Snow Patrol concert on Tuesday night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, which holds about 2000 fans. I had honestly never heard of the group until their single "Chasing Cars" came out last fall and was played all over Grey's Anatomy. That song is on their fourth full-length album, so you know they've been around a while. The concert was really fun and forced me to ask myself why it is that I don't go to more concerts? I don't have a good answer really, and now that Ticketmaster has my email address, I'm sure they'll con me into buying tickets for something in the future by giving me pre-sale codes and whatnot.

Ronit and I got the inside scoop on where the band would be after the concert, so we dutifully went to Snitch afterward. The group didn't show and didn't show, so we chatted up the bartender and he told us that they'd probably decided to skip Snitch and go to the West Side Tavern, which is owned by the same proprietor. We finished our beers and skipped off down 8th Avenue at 1:30 AM (literally skipped/ran while singing Snow Patrol songs loudly and obnoxiously), deterred from our mission only by pizza. We walked into the second bar and there they were, standing around by the bar, drinking Heinekens. We attempted to buy the lead singer a drink and he was having none of it, so we grabbed a table and chatted with some other patrons before attempting to chat with him again a few hours later. This time we were successful, thanks largely to J.J. (the blond guy on the left) and Dave (the guy on the far right), and got this picture, which is probably the 500th such photo the lead singer'd taken that night...
Ro and I were home at 4:30 AM (yes, on a Tuesday), and honestly, it was the best time I've had in a while.

St. Patrick's Day

I agree with my friend Erika's assessment that the St. Patrick's Day Parade is New York's finest, and not just because it honors New York's Bravest, although that was a pleasant eye candy feast. There are also bagpipes, which I love! I stupidly trekked around the snowy city in high heeled boots because I didn't want to be caught wearing galoshes in the pubs around town. Luckily Ronit was there to steady my steps. After watching the parade for a couple hours we decided it was time to quench our thirst and join the revelry. In the first pub we met some British "Bobbies", one of whose hats I am sporting here:

Supposedly they wear them this low over their eyes...I'm not sure how they even see!

The rest of the day was spent flitting from pub to pub, with a brief recovery period at Ronit's apartment, where we hosted some friends and ate lots of potatoes, which was the only Irish food Ronit could think of to tell her roommate to buy. She's obviously never been to Ireland! Not that I'd have bought the black pudding either...

Winter escape

I spent the weekend of March 9 - 12 in West Palm Beach with Ronit, a good friend of mine who studied abroad with me in Austria and just happens to also live in NYC. My attitude had been stinky at work as of late and I knew I needed a bit of an escape to help put things right again, and Ro's parents' apartment in sunny Florida was just the ticket. About two weeks ago we finally decided to go (I was on board the whole time, but I had to convince her), bought the tickets and took off last Friday. It was my first flight ever from Newark Airport and getting there for the 7 AM flight required a 3:30 AM wake-up call and waiting for a bus on 42nd Street in 11 degree weather. The trip was worth it though!

Kari & Ro in the Atlanta airport

The weather was phenomenal the entire time we were there, sticking to temperatures in the mid 80s. It also only rained once, which I guess is unusual for Florida. Ro and I spent our time on the beach relaxing. I used lots of sunscreen and an umbrella, which I don't normally do, and still managed to get a bit burnt. But as you know, I'm ok with that. :)

Every time I saw a television commercial for a restaurant in the two weeks leading up the trip, I mentally marked it down on my list of places for Ro and I to eat. Honestly, I don't eat out that often, which is a crying shame seeing as how I live in NYC and there are so many delicious places to try. Going on this trip not only gave me license to eat out every meal, but also to eat those meals at silly chain restaurants like IHOP. I highly recommend the Cinnamon Roll French Toast by the way. On Friday night we ate at the "Crazy Buffet", which was overflowing with sushi, sashimi, seafood and other yummies. I enjoyed the crab legs and the chocolate fountain, though not together.

I also got to hang out with my Uncle Brian, who's been living in Lake Worth for the last seven years. He lives within walking distance from the beach that Ro and I went to every day, which makes visiting Uncle Brian all the more appealing! He took me along to dinner at his friend Barbara's house. One of the other guests had brought the most delicious chocolate chip cookies!


A trip like this makes me wonder why it is that we have to be responsible and adult and have jobs? Wouldn't it be great if we could just lie on the beach all the time?

Martha!

Does anyone remember that I went to a conference in February and saw Martha Stewart deliver the keynote address? I finally got some pictures from one of the people who was sitting at my table, so here they are. Martha, up close and personal!

God bless air travel!

Sun, warmth, beaches, palm trees, fresh seafood...this must be heaven! Or just Florida. :-) Ronit and I arrived here yesterday afternoon and promptly spent 90 minutes laying out next to the pool by her parents' apartment. The weather is incredibly lovely and I can hardly believe that we were shivering on 42nd Street yesterday morning in 11 degree weather while waiting for the bus to the airport and this morning we are sitting outside in t-shirts and skirts, sipping our coffees. I am so grateful for air travel. I'll post pictures when I get back on Tuesday.