Day 98

December 12, 2009

Okay, so I'm starting my blog with exciting news! Maybe just to me, but oh well. Tonight, a few Steelers players come into work. I don't know who they are, so when I see a reservation under the name Willie, I  get excited--I'm thinking to myself, Oh my God, this is so funny. I get to call someone Mr. Willie! So, when a couple of the group members show up, I say, "Okay, party for Mr. Willie." I get the funny look. Then I seat them and they ask for a different table. I say, "I'm sorry, we don't have any. You'd have to wait about 30 to 45 minutes." They say the tables fine, so I leave.

Come to find out, it's not Mr. Willie. It's Willie Parker, the running back. Who would have thought? I got the vibe they were someone important. They were huge black dudes, (not to stereotype), that you knew weren't just body builders. I guess being raised around athletes, you can just tell when someone plays a certain sport.  Funny thing is, I'm as tall as he is! Haha! But he also has about seventy five pounds on me, literally. I looked up his stats! So, my friend's boyfriend is at the bar when he comes in, and he freaks out! Well, for Christmas, she bought a football for a couple of our regular NFL players to sign who come into the restaurant all the time. Well...as Kara likes to tell me, "Ashley, you have no shame. Will you ask for an autograph?" Sure, why not? I don't see the big deal, I think to myself.

Two of the members of the party head to the bar to check out some show on ESPN. I keep eyeballing them to get ones attention so I can ask for the autograph from their friend. I get the attention of a rather tall, rather muscular, I'd say, 6'3", tall man. I say, "I'm sorry to bother you, but my friend's boyfriend is a huge fan and would love to get some of the players' autographs. Do you think that would be a problem?" I smile, of course, thinking the whole time this guy's just a groupie! He says sure. Okay, so a while passes and they are all getting ready to leave. He tries to sneak by, but ha! I won't let him. I say, "Can you get him to sign?"

So, the gentlemen I spoke with got Willie Parker to sign the football, then he takes it and signs it. Okay, I think to myself, he must be a player too. Whatever. The more signatures the better, I guess. I get a look at the number he wrote next to his name. I come home, look him up, and guess who it is? Dennis Dixon, the backup QB! I'm so excited to be looking at the website right now! I call my brother immediately and tell him the good news! I actually talked to them! Pretty exciting!

Back to today. I did not get out of bed until...drum roll, please....one o'clock! Oh yes, call me lazy, I don't care! It's so nice to do nothing all morning. I've been working 14 hour days pretty much all this week. I'm not complaining, but relaxation is great! And tomorrow, I don't have to work, so it's going to be another great day of being a lazy bum! Next week is going to be ridiculously busy, so I need to catch up now!

I will say, I really enjoy the regulars that come into the restaurant. Seeing familiar faces in a city that's so big, on a daily basis, is really great. Especially, when they know your name! The lady from Sports New York came in tonight and she knows me on a first name basis. It's so nice because she is such a great woman and pleasant to talk to. It's comforting. Plus, the people that work at the restaurant are so nice; it gives you "warm fuzzies" to think about it. So, I know I sound a tad sentimental, but it's the holidays! You can't help it!

Note to self: Learn different cultures holiday traditions. Working in the restaurant industry, you see so much diversity. What do you say, "Happy Holidays?" "Happy Kwanzaa?" "Merry Christmas?" I have no idea. Do Asians celebrate Christmas? I think so, but I don't know. I don't want to say anything, then offend someone. I would be the one to say "Merry Christmas" to a bunch of Jewish people. Or, I'd be the one to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to people from the United Kingdom. So, stick with "Happy Holidays."

Brett Visit: Day 5

We start out today with our coffee using the filters I bought. We took the cups with us and had Starbucks refill them with their Christmas blend, which was so good. We had to stay close to Ashley's apartment because our thanksgiving meats are on the way.

This is where I notice how cheap that Ashley really is. Unless it is close to free or 300 dollars she will not even look at it. Nothing in between, I don’t know why but nothing in the middle. Me on the other hand, if I like something or I want it, I spare no expense. We were talking about how cheap she was and opposite I was from that. I made a comment that “I like to make it rain,” and she came back with “I don’t even like to make it sprinkle.” Lol I thought that was funny.

After shopping we head to Sports New York. Ashley met the talent coordinator from the network and got a hookup for a backstage look and we got to set in on a live broadcast. I was so excited for this. We get there and it looks awesome. We check in like VIP and the lady comes and gets us. First we get to look at the control room and I don’t know how they have “control” in that room. There is so many buttons and TVs that I couldn’t keep track of them. We met the broadcasters and sat right behind the cameras as they were live. It was so cool to see how much detail they put into every angel. The camera coordinator works like a movie director. Fixings every small thing and changing camera angels constantly.

The broadcast was four men at a round table talking about all the sports stories and giving their opinions. It was so cool. It reminded me of being with my friends and talking about sports, except these guys make bank to do it. We also got to meet Damien Woody, an offensive lineman for the Jets. That was pretty cool. He was a beast. Too bad they didn’t have Mark Sanchez there; that would have just been too much. Overall, I thought that was so incredible to see what actually happens during a sports show. Thank you, Ashley, for that opportunity.

On our way to Little Italy, we walk through Bryant Park. It was like the Iowa State Fair but shops instead of food. They had all kinds of stores and a holiday feel to it. It was really neat. They had every kind of knick knack you could think of. One lady melted down liquor and beer bottles to made vases out of them. And one stand had all different flavors of oil and vinegars that you could sample with bread.

When we get to Little Italy it is smaller than I thought it would be. But it did not disappoint. It looked like I thought it would, like you would expect. It had the Italian restaurants, the shops, the dark haired Italians. It just had the Italy essence. I love Italian food and I could not wait to eat. This is the one place I wanted to eat at before I came back home. As we look for a place to eat, I caught myself gazing at all of the buildings and marveled on how genuine this place was. We finally pick a restaurant. This is hard because every place has an Italian in front trying to talk you in to eating at their place. We decided on Giovanna’s. They offered us free wine and we stepped in.

There was live music and the place looked legit. I looked at the menu just to see what they had. I already knew what I was getting but I wanted to look any way. The food they had sounded fabulous. We ordered our food and had an olive oil and bread appetizer which was very good. Our wine came with that and I almost gagged when I drank it. I don’t like red wine. I ordered manicotti and Ashley got lasagna. It was the best manicotti I have ever had. And Ashley's lasagna was the best lasagna I've had. The food was second to none, just like I was hoping. Next we got desert. Ashley got a canola and I was looking and seen spumoni. And the first thing I thought of was the movie Semi-Pro. Will Ferrell fights a bear and his safe word is spumoni. So I had to try it. It was an Italian ice cream that was half vanilla and half banana with tiny bits of fruit in it laying atop the filling that is in the canola. It was very good. So was Ashley's canola. I couldn’t have asked for a better meal or a better experience of Little Italy than the one we had.

Day 79

November 24, 2009

What a great day! It’s a jam-packed day of shopping, food, and sports! We start our morning like every other…with a nice cup of homemade coffee.  Let me just tell you, thank God for mom sending me a coffee maker and coffee. Brett and I use it daily to get us going in the morning!

Today, we wait around for our Thanksgiving boxes because they have frozen food in them. They don’t come for a while, and of course, I get inpatient. So, we leave. We stay around Midtown because guess what? The talent coordinator from Sports New York e-mailed me and set Brett and I up for a tour and the chance to sit in on a live broadcast at 5:00! Brett is way pumped and I am too! The broadcaster is beautiful! ;)

But onto serious business—shopping. I take Brett to stores we don’t have in Iowa. What’s the point of shopping at stores you have at home? Let’s make his money worthwhile! I am the cheapest person alive, and Brett’s not. Needless to say, he got quite irritated with me because I wouldn’t spend $30 on a shirt. I told him, “You just wait until you have to pay your own bills and it’s either $30 for a shirt, or a weeks worth of groceries!” I’ve become quite practical since hitting the real world. I want to go back to where money was no object! Ya’ know, when I was about seven! =)

Anyways, we get some great stuff! Now it’s time to head to Sports New York! We get there and she shows us the control room, which is insane! It seems so confusing and intense. I have some friends at Drake that are studying broadcast journalism, so all I could think of was them when we were standing in the room with thousands of buttons, head sets, and flat screen tv’s all along one wall! We meet the broadcasters and we head into the newsroom.

It’s a broadcast of the “round table.” A group of four guys sit around, talking about the Jets, Knicks, and the Mets. They also make general statements about other teams and about the sports in general. The whole time, out of the corner of my eye, I see Brett nodding or shaking his head whenever the broadcasters make a comment. He is totally in his element and loving it! We also get to meet Damien Woody—a linebacker for the Jets. He is huge! All I could think of was, Well hell, if this beast of a man was running at me, I’d throw the ball away too and run like hell! Now I know why quarterbacks are always sliding under the tackle. They’re not wimps, they’re smart! Why do men feel the need to put themselves in a position where another can crush your bones with one swift swipe? No way! I think I’ll stick to cheerleading! ;)

After SNY, we head to Little Italy. We make a pit stop at Bryant Park where there is a holiday pop-up shopping area, if you will. Stores from around the city make a pop-up store in the middle of the park, where they sell everything from bath and beauty products, to jewelry, to candles, to vases blown from liquor and beer bottles. Check out their website! We get some pretty nice Christmas gifts! Check us out on the carousel. I had a rabbit, Brett had a frog! Hehe!

Now…we are on our way to a part of town where Brett is going to be in heaven—Little Italy! The one eating area he had to go to while visiting! Little Italy has shrunk in size over the years, so you only have about a six block stretch of Italian restaurants, bakeries, cheese shops, cigar shops, and souvenir stores. Now, six blocks sounds like a ways, but in Little Italy and the Village areas in general, the blocks are the same size as they are in Iowa. They get smaller the farther downtown you go. Yay! That’s good news!

So, we make our walk up and down the streets, perusing menus and being hassled by Italian, mafia men in their polyester suits and slicked back hair. Yes, they really do like the people in the movies! We land on Giovanna’s Restaurant. They offer us a free glass of wine! How can you pass that up? Okay, all I can say about the food—YUM-O! So amazing! Brett got his traditional manicotti and I had lasagna. Check out the pictures below! It was fun! It’s a small, quaint restaurant, with a live singer. She was singing love songs, so every time she walked past our table, we both put our head down because we didn’t want her coming over and singing to us like we were dating. Awkward.

 

Dessert was just as good! Again, check out the pictures! I had a homemade cannoli and Brett had Spumoni. He got it because of some movie quote him and his buddies always say. It was pretty good, but my cannoli was better!

 

It was such a good day! Brett had most of his “must dos” accomplished in today’s series of events! It was great! Tomorrow is a big day, so we go back and get some rest. We still didn’t get home until late, but it was all worth it!

Note to self: Watch more movies to learn movie quotes. When your brother only has conversations with you, where his vocabulary consists of movie quotes only, you need to be able to follow. When you spend more time saying, “I don’t know where that’s from,” you know you have a lot of catching up to do. Or simply, your brother needs a life! =)