Sunday was Lizzie's birthday dinner at Lebanon's Cafe, and then we took her back to Steph's apartment to "surprise" her with the cake that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM! T'was fun.
I don't remember what I did on Monday besides go to classes, so I guess it couldn't have been all that exciting?
I love my Tuesday schedule: Terrorism class, lunch with Tara, my awesome screenwriting class, and dinner with Ben. I went with him and Katy to a late showing of Children of Men, which was awesome.
I still want to see other Academy Award nominated films like Pan's Labyrinth, to see what everyone loves about it so much, and Babel, to see what everyone except for The Academy hates about it so much.
Helen Mirren deserves to win for best actress.
Children of Men deserves to win for cinematography.
I don't know how I did everything I did this Friday: I went to all four of my classes, went to the gym, helped Wes move (and thus saw the trailer park modular housing for the first and last time), went to happy hour with Lizzie et al, got crepes for "dinner" with Becca and Leah, went to our spring break vacation planning meeting, went with the Pitt St. Pretties to Ian's improv comedy show, watched a little Almost Famous with the girls, and then passed out.
Saturday was laidback. I went to the grocery with Leah and Becca. I don't know what I did the four hours between that and my nap. I had dinner and then saw The Queen, which was better than I expected, with Rachel and Tara. Then a bunch of Lizzie's dearest friends went barhopping for her birthday. St. Joe's, Monkey Hill, F&M's... The Boot and The Palms were both too packed.
Thursday morning I had my last advisor meeting ever! Emma says I'm all set for graduation.
The day was pretty chill. I had my one class, ate lunch with Tara (and Rachel), and then studied and napped the afternoon away.
Shannon, Stephanie, Lauren, and I went to 80s Night to meet up with Bryan and his crew. I haven't seen One Eyed Jacks SO packed with SO many people dancing since sophomore year.
And of course, "The Queen of 80s Night," Lauren of the Spectacular Boobs made an appearance and the bouncer, of course, personally welcomed her back.
"Don't worry. No one looks sweaty, just a little naked."
There was also a guy dressed up as everyone's favorite Transformer. He must be a Madonna fan. He got on stage for her two songs:
Optimus Prime got a playoffs paintjob.
I think the standard for the rest of the Thursdays of this last semester has been set very high.
Disney hired Annie Leibowitz to photograph her famous friends as classic Disney icons. These two portraits debuted in this morning's USA Today, and more are appearing this March in various magazines.
Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella... if it's not obvious
It wasn't off to the greatest start but turned a complete 180.
I walked into adolescent psychology about five minutes late, and Professor Cunningham asked" Having trouble with that door, Andrew? Might help if you came to class more often."
Fantastic.
Then at the end of class when he's about to let us out early and people are looking for the sign-in: "I have the attendance sheet. You're all here today anyway. Andrew's like 'damn, the one day I come to class he doesn't pass it around.'"
Sometimes it doesn't pay to know teachers on a first-name basis.
However this evening Whitney's mom, a very sweet lady and (for those of you who know her) Miss Molly's goddaughter, took a few of her friends to dinner at Upperline. I've wanted to go for a long time now, and it exceeded my expectations. Extremely delicious.
We started with drinks and appetizers: Duck and andouille ettouffée with corn cakes and pepper jelly, crispy spicy Louisiana oysters, and "the original" fried green tomatos with shrimp remoulade.
For my entree I had Tom Cowman's Famous Roast Duck and, at the suggestion of Miss JoAnn, the owner, sampled both the garlic port and ginger peach sauces. She was right. Both spectacular (the garlic port a little more so, I thought) but the duck was so perfect that it didn't really need either.
We were so full by dessert but anyway split a slice of pecan pie a la mode and their honey-pecan bread pudding with toffee sauce.
Take that, critics who say I've stopped writing about food.
Then we did pints at The Bulldog and brought home too many glasses.
The past few days have been more catchin' up with friends while goin' out to eat, but I received some riveting news this morning. Carter is officially comin' down for Mardi Gras. In the unlikely event you don't remember him (or even more unlikely event you don't know Peter and me) he's the pirate on the right. So excited I just can't hide it!
The reunion of the brothers of Alpha Pi Chi is not far away.
AND if that's not thrilling enough, an hour later I found out that not only have the lovely Gisela "No Longer A Ho If She Comes To Mardi Gras" Lopez and Mikey, Mr. "I'm Just Having Fun," himself hung out since I introduced them in Chicago... but they are also both comin' down for Mardi Gras! It will be like this but less chill and more Patron.
Photo courtesy of Mike Kunen
Less than a month until Fat Tuesday. Be there or be sober.
So last night I went to dinner with Shannon "Who Wants Me? Everybody." Will and some of her friends. We went to Byblos because we'd both never been before. While waiting for her friends, I tried a bowl of the crab and corn bisque while she opted for some of what I call Shan-Nectar (Malibu and pineapple juice). Delicious. The two of us split a lightly fried crab and eggplant cake topped with parmesan sauce and lump crab meat for an appetizer and then for entrees the Byblos Pasta and a plate of baba ghanoush, lebna, mujadarah, and maybe the best moussaka I've ever had.
(Someone complained about lack of food detail in previous entries?)
Also kind of funny was I saw Katie (who lived on Butler 3 freshman year and whom I hadn't seen in ages) at Byblos and then saw her boyfriend RJ (Butler 2 and also hadn't seen in ages) at the party later. RJ told me a funny story. Ask about it if you want.
David, the six chicks, and what seemed like a thousand familiar faces, most of them drunk, went to the Tulane Ornithological Society's "Bird Flu Party" to get our "vaccinations." Good times. This following photo is courtesy of Lauren Mitchell:
Lauren, Whitney, David, and I were literally the last to leave. We stopped by The Boot for pizza, where we Adrian and company and where Whit apparently gave herself third-degree burns from eating too-hot pizza too-fast?
Today was pretty laidback. I studied for a bit, and Lizzie and I motivated each other to go to the gym. (I met a Gonzaga '01 grad named Chris who's here for med school. Recognition by athletic shorts.) Tonight we finally watched Showgirls for the half of us who haven't seen it and the other half who wanted to subject others to the experience. This following photo is courtesy of The Artist Formerly Known As Jesse Spano and was a moment we found controversial:
½ cup nonfat milk 3/4 of a banana 1 scoop (28g) vanilla whey protein powder 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter 2 squares (20 g) dark chocolate 4 ice cubes
Blend until smooth. It's a pint-size serving.
Amount Per Serving
625 Calories (244 Calories from Fat)
24.5g Total Fat (7.5g Saturated Fat) 55mg Cholesterol 301mg Sodium 85mg Potassium 57g Total Carbohydrates (8g Dietary Fiber, 33.5g Sugars) 38g Protein
Percent Daily Values
Vitamin A 9% Vitamin C 27% Vitamin D 12.5% Calcium 33% Iron 13%
I've been back for a few days now spending my time by hanging out, catching up, eating and, of course, drinking with friends. My final Tulane class schedule (pending a possible drop) is screenwriting, long calculus II, introduction to popular music, ethics, adolescent psychology, and domestic and international terrorism.
Late night at The Boot - Lizzie thinks I look like Adrian in this picture. I think it's the eyes. After all, we are brothers.
After the gym, Mike and I took staggered returns to and showers at his apartment. We went to dinner with Gisela at this Asian place called Ping Pong. It was delicious. They’re BYOB, so we picked up a bottle of wine (no hints of leather or tobacco, Tara) and ate the little trio of Asian snacks they serve while you wait for a table. We shared a tuna sashimi dip, and Mike had the most delicious vegetable soup ever. The three of us ordered their signature “ping pong” chicken with veggies and walnuts, shrimp fried with fresh mangos, and tofu in a spicy hoisin sauce (which was so good it could have been eaten with just plain rice). We actually had dessertbefore our meal since there was a twenty-minute wait. I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was soft-serve ice cream with toppings mixed in. (McFlurries but better.) That was Gisela’s contribution to the evening. “We should have dessert first, while we wait, because we’ll have wine at dinner and after, and you can’t have ice cream after you’ve been drinking.” Mike’s response: “I like the way you think!” After that we did some more barhopping.
Leaving Chicago (and Mikey and ‘Sela) was really hard especially when both of them individually said some variation of “No, stay. It’s too soon. Don’t leave!”
Chicago was awesome. I really enjoyed myself. The only con is that it was cold. Sorry, New York. I think Chicago’s pizza and hot dogs are better. I miss the lifestyle there already. Lucky for me, Mike and Gisela (together even) and Viralyne are all supposed to come to Mardi Gras, so I won’t have to miss them too much. I guess I just have to miss David since he’s sooo far away, and I rarely see him.
Back here at home, I went to Lacoste in Georgetown with my Dad to buy him Adrian’s and my very-belated Christmas gift. We went to the nearby Benihana right after for their Endless Sushi Lover’s special. (Basically all-you-can-eat made-to-order sushi.)
This morning we went to mass at St. Mary’s, the parish for the school I went to for junior high. Wow, memories. Everything looks exactly the same as I remember. Then after that we went to Murphy’s Irish Pub for lunch. Fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and of course corned beef and cabbage. They even have Smithwick’s on tap. I thought of Chicago again because when we left all the Bears fans were coming in to watch the game. We hit up Cold Stone right after to get some dessert. (I recommend the after-dinner-mint. It’s dark chocolate peppermint ice cream with chocolate shavings, marshmallows, and Oreos.) And of course, we had to stop by Chipotle because a burrito was on the list Adrian told me of things to bring back for him.
When I got home, Adrian came over and picked up his stuff and then I went to dinner with the girls and my roommates. Reginelli’s was actually not out of any ingredients. Amazing. Even more amazing (I don’t remember how) was Stephanie saying something about how the combination of raw fish and nudity didn’t go well together. (In Chicago, David and I were talking about the eat-of-a-naked-woman, $500-all-you-can-eat-sushi-for-four-people sushi place. We needed two more people who were not Viralyne or Gisela, and I suggested Lauren and Steph.) They were surprisingly uninterested?
We’re about to go out for our requisite Sunday-Before-Classes-Drunkfest, so this update ends abruptly.
Pictures of New Year’s, Chicago, and tonight coming soon. For now, here’s a video of the KA House burning down over break. (Apparently ZBT did also. The fires were unrelated.)
Coming at you live from Mikey’s iBook in his Lincoln Park apartment, it’s an update! I know... I’m surprised too.
So I get to National Airport and the flight to Pittsburgh is delayed. The ground attendant is pretty dumb and unhelpful the entire time and then proceeds to pull me and the other four people with connections off the plane right before it takes off because she says we won’t make our connections. Turns out she’s wrong but we’re off the plane when it taxis and takes off. Luckily another, competent, helpful guy shows up and rebooks me, telling me he’s booked a direct flight to Chicago that arrives there even earlier than I was supposed.
When I got here, Mike was still at his internship, so I just walked around the shops in the neighborhood, particularly Broadway. (I think it’s funny that he lives next to another street called Broadway, which has little resemblance to Tulane’s frat row.) I went to New Kyoto for lunch and got their “signature hamachi roll.” It’s hamachi (aka yellowtail tuna), eel, shrimp tempura, and spicy mustard. What makes it their signature, I suppose, is that they wrap it all in scallops and then torch it (think crème brulee) but only a little so the scallops seem lightly grilled rare. Delicious.
After that I went to Bobtail Soda Fountain because Gisela recommended it, and one of “the nicest (soda) jerks in town” told me Thursday is Root Beer Float Day, so I got one of those. It was awesome to see so many people of all ages coming to get ice cream despite the cold.
After that I went to Argo Tea Café (a tea shop, as opposed to a coffee shop) to do some reading and got a “teapuccino,” Earl Grey and frothed milk.
Mike finished work, so we went to his apartment to freshen up and stuff and then went barhopping with Gisela! Lots of fun times. I don’t remember the names of the places we went, but both Mikey and ‘Sela said it would be a chill night because they had work in the morning. After several cocktails and shots, we ended up staying out until two in the morning. Mike and I then decided it would be a great time for my first Chicaco Dog so we went to Clark St Hot Dog.
This morning we got up at 6AM to go to Clarke’s, spelled like Ryanne not like the hot dog, for omelettes. You know there’s few meals I love more than breakfast at a diner. Then while Mike went to work I continued to sleep.
I got up and showered and made a presentable second impression (as opposed to the drunken first one) on Mike’s roommate Preet and his girlfriend Erica, who both seem really nice and chill.
Then I went off with David and Viralyne on a tour of the city! Luckily David has his priorities straight, so we went to Giordano’s for their “special” (sausages, onions, mushrooms, and peppers) deep-dish pizza. And then we saw (in David-speak) “the bean thing,” “[his] fountain,” the art institute, “the face things,” the Chicago Tribune building with the cool rocks from different historic landmarks around the world (e.g. Taj Mahal), “Hale Someone, I don’t know who he is but he looks important because he has this thing named after him,” the river, and Magnificent Mile (the shopping street). We got some Garrett’s caramel crisp popcorn to munch on along the way.
I just got back from printing out my tickets for tomorrow, and now I’m off to the gym to work out with Mike so we can eat more tonight.
I've been pretty bad at updating since the new year, but I promise that will change when I get back to school. New Year's was fun. The theme was "come as your drink." (We each brought the appropriate ingredients, and theoretically, dressed like the cocktail.) So far the quest for a Wii to play the Zelda game my brother gave me for Christmas has been unsuccessful. I let Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic take over my life for a few days, but I've beaten it. I've been hanging out with Ludovic a good amount, I went Georgetown barhopping with the Pats the other week, and I got to catch up with Marguerite (I was her prom date in senior year of high school) at a small get-together my brother had for her sister and his other ex-girlfriends and friends. Good times. Tonight is back-to-back Top Chef episodes that I haven't seen, packing, and then going to bed for my rather impromptu trip to Chicago tomorrow morning. There will be, at the least, pictures of the past month when I get back although I'm not sure if I'll update from here Saturday night or from back at school Sunday or Monday.
Helen Mirren deserves to win for best actress.
Children of Men deserves to win for cinematography.
Lauren, Whitney, David, and I were literally the last to leave. We stopped by The Boot for pizza, where we Adrian and company and where Whit apparently gave herself third-degree burns from eating too-hot pizza too-fast?
