Cuy and Me

Now as much as I mock it, there are things that I really do love about New York.  I love the city.  And pizza.  And bagels.  I also love that you can find almost anything here. 

Case in point:

 
This, friends, is a cuy.  A Super Cuy, apparently.  Look closely.

Yep, that's a guinea pig.  Known in Ecuador as cuy (pronounced cuh-wee).  It's a traditional food there.  Think about the noise that the guinea pig in your first grade class made.  You know, "cuy, cuy, cuy."

I'm sure y'all think I'm a sicko, which is true.  But I have a point.  See, Mr. Snoop and I were on a hunt for our Christmas Eve tamales when we found our friend Super Cuy.  We couldn't find the Mexican-style tamales that we wanted (skinny with goodies inside, not just masa, in case you were wondering).  But then we found the frozen Super Cuy.  See, you can find anything in New York.

The best part is that my brother just returned from Ecuador that same day, where he ate cuy.  So we sent him that pic to welcome him home.  My parents had just visited him and they ate cuy while they were there.  (We're a whole family of sickos, obviously).  In fact, my sister is now the only one, minus Mr. Snoop, who has not eaten cuy.

Here's little college age Snoop circa 2005, eating her very own portion of Super Cuy in Ecuador:

 In case you can't tell, I'm holding his little hand.

If you're still reading, I'm sorry.

cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy cuy

Mr. Snoop is Famous

True story.

Mr. Snoop was putting together his resume on Monday.  For residencies.  Yes, already.  Cue panic attack about control issues... now.  Back when we lived in Nashville (where I was in grad school), Mr. Snoop worked at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute.  One of the major perks was that he got this awesome tshirt with cartoon eyeballs running across the back.  Less importantly, he learned how to draw blood.  Phlebotomy, shlebotomy.  The cartoon eyeball tshirt is way better.

Anywho, in his free time, Mr. Snoop volunteered at the Vanderbilt hospital, which he really enjoyed.  For the purposes of his resume, he had forgotten what the position was called, so he went on their website to check it out.  Whence he found this:

Hey Mr. Snoop.  Nice guns.  Nifty vest.  Hottie.

I told you he was famous.  You can check him out here.

Solstice

When the sun sets at 4:29pm, I find it best to...

1.  Throw a temper tantrum about how dark it is as soon as I get home.

2.  Pout and whine until I decide to make myself happier in the following ways.

* Eventually put on my big girl pants in the form of a super glamorous outfit like this one:

Mr. Snoop on this outfit: "Ohhh... I see that you're going to a baby shower and don't know if it is a boy or a girl"

* Wrap a gift.  Wrapping presents is my spiritual gift.  Mr. Snoop's spiritual gift is lifting heavy objects.  Did you know that?

In this case, it is a known quantity that the baby is a boy.  Baby Jack!

* Make cookies whilst watching Bones.

* Hot chocolate with Baileys Irish Cream.

....How do you deal with the dark?

Have y'all ever seen...

... a black squirrel?

I guess they are more common in the Great White North.  My cousin Katie (hi Katie, start a blog!) says there were tons of them when she went to Canada.

We had one visit over the weekend.  Here it is tempting Shammy Boy through the window:

While black squirrels are significantly cuter than their brown relatives, I still agree with Carrie Bradshaw:

"A squirrel is just a rat in a cuter outfit!"

Amen, Carrie.

Surviving Winter: Part 2

In addition to the cold, yankee winters are miserable because everything is dead.  Everything.  So it is totally gray and dreary.  Not to get all cheeseball, but I had a totally new appreciation for Easter and "new life" after my first winter up here.  Because from November to early April there is nary a live green thing in sight.  I guess there are evergreen trees and bushes, but even they look depressed.

Last fall I brought this geranium (above) up to my office from our yard before it froze.  And she LOVES it here.  She must be Presbyterian.  My office is awesome for many reasons, not least of which is that there are two south-facing windows that get great all day sun.  It is so nice to walk in out of the snow and see something alive, green, and blooming.  Not to mention that I adore geraniums.  Or any other big, dramatic flower for that matter.  Hydrangeas, rhododendrons, etc. 

So there's my second surviving winter tip: Get a pet plant!

Surviving Winter: Part 1

I hate the cold.  A lot.  Like I throw total toddler-style temper tantrums about how cold it is.  Obviously, winter in the Great White North presents some serious issues for me.  Part of the problem with winter up here is that it is freakin long.  Like cold from October to April, long.  No leaves on the trees for six months, long.  The sun goes down at 4:00.  See photo evidence, taken out my office window yesterday at 4:00:

I can sort of deal with the cold right now because it is the Christmas season.  After that, it stops being festive and cute.  Then it is just dreary.  In an effort to remind myself that I can make it til May, I'll be posting about how to survive my third winter as a Texan in New York.  God help me.

Winter Survival Trick #1

This fall, I found these lovelies at Nordstrom Rack for $7.  They are fleece-lined and come in tights and leggings.  I'm hoping they'll be the answer to my prayers this winter:

I got 2 pairs of the tights and 2 pairs of the leggings.



Do you like the cold?  How do you make it through these dark months?

Weekend Snapshots

1.  Keely generously shared her super fun girlfriends for the weekend.  On Saturday, I tagged along with them to the city for some shopping and drinking.  We went to the Union Square Holiday Market, which was cray-cray but something I'd definitely recommend if you are in New York around Christmas.  Lots of cool stuff, like this cat, which I creepily molested.  Just doin' what I do best. 

Hi Heather.  I stole your picture.

Then we went to Rosa Mexicana for a late lunch and lots and lots of sangria.  After which Keely and I may or may not have performed a few sangria-fueled routines of "Jingle Bell Rock," Mean Girls-style on the street and in the subway. 

2.  That night, Mr. Snoop and I babysat for our neighbors/landlords/friends.  I painted fingernails like ladybugs and Mr. Snoop, well.... this is what happens when Mr. Snoop babysits.  Sorry about the blurry pic but I don't want to reveal any identities/faces of kids because I am a paranoid freak about internet creepers.

Pillow slam!

Don't you think he should be a pediatrician?  He could fix all the arms he breaks doing this kind of stuff.

3.  Sunday was a work day, por supuesto.  I had a gigantic turnout for a family Gingerbread House event I held and am still recovering from:

Some of the magnificent creations.

What was your weekend like?

Painted Ornament Craft

I don't know if I've told y'all this, but Mr. Snoop is not only a medical student, he is also getting his Masters of Public Health.  Because medical school is not hellish enough as is.  Anywho, I'm really super proud of him, but the MPH means that he has classes at night in addition to his rotations.  The other night, instead of sitting on my butt and watching the E! True Hollywood Story: Casey Anthony, I decided to sit on my butt and watch the E! True Hollywood Story: Casey Anthony while making a crafty craft. 

Here's what I made.  For the record, these are not any of yall's Christmas gifts, but I think they'd make pretty good gifts: easy and cheap.  Using the Michael's 40% off coupons, making 12 ornaments was under $10.  Can't beat it.  At least in Nueva York.

1. Start with a clear glass ornament.  Like so.  I got mine from Michael's on sale, yo.  (rhymes!)

2.  Then take some paint.  Also from Michael's.  The Great White North has severely limited craft store options.  Oh how I miss you, Hobby Lobby.  I used glitter, obviously.  Why wouldn't you?

3. Take the tops off your ornaments (girls gone wild!) and then dump a bloop of your paint in the ornament.  I don't have a picture of this step because I needed two hands.  Swirl the bloop of paint around your ornament till it coats all sides.  This takes a little while.  I found that tapping the ornament in the palm of your hand helps spread out the paint.

4.  Then turn the ornament upside down on your crappy free local newspaper and repeat:

A lot of the paint will slide out of the ornaments.  That's ok, it's all part of the process.  You might want to move the ornaments around every so often so that they don't get glued to the paper by globs of paint.  I let them dry overnight and they looked like this in the morning:

If you want your ornaments to have a more intense color, add a second coat once they have dried.  And then swirl:

Here's what you can do with them once they've dried and you put the top back on...

If I were giving these as a gift, here's how I'd package them... 

- In those little six-pack egg cartons with cute wrapping paper or even just a little ribbon  

- Wrap one or two in a cellophane bag with a cute ribbon

- Use as an accessory for bows when you wrap gifts

- Nest in a cute tin with rafia.

Enjoy!

Portraiture

One of my (many) favorite things about my job is the wide variety of ages I get to work with.  Not many people in education get to work closely with ages 3 to 18, so I definitely consider myself lucky.  For comparison purposes, here is some relatively recent artwork I have been gifted.  Get ready, y'all.  You're about to see some talent.

From the Middle School Age Group:

By "M"

This is me.  Obviously.  Why would I show you art with anything else as the subject?  M had a little kit where you choose face shape, hair, outfits, etc and trace them.  So she replicated my entire outfit that day, down to my favorite gold Kate Spade flats, which I'm sure many of you recognized.  And the cardigan.  Duh.  Also, I prefer to stand and walk in the above pose.  At all times.

From the Preschool age group:

By "S"



As if you had to guess, this is also a portrait of moi.  As a mermaid, obviously.  S clearly intuited the many afternoons I spent in my best friend's pool pretending to be a mermaid when I was a kid.  Please note that S is right on target with my current hairdo.  Such perceptiveness is truly moving.

I hope y'all have enjoyed the lovely art.  What can I say, receiving portraits is one of many perks!