Cancer Stinks

So we all know how much I am enjoying nesting after years of being on the road living my crazy actor life. So along with this of course comes a slight obsession with HGTV.  Who are we kidding? Slight=addicted. Anyways, my new favorite show is Cousins on Call, a family run business right here in our neighborhood!

They are two, dare I say, handsome but not as handsome as my husband cousins who transform, redesign and renovate spaces in my area of Northern Jersey.  I tuned into them when hurricane Sandy hit us here in Jersey and they went out and helped so many families in need. 

 Ellen DeGeneres singled them out to help these first responders who had just bough a new home when it was destroyed.

Well, the episode I just watched transformed me.
They went into the home of a cancer survivor, hold your breath, 12 year old Nicholas Tarabokia and his little brother Ryan to give them the basement of their dreams and a space to run their company.
Yes, he is the CEO of

Cancer Stinks.
Cancer Stinks Children’s Foundation’s mission is to bring joy, comfort and to help improve the quality of life of children and their families affected by cancer through advocacy, charity and support.

I have a very hard time understanding why children have to suffer. Wrapping my head around a child going though cancer makes my heart break. I was bawling though the whole episode of course, but actually not because of his suffering, but because of his resilience, positivity, maturity and generosity. Why can't we all be like him?
Let's try.
I would love to take the opportunity to direct you all to their webpage and Facebook page. Please be on the lookout for repeats of the episode....these two boys have the best personalities and make you quickly realize how silly all our little problems are when you see what they have gone through. 

Donate HERE

Like their page HERE

Like Cousins on Call HERE

Veggie Buddha Bowl with Peanut Sauce

Easiest lunch ever coming from a snowy afternoon in NYC.

So tasty, so simple and a nice change from soup salad and sandwich. Low Calorie, low fat, vegan and gluten free. ALSO, for those of you who are saying to me, Adriana I can't afford to go gluten free I say, go to a local Asian market or grocery store. The noodles and sauce are dirt cheap AND you will be supporting a local family business. Ok? Ok.

Don't really think too hard about these portions. If you want more corn, add more. This is all about throwing a bunch of ingredients together and experimenting with your taste buds.

1 package Asian rice noodles
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup corn
1/4 cup onion
1 cup red pepper
Asian peanut sauce-add to taste

Cook noodles according to packaging. Cook and heat veggies according to packaging. Mix it all up and top with the sauce. That's it! I told you this was easy. Enjoy. :)

Razzed by Razza

Brick oven pizza has come to Jersey City in fine, fine form. 

Razza is a new vegetarian (without bragging about it) BOP restaurant down the street from us.

Kale Caesar Salad. 

What?? I am not a kale fan, but with the Caesar dressing, freshly grated Parmesan and home made croutons it was actually quite tasty.  Jason thought it might have been marinated in the dressing.  Hmmm...these are deep thoughts. I am definitely going to be trying this out at home. I need more ways to love this dark green magical veggie.

Pizza of the night? Pumpkin Pie Pizza. You had me at pumpkin pie. Pizza.

Ingredients: roasted garlic, butternut squash, mozzarella and basil. Heaven.

Sorry for the picture quality, and quantity of food. You can see my husband's eager fingers...half the pizza was gone before I got a chance to take a pic of it whole.  yum yum in my tum tum.

Don't Cry for me Argentinian Tapas

Alma 33 in the west village was our Groupon date night activity. I wore my leather jacket I had made in Argentina by accident (or was it?) even though it was a lovely unseasonably warm and beautifully balmy evening out.

On the menu for the Campbells:    
Pintxos De Entraña steak skewers with chimichurri

Tabla De Embutidos selection of cured meats with pickles and olives		Tabla De Quesos selection of cheeses with homemade confit and jam

Calamares A La Romana fried calamari with salsa alma 33 (salsa chimichurri & spicy marinara sauce) Tartara De Ternera prime hand-cut beef with reggianito chips, quilmes foam and raw quail egg

All that and two glasses of Argentinian Malbec and we were feeling like we were back in Argentina again!

goofing off in buenos aires...

J'adore le cuisine de Satis

Satis Bistro 

Got to love finding another little gem in our new hood especially when it comes in the form of a tapas french restaurant where you can bring in your own bottle of wine.  The brunch menu was pretty perfect on this crisp fall Saturday afternoon.

I appreciate a bistro with ambiance and immediately started stealing ideas for our little piece of heaven that we continue to renovate.

 Love the rustic angled mirrors, vintage cluster of mismatched picture frames, canvas pillows, and chandeliers.

Our food of choice:

The poached eggs focaccia crostini served with basil hollindaise sauce and candied orange ricotta stuffed french toast.

YUM!

On the ferry with Jerry and Touristy fun

Took the New York Waterway for the first time with Jason's friend Jerry Stiller. 

Jason worked with Jerry on the movie he did last spring...what's that you say you don't see him? He's in the back, last row, behind the last row, and he's not the one wearing a hat. Go ahead and groan, it's my blog.

As you can see Jason and I observe downtown with excitement...

To get to Lombardis, the first pizzeria in the USA 

and the greatest rice pudding boutique ever. 

Are there other rice pudding boutiques? I don't know but this one is pretty bodacious. I'm so excited to bring back the word bodacious.

Amen to the Rice to Riches motto for life:

We pretty much always do this day of activities when we have visitors so.... COME OVER!!!

Oh fondue, I love you too

I really enjoy living in an area where I can support local restaurants most of the time and also satisfy the occasional craving for one of those national chains with a short walk. Do you know who's from Hoboken, New Jersey? Frank Sinatra.  Do you know his favorite place to eat there? Melting Pot.
Weeeellll....maybe not but it's mine.

On the Menu:


Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue
Fontina and Butterkäse cheeses, spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic
California Salad
Mixed-baby-salad greens, Roma tomatoes, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese with Raspberry Black Walnut Vinaigrette.
Steak, chicken and seafood fondues in Mojo-Caribbean-seasoned bouillon with a distinctive fresh-garlic flavor and a citrus flair
 With these toppings:
Curry-A mild, yogurt-based curry that complements fresh vegetables and salmon.
Green Goddess-A blend of cream cheese, sour cream, onions, chives and parsley that is great on vegetables and makes an excellent stuffed mushroom.
Gorgonzola Port-A rich and robust cheese sauce that pairs well with filet mignon and fresh vegetables.
Teriyaki Glaze -A teriyaki glaze with garlic, ginger and onions.  Outstanding on our steak items.
Ginger Plum-Our own unique recipe with red and green bell peppers, ginger and just a hint of plum that is delicious on chicken and shrimp.

But the cookies cream de la cream was dessert:

Cookies 'n Cream Marshmallow Dream
Dark chocolate topped with marshmallow cream, flambéed, swirled together and garnished with crushed Oreo cookies

Mouth watering yet? I stuffed myself so much don't think I ate for two days after that meal. More like two hours but who's counting...calories??? I'll go to the gym tomorrow. Riiiiight.

Women who rock at Rockinghorse Cafe

 Oh Ithaca...you really are forever. Haven't seen my girl Erica in, oh at least five years and before that maybe graduation, but the best part about my girls from IC is that we just pick up where we left off. 

So, so good to finally re-unite with this gorgeous, charismatic lady. Years go by, things happen, let me tell you things happen, but after a couple of these:

Pomegranate margaritas. Uh...YUM!

chips, salsa and organic Mexican food at the Rockinghorse Cafe

..it feels just like the good old days in Ford lobby again.  Without the brown bag Subway lunches.  Not that there is anything wrong with brown bag lunches.


So thrilled to have Erica back in NYC again as many friends have come and gone. Speaking of which two friends of mine posted these statuses (statusi?) around the same time tonight. Oh New York you never cease to get under our skin:

Friend one: I don't wanna be in NYC anymore. As soon as I arrive in this city my anxiety levels go through the roof, I don't feel at ease, and I am scattered. It is definitely time for a new home!

Friend two: Well, several weeks of trains, planes, automobiles and living out of a suitcase are past. Happy to be back in the most vibrant, colorful and exciting city in the world. :) 

The Jersey Shore - It's Sophisticated

When you google the Jersey Shore THIS is what comes up first. Even the Wikipedia definition that comes up is THIS. So after my day at the shore, I find "this" to be very shamefully misleading.  Let me try to dispel the reality TV media stereotyping now. The Jersey shore is quite picturesque, with beaches, shops and restaurants.

Where you can eat lobster:

an obviously sophisticated activity

Drink sophisticated root beer martinis.

Where dessert is the most sophisticated candy apple you've ever had in your life. (Caramel cookies and cream chocolate with gummy worms. HELLO!!!)

And we even found a sophisticated Italian delicacy shop selling specialty oil and vinegar. Here we see many flavors of balsamic (check out the raspberry one) 

but we went away from the Jersey Shore with deeeelish white truffle oil. How sophisticated!

Very sad that we are getting stereotypes from this area from a certain reality TV show. Think about what it would be like to only have the negative aspects of where you grew up shown all over the world on TV and the internet. I felt like I was on Cape Cod beach in an area full of beauty, history and...you guessed it...

sophistication.

Anniversary Adventure

First time camping and hurricane Irene just HAD to invite herself. Well thanks to the cleverness of the Campbells (or the sheer terror of the Campbells) we completely out ran her to get to Prince Edward Island. Along the way even though I would like to say purposely, we accidentally stopped at the beautiful little town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire where Jason and I performed with the "In the Mood" national tour at the beautifully restored Music Box Theater. (Restored by my friend Quentin who I went to Ithaca with! Such a small theater world!)

The pictures do not do justice to these beautiful little New England towns that look little Dickens Christmas Villages under the tree. Even in the summer. That was then, this is now:


We ate at The District, and Jason had the tastiest meal. Fried chicken and blueberry waffles. This taste sensation was astounding.





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Astoria, no not Queens...Oregon!

Oregon! Apparently, it rains here approximately 190 days a year, so I grabbed my umbrella to hit the streets again! Apparently, when it rains 190 days a year they make all of their shops and cafes super cute so you can be quite content indoors. Camilla and I and my iPhone found the best little restaurant TPauls, where we had lunch choosing from the widest array of sandwiches, and quesadillas I have ever seen. We ate, drank, and were merry whilst being surrounded by happy inspiring quotes. Breathe in, breathe out. 

Bring it on Pacific Northwest.

Over sized cutlery on a blue piano. Why not?!

You may think what is this Astoria? How far is it away from Astoria Queens? Has Adriana ever been here before? 

The answers are as follows:

• Astoria is a city situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, and named after the American investor (and first millionaire) John Jacob Astor.

• 2,996 miles.

• and strangely enough-YES I have been here before! The shuttle picked us up right at the theater I performed in on tour.  The theater is beautiful, but really old, and my iPhone pics make it look even older. Man if I only had the 4G iPhone. ;)

This poster was in the lobby and I couldn't agree with it's exclamation more.

And of course, we couldn't end the day without a good coffee and pastries. You may notice the gap in the bunny sugar cookies. Well that is because one accidentally jumped in my belly.

Signs of Spring...???

I hate complaining about the weather but....

WHERE IS SPRING??? 

Ok got that out of my system.

Jason and I had a date day today so we braved the freezing cold to eat at Hummus Place (so, so yummy) and walked through the West Village to look for signs of spring.

Here's what we found:

That poor little daffodil looks like it has had warmer days.

Then JC and I went back to DTJC, NJ to meet up with these amazing people. JC, JCT, JC, and a Momo. I just heart them all so much. They are truly my BFFs because they make me LOL. (That's 4U Mo ;))

This little starlet is having her Metropolitan Opera House audition in April. She's already on the Met roster, but they just can't get enough of hearing her glorious voice!