Get me CORN!

My new favorite go-to restaurant to take visiting guests of NYC, is Cafe Habana.  A Cuban eatery deep in Nolita with an 'outpost' in Fort Green, Brooklyn.

The savory secret of this wonderful land of nosh?  The corn.

Oh god.  The corn.

The menu describes it as:
Grilled Corn Mexican Style, served with chili powder, lime & cheese

My mouth describes it as flavor heaven that induces moans, groans, and cheese dripping down my chin.  I may have licked the plate.

I believe there is a mayo concoction buttered on the corn, but it's not gross.  No.  It's amazing.  With the cheese.  And the chili.  And the grilled, good corn goodness.

I can't even do it justice.

I am not kidding you, I just felt compelled to lick my computer screen.

Lesson here?  When in New York, head to Prince and Elizabeth for some corn heaven.  Be prepared for a wait though, so avoid rush times.  Plus you might run into a celebrity!  If that's your thing.

Oh.  And the other stuff is pretty good too.  Very strong frozen mojitos.  Gooey Cuban sandwiches full of pickles, cheese (theme here?) and ham.  Rice, beans and spicy chicken.

Trust me, you won't be disappointed.  And if you bring your friends, they will think you are super cool and in the know . . .

For the Love of Dragon

On our journey to the Blaze and Sleepy Hollow the other day, Tara and I ventured into my favorite sort of store:  a dog store.  I realize this is a far cry from a shoe store.  I feel this is how mother's of young children must feel walking past adorable kids clothing stores. I just love all the toys and fun things for dogs.

My dogs are in need of some toys.  I got them some aliens from Target which they promptly amputated.  Their squirrel has no hands/paws/arms and I find stuffing all over the apartment.  They had a little bulldog that was unfortunately decapitated.

In fact, one of the only toys that has stood the test of time is a baby toy I bought when I first got Mr. Mop.  I was told that baby toys hold up better.  It's true.  Granted, Mop tore of the toy's nose but otherwise the blue puppy is fine.  But he's in Vancouver.

They have rubber toys but they just don't seem to love them as much as the plush.  After all, plush is snuggly and probably more fun to whip around in an attempt to break a neck.

At this dog store (that told us we were in the wrong town for Blaze! Sign?) I found a myriad of fun toys.  But what drew my eye was an adorable pink dragon.  This thing is built with this new technology chew guard thingy.  I asked if it would survive the munching of my nine-pound yorkie.  I was assured that this toy could withstand anything.

Brooklyn fell in love immediately.  For an hour, he cuddled and played with the dragon.  He also managed to chew off a tip of a wing, an ear and a bit of the nose.  I contacted the company to let them know that so far their 'chew guard' technology was failing in the jaws of an overgrown rat.  Apparently, as long as the pink dragon stays together at the seams than what a dog chews off is their own business.

Fine.

Not that I would think of taking the dragon away from Brooklyn.  He has formed a special bond with this dragon.  A very special bond.  Never in his little life has he ever defended himself against Mop. Mop always takes away the toy that Brooklyn is playing with. Brooklyn never seems to care (I have tried teaching sharing but apparently this is not a concept graspable by canines).  Except when it comes to Dragon.

He really loves this thing.

If Mop comes to get it, Brooklyn puts up a fierce little fight.  He dances for it when the Engineer makes it fly while doing this weird spaceship noise thing.  After a walk, he immediately goes to find it.  He takes it under the bed with him, he takes it to his crate, he takes him under the couch.  He gallops around the house, dangling the dragon from his mouth.  They are the same size.  He sleeps with it.  He lays his head on it.

In fact, the Engineer once found Brooklyn 'kissing' the dragon and grooming it in the same fashion that Mop does to him.

Should I be worried?

Philadelphia

Tara and I had an adventure with meat and history.

We used the Engineer's point & shoot so I apologize for the sound quality!

Bergen Bagels & Prospect Park

The Bridesmaid Diaries just turned into a vlog!

I'm experimenting with my mad camera skills! Enjoy :)

The Great Blaze

New York and Halloween go together like peanut butter and jam.  This city thrives on this holiday.  Even the surrounding areas seem built for Halloween.

After all, Washington Irving lived just up Hudson River from here.  In his beloved Sleepy Hollow which shares the name of the famous story of the headless horseman. In fact, I think the town actually changed its name to match the story.  Either way, around Halloween that area just lights up.  Literally.

Last year, I went to a Sleepy Hollow Halloween complete with a guy wearing a pumpkin for a head riding a horse and a midnight walk through the graveyard.

This year it was all about the Blaze.

OH

MY

GOD

The Blaze is held at Van Cortland Manor every October and can only be described as a magical wonderland of pumpkins.  40, 000 pumpkins are carved.  FORTY THOUSAND.  Nothing beats coming up over the little hill and seeing thousands of pumpkins glittering in the night.  It was even better considering the moon was nearly full and whisps of clouds created eerie shadows on the grounds.

I can't even describe or fully show you how amazing this event is.  You meander through a field of ghost pumpkins with jack-o-lanterns creeping out of graves, a dinosaur park, an alien land, Henry Hudson's ship complete with pirates, a druid circle, an under-the-sea world  . . .  I can keep going.

To top it all off add some apple cider and a walk through Tarrytown which is like Main Street America at Disneyland.  Oh, and an FYI, the Blaze is NOT in Tarrytown.  Nope, it's three stops away. We luckily learned this in enough time to run to the train station.  And then get on the wrong platform.  And then have me race up the stairs to yell at T that I will hold the train for her.  Only then to have the train sit there for ten minutes.

It's an incredible thing to see at Halloween, check it out:

Oh, and did I mention you get to start off the night with a carafe of red wine and fried cheese?  Ummm, yes.  And if you are as lucky as us, you can still sit outside.

Doggie Style Halloween

This may come as a shock to people who know me well:  I don't dress up my dogs.  It's true, I don't.  When I first got them, everyone thought I would be dressing them in little shirts and sweaters but I shocked everyone when I didn't.

Okay.  Sometimes I do.  Firstly, my friend gave us these super cute little coats.  They happen to have pink in them.  Pink for me.  Yes, my dogs are boys but who cares?  Plus, Mr. Mop really likes his.  It's a little coat that makes him look like Shermop Bones.  Super cute.  He wears it when it rains.

And that's it.  They wear their coats when it rains.

Or when Halloween rolls around.

The Engineer said I couldn't buy costumes for them as I had some from last year (stupid rule if you ask me but times are tough).  So Mr. Mop once again donned his ladybug costume.  Again, he likes it.

Well, he doesn't hate it.

Brooklyn hates his pumpkin costume.  Perhaps because it's small now - I bought it when he was only 7 months.  It looks like I stuffed him into some sausage casing and he barely moves when I put it on.  It's pretty funny.  I suppose people will think it's cruel that I dress him up simply to laugh at him.  Trust me, he gets many treats for it.  hmmmm, maybe that's the real reason the pumpkin is a bit snug.

Dog Halloween costumes are ADORABLE.  But there really is no point to me dressing them up.  Seeing as Mr. Mop hates children, I can't exactly prance him around in his ladybug outfit because kids will really want to pet him.  Other dogs dressed up scare Brooklyn.  We met a French Bulldog on our walk in full pirate regalia.  Brooklyn hid.

He was also frightened of a blowing leaf.

The Engineer and I went as Buddy Holly and a poodle girl.  Unfortunately for the Engineer the Buddy Holly look is in so no one realized he was in costume.  He also resembled my dad from 1968.

The night before Halloween, I found a poodle skirt costume for dogs.  It took ALL my strength NOT to buy it for Mop.  And my friend T reminding me my dogs are boys.  So what?  Look how cute it is!

I would literally be matching my dog!  EEEEEEEEEEEE!  I have the same shirt and everything!  I actually just discovered this matching thing.  I won't lie.  It excites me.  I am going to save my poodle skirt so that in a few years I can get the boys some Greaser leather jackets.

the Engineer in a more obvious 50's costume, and perhaps if we have a kid it can be a poodle!  That's right, I thought about that.  When I told this to the Engineer he walked away and had a glass of whiskey.  Weirdo.

But this whole matching your dog thing can be carried a bit far (well, you are already in the deep end if you are even considering this idea) as I discovered in searching for costumes.  You know how I have a thing against those 'sexy' costumes of beloved childhood characters like Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy?  Well, what worse than a whored up version of Raggedy Anne?  A matching dog costume!!!  GAH!

I am sorry, but if you think wearing a sexy costume with your dog is okay you might have some serious inappropriate-ness issues.

What if you are going as a naughty schoolgirl?  No worries!

I am sorry.  This is all sorts of wrong.  WRONG!

Anyways, I am learning that Halloween doesn't work so well with my dogs.  Too many hyper kids with candy who either want to pet my mean puppy or who are holding lollipops that Mr. Mop will grab (happened).  Too many people wearing odd hats that make Brooklyn cry and cower.  And too many pumpkins that the boys think are pee targets.  Nothing says 'Happy Halloween' like my dog lifting his leg onto your nicely carved Jack-O-Lantern.

Oh No

It has been lovingly pointed out to me that I have not blogged in well over a week.  GASP!  Someone read's me enough to notice :)

Anyways, it was a weird week here in the Big Apple. The Engineer and I made a big decision.  No we're not having a baby or getting married.  But we are staying in this lovely city for much longer than this December.  A few years in fact.

The 'decision', as we are lovingly calling it, is scary and exciting and very bittersweet.  The LDR is hard enough and now the end is not in sight.  We didn't realize how badly we wanted to go back to the Great White North.  On the plus side, I don't have to rush to all the museums next week or eat my weight in full sour pickles because we are NOT leaving.

Anyways, the 'decision' was made because the Engineer didn't get a job back in Canada.  Ironically, his 'fallback' is for a superstar bank that's so famous it's included on NYC's tourist water taxi tours.  AND its name is mentioned on SNL's Weekend Update quite often.  Plus we get to move to an awesome part of Brooklyn to a house with non-slanting wooden floors and laundry (if I'm lucky).  Still, the Engineer was bummed even after I pointed out these fun facts and when he's bummed, I'm bummed.  Apparently that's what happens when you are in a relationship.  You feel what the other person feels.

Super.

And then it makes you not write.  Okay fine, it makes me not write.  But I'm back (lucky you) and it looks like the New York adventures are going to keep rolling . . .

www.bridesmaiddiaries.com

Oldne

There is a product from Neutrogena that deals with both wrinkles AND acne.  The ad says, "How is it at my age I have to worry about wrinkles AND pimples?"

So true.

WTF?

I may have inherited fine hair, canckles and an inability to curl my tongue, but I did luck out on the skin gene.  I have very British peaches and cream skin. My mum has it.  Her mum had it.  And I assume my great-grandmother had it.  Very few wrinkles, normal skin texture, creamy tone.  Yes, I am very lucky.  Except for one very ANNOYING thing:  I STILL GET ZITS!

GAH!

Again, WTF?

I am 30!  THREE ZERO!  And I feel my pimple growing capability has gotten worse as I have gotten older.  How is this fair?  I always have one on vacations - in Cape Cod the one on my chin was so huge we called it Ernie.  And I always have one for days on set.  Without fail, when I book a job I always book a zit too.

But here is the other issue:  body acne.  ICK.  I know no one talks about it, but we all know it happens.

I work out a fair bit and sweat profusely.  This has caused a problem on parts of my upper back.  The horror!  I shower but still get the blasted things where my Lululemon T-Top sits.  I beg the Engineer to pop them but he refuses (I have a friend in Vancouver who LIVES to pop zits) and says it is worse for the pimple.  But I have one so bad right now that even he thought it needed some probing.  Gross.  What do we call zits on the back?  Backne of course.

I once got a zit on my breast.  Boobne.  Sometimes they happen on the chest.  Chestne.

Now here is one that is the most horrific of all.  Assne.  That's right, zits on your ass.  GAH!  I have only had two.  Once when I was at school in London.  I thought a spider had bitten my lower left cheek because the offending mark was so big and it hurt.  But when I showed a friend of mine she sadly informed me it was a zit.  WHAT?  On my butt cheek?  The second time?  Right now.  God, how do we get zits on our butts?  Does Neutrogena make a cream for that??

I sort of want that $200 zip zapper thing from Sephora.  Is it worth it?  I don't know.  I still have yet to find the perfect eliminator of pimples.  Keihl's is okay.  That Jessica Simpson stuff is apparently good as a spot treatment but crazy drying.  Tea tree oil?  Paper bag?  Toothpaste?

I think I would rather have wrinkles that god damn zits.  It's been 15 years!  Stop torturing me you horrible red sacs of puss!!

The Mosquito that Almost Killed Us

The Engineer nearly dumped me last night.  Apparently. I was asleep.  He nearly broke up our three year relationship over a . . . . . . .  mosquito.

That's right, I tiny, but annoying, insect.  He was going to let this blood sucker break us up.

Why you ask?

Because it was my fault there was a mosquito in our home to begin with.

We have a window in our bedroom that is above my desk.  I love to have my window open to let in the glorious fall breeze.  This window has a screen.  And you have to put the screen in when you open the window.  And sometimes I forget to put the screen in.

Oooooops.

In Vancouver I don't need a screen!  I like the window to be open wider than the screen allows!  It was so freaking cold here that I thought all the mosquitos were dead!  It's October!

So many excuses and one itty bitty, teeny tiny, but horrific mosquito.  This mosquito is an asshole.  I have about seven bites on my arms from last night alone.

Anyways, the Engineer really hates the mosquito.  He goes to bed with a toque pulled over his eyes, a long shirt and then cocoons himself in the duvet.  At about 4:30 last night he sat up straight in bed, turned on the lights and yelled a very loud curse word.  I sleepily peeped my eyes open.

From my view he looked ridiculous.  Sitting up in bed with a toque sitting haphazardly and trying to locate the mosquito.  He sort of looked like a cat.  You know how they jerkily move their heads around when they are following a fly?  That's what he looked like.

And he was MAD.

He stormed out of bed, went to his office (to do what I have no idea), so I turned off the light.  He stormed back in, turned the light back on and proceeded to check his Blackberry (because mosquitos hide in them).  I could sense he was mad, and sure it was my fault, but he looked so ridiculous that I couldn't help by start laughing at him.  And it made him laugh (he told me this morning he was fake laughing  - lies).

He killed what we think was the rogue mosquito and went back to bed.  It took me until 5:30 to fall back asleep.  Now it was my turn to be mad.

This morning, he informed me that he was sooooooo mad at me (for not putting in the screen) that he was considering breaking up with me (apparently what he was doing in the office) but didn't want me telling people he dumped me over a mosquito.  Because it was over a screen, he said.  Yeah, because that reason would be so much better.

So now I can't whine that I have bites all over my arms.  And I will never ever forget to put the screen in the window.  In fact, I am sitting in front of it now and a lovely fall breeze is blowing my curtains.  We also have to assume that New York has mutant mosquitos that NEVER die.

God, I hope he doesn't see the hole in the screen in the bathroom.  He might go crazy.

Kitchen Scraps

A friend of mine (who starred with me in my very first short film) is releasing a cookbook that he wrote (isn't it incredible when people surprise you?) in Calgary tomorrow night at the Cookbook Company

The book itself is call Kitchen Scraps and he has a blog of the same name.  Pierre's done a great job of fusing recipes with amazing and fun illustrations.  Recipes like BLT Kama Sutra and Pantalone's Golden Saffron Coins (an ode to T&S and our intermediate year at the BFA- thought you would appreciate it) all with humorous art.

The book has already been released in Vancouver at Barbara Jo's

Go support a good Canadian boy!

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Opening Christmas Day! Finally the trailer is out!

And what's the biggest lure to seeing this film?

The fact that it's Heath Ledger's last?

Or it's Terry Gilliam?

Or it's supposedly his best film?

All good reasons, but the best one being that I make a small, but oh-so-important, appearance! As the British salesgirl :) I get kissed by Russians.

Eat Local

I have a slight tendency to only talk about food in New York.  But do not be fooled!  Great food exists absolutely everywhere.  So you don't only have to be in the Big Apple to get fat.

One of my most favorite places for eats in Vancouver is Edible British Columbia at the Granville Island Market.  Started a few years back by local chef  Eric Pateman (who also happens to be one of the nicest people I have ever met) to showcase unique food products that were 100% made/grown/thought of in beautiful British Columbia.

My mum and I jumped on this bandwagon back in the early days, when my mum found out that Edible BC holds an event called Cooking with BC's Best dinner series .  Basically what happens is that you enter Granville Island at the back door after closing (sort of fun to be in the market when NO one is there!), warmly welcomed by Eric or one of his team (we used to get reusable bags - I don't know if they still do that), and you find a seat at a table set for about 12-14.  Each week, a local Vancouver/BC chef creates a menu that uses all local products.  The menu consists of at least three courses.

The eaters don't cook the food, it's a cooking demonstration.  Which is fine by me.  Because while we watch the chef at work, Eric is liberally pouring a local wine that befits the course.

Our first chef belonged to the Fairmont YVR (he is no longer there if you go looking) and spoke with such passion and enthusiasm about the food he was creating I found it quite infectious (in fact, I think this is when my true foodie nutbar came out).  Suddenly, I realized that not only do we have incredible food in BC but the work that goes into creating those dishes means that we still get top food at a great price.  Affordable in New York?  fugetaboutit

Since my first evening, I have been back several times.  The most entertaining was Vikram Vij of the famous Vij's.  Not only was Vij amazing to watch and listen to, but the food was OUT OF THIS WORKD.  As was the wine!  Eric was as liberal as Vij and the Engineer and I left full and slightly tipsy.

 In fact, Vij gave us all second helpings to the point that the whole table was full.  But his rice pudding dessert was so incredible that when I noticed the lady next to me couldn't finish hers I asked for it.  Even though I thought I might explode, I ate her helping!

That night was so great that now you have to win a lottery to see Vij.  It was also so great because Vij was being filmed for the Food Network and I made it on TV!  Making roti.  Well, more like ruining roti and screaming.

The dinners are an amazing deal at around $90 per person.  Don't forget, it's all local food, you will be full, and each course has a BC wine to go with it.

The other great thing Edible BC does is food tours of Vancouver 'yum' spots - like Chinatown, Little India and Commercial Drive.  Again, the knowledge is so great and you will learn so much about a spot of town.  I have been going to Chinatown since I was a kid but until I went with Edible BC I had no idea what or why some of the odd things existed at Chinese markets.  Even the Engineer didn't know and he's Chinese!  Plus we ate ALOT.

Edible BC also has gourmet kayak weekends, personal 'chef for a day' lessons where you walk around the market and device your own BC menu (I did this and it was so wonderful),  and whiskey dinners.  Not to mention the storefront that stocks all that is fabulous about BC.

It's seriously a treasure and will give you an appreciation for what BC offers to the world.  Hmmm, I'm sort of homesick just writing this.

So go and get fat Vancouver style!