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these nails were made for biting

My nail biting habit is back with a vengeance — only this time it’s accompanied by compulsive nail filing. This is what happens:

I paint my nails.

My nail polish chips ever so slightly.

I pick off all the polish on all ten nails.

I nibble on the tips of my nails.

I file all ten of my nails until they are perfectly smooth all around.

I polish my nails.

Pick.

Bite.

File.

Paint.

And on and on and on.

My beautiful engagement ring must look so ridiculous on such ugly fingernails. Short of putting on acrylic tips (which I really don’t want to do), I don’t know how to get myself to stop such an icky habit. Putting on foul tasting nailpolish made for biters does me nothing — I just pick it off.

What a stupid vice.

PJ 21 June 2007 musings No Comments

eating in omaha: chinese food

Lately I’ve been having writer’s block. Or maybe just writer’s laziness. I haven’t written any new posts or replied to any new emails in the past couple of days. I just need to get over the hump.

Last night we ordered in Chinese food for the first time. What an ordeal. It took about 20 minutes just to locate online and in the phone book the nearest Chinese restaurant that delivers. Then it took 8 minutes on the phone to place the order with a non-Asian employee who didn’t understand the difference between brown rice and white rice cooked in soy sauce. (In my experience, all employees at Chinese restaurants in NYC were Asian, and I think they prided themselves on getting customers off the phone as quickly as possible.) Forty-five minutes later the food arrived. The wonton soup had bits of carrots, snow peas, and peas floating in it. The egg rolls looked like spring rolls. The chicken lo-mein was made with flat fettucini-like noodles and chunks of fatty, dark-meat chicken. The beef with asparagus was pretty good. The fried rice was just white rice with a splash of soy sauce and a scrambled egg mixed in, and the fortune cookies tasted different than what I’m used to.

I miss the days of being able to order from the delicious Chinese restaurant below my apartment in NYC and walking downstairs 5 minutes later to pick it up.

PJ 20 June 2007 being domestic , No Comments

date night: paris and amsterdam

Saturday was the epitome of a perfect summer Saturday — we slept late, played a bit of tennis (until tape wrapped around the handle of my racket literally began disintegrating onto my palm), and spent some time down by the pool. Thoroughly covered in SPF 45, I didn’t burn yet still managed to get the tiniest of tiny tans. I have a very faint tan line on the back of my shoulders to prove it.

For our evening activity we took the “dinner and a movie” route. Actually, we did movie and then dinner. First, we saw Paris, Je T’Aime at the totally precious Dundee Theater. The old theater only has one screen, in front of which a red velvet curtain hangs before show time. No obnoxious commercials or stupid trivia games to sit through before the movie actually begins. Plus, a medium popcorn and large soda were less than $4 total. Awesome. The film itself was really interesting, and if it’s playing near you, I totally recommend going to see it. It’s a tribute to Paris comprised of 18 short films about love by acclaimed directors from around the world. Some were better than others (and some we didn’t understand at all), but all together it was really entertaining. The local newspaper talked it up this past week because Alexander Payne, a native of Omaha, directed the last short, and it was one of the best.

For dinner we walked a couple of blocks to Amsterdam, a new restaurant also in Dundee that only has three items on the menu — a falafel sandwich, a gyro sandwich, and curry fries — and we got one of each. So good. And so cheap. I think it cost about $15 for the two sandwiches and fries plus two drinks. We then made our way to a bar around the corner known for its insane whisky selection (J tried some, I didn’t — whisky smells too much like grain alcohol for my taste) before getting some homemade ice cream at Ted & Wally’s. I had a scoop of caramel latte in a cone. Delish.

Walking back to the car, with my arm around J’s waist, I felt really, really content. It was a successful night.

PJ 17 June 2007 extracurricular activities , 1 Comment

to dundee and back

Yesterday was quite a day. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

J returned home from an early morning class with a surprise for the apartment, but I think that story deserves an entry of its own…

We had a coffee date at Blue Line Coffee in a section of Omaha called Dundee with a woman who works for one of the local synagogues. J had met her a couple of months ago when the temple arranged for him to celebrate Passover with her family since he could not go home to his. She’s kind of a one woman welcome wagon for the temple, and we spent an hour chatting about the best place for New York-style pizza in the area, other young couples who we might be interested in meeting, and job searching. Being a liaison between the Jewish community and the synagogue, this woman knows a lot of people, and she offered to get me in touch with some who might be able to help me find a job, like the owner of one of the free local weeklies.

After our meeting, J and I explored the surrounding shops. We browsed a fun gallery selling local art and wandered into an amazing Anthropologie-like store called Le Marche. From the outside I thought the space was a restaurant — how happily surprised I was to find that it was actually a boutique where I will likely spend a lot of money while I’m here. We bought a French candle, French soap, and a kitschy soap dish for said soap.

For dinner we stopped at Panchero’s (which is exactly like Chipotle), where a local radio station was doing an on-site promotion — $1 burritos! Normally they are like $5.50. We got two burritos and a drink for less than $3.30. Yum!

We spent the rest of the evening getting stuff taken care of around the apartment. I finally got my webcam working and had video chat with my sister back in NYC! We tried using AIM and Yahoo Messenger before figuring out how to get both of our webcams working through Skype. She showed me some of her new clothing purchases, and I tried giving her a virtual tour of the apartment.

J is at work all afternoon, so I’m going to get off of my lazy tush and head to the gym…soon.

PJ 15 June 2007 extracurricular activities No Comments

a familiar face in a city of strangers

Last night J and I met up with a friend of mine from New York, who was in the city for just one night to wine and dine some clients. He was seriously in Omaha for less than 24 hours just to take 2 clients out for dinner at a steak restaurant in the Old Market. Can you imagine that? By the time we caught up with him around 9:15 PM he seemed pretty exhausted, but he kept himself awake enough so that we could grab some drinks at a sports bar near his hotel. We spent an hour and a half or so chatting about Napa, skiing, and his recent proposal to a college friend of mine. When they get married next year, he will have at least 100 people on his guest list alone — this guy knows everybody. Randomly, he happens to know a couple of people from/in Omaha and offered to farm out my resume to all of them. They might not have a job for me (or work in an industry that even interests me), but there is no harm in networking. It’s all about who you know, right?

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PJ 14 June 2007 working girl 1 Comment
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