Because I Care Part 3

Today I volunteered again for New York Cares, but this time I decided to try something new. I went to PS 270 in Clinton Hill to help a group of kids learn photography. They were all about 10 years old and all really sweet kids. Each volunteer had two kids that they were in charge of. I was excited to have two girls run up to me right away to work with me. Now I don't know much about photography but it was really just a way to get the kids outside, have fun and help them look at things in a new perspective. The goal today was to take pictures of colors. So we went out to the playground and I guided them into taking different photos of things they saw and try and look at them in a different way. So one girl was laying down on the jungle gym to take a picture of the sky and the tree. Mostly they just wanted to take pictures of themselves or each other. They were able to do this for about a 1/2 hour and then most of them seemed like they just wanted to hang on the swings or run around. But it was a Saturday so I don't blame them.

After, we went inside and printed out two of their favorite photos for them to put in their own little book. One of my girls chose a picture of my stomach, which was pretty funny because I was wearing a gray shirt so it really was not a picture of colors. But who am I to judge?

I'm always apprehensive about doing these volunteer days because I just don't know what to expect. But every time I go I seem to really enjoy it. I recommend everyone at least try doing something. It will open your eyes to knew things and maybe even make an impact on someone else.

It's Good to Know a Chef

This past weekend my in-laws were in town so my husband, Rick, decided to take them to dinner at The Grocery on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens. Rick has been interning there for a month or so because he wanted to work in a small, chef/owner operated, highly-regarded restaurant. We've been there twice before he started interning there and have loved it both times. Now that he knows the chef it made the dining experience a little different. We sat down at 5pm because that was the only time we could get a reservation for 5 people (his sister came, too). The place immediately started to get crowded but that didn't stop Charlie, the chef/owner, from treating us like we were "somebody." He brought us each a glass of champagne and two complimentary amuse bouche as well as some fresh slices of salmon to taste. Then he brings out an asparagus dish that was a variation of something that was on the menu for us to try. It was of course delicious. But the best part of the evening was when we all ordered our food. I ordered the vegetarian lasagna, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and my husband all ordered the scallops, and my father-in-law ordered lamb (I think). All of a sudden my husband gets a call on his cell phone and ignores it. Then it rings again. He decides to answer it and it's the chef calling from the kitchen! He says that he's not bringing out three scallop dishes and that my husband can just taste theirs so he has to pick something else to eat. It was pretty hilarious that he did that but he was right, why not order a bunch of different dishes and try everyone's? Everything was consistenly amazing. We even received complimentary sorbets in addition to the desserts we ordered. I definitely recommend going to The Grocery for your next dinner. And if you go on a Tuesday night you might just get something my husband made.

How To Not Spend Money

It's basically impossible to not spend any money when you are unemployed in NYC, in case you are a thief. I try to limit the spending to food and bills (which there are about 10 of including phone, mortgage, maintenance, COBRA, electric, gas, etc.). Unemployment pays about half of what my actual salary was so obviously I'm now having to spend beyond my means. That said, I decided to go out with a friend the other day to do a little shopping. Thanks to my tax return I was able to have the extra money needed to go out and buy a new suit jacket. I've realized recently that maybe after almost 10 years of wearing the same black suit on interviews that it's time to freshen things up a bit and splurge on a new jacket. So after 3 hours of going store to store, I landed a new suit jacket! The best part is that my friend ended up getting the same jacket for FREE. You could say it was stealing but it was actually a huge mix up at the checkout counter where the sales person forgot to scan the jacket and my friend had taken it and put it in her shopping bag without realizing. So technically she did not know she was stealing. We debated for a while whether she should go back and say something. And then she realized that there was still an alarm tag! So she goes back to the store, they take the alarm tag off, and she still walks out without paying for the jacket. I, on the other hand, did pay for my jacket. I wonder who will get the job?

Because I Care Part 2

If you remember a few weeks ago I worked at the food pantry in Clinton Hill, which was a really great experience and I do plan to do it again, but yesterday I decided to volunteer at a something different for New York Cares to try and see where I'm really needed and just open my eyes to different experiences. So I volunteered at PS 77 on Park Place (I think this is Park Slope but might be Prospect Heights) to help special needs boys practice yoga. There were about 15 junior high boys. Some needed more help than others doing the yoga poses but most had a pretty good grasp on what to do since they had been taking the class throughout the school year. We all put our mats in a big circle while the instructor was in the center and did about a 45 minute class. I thought the class was going to be an hour and 15 min but I guess they just tack on extra time on the schedule for clean up, which took about 3 minutes. I have never worked with any special needs children before so I was a little worried that I wouldn't know what to do, but I just followed the instructor and saw that she would come right over to a boy and try and place his hands or feet in the right position so that is what I would try to do. It didn't really work for me because the boy on my right seemed like he understood what to do but if I tried to move his hands or feet he just wouldn't move them. Obviously the boys didn't know me and probably didn't want to have me telling them what to do, but I did the best I could and so did they. I'm not sure I was really needed here because there were many other volunteers, but I did sign up again for next Tuesday to try it out again.

Are Hand Models The New Super Model?

With Apple churning out one hand-held gadget after another, plus e-readers and other cell phone companies, hand models have now got it made. Before all this technology, hand models use to be mainly women promoting nail polish. But I've been noticing these beautiful hands particularly in the new iPad commercials and wondering who these faceless models are... and how much do they get paid? I've read that a :30 second spot can take up to 12 hours. So you may think you have beautiful hands and this would be the perfect line of work for you, but hand modeling is still considered "work." You need to still create a modeling portfolio, take really good care of your hands constantly, and deal with rejection. And watch out for those hand job jokes!

My favorite hand modeling reference is of course the Seinfeld episode where George becomes a hand model. Check out the video.

Chef in the House

My husband is a month and half away from graduating from the French Culinary Institute here in NY. I'm so proud of him for deciding to take a risk and go back to school to do what he loves. He had been working in TV for years as an editor/producer and after his company shut down and spending almost a year figuring out what to do, he took a leap and made his dream happen. And the best part is that I get to taste all of his yummy creations (Irish bread pudding, scallops w/ bacon, Mediterranean chicken w/ tahini and hummus)! The downside is that neither of us are working and he now has student loans, but I think the delicious food and doing what you love makes up for it. He's also been interning at The Grocery on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens that I definitely recommend everyone check out. But if you're hungry during the day, head to L'Ecole, the restaurant that is part of FCI. If you go by the end of May I'm sure you'll end up tasting something he cooked up.