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This might be why...

I've never met another Carolyn under the age of 60.  Sigh.

Bermudapalooza.

Are you ready for this?

My WAY overdue, much anticipated cruise post?

I should rephrase.

The cruise (itself, not the blog post) was highly anticipated.  It has been a thing in the making since, oh, this time last year.  

After my wonderful father-in-law turned 59 last summer, he uttered something along the lines of "I turn 60 next year.  Probly* I might die soon."  Said in his charming and sometimes undecipherable Indonesian accent.

So.  To celebrate his impending doom (turning 60, not death... he's not going anywhere), we put together a large family/friend cruise to Bermuda.  And can I tell you?  Picking a date and destination and coordinating with 23 people is not fun.

But it all worked out and for 7 days over the 4th of July, the Purnomo/Yodis/Plue/and friends clan headed south to board the Celebrity Summit to Bermuda.  

And since I spent the majority of the cruise intoxicated, I'll let the pictures tell the story.

In collage form.

Because I'm lazy. 

Day 1.  My creative sister-in-law had matching shirts made for the occasion.  Clever Yono-isms were listed on the back.  These shirts were great and attracted tons of attention.  And we all know I like attention.

Random pics of our antics on the ship.  

 Shots from Bermuda.  

Amazing historic architecture.  Horseshoe Bay Beach.  Rum Swizzles at the infamous Swizzle Inn.  Elbow Beach.  Downtown Hamilton.  Gosling's Rum cruise.  Snorkel Park Beach.  "My" boat.  Nightlife on the island.

And because we all know how I love to take pictures of myself, I mean my outfits, here's a run-through of each night's dinner attire.

I love dresses.  And heels.  And the opportunity to dress up EVERY night.

So there you have it.  Seasickness aside (poor husband), we had a phenomenal time.  Traveling with such a large group was so much fun and I would love to do it again.  

Ever been to Bermuda?  We can't wait to go back.

*We all know I'm a grammar/spelling Nazi, right?  This error was obviously intentional.  Can't have you all thinking that I don't know how to spell ;)

Most boring update ever.

So.  It's been um, almost 4 months since I've posted.  Sad.

It was brought to my attention last night, though, that I removed my blog.

What?

After checking things out this morning, I discovered that Google had shut my account down due to "suspicious activity".  Truly sad that I haven't logged in SO long that I didn't even notice.

That being said, we're back up and running.  And seeing that we're approaching the slow time of year for my business, I'm gonna go out on a limb and tell you that the regular posting will resume shortly.

Are you laughing?  I am ;)

Rock the What?

To elaborate on the event I alluded to in this post...

Early in the year I was asked to be part of a local charity fashion show.  In fact, I believe the actual email I first received was titled "I WANT YOUR BODY!!!!!!" 

Needless to say, I was bit skeptical.

But seriously.  Who can resist being asked to be a "celebrity model" for a day?  Certainly not moi.  And c'mon, we all I know I have a little obsession with fashion.

Admittedly though, I was terrified.  I had no idea what I would be asked to wear, what the runway would be like, what they'd do to my hair and makeup, etc, etc, etc...

Thankfully it all worked out.  I was happy with my outfits (for the most part), saw that the runway wasn't all that intimidating and got my way with my hair and makeup.

Backstage, pre-show

Socializing with the husband during the cocktail hour before the show (in my own Arden B dress)

Here's where I got nervous.  As the cocktail hour approached it's end, the models were called back to the dressing area to get ready.  This was still 45 minutes before the show was to begin.  It was one of those "hurry up and wait" moments.  The 30 or so minutes I stood in line waiting to make my runway debut was more nerve-wracking than I ever imagined possible.  I was literally shaking.

dress by Nicole Miller

Once I made my way down the runway I was okay.  Although I didn't hear a damn thing.  Husband said that everyone was cheering and yelling my name but I honestly heard nothing.  The only thing I was focused on was not falling off the runway.  I think he was a little upset that I didn't hear him cheering me on.

I wasn't too thrilled with dress #1.  Totally not my style.  Way too matronly.  Ironically though, I got the most compliments on this outfit.  I liked the fascinator and shoes but the scarf and jewelry were awful.  

Dress #2 was better (totally can't recall the designer), but again it's nothing I would ever pick for myself.  The shoes, however.  Gorgeous.  Duh.  They're my Manolo Blahnik wedding shoes ;)  I thought the fascinator with this outfit was kinda cool though.  When else does one get to wear something like that without being invited to the royal wedding?

dress by Badgley Mischka

I loved dress #3 but it was the most terrifying to walk in.  It was LONG.  About 4" of the skirt puddled on the floor.  And I'm tall.  I had to hold it up as I walked which wasn't the most graceful.  It was pretty fab though.  Totally a show-stopper.

So I didn't trip or fall and the crowd didn't laugh.  That I know of.  I'd call that a success.  Whether or not I'll do it again is another story.

Many thanks to our friends Joe Carr of Joseph Carr Wine and Peter & Mary Burgess of The Revolution Spin Studio for sponsoring me in this fantastic event!

Life@(The Purnomo)Home

This is getting to be a bit much.  I promise I'll stop with the publicity posts soon but this one is too good not to share.

Late last year, we were asked by a good friend of ours, who happens to be a journalist with our local paper, to be featured in a Chef@Home article that he writes for the Times Union's Life@Home Magazine.  And as we're learning in this blog, I don't turn down publicity. 

In early March, we found out that we were scheduled to do the shoot later that month.  Cue three weeks of frenzied house clean-up and decorating.  All of those annoying little projects that we put off after the renovations definitely needed to be finished before a photographer stepped foot in my home. 

Or so I thought. 

Naturally, the pics that made it in the magazine only showed our kitchen and a bit of the living room.  None of the fancy new artwork, window treatments or gorgeous fresh floral arrangments appeared.

Oh well.  It was the kick in the ass that we needed to get the house done.  At least now we can relax and enjoy it.

We had a fantastic time during shoot, preparing and serving three courses for six.  Husband also paired two wines (one white, one red) with each course.

Course 1:  duck tacos with homemade salsa and creme fraiche
Course 2:  bacon-wrapped cipollini salad with hot bacon vinaigrette
Course 3:  paella (with every seafood variety known to man)
Dessert:  dark chocolate bread pudding a la mode

The food was delicious, the conversation entertaining.  And ever the hostess, I sent each guest home with a goodie-bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Yes, I went a little overboard.

Even the pups enjoyed themselves.

We knew the article wasn't coming out until the June issue.  Waiting was so hard!  I was dying to see it.  Or more realistically, dying to read what I was quoted as saying.  Did I mention the two glasses of wine per course?  Or that our dinner conversation was recorded?  ;)

Finally in late May we received several advance copies and couldn't have been more pleased.  A few days later the article was posted online and then it hit news-stands.  Read it here.

And don't be shy.  Tell me what you think!

Love,

Mr & Mrs P, M & B

 

Publicity much?

Forgive me for being a publicity whore.

Even after 4+ years with the husband, I'm not 100% used to this sort of thing so it still excites me to no end. 

Today was a big day in the P household.

Husband and I both had our mugshots appear in local publications.

Photo courtesy of Joe Putrock/Special to the Times Union

This happens to be the fab-u-lous (although more than a little hip-widening) Badgley Mischka gown I had the honor of donning at Rock the Runway last week.  Love that it landed me in the Social Scene section of today's paper.

And how fun is this?  The caption under my photo reads "Celebrity model Carolyn Purnomo dazzled on the runway during Rock the Runway for Health".  Love!

Minutes after my discovery this morning, husband called to say that he too was pictured in print today.

Here he is, at last week's 40 under 40 celebration, sponsored by the Albany Business Review.  Husband was one of the 40 honorees last year, which I apparently neglected to blog about.  Bad wife.  Bad, bad wife!  This year he attended to congratulate friends of his for being selected.  Thus landing himself in the paper. 

So.  There you have it.  Another post to feed my ever-growing ego.

Enjoy!  ;)

Running out of my rut.

My mapmyrun(.com) calendar is looking pretty sad lately.  For awhile I was logging about 40 miles a month.  I haven't even run 40 in 2011 yet. 

And I have a 5K in three weeks.  I am totally 100% unprepared.  I know I'll be able run the whole thing and should have no problem finishing under 30 minutes, but I want to PR, dammit!  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's not going to happen, since I'd need to shave more than a minute off of my current pace to do so. 

The weather here in lovely upstate NY has been less than stellar so far this spring.  The snow didn't fully melt until, oh, April.  And since then it's been rainy and cold.  Not ideal running weather.  For me anyway.  I'm not that hardcore ;)  And we've already discussed my hatred for the dreadmill.

Knowing that I have the 5K coming up though, I dragged my ass off my sofa yesterday afternoon and strapped on my fancy new running sneakers.  Purple!  And they're Nike Ipod+ compatible! 

 Can you say reflective? 

Ipod+ might be the coolest thing ever.  No more checking my watch every few feet minutes to see how long I've been running, trying to guess how far I've gone and what my pace is.  Now the magic lady on my Ipod tells me all of that whenever I'd like to hear it!  Totally made running more fun.  On a side note, it also told me that my favorite quick run through my neighborhood is a tenth of a mile shorter than I had previously calculated.  Oops. 

I'm actually excited to get out of my office and go for another run this afternoon just so magic Ipod lady can talk to me!  I think I shall name her Sophie.  For no other reason than it's the first name to pop in my head. 

So, Sophie, are you ready for me?  Just don't tell me today that my pace is above 10min/mile, okay?  I'd like to keep our relationship civil.

A blog revival.

Blah.

Totally haven't felt like blogging lately, even though I've been busier than ever over the last few months.  In fact, the calendar I posted here kinda makes me laugh.  I seriously thought that was busy. 

Let's try again.

Take March for example:

Scratch that.  Looks busy but there really wasn't anything exciting happening.

How about April:

Two black tie dinners, two fundraisers, one baby shower, one first communion party, a trip to NYC, two wine dinners, one 2-day continuing ed class, two listing appts and countless showings, one girls' night, one seminar, wine school, volleyball, boot camp and you know, actual work.  Sigh.  I'm tired just reliving the month in print.

One perk?



Showing up in the paper.  Again.  Except this time I approve.  Although I could use a little more lip color.  ha.

Let's look at May:

More listing appts and showings than I know what to do with, one out-of-town wedding, two weekends in a row in Boston (!), charity fashion show and all the necessary prep, dinners with friends, wine school, office meetings, etc, etc, etc.  Note that we're oly halfway through the month.

Reason #2 for lack of recent posting:  broken camera.  And since I'm not so good with words, I find myself lacking anything interesting to post when I can't show pretty pictures.

Like these.

 Pretty girls in Boston for girls' weekend!

Pretty girls before Rock the Runway, my fashion show debut ;)



So now I will attempt a run at more regularly scheduled posting... since I don't feel like my head is going to explode with social obligations.  For the next few weeks anyway.  We'll see how well that works out.  No promises.

An average person could probably handle a full schedule with no complaints.  Me?  I like my downtime.  No, I CHERISH my downtime.  So after 6 or so weeks of nonstop busy, I need a break.  A big break.  Good think we have a vacation coming up.

Not sure how I feel about this...

I won't lie.  Publicity makes me feel kinda famous.  It's also a bit embarrassing.

A few weeks ago, someone I know who's associated with a local theater contacted me asking permission to use an old photo of me on the theater's 2011 membership brochure. 

Why not, right?

If only he'd picked a better picture.  The double chin and weird length side bangs don't do me much justice.

At least my name's not on it.  ha.

Caro(lyn)line in the City.

Ever see that show?  During it's mid-90s run, I acquired the show title as an unfortunate nickname.  What is with kids and their obsession with nicknames?  Anyway...

We spent this past weekend in one of my favorite places... NYC!

We left bright and early Saturday morning and headed straight into Manhattan for brunch at Ai Fiori in the brand new Setai hotel.  One word.  AMAZING.

Clockwise from top left:

Oysters for the husband.  I don't do oysters, aphrodisiac or not ;)

Olive oil cake

Sweet polenta with marcona almonds and currants.  Delicious.

Ricotta and marscapone tortelli with a red wine glaze.  Again, delish.

View of the contemporary dining room overlooking 5th Ave.
Veal angolotti.  Incredible.

Unpictured:  A bottle of  rose champagne

And because I'm a giant dork (and I had 2 glasses of bubbles and a glass of Riesling in my system) I took a picture in the bathroom.  ha.  It had mirrors on opposite walls, so you know, when you look in one, you see a thousand.  It amused me ;)

After brunch, we did a little shopping and met up with friends for a drink at a funky little hole-in-the-wall Irish pub, complete with stereotypical Irish-New Yorker bartender.

Three vodka and sodas later we headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner.  Our 8:00 reservations at Aureole turned into an 8:15 since someone just had to curl her hair.  Ahem.

This dinner with husband's two best friends and their girlfriends was one of the more memorable I've had.  The food was truly amazing.  It was all so delicate and flavorful. 

Sorry for the shitty pictures... it was dark and we didn't want to use the flash.

Clockwise from top left:

Hamachi with mint, cilantro, red onion and guava.  So light and yummy.

Ruby Red Shrimp w/ curry meringue, kaffir lime and coconut jus.

Husband's entree:  Dry aged rib eye with ricotta cannelloni and red wine jus.

Cannoli Sundae

Dark Chocolate Torte

My entree:  Alaskan black cod w/ creamed spinach and brown butter.  Melt in your mouth, creamy good.

Unpictured:  Two bottles each of champagne, gruner and syrah.  We don't like to drink at all.

The waitstaff took such great care of us... three courses, dessert and the first bottle of bubbles were sent out on the house.  Helps that husband is friends with the GM :)

Before leaving, we got a tour of the kitchen and got to meet the very talented chef.

After dinner we headed to the bar at the Gansevoort.  Not my scene.  Way too crowded and loud... I can't hang like I used to.  So sad.

After one pathetic drink at the Gansevoort, we headed across the street to someplace a little more my speed.  A place where we could actually sit at the bar and have a conversation:  Primehouse.  I don't think I had a single drink there though... it was after midnight at this point and if you've been following this post, you'll recall that I've been drinking basically all day. 

 

Couldn't leave without a cute picture!

After stopping our taxi a block and a half away from our hotel to grab a late night slice of cheese pizza (4th meal!), we ended the night in our shoebox-sized room around 1:30.

Sunday was a wine and restaurant trade show at the Javits Center.  Too bad we were far too hungover to really enjoy it.  We ended up cutting the day short and heading back to Albany early.  The ride home wasn't complete without a pit-stop at Woodbury Commons though!  Saks and Kenneth Cole missed me :)

So.  Long weekend full of good food, drink, friends and fun.  Now it's Monday evening and I'm still recovering.  I can go to bed at 7:30 tonight, right? ;)

Confession to myself.

I haven't been being honest.

See this pretty little weight tracker from my Spark People page?

It looks pretty great, right?  I'm so close to the finish.

If only I was being honest.

I was honest when I logged that beautiful 133 back in, oh, October.

I even managed to get down to 131.5 for a few glorious days.

And even better than that, I stayed put at 132 throughout the ENTIRE holiday season.  I call that an accomplishment.

Somewhere along the line in January, though, I got horribly off track.  In my own defense, I had a very busy social calendar. 

And as previously discussed, I don't do well when I'm walking through life tired and hungover.

I still went to boot camp once or twice a week and played volleyball a few times but other than that, I got almost no exercise for a full 6 weeks.  I have no excuse other than pure laziness on my part.  I also ate like crap.  Those six days in St. Louis were brutal... mexican and margaritas, way too much wine, late night drunk-sledding followed a trip to White Castle, etc, etc, etc...

Somewhere near the end of January, I reluctantly stepped on the scale.

137.

Oh.  My.  God.

I mean, I guess I wasn't truly shocked.  5lbs isn't all that much when you consider the crap I put in my body, but damn.  I was so happy at 132. 

Enter February and slightly warmer weather.  I got back on the exercise train with a couple outdoor runs and I've been going to spin class at least twice a week and playing volleyball every Thursday.  And I've gotten my eating back on track.  For the most part.  I eat so well Monday-Friday then blow it every weekend with multiple course meals and far too much alcohol. 

So explain to me why I was surprised when I stepped on the scale Saturday morning to see it read 137.8. 

Surpisingly though, I don't feel all that bad about myself.  My clothes still fit, only some pants are a bit tight and I think I look pretty damn good.

I've come to a conclusion though.  This high-maintenance, calorie-tracking, exercise-fiendish lifestyle I try to live really isn't condusive to my wine-loving, social-hostessing, all-around-fun life.

So in an effort to be honest with myself, I'm changing my weight-tracker to reflect this weight gain and I plan to be fully honest with how well (or not well) I'm eating and not let a few nights of fun hinder my progress.

Ah, honesty... be nice to me please.

The day my dog pooped on the computer.

M & B.  Cute, right?

Super excited to be out for their first walk since, um, October?  They loved it, I loved watching them love it.

This, however, I did not love. 

Yes, that is dog poo on my computer.  Thankfully I saw it before I felt the need to use an exclamation point.

Bella gets a tad over-excited at times.

Like when she's sitting next to me on the arm of the sofa and sees someone walking down the street.  She immediately turns into protector-of-the-neighborhood and goes ballistic.  This particular time, she felt it necessary to leap over the computer sitting on my lap.  Mid-leap, a dangler dropped out of her hairy little behind.  Thank God my lap was covered. 

Oh, the joys of dog-ownership.

You're welcome for that fun little story.

What I Wore... v2.0

I'm more than a little obsessed with fashion.  If I had endless amounts of money, I'd most likely spend most of my time shopping.

Too bad that's not an option.

For now I'll make due with numerous outfit repeats, as shown below.

First up, Wednesday and Saturday.

Outfit 1: 

tank, cardigan and pants:  Express

boots:  Macy's

necklace:  um??  This is what I get for taking such crappy pictures.  I can't see it well enough to tell which one it is, nor can I remember what I wore that day.  Sad.

Outfit 2:

tank:  Van Maur

(faux) leather jacket:  Marshall's

pants:  Express

boots:  Macy's

belt:  NY&Co.  (sidenote:  wearing a waist-cinching belt to the Mac & Cheese Bowl was a horrendously bad idea... it came off as soon as I got in the car)

Next up is Monday, Thursday and Monday.  Let's call this series "What Carolyn looks like hungover". 

'Cause that's exactly what it was.  Note the unwashed hair, ponytail and hat.  Sad that there were three days last week where I wasn't feeling up to par.  'Tis the story of my wine-loving life.

Outfit 1:

tank and cardigan:  Express (from like 3 years ago... eek)

jeans:  Mavi

boots:  Kenneth Cole

hat:  Nine West

necklace:  so old I have no idea where it came from

Outfit 2:

Sorriest excuse for a ponytail ever.

sweater:  Express

leggings:  Target

boots:  Kenneth Cole

Outfit 3:

Much better on the ponytail, Carolyn.

sweater:  NY&Co. from last year

jeans:  Mavi

boots:  Kenneth Cole (I shall now dub these my hangover boots, as the pattern is obvious)

Next group, well outfit, is Sunday.  We were headed out to dinner.  Husband requested a dress and heels.  It was like 10 degrees out.  I said "um, no.  Boots and pants."  Then I said, "you don't want me to be miserable because of my cold bare legs, right?"  And he said "I don't ever want you to ever be miserable."  Right answer, husband, right answer.

Outfit 1&2:  shown with and without jacket

sweater:  Target

skinny pants:  NY&Co.

boots:  Nine West

belt:  NY&Co.

adorably cute faux fur jacket:  Arden B.

hair:  curls!

Husband caught me taking the last picture and asked why the hell I was taking pictures of myself.  My (half-in-the-bag) answer:  "So I remember what I looked like skinny."  ha

This is embarrassing.

I conquered a fear today.

A fear that is rather embarrassing to admit.

I'm afraid of the car wash.

Probably not in the way you're thinking though. 

I don't mind going through a car wash while someone else is driving.  

The crazy-looking contraptions that attack your car don't scare me in the least.

My fear is the driving into the thing that you line your tire up with that takes you through. 

Literally driving into it.

I'm so afraid that I'm not going to line up my tires correctly and get yelled at by the minimum wage earning 16 year old who's trying to guide me through.

(This might stem from a Jiffy Lube incident as a young driver that we won't speak of.)

But alas, I have a shiny new car that I would like to keep shiny and new.

And husband bought me a car wash package for Christmas (even though he is VERY aware of my fear).

Something came over me yesterday though.  Maybe the dirt build-up on my pretty Jeep was speaking to me?

I sucked it up and drove to the car wash. 

This is the point where my heart started pounding.  The damn car in front of me was blocking the wheel-line-up thingie!  How am I supposed to line my car up if I can't even see it???

I tried to get a picture of it as the car in front was sucked into the wash and it finally popped into view but I WAS TERRIFIED.

Turns out I'm a big baby.  Somehow my car lined itself up properly and off I went!

Clean, clean, clean!

Tell me I'm not the only one who has (had?) a completely irrational, embarrassingly ridiculous fear?  Please?  Anyone?