Miss Tea Steps into Summer

To her dear readers, Miss Tea is terribly sorry for staying off the blogspot for so long. Unfortunately Miss Tea's vaca was followed by work hiccups that required her utmost attention...there is some comfort in knowing that if Miss Tea is out, the "world" is literally on hold until she gets back (well, that's what one collegue told her anyway).

So what to say, what to say.....Miss Tea was in LA and loved it! Miss Tea's alter ego, Miss Evylina, made a push to move out there, just to watch the men with their surf boards ride the waves. Sigh. What on earth would Miss Tea do for work in LA?! Goodness knows she'd just hang out in Santa Monica like a beached whale all day without a care in the world. Thankfully Miss Tea came back to NYC and back to her senses just in time.

While out in LA, Rocky Stillwell suggested Miss Tea take her friends out to "Mandibles & Scorpions." Okay, so Rocky got the name of the tapas eatery all wrong, but apparently it didn't matter because every Angelino knew it translated to "Cobras & Matadors." So off we went to this lovely BYOB (thank goodness for the liquor store next door - otherwise Miss Tea was going to have a fit). All the tapas plates ranged from $7 - $18. Miss Tea's friends who are paella connoisseurs told her this place definitely served one of the better paellas they've had - they were totally impressed! Score one for Miss Tea from NYC! We also had the grilled rack of lamb, the albondigas, the pa amb tomaquet with jamon Serrano & manchego cheese on catalan pan, and (Miss Tea's favorite) artichoke stuffed with goat cheese.

Miss Tea's hosts were also kind enough to take her to a taping of Jimmy Kimmel, where the guests were Adrian Brody, and....ok, Miss Tea didn't know who the other guests were. Miss Tea has never watched Jimmy Kimmel ever, but still it was an experience. There was also a band that was pretty good...but Miss Tea can never remember their name...Atomic Bomb Event? Toxic Atom Event? Hold on.......ah, Airborne Toxic Event. You still have no idea who Miss Tea is talking about...it's okay. Couple things that annoyed Miss Tea about the taping: first of all, they take away your camera and return it to you at the end of the show; secondly, you're allotted 1 pee-break per group; thirdly, they keep you locked in until the band finishes their set - the band could suck, and they only tape the first song, but you have to stay locked inside through the third song and put up with it. And don't even think about using the bathroom at that time, especially if you already took your allotted pee-break.

Another interesting space that Miss Tea was dying to check out was Pourtal in Santa Monica. Miss Tea in Pourtal was like a kid let loose in Toys R Us. A new kind of wine bar, Pourtal provides wine tasting in the form of a prepaid card and an ounce of wine of your choice. Miss Tea's friend said it reminded him of the automatic vending machines that served meals, which they used to have in places like Macy's (Miss Tea doesn't remember, so it must be before her time). Anyhoo, Miss Tea put money onto a special card, inserted it into the wine vending machine, then selected the wine she wanted to taste. One ounce of that wine sprouted into her glass. Each ounce had different prices, depending on the wine. It ranged from $1.25 to $6.00. While it may be a slightly expensive joint (particularly for the likes of Miss Tea), it would be a great place to have a party!

While in LA, Miss Tea got to catch up with her friends and hang out at The Grove, do her usual LA spa thing and sit by the pool (thankfully, this economy has not affected the job of the Evian spritzer boy by the pool) All in all, a very relaxing vaca ... just what Miss Tea wanted.

Gone Fishing

Well if you haven't noticed by now, Miss Tea is off on holiday! She will returning shortly with some delightful stories about L.A. Of course, Miss Tea is thoroughly enjoying the constant 80 degree weather while shopping at The Grove. Celebrity sightings so far: Tracy Morgan and Vanessa Simmons (Run's daughter of Run DMC).

By the way, go see Star Trek. You don't need to be a Trekkie, you don't need to be a sci-fan, and you really don't need to know anything about any of the TV show. It is a fun film, with a gorgeous cast, and a lot of adventure. So stop kicking and screaming, and haul your ass to the theater.

muah muah,
Miss Tea

Godmother? Miss Tea can do that.

Miss Tea received some good news recently: she is going to be a godmother – her first time! BFF Wyatt said, “We weren’t sure if you would be a good influence (what?! me?!) but we need someone to talk to our son in the future about the girls.” Don’t worry, Miss Tea will make sure her godson knows how to treat the ladies well. Promise.

So you know what this means...PER-O-JECT! Now that Miss Tea is officially a godmother, she followed her instincts straight to AC Moore to create a sample line of onesies for the little tyke. After all, Miss Tea's godson has to carry her quirky sense of style and humor. Let's see...the boy is roughly 2 1/2 months old now...but the 6 month-sized onesies give more space to work with for the designs...so...the larger size it is! Whatever - he'll deal.

Miss Tea thought she did a pretty good job of creating designs for her new fashion line. BTW, thank you to Lala and Rocky for repeatedly telling Miss Tea these outfits are called "onesies", not "premies" - oops!

Apparently, it's been awhile since Miss Tea used one of these contraptions called an IRON. Miss Tea plugged it in, waiting for the iron to heat up while she prepared her design placement on the first onesie. Then she began to iron the design onto the fabric. After ironing for 5 minutes and wondering why the design wasn't sticking to the fabric, she realized that the iron she had is child-proof and Miss Tea-proof...because she forgot to turn it ON. Not only that, but Miss Tea had to find the "cotton" setting so that the design didn't sear onto the fabric with a crisp, burnt coloring. And she had to turn off the "steam" option so that the design would stay on the fabric, and not on the iron (which Miss Tea grudgingly scraped off later). SIGH - this was waaaaay too much work! Miss Tea will never again doubt the price she pays for bringing her clothes to the dry cleaner.

To all the potential husbands out there, Miss Tea doesn't do ironing. Do it yourself or suffer the consequences.

Anyway, Miss Tea thought her designs came out rather well, even if they are a tad wrinkled. If there's a demand out there, Miss Tea may have to actually learn how to iron...regularly.

My dear readers are probably thinking, "But Miss Tea, there's more to being a godmother than teaching your hip sense of style." Miss Tea concurs. And when she learns what that is, on her path of godmother enlightenment, she will share. Miss Tea just learned how to iron - give her a break!

Cinco de Mayo

How did you spend your Cinco de Mayo?

Miss Tea had a busy schedule. First, it was off to the World Innovation Forum in Times Square with Fau (thank you for the invitation Fau!!!) at the gorgeous Nokia Theater. Miss Tea and Fau perused different booths, collected information, and listened to a very good lecture from CK Prahalad about innovation (which Miss Tea won't go into as it deals more with work). Among the exhibitors was Yelo - a new concept of wellness through sleep and reflexology therapy. Yes, Miss Tea slid onto one of their Alpha Spheres that vibrated like a massage chair. Miss Tea, however being reminded of the dentist's office, had the Vulcan death grip on the sides of this pendulum rocking structure to which Fau said, "You do not look relaxed." It's a bit difficult to relax (or sleep?) when people can see you in the middle of floor. Anyhoo, Miss Tea checked out the website, www.yelonyc.com, where you can book an appointment for a nap, nap + massage, or reflexology sessions. Miss Tea plans to try this out. Lala and KTB could've used this a couple months back!

After work happy hour was spent in Pamplona, a favorite haunt of Miss Tea. Chef Alex Urena and wife Martine, and Sommelier Luis, have become such good friends of Miss Tea that going to Pamplona is like going to see family. Everyone at Pamplona is so sweet and friendly, and the food is ALWAYS good. Miss Tea was joined by Lala and Rocky for a quick cocktail (re: 2) before Rocky and Miss Tea headed off to watch a pre-screening of Star Trek Zero. Somehow, Miss Tea got passes...of course, it was good to be true.

Miss Tea is not a true Trekkie fan but was a little annoyed to see the line outside the AMC movie theater on 42nd Street. Though no one was dressed up (that would've been worth the waiting on line) there were plenty of fans who wanted to see the film, lining up around the block, here and there and everywhere. People on line talked about how they would've left work had they known they received pass sooner in their email box, people trying to find other people because they saved them a spot on line. Rocky's friend Schlongo joined us, a bit peeved that he had to tear himself away from tequila shots at the bar for this. And of course, none of us got in to see the flick. Organizers collected our passes and promised us another pass for Transformers 2. Hmmm. We'll see. BTW, Star Trek Zero starts on Friday, May 8th.

So why let Cinco de Mayo go to waste? Rocky, Schlongo and Miss Tea went across the street to Chevy's...there's something about dancing servers with maracas upon entering that make Miss Tea feel sorry for them...and is therefore inclined to dance as well to humor them. Our party was seated in a backroom on the 2nd floor across from a blaring DJ. Obviously, they were preparing for a Cinco de Mayo party but at 8pm there was no one there. Really, did they need to blare that music for all the diners? We complained to the manager who refused to have the DJs lower the music. She finally sat us at a different table but said, "There's music here too." Yeah, like ambience music from the bar on the first floor. What a B.

Miss Tea was going to have her Corona in celebration of Cinco de Mayo, but Rocky insisted on something a little more fun: Sour Apple Margarita. Yummy! Rocky and Schlongo had the Blue Agave Margarita. Ahhh...Miss Tea is officially counting the hours to her flight to go on vacation.

Pamplona

www.pamplonanyc.com

37 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016

212 213 2328

Yelo

www.yelonyc.com

315 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019

212 245 8235

Chevy's Fresh Mex

www.chevys.com

42nd Street and 8th Avenue

Belgian Waffles

Miss Tea thinks that colleagues, no matter the best of intentions, should NOT bring chocolate-covered Belgian waffles topped with whip cream into the office. It is a very BAD idea. And everyone knows how much Miss Tea loves bad ideas.

Sigh. Now Miss Tea has to go hunt down this magical truck, look at the menu, see what everyone's getting and beg for samples.

For those of you who are intersested, the waffle supplier is Wafels & Dinges who travel to different areas of NYC in their yellow waffle truck. They also do catering in NYC, Hamptons, heck, the Tri-State area!

In Belge, I guess waffles are spelled wafels (I hope so, otherwise that would be very confusing!).

So go on and be like Miss Tea...chase the waffle truck.

Wafels & Dinges
http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/

Dedication to Carlos

This week Miss Tea received some sad news that one of her security guards passed away (security guard for the office...I ain't no diva).

Since Miss Tea started working in this bull's pen, Carlos has done nothing but keep her safe and make her smile with his jokes. He loved to riff on Miss Tea for forgetting her ID pass to get through the entrance and for sounding the alarm because she held her umbrella too low (this entrance system needs to differentiate between a long umbrella and a rifle). When Miss Tea had to pull night and weekend shifts, Carlos gave her a parking spot, checked in on her, and made sure she was all right.

One of my fondest memories of Carlos was his reaction to me bringing my suitcase in and out of the office. "Are you coming or going? Where?" Once, when I told him I was going to Toronto, he told me of all the places I should check out. It seemed to be one of his favorite cities.

This entry is dedicated to Carlos "Big Papa" M. Keep smilin' in heaven! Thanks for keeping an eye out for me from day one.

Run Woman, Run!

Last night Miss Tea went to the 40/40 Club for an information session with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team In Training® - the world's largest endurance sports training program. The program provides training to run or walk a marathon or half marathon, swim, hike, bike and run a triathlon or take on a century bike ride (100 miles). In attendance with Miss Tea were Miss Ivy and Fau, who left with a gorgeous door prize – a big box of cosmetics. After asking as many questions about why Miss Tea should NOT participate, she finally did it…yes, Miss Tea signed up to train for the Nike Women’s Marathon in October 2009. So you’ll be hearing Miss Tea talk about this ever so often this year, and will probably throw a few fundraising parties in the mix. Of course, Miss Tea appreciates the support of her family and friends…even the ones who snickered (ahem, Rocky).

One of the items in our goodie bag was a discount card to Bikram Yoga, something that Rocky loves and wants Miss Tea to try. Rocky, so sweetly, offered to attend a few classes with Miss Tea so that she won't feel so self conscious about sweating like a piglet and falling over in some kind of twisted eagle position. Awwww…

Afterwards, the gals headed over to Pranna for a cocktail quickie and dished on topics like the swine flu (and everyone’s over-exaggeration) to Millionaire Matchmaker’s Guide (yes, Miss Tea did by Patti Stanger’s book – need all the help here) to learning how to play golf. Looks like Fau will plan a golf lesson for us at Chelsea Piers…Miss Tea hopes she won’t hurt anyone with her…um…what do you call it? A stick? Huh?...oh…a club. Thanks Natasha 98!

By the way, Miss Tea is not one for the sports bars (in face it’s more of a nightmare ambience) but the 40/40 Club was fascinating and the food was surprisingly good. For some reason, Miss Tea associated sports bar menus with pub grub…wonder why.


Anyhoo, stay tuned…

Team in Training
http://www.lls.org

Bikram Yoga NYC
http://www.bikramyoganyc.com/

http://www.4040club.com
6 W. 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
(212) 832.4040