Harry Potter Night: Half Blood Prince

Once again pubLiZity came through with tix to a pre-screen of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"...yup, that's right...BEFORE the midnight viewing tonight. Thankfully pubLiZity gave 2 extra passes to Miss Tea to bring some guests for the 8:30pm viewing last night. Of course, Miss Tea had to bring Natasha 98 - a total Pothead...um, I mean, Potterhead - and office cinematic critic P.Dizzle (who always has a way with words, foul and foul alike).

Miss Tea doesn't want to give up too much, and also the press release is too thick to go through. But Miss Tea will say this much: Half Blood Prince starts right where Order of the Phoenix left off and is just as dark and grave. The "lighthearted comedy relief" can be found in all three main characters (Harry, Hermione and Ron) as they all go through teen love and loss and angst - truly a time that Miss Tea would not wish to revisit in her life, especially after seeing this movie.

All in all, the film doesn't disappoint. Natasha 98 left very happy. P.Dizzle said it was "actually pretty good" per his FB. The film will leave you wanting to know what happens next. But no way around it: you (and Miss Tea) will actually have to rrrr...rrrr....read all 784 pages of the Deathly Hollows in order to find out what happens next! Or Wikipedia it...yes, Miss Tea cheated. Don't look so shocked.

Public Service Announcement

Natasha 98 has been telling Miss Tea for the longest time about the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park (http://www.shakeshack.com/). However, Miss Tea has never had a desire to try it out because of the habitual long line of a block and a half.

Finally last Friday, since Miss Tea and Natasha 98 both found some free time, we headed over there. The menu was interesting: they served beer and wine along with burgers, hot dogs, and frozen custards. Gone for an hour and a half, it probably took us 45 minutes to stand on line and 10 minutes to down the soda, fries and "Shackburger." To be quite honest, Miss Tea still thought the burgers at Burger Joint were better. But at least we got to sit in the park on a nice, sunny day.

Unfortunately, Natasha 98 was having unusual issues with our dining neighbors - a father and daughter duo - where the girl kept on feeding fries to the pigeons. Now, this was quite annoying because these pigeons flapped away between us, vying for a crumb. And these "New York" pigeons clearly have no fear of people as Miss Tea has personally seen one swoop down and almost scratch a man's head.

However, Miss Tea deals with the birds as one of those NYC things, like oddly black squirrels in Washington Square Park. Natasha 98, on the other hand, has a vehement haterid for these 'loathsome' creatures. "Why are they allowed to roam free?! Why aren't they kept in a zoo?!"

So while Miss Tea shooed these pigeons away with a folding chair (because there was a flock of them gathering between our tables), Natasha 98 remarked out loud, "It's her! She keeps on feeding them!!!" Miss Tea has never seen Natasha 98 so upset that she was shaking. Thank gawd this girl got a clue and stopped feeding the birds because Natasha 98 was ready to bitch-slap her.

Let this be a lesson, everyone: enjoy the outdoors, the sun, the park - but please, DO NOT FEED THE BIRDS.

In the Swing of Things

Post-birthday outings are always fun and last night was no different! Miss Tea & friends were invited to a Midsummer Mojito Mixer thrown by the Y Society at the Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar. Apparently this place opened up last August and only now has appeared on Miss Tea's radar of rooftops to hang out after work for the summer. For some reason, Empire never made it to Vanity Fair's Summer 2009 NY Edition (if you want a copy of this, email me at theadventuresofmisstea@gmail.com).

So Miss Tea has compiled her own (small) list of rooftop bars - feel free to share a good one:

1. Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar (upper east enders)

2. Salon de Ning at Peninsula (Miss Tea will be there next week!)

3. Highbar (chic crowd)

4. 235 Fifth (great place to meet, but gets crowded quickly)

5. The Yale Club (Find a friend who's a member. It's nice for some private chit chat.)

Going back to this party...Miss Tea is not one to trek to the upper east side but after seeing the catalogue of hotties on site, all of a sudden she has a change of heart. You may think Miss Tea is being shallow, which is not true. At her age, Miss Tea must be proactive in finding her mate.

However, throughout the night Miss Tea learned from her friends that there are " number rules" when prowling for men. How could Miss Tea miss this - maybe this is why she is single.

Going out alone - looks desperate, one night stand

2 girls - looks obvious you're on the prowl and on a mission

3 girls - Cosmo gives this a thumbs up as the 'magic' number

4 girls - too intimidating, too many wingwomen to front

5 plus - Are you even looking for a guy? Cuz it looks like a girls' night out.

Last night Miss Tea was in the "5 plus" catergory. Pity. Miss Tea was dressed cutely too.

After roofing it, Miss Tea and Miss Ija headed over to the Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien for some good ol' fashioned burgers and fries and audible conversation. Miss Tea loved wrapping up her night in that tiny hole, surrounded by French tourists flipping through hand-sized books, trying to figure out the translation of "medium-well". Miss Tea loves NYC!

Lucky 7

Today is Miss Tea's favorite day because it is her birthday! During this time, Miss Tea carelessly humms throughout the day, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to..." If you don't know this song, then clearly Miss Tea is too old, and you best stay out of her way today. (Really, stay clear 'cuz she's not gonna wanna see your young ass.)

So today, Miss Tea is surrounding herself with positive vibes, good cheer and hope for a summer love. (Gerard Butler, I know you're in Queens today. Call me!) Miss Tea feels blessed already. :o)

What's on the agenda for tonight? Um, cocktails at some lounge with some friends, totally low-key. Maybe some grub too. Sounds boring, but if you knew Miss Tea's hooligan posse, you wouldn't want it any other way.

Life is good. Miss Tea continues on with la vida loca.

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!