Category: friends

birds · food · friends · new york city · paaaarty

NYC Take Three

GOING NINETY MILES5 Comments

NYC take three. Or should it be, take thee? I LOVE LOVE LOVE NEW YORK CITY!

Our last full day together, sniff sniff. The next day everyone will be flying back to their kids, their husbands, their normal routine. Except for me. My travels are only starting. But the Loos weekend in NYC was coming to an end. Again, sniffles.

Hurry it up gals, we got people to see and places to be. And what would be a trip to Manhattan without stopping at Central Park? It would be NOTHING. Nothing I tell ya.

Awww cute lil horsey. Is the taxi dude checkin’ me out? Or the horse?

Birds on a wire. (In front of the Plaza hotel)

Eight Loos. On a Rock. In Central Park, Manhattan. USA.

I always love a ride on the Central Park Merry-Go-Round. Yeehaw!

After the funness at Central Park we walked to the East Side to grab a burger. Cheeburger Cheeburger. And a Bloody Mary. Or Two. Most of the gang still needed to buy some tchotchkes, so back to Times Square we go. Bess and I needed no more New York themed stuff so since it was WORLD CUP month, we headed to the closest bar for a Bloody Mary. Or Two.

We did NOT go to Olive Garden to watch the game. GO GERMANY! GO USA! GO SPAIN!

Our good friend and SHS ’89 classmate, Kary, works at Shaffer City in the Meatpacking District. He was going to cook us up a dinner made specially for us. Yippee! If you go there, be sure to ask for Kary the chef to make your dinner. You will not be disappointed. I don’t have pics of everything from our 7-course meal, but here are a few of the deliciousness that was served up by the friendly staff.

Love oysters.

Meat, potato goodness in special sauce. Mmmmmm….

I was in heaven with the brownie dessert.

ALL of the Loos, with Kary, the chef. Thanks Goolsby!

Oh, you think that’s it? We are not done yet. The night is young. And the night calls for ….. KAROKE. Yo. Bring it 80s music.

 DELTA DAWN WHAT’S THAT FLOWER YOU HAVE ON. COULD IT BE A FADED ROSE FROM DAYS GONE BYYYYYYYYYYY

 

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Susie and I are rockin’ the mic.

There you have it my friends. The incredible tales of the Loos take over Manhattan. Until next time. I am Loo Loo Loobird.

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architecture · birds · friends · new york city · travel · usa

NYC Take Two

GOING NINETY MILES2 Comments

New York City, take two.

I must apologize to my bedmate (does that sound weird?) AMY for not getting up and going to the Today Show with her. She wanted to go see the Rascal Flats play for that weeks summer concert. I opened one eye, said “Do you want to go?” and she said no. So! Therefore I went back to sleep. Hopefully our Today Show celeb sighting made up for the fact that we missed Rascal Flats.

After all eight of us were beautified and ready to go, first stop was Rockefeller Plaza. I took pics of cool buildings along the way.

I really like this one.

We stopped at Le Pain Quotiden for lunch. If you are in Manhattan, you have to go to one, they have several locations. Delicious salads, hummus, sandwiches. I sampled a bit from everyone’s plate (I did order for myself as well) and everything was scrumptious.

High Line park was our next destination. The High Line is a public park built on a defunct railway that runs 30 feet above Manhattan between 10th and 11th Avenues, from 34th Street to Gansevoort Street in the meatpacking district. It is going through three sets of phases until final completion. The first phase is finished, the second will be in fall 2010 and the third has yet to be approved.

We climbed up three flights and stairs and wove our way around the wildflowers and plants on the boardwalk through the floating garden. Fantastic sights include:

The Statue of Liberty

Funky art object to give an optical illusion to the buildings.

Pretty wildflowers.

And while we were there our celeb sighting. Remember here?

 Trying to fit everything in on our agenda and we only had about 36 more hours to do so. Cupcakes anyone? Magnolia Bakery here we come! I have never seen the Sex and the City episode where this frosting fabulousness comes from, nor do I care. BUT I did care about my chocolate cupcake with sprinkles. The place is super small and was a bit chaotic but once outside with cupcake and lemonade in hand, I was nothing but happy.

Now to hurry home  back to nyc apartment with a crazy lady living below, freshen up, throw some cheese, sausage and pasta in the belly and go to …….  ROCK OF AGES!

Yes, that’s right. ROCK OF AGES!! Here is the gist of it: In 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a small town girl met a big city rocker and in LA’s most famous rock club, they fell in love to the greatest songs of the 80s. It’s ROCK OF AGES, an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of JOURNEY, NIGHT RANGER, STYX, REO SPEEDWAGON, PAT BENATAR, TWISTED SISTER, POISON, ASIA, WHITESNAKE and many more. And I can say that we sang along to EVERY SINGLE FACE-MELTING SONG. Fun show, the alcohol also helped…..

Above pic from the ROA website or the LOOS!

 And afterwards, we wandered around Times Square…..

I love Times Square at night.

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food · friends · happy happy joy joy · hi there · new york city · usa

USA First Stop – NYC

GOING NINETY MILES1 Comment

A little over a month ago I made my way back to the USA. First stop, New York City.

Almost immediately after arriving at my friend’s place in Park Slope, Brooklyn, we headed out for sushi and discussed upcoming events; Norah Jones concert at Prospect Park that evening and the itinerary for the Loos weekend in New York. The Whos? The LOOS! A group of eight rockin’ but diverse girls who went to high school together in the collegiate town of Stillwater, OK.

Shall we see what fun we got into? Part Uno.

Bess, Drew and I decided to brave the rainy rainy weather to see nine-time Grammy winner Norah Jones at Celebrate Brooklyn! in Prospect Park. I love Norah, she has an angelic voice and she can ROCK the guitar and piano. It was a soggy night with umbrellas strategically placed over one’s head to keep the rain off, and not stab someone in the eye. An impressive crowd still gathered and Norah told us “You have a beautiful bouquet of umbrellas”.

So far, five out of eight had arrived in New York. To make sure we started it off right we went to Grimaldi’s Pizza in Brooklyn for some delicious pie. Then we needed to work off all the pizza we ate. So off to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge!! I was super excited, after living in Manhattan for 2 years and the east coast for 4, I had never done this. Let’s GO!

 Afterwards, a few silly pics on the NYC subway.

hehe. and ….

By now, after all of our shenanigans, Beth had arrived, we paid and got the keys to our Manhattan apartment rental for the weekend, we went to the World Trade Center site, wandered around the NYSE, bought some I HEART NYC t-shirts, and headed back to Bess’s place for some homemade enchiladas and margaritas.

birds · celebrity sighting · friends · happy happy joy joy · love love love · new york city · tv land · usa

Loos heart Hoda!

GOING NINETY MILES1 Comment

Hey you guys! It’s ME live from NEW YORK!

I have the greatest group of girlfriends that I grew up with in highschool and our name is the LOOBIRDS. Don’t steal it now cuz it’s so freakin cool. Well, we all met in New York for a weekend reunion which I will be giving highlights to, but wanted to show you our celeb sighting. It was ….. hold on to your hat….  HODA KOTB from the Today show. Who? Wha? Okay, so I had no idea who Hoda was, but hey, I live in Europe now. Yep. But now I know! And she rocks.

So, Hoda met the Loos. She was very sweet. Stay tuned for more NY sights!

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books · friends · spain · weird

sweet valley high ~ spanish style

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 Driving home tonight, the moon was low in the sky and fuzzy. Fuzzy from the clouds and fuzzy from my cold sake, it was sushi night with the Gomez Gil twins. They’re so cute, they are like my Spanish equivalent to the Sweet Valley High (SVH) twins.

Did you ever read those books? My God, I was obsessed. Constantly wanting to be Jessica because of her daring attitude and every guy dying to be with her. But Elizabeth was cool, she was smart and sly, and had a hot boyfriend, who was such the gentleman. I read through at least book 100. And I just have to mention that I still knew the twin’s names without having to look it up. I am very disturbed by that fact.

Also, a bit disturbing is that I decided to drive the back way home. It is a very winding narrow road with potholes and tall weeds growing from both sides. Normally, I find it quite peaceful when coming home late and driving on this dark deserted road where you rarely see another car. But this night I was a bit spookified. A few weeks ago my online Mallorca Daily Bulletin (MDB) had a story headline that read “Missing Bolivian found dismembered in Sa Rapita”.

There are two problems (if not more) that I have with this headline.

1. MDB will publish headlines at the top of the post but you have to wait until the next day to read the story. The site is free, why would you need to lure me here another day? Please MDB, I read you daily – as I should since it is part of your name. I had to wait a full 24 hours before I could find out about a woman dismembered in my neighborhood.

2. Dismembered? Not something I was expecting to happen in my sleepy lil town of Sa Rapita. Who could do that to a human body? Truly horrifying.

Finally I read about what happened. A man who goes by the initials of Q.Q. (an Ecuadorian) killed this Bolivian woman in her home in Palma and then put her body into his car and drove it out to his place here, in Sa Rapita. Using his construction tools to dismember the body, he then threw the body parts out randomly, while driving around. And this back road I mentioned, would be perfect for doing just that. It is uninhabited, but there is a fence along the road so animals cannot go onto (or off) the land. Some of the body parts were found on his property, but not all.

And what is still missing? Her head. This has been haunting me terribly.

SVH had many evil plots, don’t you remember. What about the very first book where there is smoking and drinking, later books have death and drugs, not so sweet now…. The evil sneaks in from all directions doesn’t it? So, yes, it’s quite possibly Sweet Valley High, Spanish style.

And people nowadays say Twilight is not good for their daughters to read. Why? Because Edward is the perfect man? Which of course, he isn’t. Or wait…..

So driving back home through the cool, foggy air with twists and turns in the road where the weeds can touch your car, I pictured her. This poor woman who lost her life and was brought here, to my peaceful neighborhood. I waited to see a ghostly figure in front of me with each turn, but it brought me only another turn, more weeds sliding by, whispering good night.

Not really the direction you thought I was going with this post? Just keeping it real, yo.  And you thought I was all about silliness…

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drinkin' · friends · happy happy joy joy · usa

Heeeeere I Come my lil U.S. of A.

GOING NINETY MILES3 Comments

Wowzers – I traveled from Spain to the East coast to the West coast to the middle and back. Here is where you could have found me: Queens, Seattle, Portland, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Brooklyn and Manhattan.  And either a couch or sharing a bed with mom were my sleeping quarters….which was fine but I was happy to get back to my large bed in Mallorca. Is that so wrong?

I was going to go into the whole story about my taxi driver arriving to take me to the airport an hour late but I think this one sentence will be sufficient, albeit I almost went into complete panic mode. So, that said, I hopped a plane to Madrid and then to JFK. There I was greeted by my awesomely fabulous friend that I haven’t seen in two years. It was a quick stop but I got to see Jeannette, Emma in a witch hat and Hannah for the first time! Ooh, and my first (but def. not the last) everything bagel with vegetable cream cheese and a side of mustard. (I am sure if you read the post before you can start to guess I have some strange food preferences)  

Next morning it is off to Seattle! I have never been and until then could only gain a picture through Sleepless in Seattle. Where in the world is Meg Ryan? She did that film with that actor from Australia who got fat, um, um, name is escaping me. Still not there, didn’t he throw a phone at a hotel employee? Seriously, can’t think of it. Don’t fret, it will come to me. Anyways, Meg Ryan….whatever. Who cares. I mean she adopted a baby and she’s cute (except I think I liked her better without the lip injections, her and that other Australian, Nicole, she was married to Tom Cruise, best friends with Naomi Watts – whom I LOVE , really what is wrong with me I can’t remember names?) Ahh, Kidman, after fifteen minutes.

Okay, I am back. So, Seattle, flying Jet Blue for $120 (nice, plus no cost for first checked bag) from JFK-Seattle. I love Jet Blue, more room, your own TV, and the Terra Blues potato chips ROCK. The last hour or so of the flight we were over Montana and I saw no one. Lots of mountains and snow, LOTS of snow. Again, it was me with my forehead pressed against the little and probably really dirty window scanning and memorizing. Who knew Montana was so desolate. I went to college with a guy from MT and all I thought of was big huge ranch lands and buffalo roaming the state. But as we neared the Seattle airport it was crisp, cold water with trees changing colors, an explosion of blue, orange, yellow, green and reds. I felt happy. And excited to see Donita! A fellow OK girl who rocks the casbah plus the hottie has like thirty-four hundred guys dying for her attention.

I grabbed a taxi to her office downtown where we had a quick hug and she sat me at the bar for happy hour while she finished up the end of her workday. It brought back some nostalgia of my early advertising days in Dallas, the corporate world working in this astronomically sized building where everyone comes down to the bar for happy hour to blow off some steam, have a few drinks and flirt with fellow co-workers. It was fun to be a spy on the wall. A few asian girls to my left giggling about boys, a business man alone until a female around the age of 25 joined him and ordered a hot toddy because she was sick and an annoyingly high-pitched woman telling the four men she was sitting with that she couldn’t have a fourth beer because she needed to pick up her child from daycare. Hmm, maybe now is the time to call a friend?

I was drinking a Blue Moon and trying to forget it was 3am Mallorca time when Donita came down. After an order of french fries and another beer we headed off to her new apartment, so cute! She poured two glasses of white wine while I played iTunes from my computer and got ready to go out for the night. Sushi and then to a bar to meet boyfriend/person she finds hot #1.  Sushi at Umi Sake House (2230 First Ave, Seattle) was excellent and it was great people watching. Did I mention it was Hallow’s Eve, the night before Halloween and lots of people were already decked out in their garb.  Donita saw a guy who she thought was standing on a box because he was short but I looked over and it was his costume – his feet were in the box with shoes on top. Funny, so Donita gets one blonde  moment but don’t worry mine will be tomorrow. We got our leftover sushi boxed up, left it at a bus stop for the homeless (it was cold that night, it will be ok) and headed to the bar.

BF1 was there to buy all of the rounds (so nice of him!) and the bar was packed by midnight. I saw Snow White, a few vampires and possibly a monk, I was a bit confused at what he was going for. But Donita and I shared many laughs, as always and ended the night at Dick’s Drive-In. It’s a burger joint people, get your minds out of the gutter. And it was tasty, shall I begin a list of things I miss in the states that usually revolves around food? An everything bagel is one and yummy greasy burgers after a night of cocktails is another.

Stay tuned for Portland, Halloween and my blonde moment of the month, okay week. Kisses!

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friends · spain · travel

MADRID Olé Olé Olé Olé

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In typical Kimberle fashion, I managed to arrive in Madrid a full day ahead of my friend. Those tricky airline itineraries when you fly from the states to Europe, I always forget to add that +1 day. Last time I booked a flight from Madrid to Mallorca the day before I arrived.

I really CAN be smart, really. After some choice words directed towards myself I realized something. You know what? A day alone in Madrid can never be bad. And with that, the cloud vanished.

DAY ONE MADRID:

Checking into the Hotel Asturias was easy and got a room with a balcony to boot! Nice.

IMG_3634

The day was looking good. The hotel was prime location, in the centre. I walked towards Plaza Mayor and sat listening to groups of men singing songs to their fellow comrades. A large group had already consumed an entire outside bar area and every few minutes another group would march around the corner singing and the large group would sing back. Let me tell you, it was much better than watching the sad Mickey Mouse try to make balloon animals for frightened children.

Finally tiring of the antics I walked a bit further and found myself at the Mercado de San Miguel. I wandered in and drooled: fresh fruit, sausage, cheese, mouth-watering sandwiches of all kinds, seafood, tapas, wines, champagnes. Quadruple YUM ( i would go higher than quadruple but not really sure what is after that), made a mental note to come back with friend for food and wine.

DAY TWO MADRID:

The birthday girl has arrived! Not the actual bday yet but when it’s your 40th you get the entire week ……  or is it month?

We set off for café con leche by the Parque del Retiro where an old waiter dude mumbled something in spanish after we asked for la carte and then only ordered coffee. Que pasa? Maybe there was something tempting for my tastebuds? Grumpy old man.

While birthday girl worked through the jet lag we cruised down Calle de Alcalá where we spied an Annie Leibovitz Exposition. And it was free! Isn’t Annie going through bankruptcy? How is this free? Whatevs. I’ll take it and run. It was filled with the usual famous, gorgeous celebrity photos plus a lot of her family and her lover, Susan. And I never knew Annie had a baby at the age of 51! Wow. There IS hope!

Next up, lunch at Mercado de San Miguel. My step quickened at the colorful array of vegetables in the windows. We settled on oysters and an appetizer with green olives, pickled onions, sardines and pepperoncinis. The first drink? A crisp white wine from France. Heaven.

IMG_3660

Dinner was close by the hotel, a wonderful mixture of tapas. And afterwards we were bombarded with free drink cards from every calle corner. The card said “Free Caipirinha” which turned out to be the tiniest shot in the world. But we were already in the door and there was an open booth. Three Caipirinhas later, we stumbled out the door to our home for the night.

Now, I am not one for violence, however I must admit I can be a bit sharp tongued when threatened or angered…. and um, have had a cocktail or two. A large group was a bit too close for comfort and I spun around and mouthed off a bit while birthday girl almost fell flat on her face cruising over the cobblestones. She jumped up, yelled “I’m up!” and mumbled “heart, heart” while making the heart symbol over her chest. We giggled all the way “home”.

Day three was rainy and cold. We wandered around in hopes to spy the prostitutes on Calle de la Montera, which we did see a group of four. I think, it could also have been teenagers dressed in their normal day clothes. And then we caught a taxi for the airport. The smiley taxi guy played Olivia Newton-John’s oldies but goodies, we sang all the way to the airport.

A few more pics of Madrid. Enjoy! (Click to enlarge)

 

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