Songwriting Formula = Guitars + Park + Dog

Working on a new song in the park.

Casey thinks the second verse could use a little work.

Saturday at the Beach

I love the fact that we live merely an hour-long train ride away from the beach. This past Saturday we packed a picnic lunch, a soccer ball and a few friends and surrendered to the gravitational pull of Long Island's lovely beaches. Funny thing was, about 5,000 other New Yorker's had the exact same idea.

Looking for muscle beach? Take a left and go 2,809 miles.

You can't miss it.

Newly Developed Sandwich Addiction

I'm not really an avid sandwich lover but I recently had one that just might convert me. It was from No. 7 Subs, the new, sandwich-focused outpost of the Brooklyn restaurant, No. 7. The tiny sub shop is connected to the hip Ace Hotel at 29th St. and Broadway right near my office.

The sandwich was: roasted asparagus, goat cheese, pickled ramps, and home made bacon bits on a deliciously soft whole grain roll.

I liked it so much that I attempted to recreate it at home. It was pretty darn good, although paled in comparison to the original and quite a bit of work for a sandwich. I made chipotle mashed sweet potatoes to go with it which were delicious but too flippin' spicy. I would definitely make them again, but with just one pepper next time instead of, uh, four. I also added a little sour cream that wasn't in the recipe but made them a little creamier. (I've been trying to cook with more sweet potatoes but most of the recipes I find are sweet. This is a good savory way to cook them.)

Keeping with the sandwich trend, we had a Cuban-themed picnic in the park with our friends Joel, Kathryn and their son Jackson where we joyfully consumed Joel's amazing homemade Cuban sandwiches. Brian and I brought mojitos, plantain chips and guacamole, and the traditional Cuban dessert, sandwiches de ice cream.

The Tour De Brooklyn

Last Sunday, we went on an 18-mile organized bike ride from hip Williamsburg to charming Red Hook and back. But for some reason the route in between was through some of the shadiest parts of Brooklyn. I saw Bed Stuy the only way a blonde girl in a pink shimmery bike helmet should see it: with a police escort.

All 2,500 bikers lined up at the start.

Brian "Armstrong" Jordan with a camera on his handle bars and a smile on his face.

Just imagine how much honking there was when they stopped traffic on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway so a bunch of yuppie bike riders wearing goofy outfits could cycle across.

Brian had his camera on the "stop motion" setting and captured this super cool video of the ride. It's worth waiting till the end when we break off from the pack at mile 16 to eat eggs and drink mimosas.

Rooftop + Garden + Brooklyn

The sage and chives are BFF.

Mint's purpose in life is to be muddled

with some sugar and covered in rum.

I always forget about the parsley and buy some at the store.

Unacceptable.

Ain't nothin' in life that I like better than

bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes.

Our jalapeño plant has seen better days. We kept him indoors and pampered him all winter long. We finally put him back in the glorious sunshine and he starts fading. Wuss.

The basil is threatening to bloom.

Luckily, I could eat caprese salad for breakfast.

Our lilies are the supermodels of our rooftop garden.

They just stand around making the vegetables feel ugly.

Don't tell my husband but I think the gardener is sexy.

Look how green his thumb is. H-O-T.

It breaks my heart to see all of those roofs going to waste.

But at least we don't have to see our neighbors sunbathing.

Memorial Day Picnic in Prospect Park

We arrived early to get things properly set up...

"When you picnic or camp you always need a good log.

That's just how I was raised."

--Brian Jordan

Brian's thought bubble:

Hmm, it's heavier than I thought.

I'll just have to roll it. Like a man.

Casey's thought bubble:

That is the biggest stick I have ever seen.

If you try to throw it I'll try to bring it back.

Thanks to George for organizing a lovely Memorial Day Picnic in Prospect Park. Brian and I made sausage wraps (which blew some Yankee minds) and Joel made his amazing white wine potato salad. Amy of course supplied potato chips and Erin brought her favorite picnic beverage: red wine mixed with Sunkist soda which she swears they serve at the Hotel San Jose. Things got a little tense when Brian scolded me for buying Mexican beer on Memorial Day. But a few Tecates later he didn't seem to mind so much. Joel and Kathryn's 2-year old son, Jackson, kept us entertained by letting his wind up airplane loose to terrorize other picnickers. All in all, it was a wonderful way to memorialize.

Brian makes a new friend

Brian: Hey, look there is a tree right by me.

Claire: There sure is.

Brian: Give me your hat and your sunglasses.

Claire: Why?

Brian: Just do it.

Claire: Fine.

Brian: Does this tree look like my friend?

Claire: Sure baby, it looks like your friend.

Casey: My humans are crazy.

How to enjoy a movie you know is going to be terrible:

(i.e. Sex and the City 2)

Tip #1: Go with great people.

Maggie and I posed on the silly (but irresistible) red carpet while

Erin and Kathryn ran to the liquor store (more on that later).

Tip #2: Have low expectations for the movie

and high expectations for the theater.

We went to NYC's fancy Ziegeld Theatre.

Who needs a plot line when you have chandeliers?

Tip #3: Drink.

We ignored the gimmicky (and non-alcoholic) beverage selection

and instead each had our own miniature bottles of champagne

that we snuck in like mature adults.

Tip #4: Bring a bottle opener.

Who knew that instead of corks mini champagnes have beer caps?

I got them open but it wasn't pretty or classy. And now I have this champagne snakebite

Tip #5: Laugh at everything.

I'm not sure if I was supposed to find so much of the movie comical but I laughed at the parts that were trying to be funny, I laughed at the serious parts that were so cheesy they were funny, and I laughed at the sad parts that were so poorly acted they were funny.

(Note: This technique also worked well for me when I saw Miami Vice in the theater. At one point I realized there was one other person in the packed theater laughing at all of the same inappropriate times as me. It was Quentin Tarrantino! True story.)