Three Small Town Albertan Do NY Right

As I alluded to in my last post, Jarod and Steve came for New Year's Eve. I was super excited. I love my parents, but I was in need of some interaction with people that laugh at my jokes. Jarod hates laughing, so thank god Steve was with him.

I picked them up from the airport and we returned to my apartment to get ready and grab a bite to eat. Since I am a creature of habit, I suggested we walk around the West Village and see what is available. We found this cool little restaurant and ate. Had some drinks and found out where a couple of gay bars were in the neighborhood.

We walked to the gay bar and realized it was a major club. None of us were really in the mood for a big club, so we reenacted mine and Jarod's last trip here. We bought a couple of bottle of beers and brown-bagged-it around the East Village. I love the East Village. Eclectic and youthful, with little-to-no pretense. We continued to drink and enjoy the neighborhood. We didn't hit any bars or anything, and then just made our way back to the apartment.

Saturday came. We got up and went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have said this before, but the Met is truly awe-inspiring. The vastness of this museum is incredible. You have an inherent appreciation for the stuff here simply because most of it is so freaking old.

After a few hours at the Met, we were getting a little hungry. Grabbed some pizza and decided to hit Little Italy for dinner. We subwayed it to Union Square, my old stomping grounds, and walked to Little Italy. I am a firm believer that you can't really see a city unless you are walking it. Walked through SoHo and down Broadway. Found some great street finds and eventually made it down to Little Italy. Found a good little dive restaurant and had some cheap, but good Italian.

Saturday night is when the insanity started. One of our street finds told us about this party in the West Village. He was selling some really good house c.d.s so we trusted that this would be a decent party. We come home, put on our Albertans-in-New York best and hit the town.

We get to the party and it is in this warehouse or gym of sorts. The crowd is super cool and chill and some KILLER music. There was a dance-off that Jarod participated in. He busted out some Ukrainian dancing on a breakdance tip. It was awesome. I have never been more in awe of him in my entire life.

We stayed at the party till like 5 in the morning. Jarod got VERY drunk and fell out of the cab when it stopped by my apartment. HILARIOUS!

Sunday was painful. We only got out of the apartment around 1:30 pm. We are not 18 anymore, and sleeping after drinking that much is much appreciated.

We then get our hungover asses out of the house and hit MoMA. I really like a lot of the stuff at MoMA, but there is a huge chunk of it that I just don't get. Modern art is a little over my head. Like a red canvas, sorry, I don't get it. So, meh, we finished that and then went to Grand Central Station. Every time I have been in GCS before, I have been running to catch a train or heading somewhere. I have never had a chance to hang out in the terminal and appreciate how cool it is. Very nice.

Finished at GCS and went to meet my parents for dinner. This was a typical Dias dinner. I mean, dad was harassing the wait staff, I was getting annoyed, mom was trying to keep it together, and poor Jarod and Steve got to witness all of this. Good times.

We did nothing of interest for NYE. We were tired, had no desire to stand in a crowd of 1 million people (yes, 1 million people) to see the damn ball drop, so we came back to the apt and hung out here. Didn't even really realize it was midnight till it was after midnight. Haha, I hate New Year's. So much expectations for a night that is usually just mediocre.

All in all it was an ab fab trip. I love having people here to talk to and laugh with and do the shit I want to do.

Next up ... Eve in 11 days! YAY!!!! I am so fucking excited it hurts.


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Why Can This Family Not Take ONE Normal Picture

We did a lot of touristy stuff today. Top of the Rock, NBC Studio Tour, both VERY touristy. So you think when you do this stuff, you might get a couple of good photos right?

WRONG! At least not when you are a part of the Dias family. Dad apparently hates to look at the camera, mom seemingly doesn't like to smile when the camera is on here, and then there is me. I look like a toothy retard in almost every pic.

So what does that leave us with?

Here they are:







The last one is my favorite. Dad totally didn't get this whole concept of the self-picture (one of my personal favs). He was sooo confused!

The Top of the Rock was really quite cool. We got to see basically the whole city. NBC Tour was also really great. Saw the SNL Studios, the Dateline studios and a bunch of other NBC stuff. I was hoping to run into Peter Petrelli, but he wasn't around.

I then went to the airport to pick up Jarod and Steve. A seperate post is necessary to fully describe the Jarod, Steve and Iris portion of this trip.

I need sleep.


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Merry Effing Christmas

Have I ever mentioned that I hate Christmas? I hate most celebrated holidays, you know Easter, Valentines' Halloween. Hate'em!

This year was no different. Sure we were spending it in NYC, but this doesn't make this time of year any more exciting to me. Bah Hum Bug is my general disposition, and I am ok with this.

The one thing I was actually excited for was the Giants game yesterday. It was VERY cool to see how Americans celebrate this sport. Tailgating galore. There were at least 8,000 ppl in the parking lot drinking and pre-gaming for the game. Can you imagine?

The game itself sucked. The Giants were blown out, but let me tellya, Reggie Bush is one bad ass mother. He was pure football entertainment. Eli was a joke, and Shockey embarrassed himself. Meh, I didn't really care what happened, b/c no matter what, the Raiders weren't making it into the playoffs. (But #1 draft pick here we come!! YEAH BABY!!!)

That was the end of yesterday, ordered some cheap Chinese food in and just hung out.

Today was relaxing. Mom and Dad went to church, and understanding the fact that I neither believer in the Catholicism or religion in general, they didn't push. They came back, we hung out for a while and then went for dinner.

Because of poor planning skills, we didn't really have any idea where we were going. We had made resos at the Boathouse in Central Park, but we weren't really feeling it. So we went to the Meatpacking District. Initially, I thought we would walk around the West Village and find a cool restaurant, but it was raining and we ended up at Markt, AGAIN.

The food was great, as per usual, and dad liked it, which is rare, and he didn't complain about prices, which is UNHEARD OF!

All in all it was a good Christmas. I am thinking of converting to Constanzaism so, next year will be Festivus for me. Or at the very least Kwanza. I need a random holiday to validate my already random existence.


Now for the airing of grievances ... how is that different than any other day of the year??



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National Dias' New York Vacation

The majority of this trip is going to be spent with my family. Don't get me wrong, I adore my parents. They are good people with many quirks - which is probably where I get it from. Today was day one of the vacation. My father hasn't been to NYC since the 70's and doesn't really understand why I want to be here so badly. My mother gets it, as she was here earlier this summer.

Today began fairly normally. My family taking far too long to get ready and me being VERY hungover. We FINALLY go on our ways. We take the subway to the Brooklyn Bridge to see the WTC site, the NY Stock Exchange and Lower Manhattan. This is them in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is just so them. Mom trying to tell dad how to stand and to smile. Hahaha, they are ACTUALLY crazy.

We then made it down to Wall Street etc. Our trek to Battery Park we see the most random thing in the world, a turkey. A TURKEY! Wandering around Battery Park just hanging out.

After running into the turkey, we make our way up to Times Square. I HATE Times Square. It is crowded with tourists who move WAY too slow and don't realize they are in NY and that walking that slow is pissing people (me) off. But dad wanted to see it, so I sucked it up. We saw where we wanted to be for New Years and all of that. We then went to 5th Ave and Rockefeller Center. The tree is even prettier at night. Still a gross amount of consumerism, but what the hell right, it's all for Jesus' birthday.

I also got to see the displays at Bergdorf Goodman's. These displays are legendary, and they totally lived up to the expectations. Interesting displays that are intricate and perfect. The details are incredible.

Other than that, we had a nice day. I needed a break, and thank god for Brandy Chorney because she called at the perfect moment for me to take a break from my family.

I am pooped now and need to sleep. I got dad the best Christmas gift ever! We are going to the Giants-Saints game tomorrow. He is the one that introduced me to football and neither of us have ever been to an NFL game. His response to the tickets "Iris, there are serious playoff ramifications associated with this game" I love it. I really do think I might be the coolest daughter in the HISTORY of daughters. Haha, ok, probably not, but this is going to be killer fun. Tailgating, drinking in the middle day and watching some killer football.

I will post again tomorrow. Amazing how life becomes more interesting when on vacation.


Red 45, Red 45.


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Weirdest Day EVER!

Well today was .... interesting.

I live my life in a manner that is sort of mundane. I go to work. I hang out with friends. Nothing in my day-to-day existence is spectacular. And today wasn't spectacular, but definitely out of the ordinary.

I started my day barely scraping myself out of bed. I think this past week of not sleeping has FINALLY caught up with me. I have slept more in the past two days than I have in the past two weeks. So that part was nice. I get out of bed and decide to go consignment shopping. The upper east side has some amazing consignment shops and they all carry these brands that are unheard of in Alberta. While I didn't find anything, I am sure I will, as there are many more to hit.

I then went to the midtown area and hit Rockefeller Center. I saw the tree. Let me tell ya, it is FREAKING HUGE! This thing looks like it has been growing for about a million years and the consumerism that is us has cut it down to decorate it and put it on display ,,, ANYWAYS. It was very pretty though, and the star on it was beautiful.

Well I continue on with my day and call a guy I met on the plane on the way here. Really nice guy, a little older, and seemingly cool. We decide to meet for drinks. On the way to meet him for drinks I sit down to relax for a minute. While I am relaxing, I meet another dude. Again, seemingly cool. So we exchange digies and I think all is good with the world.

WRONG!!!

I go for a drink with the guy I met on the plane. We are hanging out, having a good time and then he drops a bomb bigger than the bomb on Hiroshima ... he non-chalantly informs me he is MARRIED!!! WTF!!! No, What the fuck! How are you out on a date with me???? It obviously ends there, because I am far too big of a believer in karma to let this shit fuck me up.

I graciously leave, thank him for the drink and go on my merry way.

I then go and meet up with random guy on the street. First of all let me brag for a second. He is a Dolce and Gabanna model. He actually has a billboard that I saw. Holla ... I went out with a model!!!! AHHH

This is where the coolness ends. When he wants to "Go back to his place" and I saw no he actually says "You don't know what you are saying no to" ... Ummm, yeah I do and I think I just did say no to it. What is with these people?

No wonder dating is so hard. You meet a guy, and you think he is cool, sure a little old, but that hasn't stopped me before, and well, he is married. Then the next guy is a loser model. What the fuck! There is a reason I have remained single for all these years, and today was the culmination of all these reasons. I never want to meet a guy again! EVER!

Ok, that is a lie, but next time can they not be married and not be someone with the ego the size of the Nortwest Territories!?


Thanks! I appreciate it.


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