Man, I love bingo.  Seriously.  Sometimes I crave finding a bingo hall, plopping down for the night with my neon color daubers and getting ready to win some dollars.  Let me explain..
Some of my fondest childhood  memories involve bingo.

-In my neighborhood all the kids played together, we were basically outside from late morning until our parents made us come in at dark.  We played the usual freeze tag, dodge ball, monkey in the middle, kickball (where we would constantly hit cars and get yelled out), skateboarding down hills, etc.  But some of us loved bingo and that was really because of me.  At a local auction I found a old bingo set that was the kind enclosed in a wheel that you spun around.  Add that to some bingo cards (the paper and the real kind – we had selection) and daubers, you have a intense bingo addiction that’s about to begin.  So that afternoon when I brought it home I got all the kids together and told them we were going to play bingo.  For weeks after that we took up an entire part of our sidewalk where I would be the bingo caller while the others hopelessly dabbed their B-4’s and O-72’s.  I remember people would try to walk by on the sidewalk and they would have to hop through a bunch of 10 year olds who wouldn’t even look up but instead stared down at their card looking for possible ways of winning.  It was a highlight of my life.   Most of the times we wouldn’t even play for prizes, the prize was really just pride.  Occasionally  we made someone a “BINGO WINNER” banner that they could wear and very occasionally we would play for money (quarters) but it didn’t matter. 

-On Saturday nights the place to be if you were over the age of 60 were the church bingo halls. These ladies were SERIOUS.  They weren’t there to become friends or even smile at you, they were there to win the big dollars.  I don’t remember the cash prize amounts, they’re probably smaller than what I think they were (everything seems large as a kid) but I used to think that if I was to win the end of night bingo game my life would be changed forever (I think I was about 10-14 during my intense bingo years).  My sister would often go to these bingo events so I would go with her. The churches would be packed, 2 floors worth of bingo players.  There was a speaker system set up, there was light up bingo boards, there was food being sold, and there was lots of silence.   At each table you saw the ladies that ruled the hall, they came with every color dauber possible, they would randomly change their color depending on game # and mood.  They had lots of hairy neon trolls to wish them good lucks, other dolls set up, I love Bingo shirts, they were the real deal.  I was in awe of them hoped one day I could create a life like this.  I’m still hoping for this.   I remember I won occasionally, I think $20 or $30 which I probably blew on brownies and sugar highs and extra bingo cards. 

So here I am, many years later, living in New York City and having the bingo urge again.  Last night I posted on Facebook about bingo halls in NYC and if anyone would be interested, surprisingly many of my friends were excited about this.  Are there secret bingo lovers all over, hiding their love of numbers and dots?   So this leads me to this…

This is what I’m thinking, imagine a night of bingo.  Bingo would happen at my home, I would send out bingo invitations, friends would RSVP.  Everyone is required to bring 1 thing: a wrapped present that would be enjoyed by all.   The place would be decorated like we were in a bingo palace (is that possible? I don’t know).  There would be snacks, cupcakes with numbered balls on top, you know, everything.   There would be tables set up with the bingo wheel in front.  We would bring our bingo gear,  receive our bingo cards and begin the night of fun.  Each time someone wins, they get to pick one of the gift wrapped presents someone brought.  It would be like friends giving friends gifts, just for fun and love, but with bingo added in.  We would chat, dance when we win, throw popcorn into our mouths (or at each others heads when someone else wins).  Has anyone had a bingo party before?

So this is where I stand.  With dreams of bingo… I want to make this night a reality so I need to begin planning.
Or if you don’t live nearby and have no bingo friends you could always play online too.

Here’s to BINGO!

We had a shoot today for a special upcoming project, we had such a great creative team and it flowed nice.  Can’t wait to show you the finished piece.

Collagen masks are all the rage right now so I found a super cheap 2 pack to try.  This pack came with 2 masks, 1 aloe and 1 cucumber.   They are made by Nu-Pore, you might be able to find them in your local drugstore, but if not… Amazon has them too (I love Amazon).

When I got the package I thought the woman  looked so relaxed with her perfect fitting white mask, her smooth wet hair, her white robe.  Then I realized the mask wasn’t real on her face and it was just digitally put on top. 

First up wash your face and then put toner on it.  All ready to go now! So yeah, either I have a small head or the mask was too big, but there was alot of extra side room for this mask and I had to struggle a bit to get it as straight as possible. Btw, this is the aloe one.

I left the mask on for 25 minutes while I freaked out the cats and Matthew while chasing them around.  I also enjoyed some tea.   When you take the mask off you rub in the collagen that is left and nothing else – don’t wash your face.  At first I couldn’t notice anything different but a few hours later I walked by the mirror and thought “not bad”.  Obviously this is just 1 mask so it’s not going to make a huge difference, but I feel softer and my skin appears a bit brighter.  I’m hoping I won’t have to change this review after a freak breakout or anything, but definitely worth the price as it stands now.

Meet my new favorite place in the world: Alice’s Tea Cup.  It’s tea + yummy treats + lunch + relaxing + friends + smiles + alice in wonderland.  Basically it will make your day.  You won’t want to leave.  You will just sit back and chat with your friends feeling like you’re on a cloud floating in paradise while sipping some black tea (there’s a whole book of teas to choose from!).   

Ok the main part, the teas. I love tea, you probably know this already.  We settled on:
Monk’s blend – a blend of Darjeeling and Keemun black teas. 
Mount Everest Breakfast – a blend of Assam and Yunnan black teas.  Smooth and subtle.
They both were so delicious. If you go their website and click “Tea List” you’ll see everything to choose from!

Another big bonus is the cups and plates, everything is mismatched and very “Alice”.  It’s my dream to have a whole cupboard filled in this way!

Then there’s the yummy food.  I got a bowl of turkey Chili, but I also heard the Vegetable soup was good.  Our friends had the ham and cheese sandwich and that looked delicious too! Here’s my soup, it was surprisingly really hearty and filled me up.

And let’s not forget some of the best.. the treats! I got a chocolate cupcake which was *get ready for this statement*  I think the best cupcake I ever had in New York.  Maybe anywhere.  I’m not joking.  It was moist chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that was light but yet had a thin crust on top to bite through.  To top it off rainbow sprinkles.  It can’t get any better.

Friends had some scones, chocolate and pumpkin. I didn’t try the chocolate but the pumpkin was soooooo good.

There is artwork and cute text all over the tea room.. it’s really a happy place.  We were there during the day where it was mostly women lunching (we had the only 2 men at our table for a while!), but I would guess on the weekends there’s lots of little girls running around with princess dresses and fairy wings.  If you are in NYC, please visit this place.. and ask me to go with you.

This post was meant to happen about a month ago, but I got sidetracked with the holidays.. but I didn’t forget.  Since food is often posted here and I generally love food, I wanted to share some food we had in Berlin.  Because isn’t that what traveling is about? Just eating and eating and eating…

Giant white chocolate covered pretzels – YES PLEASE.

Ok, not expected, let me explain. Berlin actually has a great burrito place called Dolores and if we visit again, we will go again, super YUM.  Also the morning upon leaving we needed quick breakfast so we went for safety, Burger King, which we met the manager who is born/raised in Brooklyn just a few blocks from where we live.  He was a highlight of the trip, a much needed “home” feeling of outgoingness and war stories.  Also, OMG,  their version of pancakes here are little round shaped cakes with OMG, SYRUP BAKED INSIDE OF THEM. NO LIE. SO GOOD.  BURGER KING PLEASE READ THIS AND SEND ME SOME.

Also, I’m going to show you hotel food because this was pretty amazing. We stayed at the Soho House and basically I wish we could just move in.

Also, Air France is boss with meals – so much food.  On NYC-Paris I had Beef Shepherd’s Pie with Salmon.  On Paris-NYC I had lamb. And the chocolate pudding = YES

I’ve been a JELL-Oaholic the last few days between the black cherry JELL-O and the cups of pudding, it’s been a great few days.  When I was in the grocery store a few days ago stocking up I came across this gem that said it was Oreo cookie flavored. WHAT? My hands started shaking, I started to salivate onto the aisle floor, my eyes began to close.. and then I was asked to leave.  But then I came back later and bought some.  I have to be honest, I don’t really taste the Oreo cookie at all, it really just tastes like the traditional chocolate/vanilla mix to me, but there’s something more darker about it, more rich, more creamy.  Definitely would buy again.