jigg and I are engaged!

So after packing his lunch almost every day for the past couple of months, jigg finally saved up enough of his lunch money to surprise me with an engagement ring! The proposal was a complete surprise since I didn’t expect him to save up so much money so fast.  The poor guy probably starved himself for that rock.

It happened during his birthday dinner at Strip House.  After we were seated at our table, we were just chatting like we always did.  He smirked over something I said while we waited for our food and I asked him what he was laughing about.  He then said that he had a question to ask me.  When he popped the question and held out the ring, I thought he was kidding!  Of course I said yes and then made him put the ring on my finger to make it legitimate.

It was my first time at such an expensive steakhouse, but I could hardly even remember how the food tasted after the proposal.  I was so happy, ANYTHING would have tasted like a gourmet meal to me.

Tags: engagement, Food, marriage proposal, saving money, surprise
Posted in Wedding | No Comments »

Bitter melon season is over!

As jigg’s parents will inevitably become my future in-laws, I have been trying to earn brownie points with them.

During a dinner conversation that occurred during the second or third time I met jigg’s parents, I found an opportunity when his dad mentioned how many kids these days don’t appreciate bitter melon because their parents do not force them to eat. His proposed solution is simple: assimilation – if kids eat a little bit of it on a regular basis, they would slowly develop the acquired taste for it. jigg then added that it only took him a little bit over a year of constantly eating bitter melon to like it.

Image Source: www.redcook.net

Based on the number of times (it’s a lot) that I have noticed bitter melon as the ingredient in jigg’s dad’s subsequent dinner entrees and how he fondly speaks of its deliciousness, I think I could assume that bitter melon is one of his favorite vegetables. I thought that it would surely be impressive if I could develop an acquired taste for it too!

So for the past several dinners, I have been eating bits of bitter melon each time. Personally, it is not something I would eat on my own free will. Bitterness is a taste that I associate anything that is gross with…like medicine and ear wax (yes, I have tasted that and it is bitter). To date, I still don’t like bitter melon.

When I asked jigg what he had for dinner last night and guessed whether it’s bitter melon, he laughed and told me that bitter melon season is over.  Me –>

Tags: Family, Food, in laws
Posted in Family, Food | No Comments »

Sacrifices

As Karenl gets ready to move here and probably spend the rest of her life with me, I can’t help but wonder about the insane sacrifice she is making. She is giving up her New England life to be with me, possibly spending the rest of her life in some suburb type neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Since relationships are all about sacrifices, it’s no surprise that she had to give up something to be with me. The question is, what do I give up to call it even? Is there even anything I can give up that actually means something? I can’t give up my left hand, but would just the pinky be too little and seem insincere? It’s quite the dilemma.

The more I think about it, the more I only come up with things I can’t give up. After much thought, I have a list of the top five things I can’t give up and hope that whatever I sacrifice in the name of love, it isn’t too much and hopefully, something I can buy back one day for under 50 bucks.

Top 5 Things that I CAN’T Sacrifice (in the order of importance):
1. Yankees. Tell me to wear anything that represents te Red Sox and I would rather give up life in a fight to the death.
2. Meat. Not eat meat for the rest of my life? Karen would have to allow me to have two mistresses before I am called a vegetarian.
3. Alcohol. No more alcohol? Crazy talk. Quitters never win!
4. Children. I have to have children! I will adopt if I have to.
5. Veto power in naming our kids. No offense, but no son of mine will be named Newton!

Tags: alcohol, Food, kids, lists, sacrifice, Yankees
Posted in Dating | No Comments »

Starvation: The best cost cutting method

I love going out to buy lunch since it’s the perfect excuse to leave my seat. Wondering what to eat for lunch also takes my mind off the job I hate. Only problem was, lunch around my job is probably the most expensive in the country. I spend between $10-15 on lunch for food that can just hold me over for a few hours.

Fortunately for me, I have Karen to come up with cost cutting initiatives. Probably about a month and a half ago, I promised Karen that I would bring lunch to work three times a week. This would help me save quite a bit while still giving me the freedom of choosing two days a week to eat something else other than chicken; I always bring chicken.

There have been many occassions where I simply forget to bring food. No problem since I can use one of my two days. However, there were some weeks where I simply did not have the time to make lunch so there was nothing to bring. It’s a tough choice sometimes because you can only be one of two things: a man without integrity and breaks his promise to the person he loves or, a hungry man, maybe even a starving man, who does whatever it takes to keep his promise.  This means I would have to skip lunch entirely, even if I skipped breakfast.

The way I see it is, there are millions of people starving everyday. This gives me a chance to live in their shoes, keep my promise AND save money. Three birds with one stone!

Tags: Food, hunger, money, promise, saving money, starvation
Posted in Boston v. NYC, Dating, Food, Personal Finance | 2 Comments »