Amellia.com

Site Updates - Under Construction

2010-02-20T15:19:00.004-05:00

Haaay -

I finally started posting the site updates. Yay!! You should now be able to access my blog and my "All Recipes" profile (with all of my saved recipes). I am still working on the other sections. The next one I plan to work on/finish is the Phoenix page. As her time on this earth is limited, I want to have that done before she passes and it becomes too difficult for me to do so. We shall see though ... I've been a pretty busy lady lately and it's only going to be more intense as time goes by.

Thanks for checking things out!

Amellia

Ready to Update

2009-06-20T10:10:00.002-04:00

I'm finally ready to sit down and update this piece. I started the site four years ago (wow - time flies), and haven't changed much about it since. So, today I'll be working on my landing page and will try to implement a new design I brainstormed up a couple of months ago.

Wish me luck! I have the motivation, now I have to brush up on my implementation/photoshop/dreamweaver skills. oi oi oi!

It's Time to Go to Boson

2009-05-23T09:31:00.002-04:00

I'm shippin' up to Boston .. whoooooaaaaa oohhh oohhh!!!

I hope the rain holds off and I hope to see Ken Casey!!

Kicking Off Memorial Day Weekend 2009

2009-05-22T20:49:00.004-04:00

Eeek!! I'm SO PSYCHED about this weekend!!

We just had a blast with Jack and Jus ... We went with them to pick out Justine's new bedroom furniture. Afterward, Justine and I had a blast picking out a "quick find" full outfit for her, so she could be glamorous for dinner tonight (shucks! I wish I took a pic).

After our shopping escapades, we enjoyed a divine meal at De John's in downtown Albany. It's really nice to get my mountain folk family out and about in an urban environment every now and then. I think they really enjoyed themselves, and that tickles me pink!! I look forward to seeing them again in a couple of days, when I head out to the Pitts to pick up Phoenix.

Well, I better get haulin'. I have to finish up some laundry and prepare for our trip to Boston tomorrow (to watch the Red Sox beat the pants off of the Mets) ... and squeeze some time in for a stop at the ice cream parlor. Whoooo hoooo!!!

J'aime l'ete!!!

2009-04-13T20:47:00.001-04:00

Wanted: Local French-speaking folks to converse with

Total Tweetness

2009-04-09T20:30:00.006-04:00

Twitter is a total marketing/PR powerhouse - duh ... So viral, it's sexy *pfht*

I'm not really down with signing up for another account on another website just so I can update the 2009 version of AIM away messages every 5 seconds from my cell phone, and have more evil corporations buy and sell my behavioral information, purchase habits, and demographic information.

Back to Twitter ...

News of their company and product flood the media and business worlds - Out-hyping the real issues and significant/important/relevant news stories about what's really going on in this crazy world run by the failing United States of Corporate America and other elitist, old world aristocrats.

Don't misunderstand me ... I have a lot of love and respect for most of my fellow citizens; but I am not enamored with greedy, selfish, egotistical, power hungry for the wrong reasons, oblivious, and degrading to those who earn less than a quarter of a million dollars a year types of douche bags that our population has granted all of the worldly money, power, and control to (myself included - *tsk*).

I'm also not a fan of certain other types either ... But that's another Amellia Tweet for another time ...

SEE YA LATER!!!

Virgin Gorda February 16 - 22 2007

2007-04-30T21:30:00.000-04:00



















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Cape Cod - August 2006

2007-04-29T22:05:00.000-04:00

Random Pics 2006

2007-04-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

LaViolette Christmas 2006

2006-12-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

Tis The Season

2006-12-21T11:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, yes, we all know the story - busy roads, crowded malls, uncertainty as to what to buy for people we only see during the winter holidays. While we have these stressors, those of us who are fortunate also receive wonderful gifts, indulge in delightful meals, and make it a point to spend time with loved ones near and far.

This year I was smart enough to prepare my list in October. I developed a beautifully efficient Excel workbook to help me through the 2006 holiday season. On one tab, I had ever so carefully planned who I was going to send Holiday cards to – one column for family – one column for friends – and a column for co-workers. I also color coded the cells according to the types of cards I was sending – Merry Christmas (religious), Merry Christmas (commercialized), Happy Holidays, Thinking of You This Special Time of Year … yadda ya. And I also was keen enough to use a color for those whom I needed to obtain addresses for. I’d like to give madd props to www.whitepages.com – the site that provided me with 70% of my missing address information.

The second tab of my wonderful workbook contained my gift ideas. It worked well for most people – but like others, I had a few who I just couldn’t figure out what to buy for until I hit the shops. Of course, there were individuals (Jus and Mia particularly) who will receive much more than I had originally intended. I will be sure to include how much I spent on everyone so that next year I will have guideline to follow in regard to budgeting.

This year I took advantage of online shopping. I am HUGE proponent of online shopping. There were few items I purchased in stores this year. I would like to thank Experian for partnering with clients to provide employees with discounts – it came in handy with my www.winecountrygiftbaskets.com purchase. I would like to thank Macy’s, Sears, Amazon, Victoria’s Secret and LL Bean for their realistic free shipping offers (which I took advantage of). Some companies offered free shipping but required a minimum purchase of $175+.

For those of you who are absolutely stumped, I highly recommend checking out www.popcornpalace.com - Delectable delights ideas are all over that site.

Another suggestion I have is what I am doing for my parents and Aunt Linda (I can talk about this online because they don’t check my website – heck, Linny doesn’t even have a computer). Anyway, I am putting together Italian gift baskets for them. I picked up Italian breadsticks, herbed oils for dipping, penne pasta (whole wheat for Linny), vodka sauce, parmesan cheese, chocolate flavored coffee, Italian cookies, and a bottle of red wine. Bottom line – you cannot go wrong with consumables. Hmmm – I think I may even pick up a pesto sauce for each.

Even though Michael and I agreed not to get each other gifts because we purchased the new 46” LCD TV in October as “out Christmas gift to each other,” I still bought him a ton of stuff. And here it is - December 20th and I still feel like I need to buy more. Why is that?! It’s not like I only bought him a couple of $10 tee shirts … and yet, I still feel the need to get more … Most likely I will pick up some

Godiva chocolates and a couple trinkets for his stocking and leave it at that.

The events of the month have been quite fun and interesting.

We started the month with a visit to Valentine’s on the 1st to check out Andy’s Ween/ Floyd cover band – The Pink Weeners. They were okay … a little too crunchy for my liking – but I gotta show support to Andy (I love you, Andy!!).

Then we attended the Tech9 concert on the 2nd. My drink choice of the evening was raspberry Stoli with Red Bull and a shot of grenadine for color. They were delicious. Two of them were all I needed. Elise and I were called on stage to perform - ha.

It was a wonderful evening, that is – until Ryan and Mike decided to bring some stray girl from Schenectady back to our house. Needless to say, I was quite pissed. Don’t worry though – I gave her a proper goodbye by saying “who is bringing this whore home – she has to go RIGHT NOW” (right in front of her). Fortunately, Ryan immediately brought her back to his place, where they spent quality time together, until she lost her cookies in the bathroom – and stayed passed out on the bathroom floor until the next morning.

The following morning Andy, Crandall, Ryan and I played a lovely game of Scrabble. Andy whooped our asses.

The Globalspec holiday party at Cornell’s Restaurant in Schenectady was a good time. There was a good turnout. I was delighted to see my lambs, Ryan, Shawn, Ted, Vinny, Terrah, Manning, and Kat.

A couple of days later, Mike and I tried Villa Valenti in West Sand Lake/ Averill Park. The food was outstanding – however our waitress Jody totally sucked ass. The broad made us wait at LEAST 30 minutes before even taking our drink order. Her attentiveness was lacking, and her attitude was that of we were burdening her by being there. Since we heard such wonderful things about the place, we sucked it up and hoped for the best with our dishes – and it was worth it. So I would like to send my compliments to the chef and tell Jody to piss off and find a more suitable job or make it a point to be a better waitress.

Last Friday, we checked out Andy’s band – Upon Arival. They were really good. The instrumentals in the band were phenomenal! I learned later that evening that the lead singer was 20-years old. She was pretty good. She seemed to do way better at the harder parts than the easy pieces. She was flat in parts, but NEVER cracked or sounded totally terrible. Overall I’d say madd props, Kristen! P.S. Buy some diamond studs – they’ll add to your stage presence (they’ll compliment your cartilage earring quite nicely).

Tomorrow Lauren and I are planning on grabbing some dinner then checking out the lights in Washington Park in Albany. I saw them from afar a couple of weeks ago. They looked spectacular from a distance – so I am sure they will be dazzling up close. I also have my Winter Solstice Pot Luck Luncheon at work. I volunteered to make a Dutch Apple Pie and to bring soda. I have the soda already and I will be preparing the pie tonight. =)

We recently had our annual LaViolette Christmas party at my Grandmother’s house in the Berkshires. Most of the family was there – in fact, I think the only one who was missing was Billy. Even Aunt Patti and Randy from Miami were there. Like always, it was a great time.

... There was one “fubar” that I made in the avenue of purchasing gifts for one of the Twinsies. I thought I was doing well by emailing Erin (their mom) and asking what they were into for Christmas. Knowing they just had their 5th birthday, I wanted to be sure I didn’t get them something they already had. Well my bad – I never asked if what I got was okay – or if what I was planning on purchasing was okay.

Erin told me that Nick is into memory games and matching games – great – I Spy the Memory Game it is. Nate is into building things and taking them apart. No problem –Magnetix look wicked cool. Well, the boys were itching for their presents, so I handed them each their gifts. Problem #1 – Nick’s wrapped girt was bigger than Nate’s. “No biggie,” I thought. “He’ll be happy once he sees the Magnetix.”

Heh – here comes problem #2 – Nate already has Magnetix.

“Noooo, not the magnets! I hate the magnets!!!”

Ugh – even though I though I did well, that moment made me realize I didn’t. Fortunately these Magnetix are like Legos – the more you have, the bigger and more sophisticated stuff you can build. Erin was very gracious and assured me he plays with the ones he currently has every day, and that he really loves them.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of the child psyche. I wasn’t heartbroken that he didn’t like my gift. I understand it’s not cool when the first gift you open is something you already have. I also understand the boys were tired and cranky as they did not have their afternoon naps.

I just had a conversation with a co-worker last week about how it’s better to pick out and wrap gifts than to give a gift card, but this situation my friends, is the perfect reason why gift cards are a great idea (please note – the co-worker is the gift card hater, not moi – but I do agree that sometimes it’s better to receive a cool gift than a plastic card that you have to put a great deal of effort into using). So I guess from now on, I will give gift cards. Then again – what kid wants to open a gift card?

So, for my NY girlfriends’ kids, I asked them to pick a day and I will pay for us all to go to Chuck E Cheese. I figure I can’t go wrong there – I hope?!?!?!

I have some pictures to post of the LaViolette Christmas Party. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to put them up tonight. I have most of the thumbnails done – and that’s ½ the battle.

I picked George to buy for … so you’ll see a bunch of him opening his gifts. I gave him a goodie bag with kettle corn popcorn, cheddar Chex Mix, chocolate Chex Mix, homemade oatmeal chocolate chip & peanut butter chip cookies and the DVD set, “Band of Brothers.” I also gave him a nice Carhartt hoodie. He said I did a good job. =)

This year coming up, I have Uncle Leo. I have to keep in mind his special dietary needs if I decide to get him some food goodies. I’m pretty psyched – I like giving to my loves.

Well, if I don’t get a chance to post again by Christmas – Merry Christmas, Kids!!!

Stay classy, ~Amie “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Attention Amellia Lovers - August 1st is Fast Approaching

2006-07-16T08:39:00.000-04:00

That's right kids ... the big day's coming up ... I'll be the big two six. So long early twenties ... hello middle age. Although, I am very grateful for being able to live for this long, and for all of the wonderful experiences (and lessons) ... it just sucks that I can't keep my 20-year old body forever. =P

I have some VERY EXCITING birthday plans in the works with my NY and MA families ... I can't wait for the weekend August 5th!!!

Last night was a hoot! My NY family and I spent the night being goofy buzz balls around the "hood." Amy and Cranz stopped out earlier in the afternoon ... we bonded over "pizza" as usual, then decided to pick up stuff to grill and lots of other crap we didn't need but got anyway since we were 1/2-cocked.

When we arrived home from the market we noticed an unfamiliar car in the driveway (as Cranz obliviously whizzed by the house ... d'oh!). When we realized it was Josh we were SO EXCITED!!! There's nothing better than having a professional chef in the family ... and Josh is the professional chef in my NY fam (although I don't know why Meg isn't one too - I know she could present Josh with some ill competition ... hmmm I should organize a cook-off). Anyway ... we got in, unloaded the goods, bonded over a "pizza roll" that Josh fabricated for us, and got dinner & hors d'oeuvres & milky nipple shots going. Amy and Josh were big helps, keeping the work and deliverables flowing nicely. Dinner was fantastic!

Unfortunately, we missed the Peelander Z show at Valentines (I wasn't too broken hearted though, since I really didn't want to go - but I do feel bad for Mike who thought it was going to be the best show ever). My expectation for the show was something like Gabby La La breeds with the Teletubbies, and asks you how you like your steak cooked - bahhh not interested, thanks. I think we had just as much fun - if not more, doing what we were doing.

Josh shot off the fireworks that Wally gave Paul. They were pretty wild! They were damn good for home-made. We took some pics and video clips of that. Thanks WALLYYYYYYYY!!!

We also took some pics of us @ the park up the road (sorry - they're not on my camera so I don't have any to share yet ... but I'll post them once I bogart them from Amy and Mike). Then we chilled for the rest of the night in the front & back yards (sorry neighbors). Matt stopped by to pick up Amy in the weeeeee small hours of the morn'. He thoughtfully stopped @ taco bell and brought us some nachos, tacos and chalupas (thanks a BUNCH, Matt!). One of the many perks of the new place is the close proximity to Taco Bell. =P

To end the evening, I plumpened the boys up with some strawberry shortcake (mmmm - my FAVORITE). I was hoping to make marshmallow cereal treats with those new berry lucky charms, but I never got around to it - maybe I will today though.

Ugh ... that reminds me ... I need to find something to do with almost 2 pounds of leftover salmon ... I'm thinking it might be best to make some kind of cream cheese dip with most of it & save some for a salmon topped salad as my lunch for tomorrow. Yeah ... that sounds like a plan.

The AMA national is @ Unadilla today. I would love to go - except it's gonna be like 120 degrees, so that's an automatic deterrent for me. Although, I do love those sexy topless racers. Oh well ... I'll save my time & energy for a more low key race @ Southwick. I always have a better time @ a smaller race since there's less of a crowd, beer's only $1.50 in the VFW hall, and there are many more opportunities for good snapshots of the races.

I have some recent pics to share. They were taken earlier this month. I'm trying to use my camera more, so I have fun stuff to share. I've had my website for over a year now, and have only made a handful of updates ... so, I'm trying to be much more proactive with this shizz. Enjoy.

Okay ... I'm off to make the boys cinnamon bunz for breakfizz. See ya!

Stay classy kids! ~Amie

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." Eleanor Roosevelt

Silly Kids

2006-07-14T22:21:00.001-04:00

I found some pictures on my camera from this past April and May. Some of them are pretty funny.

Check it ...

Fvck You Capital Buffet

2006-07-08T09:01:00.000-04:00

#1 For being deliciously evil

#2 For not putting the coconut shrimp out until I was ready for ice cream (don't worry folks, I still had a couple pieces anyway ... it was a wonderful compliment to my fried dough ball and dollop of chocolate soft serve).

But really ... who can stay mad at a buffet that has over 200 offerings. =P

I'm hoping to get Paul out for some golf for his 1st time today. Hopefully we can hit up the driving range at least (I don't think it would be wise to take him out on the course for his 1st time ever swinging a club). I think he'll love it once he tries it.

I've been itchin to go all season ... but alas I have not been out on the fairway once this year - or even @ the driving range. Last night I took my clubs out and played around with my putter a bit - until phoenix started chasing and eating my ball. Silly Phoooo.

My meeting down in the city is now pushed back to Thursday, so I can go to the bonfire at AMI on Tuesday night. w00t! Anyone interested in joining me? It's a lil fruity (only when they start singing OMMMMM after meditation), but it's cool. The 3' hookahs hanging around made me realize that these people are pretty damn chill. Their hearts and minds are certainly in the right place ... that's why I dig `em. Madd props to Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter!

Well, I guess I better get upstairs and do a class on the bag before it gets too hot to do anything. I need to get this flub the fuck off before I put a bikini on this fat azz.

Stay classy kids! ~Amie

"Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. " Albert Einstein

http://www.crandalias.com

2006-07-06T23:09:00.000-04:00

Hiya folks! Get ready for the launch of crandalias.com! w00t!

I'm sure it will be quite shibby once it's up.

Fifty bucks says Crandall bought a website just to have one & will never update it - or even create it for that matter ... we shall see. =oP

On Tuesday, there's a Guru Purnima - Bonfire Celebration going on at the American Meditation Institute in Averill Park. I sure would love to go, but I have a meeting in NYC the next day ... so I dunno ... although ... the meeting doesn't start until noon ... hmmmm.

Well ... I guess I better hit the hay so I'm not dragging tomorrow.

Stay classy kids. ~Amie

"Character is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think."Ralph Waldo Emerson

Home

2006-06-25T21:24:00.000-04:00

NYE 2006

2006-01-02T19:38:00.000-05:00

Chrismukkah 2005

2006-01-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

Winter Madness - Part One

2006-01-02T18:25:00.000-05:00

Late Fall Sunday Dinners (Nov & Dec 2005)

2005-12-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

"Little" Leo's 30th Birthday Party

2005-11-13T19:11:00.000-05:00

"Little" Leo's 30th Birthday Party
Zucchini's Restaurant Pittsfield, Ma
November 12, 2005

Halloween 2005 - Worcester, MA

2005-10-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

Amellia's ode à l'été

2005-10-22T16:52:00.000-04:00

Rob Zombie - Northern Lights 7/12/2005

2005-10-08T18:06:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from the Rob Zombie show we went to at Northern Lights right before The Devil's Rejects came out. He said it was his first concert in 3 years.

I'm sick

2005-09-19T16:20:00.000-04:00

Whahhhh. Thank you.