Puggle Meetup!

So let me preface this blog by saying that I KNOW that I have not blogged in a while. If you did not know my computer met it's demise my falling off the kitchen counter and breaking on the floor. So...I have been computerless for about a month. My shiny new black macbook arrived yesterday so hopefully I will get all caught up.

**end sad computer breaking story**

One of the nice things about New York is that they have random groups for everything. There is a national site called meetup.com which is basically a site that lists gatherings for EVERYTHING. You like clowns...lets all meetup and discuss it. Enjoy brussel sprouts? There are a group of people that enjoy them as much as you do! Well last sunday Eric, Toby and I went to possible the best kind of meetup around. A Puggle meetup!

We did not know what to expect. We took a cab ride down to Soho and entered this cute looking store. They advised us to go upstairs to the playroom and when we looked through the door we could not believe what we saw. There were probably about 40 - 50 puggles in the room. It was insanity. If you have never met a puggle let me explain. Most of them are super crazy and LOVE to play. They also have part beagle in them...so a lot of the dogs have a pretty loud bark.

It was a hilarious 2 hours. A mass amount of puggles just running around this room. Toby was so happy. He had a permanent smile on his dog face the entire time. Needless to say...when he got home he immediately went to sleep for several hours. Puggle meetup is the best thing to happen to NY Puggle owners and it is definetly going to become a monthly event for us!

Happy New Year!!

Happy 2008!

So ... I have not written in a while...maybe that should be my New Years Resolution? To blog more? Eh...we will see.

So as you probably figured out we are all moved and getting settled in New York City. I will have to write later and give you a tour of our tiny apartment...but I will wait until it actually looks cute. Right now it is just in a state of disarray.

So the week of my move to New York was totally a blur. Lets see:

*I flew in on a redeye and took my first New York taxi by myself in morning rush hour

* Toby flew on a different flight than me (he flew Continental since they are supposed to be the best airline to fly dogs on). I was pretty much freaking out flying him. He does not like his crate so flying him under the plane was causing me much distress. Our friends dropped him off at the airport and reported that he was a very good dog. His flight got in at midnight the same day I flew in. Eric and I rented a car and left in plenty of time to get to him on time...or so we thought.

The moment we got into New Jersey (keep in mind it is midnight) there was some of the worst construction traffic we had ever seen. We were literally stuck in a parking lot on the freeway for over 2 hours. Tobys flight time came and went....and I began to have a nervous breakdown (please keep in mind I am going on no sleep). I was literally balling my eyes out in the car worrying that Toby was not ok and that the people at the airlines would think we were the worst pet parents ever.

We finally got to the airport around 1:30am (Tobys flight got in at 12:15). Eric runs to the pickup area fully thinking that Toby would be there freaking out and barking. He looks...and there Toby is ... chilling in his crate just taking a nap. The ladies at the counter were like...he has just been sleeping the whole time. Who knew we had such a good dog??

*The next day we found out that Eric's grandmother had sadly passed away. We quickly booked a flight home for the funeral and were lucky enough to find someplace to board Toby (On Christmas Eve!). Our trip to Michigan was very short (I believe it was a total of 36 hours) .. it was very nice to see both of our families .. we just wished it would have been under better circumstances.

So you can see...my arrival into NYC was quite a whirlwind. But now the whole family is here and we are just trying to get our apartment to look like a home vs. a college dorm room.

Our New Years was very "Sarah & Eric". You see ... we are self-proclaimed big dorks. Here we are in New York ... the New Years capital of the world and what do we do? Stay in.

We got some carry out, rented some movies and cuddled on the couch with Toby. Its sort of our idea of a perfect evening.

I also made some Yummy Pomegranate Sangria (see recipe at the bottom). In one of my food network watching marathons Bobby Flay made this delicious Sangria. I knew I had to whip some up.
I was totally ghetto. I had no pitcher...so I had to make a makeshift pitcher out of an old water gallon jug. Classy huh???

But I gotta say it turned out great and it was the perfect way to ring in the New Years.

So as Fireworks were going off in the distance and the millions of people were celebrating in time square just a few blocks away...we were happily sipping Sangria all snuggled up on the couch.

Pomegrante Sangria
from Bobby Flay


1 bottle fruity red wine
2 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup Triple Sec
1/4 cup simple syrup (equal amounts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1 large orange, halved and thinly sliced
1 green apple, cored, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup red grapes, sliced in 1/2
Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 48 hours before serving. Serve over ice.

Moving on up....

So,…if you have not already heard…big things are happening in the Gutman family.

As of today we have been traveling nomads for just over a year. We have been part time residents of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Tempe, San Diego, Orange County and currently Seattle. We have been living out of suitcases and racked up tons of miles on the ol’ Grand Cherokee.

As of this month that crazy lifestyle will be coming to a close.

This month Eric was transferred to the Broadway cast of Jersey Boys. It was all very sudden for us. One day we were looking for housing in Houston and trying to plan a nice vacation. Then the next day we were suddenly looking for long term housing in New York.

It was obviously a very stressful month for us.

You see…we never wanted to go to New York. It was never in “the plan”. The plan was always to stay on the road for 1 – 2 years. After that maybe move back to Michigan…or maybe Chicago. Eric had lived in New York before and did not really want to go back…me? I have never wanted to go to New York.

I don’t look at myself as a sheltered person. I love to travel and visit new places. I like visiting New York…but never imagined I would live there. I admit it. I enjoy suburbia, I like having a car and being able to drive to the store. I like camping and looking at the mountains. I like a slower way of life I guess. I just look at New York as the complete opposite of what I am comfortable in. The subways? They scare me. I am totally going to get lost. Not having a car?? I am going to go insane. Living out of a shoebox and paying up the nose for it? I like having a house. Laundromats…no dishwashers or garbage disposals….oy.

So I guess I will have a lot to get use to. I am sure everyone thinks I am insane…and yes, I guess I am being negative. But…I am nervous about this whole move.

Don’t get me wrong…there are many thing I am excited about.

Lets first talk about how excited I am for Eric. This is every actors dream. To have a credit on Broadway…to be in the “big show”. Eric has so much talent and I am extremely proud that he is getting the recognition that he deserves. So, not only does he get to be on Broadway….but he is on Broadway in the hottest ticket in town. It will be sad to leave the tour family that we have had for the past year…but I know we will see all of them again soon.

It will also be nice to have a “home” for at least a year. Living in new cities is fun. I got to live in places that I had never visited and actually have time to explore like a resident vs, just being a tourist. However, it is kind of crazy living out of a suitcase. Just as you are starting to feel comfortable in a certain place you have to pack up and leave. So, now we will have a place where we can just put the suitcases in storage and actually unpack…for at least a year.

I am also pumped that I will not have to sell merchandise anymore. It was nice to have the same work hours as Eric. I really felt apart of the tour working at the theatre every day. HOWEVER….as you know….I am so over all the dumb questions.

What are the differences between the CDs…. (um…read the titles people they are clearly written on the dang CDs!!!!)

Do they sell these anywhere else for cheaper…. (do you ask this at every store you shop in?!?!)

Where are the Jersey Girls t-shirts…this is a sexist show! (hello?? The name of the show is Jersey BOYS!)

Etc etc etc etc etc etc etc…..

So once I am in New York I can finally quit the merch thing and do something a little more up my alley.

What else….

Ah yes…I am going to be able to do my S-factor classes again. That will definitely keep me sane. I am so excited to actually start back with my classes. Actually, when we found out about New York I immediately called the studio and signed up for the next session. Now I just have to figure out how to fit a pole in a shoebox apartment once we get to the city. Somehow I do not think Eric will object…

When we decided that we were going to go to New York I told Eric I was writing up a New York contact. In that contact there were a few things that had to happen in order for us to go there…

1. I get to do S Factor….Check…already signed up.

2. I get to have Pinkberry at least 3 times a week. Yup! That’s right…there is a plethora of Pinkberrys in New York. So, even though there is not one right next to our house (that could be dangerous to the wallet!) they are randomly placed around the city. I am really looking forward to working the yogurt back into my weekly routine.

3. I get a driver instead of taking the subway…so obviously I did not this approved in my contract negotiations. Oh well…I guess I will have to learn to ride the subway like everyone else.

So that’s the big news. I am going to become a New Yorker. Apparently the place that we are going to be renting over the next year has plenty of room for at least 2 air mattresses at a time. Therefore, I am already taking reservations. Please book your flights now to come and visit. I will take you on a tour of the city and we will stop at various pinkberrys along the way.

Seriously though…everyone likes to visit New York and usually flights are pretty cheap into the city…so I expect to see many friends over the next year!

Mother Nature Doesn’t Like Me….

We were very sad to leave Orange County. We truly felt like we were on vacation there. But….as we must do at the end of every city…we reluctantly bid goodbye to our beach house and golf carts and packed up the car.

We decided to caravan with our friends in the show Chris & Jenna. Eric was extremely excited when I told him we should buy walkie talkies just in case we were in bad cell phone areas. So we all met early in the morning and headed out….walkie talkies in hand.

The intention was to drive for 10 – 12 hours the first day and get a good deal of the 18 hour drive out of the way. The beginning of our drive started off fine. It was a Sunday so we hit absolutely no traffic. It really was smooth sailing up the I-5. We even got to play some driving games with our fellow caravan-ers through the walkie talkies. Early in the drive we saw a beautiful rainbow…I thought for sure this was a great sign that our drive would be easy as pie…boy was I wrong.

About 100 miles south of Oregon the weather started to get not so good. It started with some rain…then soon after that turned to snow…then soon after that turned into somewhat of a blizzard. I felt like I was back in Michigan. You could hardly see what was in front of you and only one lane on the freeway was really available for driving since the other one was completely snow covered. Who knew it snowed in California? Isnt’ just supposed to be blue skies and ocean?

*****

At this point I would like to interrupt this story of our drive with another story. I used to be a great snow driver…I mean I am from Michigan…we get a good deal of snow there. I drove a crappy ass Dodge Shadow with no power steering in high school and college and I had no problem navigating that thing through Michigan Winters. Spin outs? Fishtailing? No problem…its fun! Well my master snow driving all came to an end when I started working at Chrysler. During my first week as a District Manager in my first field car I had a little bit of an accident. You see…they gave me a Dodge Durango R/T. This was basically a big sports car SUV with street tires. Street tires = no traction. No traction in Michigan =’s problems.

I was driving home from my district on the freeway and all the sudden the car hit a patch of black ice and flipped over into a ditch. We were not hurt…but the car was totaled. Even though we were not injured I was permanently scared. Now…whenever we are driving in snow I kind of freak out. Its no good. I get super tense and maybe even shed a tear or two. I feel ashamed that I am a Michigan girl at heart and cannot even sanely drive when a snow flurry falls from the sky.

*****

Ok…Back to the story….

So here we are in the middle of no where driving in a blizzard in California. We are lucky…we have an SUV….but our friends Chris and Jenna were driving a 92 Honda stick shift. Even the SUV is having some problems driving down the road…I can hardly imagine what it was like to be in the Honda. Finally … we breathe a sigh of relief when we get to a town where we can shack up for the night.

We arrive in lovely Weed, Califonia. It is your basic small town America with NOTHING to do. There are some gross fast food joints and a random Mexican food place. We sit down with our crappy Mexican food carryout and turn on the news to see what we have in store for the next day. All the weather has to “brag” about is the “hurricane force winds” that will be hitting Oregon and Seattle. Woo Hoo…something to look forward to.

So we got to sleep….we wake up to crazy wind sounds outside. Good thing is…most of the snow is already melted…bad thing…its crazy ass windy. In fact…it is so windy that as we are fueling up for our drive the McDonalds sign next to the gas station actually gets blown out…little pieces of McDonalds sign go flying…we know its time to get the heck out of Weed!

Surprisingly, once we leave weed the winds calm down and the drive is not that bad. It rains on and off but nothing major. We see 2 more rainbows and I think again this must be a sign for a good day.

Um…not so much….

So we drive…and it starts to rain a little more…

Jenna’s mom calls and says she heard about this crazy bad flooding and mud slides in Oregon and Washington.

We think….maybe that’s just on the coast…this rain is not that bad.

About 90 miles from our destination we pull up on I-5 to a detour…that’s weird? This freeway is closed? We get off and try to find a way around the blockage…not really knowing how bad it was. We drive for about 30 minutes…in and around this very small town. Everywhere we turn roads are closed due to flooding. Finally we stop and ask a fireman what the deal was.

He explained to us that I-5 was basically flooded out for 20 miles and there was NO WAY around it. Everything is the county was flooded out. He said…I can tell you about 11 ways to get to Seattle from here not taking the I-5…but all of them are under water.

GREAT!

He advises us to turn back around and go back 30 miles to a random town and get a room there for the night. Coincidentally…there were about 5 other cars of people in the cast also making the drive. So there we are…1/4 of the Jersey Boys cast all holed up in Longview, Washington. We were so close to our destination…but yet so far.

We read online that I-5 will be closed for at least 36 hours if not longer….they advise online that the only detour will take 8 hours in good weather. Here is the problem….all theses people have to be in Seattle for the show…we had to get there…we could not wait 36 (or more) hours to wait for I-5 to dry up. Were we going to have to make this 8 hour detour drive????

So…,maybe rainbows are not good signs for driving…but maybe they are a good sign for strange coincidences. One of the guys with us…his family is actually from Longview, Washington…and his uncle actually works for the road commission. He advises him of an alternate route that is only 2-3 hours (compared to the 8 hr one). Yes! We did not have to make that horrible 8 extra hour drive.

In the morning we all pack up our stuff and cross our fingers that this alternate route is not under water as well. So there we are ….. 4 cars of Jersey Boys driving through Washington hoping that the worst rain in history does not catch up with us.

The detour drive was beautiful. We drove through crazy winding roads and mountains. We hit a bit of rain but nothing too crazy. Its good to know someone that has the inside info on roads!!! Maybe rainbows are good for something….

FINALLY….after way too many days of driving and way too many detours we pull into our destination.

So here we are. We are staying at an amazing house that overlooks Pugent Sound You thought we had some good views in San Diego and Laguna Beach?? The views we have here are out of control. The owner of the house says sometimes you can see bald eagles and whales from the huge picture windows in the living room.

It’s a nice place to FINALLY be in….however long that may be…..

Ahhhhhhhh.....

I seriously feel like I am on vacation.

So...after San Diego we headed a bit north and settled in the O.C. (thats Orange County for you non MTV or Fox TV watchers). I have a very kind family member that was nice enough to let Eric and I stay at their swanky beach house for the time the show is in Costa Mesa.

We did not even know what we were in store for. The house is amazing with a fabulous kitchen and a housekeeper that comes once a week! And the view...I mean...I am never going to want to leave. Our front porch overlooks the ocean and on clear days you can see Catalina in the distance.


Not too shabby eh? We can take a golf cart down to our private beach everyday. We are really being spoiled...to be honest it is a bit ridiculous. But...we are savoring every second of it and will be really sad to pack up and leave in less than 10 days.

So what have we been up to? The first weekend we were here some of my friends from Michigan came out to visit. It was so nice to see my friends since I had not seen them since our wedding. It was a pretty relaxed weekend. Just some hot chicks playing lots euchre and catch phrase (I know...pretty crazy!!!).

Friday we headed out to this fabulous fondue restaurant in San Juan Capistrano called La Fondue. It was amazing. I know, fondue is fondue right? Wrong! First of all the place was decorated it a super cool hip way. Every area of the restaurant was different. Leopard print wall here, praying guy there, velvet booth over there...we loved it. The food was amazing. They had so many crazy choices of meets with your main course we did not know where to start...and the chocolate...oh the chocolate. I have been to many fondue places before...but this place had peanut butter and cream cheese balls to dip in the chocolate ... it was out of control. So now you are probably wondering: Hey Sarah, so this place sounds really cool...where are all the fun pictures of you and your friends eating fondue? I bet those would be some great pics!

Well...yes...they would be great pictures I am sure of it...sadly...out of the 4 of us...we all forgot our cameras. Sad but true...so I guess you will just have to imagine 4 hot ladies dressed to the nines....out on the town.

Saturday they came and saw the show and of course loved it....

Sunday we met up with some of my friends in Newport Beach for football Sunday. I felt like we were back in college. We spent at least 5 hours in the bar (while Eric was off at work) watching various football games and eating crappy food.

Of course the day had to end on a high note when I got a parking ticket....now I really felt like I was back in college (remind me later to tell you the story of how I had so many parking tickets in college that there was a warrant out for my arrest...fun story...please note the sarcasm).

Sadly on Monday my friends had to leave the beautiful state of California and head back to the snowy state of Michigan. Thanks for coming out ladies....I miss you already!!!

So I guess that takes us up to this week. Thanksgiving and my hubbies birthday.

So...Thanksgiving. It was a special thanksgiving this year. We had a freaking show. The company was nice enough to give us a thanksgiving dinner before the show. It was a nice thought but it was a sad example of a thanksgiving dinner. It was at a hotel...so it was hotel food. In the back of my head all I could think about was the humongous feast that my dad was serving back home. Eric and I both love thanksgiving and were both kind of sad that we were not spending it at home with our families.

BUT! Everything was redeemed the following day.

Friday (the day after thanksgiving) was Eric's big 30th birthday. My friend Kim and her husband Vipe (they live in the area) were kind enough to prepare us a REAL thanksgiving dinner for lunch. Eric and I thought we were just getting leftovers. Instead...Kim prepared us a full meal. She cooked a turkey, made yams, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing..the whole sha-bang. It was out of control and exactly what we needed. We stuffed our faces until we could eat no more! We were so thankful for Kim and it totally made Erics birthday.

After the HUGE meal we all walked down to the beach with our respective dogs and let them frollic in the ocean before treking back home.

Once home we brought out the birthday cake. Since Eric was getting costco cake (his favorite) at the theatre I decided to make him something different. A few days ago my friend Emily posted a fabulous pumpkin cheesecake recipe. It looked declious and I thought now was a perfect time for me to make my first cheesecake. I was super nervous about it...but I gotta tell you it turned out great!
So...I guess that catches you up on us! I have many a new merchandise stories for you...so hopefully I will get back on the blog bandwagon.

Finally...I just want to once again wish my handsome husband a very happy 30th birthday!

Happy Birthday Eric!!

You mean the world to me and I feel so lucky to have you in my life! I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays in the future with you! I Love you!!

I have been a bad blogger...lets catch you up!

I have been a bad little blogger. No updates in over a month?? I have no excuses. Lets catch you up and finish up San Diego.

SO....our last few weeks in San Diego were pretty uneventful. The smoke and ash in the air from the fire really hit me hard and I was sick for about 10 days strait. In the mist of all the yucky coughing we were still able to do some fun things.

We had a show on Halloween. But after the show the company threw a Halloween party. I love halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays. I just love the smell of all the pumpkins burning on peoples porches, making sweets that have pumpkin things in them, all the great candy and of course dressing my dog up in a costume. Yes...I am one of those people. We dress Toby up as a chicken ... he stayed in his costume just long enough for me to take a picture of him. He was not happy with us.

Toby's Best Friend Fendor as a Monkey!

The cast Halloween Party was a lot of fun. I was (slutty) Harry Potter and Eric was actually another guy in the cast. Funny story...Eric planned on dressing up as one of the other cast members...when he heard about this (someone ratted Eric out) he ended up dressing up like Eric. It was all very confusing and funny.

The minority Harry Potters

I am confused...which one is my husband?

Before we left San Diego we had to go to the Zoo. Ever since I have been a little kid I am heard what an amazing place the San Diego zoo was. We were lucky enough to get free tix to the zoo (that place is much more expensive then my good ol' hometown Detroit Zoo). Eric and I woke up early and headed over to the Zoo as we heard the best time to go was in the morning. Almost every animal was out an walking around. That zoo is a workout in itself! Every route is filled with hills! We had a lot of fun and it was nice to just hold hands and walk around the zoo together.

Yes...Eric found it absolutely necessary to take a picture of a monkey scratching it's butt

We were very sad to pack up and leave San Diego. I think its the first real city that we will actually miss. It was really amazing to see the city come together during the fires. The city actually seemed like one big family.

We had a great time in San Diego and Toby was so happy with his best friend Fender....they were very sad when we were packing up....

So now we are in Orange County. I promise I will post again very soon and update you all on our new digs!

6 Month Anniversary!

6 months already?!?!?!

I feel like it was just yesterday that Eric & I packed our bags and flew to the Dominican Republic for our wedding. It was such an amazing time and I think back to it almost every day.

I just feel so thankful to have Eric in my life. I know that he is my soul mate. Without him I would not be the person I am today. I know that he loves me so much and each day is like a new adventure for us.

So with that...another excuse to post some wedding pictures!!