I know who is the next American Idol

OK, so even though I am the (self-proclaimed) Miss American Idol Extraordinare, I don't really know who's going to be the next American Idol, but I can totally make a really good guess.

I am predicting that, even though we have just learned who made it into the top 24, that 20-year-old Syesha Mercado - the one who lost her voice during Hollywood week - will be the next American Idol. She is P-H-E-N-O-M-I-N-A-L and is, in my opinion, the one to beat.


American also narrowly missed another Sanjaya phenominon. Simon said he wholeheartedly wanted to put Kyle Ensley in the top 24 because he had "something different to offer." So did Sanjaya, and look what happened there. Kyle seemed like a great guy - funny and down-to-earth, though a bit dorky. However, what Simon meant by "something different" was "something to annoy people and get ratings."

While I agree that Kyle had a pretty good voice, there are other aspects that one has to consider when putting together a group of singers to throw to the dogs (aka "Americans who watch the show").

Unfortunately, in the pop culture industry, there is an image that Kyle, the politician, just doesn't fit into. I seriously can't imagine his being successful in the singing industry.

But he does seem like a sweet and stand-up guy. Here's good wishes for his future in politics!


(Photos are courtesy of Fox.)

There's a time and a place for that, dude - leave it in your pants

There's a time and a place for everything.

When there's a line several people deep for the only public restroom in a coffee shop, you shouldn't be in there smoking a cigarette. Or five cigarettes, for all the time you spent in there.

I get it - it's snowing outside (for only the second time since I moved here on Dec. 5- sweet!) and it's cold, so you don't want to inconvenience yourself by going outside to smoke. So you'll politely inconvenience paying customers who just want to pee.

That's bad enough.

What's inexcusable is leaving semen all over the sink and floor of a public restroom - one that I'm partially responsible for cleaning.

I wish I was making that up, but yes, someone (possibly the smoker. We're not sure.) did masterbate all over the sink and floor of the restroom at the coffee shop that I work at. And I did throw up in my mouth a little bit and I wasn't even the one who had to clean it up. That's just sick.

Thank God for coworkers with stomaches of steel who volunteer for the job.

Besides, they couldn't pay me enough to clean that up. I told my boss flat out that if he would have asked me to do it, I would have flat out told him no.

God I need a real job.

Been wearing an engagement ring for a year now

A year ago today, I was in Las Vegas looking at Brent, my then-boyfriend, who was down on his knee asking me to marry him.

And just as I was about to fall asleep, Brent whispered in my ear that he didn't believe it could happen, but that he loves me more today than he did a year ago.

AWWWWWW!!!

Those of you who don't know the story of how he proposed, I've cut and pasted the story, which is posted on our wedding Web site: www.mywedding.com/brentanderika.

HOW HE PROPOSED:

It was February, 2007, and Brent and I were definitely overdue for a vacation. So we both took a week off and jetted to the city of lights - Las Vegas!

After checking into the Excalibur Hotel on the Las Vegas strip on Feb. 9, we settled in to enjoy a fun-filled long weekend. After wandering around for a bit, we ended up at the Mirage Hotel to see Cirque du Soleil's "Love" which featured music from the Beatles. Great music and great performances equaled the most amazing show that I had ever seen. Brent said afterward that he will never see another cirque show. His loss!

So the next day was his turn to pick our evening activity. We ended up eating dinner at ESPN Zone to watch sports on something like 18 different TVs - heaven for him and tolerable, at best, for me.

But they say opposites attract, which brings me to Feb. 11, 2007. We decided together to head to PF Chang's chinese restaurant for dinner. Since there was a long wait, I decided to try my luck at the nearby big wheel. But since Brent was "helping" me by telling me where to place my chips using logic, I ended up losing $40. Before he wandered over to see how I was doing, I was winning using gut feelings. This is why Brent never gambles.

But after a romantic dinner, Brent suggested that we walk over to the faux Eiffle Tower atop the Paris Hotel because he knows how much I love lights. So we got tickets and rode up the elevator to the top of the tower.

I immediately started snapping photos from every angle while we were in the caged-in platform while Brent waited patiently for me to pay attention to him already!

But after he was sure I was done, he turned to me and took both my hands in his and started telling me about all the major events that had happened in his life over the past several years, and how I was with him through it all.

Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

The tears immediatley started flowing because I was so excited - so excited, in fact, that it took me a minute to notice that he was still on one knee because I hadn't answered him!

But of course, I said yes! And then he told me that I had made all of his dreams come true, and he wanted to make all mine come true starting with the wedding of my dreams. Then he said that he knew that we weren't standing on top of the real Eiffle Tower, so he promised to take me to the real one in Paris on our honeymoon!

So we kissed and hugged, and then, as if on cue, the Fountains of Bellagio lit up and started dancing to Frank Sinatra's "Luck be a Lady."

I may not have had the best of luck on the big wheel that night, but at that moment, I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet. I love you, baby

Board games are way more fun when you're drunk

One of Brent'sbuddies from his MBA program, Rob, was in town with his wife, Becky, visiting her parents this weekend, so they asked if we were free to catch up at some point.

Since it was Brent's turn to plan a date for the two of us on Saturday, he of course said we were free to hang out with them - on Saturday. (Not to worry. Next week is not only Valentine's Day, but is also the one-year anniversary of the day he asked me to marry him. Oh come on - if you're married or engaged, you remember the date that your significant other asked you to marry him!)

We started the night off at our apartment so they could see what a couple grand a month can get you in terms of housing in New York City, then started walking downtown on 9th Avenue until we found a nice Italian restaurant, Roberto Passon, that looked good on the corner of 9th and 50th streets.

And it was. The four of us split a bottle of red wine and Rob and I both ordered the pumpkin ravioli with sage, asparagus, and parmesan cheese. It had a bit of a sweet flavor to it and was AMAZING - like most all food in this city!

Afterward, I was having a Pinkberry craving while all the guys could think about was how quickly we could get to the nearby bar that has 25 beers from all over the world... ON TAP. Doesn't take much to please a guy.

Since Becky had never been to Pinkberry, we split up from the guys and enjoyed some time together talking about how ridiculous New York fashion can be. After getting to Pinkberry, she boldly ordered her frozen dessert with strawberries, raspberries, and chocolate chips (very unique!) while I stuck to my marshmellows, kiwi, and fruity pebbles.

And kudos to Becky for finding the warm tea in the corner of the place. Cold ice cream and warm tea is SUCH a fantastic combination!

Then while we were enjoying our treat, we started talking about how we both loved playing board games, but that there is a huge shortage of 2-player games when compared to games that are meant to be played by 3 or more people. Yes, you can play monopoly with two people, but it's not really that much fun.

So then we decided that there were four of us, including the guys, and that we wanted to play games that night. Becky, however, didn't think we had a good shot of convincing the guys. I was a bit more optimistic.

Actually locating the guys in the bar was a bit easier said than done. It is apparently a popular place because it was crammed with people. And when I say crammed, I mean that I had to make people shift their weight so I could actually squeeze around people to look for the guys.

We found them sitting in a prime position at the bar with empty drinks. Seeing that it was a good time to ask them to leave, I yelled to Brent over the noise that Becky and I wanted to head back to the apartment to play a game. He leaned over to Rob to tell him, and they - miraculously - got up - without even arguing that they only had time to try two of the beers on tap. I thought I'd have to pull out more ammo, but apprently we have pretty great guys!

But of couse, they didn't want to stop drinking, so after a Corona and lime run, we settled in with some pretzels and breadsticks to play the game I've been waiting to play since Christmas - Imaginiff, which my future mother-in-law bought me.

For those of you who haven't played it - and I'm betting that there's a bunch of you - it's a game where you are to imagine how one of you would react in a certain situation. For example, one question directed at Brent was "Imaginiff Brent were providing expert testimony at a trial. What type of expert would he be?

1. Marriage counselor
2. Environmental expert
3. Handwriting analyst
4. Paranormal psychic
5. Pet behavior specialist
6. Gastrointestinal surgeon

Then everyone secretly votes and those with the most popular answer get to move their game pieces forward. What makes it fun is you put all the players' names on the board, then fill in the remaining spaces with either people all the players know or celebrities. Celebrities were more fun, though - we picked George W. Bush, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Tom Cruise.

Back to my example. I, knowing my future husband, immediately voted for the gastrointestinal surgeon - as did he, as it turned out. I know my man!

Rob and Becky, being polite, both voted that Brent would be a pet behavior specialist because of our dog. You don't win a game like that being polite!

Well, actually, I guess you do because Rob ended up making it to the center of the board first, and thus winning the game.

This was not OK with Becky and I, who then immediately picked up Battle of the Sexes and ended up triumphant! This was because the guys thought a maillot was, in Rob's words, "maybe some type of blush brush" (it's a woman's one-piece bathing suit) and didn't know that an eggplant is also known as an aubergine. (OK, some of the questions were pretty silly, but who doesn't know which makeup company produces smudge-proof lipstick? Well, Brent and Rob didnt' know it was Maybelline.)

Hense, girls rule and boys drool! At least that's what I declared well after 1 a.m. while relatively buzzed.

I have to say I was really happy that even though Rob and Becky had to get up early the next morning to catch a train, they stayed so late because I'm a big dork and love playing board games! So fun!

I seriously should have slept in

The cable guy was supposed to be here today between 8 a.m. and noon to see why I've been having problems getting online at home.

Therefore, because I knew he was going to show up, I kissed Brent goodbye just before 8 a.m. and really couldn't go to sleep knowing that I'd have to be getting up at any minute. And I wanted to at least pull my hair in a ponytail, put on something other than my pj's, and do something about my morning breath before having to deal with a complete stranger.

He buzzed my apartment around 9:30 a.m. - give me an opportunity to pull on a sweatshirt, pick out some eye boogies, and find my glasses - and asked me to try getting online so he could diagnose the problem.

So I did. Successfully. Without his having to do a gosh darn thing.

He looked at me and told me that the problem was most likely that I needed to make sure everything was fully plugged in before attempting to sign on to the Internet.

Once again, I'm not an idiot, but apparently this cable guy thought I was because he couldn't seem to get out of here fast enough. I wish he would have at least done SOMETHING because I just KNEW that it would break later - at a more inconvenient time, like when I didn't have a cable guy here to fix it.

Sure enough, it broke. AGAIN. And I had to listen to elevator music for more than 30 minutes AGAIN while on hold to speak to a cable representative.

And now I have another appointment with (hopefully a different) cable guy on Saturday. So today was all for nothing.

I should have just slept in.

I know you're excited, but I have to be to work at 5:15 a.m.

Yes, yes.

We know.

The whole WORLD knows that the New York Giants won the Superbowl a little after 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Even if I wasn't watching the game (which I was, sort of. I'm more of a Superbowl commercial girl) I would have definitely known that the Giants beat the Patriots just by living here in New York City.

Though I'm used to the incessant honks from taxis by now, everyone seemed to ignore the "one car must honk every two seconds" rule that seems to be in effect in the city and everyone started blasting their horns the second after the last second of the Superbowl ticked down.

And if that wasn't enough, the drunken patrons inside the Lincoln Bar and Grill - which we live above - streamed out of the bar the minute the game was over to scream "New York Giants, baby!" and "The Giants won the Superbowl" into their cell phones or to no one in particular.

Since Brent and I were finishing up our game of Scrabble, we just ignored them and peeked out the windows every once in awhile to see if anyone was overturning any cars. (No such luck.)

But then I started to get irritated when they were still yelling in celebration as I was attempting to fall asleep at 11 p.m. to try and get 5-and-a-half hours of sleep before I had to be to work at 5:15 a.m.

Shouldn't they be celebrating INSIDE the bar, maybe with a beer in their hands so they could watch the post game show?

Again, no such luck.

I guess that's what I should expect from renting an apartment above a bar that doesn't close until 4:30 a.m.! Sigh.

I KNEW I should have covered my ears

Today, I was innocently sitting in a workshop for my new coffee-shop job learning about the company, coffee, my new job, and its benefits when the presenter, Steve, started talking about the importance of cleanliness. Duh.

But in New York, cleanliness is necessary not only to keep away flies and bugs, but also rats.

Yep, that's right. Rats.

Then he asked, "Do you know how many rats there are in New York City?"

This is the point where I should have put my index fingers in my ears and started to hum the "American Idol" theme song.

Instead, I heard him say "According to the health department, there are SIX rats for every ONE person in New York City."

Now I'm not a math whiz, but I do know that there are 8 million people living in New York City. That means that there are... gulp... 48 MILLION rats living here with me.

Don't believe me? Well, rats as big as cats made national news less than a year ago. As long as you don't ever want to eat fast food in New York, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvLDFtaL5HI

Yeeeeeeeeaaacccchhhhh!!!!!!!!