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Peetza Weetza!

Back in college in the mid-eighties, I truly had a love affair with pizza.
What’s not to love?!?   It was cheap, it was plentiful and it was easily had!  The greasy, gooey, cheesy red variety with pepperoni or sausage was what I craved the most.  And I liked my crust thick back then.  These were obviously pre-Clean Eating days (I am now a Colon Cancer survivor with a delicate stomach).  But back then my stomach was a cast iron that could absorb even the hardiest of dishes. I usually had a beer or two to swallow the slices down as pizza and beer were a true match made in heaven…

 

 

Fast forward to today and I like to think my tastes are a little bit more sophisticated.  Give me an upscale pizza restaurant, with a “wide variety of my favorite pizza toppings,” a coal-fired oven and then (stop it!) spoil me by allowing me to name my custom-made pie and you have a customer for life!  That’s what happened today when I taste tested at the soft opening of a brand new restaurant in downtown New Haven featuring the latest concept in pizza, grinders, and salads…you custom make your pizza or grinder or salad so you get exactly what you want on it.

I stood on line and had everything I love put on my custom-made pie, as well as my own crisp build-your-own salad, and all of the ingredients are fresh and locally produced.  Yummy!

 

 

 

If you are at all familiar with the New Haven restaurant scene, think “Chipotle” meets “Modern” in an upscale setting…the restaurant I am speaking of is called Ah-Beetz, which simply means “Pizza” in Italian.

 

Again, once your pie is finished you get to name it.  I named mine LJ’s Vegetarian Delight (smile).  My creation was meatless with lots of cheese, tomatoes and veggies. And it only took minutes to cook!

 

 

After my first bite of LJ’s Vegetarian Delight I was in love, but this time it felt good and, more importantly, I felt healthy…

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

 

Bowling Date

I remember the first time I picked up a bowling ball.  I was 11 years old and in 5th grade at Mary Morrison Elementary School in Groton, CT.   Someone in my classroom was joining a league at the local bowling alley and I thought it might be fun to give it a try.   I had just finished up with Judo for the year and was looking for a new activity.  So I joined the league and have been bowling off and on ever since.

Back in the day bowling alleys were dark, musty, smoky places with beat up old pins, wooden lanes and loud, piped in music.

When I bowled back in the day, you really had to know a little something something about the game because you were truly on your own when it came to scoring and keeping track of your pins.   To this day I’m quite sure I gypped myself and my teammate out of points due to sheer ignorance.  Plus, quite honestly, focusing on keeping track of the score took most of the fun out of the game.

Conversely, what I like today about the modern bowling alleys (outside of the fact that they are both glamorous and sexy) is that everything is electronic and therefore soooooooo easy (smile).   Music videos play on large wall areas in between the lanes.  The lanes are now synthetic (low maintenance!) and feature automatic scoring systems which take the guesswork out of fully knowing the game.   At these modern bowling alleys you simply put on your bowling shoes,  enter your name(s) in the keypad of your assigned lane, take your photo(s) with the built-in camera and (this is optional) sign onto your social media account(s).  By the way I tried signing onto my social media account and did not like this feature as it felt too intrusive as every spare, strike or pin I knocked over was instantaneously posted to my Facebook timeline so I shut it off…At the end of your games a tally of you and your bowling party’s scores are handed to you.  Easy Breezy!

Today bowling alleys are sleek and modern and easy to navigate

There’s even a snack bar with real food if you get hungry, an arcade if your kids need more stimulation, a bar for adult beverage recreation and a lounge featuring flat screen TVs.

I also like the fact that it’s a great way to spend quality time with family and/or friends.  And it’s fun!

Here’s the best part:  Check your Groupon app as there’s almost always a Groupon for bowling and shoe rentals at a location near you.  For example:  Two games of bowling for 4 people with shoe rentals included is just $25 dollars — you know how much I love Groupons :))  A real bargain compared to a lot of other entertainment options today…You’re welcome!

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

 

Made of Wood…

I’m listening to a ’70s station on the Sirius radio the other day and one of my favorite songs by The Dramatics comes on, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” and it really got me thinking…

 

They don’t make music like they used to…

 

It also served to remind me that I grew up in a time when records were made of vinyl and album covers (LP or “long playing” covers) were a small piece of art.  Records (disc formats: 33s, 45s and 78 RPMs) were played on boxy turntables back in the day and we even owned one that had a needle that needed a penny on top of it just to keep it stable (smile) and they were affordable!  A 45 single could run you somewhere between 75 cents to one dollar and a whole album (LP) could run from eight to ten dollars… Also, your favorite song wasn’t as accessible as it is today.  There was no Google or other search engines to go to when you just had to hear your song.  You actually had to wait and hope the DJ would play it on the radio or better yet, your parents owned the record so you could play it at your leisure.

 

I loved Saturdays though because although we did not have YouTube, what we did have featured a lot of Rhythm & Blues & Soul music all in one place.   It was called Soul Train (the musical variety show on TV).  It was the center of my world back then and my show!  I planned my Saturdays around it.

 

 

I marveled at the dancing, the fashions, the too-easy-to-solve word puzzles, and Don Cornelius’s ability to use his charismatic personality to captivate audiences each and every week.

 

I wanted his job, as it seemed like it was more a labor of love than a daily grind.

 

At any rate, the 70’s were a special time, there were no smart phones for people to listen to music out of and dare I say, we were far less distracted as a result.   Plus, music seemed to possess real meaning, as we sang along to heartfelt lyrics which oftentimes conjured up deep thoughts.

 

‘Watcha See Is Watcha Get’ by The Dramatics is just one example from the ’70s of a heartfelt song with meaning.   As it turned out, it was far more than a song lyric, it was a way of life for me, a pre-teen coming of age in the small town of Groton, CT…

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL

 

 

My Clean Living Life – Part II

I hate to admit this but it’s almost Summertime so I’m starting to slack off on my clean cooking.   It’s too doggone hot, which means my health may suffer as I just don’t feel like getting in the kitchen and cooking clean…Yet, I’m still hungry…it’s a vicious cycle…so what’s an aspiring-to-be-clean-living girl to do?!?

You know if only there were frozen dishes that did not contain additives or unhealthy chemicals.. that would solve my problem…but wait, there are!   I searched on Google and here’s what I uncovered under eatclean.com:  The 9 Cleanest Frozen Entrees You Can Buy:

  • Amy’s Light in Sodium Black Bean Vegetable Enchilada (love Mexican!)
  • Luvo Turkey Vegetable Lasagna (Lasagna, who knew!)
  • Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken (Coconut Chicken – Delish!)
  • Evol Fire Grilled Steak (You mean I can have my steak too!)
  • Saffron Road Chana Saag with Cumin Rice (Sounds exotic and yummy!)
  • Kashi Southwest Style Chicken (Kashi means good in my book!)
  • Tandoor Chef Lamb Vindaloo (Another exotic sounding delicacy!)
  • Amy’s Tofu Scramble (Yummy!)
  • Luvo Chicken and Harissa Chickpeas (love Chicken cooked any way and always love chickpeas!)

What’s great about all of these frozen clean meals is that they are not only delicious and nutritious but alternately low in calories, low in sodium, high in fiber, dairy free, low in carbohydrates, low in sugar, and low in saturated fat.  I’m headed right over to my local health food store/market (Edge of the Woods) to pick these dishes up!

Bon Appetit!

 

Like moths to the flame…

Life was simple and good back in 1986.  I was in my early 20’s, fresh out of college and  working my first “real” job in media as a Television Sales Assistant at  WTNH “Action News 8” in New Haven, CT.

I made $16,500 a year which sounded like a lot of money to me back then as, up to that point, I was used to hearing how much I would make per hour, not per year…

As it turned out, it was enough money to afford me a $375 a month studio apartment in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, CT.   It was not, however, enough money for me to own a car, as that required maintenance, gas, insurance, etc.  Thankfully for me I lived right on the bus line so I could easily catch a bus to and from work.  To save money I brought my lunch to work and ate in the lunchroom, or outside on the New Haven Green when the weather was nice.  Dinner was simple:  Happy Hours!  They were everywhere back then and these bars/restaurants gave you real happy hour food, not chintzy bites like today.  Who could forget 368 State (Street) with their free juicy, delicious steak,  The Palms Restaurant (right next door to the Shubert Theater) with their appetizers of the Italian variety, or Boppers on Crown Street with their “free parties for you and 200 of your friends” which included lots of hearty appetizers and cheap drinks.   ‘Free’ was the operative word back then and me and my friends were on it like moths to the flame!

 

 

At work I typed contracts on a real typewriter using messy white out, sent out “twixes” to our rep firm in NYC and answered the phone for 3 tv sales managers, 6 to 8 Account Executives, and our new Research Director, ‘Tony Baloney,’ as I affectionately called him.  Tony started one year after me and we both reported to the General Sales Manager.   I can’t lie, I couldn’t help but wonder  what the heck was I doing with a college degree working as a glorified secretary when I had the talent and drive for bigger and better things (smile).

 

 

Then, in year 2, things got really exciting!   The Sally Jessy Raphael Show, a national television talk show arrived and would now be taped out of WTNH’s New Haven, CT studios…Our lives would never be the same…

 

 

It was the first real professional talk show I had seen up close and personal in our local New Haven, CT studios and it was sooooooo much fun to watch!

 

Every morning, when I got off the bus, I was greeted by a super long line of people the SJR Audience Coordinator, Jackee B., had arranged to be in Sally’s studio audience on that particular day.

 

Once I came upstairs and got to work, me and my co-workers would then sneak back downstairs around mid-morning to watch the pros at work.   They had a full staff of people working on the show and we marveled at how they put together this 30 minute television talk show complete with a studio audience 5 days a week!    I also met and/or came into contact with a whole  bunch of famous people who were at the tv station to serve as guests on SJR’s show or as guests on our own Action News 8’s newscasts.  Phones did not take pictures back then or else I would have a whole bunch of selfies as proof (smile) as I had the pleasure of meeting then President Jimmy Carter and his wife Roslyn, Donna Rice, Suzanne Somers, Marlo Thomas,  and Dana Plato, just to name a few…

 

As a matter of fact, I’m thinking I stayed in the support position I was in for 3  1/2 years simply because I was having too much fun (smile).  Every day was unique and different and you never knew what to expect.   I get bored easily at work so this new change was very exciting to me.  Although I did not work directly for the show, I benefitted by virtue of my proximity.  And, as luck would have it, I worked with a lot of  like-minded fun and young people (Janna, Connie, Judi, Debbie), just to name a few.

 

As far as finances went, I had my  monthly rent, my student loan, my Sears charge card, food, laundry, miscellaneous and not much left over.  Vacations, in my mind, were an opportunty to put in more hours at work so I decided the only way I could afford a better quality of life was if I had extra income.  Hence I started  waitressing every weekend plus one or two nights during the week…

 

 

I was super busy but too young to notice (smile).

 

To keep up my energy level,  I was a member of Bally’s Fitness in Hamden, CT which only costs me $5.00 a month for unlimited aerobic classes.  Definitely fit my fast paced lifestyle and meager budget…

 

As I mentioned before, I took full advantage of everything that was free and/or at a reduced cost, especially when it came to my nightlife.

 

New Haven had a ton of Jazz and/or Blues clubs open back then (The Foundry, Jackee’s Blues Cafe, The Monterey) so me and my girls would enjoy live acts with free happy hour food and a small cover charge.

 

 

Free Jazz concerts on the Green…

We also went to free Jazz concerts on the New Haven Green which lasted all Summer long back then and were sponsored by one individual: Brian Alden (Furniture).

 

 

So here I am working full-time as a sales assistant at WTNH; waitressing part-time, and managing somehow to find time to moonlight on Monday nights.  I had previously completed a radio announcer training course at Yale Broadcasting Corporation after graduating from college.  This certificate allowed me to work as a Community Volunteer Radio Announcer at WYBC 94.3FM radio in New Haven, CT.   The end result was having my own show on Monday evenings  from 7p-9p, I called ‘Lovers Corner with Lajeune’ where I played a variety of R & B, Soul and Contemporary Jazz (love songs on vinyl) for my Greater New Haven listening audience.  This was strictly a labor of love and a “resume builder” as I was not getting paid to do it…

 

 

WYBC on-air crew:  I’m in the front row wearing the black sleeveless top…

 

WYBC on air crew – I’m in the front wearing black

 

Again, life was simple and good in the mid-80s.  It wasn’t always “Summertime,” but the living sure was easy…

 

Sincerely,

 

 

TVFL