Tom and Diana: East Coast Life

Living in this area-- we literally have the world at our fingertips. If we want Ethiopian BBQ at 3 30 in the morning, we can get it. If we want to see an up & coming band at a "word of mouth" rooftop concert long after we would normally go to bed, we see that band. If we want to go dancing at a club deep underground that has no name and some very questionable patrons and dance "contests", all we'd have to do is get changed and go. But the crazy thing is, on this cold Saturday evening, I am choosing to sit under a down blanket with my dogs watching football while Tom installs some accent lights highlighting some artwork in our dining room while all the while--we look forward to Chinese take-out (I could have made at least that part interesting and said Ethiopian BBQ) and watching Saturday Night Live.

So what does this mean? Are we old---even though we tell ourselves we aren't? Possible.
Are we boring? Some may say yes.
Are we wasting what the best city in the World has to offer us-- taking for granted the gems that are all around us there for the taking/seeing/doing? Sometimes, maybe.

The reality though dear reader-----are that the possibilities for action are nonstop and never ending in this great city and even in our 2 years here, we have experienced so much--but still so very little.
Its hard for some of our visitors to fathom that really, anything we want to do we can do and anything we want to experience we can--there are no limits if you have the desire.

But tonight, the thing we want to do is build a fire while admiring the lights Tom installed, cheer on my football team, eat some egg drop soup and relish the fact that if we WANTED to go dancing at that rowdy new "no name" club on the Lower East Side, my favorite pair of outrageously sexy boots are just a few steps away in my closet and in NY--it is never to late to go out.

Today was the first day for snowfall in our area! Although it was unexpected... it was not completely surprising when it happened. Let me explain.. apparently, if the acorns fall off the trees early, like in August, as they did this year, a harsh winter is sure to follow. I learned about this curious tale from our neighbor and friend Donna (thanks Don!!) and I think she is right! Hunker down!!!

Its a strange sight to look outside and see red and yellow leaves falling along with giant snow flakes.

The dogs are not fans, but I am--I love it!

Here are a couple pics (camera phone--sorry if a bit hazy).







the dogs after a necessary trip outside


Ollie hiding

Its that time of year again when the leaves start to change colors, football is on the tv and our fireplace comes on in the evening... its Autumn!

On the East Coast, Autumn has got to be the prettiest season. With all of the deciduous trees here (vs. the high volume of Evergreen trees on the West Coast), its a joy driving down otherwise boring highways-- the colors are gorgeous!

Today--as traditionally we do each year-- we hit the Pumpkin Patch with Frank and Ol. Its a U-Pick Patch near where we live and we all enjoy (well, mainly Frank, Ollie and I enjoy--Tom is a good sport and agrees to snap photos & lug Pumpkins) going and carefully treading over all the vines, giant leaves and Pumpkins to find the perfect future Jack-o-Lantern. Its usually a short trip as Frank and Ol really aren't much help in choosing and Tom seems to have a 12 minute P Patch limit... but it was a gorgeous day--perfectly sunny and about 60 degrees!

Here are a couple pics:


mom and the kids



farm house at the patch-- one of the oldest working farms East of the Mississippi.



hay rides to take pickers to the BEST part of the patch

Not only did Tom and I see In The Heights, (see a few posts back) I was also lucky enough to see The Toxic Avenger AND Rock of Ages on Broadway this last week.

Toxic Avenger is actually an off- Broadway show (for now) that originally was a movie but got its theater start at Rutgers University here in Jersey. David Bryan, the keyboardist from one of the BEST GROUPS EVER, Bon Jovi, did all the music for the show. Lisa won tickets for us and we LOVED it! I feel lucky to have seen it before it hits Broadway... which is its next step. I can say "I knew it when..."
It will give you an appreciation for Jersey you never knew you had. Seriously.



By the way, Li and I had a great night in the city. She pretty much grew up there so she was able to take me all over to some of her old haunts from back when she was in her band and touring with such groups as the Bangles and the Go-Go's.
It is a great time whenever we are together!



And just last weekend when Michele was here, she and I got AWESOME seats to Rock of Ages. This show is a heartwarming story of a rocker wannabe and the girl he falls for. What makes this show so good, aside from the 5 TONY nominations it received, are the 80's songs that are sung IN THEIR ENTIRETY throughout the show! Bon Jovi, Journey, Night Ranger, Poison, Europe--the list goes on! IF it comes to your city or if you come here and you LOVE the 80's-- you must go.

My BFF from college came out to visit this past weekend. Michele lives in Seattle and you will surely recognize her from our recent post while in Seattle. She happened to be in Philly for a business trip and she was able to extend that trip and come and visit Tom and me!!

We did the city right! Michele had never been so we lived it up!! We wined and dined ourselves at all the hotspots in NY as well as got $159 rate at a $400 a room boutique hotel AND got $130 tickets to a Broadway show for $26!!

Everytime someone comes to visit we of course hit the main tourist spots (Top of the Rock, St Patrick's, Central Park, Greenwich Village, Little Italy (Michele's fave--even though it POURED rain on us--see pic)) but I always seem to see something(s) I have NEVER seen before--LOVE THIS CITY.

This time those new things were the famed NYC Library (see the movie Ghostbusters?) as well as Wall Street. I have never been down that way and it was neat to see the glorious Trinity Church as well as the spot that George Washington was Inaugurated---right across the street from the NY Stock Exchange.



We had so much fun and Michele loved the city as much as I do! We also spent Sunday with Tom and the dogs down at the boat hitting the surf shops and even stopping by a Longboard Surf Contest at the Shore.

Happily--Michele will be back this way again for work and not only will she extend her trip(s) to last the weekend--hopefully her husband Geoff (who is like my brother as I have known him FOREVER) and their sweet little girls (Emily and Ashley Renee) can come out as well!

If its real... who is with me to go to Paris to BOYCOTT this horrible, horrible idea?????? Please tell me this is fake.

"McDonald's invades Mona Lisa's lair, will open eatery inside Louvre"





-headline and picture courtesy of the NY Daily News (nydailynews.com)