Yet another wonderful inspiring day in the city happened upon me. I had quite a bit of work to catch up on but also wanted to get to the city to get some writing done, so while Tom headed to the boat to fine tune the alternator, I headed to Manhattan. I started off down by the WTC site and walked about 4 miles or so uptown. I was on the hunt for free wi-fi and while the city pretty much is all free wi-fi at this point, its still pretty cold out, so a place with intrigue, character, work space and coffee was sounding perfect. I wandered over to the East Village, near NYU and found THE most perfect coffee shop I have ever been to: Think Coffee. It is a coffee bar and at night a wine bar. The sitting area is vast--and the inside looks a lot like the cafe in Friends, but bigger. Couches, chairs, small round tables with chairs and very intimate, even though crowded. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by S Vega blared out the speakers as I meandered through the many NYU students and professors alike that I bet take refuge here before or after their classes. The walls were all exposed brick--a very NY look--and one that I would love to have when we move to a brownstone someday (hint hint honey...).
I ordered my free trade, organic coffee and organic turkey, brie and cranberry sandwich on raisin bread and settled in for what I hoped would be a long time. The music switched often, but I loved all the sounds--especially Jay Z, my current sound addiction. I caught up on my work and then was aching to share this coffee shop experience with someone! The texts to Tom, although descriptive and his responses excited, just weren't doing it for me, so I called Angie and in like 15 min she was there with her mac and we wrote and talked--mostly talked.
After a couple hours and realizing that the wine bar didn't actually open until after 7 (to our dismay), we decided to head out and cruise the East Village. It was beautiful weather--cold--but clear as it is most days here. I had made some earlier plans to possibly meet up with my friend Justin (his website is featured on this blog as "awesome nyc art") so I could pick up some new pieces he had finished. We ended up hooking up and he met Ang and I at Gemma --on Bowery, the restaurant within the famous Bowery Hotel (a definite place for celebrity sightings... altho, once again, I saw no one. But I digress...)
We enjoyed some wine while looking at Justin's newest pieces and talking about his other creative outlets--he is producing a short film and also does dj mixes. He is originally from Toronto but in his nearly 2 years here he is becoming pretty connected in the media world. He knows I am a writer and he has offered to help me with photo shoots and some artwork for a new website I am creating (with help from my very talented cousin Ryan) to showcase and promote my writing pieces (more to come on that). I gladly accepted his offer! Our conversation on options and projects and opportunities was extremely inspiring to us and just drove home the fact even more that I am doing the right thing going in this writing direction. More than that though---it was great to get to know Justin a bit more and have he and Angie become friends too. It was a fun time for sure--check out Justin's website. You can order from him via email and he'll ship to you! His prices are reasonable--in fact when I first met him and bought some pieces I told him he needed to raise his prices!!
http://www.geocities.com/evolve236/IntroPageNewWorks.html?1229035504396
When it was time to head out it had just started to sprinkle some. Instantly, cabs appeared for Angie and I and Justin went on foot. The cabbie that picked me up was a good soul-- he saw me in the rain and told me he'd take me as far as he was going as his shift was ending---only to Union Square (15th or so): with the meter off--- FREE. WOW. It wasn't like a creepy cab or a creepy driver so I didn't feel unsafe, but it was a bit surreal to be in a free cab. While his offer was nice, I needed to get to 33rd to catch the train. I razzed him some in jest about me needing to get farther than 15th, but just let him know that I was grateful for him picking me up and that I'd grab another cab at Union Square. Well, we got to visiting and I noticed the street numbers getting larger... 15 came and went, 23rd, 28th--he ended up driving me all the way to 33rd with the meter off the entire time. He was very happy to have helped me and after tipping him, I was off to the train reflecting on the bad image that NY'ers often get labeled with and how that is SO FALSE. I have never encountered a rude person here and if anything, Tom and I both have MANY examples of people going out of their way to be helpful. My friends that have visited and Angie as well can also attest to this. (Its funny, but Tom and I watch Seinfeld reruns pretty regularly and we noticed that many of the episodes, while hilarious, have the cast in situations with other NY'ers that give NY'ers a bad rap--of course this didn't stand out to us prior to us living here).
My day was looking to end on a quiet train ride where I'd listen to some Jay Z I had heard earlier at Think Coffee and maybe write in my journal. The train was packed so I ended up sharing a seat with guy. He struck up a conversation about me not having an umbrella which of course led to me saying that I was from Seattle and to use an umbrella when being from there is deemed unacceptable. That led to a whole RANGE of topics and I listened intently to him talk to me about body transformation with an eagle, how we have to be true to ourselves and so on and so forth. It was an invigorating conversation and I had some envy over his perfectly formed dreadlocks--they were great. His name was Wazeen and he was originally from Atlanta, but in NY since '68, 58 years old and has 14 grandchildren. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him.
As the title to this post reads: inspired day. inspired life: I love living here, I love the people I gather with and meet and I love putting myself out there to find these experiences and people. I crave the interaction with others different from me--who I can learn from as well as crave the different adventures there are to be had in this great city. I am thankful to have the opportunity to be exposed to a variety of people, places and experiences SO often out here. I am also grateful that Tom lets me be the free spirit that I am sometimes. As adventurous as he is, he would have DIED if I started talking about dreadlocks and eagle/human body transformation with a rasta man on the train if he were with me. :-) To each his own. :-)
Its supposed to snow tomorrow so I think we'll try and make it to some museums. Have a great Saturday!
pics:
wazeen my train friend
think coffee's exterior and a dog
my fave piece of Justin's artwork-- TriBeCa
the bowery hotel
a sweet open mike poetry club on bowery (reminded us totally of the movie "So I Married An Axe Murderer").
'The fellow in the portrait on the left taught us that anyone can be president. The guy on the right taught us that not everyone should.-- Sarah Smith for NBC NY
Today we celebrate a wonderful occasion in the United States. NO WORK! Ha--but seriously, today is the observed day to celebrate Washington and Lincoln's birthdays. Why do we only celebrate theirs? You'd think I would know since I have been celebrating this day since I was a kid, but I always assumed because they were our two best Presidents (until now maybe...)... but what about Grant or the Roosevelt gents, Kennedy or Reagan?
My friend Matty's folks always had a Presidents Day Party each year--which I think is a fabulous idea. They recited the Declaration of Independence and then proceeded to party it up like the Presidents would (except for Clinton--Matty's parents are decent people).
On this special holiday which isn't known for gift giving or hunting eggs in the bushes or hoping cupid comes a callin' , I am posting some interesting facts about some of our lesser known Presidents... for it is their day too.
James Madison was only 5'4". Dang.
James Buchanan was the only President to never marry.
John Tyler, 10th Pres of the US, had 15 children note: when I was in 10th grade our History class had to learn every single President, their term, their party and their VP. I have completely blocked Tyler out of my mind. His name does not ring a single bell. Odd.
William Henry Harrison died in office (1841) and served just one month. note: Conspiracy theories welcome here.
James Garfield could write in Greek with one hand and in Latin with the other simultaneously.
Woodrow Wilson kept sheep to trim the White House Lawn and didn't learn to read until he was 9 years old.
Martin Van Buren and his wife spoke Dutch at home and owned two tiger cubs as pets.
Chester A Arthur was accused of being born in Canada.
Calvin Coolidge had an electronic horse installed in the White House that he rode nearly every day.
Yet another famous New York event started yesterday and wanting to check all things as DONE on my NY "been there, done that" list, I dressed fashionably, trained into the city to meet my equally fashionably dressed friend Angie and we started out on the first day of Fashion Week.
We met up in one of my favorite areas in the city-- the Meatpacking District. I have blogged about this area before and for those of you who live in Seattle, think of Belltown meets Capital Hill--but even cooler. The heavy cobblestone streets curve and cut into one another and the buildings are all a bit shorter and a bit more warehouse like than the towering Empire State Building and the like that you see in the distance. The sky was super blue--no clouds--it was a gorgeous day. We were bundled a bit since the streets of Manhattan become honest to God wind tunnels when the city gets any sort of wind storms (we have had a bunch lately here) but it wasn't too frigid with the sun up. Spice Market on 13th and 9th was where we chose to dine. Its almost cin the mod Chelsea area. Its an Asian restaurant if you had to label it, but the New York Times describes it much better as:
inspired a passion for Asian street-vendor food, and conceived in collaboration with formerly hibernating chef Gray Kunz, has been vibrating with diners, drinkers, fans, celebrities, and the dressed-to-kill from the moment it opened.
I got there a smidge early and decided to wait at the bar for Ang. I had the delightful experience of meeting and visiting with Hayden (the bartender, but so much more) while I waited. He is originally from Georgia, but moved to NY on his own around the same time Tom and I moved so he could work on his writing. How AWESOME is that? What courage and drive--just talking to him inspired me even more to make it in this world as a writer. We talked for a good 30 min while Angie met and made friends with some folks at a nearby place where she stopped on the way (another story) and I truly enjoyed it. We had instant camaraderie from being new to NY and both being writers and journal-ers. I must get Hayden to meet Cora, my other writer friend so we 3 can inspire each other! I am sure I'll see Hayden again prior to him becoming a famous author--I plan to take Tom to Spice Market next time we are in the city. The food is excellent. Restaurant week has been extended here in the city (economy driven?) but Ang and I actually found delicious affordable option off the regular menu. I had the Chicken Pad Thai and the butternut squash soup while Ang had the Vietnamese Sandwich. Have each when you visit there...
After Spice Market we began our route to our final destination at Bryant Park, but of course we didn't go straight there--we had to make some stops. Angie really wanted to take me by 202 to see the place and meet her new friend Carlos. 202 is AWESOME. Only in NY can a place like this exist--well, I can visualize similar places in San Francisco, but on the East Coast, only in NY. To describe it best imagine that the line between food and fashion is blurred. 202 is a restaurant but sort of "placed" in the middle of swanky store for vintage clothes, household items and antique furniture. They offer brunch, lunch and dinner and one of the friendliest waiters ever--Carlos. Calling him a waiter though is beneath him--he was very warm with his greeting and made sure that Ang and I had some drinks on the house while we discussed fashion week, our life plans and our next stop: The Tibet House. By the way, 202 is another place that I have on my "Take Tom to" list.
We wandered a few blocks over to The Tibet House which hosts many events that pay tribute, benefit and educate people on Tibet, their history, the people, art, etc. They are hosts to the Dalai Lama's visit in May, huge event for any city (that we are attending by the way! Yay!). We only stayed briefly but I know I will be back to browse around there more.
We hopped the train after that and headed to Bryant Park. The park in the Winter has the ice skating rink I love and in the summer, well kept grass that is covered with sun bathers and picnic'ers. For this in between time each year the park is covered with large white tents and house the runways, fashion models and designers displaying the newest styles. We didn't have tickets to the shows going on, but we loitered outside to see who's who in the fashion world. Honestly--we only saw a few people we recognized and as one NYPD cop said to me whille we were leering and spying at the people exiting the tent "only the D-list stars come out the front door". Makes a lot of sense. Next time we'll camp out by the dumpsters in back. We had a great time though and laughed at many of the so called "styles" we saw.
It was a great day and here are a few pics.
Today Tom and I are enjoying Valentines Day by just hanging out and I think we'll do sushi for dinner. We are busy planning for our Curacao trip too... only about a month away!
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY everyone! Talk to you soon!!
pics: Spice Market and the area; Hayden and Diana; Chelsea Market sign on the walk to 202 and Angie just hanging out at some clothes racks before we sat down; the city around Bryant Park "Fashion Central"; the tent and above the tent; cool Gargoyles
The temps were warm enough today in NY, that some cities around the country (specifically in the pacific nw) might have mistaken it for a summer day. We are new enough to this area that WE nearly mistook it for a summer day!!! Got to 65 in the city and 69 in the surrounding areas. Forget the fact that its supposed to snow on Saturday and then again Tuesday... I think I got a tan today at lunch when I walked the dogs!! You know that wonderful smell that the air has on the first few warm days of the year? I love that smell and it filled the house today through the windows I had opened. NY does get some random warm days in the Winter and what a treat they are!
Hope everyone is having a good week. We are and are keeping busy!
Tom and I have been busy from the 5' o-clock "quitting time" bell on Friday until just about an hour ago!!
Friday we had such a good time with two great friends we have made since moving here--Cora and Brian. Tom and Brian have actually known each other for years through work. Cora and I--well, its been said we are kindred spirits! We have a lot in common and have so much fun when together! We have already made some plans for summer--yes summer!!
Saturday, Tom invited over the "new guy" at work for dinner. Mark's family is still in Arizona and will move out this summer. It was such a nice day out--50's-- we bbq'd salmon and for dessert we welcomed him to the area the right way with the NY famous black and white cookies (my new favorite thing).
Today though--today, was the best! Tom and I took advantage of the near 60 degree sunny weather and went into the city and just wandered. We walked blocks and blocks and visited Union Square to browse and bought some art (a sweet Brooklyn Bridge/city shot) took some pics, went to the very hip 'Joe' to have a little coffee, snacked on some yummy yogurt at Red Mango, browsed for books at the Strand and just had a wonderful day. The city was full of people as usual, but it didn't seem crowded at all. We of course get off the beaten path and go down the streets less traveled (thats when you see the best things/places/people anyway). After coming home we enjoyed catching up with my 4yr old nephew Zane and my newly 2yr old niece Chloe on Skype. They are so cute I can hardly stand it. After watching them sing, put on outfits (the Incredibles, a Witches hat, Batman (and Bruce Wayne as Zane pointed out) and a Mets player) we are now reflecting on a full, fun weekend.
Hopefully everyone had a great one too and here are just a couple pics. Tom getting us some street lunch, Diana SUPER smiley about going to the city and Joe coffee cups. Also-- a quick video we took today of my favorite building in the city (Flat Iron) and the surrounding famous intersection at Madison Square Park starring non other than my very handsome TOM! (much to his dismay).
A couple things to report...
1) This article has gotten so many hits on the internet its been called by some "the best thing you will see on the web all week" (this blog excluded of course). The pics are great. Courtesy of the NY Times.
http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/i-lego-ny/
2) A few months ago I did a blog post on the mysterious yet delicious smell of maple syrup that drifts through Manhattan every once in a while and that the source of the smell has been a mystery for years. Well--its been solved. It comes from Jersey! Apparently, a fragrance factory in Bergan County (North Jersey) is the culprit. Yes, yes I know what you all may be thinking-- 'Wow! a good smell from New Jersey??!!'
I have to say I am surprised the source stayed a mystery for years... are you telling me NO ONE put two and two together--I mean, this isn't a super secret fragrance factory?
Of course, this spawned many a headlines in local papers slamming what has been the whipping boy for NY for, well, forever--Jersey. Here are my faves:
"Whats that smell? Oh, Its Jersey"
or
"Blame Jersey! NY maple mystery solved"
Poor Jersey--it really isn't that bad. Well, most of it isn't that bad (note: steer clear of Trenton, Elizabeth and when getting off the plane in Newark, don't dilly dally).
Happy Thursday!!!
I thought we were free from these terrifying events now that we live away from the west coast which seems to be entirely made up of fault lines. Even Seattle, while not as bad as California, is due for "the big one" soon... Another reason why I am in NO hurry to go back there; earthquakes FREAK me out and I have been through enough to know I don't like them.
The funny thing is that we didn't even realize that what had happened was an earthquake. Its as if when we moved, I removed that definition/feeling/memory etc from my mind. So when we were just getting ready to doze off and heard a HUGE boom that shook the bed, the windows--the roof, Tom and I remained calm and looked at each other saying "What was that?"
There is a small plane airport near us and we looked into the woods to see if a plane had crashed. We wondered, can it thunder when snowing (as it was snowing)? Turns out, it was only a 3.0 which is small as far as earthquakes go, but for here--it was BIG just because they are so rare.
So, there is the big news for our day. Lets hope thats as big as it gets in terms of earthquakes.
Its also that time again in this blog dear readers, to give a shout out to another faithful follower of our blog:
This regular reader once told me she lives vicariously through me through this blog---which is ironic, because most of my young life I thought she had the best life ever and I wanted to live as she did. I am talking about my Auntie Renee! She, like most of my aunts are not much older than me, therefore making her automatically "cool" as far as aunts go. In her past life she was a tireless and very patient babysitter of 3 children (me, Steph & Grant) who used to wake us up, after we had fallen asleep, so we could see our favorite tv shows that were on past our bedtime; she carried (carries?) an endless supply of white tic-tacs and dentyne in her purse which brought her many nieces and nephews great joy; who, along with Aunt Cindy, offered endless encouragement to me during my college years; and who traveled all over the world to amazing locales--something she still does.
Thanks Auntie for reading our blog and for being such a great support in my life. :) Come and visit soon!
Staten Island, one of the 5 NYC Boroughs (but the one the other Boroughs don't like to recognize) is famous for its events on this Feb 2. This article is courtesy of the NY NBC website.
Staten Island Chuck Fails to See His Shadow
Staten Island Chuck to Punxsutawney Phil: Fugetaboutit!
New York City's Charles G. Hogg, known to friends as Chuck, begs to differ with the famous furball in Pennsylvania.
Phil saw his shadow, which is supposed to mean six more weeks of winter. But Chuck, "speaking" through New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saw "absolutely no shadow."
If you're wondering how to plan ahead, bear in mind that Phil has been right only 37 percent of the time -- worse than a coin toss could hope to do -- while the mighty Chuck has logged an 85-percent success rate.
Bloomberg, noting the City Council's funding powers, said Chuck had better be right.
Quipped Bloomberg: “If Chuck embarrasses us, this is going to be a very long winter for the Staten Island Zoo.”
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ps: happy birthday honey. I love you. :-)
Since its Tom's bday weekend, he was able choose the agenda for today... and after I slept in (he wanted me to, really...) and we both hit the gym, we ran a couple errands and then went hiking back to our new fave place--the Appalachian Trail on the PA border. The trail and surrounding area was of course covered in snow--but no matter, that just made for a better workout! The dogs LOVED it (of course they came) and they did great the entire 3 1/2 miles--until the end when little Ollie started to lose some steam.
We made it home for the big game and are enjoying it and the quiet night at home.
side note: We hope you all saw NJ's best citizen perform at the Superbowl. In my opinion, this bowl was super ONLY because of BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEE! Made us wish we were with my dad (huge Bruce fan) and mom watching! My dad and I would have the tv cranked and be singing and dancing along (as I did at home with Tom) and my mom would be saying "turn it down"!! ;)
pics of the hike to come...
Hello again everyone and Happy Happy Saturday. We are enjoying our very chilly day here in the NE. Tom went to the boat to do some tinkering (I officially do not go until it warms up. Its always freezing and I end up waiting and wondering [often out loud to him] "when are we going", so he is happy to go alone in the Winter), and I just hung around the house some then headed to the nearby coffee shop to do a little writing.
Now to the explanation of the post title... Tom's birthday!!!!
His actual birthday is not for a couple days, but its on a weeknight and the plans I had made to celebrate were much better suited to a weekend, so yesterday, we took the afternoon off work and headed into the city for a full day of just walking around and being together! Our day started downtown, around the WTC site and then we went all the way uptown almost to Harlem to wander around the Upper East Side. We took the train quite a bit along this route, but also did a great deal of walking which is my favorite thing to do--and Tom humours me as I wax poetic on the city, the architecture, the image, the feeling I get when there, my desire for us to live in a brownstone etc.
All of this walking and sight seeing made us hungry so it was a good thing we had reservations at 5 30 at the famous restaurant One if by Land, Two if by Sea located in the heart of Greenwich Village. This very romantic and charming restaurant is also very unique. It occupies the old carriage and stable house of Aaron Burr (known for his term as Vice President under Thomas Jefferson and also for the murder (but never tried) following the death of Alexander Hamilton who perished after being shot by Burr in their famous duel) and to this day, is supposedly haunted by the ghost of the niece of Aaron Burr who died in her carriage, from this house, on the way to her wedding back in the late 1700's (I think).
(We didn't feel her presence, which the waiter said was our fault for not having more wine, so we'll have to go back again to try and see if this centuries old mystery is real).
The restaurant, being an old stable, still has the same layout it had way back when Mr Burr frequented there. The upstairs dining room was the hay loft and the bar is in the carriage house area. With all of the round door frames, one can easily imagine horses populating the place.
Of course I am sure many of you know the history of the saying "one if by land, two if by sea"... it is found in the famous Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride"
'One if by land, two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex, village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.'
note: this was the signal: one lantern hung if the invading British soldiers were coming by land, or two if they were coming by sea. See our Boston blog post last month for more on Paul Revere.
We have been dying to dine here for a while now. Most of our guests that have visited pass by here with me while touring the Village. It is quite expensive, so what made our dinner even better was that its still Restaurant Week in NY. One if by Land only has 2 menu options normally-- A Chef's tasting menu priced at $95 a person, not including desert or beverages or the Fixe Prixe menu at $75 a person which allows you to choose an appetizer and main dish (again, alcohol and dessert are not included). With Restaurant Week, the Fixe Prixe menu is reduced to only $35 a person and includes dessert. Some of you may be thinking that we are paying less, but also getting less during this popular NY promotion, but that is not the case. The entrees were beautifully prepared and quite filling. The key lime cheesecake and caramel chocolate cake with maple ice cream that Tom had were two of the best desserts we have ever tasted. Our main courses (fish and steak) and the apps were also very tasty.
After a wonderful dinner we caught a cab to take us back uptown for Tom's big surprise of the night... tickets to the Broadway production of Wicked!!! I have to give props here to my Aunt in Seattle. She was able to pull some strings and call in a favor to her friends at the theatre company to see if any tickets were available. The outlook wasn't good-- Wicked is nearly impossible to get seats to and when trying to get tickets on our own through the normal venues, the earliest date we could get was in September. HOWEVER--she pulled through and not only did we get seats, we got HOUSE seats, about 12 rows up, center stage. The show was SO wonderful and went 3 hours--so worth the money. If you haven't seen it, we of course recommend it. It tells the "other side of the story" of the Wizard of Oz--from the witches' point of view.
After the show we entered out into the very well lit Times Square, packed with people and seeping energy as always and caught a cab back to the train for home. It was a perfect weather day too---cold, but not too bad, around 36, and no precipitation except some snow early. We had so much fun!!
Here are some pics:
1) Shots of the restaurant-- inside and out (very unassuming exterior. only a very small sign flush with the brick wall)
2) Tom and I at dinner
3) great set-- the witch flying
4) glinda the good witch and elphie the wicked witch from the show
this is a short post but I couldn't not comment on today. First of all, and I know I sound like a broken record, but it was beautiful today--perfectly sunny. After work I headed to our local coffee shop--Smart World--always organic and always fair trade (I know its not Starbucks although my heart belongs to them always) to take advantage of it being light later and to have some time to myself to write. Just before entering Smart World and sitting in my usual easy chair and ordering my usual green tea, I stopped into the magazine stand (store) across the street. Just to set this up--this city, like all towns around this area, have very quaint downtown areas that are a throwback to small towns and just walking down "Main Street" gets my memory going thinking of summers from my childhood visiting my grandparents in Omak, WA or camping in Chelan, WA and visiting the small "mom and pop" book stores and cafe's. But--- these small towns here are NOT like those small towns. The small towns near us are thrivng with activity and modern features that seem to lack in truly small town areas and while unique, are closely enough connected that you never feel like you are stuck somewhere far away. The magazine store also sold real penny candy, postcards that seem to have been printed in the 70's, tobacco and every magazine you'd ever want has not changed since it opened in the 1940's (per the owner I spoke with). Walking in, newspapers were strewed all over the floor--the owners' remedy for the winter weather and to keep people from slipping. I couldn't stop smiling. I loved it. How corny do I sound? I don't care. I am happy!!
:-)
Today, despite the snow and "winter storm WARNING" from the news I took the afternoon off work and headed into the city to meet up with an old friend from high-school. Its amazing how fate works; not having spoken in the last 17 years or so, we found each other on facebook and were shocked to find that we had both moved to the NY area in August 2007. That was the first of many likenesses. After chatting via email over the last couple weeks we decided to hook up in person for a late lunch in the city. Which leads me back to the first sentance of this entry... in the city you do not, can not cancel reservations--so we braved the snow and sleet (in our fashionable boots no less) and we were so glad we did! It wasn't so bad anyway--the temps had warmed up to the mid 30's.
For lunch, we took advantage of the final days of the famous Restaurant Week in NY where you can dine at many FABULOUS places and choose appetizers, main courses and dessert for a low LOW price (for NY standards). Today we chose the Fig & Olive. There are 3 of these in the Manhattan area, but Ang chose the one in the hip neighborhood that is the Meatpacking District. We had grand plans of shopping, window shopping, eating and visiting, but we had so much fun getting caught up--we stayed at the restaurant and visited the entire time! Our waiter Jonah was quite charming (an aspiring actor as most waiters are in the city, or as he called himself, an INspiring actor) and the atmosphere was very modern chic. The food was some of the best we have had. I had raw tuna with a cilantro based sauce for my app and Ang had some sort of triangle shaped chicken creation. We both had the mushroom penne (it had a much fancier name, but that name escapes me now) for the main dish and then the best fig tiramasu I have ever eaten. I think Tom and I need to hit this place up soon so he can try it out.
Here are some pics!
Today Tom and I headed back up to the Poconos to visit our friends Frank and Patti at their cabin. They live up the street from us usually---but they have this whole other very cool residence--the most beautiful custom cabin with full view of the Camelback ski runs and the surrounding mountains (mountains for the NE...).
It was a beautiful day--extremely sunny--as most days are here in the winter--and about 23 degrees.
We didn't visit long, but we quickly made plans to head back up there with them Valentines Day weekend to snowboard and relax.
We didn't bring the camera this time, but I did snap a couple shots with my phone.
The view from their living room
The view from their loft (telescope is awesome)
Tom with Chardonney, their pug.
We hope everyone had a great weekend and this is going to be a busy week for us, but a fun busy, so check back and see all the pics we post!
if you are a fan of the band coldplay and "live" music, you must check out this video. Its very creative. If you aren't a fan you will probably enjoy the video anyway. Happy Wednesday!
God bless President Obama!
"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task." -President Obama
Here are some pics from NYC this morning taken by my friend Angela Holland who braved the crowds and the 20 degree temp to watch the inauguration in Times Square. Thanks Ang!
I recently have discovered Facebook (yes I know I am a bit behind the times) and have gotten re-aquainted with friends that I haven't spoken to in years (in some cases, 20+ years--I am talking elementary school!! !!) Its been great!
Anyway... I recently began chatting with an old highschool friend I haven't talked to since our LHS days, Angie, and she too lives out East in Hoboken. We had a brief chat today on the desire to move into the city but that the house prices are CRAZY high (seriously, in NY, what recession?) After talking with her I opened up my favorite section of the NY Times---Real Estate--- to browse through the listings and articles. As you know, I always marvel at the small spaces for the big prices. Today a gentleman was featured who bought a co-op apt that he calls a "fixer-up-er" (kitchen is quite old and outdated and the bathroom is tiled in black and pink). The monthly maintenance is around $520 and he happily got a deal at $310,000. Pretty good for the Murray Hill area of town (around 30th and Madison). The apartment tho, this "fixer-up-er", is 313 square feet. The entire thing.
As I sit in my living room and ponder this, with the fireplace going, the couch, love-seat, coffee table, bookcase and chair within my view--I have ample room to practice ballroom dancing, have 15 friends over to do some yoga, build a rather large fort out of blankets and pillows (if my nephew were visiting) or play Wii Tennis with no space restrictions. It feels so large, that Tom and I sometimes resort to playing rock-paper-scissors when we are lounging on the couch to see who has to make the long walk to the kitchen to refill our wine glasses /coffee cups/make popcorn, etc. All of this occurs in our living room which is slightly larger than this man's entire apartment.
Now while we are happy with this size of living room, I cannot imagine our entire house with even 1/8 of our possessions crammed in here.
The trade off? This gentlemen is in the city. The wonderful, exciting, fast paced, artsy, fun and beautiful city--the best city in the world in my opinion and I'm sure when he compares himself to some other NY residents, he feels he has a mansion. See below.
This video was featured on an Oprah show. These people (husband, wife and baby) live and they say enjoy a 265 sq ft apartment in NY. Just watching the video makes me feel like stretching and not to mention impressing upon me a deep sadness at the thought having to drop down to having pretty much only 3 outfits (check out their "dressers").
The city draws me in... I gaze wistfully at the brownstones in Greenwich Village or the gargoyle protected condos on the Upper West Side... but for the money--and the close proximity we have now to the city--- I am happy where we are (until we win the lotto or I become an uber successful author (lottery is more likely...) then we will have the BEST brownstone housewarming party you WILL EVER SEE)!!
But its sunny... so still no complaining! But I do wonder, how even while snowing, it can be sunny? Ahhh the mysteries of a state with real seasons---still a new experience for me.
Today has been a great day! I have been taking a kick boxing class and it is kicking my butt! I love it!! Its a great way for me to start off a day before my busy day at work. Its such a great motivator for a productive attitude. Somedays, it even motivates me so much that I choose to run on my lunch break. Not sure if thats something I want or not, hahaha.
Tonight is a big night for Frank and Ollie! Our neighbor boy Paul (who is 10) is coming to hang out for a bit while his mom, dad and little sister Hannah have an event at Hannah's school. Paul is a great kid and everytime we see him (he and Hannah like to walk the dogs with us) we learn something new. He is very smart and he and his family moved here from Germany about a year ago. He speaks fluent English and of course German and he is a good little German language instructor for me too. :-) I am slowly learning the key phrases like "This is my dog" and "my name is Diana". Paul wants to be a pilot, like Tom, so he is always very interested in asking Tom many questions.
Paul LOVES the dogs so this will be a fun play date for them. Hannah, when finding out that Paul got to come over, began to cry and insist that she didn't need to go to her school appt (she is 6) and she would "just rather be with Frank and Ollie".
He'll be here soon so I need to run and get our Wii set up and the cookies out, but before I go, I want to give a special HELLO to one of our regular readers, Denise in Edmonton, Alberta. Hi Denise! We are so glad you like to follow our adventures (even when its a stretch to call them adventures)!! We loved seeing you a couple years ago and hope to see you again soon when we get to the Great North next time :-)
question: who decides to go to their boat on a 20 degree day with heavy snow forecasted to remove the windows (to get replaced) and to place a tarp over the boat?
answer: us.
result: frozen toes and COLD all over. of course, we had this planned and its hard to plan around the snow here in the winter, so we bit the bullet and headed down to the Jersey Shore at 7 this am to quickly accomplish our goal and head home. At first, it wasn't so bad--sure a little chilly, but with my 2 layers of fleece (can't escape, nor do I want to escape, from the seattle staple that is fleece), my hat and gloves I was fine. Tom must have just been really excited to get started because he didn't choose to wear his gloves or hat. This feeling of it being "not so bad" didn't last long.
I have to give Tom credit-- he did the hard work, putting the ropes through the very large tarp, tying it down at various points and braving the elements. I was his handy sidekick and also braved the elements including one time in-particular as I stood half in the boat, half out, and started to ponder exactly what I would do, step by step, if I fell into the icy water (the boat is in the water year round and in the winter, bubblers are placed under to make sure the water does not freeze). Luckily that didn't happen and we managed to get all the glass off, boat secured and get home just before the snow really started to accumulate.
We have prob just about 4" now, but this should continue all night and thru some of tomorrow and off and on to Tuesday. I LOVE IT still--so all of you that said "oh wait until you have a NE winter, then we'll see what you think"... this is my second NE winter and I still LOVE IT. :-)
Happy Weekend, cheer for the Giants tomorrow and here is the boat in warmer times. I can't wait to be tan again.
Hey everyone! As you know, we appreciate how many people visit our blog and leave comments, or just silently enjoy it (hopefully enjoy). Our short post today is to serve the purpose of giving a BIG shout and thanks to a few specific regions I would like to identify---1st, thanks to our Pennsylvania readers. I can honestly say that we do not know anyone in PA, but according to the blog visit info, we have quite the fan base there! Thanks much and please, leave a comment if you so desire (assuming its positive)! 2nd-- to our neighbors to the WAY South in Brazil! Their hits equal 1/4 of those from Canada. Thats saying a lot since we know NO ONE in Brazil, but we have ample family in Canada (hint hint Ellefson's...).
And as a final acknowledgment-- thanks to our 2 readers in Russia. Wow. Russia. Cool.
There are many other countries and states we will call out in 2009 to say thanks for reading! :-)
we thought this was blog worthy...
Again, Manhattan has been enveloped by a smell that only can be described as "maple syrup". This smell has been a frequent visitor to Manhattan since 2005 and there is no reason to be found. Authorities say tho--it is harmless. How do they know?
Where does this smell come from?? cut and paste this link for more info.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/nyregion/06sweet.html
and while we are on the subject of ny... this wonderful city (and I choose to think, general area) has been voted THE #1 city for the place to work and live. Seattle was voted #6. I guess those that voted to make Seattle #6 don't really care about sun in their life. Their choice. ;)
Today Tom, the dogs and I headed to the Pocono Mountains ("the Poconos") to see what they were all about. We chose, after looking on the web and talking to our friend Lisa, Camelback Ski Resort as our destination. The Poconos reside in Pennsylvania and the resort is only 45 mintues from our house. It amazes us how we are so close to so many amazing places.
Camelback is nothing like the resorts we are used to (Whistler, Park City, Vail) but it will do--especially since for the first time ever I had an itch to ski (well, snowboard). Living in WA my entire life AND the fact that I sold ski-wear while in college at a local sporting goods store didn't spark my interest to ski and it didn't bother me. I think what may have done it today was the fact that it was 41 degrees and 100% sunny! The snow here is dry as well, so if (when) I fall, I won't get soaked. Hopefully. After we drove around and checked out the area, we headed down to a Trailhead we had seen hoping to get in a short hike. WOW--are we ever happy we did that! The trailhead was part of the Appalachian Trail which after we got home we looked it up and this is what we found (courtesy of Wikepedia):
"The Appalachian Trail is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately 2,175 miles long. The majority of the trail is in wilderness, although some portions do traverse towns and roads, and cross rivers.
The Appalachian Trail is famous for its many hikers, some of whom, called thru-hikers, attempt to hike it in its entirety in a single season.
Along the way, the trail passes through the states of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. An extension, the International Appalachian Trail, continues north into Canada and to the end of the range, where it enters the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Appalachian Trail along with the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail form the Triple Crown of long distance hiking in the United States."
So we only hiked about an hour but I have made Tom promise that we go back next weekend assuming we have similar weather conditions. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I can't wait for summer when we can hike much more and play some in the creek.
Here are some pics:
some of the creek. check out those icicles--amazing
di at camelback tubing area
part of the trail
di and the dogs (look how posed they are!!)
tom & the dogs at the trail head
A short video at the very start of our hike on the Appalachian Trail...
Its a new year now and hopefully it will be even better than the last! 2008 had its problems FOR SURE, but Tom and I have been fortunate and we feel very blessed to have our health, jobs and friends and family all in tact.
Last night we opted out of the Times Square New Years (actually, we never planned on it but many people we talk to outside of this area assume that of course we'd go. Yes, we are movers and shakers, but NO THANKS in Times Square. Seriously). It was below 0 with the wind-chill and those people we watched on tv looked COLD.
We were invited to celebrate with our neighbors Marc and Donna. They had us and our friends Frank and Patti over and I am not going to say that we DID Karaoke, but I am not saying we didn't... :-) (one song).
Donna made gourmet munchies and Marc was the bartender! It was a great night. They live just up the street from us so we chose to walk to their house. Bad idea. It was so cold!! The kind of cold where your ears, skinny little things that they are, begin to hurt so bad you begin to think there are actual needles pricking them. Brrrr.
We managed to fight off the temptation to nod off and proudly stayed up to ring in 2009 with streamers and the like! Today we spent the first day of this new year getting our house back to its pre-Christmas state. There are now zero Christmas decorations to be seen and its hard to believe actually that the Christmas season is gone already.
Back to work tomorrow. Happy New Year everyone! Make your resolutions, be safe and may you have nothing but success in 2009 regardless of your ventures.
Take care. Di and Tom
