Visiting Parents

Mom and Dad came to Brooklyn this weekend for a little visit. We always have such a great time visiting with them - whether here or at home. We did lots of eating and some walking around and a few tourist-esque things. Case in point the photo above - honestly, have you ever seen a more adorable picture of tourists??? :)

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We took the same boat tour of the harbor that we took with John and Mariel. The weather was cooperative so that was a serious bonus since last week it was stinkin cold!!!



We went to Coney Island for lunch and grabbed a couple of Nathan's hotdogs. Dad and Stephen had an after-hot-dog cigar.



It was looking pretty deserted but still as carnival as ever.



Last but certainly NOT least ... dinner in Brooklyn Heights. No, this is not a picture of the restaurant (Noodle Pudding) where we ate. This is a picture of us being totured by a fire fighter. Dad asked them if he could take a picture of them at the firehouse.. and in return they said they would LOVE to take a picture of all of us dressed in their gear since they "love to torture the tourists!!". Well it is certainly a memorable picture and one that I would never have gotten if they were not in town. All things considered it was an experience I will always remember :)

We had a great time with you Mom and Dad. Next time we will make it Park Slope for sure. Come back any time! Love you guys!

Happy Birthday Stephen

Stephen's real birthday was on the 7th. For his birthday we...


Hung out with Jeff that night in the East Village...


Walked around on the sidewalk...


Ate dinner together at CaraCas - a Venezuelan restaurant in the East Village that is SO good. Our friend Flor took Stephen there when his parents were in town and that is how we discovered it. Killer Arepas and Empanadas.
Stephen is 26 this year. It seems like yesterday that my roommates and friends in college were teasing me about robbing the cradle by dating that 19 year old art student in Florida. Time flies.

babies..?

So I have been thinking alot lately about babies.. more specifically the fact that everyone I know seems to be pregnant with them or raising them..wanting them... having them... there are alot of babies around right now. Even though they are at a distance - not right here in my building - it still feels funny sometimes. Here I am alone in my apartment with Stephen and my puppy - happy. Is that wrong? I am going to be the oldest of my friends to have kids, whenever we do have them. I know that everything has a time and a season and this is not our baby season but everytime I hear that someone else is pregnant.. I get really confused and I have a hard time deciding how to feel about it. I am always happy for the person and wish them the best but I guess what I mean is that I have a hard time because I start to feel like I am doing something wrong. Like I am on the wrong track because I don't have a baby yet and we are not really planning on it right now. If it happens it happens but.. it's not something we are really in a place to do right now. People always say that you are never really ready for a baby - you just have to jump in with both feet and everything else will work out. I guess I have a hard time with that because we jumped into married life with both feet and though everything has been great and worked out - it has been a difficult journey getting Stephen through school and moving to four different states in less than 5 years. Now that he has graduated and is on the road to getting a more permanent job and submitting work to the gallaries around here..it just feels like we are starting from ground zero. Like we finally can relax and start the life that was on hold for the MFA. That's a great feeling - like you are on a second honeymoon or something. The only catch is that I am not 23 anymore and every day that goes by - another friend has a child or a 2nd child... why do I care so much? Well..all of my friends are great.. they never make me feel like an outsider because I don't have a kid yet. But the truth of the matter is - no matter how great they are or how sensitive and laid back.. I am going to feel like an outsider - because I am. I don't know what it's like to have a baby kicking my insides or feel the pain and joy of childbirth. I don't know how happy you feel when your child smiles at you or says their first word. I know that I get really excited about cuddle with Oli on the couch!!! The plain truth is that when a couple has a baby they cease to be the couple that can go out for coffee at any hour or stay out late to see a movie. They have a child to care for. A child that they love caring for and are seriously in love with. It's just different. Lonely. I hope all my friends with kids don't get offended by this post because you should know I love each and every one of you like crazy and your kids too!!! It's just.. been on my mind alot so I felt like sharing - and I can't sleep so I tend to share odd subjects when I am up late like this. Anyway - one day I will get pregnant and have my own baby and someone I know will feel like things have been forever changed.. but for now.. I will just wonder if I am being selfish enjoying my life with Stephen and the dog up here.. or if we should be jumping on the baby band wagon...it's a tough one to actually think on.

Yellow November Birthday ..OR.. Some Trees Grow in Brooklyn..

It's Stephen's birthday on Tuesday so we decided to celebrate this weekend. Saturday we went for a walk in Park Slope and the ginko trees on 7th were this amazing golden yellow. It was nice and cool outside and not too breezy.. the perfect weather for a nice long walk.





We stopped in at Ozzie's for some coffee and a pumpkin square. Great fall combo. It's so hard to be in this neighborhood sometimes. You just want to spend the entire day in about 50 different places! Hard to decide how to divide your time. I mean, you could spend all day in the park, the museum, shopping, coffee shops... the list goes on. I am almost looking forward to the bitter cold - to help cut down on the options! Then I could just make my way to the coffee shop and tuck in for a couple hours before heading home to read or something. I am sure I will eating those words in a few months when the snow actually starts flying around here.. but that's my opinion tonight.



I took Stephen out for his birthday but the whole gig was a surpise. I am not usually able to keep secrets but this time I was determined to keep it to myself. We went to Henry's End in Brooklyn Heights for dinner. This is a tiny little place that Carol recommended that specializes in wild game during hunting season - the food was incredible. Tiny, tiny little place that was warm and cozy inside and packed with Brooklyn-ites. We had the best table in the house. Stephen had the wild boar ragout and I had Buffalo rib-eye - though I already eat alot of Buffalo and know this is not really wild game. It was so good - the salad was perfect the wine that John helped me pick out was just right (Bogel- Phantom). All in all I am looking forward to eating there again very soon. Then I surprised Stephen by taking him to the new "Evil Dead the Musical". I have no idea if any of you will know what this is - a B rated horror flick that is completely insane and stupid. They musical version was AMAZING and even though we were in the mezzenine (great seats!) and not the "splatter zone" in the front we laughed out heads off. It was SO funny and silly and something we would never have done on a normal night. Happy birthday baby.

Marie Antionette and corn-on-the-cob

Finally!!! We went to see the new Sophia Coppola film Marie Antionette last night. I have been reading the book for the last few weeks. I got suddenly very interested in this time period after reading "Sex With Kings" by Eleanor Herman, which is a history of various European mistresses, and the kings that loved them. So when I heard that Coppola's movie was based on the book by Antiona Fraser I decided to try and read it before the movie came out.
Antionette has gotten a lot of mixed reviews in the press. Coppola was given unprecedented access to Versailles and the Petit Trianon by the French to film the piece - apparently the country loved Lost in Translation and Sophia's own personal sense of fashion. However when they saw the result of her efforts at Cannes, there were more than a few up-turned noses and catcalls. Having read all about this I was nervous to see the film, afraid I wouldn't like it after having looked forward to its release for almost a year now. Thankfully - it was brilliant!
The fact that every shot is colourful and decadent should come as no surprise to anyone who has seen Coppola's other films (The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation). She did a wonderful job of recreating court life at Versailles. The costumes are a fantasy and there are at least two plates of incredible edibles (pastries, cookies, chocolates) in every scene. Everyone knows she can shoot a movie. The music was not a surprise either. From the 80s hit "I Want Candy" for the montage of her ladies gorging on cream filled delights to the haunting Aphex Twin number while she wonders innocently through her new quarters on her arrival at Versailles. Not only did the choices make the character more relatable but they just make you feel good. What I was not expecting was the dialogue. I would have missed this if I had not read the book, 95% of the lines were direct, historically accurate quotes. This is what excited me the most about the film. Sure she played contemporary music in with the classical choices and she allowed all of the actors to speak in their native accents (a' la Amadeus), you even get a glimpse of a blue Converse in one of the closet shots - but keeping the dialogue minimal enough to use accurate quotations was the most genius move. Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman acted their tales off portraying the emotions of teenage monarchs in the midst of personal and political turmoil. The gut wrenching grief of Marie's "inability to inspire passion in (her) husband" and the struggle of the two to consummate the marriage and produce an heir came across much better without invented language. Her loyalty in standing by her husband even as the angry French mob is banging down the doors of their home is touching - as is the haunting echoes of young Louis XVII's fearful cries as they await their fate in the nearly empty palace. Highly recommended. Feels good to have a healthy dose of history in with your hipster movie fare.


Oh.. and Oli got a new corn-on-the-cob bone :)

Cranberry Bog

This week Rockefeller Plaza played host to a re-creation of a cranberry bog for Ocean Spray. There were Ocean Spray farmers there to explain anything you wanted to know about cranberries. Here is what I learned.



Cranberries are grown on srubby bushes that are pretty low to the ground. The berries themselves are filled with tiny air pockets. When it comes to harvest time, they flood the bogs and use giant wooden rakes to loosen the fruit from the plant. The ripe berries float right up to the top and they skim them off and train the bog. Pretty neat huh? I always thought they grew in water because you always seen pictures of the harvesters walking around knee deep in berries. Anyway it was really cool.







Red is my favorite color. Especially the deep tangy color that is a cranberry. I also LOVE cranberry anything.. relish, sauce, juice, muffins... walking outside the building and seeing a giant pool of floating red yummies was such eye candy. I just stared at them and felt like I was getting a massage on my optic nerves. It really felt so relaxing. I think with all the advertising and concrete and commercialism and materialism of Midtown the best treat for the senses is a large pool of cranberries.

fall colors..

It always seems impossible to really capture the beauty of a sunset with a camera. I had to try. The pink brilliance of this days end was impossible to ignore. Sunsets in Florida are something to come out for. The kind of thing you make sure you make to the beach for every evening - if you live close enough. This was one to make it to the window for. Reminds you just how small the world really is.

Judy and Don

Stephen's aunt Judy and uncle Don were in NYC this weekend. It was Don's 50th birthday and the trip was a surprise that Judy put together for him. It's always nice to have family and friends visit but even nicer when that visit is from family you don't know so well. We had such a great time with them. I especially enjoyed getting to know both of them a little better. I hope they enjoyed their time here as much as we did and that Don had a happy birthday. Maybe next time they will bring the young'uns :)

Sabatage at the Skyline Party

The firm's favorite document production company throws a giant Halloween party every year.. this year I was around to attend it! I think this was my first real Halloween party - definately the first one here in NYC. Anyway it was loads of fun. My friend Abigail and my friend/boss Carol and I all went as devils. It was held in this church on Central Park West so you can just imagine how creepy it was in there with the big screen playing clips of horror films in synch with the likes of "Thriller", candles and red lighting.



Every year (or so I am told) the Skyline Boys choose and theme and dress up all together for the festivities. This year they decided to recreate the Beastie Boys "Sabatage" video. This is Tommy. He is one of our reps. How awesome is that costume?!?! He really looks like one of the detectives!!!





Check out the gold lashes... those were Abigail's idea. Gives it a nice touch right?



One of our partners came with his girlfriend. Pretty clever costumes. Abigail and I agreed that next year we are definately going to go all out and get real costumes. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the others. Some were really incredible! Rainbow-Bright and Strawberry Shortcake, the Clockwork Orange guy and .. North Korea!? That's right folks, some guy came dressed like the crazy dude from NK with an actual metal bomb strapped to his back. He looked more like Ghostbusters. I think his costume was a little too clever. Fun time.

New @ 193A

New is the word of the week in our household. We got a new chair last Thursday. Stephen found it in Newark at a rarely seen Goodwill Store. Quel find huh? Its lovely vintage velvet makes it the perfect throne for Oli and he has taken up residence without hesitation.









Stephen finally got a new haircut. You can't really see it in these family portraits but he was really growing an ugly mullet and we took care of that on Sunday. For those of you who know him well - you should be happy to see that his signature curls remained intact this time.. the last time I tried to give him a trim they fell under the blade.



This is my new coat. I won it on eBay. I am not a very good eBay-er and I would love to be able to say that I won this for little or no money, got a crazy deal, and am really thrilled with my purchase. Instead I must admit that I got a little too competitive, won with a higher bid than I ever meant to enter, and am still getting used to the idea of having actually let myself get that out of control. At any rate - I think its cute. Its a vintage (seems to be a theme here) eskimo coat from the 60s (supposedly). I am inclined to agree that it looks(and smells) authentic. It has one of those heavy metal zippers that are typical of the time period. What does puzzle me is the incredible condition it is in! Must have been in someone's closet in the bag it came in or something. Anyway - its mine now and I can't wait to wear it walking in the Slope - it't just that kind of coat.



Last but not least - Wicked. I am not usually one to paint my fingernails on a regular basis. However, after seeing two of the chickies I work with wearing this new addition to the Essie collection, I couldn't resist. Ever since Chanel came out with their black polish - which now is apparently next to impossible to get - I have wanted to try it out. But who can wear black into the office?? Enter Essie and their genius color. It looks black but it also looks red and in some light purple (not a fan of the purple) so its not punky but it looks sorta punky.

We had a dinner party on Friday night for our building and some other friends. Chili and beer to ring in the weekend. It turned out to be a kicking good time. We got to know alot of our new neighbors and visited with some old friends that we have not seen recently. I forgot to take px but it was pretty cozy here with 11 people snuggled into the living room.

We are developing a new Sunday habit too. We have been going to CaraCas in the East Village after church every Sunday. They have KILLER empanadas (sp?) and I crave them all week until I get my fix!

Dr. Keller's sermon on Sunday has really stuck with me. He was talking about God being a just God. About the true meaning of hell. His thought process is so complex and intellectual that I really enjoy being there and following his message. But when it comes to trying to actually verbalize exactly what he said afterward I run into some trouble. What I really took away from it though is the true meaning of hell. Imagine the worst thing about your personality - like being selfish - continuing on into infinity. The way you feel when you realize you are being selfish magnified a thousand times and never ending. He was saying that when you base your identity on anything other than Christ, the devistation you feel when that something goes wrong is extremely powerful. Like, if you base your identity on your looks, and something happens to take those looks away, the loss is much more devistating to you than it would be to anyone else. The same goes for someone who bases their identity on their relationship or their children or their wealth. Anyone would have a hard time if they went broke or had a major problem with their marriage - but if that is where your identity lies - you don't just have a hard time - you are devistated. So that is why it is so important to base your identity on Christ. Let Him be the center of your life. We all know He should be there anyway but sometimes it's hard to keep Him there. Dr. Keller was saying we feel those flames coming up and we try to blow them out. We have to keep blowing them out - it's a lifelong process. I am not coming close to how he explained any of this. I guess my mind is still working it through. The bottom line is that He needs to be the center of your world. He needs to be where you find yourself. Where you discover the true you. Anything else...is pure hell.

Ellen...bogan

My best friend, Ellen, came to visit this weekend from DC. Her hubby, David, is clerking in DC - and thats all I am going to say about that just to be on the safe side.
I met Ellen when we were about 6 or 7. I was very into my stuffed animals, and my pet rabbit (Cottontail) at the time and by the time she left my house she had convinced me that she did not have anything soft to cuddle up with at night. I, thinking this was a terrible way for another human being to exist, gave her a doll that my grandmother had made me. What she really wanted was this tiny white rabbit (a toy that I had gotten at the beach that summer) and she tried her hardest to get me to give it to her. I was a pretty selfish little kid, so instead of the white rabbit I agreed to let her take the doll, which, I might add, was most definately not my favorite. When my mother found out she was pretty upset since this was an heirloom toy and after a while I got the doll back. I am writing this because this is my first memory of Ellen. We have had a very long history together. We were in choire together, we did homeschooling stuff together with our brothers. We both rode horses. She HAD horses at her lovely farm in NC and I just rode schooling ponies at a barn accross town. Schooling ponies or not I still loved my barn and wore my Fox Run Farm sweat-shirt around her whenever I got the chance. I guess you could say we were always a little competetive with eachother. We even went to the same college. I got engaged first (it didn't take) she got married first and I followed in December of the same year. She was always smarter than I was, I always spent more time primping. We have been friends for alot of years. We have been through alot of really tough times, really tough.
There are few things that have remained constant in our relationship and I will list them here: An obecession with Anne of Green Gables (more specifically Gilbert Blythe), a love for our faith and the way we were raised to worship, and our love for eachother.
This weekend she came to see me and I can not even express what it meant to me. Ellen has been blessed with a tiny baby boy named Seth. He is still baking in her belly but I was so happy to able to see my friend before her next adventure arrives. Isn't she the cutest lady with a bump you have ever seen? I love the first picture there because we look the same way we looked when we were 11 and singing Amy Grant at the top of our lungs while mucking her barn. We were both dorky and neither of us was cool in the least but we really enjoyed being so uncool together. We never made eachother feel bad because they wanted to do something dorky like, dress up and go walking through the woods acting out Anne Shirley's adventures, because we were both up for it!
Ellen's friendship has been the longest of my life. More than that it has been the most important, the most meaningful. She is such an example to me. She has her faults, don't get me wrong here, but she knows what they are. More importantly she knows what mine are and she loves me just the same. Now before this all gets just too cheesy to bare, I will tell one silly story. When I was in grade school, Mom had a neighbor teach us German. I used to do my math lessons in German. To this day its the only thing I remember. Well, numbers and one word - elenbogan. It means elbow and I am sure I am spelling it wrong but thats the way it sounds. When John and I learned this word we imediately thought of Ellen. Little kids are too clever aren't they. If you had asked me 20 years ago who my best friend would be today I would never have guessed the skinny blonde in the baby blue glasses, but I am so glad you are. Anyway - here's to you, Ellen-bogan... to you and Seth. You are going to be one heck of a Mama. Love you!

Jack White sighting

Stephen took me to see the Raconteurs on the 25th at the Roseland Ballroom. This was my birthday present.. and what a present it was too!!! Take a look, I mean..we were so close I could have spit on Jacky boy - if I had been so inclined. Poor Brendan Benson..I do love his one CD that I have and I love him in the group but he can't help but be second fiddle to the mighty White Stripe himself! I know its pathetic but Jack White is one of the few real rock-n-rollers out there and he is darn good - not to mention pretty good lookin too! In a really pale skin, stringy black hair kind of way :) The guy has such a crazy voice and whether he is playing his own stuff or covering that Nancy Sonatra classic "Bang Bang" (if thats not the real song title I apologize but you all know what I am talking about here.. Kill Bill???) he is just brilliant and a real kick to watch in person. Anyway, I felt a little old being there at 28 but Stephen reminded me that I was being psycho and that we will (apparently) be going to concerts and shows like this until we have grandkids. I will say this, Jack was alot bigger in person than I thought he would be. I mean that guy is larger than life but he was really a big guy! Tall and thick. Color me star-struck.

day in the park

There are so many things to do around here on the weekend that I have actually been having slight anxiety attacks on Saturday mornings trying to decide what to do! This weekend we ended up walking to Park Slope several times. The weather was so beautiful it was really hard to stay indoors so we didn't! We have explored several avenues and so far 7th and 8th seem to be the most full of restaurants and great little shops. The park is really fab too. We actually found a nature trail yesterday to walk on. Though they had made a water fall a little along and people were stopped looking at it like it was some incredible thing and it was just a man made water fall all fenced off that you couldn't wade in or anything. Stephen and I were happy to see it though it was fabrication but chuckled to ourselves and the Brooklynites standing around it in peaceful awe. Today we went to see a movie and then walked back home, picked up our favorite tacos on the way home then drove all the way back to the park after collecting Oli and a blanket. Stephen napped while I made our shopping list and looked through cookbooks for a new recipe for the week. It's been a pretty amazing weekend really..

my sweet husband and his patient eyes..

Welcome to Brooklyn Baby!!!!!

After a month with no internet service I am happy to report that we are finally tucked into the new place in Brooklyn!!! We are living in Greenwood Heights, right next to the famous Greenwood Cemetary, more on that to come in the very near future.
I was going to post pictures from the move itself - nightmare - but decided that it would only give me a panic attack to look at those images so its all better left un-looked-at! The appartment is on the 3rd floor of a pale green row house. I would have taken these during the day but I got home later than I would have liked. At any rate the world will have to wait for views of the outside. I can not tell you how amazing it has been to live here so far.. Brooklyn is my favorite place I have lived so far in my life. Our neighborhood is mostly Spanish and Indian and while I am often embarrassed to be part of the gentrification wave from Park Slope, everyone is crazy friendly and I think I judge myself more than my neighbors judge me so that feels nice. Anyway.. here is a tour.. the above is the living room.. with the lovely new vintage orange couch!



View into the living room..



This is the tiny bedroom.. its the perfect size and we each have our own closet so thats nice



Here is our huge kitchen! I am having a really hard time deciding which room I love spending time in more.. the kitchen or the living room.. they are both SO cozy and I love to sit by the windows in each.. the kitchen windows overlook all the backyards with their gardens and clothes lines.. its like being in the country..



The place is what they call railroad style so the rooms are all in a line. To get from the kitchen to the living room you have to walk through the bedroom. We could have put the bedroom where the living room is but somehow this set-up makes the best sense spacially. It turns out everyone else in the building has done their places in the same way. Stephen's studio is off the living room but its not quite ready for a photo shoot. We are still putting things together.. adding and taking away.. but its getting there and we are so happy to be here!