Let's Do A Little Game of Catch Up...

Ok, I am officially the WORST blogger EVER. Shame on me! I now have a month and a half to catch up on! Let's get started and travel back to mid March and journey on:

I truly started to fall in love with my neighborhood around this time. The weather was finally starting to be more cheerful, and flowers started to bloom in the park!

The Reservoir 

Springtime!

 I really, really love our pond

Also around this time, The Hunger Games came out in theaters and Heather and I introduced Erica to her now favorite series. Our movie theater is massive and themed and since the movies are so beyond expensive, seeing the Hunger Games was a treat for us! (yes, we are nerdy):

We found some Quidditch players in the park

March was a strange medical month for my family, as Christopher had an emergency appendectomy (I will spare you the picture my dad thought was "really cool" of his surgery). He and mom came up the week after for his spring break. I had to work, but they got to tour the UN, and the Met, and do lots of fun tourist things. I got to do a few things, some great lunches and another movie outing and the Knicks game! Unfortunately, Jeremy Lin and Amare Stoudemire were put on the injured list the day of our game. Brother was extremely upset at first, but the game was a lot of fun and the Knicks killed the Magic. Not too long after they left, I headed back down south for the first time since Christmas for Jamie and Cameron's wedding! It also happened to be Easter weekend, so the traveling worked out really nicely.

 Jamie was a beautiful bride and it was so fun for me to have a wedding that included both college and high school friends! There is nothing like southern weddings :)

When I arrived back in NYC, spring had completed its transformation! I spent my first spring Saturday lounging in the park. I suspect there will be many more like this by the time summer is over!

 Painting classes in the park! (please excuse my appearance, the onslaught of spring also brought out some rough allergies!)

Picnic at Bethesda Fountain!

By this time, it was time for another 3A birthday! Erica turned 23, and to celebrate, we headed down to Calle Ocho, a fantastic Latin restaurant located in the Excelsior Hotel at the Museum of Natural History.

Yummy desert

Birthday girl!

 So, this gets us caught up until almost the end of April! I'm sure I had more details to add before, but sadly as I neglected my blog, those thoughts slipped away! The rest of this week will be devoted to catching up the last few weeks, with much more details :) Thanks for stopping by!

Springtime is (almost) here!

My blogging has gotten so sporadic! Here is my attempt at starting to be good about posting again! Time is flying by. I can't believe March is halfway over already! The month started with a visit from the ole boyfriend. Since he's been here a few times, we've started trying to venture out and do different things around the city. This time he earned the best boyfriend award, because he took me to the American Cup gymnastics meet. I was DYING to go. I lured him with the fact that it was at The Garden, and that these athletes would be in the Olympics soon and he could say that he'd seen them. The meet was actually really cool, and boyfriend made it through the throngs of screaming 10 year old girls. 

Then we did a little walking along the High Line, and some shopping. Sidenote: I FINALLY talked him into dark jeans! Followed by a Sunday full of boring old people errands (groceries, laundry) and church and a yummy yummy brunch with Heather. All too soon it was time for him to leave. 

However, we got a new roomie that same afternoon! Erica, professional ballroom dancer from Arizona, is the new addition to our home!

Please excuse my paleness/no makeup/ t-shirt. My roommates are more professional than I am. It was a Saturday afternoon though, so I feel like that's somewhat of an excuse! She has already nested into the apartment, adding fabulous decorative touches (a rug! curtains!) and we love her! Her sweet mom came to help move her in, and we are so grateful we found such an awesome new roommate. Don't expect me to become a pro at tango-ing though, but maybe I can learn a few steps from her!




This past weekend, Heather and I decided we needed to get out of the city and have an adventure. We settled on Philadelphia, since we both have friends in the area. We hopped on the MegaBus (so cheap!) and were in the city in 2 hours. Thanks to my fabulous friend (and former Trail Maid sista) Katie for being such an awesome hostess. I told her I wanted to see Philly's history, and boy did we ever! We covered the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Christ Church, anything and everything to do with Benjamin Franklin, genuine Quaker meeting-houses, Betsy Ross' house, and so much more. 

Ye Old Liberty Bell

Flag at Betsy Ross' House

Independence Hall

Where all the signings went down

We also had some really cool non-history experiences! Katie found this great place called Supper Club, where we were wined and dined and entertained old Hollywood style. 

The next morning we went to church in her GORGEOUS building:

And then in true East Coast fashion we had brunch! It was awesome and I really want to go back and visit again! Here are a few other highlights from the month so far:

We love awards season. We capped it off with an Oscar party!

The office below mine is the popular Blow Bar NYC's headquarters/testing facilities. They are the best, and give me multitudes of free (and normally pricey!) hair products that I love that I would never actually buy for myself. Major perk!

Ok, I promise to be better to my blog :) Lots of visits and fun things coming up! Thanks for stopping by!

Food, Fashion, and 50 Cent

Apparently February is almost over. Wait, what?! LOTS to update on the ole' blog. We started the month off with Megan's birthday. She wanted a dining "experience" so we went to Ninja New York. To preface, the outside is very nondescript, and the "lobby" is a tiny black rock room. An elevator takes you down to the restaurant, but not before you have to weave your way in and out of rock tunnels with ninjas jumping out. The part that I really loved is that you get your own private dining room. All of our food dishes had to be "karate chopped" and set on fire. Really cool, and definitely an experience! (By the way, Heather just let it slip that she has a black belt... not sure how she didn't mention that before...)

Roll out menus

 

Just a little karate choppin

My awesome desert!

Then, it was Superbowl Sunday! Megan's mom came in town for her birthday and we ventured out to watch the Giants win the big game. Lots of yelling people, and lots of great food and drink specials. I'd also like to add that football teams win wherever I am. You're welcome New York.

My burger had a martini glass on it. I was obsessed with this for some reason. 

Go Giants!

The next order of business was surprising my boss with a birthday celebration. We went to Keen's steakhouse, one of the oldest in the city. They are famed for all of the old pipes hanging from the ceiling, as well as pipes signed by famous figures in history. Here are a few of my favorites:

Note the pipes hanging from the ceiling

 

After lunch, he surprised us and took us cosmic bowling at Lucky Strike, and then to The Standard to have a ping pong tournament. It was probably the best Tuesday any workplace has ever had. We're trying to convince him to have a birthday every month! Next, it was time for fashion week! Our building has a really trendy store below us (Theory) where Obama held a fashion fundraiser. The night was hosted by Russel Simmons and Scarlett Johansson, and the line was wrapped around the block. The next day, Kate Spade set up a concert and fashion show for her new line outside our building:

The next weekend I decided I needed a museum day, so I headed to the Museum of The City of New York. It is directly across the park from me, and I really believe there is no better way to spend a Sunday in the city! A few of my favorites:

Outside the museum

Original map of the area

   

Vogue from the '40s

Also happening this month:

Football Friday on the High Line 

I love the Village

Claire came to NYC!!

Georgtown Cupcake opened in SoHo

The girls from Georgetown Cupake (the show on TLC) were slaving away

Delicious. And only $2.50. Gigi's take note.

And then I sat next to 50 Cent in the Apple Store.... I heard "Curtis! Your appointment is ready." And then this giant man came and sat next to me. I thought, hmm he looks familiar. And then he started talking. If you've ever heard ole 50 talk, you know what I mean. I then decided to be creepy and take a side pic, because I knew no one would believe me without proof. Just in case you were wondering, he doesn't wear grills in public, wears worn out Calvin Klein loafers, and had on extremely regular clothes. Also, I will be in his next video. We're BFFs.

Big month yall!!!! I'm hoping for a just as eventful March, got lots of visitors coming and we're getting a new roommate! The weather is warming up and the days are getting longer, so stay tuned!

Carbon monoxide, rats, and a birthday!

January was... interesting. We had a completely empty apartment, and no idea how we were going to furnish it. After multiple trips to the local (massive) TJ Maxx and a great find on Craigslist, things were starting to look up. Then, as if sent as a present from above (who am I kidding, it was TOTALLY a present form the Big Man), furniture started appearing on our doorstep. I'm not kidding. People in New York throw out perfectly good furniture for who knows what reason. We now have a toaster, blender, wall art, a tv stand, another cart, and a perfect coffee table... FOR FREE. Proof? Here is the coffee table:

See? Not one scratch (please excuse the mess around it and in the window). Fits perfectly in the crook of the awesome couch. Free. We had lots of visitors in January. Jessi came and visited, and Megan showed her a great time in the city. It was fun to have our first official visitor!! Then, it was time for me to turn 23. We decided to feel swanky and went for drinks and dinner at the R Lounge in Times Square. 

It was a great birthday, in which we had martinis and then wondered into the Disney store. Wait, are we 23 or 3? Doesn't matter, it was fun :). My company graciously gives you the day off on your birthday, so I got a massage that day as well. And thennnn when I went back to work Megan and Richard surprised me with red velvet cupcakes and champagne on the roof of our new building!

I'm not sure why this picture looks 

(I'm not sure why this picture looks so weird... It doesn't on my phone)

To top off birthday week, boyfriend came to visit, and it SNOWED. 4 inches worth of snow!!!! I waited (not so patiently) 4 months for this!

It was AWESOME. So, we had all these visitors. I should mention, at the same time we were all feeling oddly sick. Yes, I realize I am a hypochondriac, and therefore lose all "I feel sick" rights. But Megan and Heather got weirdly sick. And so did Jessi. And so did Ellis. All symptoms led to carbon monoxide poisoning. We got better the longer we stayed out of the house. It was terrifying and exhausting. Our super thinks we are nuts. He tested our apartment twice. Apparently, we just had a weird virus we were passing back and forth (we hope). So far, we are still alive. We'll take that as a good sign.

So after we're breathing a little bit more easily, we discover that we keep getting holes in our trash bags. We live in New York, rats are inevitable. We just didn't think about it being in our apartment. Well, we heard squeaking noises. And then more squeaking noises. And then we saw the poop. Currently, there are traps under our counter with peanut butter on them. We'll probably hear it snap soon. Stay tuned.....

Oh, NYC adventures :)

Defending New Yorkers

I've been thinking about posting this for a while, but a recent article pushed me into (delayed) action, and now I fear I may sound like I am copying them. Just remember, they stole the idea from me! The article said that 40,000 Americans who were recently polled voted New York the rudest city in America. I will admit, dozens of people tried to warn me before I moved here, and really anytime I said New York was my favorite place ever, that people were just mean here. Rude, arrogant, dirty, etc. While not everyone in this city is jubilant at all times, there are 8.5 million, so it's a safe bet there are multitudes of both happy and unhappy people.

Have you ever lived here? It's tough. It's flashy and fancy and fabulous, but it is tough. Would you be thrilled to have to carry 7 bags of groceries, or a lamp, or a chair, or a printer, or anything really, several blocks through crowds of people and then up 5 flights of stairs? Forgive us if we aren't peppy when our arms are falling off, or we're soaking wet because its a torrential downpour with high wind-speeds and we don't have cars. Also, it is pretty darn frustrating to not be able to get through to your street because tourists have clogged up the entire place looking at, well, I guess everything. BUT, don't let the seemingly scowling faces fool you.

What I'm about to say may be controversial, but you've got to hear it: New Yorkers are nice people. I have witnessed so many touching acts of kindness in my 4 short months here. People constantly giving up their seats on very crowded subway cars to let a woman, child, or elderly person sit down. Sometimes they give their seats to someone who just looks tired. I can't tell you how many times I have watched a young hippie, or an older gentleman, or a suit-clad stockbroker stop and help a mother carry her child's stroller up the stairs. Every time it brings a tear to my eye, because chances are I had started to judge them on their appearance, and then they go and do something totally unexpected.

Dozens of kind people have started conversations with me just standing at the crosswalk. They make a comment on the wind, or the strange warmth this time of year, and then they ask how my day is going. They don't know me. They don't have to act like they care, but they do it anyway. The teller at my bank is one of the nicest people I've ever met. I live in a city of millions, and she knows me by name. Most of the places I frequent in my neighborhood do. The bank teller in Alabama never tried to learn my name or ask, with genuine care, how my day is going. So don't be quick to judge these Yankees up here!

Yes, not everyone is nice. Yes, there are crazy people here. But you know what? I bet if you looked around your city, you'd find the same mixture of people. We're not so different. The other day, two Swedish women stopped me and asked if I could point them in the right direction. First of all, I was just relieved that I actually knew how to get them to their destination. Second of all, they thought I was a local. So I pointed them the right way, and then I asked how their trip was going and if I could help them in any way. Because that's what New York has taught me.

I've been a little neglectful to the blog....

First of all, I would like to apologize to my poor little blog. It has been so good to me, and I have neglected it for so long! The past 4 weeks have been a whirlwind. And, to be fair, we haven't had internet for 2 weeks. Christmas and New Year's at home was wonderful. I got to spend the week with not only my immediate family, but my extended family (boyfran included) as well. We made our tri-annual trip to Bellingrath Gardens (the sprawling mansion with millions of christmas lights):

Also, I'm pretty much obsessed with my house at Christmas:

I'm also obsessed with my friends:

Too soon, it was time to come back to the city. I had packed up the precious studio apartment and said a (tearful) goodbye (yes, I realize the apartment couldn't hear me, but still). As soon as I walked in the door to our new Central Park apartment, sweet Heather had put out candles on our very bare floor and made our favorite, Brie. It was freezing and a little frighteningly bare, but a great way to break in the place:

I'm not going to lie, the first week was tough. We had all been home around our families and come back to an empty, white walled apartment. I got to working on Craigslist for furniture. After the past 3 months, I can honestly say I am a Craigslist pro. I can spot spam from a mile away. By the end of the week, we had found a huge sectional couch, kitchen table, chairs, and a million other little things for REALLY great prices. Most people rest and relax on weekends. We don't. We move furniture. The end result was pretty worth it though: (excuse the weird iPhone lighting)

I'll post pictures of the cool stuff I found for my room next post. Please excuse the non-enthusiasm, I am finishing up my first campaign today! (This means I haven't slept in about a week.) We are still settling in to our new apartment, and it really is starting to feel a little bit more like home. After a notice that our power was going to be turned off, and a pirated internet fail, we have survived the move in process. We now have lots and lots of room for visitors! I could write on and on about the adventures we had in trying to buy things for the apartment, but I don't want to put yall to sleep. We have lots of visitors coming the next few weekends, so I will have plenty more to write about soon! Come back next week when I am sure to be having a panic attack about turning 23 on Tuesday. (HOLY. CRAP. OLD.)