Y for Yes

Y for Yes, he says. Yes, I love you.

Happy Love Thursday!

Falling, Falling, Falling

So far away...

Someday the light will shine like sun through my skin, and they will say, What have you done with you life? And though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say I was one of us.
-Story People

It's hard being so far away... I love New York, but there are times when I would give anything to be closer to my family. Times like now, when I wish I could be there to give support, to help in any way, to try to relieve some stress. Times when all I want to do is hold the people I love, to be able to tell them exactly how much I love them while looking them in the eyes...

I feel like I'm as far away as this photo... Taken months ago, used on the blog maybe 2 times already. What I wouldn't give to be back in this moment or where you are in the present moment. I can't think too hard about it because it's so far out of my control. Instead, I'm doing my best to send you my love via brainwaves, across states and to the place you are in.

Don't Even Think...

Seen in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

The Homework Assignment

I never thought I'd be getting another homework assignment from my high school English teacher... But, lucky for me, I get to participate in her inspiring homework assignment as a celebration to her blog's birthday... And in true Alicia-fashion, I've saved it all the way until the very last minute!

Here is my list in no specific order…

simple things complete me

brand new journal books
a cool breeze on a warm summer day
hearing the door handle turn when Seth comes home
reading blogs
text messages from friends
free books on stoops
blurry photos
letters from my nephew
packages in the mail
sunshine
phone calls from family
calming silence
morning hugs
a really good laugh
friendly strangers
green corduroys and my favorite gray tee
memories of days past
notes on stickies
earl gray tea
night bokeh captured in photos
the feel of sand under my feet at the beach
sunsets
perfect tasting fall apples
surprises
dinner parties
puppies
iced coffees in the summer time
handmade gifts
being inspired
bright autumn colors
catching the subway and bus with perfect timing
finding the right words
early morning runs in the country
big kansas skies filled with stars in the night
cupcakes
new friendships, old friendships
good conversations
dreaming
staying in touch
taking photos

Ali and Seth in the City in the Fall

A little out-of-focus but I still loved it, so I attempted to make it look more vintage-y to fit the blur and salvage the photo.

A Walk in the Park

It worked out perfectly... The sun decided to visit for the day. We met up with good friends for a brunch at a diner in our neighborhood. Since we were close to the coop, I was able to talk Seth into helping me get groceries (he'd previously refused, remember the horridly long line of last weekend!) Then off to the park for an afternoon stroll.

We were reminded how much we love New York's parks. The meaning of a park is so different here compared to in Kansas. Parks in Kansas have grills and picnic tables for cook outs and playgrounds for children to play in. Large amounts of people don't tend to go to the park to layout and enjoy the large grassy area or to sit on benches and read books all afternoon. Most people in Kansas can do this on their porches or in their yards, which is nice. But there's something wonderful about going to a park and spending your afternoon surrounded by people who are taking in the same things you are.

Many more photos to come, but now I'm off to clean the dishes... a horrible chore that Seth and I revolted against most of the weekend (resulting in yet another weekend of no clean silverware!) If you would like to see the polaroids I took, click here. They turned out so beautifully!!!!

Good Morning Sunshine

It's hard when the weekend days are filled with rain. I literally feel like I never see the sunshine... After a dreary Saturday, I'm happy to greet the sun, even if I'm doing it from my fire escape (a.k.a. city balcony). And look at those fall colors! Can't wait for Seth to wake up so we can go take it all in!

How Dare You

Thought I'd share the most recent window displays seen at Bergdorf Goodman. If you remember I've posted photos of their windows before (here, here, here).




I really love the reflection in the second to last photo!

Happy Friday

photo a day from yesterday

Dear Friday,

I'm so happy you are here!!! I always love you but this week I think I love you a little more than usual. Thanks for coming! You were just in time!

xoxo,
A

P.S. As much as I love you, can't wait for you to be over :)

fishing and dreaming

This man was most likely dreaming of cooler places or cooler weather, or maybe he was just dreaming of big catches... Now, I'm posting it dreaming of warmer weather (and fall has only just started). Maybe I'm dreaming of more summer days, heat, summer break, lazy days... even though the sweat of this day cut our trip to Coney Island quite a bit shorter than we wanted. I'd done so much convincing to get Seth to head down there with me... We ended up riding half the way to Coney Island sitting on opposite sides of the train, over who knows what (sometimes I'm difficult ;) And a sweet text later from him, a few smiles across the train, wondering if anyone knew we were even there together before we started communicating out of no where. I am one lucky girl... To have a husband join me on a day too hot to be out, give in to me when I'm being difficult and moody... To buy me soda, even though we both decide two sips in we should have just gone with water... Ahh, summer I do miss you. (But now I'm thinking about what weather I can drag Seth out in next for the sake of photos or whatever my fancy may be!)

This post is kind of a ramble. Today is Monday. It's to be expected. I just thought I'd share some thoughts of recent... My missing of summer. My momentary change of heart and loss of love for New York. I am kind of fearing the neighborhood I work in right now, word of bad things happening soon and the memory of the fear I had last fall around this time of year. As I rode the bus towards the subway today after work, some young guys were harassing a woman and the bus all of sudden shut completely down, trapped on the same corner as this group of guys. My heart raced, and I felt a false sense of security sitting toward the back of the bus. The bus driver had no idea why the bus shut down, as he tried to restart it a few times. I panicked, just a little, having no desire to walk through the neighborhood... especially with the way the corners were filled today.

Turns out, one of the guys had hit the emergency shut down button on the side of the bus (who even knew... and what kind of person even does these kinds of things?) And as the bus re-started, and I eventually got to my subway... and onto it... and down a few stops into Manhattan, my fear subsided. I breathed it out of my mind, feeling a little safer to be heading home.

But then I wondered. What am I doing? Why am I doing this? Putting myself through this fear for a job that wears me down, a job I cannot exactly succeed at... Working for people who are never happy, who must have horrible lives for the havoc they wreck on our lives... Spending my days wondering what I have done in my past lives to deserve such treatment (whatever it is, it must have been bad). I realized that I've forgotten the norm of my working life outside of NYC. How will I ever assimilate back into the rest of the world? Maybe it won't be so hard, maybe it's a second nature, something I've placed on a shelf within reach for a time when I can actually use it again.

And then, as the subway came above ground a few stops from home, I caught a glimpse of the sunset. The warm colors were taking over the sky. I realized how often I don't ever see the sunset. I realized how weird that is for me, considering that I spent an incredible amount of days watching the sun set in the west across the flat land of Kansas. I didn't even have to go anywhere to see it, it was there for me every single day. Now, I am lucky if I even see it once a week, and I never see it for more than a few moments. Gawd I gotta watch the sunset more.

This is a weird post. I often don't discuss work... and I rarely discuss a lack of love for NYC (because I rarely feel a lack of love for NYC) but it is what it is. (S-don't get any ideas. I do NOT want to move anytime soon.) Today was just one of those days...

today

here's a view of my saturday...

a warm mug of coffee

keeping warm with my new hat
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searching for halloween costumes online
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snoozing on and off after a night of fun with friends
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watching episodes of the wire
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it is what it is

i kind of forgot that i even found this sticker the other night... was playing with a new photo ap on my ipod (camera bag) when i saw it... this has recently been heard from my mouth. sometimes, 'it is what it is'...

Seth's $10 Music Maker

All we need now is the power cord (sadly it came without it)... And he'll be making music in no time. :) He's even agreed to try to help me learn to sing, and if that fails, voice lessons may be in my future...

Dumbo Graffiti

Graffiti in Dumbo, Brooklyn

River of Desire

Apple of my Eye

Last weekend, while I was working at the food coop, I saw apple after beautiful apple. The MacIntosh ones were especially red and delicious looking, so when I got my 5 minutes for quick shopping, I headed straight for produce and picked out 4 perfect apples. Each day last week, I enjoyed one of the apples for lunch or for my after-work snack while waiting for the bus, and each apple was perfectly divine.

Before I worked & shopped at the coop, I knew there were green apples and a few varieties of red apples... Now, I'm becoming familiar with different types of apples and learning about which ones are really good for you (red delicious) and how macs are good to get through the fall... After spending a few days bragging about apples (yes, I even told friends the other night at a house party... These apples have swept me off my feet!), Seth decided he was going to find the best apple too. Above is a photo of his 0.94 pound Jonagold apple. I had to snap a photo this morning before it got packed in his lunch. I don't know how he's going to eat the whole thing... I get my filling of apples the size of the smaller one beside it (normal size).

[I just peeked over at lens.us.together to see what the theme was for this week, and without knowing it, I shot my photo to meet the new theme! Fall fruits must be on more minds than just mine!]

Fall in the City

It's interesting how time always flies. Fall is slowly making its way into the city. Pumpkins have started decorating the neighborhood and the leaves on most trees are slowly losing their bright green colors. There are a few trees that have changed to a brilliant yellow, and their leaves will soon be gracing the cement below. In the weeks to come, we'll start seeing more and more changing colors and the fall's cool weather will continue to keep me reaching for my sweater.

This weekend's weather is absolutely perfect. It's in the 60s today and just warm enough to be able to enjoy brunch outside. Hopefully tomorrow we'll enjoy another nice day of sunshine!

Seth

Yesterday, I got a crazy desire to shoot in black and white. So sitting at my desk, I pointed my camera in every direction, including Seth's. He's used to me pointing the lens in his face...

Shoot the Freak

I Dream of Love

W Broadway

Another Bubble

Remember the bubble from yesterday... Here's another one! I'm so busy/exhausted, I can't process more than one photo at a time. (So you're going to be getting them one at a time :)

This bubble makes me happy, takes a little stress off my shoulders, as I remember the man calmly creating these large beauties merely steps from one of my favorite spots in the city/ever.

Overgrown Sidewalks

Photo was taken in Williamsburg. Overgrown sidewalks, graffiti covered walls, bikes chained to poles fill parts of the neighborhood.

Creator of Bubbles

One more quick photo from earlier this evening. A man was in the park creating large bubbles. Quite entertaining for this girl and her camera :)

Dying the Share...

Tonight, after work, instead of heading straight home, I stopped off in Central Park. My whole reasoning was to meet up with a friend from the blogosphere, Tristan, to do a little photo shooting in the beautiful park! It was so much fun! We wandered through the park to some of my favorite spots (see above!) taking photos and enjoying the music and performances that were going on. I'm so excited to look through the rest of my photos, and I definitely want to share more. Sadly, dishes are calling right now, and I'm supposed to have them done before Seth gets home with a friend who's crashing at our place tonight.

Ok

People's painted words fill the city environment, and I guess that's ok.

Greenpoint View

Seth and I helped a friend move today. He's leaving our neighborhood to live in Greenpoint for a while. We are sad that he'll be far away (compared to how close he was before the move), but we are also excited to get to hangout in Greenpoint and learn the area up there. After we schlepped all of his apartment belongings from his place and stacked it (like a life size game of Tetris) into his 5 foot by 10 foot storage unit, he treated us to beers in Greenpoint near this park with this view of the city.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and perfect this afternoon. The sky was a beautiful blue with bright clouds building in the distance. The temperature was absolutely perfect with just a hint of fall in the air. I was really craving my camera this afternoon, and I must get back up there to wonder the neighborhood for new inspiration. For today, my iPhone camera had to be enough (and surprisingly, the photo didn't come out too bad. Don't you agree? Of course, I did the processing on photoshop.)

See the Sign

Happy the weekend is so close... We don't really have too many plans. I have a few things I want to get done for work, but I hope I don't have to spend too much time working... We are hoping to hang out with some friends, maybe go to a new bar opening in Williamsburg with some friends on Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be getting lots of extra sleep too. Oh, and enjoying lots of yummy warm morning drinks :)

Photo was taken in Williamsburg, Brooklyn about a week ago.

PS: Seth and I are planning how to use the rest of his vacation for this year and also how we might use a part of next years... I have a 3 day weekend next weekend, so I'm hoping to convince him to take a day off to join me for a nice 3 day weekend as well... and tonight, over drinks, we agreed to another New Year's trip this year. My requirements are snow and a hot tub. As far as next year, we are heading home for my brother's wedding (my first sister-in-law from my side of the family!!!) in February, and they were so perfect with the date-picking and picked right around my week off in February... This means Seth and I will probably get to spend a couple extra days at home in February. By then it will be a year and a half since we've been home. Can't wait to see family and friends and relax in the Midwest for a few days (even if February in Kansas is gray and cold).

Sprinkle-Eating Pigeon

Don't let him fool you, he was definitely eating those sprinkles on the ground. A mid-morning sweet treat for our friend, the pigeon.