The Possibility of Winter Weather

Keep winter thoughts coming my way! I want this predicted 3-5 inches of snow to hit tomorrow! I'd love to spend the weekend in a winter wonderland :) Even more, I'd love the storm to start before parents start getting their students ready for school so they keep them home. (Can I really say that?)

Even better, I won't have to worry about my pipes freezing or losing electricity (hopefully). I definitely don't envy the lack of hot water, frozen pipes, and then broken pipes that lead my parents to spending the whole day Wednesday hauling buckets of water out of the basement. I won't have to worry about going over 2 weeks without electricity (like I did about a year ago in Kansas). I'll just be able to enjoy the snow... (in a New York City way - which may quickly turn into something less than enjoyment... but must still be better than the results of a winter storm on the farm!)

Sadly, I won't have my hopes up for a snow day. They Never happen in NYC, or so I've heard. :(

Note to Self

Don't park on the street by our house. We just came into work on our computers and heard some loud noises from outside. Seth looked out the window and saw some punk kids jumping on a car and trying to break the window and a mirror off... He yelled out and they ran off... He reported it. He thinks it might be the adolescents who threw a cup of ice at him when he was walking by McDonald's and talking on his phone the other night.

Just what we need. A band of punk teenagers running around our neighborhood. I could never teach high school.

Holiday Window

Sun Setting on the Weekend

I'm always sad to see the sun go down on Sundays. Another week of waking up early, commuting to work, surviving my job. As I was getting something out of my bag near the living room window, I caught a glimpse of the color the sunset was casting over my neighborhood. I grabbed my camera and climbed the stairs to the roof to enjoy the view.

It was beautiful. The light was reflecting off the windows of the sky scrapers in the City. The clouds were broken in small pieces and scattered throughout the sky. I noticed the Statue of Liberty, as I stood in the cold enjoying the quiet view by myself. Maybe I knew I could see it from the roof all along, but today, it seemed to stand out even more to me. Maybe I just didn't realize how well I could see it, something was different. It's crazy to think I have such a beautiful view only 2 floors above my home. I need to take advantage of it more often.

Smith and 9th St. on Saturday

After spending the afternoon playing with Phoenix, Seth and I joined Ethan, Bric, and a friend in the city for dinner (at Rosa Mexicano in Union Square -- Amazing!) and a movie (Frost/Nixon). I snapped this picture on the F train at the Smith and 9th street stop. Seth loves this stop because it offers a great view of the city.

Twilight Revolution

Ok. So I joined in the fun of reading the Twilight "saga" ... My high school-aged sister has been telling me to read the books for quite a while now. Somehow I wasn't quite convinced that love and vampires in a book dedicated for teenagers would hold my attention. I gave in last week when a teaching friend shared how much she was enjoying the books.

I started the second book last night, after leaving the movie "Twilight"... I think I've enjoyed the second book a bit more. I read 400 pages today... (I know, I'm a bit of a nerd. All of it was read either on the subway or after dinner tonight.) I'll be stopping by the bookstore on my way home tomorrow night to buy the next two books.

I think I'll be done with them by next weekend... So, if anyone has any suggestions for some more good books, leave them on my comment. :)

Christmas Greenery

The other night Seth came home telling me how he almost bought a Christmas tree. He was surprised by my reaction, as I was surprised by his suggestion. Where in the World would we put a tree? We barely have room to put ourselves in this tiny place we call home. Don't worry, he wasn't actually going to be a full-sized tree... I didn't realize his thinking until we smelled our way through the greenery sale near the Food Coop last weekend. It was fresh and amazing, and I think we'll be out buying some sort of garland or wreath this weekend to bring the fresh smell of the holidays to our apartment.

Sweet Smell of Love

I love my husband.

Ain't No Kansas Cow

New York and Kansas have many differences. The cattle included. If I ever owned a field by a road in Kansas, I'd put a herd of New York City cows in it... I bet some people would enjoy it!

The random cow was found while walking on 12th street somewhere near 3rd avenue in the City. It was behind a fence (at least they keep them fenced in like Kansans do) right next to an (apartment?) building. Huh... Interesting.

Brunch with a Side of Doubt

Seth and I were treated to Brunch and a movie by Seth's older brother, Ethan, on Sunday morning in honor of Seth's 27th birthday. I enjoyed trying a new place for brunch, and it kind of made me think we should be trying new places to eat out in the city more often... There Are many of them... It just takes a little adventure and a desire to travel to the city on the weekend (which we did twice this last weekend... something that doesn't often happen). On our walk from our brunch place, French Roast (I think), we crossed the street that leads to the entrance of Washington Square Park. I really like this area of NYC, especially the quaint little street we walked down... If I lived in the city, I'd want to be living on a street near where this picture was taken.

By the way, the movie was enjoyable... gave us a few laughs and a large dose of Doubt... great for a Sunday afternoon, right?! We went and saw Religulous...

Holiday Shopping in Union Square

Earlier, I shared a shot of the holiday shops in Union Square at night time. Here they are from above in the late afternoon. A surprising sight to see when you aren't expecting it... the normal cement area has been temporarily filled in.

Neon Christmas

Near Union Square

Subway Tapping

On our way home from Union Square the other night, we caught a couple minutes of tap dancing before racing down the stairs to jump on our train. Seth was familiar with these particular tappers, as they frequent Union Square underground often during his end-of-the day commute. These people were tapping when Stephanie and I arrived at Union Square on our way to the Strand to buy books (bought Twilight... I joined the book reading revolution), and they were still tapping after we spent time walking through Union Square holiday booths, finding books at the Strand (including a few proofs :), and a drink to celebrate happy hour. I don't know how they did it... less than 2 minutes of watching them exhausted me!

Union Square Shops

Here, you can see someone found a seat on the stairs at Union Square despite the holiday tents, shops, crisp winter temperatures, and commuters that surround! The candy cane striped tents that have taken over Union Square are a mini-mall of holiday gifts... and I already want to go back! Stephanie told me they'd be up until Christmas Eve, so I guess I have a few more opportunities to stop by and shop around. Best of all, the Chocolate shop that can be found in the Northwest Middle... decked out with bite size samples and all (the kind of chocolate you can Only enjoy by letting it melt in your mouth!).

Dreaming of the Millions

Seth makes me laugh. Every couple of months, he'll buy a lottery ticket with all intentions of winning millions of dollars. Each time he buys his ticket, we'll spend our next few days dreaming and planning how we'll spend our millions as soon as he cashes in his winning ticket. The day after Thanksgiving, as we reached the subway station near Bric's, Seth ducked into the bodega and bought himself a $5 lotto ticket. I realized, as soon as he came out, his purpose for buying that ticket... That ticket sparks a dream inside him... He talks about how he's going to give each of his family members money (including a large chunk for his favorite nephew), about how I won't have to go back to the job I "love" a minute longer, and about how he'll be able to use some of it to start up the business his brothers and him have been dreaming about, etc., etc.

Of course I laugh, because my husband is silly... but I also look forward to the week we spend dreaming after he buys that random and rare ticket. Sadly, this week of dreaming and sharing and promising millions to even our friends resulted in the sad news. This lottery $ isn't ours this go round. Maybe next time we'll win the lottery... and when we do...