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.

Must Keep Smelling Flowers

Exactly what I must do... Keep smelling flowers, keep seeing sunshine (as I pull my blinds up to literally soak up some of the day's last rays).

Last night, Seth was up late, being loud enough to keep me from peaceful sleep... I was cranky with him... but I forgot, until now, that I shouldn't have been. Yesterday, after work, he was so wonderful to bring fresh flowers home for me. And not only are these ones beautiful yellow, but they smell Amazing! You know those amazing ones that you can smell even when you are feet away? That's what he got me!

I was thinking about taking them to work, and I might just have to start doing that... taking fresh flowers. I have to find a plastic vase this weekend and then I'll have to get some more of these same beautiful yellow flowers to fill it. I think they might come in hand for more things than one: 1. The people I work with sometimes have issues with stinking up the room for a few moments... and as my husband says, it's not good to keep it in... but really? Does it have to be at the expense of the other 28 of us who share the space?? :) and 2. Some people I work with are not pleasant, and I know I am not either 100% of the time... I get tired, bogged down, exhausted, and frustrated... but being a broken record and repeating the same thing over and over and over again is a waste of my time and isn't getting issues resolved. Today, suggesting a solution got me in the hot seat of getting yelled at in front of colleagues... This is exactly the time where I need to shove my face in flowers and let the sweet smell take me away! (Instead I shoved my face into my paperwork... Not as sweet...)

Anyway, despite my moments where I needed flowers the most, I am at least thankful that in this moment, I am feeling a little less down and a little more happy. I'm feeling very exhausted but think I might have enough energy to tackle the dishes so my husband doesn't have to do them when he gets home (even though he offered... he really is sweet isn't he?) and I can get dinner started (yummy tortilla soup!!!)

Hope you are all having sweet weeks!

Open

Spotted in Soho.

On the G to Williamsburg

The G train has started running at our stop since we've moved to this side of the neighborhood. Usually it doesn't make a difference in our regular schedules (the G train is the only train that never runs through Manhattan... It goes from Brooklyn up into Queens and back.) But as far as wanting to head to the neighborhoods in North Brooklyn, including Greenpoint and Williamsburg, it is definitely having an impact for the better! Last week, we were in Williamsburg to go bowling with some friends. Seth and I met there early for dinner and wondered around the neighborhood towards the river to sneak a quick peek at the city through the fence and overgrown weeds.


I used Yelp.com to find dinner... And was very happy with the place we ended up at. Jimmy's Diner was just the kind of food I was looking for... Great atmosphere, super friendly server (one of those who's happiness lifts your own spirits), and Amazing fried pickles!


See our shadows... Me on the left and Seth on the right. And if you click on the photo and enlarge it, you should get a better view of the Empire State Building burning red in the background.

This was the first time I've been bowling since I've moved to NYC. I liked this place, and even more because I was taking turns with my husband (we were with a large group of people), I didn't have to completely pay attention OR take responsibility for the lowest score of the group :)

Building

A Happy Monday

Off work today! A perfect Monday for Me :) Not so much for my husband, who had to head off to work while I stood on the corner waving farewell, knowing I'd be able to relax* all day. (*By relax, I mean sit at home working all day on paper work... but I do get to take internet breaks whenever I choose! And lucky me, I get to do the laundry!)

This last weekend, Seth and I went to a New York wedding. Our first since we moved here. We were honored that our friends would invite us to celebrate with them on their special day. We met them almost a year ago for the first time (on Halloween), but didn't get to really know them until our New Year's Vermont trip. Their wedding reception was absolutely wonderful and much fancier than any (Midwestern) wedding I'd been to before. When we arrived, we were sent to relax in a courtyard with drinks from the cash bar and sushi appetizers. (raw salmon and tuna, yummmm... and rolls that included cream cheese, yummmm!)

As the dining room became available, we made our way to our table. With large eyes and watering mouths, we sat down to our own table of amazing-ness. The table was filled with plates of fantastic food. I have to say, Seth and I were not completely aware of what we were even eating, other than the fact that all of it tasted divine. We had our own server at our table to serve us food from the platters and plates that filled our table. Of course there were bottles of wine, vodka, and whiskey for shots and drinks. One shot of vodka after the strong, strong vodka drink I'd had over appetizers, and I knew I was done with the shots (even though it was a Russian wedding, and shots of vodka were being take quite frequently).

As we enjoyed our food, our waiter came around asking if we'd like a clean plate. He removed our plates (even though we still had food) and replaced them with clean plates, in which he started filling with more food. We ate and ate while we celebrated with our friends and their families. The food was beyond amazing. The reception decorations were beautiful and perfect (fall themed!). The live music was amazing - there were multiple different singers. And to top it off, the bride and groom were so lucky to have various guests share musical performances for them as well!

Oooo and the desserts! I didn't even realize the dessert area had opened until Seth arrived back at the table with a plate filled of sweets!

The bride and groom were so incredibly happy and explained to us how fast it was going by. I can relate completely! The whole experience is absolutely amazing, one that I know I didn't wish to go any faster! How amazing would it be if we could take celebrations like these and make time stop, so we could just enjoy and enjoy and celebrate and celebrate!

The rest of our weekend was kind of the norm... We had brunch with a couple of our good friends, Pete and Christina. We spent hours and hours and hours watching episodes of the Wire (we seriously watched a whole season within 24 hours... oooops!) This morning I went to the coop, which was quite pleasant because it was not busy At all. I'm excited about dinners this week... Switching things up a bit and making a few new things (Our dinner list includes: Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Pizza, Tortilla soup, French Onion Soup, Frittata, and Two-Bean Tamale Pie... I just have to decide which to make tonight...)

Oooo and today, I made an exciting purchase. Usually when I see things I want to buy, I think about it and think about it until I forget that I even wanted to buy it. This was a different story. As soon as I saw it, I clicked and bought it!! Check out my purchase to celebrate the fall HERE. And if you love it, you should check out some of the other ones she has that are similar!! I cannot wait for it to arrive!

Love This Bridge

You are probably not surprised to see this bridge being the one I'm declaring my love for. This photo was actually taken a couple weeks ago when Seth's brother and father were visiting New York. We had dinner at this amazing place called Rice in Dumbo (one of my favorites right now... the vegetarian meatballs are unbelievable!!)

I'm surprised how good this photo turned out... I have the basic 18-55 mm and the cement steps were my substitute to a tri-pod. PS: Jac, you can be spotted laying on the beach taking in the beauty of our city! :)