Summer Concerts

Summer was officially started last night with the first free summer concert in the park. It's my 3rd summer in New York, and I Love, Love, Love the free concerts at Prospect Park. This one was huge though. David Byrne from the Talking Heads.

Unfortunately it was so huge that the line was more than we could bare and we never quite made it in to actually See the concert. But we did find ourselves a spot in the grass outside the concert area to listen and relax and enjoy friends and the beautiful summer night we were surprised to get. Click here for pictures of what it actually looked like inside the fence.

Of course, we are an interesting group. Seth realized, as we were leaving the apartment, that his flip flops smelled. Bad. How funny did I feel to be standing next to him on the sidewalk outside our building with his flip flop to my face smelling the horrible smell. And I couldn't be the only one to experience this horrid smell (created from the weekend at the beach, we are sure), he also took a chance to share it with our friends. (Gosh aren't they so lucky?)

She's preparing herself for the task of smelling Seth's shoe.

And the smell...

Okay, it really is horrible. And funny. (Even the stranger sitting next to us was laughing at our oddness of smelling and discussing the smell of Seth's shoe. Of course, that stranger, named Mitch, ended up becoming our friend before too long. Who wouldn't want to be friends with the people laughing about smelly shoes!)

I loved our trip home, 4 avenues down and 10 blocks over. We coasted right down the slope, wind blowing, flying down the streets. Seth on his skateboard and me on my scooter. We'll be going to more concerts just so I can fly home from the park at the end of the night! Oh and I guess the music and dancing will be the other reason!

I Spy...

I spy a sand dollar and a mollusk. Can you find them too? It took me a day and a half to find a sand dollar (Seth just the same). Of course our little nephew was finding them left and right. I figured I'd never get one home safely without smashing it and breaking it into pieces (considering I couldn't even get one off the beach without it falling to pieces!) So a photo was my best bet.

Walking

On the second morning of our trip, we ate egg sandwiches and drank coffee near a dock. We explored with our nephew, looking at the boats parked there and checking over the edge for any fish swimming in the water below.

A Little Look

Last week, after we'd signed for our new home, we headed upstairs from our landlords' apartment to take some measurements and really get a look at our new home. I took a few pictures... they were quick snaps with the point-and-shoot in the early evening, so they aren't anything completely Wonderful. The place was also filled with many odds and ends left behind by the last tenant (to be gone by the time we move in, of course).

This is the hallway that you enter into when coming into the apartment. There are many doors in this place, including the one that is currently off that blocks the entry part from the rest of the hall at about the entrance to the bathroom. The door on the left that is partially open is the closet with the washer and dryer. (It's been a few years since I had my own washer and dryer!!!) Beyond the closet door that is sticking out on the left is the kitchen and the door next to it on the right is the living room. On the right, the door that is closed is the bedroom. We plan to probably keep that door closed and just use the doors in the living room to enter the bedroom.

The first door to the left in the entry hall is to the blue bathroom. Lovely, yeah? But I guess character is never bad...

And one of our favorite parts! The washer and dryer! My life is about to change in a Major way. I cannot wait!!!

The kitchen. To the left is the entry from the hall. There isn't a dishwasher, but we'll live. And we already have a dish drying rack (thanks to Jac's thoughtful find!) so I guess we'll be getting our hands soapy... and hopefully have enough motivation to keep up on the dishes.

We can get a kitchen table! Another thing that most normal people have... something we've been without for a while. Seth and I will definitely be able to sit together to eat. I can't wait to have table space. And I love that it's near the window...

The living room. It's so big! (Well, at least compared to our current living room/kitchen combo!) We could be a couch if we wanted! I might try to find one on craigslist this summer.

The other side of the living room, with french doors leading to the bedroom. There is no closet, but I have a few ideas of what we can do about that!

Anyway, not the best pictures, but it's a quick view for those of you wondering... And of course, I'll have more pictures once we get moved in and get everything arranged and unpacked.

Shrine to the Beach

Saturday morning, we wondered along the beach, taking in the waves as the crashed down. We were among only a few other people spread out on the beach in the early morning sunlight. Seth and I made our way towards our nephew as he collected shells and rocks with his papa, finding the most beautiful pieces on the beach and many of them...

I wanted to capture this morning, one of my favorite mornings of all. It was calm, peaceful, relaxing. I felt nothing pushing down my shoulders, no plans for anything for the day, no need to worry about more than convincing my husband to hold my cup of coffee while I found moments to freeze in time with my camera. I had a beach steps from the room we were staying. I had an umbrella waiting to be opened and planted in the sand for the day. I had a book filled with words for me to read, a place for me as I followed the words from page to page.

As we made our way, we stumbled on this shrine to the beach, beautiful details and treasures placed in the sand.

When we settled, our spot was just beyond this shrine, closer to the water. I can understand why someone would take the time to create a shrine, the quieter beach, with room to spread out, to enjoy your day almost as if you were the only ones there. It was nice to not be able to hear other people. We, of course, could see them, but off in the distance.

Yes, I can definitely understand why someone would spend time to create a piece of art with the beach.

Painting the Mural

As we made our way home last night, we passed a painter painting a mural on the side of the one of the coffee shops. I wish I'd seen the whole process from the start! New York City murals are my favorite.

I'll post again once the mural is completely done!

Took a Break

I'm back. I unofficially took a break from blogging last week. I was in a stressful state and nothing really seemed to satisfy me. All the changes and stresses of the last week... new apartment, job, eye problems, cleaning the old apartment... A few tears and a day and a half in the eye doctors' office... I made it to Friday (almost late for work and in flip flops despite the rain). All my bags were packed and ready... and a day at the botanical gardens (pretty much ruined by the rain, but still completely satisfying because I was Only with people I Wanted to be with!) I met Seth at Penn Station for a 4:19 p.m. train towards our weekend get-away... Bay Shore, Long Island to a ferry to Fire Island to meet our favorite nephew and his papa!

And even though we were drenched when we arrived at our hotel (you should have seen Seth being resourceful and using our beach umbrella to block the wind and rain as we schlepped all our stuff from the ferry to the hotel!), we had a beautiful, wonderful, relaxing, Perfect weekend. A day at the beach Saturday. The photo above was the view we saw as we headed to greet the morning waves on the nearly empty beach, a bit of heaven in the coffee cups we were holding. I didn't want to leave this afternoon, and when we missed the 3:40 p.m. ferry and had to wait until 4:55 p.m. for the next one, I did a secret cheer inside! I have almost 8 gigs of photos (over 500) to go through. I still haven't gone through the photos from last weekend's badminton tournament.... But I feel motivated and excited and will hopefully be posting photos of our adventures throughout the days that follow.

A New Apartment

Just heard from the landlord and we are approved for the apartment that we wanted! It's the last one I described on this list.

We are as happy as a 4 and a half year old being chased by an uncle on a sunny day!! And even happier, because now we get to live just a block from this little nephew of ours!! We are signing on Thursday, so I'll try to see if I can get back in for a better look and a few pictures :)

In other news... I spent the afternoon at the eye doctor and have decided that I'd much prefer going to a dentist over an eye doctor. (The only cool part was knowing that my eyes looked like vampire eyes for a while after they were dilated. For a minute I was running with the Cullen family.)

I've been suffering from aura/prisms in my vision field for a couple days now... I do get silent migraines where I get these prisms and they increase in size through my vision and then disappear about a half hour later. I've been told they are silent migraines and the symptoms have aligned and continue to be about the same, lasting the same length of time. But this time, it started and never increased in size or disappeared. I thought I'd see if I could find the answer myself this morning before going to work, and of course, I found this... And began panicking and thinking the worst. (My fragile state this week with stress and change is really making me a nut job. Poor husband.) Anyway. I made a few calls, found a place that I could do a walk-in appointment and left work after lunch.

Unfortunately, the prisms are still there and I still don't have any idea why. I have to go back on Thursday to get testing done on my retinas. Since I'm fair skinned, so is the (something in the back of my eye... retina??) and they can't really tell if there are marks on it or signs of possible retina diseases that could cause prisms. So I get to have special tests done where they darken them and take photos. Back to the eye doctor for me, and unfortunately the knot in my stomach isn't loosening. I'm really going to need this relaxing weekend away at the beach this weekend... Friday afternoon train ride, please come quick! And while we are counting down... 18 more work days until summer break and 24 more days until I'll be enjoying beautiful Colorado.

Apartment Searching & Hopefully Found

Last year, apartment searching was miserable. Our budget was tighter with me moving on a (Kansas) salary that was Much too small for NYC living. I didn't Really know what I was doing and the market was a bit tighter than it is now. This year, it's been a bit different. We don't HAVE to find a place, because our place is okay, do-able. We could be picky, and we had a good idea about what to look for before even calling about a post.

So we've looked at 4 apartments and thanks to my amazing sister-in-law, we think we've found the one we love. We put in an application, the owner is running a credit check tomorrow and she's going to let us know by tomorrow if it will be our new home.

The first apartment we looked at was about the same size as the one we live in and even though it had roof access, it wasn't anything special. Plus, I panicked over the validity of the apartment and the owner... long story. That apartment was not an option pretty much immediately.

The second apartment was much bigger. It had a separate kitchen (no big enough for eat-in) but separate is special (considering our kitchen is on one wall of our living room.) The living room was a good size with a small office off of it (no windows in the office). Down the hall was a bathroom and a bedroom with Lots of closet space. The bedroom was a great size. The lighting in the apartment was great. If I were a normal girl, I'd probably have been obsessed with the closet space... But I'm not normal. I don't much have a closet now. I didn't have a closet growing up. I did have 4 huge closets in college. And all I did was fill them with stuff that I never used (and as I mentioned before, I don't really want to collect more things.) The 2 major things I did not like about this apartment was the lack of a stoop and the location. It was located on 11th street and 9th street was the furthest I wanted to go.

The third apartment was in a perfect location. And close to the subway, and close to the Coop. There was no stoop, but there was a little space for chairs out front. We got into the apartment and realized that it wouldn't work pretty quick. The kitchen walls were horrible, as they had suffered from a lot of water damage (despite the guy telling us the building doesn't have leaks... sure looked like there were leaks to me!) The natural lighting was horrible and dark.

The last apartment we looked at was the one I was most hopeful about. My sister-in-law sent a message with some information about the place and after contacting the owners, we had an appointment to view it this evening. It's located a block down from our nephew. The price is a little bit higher than we pay now BUT it has a separate kitchen (woo woo!) and electricity is in the rent (along with the normal water and heat!) AND... yes it gets better... washer and dryer (WOO! WOO!) The natural lighting was wonderful for afternoons and evenings. It's a second floor walk-up. The park is about 2 blocks away. The subway is two blocks away. We can probably work out getting bikes and storing them somewhere. So, we quickly applied (to beat the other couple who was also looking) and will hopefully know tomorrow whether or not we get it!

Hopefully everything will work out and all we'll have to do is pack up and move all our stuff. I'll let you know for sure... and hopefully, if it all goes through, I'll see if I can get some more pictures. I hope to get another better look at the place soon, I kind of went through quickly to make sure there were no black holes in it, and jumped quickly to apply so we would get it before the other couple took it! So, I didn't get the clearest look, but according to the landlord, the people who've rented from them before have stayed for years, so it must be a good place!

Badminton

Spent the day in the park yesterday. We arrived early afternoon and were there until well after the sun had set. It was the 1st Annual R Badminton Doubles Tournament. Our friend organized it... Everyone was on random teams and trophies and medals were given for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. I'll post more pictures soon (I took Plenty!) and share with you the winners (it wasn't me but you know one of them!!)

Seth and I are heading to take our laundry in to have it done, and then to enjoy a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop. This afternoon we have an appointment to view an apartment and will hopefully get an appointment late afternoon/early evening to view another one (one that has Washer & Dryer!!!! And is Very close to our favorite nephew!!!!) I'm really hoping that one works out (even though the owner thought it might be small for a couple to share --- and it seems to be bigger than the apartment we currently live it...) We've only looked at one other place, the other night. It wasn't in a brownstone and although the kitchen was kind of separate from the living room, I knew immediately that I wasn't interested. I'm being kind of picky, but if I have to go through the torture of moving apartments again, I get to be picky.

Sun is Shining

We are hoping for this kind of sunshine this weekend, but I have to say that whether or not it's shining, I'll definitely be happy to greet the weekend! The plan for Saturday includes an intense badminton tournament in the park. Should be a good time with lots of friends and maybe even meeting a few new friends! As long as the rain holds back, we'll be having a great time there.

Until the official end of my day and the official start of the weekend, I wish you a Happy Flare Friday! What are your weekend plans? Is anyone else as excited as I am about June!! (Lots of great things happen in June... School ends, One-Year Anniversary, Warmer weather, Colorado!!!)

To Move or Not To Move?

Monday is the deadline. We must know by Monday. We should actually know by Sunday. But I'll push it to Monday... Last year, I thought people were crazy to wait so long to figure it out. This year, it's different. It feels like 1 month notice is too soon to know. Wow. New York has changed me.

So what's our deadline for? Whether we move or stay another year in our tiny apartment. Our lease is up June 30th. We must tell our landlord by Monday what our future holds.

The thought of moving in NYC makes me cringe. Literally. A shot of pain and disgust shoots up my spine and a cringing noise bursts out my mouth. The whole situation is miserable. Finding the apartment, dealing with the paper work, money, changing your utilities... O the thought is miserable. So why would we even think of moving? Slow, but expensive Internet... (not good for my computer nerd husband), small space, no stoop.

I want so badly to live in a brownstone. Right now, Seth is set on moving home after this year (misses family... Jac, we REALLY must get Ian to move up here next summer so Seth can be convinced to stay a little longer! & Ian it is a Wonderful time and an adventure you won't Regret... you'll have 2 years experience and the economy should be better by then!) If we don't live in a brownstone this year, it may never happen. Brooklyn stoops don't exist in Kansas (and if they do, someone tell me Where!) As much as I would love to go back to Kansas and work in a place where my work actually makes sense and isn't so F*ing miserable... I feel the sacrifice is worth it because I Love Brooklyn, I love NYC. I don't like the thought of having to buy a car, and I don't even know if I like the thought of having to fill a large living space with stuff. I like living with the bare essentials (and to be honest, we probably still have a lot of extra Stuff we don't even need now). I'm starting to really feel at home here, and the thought of moving... brings tears to my eyes. But I guess this is to be decided another time another place... And we'll have to really decide what's most important, because living here is wonderful, but we don't have access to as many family members as we would if we were closer to home.

But I like the way I feel. It's been a year since I moved here. 2 years for Seth. A friend told me tonight that she just can't believe I am living in NYC. She never imagined it possible. But who does. From my small town... I know no one living in NYC. That's supposed to change soon, when one person, a couple years younger than me is moving here for school... 1 person from my hometown. Small town & farm kids from the Midwest often don't transplant themselves into a life completely opposite of what they've always known. But, like I said earlier, I like the way it feels. I like that I made the biggest change, one that scared the living bejeezas out of me... terrified me to tears on more than one occasion. I like that I made this change and now I feel it fits. I feel how right it is, how I can live and be and smile and enjoy this. I like how comfortable it makes me and how I don't feel so insecure and how this city helps me feel more confident in my quirkiness... It's helping me not worry about the little things that might not be the "norm" because here, there isn't necessarily ever a "norm"... I like the world it's opened me up to.

And you know, despite the small space of our apartment, I love this home that Seth and I have created. And even though we are looking for a possible new home, I think I want to stay here. I think I want to continue to build memories here, even with it's cramped space and our tight quarters. This is home. This is Our home.

Lost in Thought

Last weekend gave me another chance to try a few shots with night photography. I need to figure out some more settings on my camera to see what other things I can do with it... I also need to invest in a tripod. This shot was taken from a stool, but hey, it works!

I like this photo because the four to the right are moving in conversation and for the moment, the one on the left is just standing, thinking, being. He must have been deeply in thought to stand so still for the long moment my camera took to capture him...

Looking for the Message

Living in NYC, I see words and messages written everywhere! From the tagging on the tops of buildings as my train descends from the Manhattan Bridge into Manhattan to the bathroom walls of Many bathrooms to the stickers and spray paint left on signs as I walk the streets or the murals painted all over the city. And recently, I got a chance to leave my own message... In the bathroom of a new establishment down the block.

To see some of my other finds, click on these posts: Messages of Peace, Yo, Enjoy Life Now, Williamsburg Hipsters, and Peace is in the Paint. (Notice a theme??? Does the message I left surprise you?)

Today's post on Shutter Sisters inspired this post.

How to Have an Adventure

Goals: Be spontaneous. Get out of the City. Make sure we are with friends. Relax.

Materials: 1 pair of jeans, shorts, socks, tennis shoes, flip flops. Sleeping bag for 2 to share and pillows. Friends. Snacks for the hiking trail. Dog. Cars. Destination. Coffee. Motorized shopping cart. Bongo drum and guitar.

The time line. Here is how it all went down.

Saturday Night
10:30 p.m.: Trying to decide what the plan is... attempting to work out details for how to get out of the city (need car for dog).

Yell nice messages from the roof while figuring out the plan. (Photo taken by Scott. I'm on the other end, not daring to get too far out over the ledge while trying to convince myself that I'm not 3 stories above the ground!!!)

Sunday
8:15 a.m.: Text to find out if there is a plan. Still working out details. Developing a couple possible plans. Everyone meet for coffee in 20 minutes.

9:30 a.m.: Everyone runs late. ATM's need to be visited, etc. etc. Meet at Trois Pommes for coffee, muffins, and scones. Discuss all the possible options for getting out of the city. 1.) Have one of the friend's parents come and pick us up and give us a ride to New Jersey. 2.) Rent a car... except it's last minute and may be too difficult to make happen. 3.) Steal a car... maybe not the best option. Seems like it could get complicated. (Oooo we're so funny.) 4) Another friend joins the group, turns out she has a car and the day free for an adventure. She can drive us North of the city to pick up another car to carry all of the friends and the dog to the Delaware Water Gap where we'll meet another friend for a night of camping.

Choose Plan 4. Everyone hurries home to pack only a few essentials, collect camping gear, shower, and be off as soon as possible.

11 something: The boys jump on the subway to head to Grand Central to catch Metro North, while the ladies and Lewis jump in the car and drive North to get the additional car from Vicky's family and pick up the boys at the train station.

2:10 p.m.: Pick up boys, grab sandwiches from the Deli. Head towards the Delaware Water Gap.

One of my favorite bridges that crosses the Hudson north of the city. You can actually see the city at one point in crossing the bridge. It's tiny and waaaayyy in the distance.

Before 5 p.m.: Meet at a scenic overlook. Now we are all together... 7 people + 1 dog. Get excited!

After 5 p.m.: Look for a camping site. Finally find one. Begin to check-in. Rain starts down pour.

Uh-oh.

5:30 p.m.: Head to the A & P for dinner food. Rain stops by the time we arrive at grocery store. Get a motorized shopping cart. 5 shoppers take turns riding it. (They weren't busy. It made things interesting. The workers didn't mind.) 2 friends created a dance while waiting outside the doors with Lewis.

7:00 p.m. (maybe?): Arrive at campsites and start setting up camp. Tent goes up. Fire is started. Food is prepared.

Dinner is the Camper's special. Meat, squash, bell peppers of all colors, carrots, potatoes, salt & pepper, onions all thrown into individual sized aluminum foil and put into hot coals to warm and cook over camp fire.

Evening spent eating, relaxing, singing, clapping, drumming, strumming, dreaming.

11:30 p.m.: Attempt to fall asleep on the hard ground while playing the I'm going on a picnic game.

Middle of the night: Despite the hard, uncomfortable ground, I Loved sleeping outside and hearing something other than garbage trucks and honking cars. I listened as the breeze blew through the trees. And sometime in the middle of the night, there were even howls of wolves. (We were staying on a wolf preserve... not sure where the wolves were or what exactly that meant. I didn't really want to know, in case they were not in cages...)

5:30 a.m.: Woke up wishing the sun were out so I could get up and enjoy the outdoors.

7:30 a.m.: Finally, the sun is shining. I climbed out of the tent to take Lewis for a walk. Seth got up and we headed to get coffee, bagels, and muffins for breakfast.

9:30 a.m.: Packed up camp and headed to the hiking trail.

10:20 a.m.: Started our hike to the pond along a part of the Appalachian Trail.

The hiking trail up to the pond. I liked the flatter areas that weren't rocky. I couldn't take in all the greenness, bugs, and nature enough.

Made it to the pond. I was a bit disappointed... but the ponds I have to compare with are Beautiful ones in the Colorado Rockies. (Look Here!) We sat for a moment to eat some granola, mixed nuts, and almonds but the bugs soon drove Lauren and Seth away. It didn't take long for us to follow them to the shaded tree, and of course, we brought the bugs along with us.

We headed back down the trail on another path. This one dropped in elevation quicker and was much rockier at first. But once we got down off the rocks and along the creek, it was peaceful, serene, wonderful.

3:30 p.m.: Finally complete the hike and head for food. Part ways with the friend who had met us at the scenic stop earlier. Head for NYC, but distracted by ice cream calling our name at the next town (also the ice cream place that one of our friends has been going to since he was a young kid!)

5 something... or maybe later... Home at last. Happy to come home to our disasterous apartment and another week of work! (or NOT!!!)

Seth and I got the itch for Colorado this weekend... for something closer to nature. I love NYC (as I'm sure most of you have caught on), but I wondered this weekend why I was living a life Sooo far from nature, so far from this type of beauty and peacefulness. Maybe someday Seth and I will venture from our cement forest out into a real forest for a longer stay.