Category Archives: life in nyc

all decked out for christmas

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With an impending holiday party, I finally got my crap together this week and decorated my apartment. And I must say, it’s pretty cute. And by “my apartment” I really mean “my entertainment center” because I can’t store anymore than what will fit there. So here are a some pics (mainly for my sis-in-law who wanted to see what it looks like decorated). 
(the clutter on my counter is due to a party that was just about to start)

My itty bitty Christmas tree purchased at Walmart last year. Please note the “tree skirt” – I got creative with a placemat. And the nativity…well, it might actually be an ornament I purchased in Berlin. And there’s even an angel on top (another ornament).
Isn’t it cute? I actually bought it because I broke it in the store (nothing a little superglue couldn’t fix). Now I’m really glad I did.

And a shot from the other angle.

Okay, so this wasn’t a decoration, but I figured I might as well make the baked brie I was serving look nice and festive, too. 

 Not pictured: the gold bow I added to my eucalyptus wreath (I only have room for one wreath–and that’s the one on the door) and a really cute silk arrangement created by my favorite florist, Sydne. It’s out, but it needs a little sprucing. Just have to find my glue gun… Yes, even in a itty bitty apartment it’s still possible to lose things.

injured in the city

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Someday my feet will look like this again…I hope.

Just when everything was perfect…tragedy strikes.

Okay, a little dramatic, but it feels a little dramatic in this city.

Friday night, I had my soccer game. We were getting our trash kicked. Total blowout. There were about two minutes left in the game. I was exhausted because we had no female subs. The team we were playing was just a lot better than us…and had total attitude about it. Nothing like cocky winners to make a frustrating game even more painful. So there we were, two minutes left in the game, the other team had the ball by our goal again and I was not going to let it get past me. So, I charged the ball and the girl dribbling the ball, and we collided. And POP went my ankle. Not like a little ankle roll, but a serious pop.

I’m not really one to give into physical pain. My tolerance is high and I like to be “tough”. So, I just “walked it off” then hobbled to the bar with my teammates and hung out for a couple of hours. I still had my shin guards and socks on…I was too nervous to take them off. When we got done at the bar, I could barely walk, so I took a cab. What you need to know is that I almost never take cabs. Like, really. Especially not from 23rd Street all the way to my apartment on the upper Upper West Side. And then I got home and took off my shin guards and my socks and this is what I saw.

So, I text my sister (the doctor) this picture and she told me I needed x-rays. And that is where the real adventure began. I realized that since I left home at the ripe young age of 17, I’ve always had either the health center at my university or my sister (the doctor) to take care of me. And when I’ve needed urgent care or some other emergency something, I’ve had a car and I’ve known exactly where to go.

In this city of 8 million people and no car, what once seemed like no big deal was a very big deal. With all of these hospitals and emergency rooms and no car, the whole idea of getting x-rays was just not super exciting. I waited until Saturday morning and headed to the urgent care that looked the least scary from my online search and that took my insurance and that had x-rays onsite. Of course, it was all the way down on 13th Street and the subway was not going to work, so a $20 cab ride later, I was there only to find out their x-ray machine was down.

That said, I stayed (I couldn’t stomach another cab ride or internet search). The doctor came and looked at it. After poking and prodding she concluded that it was just a sprain. Then she wrapped it up and I was on my way. Thank goodness for good insurance and no co-pay because there was another $20 cab ride to get home.

And then I got home, only to realize that I had no food in my house. So, it was order in time. That is the one thing that is easier here than anywhere I’ve ever lived. Every place delivers and it’s amazing. I missed my soccer game on Saturday (I really thought I might have been able to play before I got home Friday night). And since then I’ve basically been on my couch for three days running. There’s no running out to get something because “running out” requires a lot of walking, as opposed to just getting in a car. And I still hate paying for cabs, so I’m stuck.

And the overall swelling has caught up with the ankle – I call it elephant foot.

Thankfully I’ve had some nice visitors come to see me (in all my injured glory) and Felicity has been keeping me company, so it could be worse. I missed my soccer game, the Primary program at church (I was so excited to be up there with my kidlets) and a fun dinner party, but that’s it. Oh, and laundry didn’t happen because there’s no way I could carry my 20 lbs bad of clothes two blocks to the laundromat. So, kind of crappy and it also made me think about just how difficult (and expensive) it would be to be disabled in this city. And just how lucky I am that this is just and injury and not a way of life for me. And maybe it made me miss suburbia just a little bit, and my car, and my family.

a weekend in nyc in photos

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Don’t worry. These photos all have people in them. This is not one of those posts (I have plenty). I just thought it’s been way too long since I’ve posted any photos of myself…and my family is so adorable (even the old peeps). I figured since my sis-in-law had posted all of these on FB, I could post them here. Hope that’s true…
Waiting in the taxi line after connecting in the JetBlue terminal at JFK. And yes, I basically flew in my PJs. And yes, this is me after a red eye and without any makeup on. Hot, right?
Day one in Times Square. After naps…but still tired.
A little harbor cruise. My brother was enjoying it, I swear. 

Empire State Building. For those wondering, I prefer Top of the Rock for its park views, but you do kind of have to do this one.
Our night tour. Isn’t my nephew the cutest?!
Shelley might be holding that balloon because she won “best tourist” of our night tour. That’s our tour guide on the left. She was so fun!
Central Park on Sunday. My brother was kind of over the walking at this point.

Monday morning on Liberty Island. You can see the new World Trade Center in the background. I can only imagine what that view was like when the Twin Towers were still standing.

The end. See, that wasn’t so painful!

new york in a long weekend

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Living in NYC, you kind of forget that most people aren’t used to walking so much. Or so fast. And that people don’t readily understand distances when they are walking them in regular shoes to get somewhere and not for exercise purposes alone. And so, in an effort to ensure that my brother, sis-in-law, and nephew saw all they could possibly see, I may have overestimated how much we could do/see/experience in three and a half days.

Of all the things I wanted them to see and they wanted to see the only things we missed were Tom’s Restaurant (aka the Seinfeld diner), the City of New York Museum (which actually isn’t that amazing…except there’s a movie they show that I really like), and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Now, how much we got to take in the other things…well, that’s another story. We kind of hurried through a lot of stuff. And the bus tours did not cooperate (I will be getting some money back when I call tomorrow).
I’ll post some of the more fun stories a little later, but I wanted to just get the details down so I could have a record of what we did/saw/experienced…so you can now stop reading this post if you haven’t already.
Friday:
They arrived on the red-eye from PHX, I was on the one from SLC. Taxi home from the airport. Apartment Tetris in order to fit both queen and twin air mattresses in my living room. 
Power nap so we can make it through the day. Out the door at 11. 
Pick up tickets for tours, etc, at Times Square. Grab Shake Shack to go and eat while basically power walking to the pier (only like a mile…nbd). We’re the last people they let on the boat which was a Christmas miracle. Fabulous harbor tour. 
1:30 get off the boat and head back to Penn Station to get the subway downtown for our 3:00 reservation time for the 9/11 Memorial which was amazing. We also stop at St. Paul’s cathedral. After the memorial, we pop over to Wall Street and get to take in the Occupy Wall Street crazies in person (video to come). Oh, and we get a pretzel from a street vendor. The fam likes the pretzel. 
We then head down to Battery Park to catch the tour bus that never came! So subway it is…up to 59th Street and then a walk across town…taking in the Plaza and all of the fabulousness that is Central Park. Dinner at Carnegie Deli. This has been on my list for a while, so I am excited!
And day one ends with The Lion King. It is really good. Also something I haven’t done before, so I am very excited to get to see it…even though it might not have been top of my list. It should have been. It really was so good. 
After the show, we head over to Junior’s so the fam can have real NY cheesecake. The wait is way too long, so we get it to go and head back to my apartment to enjoy cheesecake in our PJs while watching 30 Rock (this is what we will do every night when we get home). Shelley also discovers black and white cookies at this point. She’s a fan, as are the two men.
Day one ends with me feeling very successful. Granted, my fam is pretty easy going, but still such a relief that they enjoy day one as much (if not more) than I hope they will. And my brother makes it really fun for all of us because his head is full of interesting information about all kinds of stuff.  
Saturday: 
We sleep in a little. Josh and I go grab real New York bagels for breakfast. Finally get out the door (I’m not very good at sleeping in) and take the bus tour (after waiting a little for the bus to finally come). As we wait for the bus, we chat up the City Sights guy there. He’s very friendly and quite entertaining…giving my family the impression that New York is full of nice people. 
The bus tour starts and it’s pretty good. Not a huge fan of the tour guide, but whatevs. I’ve already kind of exhausted everyone, we they are happy to sit on the bus. We see lots of fun sights (including the street where I lived during my internship–Cornelia St). 
We get off at Battery Park to do Liberty and Ellis Islands. The line is ridiculous. So back on the bus tour we go (with a better tour guide). We get off at Rockefeller Center and take a look around. Then head down to the Empire State Building. We do this additional little Empire State Building Experience thing that was super corny, but kind of cool. 
From there we hit Grand Central so they can see it and then head over to Times Square on the shuttle to get on the night tour stopping at Shake Shack for dinner (yes, again) before getting in line. This line goes pretty fast and we have this awesome (if slightly crazy and sexually frustrated) tour guide. She is seriously awesome. I don’t think seeing the city at night will ever stop amazing me.
We get back to Times Square and do a little shopping at the Hershey’s store and the M&Ms store. My brother makes an Ms mix that might be the best I’ve ever had (no offense, Alisa). And then it’s home and time for bed (after 30 Rock and some pizza and garlic rolls from Famiglia next door). 
Sunday:
We get up and go to church. Brad keeps commenting what a different life this is. It’s fun to have them at church with me. After church we head home to change. Brad really wants a nap, but it’s not happening. We head out. 
I really want to go to Good Enough to Eat, but the line is really long. So we head down to Sarabeth’s and, in reality, probably wait just as long. I’m starting to stress out because we are burning daylight and we still have museums and the park. We wait quite a long time, but everyone loves the food so it works out. 
After lunch, we hit the American Museum of Natural History (aka the “Night at the Museum” museum–I haven’t seen the movies, but my nephew has informed me that it’s very disappointing to realize the movie takes so many creative liberties). The museum itself does not disappoint. And I have a lot of fun seeing things I’ve never seen, having only been there once. Brad gets distracted by all of the “shiny” objects (information about dinosaurs, etc) so we have to pull him along.
After the museum, we head into the park; Belvedere Castle, The Lake, Bethesda Fountain, and Poets’ Walk were the highlights (and about all the walking they wanted to do). We head to SE corner to get the uptown bus tour, only to discover that there’s a parade on Fifth Ave so much to Brad’s disappointment, there is more walking across the park. As luck would have it, the Wafels and Dinges cart is at Sixth Ave, so I let them rest and introduce them to my favorite waffles ever! 
After the rest, we head to Columbus Circle to catch the bus. I can’t find the bus stop, so we head to the next one. And wait. And wait. And wait. My anxiety is starting to kick in and I call City Sights to see what the deal is. We watch five busses from another tour company go by. Brad just wants to sit down. I don’t want to miss the tour because there are some cool things on it. And we’ve already paid for it. Finally, a City Sights bus comes. And there’s no room on it. Another call. More waiting. Shelley then calls…and Shelley can be scary when she wants to be. Even scarier than me. (I know, right?) 
So, finally a bus comes and…it’s our favorite tour guide. We take the tour and it’s great and then we head back to my apartment. Everyone is beat, so we rest for a minute and then head to Big Daddy’s for dinner, which is a perfect end to our day. And then we watch some 30 Rock.

Monday:
I get everyone out of bed early so we can make it downtown and have time to visit the Statue of Liberty (which I’ve never done) and Ellis Island. Then we make our way up to Union Square and I introduce everyone to Max Brenner. No time to eat, though, so Shelley just picks up a couple of fun souvenirs for her mom. And then it’s off to H&M. My family does not know the glory that is H&M. And now they do. Josh, Brad, and Shelley all find stuff they liked. And Shell finds some great stuff for my two nieces who stayed at home.

And the final stop on the tour de New York? Doughnut Plant and it does not disappoint. Then back to my apartment. A little more 30 Rock and off we go to the airport, via public transit, you know, so they get the tourist and non-tourist experience.

It was so fun having them here and I still miss them. They are now, with the two girls, in Hawaii and I’m super jealous I’m not there, but I have to pay the bills somehow.

Pictures to come…

To be continued…must sleep now.

my family is about to meet my city

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A week from right now, I will be returning from Utah on the JetBlue redeye and I will be meeting my older brother, sister-in-law, and 17-year-old nephew in the JetBlue terminal (my favorite terminal at JFK, btw) at which point we will take a cab back to my apartment, drop off our luggage and set off on a fabulous New York tourist adventure.

I am very excited about this. I can’t wait to share my city with them. However, while thinking about them visiting (I don’t think my brother or nephew have ever been east of Denver), I’ve also started to worry about what they will think of this place that I have completely fallen in love with.

Because of the fam’s impending visit, I have a heightened awareness of just how crazy/dirty/crowded/smelly this city is. I was discussing this with a coworker today and he totally gets it. For instance, last week when I was heading to the gym early one morning, there was a guy passed out on the stoop in front of the building next to mine. He was still there when I returned. I wondered to myself if he might actually be dead so I stopped and watched for a moment to make sure I saw him breathe. When I left for work an hour or so later, he was finally gone. I didn’t think much of it. Just another day in New York. But then I think about my nephew who has spent his entire life in very suburban Arizona and, well, I think it’s going to be interesting.

And yesterday, as I was rushing down the stairs to the subway platform I realized there were no trains right there, so I slowed my pace a little. And then I smelled it. Well, him. And I went ahead and started rushing again just to get upwind from the stench and ensure I wasn’t in the same subway car. I’ve never smelled death, but I’m pretty sure that’s what rotting flesh smells like. Oh, and let’s not forget about the crazies on the subway who talk/sing/shout to/at no one in particular about who knows what (veganism, racism, Jesus…).

There are things that you just get used to. Homeless people sleeping in church doorways. Gum spots all over sidewalks. Watching your step for dog poo (at least I like to believe it’s dog poo). Rats on the subway tracks–or the sidewalk on trash day. The smell of urine.

I know those of you who have never been here or lived here are probably wondering why anyone ever chooses to live here, but until you do, you just can’t understand. It just becomes part of you. I just hope that my family will be able to see what I love about it, because guaranteed they are going to experience all of the craziness because that’s Murphy’s law.

On top of all of that, I have been thinking about all the helpful tips I want to share with them. Like the fact that walking in New York is like driving anywhere else. For any of those of you who have never been to New York, but may someday come, here’s a little tip. If you just follow the rules of driving when you’re walking, you will be fine. If you’re going slower, stay to the left. Don’t just stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Watch where you are walking or you’ll likely end up running into someone or something. When walking in a group, think about it like you’re caravanning in cars. Single file is ideal. Two by two is the max. If you want to stop and take a picture, look up at the Empire State Building, or anything else, pull over to the side of where ever you are. And for the love of everyone who is trying to get to work on time, subway turnstiles should be treated like toll plazas…your ticket should be out and ready to go so you don’t stop traffic. The one exception is jaywalking. Everyone jaywalks…just watch for bikes in addition to cars.

I seriously can’t wait for them to come. And really, I think it will be great. At least I hope it will be. In some ways, I feel like I’m in a relationship with New York and I’m finally letting part of my family meet my city and it’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time. I don’t need them to love my city, but I do need them to see why I do.