because it was so overdue

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One of the hard things about moving to a new city is finding your new “people” and by “people” I mean dentist, hair stylist,…okay, well, that’s all I mean. I love my dentist and my salon in AZ and so, even though I’ve lived here for well over a year now, I still wait for trips “home” to get those things taken care of. Normally, I’m out there every 3-4 months, so this works out well.

This time, though, it had been since June and while my teeth are fine with a cleaning every six months, my hair is not so fine waiting for a little bleachy-bleach. And so, with about three inches of regrowth, it was time. It was a short trip, so guess what didn’t happen. Form over function. Or in this case, pretty hair over healthy teeth. That’s how I roll.

Sadly, I don’t have a really good before…but here’s a during and an after. I’m very happy.

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.

thanksgiving

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Now that I covered the Thanksgiving drama, here are the highlights: my cute niece and nephew. 

Somebody really doesn’t like Thanksgiving dinner options.

Somebody also learned how to ride a bike in about 10 minutes…and that’s what he wanted to do all day long.

Of course little miss didn’t want to be left out…she’s still on training wheels of course.

Family ride time

Apparently somebody has been dying to try this jumping thing at the mall. Luckily I got to be there to witness it.

Clearly they hated it. 😉

Flying high!

Little Miss loves her grandpa. Lots of cuddling going on.

closure.

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Remember a couple of months ago, when I told you about the PhD. I think some of you questioned my judgement when I posted about it. And to be honest, I did as well and actually took down the posts. But today, I’ve changed my mind and the posts are back up. So if you want the full story, you’ll also want to read this and this.

And why do I bring all of this up again? Because this past weekend, when I was enjoying a lovely time with my family, I got a text. Rather than tell you about it, I’m just going to post it word for word (no editing) because really, there’s no way to properly describe this. Oh, but before you read it, you need to know that the PhD’s name is actually Wayne.

From a random New York number:

Hi Chloe. i found ur # in 
my husband Wayne’s
phone, apparently he
is/was cheating. Thought u
should know. So sorry… 😦

Yeah. Read it one more time in case you are thinking you’re eyes deceived you. They didn’t. Or read it one more time imagining you’re me. Talk about a text I wasn’t expecting to EVER receive in my life.

So, now I know why he was so flakey. And why he never made plans. And why, before I ever even thought about it, he told me that he’d prefer not to be Facebook friends (incidentally, I didn’t think anything about this because I’m not necessarily all about being FB friends with just anyone I date.) Oh, and most importantly, that he’s a total sleaze bag.

Because I know you’re all dying to know what I did in response to this text (or I would be if I were you), I’m just going to tell you. I texted his wife back and told her that I was so sorry and that I had no idea he was married. She was super nice (to me) and said she wasn’t upset or mad at me, that he was to blame. The marriage is over, but she though that all of the women (“and I mean ALL”) involved needed to know what a jerk he was in case he contacted us again.

Bottom line, there are some horrible people in the world. Some of them are men. And for some reason, I have a penchant for dating them…although this is by far the worst of them. So, let’s just say I’ve decided to take a little break from dating.

In other news, my weekend in Indiana with the fam was super fun!

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.