Our booty by mid-trip: our trip to sephora (lower right), that candy store of cosmetics, our three pairs of very hot shoes (S&P's: right, in box, and on her feet; Jocelyn's: upper left, on the guidebook) from Macy's world o' shoes; My paraphernalia from the UN, including my "peace through health" and refugee health books, S&P's gender equity and diasporas in conflict book; the blue bag in the middle is one we both bought at the UN bookstore - with a dove in the middle carrying the A from War to the word Peace - I think a fundraiser for UNHCR. (The roses are real - a freebie from one of the ubiquitous sidewalk flower shops.)
Together with our postcards and our guidebooks there's little doubt we are two single girls in New York City. Woot!
Taken in our hotel room, the Bentley, in the Upper East Side.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
When in Rome
Well, S&P has already covered some of this, but while we're doing the month-long "debrief" of our visit, I've been thinking of some of the customs that we came across:
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
- Tipping: Well, this goes without saying. It's in all the guidebooks, horror stories, and the eyes of every waiter and hotel bellman. My guess is that it originated from when these entry-level service personnel weren't paid, thus a generous tip is expected for good service to enable low- or no-wage workers to live in an expensive city. Well - I highly doubt that such workers don't make a wage nowadays, but the tipping practice lives on. AFter our first day we made huge efforts to retain singles in our wallets for the inevitable tipping need. I still feel guilty though that our bellman didn't really get anything from us - and he wasn't on when we checked out.
- Crossing the street - another one I'd heard about, but this took a bit of getting used to. As S&P mentions, they have no real delay between the end of the crossing period and the start of the crossing period for the other street. I also found it confusing that the intersections near our hotel seemed to have a crossing pattern that was unrecognizable to my foreign eyes. It's no wonder that there are so many intersection cops everywhere - they are needed, and believe me, they are the only effective way to enforce the crosswalk rules. Elsewhere, crosswalks and streets were ruled by the smart - woe to the cars who get stuck in the intersection, for you will be stuck there for longer if you get trapped by the swarm of crossing pedestrians.
It didn't take too long to get used to how people cross - especially on the small one-way streets I didn't have much trouble, but I did seem to have a blind spot for cabs and more than once S&P or someone else saved me from stepping in front of a speeding cab turning the corner at mach 10.
- staring - I can't recall whether I've mentioned this already on this blog, but boy did we ever notice how much people there stare. We began to be able to tell locals from tourists by the amount they stared. It became obvious to us that they weren't staring at me in particular - it's sort of a non-verbal New Yawker greeting - and if you stare right back, they know you're local. If you look away in embarassment, it's a dead giveaay that you're not from around here, Toto.
Friday, June 12, 2009
FOOD!!
So Jocelyn and I ate our way through NYC, sort of. So I figured it was about time to do a run down of the things we liked, loved and were not so crazy about...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
LOVED:
Luscious Thai: I will say it again, the best martini EVER, I'd go back just for another, because well it's been one of those weeks...
Pink Berry: Because we all need to be able to eat Fruity Pebbles on our Froyo or well whatever you'd like - I think J and I both settled for a mix of good and less good toppings... like mango and coconut on green tea.
Pret A Manger: It's like Subway and Whole Foods had an Upper Westside budget love child, all the food is freshly prepared and organic where possible, their latte's are organic milk and fair trade coffee - I'd have sampled one, but I'll leave that to those with lactase enzymes in their digestive tracts.. we ate there several times, and while it is slightly pricey, it is the guaranteed best bet for lunch after slogging around in the UN for hours.
Mad Dog's Rice and Beans - Wonderfully featured in our video, was excellent, again large portion sizes, an excellent selection of both entrees and drinks and the ambiance was likely the best in the city.
LIKED:
Madhur Jaffrey's Dawat Indian Restaurant, the food was lovely, but the prices and the option of not serving the rice/naam/roti with the main dish is slightly frustrating. However I have to say as a former vegan, that the extensive listing of both vegetarian and vegan dishes was surprising and honestly wonderful. The service we had was likely some of the best we've had in NYC.
Dean and Deluca: While it was lovely to look at the food was slightly over priced and in the end, just good/okay.
Gobo: It's a chain vegetarian/vegan restaurant, which while lovely, the portion sizes are huge - to it's detriment, because well unless you're going home right away, looking at your 15 dollar meal almost entirely untouched because you can't cram anymore in is well sad...
NOT SO CRAZY ABOUT:
Italian restaurant, who's name escapes me, J was really not impressed, in the end it was okay, the mussels were excellently executed, but the salad was poor, the dessert meager, and no drink list? The only redeeming factor being the Spanish waiter, who was not our waiter...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Careful How You Walk
J and I realized quickly that the flashing hand at NYC cross walks is not something to be ignored like we do over here. No, that flashing hand is telling you to get the hell out of the cross walk because once it's stops flashing you're in trouble. That being said it seems to be normal to ignore the solid hand altogether, I guess for the same reasons I do here, most are one way streets, so with no on coming traffic in on direction and a narrow street, why wait? J wasn't too hot on this idea in the beginning, but when in Rome?
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
On the subject of walking, there are quite an number of sidewalk hazards, if it isn't the potholes and uneven sidewalks it's the scaffolding, J found it quite amusing that the majority of the scaffolding looks like it's a permanent fixture, painted to blend with the building it is encasing, and luxurious in it's head room, most of our scaffolding is just barely comfortable for me, so it was actually kind of nice, other than having to dodge poles and being conscious of where you walk, of which I am not normally... thankfully I escaped unscathed.
A video briefly highlighting the city of New York...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Slowly Updating...
Sorry for the absence, J is trying to fight off the plague and stuck wearing a sexy mask at work because of it, and I? Well I don't have the plague but I do have an inescapable need to sleep, I wasn't under the impression that we did that much, but it seems we did because I'm still logging over 12 hours a night in attempt to prevent my head from hitting my desk at about 1pm, or passing out on the train... anyways. I've decided to post some of the few pictures I took in New York. Maybe consider these some of my favorite things about the city.
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Flowers, of which the majority were peonies:
Humorous signs, if you can't see it says hair & nail deli salad... oy vay
Parsons Design School/Bryant Park - I love fashion, I may not look like it and my sewing skills amounted to the sewing of a dress in Grade 8, but hey I can love Project Runway can't I? And I do believe I squealed when we stumbled upon Parsons, to which I have to say again, J is one patient lady.
More to come, like a run down on all the food we consumed...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
SNL
On Saturday night from the comfort of our wonderful hotel room, J and I watched SNL, we had been crushed that we couldn't see a taping, given our love (mostly mine) for the show's satirical humor, and while we both miss Tina and Amy profusely - I don't think the weekend update will ever be the same, we will forever have this skit to make us giggle and now I know all I have to do to make J smile/laugh is sing, "your mediocre face, oh your mediocre face..."
Things that make you go
Ewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
Yes that is what it looks like and if J had been able to take a picture of me taking this lovely shot you would have seen me on tip toe straddling another puddle and praying that I wouldn't touch the wall behind me. This was the worst experience we had with the subway elevators/washrooms, as apparently they are useful for not only transport but also releiving oneself. J and I both know that this is not the worst when it has come to refuse, but I think we both assumed that given the metropolitan/western nature of the environment that we would not be comparing the stench to a squatty potty in Kungyr or Kosovo.
NYC in Pictures
Hi Everyone! We are both back safe and sound, with weeks of sleeping to do to catch up. I've uploaded all of the photos to Flickr (though a few are still to come from S&P), and posted slideshows by day here on the blog - note that I backdated them so they would fit in with the posts we did on that particular day, so scroll your way back to Day 4 to pick up where the pictures left off! Stay tuned for a vlog from J and S&P as we drown away our trauma from the WTC museum.
We haven't even come close to documenting the experience, so don't stop tuning in.
Thanks everyone for your attention and comments!
(Those of you who are listed as "friends" of mine on Flickr have permissions to print any of the photos in my Photostream. If you aren't and you'd like to, send me an email.
We haven't even come close to documenting the experience, so don't stop tuning in.
Thanks everyone for your attention and comments!
(Those of you who are listed as "friends" of mine on Flickr have permissions to print any of the photos in my Photostream. If you aren't and you'd like to, send me an email.
Top 10 Things I wish we'd brought to NYC
Now that I'm home in the relative comfort (and thrift!) of my own apartment, I keep remembering things I wished I'd brought to NYC with me. The first of likely many more such lists to come, and in the spirit of the Big Apple's most annoying son, I give you.... (drum roll please, Phil....)
The TOP TEN Things I wish we'd brought to NYC:
10. Purell. No, really. If you'd seen the subway elevators (which you soon will when we post S&P's photo of one such), you'd need no explanation.
9. Fancier Clothes. It's true that NYC's citizens are the hippest and brightest people in the country - while a nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, I'm convinced I was the fattest person in Manhattan while I was there. We were surrounded by hip, wealthy, beautiful people, fully a third of whom were pregnant. S&P rocked the Park with her tangerine dress and decollete, but I struggled to put two pieces together that matched and weren't streaked with genuine NYC road dirt from my hands.
8. A better haircut - As above - This may be horrifyingly superficial, but this was the week on which my poofy mane of blonde hair decided to grow itself all out again after being tamed by my hairdresser's thinning shears only two months ago. In almost every picture, I appear to have a mud-coloured mop on my head. I plead humidity.
7. S&P's running clothes - here I thought that I was travelling with a marathon runner, and the one thing she didn't bring was her running clothes - and we had access to Central Park and the coolest, most beautiful 3.8 mi running route around! I lovingly packed my "running" gear and visualized myself running off the poundage I was doomed to gain at the seemingly neverending yummy places to eat by sprinting through CP in the afternoons. I have to say though - even if S&P had brought her stuff, I'm not sure how we would have fit it in. We packed as much in as possible and we were STILL coming home at midnight and waking up at 8am exhausted and slightly delirious.
6. The Baby Whisperer: Dad and/or Buffy would have been a good fit for the plane ride from Vancouver to NYC, and even for the countless screaming children who seemed to follow us (read: S&P) around. It was uncanny - from the moment we set foot on the airplane and noticed that no fewer than four small children were tucked around us, we were beset with shrill screams and wanton cries at bone-chilling levels. The hellions kept us up most of the red-eye flight from Van to NYC, and their ilk showed up all over the city. A good baby whisperer would have been just the thing to soothe these calls from the wild - and saved us hours of bellyaching about "parents, these days!"
5. A journal like I usually carry while traveling: It was silly of me, but I tried to be all digital and set up a great set of lists on EverNote, a web and PDA-based service I have an app for on my iPhone - in the days leading up to our trip, I collected bits of info about where we should go, websites, opening times, discounts, subway stops, etc. all in well-organized searchable lists... all of which were not readily available because for some reason I couldn't connect to the 3G system (iPhone internet) while I was in NYC. S&P's crackberry, on the Edge system, did just fine and in fact bailed us out of a few mean Pinkberry cravings.
4. A few hollow legs. Seriously - the sheer plenty of tasty things to eat and try was a bit dizzying. The stress I've spoken of in our last few days was at least partly made up of too many options that we couldn't decide. Nobody wanted to eat too early lest we get too full and pass a Pinkberry we had to leave untried. I'd say we ate well and not too decadently, but the prevailing sense for me was one of being too full too often.
3. Some sort of small purse on my person - not just an excuse for a syllabic pun, I really struggled with keeping things at hand but secure enough to not be a target. Safe to say that both of us were very cautious of our selves and belongings what with the stories we'd heard about personal security in the Big Apple - but for me, as the one who brought around the laptop and carried odds and ends for both of us, it was too hard to always be taking on and off my backpack just for my camera and wallet. Yet keeping it between my knees proved hazardous both to my belongings and S&P's sanity as she was constantly scooping up errant belongings off of the ground. I have never dropped stuff so much in my life. I've decided I need to design a sort of chair-based pack much like the chic waist pouches that the designers were making a year or so ago and you sometimes see on makeup artists or (or handymen, in leather). This would string around the front "knee bar" of my chair frame and allow for secure tucking into pockets on the inside of the frame while providing easy unobstructed access at any time with no chance of the dropsies ruining the holiday. It's the next big thing, folks. Line up for your shares here.
2. Packaged Oatmeal. We had this great idea that we would save ourselves the cost of breakfast by bringing oatmeal to eat in the morning in our hotel room - breakfast we both eat daily anyway. However - it proved just too inconvenient what with a Starbucks and hot, fresh coffee just around the corner. We ate breakfast in our room the first night and not since. It just wasn't the same to what we make at home, and they wouldn't let us put anything in the bar fridge of our own - so no milk or yogurt. I think a box or two of the packets of flavoured oatmeal would have done the trip and saved us a lot of fuss.
1. Gloves. The fact that I was too disgusted at my hands throughout the trip to take a picture to show you the genuine (TM) New York Dirt that clung to them despite vigorous scrub-brushing every day and night should tell you how awful they were. I generally dislike wearing gloves to wheel but I've never wished I'd brought my gardening gloves on holiday so much!
The TOP TEN Things I wish we'd brought to NYC:
10. Purell. No, really. If you'd seen the subway elevators (which you soon will when we post S&P's photo of one such), you'd need no explanation.
9. Fancier Clothes. It's true that NYC's citizens are the hippest and brightest people in the country - while a nation struggles with an obesity epidemic, I'm convinced I was the fattest person in Manhattan while I was there. We were surrounded by hip, wealthy, beautiful people, fully a third of whom were pregnant. S&P rocked the Park with her tangerine dress and decollete, but I struggled to put two pieces together that matched and weren't streaked with genuine NYC road dirt from my hands.
8. A better haircut - As above - This may be horrifyingly superficial, but this was the week on which my poofy mane of blonde hair decided to grow itself all out again after being tamed by my hairdresser's thinning shears only two months ago. In almost every picture, I appear to have a mud-coloured mop on my head. I plead humidity.
7. S&P's running clothes - here I thought that I was travelling with a marathon runner, and the one thing she didn't bring was her running clothes - and we had access to Central Park and the coolest, most beautiful 3.8 mi running route around! I lovingly packed my "running" gear and visualized myself running off the poundage I was doomed to gain at the seemingly neverending yummy places to eat by sprinting through CP in the afternoons. I have to say though - even if S&P had brought her stuff, I'm not sure how we would have fit it in. We packed as much in as possible and we were STILL coming home at midnight and waking up at 8am exhausted and slightly delirious.
6. The Baby Whisperer: Dad and/or Buffy would have been a good fit for the plane ride from Vancouver to NYC, and even for the countless screaming children who seemed to follow us (read: S&P) around. It was uncanny - from the moment we set foot on the airplane and noticed that no fewer than four small children were tucked around us, we were beset with shrill screams and wanton cries at bone-chilling levels. The hellions kept us up most of the red-eye flight from Van to NYC, and their ilk showed up all over the city. A good baby whisperer would have been just the thing to soothe these calls from the wild - and saved us hours of bellyaching about "parents, these days!"
5. A journal like I usually carry while traveling: It was silly of me, but I tried to be all digital and set up a great set of lists on EverNote, a web and PDA-based service I have an app for on my iPhone - in the days leading up to our trip, I collected bits of info about where we should go, websites, opening times, discounts, subway stops, etc. all in well-organized searchable lists... all of which were not readily available because for some reason I couldn't connect to the 3G system (iPhone internet) while I was in NYC. S&P's crackberry, on the Edge system, did just fine and in fact bailed us out of a few mean Pinkberry cravings.
4. A few hollow legs. Seriously - the sheer plenty of tasty things to eat and try was a bit dizzying. The stress I've spoken of in our last few days was at least partly made up of too many options that we couldn't decide. Nobody wanted to eat too early lest we get too full and pass a Pinkberry we had to leave untried. I'd say we ate well and not too decadently, but the prevailing sense for me was one of being too full too often.
3. Some sort of small purse on my person - not just an excuse for a syllabic pun, I really struggled with keeping things at hand but secure enough to not be a target. Safe to say that both of us were very cautious of our selves and belongings what with the stories we'd heard about personal security in the Big Apple - but for me, as the one who brought around the laptop and carried odds and ends for both of us, it was too hard to always be taking on and off my backpack just for my camera and wallet. Yet keeping it between my knees proved hazardous both to my belongings and S&P's sanity as she was constantly scooping up errant belongings off of the ground. I have never dropped stuff so much in my life. I've decided I need to design a sort of chair-based pack much like the chic waist pouches that the designers were making a year or so ago and you sometimes see on makeup artists or (or handymen, in leather). This would string around the front "knee bar" of my chair frame and allow for secure tucking into pockets on the inside of the frame while providing easy unobstructed access at any time with no chance of the dropsies ruining the holiday. It's the next big thing, folks. Line up for your shares here.
2. Packaged Oatmeal. We had this great idea that we would save ourselves the cost of breakfast by bringing oatmeal to eat in the morning in our hotel room - breakfast we both eat daily anyway. However - it proved just too inconvenient what with a Starbucks and hot, fresh coffee just around the corner. We ate breakfast in our room the first night and not since. It just wasn't the same to what we make at home, and they wouldn't let us put anything in the bar fridge of our own - so no milk or yogurt. I think a box or two of the packets of flavoured oatmeal would have done the trip and saved us a lot of fuss.
1. Gloves. The fact that I was too disgusted at my hands throughout the trip to take a picture to show you the genuine (TM) New York Dirt that clung to them despite vigorous scrub-brushing every day and night should tell you how awful they were. I generally dislike wearing gloves to wheel but I've never wished I'd brought my gardening gloves on holiday so much!
Monday, June 1, 2009
NYC Day 6
Our last day contained about as many stresses as anyone should put in a day and a full slate of events. J still wanted to see Wall Street and the Financial district and I knew I needed to/had to see WTC/Ground Zero. We packed our belonging, I found room for my haul of shoes and the such like...J for her educational material.
Once packed we made our way to the financial district and Ground Zero. We wandered though City Hall grounds and then down to Ground Zero, which is still eary, a void still in many respects, and as you walk through the streets you can't help but wonder what it would have been like that day, running in fear through the streets with the dust, fear and confusion filling the air. We visited the memorial and almost instantly I found myself blinking, and reliving the events. The wall of pictures surrounded by boxes of tissues, which are quite necessary, it is bittersweet to look at the pictures family members have selected to represent their beloveds, their wives, husbands, brothers, sisters,children, friends and other family. Pictures of pastimes loved, proud graduations, weddings and births filled the wall. Pictures that made you laugh and other that made the chasim of lost violently apparent, a newly born child in the arms of a mother no longer present... the paper cranes really made me cry though, the continuation of violence, resilience and the fall out when we act out of violence and not compassion and understanding.
After it was all said and done I have to say that while it was said in jest in the video to be post, that I would strongly recommend that anyone who sees the memorial be aware that it is emotionally draining, the grief and the memories are very present when you leave.
From Ground Zero we wandered over to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and as we were meandering through the narrow streets I saw an open air restaurant which turned out to be an open air series of cafes, we opted for the Mexican restaurant because well cheese, salt and tequila are about all you want post WTC Museum. So at 2pm in the afternoon I was sipping on a guava margarita on the rocks and trying to ignore the fact we were leaving. After we were finished our lovely meal we power walked over to the Staten Island ferry. Despite our time crunch we decided to take the ferry to Staten Island and back so that we could get a true sense of the skyline, Brooklyn Street Bridge and of course Lady Liberty, whom I have to say is petite. In some respects I think we would have preferred not to take the ferry and have saved ourselves the rushing to the hotel to catch our shuttle, but in the end given that we did make it to our shuttle it was entirely worth it.
Thankfully this time our Cathy flight home was relatively uneventful, other than well landing at 2am at YVR and then making the trip home. I of course arrived home to a messy house, after the clean up and shower I stumbled into bed about 3:30am and then I was awake at 7:30 and out of the house by 9am, and now here I am trying to work, concentrate and figure out what I need to get done today...
Once packed we made our way to the financial district and Ground Zero. We wandered though City Hall grounds and then down to Ground Zero, which is still eary, a void still in many respects, and as you walk through the streets you can't help but wonder what it would have been like that day, running in fear through the streets with the dust, fear and confusion filling the air. We visited the memorial and almost instantly I found myself blinking, and reliving the events. The wall of pictures surrounded by boxes of tissues, which are quite necessary, it is bittersweet to look at the pictures family members have selected to represent their beloveds, their wives, husbands, brothers, sisters,children, friends and other family. Pictures of pastimes loved, proud graduations, weddings and births filled the wall. Pictures that made you laugh and other that made the chasim of lost violently apparent, a newly born child in the arms of a mother no longer present... the paper cranes really made me cry though, the continuation of violence, resilience and the fall out when we act out of violence and not compassion and understanding.
After it was all said and done I have to say that while it was said in jest in the video to be post, that I would strongly recommend that anyone who sees the memorial be aware that it is emotionally draining, the grief and the memories are very present when you leave.
From Ground Zero we wandered over to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange and as we were meandering through the narrow streets I saw an open air restaurant which turned out to be an open air series of cafes, we opted for the Mexican restaurant because well cheese, salt and tequila are about all you want post WTC Museum. So at 2pm in the afternoon I was sipping on a guava margarita on the rocks and trying to ignore the fact we were leaving. After we were finished our lovely meal we power walked over to the Staten Island ferry. Despite our time crunch we decided to take the ferry to Staten Island and back so that we could get a true sense of the skyline, Brooklyn Street Bridge and of course Lady Liberty, whom I have to say is petite. In some respects I think we would have preferred not to take the ferry and have saved ourselves the rushing to the hotel to catch our shuttle, but in the end given that we did make it to our shuttle it was entirely worth it.
Thankfully this time our Cathy flight home was relatively uneventful, other than well landing at 2am at YVR and then making the trip home. I of course arrived home to a messy house, after the clean up and shower I stumbled into bed about 3:30am and then I was awake at 7:30 and out of the house by 9am, and now here I am trying to work, concentrate and figure out what I need to get done today...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
BIG day - NYC Day 5
After Friday's snafu what with the WTC subway station not having an elevator (as advertised), we swapped our days around a bit - another great development - SUN! And HEAT! I was beginning to wonder if NYC was taking a page from the Vancouver playbook for late spring and bathing everyone in drizzly warm downpour.
Saturday we trekked up the 6 blocks from our hotel to Central park on an absolutely gorgeous day - 77 degrees and a light breeze. We walked from the corner of 5th avenue and Central Park South, past the little vendor booths, caricture artists and cheap paintings of NYC sights. We realized early on that it was both too hot and not enough time to see such a great park but we figured we'd walk until we got hungry/tired, or until we got to Museum Mile (5th ave from roughly 81st to 110th), whichever came first.
Turns out, it all happened at once. We passed the Central Park Zoo, the children's petting zoo, the Conservatory Water (and people sailing their r/c boats), several buskers, and several hundred thousand people sunning themselves, playing, picnicing and walking their pets. S&P keenly noticed that this city is LOUSY with pregnant women - as she put it, "every uterus, like every living space, is full in this town!" Interestingly, every woman we saw pregnant was married - verified by either an incredibly expensive rock, or the presence of a doting husband/partner/spouse/daddy/other. Central park was simply the proof - we've seen this phenomenon in every neighbourhood we've been in since we got here.
We came out of the park briefly at 81st ave seeing the white stone walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) rising up out of the greenery. It was enormous, and S&P, who has traveled to Russia and visited the Hermitage, said that it seemed almost as large. It was beautiful, very classically designed, and the steps and square were overrun with people, vendors, entertainers, and tourists. We took a time out to get food (which has gradually become more difficult as our trip goes on - I'm sure we'll fill you in in another post on this). Happily today we stumbled on the decadent grocer Dean & Deluca, and we feasted on yummy sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and (gasp) a raspberry cupcake split in two. We debated the finer points of gourmet cupcakery as we sat on a shady bench by the Met and ate our lunch.
The Met is hard to describe. Almost every major piece of greek sculpture that pops readily to mind seems to be in their Greek and Roman Antiquities section. The architecture of the building is phenomenal and lends itself to a wild sense of size, grandeur and glory. The light itself is beautiful. I was anxious for the Egyptian wing (having seen the amazing collection in the British Museum), however it was very crowded. I don't remember much of it at the moment, but S&P sure does! and unintential part of the museum's attractions that day was pop star and actress Mandy Moore and her husband Ryan Adams (whom if I had known was there I would have mobbed him and made a fool of myself. Good thing I didn't notice). My favourite part was the Temple of Dendur hall, with an ancient Egyptian burial temple and archway reconstructed in the midst of a stunning wall of windows and pond.
Another highlight for both of us was the traveling exhibition, Model as Muse (sponsored by Marc Jacobs!). Buffy, you should have seen it. It was fantastic, and featured a century of classic fashion art pieces and the models who inspired them. The 60's Yves St. Laurent dress, for example, featuring vivid cubist (?) squares in red, blue and yellow on a white background; the Dior gown from the golden age of Haute Couture, seen on the model posed between two elephants.
Our flight is about to be called, so we'll continue this in another post. We are tired, really dirty, and glad to be coming home - though the consensus is that New Yorkers are much friendlier than anyone gives them credit for, New York City needs at least two weeks to do it justice, and we are both now looking for graduate programs at NYU.
Now, talk amongst yo'selves....
(Oh and S&P says that we have also agreed that we are pretty much at our end and are looking forward to some sleep - despite Mom's admonition from earlier this week - we walked an estimated 30 blocks today alone, on average 3-4 miles a day. S&P's feet hurt. Mine, not so much.)
Saturday we trekked up the 6 blocks from our hotel to Central park on an absolutely gorgeous day - 77 degrees and a light breeze. We walked from the corner of 5th avenue and Central Park South, past the little vendor booths, caricture artists and cheap paintings of NYC sights. We realized early on that it was both too hot and not enough time to see such a great park but we figured we'd walk until we got hungry/tired, or until we got to Museum Mile (5th ave from roughly 81st to 110th), whichever came first.
Turns out, it all happened at once. We passed the Central Park Zoo, the children's petting zoo, the Conservatory Water (and people sailing their r/c boats), several buskers, and several hundred thousand people sunning themselves, playing, picnicing and walking their pets. S&P keenly noticed that this city is LOUSY with pregnant women - as she put it, "every uterus, like every living space, is full in this town!" Interestingly, every woman we saw pregnant was married - verified by either an incredibly expensive rock, or the presence of a doting husband/partner/spouse/daddy/other. Central park was simply the proof - we've seen this phenomenon in every neighbourhood we've been in since we got here.
We came out of the park briefly at 81st ave seeing the white stone walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) rising up out of the greenery. It was enormous, and S&P, who has traveled to Russia and visited the Hermitage, said that it seemed almost as large. It was beautiful, very classically designed, and the steps and square were overrun with people, vendors, entertainers, and tourists. We took a time out to get food (which has gradually become more difficult as our trip goes on - I'm sure we'll fill you in in another post on this). Happily today we stumbled on the decadent grocer Dean & Deluca, and we feasted on yummy sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and (gasp) a raspberry cupcake split in two. We debated the finer points of gourmet cupcakery as we sat on a shady bench by the Met and ate our lunch.
The Met is hard to describe. Almost every major piece of greek sculpture that pops readily to mind seems to be in their Greek and Roman Antiquities section. The architecture of the building is phenomenal and lends itself to a wild sense of size, grandeur and glory. The light itself is beautiful. I was anxious for the Egyptian wing (having seen the amazing collection in the British Museum), however it was very crowded. I don't remember much of it at the moment, but S&P sure does! and unintential part of the museum's attractions that day was pop star and actress Mandy Moore and her husband Ryan Adams (whom if I had known was there I would have mobbed him and made a fool of myself. Good thing I didn't notice). My favourite part was the Temple of Dendur hall, with an ancient Egyptian burial temple and archway reconstructed in the midst of a stunning wall of windows and pond.
Another highlight for both of us was the traveling exhibition, Model as Muse (sponsored by Marc Jacobs!). Buffy, you should have seen it. It was fantastic, and featured a century of classic fashion art pieces and the models who inspired them. The 60's Yves St. Laurent dress, for example, featuring vivid cubist (?) squares in red, blue and yellow on a white background; the Dior gown from the golden age of Haute Couture, seen on the model posed between two elephants.
Our flight is about to be called, so we'll continue this in another post. We are tired, really dirty, and glad to be coming home - though the consensus is that New Yorkers are much friendlier than anyone gives them credit for, New York City needs at least two weeks to do it justice, and we are both now looking for graduate programs at NYU.
Now, talk amongst yo'selves....
(Oh and S&P says that we have also agreed that we are pretty much at our end and are looking forward to some sleep - despite Mom's admonition from earlier this week - we walked an estimated 30 blocks today alone, on average 3-4 miles a day. S&P's feet hurt. Mine, not so much.)
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Jazz Hands!!
I wanted to see a show with JAZZ HANDS! and West Side Story did not disappoint, as there was an entire song with jazz hands, there of course was a full collection of familiar songs, high kicks and young love. We had been a little concerned after overhearing a conversation in the Village about the faults of the musical. She profusely apologized and promised us that we would enjoy the show. She was right, we enjoyed it, and I found myself so consumed with the story, that I was tearing at the end of it all, it really was as magical as the jazz hands promised they would be.
Yesterday had started with the intention of going to see Ground Zero and the Financial District and related sights and then with us returning up to Broadway for the show. However the WTC Subway was not accessible and so we back tracked and changed our plans spending the day in Greenwich Village and eating at Gobo - a wonderful vegan/vegetarian restaurant that made me (S&P) realize how much I miss vegan food, and yet how much work goes into the whole process. After a day of perusing the shops we wandered over to NYU and found ourselves wondering what our lives would have been like if we like Felicity had perused our undergrads there or if some how we could somehow justify the debt and get out masters or PhD's respectively just so we could spend more time in the magic of the city.
Yesterday had started with the intention of going to see Ground Zero and the Financial District and related sights and then with us returning up to Broadway for the show. However the WTC Subway was not accessible and so we back tracked and changed our plans spending the day in Greenwich Village and eating at Gobo - a wonderful vegan/vegetarian restaurant that made me (S&P) realize how much I miss vegan food, and yet how much work goes into the whole process. After a day of perusing the shops we wandered over to NYU and found ourselves wondering what our lives would have been like if we like Felicity had perused our undergrads there or if some how we could somehow justify the debt and get out masters or PhD's respectively just so we could spend more time in the magic of the city.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
J&J Phone Home
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your comments and views! Rest assured, we will come home, eventually. Meanwhile, we've set the comments settings to "anyone" so you don't have to sign up with a profile to comment.
See, we do love you!
J & S&P
Thanks for your comments and views! Rest assured, we will come home, eventually. Meanwhile, we've set the comments settings to "anyone" so you don't have to sign up with a profile to comment.
See, we do love you!
J & S&P
Shopping, Shopping, Rain and more Shopping
Today dawned, or rather drizzled, with the best of intentions to go downtown to Lower Manhattan to see the WTC site and memorial, the financial district, City Hall, Staten Island Ferry, and Wall Street... but after getting off the subway (we took the subway!! On our own! And it smelled like PEE!) at the nearest accessible stop to Broadway so we could by tickets to the theatre, we got a little stuck.
In Sephora.
Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the fatigue, maybe it was just the reality of two girls and unfettered access to shoes and cosmetics, but we came to a mutual (and easy) decision that we would swap our shopping day (scheduled for Friday) so we could wander around Midtown, Times Square, 5th avenue (yes, THAT 5th avenue) at a leisurely pace.
We waded through the crowds of tourists and hawkers with pamphlets for comedy shows, tapings and bus tours. We got stuck in Sephora (a cosmetics candy store), frustrated in Macy's shoe level, giggling in Victoria's Secret (at the rows of husbands and boyfriends stuck waiting at the front of the store - see pic - in eager anticipation of purchase)...
...and people-watched in starbucks, where the absolutely shocking lack of fashion sense kept us amused and hoping that Stacy and Clinton would show up any minute.
We finally have crashed (and are exploiting our allotted 2hrs per day of internet usage) in Starbucks, our home away from home, and are trying to figure out where to drag ourselves next. The weather is terrible, but would you believe we are currently in the Starbucks INSIDE the Empire State Building. It's fabulous and very Art-Deco-y, and has fantastic metal artwork dedicated to the captains of industry and resource. Despite the terrible weather, there are scads of yuppie-types here in the Sbux chilling out and trying to look fab.
Food: I know you are all dying to find out what nationality of cuisine we will be enjoying tonight. Well, if S&P has her way, we will be having pizza from Lombardi's, noted as the first pizza joint in the whole nation (and that's saying something, considering that pizza was pretty much invented here).
S&P & J
Day 2
(Jocelyn) Getting up was physically painful – and we spent a leisurely morning waking up, watching music videos and getting on J up to date on the Hills drama, on the hotel television, and trying to get the Internets to work at Starbucks around the corner from our hotel.
When we discovered a few weeks ago that our hotel was right by the FDR expressway, we were worried that noise would be a problem. Strangely enough, the highway is the least of our worries. Turns out that the intersection in front is the louder, with at one point 19 yellow cabs in a row. Honking, yelling, screeching and generally creating an urban cacophony. S&P I know found it difficult to sleep due to the honking, waking slightly every little while to respond with a bleary, “Oh Hush!” when the noise got particularly bad.
We discovered after our long morning drinking coffee and staring at the subway map, that the UN building was a straight shot from our hotel down the street about 20 blocks, so we set off on a mostly overcast but mild day. We were almost on the property before we realized we were there, and it was, well, awesome. A little anti-climactic because a new building was under construction and half the property was hidden behind it.
Once inside, we took a 1 hour tour around the eavesdropped on a diplomatic conversation in front of the Khofi Annan tapestries, and spent a small fortune in the UN bookstore. Enjoyed walking around in the tacky gift shop and spectating on the internationals bartering with the gift shop clerk. Walked up 42nd street (yes, THAT 42nd street) to Grand Central Terminal. It was as beautiful as everyone says (and as pictured in every other episode of Law & Order), but by that point we were dead tired and more than a little jet lagged. Despite this, S&P couldn’t resist the lure of Banana Republic, which the charged through with fervor.
(S&P) Dinner was a hard decision as we were trying to figure out Subways and which direction we were prepared to go in. We decided on Dawat, Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian restaurant. Now if you don’t know who Ms. Jaffrey is I urge you to run out to your nearest bookstore or try and procure her videos off the Interwebs because she is a wonderful guide person to Indian cuisine. Dinner was wonderful; we had onion pakoras for an appetizer and shared lamb curry for dinner and the managed to celebrate one of our birthdays with their specially reserved coconut and mango ice cream dessert. My only complaint being that the Cosmo was very weak, which I will attribute to new bartender who it appears they were in the process of training.
When we discovered a few weeks ago that our hotel was right by the FDR expressway, we were worried that noise would be a problem. Strangely enough, the highway is the least of our worries. Turns out that the intersection in front is the louder, with at one point 19 yellow cabs in a row. Honking, yelling, screeching and generally creating an urban cacophony. S&P I know found it difficult to sleep due to the honking, waking slightly every little while to respond with a bleary, “Oh Hush!” when the noise got particularly bad.
We discovered after our long morning drinking coffee and staring at the subway map, that the UN building was a straight shot from our hotel down the street about 20 blocks, so we set off on a mostly overcast but mild day. We were almost on the property before we realized we were there, and it was, well, awesome. A little anti-climactic because a new building was under construction and half the property was hidden behind it.
Once inside, we took a 1 hour tour around the eavesdropped on a diplomatic conversation in front of the Khofi Annan tapestries, and spent a small fortune in the UN bookstore. Enjoyed walking around in the tacky gift shop and spectating on the internationals bartering with the gift shop clerk. Walked up 42nd street (yes, THAT 42nd street) to Grand Central Terminal. It was as beautiful as everyone says (and as pictured in every other episode of Law & Order), but by that point we were dead tired and more than a little jet lagged. Despite this, S&P couldn’t resist the lure of Banana Republic, which the charged through with fervor.
(S&P) Dinner was a hard decision as we were trying to figure out Subways and which direction we were prepared to go in. We decided on Dawat, Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian restaurant. Now if you don’t know who Ms. Jaffrey is I urge you to run out to your nearest bookstore or try and procure her videos off the Interwebs because she is a wonderful guide person to Indian cuisine. Dinner was wonderful; we had onion pakoras for an appetizer and shared lamb curry for dinner and the managed to celebrate one of our birthdays with their specially reserved coconut and mango ice cream dessert. My only complaint being that the Cosmo was very weak, which I will attribute to new bartender who it appears they were in the process of training.
JandJinNYC -Day 1
J and I (S&P) have decided that the way to tackle the food issue in NYC is to do oatmeal breakfast in room, lunch where we can find it - Maureen, our fellow shuttle buser, recommended we visit whatever deli is closest to us at the time and see what's in store. And for dinner? We've decided that we are going to try and eat through the various ethnic cuisines our general area has to offer. Last night being that we were completely exhausted beyond our comprehension, we picked the Thai restaurant across from our resident Starbucks haunt, since we knew it wouldn't require navigating the Subway exhausted and hungry or paying an exhaustive amount for a cab.
Luscious Thai - 60th Avenue and 1st Ave
Not that I'm an alcoholic, but I must say their Guava martini was probably the best martini I have ever had, the glass was rimmed with sugar, salt and chili, giving a wonderful combination of 3 of 4 flavour profiles central to Thai cooking (salty, sweet, sour, spicy). We followed it with Som Tom (Green Papaya Salad), fresh, crunchy and a perfect combo of salt from the fish sauce, sour from the green papaya, sweet from the tomato and cane sugar, and spice from the chili. Pad Thai was our entree of choice and while it wasn't perfectly authentic it was fresh and a large serving. We splurged for dessert - deep fried ice cream and I finished the whole evening with an amazing cup of coffee. I cannot say it enough, I am sure it was probably the best cup of coffee I've had in a restaurant and maybe ever.
In total in worked out to be $48 + tip.
Luscious Thai - 60th Avenue and 1st Ave
Not that I'm an alcoholic, but I must say their Guava martini was probably the best martini I have ever had, the glass was rimmed with sugar, salt and chili, giving a wonderful combination of 3 of 4 flavour profiles central to Thai cooking (salty, sweet, sour, spicy). We followed it with Som Tom (Green Papaya Salad), fresh, crunchy and a perfect combo of salt from the fish sauce, sour from the green papaya, sweet from the tomato and cane sugar, and spice from the chili. Pad Thai was our entree of choice and while it wasn't perfectly authentic it was fresh and a large serving. We splurged for dessert - deep fried ice cream and I finished the whole evening with an amazing cup of coffee. I cannot say it enough, I am sure it was probably the best cup of coffee I've had in a restaurant and maybe ever.
In total in worked out to be $48 + tip.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Our first day in pictures
Sorry - we know some of these require explanation but we have more fun things to do at the moment! We'll fill you in in later posts.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
J and J meet J
Well we chickened out after the ordeal of flying and the concerned expressions on all the faces of those when we indicated we were taking the Subway. We took a shuttle bus which while it was suppose to drop us off at our hotel, dropped us at Grand Central for a while, during which time we met J, specifically Jose, we also met Maureen, and a music director for the Fully Monty at the Playhouse and gawked at a young lady wearing a crinoline for a skirt. Jose tried to help us lighten the exhausted mood, as J like I (S&P) worked yesterday, and then bordered what was to be a red eye, but turned into something altogether different, though still red inducing. The redness was more in our faces as we fumed with the frustration of an incredibly cold cabin, overhead lights and screaming, running, shrieking children. Now don't get me wrong, as most days I come across like a child hater, it more the parents who believe that at 12pm PST your child should be jumping up and down on their seat screeching like a little banshee. Maybe I'm just tired, yes you know that would be accurate, wake for 26hours and I've had maybe 2 hours of interrupted sleep. However, the city is beautiful, it's hopeful and positive as J has noticed and it is cultured, because we currently sitting in a clean, safe and lovely Starbucks. We made it to NYC baby, now can I please have a shower?
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Breathe
I'm caffeinated and I'm ready to bs my way through a 500 word "assignment" before I start and finish that... I feel I must add that after reading J's post I realized that I do really and truly need a vacation, not a running trip a VACATION. And this is my theme song at the the moment, I am even tempted to print the lyrics and tape them to my computer screen so when my staff thinks about calling me this week, they can re-evaluate that idea. On that note, take comfort J, I am smiling, it's slowly forming, but it's coming...
Photo:http://www.flickr.com/photos/gogator/2146025506/
T-minus 42 hours
I can't believe this whimsical idea I came up with back in February actually happened, and that it's here already! I have been looking forward to it, but I guess it wasn't really real until now. Every time my supervisor would take out his palm to schedule something in this week, he'd look up and say, "What's this I have here, you're going to be away? Where are you going?" and I'd explain patiently that it's my 30th birthday, and I'm going to New York City to celebrate with my best girl friend, take in spring in New York and just enjoy myself after a deadly brutal four months of craziness at work. And he would nod thoughtfully, affirm that I needed a vacation, and file the knowledge away for the next time he asked me why I had booked the week off.
Now whether that absent-mindedness on his part was subconscious denial that I was actually planning to leave him to his own devices for a week, I'm not sure, but either way, it's here and there is a sh*tload of stuff to do (sorry mom, and S&P, you CAN swear on your own blog - so there.)
So I'm up super late tonight - partly because my sleep schedule's been out of whack for several months now (but really, has it ever been "in whack?"), and partly because there is so much to be done I'm really not sure what to do first. Yesterday was a flurry of family-ness as we gathered to celebrate Sister and Nephew's birthdays, eat barbeque and watch the little boys play like oversized puppies on sugar cubes. Hence, nothing otherwise productive was achieved.
So here's what's on the docket for Sunday:
- do laundry
- pack bag
- drive down to greyhound station to pick up toiletry bag I forgot on the sunshine coast last weekend and someone had to... oh forget it. long story.
- buy some new jeans and at least one top that doesn't make me look like a fat granny with a penchant for bad business attire/find a top that could be worn in the type of NYC nightspot I couldn't tell my mother I went to.
- Check that I have all of the requisite toiletry type business for the flight
- charge camera battery
The one really smart thing I've done in preparation for our imminent departure is get my chair tuned up. I woke up on thursday morning and the casters were locked up tight. Believe me, the thought of that sort of resistance training wheeling around NYC is not my idea of a great vacation, and the idea of leaving my chair in the hands of a stranger in New York makes me feel a little nauseous. My chair is all greased, tightened and de-hairified, and so I can at least say that the most important form of transportation on our trip is officially booked.
I keep thinking of when we'll finally meet up at the airport (S&P and I haven't traveled together before like this, mostly just road trips to my parents' place), what that will be like. I live to travel. It is my absolute favourite thing in the world, and I'm so excited to be going somewhere to just do that. The fact that I get to have someone smart and fun whom I'm close to to share it with, that's even better.
S&P and I have both had a rough few months at work - S&P is more on the "I hate this job and you can all go screw yourselves" side of things and I'm more in the "I just cant sustain this craziness for one more second" realm, but suffice it to say that both of us deserve a good massage by my husband, Chris Martin, and to be custom fit in the Christian Louboutin factory.
So now - before I keel over and fall asleep on the floor, I will conclude this post by wondering exactly how I'm going to survive the next few hours without a meltdown? How lame is that, to have a stress breakdown about your own vacation. Truly LAME.
Now whether that absent-mindedness on his part was subconscious denial that I was actually planning to leave him to his own devices for a week, I'm not sure, but either way, it's here and there is a sh*tload of stuff to do (sorry mom, and S&P, you CAN swear on your own blog - so there.)
So I'm up super late tonight - partly because my sleep schedule's been out of whack for several months now (but really, has it ever been "in whack?"), and partly because there is so much to be done I'm really not sure what to do first. Yesterday was a flurry of family-ness as we gathered to celebrate Sister and Nephew's birthdays, eat barbeque and watch the little boys play like oversized puppies on sugar cubes. Hence, nothing otherwise productive was achieved.
So here's what's on the docket for Sunday:
- do laundry
- pack bag
- drive down to greyhound station to pick up toiletry bag I forgot on the sunshine coast last weekend and someone had to... oh forget it. long story.
- buy some new jeans and at least one top that doesn't make me look like a fat granny with a penchant for bad business attire/find a top that could be worn in the type of NYC nightspot I couldn't tell my mother I went to.
- Check that I have all of the requisite toiletry type business for the flight
- charge camera battery
The one really smart thing I've done in preparation for our imminent departure is get my chair tuned up. I woke up on thursday morning and the casters were locked up tight. Believe me, the thought of that sort of resistance training wheeling around NYC is not my idea of a great vacation, and the idea of leaving my chair in the hands of a stranger in New York makes me feel a little nauseous. My chair is all greased, tightened and de-hairified, and so I can at least say that the most important form of transportation on our trip is officially booked.
I keep thinking of when we'll finally meet up at the airport (S&P and I haven't traveled together before like this, mostly just road trips to my parents' place), what that will be like. I live to travel. It is my absolute favourite thing in the world, and I'm so excited to be going somewhere to just do that. The fact that I get to have someone smart and fun whom I'm close to to share it with, that's even better.
S&P and I have both had a rough few months at work - S&P is more on the "I hate this job and you can all go screw yourselves" side of things and I'm more in the "I just cant sustain this craziness for one more second" realm, but suffice it to say that both of us deserve a good massage by my husband, Chris Martin, and to be custom fit in the Christian Louboutin factory.
So now - before I keel over and fall asleep on the floor, I will conclude this post by wondering exactly how I'm going to survive the next few hours without a meltdown? How lame is that, to have a stress breakdown about your own vacation. Truly LAME.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
J says I can swear on my own blog
But I don't think that's the case for this one, so I will do my best as I drain the little bit of interwebs time I get from Bell at SBucks, no to do that. We are at like T minus too close right now. I still have a day of surgery to book, a newish sort of employee to train, a suitcase to pack and 3 papers/assignments to complete fully and submit before 7pm on Monday. Oh and of course get travel insurance, get American money, try and reconvince myself that us taking the subway from the airport isn't crazy, and figure out why our schedule doesn't seem full enough - we're missing the Gugenhemim, Empire State Building and other things right? Like Jacques Torres chocolate shop, Dean and Deluca and all that fun stuff right? Well it's here J, it's really here and we will be going regardless of whether I figure out how to pack everything in my suitcase or not. Woot! As J would say, and all I have to say is mumble mumble mumble.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/an_untrained_eye/1222063706/, from the New York City Library
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Melt Down
J and I (S&P) are headed for respective work melt downs - I having just worked 10 hours yesterday and headed for something like that again am about at my intellectual whits end, we passed all the other whits ends long ago - the sanity, the common sense, emotional and so on and so forth ones. Employees aren't helping, actually they're making it worse and I'm about ready to just, I don't know, call it all off? No that's really crazy talk, but it sure feels in this moment the saniest thing to do. To just throw my hands up and say fine, you all get your way I'll stay, I'll stay and make sure that your asses are covered, that the office doesn't fall apart. But you know what while that would show my boss that I do a lot to hold the practice he seems determined to sink afloat... my blood sugar is shot and I need some coffee. Just sending up a mutual SOS to all our lovely readers - we're tired. I guess the timing is just right, vay-cay here we come, if we can make it to you in one piece...
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Vendy Awards
I (S&P) read the New York Magazine once a week for the Fug Girls weekly column and more during fashion week. Sometimes I stumble upon other videos and articles - and I happened to in the fall stumble upon the Vendy Awards. Little did I know several months later when discussing food for the upcoming trip I would say hey they do a best of the vendors, ack what's it called courtesy of Google, I was reminded it's the Vendy's.
We will be tracking down a Vendy in each burrow if we can - the ice cream truck is huge on the list. Check out the video from the New York Magazine:
We will be tracking down a Vendy in each burrow if we can - the ice cream truck is huge on the list. Check out the video from the New York Magazine:
Monday, May 11, 2009
Meeting People
J and I both seem to have people we have yet to meet in real life that are in the NYC area. J has a pen pal of sorts and I guess E would be the same for me. We met via a dating site and while we were completely inappropriate for each other in a romantic sense we were able to have some amazing conversations. E was going to try and come up here to visit but it never panned out, so we're are trying to now see if it's going to work out this way. I know this is news to you J, he just FB'd me... ah the wonders of FB. So we will see it would be very cool if I could put a voice and person to the pictures and the emails. And I think that J feels likewise. It's funny given the structure of our lives, being behind screens and such like, and yet we just want to see the real thing... We are also planning on meeting lots of other people - single rich bachelors with huge hearts for foreign aid work are right at the very top of the list J, no?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Some Like it Hot
And some don't quite like it that way. People like me for example. I have been to Texas in the summer and I have to say I'm sure the red horned one would even find it intolerable. Thankfully NYC will not be that temperature when we arrive, however I am a little concerned because the weather seems like it's going to be on the cold side, like well the rest of the country seems to be and I don't want that either... Oh well regardless it is forecast to be beautiful and I'm sure it won't disappoint.For May: Average Precip: 4.5in and Min/Max Temp C: 12/21
Sunday, May 3, 2009
New York Minute: Reminders
Most likely to derail my workday? New York.
As seen in my workbook last week....
As seen in my workbook last week....
Hotel, check. Flight, check. New York, here we come...
At long last, we've found our hotel.
S&P (the other "J" of JandJmeetNYC) and I have wasted countless hours on the clock looking for the optimum hotel balance of price, distance, livability, access and cleanliness. Believe it or not - the latter was the hardest to satisfy!
Those of you who know us likely also know that S&P has some issues in the germ department. Specifically, she has declared a jihad on dirt, particularly the type that lives in hotel bathrooms. We had contemplated staying in the Beekman Tower hotel, one with such a fancy website and art deco-era stylings - plus every room is a suite with kitchen - that I couldn't pass it up, but S&P's worry was that the added square footage of cupboards and potentially moist countertops would mean bugs, mould and cockroaches. I can just imagine her nuking the vermin in her dreams. Originally, she nixed the Beekman out of hand, back when it was one of the best rated hotels in our "under $200 CDN/Night" price range, but as we drew closer to the day, and fewer and fewer hotels had elevator access, private bathrooms, and a reasonable price with availability when we wanted to be there, I guess her heart softened to the idea of getting something with a kitchenette. We reconsidered the Beekman.
We compared a variety of hotels, all verging on or surpassing our nightly rate budget... and we had access to a wide variety of booking deals - expedia.ca, hotels.com/.ca, travel411, and a special booking service available through my employer. Of them all, it turned out that Expedia.ca had the best offers all round, and was the most overtly trustworthy.
[side note: we had a bit of a close call with a rather confusing website we had been looking at for our flights. S&P had been comparing rates on hotel/flight packages online, and one of the sites had shown an impossibly cheap rate for the hotel - confusingly called cheaptickets.ca. Go ahead and compare cheaptickets.com and cheaptickets.ca, and you'll see what we eventually found out: the .ca website was a poor knockoff of the .com company, and a scan through the web for BBB listings found that others had been fooled by the .ca company, apparently based out of india, a bulk liquidator of travel tickets known for selling at impossibly competitive rates then recouping the costs through misleading fees, "mistakes," and fraudulent transactions. Buyer beware - always check the background of the travel website you are using. if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.]
So for the last two weeks, S&P and I have been passing furtive emails and text messages back and forth to each other at work, trying to agree upon a place to lay our heads on our vacation. The "NO list":
- no shared bathrooms (as in, with strangers) - eliminating hostels and most cheaper hotels
- no super-small hotel rooms (famous in NYC, the "boutique" and traveller hotels tend to have impossibly small, railroad sleeper coach style rooms, with one "double bed" being equivalent to a child's twin size.
- no "walkups" - specifically precluded by my wheelchair - it's picky like that.
- nothing below 3 stars - Actually if I'd let her, S&P would have chosen 4 stars. In fact, maybe she did. The one we ended up with was 3.5 stars, so hopefully it will suit.
- no bugs, no dirt: this is harder to evaluate, but a report of bugs or dirt on TripAdvisor was enough to nix it.
- No nasty, uncooperative or dodgy staff: when I took the time to read the TripAdvisor ratings, I tended to rule out those with repeated reports of bad staff. In my book, even the worst of amenities can usually be fixed with good house staff - a recent terrible experience at the Hotel Metropolitan in Toronto has me convinced of this.
The YES list:
- in Manhattan proper
- Under $200CDN/night (incl fees)
- reasonably close to transportation
- private bathrooms
- double or queen bed
- must have a functional elevator
- S&P wanted it to have a gym, but I kept saying that we could just run around central park. we'll see!
I'm reluctant to post specifics on our trip on the very public interwebs, but we are staying at what looks like a reasonably nice Upper East Side hotel near Bloomingdales. It could be dangerous.
S&P (the other "J" of JandJmeetNYC) and I have wasted countless hours on the clock looking for the optimum hotel balance of price, distance, livability, access and cleanliness. Believe it or not - the latter was the hardest to satisfy!
Those of you who know us likely also know that S&P has some issues in the germ department. Specifically, she has declared a jihad on dirt, particularly the type that lives in hotel bathrooms. We had contemplated staying in the Beekman Tower hotel, one with such a fancy website and art deco-era stylings - plus every room is a suite with kitchen - that I couldn't pass it up, but S&P's worry was that the added square footage of cupboards and potentially moist countertops would mean bugs, mould and cockroaches. I can just imagine her nuking the vermin in her dreams. Originally, she nixed the Beekman out of hand, back when it was one of the best rated hotels in our "under $200 CDN/Night" price range, but as we drew closer to the day, and fewer and fewer hotels had elevator access, private bathrooms, and a reasonable price with availability when we wanted to be there, I guess her heart softened to the idea of getting something with a kitchenette. We reconsidered the Beekman.
We compared a variety of hotels, all verging on or surpassing our nightly rate budget... and we had access to a wide variety of booking deals - expedia.ca, hotels.com/.ca, travel411, and a special booking service available through my employer. Of them all, it turned out that Expedia.ca had the best offers all round, and was the most overtly trustworthy.
[side note: we had a bit of a close call with a rather confusing website we had been looking at for our flights. S&P had been comparing rates on hotel/flight packages online, and one of the sites had shown an impossibly cheap rate for the hotel - confusingly called cheaptickets.ca. Go ahead and compare cheaptickets.com and cheaptickets.ca, and you'll see what we eventually found out: the .ca website was a poor knockoff of the .com company, and a scan through the web for BBB listings found that others had been fooled by the .ca company, apparently based out of india, a bulk liquidator of travel tickets known for selling at impossibly competitive rates then recouping the costs through misleading fees, "mistakes," and fraudulent transactions. Buyer beware - always check the background of the travel website you are using. if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.]
So for the last two weeks, S&P and I have been passing furtive emails and text messages back and forth to each other at work, trying to agree upon a place to lay our heads on our vacation. The "NO list":
- no shared bathrooms (as in, with strangers) - eliminating hostels and most cheaper hotels
- no super-small hotel rooms (famous in NYC, the "boutique" and traveller hotels tend to have impossibly small, railroad sleeper coach style rooms, with one "double bed" being equivalent to a child's twin size.
- no "walkups" - specifically precluded by my wheelchair - it's picky like that.
- nothing below 3 stars - Actually if I'd let her, S&P would have chosen 4 stars. In fact, maybe she did. The one we ended up with was 3.5 stars, so hopefully it will suit.
- no bugs, no dirt: this is harder to evaluate, but a report of bugs or dirt on TripAdvisor was enough to nix it.
- No nasty, uncooperative or dodgy staff: when I took the time to read the TripAdvisor ratings, I tended to rule out those with repeated reports of bad staff. In my book, even the worst of amenities can usually be fixed with good house staff - a recent terrible experience at the Hotel Metropolitan in Toronto has me convinced of this.
The YES list:
- in Manhattan proper
- Under $200CDN/night (incl fees)
- reasonably close to transportation
- private bathrooms
- double or queen bed
- must have a functional elevator
- S&P wanted it to have a gym, but I kept saying that we could just run around central park. we'll see!
I'm reluctant to post specifics on our trip on the very public interwebs, but we are staying at what looks like a reasonably nice Upper East Side hotel near Bloomingdales. It could be dangerous.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Run
J and I run. I have the disease and I've infected her, I think. We aren't the short short wearing runners you see effortlessly gliding like a gazelle in the distance, we are the average looking, hard working runner - we run to say we've run, to eat what we would like (sometimes) and to just get out there, see the world (or middle America) and say we've done it. I would like to say I've done a loop around Central Park and well we might have to, as I am preparing for a marathon, an if we find a hotel without a treadmill that I can haul my tired self onto a 5am I'm going to be in trouble....Central Park is the runners mecca, it's up there on the things for non-NYC runners to do, on the same list with qualify for Boston, run London etc., or maybe that's just my list... So yes if I could have my heart's desire we would get a good hotel close to Central Park and we'd cover my daily 6-10 miles before we hit the streets.
Photo: Paula Radcliffe (winner of the NYC marathon) http://www.flickr.com/photos/casadedarnoc/1875472306/
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Enjoy Earth Day - Eat a BIG APPLE
Here's what the nice folks of NYC are doing for Earth Day today (or Administrative Personnel day, as S&P called it.):
See New Yorkers celebrating Earth Day today:
...And at the first Earth Day, 1970:
See New Yorkers celebrating Earth Day today:
...And at the first Earth Day, 1970:
Shoes? Bah I can't believe I'm saying this but
I'm in a shoe rut, I'm dried out shoe wise, it's temporary don't worry my lovelies. I know that it is my bank accounts way of ensuring I do not go shopping before NYC, though I have to say I saw this lovely convertable dress... anyways back to my shoes. I love shoes, I must not go all bi-polar on this issue too, *yogic breathing* I would have to say as much as I love pom poms and all that I love a good classic shoe, the kind Ms. Von Tesse pulls off. So in honor of her and the shoes (the red ones) I wish I had for an upcoming party I will be attending in an attempt to *cough* seduce *cough* someone, these:
Monday, April 20, 2009
Events
Following on a previous post, it occurs to me that we should figure out what's on in NYC the week we are there. The following is from an Events page - it's suspiciously short, given it's a city with a bazillion residents, you'd think there would be more going on in the spring...
Ladies and Gentleman, we may be able to attend the New York Dachshund Festival. OOOoooo SQUEEEE! This makes our visit even more worthwhile. Really. OH! And S&P, we could take in the Fertility and Adoption conference... because that's what two women in their late 20s wanted to do with their vacation to New York. Really.
All kidding aside, I'm hoping we get to the International Food Festival and the Washington Square Public Art Exhibit. If anyone out there has access to a more complete look at public events coming up in NYC in May, please let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks!
May
Ladies and Gentleman, we may be able to attend the New York Dachshund Festival. OOOoooo SQUEEEE! This makes our visit even more worthwhile. Really. OH! And S&P, we could take in the Fertility and Adoption conference... because that's what two women in their late 20s wanted to do with their vacation to New York. Really.
All kidding aside, I'm hoping we get to the International Food Festival and the Washington Square Public Art Exhibit. If anyone out there has access to a more complete look at public events coming up in NYC in May, please let us know by leaving a comment. Thanks!
May
- Great Five Boro Bike Tour
- As the nation’s largest cycling event, the Great Five Boro Bike Tour attracts some 30,000 competitors to weave through the five boroughs on a 42-mile course. For more information, call (212) 932-0778.
- New York Jets Taste of the NFL Benefit
- The New York Jets sponsors an annual dinner in early May each year hosted by local 5-star restaurants, where guests can meet past and present football legends and participate in a silent auction, with proceeds benefiting programs that fight hunger. The specific restaurant venue may vary from year to year. Call (212) 485-8050 for more information.
- Ninth Avenue International Food Festival
- May transforms portions of Ninth Avenue from 37th to 5th street into one of New York's best street fairs. Call (212) 581-7217 for more information.
- Artists for the African Rainforest
- Celebrating a night for artists as well as Africa, the $500 per person fundraiser benefits men, women, and children of the Eastern Arc Mountains. Awards to activists are also announced. Call (212) 431-5508 for more information.
- Family Matters: National Fertility and Adoption Conference
- Hosted by the American Fertility Association, Family Matters: The National Fertility and Adoption Conference is the largest annual event of its kind. More than three dozen workshops are led by top physicians and healthcare professionals, providing fresh perspective on in vitro fertilization (IVF), female and male factor infertility, ovum donation, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), blastocyst transfer, alternative medicine, urology, adoption issues, and more. An exhibit hall features IVF programs, egg donor-surrogacy programs, urologists, and others. Meet face-to-face, ask, and learn. Call (212) 714-3537 for more information.
- Spring Dachshund Festival
- Every May, Washington Square Park hosts a party for Dachshunds and their owners, sponsored by the Dachshund Friendship Club. Call (212) 475-5512 for more information.
- Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit
- For more than 70 years, the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit has featured some 250 artists in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. Call (212) 982-6255 for more information.
- Art & Literacy Street Fair
- Maria Hernandez Park hosts a procession of children singing and dancing around the park at this street fair sponsored by the Coalition for Hispanic Family Services Arts and Literacy Program. Call (718) 497-6090 for more information.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
New York Minute: Art, Hula Hoops and Public Exhibitions
I'm re-naming the just-named "New York Reminder of the Day" to New York Minute.
Because I'm cliche'd like that - and maybe slightly nostalgic for the pre-anorexia-drugs-and-rock-and-roll teen extravaganza film by the-olsen-twins-turned-mary-kate-and-ashley , New York Minute, in which MK&A take over manhattan pretending to be real grown-ups. Or I'm just being ironic. Don't ya think?
In any case, I came across this on the innertoobs and thought it was a perfect New York Minute:
Storefront opens Hula-hoop dome
I confess that after I got all excited about posting this, I realized the date on it was 2007, so the 25th anniversary they speak of is now a 27th anniversary and likely to not inspire construction of an outdoor geodesic dome made of lit hula hoops. Undaunted, I say - this is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most for our visit to NYC in the spring - we will be there at a ripe time for outdoor exhibitions, displays, performances, and architecture (arguably, most of architecture is outdoors, no?), and hopefully at just the right time for great weather.
I envision strolling through central park, stopping to admire some street artist's work, going to the craft and veggie markets on the Wednesday and Saturday, and finding the out-of-the-way galleries that do crazy things like this.
New York - I expect thee to surprise me. Do not disappoint!
(Just for fun, here's a clip of the aforementioned New York Minute featuring La MK&A. Enjoy - don't deny it. I know you will.)
Because I'm cliche'd like that - and maybe slightly nostalgic for the pre-anorexia-drugs-and-rock-and-roll teen extravaganza film by the-olsen-twins-turned-mary-kate-and-ashley , New York Minute, in which MK&A take over manhattan pretending to be real grown-ups. Or I'm just being ironic. Don't ya think?
In any case, I came across this on the innertoobs and thought it was a perfect New York Minute:
Storefront opens Hula-hoop dome
New York’s iconoclastic Storefront for Art and Architecture is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a 26-day sequence of nightly events taking place beneath a lighted dome constructed out of white hula hoops. Built in Petrosino Park, a tiny sliver of green sandwiched between Soho and Little Italy, adjacent to the Storefront’s Kenmare Street location, the pavilion was designed by Korean architect Minsuk Cho and from a distance looks as if the moon has suddenly made a guest appearance in Manhattan.
I confess that after I got all excited about posting this, I realized the date on it was 2007, so the 25th anniversary they speak of is now a 27th anniversary and likely to not inspire construction of an outdoor geodesic dome made of lit hula hoops. Undaunted, I say - this is one of the things I'm looking forward to the most for our visit to NYC in the spring - we will be there at a ripe time for outdoor exhibitions, displays, performances, and architecture (arguably, most of architecture is outdoors, no?), and hopefully at just the right time for great weather.
I envision strolling through central park, stopping to admire some street artist's work, going to the craft and veggie markets on the Wednesday and Saturday, and finding the out-of-the-way galleries that do crazy things like this.
New York - I expect thee to surprise me. Do not disappoint!
(Just for fun, here's a clip of the aforementioned New York Minute featuring La MK&A. Enjoy - don't deny it. I know you will.)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Shoes, Shoes and More Shoes...
Shoes make me happy. They make me happy because feet always remain the same size, they do not cause muffins, VPL's or any unfortunately creasing. The right pair of pumps push up, bump out and make you walk and look well, like a woman, and is that so bad? Sure I will admit I've had my fair share of walking barefoot with pumps in hand(where's a guy to carry you when you need them), bleeding ankles (those shoes got donated after that night...) and lost toenails (the same pair I walked barefoot with - and I still own them, they're red peep toe stilettos I searched too long for them to give them up) amongst other tragedies... none so great though as being told by Dr. K that I had to choose, give up heels or running. It is the only thing I've ever fought with a doctor on, and it's even in the consult letter - don't worry we're still friends and I still baulk at him every time he says it.Shoes though for two years of my life made sad, and they still do at times when I think about where they come from. I have to say I was a vegan, you can say whateveryouwant for me jumping ship. See the thing is I still really prefer not to buy animal products (or eat them) when it comes to my clothes. You will not see me in furs or leather or with a leather purse. But I do have leather shoes, primarily because I just can't afford Stella's shoes or Natalie's line. But we can look right? Above is a beautiful pair (peep toe, pompom and T-strap all on one shoe!!) from Natalie Portman's line available in Soho...
Sunday, April 12, 2009
New York Reminder of the Day: Sexy pick-me-ups (and Miranda)
The first ladies of NYC, the Sex In the City girls, get their groove back on when Miranda finally finds she fits back into her pre-pregnancy skinny jeans. In honor of S&P's passion for hot shoes and jeans, here is the clip.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
I am S&P and I am addicted to shoes... but just look at them!
So I think we've made it very clear that I have an issue/addiction/obsession with gorgeous shoes, and so on that note J has requested that I start posting all the shoes (generalized) that I would love to procure. Numero Uno on that list is these - the real McCoy, a pair of Louboutin platform, almond toe, animal print pumps. Why because I believe that these are possibly sexier than a pair of boots. I know that just about every man I know would disagree, and thus why I do own a pair of boots and not these shoes, yet. I will not be buying these shoes because, well there are many other to be purchased as well, but their lower end counterpart will not go unloved. I was trying explain this need for these shoes to J, that they represent a guaranteed sexy pick me up. These are for me the thing that a manicure, a pair of skinny jeans (Sex in the City - Miranda) or one of the numerous other weapons women hide in their repertoire for that special real date, I loathe my JLo day or I can't believe my barista didn't give me my regular free latte, my flirting mojo has lost me day. That and well most days I feel too Audrey for my liking and not enough Marilyn, maybe that rocks some men's boats and even women, but it doesn't do it for me and I hope these shoes do it for someone, as I need all the help I can get.
New York Reminder of the Day: The Guggenheim
** Reminder of the day is a feature in which we obsessively document the daily reminders of our upcoming trip to New York. Enjoy the minutiae!J was reading National Geographic today (because that's what she's like, folks. She reads National Geographic.) and we noticed a small article and photo of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, better known as the Guggenheim - one of New York's famed museums.
The Goog, as I have decided to call it, is famed from roles in recent movies such as
The International (in which it was the location for a massive, 20-minute-long shootout starring the luscious Clive Owen), and as the site of an extra-terrestrial manhunt by the slightly less luscious Will Smith in Men in Black. It was opened by Solomon R. Guggenheim as a permanent home for modern, contemporary and post-impressionist works of art. The Building itself is also a work of art whose spiral design done by Frank Lloyd Wright is recognizable by people around the world.
Coincidentally, there are also some important pieces of art and culture in this museum, collections by Cezanne, Gauguin, Picasso, Monet, among others. See current collections.
What I would love to do is go to one of their Art After Dark parties, taking place on the first friday of the month, mixing fashionable people, fashionable art, drinks, and the best DJs and town. Sounds like a rave for the young intelligentsia.... perfect for J and J. However - sadly, this event is over until the fall. ARG!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Play Ball!
While my band loving Aussie was away this weekend, I found myself listening to a lot of sports talk radio - I guess the silence was getting to me. Surprise! It's baseball season starting now, or more accurately yesterday. Now I know J hates hockey and I have no love for any New York teams, especially the Rangers since they took the cup from us... but I was wondering why not a baseball game. It's Yankee Stadium, I mean just think how many dates we might be able to swing in the future J if we say we made sure we made sure we were there to see the boys play. Now I will admit I think it's about the most boring of the sports games, and I really only will watch the playoff if the Jays are playing and well that hasn't happened in eons so, it hasn't happened in this decade. But it's the Yankee's it as quintessential as Lady Liberty... I know my argument is weak but let's say I might be willing to give up Saks and maybe Bloomingdales...Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seth_holladay/181599940/
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Big Apple, Bigger Prices
I (S&P) have to say as much as I would like to leave NYC with a pair of Louboutin's I am fully prepared to leave with work staples and a little personal restock at Victoria's. One of the things I would most love to do would be to have a meal at one of those restaurants... one of those that at this point in time we likely couldn't get a reservation to, like Per Se. At my heart I am a foodie and a footie (I guess) I have a deep love and appreciation for really good food and fine made shoes. Sure I fill my closet and fridge with middle of the road labels and even some cheapies to fill out the gaps, but really when it comes down to it, I know there is a difference between homemade and bought, organic and conventional and I am of the bias few (which includes J) who believe something heirloom is vastly better in every way than GM'd. All that being said, while I understand the reasoning behind the cost involved (275 per person), I just can't rationalize that I'm also paying for the hype of NYC and the name.Per Se's Tasting Menu for this week, March 30.
TASTING OF VEGETABLES
March 30, 2009
________________________________________________________
"BAVAROI S DE CHOU-FLEUR"
Piquillo Pepper Glaze, Shaved Romanesco Cauliflower, Crispy Capers
and Young Cilantro with Preserved Meyer Lemon Syrup
SALAD OF HAWAIIAN HEARTS OF PEACH PALM
Haupia, Compressed Pineapple and Field Mizuna
with Hass Avocado Purée
CHICKPEA "CROQUANTS"
Braised Heirloom Carrots, Niçoise Olive "Petals"
and Sylvetta with Niçoise Olive Oil
SQUIRE HILLS FARM’S AMERAUCANA HEN EGG
Ragoût of Forest Mushrooms
with Watercress Leaves
Ragoût of Forest Mushrooms
with Watercress Leaves
RUSSET POTATO GNOCCHI
Fava Beans and Pea Tendrils
with "Cacio e Pepe"
Fava Beans and Pea Tendrils
with "Cacio e Pepe"
ANSON MILLS’ WHITE POLENTA "AGNOLOTTI"
Violet Artichokes, Garlic Chips and Wilted Dandelion Greens
with Green Garlic "Pudding"
Violet Artichokes, Garlic Chips and Wilted Dandelion Greens
with Green Garlic "Pudding"
"HOJA SANTA"
"Pain de Campagne" Melba, Grilled Vidalia Onion
and Confit of Holland Eggplant with Salsa Verde
"Pain de Campagne" Melba, Grilled Vidalia Onion
and Confit of Holland Eggplant with Salsa Verde
"GORGONZOLA DI MONTAGNA"
Compressed Bartlett Pears, Red Endive
and Candied Walnuts with Saporoso Vinaigrette
Compressed Bartlett Pears, Red Endive
and Candied Walnuts with Saporoso Vinaigrette
BUTTERMILK-THYME SHERBET
Lemon-Poppy Seed Cake, Thyme "Pâte de Fruit"
and Poppy Seed Caramel
Lemon-Poppy Seed Cake, Thyme "Pâte de Fruit"
and Poppy Seed Caramel
SPICED MUSCOVADO "CASSONADE"
Coffee "Joconde," Granny Smith Apple Chip
and Coffee Jelly with Jasmine Ice Cream
Coffee "Joconde," Granny Smith Apple Chip
and Coffee Jelly with Jasmine Ice Cream
Friday, March 27, 2009
Living NYC Style
Probably the most famous apartment in NYC doesn't belong to The Trump, but to a passel of angsty 20-somethings. It's impossibly large, the heater doesn't work, and it has that oh-so-cheeky picture frame around the peephole.
Oh yeah - and it has some really liberated neighbours, I hear.
But.... the idea of visiting NYC has me thinking of the stereotypical New York "pad," where everything is cool and you could have a cocktail party with perfect music break out at any moment. I want that apartment!! Mine has so much potential, with too much furniture (and a gawdawful kitchen).
So at this juncture, I turn to www.apartmenttherapy.com for some soft core home reno porn. Seriously - this site has it all and a hat tree. Nice graphic design, reasonable writing (where there is some), beautiful home tours... and they all cater to those of us who live in small spaces. :) yay!
J - I hope we meet some nice non-axe-murderer types who will invite us to come see their place in some hip doorman building near the park, someone with a bedroom like... this, maybe? It would solve your shoe lust, for sure...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wish List Part 2
I completely concur with Part 1 with these additions/hopes:
1. Try on a pair of Mahalo Blahniks and then have J pry them out of my cold, clammy with lust hands and usher me out of the store stat and then repeat in Louboutin - Why? Because I LOVE shoes and J could take me down long before I wrestle my MasterCard from her possession.
2. Vegan Soft Serve - Honestly I believe it's a myth, like Puff the Magic Dragon and 1/2 price Dior, after years of reading of the wonders of Brooklyn and NYC's Vegan Food I need to get my tofu binge on.
3. Perch myself on some high end bar stool and attempt to not fall off in fright if I get talked to - a free drink would be such a coup J wouldn't it? Because well I don't have the kind of cash I need to support my martini habit in NYC.
4. My vote for the NYC Concert is way in the boonies - Ryan Montbleau - but hey if we can see Ray if he's over there then bring it on.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wish List, Part 1
So, here's what I'm hoping to see. J and I came up with a few criteria:
- see a broadway show (Wicked!)
- see a musical act we'd never get back home
- go
shoppingwindow shopping at least once - Tour the UN (I'd like to see UNICEF offices too)
- See the WTC site
- Go to at least one museum (Pref's: MOMA, the Guggenheim, The Met, Museum of Photography)
- See some of the neighbourhoods we've always heard about: TriBeCa, SoHo, Hell's Kitchen, Greenwich Village...
Walk through Central Park (side note - not sure if I'm going to be able to do this without expecting to see naked face-down bodies half-buried in every bush. I'll be on the path and hear "dun, dun-dun dun-dun, DUNNNNN" and then Benjamin Bratt and his chiseled jaw will jump out of a police cruiser and cordon off the scene. And then kiss me.)
NYC: T minus 45 days
So, we've been talking about going to New York for a few weeks now - ever since I looked up at my impending big 3-0 and wanted to crawl under my sheets. Too many assignments! Too much School! What have I done with my life, anyway?
Luckily, when a girl's got a friend, she's got a whole lot. A panicked email to my friend J ensued:
Want to go on a trip? What about New York? I'm turning 30 and need to do something stupendous. Interested?
And since then, we've been wasting time at work (ahem, investing in our personal development), sending itineraries, articles and sexy food pictures back and forth to each other.
The beginning of a perfect adventure.
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