Flashback ... to A-Phi

So this past weekend I was in town without guests - what to do. A friend from my firm, Rodrigo, and I decided to explore our city. He hadn't been to Central Park in about 10 yrs so Nissa and I decided to show him around. First I sent Nissa to a new groomer so she'd look snazzy, but the groomer totally butchered her cut, but I'll save that rant for another day. Anyway, we headed into the park and met a ranger (yep, they exist in a city too). She told us how to figure out where we are in the park so Rodrigo could post it on foursquare (he's a bit obsessed). Turns out that every lamp post in the park tells you which cross-street you are at and some even tell you if you are West, Central, or East. Amazing, now I'll never be lost. After that we headed to the Rambles near the Lake, before stopping at a cafe for some Sangria in the Park.

Next, he convinced me I should come to a house party in the lower east side. I have to say I felt like I was back in college at a frat party or apartment party. There was the token, very drunk, preppy guy spraying everyone with champagne, the drunk giggly girls hanging on the guys, music that was only missing Aqua's Barbie Girl (which I played when I got home just to complete the night), and my friend and I were on the dance floor belting out I Will Survive (along with the slightly newer Single Ladies). Yep, just like college. It was a lot of fun to dance again, but I forgot how sticky alcohol covered floors get.

Sunday was a little less eventful, with a bit of sleeping in and finishing up some work for Monday, but one has to be able to pay for their life. ;-)

Actually, speaking of paying for life, I have a finance guy - really. They kept calling my office so I finally met with one and despite not having much money he's looked over my debt/income ratio (way too much student debt - it's half my take home, ugh. It is even more then my rent). Beside the 401K (which we spiced up with some additions) and paying of student debt, we are setting up short-term and long-term savings plans and tax-shelters. Yep, I get to have a tax shelter - not sure exactly how yet. It turns out you need about 3M to set up a trust which amazingly I don't have. Though I felt really lucky when I got my lottery ticket the other day. ;-) Apparently, it is within a life insurance policy but I haven't had the time to figure it all out yet. We met this past Monday and finalized the 401K strategy and started my tax-shelter paperwork. I'll keep you posted, since I need to be approved for life insurance before we go any further.

More flashback for the coming weekend and a shout out to Big Red Wines, most of who I will see this weekend in Philly. Can't wait!

Quote of the Post:

I'm a barbie girl, in the barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

- Aqua, Barbie Girl

Dogs and Terrorists and Wicked, Oh My!

This past weekend ended up being quite an adventure. Two vet buddies came to town with intentions of exploring parks with our dogs and seeing Wicked on Broadway - we got a lot more.

Amy, Connie and Ike arrived Saturday and the first order of business was to explore Central Park with Nissa and Ike after a quick lunch of burgers at the Riverwalk. Due to a misjudgment on my part, we ended up walking along a cross-park road with no entry to the park all the way to the west side (but plenty of taxis). There we finally entered the park and frolicked with dogs and people alike around the lake.

We made a quick dash to my apartment to settle the pups in and get ready for our Wicked night. We arrived in time and wow, what a great show. The set and costumes were fantastic, the songs memorable and the singing amazing. Well worth the wait and I would recommend you see it if it comes to town.

We had reservations at The View for dinner afterwards and so headed into the heart of Times Square only to be thwarted by barricades, police, reporters and smoke and where directed west to 8th Ave. As we walked along it became clear there was no way to get to The View and the mounted police were extending the barricades north of Times Square so we made a quick dash into Tasti-D for sustenance and ran east so we didn't get stuck cutting through Central Park at night. Once home we turned on the news only to learn we had been less then 1/2 a block from a suspected terrorist bombing attack. Geez, I feel safe. Even better it was the street vendors that noticed the smoking car, not the police - I suddenly feel like buying some fake Louis Vuitton to support them! Luckily I had some leftover pizza to reheat and Sherlock Holmes for us to enjoy while we came to terms with our adventure.

No weekend would be complete without a trip to Le Grainne Cafe and a walk on the Highline to walk off the best french toast ever. New this time was the construction site of a water feature in the park; can't wait for it to be completed. Next we headed back to the east side to meet Amy's friend at Serendipity for frozen hot chocolates, not a bad way to finish a weekend. I am hoping this weekend is a little less exciting though.

Quote of the Post:
I don't cause commotions, I am one.
- Elphaba Thropp, Wicked

New York, New York

This weekend included a visit from my sister. For Christmas she got me tickets to a Broadway show and we finally both had free time. We enjoyed Spanish tapas on Friday, shopped on Saturday and then took a quick ride to Patsy's for yummy pizza before the show. We saw La Cage Aux Folles and it was fabulous! I couldn't believe how funny it was; laughed the whole time and we munched on Godiva chocolate covered pretzels. Doesn't get better then that.

Afterwords we headed to The View, a revolving restaurant in times square. A bit pricey but amazing views in 360 of the night lights of NY and NJ. We also managed to fit in a makeover. Go figure. Gotta love the city that never sleeps. It wore us out eventually so then we headed home.


The next morning we were up to get my favorite french toast and to meet up with Connie. Connie was taking "Stanley" around to see NY, a character her young nephew sent her in a way to explore the world with his class at school. Here is Stanley enjoying Central Park. Both Sara and Connie left me via train to return to upstate. More adventures next weekend.

Quote of the Post:
I want to wake up in the city, that never sleeps ...
If I can make it there, I can make it just about anywhere
New York, New York
- Frank Sinatra

Random Rantings

Why do smartphones make people so stupid? I swear, if I have one more person shuffling along, head down, furiously typing walk into me I might have to go on a blackberry/iphone mass destruction rampage. Seriously, what is so important that you have to respond this second and yet requires you to slowly and painfully move slowly like an inebriated old man. It can either wait 5 minutes until you get to your destination or should require your full attention, so stop, deal with it and get out of my way. Thxs.

So on my little island we have our own police force, but we are all too happy to have police so we call our NYPD Public Safety Officers. As I walked home yesterday on a pedestrian path I heard a little motor coming up behind but it was moving faster then the wheelchairs that populate my island. Yep, here came the PSO on his own Segway - really, the cars, SUVs and 20 mountain bikes they have aren't enough, they need Segways so police my 2 mile island? Of course they do. I feel safer already, here comes the cavalry on Segways.

If you live in a city and choose to have a dog - pick it up. Really, do I have to list the million reasons for dog and human health alike that you should do so. And then when dogs get banned from yet another park for leaving gifts you sit there and complain - it is your damn fault. You are giving all of us dog owners a bad reputation. And to the girl who informed me that her dispenser didn't go with her outfit and no she didn't want a bag because she didn't like picking it up.. Seriously, you have a dog, that is part of it.

Finally, tourists. Now I work in Midtown between Rockefeller Center and Times Square so tourists are everywhere but stopping in the middle of an intersection to take a picture, risking your life, for something you could buy a better copy of from a street vendor makes no sense to me. Also stopping dead suddenly during rush hour is going to get you shoved around and sworn at, so don't do it. The other night I realized I'd become a New Yorker. There was some starlet, dressed to the nines in a shimmery silver cocktail dress, ordering a hot dog from a street vendor and then eating the hot dog with just enough sexual innuendo to make the paparazzi and tourists go into a picture taking frenzy and I, along with all the New Yorkers trying to get home, kept shoving through the swarm of photographers, jostling their pictures and not even stopping to know who the "star" was. Seriously, they have sound stages for that, use them. K, enough for today - best to all of you.

Quote of the Post:
Renfield: I don't know what you're talking about. If you insist on ranting like this, I'm going to leave!
Dr. Seward: Me, ranting? You're the ranter!
- Dracula, Dead and Loving it

An Empire State of Mind

What a weekend. Liz & Ed were in town and took on all of NYC. I joined for the weekend (had to work some). Friday night we had some amazing Spanish tapas in Queens (yep, we left the island). The next morning we headed to Chelsea for some amazing french toast at a little cafe near the High Line Park. I really think its the best I've had. Those of you who spent the summer in Paris with me, this place also has some amazing sweet and savory crepes, almost as good as our little street stand. The highlight was getting slimed Nickelodeon-style by pesto flying out of the kitchen. The food got comped though (and no, I didn't take pictures of the slime). That night we had plans to eat at Plataforma Churrascaria, a Brazilian steakhouse, so no more eating for the rest of the day (other then a rejuvenating chai) so off to the sites.



Turned out Ed hadn't seen the sites so we headed to the Empire State Building - we got drawn in by the $20 sign only to learn after going through airport-style security and Disney lines that an extra $15 would get us to the real top at 102 floors compared to the measly 86th. Well, of course then we'll have to pay for it. Many elevators and lines later we made it to the 86th floor only to realize that our tickets to the 102nd floor were missing (not that I'm going to say names, Ed you know who you are). We enjoyed the views, didn't drop anything to kill poor pedestrians below and found a nice attendant who allowed us up with our receipts. Turns out the 102nd floor was suppose to be the waiting room for those arriving and departing NYC via blimp to Europe - yep, they intended to dock blimps on the 103rd floor and have people tightrope to the waiting room. Best idea ever. We had amazing weather and could see all the way to the Catskills but it will be a long time before I feel the need to drop $35 to go up again. Right before this though Liz and I headed to Purl to drool over wool and think of all the projects we'll never have time to knit. Turns out they are in the middle of a move to a much larger place (still in soho though). Well, no visit to NYC would be complete without times square so off we headed to enjoy the lights and crowds. Although it was nice, apparently it wasn't warm enough for the naked cowboy but I think he saw enough to appreciate the gaudy glory that is Times Square. We headed back to my apartment to enjoy a skyline sunset and have a dog walk (burn a few more calories before our steak feast).


Well, Plataforma Churrascaria lived up to its reputation - it was fun, tasty and had excellent service. The salad bar included good sushi and fresh shrimp, yum. Then plates of meats appeared magically, being sliced off the swords it was skewered on by cute guys. Top it all off with a great bottle of Syrah and I have to say I enjoyed it. I might eat even less beforehand if I go again though; I almost rolled home. Oh, the desserts were pretty good to, but the complimentary fortified wine was great - couldn't understand what they called it though. C'este la vie. Guess I'll just have to go back to find out. ;-)

Between the trip to Purl and a fun order from Knitpicks arriving, I am back knitting. I think my first project will be a bag to carry shoes to work or maybe I'll finely finish my sweater project.

Quote of the Day:
Mac: We may be guilty of creating an urban legend, but there's no way this building is guilty of murder.
Danny: Alright. Well if the Empire State Building didn't do it, what did?
- CSI: NY

My loyal X31 is retired

Yep, 7 years of good reliable service are coming to an end. My trusty IBM thinkpad (yes, pre-lenovo) is finally getting a well deserved rest. I just recieved and I am writing this on an ASUS UL30VT-A1. Don't ask me what all the letters and numbers mean, I have no idea. I was going to go with a lenovo x201 but this was 1/2 the price with the many of the same features as I wanted. That means more fun stuff for my apartment. It also means I'll have a faster machine that might be able to handle the massive undertaking of publishing my Australia pics appropriately. Who knows, I might actually get some of them up for you to enjoy.

Quote of the Post:
Trust The Computer. The Computer is your friend.
-"Computer's Credo", Paranoia

NYC - A New Adventure

I am finally settling into my new city, NYC. I never thought I would love it but I am starting to really enjoy my new home. I love my apartment on RI though we are currently without of famous tram - yep, I can take a gondola to work. Nissa loves all the parks and has her own walker who takes her to the local dog park. I am catching up with old friends, have had an unbelievable number of visitors and am really enjoying getting to know my co-workers. I could (and do) sit for hours enjoying my view of the skyline. I have to say, the only thing that needs improvement is my work load - right now I don't have one! I know that sounds great but sitting around all day waiting for the phone to ring with an assignment is a bit boring. My firm is trying by keeping us busy with trainings and I am getting good at short doc reviews.

One of the best things about my new home is the food. Not so great for the diet I was trying but it is fabulous to have a good version of any food you can imagine and I can get it at almost any time of day. Now if they could only make it taste as great but with 0 calories, then I wouldn't have to resist so many treats.

Well, here is to regular updates.