Fall into Fall

While everyone at home is fighting hurricanes and 90 degree heat, New York is experiencing the first twinges of Fall. That means light sweaters and a brand new search for winter boots appropriate for walking the city.

For us, it also means visitors. We are expecting Daryl's Mom and stepdad and my Mom next week. It will be great weather for them to experience the city.

As an added bonus, I somehow scored tickets to David Letterman for all of us. Stay tuned on our star turn.

Sept 11 Blues

I'm afraid to ride the subway tomorrow. I'm going to work from Home. Daryl is driving to connecticut.

The New York-Mobile Phase 1

Since we are about to officially move into the city, and since both the inspection and registration on my car are expired, I've begun the process of trying to register my car in the state of New York.

Sounds easy, right? Well, it's about as easy as catching a greased pig. Perhaps it's because they don't do that much here in The Big Apple that this process is sooo convoluted.

In order to register the car, I first have to have a New York driver's license. Easy enough, as long as you have an out-of-state drivers license with an issue date on it AND a copy of your social security card. And I have neither.

So, the first thing I had to do to prove my drivers license issue date was to order a copy of my driving record.

Check.

Second, since I haven't had a copy of my Social Security Card for years, I had to get a replacement. Thankfully, since I have a valid passport, this wasn't too difficult. But I had to take time off work to schlep up to the Social Security office in Spanish Harlem. Oh what a joyful time I had waiting in line with my fellow Americans for the doors to the office to open! One of them felt the need to share what I think was a diatribe about US immigration policy at the top of her lungs for about 10 minutes.

But after I got inside, I only had to wait a very short while. I already had my paperwork filled out (I thought! At the last minute I looked over the form and realized I needed my Mom and Dad's social security numbers. Fortunately Dad was home and was able to give me that info before they called my name.) and when my number came up, I was ready to go.

A great little guy helped me out and I was out of there in a snap. AND the card came in the mail just one week later.

Phase 1 complete.

This week, I'll make the trek to the DMV to get my new license. Hopefully they don't have too many greased pigs there. Wish me luck . . .

Moving Day Is Set!!!!

We've inked the deal. We are MOVING IN on July 6!!!

Yea!!!

Parking Ticket Update

Remember that unjust parking ticket I got a while back? (see "The Injustice" from March.)

Well I challenged it online, taking advantage of a program that allows a judge to review a statement that you type up.

A few days ago I got a letter in the mail stating that they had received my challenge and they wanted to offer me two options:

• I could go ahead and pay it, and they would knock off $20 bucks (um . . . thanks a lot)
• Or I could do nothing and it would proceed to a judge for review

I chose to do nothing. I figure it's a long shot that it will get dismissed, but it's a chance I'm willing to take, and it's worth an extra $20 bucks to have my voice HEARD!

Memorial Weekend Madness

I had a fun-packed Memorial Day Weekend. The Boy was out of town, so I kicked it off by going out with The West Side Beauty and The Little Nolita Lady.

We started out trekking down to the end of the island to Battery Park Gardens bar/restaurant for a hurried and hot cocktail on the veranda. (Just as soon as we sat down, they began shooing us out to make room for their dinner reservations.)

We left there for the coup d'etat. Dinner at The Waverly Inn. You know the Waverly Inn - it's tres exclusive with no published phone number. Only A-listers apparently have the phone number intel. The only other way to get a table is to go there in person to make your reservation. So The Little Nolita Lady did, and so we did.

It's a great little spot - very old-world European, with murals on the walls and atrium seeting in the back. Food was just so-so, but we developed a riotous rapport with the waitstaff, and fueled by a few cocktails and a bottle of wine- we had a great time!

Our next stop was Diablo something in the Village for margaritas. We talked a little, drank a little. Then it was time to go. Thank goodness for public transportation!

I got home safe and sound about 1 am, and spent all day Saturday paying for my transgressions.

Later, it was off to dinner at Varietal with some H-town friends. The fixed-price ($39), 3-course meal was divine! Service was also excellent. Probably my best meal yet.

By Sunday I was my old (very old) self again and drove into the city by myself for a little run in the park, a little paint shopping for the apt and a little brunch at a place nearby called The Island. I tucked into some eggs and bacon and my New York Times and enjoyed the wafting breeze through their open doors.

I wished The Boy was with me to enjoy. Thankfully, I was picking him up at the airport later that night, and we were able to celebrate Memorial Day together picnicking with friends in Central Park.

Apartment Update

New walls should be up today. The existing walls and trim should be finished next week, and the floors the week after that. We're just able to measure for the kitchen cabinets later this week, so that will take a little longer to complete.

I'm planning to move in at the end of June, but our stuff probably won't follow until July. Ugh.

H-Town Visit Highlights

Went home a few weeks ago to celebrate Brooke's graduation from law school. Here are the highlights.

5. Seeing family and friends.
4. Mexican food and margaritas at El Tiempo.
3. Walking around Rice University with Courtney.
2. Introducing Stacey to my loud family.
1. Witnessing this interaction at the West Alabama Ice House:

Brooke (to hot guy): I graduated from law school today. What did you do?

Hot Guy: I graduated from medical school.

Ouch.

(But he did call her after.)

Hope Lives!

After months of waiting, biting our nails and cursing the system, the apartment renovation is finally under way with a vengeance! Walls have come down, and new ones are starting to take shape. Even the offending pole that we found inside the wall of what is to become our new kitchen doorway has been deemed safe to remove.

The move in date of mid to late June is looking more and more feasible all the time. We might just make it in before next Christmas after all.

Tribeca Film Festival Ups and Downs

After a positive first outing at the Tribeca Film Festival, we were pleasantly surprised when Live! turned out to be deliciously provocative. So, with high expecations, we walked into the screening of Taxidermia.

Well, all I can tell you is that the scene where he shoots a three-foot stream of fire from his penis was the high point. From there, the movie explored masturbation, competitive eating and vomiting (lots of vomiting), and auto-taxidermia and suicide. I don't know why we stayed to watch the whole movie. I think we were in shock. When we left, we felt assaulted. And though I had initially impressed Daryl with my movie choices, he once again judged me a bad movie picker - Taxidermia being so bad, that it completely overshadowed the two earlier picks.

Heard on the Street in East Village

From one man to another, "Hey man, Jesus loves you, even if you do have a small prick."

Finally!

The Board finally approved our renovation request. Yea! Now, barring any issues with our contractor, who has been patiently twiddling his thumbs waiting for the OK to get moving, we should start the demo on Monday. (audible sigh of relief)

Experiencing New York

The Boy and I had a great New York experience this weekend. First, we went to visit the apartment and had lunch at EAT, Eli Zabar’s fancy upper east side diner/picnic food extravaganza. The food was good, but pricy for what it was. Better than most diner food, but we were left unsure whether it was worth $40 bucks for a steak sandwich, soup and sliced cucumbers. However, the people watching was great. Lots of rich UES ladies with perfect hair and hip ensembles.

Later, we headed downtown for a movie. I had gotten tickets to see some movies at the Tribeca Film Festival, and we went to the first one on Saturday.

I picked 3 movies – one I thought The Boy was sure to like, one I thought we’d both like and one for me.

The one I picked out for The Boy was a low-budget horror flick called “Mulberry Street” which is about a rat-borne virus that turns people into giant, rat-like zombies who go around attacking and eating each other.

The movie was OK—not too scary but kind of gross—and the writer and director get extra kudos because it provides subtle commentary on the war, government management (or mismanagement) of emergencies, and greedy landowners.

The best parts of the evening, though, were (1) the anticipation leading up to going into the movie – standing in line with the other people with special tickets, waiting for the theatre to open, and (2) that they had MnMs, so I was able to enjoy the movie with my favorite movie watching combo of popcorn and MnMs (3) listening to the Q&A after the movie with the director, screenwriters and members of the cast. The theatre was packed, but it felt like you were part of something small, cool and creative.

The funniest part of the Q&A was when someone asked what was the most expensive part in making the movie. They said that the rat, shown in the movie’s beginning, was the same rat that appeared in the end of the movie “The Departed.” Renting that rat for a few hours was the most expensive part of the project. “He was the highest-paid actor in the movie,” deadpanned the director.

After the movie, we walked uptown a bit to have drinks at The Modern, the next-door bar and restaurant to the museum. We've had bad service there before, but tonight they were on their game. Some cocktails, a little bread and cheese – it was all good. Then we took a $9 cab ride back to our apartment and dreamed about the days to come when that is the end of our journey. Alas, we picked up our car from the parking garage and drove back to Jersey.

HISTORY Lesson

So I'm a bit of a history buff, and I try to collect history books about places I am visiting or, in this case, places I have moved to. I've been hankering to dig into the Big Apple's lore.

New York has such a rich and fabled history, so imagine my surprise when two trips to the bookstore turned up almost nothing. In fact, the hilarious irony was that I found at least half a dozen books on Texas history!

I did finally turn up a gem - New York, An Illustrated History. I have been geeking out on for the past few days - and LOVING it. It is fantastic. And, to make it even better, the book is a complement to a multidisk PBS series. (Attn, Santa!)

Anyway, I've learned about the lineage of Wall Street and Water Street, the original name of New York and where the name Bronx came from.

Curious?

New York was originally settled as a business colony - not a religious colony like the other colonies in the New World. From the get go, the main objective, was to make money. Under Dutch rule as part of a Dutch Trading company scheme, the area spent the first 40 some odd years of it's life known as New Amsterdam. In order to keep themselves safe from the native Lanape peoples and from the increasingly greedy British explorers, the colonists built a wall around their new community (Now known as Wall Street). Being Dutch, they were also partial to canals, so dug a few into the interior of the colony so it felt more like home (canal st. and water street). When the British took over, they changed the name of the city to New York. The Bronx was named after the man who settled the area - Bronck.

Belly and Burger

It was a beautiful weekend - breezy, sunny 70s. The whole city took on a whole new feel as people previously locked inside ventured outside to enjoy the sunshine. The Boy summarized it like this, "The clouds went in and the belly's came out," referring to the abundance of women we've seen the last few days showing off their mid-drifts.

To celebrate the good weather, we waited in line for an hour and a half at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. It was long - but worth the wait. The Boy recommends the Shake Burger, cheese fries and the strawberry shake.

Seen and Heard

Heard in the elevator at work:

4 co-workers enter the elevator.

GIRL 1

(to Girl 2)

Where are you running off to?

GIRL 2

I've got a date. A first date.

EVERYONE

Cool.

GIRL1

(to Girl 3)

What about you? Aren't you going somewhere?

GIRL 3

Yes. I am going somewhere, but it's not anything as exciting a first date. I'm getting a masage.

The group ponders her statement. Then GIRL 1, a conservative looking type, breaks the silence.

GIRL 1

Well, at least you know you're gonna get touched a little.

BOY 1

Yes! Isn't that what everyone hopes for on a first date?

(the whole elevator laughs)

Seen on the subway:

A large troll enters the subway and sits down next to me. He has a bag from Wendy's full of hot, smelly, food. He proceeds to first pull out a cheeseburger and eat it in a loud, smacky style, licking his fingers and sucking his teeth all the while. When he's finished, he rolls the wrapper in a ball, grabs the subway's back door handle by his seat, opens and throws his trash out while we are moving.

Then he reaches into his bag, opens another cheeseburger, eats it loudly, and again throws his trash out the back door of the moving train.

Finally he fishes out a chocolate milkshake, sucks it down, smacking and licking, cleaning his fingers as he goes. He throws it in the bag, throws it out the door and sits there continuing to smack his lips, lick his fingers and suck his teeth until we, thankfully, reach my stop.

I contemplated telling him what a foul and inconsiderate litterbug he was right as I jumped off the train, but he was kind of big and clearly brutish, so I just stewed about it all the way home. What a loser.

Visitors from the Big T

The Boy and I were excited to host a couple of visitors from the Big T, former co-workers of mine in town for a conference.

Martha Stewart's Rival and the Mary Tyler Moore Girl joined us for dinner at Cookshop on Monday, probably one of the better meals we've had in the city. The service was great, my martini was good, The Boy and I shared a great wine called Maverick something, and the food was decent - not as good as The Chef's, though.

Speaking of the Chef, he's offered up a quick tour of his work digs tonight, and then we're all heading to the East Village for dinner at EU.

It's good to see and talk to folks from home!

Umbrella Wasteland

The nasty weather pummeling the country resulted in the deaths today of dozens of innocent umbrellas. The umbrellas, already weakened by cheap plastic, were no match for the swirling sustained winds in a vortex between buildings in downtown Manhattan. The umbrellas were huddled together in their last desperate attempts to stay alive, resulting in a macabre scene of death and destruction. The umbrellas are survived by dozens of wet humans.

Patience

"Shed a tear 'cause I'm missing youI'm still alright to smile.Girl, I think about you every day now.Was a time when I wasn't sure.But you set my mind at ease.There is no doubt you're in my heart now.Said woman take it slow.It'll work itself out fine.All we need is just a little patience. Said sugar make it slow.And we'll come together fine.All we need is just a little patience(inhale) . Patience...Ooh, oh, yeah"

I used to love listening to Guns n Roses. As the days of waiting to start construction on our apartment turn into weeks and months, I'm reminded of their song "Patience." Indeed, I am learning both how to have patience and how to give up a certain amount of control. We waited months to close on the sale. It took weeks and weeks to find a contractor that we trust, 2 weeks to get approval from the building architect, and now as we push into spring, we are waiting still for the building's board to take a cursory look at our request before we begin.

I've had to just resign myself to the process. To take deep breaths. To drink martinis. Nobody is going to rush this process, and emails, phones calls and tantrums aren't making it go faster. Looks like a June move in.

It's kind of ironic. We tried so hard to speed up our apartment buying process on the front end in the hopes we could spend Christmas there. We'll be lucky to celebrate the 4th of July!

No Service, No Sale

As many of you know, The Boy began wearing glasses a few years ago. While his vision isn't that bad - he only really needs them to drive, etc. - he has come to rely on them quite a bit. So after accidentally throwing away his glasses [we think! still haven't found them at any rate!] he spent several days squinting his way around the city, walking into posts at train stations, etc.

So, late last week he had had enough. He made an appointment with an optometrist and asked me if I would meet him later to pick out frames.

Since we moved here, The Fashion Mister and The Chef have been gently trying to resculpt The Boy into a fashionable New Yorker, providing commentary on everything from his shoes, jeans, shirts, underwear and hair. Eyewear was not missed by their discerning gaze.

So The Boy was a little nervous about choosing his new face. He needed an objective third party.

I met him at his office early Thursday evening and we walked over to the store where he had gotten his eye exam. We looked around for a few minutes. I didn't really see anything I liked, but it was hard to tell. See, in New York, they don't have all the frames sitting out where you can just pick them up and try them on at your leisure. They were all in cases and required a salesperson to bring out each pair to show you.

Problem was, the sales person really wasn't interested (or able) to help us. She had another customer. We hung out for about 15 minutes. She finally came over and pulled out only the few frames we asked for. She didn't make suggestions or try to be helpful in any way, and eventually wondered off again, so we did too.

We found a place down the street that had a very helpful sales lady, but even though we found a pair or two that The Boy didn't hate, he got cold feet at the end so we left.

We saw another store right near the Path station - the door was open wide, so we walked in. Their selection looked cool and groovy, and I thought this might be the spot for us. That is, until the salesperson behind the counter coolly told us that they were closing in three minutes, so basically, to hurry it up. He brought out a couple of frames, then wondered off. Another sales person came up and said, "Look, I'll show you just one more pair. We're closing and I want to go home."

Needless to say, we didn't need that attitude! I couldn't believe it. I know New York rents have to be high. And it's not like glasses are a high volume business. One more sale that night could have made their evening.

Instead, we took our business to Hoboken on Saturday to a store called myoptics that was recommended by both The Fashion Mister and The Chef. They had a great selection, fairly helpful service - providing both recommendations and funny commentary. The Boy ended up buying two really great pairs of glasses - just in case he throws one away again!