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I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain - Plus Back Pain

Whew! Things are starting to finally come together around here. John and I were just looking through some pictures we took to document our move process yesterday. I took one of him standing inside the empty Budget truck down in DC and the optimistic glimmer in his eye proves that we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. It was so, so, SO much work, we will never move without professional movers again, and it’s finally, blissfully starting to wind down.

John is the king of to-do lists, and for this I am extremely grateful as if it were just me moving on my own, half of my clothes would still be in boxes and the other half would be strewn over a chair. Not only are our clothes completely out of boxes, but the books are on shelves, the pictures are hung, and the walls are painted! It’s as if we actually live here or something. Who knew?

I guess this is also due in part to the fact that for our first three weeks in Manhattan it rained. Not, you know, a mere drizzle either. I mean rain rain. Amazonian rainforest rain, Indian monsoon rain. Inescapable, endless, buckets full of rain. For weeks. THREE WEEKS! Do you hear what I’m telling you?! It was awful! And it’s not like we were being chicken – not even an umbrella can save you from this kind of torrential downpour. So while we were stuck inside we actually organized and unpacked and spruced the place up.

Luckily the rain cleared up for the 4^th. While this day isn’t necessarily one of great interest to either of us, we ended up watching the show from our friends’ place . . . which just so happens to be on the 32^nd floor and has an amazing view of the Hudson River. Suddenly it became very interesting! The view was pretty spectacular and the show lasted 26 minutes. Hudson apparently ain’t no one minute man. For example . . .

So finally the weather has remained lovely and bizarrely cool. I don’t think this is normal, but it hasn’t hit beyond 80 in weeks. In fact, today the high was 70; very odd, but nice . . . or so I’ve been told, because for the entire week I’ve been laid up in bed with some sort of back issue. Evidently I’m old because something happened and I could barely move for days. Nothing seemed to relieve the pain and so naturally this meant, “ahh, back is to spine is to brain is to tumor is to I’m dying” complete with hand to forehead swooning. The only reason why I think I may survive this is that I started feeling better and could actually walk yesterday. Today I actually left the house, so that’s something. Still in a bit of pain, but I’m getting there. So pathetic. John even painted the entire living room by himself on Monday!! Who does that?! It looks great, though. Pictures next time . . .

Get in My Belly

There is so much to do in New York that it can be pretty overwhelming, and while it can be done, it’s difficult to just meander through the city looking for something to do. I thought I’d keep a running list on where we’ve been, for my own memory, but also as recommendations for anyone traveling to the city. Here are a few dirt cheap places we’ve tried recently that we can’t stop thinking about. Make notes for where you want to go when you come visit!

Ess-a-Bagel

We came to New York for a weekend in January for god knows what reason. The East coast is NOT a good place to visit January – March, so it’s doubly stupid for us East coasters to trek to another similarly freezing, dark, wet place. But the stupidity was rewarded by our friends introducing us to Ess-a-Bagel. This place has some notoriety in the city (I think it was named best bagels last year or something), so it’s not a little hole in the wall discovery. In fact, there has been a huge line each time we’ve visited, but it’s well worth it. We now live just around the corner from one of their locations and it definitely was a selling point when deciding on the place. The bagels are perfect – big, crusty and chewy on the outside, soft on the inside. My favorite thing to order is a plain toasted bagel with egg whites and cheese. Simple, and I’m sure very shiksa of me, but at under $4, I don’t really care. Plus they have cinnamon coffee, Dr. Brown’s, great black & white cookies, and yummy lox. I’m not a big fan of flavored cream cheeses, but they make their own and have a ton of varieties.

The Kati Roll Company

One thing I love about New York is that so much is accessible by foot. I’ve been a fan of yelp.com for awhile, but never has it been so useful! Click a bunch of neighborhoods and that single $ sign and you’re off. I found The Kati Roll Company there and was sold on a description of an “Indian Chipotle”. John and I love Indian food and were totally sold on this concept. It’s pretty dead on, too: beef, chicken, mutton, aloo masala, etc. wrapped in naan. I had one aloo masala (potato) and one mutton and they were so, so, so good! It was pretty crowded for a Wednesday night and we were definitely the only non-Indians in the joint, which we took as a good sign. It’s a really small unassuming place, but stylish and decorated with vintage Indian movie posters. The best part – we got out of there absolutely stuffed for under $20! As soon as we walked in and saw the grills I said, “I have a feeling I’m going to be craving this all week” and it’s been true. Too bad we have way too many other places to try!

Thai 51

In addition to Indian, John and I love Thai food. I mean, who doesn’t? I’ve never been to a “bad” Thai place, but it’s special to find a really good one. We were walking to run an errand and passed this place and did something that’s been happening a lot – “hey, I’m hungry? Are you hungry? We should probably eat”. This place was so cute it was hard to pass up . . . it also had a huge sign that said “$10 prix-fixe lunch – appetizer, entrée, and drink”. Sold. We figured the portions would reflect the measly price and were happy to be proven wrong. The service was so friendly too, and again, we were the only non-Thai people there for most of our meal. The actual restaurant is very small and can probably only seat about 25 people. The façade opens up so it becomes al fresco during the warm months, and across the street is a synagogue with a beautiful public garden, so it’s a really lovely setting. I had chicken pad thai which I guess is how most people judge the quality of a Thai restaurant, and I thought it was really good. John’s green curry was so delicious, too. We split spring rolls and veggie dumplings as well, and for ten dollars each?! We’ll definitely be back.

Gazala Place

This is another super tiny place that serves Mediterranean (actually, Druze, to be technical – have you heard of this? I hadn’t either, and I’ve been to Israel. Shame shame.) in Hell’s Kitchen. A couple of friends who live in the neighborhood brought us here, and if we lived closer I think we’d probably be in there often. First of all, it’s BYOB with no corkage fee – very cool. We all shared a bunch of different appetizers – the falafel and cegar stood out – and ended with a really delicious cake that had been soaked in milk and honey with a yogurt, blueberry, and pistachio topping. So good! It was also just a nice dining experience, as the place probably only holds 20 people. If we went back and ordered an entrée and a few mezze to share, plus brought our own wine, we’d leave having a really great meal under $25. Steal.

Rice to Riches

This is a pretty famous New York establishment, but I had never been before and so was willing to stand in line with the throngs of tourists to get a sample of this infamous rice pudding. Yes, rice pudding, who knew?! I happen to have always really liked rice pudding and tapioca, so I was excited. The place itself is really adorable and sort of space age themed. It’s like Pinkberry or any ice cream place where you pick your flavor and toppings. I chose the mascarpone cheese with dried cherries and it was absolutely to die for and I’m pretty certain I could eat it every single day. John got a banana flavored which neither of us were terribly crazy about, but it was still theoretically yummy. One thing that I loved was that the pudding is served in these environmentally friendly, super cute sealable and reusable dishes that come with matching spoons. We couldn’t finish our portions, so we just closed up the dishes and took them back home on the subway. It was so nice to wake up the next morning and remember, “ooh, rice pudding!”, which was obviously my very first waking thought; perhaps because I fell asleep thinking about it sitting in the fridge and dreamt about eating it. Plus, we have the reusable dishes that will be fabulous for toting lunch to work. You know, eventually.

Turn and Face the Strange

Anytime one moves somewhere new changes are to be expected; things as miniscule as shower water pressure or finding a new Chinese takeout place or drycleaner all become major adjustments. Moving to New York is sort of like a baby step towards moving to a new country, say, England: we speak the same language, but we just do things slightly differently. There have been several things that I’ve had to get adjusted to beside the obvious, things that I didn’t really expect.

For one, we don’t have a garbage disposal, and I never realized how useful they are. It takes so much longer to clean up knowing I can’t just rinse a bowl that may have some food in it – I have to scoop it out first and I mean, really, who can be bothered with that? The apartment also didn’t come with blinds. I guess this is normal for other cities, but neither John nor I have ever had to buy blinds before, they’ve always just been in apartments. Plus, our windows are pretty big which made things more difficult, and now that we have them we can’t install them because, duh, why would we have a drill?

Our apartment is bigger than our old place, and it even has its own separate kitchen – yay! But the fridge is Playskool size – FAIL. This means we have no choice but to put the milk on the rack on the door, which I HATE. While all of our other appliances are full sized, things in New York are generally smaller – the fridge is one example, but so are the sizes of say, cereal boxes or the quantity of most food items at the grocery store. In a way this is nice, because you’re more inclined to buy fresh things. On the other hand, you go through them faster, so you are at the grocery store constantly. And speaking of the grocery store, I have found it impossible to find canned chopped black olives! So strange. I realize that I could just buy regular black olives and put them in the food processor, but come on.

All of this sounds like a lot of complaining, and one might gather that I’m having a hard time adjusting. Wrong! As horrifying as it’s been to not have chopped olives for my tuna salad and showing off my ass to my neighbors through my bedroom window, it’s been balanced by the famous New York energy, the farmers markets, the interesting neighborhoods, and the insane amount of things to do every single day.

I’ve found that things here aren’t really that much more expensive than in DC (well, except rent), it’s just that there are SO MANY THINGS to spend your money on. The vastness of choice in this place is unbelievable, olives aside. You don’t have to wait for Wednesday for the farmer’s market – there’s one every day. Have a peri peri craving? No problem. And once I have a job I will discover all of the boutiques that I have been strategically avoiding, because I desperately need a new handbag.

Love Survives, So We Can Rock Forever

I’ve written this before, but many times when people will ask how many kids are in my family, it feels like a lie to say “three”. Yes, technically I did grow up in a family with three kids, but we’re so loud it seems like more. Not only do we each have our own ticks (my Irish dancing and Conor’s drumming on any hard surface, Brighid’s piano playing, etc.), but we’re also all huge music lovers. Unfortunately we’re all extremely different as well, so at any given moment growing up you could hear big band coming from one room, reggaeton from downstairs, singer-songwriter from another corner, mariachi from the bathroom, and disco from the kitchen. It was, at times, enough to drive everyone absolutely crazy . . . can you imagine the fights in the car? Even though music (what kind, which artist, volume level, etc.) led to many disagreements, I think that Motown is something that everyone could agree on.

I remember my brother and I listening to “The Big Chill” soundtrack over and over again, singing “Tell Him” by The Exciters and thinking we were so funny. I remember my brother and sister dancing to “Heat Wave” and “My Guy”. These were songs that my parents obviously introduced to us, and even though that was the case, they never seemed uncool. I was never embarrassed to admit that, “yeah, The Temptations are really, really good”, unlike some of my parents other musical inclinations, say, Cat Stevens or even Joni Mitchell.

And I think Michael Jackson was the best representation of this phenomenon.

Probably like many people, I didn’t really think about how much I like Michael Jackson’s music until yesterday. When I heard he died, I automatically wanted to listen to “I’ll Be There”, and I just kept thinking of songs and what they meant to me and their memories. Something as stupid as “I had to sing ‘Heal the World’ with my fourth grade class in the talent show!”, “Oh my god, I was so proud of myself because I learned how to play ‘Will You Be There’ by ear on the piano”, and “I remember watching the world premier of this video (Black or White) with my family after The Simpsons and thinking it was the coolest thing ever!” Those are my personal memories, but it was also just so common to walk into my house and find my sister singing “Ben” or my brother playing “Butterflies” – and what was Christmas in our house without “Give Love on Christmas Day”?

It’s just really unbelievable to think that an artist who was insanely popular when my parents were teenagers would even still be able to be relevant to me and my siblings. And not just relevant in the sense that we can all agree that The Temptations made great music – relevant as in still being the King of Pop. That being said, I grew up in the early-mid 90s, and making fun of Michael Jackson was definitely the most hilarious thing a kid on the playground could do.

I don’t think it’s funny anymore, and I don’t think I really ever will again. People can remember him for his faults and his demons, but I choose to focus on his soul, his genius, and the music that really is one of the few things that can bring me and my siblings together in full agreement. When I heard he died, I immediately sent them text messages. I guess that even though I thought his death was sad and tragic, my instinct was to feel sad for us, for that weird, unspoken bond that resonated through boom boxes and computer speakers for so many years. Shamone.

Michael Jackson - New Music - More Music Videos

Why NY?

When I started telling people that John and I were moving to New York, people weren’t really worried about holding back their feelings. Most were excited, many were “jealous” as they regretted not giving the city a try when they were young, and several were confused. “Um, yeah, not sure if you’re aware, but there’s, like, this economic crisis going on, one that’s sort of festering in, um, NEW YORK”. Fair enough. When John started school two years ago, there was a sort of mutual understanding that when he finished we’d leave DC. We weren’t exactly sure where, but we were so ready for something new that at the time it didn’t really matter. London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney, Miami, and yes, New York, were all among the options that we discussed. And shockingly, New York just won out job-wise (ok ok yes, for John, not for me, get off my back I’m working on it).

When John was offered a job that required this relocation, it was basically a no-brainer. Not only did the timing happen to be right, but since we were and are contemplating leaving the US at some point for some period of time, we agreed that you can’t really live on the East coast and be “done” with the US until you give New York a shot. We knew that if we didn’t try it now, there was a chance that we never would. Luckily, the timing just happened to work. I guess the best way to sum up what appears to be going on in the city right now is “nice work if you can get it”. Rents are down about 30% from last year, and so if you have a job, you’re probably able to enjoy this place a lot more than you were last year - a perfect shot and at least a one-year stint in the Big Apple.

In fact, when looking for apartments we actually had the luxury of being picky. I had the old “search the obituaries” notion about New York real estate, but that’s not how we found the current market. Nice, but when you’re both grossly picky and obscenely indecisive, you’re looking at spending every weekend for a month traveling (by bus) to New York. Yeah. In the end it was worth it and we shouldn’t complain; we found a great place that is bigger than what we had in Clarendon in a really nice, convenient neighborhood.

So that’s the general, bare-bones version of the how and why so now we can get on to the fun stuff! Like the fact that New York is absolutely bursting with delicious food to eat, pictures of the new place, and hopefully the end to all of this horrible, horrible rain!

But to answer some of your questions: no, I don’t have a job yet; yes, it seems that I have altered my life to suit my boyfriend’s; no, we’re not getting married. You know what? Shut up. I’m happy and you’re jealous. Kiss!

Yes, as a matter of fact I WOULD like to be a part of it.

Kon-Tiki is the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands. Heyerdahl believed that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times. His aim in mounting the Kon-Tiki expedition was to show, by using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so -Wikipedia

Like Thor Heyerdahl, I like adventures, and like the Kon-Tiki, I’ve set sail on one. Welcome aboard the Kon-Kiki! All together now: awww! Eye roll.

Look at me, I have a new blog! Friends will not be surprised – this is what, the third or fourth attempt? Each attempt was in earnest – I really, really meant to update more often - but things happened and . . . whatever. My first blog was a genuine personal blog, covering anything that came to my small head. The second focused on my traveling and inevitably the election, and when that ended it sort of fizzled as well. This one is to keep friends and family updated on the goings-on with my big move to New York. I’ve only been here a week but there is A LOT to talk about. Finding an apartment craziness, moving madness, and living without a garbage disposal just to name a few.

Anyway, since the past several years have been full of great adventures I’ve had a lot to talk about . . . but I’ve also always had the comforting notion that I’ll be heading home soon, filling out that little card and claiming that I’ve purchased some stupid yet priceless item, promising that I haven’t come into contact with any goats or am concealing a kumquat in my purse, etc. -- but this time there isn’t any homeland security guy welcoming me home, because evidently I’m already there. This is a notion that hasn’t really sunk in as of yet - that I actually live in Manhattan, I’m not just here for a weekend trip, and oh right, this IS the same bed that was in Arlington and oh, I guess we DO need to buy paper towels. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment where it hits me, or if John and I will just naturally assimilate to New York life, but I suppose that’s what this blog is about: excitement, discoveries, and potential meltdowns. Like a miniature version of Jon and Kate Plus 8. Well, you know, without the kids and free stuff and abuse and 23-year old girlfriends and cameras. But other than that . . .

The point is, I really hope to keep you updated and entertained, so bug me if I don’t write often enough. If you’re new here, I really, really like ellipses and the capitalization of random words. I’m sarcastic and have a very dry sense of humor that doesn’t always work well in type, but believe me, I am very funny. If you don’t understand something, it was probably a hilarious joke, so just laugh and move on. I bake cookies. I like warm weather and taking pictures. I have a phobia of looking like a tourist. I dare anyone in New York to heckle me for wearing my Orioles hat. I’m good at Sudoku. I hope to befriend Sarah Jessica Parker.