Where to begin....

I am procrastinating, I don't know where to begin with the unpacking, so I am taking the approach of ignoring it;)  The move was fine, the actual movers were very nice and helpful.  However, trying to squeeze in your belongings from a 3000 square foot house into a 1200 square foot apartment has proved to be very difficult.  I can't imagine what we would have done if we didn't get rid of all the stuff that we did before we let Atlanta!  I knew we were off to a rough start when the movers said "what stuff is going into storage, and what stuff is being brought up the apartment?"  Ummm all of it is coming up!  After they finished and we were signing the paperwork, the head guy said "I didn't think there was any way we were going to fit all this in here!"  Eventually we will get organized and it will all get unpacked, but in the meantime, it's easier to close my eyes. 

So far we really like our new place.  The building is nice and it's sooo quiet, it was like heaven going to sleep on Friday night without sirens and horns outside.  We have some nice restaurants and a pharmacy all within a two minute walk.  If you walk out the side of our building, the Statue of Liberty is right there in your face, and on the other side of the building is a great view of NYC and the Freedom Tower.  It is also nice to have our car and drive again...although at the same time, I didn't miss it and it is nice to not have to get in the car every time you go somewhere.

Friday was a sad day, and unfortunately the sadness is still hanging over everyone's head.  We had no internet or tv yet, and David and I were really hoping the installer would come on Friday, he didn't, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  When David read on his phone that there was shooting in Connecticut, I didn't give it much thought.  Then, as details emerged, I was suddenly so thankful that we didn't have the news on or the internet to read about it.  My heart hurts for all the families and everyone affected.  We still aren't watching much of the coverage on it, #1 because emotionally we just can't handle it, and #2, I think the news media needs to give the town time to grieve.

While I was  teaching, we had drills where you turned the lights off and locked your classroom door, and all the students huddled together in the corner, hopefully out of sight. But, even as we had those drills, never in a million years do you ever think it won't be "just a drill".   I also think this will be a turning point in our country and bring about the change that is needed with guns. Hopefully President Obama will push to make the necessary changes.

Christmas in NYC

The first weekend of December my parents came to visit us in New York.  We had a great time, and New York is BEAUTIFUL during the Christmas season...but it is sooo sooo crowded (much more than usual) that it is physically difficult to walk down some of the streets. 

On my way to meet my parents at Penn Station, I saw Vince Vaughn filming a movie!

Friday night we went to Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes.  It was a fun show, definitely not like a Broadway show, more laid back.  You were allowed to take pictures without the flash, and it was definitely a family event.  We had a great time, and it amazes me how the Rockettes are always able to kick at the exact same moment!

After the show, we walked around Rockefeller Center (it was freezing) and then went to dinner at Molyvos, one of our favorite Greek restaurants.  David and I actually discovered it one summer before we even knew or had any desire to move to NYC. 

On Saturday we braved Macy's...honestly it's so crowded I don't know how people actually get any shopping done there, it's impossible with all the people.  We checked out the store windows, walked to Grand Central Station and then did some shopping on Fifth Avenue. 

The weather warmed up on Sunday, which was good since we had tickets to the September 11th memorial.  David and I have been, but we took my parents since hadn't seen it before.  Even after all these years, you still get such a heavy feeling being there. 

Monday David went to work, and my parents and I went out to brave the crowds some more.  We went to the Cathedral, Bryant Park, Tiffany's, FAO Schwartz, and Central Park. 

 

 

My parents left on the train Tuesday morning.  We had a great time, and I think we managed to squeeze a lot in the short time they were here! 

Friday is moving day....I wish I could just close my eyes and everything would be there and unpacked.  Since we have some stuff at our temporary housing, David will be here Friday morning to deal with those movers, while I drive over to New Jersey to work with the movers that are bringing our stuff from storage.  I can't wait to have my bed back....and my coffee maker!  My plan for Saturday is to put up our Christmas tree....even though we won't be here for Christmas, I can't imagine not having a tree up! 

Happy 12/12/12 day!!!

Very Thankful

We went to my parent's house in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, and had such a nice time!  Besides the fact that we slept so well since it's just a tad quieter in central PA than it is in NYC;), it was so relaxing and enjoyable to have time with my parents.  We arrived Monday night on the train (which by the way, David made potato salad for the train ride which stunk up the entire train car).  On Tuesday we went to lunch at a place in Harrisburg called Dodge City.  David has been wanting to eat there since it was on Food Network's Restaurant Impossible.  All of us were very impressed, the outside made us a little skeptical, but inside the decorating from the show as very modern, and the food was great!  After lunch we braved the grocery store to shop for Thanksgiving dinner...it was crowded, but I am sure nothing like it would have been if we had waited until Wednesday.

On Wednesday night my mom, David and I went to Hershey Park's Christmas Light Show.  My dad wasn't feeling well so he stayed home, but we still had a great time.  The entire park was decorated for Christmas, and we rode a few rides, there were no lines! We had such a nice time.

 

 

Thursday we ate.....and ate.....and ate.  David and I did most of the cooking and everything turned out really well, even though the turkey was a little too dry.  We only ran into one issue while cooking...as I was peeling the potatoes in the sink, I was running the garbage disposal, and it ended up clogging.  Luckily, my dad being the patient person that he is, was able to fix it as we continued to cook.  He was very happy about it;)

 We had Thanksgiving around 1:00, and then rolled ourselves to the couch to watch the Redskins beat the Cowboys! 

Around 7:30pm, in true Thanksgiving tradition, my dad and I went to Wal-Mart for some black Friday shopping.  I couldn't convince David to come along this year, and my mom never seems up for it.  My goal this year was to get a laptop for $180.  I love the ipad, but there are things I can't do on there, I can't upload pictures to the blog, I can't use word for my resume etc..  The computers went on sale at 10pm, so my dad and I were able to get a ticket and line up just before 8:00.  I think they had around 70 computers, and they ran out of tickets about 15 minutes after we got there.  Wal-Mart was of course INSANE!  We were lucky though, in that the aisle we were stuck in for 2 hours was where the step stools were, so we took two off the shelf and had a seat!  I also went to the magazine section and grabbed some reading material for both of us.

After our victory of getting the laptop and waiting in line forever, we drove around to see the other lines (insane!  the line for Best Buy went around the building!)

Friday we hung out at home and helped my parents put up their Christmas tree.  Before leaving Saturday evening, we toured a historical house and went to a Christmas train show.

Life always has its fair share of stressful and difficult times, but we are so thankful.

A Few More.....

Here are some more photos from the past few weeks! Oh, and in yesterday's post I realize I said my family came to meet up with us for lunch on their way home from their vacation, I forgot to mention that Kevin was there as well, I just didn't get a picture of him and David!


We won lottery tickets to Newsies..very good!

The calm before Sandy

The set of Kelly and Michael



Kelly and Michael

David on the set of The Chew

Set of The View

 David was a good sport - one of few men at The View

Pictures....Finally!!!

I am finally able to download pictures on my blog again (thanks to my new laptop, more on that Black Friday deal later)!! Here are some pictures from us recently.  Enjoy!  More pictures to come tomorrow.



Outside Columbus Statue

Columbus Statue



David in FAO Schwartz

View from Columbus Statue







   

Visit from Sarah B at Becco



Lunch in Hoboken



Family stopped by on their way home from Vacation



  

            

What David did while I was in the Emergency Room
(that is me in the red shirt with the nurse)              

THE Sign, the cause of my accident!

Week 8 and Talk Shows

When we moved up here, one of my goals (yes, I am very ambitious, what can I say ;))  was to go to some of the talk shows I watch on tv - when you aren't working, it's amazing how much more daytime tv you watch!  I got very lucky and have been able to check off many on my list.  Of course, I took pictures - when I was allowed, but I still can't upload them from my ipad for some reason.  Here is a summary of where I have been:

Wednesday - October 31st - Kelly and Michael and The View

• Kelly and Michael - I LOVE Michael Strahan...and I like Kelly Ripa even more after having gone to the show.  The show is live, and they do such a good job with interacting with the audience during the commercial breaks.  This was by far my most favorite show to go to because of that very reason.  They also allowed us to take as many photos as we wanted.  When I was walking out of the studio, someone from The View came by because they needed audience members.
• The View - So, along with a big group of other audience members, we walked over to the View studio.  While it was neat to see in person, the hostesses did not interact with the audience much, and we were not allowed to take pictures.  However, we did get a free box of candy for halloween, which as you can imagine made David jealous (even though he ate 90% of it;))

Thursday - November 1st - The Chew and The View (again!)

• The Chew - David LOVES The Chew.  He introduced me to this show a while ago, and we would record it and watch it every night after work.  The hosts were nice, and did interact with us during commercials, which was fun.   David and I were in the second row, and one of the hostesses actually kept staring at David until she finally told him he looked like some famous chef.  We were actually on tv for a while behind one of the segments.
•  The View - They needed audience members again, so we headed over there after The Chew.  David's description of it "I was bored" (yes, I am leaving out some words he added in his description;))

Friday - November 2nd - Kelly and Michael

• David wanted to go with me, so we went to this show again, and had a very nice time.  I think David was less bored here than he was at The View.

These shows usually take months to get into, but because the Subways were shut down, and transportation was so difficult after Sandy, many people that had tickets couldn't attend.  Since we only live about 10 minutes from the studios, it was easy for us to walk over.

Tuesday - November 6th - Dr. Oz

• On Election Day, I decided to walk over the Rockefeller plaza to "Democracy Plaza".  While I was there, someone working for the Dr. Oz show approached me to be an audience member...so I of course said yes!  The show was fun to see, and Dr. Oz definitely seemed as nice in person, as he does on TV.

At this point, it became comical how many shows I had seen in one week!  But, it didn't end there!

Wednesday - November 14th - Katie Couric Show

• This is the only show I actually had tickets for in advance.  To be honest, I am not a huge fan of Katie Couric, but I must admit that she was actually very friendly!  And, she is TINY!!!!  I had a good time, and sat in the front row.  I was only about 10 feet away from Sally Field (she was one of the guests interviewed on the show), who is even smaller than Katie Couric.

Wednesday night I was walking over to meet David at work and I got a call from the David Letterman Show to see if I was still interested in attending a taping on Thursday, so of course I reserved two tickets for us.  So, tonight we went to that show. I have never been a fan of David Letterman, but it was one more show to check off my list. To be honest, we were both a little bored.
 I think I also forgot to mention that on Thursday, November 1st, we went to a raffle drawing for $30 tickets to Newsies on Broadway, and they picked my name!! We LOVED it, the music and dancing was fantastic!! On Monday night we will be taking the train to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. Hopefully I will be able to upload pictures from their computers!

NYC Weeks 6 and 7

Things have been crazy in NYC!  Let's start with the weekend of Oct. 27th.  My best friend came to visit and we had a great time.  Friday we had lunch at an adorable place called "Alice's Tea Cup" and then went shopping.  Friday night we all went to Becco, an italian restaurant we love here.  Saturday, my family was on their way back from vacation in Connecticut, so we met then in lunch for Hoboken.  Saturday night we went to dinner and a cool bar that overlooks Times Square.  Sarah left on Sunday morning, which was a good thing, because Sandy was coming.

I will start by saying that I continually told David we needed to get supplies for the hurricane...he said I was overreacting.  So, we went on with life normally.  Monday the weather started to get pretty bad and everything was closed.  We had tickets to see Jimmy Fallon, which took forever to get, so we were bummed that it was probably going to get cancelled.  BUT...it didn't, NBC called me around noon and told us to come to the show.  We walked over there, waited an hour, and then were told they were sending the audience home..we.were.so.bummed!!!!  The next 48 hours consisted of us hanging out at home, luckily with electricity.  We feel very fortunate to have not been affected by Sandy, but so sad about all the damage just streets away.

On Wednesday, Halloween, David's work opened up again, and some of the grocery stores started to open up.  I met David for lunch, and we thought we would try our luck at Jimmy Fallon again by getting standby tickets.  We came home for David to change, and headed back out to Jimmy....but unfortunately I decided to watch a car parallel park while continuing to walk down the street....and I ran right into a metal sign post.  My head started bleeding, David ran into a nearby restaurant to get napkins, and we walked to the hospital.  I am an idiot, I was so mad at myself!!!  We were in the emergency room for 4 and a half hours!!!  After begging the doctor not to give me stitches, he "glued" the lovely cut that is going through my eyebrow and gave me a tetanus shot.  That night we came home and only had one trick-or-treater...which was a bummer!  We had decided that we are destined to never see Jimmy Fallon.

I was supposed to go to my parent's house on Wednesday, but my train was cancelled.  David was supposed to go to Chicago for work, but that was cancelled.  I filled my time up with becoming a professional audience member....more on that later.  I still can't seem to get my pictures to upload for some reason, but when I figure it out, I will post them.

NYC Week 5

I am starting to feel like we have been here a while now.  Last week we again were spoiled with the weather.  I know it will be a shock for us when the cold, cold weather comes!  I started volunteering at an elementary school through a reading program two days a week.  I enjoy it, and I love being around kids again.  Especially little elementary school kids, they are so cute.  The first time I went to pick one of them up from his classroom, I had to bend down to talk to him.  It was weird walking down the hallway with someone who only came up to my hip!  I am used to my middle school students who were taller than me.

Last week David went to Dunwoody to see a new client for a few days.  Which by the way, it makes no sense to me how he gets a new client when we just moved from there a month ago.  He drove by our old house and said the new owners had just done a few things in the yard, no major changes.

On Friday we were supposed to try out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but unfortunately we didn't get there in time:(   We had a pretty low-key weekend.  On Saturday we took the car out to just get it started, we drove up the West Side Highway.  Then, we went to the Natural History Museum, which was nice, but uncomfortably warm while walking around.  David kept walking around the museum saying "ya know what would be a cool movie idea, if they filmed it here and all the animals came alive"...yes, people looked at him like he was crazy.  On Sunday, we took a long walk to Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, FAO Schwartz, and had a relaxing day at home watching the Redskins (another losing game).  That evening we went to dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant.  On Monday I volunteered at the elem. school and then met David for lunch.

It is so crazy to think of how much our lifestyle has changed over the past month.  We went from driving to work everyday, to driving once every 3 weeks for about 15 minutes.  We went from living in a house with a yard, to a tiny apartment with a small balcony.

Busy days are ahead!  My best friend is coming to visit this weekend.  David is out of town for work, and I will be visiting my parents.  Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, and then Christmas will be just around the corner!  I am so excited to be in New York to see all the Christmas decorations  and shop windows.

This morning Oprah was on Good Morning America talking about her show "Life Class".  Joel Osteen is going to be on it the next two Sunday nights, and she got the idea from one of his sermons, "I Am", she heard, and it is so true.  He said "I am....what follows these two simple words will determine what kind of life you are going to live, I am blessed, I am special, or I am slow, or I am anxious............what follows the I am will always come looking for you.....you choose what follows the I am"  Here is the entire sermon, click here

Also, the article about Heaven that I posted last week was also on Good Morning America today!

NYC Week 4

I wrote this post last week, and I was waiting to post it because I have pictures to go with it, but unfortunately something is wrong with the way I upload my pics....so here it is without pictures.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Time flies!!  It's hard to believe we have been here a month now, time is flying!  Last week was another warm week, until Friday.  During the week, we did the usual.  By usual I mean David went to work, and I took care of things on the homefront;)  I went out with the realtor to look at apartments, and because Hoboken is so small, there isn't a lot of choice.  I am looking forward to having an apartment and having my stuff back.  As much as I enjoy the "hotel" feel, the novelty is quickly wearing off.  One day as I was walking back to our apartment, I saw people filming Law & Order SVU.


We had a nice weekend.  Friday night we went to a mexican restuarant right near our apartment.  Even though we had to wait about 30 minutes (and 2 drinks cost me $20!!!!! - good thing my margarita was so strong so that I didn't have to get another one!), we still had a nice time.  Saturday we took another one of our long walks down the east side to a school where I am doing some volunteer reading with elementary school kids.  I wanted to make sure I knew exactly where it was.  Then, we headed over to Chinatown and then walked through Little Italy.  On our walk back home, we stopped at Lombardi's for lunch and had pizza.  We also walked through the farmers market in Union Square, it's unbelievable all the stuff they have there!


Saturday evening we had tickets to see the Christopher Columbus statue.  An artist built a temporary living room around the top of the statue, and you can climb up the steps to see Christopher.  It was cool to see, but I must admit I was a bit nervous as I was sitting up there watching things in the room shake as people walked by me.


Sunday we headed to Hoboken to look at an apartment.  Then, we took a walk along the water in Hoboken and got a few pictures of Manhattan.  Sunday night we went to our new favorite bar to watch the Redskins win!!!!!!  The bartender knows us know and as soon as we walked in on Sunday, he pointed out two seats at the bar for us.


Yesterday, Monday, David headed to Dunwoody for a couple nights for work.  I can't imagine much has changed down there within a month;)  I went to my volunteer session, and learned out the volunteering works.  I will be going two days a week to read with my assigned student for 45 minutes.  I forgot how adorable and tiny elementary school kids are, don't get me wrong, I love middle school too, but they were sooo cute yesterday!

Thoughts....

We had a nice weekend.  After cold weather on Friday and Saturday, it has warmed up again for Sunday and Monday.  I will do my weekly NYC post tomorrow, but here is a picture from the weekend.  A nice random girl offered to take our picture together, which never happens, but unfortunately, it was so dark you couldn't see our faces!!  I was able to lighten it up, and I put a border around it, David said it looks like Freddie Kruger was involved in half his face.  Now I can't figure out how to get rid of the border!  Oh well, it's almost Halloween so it works:)

Speaking of, David is in Dunwoody for work until Wednesday.  He said he drove by our old house and it looks the same.  He said it wasn't sad, I don't think we were there long enough for it to be sad;)

I read a good article on Heaven, which I think is definitely worth reading.  

Here is one of my favorite quotes, one that has been on my mind a lot recently:
"What if you woke up today with only the things you gave thanks for yesterday"  Sometimes I think we all need a little reminding to be thankful for what we do have, instead of thinking too much about what we don't have (which I am very guilty of  at times!).

NYC Week 3

In some ways it feels like we have been here forever, and in some I still feel like I am going back to Georgia to my house and my job!  We had a fun week, we are trying to get out as much as we can and explore while we are living in the city.

On Tuesday it was a very rainy day.  I met David for lunch and then went down to Salvation Army.  I signed up to volunteer at their after school program to help kids with their homework.  I am just waiting on them to finish the background check and check references.

Wednesday I finished something I have been working on since 2005.  David and I went to Disney World right before he moved to the U.S. and I started a scrapbook when we lived in Ohio...and yes, I did JUST finish it - procrastination at its finest!  That evening, we went for a long walk on the upper west side and came home to watch the debate.   I enjoyed looking at the apartment building across from us to see how many people I could spot who were also watching the debate - probably a little more interesting to me than the actual debate;)

On Thursday, I wandered around and explored.  David came home early to watch Liverpool (loose!) and then we went for a LONG walk to the London Candy Company on the upper east side.  We live on WEST 56th St. and the store was on the EAST on 96th street...it was so humid, we both looked like we had just gotten out of the shower when we arrived!  AND, we walked out of their with 3 little bags of chips, 4 candy bars and a small bag of chocolates for $27!!!  On our way home, we saw Anderson Cooper coming out of the grocery store and getting into his car.

Friday was another beautiful day, I went shopping and walked through Central Park.  Friday night we walked down to a restaurant we had been to before, A Salt and Battery.  We got fish and chips, but they were just ok, nothing too great.  Then, we walked over to see David Blaine and his high voltage stunt, but it hadn't started yet, so we didn't see much.

Saturday was another humid day, along with another long walk to Harlem.  On our way up, we wen tthrough Central Park.  It was so crowded!  We walked up to the restuarant that was used in Seinfeld.  It is a little diner, with typical diner food.  That evening we went to a waffle truck for dessert that I have been wanting to try, we got waffles topped with chocolate and cream.

One of the things that blows my mind is how expensive it is to do laundry here.  Sunday morning we did laundry, it is $3.25 to wash and another $3.25 to dry!!  We had a lazy day on Sunday, it has gotten cold here now (in the 50s), so we walked to Dylan's Candy Bar for a sugar fix and then watched the Redskins at our new favorite bar, the guy now recognizes us and didn't charge us for all our drinks.

Yesterday I went out with the realtor in Hoboken.  As fun as it is to live in NYC, Hoboken is defintely more our speed, slower, quieter, and only a 12 minute train ride from NYC.  I didn't see any apartments that I loved, and realized we have way too much stuff, we but I am going out again with him at the end of the week.  Last night we walked to Bryant Park in our sweats (we laugh because we say we are back to our Ohio Wal-Mart attire) and had a beer outside.