Views from My Window

Right now I work from home. Working from home can be a good thing and bad thing.

However, since I sit at a table facing a busy NYC avenue, one of the major perks to working from home is watching all the action during that day that everyone else misses.

Most recently, there has been a lovers quarrel that I have been watching that ended today with a police escort.

Yesterday I noticed a couple across the street yelling at each other. The lady had a suitcase and looked like she was trying to leave. I could not hear what was going on, but I could tell through the guys body language and hand movements that he was very upset. He would go from yelling at her to hugging her. A while after this they were fighting over apartment keys—yanking them from each others grasps. At one point they both went inside the building and I heard the lady scream. Right when I looked up I saw the guy running out of the building. I was worried something horrible had happened to the lady, but then I saw her exit the building uninjured.

This whole episode continued on into the evening when I saw the lady filling out a police report. Today, I saw the man being escorted by police out of the building. I guess their love story ended badly.

Who needs a TV when you have a window?

Yea or Nea {Face Silhouettes}

So, you know those really trendy face silhouettes? Well, I thought it would be funny/cute if we put some up in our apartment of our little family. I thought it would be funny to do these classic prints with a little funny-spice mixed in. So tonight I made these below...




So here are the questions:
1. Are they too trendy?
2. Can you even tell what the third silhouettes is of?
3. If you came over to our apartment and saw these 3 lined up on the wall would you a) Think I was being serious? b) Think we were weird? c) Never come back over?

I don't know if I am going to do it...I am leaning toward "Nea" but I thought I would throw it out there to see what you thought.

A Night in SoHO/Little Italy

(Ruby, Stanton, Ashley, Nate, Pat, Me)

This past Saturday night we had so much fun enjoying the city and it's food with our amazing friends. We went to this really good Malaysian restaurant, Nyonya, in/near Little Italy that the Hardings suggested. It was super good and super cheap. It even had plenty of room to accommodate our large party of 10, which is hard to find in NYC.

(Joanna, Johnny, Klane, Angie)

After dinner we walked up to SOHO and had some dessert at Rice to Riches, a really good rice pudding shop that I have been wanting to go to since last summer.



The highlight of my night was the bathrooms at Nyonya. After dinner I went to use the restroom before our dessert stop. As I entered the bathroom stall and was about do what you do in bathrooms, I thought I saw my reflection on the stall divider next to me. To my surprise it was not my reflection at all but I could see the person in the stall next to me! Now, don't get too freaked out because it was not like looking through a window, but rather looking through a frosted shower door. But HOLY COW who has "see through" bathroom stalls?! So strange. I couldn't get over it the whole night.

Bike Ridin' in Central Park

Today we went on a another bike ride,this time in Central Park,

trying to enjoy the cooler and less humid weather
while it lasts.


We went with the Smith's who have been the greatest friends.

We have had to rely on them so much since we have come to NYC. Today they spent an hour before our bike ride at our apartment fixing my brakes. It is so great to have such amazing friends that you can always count on to help you out. I just hope someday we can be as good of friends to them as they are to us.

Pat the grease monkey.

And the funny thing is once I told him he had grease on his nose
he didn't clean it off.

He said "I'm not worried about it."

Great Minds Think Alike

We got together with some friends this Monday
to celebrate FHE

and it just so happened that the Hardings
and us were practically TWINS!


I always thought Angie had great style...{wink}.

New York's Summer Streets

During the month of August NYC temporarily closes Park Avenue and connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park to motor vehicles and opens it up to people on three consecutive Saturdays.


Pat and I took advantage of this by getting our bikes out of the closet, and riding down to the bottom of the island and back.

It was so much fun to experience the city in a different way.

I have a love/hate relationship with our bikes. With such a tiny apartment it is hard to have a set of bikes. However, Pat is so determined to keep our bikes that he figured out a way to take them apart and put them in the closet (since I refuse to have them out). He promised to take care of everything so I wouldn't end up getting rid of them out of frustration. He puts them away, gets them out, puts them together, gets them down the stairs and gets them up the stairs. I love having bikes since I do not have to deal with any of the NYC headache of trying to store them!

THANKS PAT!

Top of the Rock

When David was here Pat and him went to the Top of the Rock.


The view looks gorgeous.
Being able to see the whole island.

Empire State Building

David: a true New Yorker

Voice Piece for Soprano

We also went to the MOMA when David was here. There was a lot of "art" on display that I like to call complete filth. However, the one art work that I absolutely loved was "Voice Piece for Soprano" by Yoko Ono. A microphone, that I am pretty sure was not even on, was set up in a quad-like area with instructions to scream.

The Final Pics

I haven't been able to upload the rest of the pictures from David's trip. David totally wore us out when we was here. Usually, people who visit get worn out by mid day because they ware not used to NYC living, but when David was here those roles were totally reversed.

Washington Square Park


I absolutely LOVE when I come across a quartet.
Love, love, love it.

I love this picture of David at FAO Schwarz.

On Friday, August 13th, it was Davids birthday! We celebrated by going to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in NYC. It is a group of 4 Indian restaurants that are all basically the same. I am not sure if they are all owned by the same people, but when you start going up those stairs, all these guys try to get you to come into their restaurant. It is cracks me up!

Pay attention to the Indian man that gives David is birthday ice cream. I love how he tells him "Happy birthday."


After dinner we headed over to my other favorite restaurant Max Brenner. It is a chocolate restaurant with the most AMAZING dessert EVER! The moment you walk in the doors you are greeted with the aroma of chocolate.

And it looks like David enjoyed the restaurant as well.

The best thing about NYC is the food and the street food is no exception. This is one of the most popular street carts in Manhattan located on 53rd and 5th. The trick to this secret street cart is that they are there from 7:30pm to 4am. There are other carts that are there during the day and look like them, but its not them.


We arrived at 7pm, a half hour before they were even open for business. There were already a few people in line before us. However, we were lucky because by the time it opened the line was already down the block.

I don't know why this food was so good, but it was. I loved it.

I think the secret is in the sauce.

Tip: Use A LOT of white sauce
and a little red sauce for a kick.

We also went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch. We have been using Yelp a lot, and it is amazing how a seemingly "whole in the wall" restaurant is a hidden gem.

We had SUCH a great time with David. We cannot wait until he comes back!

Some NYC Tourist Attractions

On the third day that David was here, when Pat got home from work we walked over to the West Side of the island through Central Park. We walked around the reservoir one of my favorite places in Central Park.

Our destination:
Tom's Restaurant-the famous restaurant shown in Seinfeld.

The next day (Day 4), when the weather was ABSOLUTELY perfect, Pat and David headed down to Wall Street Area to enjoy some historical sites. Later on, I met up with them and we ventured to one of my favorite places in NYC...the Brooklyn Bridge.

Brothers Bonding on Brooklyn Bridge

The bridge was really crowded.
But since it was so nice out
we didn't mind too much.

We actually walked all the way across the bridge
(I have only walked half way before)
and to this beautiful park in Brooklyn.

We chilled at the park for a bit
giving a feet a rest before the walk back.

After the Brooklyn Bridge we headed up to SoHo
to enjoy the quaint shops.

One shop that Pat loves going to is Kid Robot. They have these toys designed by artist. But the most fun part is that you buy a box of a particular series but you don't know which character you will get. Each character has different odds, so it is a little bit like gambling, which I LOVE! Pat got Zombie Ninja.

PINK!
Why don't more people paint their buildings pink?

I love the stone streets you can find in SOHO.
I feel like I was transported back in time.

I have been so impressed with Davids amount of energy. Usually our visitors are dying by half the day from all the walking you have to do. However, David was born to be a New Yorker! By the end of the day Pat and I were pooped and David was just raring to go!

The Amazin' Mets!

The second day David was here we treated him to a Mets game for his up coming birthday. I, not being a sports fan, was NOT excited to go. Last summer we went to a Yankees game and left half way through because it was so boring. But this time, we had a great time! It was probably because David was there!


Even though we were seated as far away as you could get the view was great! It made the experience a lot more intimate and fun.

The stadium was all the way over in Queens,
but the trip there wasn't all that bad on the subway.

The highlight of my MONTH!

This is the big screen where I had my big debut! They were having one of those musical intermissions where they show the crowd if they are dancing. I was just sitting and dancing to myself, not thinking the camera would be able to get to me all the way up in the bleachers. I was watching the screen and saw this girl doing exactly what I was doing. IT WAS ME! Once I realized it I stood up and danced with all my might, trying to keep the camera on me as long as possible. Yes, this was the highlight of my month.

Maribeth in all her BEAUTIFUL glory.

Johnny REALLY enjoying himself at the baseball game.

This cute dog was all dressed up for the game before we went in. It was either the cutest thing I have ever seen or the saddest. I couldn't decide because I could not tell if he enjoyed being all dressed up. He was so obedient as his owner was about 10 feet away giving him different commands to pose for all the people. I took a picture then gave him lots of loves.

Our view...NOT BAD for the worst seats in the stadium!


The Met's game was an unofficial church activity. We have a lot of good friends in the ward and really enjoy getting together with them. Here are some pictures by others:

By Maribeth

By Joanna

The second day of David being here was really great. During the day while Pat and I worked he went out into the city by himself. He went to see Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. I was so impressed with David and how adventurous he was to jump right into NYC life. WAY TO GO DAVID!