So we pay a lot of money to live in the most exciting city in U.S., but what have we been doing every evening, including our Friday nights? Your lookin' at it...sitting around doing nothing special.
With it being cold, wet, and dark by the time we get home from work, we have not had ANY motivation to do ANYTHING as of late. I really don't mind since I know once the weather warms up and we have more hours of daylight, our lives will be back to normal. I guess you can kinda think of this time as a "vacation." (This is how I make myself feel better about being lazy)
The past few weeks have felt a little bit like the movie "Groundhog's Day" with Bill Murray (such a good movie by the way). Everyday is exactly like the day before.
Our lives can be summed up in 10 easy steps: 1. Wake Up 2. Walk to Subway 3. Brave the crowded Subway cars 4. Pat walks me to my building, we kiss goodbye 5. 9 hours later we head back home (repeat morning commute), but this time, in the dark 6. Arrive home, clean, take shower, and change into the same comfy outfit I wore the last evening, AND the evening before that 7. Heat up dinner in Microwave and eat a 4oz chocolate chip cookie for dessert (my work pays for my lunch everyday so I just bring that home for Pat and I to share—I know I am such a slacker but it beats cooking) 8. Watch all our TV shows while Pat plays with Frido, his new remote control helicopter, and his video games 9. Read Scriptures 10. Go to bed
So here it is, 10pm on a Friday evening. I am on step 8 of the day, so I best be on my way to complete steps 9 and 10.
We have some notable items on our fridge right now; I thought I would share.
My aunt, Cheryl Dee, is so sweet. This past week I got a letter from her and enclosed was this newspaper article about the challenges of legalizing ferrets in California. I love that she sent this to me!
To sum up the article for you all, Ferrets are only illegal in Hawaii, California, and New York City (not New York State, but of course the city we currently live). For very silly reasons, that are not well founded, legislators will not make ferrets legal in these places. The article argued that selling ferrets would bring in a lot a money to the bankrupt state, which I agree, considering ferrets are not cheap (about $120 a piece). However, the article did mention something I had never taken in to consideration--the cost that it would take to take care of the ferrets that would naturally come in to the animal shelters due to their legalization would most likely off set any profit that would come from the selling of ferrets. However, I do not feel this is reason enough to not make them legal, as they are very good pets. Enough ranting on this subject...
Yes that is right! Pat and I are finally going to a Broadway show! And it's not just ANY show, it's Lion King. Every year New York City put on an event called, Broadway Week, where they offer 2 for 1 tickets to a variety of Broadway shows. Since we had never gone to a show together, I had to take advantage of the deal. Even though I have already seen it, I am excited to see it again, and I think Pat will like it too.
This piece of paper is always on our fridge. It is our "small space solution" to having a really small kitchen with limited cupboard space. Since we don't have enough room for all those kitchen appliances, that do not get used in our house too regularly, we have put numbered baskets on top of our cupboards.
The numbers correspond to this list on the fridge, detailing what items are in the basket. It actually has worked out nicely and is quite easy to access with a step stool we keep near by.
hahahha Yes! That is us! Our ever so talented friend, Matt Mattson, created this amazing portrait of Pat and I for a Christmas present from his wife, Meghan (who is my best friend), and him. When we called him to thank him for the picture he said "I hope you are not offended." What a silly comment! Why would I be offended!?!? Just look at me! I am beautiful!
Matt is one of those people that is spectacular at everything! He is an amazing artists, both on and off the computer. He is a musician and has created some of my favorite songs. He is an actor and has been in many notable movies and commercials. He is a hilarious comedian. If you have ever been to Comedy Sports, in Provo, Utah, then you have probably seen him and know him as the "Funniest one there."
What cracks me up about Matt is that he is so creative that he just cannot stop creating things. He makes these youtube videos that are just so random and crack me up. This is my favorite one he has ever made. I can't even tell you how many times I have watched it.
We have cool friends that do cool things, and they are nice enough to invite us to come along. The Youngbergs had this awesome idea of going on a "hot chocolate crawl" through Chelsea.
What is a "hot chocolate crawl" you might ask? I had the same question. Apparently, it derives from a "Pub Crawl," also known as bar-hopping, when people go drinking at multiple pubs or bars in a single night, normally walking to each one between drinking. So of course, we did it MORMON style and changed the alcohol to chocolate and the bars to cafes' (much better that way if you ask me).
Maribeth had the whole event planned with the cafe's we were going to hit up:
I was SUPER excited about this since I LOVE hot chocolate and I LOVE going new eateries.
I was not disappointed at our first stop, The City Bakery, which was absolutely to DIE for! I loved the atmosphere and all the pastries and desserts looked so good I wanted to eat them all. The hot chocolate is super thick and creamy. I have never had anything like it. But don't be silly like me and not order the homemade marshmallow. Thank goodness Maribeth is super nice and let me eat some of hers.
Next Stop...Cafe Grumpy. Apparently they are known for the coffee and not their hot chocolate. But it was nice because it made us appreciate City Bakery's hot cocoa even more than we already did. Final Stop...Amy's bread. I had heard so much about Amy's bread since we have moved here, so I was really excited to go. Their hot chocolate was good, but their black and white cake was much better. And when I say much better, I mean, mouthwatering mmmm mmmm good. I am not even a cake person and I LOVED it.
I have major camera envy when it comes to Maribeth's camera and lens. Someday...
Amy's Bread was not supposed to be our final stop; however, by this time we had consumed so much sugar I could barely see straight. It almost became a literal hot chocolate crawl when we almost crawled out of Amy's bread on a total sugar overload.
This day was one of my favorites. Thank you Youngbergs for inviting us on your adventure!
There are two things I LOVE about New York City...the food and the people. We have eaten such amazing food and met so many amazing people since we have moved here. Last Monday we enjoyed both these things as we had dinner with the Matt and Maria (we love them).
We have been wanting to eat at a restaurant nearby called "Yorkville Creperie" for quite sometime. It has been cold here so we did chickened out and wanted to go somewhere close, so we headed to the Creperie.
We had such a fun time with Matt and Maria and were VERY impressed with the food. Afterwords, we went to their apartment and the boys flew a remote control helicopter and we looked at their amazing pictures of when they lived in very exotic places.
Pat and have been talking about the option of moving, so we can save more money for the future. However, after only living in New York City for 8 months, I cannot imagine living anywhere else. I thought this video captured the feeling and magic of living here.
So the Pigeon series has come to an end and ended up being a very smooth and anti-climatic process. The birdy only stayed with us one night, as the next day Pat and I took it to a nearby vet, who is affiliated with a bird rescue foundation.
We had no idea what to expect. We didn't know if the bird would be able to be helped, or what extent we would need to be involved. However, it turns out that the pigeon did indeed have a broken wing, but it was easily fix by being wrapped and braced.
We couldn't believe it, it was so non-dramatic! We thought we were going to have to choose between putting it "down" and keeping it (and you know we would have ended up keeping it). I am so glad that the birdy can live out its life in the beautiful concrete jungle of New York City.
So the moral of the story is: If you see a hurt pigeon...help it out, it is really easy to do!
Tonight is New York's third largest Mega Millions jackpot ever since New York joined the multi-state game in 2002. The jackpot is now up to $330 million...
Ever since I heard about this massive jackpot, I have been thinking about what I would do with that kind of money. It is a really fun thought, and I get all gitty just pretending.
I think that is a pretty conservative list, but then again maybe $330 Million isn't enough!
I had a fun day at work asking my co-workers what they would do; it was fun to hear all the different responses. So now I ask you the same question:
What would you do with $330 Million?
Perhaps I will add some of your ideas to my list as well, because I know this is a really constructive way to spend our time. I mean the chances of you winning the Jackpot is ONLY 1 in 175,711,536, it could happen. With those odds, I just might buy a ticket.
Here is the little pigeon. You can see that her left wing is drooping. It definitely looks broken and that makes me so sad. We found out that even though the pigeon looks adult-size, it is a baby by the way it "chirps." Adult pigeons "Coo," while baby pigeons "chirp." Also, contrary to popular belief pigeons do not spread human diseases. There is a little pigeon knowledge for you.
Last night we created a more suitable "home" for the birdy, made out of a plastic drawer and newspapers. We put the drawer in the bathtub with the curtain drawn so it could get a little privacy and not get to scared.
We also went to the pet store to get some wild bird seed, which she really enjoyed. We know we are a little insane for caring so much about a "nasty NYC pigeon," but it just breaks my heart to think of her being out on the street, not being able to fly, and being trampled by people.
However, I really do hope we don't end up keeping her, unlike Patrick, who has already researched birdcages and how to train a bird to become a homing pigeon.
(my co-worker thinks this is so funny, so she snapped a picture of me on the phone getting all the necessary info)
After I got Pat's email I called him immediately, to both laugh at the situation and to see what we are going to do next. He gave me more details on what happened and the birds' status.
After I got off the phone with Pat l I started researching on where we could take the bird. Surprisingly, there is a whole website devoted to saving NYC pigeons, called New York City Pigeon Rescue Central.
So far, the process has been quite easy. All I had to do was call the number on the website. I left a message explaining the situation and within minutes I got a call back. A very nice lady asked me some questions about the pigeon to assess the best place to take him or her. I found out that since the pigeon has a broken wing, that limits our options.
She gave me 3 different numbers of facilities that could possibly take him. When Pat took the pigeon home he gave it some bread and it started chirping and eating it, she said that was a really good sign. She also gave me some tips on how to tell if the bird is digesting his food well, and basic tips on caring for him.
Pat called the different numbers and those people gave us more numbers to call.
It should be interesting to see how this all goes down, but so far it is looking like this will be a wild "pigeon" chase.
So Pat and I write each other emails when we get to work, just so we know we both got there safely. This is the email I got this morning....
"Hey I just got to work.... I was walking to the subway and I saw this Pigeon that had a messed up wing and was getting trampled by people walking by and not see it. It was trying to hop up a stair into a little doorway and couldn't get up the stair. I felt bad for it but I kept walking to get the train. I was riding on the subway and I kept thinking about how much that sucks for that bird so I got off at 59th and jumped back on the uptown train and went back to where i saw it. Sure enough it was huddled up in the corner, I got a box and shewed it into the box. I took it to petco and they said there was a place in central park that takes care of them. So now there is a broken pigeon in our bathroom at home in a box. I gave it some bread and it started chirping and eating it. I will try to research today and figure out what to do with it.
HA HA
These awesome family tree designs. I saw these over a year ago and can't stop thinking about them. I am trying to figure out my own design for my family, but nothing has clicked yet.
We had a mouse in our apartment a few weeks ago. When trying to get rid of it, New Yorkers informed me the only sure way is to get a cat. Not wanting to constantly be cleaning the hair off my couch and clothes, I have been totally obsessed with these cats, and I am really considering getting one.
We did not go to Times Square like Pat wanted (I had to promise him we would go next year); however, we did have a lot of fun bringing in the New Year with good friends.
(Julie missing a partner to spell our 2011 with their hands)
For a last minute idea, New Years Eve 2010 was a hit as we ate good food, watched 2010's top YouTube videos, watched New Years Eve parties across the Nation, and got really excited about it turning midnight.
My last-minute Nutella-Covered-Strawberries were a hit, although a bit messy.
Adam and Julie..they crack me up.
It was so nice of Duston and Ali to have us over for some good times,
especially as they just got back from being away for Christmas.
Come midnight we headed up to the roof to yell, scream, and shout about it being 2011.
Pat and I also threw our New Year hat's, that he bought for us,
off the roof and watched people pick them up and wear them.
It took a few tries for pat to actually get his hat off the roof.
It was so picturesque to sip Sparkling Apple Cider while taking in the NYC skyline and watching the fireworks go off in between buildings in Times Square.
It was a fun and casual night (just the way I like it). Afterward, Pat and I walked home amongst all lively bars and drunken people. We saw a few fights, several crying girls, and a lot of stumbling and mumbling people.
Amongst all that chaos, we walked passed this quietly lit street. And I thought...
"This is going to be a good year."
