The battle is lost but I will win the war!

Maybe.

My fantasy football team has finally found the ground.  The last couple of weeks, my team just hasn't quite put up the numbers that it once did.  Granted, I am still in the running for the playoffs, but it is now a tie.  This week is a big one.  Not only do I REALLY need to win this game to try and secure my wild card position for playoffs, but I am playing Justin (see entry about Snuggie Jesus) who would love nothing more than to beat me. And if I beat him...oh sweet victory. Everyone keep your fingers crossed...you too, Farron.

The fact that I am addressing Farron directly in this blog brings up another battle lost.  For months, Farron and Julie have been painstakingly trying to find my blog. Julie has googled every combination of my name and the word blog or my name and some subject she heard me say in reference to my blog.  But alas, she could not find it.  She has even gone as far as to message my friends (that she doesn't know, mind you) on Facebook and ask them for the address.  And for months, I was winning.  They couldn't find it.  I am sure you are all (all 2 of you) wondering why I care that Farron and Julie read the blog.  Well, one...it's principle.  They want to find it.  I am keeping them from it.  And two...they live here.  The blog is written more as a way to let my friends and family who do not live in NYC know what I am up to here and what it's like to move here.  They already live here.  So when I am talking about how cool something is, they will probably think it's silly since they have been experiencing it for years now.  Basically, this blog is kind of like my written testimony to being a longstanding NYC tourist. Haha. 

But I lost.

They finally wised up and found my blog address on my sister-in-law's blog, which they found through my brother's Facebook page.  Argh.  What's even worse is that I was in the room with them when they found them.  Oh, horrible defeat.   So now there is this big joke that Julie loves to repeat and it goes something like this.  Ahem.  Picture a horrible, horrible Texas accent with 5 syllables for every normal one syllable (if you guys have ever seen the talking pothole commercial - see video below- it sounds like that)..."My name is Jennifer, and I just moved to New York City.  I ride this thing called the suuubway.  It's this big train that runs through a tube! Oh my goodness!" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1pNPOZUf10

I get to hear this.
A lot.

It's ok.  I also get to make fun of Julie for saying things like "harrer movie" (horror movie) and "harrible" (horrible).  Remember hat dawg?  And I am also going to include this picture....

That's Julie...at Halloween, i.e. Zombie Cop

Alright, folks, my parents are in town for Thanksgiving.  You have more entries coming your way if I will just sit down and write them. I gotta tell you all about my vacation and about Thanksgiving too.  Woo hoo.

Iconic Saturday

So as I was saying, Parham and I decided (poorly) to check out a few iconic places in the city The first being the original Katz's deli. While we have Katz's in Texas (a favorite late night spot during college in Austin since it is open 24 hours), this was the original, truly authentic deli. This place was a madhouse. There was a line...yes, a line!!!...wrapping around the side of the building. A large bouncer...yes, a bouncer!!...was standing outside letting people in to the place one small group at a time. There was a sign that stated bags were subject to search...wha??? And we received a ticket that was our pass out of the deli with a $50 charge if the ticket was lost. Where were we? A club? So then there was a long line to get a sandwich, another line to get french fries, another line to get drinks, a line to get an appetizer, and yet another line to pay. We were packed in like sardines, and there was no way to sit at a table without getting bumped a million times by the people walking by. Granted, the food was fantastic. I had half a pastrami sandwich and really enjoyed it despite not being a huge meat/pastrami fan. Parham had a ruben. The sandwiches were served on fresh rye with a pile of high quality meat the size of a New York high rise loaded on it. The potato cakes were nothing short of wonderful. They serve them with sour cream and applesauce. I wasn't sure what to think when ordering them, but I have to say that I enjoyed them as much or more than the sandwich. So after surviving the zoo called Katz's and its inhabiting animals, Parham and I left more stressed than we were going in.

We headed to a place called Doughnut Plant a few blocks away. Again, a very iconic place in New York since it has been featured on Food Network and the Travel Channel. We had tried to go to this place previously only to arrive 10 minutes after it closed.  This time, we got there while it was open but waited in another half hour line just to get in.  We tried an assortment of donuts included cocunut cream filled, peanut butter raspberry filled, creme brulee, pumpkin, and apple cinnamon. NO, we did not eat these all at once. Don't judge. We really wanted some coffee but after our strenuous eating experiences, we decided to enjoy the donuts at my place and brew some coffee there. They were pretty amazing with the coconut being my favorite. Mark Isreal, the owner of the Doughnut Plant uses his grandfather's recipe and adds his own twist. All the ingredients are homemade and fresh down to the jams, and Mark has somehow developed a method of making a square donute that has filling throughout the whole thing rather than just in the middle so every bite includes a bit of filling. So. Good.

Again, we run into the loves and hates of living here.  I wouldn't be able to try these things if I didn't live here, but when you have to wait half an hour just to get IN, you start getting a little grumpy.  Of course, you can always be smart and not go on a Saturday morning. Eh, like I said, poor decisions.  You live, you learn. 

I Vant to Suck Your...jam filled doughnut?

Before I get started, I had to reach a decision.  I have decided to let go of the guilt of not posting frequently on here.  Sorry.  I feel bad about it all the time, but I have been running around so much that it is hard to find some time to sit down and write.  Sooooo...that's it.  I just can't feel bad about it anymore.  I will keep trying to write, but the frequency will not be what it was in July.  Sorry, sorry, sorry!  Keep checking back every once in while...

That said...let's get started on this post.  I have to think back to all that I have done since writing last.  Ah yes, I was about to head to my high school reunion.  Things went pretty well.  We started off at our high school's football game on Friday.  It was surreal to watch and think about how important all that seemed at the time and how wrapped up we were in it.  No complaints though.  I thoroughly enjoy football, and that's where the roots were set.  Saturday was a family zoo day.  Since I don't have kiddos of my own, I invited my parents and my brother and his wife and twins (who I am always thrilled to see), and we had a lot of fun.  The twins LOVE animals and frequent the zoo, which is something I used to do when I lived in Abilene.  It was fun to share it with them.  Saturday night we had a dinner and headed out on the town.  The dinnner had the best turnout of any of the events and is where my slide show was shown. It was pretty weird to see some of these people after 10 years.  My, how some of them have changed!  It was also fun to see their kids and how much they look like their parents.  I had to head home Sunday, so the trip was short and sweet but totally worth it. 

The group at the Friday night football game...

Brynn, Farron, and me at dinner

The next weekend I had a couple of girlfriends from Texas come in for a visit.  We had a blast! Unfortunately, both of them ended up getting sick/injured during the trip, so some of the fun had to be a little more low key than expected, but we still had a good time.  We met up with some work friends on Friday night for some bar hopping, and then Saturday spent the day exploring Brooklyn (to the best of our sickly abilities).  They left pretty early on Sunday, so again it was all short and sweet but it was really nice to have company and enjoy the city with friends who aren't from here.



It's blurry but it's all I got.  My girls.



This past weekend was of course Halloween weekend, and Parham came into town.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Halloween and am always excited for the chance to dress up.  This year, I had the idea that I wanted to wear a costume that was reminiscent of Marie Antoinette.  I thought this might be a little boring/overdone, so I spiced it up by turning into an Elizabethan vampire.  After a little research on the internet, I ended up with red and black corset that I placed over my costume from last year (a pirate's wench dress that had a chiffon top and a flared skirt with petticoat), a platinum Marie Antoinette wig with curls and all, some cap-on vampire fangs, and some crazy contacts that made my eyes look like red colored cat eyes.  It was awesome!  I got lots of compliments and had a lot of fun wearing it.  Parham dressed in a red and black outfit that was reminiscent of that time period, and I added some make up effects and latex skin to create teeth holes in his neck as my victim.  Julie dressed as a zombie cop.  Way cool costume with a bullet hole in her neck and zombie contacts.  A big group of us headed to see the band Ok, Go! on Friday night.  It was fun to spend time with everyone, but I couldn't see a whole lot so it was hard to get into the experience.  I don't have any good pictures of my costume, but I am trying to get some.  I'll post them if I find them.

Saturday afternoon, Parham and I traipsed all over the city just to get some food.  It was a stressful experience in itself.  This is where the posting title comes in, but I am going to wait to tell you guys about these experiences since this blog entry is going to be super long and that will provide me with material for a post in the near future.  So keep watching for a new entry in the next couple of days to find out what it all means.

Saturday was more bar hopping with some of Parham's med school friends that live here.  Lots of drama since some 5 foot tall drunken toad of a cop (so he claims) followed us around randomly threatening to arrest us for "assaulting him" while we desperately tried to find a cab to get away from the freak. Ah, all in a night.  We then tried to meet up with some more friends just to be told to pay a $30 cover.  No way. So off to some weird bar called Oyster something.  That place was a trip.  Very tiny with weird people and some 80's music.  Finished the night at the Club Iguana (it had a decently priced cover charge) where we danced and played for a couple of hours before heading home. 

So as you can see, things have not slowed down much for me! Again, not that I am complaining, and it's only going to get busier from here.  This weekend coming up some friends are coming in to run the NY marathon, and then I leave the next weekend for a vacation consisting of combined Texas/California time.  I am super excited about this and am ready for the break from work and New York.  I just have a TON of work do around the apartment.  I know, I know. I STILL haven't posted pictures of my home yet, but I just don't want to spoil it before it is done!  This stuff is all taking a lot more time to get done than I anticipated (surprise, surpise...story of my life - big dreams, little motivation).  My deadline was supposed to be when the girls came a couple of weeks ago, but alas, this did not happen.  Oh well.  It will all be worth it in the end, I imagine. The weekend after I get back from vacay,  my parents are coming into town to celebrate Thanksgiving with me since I am on call.  I am REALLY excited about this.  I think Thanksgiving will be nice here, albeit cold, and I am excited to show my parents my new place and my new city.  Of course, my mom came with me when I moved, but things were still a little overwhelming at that point. 

Speaking of it getting cold, things are a-changin' around here.  The leaves are starting to turn.  The temperature has been surprisingly nice and hanging around a temperate 50's to 60's until this past weekend when it dropped down into the 40's and 30's.  Brrr.  Everyone keeps telling me how miserable it will be in the wintertime, so I am a little nervous, but I just need to start doing some better planning (i.e. wear gloves and a scarf when it's in the 30's instead of just my coat like I did this morning...argh).  I need to find myself a good pair of galoshes (so I am told).  Those things are huge here.  EVERYONE  has galoshes (so I am told), and I certainly have seen hundreds of pairs since the weather has been changing.

Just to make my point, check out these celeb photos I found on the net...

According to an article I just read, kitschy boots are no longer in.  We are now going for the more sophisticated neutral colors.  Bleh.  I guess I can always go with something like this...

The cowboy rain boot

Have you ever seen so much fuss over something as simple as rain boots?

On The Road Again

Phew! I am one tired girl.  The last few weeks have been super crazy and super busy.  Just a whirl.  I last left off with you guys right before going to Atlantic City.  Having not ever been to Atlantic City and not knowing much about it, I wasn't sure what to expect.  It's kind of like a mini Vegas.  There are several casino/hotel type compounds with restaurants, stores, pubs, and of course, the casino.  Julie and Farron had a free hotel stay from previous trips and were kind enough to invite me along.  Nobody did a lot of gambling. Everyone just dabbled a little (I was a wimp and only went for a few tries at the slots), but we still enjoyed the weekend just getting away from The City for a little while.  We walked along the boardwalk, we watched TV, we went to the casinos, we shopped.  We also found a little dive bar called Baltimore Grill that Julie's parents had recommended.  They live in Philly, which is pretty close to Atlantic City (a frequently visited destination for their family).  The bar was just what one would expect from a dive bar in Jersey.  The kitchen was open until 3 AM, and the bar was open 24 hours.  We went two nights in a row, and I guess for showing just that little bit of loyalty, the bar tender gave us a few beers on the house.  Speaking of beer, Julie introduced us to a nice-flavored Pennsylvania-brewed beer called Yeungling that's not available in Texas.  And seeing as how she has never been to Texas, she has never tried our local favorite, Shiner Bock.  Eventually, there is a planned face off between the two to decide which is better. 

And speaking of Jersey, there were some girls there that would definitely be considered "Jersey girls."  Think Snooki.  Think lots of overtanned skin, overdone makeup, jewelry, short skirts, and even one girl with a pair of fingerless gloves.  Julie and I decided to get "Jerseyed-out" just for fun by putting on our skirts, poofing up our hair, and stepping up the makeup.  Not really my style, but it was fun for a few hours. 



Atlantic City



This guy fell asleep at the slots

  

Our Hotel, The Tropicana

 

I think John had a crush.



This past weekend, I took a sickly trip to Texas.  Sickly because I felt like the snotty kid from class. It seems like everyone is getting sick around here, particularly those of us who are new to the city.  I hear that the allergens are a killler this time of year.  Maybe we newbies are just trying to adjust.  I got sent home sick from work on Friday but still headed to Houston to see my boy Parham.  We had a good weekend.  I ran some errands and found some great finds for my apartment.  Like I told you guys before, it is so difficult (and expensive!) to shop here that I really try to take advantage of being in Texas.  I got to see med school and intern-year friends and just chill out. I had a bit of a scare on Monday night -  by the way, I had Monday off because apparently we celebrate Columbus Day on this side of the country - because I thought I was going to get stuck in Philly.  There have been storms all around New York lately.  It actually hailed in Manhattan that night (something I've been told hasn't happened in 20+ years), and they temporarily had shut down the runways at LGA airport on top of having a curfew for landing that I was afraid we weren't going to make.  This would have been unfortunate since we had our biannual Grand Rounds at work on Tuesday.  Fortunately, we ended up taking off. BUT I had over an hour long wait for a cab waiting for me when I got to NYC.  Eeek! I didn't get home until 2 AM. 

So there is no rest for the goofy.  I am headed to my hometown of Abilene this weekend for my 10 year high school reunion.  Ooof.  I. am. old.  Ok, so not that old, but man am I getting there.  10 years?!? How is that possible?  Since I was a class officer in high school, I felt inclined to offer to do the slide show for the event.  What I didn't do was ask to be given notification less than 2 weeks before it needed to be ready.  Instead, I offered to start on it over a month ago and somehow only got wind that I would be doing it last week.  Argh.  So this evening I will be trying to get it all taken care of and get packed up so that I can leave straight from work tomorrow in time to make it for the high school football game.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, but again, I am one tired girl.  Oh well. Airplanes are like Ambien for me.  I usually fall asleep before the plane even takes off and then wake up right before landing to spend the rest of the flight worrying about things like "was I drooling?" and "did I snore or sleep with my mouth open?"  Oh well.

I'll let you know how it all goes.

Hat Dawgs, Rooftops, and Moonwalking

What do these three all have in common? 

Give up?

These things have been my most recent goings-on, and I, of course, have to tell all of you about them.  Let's start with Hat Dawgs.  Yes, I really mean hot dogs, but when one of your good friends grows up in Philly, it suddenly becomes Hat Dawgs.  My friend Julie and I have been running amok lately.  (You should look up the meaning of the phrase "running amok" and its origin...you'd be surprised...I was...anyway...)

So where was I? Oh yes.  Julie.  Julie is Farron's girlfriend.  Farron and I have known each other for 17 years, which is just weird in itself and makes me feel old.  These two have taken me under their proverbial wings and given me the opportunity to experience far more than I ever would have on my own in this city. Remmber the trapeze class?  Julie.  Remember trivia night? Julie and Farron.  Remember the fantasy football league?  You got it.  Julie and Farron again.  One of these opportunities arose on Friday night when Julie wanted to go to Coney Island.  Since this is one of her favorite places in NYC and I had only gone there once during the winter, she thought that it would be nice to head south while it is still semi-warm.  Unfortunately, we got out there and everything was closed.  However, we did not let the moment pass us by without having a Nathan's hot dog.  If you aren't familiar, Nathan's is the famous venue of the annual world famous Hot Dog Eating Contest featuring the famous Japanese professional eater Kobayashi and the American running champ Joey Chestnut. I just used the word famous a lot. This experience was not without a homeless man approaching us and asking us if he could eat our food, and a bride taking her bridal pictures in Nathan's itself.  Ah, New York. 

We then thought we would head down to the boardwalk.  On our way, we passed an Indian family chilling in a parking lot in their lawn chairs listening to Indian music out of speakers in their trunks.  And then...and here is the good stuff...we got to the boardwalk itself.  Here, we came upon a tent set up in the middle of the empty boardwalk/beach with lighting and music and people dancing.  Fair enough.  But the music was some strange concoction of 80's type electronica with beats in the background and strangest mix of people doing their own interpretation of dance.  First, we had the middle aged bald guy in a tank top doing moves I didn't know older white men should be able to do (see video below..sorry for the poor quality...it's the best I could do and be inconspicuous).  Then there was the couple who were both wearing skirts.  She was Asian and he was African American with a fro.  They were doing some weird animalistic interpretative dance that consisted of crouching, the girl being on all fours, and him doing some twirly jump thing (again see video although it maybe too dark to see and peopel kept getting in my way).  This entire scene was worth the hour long trip down there in itself. 

Since everything was closed, Julie and I decided to head back to her place in Brooklyn since my only experience in the burrough proper was a trip to Target that was...well...fairly uninspiring.  However, I loved it! Her neighborhood is super cute, and the feel was completely different from my hood.  The architecture of the buildings was very interesting, and the blocks were all lined with trees.  Everything seemed a little more chill. Since her roommates were home, we headed up to her rooftop to have some wine, and it was weird to look at Manhattan from outside Manhattan since her rooftop has a perfect view from across the river.  It's so easy to just get drawn into it and forget that New York City is much more vast than it seems.   I would love to spend some more time there getting to see more of the neighborhood since we were only there at night. 



From Julie's roof



Speaking of Fantasy Football.  I just have to toot my own little horn now and report that I was again the highest scoring team in the league this week, and I won the trophy for biggest blow out.  The boys in the league have been reported to have said that the girl teams would be miserably unsuccessful.  I should also mention that first place in the league is Julie and a close second is me.  What do they gotta say now? Huh? Huh?!? This Fantasy thing is quickly becoming an obsession.  One of the biggest mouths in the league is Justin.  Justin miserably lost the first two weeks (one of those losses was against me), and he looked like he was winning this week only to get beat by one point at the last second.  I really started to feel sorry for him.  But not sorry enough to prevent me from posting this picture of him as Snuggie Jesus

He's a grump.  He deserves it.

Saturday I had a huge surprise!  Julie and Farron invited me to the comedy club for an improv show.  I, suspecting nothing, showed up expecting nothing.  However, I turned the corner and standing there was one of my dearest and bestest (I know it's not a word...shut up) friends since high school, John!  I was NOT expecting this since John normally resides in England and I see him, oh, every several years or so.  I was so happy to see him, and I never get surprised, which made it even better.   Turns out he is living in the States for the next year and has been staying with his parents in Cape Cod.  He's currently thinking about getting a job here in the city and is staying with Farron while he does some job hunting...which is perfectly fine with me since that has meant that we have been getting to hang out.  Although we make fun of him since he seems to have picked up a weird Californian (born in San Fran), Texan (he says y'all, y'all), British (been living in London), Irish (his girlfriend is from Northern Ireland) accent, it's a pleasure to have him around.  Last time I saw him was when Lauren and I went to the UK our last year of med school (see the aforementioned travel blog).

By the way, I saw a dog wearing shoes the other day.  I hear this is normal.

Say it with me now.  Ah, New York.

So what does this have to do with moonwalking, you say?  Naturally, Farron and Julie presented me with yet another great opportunity.  Julie set up a girls' night with a hodge podge of her girlfriends that consisted of Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.  I, being unversed in the origins of the Apollo Theater, had no idea what was in store. 

So here's what Wikipedia says

"The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places,^[2] and was the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated television variety show consisting of new talent.

The Apollo grew to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance of the pre-World War II years. In 1934, it introduced its regular Amateur Night shows hosted by Ralph Cooper. Billing itself as a place "where stars are born and legends are made," the Apollo became famous for launching the careers of artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, James Brown, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Mariah Carey, The Isley Brothers, Lauryn Hill, and Sarah Vaughan. The Apollo also featured the performances of old-time vaudeville favorites like Tim Moore, Stepin Fetchit, Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, Clinton "Dusty" Fletcher, John "Spider Bruce" Mason, and Johnny Lee, as well as younger comics like Godfrey Cambridge. One unique feature of the Apollo was "the executioner" a man with a broom who would sweep performers off the stage if the highly vocal and opinionated audiences began to call for their removal."

Amateur Night is a tradition that has carried on, and I got to experience it tonight.  First half of the show is the kids' half and my favorite part.  These kids range from 5 years old to 15 years old, and booing is not allowed during this stage.  I guess once you turn 16 life just gets tough.  Anyway, these kids were so cute and so amazing.  There was a boys hip hop dance group, numerous vocalists, and my absolute favorite a five year old cutie who could dance like Michael Jackson.  He started singing the Jackson Five's "ABC" with the tiniest little voice, and all the sudden it was on.  He was moonwalking, he was sliding on his knees, he was grabbing his crotch (but in a cute little innocent way of course).  I wanted to pick him, put him in my purse, and take him home, but I was told this is a felony.  Darn. 

The second half of the show gets brutal.  If the audience likes someone, they cheer.  If they don't, they boo.  If the boos are loud enough, the executioner comes out and takes them off stage.  If the reviews are mixed, they get to sing the rest of the song with half the audience booing them.  Brutal.  Only one girl got completely boo'd off, but she was trying to sing an old Broadway song.  With a nasal voice.  In Harlem.  Uh, no.  Everyone else was mediocre.  The girl that won absolutely gave her song every ounce she had so I am glad she won.  The experience itself was phenomenal.  If you are ever here on a Wednesday night...go.

I am certainly looking forward to my next opportunities with Farron and Julie.  On the list.  A walking ghost tour.  Yesss!  And this weekend...Atlantic City! Woo! I've never been.  Always wanted to. I get paid on Friday.  Atlantic City here we come. 

A little taste of home

Saturday night was Cherie's birthday party.  Just to remind you, Cherie is my chief resident's wife and has also been my movie buddy.  Cherie is not originally from Texas, but I certainly think she should have been a Texas girl.  She grew up in a little town in Iowa but moved to Texas where she met Jordan (my chief resident).  These two are a match made in heaven.  Cherie is a prettier female version of Jordan, and they are so cute together.  She loves Texas, and the two of them are planning to move back there once he finishes this academic year.  

That being said, I just felt like I needed to give you guys a little background here so that I could tell you why Saturday night's choice for dinner was a good pick on Cherie's part.  We went to a place called Hill Country. Although this restaurant is located in the kinda trendy, kinda posh Flatiron District, you walk in that door, and you don't feel like you are in New York anymore.  There were TONS of Longhorn fans wearing their orange proudly.  There were guys in boots and hats.  And the smell of BBQ was overwhelming.  Although I would have liked to see some smoked turkey or a stuffed potato on the menu, it was still a little taste of home.  I got the lean brisket, green bean casserole, and corn pudding.  My own little version of soul food served with a side of good ole Texas style BBQ sauce.  To top it all off, Bluebell ice cream served straight up.  I have to admit that it was a little on the expensive side. But what's new? It's New York.   I never thought I would be happy to see cowboy boots and hats, but I dunno, it was nice to have a little bit of Texas here in this sea of ethnic foods.  Oddly enough, it felt like being home, and I was happy.  There were lots of funny questions and comments about what we eat, do, and say in Texas.  Some of the people there had never heard of Bluebell and certainly never had anything like corn pudding.  It was amusing.  It didn't hurt that UT won the football game over Tech either.  Jordan is an Aggie (boo!), and he was doing his fair share of smack talking before dinner.  Boo ya.  Oh yeah.

Speaking of football, you guys would be happy to know (I'll pretend that you are) that my Fantasy Football team was the highest scoring team in Week 1, although I lost Week 2.  Boo.  I have to say...participating has been really fun, although I think I might be a little obsessed.  I am Texas girl. I like football.  What can I say?

In a New York minute...

Ok, so you had to know that I would get those lyrics into one of these blog entries at some point.  I apologize.

This particular entry has a bit of mixed feelings involved.  Let me preempt this post by saying that I DO enjoy living in NYC, and I am very glad that I live here right now. 

However...

This city can take its toll on a person at times, and I think I am just dealing with one of those times. Lately, I have been pretty grumpy.  This city is so full of people and so busy that we are all just on top of each other.  And sometimes it gets old.  You are constantly dodging people, dodging cars, dodging bikes, dodging crazy folk, dodging beggars.  Everything from grocery shopping to going to your friend's apartment is a chore.  You sometimes get sick of walking or taking 30 to 45 minutes to get anywhere.  It's expensive, and trying to find the groceries you need or the replacement screw for your dresser or an extension cord all can be daunting tasks.  I look at the middle aged women who live in this city, and they are the crankiest, foulest-mouthed residents you'll find, and I feel like I might be becoming one of them. Give me a few years, and I will be kicking at the cars, screaming at the bus driver, or getting into an altercation with another woman in Starbucks (yes, I have seen all these things happen).   Sometimes you just feel the urge to push someone out of your way or to tell them to quit being rude or to tell them to mind their own business or just tell them to quit existing. 

Deep breath.  I am working on finding my zen.  A friend at work suggested I find some sort of personal release.  He likes the gym.  I am not sure if the gym would be a release or a distress for me, but maybe I will find something.  The problem with that suggestion is that it would probably take as much effort to do this "me time" as it does anything else.  Eh, it's a work in progress, and any big move/change takes some transitioning.  I think I was so bedazzled when I first got here that I didn't really have time to be annoyed, and now it's catching up with me.  

However...

All this being said...in a New York minute, things can change.  Yes, this city is grating at times.  It can be difficult to live here.  It will take me a while to adjust.  But then I get an opportunity like the one I had tonight, and it just makes me glad I'm here.  It makes me want to put forth the effort to explore this city...to just suck it up and do what I have to do.  So what is this opportunity, you say?

I have quickly become quite the TV junkie since having DVR available to me (it's evil), and a couple of the shows that I have been avidly watching are Ellen and Oprah (it's the Farewell Season of Oprah...you should jump on this train by the way).  So I'm watching Ellen, and she starts raving about this new documentary that was showcased at Sundance called Catfish.  She makes the movie sound so appealing that I want to run out and watch the first showing of it taking place that night at midnight.  I managed to tone down the impulsivity (which is difficult for me) and wait until I could see it with a friend.  After assuring Laura that the documentary was indeed not about catfish, she agreed to go with me this evening.  It doesn't hurt that she thinks the main protagonist is hot, but I digress.   

She and I both loved it.   It is only playing in select theatres (which was perk #1), but if it is playing at a theatre near you, please check it out.  It is just so bizarre and so heartbreaking.  Do not read the reviews or anything else about it because it might get spoiled for you.  The best thing to do is to go see it without really knowing more than what I am going to tell you now.  I will only say so much as it is a real documentary about an NYU filmmaker's little brother who gets caught up with a family that he essentially meets online, including one of the daughters in the family with whom he starts a relationship.  The movie wraps it up after he eventually goes to meet this family in person.  Not only did Laura and I both love the film, but an added bonus was that the director (who is also the roommate of both the filmaker and his little brother) was actually at the film, as was the producer and one of the characters in the movie.  All of them were there to participate in a Q&A session following the screening, which allowed us to get even more insight into the film straight from the mouths of the people who made it. 

Can you see why this makes me feel okay about being here again?  I would have most likely not had an opportunity like this otherwise.  This, of course, is only one example, but sometimes you just need a little morale booster.  This was mine tonight.  Take it from me.  See the movie if you can.  If you hate it, then you can hate me and it would be okay.  But do it anyway...

These are the filmmakers.  The protagnoist (Nev) is on the left, his brother Rel is in the middle, and their friend Henry, the director and also a filmmaker, is on the right (he is the one that we saw at the screening).

Bad, Bad Blogger!

I promise, promise, promise to be better about posting once things calm down a bit.  Between moving and having company (yay!), there hasn't been much time.  However, I always have posts going on in my head so don't feel completely forsaken.  It's really just a matter of sitting down and writing them.  I have had several posts in the works so now I just have catching up to do.

An idea that popped into my head was sharing with you a...ahem..."hypothetical" clinic.  This " hypothetical" place is like living through an episode of Seinfeld.  Everyone is neurotic and quite frankly just a little crazy.  To begin with, there is

Nurse X

Nurse X has been a nurse for 40 some odd years, a fact which she reminds everyone almost every single day.  She is, first and foremost, LOUD.  If you are in the mere vicinity of her, she can be heard above all else.  Nurse X has this habit of repeating herself.  Over and over and over and over.  Somewhere in her 40 years of being a nurse, she must have forgotten exactly what it is that nurses do because she does - to be blunt - absolutely nothing.  She has had many a picture taken of her sleeping in the nurses station, and if she is asked to do anything beyond that by any of the residents, someone gets an earful.  There are so many things I could tell you about her, but one of her most prominent (and most excrutiatingly embarrassing) habits that she has is to say things that are entirely politically incorrect.  Example: When a patient comes into the clinic that is in a wheelchair, she will write in bright orange pencil "PLEASE SEE PATIENT.  PATIENT IN WHEELCHAIR."  This is not so bad, but she extrapolates this to patient's with special needs. In bright orange pencil/crayon, "PLEASE SEE PATIENT.  PATIENT IS A RETARD."  Then she will come into the resident room and loudly (of course) say "Doctors, you need to see this patient.  He's a retard, and he's going to act out."  This is not a joke.  If anyone reprimands her in any way, they will get an earful of threats from calling the union to calling the mayor to calling Obama.  She has several nicknames amongst the other staff including Devil Lady, Dragon Woman, and some that I cannot put into this blog.

Nurse Y
Nurse Y is extremely talented.  Oh yes.  Very, very talented.  What is her talent, you may ask?  She has a unique ability to walk into a patient room when the resdient has JUST finished and ask if she can help.  How she is able to do this, I am not sure.  She also likes to ask questions that are impossible to answer.  Examples: "Doctor, how many patients do you think will show up today?"  Not sure.  "Doctor, is the other doctor done with his procedure in the other room?"  Couldn't tell you.  Etcetera.  The other day she argued with a resident because he ordered precautionary Hep C/HIV tests before starting him on a medicine that compromises the immune system (since these diseases already compromise the immune system).  She didn't understand why this resident would order these tests for "such a nice man."  Uh, whoa.  First, it is just precautionary and a prudent thing to do for both the patient and the doctor.  Second, having HIV or Hep C does not make someone any less of a nice person.  If you have any experience in the health field (which she does), you would know that there are all sorts of people from all demographics and in all stages of life that have these diseases for one reason or another.  How are these people nurses?

Clerk A
Clerk A is quite quirky.  She visits frequently in the residents' room because she makes frequent trips to the bathroom, and the ghetto bathroom key (which resembles a bathroom key from a truck stop since it has a large wooden block attached to it) is in the room.  During these visits, she usually complains about Nurse X, often remarking that she grew in Spanish Harlem and could hire someone to kill Nurse X.  In fact, there have been several instances where she alluded to her connections in Spanish Harlem.  There are also usually mini lectures on how to be successful in life.  Great stuff.

Medical Assistant B
Medical Assistant B is a Jamaican gentleman who does varying jobs around the clinic.  He usually does these things while singing random songs at the top of his lungs.  He doesn't talk much other than to directly and gruffly ask questions or to gripe.  Usually, these gripes don't make a lot of sense and often are regarding something that would have already been addressed with him, but like Nurse X he likes to repeat himself over and over and over.

Doctor N
Doctor N is an attending. He is fairly elderly and has worked at this clinic for many years.  He has been semi-retired for quite some time.  He works one day out of the week, and it takes some getting used to his style.  Example: he will arrive at the clinic and bust into the patient rooms.  He will subsequently start barking at the resident or the patient at very loud volumes because the majority of the time he has his iPod on and his earphones in his ears.  He, like Nurse X, has some problems with being politically correct.  There are numerous stories that attest to this fact.  1) He recently walked into a room where a resident was seeing two teenage albino patients.  He walked in, look around, loudly stated "there are albinos in here!" and then walked out.  2) He came into a colleague's room while he was seeing another patient who had a condition that is rarely and softly associated with HIV.  He wrote HIV down on the paper bed cover, pointed at it, and whispered quite loudly, "The patient has this."  Needless to say, this patient did not return to the clinic.  He has many other humorous habits that cannot be described in this blog.  Afterall, it's hypothetical, right?

Oh, and speaking of the albinos...Nurse X, who has been in dermatology for 30 some odd years, asked one of the residents the other day why black women are adopting white children.  This came, mind you, after the family with the albino children had left the clinic.  I will let you piece that together. 

Nurse Z
Nurse Z is pretty friendly and isn't so bad.  She is just kind of random, and her broken English is hard to understand.  When introducing someone, she might remark with "This is Dr. So-in-So.  She sometimes doens't wear earings."  Ooo-kay.

Guys, there are so many other great characters in this hypothetical clinic that there is just too much to write. And frankly, it probably isn't wise to divulge most of it in a public, written forum.  But there you have it.  Just a taste.  If I can think of some more, I will certainly add them in there.

I have many more things to write about, but I obviously can't do it all in one sitting.  Again, sorry to be such a naughty unreliable blogger.  I will be better in the future. Cross my heart...

On Demand

And again, I unintentionally went on a little hiatus from the blog.  I've had a few requests for an update. This time it mostly had to do with not having internet and being SUPER busy trying to get everything done.  I took two trips and moved all the remaining stuff from the old apartment to the new apartment, including the cats. They joined me the night before last and are adjusting to their new home.  The first night they ran up and down the length of the apartment.  In addition to just being freaked out, I think they were enjoying all the new space!

Things are coming together. I got the last of the things I ordered yesterday, including my TV. Woo hoo! I ended up finding a great deal on a 42" plasma, and I got my cable and internet yesterday as well too.  I still have so much to do.  I need to finish doing some sewing, including the duvet cover, possibly some shades, some shams, and maybe even some curtains.  I need to finish painting the furniture, buying and hanging some wallpaper, and I need to find some good decorative pieces for the walls.  I miss all my tools that I left in Texas, and having cable now is decreasing the chances of me getting my stuff done anytime soon.

Speaking of sewing, I bought some of the most expensive thread I have every bought. Yikes.  I had several errands to run the other day and realized that if I took public transportation it would take me hours upon hours.  I needed to load up stuff from the old apartment anyway, so I just rented a ZipCar to knock my errands out.  First stop, I picked up a vase I bought on Craigslist down in Greenwich Village. Next stop, a fabric store on Fashion Avenue to check out the fabrics and get some thread. Whoa.  I have never seen so much fabric in my whole life.  Three stories of hundreds to thousands of bolts of fabric.  It was almost overwhelming.  There were young designers browsing everywhere (don't ask me how I could tell they were designers, I just could).  I didn't figure I had time to look through all the fabric so I just grabbed some thread and ran.  It should be noted that the elevator up to the fabric store on the third floor of the building was actually run by hand by an elevator attendant.  I have never seen that except in movies.  It was kind of awesome.  Anyway, by the time I got out to my ZipCar, I had a nice orange parking ticket sitting on my windshield.  I knew this might be a possiblity since it was 30 minutes before the commercial turned into a regular parking zone, but I seriously ran in for 10 minutes.  That was obviously 10 minutes too long. And yet another lesson about New York...parking tickets in NYC are not your normal $20 tickets.  Of course not.  No, it was $115.  Fantastic.  So that is why that was the most expensive thread I have every bought. 

The rest of running errands went better, but I was pretty worn out by the end of the night.  After moving the rest of my things including my clothes, I was ready for bed.  I stayed in the new apartment, and have to say...I. Love. My. Bed.  After spending the last 2 months sleeping on a horrible mattress with an equally horrible pillow that both caused me neck pain, it's like sleeping on a cloud.  The only problem is that I have been late to work the couple of times I have slept on it because I don't like waking up.   I ordered the mattress from Walmart.com for an amazing price so I was a little concerned I would be getting what I paid for.  I am extremely impressed.

This past week hasn't had too many interesting events.  I am part of a Fantasy Football league, and we had a training session on Wednesday at my friend Farron's house.  The training session mostly consisted of the boys fighting over the rules, my ADD keeping me from being able to pay attention, and me eating more pizza than anyone has any right to eat.  I am not sure what came over me.  I think it was magic pizza because all the girls just about doubled their normal intake.  Yeah, that sounds good.  Magic pizza.  Our live draft will be occurring next Wednesday.  I am not really sure what I am doing, but we will see how it goes.  Hopefully, the magic pizza won't be making another appearance. Or will it...

The next day at work we got a little unexpected break.  A transformer blew up and caught fire next to the hospital, and we had no power.  No power equals no clinic.  The other residents and I headed to a pub for beers and lunch and stayed for a few hours.  What a nice, easy day.  Oh yeah.

So now I have a chaotic old apartment to clean and a chaotic new apartment to clean, and I am not feeling much like doing either.  Oh well.  I will pull some motivation out of the deep recesses I guess.  I have been getting lots of requests to send pictures of the apartment.  I will send them once the final touches are put on.  It might be a little while, but it will be worth it.  Promise.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you guys about all the good food I have been eating! And you know this blog would not be complete without a section describing food.  Lauren and I made a deal with each other to make more of an effort to try some new restaurants with the coupons she's been buying on Groupon and LivingSocial.  The first place we tried was Mr. Chow's. You may have seen Mr. Chow's in tabloids or celebrity magazines because it's seems to be a celebrity hot spot.  We tried it for restaurant week (which has now been extended to restaurant month).  Restaurant Week is usually a week during July when NYC restaurants offer a three course meal for $35 for dinner and $24 for lunch.  The idea is to make normally inaccessible restaurants more accessible to the general public.  We picked Mr. Chow's because we figured we would get our money's worth and more.  We were right.  This place was awesome.  We each ordered an appetizer.  Lauren got Mr. Chow's noodles, and I got the Squab.  Both were great.  The squab was like lettuce wraps with a yummy chicken mix. For the main course, she ordered sea bass and I ordered the Ma Mignon.  Again, both were awesome.  I don't even like fish, and I thought the sea bass was light and not too fishy.  The Ma Mignon was incredible.  It's sliced filet mignon that had a nice light, peppery crust on the outside.  Dessert was an assortment of ice cream including green tea, vanilla, and chocolate.  Yum yum.  If I could afford it, I would go back there.  ;) Maybe for restaurant week next year. 

The next night we went to a pharmaceutical dinner at Ruth's Chris, which is Lauren's favorite restaurant.  Of course, we were not let it down.  Ruth's Chris is always good.  It was a pharm dinner on a Friday night, so I think it ended up being more like an awkward dork convention, but we enjoyed the food nonetheless.  Lauren and I were the only residents there.  The next day we headed down to midtown to do some shopping.  We grabbed a bite at a Thai/Japanese fusion spot and walked a few avenues to Macy's.  This is the Macy's on 34th street (think Miracle on 34th Street, Macy's Parade, etc.).  They were having a One Day Sale, and it was INSANE. We found some great deals though. 

MIA

Man, I am really behind on my posts.  Needless to say, the last week has been super busy.  I got back from vacation and hit the ground running!

This past week has been mostly running around collecting pieces of furniture, painting furniture, and setting up the new apartment.  And..

I drove in New York!

Remember that Zipcar concept I told you guys about?  Well, I put it to use, and rented a Honda Odyssey for a few hours. I started off by picking up a headboard from the upper west side, which I thought was going to be fairly easy. However, like all things that I assume are going to be easy, it was not.  Getting the headboard in the back of the van was like getting my rear end in my pants...it's barely too big and just might fit if I wiggle it around enough.  So after 15 to 20 minutes of struggling, I finally barely squeezed it in only to spend another 15 to 20 minutes getting it out.  By the time I went to pick up my bigger pieces later that night, my arms were already worn out.  Nonetheless, my colleague and I ran down to the financial district to pick up some jackpot of some pieces I found on craigslist.  The seller was basically selling her entire apartment for crazy low prices.  I thought the dresser and desk looked fairly light in the pictures, but it turns out that they were made from solid wood. So not so much...

Thought this was clever...sorry if it offends anyone.

After dragging these things down from the seller's apartment and up my impossibly narrow and steep stairs to the 3rd floor, we were exhausted! I decided there would be no more moving furniture up the stairs.  Like everything else in this city...delivery, delivery, delivery!

That lasted only a few days of course until I found a 12,000 BTU window air conditoner unit for $25.  Yeah, $25!! I got pretty lucky with the air conditioning units. I have a total of three.  This one for $25 was a STEAL, and I actually FOUND one sitting with some trash in the breezeway of my apartment.  It works great! I couldn't believe it.  However, this 12,000 BTU was an 80 lbs monster.  Again, one of my colleagues and I headed down to Soho in a Toyota Matrix zipcar.  Dragging it down her five flights of stairs would not have been so bad had it not been leaking water all over our hands, which made it impossible to grip, and also all over the marble stairs, which made it impossible to walk.  He nearly wiped out once, and I nearly wiped out once.  Getting it up my stairs was a breeze in comparison.  Getting it in the window was another story.  Again, it required some wiggling, heaving, and maneuvering with already worn out arms...all of this with rain falling and the constant fear that the window unit would fall 3 stories.  Phew! Needless to say, I hired a mover for the sleeper sofa tomorrow to move it down 3 flights and up two.  Oh yeah.

So coming back to driving in New York.  Now that was fun.  No, seriously.  I was very nervous, but I figured if I could drive in Ireland, I could handle New York.  It went pretty well.  There are no such things as lanes here.  As my colleague described it, everything just kind of sways.  If someone comes in your lane, then you move over to give them room, and the person next to you gives you room.  You know, a sway.  I had a blast using my horn.  In Texas, using the horn is a last resort and not considered quite polite.  In New York, using your horn is a pass time.  And I fully engaged all the while giggling.

The apartment is coming together.  I am covered in bruises.  I got my sewing machine but have yet to find a nearby fabric store to buy thread and trimmings.  I also got my bed frame, and the mattress came today.   I decided to test it out by lying down for a couple of minutes.  Two hours later, I woke up and decided that it seemed comfortable enough.  Awesome.  

I did manage to find some more relaxing activities to do in between all the chaos.  Friday night, I joined some girlfriends for dinner and margaritas a Mexican food restaurant.  The food wasn't bad, but I have to say it was in the shadows of the one and only Rice to Riches. Remember that place? That one was the rice pudding phenom I found on a trip prior to moving here.  Three of us split rocky road rice pudding and chocolate hazelnut pudding. Bless my stars. 

My colleague Katy and her fiance joined me for some Peruvian food at Pio Pio on Saturday night.  I heard this place was awesome, but the menu was limited and involved eating chicken off the bone...a bit of a hesitation for me.  However, it really was amazing.  Although the menu was limited, EVERYTHING was good.  The chicken had lots of white meat and was very flavorful (we all three split a whole chicken).  The saffron rice, red beans, and maduros (sauteed sweet plantains) were all out of this world. The sangria hit the spot.  I don't know how they managed to pack such flavor into such a small menu, but I will be returning.

Sunday night I headed to Arriba, Arriba with Cherie (the wife of my chief resident).  Cherie and I hadn't had much of a chance to hang out prior to this, and we had a great time.  The food at Arriba, Arriba was pretty close to good ole Tex Mex.  I had the fajitas and inhaled them.  No kidding.  We then headed to the movie theater to see Eat, Pray, Love.  I resisted reading the book for a very long time, but when I finally did, I was so glad.  Liz Gilbert is a fantastic writer.  Very relatable and witty, and I just loved how candid and real she is.  I wasn't disappointed by the movie.  Julia Roberts was perfect.  If you know me, then you can understand why that particular story tugs at my heart strings.  I loved it. 

Cherie and I also loved the two middle aged women sitting behind us that were making crude comments at every male that made his way onto the screen.  It hit a high point when a love scene began, and the scene ended with the door closing and no screen action.  This was obviously just cause for obscenities.  Cherie and I were cracking up.  I just HAD to see what they looked like when we left, and sure enough, they were how I pictured them, right down to the bleach blonde hair,white pants, sequined belts, and smokers voices. 

The walk home was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Wafels and Dinges.  Wafels and Dinges is a Belgian food truck that I did not know existed until the moment that it's smell and it's sign appeared.  You know that waffle cone smell that hits your nose when you go into an ice cream shop?  It was like that but much stronger and better.  Cherie had seen the truck on TLC's Best Food Trucks show, and it was also a contender in a Bobby Flay throwdown.  I ordered the waffle with nutella, bananas, and whipped cream. Cherie opted for nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream.  I swear that I heard an oink escape my lips, but I didn't care because it was that good.  These are not the decisions that will help me lose some pounds before my 10 year high school reunion in October.

Last night, I headed way up west to Inwood/Washington Heights area to join Farron and Julie for trivia night at the Garden Cafe.  I had been invited a few times but never could muster up the motivation to head up the west 200's.  It's a hike.  But I drug myself there last night and was glad I did.  Tables break off into teams, and trivia ensues.  Topics including everything from Zombie movies to acronyms to trainwrecks (both literal trainwrecks and those trainwrecks we call celebrities).  Every two rounds consisted of a beer tasting during which the trivia revolved around a small glass of beer provided to the table.  What kind of ale? Where is it made? What is the name of the beer...etc?  If there was tie, the winner was decided by a chug-off.  A representative from the team had to go chug a beer and place the glass upside down on top of their head once finished.  This occurs every Monday, and I do believe I will be returning.  One of the girls on my team is an occuptational therapist, and we both requested that a round next week be dedicated to medical terminology.  It's on. 

Sorry for being absent for so long.  There were just a lot of goings-on.  I can't wait to show you all the final results of my apartment.  Yay!

Hello!

Wow! That was a long break! I left on July 30 for a little over a week-long vacay in Texas.  I flew into Houston, stayed the night in Galveston, went to Austin for a night, went to Abilene for 4 nights, back to Austin for 1 night, and then to Galveston for 2 nights before coming back to NYC.  Phew!

But I had so much fun! I won't bore you with all the details.  But you all should know that my 2 1/2-year-old twin niece and nephew have to be the cutest, sweetest, smartest toddlers in the world.  Hands down. I had so much fun with them! They are talking, talking, talking, and they are getting to an age where they recognize me and are interested in me.  All I heard was "Aunt Jaffy, watch this!"  "Jaffty, this" and "Jaffy, that." (We won't go into why I am called Jaffy but I don't mind it).  I loved every minute.  I can't believe how smart they are.  My nephew knows the names of a million different animals including a caribou, hippopotamus, shark, and dolphin (to name 4 of about 50!)  He loves ocean animals and talks about dolphins, sharks, and Shamu all the time.  And he runs back and forth going "I superfast!"  My niece is little miss pretty princess. She has tons of hair that curls perfectly at the ends, and she loves to clean and help and take care of her babydolls by feeding them, wrapping them in blankets, and cleaning them. She is one sassy cookie...which reminds me, her name is Sawyer Kate but they both call her Sawyer Cake.  She informed her brother, "I not Sawyer Cake.  I Sawyer Cookie."  Where do they come up with this stuff? They know their colors.  And they sing lots of different songs (sometimes singing=yelling).   They play with each other and fight with each other. They swim.  They can run in circles for hours in the living room with no endpoint in sight (although I was told by my nephew that they were in fact running in a square and not a circle...silly Jaffy).  They are potty training right now and are doing pretty well (with a lot of patience from their mommy), although Mimi's floor was well used at times. I will leave it at that. I really could go on and on about them.  Just know that they are adorable and made their Aunt Jaffy very happy.

I also did a lot of shopping, and I pretty much wore T-shirts and jeans and no make-up for a week (forget this dress stuff).  I know it must seem weird that I shopped more in Texas given that I live in one of the biggest shopping capitals of the world, but it is just sometimes a little easier to shop when you have a car and a wide range of affordable stores (think Walmart, Target, Ikea, etc).  This did prove problematic at the airport when my large suitcase was 6.5 lbs over the 50 lbs weight limit.  I had to shove 6 lbs of stuff into my already overflowing carry on that I bought at Garden Ridge just to carry all my crap.  It took me no less than 10 minutes to zip up my carry-on while approaching security in the airport.

I bought a lot of things for my new apartment including some fabrics and things for DIY projects.  I love that kind of stuff.  I am having to invest in a new sewing machine since I sold mine when I moved. I can't wait until it comes in.  I have keys to the new apartment already.  Once I get a bed and air conditioner in that puppy, I will likely be spending a little more time in the new place.  Craigslist browsing has become a bit of obsession, as has decorating magazines.  I love the Do It Yourself magazine and website.  They have tons of feasible, affordable (and cute!) ideas that are actually obtainable to the normal (and monetarily challenged) folk such as myself at present.  I am just so excited about getting my apartment in order.  I measured allthe dimensions of the rooms today so I would know what I can fit. 

Speaking of Craigslist browsing, I wandered up into Harlem for the first time today to pick up a rug.  It was a different kind of experience.  I don't mean any of the following in an offensive way by any means, but I just felt a little out of my comfort zone.  Let's just say the Starbucks located at the corner of streets named Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X has a somewhat different atmosphere than the one I frequent at E 85th and 1st Avenue in the Upper East Side.  There were a lot of interesting sights and sounds, including a very pretty park.  I am not sure if I will spending much time up there, but it lent for a new experience for the afternoon.

I was happy to see my kitties when I got back, and I am pretty sure they were happy to see me.  This does not make it okay for them to walk all over me in the middle of the night, scratch the furniture and wake me up, or plop their furry little selves on top of my computer keyboard, but we will soon be fixing all that. 

Oh yes, we will.