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?