Highlights

Here are the highlights of my day so far:

1. HEROES. What is going on there????

2. Love that on The Hills last night Ashley mentioned Heidi's plastic surgery. HAHAHA.

3. Also, my best friend asked if I was still going to the gym even with the swine flu problems (she's been jogging on the beach for fear of communal areas). Um, well, I live a pretty communal life. The gym is the least of my worries. The subway and living in a building with 200 other people are sort of topping my list. So yes--just as I continue to travel to work and live in my building, I am indeed still working out in the gym. I washed my hands (no joke) 6 times this morning at the gym. Go me. I will agree that it is pretty terrifying and sometimes I wish that I could get on with my life with less people coughing near me. Oh well. It is what it is and the soap at work smells like lillies. My hand sanitizer smells like cotton blossoms. Our soap at home is lemon verbena. The only soap in my life I'm not too fond of is the soap at the gym--it smells institutional. Oh well. Whatever keeps those germs at bay now that HUNDREDS of people in New York City have swine flu.

4. On that note, my hands are honest to goodness SQUEAKY. This is also freaking me out.

Like whoa.

Today my best friend told me I needed to update my blog "like whoa." I'm not one to ignore that kind of command, so let's catch up.

I still haven't shared photos of our meet up with Laura, Dave and Lilly. I know. I'll work on it.

I still haven't shared photos of our new place. I know. I'll work on it.

Did I tell you I went to a fancy party at the Empire Hotel rooftop and that Nicholas Cage was having a party there too? No. Alright--there you go. I went to a fancy party on the Empire Hotel rooftop. All the extra Nicholas Cage security felt a little silly to me, but, hey, a fancy party is a fancy party.

We did work around the house ALL WEEKEND except for a Trivial Pursuit party on Saturday where we ate rice and beans and yummy feta basil dip that I made with homemade crackers made by the sis-in-law. Oh, and our team won.

We went to an evening church service yesterday followed by Moe's so that made Sunday fantabulous.

So who is freaking out about swine flu? I AM. LIKE WHOA.

No, seriously, y'all. Ask me how many times I have washed my hands today. Want to know why I am freaking out so much?

Since the temps hit 90 this weekend, we've slept with the windows open the past few nights. I sleep right next to a window, FYI. The temps have still been dropping down into the 40s at night, so we go to bed hot and wake up cold. Pair that with all the pollen my face is absorbing through the open window in my sleep and you have serious sore throat potential. That is, serious potential--my throat is only mildly sore.

Pair that with confirmed cases in Queens and the fact that people from my office just returned from Mexico and you end up with me--Nervous Nelly. I am super jumpy about this swine flu business. No joking.

So, that my update, like whoa. Life is fun and busy and the temperature swings and pollen make me think of swine flu. Constantly.

Kale

Kale chips are so, so yummy! A few people asked how I made them and it was easy peasy.

1. Buy some kale.
2. Wash it well—get all the gritty stuff out of the leaves.
3. Dry it and break it into 2-3” pieces (discard the stalks and large ribs).
4. Arrange pieces on a baking sheet in a single layer.
5. Spray with olive oil (I have a sprayer, but I guess you could do anything to lightly coat them).
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 20ish minutes.
7. When you take them out of the oven, sprinkle lightly with salt or other seasoning.
   

I also read that you can lightly coat them in balsamic and olive oil. I haven’t tried this yet.

Nathan was super skeptical when I brought home kale the other day, but he loved them! I bought a bunch of organic kale at Whole Foods (in NYC, no less) for $2.50, so it’s  a cheap snack. That one bunch made two baking sheets of chips.

Happy super-fooding!

Oh man...

I'm beginning to feel as if we will NEVER have everything finished in our apartment. It was certainly much easier to accomplish in Boston when we were both unemployed and home all day.

Yesterday, we had a fantastic time meeting Dave and Laura of A Dozen Eggs fame. Oh, and we met Lilly too! I took pictures and I'll try to get those up tomorrow. I'll explain why I don't quite have the energy to upload them now below.

After our meet-up at Shake Shack (where Lilly got her very own puppy bowl of ice cream) we walked around, chatted and Nathan and I saw our very first famous New Yorker--Richard Kind from Spin City. He was out and about playing with his kids in the park.

After bidding farewell to Dave, Laura and Lilly, we headed to The Container Store to get necessary implements for this ridiculous plaster-covered masonry walls we have. Well, The Container Store led to Home Depot where we dropped a chunk of change for Nathan to get the fancy drill that he wanted and we needed if anything is to be hung upon these walls. The good news is that the drill should last 25+ years, so we're in the clear for a while.

Then, last night in the middle of the night, I woke up with a migraine. Ugh. I brought it upon myself. I rarely get them and it's always for the same reason. Anyway, there it was and, needless to say, I didn't stumble out of bed today until 3:00 pm. I'm still not feeling 100% (hence, no uploading of the photos), but I did find the energy to make some pizza dough and kale chips. By the way, kale chips are CRAZY yummy.

So, all this is to say that some day we might get things hung on our walls and I can show you pictures of the new place. It won't be today though. Between the migraine and our frustrating walls and me breaking the plate I keep hanging above the stove, I've decided to call it a day.

Happy Founders Day!

I've only met one other Alpha Xi Delta here in Blog World, but if you are a sister, then Happy Founders Day! I loved my time in Alpha Xi in college and I'm hoping to reconnect with alumnae here in New York City. I'm grateful for those founders who shaped our dear fraternity.

The Symphony of Alpha Xi Delta
These things do we earnestly desire:

A clear vision of life that with gracious and kindly hearts we may share both joy and sorrow, and bring into living reality the sisterhood of women.

An appreciation of real merit and worth, steadfastness of soul, that without bitterness or defeat we may encounter misfortunes and with humility meet success.

These things Oh Lord, help us to instill within our hearts, that we may grow in courage, graciousness and peace.

“No sorority is better than the individuals who compose it; no matter how high may be its ideals, the chapters compose the sorority and the individual members the chapters, and it rests with each and everyone of us to make or mar this work we have undertaken.
Let us highly resolve that our founders shall not have given so freely of their strength and brains in vain, but that we may prove their worthy successors in thought and deed.”
Ellen Leib in Volume I, Number I of the Alpha Xi Delta

Random thoughts

--These days, I listen to King of the Thing by O.A.R. every morning while getting ready--no exceptions.

--Song of the South and Louisiana Saturday Night make any good day that much better.

--The exodus of the frigid, arctic air from my life is one of the best things ever. Seriously, y'all, winter didn't seem so bad at the time, but now that I have EARNED spring, I want to embrace every moment of it before it just gets really hot.

--I'm so excited to meet up with Laura this weekend--can't wait to recap our adventures!

--FYI: If you apply for a job, put your contact info on your resume. It makes my job A LOT easier. Thanks.

--Also, on the topic of resumes, it's best to correctly spell the name of your last company--especially if it is a widely known brand. It's also great to correctly spell the position you are applying for. Oh, and make your phone number is correct so that I don't have to call some woman named Angie 5 times trying to find you. In short, edit your resume and then have two other people edit your resume.

--I know I alluded to this in my last post, but I seriously feel like I am such a fantastic place in life that I honestly can't stop smiling or even laughing out loud at my good fortune. My word, y'all, I have a fantastic job, a great husband, a new huge apartment. The air has warmed considerably, fresh veggies are coming back into season and Louisiana Saturday Night is on repeat on my Itunes right now. I think I was in denial about how sad and detached I really felt about a number of things for the past few months. Aside from the bestest of my best friends, no one really knew how I was feeling about everything. Thankfully, great things are happening for one of those friends too--new city, new future, new outlooks. I'm so excited for and proud of her.

--I often think in collage (does anyone else do this?) and right now I feel like my feeling and outlook on life is best described as a mashup of being at our best friend's lake house eating fake chicken parm with them paired with sitting around campfires singing and laughing until 2 am paired with photos of pastel balloons paired with that taste of a summer vine-ripened tomato that's warm from the sun paired with that feeling when you realize you just had the most wonderful day doing nothing special except spending it with the person you love most in the world. That was probably a little hard to follow unless you too think in collage. Nathan definitely does not and it drives him crazy when I try to describe my mash-up of feelings to him.


...well, you get down the fiddle and you get down the bow, kick off your shoes and throw 'em on the floor. Dance in the kitchen till the morning light...Louisiana Saturday Night...

You know what's fantastic?

I just can't stop smiling. Having a job that you don't hate is so, so, so, so amazing. I just can't get over it.

Between being productive when I come home rather than sad and lethargic to planning next summer's European cruise with my best friend to buying a fantastic handbag for less than one dollar to spending quality time with Nathan--I just can't stop smiling. It's fantastic.

I'm so, so tired

Well, we have made it to the end of our second work weeks in New York and I am tired. Insanely tired. At least one of us has had plans every night this week. My house still isn't finished. I need a library card (I'm running out of books I own that I care to re-read right now) and I need to convert my gym membership. We're going to Ikea tomorrow, but before that the apartment needs to be cleaned (I only unpacked last weekend--no cleaning) and we're still trying to find a worship service to attend Sunday morning.

On top of all that stuff that would make anyone tired, my insides are tired. My soul is tired. I want to feel settled and I want to stop moving and I want some me (or, rather, me and Nathan) time to fall into my lap somehow.

Being away from family on holidays is sort of terrible. Last spring, we were in Istanbul during western Easter and eastern Easter was a fun, but strange to us, experience. We've been invited over for Easter lunch on Sunday and that's exciting, but it's still hard to not be with your family and your foods and your people on Easter. Easter requires some yummy down-home food and a sunrise service that makes you feel so happy you cry followed by biscuits. Period. That's what you need. Oh, and you need to flower the cross. That's also pretty important.

I guess you actually don't need those things--at least I hope not because they seem to be in short supply here in New York. This Easter will involve high church services and bagels and trips to NJ. I guess we'll start carving out our own Easter traditions.

Cat bowl update

Good word, could I worry about this more?

So, I just woke up and went to feed the cat. A significant part of the food in the bowl had been eaten (which would show that she COULD reach the food).

I add in this morning's food and that conniving animal sniffs around and then runs away again. Why are the other members of my household teaming up against me to make me paranoid????

In other cat news, Miss Marple has definitely destroyed the top half of one of my orchids trying to catch a pigeon that resides on the other side of our living room windows. I'd be more upset, but it is a living plant (so it will grow back in 6-9 months) and so far she hasn't ruined the one with a stem of buds.

In other, other cat news, I accidentally locked her in our bedroom ALL DAY on Monday while we were at work and, wouldn't you know, she totally behaved herself and didn't destroy, chew, pee on or attempt to eat anything. God Bless, Miss Marple.

So tonight Yankee BFF and I went shopping at Fishs Eddy. Friends and family, be warned: all your gifts will now come from this store.

I bought some super cute new bowls for Miss Marple's food and water.

Anyway, so cute, right? Except, now I'm obsessing over whether or not she can reach her food because of course the ONE TIME I want my "compulsive binge disordered eating overweight" cat to eat some food, she runs away.

We just found her chilling out in the shower and Nathan told me she went there to get water because she can't reach the water in her new bowls. He's so mean sometimes.

I'm off to watch The Hills and try and stop obsessing over the cat's food and water intake via the new bowls. Didn't I used to think deep thoughts? What happened?

Honest to Goodness Truth

We woke up REALLY early, went to a church where they didn't even mention Palm Sunday (um, what?) and then rushed back home to finish unpacking and take photos for you.

Unfortunately, our walls are apparently made of cement (no, I'm not kidding) and we can't hang up anything until we re-group, get better tools and a game plan. I just can't show off a naked house and this nest is far from feathered currently, so that's on hold.

Good word. Cement walls? Seriously?

I am typing this on our new, fancy, paid-for, secure internet connection that the nice Internet Man just hooked up. I've already unpacked 5 boxes this morning.

Also? There is a bagpipe rehearsal outside our window right now. No joking.

Cranky

That last post was unnecessarily cranky. Looking back after 11 hours of sleep, I can see that. Forgive me, please.

So, our best friends who just moved into a super swank new townhouse in Charleston posted a VIDEO tour of their new place. Today's project? Plan my much lamer PHOTO tour for you good people to put up soon.

Snapshot

I need to give you a snapshot of where Nathan and I are right now--mentally, because, seriously, if one more person comments on how we are not unpacked yet, things could get violent.

Look, we know you love us and want us to be unpacked. We want to be unpacked too. Seriously though we moved in on Sunday and have both had pretty stressful weeks.

Need proof?

1. Nathan wore a pair of pants to work today that had a ginormous hole in them. We were both too tired to notice. No, really--neither of us caught it. He realized it mid-day.

2. We haven't changed the toilet paper in our bathroom yet. There is still some nasty one-ply in there and anyone that knows me knows that I am a toilet paper snob. We've not been around /// too tired to care too much.

3. We still don't have keys to our mailbox--no time to check the mail.

So, dear family members and friends, PLEASE don't ask us if we're unpacked yet. We'll get back to on that. Don't make us cry. Thanks.

Now, all that said, I'm really not too cranky today. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm super excited to meet up with Laura in a few weeks, I'm super excited to make plans with all my friends in NYC who keep calling and emailing me and I'm super excited to eat homemade salsa for dinner. It's been good stress, not bad stress, but, you know, don't ask us about the boxes.

Thoughts on NYC

1. I love being Southern up here (at least at my job). They have all these fun perceptions of me and of my accent. Apparently, they really like the fact that I can speak to people firmly and kick them out of conference rooms, but the firmness is "tempered" by my accent. Hilarious.

2. I saw my first honest-to-goodness NYC rat this week. Good word--that thing was the size of Miss Marple (who is, in fact, a rather small cat--but, still!). The rat was in 42nd Street Station, which brings me to point number 3:

3. Oh my goodness, Sis-in-Law told me I would hate 42nd Street and I DO! I have totally reformatted the commute after one day of that craziness. Why so many ramps? I mean, at one point, you walk up 5 flights of stairs. Fine. I can do that. So why throw crazy ramps in the middle to totally wipe out on in heels? Why?

4. I sort of hate hopstop.com. I know that makes me all colors of a freak, but, here's the deal--HopStop gives you one option to get somewhere and it keeps being through 42nd Street. I mean, I guess it's a useful tool for tourists, but, seriously, the MTA trip Planner and Google Maps both give subway directions as well--with 3-4 options. Now that I love.

5. I get a little less lost every day. I still walk the wrong way for about a block a day, but I'm working on it. I've figured out where I live at least.

6. Well, we still haven't totally figured out what neighborhood we live in. It's too far north to be Washington Heights and it's too far south to be Inwood. We're thinking it is Fort Washington? Good word. What is it with me and moving to cities and not really knowing what neighborhood I live in?

7. Our neighborhood just keeps getting happier and happier. There are lots of strollers and children in our neighborhood. It's a good place to have babies--if you're Jewish.

8. Oh yes, living in Jewish neighborhoods is one of Rachel Ann's top tips for city living. You know why? The People don't form gangs. They rarely, if ever, shoot each other. You can get good bagels. There are families.

9. Just an FYI for all of you still confused, we live in Manhattan, NOT Brooklyn. The Brooklyn apartment fell through.

10. I am loving my job. Obvi, I can't tell you exactly what I do or where, but I will say that I read hundreds of resumes a day and I work in a segment of fashion. Whoohoo! The work is interesting and dynamic and all of my stereotypes about this type of environment have totally been fulfilled. I am so not fashionable, y'all. I told BFF that the other night and she laughed and said that was funny because I'm the most fashionable person she knows. Notsomuch. I shop at Gap. I own no pairs of Ferragamos or even, I think, knock-offs, I mean, inspired pieces. I need beaded jewelry and a few more ruffles apparently. This is what everyone in my office is wearing these days. So, good blog people, where do you buy your fashionable stuff on the (fairly) cheap? Apparently, I need to inject my wardrobe with a few key trendy pieces.

So that's the update from wherever it is we live on this fine Friday morning. I can hear Nathan shaving and Miss Marple is napping at the foot of the bed. Oh yes, I'm still in bed.

I hope to have pictures up this weekend. The real internet is set up tomorrow and I'll be unpacking all weekend long, so hopefully that all works out. Happy Friday, y'all!