i've been missing nyc like crazy the last few days. yes, we're in this beautiful french village, and yes, we're on this amazing adventure and i cannot WAIT to get to la, but it feels like we're kind of in this purgatory here.
this weekend, all i wanted to do was go back to our routine when we lived in new york. wake up in our apartment, go to yoga or for a run in the park, enjoy a long, leisurely brunch, walk around, go grocery shopping at whole foods, meet friends for a drink or dinner... i'm just missing normal, little things. things like:
sunsets in central park, looking at the west side.
"I remember walking across Sixty-second Street one twilight that first spring, or the second spring, they were all alike for a while. I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out out of the West and reached the mirage. I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later — because I did not belong there, did not come from there — but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs. I still believed in possibilities then, still had the sense, so peculiar to New York, that something extraordinary would happen any minute, any day, any month."
Joan Didion, "Goodbye to All That"
...warm and fuzzy
thursday night, we had a big going-away party and i was blown away by the number of people who stopped by to wish us well on our new adventures. knowing that we have such an amazing network of friends in this city is one of the hardest things to leave, but any opportunity to see what kind of influence you've had on others' lives is a powerful experience. also, it was just downright fun! we hung out at a bar in the east village, and then ended the night with some terrible mexican food. so lucky to be riding off into the sunset with this guy!
...full of boxes
the movers come on thursday morning, and save for our sheets and towels and some kitchen basics, we're ready for them. not gonna lie, growing up moving every two years has made me an incredible packer. see those boxes down there? those were all packed in three hours. and labeled, and entered into our inventory so we know what's in every box. hell yeah. this ain't my first rodeo.
...upside-down
the best thing about nyc on holiday weekends is how empty and quiet it can feel. until you walk over the central park and realize that everyone is hanging out there! on sunday, to reward ourselves for packing, we wandered around and lounged on the great lawn for a bit. by lounged, i mean, did some yoga.
... the end of an era
we had our last family dinner with friends coming over for a taco feast on monday night, and we pre-gamed on our balcony (aka our favorite "room" in our apartment). love having this little slice of outdoor space and sitting across from this guy. sigh.
sunny
i don't know about you, but i'm continually thrilled and surprised when i wake up and it's still spring! this winter really scarred me. we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent almost all weekend outside! if this is what life is like when the weather is always a delight, then i think LA and i are going to be just fine.
delicious
we walked from our apartment on the UES all the way down to the west village, and then treated ourselves and our blistered toes to some chips and guac, and some icy cold rose at el toro blanco. we sat outside and caught the last of the sun, and the food was so so good! highly recommended.
brooklyn-y
my friend, her husband and their awesome 14 month old recently moved out to bay ridge, which is pretty much the furthest south you can live in brooklyn and still be accessible via subway. we wanted to see them before the big move, so we made the 90 minute trek for a late afternoon brunch. you know how some kids are just kind of meh, but you have to fawn over them to make their parents feel better? their kid is literally the coolest. he's so funny and full of personality. we had such a great time, and it made the trip totally worth it. since we were already out in BK, we then hit up a friend's birthday party at this great outdoor bar called hot bird, where you can bring in your own food, and luckily, it happens to be next door to a BBQ joint. nothing like some pulled pork to top off a sunday evening.
just realizing i did such a great job taking pictures, didn't i? oh well.
two weeks from today, we're hopping on a plane to start a new adventure!! hey, time, go ahead and slow down a bit please...
alright, it's time to face facts. we have just three weekends left in NYC, and one of them (memorial day weekend, of course), is going to be spent packing and getting ready for movers. yikes. so i'm linking up again to do a five on friday post with our nyc bucket list! let's see how many we can get done in the next two weekends...
1. take the staten island ferry. it's free, beautiful, and you don't even have to stay in staten island very long! totally worth it for the views and the photo opps.
2. do a double-decker bus tour. this is one of those activities that, once you move here, fall pretty low on your priority list. the last thing on earth i want someone to confuse me for is a tourist! can you imagine?? the horror. but it's a great way to see the city from a new perspective. why not?
3. one more visit to the brooklyn flea. now that the weather has warmed up, the brooklyn flea is back in full swing. such amazing food trucks, and it's really fun to browse and then sit in the sun and enjoy the people-watching. plus, taking the ferry to get there is an added bonus. apparently, ferries are big on my bucket list.
4. run along the west side highway. i've been a pretty lazy runner the past few weeks (for a number of reasons), and i am a die-hard central park loop runner, so i've only done the west side highway a few times. we're staying downtown for a few nights after moving out, so it'll be a great time to get a few runs in with some heart-stoppingly beautiful views.
5. walk from the UES to the LES. one of my favorite parts of living in nyc is just leaving our apartment and heading off on foot to discover whatever it is we're going to discover. going on long walks the length of manhattan is such a fun way to see what's happening around the city, and making a few pit stops for refreshments along the way makes for an excellent afternoon.
have you done any of these in nyc? if you were moving, what would be on your bucket list?
for months, we've been planning to get a puppy when we move to LA. it's definitely the carrot on a stick for me to pick up and restart across the country. we can't have dogs in our apartment building right now, so i've been counting down. of course, now that we'll be subletting til december, it's looking like our four-legged friend might not join us til the beginning of next year. but while we wait, we still talk about her like she's real. oh yes, she's a she, her name is mabel, and she's a bernese mountain dog. basically, this was a big long lead-up into me saying we have an imaginary dog. as in, people at work ask me about mabel. which is perfectly normal, right? great. glad we got that out of the way. i don't have any pics of mabel (she's difficult to photograph, you know, what with the not being real), but she looks something like this:
did you watch SNL this weekend? charlize theron was the host, and overall the episode was fine, but i absolutely loved her haircut, especially how she styled it for the monologue. i'm taking this picture to my hairdresser soon. so cute!
peonies are in season!! nothing makes me feel more like martha stewart than a vase of them on our dining table. that is all.
pro tip: if you're planning on moving away from a city that you love more than you can possibly express in words, think about moving during a hellacious winter, when it's easier to bid farewell. moving during the most beautiful season of the year is somewhat more difficult. thanks for your help in making this transition, new york.
just hanging out in a disgusting, ugly park while the weather was terrible this weekend.
productive!
from 10am to 5pm today, we did nothing but purge crap from closets, dressers, shelves, and anywhere else it was hiding. with the movers arriving in just under a month, it was a very good use of our time. we donated about 6 garbage bags worth of clothes, shoes, and stuff to goodwill (including some snow boots and heavy coats... see ya later winter! on to year-round summer!), and threw out probably another dozen bags of who knows what. pretty amazing to see how much stuff just piles up around you. it was very satisfying, and i highly recommend it, moving or not!
funny
blake had a class show for his level 3 sketch comedy class on saturday night. there were 7 people in the class and they all wrote and acted in 11 sketches, most of which were pretty hilarious. i'm so proud of him, and considering our whole plan in LA is for him to chase his comedy writing dream, it's always so fun to know how good he actually is (otherwise, it sure wouldn't be as easy to uproot everything in pursuit of it!).
the beards were hands-down best part of this sketch.
delicious
we finished up with a family sunday suppa with our best buds out in brooklyn. the last few weeks, we've been trying to squeeze in as much time as possible with our people here, and we had so much fun eating homemade indian food and drinking wine to cap off the weekend. only four more sundays in nyc, which is pretty hard to believe.
this week...
heading down to DC for a few meetings, then blake's parents are visiting from seattle from thursday to tuesday, so we'll have a jam-packed weekend! always fun to have them around.
finally, please tell me you saw the beygency on SNL this weekend. if not, stop what you're doing and watch immediately. that is all. #bowdown
in about five weeks, our little apartment nestled on the upper east side of manhattan will be packed up and put into storage. our painstakingly chosen wall colors will be painted over, and everything we own will be in boxes. it's a little mind-boggling to sit here and see everything we own, and then picture it on the other side of the country in a few months.
we're moving to LA! i am excited. i am sad. i am nervous. i am (every other emotion under the sun). i love new york, and never thought i'd leave... but here we are! a new adventure awaits.
of course, in between the move, we'll be spending our summer in europe, having somehow secured a dog and house-sitting gig in the middle of burgundy, france. um. what? is this really my life?
so this new corner of the internet is going to hear all about what it's like to pack up and move across the country, spend a few weeks in a foreign country, keep your belongings in storage for several months at a time, and start all over in a brand-new city that is the polar opposite of what you've grown to love.
if that all sounds too dramatic, then fret not! i'm excite to post about what i'm cooking, wearing, eating, watching, reading, drinking, wearing and all of that fun stuff. off we go!
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