Hipster Housewarming!

We are having a Housewarming Party the weekend after Thanksgiving. Barring an attack of hipsters from the neighborhood, it should be a nice, low-key affair. It's a potluck, so hopefully we'll get enough left over Turkey to fill a bathtub (I'll eat my way to the bottom....mmmmmmmm.....turkey). I'm inviting all our local friends and a bunch of people from my work. If they don't come, well then I can't say I haven't tried! I work with some really great people, but it's hard to get to know them when we're all on constant deadlines. And as for our local friends, I'm not sure how many will be around, but they really all should get to know each other! They are all so great! This is what I'm calling a Phase 1 party, sort of a pre-decorating event. Then, once we get the curtains, and paint up, we'll have a post decorating party (a Drapewarming, perhaps). I'm not sure what drinks to make, (will it be cold enough for hot toddies????that would be fabulous!) but there are sure to be Shu-Mai! Come by and bring a casserole! Pix to follow!

1st view of the new place

Joe out did himself. I can't express just how excited I am with the new place. We are located dead center of Williamsburg, in this little side neighborhood that I've had a crush on for some time. We are on a main thoroughfare, with large windows, but it's quiet and lovely, with lovely light and trees lining the street. A coffee shop sits right across the street, a lovely bar and restaurant is kitty corner, and the block is full of great places to eat and shop. We are a stones throw from the Metro station and Bedford avenue (with all it's great shops and places to eat). We can walk to the water, or meet with friends (who are also local) for dinner or a drink. Not that there is much reason to leave the new apartment. It's the perfect place for entertaining, and working from home. We even have a little balcony off the back! I can't wait to get home (and continue to unpack) just thinking about it!

New York New York , a wonderful town...

While it's taken some time to get settled, I have not completely forgot about postings. I have, however, been living out of boxes and unable to have reliable access to the internet at home. Add to that my bear of a commute (I spend between 2 and 3 hours a day between home and work, all in a noble effort to provide humanity with stories that nourish the soul (or at least keep the rugrats out of mom's hair for a few hours). Now I'm so far behind I'll have to just rush out a post or two for catch-up purposes.

On September 1 Joe and I moved to New York City.

Our last evening in LA - Shannon and Mary saw us off in the only way to leave LA; filled with Tacos. With a drought of Mexican food on the horizon, we doused our sorrows in Margaritas and bid farewell to our home for the last 6 years. Onward to NY:

While we were ready to leave LA, we weren't ready to give up everything. So we took Shannon along as our Catsitter on the plane. That meant we had a few fun days left with him before we started our new lives in NY. Old life, meet new life: We met up with our lovely friend Alexa (see previous posts) and her friend Christina and headed out for what we were afraid was the last weekend of Coney Island ever (it's gotten a reprieve of another year, since then, but we couldn't take a chance and miss it).

Never let it be said Shannon doesn't know how to cut right to the heart of a good time.

The day was fantastic and ended with a warm sunset on the beach. It was an amazing way to start our new adventure (I know, it sounds stupid, but it's true) here in NY.
Of course, this was followed by 2 months of living in an apartment that was right above the subway line, in the heart of Garbage truck central and plagued with everything from spoiled college students from the private business school in the neghborhood to the odd bites in the night that suggested some sort of mite or bedbug! UGH! Add to that a difficult time adjusting to the commute and work, and you have 2 months of...well...good reasons not to post. But now, well...see the next posting for more on "Now" (and maybe a little on why I dislike Blogger's coding, which is making the layout of this post very annoying to me...)

Our "See you soon" BBQ

Some very wonderful friends of ours got together and threw us a Moving Away BBQ (we are not allowed to say good bye). It was fantastic! Cheech made some fabulous bean - homemade - that were sweet and syrupy, and everyone ate tons of food and even more desert. Ki & Phi and Candy all worked hard too - making a mass of good food. and are the best friends to fellas on the run can ask for. Mikey, and big Mike and Jen and Sandy with her daughter, Mika and Kathy all made the evening so special.










We played a funny game and ate burgers (thx Mikey for grilling!). Homemade cupcakes, rice crispy treats and best of all, an amazing creation called a Peach Skillet Cake. The cake part was moist and sweet, like a bread pudding, and the peaches were caramelized and divine. We ended the evening with a moonlit swim! Now THAT's a send off. We are going to miss everyone!

Moving on Up....

I have a confession. That last post was neglecting one little piece of information: we were in New York for me to interview with Blue Sky Animation (the makers of such great animated films as Ice Age and the up coming Horton Hears a Who) and check out our future apartment (yes, the one shown below with Joe trying to figure out how to arrange our furniture in it). Now I can tell everyone that we are, in fact, moving to New York! It's quite crazy, really. We have to give notice, well, basically by Wednesday and then start the packing, crating and preparation process for the move. I think both our brains are about to explode. So much to consider. So little time. We will officially be New York residents September 1! Making us an official Halloween destination (you have not done Halloween until you've done it in New York!).

We are certainly going to miss some special people we have met here. That's the hardest part of going. I couldn't ask for a better boss and friend in Dave Hartman. Every day working with him was a treat. And Joe so values his relationship with Kathy. Like I said, there are some amazing people here. But we're looking forward to seeing old friends in New York, working on new art, and really trying something new.



Our New Home (top floor)


Our New View (top notch!)

Humid days in New York

Guess who took a quick trip to NYC for the weekend? FUN FUN FUN! That said, the weather was hot and extremely humid. I found I could survive it.


Our first night in we met our friend Alexa (from previous posts) and her new "friend" from Italy, Marco (along with a few of his fantastic friends). Dinner at DuMont in Brooklyn (the same place we had the wedding party dinner for Anna's wedding). Great food. We followed it up with an evening of Dancing to bad music at a crappy bar down the street...and had loads of fun!


Next day was Lunch at Cafe Gitane' with Heather (one of our Hosts for the trip)...



..followed by a visit to our potential landing pad in the Wall street area. Joe sat around and tried to figure out the space while I took in the frightening idea of living in under 800 square feet (basically a large studio). Oh my. What are we thinking?


We met up with Jenny, Joe's best friend in NY (and another of our Hosts) for dinner and the evening.

The next day was my time to explore and Joe's to catch up on some client shopping. We ended the day with dinner at Diner in Brooklyn, and hopped a plane for home the next day. A whirlwind trip with some great friends!