Reflection and Thanksgiving

Over the last two weekends, we’ve seen some familiar faces. At a local Starbucks, we literally bumped into Tea Leoni and then as we were waiting in line we realized that the woman sitting at the window was Tina Fey! Talk about a star studded coffee trip. We also had our first visits by friends from home. Samara and Alan were out for a shoe shopping adventure and Jenn and Stephen came for a pre-Christmas vacation. It was so great to see them and at the same time made us realize that we’re actually living in Manhattan. Especially when they asked US for recommendations! J It got us thinking about how our lives have changed since we moved…

What we love:

·         There’s always something to do – we’ve been here for almost two months and still haven’t seen everything yet

·         Anything you ever need is right outside your door and most likely a block or two away

·         We can actually have a work life balance because there’s so much to do after work- this city never sleeps

·         Our apartment- the view and the neighborhood. It’s nice to be able to walk to or from work. OK- we could do that before, but why walk when you can drive?

·         The energy. As soon as you step outside you’re completely stimulated with the NYC hustle and bustle

What we are still getting used to:

·         Walking everywhere

·         Waiting for the subway and not being able to get in your car when you want and go where you want

·         Delivery for anything- even McDonald’s delivers. Yes, we agree- there is something really wrong with that. If you’re gonna have McDonald’s at least walk to get it. (Note: we haven’t done this, but heard it from someone else)

·         Sirens and horns. Thank you to whoever invented sound machines to sleep through the night. J

What we miss:

·         Our friends and family.

But guess what?!?! Pat bought us tickets to go back to Seattle for Thanksgiving (best surprise ever!), so we’ll get to catch up with some of our favorite people! For the other favorite people in our lives that don’t live in Seattle- we’ll be thinking of you. We have a lot to be thankful for this year and most of all, we’re thankful for all of you!

Now, time to dust off our winter clothes and pack for snowy Seattle!

Starting to feel like home...

Fall is slowly coming to an end and it's starting to get chilly. However, the skies are still blue and we'll take blue skies and cold weather in November any day! Definitely something we aren't used to coming from Seattle. Actually, as we're typing this post, we just heard that it's snowing at home!!! Crazy- all these years I thought if it was cold on the West Coast, it must be colder on the East Coast. Glad to learn that isn't always the case.

In the last few weeks we've done a lot of exploring. Exploring via home furniture store locations. When we packed to move here we got rid of a lot of stuff because we didn't know where we were going to live. With all the stories about how small the space was going to be, we decided to get rid of as much as we could. Pat did such a good job finding our apartment because not only is it wonderful with an amazing view- but it has lots of space! If you know me well, you know that I love looking at pretty pictures of interior design. House of Turquoise and Elle Decor are part of my daily reading (gawking) materials among countless others. Needless to say, I was thrilled for my new challenge of designing our new space and made sure to spend lots of time 'researching' ideas (shhh...don't tell my boss). After several trips to all the home furniture stores between 29th and 14th and across 3rd and 6th Ave, we finally found everything we needed to furnish and decorate our apartment. We're still waiting on a few items to ship to us, but here's a sneak peek. It's starting to feel more like home around here.

Special thanks to Pat for being so patient while we were shopping and for picking out our new chair!

Skating in the Park

What we've learned about having a blog is that we're constantly thinking of exciting things we can share. Luckily, excitement isn't something this city is short of.

A month ago when we moved here, the weather was still in the 70s and since we were staying in Midtown, one of our favorite places to go was Bryant Park. We loved spending our mornings there with coffee in hand and sun beaming down. Not to mention all the people watching. :) Anyway, one day we went on our Saturday morning routine to Bryant Park only to find it being ripped up and reconstructed. Not for a concert, but for an ice rink!!! It seemed like it would be months before the ice skating season began, but guess what? It's here!
 

October 16th

 

November 1st



 November 1st was opening day of ice skating at Bryant Park and it was FREE. We dusted off our skates (yes we have our own skates) and carried them on the Subway to work. Pat plays hockey and two Christmases ago I got my own pair of ice skates from Santa. I think they were really a gift for Pat, but I'm so glad I don't have to share rentals with the Manhattan public...especially the ones that showed up for a Free night of skating. :) Thanks Santa!

The line was around the corner and down the street, but didn't take long to get in. We laced 'em up and off we went. We skated for a while and talked about how incredible it is that this is our new front yard. This is something we've seen in the movies and now we're living it! We just hope they put the park back together for us to enjoy next Summer. At this rate, it will be here before we know it.

West Coast Represent- Halloween in NYC

Halloween is not our favorite holiday, but in this city, you can't have any excuses. The only option is to go ALL OUT! So, after an uninspiring search of 'top scandals of 2010', I tried 'top 2010 movies' and found a picture of Russell Brand for his movie 'Get Him to the Greek'. That's when we realized- Katy Perry and Russell Brand would the perfect costumes for us. We searched the web for pictures of them and here's what led to the final outfits.

 

I knew that the only way I could pull off Katy Perry would be if I had the perfect Russell Brand. And its scary how much Pat resembled him. Especially when he made his wide-eyed faces. Got lots of compliments all night and I must say- it was nice not to do my hair for the night and fun wearing a bright blue wig. By the way Mom, those are real flowers I sewed on myself. I do know how to sew after all! :)

It was a fun night and a Halloween to remember. So amazing costumes all weekend long parading through the streets. Our favorite- my friend Katie who was Diamond, one of the original American Gladiators. From her 80's make-up, hair and spandex, she was the hit of the night. Not to mention the jousting stick and tiger tattoo that topped it all off. I'm surprised we got into the bar with that thing! She may kill me for this photo- but here's one of her in action! (tiger tattoo not photographed)



Ok. That's all for October. Almost been a month since we've been here! Time flies when you're having fun!

First Post- We Made It!

Ok- the Brew-Train (cue the drums for our creativity in the name smash) arrived to NYC safely on October 3rd, but after 3 weeks in a hotel, we've finally moved in to our new apartment and are getting settled. We also finally figured out this whole blog thing... I know, we're in the digital advertising business, this should be second nature for us. So, what's taken so long? Well, we needed things to write about!  Now with a few weeks under our belt here in our new city, we wanted to share some of our most favorite moments so far to catch you up. Here it goes!

1. Mangoes and Pizza:  When we arrived, the weather was still warm, so we thought we'd walk the Brooklyn Bridge. We headed downtown and then joined the sea of people that had the same idea we did. The views were incredible and the architecture was impressive, but our favorite find was a little stand that sold Mangoes on a stick. $3 later and a few dashes of paprika, Pat and I had ourselves a delicious snack...so good it was gone before we could take a picture of it! Don't worry- I watched how they cut the mangoes so I can make these for us next summer! So how does this tie into Pizza? Well, part of the reason for heading over the bridge was to get to Grimaldi's pizza- which people claim is the best in town. We knew we found it when we saw a line down the street and around the corner. :) After about an hour later (thank goodness we had that mango!) we confirmed that Grimaldi's was pretty damn good. Unfortunately, it was our first pizza stop (I'm sure not our last) so we didn't have much to compare it to, but we would definitely get it again. Next time, we'd order for take-out and go pick it up. 
2. NY Rain at MNF: OK, Seattle is known for it's rain, but Seattle has nothing on NY rain. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Monday Night Football game- Vikings vs. Jets. Pat is originally from Minnesota, so it was great that we could see the Vikings play in our new city. We heard it was supposed to rain, but it was so nice out during the day, we ignored the weather man. After all, they're wrong 90% of the time. So, we headed to the subway station then to the train and off to Meadowlands we went. Once we got there, we headed towards the entrance and  I kid you not- within 10 seconds, it was a monsoon. I'm talking a downpour that was blowing sideways, with rain drops the size of golf balls. I've never seen anything like it! The game was delayed for a little while, but once the rain stopped, we flew to our seats to watch the Vikings whoop the Jets....or so we thought. The game ended with Farve throwing an interception (go figure) and the Vikes lost 29 to 20. Lesson learned- believe in the weather man and always have an umbrella on you!
3. Rent: Too Damn High, Space: Too Damn Small, Apartment with a View: Priceless: We were so excited and relieved to find out we got the apartment we wanted. Pat for tracked this amazing place down while he was commuting back and forth from Seattle to NY the month before we relocated and we could not be happier about the space. It's not easy to find a place in the city, especially one with a view, but WOW! He found the best apartment! We are on a corner unit that faces North West and we have panoramic views of the city, specifically the Empire State Building and Chrysler Tower (not pictured). It's amazing day and night. Plus, there aren't any buildings that are close to block our view, so it's very serene. 32G is starting to feel like home and this past weekend, once all the boxes unpacked and closets full, we got the most colorful sunset welcoming us to our new home. (see the picture). Now it's time to decorate! :)

And that's what we've been up to over the past few weeks. We're just getting started, but already loving this city. Halloween is this weekend, so get ready for some blogging after the weekend. Not going to ruin the surprise, but we're representing the West Coast! More to come soon.

-Pat and Jill