Playing to NYC

Yesterday sister-in-law Jackie and Jen’s cousin Jill came to LIC to visit. After taking them on the grand tour of the apartment we walked a couple blocks to Blend for lunch and then to check out our neighborhood. Everything at Blend was great but the server. I am one and can tell you that when you only have a few tables there’s no excuse for crappy service. He was so slow, getting a refill was like pulling teeth, and then he ran our checks to the wrong cards after we labeled it for him on the receipt. Anyway, Gantry Plaza State Park is a must on any LIC walking tour and we got to play (if you can call it that) some pianos that were out as part of a city art project. Later I headed to work as the girls headed into the city to shop… and eat ads Jen.

I have today, tomorrow, and Friday off from work which is great… just costly. We were good today though as we just took a Pilates class at the gym and ran some cheap errands in the city. Coming home we noticed signs posted all over the neighborhood that Vernon Blvd will be closed for the filming of a movie tomorrow. If we can’t see what’s happening from our bedroom window we’ll have to do some snooping for celebrities.

Dinner on the Hudson

We are finally done getting the apartment the way we like it! We added a swirl on the wall in the living room and a chalk board wall in the kitchen. Right now it's pretty warm in here; I don't think our window a/c can beat the high temperatures outside.
Today I don't work until 4:30 (which I need to leave for soon) so Jen and I went to see Toy Story 3 this afternoon. I always like Disney/ Pixar movies.
Yesterday after church we went upstate to Jen's cousin's graduation dinner. The restaurant was very nice and right on the Hudson which I realized flows the opposite direction than I thought. Our neigbor was nice enought to take Pup out while we were away. Good thing because we got home pretty late.
My MIL and SIL are in town and my FIL will be here next week.  Then my BIL and his g/f will be here later in July.  Those Cappello's just follow us everywhere!

Adjusting

The last few days we've been doing alot of work on the apartment and I've been trying to help Jen adjust to her new surroundings. She's getting better at navigating the subway system everyday. I walk much faster than Jen so I'm usually carrying a slight lead but have to hold myself back so she can figure it out on her own, ha.

As far as the apartment goes, we'll see something in a magazine that we like and say, "hey lets do that." It's kind of random but really worked out in the bedroom (pic). We're still working on the rest of the place but almost done. You'll just have to come here to see it for yourself! Tonight our big outing was into the city to visit it's Home Depot. The one in Sunnyside is better if you have a car but the one in Manhattan, 59th and 3rd, is so nice! It's surprisingly big and had English speaking employees... in America, imagine that.
We found a gym that's actually in Grand Central Station, just one stop from the seven train stop down the street. It's part of the New York Sports Club chain so it's very nice and pricey, naturally. We get to try it for a week and then decide if we want to join.

Pup seems to be adjusting well. She's learning to "go" on the street when there's not too much grass around and got a much needed bath from Jen today.

Tomorrow night I go back to work after a randomly scheduled three day break. The time off was nice but I need some money to pay for our fun! :)

We-Hual

If there is one thing that has been consistent in the last few days it would be our U-Hual adventures. We will have had it for almost a week when we return it tomorrow. I feel oddly comfortable driving it, considering driving in NYC is like being in an obstacle course. Once it was unloaded we could use it to buy large things that we needed like a sofa, storage, or whatever. Our first outing was to The Home Depot to buy copies of keys that don't work. Then we went to Brooklyn to buy a wardrobe that the seller, Clifford, measured incorrectly so we didn't realize that it wouldn't fit into our bedroom until we got there and measured for ourselves. A couple good things came out of this trip though. The views of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge from the highway were amazing.  Plus, we ended up meeting a couple of dudes at the sale that needed help getting a sofa back to their place so we made a little money taking it for them.

Tonight we bought an Ikea wardrobe from Mary Anne who lives in Harlem. If you can believe it, Jen already has it packed full of her clothes and bags. This craiglister's 'hood was a little ghetto but she was nice and helped us shlep it down two flights and into the uhual. She's from St. Pete FL, what a small world!

What else... our downstairs neighbors are loser fifty-year-olds that smoke pot ALL THE TIME. Oh, and I lost my unlimited metrocard which had another ten days left on it.

Jen's here with me now so I guess I can take down my countdown clock. I asked her to edit this post for me but she's tired from all the unpacking she did today and got grumpy about half way through.

I'll try to add some requested pics of our bedroom wall now that it's finished. The living room and kitchen are not even close to being done, although we are U-Hauling it to pick up a sofa in the morning.

Driving Mrs Rexrode

It's been over a week and a half since I last posted, how did that happen? Well, for one I had to work Thursday then pack for Fridays flight to Florida where we didn't have internet. Plus, pretty much all my time there was spent packing for the move. I did get to visit and celebrate my birthday, June 14th, with family and do some serious overeating. I ate almost all of my favorite cake, The Banana Dream from Two Jays (pic). What makes it so good is that it has so many flavors: banana bread, banana cream, chocolate, nuts,  butter cream icing and so much more ha.

We left for NY this morning and were on the road by 8. Traffic was light, the uhual is driving well, and Pup is being so good. Jen's being good too :). The biggest hiccups occurred before we left like when the refrigerator door broke off in my hand or when the washer started leaking the night before we were supposed to sell it. I never got a call from the buyer so I guess it worked out.

I'm writing this from a Best Western in Emporia, VA where we decided to spend the night after about twelve hours of driving. It has free wi-fi, allows pets, and serves breakfast in the morning. Tomorrow might not be as long but the directions get a little more complicated as we get closer to NYC.

I hope lots of friends come over tomorrow night to help us unload this beast!

Farewell Sunnyside

Sunnyside has been good to me, but it's time to move on to better things. As I spend my last few days in this neighborhood of Queens I thought I'd list some of the things I'll miss the most.
- All the green! No, not money but all the trees, birds, and gardens.
- The gym AND supermarket within view from my driveway.
- French Bakery La Marjolaine, yum!
- Aubergine Cafe which was a great place to grab a coffee and read/study
- Cool shops like Stray Vintage and the chockablock dollar stores
- The sweet old Greek lady, "Yaya," and her family that lives above us.

What a Teal

The combination of the heat and all I got done today has left me with a headache. I ran into some friends on the way home from the new apartment who were nice enough to lend me some Aleive. Our bedroom accent wall (pic) was quite the process but it turned out pretty well. It needs a few finishing touches so don’t judge. I did at least get to sleep in today, and then went for a run before Nicole and Ricky were kind enough to take me to home depot. From around noon to 8 we painted doors, trim, the bedroom, and one coat on the ceiling. The place feels huge when you have to paint every square inch of it, ha.


Tomorrow is my morning to help setup at church so I need to hit the hay early, just not before 48 Hours Mystery. Maybe I can recruit some more painters and get a lot knocked out. The move is really flying at us and we have so much to do!

Pack It Up

Today is a good day for reading. On Wednesdays the Queens edition of the Metro NY paper is released and the Village Voice, which has tons of entertainment and event information hits the stands. It's also laundry day, again already?
If I haven't mentioned it already, we got the apartment in LIC and are siked. The new floors were a huge improvement from the grody, ancient carpeting. I work tonight, tomorrow, and Friday but then have the whole weekend off so I can't wait to get in there, clean, and start painting. We have some pretty interesting colors and wall designs picked out so look for before and after pics in a couple of weeks. Just 9 days until I fly to Florida to pack up!