Pearl Necklace

A couple of days ago I met Jen for lunch on one of her last days at her temp job. We walked about a block to a courtyard where we could sit and eat and it happened to be Jazz in the Plaza day. The music, food, and weather was so perfect that we suddenly felt like true New Yorkers. It was a good feeling. The next day Jen went back to the same spot and, needless to say, it wasn't the same without me. There was no live music, but instead a middle aged man that was looking around and staring at people. Jen said he looked relatively normal, but had a creepy smile fixed to his face and a few strands of pearls around his neck. We decided the necklaces belonged to his victims.

Our Internet is down so I'm out on the coffee shop's bench writing this post and shooting some emails. People I know keep passing by and asking what the heck I'm doing. Ha.

Jen's last day temping is Monday but there are some promising job opportunities in the works. You say a prayer and I'll keep you posted!

Umbrella ella ella

It has been raining for days so I’ve been trying to make the most of the gloomy weather. At least it's been a little cooler. It took some getting used to Jen not being around on my days off as she’s currently a 9-5er. Yesterday I was quite busy because she was kind enough to make a list of things to do for me while I was working Monday night.

Pup and I were the very first customers in the Kitty and Dog Lounge yesterday morning. We picked up some treats and some poo bags and headed on a pretty wet walk. Next on the list was grocery shopping which I never mind because our favorite store is in Union Square (pic). The area has so much character, pre-war architecture, and a nice park with a dog run.

As if lugging the groceries back home wasn’t fun enough, next to do was laundry! Woo! Oh, I watched the movie Waiting which is a comedy about food service employees that a coworker of mine told me I had to see. I can definitely relate and it was hilarious.

Last night was the first bbq that Jen didn’t bring an amazing dessert to but a good thing because there was already too much. On the way out last night we strolled past LIC’s Pooches Sport and Spa (pic). Most of those dogs Pup has harassed on the street I’m sure. It’s raining AGAIN today so I predict a slow day at work.

Lucy Liu

I don't have to work until tonight and wanted to relax a bit before heading in. I planned to spend some time in the hammocks down at the park and took a yoga class this afternoon. On my way to the hammocks around 10 this morning I noticed there was some filming going on in the park right down by the water. I spotted the park director and made my way over towards him to get the scoop. On my way I passed Lucy Lui! The first pic is of her walking away from me, ha. Then, as I was talking to the park guy she walked back by us again. Crazy! It was fun to see a celebrity and all that goes in to filming a couple scenes. Lucy (that's what I call her) is very tiny and looked pretty fit in her athletic clothes. She was shooting some dialogue with a young, nerdy looking guy that no one seemed to recognize.

Temping

Jen’s desserts are always a big hit and Tuesday’s bbq was no exception. They were Godiva’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that quickly disappeared. People were saying that she needed her own cooking show; I suggested “I can read recipes” as a good title. An even better suggestion was “Rexipes,” funny.

Today was monumental in Jen’s life, her first day of work in NYC! She’s temping for a receptionist at a company that does something really complicated related to futures contracts and stocks… I think. Hope it leads to something bigger and better for her.


Tonight we went running around the sports field track down by the water. The skyline at sunset tonight was nice. We could see all the way down one street, past the lights in Times Square to the sinking orange sun on the other side of the city. I lapped Jen twice on the track and she got mad at me, hehe.

Terrier Carrier\

 

Although we take Pup around our neighborhood with us, and once to Brooklyn, she had never been into Manhattan before Thrusday. We were waiting to get her new carrier so that we could legally take her into the subway system. You could tell she was a little nervous at first but did ok when we were above ground again. She loved Central Park of course, had a couple good runs off the leash, and took her to see the Balto sled dog statue. After wearing her out a bit we walked/ carried her to a few dog stores on an unseccessful search for a new collar.

We currently have two dogs in the house. Friends Ryan and Kara are in D.C. for the weekend so we're watching Dunkan for them while they're away. We went for a run tonight and they were both alive when we came back, ha. So far so good!

Small World 3

After graduating from FSU and moving home for a few months I worked at Sam Sneads in Downtown Orlando. One of my friends/ coworkers was Michael Schreiber, who moved to California a few weeks before I quit to have the holidays off (an annual occurrence, ha). I spoke to him a few times on Facebook, which I have since left and that was that. Well, last night as I’m walking down 8th Avenue towards my train stop on 42nd, I spotted him on the corner sitting on his suitcase waiting for a bus. I passed him first before realizing who he was, then turned around in disbelief. At first he was like, uh, do I know you? But then when I explained he was like OMG! It was pretty crazy. He’s an actor/producer who’s teaching some acting classes in the City. We exchanged info and I went on my way. Even crazier is that this is the third time this has happened to me since I moved here.


We ordered Pup a dog carrier and got that in the mail today. We bribed her with some treats (actually just her regular dog food but she didn’t seem to notice) to get her inside. After a few minutes, she didn’t seem to mind being in it. So now we can get her on the subway and take her on fun adventures in the City with us.

Today was my first day off in five days which is a lot of work at my restaurant. It was pretty much wasted away doing nothing, but I guess I just needed a day to rest. Tonight’s BBQ night so I did help Jen frost some cupcakes and then “dispose” of the extra frosting. :)

Keep Your Shirt On

This morning we did stick to our plan and tried Bricktown Bagels. Other than the cashier with attitude and twice as much cream cheese as necessary, I would recommend it. Sometimes I think of places in terms of weather, like if it's a cold weather place or a warm weather place. Bricktown is definately a winter place so I'll probably have a better attitude about it when it's cold out.

This afternoon at the gym I took a pretty good Hatha Yoga class. I would've never guessed that I'de be living in New York, not to metion practicing Yoga in Grand Central. Crazy!

 
Tonight we walked to our park to watch the first of four movies in a summer film series. It was "Annie Hall," a Woody Allen film which usually equals weird, and it was. The guy that sat right next to us and could hardly keep his shirt on made up for everything the movie lacked. Creeper. Scroll down with caution!

Bricktown

I had quite a lazy day at work today. Not super slow but no big reservations either and I was on the first floor so no stairs! I opened, which means I work fairly normal hours, from 9-5 and actually have some day left to do something with. Jen took her bro and his g/f to Bare Burger in Astoria for lunch and then to walk it off in Central Park on their last day in NYC. Our place was their favorite to visit, naturally. :)

Tonight we met Kara with her dog Dunkan at the dog park so that Pup and he will get along when we watch him in a few weeks while they're away. Oh and I had Bare Burger leftovers, yummo.

I just came home from a run in the park. Even at night it's pretty hot and muggy out and will be hotter tomorrow so we can't really plan anything outdoors or explore the city without feeling exhausted. There's a bagel place called Bricktown in LIC that we haven't tried yet so that's definitely on the agenda for the AM.

Harlem Haters

You’d need a pretty adventurous spirit and open mind to make it with Jen and me this evening. After church we headed to Tuk Tuk for sum yum Thai food with friends and then went into the city to run some errands. NYC has the only stand-alone Asics store in the country and they’ll analyze your foot and run in order to recommend the proper shoe. Turns out I’m an over-pronator and need, to no surprise, $120 shoes for correction and protection. Whatever, they’re comfortable, look cool and, as much as I’m on my feet, I need good shoes.


The “adventure” we’ll call it all started when we went looking for a carrier to haul our terrier. I called the city’s K-mart and new Target to make sure they had them before we went. K-mart had one that was too small so off to Target (in Harlem) we went. Why Target would choose Harlem as their Manhattan location I don’t know but I figured it couldn’t be too bad. I mean I work with people who live in Harlem… and they live to tell about it. Of course the subway wasn’t running all the way there so we had to use a combination of trains, buses, and walking. I know, it’s already becoming ridiculous. After getting a little turned around we realized we might not be in the best ‘hood when I stuck out so much I might as well have been albino. A group of young African American males said, “Hey, that guy has new shoes in his bag,” which is the moment I decided to turn around.

We finally made it to Target and they had sold out of carriers, people were rude, and after waiting in line for a while our cashier flipped her light off and said she was closed. All this was beyond annoying. After buying some random things we took Target’s free shuttle bus that continuously looped a video about how special Harlem is to a train that was running (but had rats). We promised we would NEVER go back to the East River Plaza. In addition to the Target it has a Costco, Best Buy, Marshalls, and Petsmart that could be convenient if it wasn’t so ghetto.