Muddy Waters

The rain boots that my Grandparents bought me for Christmas finally arrived yesterday and just in time. They passed the comfort and dry-feet test today as we walked miles through what seemed like hundreds of muddy puddles in the city. We had quite a few gift returns and exchanges to do and noticed that we're now pretty skilled at navigating the city by subway without a map. The bus system is another story.

The most fun purchase of the day was my brand new bike! After much research I decided on a Linus. Their website obviously does a much better job describing them than I do (old-school, European, city bike?) so you'll have to look them up. Sid's, one of the best bike shops in the city recommended them and had exactly what I wanted in stock. In stock doesn't happen very often in NYC so I purchased it before I talked myself into doing something lame with the money like saving it or paying bills, ha. They were closing early today and are closed New Year's Day so I'm picking it up Sunday. So excited! Pictures Sunday.

Our Happy Holiday

Wednesday morning we had enterprise pick us up and were on our way to VA by ten AM. There was snow on the ground the whole way so we were looking forward to getting outside and playing around. Thursday morning Courtney mentioned that she’d like to try snowboarding. I had only been once and Jen was up for trying it so we drove up to Massanutten Ski Resort where we mastered the art falling. The girls were a little afraid, especially of getting on and off the ski-lift. When it was time to jump off the seat Courtney grabbed a hold of Jen and they both hit the ground, ha. Many skiers stopped to help Jen. One yelled down from the lift not to give up and then passed her (still laying in the same spot) later and said, “You’re still here?” The funniest thing to me was that Jen, who was the most skilled at falling, snowboarded in a low squat position close to the ground. She looked like a baby pooping! Fun day!

One night we “kids” went out in the yard/woods at my Aunt Tammy’s and played manhunt. While running into the woods to hide I ran right up on some large animal (probably a deer) that got up out of the snow and ran off. This happened about six feet away from me and I was alone. My heart was jumping out of my chest! We gave Dad's Corvette a visit while we were there, went hiking, and played lots of games. I’m not really a game person but did enjoy Pictionary Man which Michael got for Christmas. During Michael’s turn to draw he hit the button and said, “Who’s Leprah Sean?” Jen took a look and said, “You mean, leprechaun?!” We laughed so hard that my sides hurt the next day.

Although I would have liked to stay another day or two, Jen was supposed to work today and I wanted to hit the road as soon as possible to avoid the storm that was headed into NYC. Well, instead we drove right into it and after about four hours on the road we had to pull over and spend the night in PA. We basically took a nap at the Holiday Inn Express then got up early to research the weather and road conditions. Everything we read led us to believe we would be ok. Long story short, it took us six hours (most of which we had to pee! Jen considered going in a Tupperware at one point) to get from PA to NYC. Virginia was great, but the last twenty four hours were a nightmare. Luckily I have awesome driving skills and drove our two-wheel-drive economy car all the way home without getting stuck. :)

It was great to be home but our neighborhood was in pretty bad shape too. Some of the roads hadn’t been plowed at all and it took us a while to find a place to park. We ended up double parking on a sidewalk. No worries thought, we left a sign not to tow, ha! We had to shovel a pathway from the street to our front door just to get our suitcase inside. The snow was literally thigh high. Vernon Blvd was littered with stranded cars and trucks all day! We had some fun in the snow though; threw some snowballs, took some pics, and even helped a man get his car unstuck!

United Nations

I was almost done with this blog post when, out of nowhere, Windows had to update and reconfigure. None of my work was saved and I'm so mad at this computer that I considered pouring my water on it, ha. Ugh, it's almost 2AM and I have to get up early to drive six hours to VA. Granny Joyce's house does not have internet my people so I have to post now or never. Basically, I just finished writing about my awesome Monday at the UN for friend Dan Moy's promotion to Colonol ceremony. He's the tall guy, center... and he's single ladies. :)

Also, we attended our church/ community Christmas party Monday night which was quite festive and fun. There was a fire in the fireplace, lots of bratty kids running around, and a man that sounded like Dick Clark singing Christmas carols. I'm scrugey now. Thank you Windows for wasting about an hour of my life. Night!

SJP

It’s cold, but I’m not miserable yet. Jen loves the weather and Pup just hates having to wear her sweaters. As soon as we put one on her, she becomes comatose. Wednesday night we had our first snow shower of the season which was quite the event for us Floridians. Here’s a pick out our window at our neighbors new, detailed car. It was just enough snow to stick without being gross the following days. It’s all gone now but maybe some snow tomorrow?

Also shown is a pic of Pup we couldn’t resist posting. This week we had an overwhelming amount of laundry to do so we packed it all up in our suitcase so we could roll it. Pup was a huge help.

The most fun news of the week is that Friday night I served my most A-list celebrity so far. Matthew Broderick joined a party of about ten guests around midnight. I walked over to the table to offer the newest member a drink when I realized who I was talking to. In my head I was like OMG, but played it cool and mixed a few Ketel One martinis (with a twist) at his request. I was hoping his wife Sarah Jessica Parker would make an appearance, although I don’t think there was much room for her at his table full of gay men (and a few women that love them) giving him hugs and kisses. Just saying…

The security had to be increased upstairs in my section due to a group of drunk fifty year olds that kept stalking him (and also asked me if I was Justin Timberlake, and then Sean Penn? Ha!) Anyway, there was no way I could get a live pic of him so you’ll just have to live with this stock photo and take my word for it.

Chiminea

Our Christmas tree and decorations had been sitting out since Thanksgiving and I was getting kind of bummed that neither of us could get the motivation to do anything with them. Well, to my surprise, coming home Wednesday night was like walking into Santa’s workshop or a winter wonderland or something. I just started laughing, for some reason, at the thought of Jen doing all this herself. I especially liked the “touch of class” provided by the string of lights that was draped over the kitchen window, cabinets, and then ended somewhere behind the stove, ha! It was very nice Boo, thanks.

Also this week, I realized that I hadn’t seen our friends Matt and Chelsea in a while so I pretty much invited Jen and myself over. I originally thought we could chill by their chiminea, but by Thursday night it was in the teens and I was having second thoughts. After getting the fire going, though, and a lot of lighter fluid, that heater was blazin’ stronger than Snoop Dog, ha. I had the whole day off so that morning I threw together a crock-pot beef stew and they had smores stuff ready for dessert. This pic was taken by Matty from the deck above.

I also randomly had today off too… no complaints! I took a fitness class at “the club” and got some Christmas shopping done in the LES/ East Village. I took a pit stop at a coffee house called Mud Spot which was recommended by Time Out New York and warmed up with a cup of joe. I decided on an almond latte and enjoyed the sunroom out back. Even surrounded by hippies and hipsters, it was nice to be in the sun without freezing.

Tonight while watching our latest Netflix, the Taylors (upstairs) and the Thornhills (new friends) stopped by to invite us out for dessert at Manducatis across the street. Afterward, we took a quick look at the Taylor’s Christmas decorations and on the way back downstairs heard our across-the-hall-neighbors fighting. It was way too entertaining to miss out on and we couldn’t help but stand outside and listen. Ok, technically Jen was in our apartment and I was just outside their door, ha. We think they were both very drunk, or at least hope so. Apparently her brother was missing, she didn’t know anything, and they had lost all ability to reason or annunciate. Whatever the story, they are never watching Pup (who stinks right now)! Our eavesdropping ceased when my rear end made a noise I'm pretty sure they heard. We ran inside and quickly closed our door so they wouldn't suspect us. I think that the jingle bells on our knob gave us away though.

Si!

So to add a little detail to the night that included Owen Wilson… Jen was a little down that evening because she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life so I wanted to get her out of the house to cheer her up. We were going to take a holiday window display walking tour but it was very cold and I left the map at home on the table, ha! So unlike me (sarcasm). We stalked Owen for a few minutes around the tree and then unsuccessfully tried to hail a cab to Hell’s Kitchen for dinner. We ended up walking to a Mexican place in midtown that was warm and cozy. We shared some apps, coffee and dessert. I asked for some amaretto sauce to go with our dessert and was brought what looked like a bowl of strawberry sauce. I asked if it was the amaretto sauce and was told “Si!” It was strawberries. They spoke very little English and meant well so it didn’t really warrant an awful Yelp review. Jen was also lucky enough to oversee some porn being shared on a cell phone at our neighboring table.




The best I could do (discretely) in low lighting



Actor/Comedian David Allen Grier



Saturday night at work I had yet another celebrity encounter, though this time there was actual interaction. David Allen Grier (pics) sat down at our “service only” bar upstairs to order a drink. I was about to ask him to have a seat at a table when I realized he was a VIP that our manager probably sent up to escape the crowds downstairs. I made him a dirty Grey Goose martini! Ok, four.



Today we got to have brunch with our wonderful neighbors at Communitea after church and then ran some errands. We also hit up the Holiday Market in Union Square and saw some cool stuff. Jen made Chicken Saltimbocca and Pumpkin Risotto for dinner and it was amazing! Then she almost burned the house down when she turned the wrong burner on to make some tea. The burner had a plastic container full of cookies on it. I tried coaching her from the couch but she just stood there saying it was burning like a cigarette as the room filled with smoke and the scent of burning plastic. She said she didn’t want to run it under water and ruin the cookies.

Our Friend Owen

Other than Jen's return home, it was a pretty uneventful week. Lots of great shifts at work as we are really getting busy.

Last night we went on a department store holiday window walking tour. It was a little too cold to do the whole thing but from what we saw Saks gets the award for the coolest design. The coolest part of the night was when we passed Owen Wilson after seeing the tree at Rockefellar Center. Although I told her I was sure, Jen wasn't so we followed him for a bit and got a few pics. I've been told that I look like him which makes me cringe, it could be worse I guess. 

I had to share my excitement that we saw Owen Wilson but I have to go to work.  More about last night tomorrow.