Hibernation is for Bears

This winter has felt so brutal and never-ending that we have just wanted to curl up and sleep these months away. Although we winter-weary New Yorkers are preparing to endure another snow storm tomorrow, as the calendar turns to March, I’m finally beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. My coworkers and I are so over commuting in rain, sleet, snow, or just freezing temperatures that the dry erase board that we typically use for inspirational quotes has been temporarily converted to display a days ‘til spring countdown. Nineteen days and counting! So with a glimmer of hope that warmer days are on their way, this blog can come out of hibernation.  

Winter in NYC isn’t all bad; in fact it’s some New Yorkers’ favorite season. All the activities associated with the holidays like visiting the Rockefeller Center tree, holiday markets, and the department store window displays come to mind. After the holidays come to an end and the ball drops in Times Square, there’s still plenty to do like ice skating, walks through parts of the City that would otherwise be flooded with tourists at any other time of year, or a long weekend escape to the mountains.     

We spent last weekend in a cabin in the Catskills with about twelve friends from our church life group.  (Once we got close to the cabin, we realized it was very close to the Bed & Breakfast Jen and I stayed in for our one-year anniversary.) It was everything you would want a mountain cabin to be: warm and rustic, equipped with a fireplace, and with very picturesque views of the woods and mountains. It was a bit outdated (the bathroom was carpeted and looked like it was straight out of Anchor Man) but it was all part of the charm.  The trip was a lot of fun and the perfect winter escape from the City. Don’t get me wrong, it was cold, but comfortable enough for long walks on the mountain roads and sledding down the steep hill in the back.  We didn’t do much other than relax and enjoy nature (I’m not complaining) except play a few rousing rounds of Magic Unicorn-a Charades-type game that includes one round of acting out under a blanket.  Pup also had a great time being outdoors and getting so much attention. She was so loved by everyone that she became somewhat of a weekend mascot. Note the group picture of Pup being lifted up in exaltation which was later titled “Pup as Simba.” Don’t worry, I was holding her safely and she actually seemed quite at ease, as if thinking “they finally get it.”

I’m looking forward to warmer weather so much that I have a quickly growing list on my phone titled Things I Want to Do in Spring. I will soon be able to sit outside comfortably, begin running in Prospect Park again, and just do more things in general. You can’t make your dreams come true if you don’t get out of bed first, right?

Back To Life In Gotham

First line of business: our winter respite in Florida. Once there we travelled all over the place; Orlando, Clearwater, Tallahassee, and Barney, Georgia. It was nice to see so much family, some of whom I hadn’t seen since our wedding four years ago. And we didn’t even get to everyone we wanted to see! Next time…  We did get to meet my cousin Mackenzie’s new baby boy, who everyone says looks like our cousin Jason.   And Aunt Elaine gave us a quick, but invaluable, lesson on gourds while we were there. 

A close second is the few hours we spent on Clearwater Beach, but the highlight of the trip for me was visiting Florida State University. The Seminoles had just finished an undefeated season and won the first national championship since 1999 and we hadn’t been back to FSU in seven years. Plus, we somehow convinced Michael to come along who kept us laughing the whole time.  We went on a great walking tour of campus led by a sweet, overachieving student. It was wild to be there again. It felt like the familiar college I had attended, but so much had also changed, especially around town surrounding the campus.  We also hit up Governor’s Square Mall to visit Aeropostale, the retail store where Jen and I worked and first met.  While the store remains in the same space, it has been completely gutted and remodeled which was disappointing because it didn’t feel like the same store. It was raining the night we drove around town and the wipers were so bad on Michael and Mom’s Pilot that I could hardly see the road in front of me, not to mention the scenery around us.

Although Florida did have some cold days recently, as you know the weather in New York and Florida during winter are two extremes. Spending one week in a polar opposite climate, combined with air travel, we learned, can wreak havoc on the equilibrium. It took our sinuses about a week to re-acclimate to the dry, wintery NYC weather. But with the migraines, sleep deprivation, and congestion behind us, we finally feel back to normal. PTL!

Since I don’t work there anymore, it had been a while since I was in Manhattan. Craving a dose of the Big City, Jen and I took a trip yesterday to a place I had read about in Food and Wine magazine called Gotham West Market. It just opened a few weeks ago and is located in the 1^st floor retail space of the luxury apartment tower, Gotham West. Gotham West is not just the name of the market or tower but apparently what people are calling this up-and-coming area of Hell’s Kitchen (between the Theater District and the Hudson River).  There are no trains that run west of 8^th Ave, the walk to 11^th Ave and 45^th St. felt a bit long. The winter weather and tourist overflow from Times Square didn’t help things either, but the walk was worth it in the end.

We were greeted outside by a sandwich board that read, “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry,” a message that hits close to home. Entering the market, I noticed its vintage, industrial design and delicious smell. It’s set up with the open kitchens of eight local, artisanal restaurants surrounding rows of picnic tables where patrons can enjoy their food. After making our rounds and perusing the small retail area, we decided to try a ramen noodle bowl from the Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop. It was good, not even comparable to the 10 cent flavored ramen packets from the grocery store, but a little pricey for the portion size. But we were in the bottom of a luxury building in Manhattan after all. We explored a bit more and ended our visit with a piece of rosemary olive oil short bread from the Blue Bottle Coffee Co. It was the perfect marriage of my love for short bread and the sweet savory combination so this was pretty much heaven for me… we need that recipe.    

Overall the Gotham West Market is worth experiencing. It’s actually close to the Intrepid Museum so it would be good for a quick bite before or after a visit there.  

Christmas Shake-Up

As I’m writing this we’re on our way to White Plains to exchange gifts with Jen’s aunts, cousin, and g-ma. The scenery and homes we are passing on the train are so beautiful it’s hard to stay focused on writing…

 The holiday season feels different for everyone. Depending on one’s family tradition, there are certain tastes, smells, and sounds that can remind us of Christmas. For Jen, it has been filled with lots of cooking and consuming delicious home-cooked food and a quiet Christmas morning opening gifts with her family at home.  Conversely, for me, it has always had the feel of a fourteen-hour drive followed by severe cat-allergy attacks, the taste of semi-homemade food (such as instant mash-potatoes), and total chaos and clutter as we open our gifts with family (and random friends of family on occasion). And I say all this fondly because it’s just what Christmas has always been like for me… until this year.

Because I was hired a little late in the year the request-off calendar was void of any valuable days. This meant working the days before and after both Thanksgiving and Christmas (so no time to travel) and spending the holidays here in NYC. It could be worse, I know. I told Jen she could travel, as she has no trouble getting time off, but she was nice enough to stand by her hubby for the holidays. It’s a good thing she did! Who else would eagerly wake me with the news that it was Christmas morning and time to open Christmas presents? We spent the morning happily opening gifts from each other and my family while listening to classic Christmas songs and the crackling fire (on our TV). We spent the rest of the day in our warm apartment relaxing, talking to family, and sipping Jen’s concocted cider and eggnog.

Working the day before and after Christmas made the holiday feel too insignificant; less like Christmas to us and more like a really extravagant day off. But I don’t know if we’ll ever have a more stress free, do-what-we-want kind of Christmas ever again so we’re grateful for the variety. Next year is looking more promising…. to my coworker’s surprise, weeks before this year’s holidays, I requested both Thanksgiving and Christmas 2014 off. I was only approved for Christmas but am not worried about Thanksgiving, considering I have a year to change my boss’s mind.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Cookies

 

At times, Jen makes it easy to visualize her having her own TV show. I can't decide whether it would be more at home on The Food Network or Comedy Central, but it would be entertaining none the less. Maybe she just needs her own network like Oprah. While baking some chocolate/mint Christmas cookies this evening she randomly announced, "they should be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, like an old turd." Her less than appetizing comment did nothing to dissuade me from wanting one of those poo-colored treats. They're delicious.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We spent a lot of time in the wintery, snowy weather this weekend, but not as much as we could have. Our calendar was pretty booked. We decided against going to our church's Christmas Extravaganza on Friday night because of the frigid weather (and taxing work weeks). We had also reserved a Zipcar to drive to a friend's game-playing party on Saturday but had to cancel when the news about the snow storm made our trip to New Jersey seem unsafe.

An old friend of Jen's from Florida is now married, pregnant, and lives just a couple blocks from us. Their holiday party on Saturday was too close to home for excuses so we did make it out to that. We got there and back without getting too cold or wet, but many couldn't make it or were very late due to public transportation-related issues. 'Tis the season for over-indulging, and I did just that at the party. But it's ok, we ate very healthy today and hit the gym to make up for it. Anyway, enjoy a few of the pictures we took this weekend!

Fraser The Tree

Knowing that we would be in NYC this Christmas we wanted to treat ourselves, for the first time, to a real, live tree. We found many tree vendors set up throughout the neighborhood, selling at a rate of about $10 per foot. Considering the height of our ceilings, we weren't going to be satisfied with a budget tree and would need a tree stand on top of that. We gave Lowe's a call to inquire about their trees and the associate that answered said she thought she saw some 6 to 7 ft trees for around thirty dollars. So we bundled up, walked a few blocks to Lowe's, and came home carrying a perfect 7 ft Fraser Fir and stand. The Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, and women's shelter were a little too rich for our blood and should really reconsider their price point. It is a recession!

The tree really makes the apartment look and smell like Christmas. So, as a treat to the readers of Rexrode and The City and as somewhat of a video Christmas card, we filmed ourselves trimming our tree (whose name is Fraser). If you watch closely you might catch Jen dancing.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving for Two (and a Half)

This Thanksgiving was the first, since we've been married, that we didn't spend traveling. As much as we missed seeing family, it sure was nice to relax at home. I know Jen enjoyed being able to prepare such a nice big meal for her hubby (and puppy). The food was so delicious! Enjoy the pictures below of our typical white-people Thanksgiving, as my Hispanic co-worker termed it.

Recipes Gone Wild

While flipping through Twitter during my lunch break this week I came across this article/recipe from Greenpointers.com. Greenpoint, Brooklyn is actually closer to our old neighborhood, Long Island City, Queens, than our new one in Brooklyn. While living in LIC I loved running over the Polaski Bridge, taking in the views of the NYC skyline and Welcome to Brooklyn sign, into Greenpoint, Brooklyn and then back to LIC, Queens. I hear Greenpoint has recently experienced a surge of young people (and the gentrification that comes with them) thanks to the HBO show Girls that is said to be set in Greenpoint.

Anyway, considering our own recent squirrel-in-bird-feeder incident and Jen's love of baking, this article seemed to hit home with us. The muffins sound right up our ally too. We haven't made them yet but plan to and we'll let you know how they turn out...

Posted by Libby V
The other day I got an alarming series of texts from my friend Camille. She had just baked a batch of muffins, cooled them, and set them on the countertop in ziploc bags while she stepped out to run some errands. Upon returning home, she entered her kitchen and glanced around. Something was wrong. Granola crumbs littered the floor. She heard a rustling, and surveyed the room. It was then that she locked eyes with her intruder— a fat squirrel, having entered through the open window, now huddled under the kitchen table, seemingly trying to calculate the probability of successfully dragging a Ziploc baggy full of muffins and a package of sprouted chia-goji berry granola out the window without being eaten/killed/captured and/or losing his loot.

After a tense moment of deliberation, the squirrel decided none of it was worth risking his life (maybe scones, or croissants, but not muffins), and the li’l’ guy dropped his bounty and darted back out the window. Camille stood in the crumby aftermath, stunned. Of course Greenpoint squirrels want to munch on whole-grain muffins and sprouted chia seed-goji berry muesli. It’s a wonder Mr. Squirrel wasn’t doing a juice cleanse, or perhaps he was trying to squeeze in a grain binge before an upcoming detox. Camille was only more stunned to find him BACK on her windowsill a few days later as she ate her morning toast at the kitchen table, his paw pressed against the glass as though to say…Hey pretty lady, you got any more muffins?

Hey—Squirrel’s gotta look out for number one. Winter’s coming, and if you’re a forager (like our neighbor, Mr. Squirrel) you know it’s time to store a little extra energy for keeping warm. It’s also time to turn on the oven and make your home smell like toasted wheat. I asked Camille to share the recipe that Fats Squirlio couldn’t resist. A timeless classic in the world of muffinology—The Morning Glory Muffin. We used to get these at the grocery store all the time when I was a kid. Much like carrot cake, these muffins are a sweet and irresistible treat, but also have some real nutritional goodness, like vitamins A and C (thanks to the carrots, apple, and OJ). She found her recipe in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book. If you make them, then you can share them with friends, or squirrels, or squirrely friends. Whatever you want. They’re your muffins! 


(Squirrely) Morning Glory Muffins
Makes one dozen

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (or a 50/50 mix of white and wheat if you want them a little less hearty)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups peeled and grated carrots 1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated (or leave the peel on; your choice)
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup sunflower seeds or wheat germ, optional
3 large eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers and spray the insides of the papers.
2) In a small bowl, cover the raisins with hot water, and set them aside to soak while you assemble the rest of the recipe.
3) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt.
4) Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and sunflower seeds or wheat germ.
5) In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange juice.
6) Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened.
7) Drain the raisins and stir them in.
8) Divide the batter among the wells of the prepared pan (they’ll be full almost to the top).
9) Bake the muffins for 25 to 28 minutes, until they’re nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center of one of the inner muffins comes out clean.
10) Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling. Wrap any leftovers airtight, and store at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

About Libby V Libby VanderPloeg lives and makes work in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She grew up in Michigan on the edge of the Great Lakes dunes, and has lived in Chicago, New York, and Stockholm. Her work comes out of her deep affinity for storytelling, music, letterforms, printed ephemera, and wildlife. None of these works could have been made without the world's finest brioche and several good, strong cups of coffee.

Four Year Anniversary

Four years ago... Happy Anniversary to us!

Four! More! Years!

There's so much to write about but so little time to do it sometimes. I told myself that when it got cold and therefore slightly fewer fun things to do in NYC, I would pick up weekend shifts at another clinic. So, I contacted the agency that put me to work after I had just become licensed. They came through for me again by getting me Saturdays at Sheepshead Nursing (Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn). What can I say, I'm an easy sell. :) It's nice and laid back there on Saturdays. A few of my coworkers from Lutheran also do coverage there and the pay is basically equal to time and a half of my full time hourly rate at Lutheran. The downside is that the week feels a bit longer and the weekend a bit shorter.

We have a dry erase "inspirational quote board" in our PT gym at work and I was just reminded of a quote that a patient of mine requested to be displayed: "We don't die, we kill ourselves." I found her cynicism really funny but figured it was a bit too morbid, considering the setting.

Anyway, it has been perfect weekend coverage weather lately... COLD! And I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week

This Friday, November 22nd, marks our four year wedding anniversary. I think on Friday we're just going to pick a place for dinner here in Park Slope and then see the second Hunger Games movie. Nothing too crazy since four is kind of a lame number... We are considering taking a trip to North Fork Long Island on Sunday to tour a vineyard and attend a wine tasting. It's something we've been wanting to do but with the holidays coming up, we have to see if that's in the ole budget.

And finally, as if you needed any more proof that I am awesome and adored at work, another previous patient of mine sent a nice thank you note and gift basket in today (pic). I made sure to show my boss a pic of the basket and take him a shiny red apple. Shameless, I know.

Party Like a Cheesemonger

As I mentioned in the last post, we've been wanting to have a get-together in our new apartment for a while. Well on Saturday night it finally happened. Naturally, it involved a lot of planning, a day's worth of cooking, cleaning, and setup, and Jen coming pretty close to a nervous breakdown. I may have been sternly told that knowing which wine pairs with ricotta cheese is "common sense!" (Jen's edit:  I'd like to point out that I did NOT tell Matt that knowing which cheese to pair with ricotta is common sense.  What I said was common sense is knowing that ricotta should be in a bowl vs. on a plate.)

I tried to be helpful. I made time in my busy schedule as ambiance specialist (setting up tables, lighting candles, and creating the music playlist) to go get Jen another ball of pizza dough when her first wouldn't rise and got hard in the oven. Jen had quite the menu planned for the night which included caramelized onion pizza, stuffed mushrooms, brie en croute, hummus, baba ganoush, olives, fruit, wine and cheese and a pumpkin trifle.

We had everything done by about 6:30, with the party starting at 7. We looked around at everything cleaned, arranged, lit, baked, chilled, and ready for guests and just started laughing. "What if no one shows!?" Luckily plenty of people showed up. Considering the size of our apartment, if everyone we invited actually came it would be too crowded. Just the right amount and mix of people from all parts of our life in NYC made the trek from the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, New Jersey, and even Pennsylvania to attend.  And almost everyone who came brought us a bottle of wine.  This plus the wine we purchased for the party will keep us set for at least a week or so...

Everyone was very complimentary of our apartment.  We were even told that it is "very grown up."  Jen got lots of compliments on her spread and one guest asked if she was available for hire. I think the highlight of the party was our wine & cheese tasting table (pic below).  And, of course, everyone loved Pup who was very well behaved.

Our friends from PA stayed the night and we hung out with them on Sunday.  We took them to our church then spent the afternoon in Manhattan and had an amazing lunch at Eataly. By the end of the day, we were pooped.  Good thing we both had today off to sleep in.  Well, Jen did anyway...and I called in a personal day.

Below are some pics from Saturday night.


       

One Fall Day in Prospect Park

So the fall foliage finally showed up here in Brooklyn. As you'll see in the pics below, the colors were spectacular, as they are every year. The weather was so mild today that we spent most of it outdoors; soakin' it up while we still can. We took Pup to Prospect Park (where we took the pictures), ran some errands, and shared a slice of sweet potato apple crumble pie at Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Should have taken a picture of that!


We've been talking about having a house warming party for so long that we can no longer call it a house warming party. So next weekend we're hosting a "get together," the reason for most of our errands today. We still have a lot of preparing to do... I'll let you know how it goes.

Monkey Business

Two weeks have somehow just blown by with little time to sit down and write. So I have a few things to catch you up on…

Since 75% of my life is spent at work these days, I guess I'll share a nice story about one of my recently released patients who was being treated for bumps and bruises secondary to a fall down a flight of stairs. She was a very independent and spunky old lady and was hilarious with a lot of good stories. One of the most memorable was that she was once a telephone operator at the hospital where Marilyn Monroe had a miscarriage. Whether or not it was his baby, Joe Dimaggio was always at her side.  My patient was given strict instruction not to allow any calls through, which only became a challenge when she had to turn down people like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra (and a variety of Marilyn's other celebrity male "friends").  Anyway, she was really grateful when she left but I didn't think much of it.  That was until the Director of Rehab (my boss) got a call one day from my patient's daughter (who turned out to be a bigwig at the hospital) telling him what great service I provided and how her mother couldn't stop talking about me.  She came over one day to thank me in person and bought lunch for the whole department.  My boss mentioned how good it made the whole department look and the daughter said it was nice to hear something positive for a change.   She said, "Not only were you a good PT but you provided great customer service." So that made me feel good...and the food wasn't bad either.

Last weekend there were almost ten stoop sales (a garage sale minus the garage, further explained in the video below) advertised by residents on the blog Park Slope Stoop. As promised, I planned on taking some fall pics of the ‘hood last weekend and a stoop sale walking tour sounded like a good excuse to get out and do that. But once out it was clear that the leaves still hadn’t changed colors. Apparently it’s going to be another week… or two because this weekend the trees still have a lot of green on them. I think next weekend will be the peak and the perfect time for picture taking.

I still got to use my camera (and tripod!) this weekend to take pics of Jen’s and my Halloween costumes. If the pic doesn’t give it away, I’m a ship captain and she’s my first mate. And our little deck-swabber Pup is taking a break in the chair next to us. We got all dressed up last night for a costume/ birthday party of a friend of ours is Sunnyside, Queens. I do miss certain things, places, and people is Queens and we would visit more often if the commute wasn’t so tiresome or if we had a car. We planned on having dinner in one of our old neighborhood favorites or in a new restaurant we never got around to trying. Instead, because the trains were running so screwy, we were quite late and resorted to dinner at a quaint little joint called Wendy’s. You may have heard of it. But hey, it was relatively quick and I finally got to try one of those pretzel buns that seem to be everywhere right now. It wasn’t bad.

Anyway, we had a good time at the Halloween/b-day bash. It was nice to see friends from our old ‘hood and church again. My favorite costume was thought up by our very funny friend Jacob. He had on a full-body monkey costume underneath a suit. He passed out business cards like he was at a networking event that read “Monkey,” followed by his phone number. He was “Monkey Business.” Get it? LOL. The idea, and his impressively realistic monkey calls randomly throughout the night, were hilarious.

That's all for now...Happy Halloween!

Gowanus Canal Park-ing lot

When Jen says she’s going grocery shopping I always feel too guilty to let her go alone, without help. The store is just a few blocks away but she usually shops for almost two weeks worth of food which is a lot, even with a cart to carry everything home. I just picture the worst; Jen struggling to get the 2-ton cart over sidewalk curbs, blowing out a flip-flop, or that wobbly wheel finally falling off. I did find this cart on the side of the road so it didn't exactly come with a warrantee.

Today I thought of a wonderful compromise to my predicament: take Pup to the small Gowanus Canal park next to the grocery store while Jen does her shopping then meet up with her when she’s done to help her carry everything home.  After walking Jen to the store, Pup and I headed to the park benches by the water where I could read for a bit while she did some sniffing, hole-digging, and pigeon chasing. I doubt Jen was having as much fun. Being well-known for its pollution, I first made sure there were no holes in the fence that Pup could fit through and accidentally fall in the water. She did in fact get too excited at a park once and chased a duck right into a lake.

This small waterfront park is a hidden gem, only visible from the bridge that crosses the canal and accessible only from the Lowe’s parking lot. It sounds really random I know, but was a nice place to let Pup roam and enjoy the cool, clear fall weather. Other visitors to the little park included an artist sketching the bridge, a photographer taking pictures of the canal, and a mother with her two daughters that seemed to need a breath of fresh air after a big shopping trip.

Although it is mid-October already, the weather has been relatively warm. Keeping in mind it has snowed the last two years in October, it was nice to be able to ride our bikes around Prospect Park this evening without being bundled up (Jen in jeans and a t-shirt).  We didn't let the swarms of gnats ruin our good time, even after they went in our mouths and our clothes were splattered with their tiny carcasses. The warmer weather also means that the park still looks very green, not yet full of trees shedding their fall-colored leaves.  I hear Prospect Park and Park Slope are particularly beautiful in the fall and plan on taking some pictures. Stay posted! 

Love Never Fails... and neither do Jen's baked goods

Friday night we went to dinner with a friend of Jen’s and her husband. This friend, although originally from Clearwater where Jen knows her from, has lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn for about ten years. Years ago, when I first moved here, she invited me out to dinner to make sure I was adjusting to NYC alright. So we’ve been trying to arrange an outing so we could all catch up but it’s obviously taken us a few months to make it happen.

At dinner at Mariella, an Italian restaurant on 6^th Ave at 13^th St. that I’ve been wanting to try, we sat outside where we could enjoy one of the last few mild nights of the year. While talking, we realized that Jen’s friend teaches at the middle school where our church meets each Sunday. Small world! It seems like a good school, and she agreed that it was. The auditorium where we actually worship is decked in Broadway-themed art made by the students and serves as a testament to the school’s great theater and dance programs.

 We really like our new church. It’s nice to have a good one in our neighborhood, as everyone should. (Too bad Jen’s friend is actively Jewish and her husband possibly agnostic or we could bring them along.) A few weeks ago, a letter artist who goes to the church bought the rights to an advertising billboard at the bus stop outside our church. He drew this beautiful sign (pic) that says “Love Never Fails” and that someone will be at the bus stop every day at 8am to pray with whoever needs it. It’s a pretty creative way to reach out to the neighborhood.

Sunday right after and right outside of church at the market we picked up some dahlias, Jen’s newest favorite flower. Then Jen baked some mean cupcakes for her friend’s birthday that were coffee flavored with a butter-whipped, Baileys ganache. Lucky for me she made too much frosting.  I brought some to work today (all the ugly ones) and they were a big hit.

Squirrel Feeder

My mother loves all things flora and fauna. She’s also a very thoughtful lady. When she visited a few weeks ago she saw firsthand our lack of her favorite things. If you mention liking anything plant or bird- related (even if you also explain that you have no place for it in your NYC-sized apartment sans outdoor space), you can expect a box of whatever you admired to show up at your door. A big box.

After all the trouble she goes through, enthusiastically packing up little plants, soil, moss, or perhaps even a bird feeder with a bag of seed, we hate to let her effort be for nothing. So last week we cluelessly “planted” and arranged plants on the radiator under our kitchen window where they can get lots of light (then dry up and die when the heat gets turned on) and installed the bird feeder on the fire escape outside the window where we could admire the birds (or not, as it turned out).

Sunday afternoon, while running some errands after church, I received a voicemail from our landlord. She said that some of the bird seed had fallen onto their deck below and that we’d have to take it down. Although we’re technically not supposed to have anything on the fire escape, she seemed pretty calm so I didn’t think it was a big deal.

When we finally got home and I looked outside at the bird feeder, I thought that our landlord must have already come upstairs and emptied it because there was barely any seed left. Nope. It turns out, what we’re assuming was a squirrel, jumped onto our feeder, sending about four cups of bird seed onto their deck. This may not seem like big deal either, but any seed left on the ground will attract mice and we don’t want those.

On the phone she definitely under-stressed just how much of a mess was made. By the time we got home they had swept and washed away most of it. I know it was a pain in the a$$. We still offered to come down and clean up their deck then made sure to get every last little seed off the fire escape. They said not to worry and that, “our hearts were in the right place.” I would say I would give feeding the birds another go with something squirrel proof but let’s be real, squirrel proofing is a misnomer. When on a mission, there is no stopping a squirrel. That squirrel was a brazen and cunning thief, singularly focused on gorging itself on our bird seed.

Monday morning while walking Pup I noticed a squirrel in the tree outside our apartment. It looked pretty guilty so I gave it the stink eye and pointed it out to Pup so she could bark and chase it away. Sure, squirrels can be a lot of fun to watch but I’m starting to see them through Pup’s eyes, as evil tree rats. 

Maybe I'll get my revenge with one of these... so funny!

Summertime Sadness

Summer is a wonderful time of year here, my favorite in fact. I am a Summer; I thrive in it. It may feel like it only lasts a few short weeks in NYC, but we really make the most of it with trips to the beach, street festivals and markets, and plenty more fun outdoor activities. My parents and brother visited (pics in my last post) at the tail end of summer, when the temperatures literally ranged from lows in the 50’s and highs in the 90’s while Mother Nature transitioned into fall. The weather gets cooler with every passing day and I feel an annual sense of anxiety come upon me as I realize winter is on its way, and, without the sun, my hair will be turning a brownish gray. I need to remember that just because the calendar is about to read October doesn’t mean there’s nothing to look forward to until next spring.

The city has been abuzz over NY Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, which ended last week. There’s also the annual Feast of San Gennaro festival which was crazy packed last year when Jen and I went.  We actually walked my family right through the setup for it a few weeks ago in Little Italy. There are fall street festivals and markets, the NY Film Festival, and the Village Halloween Parade to look forward to. The parade had us both surprised at the amount of shocking, avant-garde costumes the first time we visited.



Apples from upstate that we got at Union Market on 7th Ave, Park Slope

But this year I think I’ll try focusing on the everyday things to get me through my farewell to summer. Seasonal items are already back (and I’m not referring to the McRib) like what is possibly the best thing to ever be served seasonally: the pumpkin spice latte. As much as I should be supporting local coffee shops, I’ll probably be getting most of mine from our Dunkin Donuts down the street. There’s also the stunning aesthetic and crunch under your feet provided by the colorful fall leaves that cover the ground.  And, most notably, fresh NY state apples create some of my favorite treats of all like ciders, crisps, cobblers, and pies.  Jen best get to bakin’!

The coming holidays, edible opportunities, and aesthetically pleasing changes that take place over this stretch provide an immense amount of inspiration to write and share. Although working full time does get in the way somewhat, I hope to have many great stories to share with you from NYC this fall.

 

Brooklyn Bridge Walk, 9/11/13

Brooklyn Bridge Walk, 9/11/13, a set on Flickr.

Go Get Your Mother

An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and back together again. The boy asked his father, "What is this father?" The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is." While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed, an old lady limping slightly with a cane slowly walks up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady walks between them and into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched small circles of light with numbers above the wall light up. They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened up again and a beautiful 24-year-old woman stepped out. The father said to his son, "Go get your Mother.

Unaware that Labor Day weekend was so close and in desperate need of a day off, I took last Friday off from work. This was not just any day off, but the first paid day off of my life. The day itself felt like any other day off, but it was sure nice to get the same size paycheck deposited into my bank account last night.

So to celebrate the occasion, Jen and I spent our three day weekend in Pennsylvania at our friends’ new home. There house sits right on the Susquehanna River in a very rural part of York. The river forms the border between York and Lancaster counties so, being so close to Dutch country, we spent some time visiting authentic Amish markets and shops.

We began passing traditional horse-drawn black buggies almost as soon as we crossed the bridge to Lancaster. I would smile as we passed, admiring their simplicity and the patience they have to slowly travel down the highway. I would love to know what they thought of the crew cab Dodge Ram (with a Hemi) that we rumbled by them in. But I didn’t just want to pass Amish people in traffic. I wanted to actually interact with some - to hear their accents and taste their food and buy Amish things.

Our first stop was a gift shop, where we got the scoop on the day’s Amish activities from a very effeminate, but kind older gentlemen. He daintily pointed out every authentic Amish knickknack we eyeballed, gave us directions to and an unnecessary explanation of the “standing market,” and went on and on about how much he loved his job because it allows him to talk to “lovely people” like us. He also told our friend Chelsea that, “with a figure like hers,” she should feel free to eat all the treats the Amish have to offer. After grabbing a Christmas gift for my Mennonite-admiring Grandmother and an Amish made candle for our apartment, we got the hell out of there and headed to the big Saturday Amish Market.

After taking advantage of a photo op in front of the antique covered wagon, we entered the indoor Bird In Hand Farmers Market. I was happy to see so many young Amish people behind the counters.  Girls wear their hair pulled back tight (so tight some were already balding) under a bonnet and guys don a weird bowl cut.  All have bad teeth (I guess dental work is frowned upon).  I was even happier when I realized there were more samples than at Costco on a Sunday. Everything we tried was pretty awesome but the pecan sticky buns stick out. We ended up buying sausage and cheese, cider, and some chocolates.  I had so many shoe-fly pie samples that I decided against buying my own to take home. Everyone who helped us in the market, mostly young Amish girls, was kind and truly happy to help.

Their main values, which I recently looked up, are humility, family, and community. They celebrate mild and modest personalities and believe yielding and patience for others is a sign of maturity. As odd as their culture may seem, I really had a sense of admiration for their grateful attitudes and humble, simple lives. I don’t see Jen or myself deciding to give that lifestyle a go, especially not in NYC (ha, can you imagine!?), but all those happy Amish people in Lancaster, PA at least made me think.

Moving On Up

Just days after signing a lease here in Brooklyn, Jen was told that she would be moved from the Downtown Fed building to an offsite Barclays Bank location in Midtown. This is not ideal for many reasons, mostly because we moved to Brooklyn to be closer to both our workplaces and the location Jen was transferred to is just fifteen minutes from our old apartment in LIC. Jen’s been busy getting her new team organized, making friends, and trying to make the best of the situation but really misses working Downtown.

So when my boss called me into his office and told me that I would be leaving the first floor rehab gym my mouth fell open and I asked, “Am I at least staying in the building?” He laughed and said, “Um, yes.” It turned out that a few doctors were in need of an office so they took over a small gym on our first floor and moved a couple of people around. For whatever reason, it was decided that a PT, an OT, and I would be given a brand new gym on the 3^rd floor to make room for the therapists that were being kicked out by the doctors.  As with most things, there are pros and cons to moving floors, but as long as I was to stay in the building I was open to the change. It was a challenge last week while we waited for the computer, printer, and phone to be installed, with online paperwork piling up in the meantime.  Although much less drastic than Jen’s I, too, am trying to make the best of my move. At least we’ve got a brand new PT gym with a fresh coat of paint and a view of the Statue of Liberty from our big windows.

The question that I’m most frequently asked these days is how the new job is going. It’s going well I answer. When Jen’s asked how I’m doing she usually responds with, “He’s good, just having a hard time adapting to the 9 to 5 work schedule.” This is a true statement. I worry, though, that people will assume I don’t like what I do or that I just haven’t found the right job yet.  That’s not the case. What I always try to convey is that there’s nothing I would like to do for eight hours a day. Playing with Pup, making art from random things, going out with Jen, practicing yoga, or whatever else I like to do would all get old after a while… yes, even hanging out with Jen. 

After a quick Google search on work-life balance, I quickly found I’m not the only one with “itchy feet.” There are entire websites, personal blogs, and researchers devoted to the people who, like me, get antsy after working in one place for a short while. Not to worry, I’m not looking for another job or anything. I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be right now, which is one of the best centers for sub-acute rehab in NYC.  Not a bad place to be. I know there’s a compromise out there; I just don’t know what that is yet. After getting some experience under my belt, I’d like to explore more flexible jobs within physical therapy, like part-time coverage or homecare. I hear the increased pay rate offsets the decreased hours. But hey, if Jen continues to be promoted at her current break-neck speed, I’ll be back to my stay-at-home, trophy husband status in no time!

Saturday

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Dog Eat Dog

Since we moved to Brooklyn, Jen and I have been spending every bit of energy on setting up our apartment (which is still a work in progress), getting acclimated to our new ‘hood (which we love), or hanging out with friends or family who have been visiting pretty much every weekend.  Our friends Matty and Chelsea were in town from PA and joined us for our first dinner out in Park Slope.  Jen’s parents got to see the new place and had the pleasure of taking us through the ghetto to Target (they had a car!) to get some stuff for the apartment.   Then Jen’s sister, Jackie, stayed with us for a few days. She broke in our “guest bedroom” which basically consisted of a queen-sized air mattress and nothing else.  We love having visitors, but the timing of everything amounted to a challenging few weeks. Not to mention, I’m still getting used to my new job and full time status and Jen has been training for her new offsite job at Barclays that she starts tomorrow.  We’ve been more than a little stressed (Jen has anyway).

This past weekend was kind of the first that we felt we had time to make any plans. Friday night we went out with some of my old classmates to a send off party for Hannah, who is moving back to her hometown in Alabama. She said goodbye in true Hannah fashion – with fried food and beers. As one of the only other Southerners in the program and a member of my Board exam study trio (pictured Friday night), she will be missed in NYC. Good luck Hannah!

Saturday Jen set up a puppy play date in Central Park with her friends Framil and Lewis and their new pup Max.  Framil and Lewis love Pup (she’s the reason they got a dog) so they really wanted the two to meet. By now we have accepted the fact that Pup will never be a play-date-loving, dog park-friendly canine. At best she just tolerates other dogs and never hesitates to use yips and nips to keep the other animal under (her) control.

Saturday started off really well. Both dogs walked nicely together down the cobble stone path along Central Park West to the entrance. We set up our blankets on the lawn just steps away from one of the iconic, intricate bridges that are throughout Central Park. For a puppy, Max was calm and respectful of Pup’s much needed personal space.  Of course both dogs got jealous if the other got attention but, for the most part, things were going well…until we took out the food.  It didn’t take long for both dogs to have their eye on a piece of salami and there was a lot of growling and showing of their teeth. Lewis reached over to push them apart which caused some kind of “let me at ‘im” reaction and they went off on each other. None of us saw any real biting, but the product of their fight was Pup letting out a yelp and Max walking away with an eye full of blood.  Pup was fine, just a little shocked and Max’s bleeding turned out to be a minor scratch that healed after about a minute.  They soon made up with each other with a few sheepish sniffs.  Pup was a little stand-offish towards Lewis afterwards and he’s still torn up about the idea of her not loving him anymore. The moral of the story is: Food causes dog fights. And also Pups a b*tch, but we love her anyway.

Sophisticated Lady Walker

At the suggestion of some of my Brooklyn-dwelling coworkers, I asked a few random dog owners I saw out walking their pets if they knew any good dog walkers. One of the victims of my extroversion, a young, Jewish-looking filmmaker named Adam, highly recommended his dog walker who also happens to be his upstairs neighbor. We spoke a bit and exchanged information so that Jen and I could set up somewhat of an interview/meet and greet involving Pup.

So Thursday evening Kristen, who’s also in NY for filmmaking but –as many creative-types do—works as a nanny and dog walker, came by to meet us. She reminds us a bit of the red-headed character from that recent Pixar movie Brave, lol. After her initial apprehensive yips and sniffs we noticed Pup seemed very calm and content around her potential mid-day human friend. She charges a rate we can afford, was raised around Fox Terriers (the full size ones) and is a Christian who goes to a church in Manhattan called Redeemer that we've heard good things about. Hired!

She started taking Pup on what Kristen calls “sophisticated lady walks” the following Sunday while Jen and I were spending the day picnicking and hiking around waterfalls in Central Park with some of my old classmates. Our landlord, who loves dogs, has a three-legged rescue, and is actually a part time dog-trainer herself, met Kristen early this week and said Pup seemed very happy. So far so good, I hope it works out.

Unlike our last walker, Ronnie, who worked at LIC Vet next door and who we saw almost daily, we don’t ever see Kristen. To touch base with her in person (not only about Pup but about life in general) we’re going to suggest grabbing coffee or something with her every few weeks.

Because we've gotten so many requests (even though we want to wait until our apartment setup and decor is complete) here are a few quick pics of our new pad. I plan on eventually doing an apartment tour post but my friends and family should be coming to visit to see it with their own eyes anyway.  :)

South Slope/Gowanus I Think?

The boundaries that outline the already huge neighborhood of Park Slope seem be in a state of expansion as people, and especially property owners, want some “slope” in the title of their place of residence. Our new neck of the woods here in Brooklyn, known at this time as something like South Slope/ Gowanus, is a mix of young professionals, Hispanics and hipsters. Much like Long Island City, we hear from Brooklyn natives that this area has gone through some really incredible gentrification in the past decade. So far we have felt very safe and at home here.  

With moving to a new part of NYC comes a strange sort of pressure that I must discover all that the new neighborhood has to offer, ASAP. I mean really, there seems to be so much to do and so little time, especially as a rookie 9-5er. The summer season only adds to this, as warm weather means there are even more events to consider. I’m attempting to soak up as much as I can about what goes on in our new nabe by noticing local papers and fliers in businesses, following Twitter feeds like Brooklyn News and reading local blogs like Park Slope Stoop. I even joined a couple of local groups on meetup.com.

While scrolling though different Brooklyn event websites on my phone during a lunch break this week, I realized that many great local resources were recommending the free NY Philharmonic concert in Prospect Park last night. So around eight, we strolled up 14^th St to the park and enjoyed a picnic dinner at the Long Meadow ball fields with a soundtrack of live classical music. The warm summer breeze, bright fireflies, and the thousands of our newest neighbors surrounding us made our decision to move to Brooklyn feel very right.

I'm running out of power on my laptop and my eyelids are getting pretty heavy, so you'll have to wait to hear about our new dog walker... talk to you soon!