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!

Our Big Blessed Moving Day

The morning of our move, after tossing and turning all night, we got a call from the movers letting us know they were in route.  After doing more cleaning, packing, and pacing than I would wish upon anyone, we found ourselves standing at our front windows waiting and watching for our movers to pull up on the street below.

About ten minutes later, a box truck, much like the one our movers described on the phone, double parked in front of our building and two obese, slow-moving  African American males lazily slid out of the vehicle.  These two gentlemen not only seemed to be taking their sweet time, but might not even be able to safely negotiate our steep and narrow flight of stairs.  At that moment, considering our movers were billing us by the hour, Jen and I looked at each other and said, “Oh sh*t.”

While frantically trying to talk each other down from hysteria and the conversation jumping from the importance of not judging a book by it’s cover to what we pictured them to look like in our minds, the doorbell rang. Dreading what was about to ensue but knowing I had no choice, I buzzed them in.  Jesus take the wheel.

I opened the door and there, to our surprise, stood the complete opposite of what we just witnessed downstairs: a fit, forty-something white guy and his big, strong assistant. But… you’re not… where’d you guys park?

It turns out the guys we saw out front were delivering to the vet or bar next door, thank God, and our movers had parked a block up. What our movers lacked in personality (they wouldn't even answer simple moving-related questions with more than one or two words) they made up for with their hustle. There was no parking on either end of the move and it rained almost all day but they made it work somehow, and in under five hours. They definitely had some experience under their belts and did a great job overall. Even things we were hoping would break (so we would have an excuse to throw them away, i.e. hand painted nativity set of biblical proportions) survived the move.  Note to self: Less newspaper next time.

So now we’re getting settled into our new South Slope, Brooklyn apartment. We’re discovering things we love about our new pad everyday and the neighborhood is full of so many great things that it’s kind of overwhelming. Yesterday our new couch was delivered and our internet was set up (so thank you for your patience in waiting for a new blog post). I’ll be posting pictures and updates on the apartment soon, so don’t go too far.