lady liberty

so we spent friday walking around downtown manhattan, eating fantastic chinese food {i wonder if they'll deliver to brooklyn?} and eventually catching a ferry to liberty island. unfortunately we got there too late in the day to visit ellis island as well, or even to get up onto the platform of the statue, but it was nice nonetheless.

we had beautiful weather the majority of the day and made it back just before it started to storm...i even aquired a little sunburn. any color is good color at this stage in the summer. i was getting translucent there.

central park boathouse

busy day yesterday. well not so much for me, cause most of it was spent working, but during lunch we walked around central park, the mall, the boathouse, past the shakespeare in the park area and listening to all the free entertainment along the way.

after work we went to a great little french-style restaurant and filled our bellies before heading to our broadway show. we had fantastic seats and it was so incredible to be that close. plus, chicago is a very cool upbeat show, and the dancers were amazing so it was more than entertaining.

anyway, we had another busy day today which i'll tell you about next time!

the itinerary

for a busy weekend! looking forward to lots of pictures, crowded lines, overpriced food and touristy tendencies. as you can see there are several sites on the list to conquer in just three days. we have a first time new yorker on our hands, so this is a compact checklist of must-dos.

the in-laws are in town and after waiting two hours for a stellar parking spot, are settled in with some thai food and wii training. tomorrow night we have reservations for dinner and a broadway show. exciting, no?!

BOOM

another great weekend in the new apartment. we're settled, we're happy and besides the occasional dump truck, it's peaceful.

so on saturday we were sitting in our apartment about to watch a movie when we started hearing these thunderous BOOMs. well, given the circumstances in the past several years, we were a little nervous to figure out what was happening. all was well though, it was just some fireworks barges in the east river.

luckily we're so close to the water that we just ran down the street along with everyone else to watch the display. it was great!

then on sunday we had some friends come check out the neighborhood since their lease is up in a few months and they're sick sick sick of their loud manhattan neighborhood. so we had them bring the dog to see just how pet friendly it is here, dog parks, other dogs, friendly dogs, pet stores, this place is a dog mecca. a lot of the shops even leave out water bowls and treats for the passing dogs.

so short week! tomorrow night we'll be on our way to CT! see some of you soon!

happy birthday!

"so how does it feel to be 33?"

"old."

come on in

for pictures of our new wee little apartment, just click on this image to get to my flickr photostream. i also did a fun little 360º photo so check that out and let me know what you think!

{yes, our bedroom IS really that small...}

i admit it

i actually took some photos of the new apartment yesterday. had a little fun messing with the new flash i bought in anticipation of the july wedding i'll be shooting. so why are there no photos in this post?? i know right? well, i may have taken them, but i didn't exactly find time to upload them, so i'll be promptly doing that tonight!

here's to pictures of keyholes and radiators and organization!

shake it like a polaroid picture

it looks like my tiny take-everywhere camera may be on the fritz. see that black shadow on the left hand side? yep, a new development.

my husband asked why i looked so happy when i was telling him this yesterday. i said, 'dear, honey, love of my life, you know i'm an electronics junkie but i just can't see replacing anything that isn't on the fritz, so although i've really been wanting to upgrade to a higher megapixel, larger display and slimmer model, i haven't had a reason. until now.'

and really, hadn't we just had that conversation about curbing the recent spending frenzy? (moving to save money sure does cost a lot.)

let's go fly a kite

this was not our actual intent yesterday.

we took a long bike ride down to the verrazano bridge {which you can see there behind j} and then we went over to coney island. i have to say, coney island is a big fat dump of a place. {although, we didn't park and walk so maybe it's an unfair assessment on my part.} this picture if from our rest stop at the park where we were politely asked to help launch some kites. the view was spectacular with all the cruise and transport ships in the bay, but the smell from the dead fish and the crowded highway made it a little less than pretty.

the bike was convenient for the trip to and from ikea, to load up on some creature comforts for the new place. we were even able to find a mini-microwave at lowes!! i promise there will be pictures to come now that we have curtains and all the thrift store bags are gone. some of you that skyped with us yesterday got to see it first hand. in the words of jen, 'that place is huge'. it's really not, but compared to our old place, it is.

also, according to jen we look more relaxed. and we were able to talk to everyone with the windows wide open. amazing. we love it.

(OH, and in fantastic news, our friends had their twins. a little early but as far as i know both, and mom, are doing great. when i have more info i'll share...)

any questions for me? while i wait to take some nice pictures of the place, i really don't have much to write about, so let em rip and i'll post answers tomorrow.

a swap yer stuff party!!

so my friend carrie and i are planning {ok, i could possibly be forcing her to let me have one of these at her gorgeous house} a little swap party for the weekend of June 20th. we don't have a definitive date and time yet, but it will be that weekend and most likely saturday evening. once i have more info i can fill all the interested people in.

so what exactly IS a swap yer stuff party? i'm glad you asked! basically, we all make a mad dash to our closets: pull out everything we outgrew, undergrew, don't wear, don't like, don't think we look good in, isn't our style anymore, makes our butts look like heli-pads, makes us wish we had bought it in black instead and bring it for others to 'SHOP' through. everything is free, everyone brings something and everyone leaves with something. you can bring everything from jewelry and clothes, to shoes and handbags {have any unused hair products or lotions/perfumes, you know we all do, bring them too!}. we ask that everything brought is in good condition. don't worry about whether or not it will fit someone or if the 80s really ARE back, just bring it cause you never know! {i already have a few large bags of stuff and i haven't even started on my purse pile! never mind going through all that crap i have piled in carrie's basement, she's so patient...}

everything that isn't taken by others, will be brought to a local salvation army by moi. so it's kind of like a tag sale, but without all the dollar bills and quarters!

it will take place in bristol, CT, so if you live in the area and want to go, give me a buzz at tinkerellenATyahoo.com. this is INVITE ONLY so email me!!

life-adjustment in one weekend? coming right up!

so that's it, we're officially moved. and i have to say, i'm surprised at how little time it took us to adjust, unpack and settle. there's still the {ongoing} issue of organizing my clothes, but hey, small closets will do that to ya. the new place is so quiet {slept through the night all weekend, no sirens!!} and everything fit perfectly with room to spare. it feels very open and airy to us, but to everyone else it still looks like a tiny apartment in nyc. oh well, i can live with that. there is plenty of room to play some mad wii though and we're just a block away from the promenade {a walkway with stellar views of lower manhattan}.

so all visitors are welcome! we still have the futon but now there's actually room to use it!

oh and we managed to pick up the motorcycle from jersey on saturday and spend most of the day driving around. it's so exciting to have it parked right outside our door, so once we get some saddlebags, we might even be using it for grocery runs! and there's talk {quiet low rumors and fantasies} of me getting my very own vespa {powder blue please}. how fun would that be? for now i'm content to be a passenger on the benjamin button bike, but i like that i've planted the vespa seed in my husband's brain.

oh, and we both got up this morning and worked out together. the husband made some breakfast and i got ready for work. it could get better than this, but i'm not sure how...

did i miss anything??