Thanksgiving Weekend Recap!

Its the beginning of the new year and its been a while since I have really updated the blog. Things have been crazy as always here with work, having visitors, and the holidays. In the next week or so I am going to try to get up to date with the last events of 2008.

Thanksgiving day I woke up early and went to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with Gabe. We watched most of the parade and had a really good time. It was fun to see all of the giant floats in person, especially after watching the parade on t.v. for as long as I can remember.

Later that evening my sister Amy came up to spend the weekend with me. I had to work most of the time she was here, but when I was off we really made the best of it. We shopped and ate ALOT! The first night she came in I had to work, so she went uptown and checked out the Christmas decorations near Rockefeller. The next day was Black Friday, so we went shopping in the city and ended up finding some great deals. You will see in our pictures that we ate at several little pastry and sandwich shops around SOHO. Later that day I took Amy to my favorite happy hour spot, Verlaine, for some Lychee Martinis. The Lychees were delicious as always and the bartender kept them flowing and he even threw in a complementary Tequila shot. Next thing you know we are quite tipsy and shoe shopping in Macy's. After our long and crazy day, we decided to stay in Brooklyn and have a Thai dinner at SEA. The dinner was really good and the restaurant was very cute. After dinner we went to Public Assembly and Bembe for some drinks and dancing. The next day we went into the city and had a yummy Mexican Brunch at Mercadito and then went out for more shopping. That evening I had to work again, so Amy met up with her good friend Jen. When I got out of work we all met up and went to a couple little bars on the Lower East Side. Her last day here we met Jen and a group of friends at the Good restaurant...it was good! Afterwards, Amy, Jen and I went and did a little more shopping before I had to go to work again. The next day Amy hopped on the big white bird back to Jacksonville.

As always it was great to see a familiar face here in NY. Amy and I had a really fun visit and Im looking forward to her next trip up here!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

In the past month there have been a couple of light snows here and there. It would snow for a couple of hours and melt before I could even enjoy it. Friday, December 19th I came to work wearing heels and had no idea there was even a chance of snow. Around 10:00 a.m. the snow started coming down really fast. Before long the awnings and the streets were covered and workers were shoveling snow. It was a beautiful sight to see. Luckly I had a another pair of shoes in my locker and didn't have to wear my heels home :) Three days later it has been snowing on and off and there is still snow on the ground. It is really starting to feel like Christmas here in New York, I love it!

And the list goes on....

Here are a few of my recent celeb sightings...enjoy!

Jennifer Coolidge

Taylor Momsen (Gossip Girl)

Emeril Lagassee

R.W. McQuarters (NY Giants 25)

Juliet Lewis

Jerome Bettis "The Bus"

Joel and Benji Madden

Shiny Toy Guns

Out And About in NYC!

Now that I have settled into the new apartment, I have been trying to get out of the house and take advantage of some fun things to do here in wonderful New York.

A couple of weeks ago I was given the opportunity to see Cirque Du Soleil: Wintuk for free through a concierge program. I went with some of my co-workers. The show was cute, it was based more for children, but the stunts they did in the show were still pretty entertaining!



One Tuesday I took advantage of free Tuesdays at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. I was simply amazed at how beautiful the garden was. Being from sunny palm tree filled Florida, I have never had the chance to see changing leaves in the fall. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all of the bright yellow, orange, and red leaves on the trees. The park was filled with several different gardens throughout the park, as well as greenhouses, gift shops, and a cafe. I really enjoyed myself there and cant wait to go back soon!

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

This week I had a friend in town. We went ice skating in Rockefeller Center and saw the Off-Broadway show Fuerza Bruta. The ice skating was a lot of fun! It was beautiful skating as the sun went down. All of the trees were lit up and the flags were waiving in the wind around Rockefeller Center, I felt like I was in a movie. I was shocked that I didn't fall at all!





Fuerza Bruta was such a great show! It is a hour long standing show, you are constantly moving around and you look up the entire time. There really isn't a story line, its more just extreme visual effects and sounds.

Celebrity Sightings!!!

Over the past two weeks I have had the honor of seeing two amazingly hot celebs around the streets of New York. I am all about celebrity gossip and what not, so this was so exciting for me!

First was Tyson Bekford just two days before Halloween on the corner of Essex and Allen street in the Lower East Side. My co-worker and I were in her car sitting at the light. We look over and see him. She says "That's Tyson Bekford!" and I say "No its not! Oh wait yes it is!!" So as we are sitting there gushing over the fact that we are staring at super hot Tyson Bekford, he looks at us starts smiling and raising his eyebrows at us AND then he grabs his jacket proceeds to dance for us right on the corner of the street! We were completely star struck at that moment so I didn't get any pics, but wow what a sighting!



My second sighting was yesterday before work. I was walking around SOHO with a friend. He points out Brook Shields who was across the street. I see her and then a few feet behind her is a paparazzi. She then started running from him. So we kept our distance and trailed behind them. We went around a full block. She attempted to hail a cab several times. Finally she got a cab and jumped in. The pap caught up to her and so did we. He started talking to her through the window, she was all smiles, I think she was just asking him not to take her picture. So while they were chatting it up, I managed to get a few pics ;) Enjoy!

Victory!

Thank you America for realizing what needed to be done and voting for the best man for the job, Obama! History was made yesterday, we elected our first African American President and more than 3.5 million NEW voters went out and got there voices heard! America needs a change and change is here for sure!

Last night at work we were glued to CNN.com, MSN.com, and NYDailyNews.com, we kept watch on the state-by-state results and it soon became clear that Obama was had the majority vote. When I got out of work at 11:00 p.m., people were packed in bars screaming, others were cheering in the streets, and cars were honking horns non-stop. It was amazing, I had never seen anything like it. I made my way back to Brooklyn and walked to some bars in the Fort Greene area. The streets were packed with Obama supporters celebrating in the streets. I had a constant smile on my face and chills running up and down my body. This was such an amazing experience and I am proud to be apart of such a historical time in US history.

Here are some pics and videos that I took last night, enjoy!

Movin On Up...

To a bigger and better apartment! Yesterday Dave and I made the move to our new (to us) brownstone apartment in Brooklyn. For me it will be a move to a much safer neighborhood, since the area I was in was a little sketch in the first place. We started moving at 8:00 a.m. and didn't get done with everything until late evening. The apartment is huge! I was really surprised as to how large my bedroom is and it even has a great walk-in closet. Its almost two of my old bedroom, so I am plenty comfortable. We were even surprised to find out that we have rooftop access from our apartment AND that our back windows as well as our rooftop have a slightly obstructed view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. There are just a few tree limbs in the way, but when the city is lit up at night, you can see the beautiful buildings.

Right now our big apartment is lacking furniture and is filled with boxes that still need to be unpacked. I am even hoping to paint my room soon, maybe this week if I can find the time and the energy. Of course I will be posting pictures of the apartment as soon as I can get it all together.

5 More Days and Counting!!!

I just wanted to give a quick reminder that the '08 election is in 5 days, that's right people 5 days! This is one of the biggest decisions in our lives, so no matter if you are voting Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin, get out there and make your vote count! Check out the website below for information on where to vote, when to vote, what to bring, ect.

www.rockthevote.com/electioncenter

Happy Halloween!!!

Short But Oh So Sweet!

Last week my sister, Amy, and brother-in-law, Randy, came up to NY for a few days to visit me as well as Randy's brother and his family. I had to work every day they were here, but I got to spend time with them before and after work each day, which made for some long and tiresome days.

The first night they were here we went to dinner at a noodle restaurant in Union Square with Jen and her boyfriend Scott. After that we all went for dessert at Black Hound cake shop. We each got our own yummy little cakes and enjoyed them at Scott's house. Saturday Randy, Amy, Jen, Scott, and I all went for brunch at the Double Crown restaurant in the East Village. Brunch was delicious and we even got free Champagne sent over to our table! We left the restaurant and popped into a funky little store to look at Halloween costumes, then it was time for me to go to work. When I got off work I met Amy and Randy up at one of our favorite spots The Cabana rooftop bar in the Maritime Hotel. We had a few drinks there and danced the night away to some great music. Sunday morning I met Amy, Randy, and Jen at Panificio for another wonderful brunch. We all ordered something different, I had a veggie panini, Amy had the toast with salmon, Randy had a huge piece of steak and eggs, and Jen had a breakfast panini, all of it was so good. We left the restaurant and went to the Tompkins Square Park and enjoyed the dog costume parade, all of the pups were dressed up so cute! After we walked around and checked out all of the amazing costumes, we made our way in to Chinatown for some shopping. Of course Amy and I found ourselves in closet after closet looking at all the knockoff purses. At one point we even managed to make our way into a sketchy van, which I do believe every time we are in Chinatown we vow never to go into another van again ;) I once again had to go to work, and once I was off I met Amy, Randy, and Jen up for a few drinks in Manhattan. We had $16.00 Martinis at Nobu and then went to the Sky Bar in the Dream hotel for some more deliciously expensive drinks, but we did have the most amazing view of Time Square! Sadly after the three days they were here, it was time for them to go back to Jacksonville.

I really enjoyed our short but sweet visit with Amy and Randy, we had some good times and some good laughs as always! I am looking forward to another visit with Amy for the weekend of Thanksgiving! Below are the pictures from last weekend, enjoy!

From 2008-10-28 amy randy ny

Where to Begin....

So much has happened since my last post. Mom came in town and brought Chili Palmer, I had some roommate drama and had to go apartment hunting, and saw a really great art exhibit in Greenwich Village. Oh and last but not least, Sunday was my 4 week anniversary of living in New York!

Mom flew in on a Wednesday afternoon. we had a late lunch at a Mediterranean place in Brooklyn, had dessert in a little deli in Time Square, and saw the Broadway show Hairspray, which was a wonderful performance! Later that night I secretly took mom to a gay bar in the East Village, she finally caught on when she pointed out that we were the only women in a bar full of men ;) After we left the bar, I took her to get some of the best pizza in town at Artichoke Basille' Pizza & Brewery. We shared a slice of spinach and artichoke pizza, yum yum! Thursday morning we went shopping on Canal street in China Town. We got several handbags and some jewelry. We also went to Union Square and found some good deals at Filene's Basement. I had to go to work at 3:00, so mom did more shopping in Union Square and went and watched two back to back movies to kill some time. Friday Mom and I went into the city for MORE shopping! We spent hours in Macy's, where we found some great deals, H&M, Old Navy, and made our way to the financial district to shop at the famous Century 21. We had dinner at Simply Pasta near Time Square and then ended the night with the New York City Lights Sailboat tour around Manhattan. They served wine, champagne, beer, and hot cyder with rum. It was a bit cold, but we had a lot of fun. It was such a great way to see the city. It was so wonderful to spend some quality time with mom and I am so happy to have my Chili pup with me agian!

Moms October Weekend in NY

Before my mom came in town, my roommates told me that they wanted to get a large dog, I guess the two dogs that they have already just weren't enough for them. I expressed to them that Chili doesn't get along with big dogs and if they got one we would have to move out. So the Friday that my mom was here, my roommates decided to out and get a Golden Retriever, which brings the dog count in our apartment up to 4! I told them it was ridiculous to have that many dogs in the house and explained to them once again that Chili doesn't like large dogs. So I started looking on craigslist once again for another roommate. Gabe told me that his friend Dave was also looking for a roommate. So Dave and I spoke and decided to look for a place together. Gabe came through once again and found us a super cute and very large 2 bedroom apartment in a brown stone building in Brooklyn and only two streets away from where he lived. Dave and I went to see the apartment and fell in love! We found out the next day that we were approved to get the apartment and we move in on November 30th. I think this situation will work out much better.



Last week I read on www.JacksonvilleConfidential.com that there was an interesting art exhibit by the UK artist Banksy in Greenwich Village called The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill. With this exhibit Banksy wanted to show the weird relationship that people and animals have. So this week on my day off I decided to go see the exhibit and see what all of the hype was about. The exhibit was totally free and I must say it was very interesting and super creative! I really had a good time and took lots of pictures and videos so I could report back to JC. Enjoy!

http://www.jacksonvilleconfidential.com/2008/10/village-pet-store-charcoal-grill-update.html