The Other Huron

On my way home from work today, I walk onto our street and see a new sign on the building next door. They have a website and they were having an open house. It was a little surreal to be inside the building we have watched being built for so long. The places were nicer than we had expected, but still way too expensive. Check out the listings

Mike and ICFF

Mike was here this month for his annual design week visit. It was lots of fun. Tried some fancy new bars and restaurants, saw some inspiring design, and most importantly got to spend time with my brother.

Thank you IRS . . .

. . . For the new TV.

We actually bought the TV a few weeks before the check, but I like to think they cancel each other out. We now have HD cable with a DVR too. We resisted cable for a long time and now I don't think we can ever go back. It's been so nice to record shows and watch them hours or days later, fast forwarding through the commercials .

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Moms out there! We sadly couldn't be in the same town with any of our moms and grandmas to celebrate, but we hope they had a wonderful day.

We had a very relaxing weekend. Spent a lot of time out on the deck...planting, eating, reading and drinking. Not all at once! The construction is done in the back of the building and hopefully the front will be done by the end of the month.

KY Derby and a week of get togethers

After flying back on Monday, we had two quiet nights at home and then it was a full week of evening plans. On Wednesday, we met up with Josephine (visiting from Paris) and Peter for soup dumplings in Chinatown...so delicious. Really nice to catch up with Josephine and I am looking forward to her move back to NYC this summer. Thursday, we went to the Tribeca Film Festival with Sara and saw the Irish film EDEN, a touching drama about marriage. This week Erik and I have both been a little under the weather. I can't figure out if it's a cold I caught from him or allergies we're both coincidentally suffering from. Friday was especially bad. I had to leave work early and head to bed for a long nap. We had plans with Aaron and Caitlin to see their new Greenpoint apartment (only two blocks away) that night, so thankfully I was feeling up to a few hours of socializing after that long rest. Their new place looks great, a large railroad with high ceilings and lovely old details.

Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby. Mike had invited us upstate to his annual party. He and Jeff have such an amazing house. Every room has been beautifully restored with antiques, richly patterned wall-paper, and stain glass lamps. It's always such a treat to go up there. We rode up with Dave, Simone, Henry, Jason, and of course little Sophie in a minivan. Dave did a great job driving through some of the densest fog I have ever seen. I was feeling foggy myself with a stuffed nose and headache. Simone saved my day with some claritin. After a few hours, I was back to my old self.

The race was exciting as usual. The favorite Big Brown won. Sadly, the second place filly (the only female horse in the whole derby) broke both of her ankles right after the finish line. Apparently this is an injury that's impossible to recover from, so they put her down right on the track.

This morning we slept in a little. Today is the NYC Bike Tour, but we are sitting it out this year. Will be fun to see all of the 30,000 bikes ride by our house though.

Posting some upstate pics, as well as one of our almost completed back wall.

Kentucky weekend

Made a very quick trip to see Mom and Mommoms in KY this weekend. Flew after work on Friday and flew back very early this morning (and still made it back to work). Mike was able to drive down from Chicago and join us too. We had thought this weekend would be filled with lots of relaxing, going to movies and spending hours outside. We were able to do some of that, but the big surprise was that we moved my Mom out of her apartment and into Mommom's house. We redid her old bedroom and stocked her up with supplies from Target. Wow...Target in the suburbs is amazing. It had everything and hardly any other shoppers on Sunday morning.

Extreme makeover Huron edition, part 2

The weather the last few days has been perfect. 70s during the day. The kind of weather where you want to be outside on the deck having dinner, or at least inside with the windows open. Sadly, we didn't get to do either of those things, since it is snowing styrofoam outside. The good news though is that the construction/renovation is going quickly, so we'll be making up for these lost days and nights in May.

Extreme makeover Huron edition

This little green building is going brown. Our landlord is renovating and replacing the mint colored siding with light brown/tan stucco. Demolition started this morning after we left for work. I quickly took a photo as I crossed the street. It was dark when we got home from work, so we could only see the scaffolding and the plywood. More photos to come of the progress.

Spring weekend outdoors

Saturday, my old friend Irina came into town with her friend Dave on their way from Boston to Delaware. We walked from Greenpoint to Williamsburg, took the train to Chinatown, walked to my work and then had a delicious dinner in Williamsburg at Wild Ginger. With our legs worn out and our stomachs full, we collapsed on the couch and watched "man push cart". A so-so film.

Sunday we went hiking with Edwin and Kathy in Hope, NJ . There's a state forest called "Jenny Jump" with about five, very well marked trails. While the weather was pretty warm, spring hadn't quote arrived in Hope. There were few buds on the trees, but it didn't really matter. The fresh air and soft ground were enough of a change for us city folk. It was a surprisingly easy trip out there too. After hiking, we stopped at Cliff's for some authentic NJ ice cream and floats.

Type Walking Tour and Mets

Have been meaning to post for days and days. Things have been pretty normal around here. We are enjoying the warmer (and longer) days. Planted a few things on the deck. One of my tulips from Christa has even grown! Last weekend we joined a walking tour of Long Island City and Greenpoint that focused on the typography of the area. The Thursday before that we went to a Mets game. Fourth row...from the top! I think I got a little dizzy from the lack of air, but it was free towel night. Amazing to see thousands and thousands of towels being twirled in the air.

Big technology news! We have succumbed to the temptation of HD and cable TV. Bought a 32" Samsung last week and having the cable installed this Wednesday. It will be nice to not have to adjust the antenna all of the time and to be able to record shows we miss on a DVR.