Welcome Fall

Ahhh..such nice weather this time of year. We got the duvet out a little early and have been sleeping on top of it, but I think finally we can leave the windows open and enjoy the nice breeze.

Haven't blogged in a long time, but now that summer's over it's back to business! We're getting ready for Isabelle and Nick's wedding the weekend after this in Baltimore. I am all set with my brides maid dress and we've been learning a little 2-step.

So sad about bagged killer spinach. That was probably the only vegetable I ate at home and it was so easy! I use to put it in (or on the side of) everything. Hopefully they'll put it back on the shelves soon and it can redeem itself.

The grocery store closest to our house, C-Town, is undergoing a renovation in attempt to seem healthier. They've hung up renderings that call everything "farm fresh"... what a joke. By farm I think they mean the nabisco/coke/goya/lays factory.

Dinosaurs

Ahhhh... As I write they are drilling trees (really trees and big ones too) into the ground next door! They brought in this huge machine that bascially ram, ram, rams the trees. Sounds like dinosaur sex if you ask me. We've put most of the valuable things on the floor, but the poor cats can't help but be traumatized!

On a happier note, Erik's parents are in town and we went to Niagara Falls over the weekend. Will post more later about what we did along with some photos.

All things NJ

Friday and Saturday I went to NJ. I don't get there too often, so this was a special treat. Friday I had to go on a press ok for the FSG catalog. It went smoothly and I even walked away with large poster maps of the World and USA. I am posting photos of me by the largest roll of toilet paper I've ever seen and the hazy, hot, and beautiful NYC skyline from the car.

Yesterday we went to Sara's family's Bastille Day Celebration. It was wonderful to relax in a backyard and enjoy french food, wine, and great conversation. I went to this annual party in 2003 and it is amazing to see how it's grown since then.

And today is Henry's (born and raised in NJ) Birthday. Happy Birthday Henry!

Happy Anniversiary Rein & Christa!

Today is the 30th wedding anniversiary of Erik's parents Rein and Christa. We hope they have a wonderful day! I am so happy you met, fell in love, and had your adorbale son Erik.

St.Louis / Alton trip

Flew back Wednesday morning from our vacation to see family in the Midwest. We had a wonderful time visiting everyone. Mike was even able to drive down from Chicago. I can hardly believe how much all of my cousins have grown up! On Sunday Boppa and Grandma had 50 family members over to say hello. They are so used to preparing for big parties that it was amazing to see them go to work with the food preparation. While most of my family live on the Illinois side of the river, we did manage to take a drive to St.Louis and see the Arch. Regrettably, we were unable to go up the arch because of the crazy line, but we did manage to visit my favorite place: the gift shop. The Arch is one beautiful piece of architecture. It is so elegant and such a marvel of engineering. On Monday we met up with my cousins Nikki and Emily and went swimming with their families, including each of their adorable baby girls, Emma and Madeline. Erik and I were also given the driving tour of Alton. Here are some phhotos of us with Alton's most famous citizen, the gentle giant Robert Wadlow who grew to 8'11". Wow!

summer update

Well, June certainly flew by. We spent many of the weekends watching the exciting World Cup games. We watched them from home, bars, restaurants, a beer garden and friends' houses. Erik was sad Holland did not make it further, but he did a great job of showing his orange spirit. The first NL match we watched at a bar in Times Square at 9am with the other Dutch ex-patriats. While it was nice to be in their company, many were still strangers and we realized it is much more enjoyable to watch with friends.

Aside from that, I've been settling into work and we've both been doing some freelance during our spare time. Freelancing is great because I think of it as bonus money to be spent on the apartment, travel, or going out. The other weekk it was "couch money" as we finally decided on a new couch from Crate and Barrel. It was on sale and was just delivered this morning. It was amzing to watch the delivery men finesse the couch up the stairs. I think we can never move, because I cannot do what they just did.

I've posted a few memorable photos from last month.

Summer's Here

Early fridays have begun at work, so I guess that means summer is officially here. Yeah!

News around here: Erik has a cold, but he is fighting it so he will be healthy enough to see the World Cup Holland match on Sunday (at 9 am!)

The building next door to ours is almost completely demolished. Our view of the skyline has improved, but it is only temporary. Guess I have to get out the camera.

I have replaced my celebrity magazine addiction with my celebrity website addiction. It was a financial move really. Plus, the websites are a lot funnier.

Just bought plane tickets for 4th of July to visit family in St.Louis. We haven't been there in quite a while , so we are really looking forward to it,

ikea summer sale

Beautiful day outside today, but we are choosing to spend it inside (at ikea) sitting on couches and eating meatballs. I have never been to the summer sale before, and it is hard to imagine their stuff being even cheaper.

Right now the building next to us is being torn down to make way for a hideous (haven't seen plans, but I'm sure) 7 story condo. Why is everything a condo? The demolition has been interesting to watch...although right now the desk is shaking from their work. Not so cool.

I am very happy at my new job, but missing old job at the same time. Will post some new pictures later of all the things I've been up to.

First Day of New Job

Today I am starting my new job. Very exciting!! I was worried that I was going to be sick so I went home yesterday and slept 12 hours! It really seemed to do the trick because I feel 400% better today (aside from a few coughs and sniffles). I have pictures and stories from the last two weeks that I will post soon.

KY photos

Photos:
1. Mom and Erik
2. Some local transportation
3. Carrie outside her adorable attic apt.
4. The Second Story Man show
5. Erik at Churchill Downs checking out a horse
6. Jenny figuring out how to ride a horse
7. The three of us in the car (jenny in rear view)

May 2nd: What a Day!

Yesterday was a day I am going to remember for a very long time. We woke up at 4am to drive the car back to the airport in Louisville and fly home. As soon as we were ready to leave it began pouring rain outside and I had to put the wipers on manic speed. The flight was fine and I took pleasure in finding my way around the tiny Louisville airport. When we approached NYC I saw a huge cloud of smoke just over Manhattan. Did I ever see this before? Must be a huge fire. Took the airtrain to Penn Station - I went right to work and Erik went home to check on the kitties. He called as he was walking over the Pulaski to see if I could go online and see where this fire was because from his angle it looked like it could be our street. Thank god it was not, but it wasn't very far off.

Work was going well, although I was a little distracted by the possibilty of good news I'll mention later. Around four there was some other shocking news related to a coworker. I don't want to write anything about it because I have since learned that this can be very tricky.

As for my good news... At the end of the day I was offered a job that I had applied for. Yeah! I will be very sad to leave where I am now since I work with such great people who are also close friends, but I am so excited about this new opportunity.

The other great news of the day: Josephine finished her first year of graduate school and Erin had her senior show opening at Cooper.

Who knew May 2nd would be this memorable?

Louavul

Monday and we are still in KY. It has been a lot of fun although the weather has been mostly rainy. Saturday we went out with my fried Carrie to see her band play and then to a art opening/party at a local winery downtown. I ran into lots of friends I have not seen since high school and even middle school. Sometimes you think that people won't recognize you, but it is usually is not the case.

Yesterday we went down to Churchill Downs (where the Derby is held) and saw some horse races and visited their museum. It is amazing what a big deal the Derby is here. There are two weeks of festivities including: a marathon, a hot air balloon race, a bed race (complete with wheels and steering), fireworks show, and concerts. Our guide at the museum said "Hi, I'm going to be y'alls tour guide." Haven't heard y'alls in a while.

Today we had a heavenly Target experience. Since it was a weekday hardly anyone was there and we were free to look around at everything. I got a bathing suit and some sunblock and Erik got a cute grey suit. Target has suits now...amazing!

Off to KY

It is 5:30 am and we are awake to get to Newark this morning and head to Louisville. I am looking forward to visiting my Mom and to driving a car and seeing the old town.

This past week has been a little stressful so a break will be nice. Yesterday I went to see the film "The Bridges" at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was a documentary on all of the suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge (20 a year usually).This director filmed the bridge every day for an entire year and captured many of the suicides on tape. What a horrible thing to watch. The film was interesting though and did raise awareness and hopefully in the future they will add a barrier on the bridge.

The sun is not even up yet...why I am?

Happy 25th Kathy!

Last night Kathy (photo I found of her online above) and I celebrated her 25th birthday with a dinner at Friend of a Farmer. We took advantage of the nice weather by eating outside. Delicious steak, peach ice cream and some red wine that made both of our eyes a little smaller. Amazing to think we've already been friends since we were 18. Kathy was my dorm roommate freshman year and one of my first NYC friends. A funny coincidence was that Erik was having drinks with Joana and Michael at La Quinta on 32nd street. After a while they got hungry and decided to head down to Shake Shack. It happened to be closed when they got there, so he calls me around that time to say they are heading over to Pete's Tavern which was right across the street from where we were. Of all of the places to end up across the street from one another!

Tonight we finally made it to the Greenpoint eatery "The Queen's Hideaway". It is only a block from our house and we have been meaning to check it out after reading a review of it in New York many months ago. Great atmosphere, and a very cozy space.

Is it a bad thing that I am writing so much about restaurants?


Last Tuesday we went to see Three Penny Opera with friends from work. It was a really fun show. All of the singers sounded great and it was wonderful to see Alan Cumming. He even had his own "Cumming" perfume for sale there. Hate to think of what that smells like.

Sunday

Today we were invited to a family lunch with Isabelle and Nick at their Uncle Colm's and Aunt Robin's house. It was really nice to spend Easter with a family and such a nice one on top of that. It means a lot to us to feel welcomed when our families live so far away. We dyed eggs, ate ham, and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.

Went home to finish the taxes. HandR block was not budging and their interface was annoying to use. When it calculated our state it said we owed an additional $750. Decided that would just not do and put all of our info into Turbo Tax instead. We ended up getting a refund! It's not huge, but I think we want to put it towards this couch we saw at Design Within Reach.

Photos:
1. Easter eatin'
2. DWR couch we are hoping to buy sometime in the near futuree