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June 24, 2007
Coney Island
Adam and I finally made the trip out to Coney Island today and the experience did not disappoint. We couldn't have picked a better day, weatherwise--it was a nice and sunny but also breezy and on the cool side of summer. First stop was Nathan's Famous, where I spotted the Brooklyn Cyclones mascot, Sandy while waiting for Adam to get the dogs. I watched in amusement as Sandy waved hello to the children sitting at several tables, do a dance for a young boy in a stroller, and sign an autograph for two Cyclones fans. After Nathan's, it was onto the boardwalk which I think truly is a unique NYC experience. It was nice strolling along the boardwalk and we made sure to wander through Astroland. Adam and I are really amusement park people but I couldn't resist going on one of my favorite amusement park rides. After walking past the aquarium, we hit Brighton Beach Avenue, checking out the Russian food stores along the way. We had a kind of second lunch at Kashkar Cafe. I was disappointed to see that most of the dishes came with lamb but enjoyed my chicken kabob and Adam's meat dumplings. Spending the day in Coney Island definitely piqued our interest in exploring more of the city. Anyway, onto the photos:
Nathan's Famous
The Brooklyn Cyclones mascot
Cool old building on Coney Island boardwalk (where they shot The Warriors)
Brighton Beach cheese display
Posted by Jennifer at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)
A slightly overwhelming week
First, the sprained foot which was more of a nuisance than anything. Because of the bandage that ensconced my foot, there were only a few shoes that I could comfortably wear, both pairs of sandals I had purchased in Paris and never wore in part because they don't really match a lot of my clothes. This was probably the first instance of my choosing my clothes based on whether they matched my shoes.
Despite the sprained foot, I was forced to move offices this week (in fact, my computer was moved the day I stayed home from work because of my foot) which probably took up the majority of Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday were spent late at work assembling last minute information requestes and reviewing documents and assembling comments. Friday, I had to catch up on all the work that I couldn't attend to during the rest of the week and finish a grant application due on Monday. Tomorrow, I have to wake up at the crack of dawn to prepare for an event I coordinated for work.
On Friday, we also booked our trip for the fall. Unfortunately, I was distracted at work when Adam found a good fare to the place we were planning on going to and I thought the fare he stated was the round-trip fare so I told him to go ahead and book the flight. After I returned home from work, Adam mentioned the fare was actually the airfare each way so now I think I'm going to have to get a second job to pay for our fall trip.
Yesterday, I returned to the salon where I had permed my hair three weeks ago because my roots hadn't taken to the perm. I thought I was just getting my roots redone but my stylist explained that it was easier to redo the whole perm so I had to get something I normally do twice a year done twice within three weeks (I hope my hair isn't fried). While I was there, I mentioned one of my friends is moving to Norway and the stylist next to my stylist mentioned she had been there and claimed that all the people there were gorgeous and nice, homeless included.
Yesterday was also Adam's grandfather's 80th birthday family get-together. I hadn't seen my nephew in a month and a half and when I last saw him, he was still learning to walk and talk. Now, he runs, laughs, has a vocabulary, and can do a million cute things! I guess this is an ideal baby stage when they're super cute and interactive but still pre-tantrum and pre-no!
Posted by Jennifer at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)
June 18, 2007
Sprained foot
Last night, my foot started hurting and I thought maybe I had stepped on my foot the wrong way and waited for the pain to subside but then it got worse. No matter how I sat, my foot was in pain and I kept thinking it would be really lame if I hurt my foot while slumming around our apartment. My foot felt better in the morning but it still hurt when I walked so I scheduled an appointment with a doctor and hobbled over there with Adam. The diagnosis? A sprained foot probably because I had ridden our exercise bike barefoot (which I've always done) or because I wasn't wearing the right sneakers to the gym (I joined a gym recently). Either way it's annoying because now I'm stuck here at home which is boring and I really don't want to buy new sneakers because I love my gym sneakers because they look good, they lack the heavy padding of most sneakers, they're light (and therefore easier to schlep) and because I only bought them a few weeks ago and shelled out a lot of money for them. I've also been advised to wear more comfortable shoes this week like sneakers which I don't look forward to because it's supposed to be 90 degrees or higher and because I have a dumb bandage around my foot which will only make wearing shoes/sneakers even hotter.
Posted by Jennifer at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2007
Renegade Craft Fair and Williamsburg-related rant
I loved the Renegade Craft Fair last year so I looked forward to going again this weekend. This year, it's taking place at McCarren Park Pool which is a good idea in theory but, in reality, it was a little too hot a venue, particularly for being a fifteen minute walk away from the closest shop where a drink could be purchased. There were definitely a lot of vendors and nice things but I thought a lot of it was overpriced. I came away slightly disappointed and very thirsty. I actually remembered to bring clothes with me to try to sell at Beacon's or Buffalo but trying to sell clothes at either store is basically an exercise in futility unless you buy all your clothes in Williamsburg or thrift shops. I don't know, I like going to Beacon's and Buffalo but this is, in part, a function of lack of supply (there are very few decent thrift shops in NYC) because, in my opinion, a lot of their clothes are crap so I find it ironic that they reject the majority of my clothes (most of which, I think, is pretty nice). I realize I'm biased but I would do more of my shopping at Beacon's and Buffalo if they sold clothes like the kind of clothes I try selling to them. Having your clothes rejected by the Williamsburg hipster types that work behind the counter is especially annoying. The woman at Buffalo actually said to me, "We try to buy things that are current and clothes with embellishments haven't really been selling." Can't say that I've noticed this tendency when I shop at their store.
Posted by Jennifer at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2007
Flight of the Conchords
Adam and I had our long-anticipated opportunity to see the Flight of the Conchords, a semi-folksy comedy duo from New Zealand, at their NYC show tonight. It was a lot of fun to watch them banter and perform their songs live. Unfortunately, they didn't play my favorite song, Hiphoppotamus, but they did play some songs that I really enjoyed, like Not Crying and Mother-ucker. I really hope their show on HBO is good cuz I'd definitely would like to see more of them.
Posted by Jennifer at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2007
Dinner party
After a year-long hiatus, Adam and I threw another non-neighbor exclusive dinner party. It was fun but the hours leading up to it were hectic. I arrived home at five and immediately started prepping. After finishing prepping, I realized the dutch oven I had wasn't large enough so I had to run out and buy another. By the time I placed the stew in the oven, it was half an hour before our friends were supposed to arrive, and the stew needs to bake for two and a half hours. It worked out though since four of our guests got hopelessly lost and spent about an hour driving around Queens and the neighbor we did invite got locked in her apartment for over an hour (don't ask). I still had the sides to prepare but once the potatoes were peeled and boiling and the garlic minced, I got to relax. Adam did a fantastic job with hor d'oeuvres and dessert, and the Guitar Hero and Wii, of course, were a hit. We placed the food on our dining table so it was somewhat buffet style and the one thing we forgot to do was to take our cat's food scoop off the table--I had just finished getting my food when my sister remarked that she had never thought of using a shovel for mashed potatoes before which threw me for a loop so I quickly looked over and my sister had a large portion of mashed potatoes in Rusty's food scoop. As my sister's Australian roommate goes..crikey!
A few photos from last night's festivities.
Adam surprised us with spring rolls
Who needs to leave home when you have Wii?
Speaking of food though, I really hope Di Fara does reopen soon because Adam and I want to go to Coney Island before it completely transforms.
Also, someone get me an advance copy of Lost...Adam and I finally watched the season finale of Season 3 of Lost (we started watching the show through Netflix a few months ago)--I thought that the next season would be starting in September but it's not starting until January or February...Lost, how can you do this to me?
Posted by Jennifer at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
June 07, 2007
Sample sales
I've been going to sample sales for about ten years now though I probably haven't been going as much in the last few years in part because my current job isn't close to the Garment District (or the Meatpacking District). I love sample sales though--I actually bought my wedding dress at one. I had immense luck at the Cynthia Steffe sample sale last year so when I found out there was another one this week I really wanted to go. The only problem were the hours (12-5 today, 10-5 tomorrow). I do manage to slip out of work early sometimes but I had already left early once to go to a doctor's appointment and I'm cutting early tomorrow to prepare for a dinner party and leaving early on a third day would have looked bad. Had I realized that this week is prime sample sale season and foreseen the madness of the Cynthia Steffe sample sale, however, I probably would have considered taking a half day off.
I got to the Cynthia Steffe sale less than five minutes after they opened and it was already a madhouse--lots of women darting around bearing large piles of clothing, many bearing articles that I eyed enviously. I tried to go through the racks quickly and started trying on clothes when I could carry no more. While I had grabbed a bunch of items, nothing really stood out and I suspected much of what I would have coveted had already been taken (plus, I didn't have access to a mirror, which made things difficult) and I got on line to pay with only three items, considerably less than what I had come away with last year. While waiting, I noticed all the girls on the line were dressed really well and suspected that most of them worked in the area. The cashier line was long and I left with only fifteen minutes to spare (though, seeing the line outside, I was grateful I got there early). I debated about whether I should head down to my meeting or whether I should try to go to another sample sale I wanted to check out down the block and I decided to try the latter, dashing over to my next destination. The problem with the Garment District is that it can be really hard to dash since the Garment District is almost as bad as Chinatown in terms of pedestrian congestion and the elevators are really slow and the amount of people waiting for them significant. I only had five minutes left when I made it to the next sample sale so I quickly went through one rack, tried on the items I pulled and paid for two of them. Needless to say, I was late for my meeting (no thanks though in part to the MTA) but I still think it was worth it.
Posted by Jennifer at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)