It's About the Shoes

On the train this morning I seemed to be fixated on people's shoes. At the 59th Street stop I could only see the feet of those waiting on the opposite platform. I found myself trying to guess if the people attached to the shoes were tourists, cops, executives or teenagers skipping out on chemistry class. Normally feet ensconced in sneakers would belong to tourists or young mothers but here in Manhattan sneakered feet could belong to executives, assistants or filming crew.

I used to be a strictly black flats type of girl but seem to embraced the joy of the heel regardless of the fact that I generally tower over most of the Manhattan public. That must be why I spent the most money ever on shoes two weeks ago. Aren't they beautiful?

My obsession with the shoes must explain why I am constantly taking pictures of people's shoe clad feet. Or maybe it was just because I needed to waste some film or memory card space. I guess I need to do a little more self-analyzation to figure it out.


Any guesses whose feet these are?

Thanksgiving in CT

Friday afternoon I hopped on a train to hang out with Claire in the "CT". I arrived and immediately requested a trip to Target to begin the trip on the right foot. I proceeded to load up on essentials and some early Christmas shopping. We indulged in a great meal at Outback Steakhouse where I ordered my customary Alice Springs Chicken. Yum!

Saturday morning Claire and I lounged before the onslaught of the Thanksgiving festivities at the Restauranteur's home. I got the easy job of playing with Princess K while the rest of the adults cooked, cleaned, set the table and washed pots and pans. It was a great meal and fun to be with a family even though it wasn't my family for the Thanksgiving festivities.

Today Claire and I attended her ward and enjoyed two hours in the Nursery watching and playing with 6 kids ages 2 and 3. I'm rarely around kids nowadays so playing with the younglings was fun at least for the first 30 minutes...after that I just got a headache. After grabbing some lunner I took the Metro North train back to my lovely abode. All in all it was a great time in CT.

Luckily I will be seeing Claire this weekend because we are going to enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls at the Hammerstein Ballroom then venture to Park Avenue for the Christmas tree median lighting.

These are some pics from my time in CT, including the "driveway" lined with geese of the Restauranteur's home...

It's That Time Again

It's time again for the joy of the holiday season to wrap its comforting spirit around the world. A couple of days ago I saw the greenery rising on the Waldorf Astoria as well as the trees lining Park Avenue's medians being lit up. There are so many times during the year that I love to watch the city transform. Seeing the lights, garlands, trees, stars, and store windows almost come to life with the holidays is so exciting! The one downer is the fact that it gets really, really cold during this time. Luckily I have a plethora of coats to choose to wear.

My first Christmas in the City was really hard because I was still going through the trauma of moving to New York. I needed a pick-me-up really badly and one of my bestest friends, Doc delivered it to me. We took one Saturday before Christmas and did all of the cheesy touristy holiday things. There is a reason that the busy season for tourism is the months of November and December. Doc and I went to the Rockefeller Tree, Macy's Windows, got hot chocolate in Central Park, did a little shopping on 34th street and basically soaked in all of the holiday cheer. Every year since we have conducted our New York Fun Day to remember why we love New York and how the city comes to life with the holidays.

This year we are revving up New York Fun Day especially since Doc is traveling from the great golden way to our famed city. We'll hit all of the main attractions but we're going to choose great new restaurants to enjoy and have invited Dancing Queen and Jewel to come also. The more the merrier! The conclusion of New York Fun Day has become my holiday tradition. We all go and enjoy the New York Pops Christmas concert at Carnegie Hall. We get to sing "White Christmas" at the end. Who could ask for anything more?

Italy Here We Come...

Last night Netter came over to finalize our Italian getaway. We opted to go in February to save some dollars and so I would only need to use 3 vacation days. The great cities of Rome and Florence will soon be graced with our presence.

Italy was always lower on my list of places to go and see in Europe but the lure of gelato and warmer temperatures in February changed my mind. We are taking a train from Rome to Florence to enjoy the amazing art that is available for view there. I like taking trains because it allows for us to view the Italian countryside. That aspect of my trip to Central Europe was great because you got to see the parts of countries that you wouldn't if you flew over them.

Art found in Italy was also a big draw to spending beaucoup dollars to head to Rome and Florence. During my art history studies in college, Italian art was one of my lesser favorites; but now the thought of seeing Michaelangelo's Pieta & David, the Duomo's Dome in Florence and the masters like Boticelli, Fra Angelico, Raphael, DaVinci and Caravaggio is making me become a giddy school girl.

During the cold days of New York's February and in celebration of Joani's birthday on the 17th of February I will be enjoying the sights, sounds, food, and overall atmosphere of Rome and Florence. The countdown to take off begins now. Only 86 days to go. Yeah!

The Object of my Vanity

Everyone has things they consider their best features. I have two things that I love. Okay, three things...my finger nails, eyes and hair. In ranking order, my hair blows the rest out of the water. My hair has always been thick, shiny and soft. As my object of vanity I take particular care with my tresses.

This past weekend, my friend Claire came to visit. She happily brought her scissors to whip my strands back into shape after they had become dull and lifeless. Getting my hair cut is probably one of the most relaxing and self-esteem boosting activities. I constantly make Claire play with my hair because it calms and soothes me. She did an excellent job on my cut and I truly appreciate that she allows me to pay her with food from Ottomanelli's.

It has been about 3 days since the cutting of the coiffure and already I have been compared to Audrey Hepburn twice, probably due to my fringe bangs and the wide patent leather head band I am wearing today. As you can see our resemblance is striking...

The Next Love of My Life

I have been automobile-less for over 4 years now. It is strange because I love and adore driving and especially, road tripping. I think I must be currently going through car withdrawal because lately most of the spare time on my hands has resulted in searching the internet for vehicles.

I have narrowed the field to four potential choices and one "in my dreams" option for my future car. I would appreciate feedback based on the appearance and functionality of the cars in connection to my personality.

And the nominees are...

The 2006 Honda Accord - a reliable staple of the car industry. It is durable, versatile and enjoys numerous Car & Driver awards.

The 2006 Volkswagon Passat - remains a fixture of Volkswagon and the older sister of the Jetta. It has functionality and a spunky exterior.

The 2006 Audi A4 Quattro - a cousin to the Passat has a bit more power and European flair.
The engine is powerful and obviously I could go offroading in the snow.

I would gladly throw all of these options out the window if I could have the beautiful...


2006 Volkswagon Touareg (a.k.a. My Dream Voiture) because it is big and safe; not to mention absolutely gorgeous.





Now I just have to plot my strategy for getting my next pair of wheels. Unfortunately it doesn't look to be in the near future since Manhattan is still the love of my life. Oh well...a girl can dream.

Weather Appropriate Coats

I love coats. I was recently mocked by Netter and Doc for the sheer number of coats I own. I am proud to say that I have a total of 8 different coats in my closet. Each of these coats has a specific function in the goal of staying warm and dry. Some are for temperatures in the 50s, others the 40s or 30s, and then two special ones keep my blood warm when it hits the 20s or below.

Each year around the end of October a cold spell hits this great city that forces the masses to pull out their wool, shearling, leather, etc. coat out of mothballs as well as a scarf, hat and gloves. The funny thing about this moment in time is that it virutally puts the kabosh on going back to wearing a light jacket. Once that warmer coat goes on, it doesn't go away until mid-April regardless of the current temperature.

Case in point...yesterday it poured over 3" of rain in Central Park. A warmer coat that would also keep you dry was weather appropriate. Today, however, is sunny and going to climb to close to 70 degrees. Do you think the people of New York kept their warm coats on the hanger and elected to wear a light jacket? Of course not. On my 3 block walk from the subway this morning I saw many, many people sweating while wearing their wool coats and scarfs. I am a cruel, cruel person because I laughed in the face of their folly. Hee hee.

My words of wisdom for the day - decide your attire after watching the morning weather report. It can save a whole lot of unnecessary sweat from dripping off your forehead.

Examples of Endurance

A huge congratulations to Doc for her accomplishment in finishing the 2006 New York City Marathon. She went the distance of 26.2 miles on a cold but sunny Sunday afternoon. I think she deserves at the least a standing round of applause. Congrats Doc!

I, along with Netter and Shopping Queen fanned the cheering section of 5th Avenue to cheer on all the runners. It was almost an emotional experience to witness the determination to achieve a common goal - to finish the race.

Over 37,000 people from around the world were on the same path and striving for the same result. I think it would be pretty amazing to see that kind of dedication and endurance to achieve a common goal within the whole of society. Just think of all the good that could come from acting as a unit to endure to the end.

Another congratulations to Doc and Makepeace, my co-worker, for their fantastic accomplishment. Who knows, maybe one day I will complete a marathon. It would probably happen while I was sleeping though. :)

Musical Conversion

A couple of weeks ago, I found two co-workers talking about music in the ladies room. They were exclaiming their love for The Fray. Being the music connoisseur that I am, I piped in with some bands that were comparable and in my opinion, better than The Fray.

One of my co-workers said she would go and do a test run via iTunes to see if she liked the bands I recommended. On Monday she called me to tell me that she really enjoyed the three musical groups. Being the kind-hearted person I am, I decided to enact a musical conversion by offering to burn CDs full of some of the best music ever.

The CDs were full of three amazing bands:

SNOW PATROL
Top songs: Chocolate, Chasing Cars, Grazed Knees, Run & You're All I Have










KEANE
Top songs: This Is the Last Time, Bend & Break, Crystal Ball & Everybody's Changing









LONG-VIEW
Top songs: When You Sleep, Further, Will You Wait Here & Can't Explain









I also had another musical conversion with the above bands when I introduced them to Supplier. I burned him music to take on his business road trips and he rocked out all the way to Long Island and back. Nothing like good music on a road trip.

With the success of these two conversions, I now feel like I have the tools to convert the world around me to the joys of these three bands. It doesn't hurt that they are all good looking young men and speak with an accent. And let's face it...semi-good looking men turn out to be REALLY attractive once you strap a guitar on or give them sticks to pound on drums.

And So It Begins

There is only one good thing about "falling back" in time for the conclusion of Daylight Savings Time. That one thing is the extra hour of sleep I get for one night out of 364 nights a year. The rest of the so-called benefits of standard time are slim to none because now it begins to get dark way too early for my mental and physical health.

Dusk falls on the city at around 4:45pm. Where am I usually at this hour - sitting at my desk located next to a window at work. I get the opportunity to watch the darkness creep up the sides of the Waldorf Astoria and Chase Buildings. Lucky, lucky me.

This is why Arizonians and Western Indiana residents have it right - they refuse to buy into the government's mandate that allows for retail owners to benefit from additional daylight hours for their consumers. Next year, the daylight hours start earlier and end in November. Talk about depression after the candy overload of Halloween.