a little something to showcase my new Apt.

since my joani (and rahni) asked again for some photos of the new pad, i decided to comply. the apartment is slowly coming together. let me know what you think.

a little something about carrie fischer

in my research of upcoming broadway plays/musicals i came across a show performed by carrie fischer that opens in september. the entire show is anecdotes and stories from her life as a celebrity baby, actress, author, mother, etc. normally i would think only the Star Wars crowd would be interested in what carrie had to say, which doesn't include myself...then i remembered watching something with joani and flex a few years ago.

AFI was honoring george lucas and carrie did her part to express her humble gratitude for being cast as princess leia. she was hysterical. check it out for yourself.



i'm thinking that if i find cheap tickets and have nothing else to do on a tuesday night that spending a few hours with carrie wouldn't be the worst option. :)

no fun feeling sick

i'm sick. i'm not a good patient and i feel more lousy laying around at home instead of being productive in some way. i have strep throat and it bites the big one. the funny thing is that the medicine i have to take is huge...like 2 1/2" in length. whoever thought of giving a patient with a severly sore throat a huge pill to swallow is just plain cruel.

here's to hoping that this illness is of short duration and i don't infect gooch with my germs. thankfully we have the lysol spray at the ready.

celebrations in terre haute

at the end of july, most of the g fam gathered in terre haute, indiana to celebrate my birthday and my nephew jimmy's birthday which happen to be the same day. it was a great time to eat, talk, go for walks, and overall enjoy each others company. this trip allowed for one of the rare occurences to happen in my life...all of my nephews and nieces were in the same place. my amateur photography went into overdrive.

these are some of my favorite shots from the time in indiana.

...and i'm back

i played tennis on friday night. it was fabulous! haven't played since big mike whipped my trash in arizona this past february. it felt good to be hitting something. my serve was even landing in the appropriate box.

the short hour and a half that was played made me even more excited to enjoy the tennis artistry that is soon to be seen at the us open!

successful craigslist purchase

on a random basis i like to peruse the merchandise for sale on craigslist. i've never bought anything but find it interesting to see what people are trying to unload. here in manhattan it is has taken the place of garage sales a la the 'burbs.

i have been in the market for some barstools for my newly constructed breakfast bar. my taste tends to run to the expensive and i have very specific requirements. i found the barstools i wanted from crate and barrel but was put off by the price of $229 each w/o tax! that seemed steep so was trying to figure out a way to pay for them when inspiration struck...consult craig and his list!

i normally only search in manhattan for furniture for sale because who wants to figure out a way to transport furniture from the outer areas. on monday i did a search using the specific bar stool name from crate & barrel without the manhattan only filter and to my astonishment 2 bar stools were for sale from a family in riverdale. (zipcar came to the rescue for transport...another reason why i love it)

gooch and i headed to riverdale and got lost on our way to making my first craigslist purchase. i'm very happy with the bar stools and they look GREAT in my new apartment. so thank you to craig and your list. i got two barstools for the price of one if i paid retail. not too shabby.

i'm such a girl

it will come as no surprise that i became giddy after reading this article. i adore all things Jane Austen and had been looking forward to a new Emma adaption during Masterpiece Theater's Jane Austen Festival over a year ago. i was saddened that they just re-aired the Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong movie from the early 90s.

BBC has since made amends by casting Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller in this FOUR hour adaptation. i'm very excited for january 2010...it's probably the only thing i'm excited about in january.

a taste to whet your whistle:

i heart ZipCar

my newly formed relationship with ZipCar seems one-sided with all the joy coming to me. gooch and i booked an SUV to take us to Jersey, the land of IKEA, malls & Target. ZipCar is running a special where if you reserve a vehicle on a weeknight between 6pm and 8:30am the next morning that it is a flat rate of $39 INCLUDING gas and insurance.

we hopped into our Honda CR-V and bought shelves, a dresser, an over the door mirror, clothes, and FOURTEEN boxes of cereal. gooch and i enjoy a good bowl of cereal. more often than not it is my dinner of choice.

unfortunately the $39 promotion only lasts through the end of September so we'll have to do another run when our cereal supply gets low.

totally in "love" with this new feature of New York City. i imagine many more ZipCar trips to come.

indianapolis airport hates me

i spent last weekend with big lug's family in indiana because my nephew nintendo was baptized. my flights were chosen to coinside when joani, pookie, sunshine and their two boys landed from their flight. this allowed big lug to make only one trip to the airport which is 1 hour away from his home.

while sitting at my desk, chatting with joani on the phone i got a call telling me that my flight was cancelled and they rebooked me on a flight leaving the next day. i flipped because all of our plans were about to go out the window. thankfully i found flights that connected through cincinnati but were scheduled to leave in an hour and 45 minutes. i was still at work and it takes about an hour to get to JFK. i ran out of work, found a cab and off we went. got to security and breezed through. when i reached my gate they were already boarding so i barely made it. had i chosen a different security line i probably would have been late. arrived in indy and met up with the family and headed to a good time at big lug's.

the night before my department from indiana i had a dream that i had to scramble to get back to new york because of flight troubles. sure enough as we were about to leave big lug's to go to the airport i checked my phone and noticed that my flight to la guardia had been delayed over an hour. called delta and when i finally got through to speak to a human i was told that my flight was cancelled but they booked me on a flight that left at about the same time but connected through atlanta and arrived at JFK not la guardia. so off big lug, joani and i went to the 1 hour away airport. when i checked in i was told that my flight was delayed at least 40 minutes and i could miss my connection. i asked about available flights the next day and after consulting with big lug opted to take the 6am flight direct to la guardia the next morning. thankfully i made that choice because when i randomly checked the flight from indy to atlanta i learned that it too had been cancelled.

big lug, joani and i got up at the crack of dawn and drove to the airport yet again. thankfully brother doesn't have to pay for gas because it is a company car.

once i got to work on monday morning i finished what was pressing then left early. i took a bus home per usual up madison avenue and at 72nd street a woman got sick on the bus. an ambulance was called so it took about 20 minutes before another bus came to get the stranded passengers. i hope the woman was okay but it made me laugh that my ability to take transportation has been a wretched experience recently. cross your fingers that this transit curse is of short duration.

any one else had a horrid transportation experience? i could use a little cheering up by hearing about your "i want to tear my hair out" experiences. :)