a movie marathon for me & nemo

i love how the city literally stops all function when bad weather approaches.  i think there were a total of 8 people in the office with me at 4pm on friday.  most had to depart in time to take public transit home before the blizzard nemo descended upon the tri-state area.  i was lucky to get home with only taking 12 steps outside in the slippery, windy, snowy ickiness.  there are definite perks to living so close to a subway station.

once i got home i realized that i would probably be stuck inside for at least 36 hours.  what's a girl to do?  well if you're me and have hundreds of movies/tv seasons on dvd or bluray, you pull some movies from the collection and set up your movie marathon during the raging storm named nemo. 

i pulled 12 movies ranging from kindergarden cop to roman holiday.  during my sojourn inside i was able to watch 8 of the 12 movies.  

 

i also cleaned my apartment like it hasn't been cleaned in quite some time.  i mean i mopped the floors, washed all my towels, bath rugs, bathrobe and used a dust cloth and wood polish instead of my trusty swiffer duster.  that is dedicated cleaning.

all in all i think nemo and i got along really well especially since the plows were out in force to shovel away the inches of snow he bestowed upon new england prior to my commute this morning.

ode to new york city

if i could write poetry this would be the post to bust it out.  but alas, my talents lie elsewhere.  the reason for my wish to write in verse is that today is my 10 year anniversary with new york city.  i can officially call myself a new yorker.  this city is the one place i have lived the longest consecutively in my young life.  here's a brief run down of the biggest highlights of my relationship with new york city in chronological order:

• moved to new york with two large suitcases and a box of linens
• my first apartment was on 92nd and 2nd street on the fourth floor of a building with a pizzeria on the ground floor
• three weeks after moving i got a job with the NBA retired players association as a coordinator - also worked at bath & body works to supplement the income
• new york fun day was born in december of 2002
• in spring of 2004 i flew on my first international flight to land in paris - spent 5 glorious days in the city of lights with netter and doc 
• survived the blackout that turned off the much needed A/C in the heat of august for three days
• in june of 2005 i left the nba retired players association to take a job with a hedge fund
• moved into my very own apartment in june of 2007...didn't even care that it was on the 5th floor of a walk up because it was my first home
• took more trips to the european continent including rome, florence, london (x2), prague (x2), vienna, budapest and again to paris
• spent 6 weeks caged in my apartment due to a broken ankle sustained at the home of my buddy clare
• took a helicopter tour over the city with my brother flex (my gift to him for helping me move)
• moved into my second very own apartment in 2009 and this building had laundry AND an elevator

this city is hard to live and thrive in.  if you don't absolutely love it then it makes absolutely no financial sense or common sense to continue to call it your home.  there have obviously been times that i have thought about leaving to be closer to family but i also have a family here in the city.  i'm grateful for the many wonderful people i have met throughout my 10 years in this amazing city.  that is what has made these 10 years fly by and mostly filled with happiness and joy.  the opportunity to watch amazing broadway productions and museum exhibits not to mention the great food doesn't hurt either.

i love this city.  those cheap touristy shirts that everyone has to take home really mean something to me.  i love new york.

a good purge is always a good idea

about a month ago joani called me.  she wanted to know if she could throw away a couple of boxes that were still living in the basement of grandpappy's house.  i said please leave the boxes where they are and i would review their contents while on vacation in utah a few weeks later.  thankfully she kindly agreed to keep her hands off of my stuff and allowed me to purge my five boxes myself.  

the last day i was in utah i took the five boxes i had in joani storage and was able to purge them down to 2 boxes.  yay me!  i apologize to all of my buddies who sent me a wedding announcement or sat with me while i had a caricature drawn or dealt with me during my 'nsync phase when i recorded every thing they ever did on television onto a VHS tape because all of those things are now at the bottom of a garbage can.  i really only kept the really nice art history text books and a few little tiny trinkets.  i think my joani was happy with my purge even though she was responsible for actually disposing of the unwanted items.

now i've been in a purging mood at home.  have gotten rid of old yucky stuff that's been stuck in a drawer, movies i don't watch anymore as well as books that now reside on my iPad along with food that might have expired in 2010.  i think everyone needs a good purge every now and then, especially someone who recently bought three pairs of Ferragamo shoes.  did i mention my love affair with my new shoes yet?  :)

whitney houston welcomes me home

i was a relatively big whitney houston fan as a youth.  i mean i chose to do a music video to who song "how will i know" as a strapping 10 year old.

in her later years i just kind of felt bad that she wasn't able to continue her string of hits due to personal choices.  when i heard of her death at such a young age it shocked me but didn't shock me.  she was incredibly talented and losing the opportunity to hear what she might have shared with the world is sad.

for some reason, i found myself viewing the bodyguard on the lifetime movie network late afternoon one saturday afternoon.  the scene where her character comes on screen singing "i have nothing" literally made me stop whatever web surfing, picking up clutter or grabbing something eat or drink that i was doing.  i sat on my ottoman close to the TV and watched her sing this song.

for the last week or so i have come home from work and played "i have nothing" really loudly in my bedroom while changing out of work clothes.  i literally lipsync the words trying to embrace all of the angst, emotion and desperation she projects.  it's like whitney is welcoming me home by reminding me that i have nothing without the blessings of family and friends in my life.

vile lady neighbor update

i can report that since the night i called the cops on my horrid neighbor she has NOT screamed at her children!  hooray for her three boys!  i have seen her on the street a couple of times and gave her my most fervent annoyed with you stare. 

the thing that bothered me almost as much as her vileness is their front door is papered with drawings and colorings with the name Jesus.  there is even a palm cross from last year's Palm Sunday taped to their front door.  i had a VERY difficult time with a woman who behaved as she did but professed to place things on her front door stating "God is Love".  if this woman truly understood the nature of Jesus Christ and the profound love of God, she would NEVER treat anyone the way she was.  let alone her own children.

the night i called the cops

for those of you that see or talk to me on a regular basis, you have at one time or another heard me complain about my next door neighbors.  my 2h neighbors are a husband, wife, a boy age 8/9, a boy age 5/6 and a baby boy about 4/5 months.  the wife/mother is one of the most vile people i have ever come in contact with.  here's why...

on a somewhat regular basis for the first two years i lived next door she would scream profanities at her children, slam cabinet doors, smack her boys, locked one outside of their apartment once, etc.  she is truly truly vile.  i had complained to my landlord before and called child protective services because i could clearly hear her hitting one of the boys one night.  so all these things happened maybe once every 6 or 8 weeks.  she once threatened to kill one of the boys.  when i ran into her husband in the laundry i told him i would call the cops the next time i heard that.  he didn't seem to think that was a big deal.  moron.

then she had a third child in september and since then she has been extremely abusive almost every night for the past 3 months.  last night i had enough.

i called 9-1-1.  cops came to check on the boys and arrived about 4 minutes before the moron husband got home from work.  the cops were in the apartment for about 30 minutes.  you would think that would frighten her (it would terrify me).  it didn't, she started screaming at everyone in her family about 20 minutes after the cops left.

so when it comes time to sign or not sign a lease renewal, i'm going to look long and hard for another place to live because i honestly can't deal with a home that is affected by her vileness.  my home has become uncomfortable because she isn't getting the mental help she needs.

sometimes you just have to ask

i mentioned in my it's january post that i have serious steam flowing from both of my radiators  the condensation it has been creating has turned into a sheet of ice because of the freezing temperatures.  on wednesday morning i had enough because i literally slept in a ball to try to stay warm all night.  finally decided enough was enough so i emailed my apartment building super.  he came over around 8pm to take a look at the issue.  saw the problem.  pulled out some pliers.  adjusted the levers on each radiator.  steam stopped but heat continued. 

this little moment of clarity taught me that it is always a good idea to ask.  as my grandma jewel taught me "all they/he/she can say is no".  thank you mr. super for coming quickly so i didn't have another freezing cold, sleeping in a ball, ice on my windows night.

what happens when i'm bored

i'm bored; therefore, i buy things for my apartment to change something and attempt to take away the boredom.  trust me it's a good idea.  otherwise the dark side of HGTV watching will send me down a deep dark spiral of wanting to buy a house in some random location just for a change.

what do we think of this duvet cover set for the bed?

ode to HGTV

my friend preppy told me about her recent addiction to watching HGTV.  i thought it was kind of odd but didn't voice that opinion to her directly.  in my mind there were so many other great cable shows to enjoy like AMC, Bravo, ABC Family, Bio, etc.  Who wants to watch shows about how to build a deck?  or what kind of paint and primer combo is best to disguise a red wall?  or heaven forbid, watching men compete in a show about who can make the best bird feeder out of popsicle sticks?  needless to say, it didn't intrigue me but i thought that my friend preppy is a pretty urbane, cultured and sophisticated new yorker/san franciscan so maybe i should see what all of the hoopla was about.  big mistake.  huge.

i have now turned into an HGTV groupie.  it is my go-to surfing channel if i'm waiting for my prime time shows to commence or i need something in the background while i cook or if i'm just lounging on my couch in my 400 something square foot apartment that i pay a rent of 4 digits to call my home.  some of my favorite shows are house hunters international, property virgins, for rent and my first place.  the mistake in converting to the dark side of watching others search for properties is that i have some serious, hard core house envy.  i want to be one of the young whipper snappers that is buying their first home full of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with an island and deck in the back yard.  oh and did i mention all of the homes seem to have a dishwasher and laundry facilities?  because they all do.  be still my beating heart.

don't get me wrong...my relationship with new york city seems to be on solid footing.  we still spend lots of wonderful hours together basking in vibrancy, culture, energy and street fairs selling food on a stick.  it's just that HGTV has opened up a new adult world to me full of people concerned about mortgages, location vs. space, and how close is too close to one's parents.  as well as how to compromise on paint colors and how big is too big when buying a new HDTV for the family room.

sometimes i wonder if i could have a long term relationship with a place like los angeles, san diego, phoenix or portland that is just as vibrant, cultured and energetic but with an added bonus of a mortgage full of equity and maybe a yard where my one day dog can romp and play.  i think in many ways it is better to not realize what is out there so you don't know anything but your chosen way of life.  unfortunately HGTV burst that bubble of ignorance. 

ode to central air

my apartment has two window a/c units.  one for the living room/kitchen and one for my bedroom.  it is imperative to keep the bedroom door closed when running its a/c unit.  this traps all of the cold air so it cools down that room quickly.  it is also important to turn on the a/c at least 30 minutes prior to sleepy time. 

the unit currently in the bedroom was a hand me down a/c from the previous apartment tenants of artiste and california lady.  it has worked great for the past two years.  unfortunately the machine died on one of the hottest days i've ever experienced as a new yorker.  the lights were on but nothing was happening so i was forced to sleep on my couch in the living room.  not ideal.

that night i bought an a/c unit online at best buy.com to make sure they didn't run out during this colossal heat wave.  picked up the new a/c unit on saturday but the crazy thing is now the old machine is working just fine!  i don't get it.  one day i get nothing when i desperately need it and now i get all the cold air i could want.  so do i keep the new a/c and put the old one on the street for a lucky soul to pick up or take the new a/c unit back via a cab to the best buy on 86th and lexington?

if only i had an apartment with central air...

ode to a dishwasher

most of the inconveniences about living in new york are easily negated because of the awesome aspects of living in new york. today there is nothing about living in NYC that makes up for not having a dishwasher. i'm kinda done with doing all my dishes by hand. ok, i'm only one person so how many dishes can i possibly dirty...you'd be surprised.

maybe one day if i'm really good, my relationship with new york will produce a dishwasher. a girl can dream...