photography crazed

i realized that i needed a creative outlet in my life.  don't have a piano to play, painting supplies are too difficult to store (not sure how artiste did it whilst living in NYC), and i'm not a writer (other than my witty commentary on this blog).  there were very few creative outlet options open to me until i picked up a digital SLR camera.  i became absolutely hooked on taking pictures of beautiful places, people and moments.

to try to convey how much i needed this outlet i shall share an example of my sacrifice for my art...

last friday night i was at a birthday party for a friend until the wee hours of the night...i'm talking after midnight my friends.  (just because i'm single doesn't mean i party every weekend like there's no tomorrow.  i like my 8 hours of sleep just like everyone else).  i didn't fall asleep until after 2am. 

i had already decided to go to the brooklyn bridge for the sunrise on saturday morning to take some shots of one of my favorite NYC landmarks.  i chose that saturday because it was before daylight savings ended; therefore, sunrise would occur at 7:20am instead of 6:20am.  very important detail.

so i woke up with my alarm at 7:00am.  got dressed, put on my cute and trendy beanie cap and headed for the brooklyn bridge.  spent a windy and cold hour on the bridge taking shot after shot.  quite often i found my self in a kneeling position to get just the right angle or crouched over to position the sun in a specific pattern.  the next morning my quads, gluts and inner thighs were so sore!  apparently i was doing lunges and squats without even knowing it.

generally i'm very cranky when i receive very little shut eye the night before, but this time i was perfectly content to get up, spend $25 on a cab and enter the outside world with dirty/greasy hair.  it was all because i had a camera in my hands and was capturing images that i hope you will enjoy as much as i do.

thank goodness the tools for this creative outlet fit snugly in my bedroom cabinet.

this week's simple moments

1.  still not a fan of halloween
2.  spent over $50 on cab rides in one day
3.  enjoyed a conversation with a friend at shake shack at 11:30pm on a Thursday night
4.  opened and played Just Dance with gooch...she schooled me on the NKOTB dance moves
5.  got a haircut that makes me look "10 years younger"

fall foliage - connecticut style

hairapy weekend was a huge success.  it amazes me how being surrounded by nature is so calming and relaxing.  clare and i pampered ourselves with getting our hair washed and blow dried in a salon, got facials, a massage, ate good food, shopped in target and saw a movie.  and that was all accomplished on saturday.

sunday morning was reserved for getting my hair done while watching disney's the little mermaid and eating pumpkin/chocolate chip muffins.  another winning combo.

after lunch and mall strolling clare drove me to some stunning locales in her neighborhood so i could take some pictures.  the scenery was truly magnificent and i urge any who have never experienced a new england autumn to add it to your list of "places that MUST be visited".  all of the pictures and adjectives simply don't do it justice.

click on a picture for a larger view

soccer support

in case you forgot why it is imperative to support men's soccer.  here's is a refresher on re-obtaining your motivation.

This is Carlos

This is Benny

This is Benny playing soccer

This is Carlos playing soccer

This is Benny (all black suit) and Carlos (brown shoes center) with US Men's Soccer teammates

click on the picture for a larger view...trust me, you want a larger view

And, you're welcome.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

elements that make up the Christmas season in New York are slowly making themselves evident. 

1.  the rockefeller center ice rink is fully functioning and allowing tourists a chance to skate on the tiniest ice skating rink in the city
2.  the rockefeller center Christmas tree arrives in the plaza in exactly THREE weeks.  the giant spruce from somewhere in the tri-state area will be wheeled in and then brought upright by a giant crane
3.  it's getting colder
4.  macy's herald square already has all of their christmas shopping village up and ready for business
5.  saks fifth avenue scaffolding is removed making it ready for the snowflake show

many, many more elements still remain but it is slightly shocking that the tree will be here in three short weeks...

this week's simple moments

1. early morning bus driver told me to be safe and have a "blessed" day
2. winning a catered lunch for 20 people in my office from Qdoba
3. swapping the spring/summer wardrobe for the fall/winter
4. touring international cities on my Rock Band tour
5. my sis-in-law telling me that sometimes it is about putting something into church rather than expecting something out of it

**changed my simple moments to once a week rather than daily four times a week**

the hills are alive

i love and adore the Sound of Music!  i still remember seeing the movie for the first time at my grandpappy and grandma's basement in portland, oregon at the age of 8.  i fell in love with the story, the music, the scenery, the overall happiness that exuded when good triumphed over evil. 

it was a dream come true when netter and i traveled to salzburg in the spring of 2006.  we were like two giddy americans entranced with seeing all of the filming locations in the flesh.  salzburg is truly a magnificent and golden city.

you can imagine my excitement when i learned that certain movie theaters were playing the film in its sing-along format on the evenings of tuesday, october 19th and october 26th.  i knew that i would be buying a ticket to see this majestic movie on the big screen for the first and probably only time.  netter and i attended last night and enjoyed the cinematic splendor of the movie whilst singing along with our movie watching comrades.  i must say that i got a bit teary when peggy wood was singing climb every mountain.  it just brought back all of the wonderful moments i shared with my grandmother who has been gone these almost 10 years.  i still miss and think of her everyday.

i was also happy to learn that the queen bee, oprah winfrey (herself a huge sound of music fan) had the entire von trapp family actors back on her program.  it is scheduled to air on Friday, October 29th.  my DVR will be ready and willing to record it.  below is a quick preview to whet your whistle.

another hairapy session

this weekend is hairapy weekend number 18.  ok, so i'm not sure what number it actually is...but i am going up to connecticut to chill with clare and get a much needed new 'do.  i'm going back to the bangs my friends.  time to switch it up and since i'm desperate to get my long hair back i figured that the hairdo switchup would have to include adding bangs rather than chopping length. 

i actually think that i look pretty good with bangs.  they generally lay really well and draw people to my eyes rather than forehead.

so i shall be going back to this...

oh long hair...how i miss you...

my addiction continues...

...my three concerts in five days were completely fantastic!  pretty sure i'm going to stay addicted to live music for as long as possible because it makes me ecstatic with joy.  thankfully the concert ticket cork board has a new set of tickets posted for the traditional New York Pops Holiday concert.  can't wait!

below are a couple of videos from my time spent with Jimmy Eat World last week.  they are so great live.  only wish my camera battery didn't die when i saw Lifehouse at Roseland Ballroom.  believe me, it was also a great show!

My Best Theory


Movielike

weekend in the leaves

every october, netter and i take a weekend to commune with the fall foliage.  again this year october's second weekend was chosen to travel northward to find colorful leaves.  apparently autumn decided to take her sweet time because the trees that were alive with the majestic colors last year were still pretty green and shady. 

this lack of colorful leaf peeping didn't stop us.  we jumped into our rented Kia and traveled to vermont to try and find the foliage.  we were successful and had additional hours to rock out in our car to many fantastic tunes.  it's what i like to call an added bonus...

the next day we went to lyman orchards to go apple picking and possibily find a pumpkin to add to our apartment halloween decor.  the day was stunningly beautiful with not a cloud in the sky and lots of people wandering the orchards looking for their favorite apple variety. 

netter and i got a little silly in the pumpkin patch with my camera.  we often have the best times being total and complete goofballs while snapping photos.  it was such a great time! 

we ventured to a new locale in connecticut after our target shopping was complete.  in hubble park they have a stone structure called Castle Craig.  it was pretty cool to go up there and see the valley below...if only the trees were more colorful and less green. 

today's simple moments

1.  newly installed timers for subway train arrivals - left platform when saw next train was 10 minutes away
2.  texting with my mom
3.  realizing a hometown connection between a friend with my first name - she grew up in my home town, knows my aunt & uncle in north carolina and did i mention we share the same first name... :)

concert addict

hi, my name is pinky mcg and i'm a concert addict. 

i joke about how i spend my money on three things:  vacations (including souvenir jewelry), electronics and tickets to concerts.  i can't seem to stop my ticketmaster/live nation/broadway box office addiction. 

exhibit A:  i have tickets for three concerts that will all take place within five days

exhibit B:  my concert ticket cork board will soon be empty (see exhibit A), so during lunch today i'm off to carnegie hall to purchase New York Pops Holiday Concert tickets...can't have an empty concert cork board!

i didn't realize how much i love live music and dance events until i moved to new york.  i love living in this city that provides numerous opportunities to enjoy some of the most musically talented people in the world...now if only yanni would go back on tour...(hee hee)

today's simple moments

1.  CVS pharmacy across the street
2.  no line at shake shack 86th street
3.  unlimited metro cards

nephew time

i went to utah last weekend to spend time with the family.  it was a very quick weekend but well worth it.  i got to see my grandpappy, joani, the siblings and of course my nephews blake and jaxon.  love seeing how they've grown and their personalities have developed.  love those little muchkins.  even taught blake my signature photo pose. 

happy birthday big lug

today is the birthday of my brother, big lug.  a great thing about getting older is that the childhood memories of fighting, teasing, competing, etc. fade away.  they are instead replaced by memories of playing games, chatting on the phone whilst he travels, eating pizza at Grimaldi's, watching him sitting on the stand in church and discussing the merits of byu football.  i like these new memories much more than the one where we ended up in a rock fight after disagreeing on our ping pong score.  happy birthday brother!

today's simple moments

1.  cabby taking frontage roads to avoid traffic on the van wyck expressway
2.  man on bus singing out loud to michael jackson's man in the mirror
3.  rain soaked tree trunks

simple moments

1.  mass transit allowing me to stay dry in a massive rain storm
2.  high rise buildings
3.  breakfast delivery

simple moments in a relationship

i talk about how this blog's purpose is to share why i remain in a long term relationship with new york city.  on occassion i will write about why i love living in this city but it is sporatic at best.  that is all about to change (hopefully).

at least four times a week i will post at least three reasons why i love new york city.  trust me there are plenty of reasons why i stay in this city that never sleeps...and everyone knows how much i love to sleep. 

i've been inspired reading my friend leslie's good report, christa's crusade and others that talk about the simple reasons why they love their life.  more than ever i'm realizing how precious those simple moments mean to our daily life.  and in my narcissicistic way i want to share why my moments with new york city mean so much to me. 

the month of september

there has always been something special about september.  i love september because it means i get to enjoy the majesty of the us open, feel the start of a slight chill in the air, watch leaves changing, and celebrate the anniversary of my relationship with new york.  the month of september is very memorable especially living in new york. 

thank you september 2010.  i enjoyed our time spent together.  and hello october...welcome.

i'm a big girl now...

there are certain events that equal adulthood to me. some include: college graduation, buying your own toilet paper, housing purchase, no longer able to claim "exempt" on taxes, marriage, childbirth, not able to come up with ideas for gifts on your birthday/christmas, monitoring your 401(k) plan on a weekly basis, etc.

i recently made a decision that again cements the fact that i am a true, bona fide adult. i bought my first couch! it was a very exciting moment that clare and MC shared with me. (poor netter had seen that couch about 5 times in the last year but wasn't there for the moment of purchase - sorry friend!)

now to clarify, i do currently own a couch. i bought my friend academic's couch when she moved from the great metropolis that is new york. it's been a good couch. gooch spent many an hour upon it. but i've never actually purchased a brand new couch for myself. it was quite exhilarating!

below are links to the sectional couch i purchased as well as a preview of the fabric chosen:

sectional is a chaise and apartment sofa combo: http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=252704&CategoryID=35392

color chosen is called Devin Topaz: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/sofas/hennessy-sofa/s448527

super excited for it to arrive before the end of the year!