Favorite Things Friday - The Chrysler Building

I'm going to bring back the short lived "Favorite Things Friday" because I love sharing with people my favorite things but also becasue it gives me the opportunity to look around me and appreciate things in my everyday life.

So to start I'm honoring my favorite building in New York City - The Chrysler building. We have a special bond (or as special a bond as you can have with a building!) When we first moved here I read this book called, Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City by Neal Bascomb. The book is about the building of 40 Wall Street and The Chrysler building as well as The Empire State Building. It was a really fascinating book to read and it gave me a new appreciate for the New York Skyline.

There is just something about this building.... We are south of the Chrysler Building and whenever I go to the grocery store I have to cross Lexington Avenue. For whatever reason I always get stopped at Lexington Avenue. So everytime I go to the grocery store I spend a couple of minutes looking up at this beautiful building enveloped in all different kinds of light.

One of the greatest things about New York City is the way the light reflects off of all the different buildings. My favorite time of day in NYC is dusk, when you look out your window or down a wide avenue and it's not quiet still daytime but not quiet yet dark. The light at that time is amazing and the way it hugs the buildings - nothing could be more beautiful.

So next time you're in NYC take a few minutes to look more closely at The Chrysler Building - you will not be disappointed.

What's your favorite building wherever you live?

A Day on the Upper West Side

As I said in my previous post, we took advantage of the 3-day weekend to do some sightseeing! One of the neighborhoods that we have barely explored since we moved to NYC is the Upper West Side. So MLK day we set off for a full half day on the Upper West Side.

First stop was the much talked about Popover Cafe. I've heard so much about this place and I've wanted to try it for awhile. We kept it simple and each ordered a popover with strawberry preserves and a fruit salad to share. The popovers are sooo good! Light & fluffy and just delicious with jam or without. The atmostphere of the restaurant is incredibly cozy and friendly. We loved it!

Next we headed up to Ulysses S. Grant's tomb. It was designed after Napoleon's tomb in Paris, which we visited back in 2005. I love learning about the President's so I was very excited for this particular part of our day. We were greeted by a very eager National Parks ranger. I would imagine people aren't pouring into Grant's Tomb. We spent the first 30 minutes in conversation with the Ranger. We had lots of questions and he was more than happy to provide us with the answers. Then we read the two bulletins they have set up that provide information on Ulysses S. Grant's childhood, marriage, presidency and the civil war. While off the beaten path a little I would definitely recommend visiting this National Park. It's a quick visit and you learn a bit about history while you're at it. The space is beautiful - it's right along the path along the Hudson and has a big park leading up to it. It's quite magnificent looking and I would image even prettier when not covered in snow.

Then we walked over to Columbia and walked the campus - neither of us had ever been there. Next we headed over to St. John the Divine's - a beautiful unfinished Cathedral. We spent a good 30-40 minutes exploring the cathedral and appreciating the amazing stained glass windows.

Our last stop on our little UWS tour was to head to Tom's Restaurant most notably known as the place the Seinfeld gang frequented. Jon loves Seinfeld so this my little surprise for him. The outside is exactly the same but the inside is very different - they obviously didn't really eat there during the show:) The food however was very good. We both had turkey burgers and they were delish. It was crowded and fast paced but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would return in a heart beat if I ever found myself at West 110th and Broadway!

All in all it was a great day and we thoroughly enjoyed our Upper West Side Adventure!

The Whitney

MLK Weekend we took advantage of three consecutive days off to tackle some of the items left on our NYC list of things we still need to do.

Since it was cold outside we decided that an indoor activity wouldn't be a bad idea so we decided to check out The Whitney Museum. Mind you we had tried to go to The Whitney on January 2nd and the line was around the corner (we also tried to go to The Guggenheim on January 2nd and that line was around the corner. Apparently January 2nd is museum day in NYC - note to self for next year!)

We got there right as it was opening. The permanent collection at The Whitney was Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney personal collection of 20th Century American artists and offered it to The MET who didn't want them. She then decided to found her own museum to house her collection.

The top two floors house the permanent collection. There are some beautiful beautiful Ed Hoppers in the collection and overall I enjoyed seeing it. We worked our way downstairs to the Alexander Calder exhibit. Calder is a sculptor who specializes in the use of wire. The whole floor was filled with really cool wire sculptures. My favorite was The Circus (which is part of the permanent collection)! He made an entire circus out of wire & metal and it's on display at the museum. In addition, you can watch this clip of him performing The Circus - it was so funny. It was neat to be standing among all of these people, young, old, New Yorkers and tourists all laughing and smiling as we watched this video. If you'd like to watch the video click here. And enjoy! It was my favorite part of the museum.

The thing I love about some of the smaller museums in New York is that you can have this great experience, see beautiful art, and do it all in 2 hours or less. I love The MET but sometimes it can be overwhelming. We were also fortunate that the visiting exhibits were cool to see.

I would recommend The Whitney - Jon and I really enjoyed our visit.

New York, New York!

So back at the end of 2008 I mentioned that Jon and I would be moving to Hoboken. Little did I know that I was telling you all a fib! Ok, well an unintentional fib. We started looking in Hoboken and since February 1st is such a bizarre time to be renting a place we just weren't finding what we were looking for. Jon went back to our landlord and negotiated our rent down so we're staying in the NYC for another year!

I have to say, when I first moved here I didn't embrace it. I missed Boston, I missed our friends in Boston and running in Boston...well you get the picture. New York to me at that time was just crowded, exhausting, expensive, pushy and too big!

How surprised was I to find that I was sad at the prospect of leaving NYC. When we were talking about our move I found myself saying I'm going to miss the convenience of everything (the museums, the restaurants, the theater, etc, etc). I'm going to miss all of our great New York friends. I'm going to miss our apartment and being able to walk wherever we need to go. And so on, and so on. So how happy was I when we decided to stay? So Happy! Another year and I want to make the most of it!

Here is the list I posted back in 2007 when I started this blog of all the things that Jon & I wanted to do in NYC while we were here. We've been pretty good about getting out and experiencing the city. I've bolded everything we've done and added some new ones. I'll keep you posted on our progress!

1) Go to the top of the Empire State Building
2) Visit Museums (Moma, Frick, Folk Art Museum, the MET, Museum of Natural History, The Museum of the City of New York, Guggenheim, Whitney, Tenement Museum, and the Skyscraper Museum.)
3) See Broadway Shows (Pal Joey, The Drowsy Chaperone, Avenue Q, Cyrano de Bergerac, A Chorus Line, Pygmallion and Jersey Boys. We have tickets in February for South Pacific and tickets in March for Phantom of the Opera.)
4) Explore Central Park (run in CP, rent a row boat in CP, take a walking tour of CP, go ice skating in CP, etc)
5) Visit the Botanical Gardens
6) See the Radio City Music Christmas Show!
7) Watch the balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade get blown up!
8) Hike in the Adirondacks
9) Give my DH the true Jersey Shore experience
10) Take the Circle Line tour
11) Bike around the Island of Manhattan
12) Try to see the David Letterman Show
13) Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
14) Take the Staten Island Ferry
15) Explore all the different neighborhoods of NYC (Brooklyn, Battery Park, UWS, UES, LES, Little Italy, Soho, the Village, Midtown, Hell's Kitchen, etc)
16) Become more involved in Red Sox nation in NYC
17) Take one of those Red Bus Tours through NYC
18) Go to Medieval Times
19) Go to the Bronx Zoo
20) Visit the Cloisters (that's for you Mom!)
21) Go to a Little Italy festival
22) Spend some time exploring and appreciating Grand Central Station
23) Visit the Intrepid
24) Carnegie Hall & Deli
25) Top of the Rock Observation Deck
26) Dare I say, New York City for New Year's Eve....we'll see!
27) Eat at Peter Luger's
28) Walk from the top of Manhattan (Marble Hill) to the tip of Manhattan (Wall Street) via Broadway
29) Ulysses S. Grant's tomb
30) Tour the Wall Street Area (eat at the pub where Washington used to eat, Trinity Church, the bull, etc)
31) Explore Chelsea Market

Also, if anyone has any fun suggestions I'm all ears. So leave a comment!

New Year's Resolution....

Hello Blog World!!!

Well, it's 2009 and I'm back!!! Since it's my first post of 2009 I'm going to talk about those dreadful New Year's Resolutions, I know, I know, but I'm really happy with mine this year so therefore I just have to share it with everyone.

My New Year's Resolution for 2009 is FOLLOW THROUGH. That's it - that's my mantra. I don't have some long drawn out list of things I'd like to accomplish (yeah right that's a lie...) just a two word mantra. FOLLOW THROUGH, FOLLOW THROUGH, FOLLOW THROUGH!

I'm usually pretty good at this but sometimes I get so caught up in everything that I get overwhelmed and I get into this place where if I can't accomplish it and accomplish it perfectly I'm just not going to do it.

So I'm looking at life realistically. I'm not perfect, no one is perfect, and I can't expect myself to accomplish everything and do it perfectly. So my goal with FOLLOW THROUGH is to do just that keep reminding myself to stick to it and FOLLOW THROUGH! It's better to be doing what you want to be doing, living the life you want to be living, and being the person you want to be then letting opportunities pass you by because you're afraid you won't be able to do it perfectly. Just do it and FOLLOW THROUGH.

This is especially important to me in this the year of my 30th birthday (I know gasp! I look so young don't I?) Don't worry I'm not going to freak out - I'm actually excited and ready to embrace 30. I feel like 0-30 is all about learning about life, how to live life, and figuring out who you want to be. I feel like 30-40 you get to become that person you want to be and now is the time to embrace that person! I don't want to miss out on any of this because I didn't FOLLOW THROUGH on becoming who I want to really be.

So that's it - my mantra - FOLLOW THROUGH. One of the things I want to be better about following through on is updating this blog. I miss it, and it's just such a great way to communicate with people. So expect to be reading a lot more about me, my life, my experiences, the books I'm reading, etc!

What are your New Year's Resolutions? And for all my friends turning 30 this year - how are you feeling about it? Are you ready to embrace it or going to continue telling everyone you're 29? :)

Krik Krak, Edwidge Danticat - New Classics Challenge

I am on a roll (thanks to Jury Duty!) Right after I finished Practical Magic I decided why not just read another book for the New Classics Challenge. So I picked up Krik Krak by Edwidge Danticat. This book was recommended to me by my friend Shion last year when we went to the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Edwidge Danticat was one of the authors that spoke at the event (eloquently I might add). So this book pick was an easy decision for me!

Krik Krak is a compilation of 9 short stories that all take place or involve characters from Haiti. Each story is short yet powerful. The writing is beautiful and the flow of the book even though they are short stories is enjoyable. The stories speak of massacares, escapes, governments run by dictatorships, but yet at the same time they speak of love, pride, family, and strength of person.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was sooo different from Practical Magic, it just had more substance and was more beautifully written, that it is hard for me to believe they were both on the New Classics List. Krik Krak I would consider a fine piece of literature and would recommend to those who have enjoyed books such as Things Fall Apart. I will certainly read Ms. Danticat again!

Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman - New Classics Challenge

So this fall has been a little weird for me in that I haven't been reading as much as I usually do (have no fear I'm getting back into it). One, I no longer have a commute which was where I used to do the bulk of my reading so this has seriously cut down my reading time! Second, due to the economy my husband hasn't been nearly as busy at work and is actually home at a reasonable hour. Since this is such a treat for me, it's hard for me to justify reading in another room when I could be spending time with him. Granted now his work has picked up again so my reading time is increasing - couple that with a 4 day stint in jury duty and I'm a reading machine right now - hehehehe!

So in doing some more reading I have started to catch up on the New Classics Challenge. I didn't stick with the original 6 books that I picked though because I began one of the books and just couldn't get into it (Possession, A.S. Byatt). Maybe I'll pick it up again someday. And one other book I found out was the 3rd book in a series where I have not read the 1st & 2nd book. I didn't want to start in the middle. (Lonesome Dove, Larry McCurty).

Practical Magic therefore was not one of my original picks, but I picked it up because it was on the New Classics Challenge List and I needed 2 new books to fill those vacant slot. I had read Hoffman before (Here on Earth) and enjoyed her so I was looking forward to reading Practical Magic.

Practical Magic is the story of Sally and Gillian Owens, whose parents died when they were young. They were sent to Salem, Mass to live with their two aunts (considered witches) and grew up constantly being ridiculed. They were outcasts in their schools and most people were afraid of them because they considered them to be witches as well.

As they grew older and wanted different things from life they both ended up leaving Salem, Mass - one sister became a drifter, married numerous times unsuccessfully and the other sister was widowed and raising her two daughters in the suburbs of Long Island.

One day when Gillian shows up on Sally's doorstep in Long Island with her boyfriend, dead in the car, the sister's have to make a split second decision. One that will affect their relationship with each other, with her daughters, with their aunts and with themselves.

The underlying themes in this book are acceptance of others and of yourself and the power of love. Did I enjoy this book - absolutely! It is a fun, quick read, a guilty pleasure to be enjoyed on rainy day (or say...in a jury room!) Would I consider this book a good choice for a New Classic - not a chance! When I think of classic literature I immediately think of Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote, Edith Wharton, and so on....a New Classic although contemporary needs to compare at least somewhat in my opinion with the old classics and those are some mighty big shoes to fill. This novel doesn't even come close to a classic. It's more of a fun beach read....sorry Entertainment Weekly I don't agree with this choice.