I Heart NY!

I love that on a rainy day I can put on my rainboots and walk across the street to get anything I need (dinner, diapers, haircut, sunglasses, fruit, jewelry, clothes.... you name it).

I love that I have a trash chute right outside my door.

I love walking to Bloomies for 'tax free shopping week' (took advantage of that one yesterday).

I love using the subway to get to the other end of town in just a few minutes.

I love that I just signed up Griffin for swimming lessons at the community center and it's FREE!!!

I love calling One Stop Laundry and telling them "3-A has a pick-up"!

I love seeing shows. Our goal is to see atleast one a month. This month is "Wicked".

I love going down to our playroom when the kids are bouncing off the walls!

I LOVE the food here. I thought I was spoiled in Dallas... but I'm not kidding - the food here is SICK! (just in case you weren't aware - 'sick' is the new 'great').

I love that Griffin is inviting 13 kids to his birthday party - he's made friends really quickly.

I love the black and white cookie!!

I love being a mom in the City.... there's so much to see, do and experience!!

Girls Gone Wild...

Well, not exactly! We were pretty tame. We had lot's of fun though - here are some highlights:
We saw Pajama Game, starring Harry Connick, Jr. We were especially impressed with his singing, dancing and piano skills... not to mention his pectorals! If this was a 'girls only' website - I might go on and on - but since I love and respect my husband, I'll leave it at that! After the show we hung out with the groupies on the sidewalk to catch a glimpse of him leaving the theater. Not only did we get a glimpse of him (and his wife and kids)- we had a conversation with him! He was very gracious.
We also saw an off broadway show called Almost Maine. It was very clever and entertaining! We all enjoyed it as well. No need for stalking after that show.
We shopped quite a bit. We shopped the local boutiques, Soho and the Green Market in Union Square. In Soho, we loved seeing what all the street vendors had to offer. There are some amazing artists that set up down there. Great handmade jewelry, hats, scarves, paintings and more. Yes - we also did Canal Street. They twisted my arm! On the subway ride over there - I gave them a pep talk and instructed them that "we need to be strong and not go with the first person that approaches us". Then what did we do? We followed the first person that approached us. What can I say? Immediate Gratification is my middle name. The only problem was that the first person who approaced us didn't even have a store. They had a van, parallel parked on a side street, with tinted windows. Kerri & Melissa didn't hesitate for a minute before getting in the van with her (yes - luckily it was a her and not a him). There was only room for three so I "stood guard" outside. After about 5 minutes - they opened the door with no purchases made. We were off to find our next peddler. We didn't take even 10 steps and they were surrounding us like vultures. We followed them into fake storefronts including chinese take-out, shoe repair, jewelry stores and more. I lost track but my guess is we went in no less than 10-12 illegal stores! We left with 6 purses (2 for me, 1 for Kerri and 3 for Melissa).
We also did lot's and lot's of eating! Bagels, Muffins, Cookies, Pasta, Pizza and lot's of bread and olive oil were enjoyed by all. Oh yes - and also red wine.
Our second celebrity sighting was Ed Norton. We were strolling along in the Village (Grenwich Village) when Ed jogged right past us. He's cuter and taller in person.
Hopefully Kerri & Melissa got a nice glimpse of my life in the big city! They got to know my neighbors (maybe too well), my doormen,the neighborhood bagel shop and grocery store. Thanks, girls, for spending your weekend with me. Thanks to Vic and Greg for letting you come.
Looking forward to your next visit.

Movie stars coming soon!!

As I was walking Griffin to school today - I noticed some signs all along our street. They were big pink signs that looked pretty official. They said "all cars must be off the street by 7:00pm tonight due to filming of the movie The Good Shephard". So... I came home and googled "the Good Shephard" and read that Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Robert Di Niro are all in the movie! I'm planning to camp out in our courtyard tomorrow to catch a glimpse! This is so exciting!!!

Check back tomorrow for details about my girls weekend with Melissa and Kerri! We had TWO star sightings and lot's of fun!!

I went to Disneyland...

Well - not exactly....
I went to TARGET!!!! It felt like I was at Disneyland.
My friend Kelly told me about a Target in Brooklyn that is right on the subway line. We took the 6 to 42nd street... walked across the platform to the 4 and took that train to Brooklyn. We got off the train and Target was literally right in front of us. It was wonderful! We bought lot's of heavy stuff that in hindsight - probably wasn't a great idea... but we were caught up in the moment!
Lucky for Griffin and Macy - there's a Chuck-E-Cheese right above Target. It was a great day for all of us... (except for the part about carrying lot's of very heavy bags, holding coats, navigating the stroller and holding griffin's hand on the way home)!!

Finally... more pics of the apt.

Here's our kitchen, bedroom, and view from our apartment.

This and That

Griffin had his first sleepover (Caden, 7-A). They were so cute. They baked cookies, played lite-brite, played v-smile and stayed up really late (I'm a push over). Pictures coming soon!

We bought sleds so we'll be ready for the next snow! We got a "torpedo" for Griffin and a small one with a seatbelt for Macy. It was comical trying to get them home without hitting everyone along the way.

I went to a girls night out with some of my new friends. We got a mani-pedi at a really modern nice place. It was only $23. Of couse - since it was so cheap - I added a $10 chair massage at the end! They invited me to join their supper club too. I'm excited! I heard them discussing a new Sushi restaurant they wanted to try. I haven't yet divulged I'm the pickiest eater on earth!

We found a new restarant/bar called Brother Jimmy's. The food was great (and kids eat free).
So many of the restarants here are tiny and the tables are very close together. It's always a treat when we find somewhere "kid friendly".

Chris and I are going on a date tonight! We're gonna try out a swanky Mexican Restaurant called Rosa Mexicano. Looks very cool..... but possibly very expensive. I heard margaritas are $10 a pop!

Our daily activities....

Chris is out of town so I knew it would be a long weekend. My goal is to plan as many activities as possible to keep us busy! We woke up this morning and bundled up so we could take Libbie on a walk. During our walk we stopped and got Griffin a chocolate donut (with sprinkles on top) and walked up 2 more blocks to find mommy and Macy a muffin. Macy's hands were completely red and frozen by the time we got home (we can't find her gloves at the moment).

After Macy's nap, we bundled up again for our adventure.... K-MART!!! There's a K-Mart downtown and it just happens to be right on our subway line. You literally walk off the subway and you're there. So I made a list (including new gloves for Macy) and we headed to the subway. It's really hard to manouver the stroller down the stairs, through the turnstile and onto the subway - but I managed (with no one offering to help, I might add). We did our K-Mart shopping without anyone needing a bathroom break which was a miracle... no one, not even K-Mart, has a public restroom. So we leave the store - they check my receipt (to make sure all of my stuff is bought and paid for) and we head back to the subway. There are always people singing on the subway which still freaks Griffin out. It's nice for me because it always keeps the kids entertained. We get off at 58th street so we can run into a store to try to find some paint (yes - I'm starting another project). We go into a store called Gracious Home, which is one of my favorite spots. The only negative is it's not very stroller friendly and there are TONS of grouchy old ladies in mink coats stopping in the middle of the aisle to give me parenting advice. :)
Anyway - we leave Gracious Home (with paints in bag) and head to the drugstore to pick up some toiletries and milk. Oh - by the way - At this point Macy has already lost her gloves that we bought at K-Mart.
We leave the drugstore and head back to our apartment so we can eat leftovers from last night. The three of us ate at a little neighborhood Italian joint last night called Delizia. Italian food has taken the place of Mexican for us. We eat it atleast 3 times a week!
Tonight we're going to dinner (yes, probably Italian) with our next door neighbors Nancy, David and their son Drew.
Chris gets home tomorrow... yippee!

No privacy...

Okay - I can officially never again talk about anything juicy on the phone! My next door neighbor (my new pal) came over for our nightly chat (this is a whole story in itself - don't have the energy right now for details). Anyway - her husband's out of town so she brought her monitor because her son is in bed. Long story short - she plugged in the monitor and all the sudden we hear a phone number being dialed. Then we hear someone answer. Then we hear the whole conversation (which was very interesting, I might add). Nancy and I both had our ears up to the monitor - with it turned on full blast (just like a couple of teenagers) when Chris walks in the door from work (wondering what the HECK we are doing)! Then I get a buzz from the doorman. My first thought was... "How did he know we were listening to our neighbors conversation".....boy am I paranoid. He said "Mrs. Brassell, sorry to bother you so late - but I was wondering if you have seen Mrs. Steinfeld today." (Mrs. Steinfeld is my next door neighbor, Nancy, who is now motioning for me to say that she's not there). So I tell Bruce yes, I have seen her today, earlier today, and ask why he is calling. He said he got a call from her husband wondering where she is! Wow! Her husband is really persistant in tracking her down. She was only here 10 minutes tops! Anyway - she scurryed off - with monitor in hand (darn - I knew I shouldn't have garage saled my monitors).
So... back to my original thought. No phone conversation is private in this building. There are ears everywhere! I now know every last detail of the latex based ointment the woman on the phone was using on her brown rashy discoloration!??? Lucky for me - I don't know exactly who she is or which apartment she lives in.
Apartment life is so fun!

We laughed, we danced....

...we covered ourselves in toilet paper! I guess you had to be there.
Blue Man Group was awesome-definintely an EXPERIENCE! Sorry this is such a bad picture... we only had our camera phone with us.

I'm back!

The holidays were crazy - but fun! We're glad to be back home (it still sounds weird calling this home). I'm anxious to see lot's of you in this new year. We've already had several visitors (Rob, Carol, Kelly, Chelsea, Heather, Frank, Coll & the girls) and we're looking forward to a visit from Melissa and Kerri later this month.

We're officially all settled in and getting to know the neighborhood pretty well. We're trying new restaurants everyday... nope - still not cooking all that often.

Chris has agreed to let me indefinitely "send out" the laundry... yippee! That in itself makes moving to NYC completely worth it!

Griffin started a new school today. We were tired of the 3-6pm schedule - it just wasn't working (shocker)! After an interview with the Headmaster - he was offered a spot at The Cathedral School. We are thrilled because he will go 3 days a week from 8:45 - 2:45 and it's CHEAPER and CLOSER!
The school is Greek and most everyone who goes to school there is Greek. Griffin will actually be learning to speak Greek - 30 minutes a day (it's on the cirriculum). His teachers are Voula and Sophia... they are very sweet and loving. I think this will be a much better experience for all of us.

I'm going to sign up Macy for a "mommy and me" class at a place called 74th Street magic. They offer all types of neat classes including "cooking"! I'll keep you posted.

Chris and I are going to see BLUE MAN GROUP tonight. It was a Christmas present. Griffin is excited because his favorite babysitter Janet is coming. She lives in the Bronx so we have to pay for her cab ride home. After tacking that on to $15 per hour...it's an expensive evening! Oh well... We're having fun... who needs a savings account!