Kevin A. in NYC!

One of our great friends (and one of Dave's longest-time friends) Kevin, came into town from Florida on business. We (Dave, Jef, Eric and I) promptly met up with Kevin for drinks and food. Halfway through the night, it started raining and still hasn't stopped!

We walked over the Arlene's Grocery in the East Village, a most awesome place to see bands and have a few beers. Nice to finally get out at 6 and begin having fun by 6:30!

After a quick bite, we headed over to The Living Room. ...By the way, if you are ever in NYC, please take the time to see music there! Every single time we go there, we discover a new, amazing band or even new style of music. Tonight, we saw "My Brightest Diamond", a Bjork-meets-Tori Amos sound with full strings and electric band mix. They had the perfect amount of "air" in the music- not too much singing overlapping the beautiful music, and not too much overwhelming electric versus strings- they sounded very well produced, and the singer was extremely talented!

On the way back to Kevin's hotel, we came across an amazing Spanish bar/restaurant called "Oliva" that had a group of Spanish musicians jamming. Great atmosphere, really great drinks. (Especially the mojitas!)

It was so great to see Kevin again! (And very strange to see him here in NYC) We're hoping to see him again before he heads back out to his next project...

Kevin and Dave, Sharon:




Kevin! We miss you already!!!
XOXO

P.S.....

Told you I'd blog it! =p"

The Iron Monkey in J.C.

Last night, Jef, Bobby, Eric, Dave and I stumbled a few blocks away from our place over to "The Iron Monkey", a restaurant with an upstairs bar and rooftop club. The bar resembled the old "Bodhisattva" in downtown Orlando. (Except that it was trendy. Oh, and full of people.) ;)

Anyway, we found out that every Tuesday night they hold an open-mic! They had someone playing last night as well. Hopefully Dave can add The Iron Monkey to his list of places to perform.

It was very cool for Bobby to ride in all the way from Long Island just to hang out! We all had a blast, although I can't remember most of what we talked about at the bar or after we all returned home! I'm still recuperating @ 6pm the next night!

I DO know that we had a hell of a great four days off.

Our Thanksgiving!

What a great Thanksgiving! Four days off and lots of time to do practically nothing.

I LOVED cooking this year! I made maple-glazed sweet potatoes, mulled-wine cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes with caramelized leeks, green beans with wild mushrooms and onions, honey almond salad, candied orange and cranberry chutney with milk chocolate mousse for dessert, and of course, a turkey. (The only item that was not from scratch! It was precooked; I only had to heat it for two hours.)





Baby watched me cook the whole time...


We partied the day before and on Thanksgiving- we drank festive cosmopolitans. We had gone to the liquor store down the street we call "Helen's" (owned by Helen- we still don't know what the name of the store is), where she gave us an extra bottle of vodka as a gift!


Thanksgiving morning, Dave, Eric and I headed to the city to watch our first Macy's Day Parade! I hear New Yorkers refer to the parade as "touristy", but it didn't seem that way at all. I guess if you go year after year, it’s sort of like the Disney parades we see all the time in Orlando.

We had a blast. I felt like a little kid when I saw the Big Bird balloon!


We found a great spot to watch the parade from Broadway and 39th.



Me having fun!


Chicken Little


Guess what?


Creepy Ronald images…


Ronald McD.


"Healthy" Mr. Potato Head. He had running shoes, a water bottle and a stopwatch on his wrist. Aren't potatoes a healthy food anyway?


Dave, Sharon and Garfield's gut


Super Grover! (and me taking a phone pic)


Dave took this on the way to the PATH on 23rd (in Chelsea). It was a beautiful morning!


The weather held out for the parade, but rained later. We were supposed to get a little snow that day, but it never happened. Yesterday it was *beautiful* out, but it stayed in the 20s. Today, we have the windows open @ 45 degrees. We love it here!!!

UPDATE 12/6: I just came across some cool pics from the Macy's Parade at SatansLaundromat.com

Preparing for Thanksgiving...

This weekend Dave and I did an IKEA trip and a serious grocery run. We're all set for Thanksgiving! I'm preparing a fun, gourmet dinner for our "Orphan Thanksgiving" which consists of this year's family-less Eric, Jef, Dave and I. We're going to the parade in the city in the morning (we're all excited!!), then going to watch football and have Thanksgiving together.

The trip to IKEA was almost as much as the total of our spree! Those "$19.95" vans actually cost that PLUS $1.99 a mile and gas! On the way to IKEA, we missed a turn on the way, so we end up driving through the Newark airport lot in order to get back on track, then came out right were we started in Jersey City. We ended up driving twice the distance! Ugh. Well, at least we know what NOT to do next time. Rent a regular car (between about $80 for the weekend), or just pay a cab guy (about $70 round trip, if you can get any large items you buy into the cab anyway). Buying a used car in the future has started to cross our minds...

The next few days at work are going to be packed with last-minutes fires and on the SS project, new projects, and employee reviews. We're SO looking forward to having four days off!!!

Adventures in Sharonland

I’m back, and I’m blogging. FINALLY! Quite a bit had happened to keep me from blogging! In the last 39 days (HOLY CRAP!), my computer was fried and fixed, we moved apartments, had guests twice, went sailing, and we worked our asses off!

Here are the blogs of the last month and a week!!!
(See 10/12 through today)...

Day off today

So I took today off. I feel like I would have gotten ill if I had gone in today. Things are going to have to wait- I need a breather. Dave, Jef and Eric were even hanging out downstairs last night whooping it up and I slept through all of it! I’m just exhausted!

Today is going to be one of the last “warm” days. I’m actually surprised how long it went on for! I’ve been wearing a jacket and scarf almost every day the last few weeks, but tonight it goes from 70 to 40… tomorrow will have a high of 47. The rest of the week will be rainy and crappy with highs in the 40s. Good thing I took off today!!!

Lou is happy I’m home today, I think…

Matchmakers in the oddest places

After a long, loooong day of work, Eric, Dave and I wearily walked over to the FedEx to drop off a package and end our day. The area is over by the port- it has sort of a darker, abandoned feel around there.

As we approached, we saw a cab parked with the lights off. That usually means the taxi driver is off duty, but Eric tapped on the car window anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. After all, it’s quite a hike to 33rd, and we were all tired. The driver agreed to take us over to the PATH on Christopher Street.

The driver ended up being a happy, talkative guy and within minutes we were laughing and asking more about himself. Low and behold, he was Ahmed Ibrahim- the one and only NYC taxi matchmaker!!! Ahmed has been interviewed by all sorts of news shows, in the papers all over the US and in Europe. He showed us a few photos of others searching for love in NYC, as well of a few of couples getting married in his cab that had met through him.

Before we were dropped off, he “interviewed” Eric (by using a hand-held recorder) and took his number. Why not? I think my favorite New York quote sums it up… “It’s New York! What the hell?”

It must take luck to find this guy in a sea of cabs! Could a lone taxi cab sitting on a dark street convince fate to bring love? Who knows! I’ll keep you informed!

I’ve pulled a few sites on Ahmed for your browsing pleasure.
1. from the Seattle Times
2. a blog
3. a local story

Indian Food and Friends

We went to visit our friends Scott and Iris in Stuyvesant Town and then went out for Indian food and drinks. I just want to personally thank Scott and Iris for introducing us (Dave, Eric and I) to our new, favorite Indian restaurant! Now, we’re not the connoisseurs of Indian food, but we all thought it was kick ass! Not only was the atmosphere awesome, the food was great!

The place is called “Panna II“. It’s located in the East Village on 1st Avenue, between 5th & 6th Street.

When you first approach, there are three Indian restaurants that are bunched together: Two upstairs- one to the left and one to the right, and one underneath them. All three have hosts outside talking over each other to get your attention, as they all compete to get you into their restaurant - talking up their specials, offering a table immediately, offering to throw in a free glass of water… It’s like walking through Little Italy! I heard the two Indian places upstairs were owned by two cousins that compete each night.

Anyway, get yourself right up the stairs and to the right, like you know what you’re doing- you won’t be disappointed! While I’m sure all three places have similar dishes, the atmosphere in this one is so cool! There are hundreds of strands of those red pepper lights hanging down so that you have so bend over while walking to get to your table. There’s a mirror down one side of the room and large swatches of reflective/3D wrapping paper covering the other. There are beach balls and disco balls hanging among the mess of lights. It’s a fun place that should be experienced! Note: it's BYOB, so be sure to bring a bottle of wine and/or a six pack along with!


Afterwards, we hung out at a bar down the street for a few hours, talking, playing songs on the jukebox, and feeding a dog named "Clark" snacks from the bowl at our table. It was a lazy night, and it was wonderful to see Scott and Iris again.

Dave @ Alphabet Lounge

Dave played at Alphabet Lounge again tonight. He was tired, but he had turned them down each time they had called him in the last two months from being so busy at work- he didn’t want them to lose interest in him.

The few people that were there waiting to see the reggae band after Dave (maybe only 12 people) were really into his music. They all recognized his “Nurse Who Loved Me” cover (by A Perfect Circle) and really dug it when he played Tool’s “Maynard’s D*ck”! They sang along- it was cool. Afterwards, Dave, Eric and I walked back towards the PATH, but ended up shopping in a tee store after seeing a fuzzy Burt Reynolds t-shirt in the window (which I promptly purchased).

After a quick bite at a “dive-Mexican taco joint”, we headed home for some well-deserved sleep.

Sailing with Capt’n Ron II

Ron decided to try and get one more sail out before winter came, so he had Demitri, Maggie (D’s puppy), Josh, Jef, Eric, Dave and I join him after work today!

The wind was crazy! We were FLYING down the Hudson- even on almost one side for about 30 minutes! Dave even got the chance to steer. We sailed all the way past the Verrazanos Narrows Bridge to the Atlantic Ocean and back again! So beautiful. Of course, since my camera is still [ahem] stuck on “night”, only one photo came out (sort of). I did manage to get a few shots with my trusty camera phone, though:

Jef looking about


Maggie on deck


The Verrazanos Narrows Bridge from below


Dave and I on the way back


As we entered the canal to get to the marina, Ron turned the key to start the engine. Nothing! We (Ron, Demitri and Josh, that is) had to tack back and forth until we reached the Marina. We quietly sailed into the full marina at night, gently pushing off poles, docks, and other boats. A man came out of one of the boats and helped us pull it into Ron’s space.

After we docked, Ron was tying up the boat but his rope got stuck, so he tugged harder… the rope let go and Ron went flying into the water! Damn, I wish I had a photo. A great end to the night. (For everyone but Ron, anyway)

Thanks AGAIN, Ron!!!!

Settling in (photos)

Lou on the stairs

I know I post a lot of photos of Lou, but he’s really the only one that stays still long enough to take a good shot!

Laundry day on the porch


View of JC at night


Moon scene, close-up


Looking over to Jersey

Eric’s one year

Eric arrived in NY on Nov 6th, 2004! It’s been one year!

The "party porch" with purple lights...


We had a small house party- really with just Jef, Eric, Dave and I (the usual crowd). However, after two small margaritas, I was the loser and fell asleep on my bed. Too tired!!! The guys stayed up all night.

At about 4 in the morning, I woke up in my clothes, checked the porch and grabbed my watered-down margarita, two candles, and two empty beer bottles. I was heading downstairs and wanted to check on Dave who had slept on the couch, and thought if my hands were empty, I might as well grab a few things on the way to the kitchen…

So I shuffled down the stairs, arms full o’stuff, and I almost made it. The last two steps… I slipped! Margarita everywhere, candles rolling…. My butt hit the corner of the metal stairs so hard- I now have a bruise on my ass almost as big as my ass cheek! Don’t worry, no photos. I do want you to come back and visit from time to time.

ANYWAY, Eric, CONGRATS! So much has happened in a year and there’s so much more in store this year!!!

Shouting subway Riders

I’ve seen this many times before, but today in the subway there was a crazed homeless-looking man yelling out in some drunken, foreign language (unless it was gibberish) at no one in particular. I had my headphones on and I could still hear him. He was standing by one of the doors with a young woman seated right next to him. She didn’t even get up and move. She just stared out blindly like he wasn’t even there. She didn’t even really look worried or disturbed. Everyone else looked the same. They just made sure to not make eye contact with him. What if he was upset because everyone was ignoring him?

I wonder what would happen if I had the guts to act that crazy? I’ll bet it would feel pretty damn good to pull that off! And I wonder if people would ignore me or pay attention to me? It might be different for someone dressed clean and decently dressed. What if I was drunken and angry and rambled on about nothing? Would it be different since I’m a “young” woman? Would someone try and talk to me to calm me down? Or yell, [insert thick Brooklyn accent here] “HEY! Shut the hell up already!!!”

That would make for a pretty interesting test.

“Top of The Rock”

New York has reopened the three open-air observation decks at the top of the Rockefeller Center as of today! They’ve been closed since 1986. We’ll be heading there some time this month!


I believe I found this photo at Satan’s Laundromat.com - a photo-blog site that covers New York and lately, Tokyo.